A Ticket to Center Summit

I hated staying with my dad, but I didn’t have a choice. He refused to move when we did and still lives in our old crappy neighborhood. I was going to be stuck here for the next year because my mom was on active duty. I begged her to not make me come, but she said it was important for me to spend some time down here so that I could truly appreciate the climb to the peaks of Center Summit. I wanted to stay home, but my dad refused to come stay at our house.

I disliked hearing him talk about the powers that be, the all mighty system, that my mother’s purpose was in vain, he was so ungrateful. I owed everything I had to her, he never supported her. Every time my mom came up without fail, he would call her a slave to the system or part of the problem. I knew he meant it because he could never look her in the face. I used to think he was heartbroken, but now I think he just hates her.

They were complete opposites.

If you asked my mom, she was a career-oriented go-getter that never stopped reaching for the next rung, while she believed he was unable to put his ego aside for what was best and happy to settle for less.

If you asked my dad, he was a revolutionary living in poverty because he refused to play a part in a system that was slowly destroying us, while he believed she was heartless and materialistic.

Neither of them ever told me any of that directly, but I could quote them word for word with what I've heard them say to others. What I didn’t know was why either of them felt that way towards each other.

As far as I was concerned, I love them both for their own reasons.

My mom was the reliable one, she worked hard to get us to where we were, and I never went without because of her. The other side of that is that she is always busy, always distracted and barely present when she is around.

As far as my dad, I didn’t see him much. He still holds a grudge towards my mom, I did not know the specifics. They separated when he did not make the move with us to our 3C neighborhood upgrade, and we’d been living apart since.

Most of their issues went over my head at a younger age, but now at almost fifteen I could understand why they could not be together anymore. Their views were far too different to ever see eye to eye.

When I did spend time with my dad, it was great, he was hilarious and witty and so direct. He never spared my feelings and I missed that; people step lightly in 5+ Zone.

My dad reminded me how much fun I could have doing nothing. I’d forgotten how there was not much to do in 2C, but he had a way of making the most of the little things. It had been a while since we last spent time together, almost a year now. He refused to visit a 5+ neighborhood and my mother would not step in anything less than 4C. She used to let me visit him when we moved, but when we reached 5+ she said it was too far of a decline.

Surprisingly this time when he knew she was leaving for service, he requested me, and she agreed.

I felt out of place being in our old neighborhood because people who used to be my friends looked at me sideways. They treated me weird, like I was someone else. I did not change, only my address did.

Everyone responded in their own way, some gave me genuine curtseys and nods, others mocked with sarcastic bows and there were those who gave me the silent treatment. None of those were good options, they all made me feel awkward.

Some of my old friends were not allowed to associate with me and other kids only wanted to be around me to gawk at me like an exhibit. They were not impressed by my style; my clothes made by famous designers or my custom-made one-of-a-kind shoes, they found them odd and funny looking. They wanted to touch my hair and figure out how and why it was the way it was, in a gradient of purple and gold hues. I was always up on all the trends, but they did not seem to think any of it was trendy, they thought it was ridiculous. They asked me offensive questions about my mom and 5+ living. I did not belong there, I wanted to go home.

My mom reassured me it was not personal, they did not agree with the system and the way things were run so they did not agree with her working for that system.

It was like she said, politics. Things had taken a shift, she preached, a world that had been run primarily by men for thousands of years now had women standing front and center, and it was too much for some. That and jealousy, obviously anyone in a 2C was going to be jealous of me and what I had access to.

Unfortunately, it did feel personal, but I tried not to let it bother me. I knew they were blinded by their envy, saying bad things about my mom because they felt bad about themselves. They wish they could be like my mother; I know I did.

She taught me that the difference between people below 5+ and those above was drive, motivation and dedication while people in the old neighborhood whispered that the difference was having a heart.

