Story Sampler

A new chance

1A woke and glanced at the clock next to the bed. When it showed, he had awoken several minutes early, he stretched. It had been something he had picked up long ago. After stretching he turned the alarm off and rolled over to his partner, "Time to wake up 1B. Turned the alarm off."

His bed partner also stretched and yawned, "Thanks 1A. Time for the bathroom and a shower." His partner rolled out of bed and stretched again before heading to the bathing area. 1A would follow shortly as would the rest of the room. All total there were twenty of them and each had a partner. There were ten beds in the room and all slept next to their partner.

When both were done with the bathroom it was time to brush their teeth. When others joined them, they were careful to ensure their teeth were cleaned and flossed before they stepped into the shower. It didn't take long for them to get clean. Nobody had long hair though they didn't realize it. At the most the hair was down to their shoulders. Most were shorter and only took a bit of time to get washed.

1A scrubbed his partner's back before working on his hair. When they were done they quickly toweled off and dressed. He didn't realize the clothing looked like surgical scrubs. The pants were actually shorts and the top was loose on all of them. Their underwear was fitted but was a matching green to the clothing.

Once they were clean and dressed everyone in the room headed to breakfast. The dining room was massive and also doubled as their school room. The two of them collected their food and sat down to eat. It wasn't quiet in the room but it also wasn't noisy. People were talking as they ate even as he was talking to his partner and the others at their table. They were talking about the current assignment for homework. It was something about raising crops and why there was a need to rotate crops.

Eventually they finished eating and all the plates were put in a cleaning unit. The tables were wiped down and they pulled out their tablets for their first class. He didn't question what they were being taught. It wasn't something he had ever thought about. As the classes continued the various groups were divided up and taught different things. There was a common thread to much but the groups were given different lessons after lunch.

24A was looking at the book on his tablet and was studying the growth of plants. Germination and how to feed them was something important. His partner was next to him and 24B was studying much the same. Both were talking as they were studying. It was something both enjoyed learning and it showed. Both were assigned to work in the hydro garden to ensure they knew what they were doing.

16D was looking at schematics of one of the water pumps. It needed some work and it was for 16D and 16C to work on. Their job was to do maintenance on the equipment. That was their job and they would take care of it. Several others were sitting next to them and looking at other schematics since they also were assigned to maintain the equipment in their tower. The building had sixteen floors of which fourteen were the apartments for the groups. There were three wings of which each had twenty people assigned to each wing.

Looking out the windows or balcony's there were three buildings of the same size. Nobody realized their lack of curiosity when they looked at the other buildings. They knew there were people in them but who they were didn't cross their minds.

~~~

1A was relaxing in bed and gave a slight smile since he was pressed against 1B's back. 1B was warm and he was enjoying being curled against his partner. It was early and he finally slipped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. When he came back he settled down against his bed partner and was quickly asleep again. When he woke in the morning 1B was curled around him and he was warm and comfortable, "Morning 1B. Slept well last night. Hope you did also." He rolled over on his back and stretched before rolling off the bed and standing. He gave 1B a good hug before heading towards the bathing area.

Everyone knew that they had to shower at night or in the morning. Half did the night and the rest the morning. He preferred the morning since it helped him wake. 1B tended to do the morning shower as well. He didn't realize it but they fit well together. Both were in the same classes and worked well together. 1B stepped into the shower and let the water flow down, "I did and glad you did as well." Getting clean didn't take long and they were quickly done and dressed.

Once they were clean and dressed the two-headed downstairs. He grinned at 1C and 1D, "Morning to both of you." He flopped down in the chair he normally used. Food would be out soon.

1C grinned, "Morning to you as well. The room was quiet this morning. Not sure why but it was." The other settled down across from 1A and 1B, "Looking forward to later." They had a spot for being outside later and they were looking forward to it. It was going to be a sunny day and it was going to be fun.

1A grinned, "Looking forward to it as well. Get some sun and outside time." None of them realized there was a reason for the controlled exposure to the outside. Even with the shields surrounding the buildings they had to be careful.

They talked as they ate and planned on how they day was going to go. It was their job to lead even though they didn't realize it.

~~~

"They are developing well." The one person said to the other. It had been so long since she had really encountered children. They could see them but to actually interact with them was different. For this to succeed the children needed to be left completely alone, free of the past and what had destroyed the world. It was their job to give them what was needed to grow and survive but avoid the causes of the past.

The other person leaned back in a chair and took a sip of a drink, "They are and we can only hope they are going to grow past what caused the war. Want to be with them but this is what is important." Looking at the children, it was impressive. Black, white, Asian, other colors were being totally ignored. The gender was being ignored as well. Male and female were working together to do what was needed. Anyone who started to cause problems based on any of those colors or gender were removed and tested.

If they came back as having bad DNA they were removed from the program. So far it was well under 1% of the children who were removed. It was a chance for their world to recover and progress. Based on what they were seeing the other schools were having similar results. There were ten total they knew of which were being run much the way this school was.

The children didn't know it but their memories had been wiped of anything which could cause racism or gender bias. All ranged from ten to seventeen years old. The memory wipe had included gender related thoughts as well. They wanted all to be considered equal in the other's eyes.