The “Perfect” Society

 Chapter one

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Oct 19 2046

The governments managed to conquer parts of the rebellious regions across the countries of Canada, and USA. I hate the governments, they tear this world to pieces and call themselves the democratic peace loving government, what a joke… All those who’ve rebelled against the government, have died a brutal death, they would be whipped with a sharp belt that would bleed them to death.

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Hazel puts down her notebook, and thinks about her position in this world: “A 17 year old girl living in a barren wasteland called the land of nature.” Though people get killed, and robbed here, Hazel has managed to slip through the dangers of the wasteland. Having lived here for her whole life, she has developed some street smarts that helped her avoid some of the evident dangers here.

She lives in a hut, made mostly of dirt and some pieces of wooden oak logs, but enough to keep her from freezing. Hazel likes to take walks, mostly in the morning or at sunset, because the beautiful setting and the nature of what’s left in this world keeps her thoughts occupied. Her parents had abandoned her, alone, in this wasteland, for her to survive and learn, alone. At a young age though, she showed signs of being smart, and learnt fast, people told her, the friendly ones in the barren wastelands. There are the slightest of lights in the darkest of shadows.

She left her pathetic hut to take her usual walk, “NO! Please.. That's all I have!” Hazel heard these words over a hill of plastic and waste, mostly from the major cities. Her vast curiosity and desire to learn dragged her over the hill, Hazel hid behind a broken down car and peaked over the broken window.

Hazel didn’t like to talk, “maybe that’s the reason I’ve never been killed,” she liked to say this to herself, because it’s true, she never shares her thoughts or opinions with anyone, because it could get her killed, and she knows it’s true and applies to everyone in this world. She thought of this while spying on the darkest spots of the dark.

“He shouldn’t have said what he wanted to have said,” Hazel whispered to herself and scoffed. Then, Hazel saw it was a boy. Maybe aged 9 or 11, Hazel knew kids didn’t know better than to spurt out whatever they want and say things people didn’t want to hear. The two men with knives threatened the kid over and over again, “What did you just say!?” said the first man “Shut up kid.” thought Hazel, but as a kid, he just wouldn’t stop talking and shouting and screaming and crying. Then, the men went silent, and Hazel could see it all, but yet, she could hear nothing but the kids sniffling and sobbing, she saw that the men had settled on something. In one quick slash, the kid fell to the ground, the blood drained, Hazel could swear she saw an organ. But, she didn’t react, Hazel was cold, “no emotions,” she told herself.

She moved away quickly and ended her afternoon walk.

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This world is twisted, and stained with the blood of the dead and the forgotten. However, no one cares, because the only lives they truly care about, is their own. No one acts, because they want to live. But, I see no point in my existence anymore, maybe as a last act, or something as a last ditch effort, I will do something about the twists of this world, maybe even untwist it. The barren wastelands, and the empty dirt fields with nothing but trash and grass, is the greatest explanation of the inside of my mind and my life.

-Hazel

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Chapter two

The skies were blue, the grass was green, and life was beautiful. Hazel was at home with her parents, and ate breakfast together. All of a sudden, everything felt cold, and sad. Hazel woke up with a shock and felt dizzy, then, reality struck, it felt as though someone suddenly squeezed Hazel's heart so tight, it might just burst.

She walked out of the hut, and saw it was raining, another day Hazel had to live through. “It’s freezing, how I hate the gods, first, life gives me this horrible place to live, no parents, no warm house. Then, the gods take away the only, ONLY peace I have, the last bit of nature in this world.. It’s as though the universe has instilled the curse of existence in me, and this existence is horrible.” Hazel thought for a moment, and turned to her english book, other than the curse the universe had given her, it has also given her a small gift, the ability to read and write english, though, Hazel doesn’t see it as a gift, “Just an extra given by the curse of being.” she would say to herself.

Hazel knew that knowing the language of English was seen as a threat. The governments wanted one language, and that language would be chinese. Knowledgeable people were executed because they could think on their own, it was hard to manipulate and control them. If the guards that block the exits of the land of nature knew about her ability, they would put her into custody. As the government puts people into the land of nature if they see them as useless, poor, or too smart, then, they would slowly become stupider. Hazel knew that her parents were sent to the land of nature, because they were smart, because their genetics were passed on to her.

Hazel walked outside, the rain had lightened, but a fog began to appear, everytime Hazel looked outside, it seemed as though the fog would get thicker and thicker, foggier and foggier. Hazel had nothing to do, so she picked up her book, which she has read several times, and started to read it again. She heard some shouts and screams, but it didn’t faze Hazel, she heard screams her whole life. She continued reading, without knowing what’s coming…

The bang on the door startled Hazel. Two guards came in and asked to inspect the room, they simply told Hazel, “It’s foggy, we need inspection.” in Chinese, Hazel let them come in, but made a fatal mistake, she left her book on the floor. The guards inspected it, and recognized it as English, “What the hell is this?” said one of the guards in chinese. Hazel stood still, if something scared Hazel, she would be the type of person to react like a cat thrown into a room of dogs, completely still, immobile. Before Hazel knew it, or could do anything about it, she was handcuffed, and thrown onto a truck. Thankfully, the unconscious part of her snatched Hazel's diary before she was caught.

Chapter three

“Wake up!” Those Chinese words came to Hazel like a truck about to hit her, she opened her eyes wide, survival instincts firing. Then, a cascade of barbaric thoughts moved through the back of her head, as she stared at the face of the people whom Hazel had been hating on for so many years now. The government, as always, seems to get everything they want, absolutely nothing gets in their way, “maybe that’s the power that comes with manipulation.” Hazel thought, and this time, Hazel was the one they wanted, the thing they wanted, and got.

“Heard you been read an English book.” The female officer said in rotten English, Hazel didn’t respond, because she almost laughed with the accent and grammar the officer talked with. “TELL US!” the guards said in chinese, this time, with perfect accent and pronunciation. But, again, Hazel didn’t mutter a word, and it wasn’t because of the grammar, or accent, it was because Hazel simply didn’t want to talk to the rats of the world.

Hazel then found herself locked in a cell, an ocean of stone surrounded her, and the rotten fungus of the bed gave off a smell that made people nauseous. Hazel didn’t get any sleep, and part of it was because she slept on the floor, Hazel spent the rest of the day and night in the cell lying on the floor.

The sun rose and the morning was cold, the air was chilly. Hazel heard footsteps of several people walking towards her cell in the damp hallway outside her room. When the men finally arrived, she saw that it wasn’t someone she expected, surprisingly, it was the admiral of the base Hazel resided in. “Rumors arose that you are pretty smart, so, I have arranged for you to take an IQ test that will prove the rumors right.” Two men walked into the room with papers and puzzles. But Hazel took one glance at the paper and saw math questions that were far too simple for her. She completed the test in 3 minutes, and the men revealed her IQ was around 165.

The look on the admiral's face said it all, he called the headquarters to tell them what he just discovered, “Hello? Yes, yes, listen, I found a 17 year old girl who has an IQ of 165! Let her work for us? Okay, yessir, got it.” Hazel was shocked with what she just heard, did they want her to work for them? “Listen Hazel, the government officials have decided for you to work with them on their top secret meetings and plans, helping them accomplish their goals. Do not sabotage the plans.” When the admiral said that, and told Hazel to not sabotage their plans, Hazel had a plan, she was going to sabotage their plans.

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Though I have no Idea what plans they plan to use me for, I’ve decided to sabotage their plans, so that their work to manipulate the world can be damaged along with their reputation. I hope this will start a spark to ignite the world to rebel against the once all-powerful government.

-Hazel

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Chapter four

In the afternoon, Hazel was finally released from her cell, she was being transferred to the headquarters where she would be enslaved by the government. Several armed men picked her up and escorted her to the truck. The long drive was filled to the brim with something that the citizens of the world lived by, silence. Hazel sat in the car for however long the drive was, and listened to no one but her thoughts, she even contemplated escaping, but Hazel knew that would lead to nothing. In the end, the car came to a halt, and Hazel stared at the tall, renowned building that the supreme leader resided in.

As Hazel walked into the building, the amounts of guns and guards startled Hazel, it made her uneasy. As she took the elevator to meet the supreme leader, she practiced fake laughs and smiles that would allow her to gain the trust of the dictator. As the guards led her into the room, she saw the face of the dictator, and a surge of anger ran through her blood vessels. “Hello, your majesty.” Hazel said with a smile and happy face. “Oh, no need to be that formal, make yourself comfortable!” The supreme leader said with a happy tone. “How about we have a feast for dinner! After all, you will be an important asset to our world!” Hazel laughed, and thought, “Yeah, more like a slave.”

When the time of the feast came, Hazel was starving. She had never had this expensive and delicious food before, this was her first time. While she ate like a person who had never had food before, the supreme leader was rambling on about some plan about killing people, Hazel stopped and said “killing?” Yes, said the supreme leader, “of all religions!” Hazel was silent, but the seemingly stupid leader interpreted this as a sign of amazement, “excited? We will even have YOU in charge of this mission, we believe you can do it.” Hazel clenched her teeth as she heard this, even her appetite was gone, and sucked her tongue as she said, “awesome!”

Hazel walked back to her room in which the government had installed for her, directly under the supreme leader's office. The room was like a hotel suite, beautifully decorated, and comfortable, though it was too comfortable for Hazel, it made her feel uncomfortable, she had never stayed in these luxurious rooms before, it made her feel unworthy of it. Moreover, the government officials and the officers gave her looks that would say without saying, “how could a poor commoner from the junkyards have a higher position than me!?” It all made Hazel feel like an outcast, even though she already was, it was like a kid trying vigorously to fit into a highschool with teenagers all around. Even with this feeling inside, Hazel didn’t mind, because she only had one clear goal in mind, to stop this mass killing.

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The governments see themselves as a higher form of humanity, they see us as inhuman, stupid, worthless, and easy to manipulate, though that is true in some aspects, it won’t affect me. They don’t even see any value in us, like kids stomping on ants, though, I do hope the humans will bite back like some of the ants do.