We upgraded from a 2C neighborhood to a 5+ since leaving my dad, and after mom’s year of service, we would be upgraded again. It was the ultimate upgrade atop the peaks of Center Summit. I was excited, it is the home of the elite, a paradise. I had grown accustomed to the finest of things, everything we owned was top of the line and hands free. Here in 2C everything was several years outdated and manually operated.

When I complained my dad told me I should appreciate what he had and that it was a shame how my mother taught me to rely on things far too much. He called me spoiled, which hurt because it was all I heard since I arrived. I was not spoiled, they were deprived. I wanted a meal that I did not have to wait to eat in order for it to be skinned and cleaned and whatever else it needed before it could be cooked and then finally served.

“Mom said she would get you the upgrades, Dad. It can do the whole meal, in two minutes flat, you just put the stuff…”

“No,” he interrupted, “I like making it from scratch just fine.”

I saw the rage in his eyes when he talked about my mom. He loathed her and I wondered how they could ever have been in love and stayed together for as long as they did.

I knew why he said no, it was not about not wanting my mother's charity, although that was a big part, it was what it would do to him in a 2C neighborhood.

Yes, my mother could easily gift him the upgrades, but he knew better than to accept them. If he did want them, he knew how his neighbors would react. They would resent him, think of him as a traitor, people would judge him, hate him.

When he roped me in to help, I was reluctant because starting from scratch is not a 5+ practice, but I ended up enjoying it. I was brought back to when the three of us would have moments like this, I did not realize how much I missed them.

My dad turned, smiling at me, “You know Juniper, you’re in a surprisingly good mood,” he paused, “given the circumstances.”

“Oh, you mean the downgrade,” I let slip.

He winced as if I had punched him; he despised when I referred to his home as a downgrade.

I apologized and he continued, “What I mean is, I know how hard it is for you to be here. Things have been difficult with us not seeing each other as much as we’d like. Sometimes the past between your mother and I bleeds onto you, and I’m sorry about that. Things are going to be different now. I know everything your mother told you was intense and rough and well, I just wanted to say, I am a little surprised you are so calm.”

He was right, I was quite calm given everything I was going through. My mom dropped a bomb on me at the last minute. She sucker punched me with the news only the day before I left that I was going to stay with him while she served her year. I am mad and devastated, but it was the last time. When she returned from this one, she could retire. It was the dream she said, making it to the top of Center Summit. I looked forward to it, not just the upgrade, but her early retirement. It meant having her home without work to steal her attention from me. If I had to endure this next year to get there then I would.

I nodded.

“I guess,” he started. He put the food into his old timey oven and set the timer for a ridiculous length. “Well, I guess, maybe it sounds selfish, but I was hoping that things might be different after your mother told you, that you might see things from my side,” he sat down at the table. He gave me this strange look and deep sighed.

“What?” I asked, I hated when he did that, strayed from the point. I sat down.

Where was he going with this? “What?” I said through clenched teeth.

He cleared his throat, “What exactly did your mom tell you before she had you sent here?” he asked me.

I told him and he was silent. He took a deep breath and drove his fist into the wall. He was angry, no he was sad? His eyes welled with tears, and I was overcome with worry, I’d never seen my dad cry.

“Dad, what?! What is it? Tell me!” I yelled at him without meaning to. I was so panicked, I instantly started sweating and thinking of the worst-case scenario. Did something happen to my mom? Is that what he was trying to tell me? I have seen it before when the mothers don’t return, and they ship off the children.

He realized he was scaring me, so he quickly wiped his eyes and breathed deep again. Despite his effort his voice was shaky, “There’s something you need to know.”

My heart fell into my stomach, and I felt nauseous. I have never had a serious conversation with my dad.

“There's things you know and then there's things you don't,” he started.

I was riddled with anxiety, spit it out Dad.

He started with a little history lesson, most of which I knew. He was too young to be at the start of it, but his great grandparents were, and their firsthand knowledge and experiences were passed down. According to him, that was the real history, the undocumented stories.

