5 A.M. came too fast. Blue woke up beaten down from yesterday's shift, his body screaming in protest at the thought of doing it all over again. Every day. Forever.
Or could he really just... never work at that scummy factory ever again?
Blue could only lie there in his rickety bed, too tired to form a coherent plan. The rough mattress had left him sore in all the worst places. The nightshift was terrible, making his brain fog even worse than usual. Yesterday, the factory announced an "overabundance" in the demand for a fairly new technology called "holograms." Blue was tired of making them, tired of making anything for his dang job. All they do is show images of Deceiver's saying the usual propaganda, then the Dictator... oh, how Blue hated that pig.
In pain, Blue pushed himself up and off the bed, then giving a look at the clock to see the time in which favours were not in their hand; its 5 AM. He was supposed to be at work by 4 AM. Scrambling off the bed, Blue's vision faded in and out— having not gotten the rest he needed in days. It having been instead replaced by a job...
He wished things weren't like this, no— it can't be like this! Lately, Blue had come to realise that if he just sat around hoping that someday someone would fix this hell hole, it'd never happen. So he knew it was in his place to do so. Just... he was way too tired, unable to act out his vast, complicated thoughts of a life worth living. So tired that he fell asleep in his work clothes, eliminating the morning task of changing into their work clothes.
This led his mind to skip a couple beats in his morning; rushing to leave in a panic, but remembered he'd yet to take his daily medicine. They hurried through the rubbish slum of his room to grab it. Then it occurred to Blue– he truly felt they wouldn't be coming back here ever again. Searching through his apartment as fast as he could, they gathered all the clothes he owned– albeit very few. Along with that, he gathered the usual things he takes with him everywhere: shades, journal, of course a pencil, and his satchel that held all of what he grabbed.
He wanted to leave this life of dread behind, but of course their plan to escape modern "life" was not finished. It needed some time in thinking through and polishing while on his way to the factory. And since Blue had to get going, he quickly decided that he'd just take his medication once reaching the job. A quite poor decision of theirs. His work was near the northern housing for residents while he was housed down more the south of Hemlock. So he needed to catch the train.
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Finally he exited the now vacant apartment, immediately sickened by the polluted air of Hemlock. This humidity made him want to throw up, like always. His work clothes weren't helping with the immense heat either; the nauseated feeling only risen from these constant overwhelming conditions. Everyone appeared to be used to the horrible air quality, Blue was too– but he still didn't accept the state the world is in to be "alright."
As the boy trudged through the gray city, they noticed the usual: close to no trees, grass, and wildlife– such as birds. Instead it was replaced with city streets, massive parking lots, and skyscraper-like buildings... the usual things found within a poorly designed city. For Blue, he always wanted to be a bird; to spread his wings and fly away to a better place. But things weren't that simple for Blue, considering they'd been unwittingly born a human.
Blue's eyes began to strain from all the bright displays attached to buildings along with holograms scattered everywhere. He'd been so tired that they had forgotten to put on his shades. After he adjusted them comfortably on the bridge of his nose, he focused back on catching the train in time. Then he noticed a clock shining from one of the many screens of a tall building, stating the current date and time: 5:14 A.M., Saturday, October 19th, 2030." Blue didn't dwell too much on how it's 4 weeks left until his birthday; celebrations practically didn't exist here anymore. Nor did he have anyone to celebrate it with in the first place.
Just alone... like always.
It was simply another thing from the recent past that had been banned by Hemlock; removed from existence. But He could never forget everything banished from the Southern Nation; the books, the true past, and the genuine relationships— friends or more. Blue brought himself back to reality, looking at the time again and remembering he had work to do at his shitty job, even if he didn't want to.
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Twenty long minutes of struggling to keep moving through the city streets, he eventually reached the crowded train station.
Blue had an absolutely disdained look to him as he grumbled under his breath."Dammit, I'm gonna be even later than I already am..."
His head began to pound, feeling too tired to move or process his thoughts in order to get on the train. He stood there in a daze while other residents getting on the train pushed by him. Yet they ignored the shoves and rude side comments of those who shoved past him as he tried envisioning a world where the train was an escape. But in reality it took him to a place of imprisonment, the factory.
