Carter 173

Chapter 1

Carter 173 is not one you would associate with the rebellion. He is more shy and smart, opposed to the other men in the society. More are considered – how you say – bold and barbaric. They are who you would relate with wrestlers and warriors, back when those existed. Many centuries ago, 2263 A.D to be exact, it was fabled that women walked among the men. The men found them far less superior than they were. Scientists had made a human constructing machine – a Creator if you will – so what was the women's purpose? How would they be used? Being 'less superior', were they even needed? The men voted for the banishment of women, they killed the majority, but many put up a fight and ran toward the wilderness. They were not seen since. Some men believe that they still exist, that they are not just a tale used upon children to make them behave. Others are oblivious to the stories, not even remotely aware that they might not be a fantasy.
The men built themselves a society and erased the idea that women ever existed. They made a new world, a world they thought would be happier. Despite their efforts, the men that believe in the existence of women protested. The government captured anyone who had the slightest interest in the existence of women. Which leads us the present, 2863 A.D, with Carter 173 in an interrogation cell, with suspicions of joining the rebellion.
'Name,' the man facing him demanded. He looked similar to his friend Jay; tall, buff, blonde haired and blue eyed. Carter guessed he came from the Creator 96.
'Carter,' he answered eagerly. Carter had never been accused of anything before, he refused to accept the idea of women in society. He thought the people who thought they existed were slightly off. They were obviously stories. The thought of other people that weren't them sent chills down Carter 173's spine.
'Creator number,' the man said. He said it in a way that wasn't a question but an order, just like Jay would. Yes, Carter was almost certain, Creator 96.
'Creator 173, sir.' Carter showed the man the inside of his left arm, where his Creator Number was permanently tattooed. The man grunted a reply and scribbled with a stylus on his holo-pad, a clear tablet that could project holograms for convenience. Carter bounced his legs excitedly under the metal table. The room in which he sat contained no more than two steel chairs facing each other over a table. The walls were made of a panelled metal except one, which Carter knew to be a holographic see-through wall. Being as aware as he was, he noticed the slight change of colour and the flickers as the holograph shifted. Carter thought very highly of himself, however, this coincidentally led to him being teased. Only his fellow siblings from Creator 173 had the brain capacity as he did. Possibly the Creator made for the production of scientists knew the many things as he did, perhaps they knew the pain of bullying. Not many people were made from Creator 173, it was shut down after the scientists noticed that it was creating a variety of people and not just civilians, as it was supposed to. Carter was the last human to be made from that Creator. The people from Creator 173 weren't very highly thought of. They were considered different, a kind of virus that the machine made into the real world. No, Carter thought, the scientists wouldn't know the bullying.
The man in front of Carter shifted on his chair, scribbling rapidly on his clear holo-pad, not bothering to look up. 'So,' the man moistened his lips, '173, huh? They call you Viruses, you know.'
'Yes, I know.' Carter mumbled, his excitement drained. He did not feel up to talking about that subject. He prefers not to tell anyone his Creator number, whenever he does, he is always teased. By adults, teens; even seniors and toddlers.
'Anyways,' the man grunted, 'you have no association with the rebellion?'
'No, sir.' Carter replied quietly. 'I think that the people who believe in such things are kidding themselves, sir.'
The man raised a blonde eyebrow, looking directly at Carter for the first time. He tapped his left earlobe, a sign that he was listening to a transmission. In doing so, Carter noticed the black tattoo along his arm: 96, he furtively congratulated himself. Carter took another intuitive guess that the people behind the holographic wall had connected a wireless truth detector to him and they were transmitting that Carter was telling the truth.
'Alright, kid,' the man said, 'you're free to go.' Carter smirked, knowing that he'd guessed correctly yet again. He stood, along with the man. The holographic wall disabled, allowing Carter 173 to leave the room.
