Dystopian Chaos

A Bleak New World

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

Shadow rolled over, slamming his hand on the alarm. He sat up slowly, his white blanket slipping off as he raised his hands to his face. Groaning as he tried to push through the morning fog.

Shadow threw off his blanket, knowing that his shift would start soon. He pulled on a pair of boots and gloves, a hint of red at the tongues. He turned to his uniform jacket hanging in the closet, the dark blue contrasting the red. He slipped the starched jacket on, loathing the constricting material. He rubbed his face again, as he shuffled towards the kitchen.

He poured his coffee ration into the machine, wanting to get on with the day. His Monitor turned on automatically, set by his shift schedule.

"Good Morning citizen! This is today's host speaking, just a reminder that today's 8 am shift is set for a screening today. All citizens must cooperate within the guidelines and report to the M.A.C.S. system before your shift starts."

Shadow winced, another screening? This soon? It had only been a few weeks since the last one. The Guardian must be getting desperate. The beeping of the completed coffee drew his attention away from the absurdity of the announcement.

He quietly slipped on the bitter caffeine while munching on a Break-meal. This mornings' Break-meal consisted of thick eggs, dried fruit and a tack biscuit. The meals had been issued throughout the city as resources were limited, the war causing many to suffer.The Government handled this situation by issuing a month's supply of Break-meals to each household in the city.

He tried to tune out the rest of the announcements, consisting of the city's new curfews and an update on the guard shift.

There was a point where he might've listened intently to the announcements, scanning each and every detail, now he was just bored. The monotony had gotten to him. Strict rules and even stricter enforcements had kept him quiet and passive. Not to mention the threat if they ever found him. For now he was just a cog in a machine and if he wanted to survive, it had to stay that way.

He looked down at his watch, speaking of which it was time to go. Just as he got up, the screen automatically turned off. Surveillance could be covered as he headed to the streets, at least that's what they seemed to assume. He paused in the doorway, both to swipe his keycard to lock the door, and to slip something under the mechanism. He made sure the white of the paper was unnoticeable to the naked eye from the main entryway. But if one happened to look close enough, they could barely see a sliver of white.

He took the stairs, only to be hit with the massive crowd of the city. A dark, oily smell filled the streets as the group of people shuffled to and from their shifts. He found his crowd, all wearing the same dark blue jacket. As they collectively made their way to the main building, his shift slowly filed into a single line, it wrapped around the building, from the main doors to a pair of white side doors. Shadow tried to relax, as he knew it would be a while before his turn.

He looked up at the buildings, seeing flashing billboards. The spectrum of colors was both dizzying and hypnotic. Ads for Break-meals and of course for the Government. Most were just simple glimpses of the military, encouraging citizens to join. The stoic, and robotic frames of the soldiers filling the screen. Shadow cringed, although the Guardian offered benefits to those who joined, they were minimal. As well as the life being more difficult than advertised, rules were more constricting as well as the harsh punishments that followed.

That's when a new ad caught his attention. The stoic soldiers were replaced by silhouettes of Mobians being found and arrested. The giant letters of "Find and protect!" Blazing in bold colors. Shadow resisted the urge to narrow his eyes or bristle his quills. The billboard was referring to a system that the Guardian put in place, one that apprehended chaos creatures. They would be taken by the government, and be "integrated." What that meant exactly almost no one knew. But Shadow knew it wasn't good. The screenings and tests done by M. A.C.S. only encouraged the public to believe that the government was looking out for them and protecting them by finding any average Joe that had signs of being a "powerfully dangerous," chaos creature. They made sure to use softer language, "no no, we're not harming them, we're just talking them away from society to keep everyone safe is all."