Runaway

My name is - was - Nancy. 

   I was born in the city of Westside Mountainview. A “beautiful city where dreams come true!”. I’m calling load BS on that. My grandparents moved there when they were just married, wanting to become farmers or vets. But the Head Honcho there chose what your job was, and enfused your DNA with not caring what your job was, not talking back or fighting back, stupid genetic stuff like that. My grandpa became a construction worker instead of a farmer, and was very happy. Or that's what he thought.

   Only important officers, like the Head Honcho, who is actually known as the Boss, or geneticists, know what the hell happened to the newcomers wanting to be one thing, then being more than happy to do another. But I am no more than a measly peasant. How do I know this? Because the Algorithm makes us do what the Algorithm wants. I betrayed the Algorithm. 

   I went over the line, whatever that line is. I fought back. I said “no”. Then I ended up an outcast. Exiled from my home, treated like literal trash. “That’s no fun! You aren’t going to tell us the actual story!” 

   I am, actually. I know that you might want to know what I’m talking about. It started three days before I was assigned my Role in the Community. Before the Algorithm predicted my every move. Before I first said the word “no”.

“Nancy!” Ms Nelson called the child’s name again. Nancy Harris was almost 10 years old. On her 10th birthday, everyone would gather to celebrate and hear what her Role would be. Unfortunately, Nancy was a peculiar child, not always following the rules, not practicing arithmetic after classes, and she didn’t seem to care about Selection day. When she would get assigned her Role in the community.

   “Nancy!” Ms Nelson yelled this time, getting worried and angry. Unbeknownst to Ms Nelson, Nancy was secretly following Ms Nelson through the forest, where the Grade 5 class had been playing Tag, You’re It. Nancy had run off and hidden while playing. Ms Nelson would have sought advice from the Algorithm, but Nancy wasn’t 10 yet, so the Algorithm was not yet predicting her moves.

   Nancy decided now would be a fun time to scare Ms Nelson. So she tapped her teacher on the shoulder, scaring the living daylights out of Ms Nelson. Nancy spent the rest of the day in her room. Another flaw in her DNA geneticists would have to correct. 

   Two days later, it was Nancy’s 10th birthday, and she would be receiving a Role. An assignment. Every adult in the Children’s Care Ward in the main building, where babies were born, children grew up, and elderly people were cared for, was nervous for the child. Everyone suspected that she would not get a Role yet, but she would be in the Algorithim’s database.

   Nancy woke up late. Her Nanny chose a white lace dress and black patent shoes. Nancy curled her hair and burned her finger a bit, making her Nanny take over. An hour later, Nancy walked up the stage stairs in front of everyone in the Community. 

   The Boss was standing there, surrounded by lots of Elders, important people who made the decisions not previously made by the Algorithm. As Nancy reached the Boss, a powerful looking woman with a regal face and dark skin, she was trembling with excitement and nervousness. But, as hardly anyone got to see the Boss up close (she usually showed up as a hologram for these things), Nancy took a long look.

   The Boss did really have a regal face. A long nose, deep brown eyes, strong eyebrows, a gorgeous jawline. She was wearing a whit pantsuit and black heels, similar to Nancy’s current apparel. 

   The Boss had a shaved head, with soft bits of black hair growing back, which would most likely be cut soon. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and when she blinked, Nancy could see some gold on her eyelids. When she spoke, her plump red lips seemed to call her name.

   Wait-they were! 

   “Nancy 9. Please pay attention.” The Boss scolded. Nancy bowed her head and apologized. The Boss looked back over the crowd. “Today we congregate to celebrate another child’s transition to adulthood. Nancy is a… well, peculiar girl. Always filling times with fun and good memories.” Looking down at Nancy, she continued. 

   “Nancy 9, you always tried your hardest at whatever you did, and you now are here. In front of your Community. Usually we permit children speaking time, if you’d like to give it a go. It encourages public speaking.” 

   Nancy looked out at the crowd and located her best friend-a boy named Michael who was turning 10 in a few weeks. He had shaggy brown hair and dorky glasses that were always falling down the bridge of his nose. If he wasn’t playing with Nancy, he was reading or doing arithmetic. Most of the time, they were inseparable. 

   He smiled and gave her a thumbs up, so she stepped forward and started talking. “I’m sometimes called ‘Runaway’,” she started.” I think it’s because I always run off when playing games, or doing arithmetic in class. Take your pick, I guess.” The crowd chuckled. Nancy swallowed her fear.

   “I like to say that I’m called ‘Runaway’ because I run away from my problems. Like when I ran away when someone called me ‘slow’. I guess that’s ironic, actually.” Laughter murmured through the crowd a second time. “I’m hoping that I won’t run away from my Selection, or anything after today. Thank you.” 

