When I woke again, it was the same soldiers in the same positions, all waiting for me to wake. One asked me to recite my name and my age, and I did with no complications whatsoever. But my mind was splitting apart at the seams. 99 years was a long time without LACEI. If there was truly no standing government, then I had no reason to worry about my secret identity. But I did. So Esinna Valunett was all the soldiers would get out of me. Ever.
When I asked about Rantorm, they told me nothing. A mumble came out, saying the program had infested something, but it wasn't enough to record to my APCA. None of this was. Eventually, after I was left with more questions than answers, a man in a white coat came with two women in similar clothes. A tablet lied in the doctor's hands, scrolling until he tapped away at something. His eyes stared into mine for a long, awkward moment before his mouth opened.
"Esinna Valunett," he said. "Twenty-four years of age, female, no visible problems. Augments include an APCA, illegal gun arms, illegal bullet maker, illegal ciphers, illegal signal blocker, metal arms, pitch choice, illegal black market tabs on APCA, and Halo™ lenses. You've built up quite the racket of things in your lifetime. All of them still function, though the black market no longer exists, and your body hasn't been infected or anything."
Good? The nurses began to pull IVs and wires out of my arm, the doctor reviewing my information for a second more before nodding to the soldiers. One moved forward, holding out a hand to me to take, and I decided to play nice. I was led away from the bedroom, down a long hallway, and out into what seemed like tents toppled on top of each other. My eyes scanned every little thing as my fingers were wrapped around the soldier's hands. My eyes were focusing on books. Printed books.
With LACEI on it.
"LACEI..." I whispered.
The soldier guiding me smirked. "She's been on icon since the end of the dictator, you know. She practically predicted how the end came."
I did? Was it "Vague and Bitter Friends"? "Lost In The Eye"? I predicted many ends. Which one was it?
"How did he die?" I asked.
"Well, it's a big conspiracy, really. Some say it was LACEI herself, but I believed that it was that marble building. The one we found you at. They took people hostage, and it wasn't a year later that Attin was announcing wars. And died and lost."
Attin was a dumbass, that was for sure. But I do remember that ending. "Ask Me How I Lie" was the book I remember about friends of war, both dying together in a ditch as they'd flashback on their life before a nuclear bomb blew them to dust. The war was their dictator's idea. And they lost, leaving you to wonder through their memories if the best friends loved each other. If they wanted to run away together once.
"My name is Alinak, by the way," said the soldier. "I'm your permanent escort, so you and I might as well as be acquainted.
I nodded, reminding myself that I had to keep my secrets.
"We're taking you to the Sorting House. Basically, people will evaluate your personality and augments to decide what job will fit you. Everyone must work, after all."
I nodded again.
My mind wandered to my apartment. Lanien must've thought I had gone missing, or maybe she had thought I was captured. My sister... I would much rather be back in time right now so I could watch a shitty teen flick to make her feel better. I was her source of income- I sent her to school. It was hard to swallow down the guilt of leaving her there all alone without someone to comfort her anxiety.
The Sorting House was a white building, and it reminded me of VR. Lanien was in the back of my mind now, freshly forgotten as I was led inside to a real human at a desk sorting through papers. No augments. No technology. She had scented candles to illuminate the room around her. By her name tag, she was Asah Neworet. Well, the names weren't any better in the future.
"Esinna!" she stood, motioning for me to sit in one of the plush chairs across her desk Alinak took one himself. "My name is Asah, and I'm going to sort you today!"
"Okay..." I sighed.
"Basically, we assign you a job and if you don't like it, we can re-sort you at any time. Now, I've managed to assign you one already, but let me explain why and how."
Too fast. She was going too fast.
"We assign you based on your abilities, and in your case, your augments too. Your personality plays in your judgement and attitude in said job, and your previous life tells me how much you've accustomed yourself to you."
She took in a breath.
"Esinna, you have no bad background, considering we have no info on the real you, but you have a gun. I put you into our makeshift military to city missions."
"So like those people that found me?" I asked.
"Exactly!"
I sighed again. This was my chance. I could find out what happened to me and Rantorm. Alinak explained I already had a place to stay, and he knew exactly where he needed to take me. I guess I was doomed to follow, but it gave me time to formulate a plan.
I needed to know what really happened when I was down. With LACEI. With Esinna. I scanned through my notes on my APCA, and I opened a new tab. Not before my voice asked me if I wanted to save the previously opened tab. My eyes scanned the note.
Day of visit to suspicious VR shit The sunset filters through the window in quite a passionate fashion I think Marble? Man it is pure Greek columns up in here- pasty white Didn't check my augs? ////////
-?#>>
<//?--
///.../////RRMMMM
Name of note?
I saved it. I had to.
I began typing in something, my numbers.
616667.
In my new opened note I wrote down a single bullet point.
Year is 9162.
We arrived with another augmented person also being guided. Except I knew who this person was. Despite living in an autocracy, some things were less controlled. Her name was Likere Bentuu. Singer. Idol. Secretly an activist. I was a good enough hacker to know she went by SLESII online, and I knew exactly what part of my soul I needed to sell in order to get under her skin. But now that I was looking at her in proper light, my sinister soul was put to rest as we approached each other.
"Likere," her guide said. "This is Esinna Valunett. She's your bunk mate."
Likere turned to her guard/guide. "I've never heard of Esinna."
"No, you wouldn't have," I chipped in. "Unlike you, I kept to my shadows without exposing myself to the public."
Okay, maybe I was wrong. My soul was still quite in an uproar.
"Play nice," Alinak whispered. "You two are in different divisions."
I saw it in her hands, papers stating she was to be a military nurse. That made sense. The big difference between SLESII and LACEI was their moral spectrum. While SLESII would rather wait out the fight with Attin, LACEI would jump into action. I wished I was there to see Attin die. I wished I was the one to kill his dead ass. But, no, I was here staring at a previous pop idol, and I was steaming with a rage from a hundred years ago.
I held out a hand. "Esinna Valunett."
She hesitantly shook it. "Likere Bentuu."
If I ever came clean about being LACEI, I would wait to see her face.
She hated LACEI.
YOU ARE READING
I Am Fictional Real
Science FictionWhen given the opportunity to use virtual reality as a means to gain the sleep she's lost, Esinna takes it upon herself to invest in the demo. Everything seemed to work fine, and she didn't question that she didn't age in the machine. Until the powe...
