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Author Topic: Potentially Deadly  (Read 3642 times)
BenPass
Knight of the Consular Order
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Force Alignment: 690
Posts: 6031


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« on: February 14, 2014, 02:44:12 AM »

Hi everyone, I've been re-working this story a bit, changing the tense around and adding some detail, so I wanted to share it with you all in a single place. Since my other topic is long stale and I had posted in installments, I've deleted the thread and just decided to create a new one. My story is currently longer than the forum allows for in a single post, so I'm making these two posts for you to read. Please enjoy, comment, and feel free to weigh in on the story, theme, or anything else. Thanks as always!

Ben

*************************************************************************************************************************

   Potential. When I was younger, I never thought that I would see the day when it would decide my fate. After all, I had always been of the opinion that a man’s future belonged in his own hands; that each and every person should have a choice in who they were, what they would do, and how they would spend their lives. A man should be free to determine who he would become and who he truly was as a person. Yes, that is how I always thought, but the world’s government did not agree. Oh, we did have certain freedoms, but they were not at all what freedom should have been. In the name of freedom, we all continued with our lives, trusting blindly in the government to take care of us. In reality though, we were bound by the shackles of Potential and a government that had grown powerful by selecting only those with the highest Potential to serve in office.

   You see, it was some fifty years before my birth that the government of earth realized that Potential was far more than simply what a person could possibly accomplish because of their drive and dedication. After much testing, they discovered that Potential could be detected within a person’s brain chemistry. With one simple test the government had become able to determine exactly what a man would amount to in life. It was a scary thought. No one should have the power to dictate what path your life will take, but our government had grown certain of its power and determined to do just that.

   What made things even worse for us was the fact that every person was required by law to have a Potential test annually. It was conceivable that a person might be worthwhile to the government one year, and useless to them the next. If your Potential levels dipped below a certain point, you would no longer be worthy of being kept alive. Since the cataclysm had so rocked the planet, the Council of Earth reasoned that someone who did not have appropriate Potential levels was not worth the drain they caused on the world’s resources. I suppose that I understood their stance to a certain extent. After all, with the food shortages the planet had been facing, we needed to be sure that everyone was trying their hardest to work, and to ensure that the earth survived for the next generation. Still, whenever my birthday would roll around, I couldn’t help but feel terrified.

        My grandfather always told me not to worry, and that my Potential rating was more than ample to keep me safe. Of all people, h would know, having been part of the team that discovered the ability to discern Potential. In fact, his prestige and Potential was one of the primary reasons that my family had a house to ourselves rather than having to share it with other families. When I was younger, most people on earth were crammed into tiny houses, which they shared with a minimum of two other families. That way, the government ensured that its citizens would police themselves. After all, if someone in a family refused to submit to the Potential screening, an entire home could be executed. Such was the law of the land; swift and uncompromising. We were fortunate to have a home to ourselves and a level of privacy. Privacy was never total in our world though; not in an age when the government could enter your home at will simply because they suspected you of breaking one law or another. Still, we lived our lives in more peace than most others did. To be honest, I was unable to imagine spending every day of my life hoping that someone that I shared my home with would betray me to the government or frame me for a crime I didn’t commit.

        Speaking again of Potential, my grandfather told me each year that I would amount to great things, and that I had enough Potential to change the world. His eyes would light up whenever he spoke of his “wondrous, life changing discovery”. It was understandable; his discovery was responsible for the continuation of humanity on earth. I sat in my room one cool July night and could only hope that he was right about me and that I could make a difference too. After all, the next day would be my birthday, and the testers would arrive first thing in the morning. Legend told of a day when birthdays were times of celebration rather than fear; of times when family would gather together in joy rather than dreading the results of a test.

        I still remember the day when, as a child, I asked my grandfather why the government was so determined to test people’s Potential, and to segregate us by those test results. We were in the park, watching the city’s children line up for their initial Potential readings. Each person went through their first screening when they entered school so that the teachers would know which subjects to focus on. After all, it would have been a waste of time and resources to train a child in one career if they were not suited to it. As the children gathered around the testers, my grandfather knelt down in the dust and brushed away some dust and dirt to reveal a sprig of grass. As the green blade showed through the scorched earth, he said, “My boy, without Potential, the world will die. We need to know who can pull their own weight and work on keeping the Earth alive.” I had nodded like a fool, pretending to understand what he told me. For years though, I was unsure if I would ever fully understand.

