Quantum State Read online

  QUANTUM STATE

  M. Black

  Copyright (C) 2016 M. Black

  Layout design and Copyright (C) 2017 by Creativia

  Published 2017 by Creativia (www.creativia.org)

  Cover art by Cover Mint

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

  Proofread and edited by Thomas Shutt of Main Line Editing

  Copyedited by by Eloquent Enraptures

  Beta-Read by Liam McDonnell, Mary Regis, Theresa Salas, Rosemary Hughes, Jeremy Spring, Von Riker, Leanne Glover, Story Gnomes

  Table of Contents

  State of Affairs

  State of Fear

  State of Captivity

  State of Disillusionment

  State of Equilibrium

  State of Revelation

  State of Panic

  State of Realization

  State of Relations

  State of Escape

  State of Discord

  State of Rebellion

  State of Chaos

  State of Uncertainty

  State of Hope

  State of Desolation

  State of MAQS

  State Of Truth

  State of Masha

  State of Happiness

  Discussion Questions

  Author Biography

  Dedicated to my niece Emma Blackwelder and quantum discoveries.

  State of Affairs

  I live inside a district called Cherni, Zone 57, with a population of exactly two thousand, seven hundred and twenty people. I know because our quantum machine keeps an accurate count at all times and displays this number electronically over the wall of town hall. Ascania Pod is the educational institute for my zone, the one I attend. There is one pod for every twelve zones. We have eighty zones, and seven pods.

  I don't care for my Pod much, but maybe that's because most of the classes and people don't appeal to me. I spend a lot of my free time either with a friend of mine named Esfir, or at home building things out of metal scraps. Papa says my creative constructions are a waste of time—but a deeper part of me can't stop.

  Some say the Cherni district has the perfect system. A system with no flaws, no prejudices or biases, no mistakes, no favors—we are just as we are supposed to be, or so we are told. I'm not so sure anymore.

  The entire district of Cherni is surrounded by a very high wall. One I've never actually seen, yet. The world we live in is rather bleak. At least, that's what I would call the lack of color just about everywhere. The ground is paved with a charcoal shade of concrete, and white sand with pebbles that are interspersed where concrete slabs are absent. Long, black iron poles called Echoes are placed at every twenty-yard interval stretch from the ground to the sky to meet a shady atmosphere of dark purples, grays, and occasional wisps of white cloud—if we're lucky. We don't have seasons here, at least not like I've read about in books. Every time of year is always mucky, and the year is suspect. MAQS says we don't need to concern ourselves with the past, so our timetables are based on the date of Cherni's conception. That means we are in the year 61 of MAQS.

  Men are clad in dark gray tunics with pants, and women in silver, over which they can lay a dark jacket if they are cold. Anyone between twelve and eighteen dresses in white tunics with pants, and children under age twelve wear a mangosteen shade of t-shirt and pants. Everyone has a duty, but most tasks are reserved for bots. We don't have jobs as they have been described in books; no one gets paid. Money has become a thing of the past, or so I've learned from my brief history classes. The world we live in now is different—better—than our past.

  We are assigned our duty at age eighteen by a quantum machine that controls all of our lives—from what we dress, eat, do, and even to who we date. Our destiny is mapped out by zeros and ones that have predicted our best outcome, with suffering calculated to be at its absolute minimal.

  I can't hate MAQS for that—for predicting what is best for me. She doesn't mean to be controlling, to take away my so-called God-given free will, to be…so damn aggravating. I'm not the only one who feels like this, but we don't speak about it in public. MAQS watches us all, and if we threaten her existence, she will retaliate. She once tracked down a rebel group called Freedom and imprisoned them all in an iron tower we call Calypso, which is for the most grievous of criminals. It's located on the outskirts of Cherni, in what's called the Dead Zone. If caught traveling in the Dead Zone you can be incarcerated for up to a week. The Calypso Tower prisoners have been locked in there for eight years. I was going on ten when the incident took place.