He told me about the scientific anomaly that began it all, the supernovas, or what had been deemed so. Earthers did not know anything beyond themselves at this point in time. When explosions began occurring around them, they did not know any better and considered them a marvelous sight, a natural display of fireworks, an organic light show. In those days the sky was hidden behind thick smog and not much could be seen without the proper equipment, but these ‘super novas’ were bright and clear spectacles.

When it started happening regularly, it became a puzzle to be solved. Scientists excitedly worked to figure out why there were so many within the Earth’s view. There were many theories, but none of them had an accurate idea of what was taking place. It was not in fact the explosion of stars, but the decimation of planets. Whole entire worlds were vanishing before the Earthers eyes, and they watched on entertained and oblivious, ignoring their peers who thought it might be more severe.

Then luckily came what they once were referred to: the Shifted. The Shifted warned the humans of what they called a planet plague, cautioned them that the issue was time sensitive, and they had a window to accept their help before they moved on. It was no easy task trying to convince the mass population, but they had a way to show, to prove, and they did. The Shifted shared the horrifying damage they witnessed, thousands of tragedies in just a few minutes. Despite the evidence most remained skeptical, but once events the Shifted predicted ensued, they had no choice but to believe. It was harder to dismiss what was unfolding before them as a mere coincidence.

The Shifted had lost ninety-nine percent of their population. The ones that came to Earth found it in their path while chasing the destruction that eradicated their own home and loved ones. They were on a mission to stop it. Every time they got close, they fell short, but they learned something new with every attack and changed their tactic. Their vast experience and research was not in vain. We were not the first planet they attempted to save, but we were the first success.

Humankind had been rescued and made an ally like never before. Despite the conspiracy theorists and naysayers, contact with the Shifted was the first time Earth knew about intelligent life elsewhere.

That is when the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. was introduced, the Combined Organization for Rebuilding and Repairing Earth’s Climate Treaty. It was an agreement with the Shifted and Humankind, a global decree. The Shifted needed refuge and the Earth’s climate and environment was in desperate need of correction.

It became a very useful relationship. Humans offered the Shifted a place to live and thrive and, in the process, the Shifted wanted to make what had become their home the best it could be. They shared technology that ended struggles across the world, solving world hunger without much effort. They replicated food at an accelerated rate without damaging the ecosystem. They managed to clean the water supply where it had been undrinkable for decades. Ocean water was made drinkable and readily accessible. The Shifted worked in harmony with the humans. It was symbiotic, the Shifted even breathed in the carbon dioxide the humans exhaled and exhaled the oxygen they humans breathed.

The C.O.R.R.E.C.T. worked on reversing the effects of climate change and the damage of eras of pollution. Slowly the sky began to take back its shades of light blue instead of the milky gray tone that had become the norm back then. The haze had long since blurred all of the sky’s delicate features, but suddenly sunsets in all their glory were becoming visible again and everyone was pleased with the results.

The C.O.R.R.E.C.T. was setting the precedent for following through and the more it did, the more support it gained. It was shortly after that when the restorations soon came to a halt. The Shifted had used the last of their resources repairing more destruction than anticipated.

Naturally everyone was unnerved, Earthers were relying on the Shifted to continue their maintenance, the distance they had come so far was promising and they urged it go forward. They had unknowingly grown accustomed to the pollution wreckage that they’d forgotten how nice things used to be. Now that humans saw the possibilities it was as if they had awakened from a state of complacency. They hated constant dark skies, unpredictable weather, and the unstable state everything was in, and they were willing to do something about it.

What could Earthers do to help the Shifted, after all the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. was a joint effort, a team.

The problem was the Shifted that originally landed were merely step one, which had been completed. They did not have the expertise to engage in the next part of the plan. This meant they were unable to replenish their resources and continue the restoration. Well, they could, but they would have to pull the ship from orbit, the one that housed the dormant.

They needed the rest of the members of their team, they were stored on a ship constantly looping a course directly outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. The rest of their population were in a hibernation state, waiting for the chance that they would find a place viable and able to house them. The Shifted did not wish to bombard the humans with the presence of twenty more, they were treading lightly because they knew humans were natural cynics who were always suspicious.

