Chương 1: Breaking News
[ Year 2142, Washington DC ]
*Rattle* *Rattle*
As the ground began to quake, Leo Skyshard glanced at the seismic reading on his battered smartphone and muttered, "4.2, it's okay" almost under his breath.
For a moment, as the make-shift platform he was working on began to quake, his heartbeat began to rise rapidly as the project he was working on today was an old construction bar that was facing a risk of collapse, potentially burying him in debris.
Thankfully, the number was hardly shocking. 4.2 was not enough to cause significant damage to the structure made with a century old construction method.
In this day and age, the once-dreaded natural calamities had become humdrum background noise. Tokyo, Los Angeles, Rome—they were all gone, swallowed by the Earth or washed away by tsunamis while natural disasters became a weekly occurrence.
There was not a single city in the world that looked intact anymore as the concrete empire was crumbling.
At first it was a yearly affair, then it became bi-annual, then seasonal, then monthly and now finally the frequency had increased to just a few weeks apart.
The earth was falling apart and hundreds of thousands were dying everyday.
In a world where cities vanished and disasters became mundane, people barely flinched anymore at small events like a 4.2 earthquake.
Leo looked at his elder brother, Luke, who was engrossed in cleaning old glasses made of oak wood as he gave him a reassuring smile.
Both were waiting in a ramshackle bar for their next freelance gig, a high-rise window cleaning and restoration, one of the few remaining jobs that could be performed outside a computer screen. It was a risky job in unpredictable weather, but risks were a luxury only the rich could afford to avoid.
In this world where disasters were frequent, the ultra rich had already isolated themselves in nuclear bunkers with years worth of canned food to survive, however, for commoners like Leo and Luke, they needed to work 3 days a week in dangerous environments to ensure the survival of their family which consisted of the two brothers and their mother.
Once, this trio belonged to the echelons of urban elite, but that era has long faded, much like their father who vanished without a trace, bequeathing them a mere $500 in their bank account.
Since the abrupt departure of their father a decade ago, the family had grappled with financial hardship, a situation that had deteriorated with each subsequent year.
It was only four years ago, upon Luke's 18th birthday, that he was able to contribute through various odd jobs and lessen the financial burden on their mother, which was further improved two years later, as Leo joined him in this laborious endeavour.
For now, the family of 3 barely made their ends meet but they could be considered as happy as one could be while surviving on the bare minimum.
Suddenly then, in a moment that Luke and Leo would probably never forget for the rest of their lives, much like everyone else on Earth, the bar's dust-covered TV flickered to life, and President Verma's face appeared on screen.
Leo had never liked her. She was stern, severe, and in power not because people admired her, but because she was considered strong—something desperately needed in these chaotic times.
"My fellow citizens," she began, her voice unusually calm.
"As you all must know and experience on a day to day basis, our beloved planet Earth, a place we call 'Home' is suffering from countless natural disasters and has become unsuitable for the human population.
It's time for us to move on, it's time for us to explore new planets and become a species that has presence throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
It's with great pride and joy that I declare today that we have successfully negotiated with an alien species to allow us to populate their planet.
They are an advanced species with great technological achievements and have been kind enough to send 4 Arc Ships that can carry 250 million people each.
In precisely 3 months time from today, these 4 Arc Ships will leave planet Earth and shall be bound for a planet called 'Terra Nova'.
For those who dare to explore a new world and think they have the necessary expertise to be chosen as a member onboard the ship, I implore you to apply for a position and escape this dying planet.
I myself am going to board the ship alongside you all to demonstrate that it's completely safe and a great opportunity.
It's going to be a fresh start on a lush green and stable planet, full of new possibilities, and I hope every last one of us are reunited there someday."
The screen went blank once the speech was over as Luke and Leo were dumbfounded by it's content.
"What the actual fuck?" Luke cursed, as he did not listen to any gibberish beyond the fact that the president was boarding the ship.
If that selfish hag was boarding the ship, it was sure as hell not to demonstrate anything positive.
If she was boarding the ship it could mean one thing and one thing only and that was the undeniable fact that Earth was done for.
It wasn't just a 'Cataclysmic Cycle' that the government claimed it was. It wasn't just a phase that would last 20 years and then recede like many 'experts' and 'pundits' claimed it would be.
The Earth was dying and these ship's were the one chance for humanity to survive.
"We have to apply, brother. We have to get out" Leo said with conviction in his eyes as Luke nodded.
Although the two did not buy into the promise of a fresh start, they understood the urgency to leave.
There were 8 billion people on Earth and the ship was only going to carry a billion which meant that it was going to be incredibly difficult to make the cut but they had 3 months to figure out how to.
Chương 2: A rigged system
( A few hours later, The Skyshard family apartment )
Luke and Leo Skyshard entered their small, dimly lit apartment, their faces etched with a mixture of disbelief and cautious optimism.
The room, furnished with worn-out sofas and a flickering television set, seemed to contain endless cracks on the ceiling that made it hard to discern if the wall had more plaster or more paint as it looked like a jumbled mix of both.
In the corner of the room was a large metal table with food packets secured to it with tape underneath.
The table was the family's earthquake protection plan, it was sturdy enough to take heavy impact in case the roof began to fall and contained emergency rations to support the family for 3 days in which rescue operators could hopefully find them.
