I can’t believe I finally found someone on the island, I’ve been working for months since finding those folders. My dad works for the government under their financial allocations division. They took all of the poor and useless members of society and moved them to remote islands when ARPANET was funded. Since they couldn’t ever afford computers, they had no power to resist and so they went along with it. After a time, they forgot how it even happened and learned to be content with their simple lives, they’re raised generations and have worked to dutifully operate the computer systems for the mainland. Now the technology is evolving again and their efforts are no longer necessary, they are just a drain on the government’s resources. How do I know all this? Because I’m much smarter with computers than my dad could ever imagine. He’s not an evil man, he just does what he has to so that my family can have a good life. I can’t let all these people die however, it ends now.
Dinah, we operate their computers? Why would they want to kill us?
Ab, they do need you all anymore. They want to wipe you away and cut costs. We need the world to know that you exist.
What do you mean?
They won’t kill you if they know the whole world is watching.
Dinah, I can’t contact mainland normally, you know that?
Ab, you can’t, but I can.
Won’t you get in trouble? We’re not supposed to resist The Process?
Abaddon, screw The Process. I can’t sit by and let hundreds of thousands of people die because they were too poor to afford computers. I needed to know that the pictures of you all weren’t just fake. I’m going to expose them Ab, I have to.
Dinah wait—
*user has signed off*
What did she mean by exposing them? Are the Elders really the government and do they really not care if we live or die? I have to get home to my parents right now. I run out of the facility, my Assistant is calling my name but I can’t turn around, I don’t have time. I leave Tabby at school, I don’t want to scare her with all of this doomsday. I burst through the door and see my parents both sitting at the table, they look up when I come in.
“Hey Abaddon, sit down, we need to talk.”
“Dad, something happened at the Work Center and I don’t—”
“We know, your assistant called us, she saw your screen and the chat history.”
“Dad, this girl from mainland says they’re trying to kill us all and that can’t be true right? The Elders would never hurt us?”
“Ab, we’re so proud of the productive member of society you’ve become. We’ve worked hard in this family to help mainland in achieving the greater good as a part of The Process. Part of that is realizing when we’re no longer being helpful and we are detracting from the greater good. Son, it’s time for the Elders to send us home.”
My ears started ringing, we were all going to die and they knew it. My parents knew it, and they didn’t care. I shook my head slowly and then with more will.
“You might be okay with dying for people, these “Elders” who abandoned us here as prisoners but I’m not.”
I ran out the door to get Tabby, I get to the Work Center in minutes and grab her. She just keeps asking questions but I have to get us out, I jump in a small sailboat on the dock that normally carries our supplies. I don’t know if we’ll make the journey but I refuse to be a part of The Process any longer. So Tabby and I sail off into the vast new world.