The Shifted had the capability to return to a primordial ooze type form so to speak. This liquid likeness harnessed the entirety of their being. In this condition they could hibernate for years on end, slowing their metabolic state so low it could survive long periods of time with very little. They had to be careful when they did this as they were vulnerable. They were fragile as a crab out of its shell in transition. That is what they taught the humans, the best metaphor, like a crab finding its new shell; the Shifted were the crab and the humans were the shell.

When they arrived, they entered the streams of First Twenty- the original sacrifices for the cause, unintentional soldiers. The Shifted entered their systems through the water they drank and then resided in the stomach of the human. As the digestive system processed them, they gained the knowledge of the human and learned to control the functions which became better the further into the digestion they were. When they were fully processed, they took complete physical and mental control and absorbed the initial organism.

People were wary, it was a very scary thought- being poisoned by their own water supply. The possibility of taking a sip of what they needed and being gone just like that.

The Shifted said it was a necessity for the first arrival, they needed an immediate form of communication. They reasoned with the humans explaining that they could not afford to waste time gaining permission, even a second could have cost them the victory.

People protested, saying that we compromised enough, and we were headed in a dangerous direction. Others agreed, the state of the Earth was the best it had been in a long time and people had faith in the Shifted, they were protectors, defenders.

The Shifted understood the hesitation, but reassured Earthers. They only did it without inquiring under emergency circumstances. The pressure of the situation put them in a corner, so they were unable to request permission before. Now they were open and communicative, now they were asking. They required it for step two, for the future, everyone’s home, for the greater good, to fix all the damage from so many years of destruction, they would need more of their own kind.

That is when the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. made the V.I.V.A.- the Volunteer Individual Vessel Agreement. It was a pact for any willing humans to be able to volunteer their body to the cause. Of course, it meant giving up their own life, but they would be a hero honored, cherished, and memorialized. People stepped up in swarms, not just the dying or the elderly, but the young and healthy alike.

The Shifted could not survive the Earth’s atmosphere in their bodies so they utilized the volunteers. They awoke from dormancy and would override the former owner. As promised the new additions to the Shifted worked tirelessly to keep their end of the deal. Those who served by volunteering took solace in knowing they did the right thing.

Yes, I knew that, everyone did. It was the least the volunteers could have done for those who saved their home, our home, and given them a better, longer future. I was appreciative, I would not have been here without them. They were no longer the Shifted, they were V.I.V.A.s, it was the proper lingo. Earthers and V.I.V.A.s made up the C.O.R.R.E.C.T.

I respected them, mom served them, and I intended to. Anyone could say what they will, but even in a 1C neighborhood no one goes without. The C.OR.R.E.C.T. established a world where food, water and shelter was a right, not luxury. Even those with the least had more than they ever did in the world before the C.O.R.R.E.C.T.

I was loyal, unlike him, I recognized all they had given us. Everything was worth it to live how we did, I told him I knew, I understood, I supported it, there was only something for us to gain.

The C.O.R.R.E.C.T. collectively worked together to treat many illnesses and cure some major diseases, how could anyone not see it for exactly what it was, a gift. They extended the human life expectancy to 150. It had all the ingredients for a utopia, but as always there are those who can never be satisfied. They villainized the V.I.V.A.S and called the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. their enemy.

“The C.O.R.R.E.C.T. is the enemy,” my dad emphasized, he could tell I was starting to tune him out. “You don’t get it. You know what they have written to be the story, but it is not all that happened.”

He stuck to his convictions as he kept on, telling me the Shifted had come with the intention of dwelling on Earth. They needed a place to live, they were aimlessly wandering the galaxy witnessing one catastrophe after another. They wanted it to end the cycle, they were desperate for sanctuary, but they failed over and over. Sometimes because they were not taken seriously in time, other times it was too late the moment they arrived. The more places they traveled, the more they learned that not all planets were worth the effort of saving. They needed species they could co-exist with and that was not an easy find.