        Why was Potential so important? I had always thought that each person contributed to a society that worked together, and that each life was like a thread in the ancient tapestries. The government, led by the Council of Earth, did not agree. Everywhere I went in the city, the government’s signs and posters were plastered on every wall. Their slogan, “Potential is Life” seemed to mock the idea that every person, every life was worthwhile. No, my ideas on life are outdated. The world, under our united government, believed that unless you had a high Potential score, you were useless to the world at large and were a drain on resources that could not be allowed to live.

         As I sat in my room, considering all those things, and worrying about my test in the morning, my eyes drifted over to my rickety bookcase and one of my mother’s books. It was old and held together with strips of tape. The binding of the tattered, black book was torn to pieces; cracked with age. Any lettering that might have decorated the cover decades before had long since faded away. It was a book that had been outlawed generations before, shortly after the cataclysm, but one which had always remained in our family. I remembered that I had to hide it before the Screeners came in the morning. Regardless of Potential levels, being in possession of forbidden items was a crime punishable by summary execution. My grandfather claimed that the law was not always as strict, but since the world was nearly destroyed, all law breakers were an unnecessary waste of food, air, and space.

         I prepared to stuff the ancient tome underneath my bed but something seemed to tell me to open up the book and read it. As I gingerly turned the yellowed, crinkled pages, my eyes were drawn to one particular section which read:

“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”

         I shook my head and thrust the book between my mattress and bedframe. “How strange,” I muttered as I got up and walked over to stand by my window. It was obvious that the book was even older than it looked. It certainly wasn’t written while our government was in power. Such different views! The idea that everyone was part of a body and all meant to work together was blasphemy. The Council of Earth would throw a fit to read such a thing. It was no wonder that my mother always kept the thing hidden away. The true surprise was that my grandfather still had not betrayed his daughter and told the authorities about the forbidden tome. He was eminently loyal to the Council in all other aspects of life and was determined that they knew best in all things. Yet he permitted us to keep that solitary secret.

         Even as I stared out the window, not truly focused on anything in particular, worry again filled my heart. What would the Screeners find in the morning? Would my Potential still be high enough to be left in my current lifestyle? Would I be able to keep my job at the atmospheric purification plant or would I be cast aside for someone with greater Potential? What would the morning bring? Working at the plant was certainly not glamorous work, but it made a difference in the world. At least it kept me useful and alive. Mere existence was all anyone could hope for unless they had great enough Potential levels to be brought into government.

         A cool wind suddenly blew through my window, carrying with it the stench of the city. Since long before I was ever born, the city carried the stench of death. Most days, you would be able to ignore it, but whenever the south wind would blow, well, let’s just say that it would make your stomach flip. Then again, there were many things in the world that would make you sick to your stomach. In fact, as I stared out my window the night before my birthday, I witnessed one of those gut churning events taking place down in the street. One of the neighbors had a birthday that day, and must not have passed his Potential screening. A chill ran down the length my spine as I watched him run in terror. Following closely on his heels were the Screeners; the division of the government tasked with screening Potential and collecting those citizens whose Potential was not within the acceptable range. I watched with a growing sense of disgust as the men in blue armor overcame their prey and began to jab him with their electro-batons. Once he stopped flailing around, they dragged him into the middle of the street so that there would be room to transport. In a split second, a blinding light appeared in the street, and all three men disappeared, leaving behind nothing save for steam rising from the pavement. Despite the cool night, I wiped sweat from my brow. I couldn’t help but wonder if the scene would repeat the next morning after my test had been completed.

