Chapter 1-

Gaian Calendar - Y237

I could not stave off my boredom looking into the dazzling lights and sights of the city, ranked 3rd as a tourist destination. Perhaps years ago, the gambling,  drinking, and fighting would have meant something to me. Despair and resignation were my constant companions in the new age I had brought about. Most would say I was an inconsequential cog in his plan and that the only sin was my youth. My life was great with wealth and power, but my soul was as dark as the emptiness of space and as hard to clean as oil stained on cotton. Was there a heaven? If so, hell was the only place I would get into. Hundreds perished in the skirmish. Thousands perished in the battle. Millions perished in the war. I had contributed to it by slaying those who had families and only sought to survive. I felt remorse for the dead, but I kept on too cowardly to sacrifice my way of living.

I, strangely enough, was never attracted to the safety of my home, my neighborhood, nor my country. Life was boring with routine being all I had. Poor marks on tests didn’t land me a job in politics, or as a military officer. At one time, being a military officer meant the world to me, because the other boys on the block owned a plastic bb gun. With power over me, they would launch attacks against me during my walk home from school. If I had a real weapon, I could be the one killing. I could be a God who decided if the neighborhood bully was going to hell. I sure as hell would have been respected, and Rodney would have disappeared from this world. I later learned to achieve a career like that took work. I decided against work. It was my lazy choices which led to a lifestyle of absolute tedium.  I blamed my parents, my friends, and my teachers in a state of denial. The easy way out was to ignore responsibility. With a determination to change, I grasped the natural power which seemed to come from becoming a soldier and joined the revolutionary army. I only needed to prove my worth to the Orator to find greatness. Many did not climb the ranks due to the omnipresent reaper. With one swing of Death's scythe, thousand of souls were plucked during the war. There were only two ways to survive, being a high ranking officer or achieving greatness. I piggybacked off of greatness… Justin Talos was his name.

I now lay in my hammock on the hill looking down upon my old city turned into a place of anarchy. I had fought with every ounce I had, losing many friends to create this “Utopia." How foolish I had been to become wrapped up in the words of the Orator, the man who let us indulge in our want for adventure and freedom. His words had offered pleasure, but as I later learned, it comes at a price.  The Orator, a young, vibrant soul, was like many of the great evils in Earth’s history before Gaia. Hitler, Genghis Khan, and many other conquerors committed atrocities for their gain. They never stopped. In the same way, the Orator sought to solidify his power, venturing into space.

My people perished, as my leader who at one time was a god to me underestimated the strength of the old world. Their fleets were large with better shields and better weapons than us. They destroyed our little insurrection, and would soon wipe us off the face of Gaia. Earth now had many colonies under its thumb, no longer needing Gaia as they did in the past. The nobility appointed by the Orator tried to escape, but they were not spared evidenced by the showering debris falling back into Gaia’s orbit. A new weapon developed by the Earth Navy named “A.F.S” or “A Fresh Start” will soon eradicate any sign of life on this lush green planet. Gaia will turn into a barren world devoid of life. Even the meteor which wiped out dinosaurs on Earth, wouldn’t amount to what these monsters had created to ensure the safety of their people. I felt a slight pang of regret because I knew I could have been living a life of dull routine. One which didn’t know the fear of dying young and without security. Ten years ago I could have done things differently.

Gaian Calendar- Y227

Rain poured onto the tin roof and off again following gravity’s pull into a puddle. The constant splattering helped me sleep, even though sleeping was one of the worst things to be doing this time of day. Aunt Beatrice had come back from her grocery shopping. She was unhappy of course. The women’s love for money meant even the cheapest meals were “too expensive” in her opinion. She has been in a bad mood most of her life, but after shopping, Aunt Beatrice turned into a screaming devil. I had no way to defend myself from her abuse because of my unconscious state.

“Quit being a lazy soil bag. Your incompetent self has no place to stay and a shitty job. You're dumb, yet I put up with it.” This woke me up, and with a startled gasp I tried to protest. She would have none of it.

“I am the bread winner. The fucking bread winner. What use do I have with the laziest person on Gaia?”

I apologized, but there was little words could accomplish. Instead of using my brain, I used my legs. I dove onto the ground using the coffee table as a barrier from the old lady's barrage of words and slobbery spittle. Aunt’s wails and arm shaking didn't end there. Unfortunately for her, the expensive item was enough of an obstacle to make my escape. I did not angrily knock down her furniture because I deserved the yelling. Even though I was often lazy, I had principles. It's what kept me from being a complete bum. I jumped over the chair in one athletic swoop and slid through the front door. She chased me long after I got onto the street. Her slow mind was unable to realize she had no way of catching me, a lanky semi-athletic kid. She even had a car she could have used if she put her brain to work. With a ruthless ninety degrees turn, I fled into an alley never to see the abusive Beatrice again.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I turned my Com on letting a virtual screen appear.  I mentally sent a command to call Bentley, a friend I met working as a waiter. He pulled up on his electric bike fifteen minutes later. “Baethan get on!” Bentley yelled pulling his rickety cart behind him. With teleportation now available I thought we’d be traveling the world by now, but as two broke guys, electric powered bikes were what we could reasonably afford.