My dad went on and on about the Shifted or V.I.V.A.s, he was seldom lingo appropriate. He was only saying more things I’d already heard, and I was losing my patience especially because I was hungry.

He kept going, managing to make me question myself when what he was saying sounded less like crazy rants and more like fair counterpoints.

“Why would a species we knew nothing of want to save us? Landing in perfect time like guardians sent down to rescue us from something we didn’t even know was coming. Or was it coming at all? How did we know it was close? How did we not know if they made it up? The supernovas? Were they really destroyed planets? With all the technology they had, how did we not know that they did not create some illusion? It was not terribly difficult to predict an event and then make it appear to happen in order to force our hand.”

He spoke of the visions and the allegations, and a study that mysteriously was canceled and never heard from again. A study showed that the Shifted took on all human functions and capabilities after absorption except three; they breathed carbon dioxide, they could not reproduce, and their saliva was unique. It was similar to the toxins of a poisonous frog; it caused people to wildly hallucinate. The study suggested the supposed visions were simply the side effect of the venom, that the convinced persons were simply persuaded while intoxicated.

But he didn’t stop there, “Why would a creature that lives at least five hundred years come to a place where it was celebrated if you made it eighty? You think they wanted to help us live on longer or do you think they needed the bodies they stole to endure more? They initially inhabited the bodies of adults twenty-year-olds to fifty-year-olds, whoever had drunk the water, whoever had volunteered. They swallowed a small cup and a life form implanted itself in their stomach. The human body would then slowly digest it, while they absorbed their knowledge and learned everything about humankind. In understanding our species, they knew what made us tick. They realized how primitive we were, how humans were motivated by such foolish things, and they gained an upper hand. They took over without lifting a finger. They sicked people against one another and sat back and reaped the benefits. They’re puppet masters, pulling the strings, from behind the scenes, don’t you see?” He was breathless pleading with me to see his points.

Some of what he said made sense, but that could be said for any crazy person, even a broken clock is right twice a day, but it did not track. If we were second in command, we would be overrun with V.I.V.A.s and the human population would be dwindling in numbers. As he said, V.I.V.A.s cannot reproduce so it was more of his treachery.

I reached my limit, “I can’t stand this. I plan to serve just like mom. That’s why you’re here, that’s why you’ll never upgrade without her!”

He did not let me upset him, instead he repeated that I didn’t understand.

I understood better than him, I lived near the heart of it all. Yes, the V.I.V.A.s were still around all these years later, still needing new volunteers from time to time when the inhabitants aged out.

“You live amongst them,” my dad said, sounding defeated.

More information I already had. I see them sometimes when they come down from the peaks of Center Summit. I even met one during ceremonials in honor of the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. that my mom was invited to.

“No,” he exclaimed, “there is not just the original Shifted or V.I.V.A.s, not the First Twenty or the proceeding twenty.” He seemed like he could not find the words, he rubbed his temples as if explaining this was giving him a headache. “They are not the elites of the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. coming down to mingle with the common folk. No, they are your neighbors, your fellow classmates.”

It didn’t make sense, I was silent.

“Juni please,” he implored. “Your mother, she promised... All that I’ve given up, she promised she’d break it all to you.”

That was it, I gagged on my nerves and started to feel hot. This was a nightmare, all of it from the moment my mom said I would be coming here.

“The ‘neighborhoods’ Juni,” he stated, “1C, 2C, 3C, 4C, the C is for contribution.”

“Yes, tell me something I don’t know,” I retorted. “I know about contribution, mom has made five, and after this one, six. What about it dad?” Part of me felt bad for speaking to him this way, but he was talking in circles, and I was getting dizzy.

“Don't you understand what a contribution is?” he asked gently, still not letting my disrespect get to him.

“Yes, when mom gives her year, she contributed,” I said in a curt matter of fact tone.

