Wanted Mutants

Chapter 1:

“Kari, wake up, or you’ll be late for school.” Kari slowly pulled herself out of bed and into the bathroom to take a shower. After she got out, she slowly put on her school uniform, which was a white button-down shirt with a tan jacket and her tan skirt. She grabbed her ID bracelet and put it on because she knew if she didn’t have it she’d be arrested. She brushed her long white hair which contrasted her medium brown skin and headed downstairs. “Kari today is the fifteenth. I expect you to come to the lab today.” Kari walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mother was cooking breakfast while her father was watching the news.

“Good morning dad, good morning mom.” Her father ignored her,

“Dear, fill my glass.” Kari grabbed an apple from the table when her father smacked her hand, “You’ll ruin your appetite.” As he turned the volume up on the TV,

“Good morning Citizens of Concordia. It is one beautiful day and we here at CCNews will always be the first ones to tell you so. Now today marks the first day of the Solstice festival and the whole city seems to be ready for the festivities.”

“You’re defiantly right Jim, the whole city is ready for the festival to begin, as am I, but first let’s see what the weather will be like for the week.” Kari looked at the clock, and she got to her feet,

“Mom, Dad, I’m leaving for school. I’ll see you when I get home.” She grabbed her data pad and headed out the door. She made her way down the street while hovering cars zoomed past. There were other people walking down the street, but she paid them no attention. She turned the corner and crossed the street and stopped at a general store.

“Good Morning Ms. Summers how may I help you this fine spring day?” The shopkeeper stepped from behind the counter,

“Oh, I was just stopping in to buy some breakfast, that’s all.” He was a very big man, and she knew if he wanted to hurt her he could, but he always had a pleasant attitude, no matter what day it was.

“Well, you should hurry if you’re trying to catch the 8:50 transport to Carver square.” He hobbled back over to the counter,

“Harran, what happened to your leg?” he looked down at his leg, then back up at Kari,

“Well, I’ll spin you a tell of treachery.” He cleared his voice, “So there I be... walking along minding my own business when out of the blue it struck me. Knocking me out and when I woke up my leg was gone, but this happened a long time ago, back when I was young.” He grabbed a stool and sat down, “I went to the doctor, and they replaced my leg with metal and steel.” He slapped his leg,

“Does it hurt?”

“Not as much as it hurts my pride, now I am only half the man I used to be.” He looked away, “You should get going. You best not be late.” Kari grabbed an apple, “It’s on the house Ms. Summers.” She nodded and put the apple in her jacket pocket and left. She quickly ran to the transport station holding her data pads close to her chest. When she got there she tried to go through the scanners as quickly as she could. She quickly got on the Transport to Carver square on the ride there. She pulled her apple out of her pocket and she bit into it. It was fresh and juicy, sweet and crisp, and it soothed her hunger.

“We have arrived at Carver Sq. If this is your stop, please exit the transport. Have a nice day.” The automated voice cut off and the doors opened. She quickly got off the transport and headed down the stairs and across the street to her school, when Yuri, Jason and Harley joined in beside her.

“You’re late.” Yuri stepped in front of her, “We had to cover for you but, be lucky, the teacher had to step out for a moment. So we better hurry.” Jason and Harley started to push her into the school.

“I’m sorry I overslept.” They quickly walked down the hall and into the class where some of the other students were talking, and the teacher was nowhere to be found. As soon as Kari sat down, the teacher walked through the door and began roll call.

“Alright class, we’ll be discussing the history of the Authority, so pull out your data pads, so we may begin.” She walked over to her podium, “Alright, this city was founded by the Authority in the year 6055, and it has prospered since then. The current year is 7640 and without their leadership every city in the world would not be so great. Since the creation of the city, we have advanced in technology…” the teacher kept talking, but someone sent a data message to her and it read,

“Did anyone talk Harley out of her presentation idea?” Kari responded along with Yuri,

“Oh, I thought you were going to do it, Kari?”,

“Um, what was her presentation idea anyway?”

“She was going to do it on the rebels.” Kari’s heart almost stopped,

“That could get her arrested.” Then the teacher cleared her throat.

