Era of Madness

Ulysseus 1

"How could you deny sector V's people this! It's unacceptable!"

Tyler, as a child, was sitting in between his father and mother, not uttering a word. The one who had just shouted was none other than his mother. The one she had just screamed at was apparently sector V manager's secretary, and he obviously was pretty embarassed by the situation.

"The direction of the planet have examinated your request very carefully, and concluded that such a thing wouldn't benefit to the planet's overall situation" the secretary replied. "We understand your suffering, but-"

"But? But? There's no but, all you do is spitting out pre-made lines to deny our people the right to live a better life!" Tyler's father said before turning to his son. "And you, what do you think of it all, Ulysseus?"

Ulysseus? So, that name he thought he didn't know , was it his name when he was younger? Why did he change?

'No... no... I don't wanna see that...' Tyler thought.

But he was powerless to stop the dream, or even to close his eyes. He was forced to watch it all. Again.

Young Tyler, or rather Ulysseus, switched to his best sad child face, and asked with a small, adorable and innocent-sounding voice:

"Sir... why don't you want us to be happy?"

The secretary seemed to be really uncomfortable with this question, looking away. But Ulysseus' mother didn't let him dodge:

"Why don't you answer my son, sir? Do you maybe think that 'some brat from the lower sectors' doesn't even deserves to get an answer from the great manager's secretary?"

"No, it's not..."

The discussion continued like this for a moment, until Ulysseus' family got sent away. Even though they did not manage to stop the passing of the motion, once back to their city in sector V, they were welcomed as heroes, and praised for their bravary. This little family that started from nothing was actually daring to face the planet's higher-ups, even when the latter were known to get rid of those who got in their ways...

For everyone in the city, they were heroes. Even past the city, their reputation had already spread, they undoubtably became the vaillant spokespersons of the poor, putting their lives on the line.

A bit later, his parents brung him to a lecture. Many people assembled to assist to it. Ulysseus parents exposed their plans for the future, spoke so as to give everyone hope, encouring them to continue.

"And you'll see! The same way Lincoln freed the slaves in the end of the 19th century, even if we have to wait until the end of the 39th century, two millenials later, we'll free you too from the injustice of the sector system!" his father declared. "First, we'll protect our coin system from their tyranic reforms and then we'll obtain the rights we deserve! We'll get to live maybe not the best life, but at the very least it won't stop to struggling for survival"

His mother gave Ulysseus a pinch, noticing him it was his turn to intervene:

"When I'm older, I'll be the next... Abraham Lincoln" he said with his little voice. "I'll free everyone from tyranny, and I'll... I'll do my best for you all"

The crowd applauded and Ulysseus' parents took back the role of talking to them, finishing to expose their strategy to make the sector manager adopt their motion. Ulysseus forced himself to smile throughout the rest of the meeting.

A few hours later, back in their house, his mother violently slapped him:

"What did you do there? Why did you hesitate so much to say Abraham Lincoln? Is memorizing two simple words, a name and a surname, too hard for you?"