He sighed deeply and looked at me helplessly, “There is more to it than that.”

“I’m aware, but that information is classified,” I responded with the same answer my mom always gave me.

Tears ran down his cheeks and he used his shirt to clean his face, “A contribution is a child, an infant the Shifted can inhabit, there are so much more than forty of them and they all need bodies, good bodies, new bodies.”

Wrong, the Shifted had never occupied an unwilling aside from the First Twenty under a code red situation. When the next twenty volunteered, that was the remaining population of the Shifted. They did not need any more volunteers except the occasional one every hundred years or so, and legalities made it so that they must occupy someone at least twenty-one years old. They would never seize a baby, what would be the point?

“The point is they implant into a newborn to experience life at all phases. They have nothing, but time. They can bounce from body to body as they see fit and they’re doing it in plain sight. The bodies first donated were old or worn, abused with drugs, or infected with something incurable. The bodies served their purpose, but they were not meant for the long term, and they needed a long-term plan.

The contribution your mother has been making is much more than her time, it is her children, our children! Even without us being together, we're still designated mates, so every time she signs up to serve, I have to contribute to another child she is just going to give away. Don’t you get it, Juni?” he was crying hysterically now and trying to compose himself. “It was all a scam; Earth was never in the path of a plague, sure it was happening around us, but Earth would have been unaffected. The only thing that endangered humans was other humans drying up natural resources, and the Shifted knew. They saved us from a boogie man, a lie, they made up a villain so they could become the hero. ‘Saving the world’ won them loyalty. Then they started restoring Earth and everyone was grateful, but they were not doing it for us, they were living here too, they needed a home that would last. The repairs weren’t meant to prolong our future, it was to prolong theirs.”

My mind was racing, I was stunned, mostly because what he was saying was starting to come together.

My dad stirred the food, and it smelled amazing so far, but neither of us had an appetite anymore. He returned to the table where I still sat quietly trying to process everything he said. I felt like I had been turned inside out, I was dumbfounded and confused and mad. Was my mom really supposed to tell me these things? Was any of this real? How did I not know? Of course, no one would talk about it in the upper neighborhoods, they did not do controversy. All the things they said about my mom made sense, why my dad could not stand the sight of her, he had such a burning rage, it had to have a good reason. The shots I’d seen her take thinking they were nothing more than vaccinations or boosts for travel when they were really hormones. The more I looked for ways for it to be wrong, the more it made sense… the scar on her belly although I was a natural birth.

He tapped my shoulder, and I was so deep in my thoughts I jumped.

There was more, all of this and still he hadn’t made it to what he was trying to say, “I mean sure I could upgrade, I have every right to be 5+ if your mom agrees, and of course she would, it’s all she's ever wanted for me, but I wouldn’t. I couldn’t, not at the cost of living. I refuse because it would be cosigning every child I had to give up, every baby that would have been as beautiful as you, as amazing. I would have to say I agreed to her handing away innocent babies made in our likeness with my blood pumping through their veins just to be inhabited by a foreign species?! For some extraterrestrial bastard to wear my daughters, my sons as a costume? How Juni? How could I live in a place where I would see them walking around, looking like you? How could I see the functioning body of the son I never got to have and the brother I never got to watch you bond with walking around as nothing more than a shell? I couldn’t, I can’t!” He lost himself in his emotions, his breathing was in short spurts.

I never saw my dad like this, why would he make something like this up? Is that why people hated my mom and other women like her? Was the classified information that my mom’s service included getting pregnant and then having a child she would give away? My siblings, my brothers, or sisters? All of the times I wished I had someone to play with, someone to talk late into the night with and I had five siblings out there?

His voice was unsteady, but he persisted, “These are not neighborhoods, they are compounds! Think about it, we need passes to go visit another neighborhood, we need supervision to attend 5+ and we would never be welcomed at the Center Summit. 1C, 2C and 3C do not have any form of communication outside of themselves. Yes, we have food, water, and shelter, but are not free or equal.”