It wasn't the perfect plan to survive in these dangerous times, but it was the best that the family could afford.
Upon that same table rest a cracked computer from 20 years ago which took forever to boot up.
It was a miracle that the old gen15 processor still worked at all as Luke and Leo relied on it to hunt for new jobs.
"Mom we're home" Leo announced, as out of the kitchen walked Elena, their beautiful and kind hearted mother.
If one were to ever ask the definition of the word 'Housewife', Leo felt like his mother would be the perfect model.
She could cook good food, sew torn clothes, save money while shopping, laugh at silly things and find happiness in the simplest of luxuries.
There was no doubt in either of the brother's minds that without their mother the two of them would not have survived their harsh childhood.
She was the pillar of their life and they loved her too much.
"Mom, The president just announced it. They're sending Arc Ships to another planet... Terra Nova. It's going to be like a new start, it's a chance to build a new life on hardwork and merit. We finally have a chance to escape all this, but they are only taking 1 billion humans total, so we need to act fast and ensure a seat," Luke explained.
Elena's eyes widened, but the initial thrill dissipated as quickly as it came as she asked cautiously "That's... that's wonderful, but how do we ensure we get on those ships?"
Determined, the brothers sat down at their old computer, its screen bearing cracks like scars. After navigating through the application site for the Arc Ships, they discovered a professional ranking system.
According to it, their skills as repairmen ranked them at 9.1, meaning that in the entire world if they picked 10 repairmen at random, Luke and Leo would be the 9th best amongst them.
"We're actually pretty high up, Luke. If this thing is based on merit, we could really get in!" Leo's eyes shimmered with fleeting hope.
Unfortunately, that glimmer was snuffed out when they saw their queue numbers: 70,324 for Luke and 70,325 for Leo.
"Over 70,000? This can't be right," Luke scoffed, his fists clenched.
There were only 1,500 repairmen needed in each Arc ship, putting the total required number at 4,500.
Globally, the system recognised that there were 350,000 ranked repairmen with Luke and Leo ranking at 3500's. With 4,500 slots being reserved for people of this profession they should have technically had a good shot at getting in, however, their waiting rank itself was over 70,000+
When the brothers clicked on the FAQ on how the slot rankings and waitlist were generated, they got some bull-shit explanation on how they factor in a multitude of factors like age, ethnicity, gender, civil score, etc for a total of 108 parameters total.
Basically it was the government's way of telling them that they completely controlled the rankings at will and if they did not want you to board, you could never board the ship.
In a desperate move, they applied for every available job, finally landing on waste collection where their queue numbers were the shortest at 3241 and 3242.
"Is this our best shot? To become cosmic janitors?" Leo snapped as Luke's face turned even more grim.
"We can be pushed back as more and more people apply for the jobs, but we ain't gonna be bumping up.
I think those who applied are already sure that they wanna leave Earth, I don't think the list is going to move 30 places, much less 3,000" Luke said, pouring cold water on Leo's frustration.
As things stood they weren't even worthy of becoming cosmic janitors. It seemed their fate was sealed to remain on the dying Earth.
—----------
( A month later, 2 months before the Arc Ship took off )
"The whole system is rigged Luke, I'm telling you, I met a shady underground dealer today, who says he can bump us up 1,000 places in the waitlist for 100,000 dollars.
He's connected to the government somehow and apparently the rich are buying out all the slots.
The price was only 20,000 a month ago but it's going up fast, if we somehow raise the money we can all board the ship" Leo said, as he tried to desperately search for ways to board the ship.
"Why are you still dreaming about boarding that ship, Leo? We can't make the cut, just accept it!
Our closest waiting number is now at 4972 and 4973.
I'm not too good at maths, but these numbers would mean we would need to pay your dealer close to 1 million dollars to secure our spots.
Mother's closest waiting number is over 30,000, so that's 3 million more.
We don't have 40,000 dollars in savings, how are we supposed to raise 4 million huh?" Luke shouted as he admonished his brother for harbouring useless hope.
Yes the system was rigged and yes it was the rich that were going to leave the planet, but what could they do about it?
When had the system ever been kind to the poor and downtrodden?
Unbeknownst to them, their mother Elena had overheard their conversation from the adjoining room. Her heart sank as she felt like she was the anchor holding her children back. Her own queue number was in the 30,000s due to her age and lack of what the government deemed as 'valuable' skills.
As her sons argued in the other room, her thoughts shifted to a dark option for raising money that she had once read about—a black market for kidneys. With the growing desperation in recent times, the price had shot up. One kidney of hers could easily fetch 1.2 million dollars, enough to secure the future of both her sons' but it wasn't an easy decision to make.
Naturally, with the boys squabbling amongst each other the atmosphere at home was heavy for the next two days as Elena silently contemplated whether or not to make the big move, but ultimately with trembling hands, she filled out the medical consent forms to sell one of her kidneys with the operation scheduled for the next day.
Her lips quivered, but her resolve was unshakeable.
She hid the form in her dresser and returned to the living room, her eyes a complex tapestry of love, sorrow, and indomitable will.
"We'll figure this out," she told herself, her voice barely more than a whisper. "One way or another, you boys are getting on that ship."
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