Free Ground Zero: Prequel to Numbered Series by Magus Tor Page B

class, Basic Human
Anatomy, and as she settled into her seat, Aurelia suddenly felt like she'd
been in the empty, white classroom her whole life. She'd done her required
reading. She'd done more. And as the Trainer flashed pictures onto the wall,
she carefully recited the names of the things she'd learnt.
    “Wow,” said Marnee, over lunch. “You know everything!”
    Aurelia picked at her plate of synth meat mixed with
potatoes. Gods she was tired of eating the same meal every day.
    “But you read the books too,” she said.
    “Sure,” shrugged Marnee. “But you seem to have eaten
them. I think you know every word.”
    “It helps the more you read,” Aurelia advised. “If you
want I could send some extra books to your screen so you can read them too.”
    Marnee nodded, and pulled out her roll up screen to
add Aurelia's contact.
    “Still scared?” she asked, tapping icons.
    Aurelia shook her head. “Nope. This is easy. Well, it's easy right now.”
    Marnee gave a sigh. “I'm sure it's going to get
harder. You know... when....”
    Both of them knew what she was referring to, but
neither really wanted to speak of it. It was common knowledge that Med Workers
were the ones that injected. But that didn't mean that they had to like doing
it. For Aurelia, it was the thing that she dreaded most, the thing that had
almost stopped her from Med Training. She had no idea whether she was capable
of injecting or not. In the end it had been her father that had convinced her
to Train.
    “Learn more,” he'd told her. “When the time comes,
maybe you'll find that you can do it.”
    She'd agreed. But she knew that she was only putting
off the inevitable. At least, she thought, she had a few years before she
needed to deal with the matter. Putting her fork down, she slid her plate away.
    “Library?”
    Marnee nodded.
    There was no recreation time now, not like in General
Ed. The days of playing were over. Aurelia was sad about this, she'd enjoyed playing
kick ball, reading books that her parents had given her, having free time. But
she also knew that time was short. After all, most of those around her,
including herself, would be injected at forty. That gave her only another
thirty two years. Time was very short indeed.

 
    ***

 
    “Let's go, kiddo.”
    Her father was standing by the front door, tapping the
time reader on his wrist.
    “I'm coming,” smiled Aurelia.
    Graduation was the one day that Workers could be
guaranteed a free afternoon, but Aurelia knew that both her parents would
probably go back to their respective work after the ceremony. Her mother came
up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
    “One second,” she said.
    Neatly and deftly, she swept Aurelia's hair up and
began to braid it. Aurelia allowed her neck to relax, and wondered briefly if
she'd ever be as good at this as her mom was. She'd have to learn. No one else
was going to do her hair once she was at her job posting. Sure, she could do
the simple pony tail stuff. But she enjoyed the little piece of uniqueness that
it gave her to have one of the elaborate City 03 styles that her mother had
learned to do as a child.
    “Nervous?” asked her father.
    “A little,” she admitted, as her mother wove a
connector onto the bottom of the braid.
    “Don't be. You've done well. We're proud of you,” he
said.
    “I feel...” she struggled for the word. “Alone.”
    Her mother put her arm around her shoulder, and her
father stroked her head. They knew. Marnee had been like a second daughter to
them, frequently joining their little household in the evenings so that Aurelia
could help her study.
    “You have us,” her mother said.
    Aurelia smiled. She did. She was luckier than most.
Most Worker parents took little interest in their child, beyond the extra
rations and privileges it gave them once they had bred. Her parents had always
been different though. More involved, maybe.
Definitely more supportive, encouraging her to think for herself. She