"The peak of wireless technology came in the year 2030. The internet had turned into something over 80% of the population accessed every day, via a variety of mobile devices. These devices changed from cellular phones to more hands-free technologies, including screens that could be worn over a person's eyes, giving them constant access to the wireless network."
The teacher droned on as Senna scribbled circles in the corner of her notebook. She wanted to speak up, to talk about how she had one of those old wireless devices at home, but they wouldn't care about the HMD. She'd only get in trouble again.
"Despite the technology available to the human race during the Wireless Age, the scientists of the time were still unable to predict the arrival of the N-Gel. The moment the N-Gel arrived, the wireless network shutdown. The N-Gel's primary form of communication interfered with the waves this technology relied on to function."
There were more circles on Senna's page than notes. If she had class with Nigel, they could be going over Sign Language behind the teacher's back instead. She had already forgotten 'P', 'Q', and 'X'.
"The chaos that followed was referred to by the religious as the apocalypse. These religious people called the aliens "Angels" after a religious myth revolving around winged humans said to be the warriors of God. The media of the time took that name and altered it to N-Gel in an attempt to remove religion from the crisis without completely negating the possibility. Similarly the Neoplague was named for a religious tale – the Plagues of Egypt. It was said that the symptoms of the Neoplague resembled the plagues mentioned in the myth, with the metallic taste in the mouth mimicking water turning to blood, high fever a reference to fire raining from the sky, the inability to process nutrients referring to the death of crops and cattle and so on..."
Senna flipped ahead in the textbook, tuning out the symptoms so she wouldn't think about her father and how he must have suffered. She flipped past the construction of the initial quarantine domes, past the establishment of their government, and past the reign of Sanctuary's first President. She skipped through to the reconstruction of the domes, to where she knew she'd see Kagerou Sato's name. She wanted to see what the book said about the ingenious inventor who shaped so much of what Sanctuary had become...
Except she wasn't in the book. The credit for the dome redesign was given to 'a team of engineers'. Surely that was a mistake. She flipped further ahead, to the introduction of the bioluminescent moss into society – but it wasn't even mentioned. She was nearing the end of the book by the time she was done, getting closer and closer to the present day. She skimmed over the entry on President Zed's election, but the only thing after that was something about a terrorist attack. Senna even turned to the index, running her finger down the page over both the 'K' and the 'S' sections, but Kagerou Sato wasn't listed.
The bell sounded, startling Senna from her search. She had missed the entirety of the last half of the lecture, not that she really cared. She scrambled to pack away her books, the class already filing out around her. One of the students bumped her desk on the way out, knocking her book to the floor with a laugh that was echoed by the two other girls she was with. Senna didn't meet their eyes, choosing to bend over for the book without a word. It wasn't the first time the trio of girls had laughed at her. It wasn't even the first time they had knocked her things to the floor.
"Hey dirtskin!" one of the girls shouted as Senna entered the hall. Senna kept her head down and worked her way through the quickly thinning crowd to her locker. They followed. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Didn't they teach you manners where you're from?"
Senna stopped in front of her locker, turning with her books still in her arms. The last remaining students didn't so much as give them a passing glance, save for one who snickered as he continued towards the exit. It was the end of the day and the halls were rapidly quieting.
"You're from the Rim, right dirtskin?" the girl asked, her auburn hair swept up into textured bun accented with decorative headbands. If it weren't for the predatory look in her eyes, she may have been pretty with her pale skin and the rare reds shining in the highlights of her hair.
"Yeah." Senna wasn't sure why that mattered to them, but she wasn't ashamed to admit it.
"So tell me... how does a dirtskin like you get past the gates, huh? Did they smuggle you in with the rest of the pigs?"
"Pigs?" Senna echoed in shock. What was that supposed to mean?
"Yeah, pigs. Fat loud piles of meat rooting through the mud. Oink oink." The other two girls chimed in with the oinking until the snorting noises devolved into guffaws of laughter.
"Actually, I have known pigs. And you're all a lot louder and meaner than any of them ever were."
Apparently that was the wrong response, because the leader of the pod took the opportunity to shove Senna backwards into the door of her locker. Senna didn't fight the shove, mostly because she was too stunned to expect it. The other girls gasped and snickered at the hollow sound of the rattling doors that echoed down the hall.
"Talking back, little piggy? You don't have the right. You're lucky we don't deport you back out to the mud where you belong."
"Ew! You touched the dirtskin! What if she's contagious?" one of the other girls sneered. The leader scoffed, backing away from Senna.
"Do us a favor, dirtskin, and remove yourself from the gene pool."
Those words hit harder than any punch could have, sinking heavy in her stomach. She looked away as the trio laughed their way down the hall, so they wouldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter—she didn't care about what those terrible girls thought, but she did. They were a reflection of the world around her, masses of people wrinkling their noses at her like she smelled.
Senna tugged at the plastic cording of her necklace, unzipping her collar a touch so she could worm the glass pendant out from underneath the jacket. She wanted to make sure it hadn't been damaged in the slight physical altercation. She turned the teardrop terrarium over in her gloved fingers, oblivious to the sound of another person approaching.
"Why don't you tell them who you are?"
Senna dropped the pendant against her chest as she jumped and spun to the source of the voice. She was greeted by the familiar spiked hairstyle of the only person she could call 'friend'.
"What?" How long had he been there?
"You're the President's daughter, right?"
"Stepdaughter. And I'm not even that yet."
"Stepdaughter, right. So tell them. If they knew you lived in the Presidential Tower they'd be kissing your feet and begging to come over to your fancy pool party."
"I don't want them to like me because of who my Mom is engaged to. Friends should be your friends because they like you, not your money or your status or whatever... Besides, you didn't sound too excited about coming over when I asked you." She turned back to her locker, fussing with the combination. She was glad it had a lock, after all the teasing. Maybe people would want to steal her books. Or maybe they'd do something terrible to her things.
"That's because your parents would kill me. And not like 'oh they're going to kill you, ha-ha' kill me, but literally kill me."
"You're over exaggerating."
"I'm really not."
Senna shuffled the books she'd need for her homework into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and tucked her pendant back under her shirt before she realized Nigel was staring.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just uh... you probably shouldn't be wearing a necklace that nice to school. Especially not if you're determined to get bullied. If any of them get bolder, that thing could get smashed."
"Yeah, I know. But it's... it's from a friend. If I leave it behind it's like... I don't know, like she really isn't here. I mean, she's not here, but at least the necklace makes it feel like she is. Is that dumb?"
"No. Of course not."