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Author's Note: Ok so I'm back again and with something new as promised. I'm told this story is a little different than the ones I've written so far so I guess you guys are going to need to bear with me for a bit until I get this thing going. I hope to get back to the DRU as soon as I can but until then I hope you enjoy this fun little tangent of mine. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and my beta readers for their great help.

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1:

There was another car, I think that was four now. Four in the last five minutes. I didn’t really know Crystal all that well, but apparently a lot of other people did. It was strange to say you didn’t know someone, especially considering I used to see her every day. Used to being the key word. Young people die all the time but I’ve never actually known one of them. It doesn’t happen as often either. At least not in the small burgs like ours. In the big cities, sure but not around here. It was kind of sad when you stopped to think about her life being cut so short like that. In a car accident too. I still couldn’t believe how something like that was even possible. The mag rails were fully automated; the cars driving them were completely controlled by the system. There weren’t supposed to be any accidents.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. There were no tears, why wasn’t I crying.

Looking out my window at the Sanderson’s house around the street, everyone there had been crying. Even the couple that was getting out of the most recent arrival. These people were strangers to me and yet they had more emotion than I did. Sure, I didn’t know Crystal as well as I should have, but I should have at least cried for her, right? Her sister Maddie was in my class, I should have been crying for her sake, too. The two of them had been close. Real close I think. I used to remember them playing in the yard when they were younger. They looked so happy then. That was before their older brother Ryan manifested though. Families always seemed to be strained after that. It got worse when Ryan went to live in the Cube with the others and his family decided to stay behind.

It wasn’t that uncommon of course, but I couldn’t imagine why anyone would refuse The Cube.

I tried not to think about it though.

I tried to pull away from the window too, but I just couldn’t. People fascinated me a little bit. It’s not like I wasn’t a people person, sure I liked them but I tried to avoid them whenever I could. There was just something about them that intrigued me. I liked watching behavior, the way certain people reacted to certain things. Mom always said I’d make a great scientist like her because of it. I wasn’t going to be like her though. Not that I thought there was anything wrong with Communication but I wanted to be a Sentinel. I’m sure every guy my age did but some part of me wanted it more than the rest. Sentinels were the only other people besides the Alphas and their families who got to live in The Cube. I wanted it more than anything else in the world.

Another car pulled up to the house. That makes five.

I almost lost interest after that but a moment later, a sixth car arrived. This one piqued my interest a lot though. It was a white Saber, no wheels, retrofitted with grade C hovers. State of the art tech---Dad helped manufacture some of it. It wasn’t the car that interested me though, it was the occupants. As soon as the door opened, I recognized the overly beautiful woman who stepped out. Long legs, gorgeous flowing blonde hair. Tall, beautiful and in total control of every situation----that was what Ms. Scott strived for. She looked just as perfect as ever in her tiny little black dress, not even a wrinkle. Of course she was perfect though, she was an Alpha, a Super Venus, some called her.

I didn’t disagree.

I just didn’t realize she knew the Sanderson’s though.

I tried to lose interest but I just couldn’t especially when the passenger door opened and Teddy slid out. He was my best friend. It was just hard to imagine that he was anything at all related to his mother. Here she was this tall, gorgeous Goddess and Teddy, well he was anything but. Short and far, the only way you could tell they were even related was because they shared the same hair color. Strangely, though, his mother’s seemed to be shinier. She walked around the car, her long legs elegantly moving with the grace of an angel. Teddy fell in behind her, his head low, his shoulders slouched. I knew what he was thinking because he grumbled about it every time he went anywhere with her---he despised his mother. He hated everything she stood for.

She was an Alpha and he was not. She apparently made that very clear to him as well. I felt bad for him. It wasn’t unheard of for Alphas to slum with us lower people, even have children with us. The Alphas frowned upon it of course. It was beneath them to be seen with us. It’s why they all lived in The Cube. It’s why there were Cubes all over the world. At first, they were meant to protect them from us. Back when the Alphas first started manifesting, us normal people didn’t understand. There was a lot of bad blood. Some real bloodshed, too. The government came up with The Cubes to protect them and then the Sentinels to protect us. After the years though, it became less a refuge and more like a standard of living for them.

I continued to watch my friend as he trailed slowly behind his scene-stealing mother.

When they got to the front door, she hugged a weeping Mrs. Sanderson. Then the two of them disappeared into the house like everyone else. A second later, I heard a pip in my ear. I nearly jumped out of my chair. I cursed, tapping the small device just below my left earlobe. A moment later, I heard the recording, “Can you snipe me from that window please?” It was from Ted. I looked but of course, he was already inside now. I was just surprised that he was able to see from all the way across the street. I couldn’t help but wonder if his mother let him finally get that thermal upgrade to his Bio he’d been bugging her about.