   She stepped back as people started lightly clapping. Then the Boss stepped toward Nancy to give the child her Role…

Well, you can guess what happened next. Actually probably not. After the Boss gave me my assignment, I ran. I ran so fast, I felt like I was flying. Thinking back, I overreacted. But I was 9! Wait… no, I was 10. Nevermind.

   No one found me for another 5 hours. I literally hid in my room, and no one found me. I was in serious trouble though. I had my Role taken away. Honestly, that was OK with me. I asked if I could get a new one some day, and the Boss said in another year, if I was well behaved. I was never sure, but I’d try my best.

Nancy cried herself to sleep that night. She didn’t mean to be misbehaved! She just did not want that Role! She couldn’t do it! So she ran. The thing was, Nancy didn’t like running from her problems. That just showed he was weak, and small-minded. She hated that.

   It took forever to get the hang of not running. When she went back to school, all the kids made fun of her. She ignored them. Her Nanny told her to, afterall. She survived the months and months it took to finally get a new Role. She was one of the few children to have to wait longer to get a new one. But she couldn’t be happier.

The day came. She was turning 11, and getting a new Role. She got dressed the exact same way that fateful day, but this time, she didn’t need her Nanny at all. Only one more year until the Nanny wasn’t necessary, and her Nanny would get a new child. Nancy loved her Nanny, though. Oh, well.

   The time came to climb the stairs again. The Boss went through the same speech, but a little changed up. Nancy declined the offer from the Boss to speak. She wanted to get this over with.

   The Boss smiled. “After one year of good behavior, Nancy is back, one year older, prepared for a new Role. You are prepared, correct?” The Boss looked at Nancy, who smiled and gave a thumbs up. On the inside, though? Nancy was a nervous wreck.

   Her last Role was awful. That day was nothing. She wasn’t nervous compared to today. Her stomach was full of butterflies, her legs felt like Jell-O, and she felt like her tongue was tied in 100 knots. But she braved it as the Boss gave her a new Role.

Nancy walked into her room after getting her new Role, which was better than her old one, but not by much. She had wanted to be a writer, or a dancer. But this time she got Geneticist. She would have to study cells, the human body, how the body worked, things like that. She had to learn about what was put into your bloodstream as a newborn. She hated it.

   Nancy fell asleep thinking about genes, and woke up thinking that a geneticist was not better than her first Role, which was a Birthmother; she had to give birth to babies! And she had no way to back out this time…

Or did I? The Algorithm can read your thoughts, so I had to be careful of what I thought inside the city. When I was outside the borders, which is where my class often went, the Algorithm database couldn’t see me. That’s where I built my Thinking Hut with Michael. He got a job he liked. He got to teach third level students arithmetic! He loved arithmetic. 

   Anyway, that hut is where I first got the idea to run away… again.

Nancy started Geneticist training a few weeks after the Selection. She had to suffer through boring class after boring class. ALL. DAY. She still had normal school to do!

   It was a year into her training when she had to say goodbye to her Nanny, and her room. She was moving wards to the second level student ward. Middle school as people used to call it. There was when everything got harder, including her training. She just couldn’t handle it! The Algorithm never could have predicted what happened four weeks after moving into “middle school”... 

“I quit!” Nancy screamed at Mr Walden. “I quit, and you can’t stop me!” She picked up her things and threw them at the rest of the class. Mr Walden turned a funny shade of purple as he told Nancy to sit back down. “Did you not hear me? I said I QUIT!!” Nancy screamed louder. 

   In AAHQ (Algorithm Attendance Headquarters), alarms were blaring, screens were flashing Nancy’s name and a photo of her, and everything was going crazy. The Algorithm couldn’t predict this, not in a million years. It was failing!

   Back in the class, Mr Walden was yelling at Nancy to sit down, telling her she couldn’t quit. She kept screaming and screaming. Throwing things. 

   AAHQ sent out guards to dismantle the girl, and they burst into the classroom and grabbed her, the intent being to take her to a mental hospital ward. But she wrenched her way out of their grip, and kicked them in the stomachs. 

   Grabbing her backpack, she ran home. Nancy emptied the bag,filled it with clothes, entertainment, and water. Then she snuck to the ward kitchen and stole some food. She shoved food in her bag, and grabbed some matches before running out the door.

   Meanwhile, AAHQ was still panicking. “Track her down! Send out the dogs! Close all entrances and exits from the city! Do not let her leave!” The Boss was shouting orders at the people there. While all the gates were closing, and locking, hound dogs were sent out to try and find Nancy. She knew about what kept the city safe; what was put into their veins as a baby. 