Then someone came along and suddenly pushed him into the train, causing Blue to fall out of his trance right causing him to SLAM! into someone else on the train.
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"Shit...!" He groaned whilst trying to keep his balance, yet ending up falling backwards onto the ground. He scrambled back up, grabbing onto one of the many poles on the train and lifted himself up before letting out a sigh.
After Blue calmed down, although his head still aching, they took a look at his surroundings: people staring at him with disgust in their face.
A child sitting across from Blue looked up to his mom, who looked incredibly worn out, as he pointed at the blue haired boy. "Mommy, why does that man have so many scars?"
The boy's mother quickly shushed him and whispered to her son, "It's not kind to point out things like that about someone."
This child's comment only made him more self conscious than they already were about his scars. It was hard to ignore all the looks he was given, wanting so badly to hide away from everyone on this ride forever. But to be fair, he does stand out with his blue hair in a sea of natural colours. On top of that, the many scars visible on his face and even more hidden under his uniform. It wasn't long into the ride that they began feeling anxious from having not taken his daily dose of Vyvanse yet.
And he couldn't take them on the train with how everyone was staring at him.
Even if it was aloud to take medicine in public spaces, Blue preferred more solitude; it put his mind to ease. Meanwhile, busy area's like this did the exact opposite. Fear of what others are thinking, all the noise, everything.
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Having a hard time in not eyeing the people on the train, even after having his head faced towards his lap, Blue noticed someone who madly caught his attention. And not in a okay way, according to Hemlock's rules.
It was a girl with striking red hair that just barely reached to her shoulders, almost looking like a birds feathers. From afar, she looked absolutely perfect in the boy's eyes. He was captivated by the beauty of her face, hair, and piercings which are a rare sight in another resident.
They immediately felt irregular feelingstowards her, and gained thoughts he hadn't imagined in a long time. And Blue— they just couldn't look away. He didn't want to, either, until she noticed him eyeballing her to where he quickly diverted his gaze away. If the Deceivers and Infiltrators could read this boys mind, he'd be detained on the spot for these ludicrous thoughts of his.
His mind had gotten so used to pushing these thoughts and feelings away now, hiding them in the dark. But starting from today, Blue would be done pushing away who he truly is: an artist, a lover, and most importantly... human. Although there were major problems with approaching here on the train. First of all, it's a public space... someone would report him. Then second of all, what if the girl doesn't... no- he didn't want to think that. This means they'll just have to catch her alone. And maybe, just maybe, she'd join him in rebelling against Hemlock and finally tear down the Southern Nation's government.
If that's even who she is as a person...
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While waiting for the train to reach his stop, he thought of how to pass the time. Maybe do some doodling in his journal, or write... but that's another risky thing to do in public. So instead he sat in silence while trying to avoid eyeing the girl, yet unable to get her out of his head. 'Where could she be heading to? Who is she?' And moreBlue wondered nervously while tapping his foot, staring at the dirty floor of the train. It being covered by the shoes of many passengers riding along only worsened the looming anxiety he had on the overcrowd state his city is in.
With Blue's stop nearing, he felt more knots forming in his chest. That girl... she sickened Blue to their stomach due to his nerve racking thoughts of her— but not of dislike... not at all. This sickness in their stomach made it feel as if he was reliving the many assaults he had faced in his life. But then, as the train came to a stop, Blue looked out a window in his peripheral view in which he noticed it's time for his departure.
When the doors slid open he hurried off the train, yet again pushing his feelings away as they ran as fast as they could. He continued so even after successfully getting a good distance away from the train.
Although the thoughts of that girl would not leave his mind. Not for a while, not ever, would she leave their mind.
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Since the girl had been standing near the same door, there was no way she wouldn't have noticed the hurried manner he had while running off to wherever. Then after the doors shut, and the train started moving again, gossiping on the blue haired boy rose.
Specifically about how they were staring at the girl with red hair...
And that girl was few of those who kept quiet. Yet she didn't fray from observing those around her, although coming to find she wasn't totally sure of what exactly they spoke of about that boy.