It was the same one I’d been bugging my parents about too but to no avail.

“Bio’s aren’t toys, Ben,” my Dad reminded me every time I asked.

A moment later, another pip. Again from Ted. “Maddie looks really upset. I didn’t realize she and Crystal were close anymore?”

Ted and Maddie had been friends since grade school. Their Dads worked the Tunnels together. Ted and Mads had a lot of play dates when they were younger. I think it was just his mother’s way to get rid of him. He was one of us after all. Ted got dumped with his father a lot because of it. It kind of pissed me off a bit, that Alphas could have kids with us and then expect them to be Alphas too.

Everyone knew it didn’t work that way. Alphas were a genetic abnormality, not something, that could be created through procreation. Not that people didn’t try. Alphas even tried with one another but with little success. In fact, they couldn’t procreate with one another at all. It was one of the reasons they slummed so low as to “do it” with us normal people.

Their normal children were a lot like Ted too. No one knows why.

If you ask me, it was kind of a shame for the child.

I was about to return the pip when there was a knock on my door. Sighing, I quickly spun my chair and slid over to my desk. I had a pretty good idea who was on the other side of the door and I definitely didn’t want her catching me gawking. I was proven right a moment later when the door opened and my mother stuck her head inside. Her real head too, not some holographic representation of her like usual. I wonder what the occasion was.

“Ben, I’ve just been across the street,” she said, answering my unasked question.

So the death of a neighbor gets her home but not her two kids.

Typical.

“I didn’t know you knew Crystal?”

“Not a lot but enough. Besides its rude not to show.”

Sure, make me feel bad now. It’s not that I didn’t want to go, it’s just that I felt awkward just showing up like that. I didn’t really know Crystal after all and Maddie and I were barely friends. Showing up at her house to help mourn her dead sister just didn’t feel right to me.

“I don’t really…I mean I didn’t really know her.”

My Mom frowned. “You might not have known her but it’s proper to go and pay your respects anyway.”

Shit. I hated getting dressed up.

“You’re going to make me go aren’t you?”

“You’re almost fifteen now Benjamin, so I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do. However, I think your friend Maddie might appreciate it if you showed.”

Double Shit.

How do Moms do that? Sure, she wasn’t telling me to go but she was sure as hell guilting me into it.

I tried to weigh my options. I only really had two of them. Stay here and look like an ass, not only in front of my own mother but also to Maddie. Or I could put on my best clothes, force a fake amount of grief and try to be human once in my life. I sure wanted to go with #1 but I had to do the right thing. Me and my stupid moral compass.

Why did I always pick the right thing?

The tie was too tight. I tried doing it myself but in the end, I let the Auto Dresser in my dad’s closet do it for me. I know what you’re thinking and no, my father knows how to put on his clothes. The Auto Dresser was there for things like that---ties. It was programmed for other things as well but it had this tie tying function. These little robot arms actually tied the stupid thing for you. It was very convenient but also a pain in the ass because it always made things too tight. It was like the stupid thing was literally out to choke you.

I finally managed to get it free from my neck. Loosening it as best I could, I was finally able to take a deep breath before walking out of the little main foyer area.

The Sanderson’s house wasn’t all that different from our own. In fact, it was nearly identical. Most of the houses in the Burb were all prefab things. Created with a computer program somewhere and assembled in a day. They had the same rooms, the same amount of bathrooms, the same two car garages and the same backyard, down to the centimeter. No one could ever say this place wasn’t efficient. The only thing different about the Sanderson’s was the color on the walls and the furniture of course. They also did some minor renovations as well, it seemed. They took out a wall, turning the kitchen and dining room into one large area. There was also a huge holo fish tank that floated down from the ceiling, centering the whole of the living room.

I looked around for their holoscreen, wondering why they would ever replace it. My wandering eyes caught the attention of some nearby adults so I quickly pretended I was scanning the room for someone. I recognized some of the adults. Miss Green was in the corner---she was our home room teacher. She was just as beautiful as ever. She was an Alpha, too. In fact all of our teachers were. It wasn’t unheard of actually. There were only six schools in our Zone. Twenty teachers rotated between each every four months. We had different subjects in the four month blocks. This block was Math and Science; last block was History and English. The next Block would be starting very soon, the Block I was looking forward to. It was the one where we took placement classes, leading us into the kind of career that we wanted to do.

