Prodigy Eternal (book 2)

Chapter Eight

Milo rode with Mara back to Incarus — the small community where Mara lived with 150 others. The self-reliant agrarian community was located a few hours away from the major city of Megalopolis — the world's largest and most industrious city. Despite the main luxuries afforded to people living in the year 2119, the small group preferred to be detached as much as possible from the perpetual machine seemingly driving modern civilization toward a technological singularity.

"I can't believe you guys still live here," Milo said, looking around the repurposed subway tunnels.

"You say that every time you come here," Mara said.

"I know, I know, 'it's a way of life'. I guess I still don't get it. I always thought you were just hiding from Maxim Morrison... but now that he's gone, I just assumed you and your people would move into one of the hundreds of abandoned neighbourhoods around the hive."

"We are in an abandoned neighbourhood."

"Good point."

Mara led Milo into one of the communal living quarters to introduce him to some of the newcomers. With Alex gone, Milo tried to spend as much time as possible with Mara. Not only was she a fascinating person with a lot of life experience, but she was also like a mother-figure to him, something that was desperately missing from his life. On top of that, they had been through some difficult times together and had formed a tight bond, despite their age difference.

The room they were in was quite large, but it had a low ceiling with long tubes of fluorescent lights. The brick walls were painted, most likely to hide the graffiti and decay. Scattered throughout the room was a sporadic arrangement of chairs, sofas, and tables, which housed an assembly of various conversations. The volume of chatter was surprisingly low considering the large group. Evidently, they held the consideration of others in the highest regard. Aside from the seats and tables, there was very little décor as everything in Incarus had a minimalist approach. They were not the type of people who collected and stored possessions that did not serve some practical purpose.

Milo made the rounds, bowing to everyone — the customary greeting ritual of the 22nd century. Everyone seemed happy as usual to see him. He knew almost everyone by name and had developed close bonds with several people, especially Curik — Mara's boyfriend. Curik was solid in every sense of the word. He stood tall and had chiseled features, but was remarkably kind. Milo felt protected just being in his presence.

Milo and Mara joined Curik in a circle of five other people. The discussion began by getting updates on everyone's life. A few had questions about Milo's recent appearance on the news, while others asked him about his studies. Eventually, the conversation meandered to politics.

"So Milo, who are you voting for in the upcoming Leadership election?" Curik asked.

"Unless Alex is running, I don't think we need a Leader," Milo said. "Look where that got us last time. Despite Maxim's good looks and good intentions, I'm not exactly sure what he did for us. What has happened since he's been gone? Nothing. When you can leave for a year and nothing changes, it's a pretty good indication that there was no real deficit with your departure. So yeah, I'll probably vote 'none of the above'."

"How does that work exactly?" Lucia asked. "I mean, if the 'none of the above' wins?"

"I'm no expert on it," Curik responded, "but I believe a new campaign process begins."

"So if people continue to vote 'none of the above', what happens then?"

"I'm not sure, it's never happened before."

"There's something about the candidate in last place," Mara said, pausing for reflection.

"Arlon Van Buren?" Tim said. "That's who you're voting for?"