-Hazel

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Chapter five

As Hazel got ready for the night's sleep, she realized she needed a plan, which meant communicating with the officers she’ll be working with. The dirty work will begin tomorrow, the only thing that Hazel knows is that every person has an ID that tells them their religion and information, and the ID is refreshed every month, in case the people change their names, living location, or religion. But some people stay true and don’t change their religion because of their discipline and loyalty to their beliefs, even at the cost of their life. Hazel had to change their ID, because she knew it would help the government achieve their goal. Thinking about this, Hazel slowly closed her eyes, and slept deep, dreaming vividly about the murder that might occur.

The next morning was peaceful, because no loud sounds woke Hazel up, she glanced at her clock, and saw that it was 9:03 AM. The peace was broken however, by the sound of gentle knocking on the door, which sharpened Hazel’s senses. When she saw an officer holding a file, Hazel knew what he came for. She held the file, read it thoroughly, and headed to the archive where a computer kept all the data of the previous and current ID’s of everyone on the planet, every month, the archive would update, and put the latest ID updates in it. This could be Hazel’s plan, this could save everyone. Her mission was to find any suspicious IDs or IDs that were religious. She spent an hour in the archive, searching for the religious IDs, and noted them down in her diary, this would help her change their IDs later on.

Hazel copied the IDs down onto another page, and ripped the original page out. To give it to the supreme leader, she walked to his office, knocked on the door, a guard opened it, and there he was, sitting there, on his red mushy chair which resembled a throne. She handed the supreme leader the page, and he congratulated Hazel but gave Hazel another mission, “nice work, but I need you to also do something that I believe only you can do, we need you to interrogate several people who claim to be innocent, we need you to detect their lies.” Hazel smiled and said, “surely!” As time passed however, Hazel slowly realized she was killing people, innocent people who lied to survive, though the government made her decide who to kill, and who not to kill, she decided not to kill any of them, saying that they were all telling the truth, each one that left alive looked at her.

Everytime the time turned night, Hazel would tinker with the archive, changing the religions of all ID’s. It was a tough job, and would take several days to complete. This night was a night like any other, cold, empty, sleepless, Hazel’s eyes were bloodshot red, no one cared. The guards were doing their routine checkups, but when they saw Hazel, they didn’t mind, they didn’t care, as expected. Each night stretched longer than expected, which made Hazel feel like she was stuck eternally in the dark night. Her thoughts would stop as the sun rose, which refreshed her sanity, and halted the questioning of her life choices.

The day came of Operation Cleanup, a nickname given to the killing of the religions. Hazel had prepared day and night, and was now in charge of finding out who was religious and who was not. The archived has updated, and now had shown that no one was religious, the news eventually traveled to the supreme leader. “WHAT! DOES THAT MEAN EVERYONE LOVES ME? HOW WONDERFUL!”

Hazel faked a smile when she heard this.

After a day, the operation was seemingly canceled, because of the lack of religious societies in the world. Hazel had saved so many lives, all thanks to her efforts.

Chapter six

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I’ve saved millions, if not billions of people around the world. Protected them from the supreme leader's dark and twisted fantasies. The only thing I wish now, is hope that my legacy will ignite a chain of rebellions around the world, this era of darkness might all finally be removed.

-Hazel

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Hazel rested in her room, and slept most of the time. She has to keep up with the hours she has lost to save the world. However, the knocks on the door woke Hazel up, she opened it fast. 20 soldiers and the supreme leader, standing outside her door with a disappointing expression. “Our head detective suspects that you’ve been tinkering with the archive, and have ordered an execution upon you.” Said the supreme leader. “Please accompany us towards the paths to heaven,” said one guard. “No way, no way, no way this can be happening to me! How the hell did they find out!?” Depressing thoughts like these kept running through Hazel’s complicated mind in which she had thought of hundreds of billions of things throughout her life. She walked foolishly towards the room, helpless. All this seemed to have happened so fast, a relatable connection with life it seemed. Beheading was the only option when execution was in store, thought to be the only reliable way by the supreme leader.

As Hazel walked, she heard bells of liberation ringing from above, a reassuring, ethereal, and resonant sound that echoed through her ears. Into the room Hazel went, as she rested her head on the comfortable leather headrest, Hazel had heard Saint Peters name calling her, she understood that she had accomplished something great in the end. She knew she would be accepted into heaven, in which Jesus would be waiting. She felt happy, the only time she might ever feel it in her life. And coincidentally, the sky became dark, and thunder struck, as she gazed with shining eyes into the world of nature. An accomplishment god must’ve felt proud of. No tears ran down Hazel's eyes, but tears must’ve run down God's eyes. The sword went through Hazel's head smoothly, eyes open, and smiling, her head rolled, full of life. “Hazel Damstrich, oddly familiar, I believe I’ve met a woman with the same name before, I think.” Said the supreme leader.

“Death must exist for life to have meaning.” -Neal Shusterman

THE END

-Author-

Andy Zhao