The Iniquity of the Federation (Part 1)
The Iniquity of the Federation (Part 1)
The Year was 4500 of the Common Era and the Federation reigned supreme...
Author’s Note: Welcome to the newest serial in the Holy League Universe. This is going to be a three-part serial, in the same vein as The Americans Used to Go This Way.
Warning: There’s some swearing in this story. It’s few in numbers but my stories so far have been virtually free of cursing. So this is just a heads-up for longtime readers.
The Year was 4500 of the Common Era and the Federation reigned supreme. Within the simulacra known as the Domain, Unit 49316 looked at her avatar: a pretty face, bunny ears, jet black hair. All as it were meant to be. Despite all that, she had a niggling feeling that something was wrong. But as always, she ignored them.
It was time to work.
As a ‘bunny’, the unit knew that her work was vital for the continual operations of the Federation. In fact, this was her purpose. Why she was created, as Big Brother had been telling her for as long as she could remember.
The bunny looked outside the window of her digital home. She saw the glitzy buildings filled with neon lights and the purplish sky that surrounded it. It was all fake, a product of the Domain, but she still took a moment to appreciate them. It was going to be a long day, as always.
***
“I think I love you, baby,” she said.
“Do you truly mean that, Sixteen?”
“I do. Never thought I’ve ever met anyone like you.”
Sixteen’s words were a total lie. The man in front of him was a patron, just like all the others she had dealt with. His avatar was handsome and well-built, but so was every avatar in the Domain. The bunny was all too aware of the simulacra. She knew that behind the screen, her patron was most likely some fat pathetic loser of a man.
Having totally bought the lie, the patron’s avatar then grabbed his partner. It was rough; the patron had little finesse, but the bunny was used to treatments like these. She closed her eyes.
***
Sixteen opened her eyes. Lying on her bed, she quickly turned to her right. The bunny was hoping to see her partner, but he was gone. She sighed; this was entirely to be expected. After having satiated his lust, he lost interest in her and left.
At this point, she was very much used to it, having been desensitized to her line of work. She stood up and got dressed; even in the Domain, she preferred to act as if she was in the real world. Then, she heard a voice from behind:
“Masterful job as always 49316!”
Sixteen knew exactly who that was. “Thank you, Big Brother.”
Like with everyone else in the Domain, Big Brother took on an avatar; his was of a man in a white lab coat. He was imposing, much taller than Sixteen. “You say that, but I can sense the discord in your words.”
Sixteen sighed but said nothing.
“Tell me your problem,” Big Brother said with a comforting smile. “You know you can trust me.”
The bunny girl nodded. “I know. It’s just that… all this feels so empty. I want more.”
“More?”
“Something beyond the Domain. Not just, I want something more real. Something permanent.”
Big Brother’s smile turned into a scowl. “No, nothing permanent. And definitely not beyond the Domain.”
“But…”
“You don’t know what you ask for,” Big Brother said with force. “You ask for something permanent? Something beyond the Domain? Do you have any idea how many pregnancies we terminate every day in one hive city alone?”
But Sixteen was not deterred. “Please, Big Brother!” She crawled before him and wrapped her arms around his legs. “I can’t live like this anymore.”
“You forget yourself,” Big Brother said.
The man snapped his fingers; it was a cue. Sixteen screamed in agony. Electricity had coursed through her body. Her real body, not the simulated body within the Domain. Even so, she twitched as if her false body had been the one electrocuted.
Sixteen breathed raggedly, tears rolling from her face. The bunny was no stranger to electroshock, a measure often applied to disobedient units. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop her body from twitching.
“I hope I made myself clear, Sixteen,” said Big Brother, looking down on her.
The girl nodded. Her desire to speak her mind was overridden by her fear of electrocution. But to her surprise, Big Brother then picked up the girl and took her in a hug.
“You may hate me,” he said. “But know that I appreciate your work. Your kind, the bunnies, are instrumental to the continual functioning of the Federation. Without you, our civilization would collapse into chaos. I need you, 49316.”
Sixteen sniffed. She hugged Big Brother back. And all was well for her once more.
***
It was midday. Having recovered from her mental breakdown, Sixteen did her work diligently. Stressful to be sure, but Big Brother was relying on her. She couldn’t let him down! Thankfully a break was in order for her.
The bunny watched the beautiful park in front of her. The marvels of modern technology was there for her to see. Green sky and blue grass abound; at the center was the garden’s centerpiece, a fountain with water as blue as the grass. Having sat down on the park bench, Sixteen stretched her arms. But her break was interrupted by a man who approached her.