  I'd only seen Calypso Tower once, when I turned fifteen. One of my few friends at Ascania Pod, named Anna, agreed to walk with me there. The journey was long. We exited the main district area after the sun went down and that left us with only thirty minutes before curfew. But it took two hours of travel over the Dead Zone to finally get there.

  The tower was so tall and spiral shaped. I could barely see the top, hidden inside a thick, wispy fog in the sky. I couldn't see any way in, and everything was quiet. I never saw a window or a human face, or even a guardbot; not that MAQS would need a guardbot. Since the arrest of the prisoners eight years ago no one has bombed anything inside of Cherni, or been caught in the Dead Zone.

  Fortunately, Anna and I managed to sneak out of the Dead Zone before anyone noticed—even MAQS—and we snuck back through our respective bedroom windows around midnight.

  MAQS watches over all of us and protects us from those who might do harm. Still, I can't help but think that in all of this predetermination, that maybe, just sometimes, MAQS gets it wrong. MAQS, by the way, stands for Machine at Quantum State, because she encodes the state of our human systems and makes predictions based on the information. She is the highest evolved machine in existence, at least to my knowledge. I'm not really sure how humans lived before MAQS, or how MAQS even took charge, but I do know that MAQS oversees every district in the entire world, and designates where we will all live. We don't ever have to worry about anything, because all our basic needs are supplied by the bots. Even water is brought daily to us in bottles dropped by our front doors. Still, we can't decide our own lives. MAQS makes all of our choices for us. I can't remember a time when MAQS wasn't here, hovering over us.

  Today I walk the sidewalk home, a sidewalk filled with a gravel that makes a crunch with each step—and as I wave goodbye to Anna, her blonde ponytail bounces over her backside as she heads to her Zone 59. Pod is over, and I have plans to meet my other friend after.

  “Hey, Masha, over here!” Esfir's fruity shout hits me as a dry wind catches his tomato-red hair. As I head toward him I get the strange feeling that I'm being watched. Not by MAQS. Not by the Echos, but…maybe I'm just being extra paranoid. Still, I've felt on occasion in my life, someone watching me.

  Esfir pulls strands of hair behind his ears. Stubble still dots his chin—even after I told him to shave yesterday—reminding me that we are all approaching eighteen. I'm dreading my birthday. I'll turn eighteen in thirteen days. I just found out yesterday what the rest of my life is going to look like inside of Cherni.

  “Hi, Esfir!” I yell from across the concrete slab in a hoarse voice. I walk, tugging at my tunic, toward Esfir who stands underneath an Echo outside of Romanov Pod. This Pod is in his zone, Zone 32. This Pod consists of one hundred and ninety-two people, like all
Pods that are not in the Keeper's area.

  All Pods have Carebots to attend to children, and Educatebots to teach those over twelve. Despite their position, they are all creepy. Hard metal exteriors, wires for necks, and beady red eyes hidden so far in their heads you have to look twice to see them.

  Esfir waves to his Pod and the educatebot nods to him, before Esfir darts over the ground aiming towards me. “Careful running. You could slip,” the educatebot drones on in warning. The mechanical tone of all bots is a distinct reminder that they don't know what it's like to be human.

  “What happened to your voice?” Esfir asks, the educatebot still staring.

  “I spent most of last night yelling at MAQS for her decision.” I stare at the Echo over the sidewalk and with a slap of my palm against it—hurting me more than it—I yell, “You hear that? I don't want my duty! I'm not doing it!”

  “You mean you screamed to the air above us,” Esfir clarifies with a laugh, his hands gesturing skyward.

  “Well, technically it was in my room on my bed while staring at the robot I made with toothpicks, but she's everywhere, so yeah.”

  “Don't take it too hard. You're just turning eighteen. Everyone does it.”

  “Please don't bring it up.” I rake my fingers through my thick raven-colored hair that reaches my waist in plump curls, and somehow the pressure of my fingertips on my scalp makes me feel less stressed. So, I scratch my head again.