   The dogs sniffed and sniffed, picking up hundreds of scents at the same time. They couldn’t comprehend it all. They eventually picked up her scent and trailed it to the kitchen, but she was long gone by then.

An hour had passed from when Nancy had heard the dogs barking. When she heard people calling her name. The siren. Everyone was sent back to their ward or living space, even people who had to be at their Role 24/7. Luckily, Nancy knew why they were looking for her. The secret.

   She learned about it a few months ago. Mr Walden called it “The Cure”. Not much of a cure and more of a poison.   

   “The ‘Cure’ is a mixture of hypnosis alcohol, a mind wiping concoction, and milk. Its purpose is to put the same thing in every child’s head; peace, safety, and, of course, lies. Supposedly. The ‘lies’ are to keep us safe. To cover the truth about why we don’t talk back. It’s not in our DNA. Our systems. Well, it is, but we just don’t know how to access it.” Mr Walden’s lesson came back to Nancy, along with the promise they would learn to make this formula in the near future. They never did.

   Nancy peeked over the log she was hiding behind. No one in sight. She grabbed her bag, and sprinted towards the Comms building. Hidden behind it, she pulled something out of her bag. A radio interference kit. It was given to her by the Boss on her 12th birthday. Just a month ago. She pulled out a walkie-talkie and set up the radio. She hooked the radio up to the walkie. 

   “Comms to AAHQ, Comms to AAHQ, any sight of Nancy 12? Over.” Nancy gasped. They were looking for her! Well, she should have prepared for that. “AAHQ to Comms, no sight yet. We’re worried about the Algorithm, though. It didn't predict any of this. It’s almost completely failed, I imagine. Over.” 

   “Comms to AAHQ, what are you going to do? Over.”

   “No idea. Over.”

   Nancy looked up, glanced around, and jumped into the brush behind her. She was in the forest of the city, still in the Algorithim’s database, but if she could get out, it would be all right.

   Nancy walked for what felt like hours. The city’s forest was really big, and it was really easy to get lost in. Fortunately, Nancy didn’t get lost. She just kept walking straight. Eventually, she got to the city limit, blocked off by a stone wall. But, as a geneticist trainee, she knew lots of escape routes in case of an emergency. 

   Walking towards a small boulder, she shouldered it aside, revealing a 5-digit code keypad. She travelled back in time to that lesson.

   “Alright, the final code is for the west quadrant. The code is 6-1-6-4-2. Remember those codes, people,” Mr Walden had said. Nancy punched in the code, and a patch of grass swung to the side. A staircase appeared, and she headed down.

Yay, I’m free! Not quite… There’s a maze within the wall, with lots of exits and entrances. I had to find one that led outside the city. Which, let me tell you, was a wild goose chase for a keycode in my brain, then a wild goose HUNT for the actual gate. Not much fun there. I did find a gate somewhere along the line, though…

As Nancy was entering a new code, she heard footsteps and voices. Hurriedly, she finished the code and pressed “enter”. The gate beeped and started creaking open. She knew that once she was outside the city, people would have to leave her be. Guards couldn’t touch her, the Algorithm couldn’t reach her, and she was no longer under that rule. 

   Suddenly, as the gate was a foot off the ground, three big guards turned the corner 10 metres away. “There!” The biggest guard yelled. They all charged towards her, their big guns that they always had bouncing on their hips. The gate was 2 feet above the ground. Nancy was 5’2”, so she would have to roll to make it. So she did. 

   She grabbed her bag and threw it under the gate. The guards were practically there. Crouching down, she leaped, rolling under the gate in the last minute. She jumped up, leaning over to grab her bag, and sprinted. She ran as fast as she did when she got Birthmother. Maybe faster. 

   Nancy knew that the fact the guards couldn’t touch her wouldn’t stop them from trying to convince her to come back. So ske kept running. 

   Behind her, she heard a creak and a groan, and stopped to turn around. Catching her breath, she saw a gate opening, and a truck being lowered onto the road she was running next to. The guards lept in, and pointed right at her. 

   Spinning on her heel, she ran into a nearby forest. Roots tripped her, branches scraped her, and by the time she emerged from the other side, her hair was a mess, all tangled and full of branches. Her clothes were ripped. She was covered in scrapes, scratches, and the occasional bruise. 

   Grabbing scissors from her bag, she started cutting it. Brown locks fell to the ground. When she was done, her hairstyle was similar to a boys. She loved it. She also decided to change her name; for good. She hated her name. “Nancy”? Really?

   Nancy became Nikki Morris, explorer and scavenger. She changed her clothes and put on a hat, and walked until she found a different city. 

It ended up taking me days, let's just say that. I packed enough food and water, though. I survived, barely, but I did. I kept at it though, determined to get away from Westside Mountainview for good.