         I turned away from the view of the empty street and the bloated, red sun sinking below the skyline, and looked around my room for what felt like the last time. By the morning, it could all be gone. As my gaze drifted over to my books, my most treasured possessions, I couldn’t help but smile. Within their yellowed pages, countless adventures and escapes from my fear existed. For that brief moment, my troubles seemed to disappear. I was at peace until I noticed the picture of my grandfather resting on my dresser. In the picture, he stood in his lab, celebrating the discovery of Potential. Every other day of the year, the picture of his smiling, bearded face was one that made me proud. After all, he helped keep the Earth from dying by discovering Potential. He was responsible for every day that humanity continued to draw breath; we all owed him our lives. That night though, the picture only served to remind me of what might come in the morning.

         Eventually, I decided that there was no sense in staying awake and torturing myself any longer. I would have been better served by trying to sleep and determining to let the next day’s worries take care of themselves. The idea was easier said than done though. For hours, I tossed and turned in my bed until my sheets were tangled around my legs, and I was more than frustrated with that elusive gem that is sleep. Thankfully, I eventually managed to drift off into a restless sleep; a sleep full of nightmares of what the morning would bring.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2014, 03:07:48 AM by BenPass » Logged

May the Force be with me? Sure! It can come along!
"Lux triumphat super obscurum" - "Light triumphs over darkness"

BenPass
Knight of the Consular Order
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 690
Posts: 6031


Jedi Consular


WWW
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2014, 02:44:36 AM »

         My eyes opened to the morning’s dull, red light filtering in through my windows. Despite several hours of sleep, I felt as though I hadn’t slept at all. The simple fact that I was coated in a cold sweat was proof that, at some point, I did in fact sleep. Oh, how I hated birthdays. I didn’t even want to get out of bed. To do so would be to admit that I had no choice, and that the Screeners were coming. After a couple of minutes of wallowing in self-pity, I finally swung my legs out over the side of my bed and reluctantly sat up. I had a splitting headache that wretched, cold morning. As if things weren’t bad enough, even if I passed the test, I would have to go into work feeling as though I had a spike driven through my head. I grumbled to myself as I stood and reached for the previous day’s shirt hanging on the back of my wobbly green chair, “I can’t catch a break, can I?”

         Having pulled the shirt on over my head, I trudged over to my closet and grabbed a pair of socks. It was going to be a long day, and I wanted to do anything but have it begin. That was probably why I lost track of what I was doing. Instead of sitting down on my bed or the chair with the crooked leg sitting in the corner and putting on my socks, I stopped by the window and simply stared outside. There was no evidence of what had taken place the night before; no weeping family, no flowers or pictures; nothing to show that a man had reached the end of his life in that place mere hours before.

         The sun looked especially swollen and red that day. It was yet another reminder of how long my day was going to be; assuming of course, that I passed the test. You see, though everyone knew that the world was dying and that Potential helped the government determine who was best equipped to combat the eventual end of the world, not many people realized that the problem was not one based on our planet. No, the earth was not the problem; the sun was.

         From what we’ve been told, generations ago, before the world was under a single government, wars took place almost constantly. The world was divided into different countries, run by separate governments. If one government had a problem with another, they went to war. People were shunned, hated, and killed simply because of the part of the planet that they were born, if they held to a differing religion, or if they appeared to be from an enemy nation. No one cared who you really were; all that mattered was where you were from.

         Apparently, everything came to a head one day, which led to the cataclysm. Two of the largest enemy governments had created weapons that would orbit the earth, and then strike their enemy’s country undetected. There would have been a great loss of life, and wars waged by allies of each country. What the two main powers failed to realize was that they launched their weapons at the same time. Once again, we knew only what we had been told. Records indicated that the weapons crashed into each other. The resulting radiation damaged the earth’s atmosphere and the sun as well. What were those old nations thinking?  

         In that way, the earth of my day was incredibly fortunate. We no longer dealt with the threats of war, hatred, or divisive governments. It was as though the planet woke up after the great cataclysm. When the people of the countries that would have been destroyed discovered what their leaders had planned to do, they rose up and overthrew their wicked leaders. The people had learned their lesson and came to realize that if the world was going to recover and survive, they had to place people in power that could repair the damage that had been done by the power-mad politicians. The countries of the world joined together and elected the Council of Earth; a group of the world’s most intelligent scientists. “What could go wrong,” they reasoned. After all, these were men and women of science; people whose lives were dedicated to learning, teaching, and preserving.