For someone my age, it meant the world.

My little sister Carrie was still in the Under Program. Whereas she had the same teachers, her curriculum was much different. I was in what the schools referred to as the Intermediate Program.

Crystal---before her tragedy---was an Upper. They were already in Career Placement programs in their respective fields. I think I remember Maddie saying her sister was in Med.

Thinking about it actually pained me a little.

I quickly distracted myself trying to find someone I knew. I saw several other teachers, some parents and lots of neighbors. I thought I saw my little sister somewhere in the crowd. She and Mom had come over before me; Dad was the lucky one hiding at work. Nothing new there. I finally spotted Ted. He was with our other friend Joe, trying very hard to blend into the scenery near the food table. I made sure I didn’t run into anyone who might stop me as I slowly made my way over. Joe caught sight of me first, giving me a nod. Ted and Joe struck me as an odd pair. Whereas Ted was short and round, Joe was tall and very thin. Lots of the kids at school referred to them as the number ten whenever they were together. So of course, I referred to them as “One” and “Zero”.

“Hey Minus” said Joe as I approached them.

Sure if they were the number ten then I was the negative. People latched onto that pretty quick too. It was pretty well known around school how anti-social I was. Dark hair, dark clothes, dark demeanor. That pretty much summed me up. My grandfather said they used to have a name for it when he was younger. Someone like me didn’t even get categorized anymore. What with Alphas and the like. To them we were all Jects—short for Rejects of course. So for us to give ourselves denominators due to social status was a bit redundant.

“Hey guys,” I said, keeping my voice low.

Today was not a day to joke with my buds.

Ted turned and looked at me, giving me a nod. “Didn’t think you’d show.”

I shrugged. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”

Ted nodded, clearly reading through my bullshit. That’s what I liked about him; you could never pull a fast one on Ted. He knew when you were lying, when you were sincere and when you were just trying to play it cool to look good. I guess he picked up a lot with a Mom like his. Sure, she was gorgeous but it was clear that she was fake. I looked around and caught her chatting up a group over in the corner. She was flashing a smile, laughing lightly at some joke. I’d only ever met her once or twice but from both those encounters, it was clear she wasn’t pleased to be around me. Pleased to be around any Jects for that matter. I still couldn’t figure out why she was here at all anyway.

“It looks good for company PR,” said Ted as if reading my thoughts.

His mother was the CEO of Scott Pharmaceuticals. They were the leading drug manufacturer on the East Coast. They supplied meds for several Zones, including the big Zone areas like NYC and Atlanta.

It still didn’t explain why she was here rubbing elbows with us little people.

“That guy next to her” said Ted, nodding to a tall, nondescript blonde. “That’s her assistant. Mom’s trying to write this off as some philanthropic PR stunt or some shit.”

Now that I could see. Say what you want about Alphas, they sure knew how to put themselves out there.

Most Alphas were either actors or politicians. Something that put their face all over the world. Though there were some who used their talents for other things. Like sports teams and big business. Alphas were after all stronger than us and much smarter than us. They explained it all in science class more than once but it was never my best subject. It had something to do with manifestation and the over activated brain something or other. Suffice to say, they were definitely better than us in just about anything they ever did.

Ted groaned. “Don’t look now but here comes the leech?”

I just caught a quick glance and saw the “leech” coming over. It was his mother’s assistant. He was an Alpha too, an Adonis. I always felt a little intimidated by them when they were near. Not only did their height make me feel tiny but their muscles and chiseled looks made me feel like I should wear a paper bag over my head for the rest of my life.

“Hey boys” he said in a tone that was borderline condescending. “How ya guys doing?”

Ted rolled his eyes. “What do you want, Jeremy?”

The Leech---Jeremy---feigned insult.

“Just getting another drink,” he said, stepping toward the table.

He stepped right between Ted and me, completely devoid of personal space. He nearly bowled me over too. I had to side step his approach and even then his hands still ended up on me. Trying to step one way only made it worse because he tried to go the other. It was awkward to say the least. After getting another drink, he looked annoyed at first as if he was going to insult me but thought better of it. As soon as he got his drink, he was gone. I watched him go, giving him daggers. I wasn’t the only one either though. As he walked back over to Ms. Scott, I saw the daggers she was giving him too. They exchanged words and whatever she said to him, it clearly took the wind from him because the look on his face was priceless.

I couldn’t help but smirk at that.

“What a tool?”

“Your Mom just bitch slapped him for it,” I said, laughing.

