Proofread by Dark Pride
No. 145 Sanctuary, 28 December 130 A.R.
As Alex exited the train, he saw a large billboard that was put on the station's wall. It painted a blue sky over a blue mountain range. A man with thick leather clothes and a crude sword that hung from his hip who seemed to be struggling to walk on the snow-covered earth.
On the billboard, a huge bird flying with prey at its claws was depicted. The interesting thing was, the prey was a boar-like creature.
There was also a horde of mammoths in the distance that seemed to migrate or something.
The advertisement promoted the 'Desolate World', as a sentence was written with an eye-catching font, 'Officially launched on 1 January 131 A.R.'
"It looks fun," Alex had been hooked by the game after Frank explained it to him and the billboard.
'But I must consult with Vira first,' he said in his heart as he walked toward the exit of the station.
It had been almost a month since he left the sanctuary to gamble in Pacific City. Some passengers walked past him, but he really didn't care. They had to wait for the tram to come so they could continue their journey to their blocks, and it would take some time before it arrived.
Some people seemed in a hurry walking past him in a different direction. Alex guessed that they were the workers responsible for loading and unloading, as many goods needed to load and unload when a train arrived.
The station of that sanctuary was never filled, as only some thousands people lived there. This sanctuary was used as an underground wheat and vegetables plantation.
Many people in the sanctuary work as workers on technical jobs related to the plantation, sanctuary maintenance, or administration. The rest of them are white citizens, also known as the reserves or the jobless people, if you want to be rude.
Although the nuclear war and its after-effects killed most of the human population, technology was still advancing. Around 70 years before, the usage of robotic technology helped ease the workload of people struggling to stay alive. Human beings finally had spare energy to do things other than struggling to fulfill their basic needs, but it only took 20 years for them to realize that the massive advance in robotic technology caused many citizens to lose their jobs.
The subsidy policy for jobless citizens who weren't fertile was put into action. New social classes inevitably were created. From the bottom were white, bronze, silver, and golden citizens. Actually, the terms came from the different colors of the ID cards that were given to citizens.
Golden cards were given to people who had vital positions in the union, such as the president, the ministers, the governors, the union council members, the planetary council members, some military commanders, and some rich people that have an asset more than one billion credits.
As for silver cards were given to people with positions below the golden citizens but higher than bronze citizens. They were usually some supervisors, owners of private businesses, or some other middle-level professions.
Bronze cards were given to people who have jobs but didn't have a monthly income of more than 1,000 credits. By the way, every fertile person who had already married another fertile opposite gender was included in this category and was given 500 credits per person each month.
As for white citizens were given to anyone who didn't have jobs because they were still on the reserves list, elderly, or disabled people. They were given 200 credits per person each month.
***
After exiting the station, Alex had to wait for about 10 minutes for the arrival of the electric tram. Although No. 145 sanctuary had few citizens living there, it had basic facilities that each city had.
While waiting with some people, he looked at the concrete ceiling that was about 20 meters high absent-mindedly. According to research, 90% of people tended to look upward when absent-minded. It is believed to be an action that represents humanity's longing for the sky.
Many LED lamps kept the sanctuary bright 24 hours a day. Alex, like the majority of people who were born at that age, had never seen the sun, the moon, or the stars with their naked eyes, as going to the earth's surface was dangerous without a protective suit. And only the military or the scientists had the access to go there.
The tram came on time exactly 10 minutes later. Alex, without much thought, got on it.
***
Alex got off the tram at a stop not too far from his house. His house was provided by the government, as they gathered all the fertile couples in one area. It was done so the children could meet their friends easier, they needed to socialize with kids their age.
After walking for around three minutes, he arrived in front of a house with brown paint. Along the way, he greeted some of his neighbors. As he went to knock on the door, he heard a child's voice, "George you meanie, stop!"
"No way, you'll hit me if I do, Irene. I'm not that stupid," another kid answered.
Alex then turned his body to look for the source of the two voices, only to find a five years old boy was being chased by a girl who should be 6 years old. The one being chased was his son, George, while the one chasing him was the neighbor's daughter, Irene.
George was pretty tall for his age, so it was funny to see him being chased by a girl who was shorter than him. George was running past Alex and it seemed he didn't realize that his father was standing in front of his house.
Alex could only sigh, 'Why is my son such an idiot?'
Just as he was about to call George, the little girl, Irene was able to recognize him, and she stopped in front of him.
"Good afternoon, Mr. gambler. Should I catch George for you?" With an innocent smile, Irene asked.
Alex was shocked. Never had he imagined that the girl knew anything about his hobby, 'who?! Is it John or Danny who had loose lips?
Alex then squatted down and looked at the girl's eyes. With a friendly smile, he said, "That's a rude way to call an adult, young lady! A good girl mustn't talk like that, but, who told you about it?"
Irene's face then became nervous, "I-I am sorry Mr. Alex, everyone is talking about it. I just repeated it."
'Crap! So that was the reason Vira was so mad on the phone a few days ago,' Alex said in his heart.
"It's okay Irene, so why were you chasing George? Did he bother you again?" Alex asked her.
Irene nodded, "Yes! He put some sand in my hair again."
"Okay, tell him I am home, if you can catch him. He is such a hopeless boy. He didn't even realize his father was in front of him. Can you do that for me?" Alex said with a smile.
"Of course! Leave it to me!" Irene then started to run after George again.
Alex could only shake his head. As he looked, Irene had already run pretty far away, when he heard a woman's voice behind him, "So, have you really stopped gambling, like I asked?"
Alex then looked at a beautiful blonde woman behind him, "It's been a while, honey? Did you miss me?"
Alex stood up and approached her wanting to hug her, but she avoided him by stepping back into the house while staring daggers at him, "Don't use that trick! Answer my question!"
Alex sighed and started typing on his smartphone.
Vira frowned when she saw that, as she was about to yell at him, Alex showed her the screen of his smartphone, "Read it!"
Vira took it with doubt, and then read something on it. It was the list of the banned people from entering and gambling in the casinos around the world. At the end of the list, there was the name of Alex Smith.
With a shocked expression, she stared at Alex's solemn face, "D-Did you really stop gambling?"
"Of course, I promised you didn't I?" Alex said.
They were silent for a while, Vira then looked him in the eyes and asked, "Why did you stop gambling?"
'Huh? Didn't you threaten to divorce me if I didn't quit gambling?' Alex said in his heart. But of course, he didn't say that. At least, he didn't dare to say it directly.
"Because I love you and our son, and I don't want to lose both of you," Alex said in a sincere tone.
Vira seemed to be touched by his words, because the look in her eyes became softer.
"Alex! I love you too," she walked over to hug him of her own volition.
'Yeah, this is the right thing to do. I am really grateful to be born fertile,' Alex smiled in his heart.
Just as they were going to kiss, a voice startled them, "Daddy! You came home! Did you bring me a souvenir?"
They separated from each other and looked at the cheerful boy who ran over to them.
'Crap! I forgot,' Alex smiled bitterly, but only for a moment. He then thought hard about how to answer and got an idea.
He squatted and hugged George, while ruffling the kid's hair, he said, "I have a better gift for you. Do you know the game that is about to be launched, Desolate World? I plan to buy the capsules for the three of us."
Vira and George then gave him a weird look.
George with an innocent expression then asked Alex, "Don't we already have them?"
"Huh?" Alex looked at his wife.
"Actually, I have something to talk to you about," Vira said with a smile.
***