The Jubilee

Chapter 5

"What took you so long?"

All the girls stayed in the same place this time. No more pairs or groups. Now they were on the same team, even if it was just a fleeting moment. A moment that would be forgotten and abandoned with no second thought.

Still, it was oddly comforting.

It felt like she would never feel lonely, she would never be alone. She knows the stark difference of both. She felt it every single day of her existence.

She knows that being lonely was being surrounded by four white walls with nothing beside her to keep her company. Not even a backstabbing knife. It probably thought that she was not worth the time, not worth the stabbing, not worth the blood. Jamie would think so, if she was the one who had to be stuck with her for the rest of her life.

And she was.

"Sorry I just got lost for awhile," Jamie told the others.

The Genesis was still mapped in her mind. She could still picture it out with the containers and the endless halls if she tried hard enough.

Hidoko looked around and scrunched her eyebrows.

"Where are the others? It has been so long since we arrived yet they are still not here," she said.

The other girls could not answer Hidoko since they were as stumped as she was. They were told as little as possible.

Then, Vivian stood up and tried to lift up everyone's spirits up by saying, "All we could do is wait and lower down our curiosity for the time being. Nothing else we could do about it anyway. Besides, there are a million things we could do here before they arrive. It would be fun!"

It wasn't fun.

There were no things they could do.

The million things was a hyperbole.

No one could blame Vivian, though. It was very difficult to not be infected by Vivian's enthusiasm.

Can't they just hurry up already?

"Do they have anything I could use to research here?" Jamie asked the others.

"Yes. They told us that we could freely use it whenever we want. It's just inside the room to the farther left."

Pictures and propagandas of the government officials could be seen everywhere when she clicked the Enter button in the hologram.

Jamie first looked around the room with amazement. At the middle of it all was a polished label gleaming the word "GENESYS". She brushed it lightly.

"Genetic System: On."

It was robotic female voice. It echoed everywhere for only Jamie to hear.

The hologram in front of her showed a small text box. All of it was blue and white.

"What would you like to search?"

What did she like to search?

Jamie didn't really plan to search for anything. She wasn't even sure why she was here or why she came. It just felt right.

It seemed like she went here just out of instinct.

"Liam."

"Searching: Liam."

Random people's pictures just suddenly popped up. Various people were there. All pictures that appeared were either staged or candid, good or horrid. All pictures showed someone.

All pictures showed men that weren't the guy she met.

How can I be more specific when I don't know anything about him?

She tried to think of something but nothing seems to come to mind. Then, she thought of a different idea.

"List of present government officials."

The list GENESYS provided for Jamie ranged from the most influencial to the least heard of. It showed too many for her to count. Jamie didn't even know half of those people existed.

There was someone that could catch every eye of the reader. Not because of the looks but the news that was surrounding him. Never mind the politician who donated regularly to the hungry. He probably did it as a publicity stunt. Never mind the politician who accused his fellow coworker in justice of fraud and money laundering. Both of them are probably connected to it.

No, all of them would seem insignificant if you just compare them to the scandal of this one. All with bolded text, Keaton Davidson was all over the news for ten consecutive times in a row. His heated scandal first sparked sixteen years ago when he was rumored to hide a child behind the government's skirt. Davidson was aware of the fact that it was illegal to have intercourse unless the government chose you for the Golden Year.

Davidson ordered someone to smuggle a woman from one of the cities of Eterna. He provided everything from the way of travel to the sedatives. He planned meticulously and secretly. It was without fault.

Except when he raped a woman.

Rumors surround Sen. Keaton Davidson once again as he is faced with the charge of allegedly raping a twenty-three year old citizen of Eterna named Isabelle Woods.

Sen. Davidson denies every allegation, stating that it was done with the consent of both parties and that it was never forced upon anyone.

The House of Representatives will further discuss the decision over Sen. Davidson's removal of office in their meeting next Monday.

Jamie scanned for the last news ever written about his scandal.

Sen. Davidson, pardoned

Chief Justice Dianne Finch officially announced pardon for the alleged crimes of Sen. Davidson.

Protests against the decision have been quickly spreading amongst the politicians the past few days due to their vehement opinions about the conclusion of the meetings appointed to the specific case.

Jamie stopped. She never thought that rape could still happen in a time where the genders are divided. Her mind was so narrow and single-minded that she never thought of the other possibilities.

Nevertheless, Jamie got what she asked for, even if it was not what she originally wanted to know about.

Turning off the GENESYS, she turned around and never looked back the room again.