Joe and Ted gave me a strange look.

Yeah, so I didn’t laugh much.

“Hey did you guys see the latest vid?” asked Joe excitedly.

Joe was a bit of a vid nut. He was a techie like my Mom so anything to do with the Bios or Vids or Holos got his blood pumping. We both knew what he was jumpy about today though. It had to be the ASC. They were all over the Vids lately. The Alpha Superiority Coalition. They were a radical group of Alpha nut jobs who thought Alphas were superior to everyone and that the Jects needed to start to understand that or pay the price. They were nothing more than common thugs. Taggers and paint bombs mostly.

“What did they Paint now?” asked Ted, barely interested as he sipped his drink.

“They’ve escalated.”

Ted rolled his eyes but that actually did pique my interest a bit.

I was all for anarchy in all its forms.

“They popped one of trams yesterday, took it for a ride around the Outer Zone before the Sentinels finally pinched them.”

I’d heard the sirens yesterday but I had no idea it was for that. I just assumed some other punk tried to break into the Cube again. Cube break-ins or rather attempted break-ins happened every other day. People were always anxious to see what was on the other side of those high, pristine white walls. Hell, I was just as anxious too. I knew there was a proper way to get in though. Well two proper ways but I was pretty certain I was far from Alpha material. In fact, just thinking about that made my skin crawl. I was going to go about it the only sensible way.

As a Sentinel of course.

“They’ll be old news before you know it,” said Ted, disinterested as usual.

I had to agree with him though. The ASC were harmless, a bunch of street thugs just looking for a little screen time. As soon at their 15 seconds of fame was up, they’d be done.

“How do you pop a tram anyway?” I asked, letting my curiosity get the better of me.

“Not easily” said Ted and Joe together.

“A hack of that caliber” continued Joe “its high quality bio rewriting. Not to mention interrupting the System. Taking a mag off line is no easy task either.”

Joe tended to get loud when he was excited about something, especially when he was talking about his techie stuff. His voice carried and several of the people nearby gave him nasty looks. He didn’t notice but I quickly put my heel down on his foot. After yelping and cursing, I think it finally sunk in. Talking about derailing a mag at such an excited level and especially now, it wasn’t the brightest thing in the world.

“Dude” hissed Ted, looking just as angry as everyone else.

“Oh shit,” said Joe, turning a pale green.

Literally too, actually. He had one of those apps on his Bio that changed the pigment of his skin based on his emotions. It was absolutely pointless of course but a lot of kids our age had them. Well a lot excluded me.

After that, Ted started chastising him which I decided not to stay around for. I thought about going to look for Carrie but quickly second guessed that. I loved my kid sis but she was nine and I didn’t exactly have a lot in common with that. I tried to find common ground with her but she was all about her dolls and Bio pet things. The only thing we actually did have in common were our parents and the house we lived in. Well and maybe Toby. He was our dog. He was a German Shepherd on the good days, a Golden Retriever whenever Dad was around and a nice shaggy sheep dog whenever Carrie played with him.

Toby was a Synth. A synthetic bio-organize pet. Owning real dogs wasn’t allowed anymore so some ingenious company developed syntho-pets a few decades ago. They could literally be whatever you wanted them to be. We got REX003 when I was about Carrie’s age. Dad was always partial to dogs. He actually had a real one when he was a kid. A Golden Retriever named Toby, that’s sorta how ours got his name. Toby was great but according to Dad, he was nothing like the real thing.

I’m just surprised Carrie didn’t try smuggling him in here somehow.

I found my sister in one of the back room, playing with her friend Becky from down the street. They had their dolls out, up walking and talking. It always freaked me out when they did that. Whoever came up with toys like that was a genius of course but that didn’t stop me from wanted to stomp on them.

I thought about going out onto the back patio where I saw my Mom and several others but didn’t want to get into the mess. Maybe I’d just head home. I’d done my part after all. I made an appearance, I saw the guys, I filled my human quota for the day. I made a beeline for the door when I got pipped again. At first, I thought it was Ted again, trying to coax me into staying just a bit longer. I tapped my lobe and heard a voice I hadn’t actually heard speak to me in a long time: “Benjy?”

It was Maddie.

I turned around, confused. Then I caught sight of her. She was sitting in the shadows at the top of the stairs, her knees pulled up under her chin. I sighed, trying to remember the last time anyone ever called me Benjy. It had to be back when I was an Undie like Carrie. Benjy was a nickname that a lot of the kids called me. I actually think Maddie was the one who originated. She was also the only one who still ever called me by it. It’s just been so long since I’d actually heard her say it. I took a cautious breath before deciding what I wanted to do. I had two options again. Either continue out the door and forget her or turn around and go to her. I knew which one my head wanted me to do but my heart was telling me something else entirely.