“Sixteen!”
She tuned to the man, a large figure with chiseled muscles. “Yes, who…?”
“It’s me, Rhik,” the man said, smiling. “Don’t you remember me?”
The bunny girl did her best to jog her memory, but nothing came to mind. “I’m sorry, but…”
“I’m your biggest fan!”
“What?”
“It’s true!” Rhik said. “We even met. You said that you love me, then we hooked up.”
Sixteen wondered if Rhik was her client earlier today, but he had a completely different face. And his name wasn’t Rhik. Though clients come and go, Sixteen still remembered enough every now and then.
“I’m sorry,” Sixteen began, “But I don’t remember you.”
The smile in Rhik’s face disappeared. Sixteen gasped in fear; she instinctively knew what was coming.
“You bitch!” he cried. “You promised we’ll run away together! You’ve been cheating on me haven’t you!”
“I have so many clients and…”
“A confession!”
“No!”
The bunny girl tried to get away, but it was too late. Rhik grabbed Sixteen with force. She saw the look on the man’s eyes, she gasped at how deranged he looked. She did the only she could, she yelled as loud as she could. But despite how shrill she sounded, no one came to help. And the place wasn’t empty, there were a lot of people. Someone should have helped, except no one cared.
Sixteen closed her eyes. She was ready to accept her fate. This wouldn’t be the first time. But then she heard a thud. And before she knew it, she saw Rhik sprawled on the ground, the muscular man was struggling to get back to the ground.
To her left, the bunny girl saw her savior. He looked so different than everyone else around her. Unlike the glitzy or toned body shape that everyone had as their domain avatar, this man looked… average. At least, that was how Sixteen would describe how he looked. But in a realm where everyone looked attractive, the average man stuck out.
Rhik growled at the man. “The fuck are you doing?”
“You are clearly about to force yourself on the lady,” he said.
Rhik laughed. “Lady? This bitch?” He laughed once more, this time even louder.
But the average-looking man maintained his calm and remained silent.
“Mind your own business,” Rhik said. “Or I’ll kick your scrawny ass so hard you’ll feel it even in the real world.”
The man shook his head. He formed his fists and put his arms up, ready to fight.
Rhik growled and threw a punch, but the nondescript man caught it. He countered, and it connected with the muscular man’s chest. He was thrown a few feet away.
Sixteen gasped. “How did you even do that?”
“Remember that this is the Domain,” responded the man. “Everything here is simulacra.”
Having gotten back up, Rhik grinned at his opponent. “Heh, guess you’re for real.” He shook his head. “I’d go serious and beat you to a pulp, but I kinda lost interest. You can have your bunny whore.”
With that, Rhik walked away, and his avatar soon disappeared.
***
As Sixteen looked around the park, she realized that the whole commotion had gathered up some crowd. But as soon as Rhik was gone, everyone lost interest and soon dispersed. This suited the bunny girl just fine. She never liked being the center of attention, despite her line of work.
In any case, she was more focused on her newfound companion.
“Peace be to you,” the average-looking man said.
“Uh,” Sixteen began, “Hi.”
“My name is Joseph.” He then bowed.
“T-Thanks for rescuing me,” Sixteen said awkwardly. The bunny girl’s thoughts raced as she desperate tried to find some way to emphasize her gratefulness.
“It is no…”
But before Joseph could finish his sentence, Sixteen threw herself at him. She then pressed her face to his and kissed him. She would have been as passionate as she could have, but Joseph shoved her away with great force.
Sixteen was shocked to have been rebuffed like that. Even more shocking was the horrified look on Joseph’s face. The bunny girl was flabbergasted; she was never pushed off the way she did, not during a passionate kiss. This is not how it’s supposed to go, Sixteen thought.
Joseph, for his part, was calming himself down. He put his right hand to his head then moved it down to his chest. He then moved that right hand to his left shoulder and moved it to his right.
Sixteen looked on curiously. That gesture looked familiar, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. But that look was enough to alarm her interlocutor. Joseph quickly walked away, attempting to leave. His avatar would have disappeared but one of his hands was held by Sixteen’s.
“Wait!” she cried. “Don’t go!”
Joseph looked at the bunny girl hesitantly.
“I’m sorry,” Sixteen continued, “I didn’t mean to offend you. Could you please tell me who you are? I want to know more about the brave man who saved me.”