Then someone came up to her, breaking the silence with bringing up the topic at hand found within most of the whispers. "That man who just left– it was clear as day that he'd been eyeballing you. As the days pass, the more vermin's thereare. Just warning ya to watch out for people like that, as next thing you know... they'll be stalking you."
This interaction sent a shiver down the girls spine. Yet she pushed it off, feeling this citizen was partially in the wrong. "Uh, maybe he was just zoning out from being sleep deprived...? It would make sense, the jobs here in Hemlock have harsh hours. But um... thanks for the heads up, I guess...? I'll keep an eye out..." She said while periodically moved away from the random citizen at the same time, not wanting to be near the man.
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As Blue ran down the streets of Hemlock he pushed through the crowds of people, not fretting from putting in all this effort to reach work.
Even if that effort only saves him a couple seconds. Or, if he's lucky, maybe two minutes max.
And soon enough they reached the factory, it standing tall and gloomy in the dark of night. Blue took a breather, calming himself down before entering.
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Once in, Blue clocked in for the day and headed straight for his designated work area. There at his station were the parts towards making holograms, having the assigned job of putting them together in order to create the final product. Blue couldn't help but pick up the sound of his coworkers annoyance, as they've l been waiting for him to arrive and do the assembly work.
"What took you so long, dimwit?!" Said the closest coworker to him who had an annoyed look– just like the others farther down the production line.
Blue didn't understand why they don't already have some shitty robot do his job. If they care so much about getting it done and over with, why not just do so? Or even just filling in for him until he clocks in for work. Which is now, wishing it was never now.
"And why do you care? One of you could have filled in for me before I got here." They said before diverting his gaze back to his mundane job of putting parts together. Almost like... Lego's. Now his mind had wondered off to the innocence of childhood; legos with the joy and creativity they brought to him who built endlessly with them. Building worlds where everything was alright. But here he is now, fully mature and doing labor near similar to the memories he was reminiscing on. Except there was no joy or creativity coming from this job.
The coworker who spoke growled under his breath before turning away, frustrated that Blue was right, and returned to his work like the others had.
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After the conveyor belt was back in smooth motion Blue reached in his satchel for his Vyvanse, then placing it down on the clear work table. Opening it, he picked out two 70mg full pills yet hesitated in taking two at once. But that hesitation soon disappeared as he doubled down, proceeding to take twice the highest daily dose. They basically made a suicide attempt just now, although not thinking of his decision in that way.
And then came that usual rush of adrenaline flowing through his body, the overdose making him feel woozy.
Yet they felt numb. He loved the feeling of having not a single worry in the world, nor any pain... past the headache.
Luckily the boy was used to the negative effects from taking Vyvanse, only building more onto his craving for the sedation it brought upon him. Although he only now began to reconsider this "need" for it, thinking back to the train ride, as he… somewhat continued doing work. But as he thought hard about that ride, the more he became aware of the things he felt, and what that means to him.
How that girl indirectly made them realise he hasn't felt anything real in forever. That she could make themfeelsomething realagain. Then maybe he won't need this medicine to "numb the pain" with him.
But he couldn't bear to let the medicine go, it wouldn't be that easy for him to let go so fast. So it'll just take some time. With so many thoughts going through their head in the moment, parts stuck out from the mess it is. Things like occupying himself to get his mind off those damn pills, such as something like finding that girl. Or do a hobby of his, but... all of them were forbidden in today's society.
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Then all of a sudden the boss practically barged into his employees work area. He was heading towards Blue in a menacing fashion, not wasting time in reaching the employee of interest. Without clearance, the tall man latched his hand on the boys shoulder with a force nearly unbearable for Blue to handle.
It hurt, it stung; Like there were knots in his shoulder.
The boy shivered as his boss spoke with sternness that only rose from there as his words seethed out of his mouth with anger. "Subject 1116... you're late. Again. Now why's that?!"
Blue irked at his governmentname. They always did when called it. But luckily he managed to bring his surge of assertiveness back, facing the boss. "The usual; I woke up late, since every shift nearly works us to death." Even though they despised their coworkers... he could always tell they're drained, just like him. It was something he considered at times when receiving his coworkers constant presumptuous attitudes.