I had never thought about it that way, I was speechless and disoriented. Had I defended my mom, this whole time idolizing her when she was using my siblings as pawns without a second thought? Was technology and being fashion forward really worth the life of her own child? Did her loyalty to the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. outweigh the loyalty towards her family? I was paralyzed by more emotions than I could manage.

My dad continued on, feeding my doubt with a whole different take on history than I had been taught. He told me the Shifted had indeed lost their home and were desperately searching for one. There were much more than forty, but with their ability to basically store themselves away for later they were not necessarily in a rush. They approached Earth knowing they needed a home, knowing that they needed a fellow species that they could coexist with. They knew better than living amongst a species that was smarter or more advanced than themselves. They had lost their home to a dreadful war and did not want to relive that.

The Shifted found a place where they had the edge, they gained the favor of the current occupants and all they asked for was refuge. For housing them they would repay the Earthers by teaching them what they knew and sharing their advanced machinery. The Shifted repaired damage from fracking, deforestation, and massive pollution that darkened the sky, and this only made them more dependable, more trustworthy. When they asked for their remaining team members what else would the unsuspecting, indebted people do, but enthusiastically step forward?

The Shifted lost ninety-nine percent of their population, but that still left them with well over seventeen thousand cells that needed to be implanted. They never told Earthers that, that would overwhelm them and make them panic. Instead, they took small steps, twenty here, ten there, fifteen more a little later, all for valid reasons, none raising suspicions. This repeated until the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. became equal in numbers of Earthers and V.I.V.A.S.

They were strategic, they gently took the position of power by allowing us to believe we still had it. They used our own nature against us, they were cunning. By simply establishing a class system and awarding those who contributed more than the standard, they essentially turned us against each other. People were so set on getting upgraded, they did not care how they got there.

Volunteers were interchanged with a contribution, a mandatory one. Humans were coupled according to best genetic matches, you did not have to be in a relationship with that person, but you were bound to the other when it came to contribution. There was no sex involved, it was all done in a lab, but every time the female of the couple opted to serve, the male must contribute. Female was alpha, if she agreed to serve then he was part of it, even if indirectly.

“Every couple owes one contribution, is forced to give up their first born, in order to live in 1C. Those who do not contribute, well, everyone contributes. When you make your contribution, you are guaranteed food, water, and shelter. Contributing your mandatory one provides the basics, but none of the amenities, no appliances, no communication, only basic tools, and no form of entertainment that is not handmade. 1C cannot receive visitors or visit other neighborhoods,” he paused as if to allow me to take all of that information in.

You were allowed to have as many children as you wanted and keep as many as you wanted, but you would only be given extra food and water for the contribution you made. So, if you had two children in 1C, you would only get rations for the parents and the one contribution they made. Most people in 1C only had one child.

“The C.O.R.R.E.C.T. slyly made the higher class easily accessible, they encouraged as many contributions as one wanted to make and you would be rewarded accordingly. Upgrades were only one contribution away until you make it to the ‘paradise’ that is the peaks of Center Summit. Cloud nine, looking down on everyone else, weather controlled and everything free and given with no limit. When you made it there, not only are you guaranteed food, water, and shelter, but you are given anything your heart desires,”

You had the choice to upgrade any time you wanted at the price of a child, your very own child. You could have anything you wanted if you could give up an innocent newborn to be forced to become someone else, something else. I could not even justify it as adoption because they were hollowed out, it felt wrong. Was it murder? It was.

My dad explained money had lost its value. The neighborhoods were surrounded by a guarded perimeter, but within them they were self-governed. Most of the neighborhoods had reverted to the oldest form of currency, the barter system. They traded for anything else they needed within the neighborhood, and outside of it they had nothing to offer, nothing to offer except a contribution.

My dad relived the heart wrenching pain as he described my mom giving away their first child. According to the C.O.R.R.E.C.T. it was never your child, they are owed the first, it was the cost of living, it was in exchange for a lifetime of food, water, and shelter, a security no one had ever had prior.

I was not the eldest, I was not the only child. I spent my whole life imagining what having siblings was like, someone to connect with, a friend to share all those moments my mom missed during her service and all this time I did have them, somewhere out there.

“When we had you and kept you, things were great, even in 1C we never needed for anything. We had food and water and shelter and real friends, but we were young and dumb and easily tempted. We thought we were aiming higher. You can start early and climb the classes and you can retire early, you know the goal,” he shrugged.

I thought I did. I did not know anything anymore. I could not stop envisioning growing up in a house with both parents, brothers and sisters, I’d never be lonely.

He interrupted the thoughts of laughter I would never get to have, “After you, loving you, knowing you, getting to experience parenthood, it seemed crazy to give another contribution, but it was different. Unlike the first time I would not be around, they changed the program so that the mother would live on site during pregnancy in the care of the best medical professionals. When she was done, she would come home, so I thought that maybe it would make it less personal, that I would be less attached. She convinced me that she would be fine and in the company of other loyal Earthers and with the finest doctors. I agreed, I won’t lie I wanted an upgrade too, I was on board too,” he winced as he said that, the guilt pained him. “She signed up, you were only a little over a year. She left and it was just me and you. When she came back, we never talked about it and despite what was really best for us and you, we left the people who loved us and what was our real home to be ‘upgraded’ here.”

2C living was certainly a promotion and he made enough distance to not consistently mourn the loss of his third child. Him and my mom were happy for about another year when she started getting that itch again and she tried to convince him that they needed to upgrade. He would not hear it; he was more than fine with where they were and what they had. They even received extra food from their second donation that they could exchange for goods and services. He disagreed, and for a while she let it go, but the next year she pulled the alpha role and signed up again against his wishes. When she returned this time, he did not accompany her to the upgrade, he had every right to, but it was the principle, he wanted to demonstrate that he did not agree.

I felt crazy hearing all of this, reconsidering everything I ever believed in, everything I thought my mom stood for. How could I sit atop the peaks of Center Summit at the expense of my brothers and sisters?

My dad had said so much I had forgotten he started this all to make a point. He looked so flustered as he caught his breath.

“Mom gave away all of my siblings so we could live at Center Summit?” I thought aloud.

My dad looked sick, “You cannot get to ‘The Mighty Peaks of Center Summit’ from a regular contribution.” He paused, turning red and leaning close, touching my arm.

My stomach was in knots, teardrops fell from my eyes without warning. What exactly was he saying?

“Juniper, her ticket to Center Summit is…” he squeezed me tightly, “is giving you up.”

I was so stunned I felt all of the breath leave my body. It hit me all at once, every time she said it was her goal for her to make it to the top, to the peaks of Center Summit where she could live in paradise for the rest of her life.

“The ultimate contribution is a newly fertile female to add to their breeders,” he sobbed.

“Wait, what?” I was choking on my tears, my sadness, and my confusion.

“You will be fifteen soon, of age to sign up to serve. They gave your mother the alternative, the one that they give anyone who keeps their children, be demoted to 1C, and live your life out there, or hand over your fruitful children so that they can replace you and you will be rewarded for the rest of your days atop the Paradise Peaks of Center Summit,” he had stopped his own crying to attempt to soothe me.

I whimpered into his chest, “That’s okay Dad, I don’t want to go back with Mom, I will stay here with you. Can I just stay here with you?”

“Juni, I wish, I wish,” it hurt him to say,” but you have to make your first contribution.”

I knew he was saying words, but all I could hear was a loud ringing.

Had the rungs of the ladder to Center Summit my mother always spoke of been made of her children?

“I will meet you in 1C, I do not care anything about a downgrade. The only reason I didn't go before was because it meant I would never get to see you,” he sniveled.

He held me tighter than he ever had, and I wept harder than I ever had.

The timer on the stove beeped, dinner was done.