Another day would pass and would mean another trip through the never ending cycle of my life. I'd get up, go to school, head to the mall, go home, and sleep. Words couldn't describe how pointless life felt, how empty my existence felt when I started to notice the pattern. Often I had dreamed of a life outside such a routine, but I knew what that meant, and I knew what I'd be leaving behind if I went ahead and followed my dreams. No, I was confined to late night revision, school work and snacks at my desk as I worked through sheets of paper. Every now and then I'd check my Facebook in hopes of a conversation, something to take me away from that routine, but it never happened. Everyone I knew was stuck in the same routine, but it seemed as if I was the only one who had grown to hate it. But that wasn't all; I had grown up hating every aspect of both my life, and the city I had been spending my life in. Unjustified paranoia and warped images of a purged utopia swept the government, for as long as Callaghan was in office, we were all robbed of our privacy.
Nobody ever knew that I, Alex, a normal guy, wanted to become a runner, but that's because they couldn't know, not even my best friend. I couldn't tell Abby, not in a million years, it wasn't a matter of trust, but rather the world I live in. I knew if I told her, that Callaghan would know within the next 5 seconds. CCTV covered every square meter of concrete at the surface, microphones littered the street, more advanced ways of keeping an eye on everyone had cropped up, for years now, they could tell who you were, and where you were, down to the last centimetre.
Callaghan could hunt you down, could read every text, listen to every phone call, read your web history and even hear any and every conversation in the outside world. Nobody seemed to mind, the changes were gradual of course. But it disturbed me, it disturbed me to know that privacy only existed within my mind, and perhaps one day, they might even break that barrier. That feeling in my throat, a combination of fear and resentment towards my own government, had been the centre of my thoughts for many weeks.
It used to be that I simply didn't like it, but as time passed, and my life continued to get even more boring and uneventful, that "simply didn't like it" turned into "simply sickens me". Anyway, the thoughts come later, this was the life I chose, and where it began.
I woke up, one arm under my pillow, one leg outstretched, the other half of me curled up, I slept in a weird position. My phone vibrated on my desk, I lifted my head from the pillow and saw the glow of the LCD sitting by my PC. A text from Abby "Meet me by NEM after business studies". I didn't bother with a reply, Abby had a tendency to shorten things, so I just had to guess she meant the New Eden Mall, which was still unfinished, why would she want to go to an empty mall? I didn't dwell on it, and so my day began.
I lived in a spacious apartment with my parents and younger sister, both of my parents were out 24/7 working, so usually it was just me and my sister, after all, my parents only really used this place for sleeping, conversation was rare. I made some instant noodles and sat at the table. My younger sister Tabby dragged herself out of her room, turning on the TV. As I stirred the noodles, I could hear something about electoral candidate Robert Pope. I sat by the TV, "Electoral Candidate Robert Pope died last month, supporters still in shock" flashed up on the bottom news banner.
"Oh yeah, he died, gun shot or something? That cop did it, right?" I asked Tabby. "Yeah, I think so, she was on trial not long ago, no idea where she is now" she said without a care. "Yeah... Probably..." I mumbled. Robert Pope was my inspiration, because he was the only person to challenge Mayor Callaghan politically, the only one who would run for mayor without fear of the consequences. Now he was dead, and I couldn't help but feel as if there was more to this. I didn't have time to dwell on it though; I threw my spare cash in my bag and a couple of my textbooks and headed out the door. Tabby had her half-term holidays, lucky her, a lot longer than any I'd hope to get.
Heading down the road, I saw the bus leaving the stop "Shit, did I wake up late?" I mumbled to myself. I was wearing my new trainers, and felt confident, so I ran after the bus, beating it to the next stop as I jumped over any and everything in my way. I boarded the bus, looking out at the rooftops as I waited for it to pass my school.
My lessons passed by quickly, it was one of those days where by the end lesson I'd look at my phone and say to myself "Is it really the end of the day? I had my last lesson of the day, Business studies in the IT room on 5th floor. With my coursework done, this was a perfect opportunity to sort out my files and chat. In a rush to save documents, I found that most of my work either carried the name Untitled or akljhlhlhkljnsafd and this kind of crap littered my school documents file. I spent that lesson cleaning up my work as me and Abby texted, rooms apart about our holidays that were coming soon.