         For a time, the Council of Earth focused solely on uniting the world and determining what exactly had to be done to save the earth. For a time, they were able to make some headway. For a short while, they were able to find those people who were specially equipped to make a difference and undo the damage that war had caused. They set up plants, like the one that I worked at; plants that were dedicated to purifying the atmosphere and removing the radiation from the earth. It helped for a while, but eventually, even those efforts seemed to be in vain. The scientists were able to slow the planet’s death. The atmospheric purification plants helped to ensure that we could breathe the air. Despite all that, we hadn’t been able to fix the sun. Instead, it slowly died a little more each day.

         The Council of Earth came to realize that the world’s best efforts to save the planet were not enough; they needed something more. What the planet needed was to have future generations trained from birth to repair the world. Children needed to learn at a faster rate than their predecessors had so that they could, hopefully, discover that missing piece of the puzzle; the missing thing that would save the earth for further future generations. There was much discussion of attempting to use cloning to grow people with the memories of their predecessors, but the government claimed sadly that it was a failed experiment. They came to realize that children were the only hope the earth had for a future. At the very least, the Council of Earth hoped that by training children, an alternate planet could be discovered to house the human race when our home became too unstable.

         The Council’s plan was a wise one, but they had no way to implement it. No way, that is, until my grandfather, Doctor Paul Truman, discovered Potential. Once his discovery had been made, the Council of Earth began to scan children for levels of Potential and segregate them by how valuable they were. Who would have ever expected that a small chemical process in a person’s brain could tell you how likely they are to succeed in life? Yet that is exactly what Potential did. We had thought for generations that a person could be anything they wanted to be and accomplish whatever they set their mind to. My grandfather’s discovery proved that thought to be nothing more than a false hope. We were all able to accomplish only what our levels of Potential allowed for. Some would soar high in life because of high Potential levels, and others would amount to nothing and be killed due to lower levels.

         Starting almost the same day that my grandfather discovered Potential, it was lauded as a miracle. After all, being able to discern who would be valuable in healing the planet and then training them to do so from birth would be a tremendous advantage. That was the hope. Of course, there was a great outcry from those without high levels of Potential. They had been rendered obsolete, and useless. The anger and indignation was quickly silenced when the new government under the Council took power. After all, those without sufficient Potential levels would only be further harming the planet and needed to be stopped. In fear for our future, the people sat by silently as the government began to execute those who were not useful, and those who dared to disagree with the Council.

         Still, fifty years after my grandfather’s discovery, the sun had not returned to its yellow shade, and the earth still did not produce enough food or plant life to sustain its population. Fifty years later, and all of the world’s work was not enough to undo what the governments of old had done through their warmongering. Fifty years, and my generation had never seen a yellow sun. Instead, we had been stuck with a sick, dying, red sun that stained the moon to look like blood and looked as though it could fade away into nothingness any day.

          Even as I considered all these things, as I thought back over recent history to see how we had come to the point we stood at, I was brought back to reality by my mother calling for me. I nearly jumped out of my skin as she began to bang on my bedroom door. “Your breakfast is getting cold, Luke! Hurry up and get ready so you can eat before the testers get here.”

“I’ll just be a minute, mom,” I answered. I plopped myself down onto my bed and began pulling on my socks. I couldn’t delay any longer. The Potential Screeners would arrive soon, and I did not want to meet them on an empty stomach. After all, that day could well have seen me consume my last meal. As I quickly finished getting dressed, hauling on my pants as I stumbled toward the door, I couldn’t help but think of my father and miss him. His Potential levels weren’t high enough for the government to make use of, so they removed him. They took him away from us. Saying that was easier than admitting that he had been murdered because of a lack of a chemical in his brain. Would the same thing happen to me? Would I be executed in the street? Or would I at least be taken elsewhere so my family wasn’t forced to watch my death? Or, as my grandfather always claimed, would I prove to have high enough levels to survive another year? There was only one way to find out; it was time to face the day and all that it would bring.  