“Alright class time for you all to show the class your presentation and first up is Harley Craven.” Kari watched as her friend slowly got up from her desk and walked over to the podium. She put her data pad on it, and then she cleared her throat,

“I did my presentation on the rebels of Concordia.” The teacher stiffened when she heard those words, “They steal from the Authority, they’ve defaced many of the city statues, but they spread weird yet true rumors saying that the Authority lies to us. That the Authority is censoring everything they tell us about the rebels. That the Authority, is the real enemy. They feed us lies, they sell us their marketed goods. They keep us trapped in a world of our own ignorance, and we allow them to do so, but the only problem is we cannot stand up to them because of one fact. They are everywhere, they hear everything, and they know everything.” She took her ID bracelet off, “They control us by using these. They require every citizen to wear them and, if I’m correct, back in the year 2315, no citizen was required to wear these tracking devices. They keep us under their control. They tell us these are for our protection when all these are used for is to inform us about their lies and to listen in on our conversations and to track us if we ever strayed too far from their so-called secure locations.” The teacher stood up, and her face twisted with anger and disgust,

“Young lady, that is enough. You should not speak like that about the Authority. They are our leaders and they protect us.”

“From what? They lie and pretend to care for our safety. They want us to fall victim. The more they protect us, the less we live. Don’t you all see they just want us to live and die by their rules, but I don’t want to be their slaves anymore?” she threw her ID bracelet on the floor and, just as she did, the teacher walked over to her.

“That is enough. You have disgraced this city and this school. I have half a mind to call the enforcers.” The whole class shuddered at the mentioning of a city enforcer,

“Let me shed some information about your precious enforcers. They are cold, they are lifeless, and they care nothing about us. And the way to become an enforcer is undergoing several mind wipes and then after that they are taught to feel no pain. If that’s what you wish to be, you’re too late. You start training to be an enforcer at age 5…” the door to the classroom swung open,

“Citizen, you have the right to remain silent.” Two enforcers walked into the classroom and seized Harley by her arms. “You have made accusations about the authorities. You are being detained until further questioning can be conducted at a rehabilitation center. How do you plead guilty or innocent?” the enforcer squeezed her arms,

“I know what you’re going to do to me if I say I didn’t mean it, so I’m going to make this easy for you. I plead guilty. I meant what I said, and I will not change it.” They put her in handcuffs and started to pull her out of the room,

“So be it you will be treated as a traitor and May the Authority show you mercy and may their wisdom shine on you.” They pulled her from the classroom and Kari felt herself get up and follow them along with the rest of the class. Kari ran up beside the enforcers,

“Wait, may I please have a moment with her. She’s my friend.” They turned to face her,

“Do you share the criminal’s belief?” they spoke in a cold tone and Kari thought for a moment she glanced over at Harley in the back of the car. Harley shook her head and Kari’s eyes dropped to the ground,

“Never mind I have nothing to say to her.” Kari glanced at the Harley and Harley nodded, “May the Authority show her mercy.” Kari walked back over to Yuri and Jason; “I should have talked to her about this…” at that moment, one of the enforcers walked back over to the teacher and put her in handcuffs too.

“You are under arrest for not trying to stop her.” The teacher didn’t argue as they shoved her in the car as well, “Attention students, you are released from school.” The enforcer walked back to his car and got in and drove away. Several of the students started to walk over to the transport station and others started to walk down the street towards Carver Park. Kari and her friends walked across the street to the transport station, and they boarded the monorail.

“So Yuri, you want to go to the shopping district. I hear they have a new fashion line out.” Kari looked out the window while Jason and Yuri talked. She slowly drifted off into her imagination, when she felt someone tap her shoulder. “Hey Kari, are you coming with me and Yuri to the shopping district?” she looked at Jason, then at Yuri.

“No. I think I’ll pass. I promised my mom that I’d help out around Genesis Labs, so maybe next time okay.” They nodded as the transport monorail came to a stop at the station and they got off. Kari slowly sat down in one of the free seats, and she let her head rest against the cool glass. She gazed out upon the beautiful white and gray city as the sunlight gleamed against the buildings. She tilted her head just a little bit, so she could see the sky. Deep down inside her, where her wildest thoughts occurred stirred a dangerous idea. ‘What if she was right? Why didn’t I do anything? I was the one who told her to do it. Maybe I should rebel against the Authority and prove to the city that the world isn’t as black and white as it seems.’ The transport monorail came to a stop at Genesis Labs courtyard and Kari stood up and she got off. She walked across the courtyard when she saw something lying against the ground. She kneeled down and picked it up. It was a white feather, but there were no birds, let alone animals in the city. It was soft to the touch and very delicate. She quickly put it in her pocket and she continued across the courtyard and up the stairs to the Genesis labs front door. As she walked up the stairs she could hear a feint tapping sound, but she couldn’t tell where it was coming from. When she reached the top, her mother stood holding her data pad and tapping her foot.