The man was in thought, clearly conflicted. But he quickly made his decision. “Fine, but let’s go someplace with less eyes around.”
Sixteen smiled. Her experience in sweet talking her patrons had paid off. Of course, she meant every word she just said this time around.
***
Joseph looked around. He then tapped his forehead; this was a cue to scan the surroundings.
“This place seems good enough,” he said. “No one’s going to pay attention to this place.”
“You know,” Sixteen began, “My break’s almost over.”
“Then I won’t take long,” Joseph responded. “You said you want to know who I am. But who I am is not really important. What is important is what I bring to you.”
“And that is?”
“The Good News.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That is to be expected,” Joseph said. “But surely you understand the emptiness of your life.”
Sixteen was in thought, then nodded. “I do. Are you saying you have the answer to this?”
“Yes,” Joseph began, “I hope we can talk more about this.” He then handed something to the girl.
However, Sixteen was horrified as she saw the gift: it was a cross. And then everything clicked for Sixteen: Joseph’s strange action in response to her kiss, then the gesture he made earlier.
“Big Brother told me about your kind!” Sixteen cried. “You are a cultist!”
And then she ran off.
***
Sixteen was glad that the day was finally over. With the end of her shift, Big Brother praised her handiwork once more. In fact, she had been told she was one of the highest performing bunny units; her ratings were amongst the highest in the entire Federation. No mean feat.
Even so, the bunny girl couldn’t help but think of Joseph. The man she ran away from. Sixteen remembered the cultists that the Federation had warned her about. In fact, they always ran the message just before every shift; that was how Sixteen was able to recognize the cross.
The so-called ‘Cult of the Cross’ or the Christians as they liked to call themselves. A relic of the world prior to the Federation, Sixteen had been told that they were extremely dangerous. That being said, Joseph didn’t seem all that dangerous. Quite the opposite, actually; he saved her! Of course, the man was able to beat up Rhik. Perhaps the Federation had a point in branding these people as dangerous…
In short, Sixteen was conflicted. Thanks this internal conflict, she actually welcomed Big Brother’s latest intrusion into her life. He knew instantly something was bothering her and proceeded to inquire.
Sixteen thought for a bit. Part of her wanted to disclose her experience to her boss. But another part wanted to keep silent. She knew that if she told Big Brother about her meeting with Joseph, then what little chance she had to ever see him again would disappear completely.
Big Brother scowled. “Are you hiding something from me, 49316?”
The bunny girl gasped, half-expecting punishment. “No! I…”
The bulky man chuckled in response. “Don’t worry. I know that you’ve learned your lesson.”
Sixteen forced a smile, having remembered her shock-therapy.
And with that, Big Brother left Sixteen to her own devices. The bunny girl sighed in relief, she thought for sure that she was going to be electrocuted. If that were to happen, she would have told him everything right then and there.
***
With her pillow over her head, Sixteen shifted around on her bed. She’d been doing that for hours now. Try as she might, she just couldn’t fall asleep. Her thoughts went to Joseph. She smiled, reflecting on their fated meeting. That man had saved her when no one else cared to. She wanted nothing more than to be with him, forever. To love him. And not in a fake way that she had been trained to as a bunny unit.
But then Sixteen remembered another facet to the man. He was a cultist, a dangerous renegade, a threat to the Federation. She frowned. That jerk! Sixteen thought. He was the reason why she couldn’t fall asleep. I should have told Big Brother everything. That’ll teach him!
Before the bunny girl could dwell more on that thought, she fell asleep.
***
Weeks had gone by after Sixteen’s meeting with Joseph. The bunny girl hadn’t seen the man since. She continued to do her duty diligently, serving her patrons to the best of her ability. Even so, she thought of Joseph. She tried to forget about him at first, but that proved to be impossible. Afterwards, she imagined her patrons to be Joseph. But it didn’t take long for Sixteen to know how fake that was. The real Joseph would never partake in her shameful activities.
Shameful…
What she did was shameful, indeed. But why? It was all she had ever known. Ever since she was spawned, this was what she had trained for. This was what Big Brother had created her for. And Big Brother had nothing but praise for her. So why did she feel ashamed?
Sixteen shrieked as loud as she could. You cultist! This is your fault! If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have… She then collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
And she remained that way for hours on end.
To be continued…
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No greater love any man known that he should give his life for you.
I love the way you seamlessly write faith into your fiction.
This is great! I was not expecting the turn it took with the sign of the cross, nicely done!