Their boss was taken back by "Subject 1116's" words, snarling right in front of his face now. "Well, if you can't take working a job, then you SHOULD die!" He yelled again, proceeding to shove Blue towards the conveyor belt where he proceeded to hold his worker against it with great force.
Blue tried resisting, but his boss was bigger... by a lot.And within a blink of his eyes, the subject's view was met with a sharp punch right into their face. The boss looked for something to cause a more damaging hit to the idiot, only having holograms on the production line in his reach. Alas he didn't want to break anything that'd give him plenty of money, so he resorted back to punching, shoving, all that. The others watched silently, as these moments have occurred multiple times before. So they were not as shocked, but it still was a sight to see.
20 seconds or so he let Blue go, then confiscating their prescription and spoke before storming back off to his office. "You won't be needing this.... Now, you three won't be late like 1116, am I clear?" They all nodded frantically, not wanting to get on his violent side.
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Surprisingly the sheer impact of the bosses punch didn't cause Blue to pass out, only on the verge of so. Even though he's gotten used to this pain over time, it was hard to ignore as his body ached while getting up. And it took Blue a few seconds to realise what his boss had taken from him, his Vyvanse. He reluctantly felt this anger fuel inside of him; some of it was because of the medicine not in his possession. But they wished none of this anger was from the medicine. Although, most of that anger was because they were fed up.
And now Blue knew what he had to do.
Run away.
His coworkers looked at each other, conversing on the moment while also working. But when they looked back at the little misbehaviours station, they were gone—having vanished in mere seconds. He had escaped via the back door while they weren't looking, heading for the Highlands of Hemlock in search of an escape from this city. Even if it's still inside the Southern Nation... chances are that's not feasible either.
"I-I'll go tell the boss!" One of them spoke in a quickened manner, his departure to the main office immediately after.
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Once reaching the office, he burst through the door, out of breath, the boss was just starting to sit at his desk again.
He groaned with a possible problem at hand, sighed, and placed Blue's medication on his desk. "Something wrong, 1031?
His voice was stern as always, making Subject 1031 choke up a little before spitting out what happened. "Subject 1116 is missing!"
He slammed his hand onto the desk in disbelief, his anger rising drastically. "WHAT?! For Hemlocks sake, how?! I wasn't even gone for a minute or two!"
"I-I don't know– we looked away for a moment, and when we looked back... he just wasn't, well, there!"
"Dammit, I'll check if 1116 left any tracks. The cameras probably picked him up, too. Now get back to work." The boss was pissed off by this, storming out of his office to have a look for himself.
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At the work room where the two other employees were continuing their work, 1031 joining back as him and the boss reached the room. Raging over to the door, he immediately noticed it was latched open just by a smidge so he swung it fully open and looked to the ground for answers. There lied tracks in the mud, as the factory was at the edge of the city which makes it near... The Highlands of Hemlock! With these clues the boss could only presume he's heading there, it's the only place that scum could have even a slim chance at hiding away while still in Hemlock.
Rubbing his chin, he devilishly grinned. "I know where he's heading... I'll go contact the Deceivers and tell them to establish patrols with Infiltrator Intelligence to search for 1116. Whatever it is he intends with running away can't be allowed..."
The workers quaked nervously, but complied nonetheless with the bosses deliberate decision on how to go on about 1116's disappearance. He pulled out his phone, dialing Deceiver Headquarters only to impatiently wait for someone to pick up.
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A few seconds passed before "someone" picked up the phone, it being one of those "human" robots. "Hello, I'm here to tell you that The Deceivers are currently busy making sure our nation is safe and sound! Don't worry, they'll be back any time soon, meanwhile you can sit back and wait!"
He grumbled, holding himself back from lashing out at the A.I. "It's urgent... put me on the line with a Deceiver. Now. A certain Subject is on the loose."
"Oh— right away, sir! I'll notify one to come right away, my apologies." The robot, like all A.I. in this day of age, sounded insanely human, too human, considerably more human than most actual ones now. They were like an echo of the past...
