ChapterOne: New York City
September 2155
It’s September in 2155 in New York City, and it’s the first day of junior year at a high school for one girl, 16-year-old Gen-Mod Cassie Reyes, a brunette Latina of Normerica. She runs out from the subway station, and to her nearby high school. She arrives, and walks up to her group of friends. Her best friend, Lilly Ibera, hugs her tightly.
“Cass!” Lilly exclaims. “How was your summer?”
Cassie sighs, and says, “Boring. The only fun thing I did was reunite with my big twin brothers.”
“How are they?”862Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxS9tB6qOv
“Good. Married to their mates and with small babies,” Cassie ends with sigh.
Lilly hugs her and said, “Aww. You’ll get your mate.”
“Yeah, if I somehow can get into the underground cities, and get me an Undergrounder.”
Lilly sighs, “You can’t. You know that. Everyone is forbidden to enter the underground cities.”
“I know. It’s keep the Normals alive and well. I really do wish they could live back on the surface.”
Lilly looked at her with sympathy. Soon, the group enters their school. Lilly and Cassie shared their first class together, which was World History. The teacher gave a brief overview what the entire semester would be about:
In 2070, there was a nuclear war that was instigated by the Russian Empire. Before the bombs were blasted, the Gen-Mods sent the Normals, humans with physical and mental limitations compared to the superhuman Gen-Mods, to live in newly-built underground cities to keep them alive. These people have been living underground for years now, and have yet to resurface. The Gen-Mods all survived the war, as they already have radiation in their systems. They soon rebuilt the cities and the nations after the war. Then more history of the Normerica before and after the War of 2070.
Cassie, feeling bored, yawns. She uses her telepathy ability, known as mindlinking, to Lilly, and said, This is boring. We know what happened.
Lilly looks at her with a small smile. Suddenly, the classroom flat-screen, touch-screen board turns on. On the screen was a live feed from the President of Normerica, President Atkins.
He announces, “Citizen of Normerica. I have some exciting news for you. The United Nations of both on the Surface and the Underground have reached an agreement. There is a planet just outside of our own system that has been long discovered to be habitable for human life. There are already a few cities built there, and are being lived in by people like yourselves alongside scientists and soldiers. Starting tomorrow, we will begin transferring all Normals to GH569. They will finally begin to live on the surface, and breathe in the air suitable for their bodies. They will moved to these cities: New Yorkshire, Parisian, Los Antonios, Danken, Berlina, and Landon. Gen-Mods on Earth are allowed to move with the Normals into the cities. They must register, though, and space is limited. Registration will open in one week. Thank you.”
With that, the video feed turns off. The students in the classroom were shocked by this. Lily mindlinks Cassie, Cass, I think you found your loophole.
Cassie only grinned out of excitement.
After school, Cassie gets out her thin-as-a-potato-chip plexi-glass iPhoneS200. She calls her one of her older twin brothers, Breyden. Breyden was stationed in London. He’s one of the Super Soldier Gen-Mods, and was married to his mate Jessa, and have their very young set of twins.
Breyden answers the phone, “Cass?”
Cassie replied happily, “Hey, big brother! Did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“The news that the Undergrounders will get to live on that planet GH569!”
Breyden smiled, “I heard that. I’m glad. My small family and I are actually going with them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I was asked to help with moving the Undergrounders into GH569. I was assigned with the city of Landon.”
Cassie sighs. Breyden hears this, so he asked, “Let me deduce: You want to go to GH569, and claim an Undergrounder?”
“Pretty much. You know mom and dad won’t let me go. I’m their only daughter in a house filled with boys.”
Breyden laughs, “I get it must be hard. Maybe you should convince them to let you go and bring your twin brother Ashton along.”
“Ugh, he’s annoying!”
He laughs some more, and adds, “I know he is. Look, just talk to mom and dad, and see what they say.”
Cassie sighs, “I wish I could go with you.”
“Trust me, I would if I could. Unless you’re my oldest daughter, I can’t let you go with me.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to mom and dad.”
“Hopefully I’ll see you again.”
With that, they both hung up. Cassie walks up to her townhouse as soon as she got out of a subway station. She walks in. She sees her parents on their equally stick-thin plexi-glass tablets. She walks up to them. Before she could ask them about moving to GH569, her mother speaks up, “No, we’re not moving. Our lives are fine here.”
Cassie sighs sadly. Her father said, “I’m sorry, but we can’t just up and move just so you can get a Normal mate.”
Her mother adds, “Your father is right. Besides, you got plenty of handsome boys all over New York, and they live on the surface.”
Cassie, trying to make her argument stronger, adds, “Well, it would be nice to live in a world without radiation in the air, and constant ‘nuclear winters.’ I know we can control our body temperatures well, but still…”
The mother tells her sternly, “No, Cassandra. That’s final. Don’t even try to convince your brothers. Now go do your homework.”
Cassie sighs sadly, and walks back to her room. She stares out at the window, looking at the gray, yet still sunny sky. The nuclear winters barely started to fade away. Then she placed her head on her desk, and groaned tiredly.
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