It was the end of the day, and I made my way to the New Eden Mall which sat just half a mile away, I crossed financial district, but on the way, I noticed something strange, at the top, on the roof of an apartment complex, I saw a person, who shaped the empty world above the streets like their personal playground, a girl, jumping from roof to roof, keeping a yellow bag close to her. The law told me to report her, I knew what she was, but I couldn't, I couldn't rob the life of someone that I desired, and so, I turned a blind eye, I broke the law, and kept going towards the Mall. I spotted Abby, red tank top, black trousers, dark, flowing brown hair, yeah, it was Abby alright. She was in the empty area outside the Mall entrance on her phone as usual.
She pocketed her retro-styled Nokia and turned to me, her red messenger bag sat beside her on the bench. "Hey, I brought pizza" she pulled out the square box and we started a conversation about school. I took a slice, Abby then said to me "You spend way too much time thinking about school" I took a bite and responded confidently, "Well, if I didn't, I'd get poor grades, then what? Working a kiosk in the Mall? No, I have to keep my mind on school work, for my future".
Abby smirked a little "Didn't it ever occur to you that you need experience for a job? And a job to get the experience you d need?" I was going to come out with some sort of answer to that, something to prove her wrong, but I had nothing, and so I just sighed. "Look Alex, you and I both know what you really want to do", this shocked me, and I turned to her with wide eyes. "Don't worry, I won't say a word, but I see it, every lesson, when you have that little bit of free time, you are there, staring out the window, looking towards the rooftops".
I looked down at my pizza slice "It's that obvious, is it?" I said, with a bit of sadness in my tone. Abby followed up my statement, "No, not really, only someone like me, your closest friend, would notice". "Yeah, you got that right, but you know what it'd mean if I went ahead with it, right? I'd be abandoning all I worked for". Abby checked the time on her phone, "Yeah, but you know what it's like, all you work for will land you in an unfulfilling job, somewhere you don't want to be" she said. I looked at the floor, frowning a little, accepting what she had to say with a simple "yeah".
"Look, you are my best friend, and I know when you are unhappy, so go do what you want to do", I smiled at what she had to say, she treaded around words carefully so as to not alert CCTV. "I might be killed, you know" I said with a smirk. "Oh I know, but I know you, you are too smart, too good at what you do to die doing it, and I know that to die feeling fulfilled is a better way to live than live out your life miserably into your old age, so you go do what you want to do, and I won t say a word" she finished that sentence with a smile, I could only smile back, and so, I left, we went in opposite directions, she had to get home, and I had to prepare, I headed back home, breaking into a light jog, before I knew it, I was running full pace down the street, through the doors and into the elevator, heading up, I put my key through the lock and went straight to my room.
I emptied my bag of my school equipment, leaving behind those pencils, that calculator, and those books, to fill it with my clothes, my fingerless gloves, and anything I had that I thought would be useful, my sister Tabby came into my room and saw me packing away, "What are you doing?" she said, with a worried tone, I turned around and looked her dead in the eye, "I'm doing what I should've done a long time ago". She looked at me, eyes wide; I was wearing my favourite trainers, my black cargo pants and my plain blue t-shirt. "Oh no, no no no, you aren't.", I looked at her without emotion, interrupting her disapproval, "Oh I am, this is what I have to do".
Tabby sighed and sat by my bed, "alright, do what you know is right". I looked at her with shock, "Tabs? You aren't going to report me? But if they find out-" she interrupted me, "It's a risk I'm willing to take, you and I don't talk much, I know that, you know that, but I know that you are disgusted by the lack of privacy and totalitarian rule imposed by Callaghan, and you know what? I share the same opinion, I never thought that this would be what you'd want to do, but if this is what you feel you have to do, I'll support you". I smiled and gave her a hug; I finished my packing, and climbed out of my bedroom window into the dark sky and onto the fire escape stairway. She looked out from the window waving goodbye to me, I smiled and waved back, so here I was, on the rooftops, a new world.