Stimulus (BOOK 1 OF 3)

ONE

Besim was one America. Besim was once America. Besim was once-

I repeated the mantra in my head as I patted dirt over my experimental turnip-corn seed. My very last test was in just twenty-four hours, and I was fairly positive Besim's history would be included in it; if I passed, I passed Principal Schooling, which meant I passed two years ahead of the others in my Bracket. If not, I had to repeat another year. So much was contingent on this test. The careers one can qualify for - and therefore their overall potential contribution to Besim - can have a great impact on social, political, and financial standing. Although I had no hope of progressing to Sector G, a small part of me kept screaming possibilities at the rest of me. What if there's an opening in Sector G that nobody fills? What if the rules are changed when the prince comes into power?

It was unlikely that any of that would happen. Citizens of Sector X, where I was born, have always been ineligible for Sector Progression unless in a time of crisis.

Besim was once a nation that was completely and wholly unified. People from every end of the huge area of land were all equally eligible for a variety of jobs and opportunities. When the disease came and wiped out so many of the crops, the citizens of America reacted harshly and waged wars against one another. Neighboring territories like China and Europe closed themselves off completely and either slowly wasted away or rallied into small and peaceful nomadic groups. Meanwhile, America was violently attacked by its own people. In an effort to avoid total obliteration, the royal family frantically gathered resources and separated the land into five zones, or Sectors: Z, A, G, X, and C, each individually responsible for preserving a certain aspect (or aspects) of humankind.

Sector Z housed the royal family. Their sector was protected by a nearly impenetrable wall made of graphene-laced steel. They were responsible for creating laws, managing the economy, and punishing (or pardoning) the criminals. Equally hated and adored, the royal family was easily the most powerful and influential group of people in the world.

Sector A was responsible for the production of both the protective materials used in our walls and the offensive materials and weaponry used by our military. The world's smartest scientists were taught and trained at the most prestigious School of Sciences, which were housed in this sector. The SS only accepted citizens from its own sector or from Sector G, the sector above mine. Sector A was easily the most respected and loved, as it contained the most helpful citizens and provided the most solutions to the countless problems plaguing Besim. Because of this, it was surrounded by the second-strongest material known to us: steel. To lace the steel with graphene would be a blatant slap in the face to the royal family, so the wall stayed pure, with no additives.

Sector G was different from all of the other sectors. Instead of focusing on multiple aspects of humanity, it focused on only one: agriculture. Sector G was unique in many ways. Instead of having a one-material wall, it was defended by naturally-occurring mountains that were present before Besim was founded. To increase defensive measures, guard towers were installed at each mountain and thick concrete walls filled the gaps between them. This sector was solely responsible for providing Besim with food, as well as preserving what was left of viable plant life. The best Plant Scientists from this sector were admitted into the SS and shown how to cross-breed plants in hopes of creating one resistant to the disease. It was my dream to take part in this and create a hybrid plant capable of providing all of the necessary nutrients needed in a daily diet.

However, I was born in Sector X. Sector G and above was the cutoff for the Sector Progression, meaning those of us in Sectors X and C were not allowed to take part in anything that could move us into a higher sector. Sector X housed the basic teachers and entertainers. My sector was responsible for providing cooperative and average citizens, as well as preserving the Arts. If you were lucky, you could gain popularity and make a decent-sized paycheck. If you were exceptionally gifted at entertainment, you could even perform for the royal family from time to time. Our easily defendable wall was made of dense stone.

Sector C was the lowest of the low. Those who could no longer contribute to the preservation of humankind belonged to this sector, as well as those who were criminals to any degree. Unless you were a member of the royal family, an exceptional scientist, or someone who served a long career in the military, "retirement" meant sleeping on the streets or in a communal, run-down home alongside drug-abusers, murderers, and everything in between. Because of this, it was a common practice in Besim to work until physically incapable of doing so. Should you fall victim to being disabled, there was always the option of being "sent away". This was completed through injection, and it gave you the honor of being buried in a cemetery. The alternative was to live in Sector C and, when you died, be dumped into a mass grave. Nobody was allowed in or out, and their defensive measures consisted of a simple wooden wall.

As I got ready for bed later that night, I wondered what would happen if I somehow got the opportunity to secure a career in Resistance Breeding. Nobody from Sector X ever had the chance to Sector Progress, but what if the rules weren't so strict? Surely there were exceptions to every rule. Anyone who knew anything about diseases understood that, if left unchecked, any disease would only get worse. As it stood, the chances for the disease killing the remainder of our plants was greater than the chance of creating one that could withstand it.

They'd allow someone from a low sector to attempt to save us before we all died, wouldn't they? If that were our very last-ditch, final option?

The fact that I couldn't confidently say yes was terrifying.

Approximate word count: 1035

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