   Skyscrapers towered over us menacingly, so I had Bentley pick up the pace. I wouldn’t recommend riding in a rickety cart unless suicide and adventure were your two best friends. “Rrrrr” went the not so small engine and we picked up speed hitting ninety miles per hour. An average driver might have crashed, but Bentley was better than average weaving in and out of traffic (not that there was much of it). The age of cars was dead to the detriment to the old. I loved the new line of private spaceships space-X was selling and couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. Maybe in a few decades, I’d have my own, but I had no means in the current state of my life.

We arrived at the place Bentley, Erica, Tommy, and I hung out on an average Saturday. The pool bar was a classic from Earth. It was cheap, sometimes involved betting, and was all around a good time.  Television showed the current events in Prota. The stories were as political as they came. I could care less, but Tommy and Bentley were into it. I just worked on my pool game. Tommy passed beers around, and the pool matches began. We did this for an hour and a half before taking a break on one of the sofas facing the television. I had grabbed food from the snack bar and was happily munching. I usually didn’t because that cost money my waiting job couldn’t afford.

There was another terror attack in the city. This time thirteen police were dead from the bombing. The reporters showed the destruction caused by a plasma bomb. Someone wealthy was supporting these rebels, but no one knew who. Their supposed leader would film videos demanding the government to stop paying taxes to Earth for protection. Tommy piped in saying, “These nutjobs need to be put down. I’ve seen the Nets and Earth’s military triples every colony combined. They are going to kill us and even if they succeed we are dead anyway.” Bentley fired off his counter argument saying, “The government’s insistence on depriving the people of their hard work is why the rebels formed in the first place. Why can’t the President and officials just admit to it.”  I sat there talking to Erica because neither of us had a clue as to what was going on. Bentley and Tommy would often criticize us for our lack of knowledge. I didn’t enjoy that the city was turning increasingly unsafe. If I saved up, maybe I could farm in the countryside to escape the destruction.

I looked at the time. I needed to be back with a gift to quell the angry Aunt. I was reluctant to reward my Aunt’s abusive behavior, but if I didn’t, I'd be disowned. The others saw my worried look and offered to let me stay with them.  “I can’t. I can’t.” I said before having Bentley drop me off home. I had bought a bouquet of cheap flowers and a bottle of whiskey. I wasn’t into hard alcohol, but she was, and Bentley had said Hennessy was good stuff. The money I had saved diminished quite a bit, although flowers and whiskey were a small price to play when becoming homeless was the alternative.

The gaudy decorum my Aunt loved just showed how cheap she was when I walked inside. Faux wood flooring and a chandelier made of hard plastic welcomed guests into the home. It would have if she ever had guests, but my aunt was not one to make friends. The lavender smell from her scented candles was a nice touch to add to the bad design. It's not like money is any use if one can't spend it.

I decided not to call out for her. I liked surprises even if my Aunt could care less about how she got the gifts. It was my way of entertainment to the detriment of the recipient. Seeing their excitement, disrupted the boring which came from an average life. I stepped slowly trying to get the floor to stop creaking. I had a talent for sneaking around. I created no noise while making my way to the kitchen. There she would be cooking dinner. The cooking consisted of making sure her rice didn’t burn, or her ramen boiled to an edible degree. If she ever ran a restaurant, I would give two stars tops. Her cheap ingredients were only part of the problem as she lacked taste buds to tell whether a steak was seasoned perfectly or a salty disaster.

With a surge of speed, I popped out of the living room to give the surprise. I threw out an apology for slacking off earlier and offered up my gifts. I immediately noticed the problem with my apology. My Aunt lay on the floor out cold. Her face was black and blue from blunt weapon injuries. Her mangled look was intensified with missing teeth. Even in her unconscious state, she was still clamping her pudgy fingers around her dollar tree kitchen knife.  A government official towered over the body with two military police officers behind. They stared at me with disdain as I struggled to speak. Finally, my tongue tied self responded with "Why did you do this?" They government official snickered saying rent was overdue. I had sworn my Aunt had plenty of money stashed away. The accusation was definitively false, so I responded, "But my Aunt had the funds; she's been penny-pinching for over twenty years. She also makes a decent salary with a mid-tier job. This shack should be well within her price range." The official just shook his head, pointing out she either gambled it all away or she was lying to me about owning that job.  Well shit, I was out of luck.  I ran to grab my things, but when I got to my room, everything had been boxed up. The official yelled out from the kitchen saying,"All the property within the house is ours. If you left anything in this house bad luck sir."   My Aunt had probably attacked the official, all my stuff was gone, and I had nowhere to go.  I apologized for my Aunts troublesome behavior and walked out of the residence. It was time to find a full-time job. The competition will be fierce. I could only hope I had the chops to walk away with money in my pocket.