The government had gone to shit.
But Renjun couldn't say anything about that. He wasn't born when that happened. So he was born and raised in such a controlling society. He had learned about how, and when it happened, but he couldn't see why the older generations were so upset. He couldn't exactly put an emotional connection to the new rules and confinements. He ate what he was allowed, and followed the rules. Isn't that what he's supposed to do?
He hadn't met his mother or father after he was born. He could only imagine, but he could never see their faces. But he was certain they were in a better place now. Working for a rationings office, or helping another school with the education system. That's what he wanted to think, what the government wanted him to think, and so he did. Who was he to question, but a small student not quite a voice in their society?
So he woke up every morning, dressing the same way, walking the same path, and learning the same way he was to do every day. He had no other plans. So he always spent his time studying, learning, to make sure he could become a better person for his future position in society.
This morning was no different.
He put on his plain, dark grey pants, without pockets of course, and a slightly lighter grey button-up shirt. Taking his plain grey tie, he quickly tied it using his reflection in a small mirror hanging from his grey wall. He went to the small bathroom and brushed his teeth, and soon finishing.
He left the house with nothing on him.
Quickly exiting his door, making sure not to leave it open for too long, or else the alarm would activate and the authorities would come racing up the stairs, he headed towards the small staircase.
Everything was grey.
The clothes he wore, the walls that surrounded him, the bed he slept on, to the "trees" outside.
This was the government's way of "controlling the environment."
Again Renjun could not say anything, as he had never been shown the Outside. Never seeing a live plant, the air being supplied by thick metal shafts that were attached to the large cylinders Renjun liked to call "trees," because those were what were closest to trees in his world.
Stepping outside, he took a deep breath, starting on the path to his school. Buses were no longer allowed on the Inside, due to potential life endangering pollution, so the population was left to walk wherever they needed, although there wasn't many places one could go to. The only "activities" allowed to the population were located in the "Square." The Square consisted of about 7 to 8 buildings. About three schools, a Rationing Office, a Police station, a Bank, an abandoned factory just slightly away from the rest, and maybe a "government" building. The schools were on the end of "town" so students had to walk just a little further than all of those who were no longer in school. Renjun envied them just a little, but pushed the emotion down. He needed to be prepared to imput.
Almost to the school, his pulled his sleeve up. This held a barcode that was placed at birth that was barely visible, but just enough to scan. This is what the People used to ensure attendance. If you were absent even one time, they put you in the Chamber. Renjun had never been in the Chamber, but had heard from a classmate named Chenle, that it was beautiful and enlightening.
Renjun was terrified of it.
Why?
Because he hated change. His lifetime of nothing but routines had been engraved into his being.
The time that he woke up in the morning.
The clothes he wore.
The amount of time of imputing information.
The time that he went to sleep.
That was his routine.
Day in. Day out.
No altercations, no special excuses.
His routine.
And there is nothing that is going to change that. Or so he thought.
. . .
Renjun arrived to the school 10 minutes before check-in started. Sitting on the park bench, like always, he began to recite the information for his upcoming imput session. It was a painful process, where one receives a "mark" on their arm, holding a specific number, and not one number is alike, where they would plug-in a device and imput all the information needed for that day would be uploaded into the core-section, a small chip placed inside the spinal cord, for ultimate memory.
Sometimes the operation would be dangerous, and leave several children disabled, or worse, even brain-dead. The majority of the population had only a small altercation to their memory storage and retrieving information earlier stored.
Renjun's mark held a number: 00.00.01
Renjun was one of the known to have more than a slightly altered memory. He remembered every bit of information that was imputed, along with surrounding information outside the school.
He had to go through a more painful, and longer imput session. The tension building in his head of information imprinted into his head from the many sessions. He could feel the oncoming headache, and tried to push it away.
He knew his incoming session would worsen the pain, so he tried hard to push it down.
By the time he was finished recalling memories of information, it was check-in time. He always was first to go in and last to come out.
He had no "friends." Friendships were supposedly "banned" but no one wanted to be alone, so the government allowed that one rule to lessen.
But, Renjun never saw anyone, being the first in, last out, he didn't have a chance to make any. His sessions started earlier than everyone else's, and ended hours after school had "closed."
He felt like he was in his own bubble.
No one to love him, and no one for him to love.
Partners were hard to come by, but divorces were no longer allowed, so those who truly loved one another could be together.
But people in love didn't want to divorce, because there was simply no reason to. No desirable possessions, no children to take custody of, and no one dared to cause any affliction to their partner, for the punishment was grave.
Renjun never thought about having a partner. He didn't know what or how to feel about the so-called word "love."
So he always brushed his loneliness off with the information that he stored. What made him great, also wore him down.
He walked into the white building. The only building not gray, to distinguish importance, and the power it held.
He walked up a spiraling staircase, making his way to the top floor. As far as he knew, he was the only student at that school that used the Full Capacity Memory Wing, but it was lonely at the top.
He was the only breathing creature on the top floor. He continued to try to get into his session before people started walking into the building for their breakfast before their own first session.
Their sessions were different from Renjun's, where he had to be in a session all day, the others had to have small sections of sessions.
Renjun walked to the door of his oncoming session, a small window separating the room from him.
Sighing slightly, he went to open the door, only to find it locked. This had happened before. It was too soon for his session, so, at most, he has to wait a couple of minutes.
Sitting in the hallway, he soon became bored. Then he heard the voices of other students slowly make themselves come up from the first floor. There was a balcony of sorts that could oversee the entrance that was on the top floor.
Curious, Renjun slowly approached the balcony, seeing the other students pouring from the check-in. Renjun leaned against the railing, watching the others, clad in white, act naturally with each other.
. . .
The two boys walked through the boring check-in, talking lightly with one another. They walked in and a spot of gray caught their eye.
Gray? But the colors only allowed are white-
Instinctively, light brown haired boy looked up. And what he saw shocked him.
"Jeno, what's wrong?"
Jeno looked over at his best friend.
"What does gray mean again, Jaemin?" he asked.
"Top Capacity Memory. Why?" his friend asked him, perplexed.
Jeno did nothing but point at the boy at the railing at the top floor.
"I thought no one went there," he said, looking back at Jaemin, mildly confused.
Jaemin looked at the boy in gray, finally seeing what Jeno was talking about, eyes widening.
"Holy-"
The boy made eye contact with the other two, and as soon as he did, the two saw him clench his head in pain, and soon everyone else's eyes were on the boy. The room became extremely quiet, as the boy went into a sitting position before scrambling up to rush into the abyss of the top floor.
The two boys looked at each other, feeling the silence around them.
"I thought that there wasn't anyone with full capacity memory?" a voice rang out.
There wasn't supposed to be one.