He walked through the pristine white hallways towards the walkway which served as a more effective version of the elevator. He stepped into the long, clear, spiralling tube – a trans-way -  and made his way around the building. Using his superior memory, Carter found his way back to the reception from which he came. When he entered the room, decorated with silver spirals along the white walls, he noticed his friend Jay 96, his friend from the same Creator as the man in the interrogation room. Jay was surprisingly upbeat, for a person who had to wait while his friend was interrogated about the rebellion.
Jay grinned. 'How'd it go?'
Carter collected his belongings from the receptionist, a pair of earphones and his holographic phone. He shoved them in the pocket of his white pants. 'As anticipated.' Carter began. 'They found me innocent and let me go almost immediately. It was actually quite thrilling!'
Jay playfully elbowed Carter in the ribs. 'Trust you to be excited about getting in trouble.'
The pair walked out of the front door into the vast city. In front of them was a large green garden, a stone pathway leading civilians through the middle. Trees were circled with rocks and perfectly trimmed bushes lined the edges of the garden. Ponds sat peacefully in the middle of the bed of lush green grass. No animals, of course, they all went extinct centuries ago, along with the women.
Surrounding the garden where identical tall white buildings with clear tubes twisting around each building. Trans-ways.
Carter 173 and Jay 96 walked through the garden towards the apartment building section.
'I finally finished my essay on Creators.' Jay said. Carter could tell he was just trying to make conversation as he had already told him this countless times. 'I would appreciate it if you could proof-read it.'
Carter smiled. 'Sure.' He agreed. Jay knew that Carter did not fit into his classroom at school. He was put with his fellow humans from Creator 173 and the other people where their creation malfunctioned. They wouldn't be called disabled; their brains were just slightly underdeveloped whereas Carter's was overdeveloped. Carter knew he didn't belong in that classroom. He only got one sheet of homework each day and finished them instantaneously. He needed more of a challenge, so Jay donated his homework without batting an eye.
'Also,' Jay continued, 'Macy and his gang gave you another death threat. They told me to deliver it to you.'
'Couldn't they have messaged me?'
Jay shrugged. 'You know how old-fashioned they are. They told me to say:' Jay pulled a shrivelled up ball of paper from his pocket and smoothed it out. '"You little mutant, no one likes you."' Jay read.
'How creative.'
They walked through another block of identical buildings to find a large ceremony occurring in front of the presidential building. A large, raised stage was propped below the steps of the building. The president stood at a podium delivering a speech. The stage on which he stood was surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of civilians, all wearing the same long, white pants and a black t-shirt with the government emblem on the left chest pocket; a golden circle with an F in the centre.
'Today, fellow civilians,' President Lowe began, 'is the 600-year anniversary of the Creators!' The crowd cheered. 'Before Creators were made, people existed because we built rituals to prolong life! When we constructed the Creators, and the rituals were no longer needed, our ancestors died, leaving us to build a new society in their memory!'
Jay rolled his eyes. Everyone had heard this story millions of times, nevertheless, the crowd cheered once again and the President continued.
'A new and beautiful society in which we have honoured our ancestors! We have ventured to the corners of outer space! We have made scientific breakthroughs! Not only this, but we have made a safer world for us to live in! Creators have changed the way we live ---.' Carter zoned out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black figure dash between two buildings. He knew he should stay and watch the remainder of the ceremony, it was only polite, but his curiosity got the better of him. In the split second in which he saw the figure, he noticed that he wasn't wearing his designated day clothing. Throughout the day, everyone could only wear long white pants, black dress shoes and a black long sleeved t-shirt with the country's golden emblem on it. At night, long grey pyjamas could only be worn, and no one could leave their building. If they did not follow these rules, they would be brought in for questioning and possibly imprisoned.
Carter walked away from the crowd and towards where he saw the figure; two large grey buildings with clear, spiralling trans-ways. He crept to the edge of the building and looked down the alley he saw the figure run into.
The alley was brightly lit with daylight, at the end was a metal trash chute which led to the city's underground deposits. Other than the pebbles littering the ground, nothing else was visible. Carter was about to inspect more but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Carter turned and found himself face to face with Macy 250 and his gang, Carter's favourite bullies.