He grumbled again, waiting for a Deceiver to arrive on the other end of the phone; he was desperate to get the search on immediately. And even then, they'll probably blame him for Subject 1116’s escape. So the man didn't have time for the robots at Deceiver HQ to be slow.
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Some noises came from the other end of the phone, ones of panic it sounded like, before a Deceiver spoke with urgency. "You're the one who called to report a missing Subject, right? Where were they last seen, and do you know where they could have gone off to?"
The boss could hear panic in this Deceiver's voice, it sounded like this was a big problem for them. "Yes, yes... I'm the owner of the factory closest to the Highlands of Hemlock. That's where I suspect Subject 1116 ran off to. I called to ask if you're able to negotiate patrols across Hemlock with Infiltrator Intelligence to find that idiot."
"I suppose we could amp up the current security and patrol with the Infiltrators. And Subject 1116... looking him up I see that he has blue hair, with corresponding eye colour, a septum, left nose ring and dozens of scars. Is this your culprit? Says here that he's on the medication Vyvanse."
"Yep, everything checks out. For your information, he doesn't have any of his medication anymore as it's with me."
"Kay, I'll send all this information to the Infiltrator Base near the 36th parallel. In the meantime, maybe put some better security in your building. We can't have this happening again, you hear me?"
The boss took the Deceivers words to heart."I- yes, I'll consider that..."
"Alright, we're counting on you to do so..." The phone abruptly went quiet as the Deceiver hung up.
The words from the Deceiver sent chills down his spine. Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, the now fragile boss went back to his office. It was made clear to reinforce the factory's security.
After the boss entered his room once more, the three workers looked at each other with uncertainty. Then they went back to work, trying to manage with missing a worker, it came easy for the three to forget about Subject 1116 as a whole.
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By now Blue had gotten a good distance away from the factory, although yet to reach the Highlands of Hemlock. Being presumably alone, Blue slowed down to a walk as he allowed his mind to wander. 'Where could that girl have gone too? Who is she?' Yet these thought were quickly shut down as they gained their focus back and stopped thinking about her.
The goal was to find a hideout first... then find the girl.
But then came another distracting thought as he anxiously quickened his pace; the growing urge to get his hands on Vyvanse again. It mostly came from his worries in getting a possible withdrawal from the drastic drop in doses. Blue's own thoughts just wouldn't stop pestering him. It was tiring, really, as their mind went back and forth between contradicting decisions referring to the consumption of Vyvanse.
'Is it worth the trouble...? No— but...' thoughts like such repeated in their head as they gradually returned to running. Blue hoped the adrenaline would wash away these idiotic thoughts of his.
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He didn't know where he was, but Blue only hoped that he's far into the Highlands of Hemlock. Away from the towering builds and bright lights. Away from all those who hurt him. The boy turned around to look at the distant city, feeling a zeal to continue his chase for freedom. They've always been a Eleutheromaniac after all, letting those feelings guide him in the moment.
As he stood there, the more uncomfortable his work clothes felt on him. So in response he ripped them off his body with a struggle, throwing them to the ground where grass stood weary. There was a deep anger in him as he stared at it. Blue wanted nothing more but to burn his past; forget about it, start a new chapter in his life, and make a better person of himself. And most importantly, never letting those around him control who he is anymore.
And he was going to start with the scars from his job. Right now.
From inside his satchel, which laid on the ground with his work clothes, he dug around for a few seconds in search for anything he could set the clothes aflame with. When he gathered all his stuff, he'd put in what he considered his most necessary possessions. The contents of Blue's spacious bag were his knife, journal and pencils, cigarettes, and a lighter. He supposed that could work, considering he didn't have any matches with him. Blue grabbed it out of his satchel and crouched near the two piles of garment, proceeding in using the lighter to make them catch fire.
He put his boots back on as the clothes illuminated in lanes of two– letting them smoulder some more before stomping the fire out. Then he rushed to put on the only pair of clothes they had before immediately running from the scene. Blue had no doubt that his "boss" had reported him to the Deceivers by now.
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and then Add to home screen.