New Columbus, OH - 2087
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Asaph
Asaph Ananke Sherman had spent all the early formative years of their life in total synchronicity with their two best friends, Herod Ecleates and Edith Gorman. When the three of them graduated from compulsory public education at the age of thirteen they had decided to continue on to attend Public University together, and in a few years each of them had completed undergraduate degrees with several majors apiece. During their time at University, the three finally felt themselves gravitating toward diverging paths for the first time. Edith had her interests in anthropology, and Asaph and Herod had both studied largely the same subjects but Herod had his mysterious internship-turned-contract with some New United Nations affiliated taskforce that he would never give the name of, and Asaph was just planning to go into government work.
Even though Asaph and Herod had the more aligned academic and professional paths, it was actually Edith who the former would keep in closest contact with, at least as much as they could. They shared a sense of optimism and appreciation for humanity and the world around them— something which Herod apparently lacked, and which was at the core of both Edith and Asaph’s aspirations in post-academic life.
The United Federation of New American States is a communist nation. Housing, Food, and Education are basic human rights under the constitutional document of the nation, ensured by Universal Income. Asaph, being acutely aware of the history of North American nations, had always appreciated the freedoms and quality of life they enjoyed, and so it was with a sense of pride and duty that they made the decision to join the ranks of the Coronation Organization and Regulation Commission, to do their part to keep their community and their country running.
Asaph had applied for one of a thousand annually available entry-level research positions at CORC which gave those applicants who met basic thresholds and were chosen via lottery process the opportunity to take a three-year contract at the Commission which would culminate in the chance to dissertate a thesis for a PhD, and likely an offer of a more specialized position elsewhere in the Commission or the field of Coronation Sciences at large. They were one of that lucky chiliad who were selected this year.
The first day had consisted of general onboarding, mingling with other interns while the rest of the thousand did their onboarding, and ended with a welcome tour of headquarters followed by a formal welcome ceremony at the end of the day which had wrapped up just after five. After that, Asaph went to dinner with a few new acquaintances who had invited them out.
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The group of new colleagues got along swimmingly and dinner turned into drinks at a nearby bar, so it was already well past ten o'clock when Asaph clattered into their assigned housing and settled down for the night. Somewhat tipsy (if not plain drunk), Asaph sent a thought transfer to Edith, who had just started her first semester of PhD coursework that same day.
“Made some new friends today, haven't had to do that in a long long while. Hope you're doing good too”
Edith replied within the minute,
“I'm so glad for you! I'm not so much the social butterfly but I've really connected with my advisors and I'm really excited for the research project I'm planning”
Asaph smiled.
“That's grand! Love and miss you, I'm going to bed now”
Edith replied with a wordless sentimental transfer echoing Asaph’s feelings.
Asaph did lie down in bed after that, but they were somewhat restless, and after several minutes of trying to get comfortable, they sat up and decided to call their father. They looked to their guardian angel, Azrael, for reassurance and comfort, which they received in a flash of pink light.
The line rang several times before going to voicemail— Asaph couldn't quite tell if Jude had denied the call or if it had actually rang all the way through. They waited for their father's phone's default voicemail message to play through, speaking after the tone:
“Hi dad. It was the big first day today, things went well and I think I've made some friends already. I love you and miss you, I hope you're doing okay at home alone… I saw Horace today at the welcome ceremony, have you two been up to much together lately? … I'm honestly really proud of what I've accomplished to get here, and I hope you can be too, despite everything… Alright, call me back when you can, love you, goodnight.”
They hung up, and laid back down in bed. They were a little worried about their father as of late; Jude had stopped working with Horace as much in recent years, and as that was the man's only apparent friend, that meant he had been mostly locking himself away at home for days on end.
It was sort of an odd feeling, working for the organization their best friend's father had practically built with the advice of their own, in a society where nepotism was functionally impossible. They couldn't help but let in a creeping sense that their choice of path was exacerbating whatever was going on with their father. They decided they would simply make a point of checking in on Jude relentlessly until the man stopped being a hermit, and rolled over to go to sleep.
“Goodnight, Azrael. We'll get back at it tomorrow.”
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