   Before exiting my room, some nagging thought in the back of my mind told me that I was about to begin my last day. I tried my best to ignore the feeling and remind myself that everyone felt that way when the Screeners came for them each year, but it was futile. It seemed almost inevitable that what I was facing was the day that everything ended for me. If that was to be the case though, I wanted to be ready to go out fighting. I would not be like some creature led to slaughter; obediently moving to my death. But what could I possibly do? Weapons had been outlawed since the cataclysm and even if there had been any weapons in private hands, I wouldn’t have known how to use them. As my mother called for me again, I realized the only thing I could do if the Screeners tried to take me was run and hope that I could survive even a little while longer. With that in mind, I slipped into my work boots, tied them tightly, and began the ominous trek down the stairs to our main living space.

   Even as my boots thumped heavily on the old, worn stairs, I could hear my mother and grandfather chattering excitedly to each other. They were so confident in my Potential that the possibility of dying didn’t even seem to enter their minds. Was I so different, so strange to have those doubts within my mind? While I was still on the staircase, the tell-tale pounding of the Screeners knocking on the door sounded throughout the house as though they were ready to knock the door down. Subtlety had never been a trademark of the Council’s police force. “I might as well get that,” I called out to my family, not knowing if I would ever see them again.

My mother’s cheerful voice came back, “Alright, but hurry up Luke, your grandfather has something to tell you.”

   Despite the frozen hand of dread which gripped my heart, I walked quickly to our front door and opened it to the two Screeners. Their dark blue armour gleamed brightly in the morning light. They were obviously a rather inexperienced team, perhaps even on their first screening and collection run. Anyone who worked with the Screeners for any length of time tended to find their armour scratched, scraped, and dinged from people trying to escape collection when their levels dipped. The men never bothered to show any identification; their armour and electro-batons were all the identification that people needed to see to know who they were.

“Luke Arthur Truman, do you consent to your annual screening,” one of them asked gruffly.

“I do.”

   Without another word, one of the Screeners withdrew his Potential Registration Identification Device or PRID, and pressed it firmly against my forehead.  
« Last Edit: February 14, 2014, 03:35:48 AM by BenPass » Logged

May the Force be with me? Sure! It can come along!
"Lux triumphat super obscurum" - "Light triumphs over darkness"

RLYHYPERGUY
Knight Commander
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Force Alignment: 178
Posts: 1563


« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2014, 04:22:28 AM »

I really liked this. Looking forward to the rest!  Grin
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BenPass
Knight of the Consular Order
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 690
Posts: 6031


Jedi Consular


WWW
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2014, 07:05:03 PM »

Thank you! It will be something I work on every now and then.
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May the Force be with me? Sure! It can come along!
"Lux triumphat super obscurum" - "Light triumphs over darkness"

Deceptae
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: -90
Posts: 2004

Power, Passion, Strength


« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2014, 11:44:26 PM »

Dude, this is pretty cool. Like, Heinlein cool. Point.
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

BenPass
Knight of the Consular Order
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 690
Posts: 6031


Jedi Consular


WWW
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2014, 11:48:32 PM »

Thank you very much! It's one that I hope to work more on with time.
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May the Force be with me? Sure! It can come along!
"Lux triumphat super obscurum" - "Light triumphs over darkness"

Deceptae
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: -90
Posts: 2004

Power, Passion, Strength


« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2014, 11:52:21 PM »

Can't wait to see what you come up with. Now to your Legacy thread...
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

BenPass
Knight of the Consular Order
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: 690
Posts: 6031


Jedi Consular


WWW
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2014, 12:02:50 AM »

For this one, I have the story planned out and just need to write it down and flesh it out. I think Legacy will be something completely different too Wink
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May the Force be with me? Sure! It can come along!
"Lux triumphat super obscurum" - "Light triumphs over darkness"

Deceptae
Knight Commander
*

Force Alignment: -90
Posts: 2004

Power, Passion, Strength


« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2014, 12:07:16 AM »

I sure hope so, for your sake...
*traces Control Panel of Doom with fingertip*
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

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