  “But you are, and MAQS has already determined you'll be tending to the garden in our district's greenhouse.” Esfir takes over raking my scalp, and soothes my head even more.

  I roll my eyes in ecstasy, feeling hot in the face for the comment.

  Esfir rubs my head more. “I know you really wanted to be part of the crew that takes atmospheric samples, but you didn't score well in chemistry…you got a C+. What'd you expect MAQS would predict? She only takes students who score an A.”

  I rub my face and growl 'argh', as Esfir's fingers return to his side. “Maybe I just wanted to pick something for myself.”

  Esfir winks. “So do I, but we can't. You know I'll be turning eighteen in a couple months too.”

  “I wonder what duty MAQS will assign you.” Duties aren't assigned until two weeks before your eighteenth birthday. I sigh as I let my head fall onto his shoulder, my chin nestling between his bone and soft neck, and I notice a large gash.

  “What happened here?” I let my pinky prod beneath the scratch. “Another fight?”

  “I wouldn't call it much of a fight. Two kids were making fun of the way I talk after class and I hit them both point-blank in the face. Probably left bruises.” He laughs. “They went down in seconds.”

  “Geesh, Esfir. Didn't the educatebot help you?”

  “Nah, it didn't even see the incident. Don't need their help, anyway. Been fighting off pricks since I was ten.”

  Esfir sticks out, because he's smart and because of his red hair; he can't help it. When he mouths off in class, outsmarting the other boys, they get jealous.

  I tug at Esfir's shirt to follow me and forget Pod, away from the Echo, the ones we all know are listening, maybe watching, and constantly sending signals to MAQS for any insubordination.

  We hustle across concrete slabs, which is what we call the street, and I stop when we are equally distanced between two Echos. That is as quiet as we are going to get out here. I gaze into Esfir's hazel irises, and using a hushed whisper, I say, “I really want to see for myself what's going on with our atmosphere. MAQS says the air is worsening, thinning—that's why she built the Cylindrical.” My eyes glance upward and behind Romanov Pod, to the only completed park in our district, where a thick steel silver-white cylinder stands one hundred feet tall. “She says the Cylindrical filters out air pollutants and puts oxygen back into the atmosphere so that we can breathe.”

  “You don't believe her?” Esfir's brows furrow.

  “Should I? It's just another trick to keep more eyes on us,” I say, confessing my paranoia.

  “I have doubts too.” Esfir scratches his head. I love him for siding with me.

  “So, you think we should check it out?” I pry, to see just how far he's willing to go with me.

  His feet shuffle underneath him as he mulls over the dangerous decision. “If we're caught, you know we could spend a few weeks in jail under bot supervision.”

  “More reason to investigate. Why such strict punishments for humans too close to machinery, any machinery? What's she hiding?!”

  “Okay, okay, calm down.” Esfir grabs my shoulders, his hands locking so tight I can feel his fingernails. “I'll do it.” He peeks behind himself and then to his left and right, to be sure no bot is listening.

  I add, “Bring one of your mama's atmospheric balloons. We could collect air samples while we're there, too, just to be sure.”

  Esfir's head leans back as he stares at me. “Taking her atmospheric balloon could prove challenging. She keeps them locked in her cabinet. It's a crime to use instruments from someone else's duty equipment.”

  I don't retreat my stare from him, however intense his expression, and stand my ground. “You can do it. We have to know for sure.”

  “Fine,” he says, giving in, and finally cracks a smile. “I'll get it done.”

  “Good.”

  “We'll go tonight.”

  My dagger eyes flick to him under my thick brows. “Really? At night?”

  “Why not? We certainly won't be unseen during daylight hours,” Esfir reasons, and I know he's right.

  “You know why.” I glance to the Cylindrical and then return my gaze to Esfir, his dimple and freckled nose coming into fuller view. “It's forbidden to be out after eight.”

  “You know MAQS has an obsession with eight,” Esfir half-jokes, changing the subject, his dimple widening with his mischievous smile.

  “How do you mean?” I reply.

  His deep voice is sweet like honey. “Eighteen years old for a duty, an eight-o-clock curfew. Eight levels to every Pod. Eighty zones. There are even eight districts. Kinda eerie.”

  Not that we've seen these other seven districts. We've only ever had the pleasure of knowing Cherni. Still, MAQS assures us there are other districts in our vicinity.

  “Umm…I never thought about it before.”

  “About thirty-two people to each zone,” he adds, showing off his math skills. “Pods have a ground floor, an infant level, toddler level, kindergarten level, elementary level, middle school level, high school level, and a floor each for Carebots and Educatebots.”

  “Eight levels.” Esfir was filled with facts, like my own walking computer.

  “Okay.” I shrug. “So MAQS likes the number eight.”

  “Coincidence? I don't think so,” Esfir half-jokes again. I'm sometimes not so sure how much he actually means and how much he teases me.

  “Probably coincidence.”

  “But is there such a thing with a quantum machine?” Esfir asks, and the tightness of his forehead and lifting of his brows assures me he means it this time.

  I shrug again. “I don't know.”

  “Anyway”—he shakes his head, flitting his hands—“I completely got off track. What I was going to tell you was that leaving after eight is forbidden, but so is investigating the Cylindrical, and taking Mama's balloon and vials. So, if we're going to break one law, we might as well break them all.” He winks, and somehow his cool, collected attitude calms me.

  “Fine. Tonight. We'll break all the laws and end up in jail for years, but at least we'll have answers.” My lips curl in a joking smile.

  “After dinner, of course. I can't leave on an empty stomach.”

  “Of course,” I confirm jestingly, as if that is the least of our problems.

  Esfir walks me lazily to my house, the one with a crisp coat of beige paint—courtesy of the constructionbots—and a white picket fence. A trail of almost perfect white sand leads me to the mahogany front door. All homes in Cherni have mahogany doors. The bots
import them from somewhere. Large onyx rocks and pebbles decorate the front of the home, and with two cacti on either side of the door, we are the envy of the zone, which for the most part don't have any kind of yard plants. Zones in Cherni are comprised of eight homes, with a perfect nuclear family in each. However, Keeper Zones have five people in each home, three children in each. One or two houses in each civilian zone might be lucky enough to have a plant given to them by MAQS for the year. If the plant dies, we don't see another one for another year.

  Esfir's sandal-clad feet drag until we arrive at my house, then his feet play with the ground underneath him, stalling for more time. “I'll see you out front at seven, right?”

  “Seven.” I kiss his cheek and leave him in a heated blush.

  Hesitantly, I open the front door as I wave goodbye to my longtime friend; we've known each other since I turned ten. I remember slapping him for something, and then he convinced me to let him walk me home. Why he wanted to be my friend, I still don't know, but we've been friends ever since. We were even born at the same hospital. Of course, everyone is born at Cherni Hospital, because it's the only one in the district, so that's not anything unique—but our friendship is.

  He's been there for me when I needed to study chemistry to pass the tests, and he's always been an ear I can turn to when I desperately need to talk. He even made carrot cake for my sixteenth birthday, because he knew carrot was my favorite flavor. After eating when we were assembled by the bots for breaking curfew and chastised, he said the whole party was his idea so I wouldn't be blamed. Hard to find someone like him.

  Pods exit at three in the afternoon and Esfir and I took about an hour to walk and talk, so I have three hours left to eat with my parents and then sneak out of the house.

  Inside, I head straight to the dinner table, because my stepmum, Diana, likes to have food served at four thirty, giving us thirty minutes to eat and three hours before bed. She likes to keep to her schedules, or at least she tries to convince me of that—but mostly I think it's because MAQS wants her to and she won't dare disobey MAQS, even though she was assigned to marry my papa when she was in love with her best friend growing up. No one in the family will disobey MAQS, not with what happened to my real mama. Her name was Masha too. I was named after her.