I have a bit of a confession to make.

The real reason I stopped being friends with Maddie was because of puberty. It was exceptionally kind to the Sanderson sisters. Crystal was near Alpha pretty and her sister was a very close second. Maddie went from this chubby, chipmunk cheeked girl into a knockout over night. It was a pretty amazing metamorphosis actually. Sure, it was longer than over night but you get my drift. Suffice to say it didn’t take long for her to set my hormones racing. Unfortunately, that’s where the problem fell. I wasn’t the only one. I’m not sure which one of us decided it but somehow Ted got dibs. Call it the bro code or whatever but I wasn’t going to muscle in like that on my buddy. So I did the noble and heart wrenching thing and I backed off.

Ted got the girl even if he never actually got the girl.

The only thing the two of them were ever able to muster was a very good friendship. I know it pissed Ted off a lot too.

I made up my mind quick though.

I turned and started for the door just like before.

Pip. “Benjy, please, just once.”

Letting out an even heavier sigh than before, I finally made my way up the stairs. My legs felt like they both weighed a hundred pounds at least. I found Maddie sitting on the top step, still shrouded in shadow. It didn’t matter though because I could still vaguely see her face. Like Joe, she had one of those funky Bio apps too but unlike his, her app allowed her to change her hair color and makeup at will. Today it was all black, no surprise there. I dropped down the step next to her, not sure how to react or what to say. In the end it didn’t matter because as soon as I dropped next to her she had her arms around me, her head buried into my shoulder and the tears soon followed.

I tensed up.

I can count on one hand how many people ever actually hugged me. I can even use one finger to count how many people ever cried on me. To say I was a bit awkward was an understatement but I let her cry. It was the human thing to do; right? And cry she did. I’m not sure how long she actually did it for but when she stopped, I couldn’t help but want to hug her a bit myself. Instead, I took my grandfather’s handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to her.

She dried her eyes. She might have even blown her nose. I didn’t really care just so long as it made her feel better.

“Thanks” she said in a soft voice, still clutching my keepsake tightly.

“I’m sorry about Crystal” I said and actually meant it too.

She didn’t say anything for a whole minute but when she did speak it was softly again. “I don’t understand it.”

“Understand what?”

“They said it was driver error. That Crys accidentally turned off the autopilot and car jerked from the rail going 80. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

She broke down again. This time I did hug her. Her head somehow ended up under my chin this time. Her hair smelled like lilacs. I kind of liked it. I held her a longer this time as she sobbed into my chest. I needed to comfort her, I needed to say something. Then I remembered what Dad said. The car Crystal was driving---the Saber---there was no way that a driver could switch off the auto. That function wasn’t even in the cockpit. He was certain that the malfunction was on the rail itself or one of the mag couplers on the bottom of the car.

It was definitely not pilot error as all the vids were saying.

So I told her that.

She looked up at me, her eyes glistening with tears. “You’re sure?”

I smiled. “My Dad built the car. He should know after all.”

Her face split into the biggest smile I’d ever seen. God I forgot how much I loved that smile.

Then she did something I only ever dreamed. She actually grabbed my head and kissed me. It was a quick peck but it was still on the lips. She pulled away quickly, a little surprised more than anything. I was surprised to say the least too. We stared at each other for a few moments before she finally pulled away.

“Sorry” she said softly, welling up again.

I reached to comfort her again but she brushed me off.

Of course. Mistake. That’s all it even was with me.

No, not a mistake. Grief. I comforted her and she got lost in the moment. Nothing more, soon to be forgotten.

“I gotta go,” I said quickly, standing up.

I started down the stairs, getting pipped as I opened the door.

“Thanks Benjy”

Gods I would pay a million creds to keep hearing her say that name over and over again.

I couldn’t help but smile as I opened the door. Glad no one saw either because two in one day from me, people might think I was sick or something. I managed to smile all the way across the street though. I even found myself smiling as I got into the house and made it to my room. As soon as I got to the bedroom, the smile faded. Well good things can’t last forever, right?

Toby was on my bed waiting, currently a Boxer.

“I guess I might be human after all boy,” I said happily.

He cocked his head, giving me a funny look.

Then there was the pip.

One simple line.

“I saw that.”

Shit.

Ted.

Well it’s officially, I’m definitely human.

At least until tomorrow anyway.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF