"A fishball noodle please." I stretched out my hand. Waiting for my bottle to be passed to me.
The boss looked at me with an annoyed, irritated yet amused face. It was that moment I realised, I messed up.
I frantically took out my phone and tapped against the reader. And properly took a tray for my meal.
——
I was supposed to be killed on world war 6, an unnamed man who is sent out first thing after missiles and bombardments. Humans are liabilities, not worth a thing.
That world is simply too overpopulated that it is unable to balance out city planning and agricultural locations. Despite plans on increasing food supply by planting on rooftops. Global warming made available landmass even scarce. Whichever power controls more land, they call the shots, literally.
People cut down every single tree for our living space. Birds and monkeys, you name it, are extinct. Nobody even bother to keep a DNA sample of it.
Industrials are paid obscenely high to freeze air for the carbon dioxide. At that point of time, we no longer care. Even if everyone maintained peace, we will die by suffocating. So lets just enjoy not MP3, not MP4. BUT MP5 and the sex while waiting for dooms day.
Food is mainly made from synthesising trapped carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas to create an organic compound. Distributed in bottles, we drank our jelly labelled as spaghetti, salmon rice that is 100% synthetic ingredients. Only the elites had the luxury to eat grown meals.
Activists? Religion? No one had the living capacity to uphold standards.
Legals aside, it is pointless to lay hands on kids then. But once they are considered adult, nobody cares. For food, we'd even eat each other to the bone, the only alternative of grown food aside the rich would have or fish. The thing is, kids have few Global Points and little meat. To put it simply, there is no celebration in this timing. Not even birthday celebration. Imagine having your 17th birthday celebration and people around you started timing your 18th and kill you the very 0 second you turned 18.
By the way, eating fish is considered semi suicidal as humans have polluted the waters with mercury so hard that most fish contains lethal dose.
Money? As previously mentioned, Global points, the only currency. You use it to redeem synthesized bottled food, filtered water etc. Oh, redeeming grown food is possible, but the cost is sky high we commoners treated the page as a joke.
The moment we stood on the redemption area, the cameras recognise us. No, not our face. But within our individual body frame, how many DNAs are present. Yes, I can literally kill the guy beside me, take his hair and go straight to redemption area. Maybe he had a few points for my oxygen redemption. I could even try picking up a human hair at floor and rob whoever drops it. If someone had a bleeding wound, I would approach them with a cloth. The very second it absorbs blood. I'd race to redemption area.
To summarise, kids are not touchable, they are probably poor in global points and have little meat anyway. Since young, they were issued minimal points for survival, kids will collect materials to make a protective clothing to prevent the drop of even a single dandruff size of dna. Identity is very important. Even in adult, males will actively scrape out fluids and wash their partner thoroughly. Food is synthetic, fish is toxic, air is horrible.
——
Flash back aside, I am now walking towards the healthy earth's drink stall.
"What you want?" The lady behind the counter greeted me.
What I want? WHAT I WANT?
….
I cried. I am actually able to make choices. Living in healthy Earth for 18 years doesn't erase the scar I had for 32.5 years there. No protective suit made of bottles. The guy beside me isn't trying to pluck my hair. The woman at the counter doesn't own a firearm. People complain about air pollution when it feels clean to me. Water can be drunk for free straight from public tap. I am eating real grown food.