LIBERTARIA

by Sabrina Pea Young Adapted from the Libertaria: The Virtual Opera

PROLOGUE AD2125 An Alleyway in Nueva York, USSA With a raw scream, life flowing red and melting with the scarlet sky, she forgot time and space, the pain inside her swollen abdomen only matched by the pain in her frenzied heart. She saw Simeons glazed eyes looking at her, not comprehending, but she knew as countless women martyrs have known before. This was life passing on to life, her spirit dissolving as another breathed its first poisoned breath. This was the Order of things, as Fate, as God, allowedAnd this was to be her legacy, a helpless, shrieking thing that she would never know, would never love, would never A weak almost alien cry broke the stream of thoughtsExhaustion mixed with sweat and chills... A pallid smile froze on slowly discoloring lips. Then darkness and the beginning again

THE WHITE ROOM Shrieking animal wrenching Never unleashed For once the animal did scream in the known world And now locked in a sterile room Staring at my captors Drugs medicate my soul Sedating my spirit

CHAPTER 1 AD2139 Somewhere outside the Dead Zone, USSA Brightness. Knowing that it was futile, LIB2125 pulled the sterile sheets over her head. A blaring siren methodically increased in volume by microscopic increments. Like lemmings or ants, each teen in the Factory ward lined up at the door after quickly straightening their austere hospital beds, following without question the emotionless men holding the clipboards. First it would be communal showers in the dry bath, then VitamiGen shots, first meal, and then a day of rigorous physical activities to keep their bodies fresh, lean, and healthy. Healthy for what purpose seemed a pointless question, and since their purpose did not involve thinking, rarely did a question form outside the most remote crevices of each ward members young brain. The siren emitted six short blasts, a warning that the next signal, a silent signal, would paralyze any inhabitant left in the ward. LIB2125 raced out the door, just in time to hear it seal with two hapless, now motionless, souls within. She looked back in time to see MIG2122 crumple to the floor in a heap, the girls face contorted worse than any monstrosity destroyed by a cruel potter. Somewhere in the dark blankness that was her mind, LIB2125 sensed that something evil had just happened, but what it was or why it should matter to her never registered. Then she remembered that today was to be a different type of day. The men with the laser clipboards eyed her almost with a sneer and her usual companions seemed to hold her in awe. Her assigned exercise physiologist, the oldest human she had ever seen, perhaps almost forty years of age, gave her allowances in her daily routine as if permitting her final moments of respite. These shifts in her simple life she barely registered, but in the spare free hour that she was given, LIB2125 raced to a barely traversed hall in the A1 ward where thousands of small cubes lined the dark wall. The biolock on her assigned lockbox recognized her DNA and opened. She pulled out the sole object in the cube - a ragged doll holding a misshapen torch. LIB2125 did not know why, but she felt that today comfort from this inanimate object, the gift from parents she never knew, may help her make sense of an aimless world. In the shadows she heard a whispered, Lib, come herenow!

Following the whispered command, LIB2125 found herself in a darkened corner, outside the range of surveillance and face to face with Nurse J2115. Sh! Nurse Js face betrayed an anxiety not allowed here at the Factory and her slim body trembled like a nervous rat. How much time, Libertaria? An hour, I guess. I wasnt keeping track. Nurse J grabbed Libertarias right shoulder, shoving a shiny object into the teenagers free hand. The metallic necklace sparkled brightly, each tiny inlaid crystal seeming to glow from a secret inner source. Libertaria had seen older girls, much fatter girls who waddled and did not walk, wearing the same medallion. There was a singular difference. The ruby set in the center of the medallion did not glow in her open hand, and she knew that for some reason this revealed the secret behind Nurses peculiar behavior. As in explanation Nurse J said, Fourteen years ago I brought a screaming, weak newborn to the Factory. IYou are mine, Libertaria, the only child I was allowed to keep. For a moment liquid pooled in the womans green eyes and Nurse J looked past the gray clouds of memory into a world where happy children called her by name. But, I need to get backI mean, thank you. Unaccustomed to showing more than a shadow of emotion, Libertaria could not understand the lump growing in her throat and the fear slowly gripping her mind. Her thoughts passed over a hundred memories of the constant presence of Nurse J2115 every day of her life, talking to her, teaching her, speaking to her as if Libertaria was more than #LIB2125 in the Factorys Apothetae I Ward. Put on the medallion. Walk out there, said the Nurse as she pointed her slim fingers to the far exit. And chew this. The brown tablets tasted like honey, but Libertaria could only register sweetness as she had never had a naturally produced food in her fourteen years. The MPs will not let me pass the gate. The Military Police dont care about medallion girls, said the Nurse, with a knowing glance.

And on that day, her fourteenth birthday, Libertaria formed her first question, But where should I go? Dont worry. He will find you. Take Bullet #7. The trust between Libertaria and Nurse J was such that Liberaria needed no further assurance. Who he was and where she should go after leaving the Factory had been decided for her, as had every step to this point. That was enough. That was familiar. And the strangeness of the day disappeared into the knowledge that all would be well for it always was well and nothing ever did change under the sun, assuming there was such a thing. The medallion added a simple beauty to Libertaria, bringing light to a face perhaps pretty but unable to show joy. Her companions at training would miss her soon. The Nurse remained in shadow as Libertaria walked towards the exit. Guards eyed the teens lean body suspiciously. Libertarias stomach suddenly lurched, and she found herself hurling this mornings health formula just outside the gate. Most of the guards laughed at her, but one hissed, Animals Libertaria did not understand, her ebony hair and suit splashed with pink ooze. Bullet #7 was only a few blocks away. She looked up at the pink, hazy sky. Inside her heart floated and flew. This was freedom, though she did not know the word and could not think it. And a miracle happened for the first time in fourteen years. Libertaria smiled.