Early in the morning of a quite windy day in the second rotational phase, Chaewon was sitting in her assigned position at her school, scanning through a small crowd standing just outside the glass walls. Her school, officially named Lower School 25SEA, was known to be one of the best schools in the lower district, for a lot of their students got promoted up to higher districts. Only those of the 25SEA sector, one of the sectors southeast of the twenty-fifth floor, were allowed to attend. Most students of Vhenia (all districts) attended school for twelve full rotations, with the exception being exceptionally intelligent students. Chaewon's sister Hyewon was one of them. She graduated two years ago, after attending school for just eleven rotations. Hyewon now lived in the upper district.

It was weird; Hyewon wasn't actually Chaewon's sister. Likewise, Chaewon's mother wasn't actually her mother, and her father wasn't actually her father. They just happened to be bounded together into the same family unit. Chaewon has never met her actual parents, or more precisely, her gene donors. She highly doubted that her parents even knew about her existence. Nevertheless, Chaewon's assigned parents were good to her and Hyewon. While Chaewon was in her family unit ever since she was born, Hyewon was actually placed in Chaewon's family unit when Chaewon was 6. She moved up from the Dregs by somehow acquiring the large amount of money required to do so. (Chaewon never really understood how a seven-year-old in the Dregs managed to make that much money; Hyewon was rather discreet about it). The two girls got along quite well; they seldom fought, especially since Chaewon knew she would never win. 

"How are you doing?" a girl with puffy cheeks asked Chaewon. 

"I am doing just fine," replied Chaewon, her eyes never leaving the crowd standing outside. A sullen look was cast upon her face; the person she was looking for was nowhere to be found. "By the way, Hitomi, did you see Minjoo on your way here?"

"Minjoo? No. Is she even coming to school today?"

"It's Day 2. She always shows up on Day 2's," Chaewon mumbled, obviously quite vexed by the absence of the long-haired beauty. A notification was sent to the students that class was starting in five minutes. Students came piling in; Chaewon let out a deep sigh and spared a glance at Hitomi. "I hope nothing happened."

"What would happen to her on her way to school? She'll be fine; nothing to worry about," Hitomi said as she dismissed Chaewon's concerns. 

"Sweetie, Minjoo lives in the Dregs. You know how it's like there" Chaewon spat in a caustic manner. The Dregs was the lowermost district of Vhenia. To Chaewon's understanding, since there was no law enforcement, crime was prevalent. Basically everything except for murder was allowed; the Vhenian government did not actually govern the Dregs; they just owned the territory and shoved the so called "unwanted persons" in there. The only time the government interfered with the Dregs was when someone was to be purged—for one reason or another. Most citizens of the Dregs were children, drunkards, or disabled. By paying a large amount of money, one could become a part of the Lowers, usually abandoning their family while doing so. Those promoted through payment usually became entertainers, for they were not educated enough to run simulations. If they failed to fit in, they were sent back to the Dregs. Instead of investing in a direct promotion, the younger population of the Dregs could choose to attend school in the Lower District. Graduation, which was achieved through passing a cumulative test, guaranteed a promotion to the lower district; intelligent students were promoted to even higher ones. Chaewon thought the system was dumb, but remained silent about it. She didn't want to risk it. 

Minjoo arrived five minutes after class started. Chaewon gasped when Minjoo trudged in the classroom, for the poor girl had a black eye and a sling on her right arm. She was dragging a shabby bag behind her with her left hand, which appeared to have a few injured fingers. Minjoo smiled weakly at Chaewon before she sat down at her seat as she apologized for interrupting class. The teacher robot was very forgiving towards Minjoo, especially since she was the best student in the class, which was divided by performance level not grades. (Minjoo was in a lower grade than Chaewon but they were both in the uppermost class). 

After the first class ended, Chaewon stormed angrily across the classroom towards Minjoo's desk. Minjoo remained sitting, smiling widely at her furious friend. "What the hell happened to you this time? What is that on your eye?"

"Hello to you too, Chaewon," Minjoo said as she tried covering up her black eye.

"Hi, Minjoo. Mind answering my question?"

"It's nothing. A rock just fell on me the other day. Few of my fingers got fractured, and my shoulder was slightly dislocated. The black eye is from getting punched by this random guy who wanted my money. No big deal. I didn't have to give it to him"

That only made Chaewon angrier. She had to remind herself—this wasn't Minjoo's fault. "Please take care of yourself... I don't like seeing you hurt."

Minjoo just smiled back at her. They both knew that there was nothing either of them could do. 

Minjoo worked at a historical site. She restored and cleaned the area for tourists, usually from the Upper or Elite District. It was a dangerous job; workers got injured on the daily. It wasn't even like Minjoo was getting paid a lot; she barely made enough money to afford going to school once a week. Chaewon wanted Minjoo to quit her job, but that would leave Minjoo with no other way to make money, which means that Minjoo would not be able to attend school. That was the last thing Chaewon wanted, so the only thing she could do was silently curse the Elite committee.

Cheap labor. It was expensive to power robots in the Dregs, away from all the civilization. Of course, human labor was expensive, but the people of the Dregs were regarded, at least by the committee, as subhuman. 

***

"Renegades are traitors that caused the Fifth Great War. Although they look and function just like humans, they are not human; they are barbaric, inhumane animals. They have no emotions; they do not feel things like we do. The origin of these species are unknown; the committee speculates that the Renegades were created by the war criminals of the Fifth Great War. Renegades are smart, strong, and deceptive. A Renegade's offspring are always Renegades, regardless of its spouse's identity. As a result, the Renegade population increased rapidly after the Fifth Great War. All post-war countries, including Vhenia, participated in the Great Purge, which was designed to, but failed to, swipe out the whole population of Renegades. Present day, they still live among humans, in all districts, constantly plotting revolt and revenge against the human race. The commonly held belief is that the Renegades hope to take over the committee and eventually lead a massacre against