Hong Kong

September 2nd, 2060

-Chi-ya Zhou-

     It's the first day of sophomore year, and I expected to wake up on time or even late.

I slept in too much this summer.

Instead, I wake up almost thirty minutes before the alarm set in my walls was supposed

to wake me up with blasting pop music. I stretch and reach over to the control pad built

into the wall next to my bed, shutting off the alarm. For a second, I want to fall back

asleep, but I can't risk waking up late and being late for school.

As I plod to our newly-improved bathroom in my PJs and messy hair, I hear that my sister 

Lee-Kang has already woken up and is chatting quietly on her phone. She's only 12, but

already she's becoming elusive and quieter. It might only be teen moodiness hitting, but

I'm scared that she's seeing boys at her school. With what already happened to my best

friend last year, I don't want to risk anyone else being taken away to have a forced early

procedure.

I knock on her door and she continues to ignore me. "Lee-Kang?" I call out softly. "Who

are you talking to?" Normally, I'd hate to be the proddy older sister, but I can't help

myself.

"My friend! She needs help picking out an outfit today!" she calls back. I could hear the

sass in her voice.

With a sigh of relief, I enter the bathroom and turn on the shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Morning, Chi-ya," my mother calls. Even at 47, she's looking timelessly beautiful in yoga

pants with her hair in a bun. She's sitting in front of our see-through Flexi-TV built into

the kitchen wall, listening to the morning news of Hong Kong.

I go over to our food programmer on the kitchen wall and slide through the menu, choosing

sunny-side up eggs and some orange juice, along with a small bowl of blueberries.

Meanwhile, I turn my attention on the Flexi-TV. "Officials have noted that 13 people have

broken into our Control Center . However, security and guards have stopped the breach

and imprisoned these Invalids." The women's tone is warm and easy due to the severity of

the problem.

The food programmer has dinged and my food is ready, but my heart skips a beat. A

break-in? We haven't had one of these for the last few years. Hong Kong is such a safe

city, with one of the lowest number of Invalids living among us in all of Asia.

My mother looks at me with concern. "Have a safe day," she tells me. She looks troubled

with the news. "Tell Dad about the break-in too, okay?" I made her promise me. Dad is an

official that oversees private government workings, and this break-in won't make him

that happy. But he has to know.

"I promise I will. Have a good day." She tucks a piece of hair behind my ears and smiles.

Sometimes, reading old books, I encounter phrases called "motherly love." I wonder what

"motherly love" really is.

Because whatever it is, it's not here anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     It was only a short walk from the Flexi-Tube to Hong Kong Central High. The warm

sun, still refusing to lose its grip on the last few days of summer, warmed my body. As i

swept through the automatic Flexi-glass doors, I was greeted by perfume, cologne, and

the smell of new clothes. Conversation filled the air, and the already-large school went

under even more modifications over the summer.

I glanced around for a few seconds to gain my surroundings. Tight packets of girls, and

loose crowds of guys, pretending that the other gender didn't exist, milled around. Many

critics of different-gender schools before and after amor deliria nervosa was recognized

as a disease wanted separate high schools for guys and girls to drastically decrease

temptation, but we model high school students do the separating flawlessly anyway.

None of the girls in my grade really changed over the summer. Other than new outfits

and hairstyles, everyone is still the same with their high-tech phones, designer shoes, and

chatty laughter.

It's  just so comforting to be back in high school. Just kidding.

My two best friends Yu-Lan, freshly tanned from spending the summer in Australia, and

Li-Chon, who was sporting new dyed-blond curls, raptly went on about their summers while

I give my input on Korea's World Volleyball match that I managed to score seats to due to

Dad's connections.

If they'd known that I'd also spent the whole summer skiing, eating, and meeting new people at

the Alps over the summer with my mom and my sister, they would pester me to no end

about my trip. None of us brought up our (old) best pre-cured friend, Yan-Hong, who is

now hanging with girl Cureds in our grade (which only consist of a handful).

We manage to get to class on time at 7:15 A.M., despite the trampling of confused

Freshmen. One harried younger boy clipped Li-Chon on the shoulder. "Ugh! Boys!" she

hissed, glaring at him as he looked back in shame.

World History came after Psychology. The moment I walked in, I heard some friends

squeal "Chi-Ya! Sit here!" As I sauntered towards them, I glanced around the room to

evaluate who was in my class this year.

At that moment, a pair of eyes met mine close by. I quickly glanced away from the guy who

was staring at me, Asian but dressed differently than most of the fancy-shirts-and-

khaki-pants guys here in school. And just like that, he stuck out like a sore thumb, and I

immediately knew he was a new student here.