She worked for a hundred years, sentenced to forced labour on account of theft of a major degree; falsely accused by the way. Her crime? Stealing company secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. Her job? Executive Market Analyst for Serra’s second largest market consultancy firm, Serra:ONE or Serra OperatioNs Enterprise. Ironically named if you didn’t notice.
Her name was almost non-existent before her deed and eventual trial. Katherine Ross exposed Serra:ONE’s corrupt under the table transactions with the big-wigs of Serra’s Economics and Marketing Board. Serra:ONE evaded taxes and other government mandated expenses by bribing high officials huge sums of money whose source escapes even Ms. Ross. Her move earned her the ire of her company, and a laminated suit.
She worked as Eve 1401 under the jurisdiction of Sector 890 Shepherd Max Law, controversial for reports of LaMB molestation and abuse. After all, no man can resist the beauty of a laminated woman, not even a shepherd. LaMBs neither have feelings nor emotions, though they do have consciousness; a fetish that men find hard to resist. She would not remember a thing after they remove her from lamination; furthering LaMBs as a sex symbol for the underground pornography trade.
Still, she worked for a hundred years. Now marks her day of release; the day the lamination suit finally comes off. She would be wiped clean of any recollection she would have of the service she rendered, except the memory that she did render service as a LaMB. The higher ups believe that would be enough of a punishment for the crimes of LaMBs. Her body would be restored to how she was before lamination, stripping her of any beauty retaining nano-tech implanted into her skin. It would be as if the hundred years of service did not have any physical effect on her, and the only way for her to tell it had been a hundred years would be to check the year on her calendar.
September 26, 2507; exactly a hundred years after she was laminated. Walking out of the Sector 890 Constabulary Office, she immediately felt the crushing gravity of the one hundred years unspent. The roads are different, the buildings are different, the fashion, the cars; every single thing was different. But she knew deep inside that one thing would be constant. She fished out a small locket from under her clothes, slipping it right between her ample breasts, a passé to the current fad. Pushing a button, the locket opened revealing a hologram of a lady and a guy; he would be waiting.
One hundred years is a long time, and yet she knew he would be waiting. It was a promise they made a hundred years ago, before she was caught in a tangle of lies and deceit surrounding Serra:ONE and her fixed trial. He would wait for her, even if it takes a century. They knew deep in their hearts that it was impossible, and yet somehow they clung to the deeper truth behind the impossible promise.
Dan Schubert was a promising business man. At age 18, he already owned and ran two companies, with his business empire growing through the years. He acquired 50% stock ownership of most of his competitor’s businesses, enacting a monopoly of the trade, not too uncommon in the thrifty planet of Serra. He expanded further and further, and by age 24, he was already one of the leading business tycoons of his time, loved and hated for whatever he was. It was in the same year that he met Katherine. Then 22, she was also making little waves in the puddle that is Serra:ONE. He and she had a promising life together; raising a family wouldn’t be out of the question. It wasn’t long before she inevitably bore the fruit of their love. They could never have been happier.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck. Three years into their wonderfully engaged life, Katherine caught wind of the illegal trade happening behind the closed doors of higher ups of Serra:ONE. This led her to a trail of underhanded and despicable truths, each worse than the last. At last, she couldn’t take it any longer; silence wasn’t one of her best traits. She exposed Serra:ONE to the authorities but alas, one person, let alone a lady, cannot win a war against a nation. Serra:ONE had in it’s arsenal most of the government officials of Serra; in summary, she enticed the ire of Serra herself. Her trial was swift and her sentence was made: a hundred years in a laminated suit, serving as Eve 1401 in Sector 890, under the shepherd Meagan Law, mother of Max Law.
But before she was laminated, she and Dan made a promise. And now, a hundred years later, Katherine was hoping for the fulfilment of that promise.
Travelling the streets she thought she was familiar with, she made her way across various establishments, buildings, houses, condominium towers and various other structures littering Serra for miles on end. She passed by the old and now abandoned Serra:ONE tower; they had since merged with Skyline, the once top marketing consultancy firm of Serra. The buyout resulted in the biggest monopolies in Serra as of late, with Skyline:ONE owning 95% of the marketing consultancy industry market share. As if fate wasn’t cruel enough.
After some time her hazy memory made her way to the old residential lot she and Dan shared. It remained largely unchanged in the one hundred years; the garden even bore the flowers she used to love. The walls bear the same color as she remembered them from a century ago, only some wall panels were changed and even then they were made to look as close to the original as possible. She almost burst into tears. She already knew he wasn’t to be found here; she wasn’t naïve, she knew he was dead. And yet by the way the house was maintained, the garden cared for, the memories kept; she knew it was his doing. The promise wasn’t broken.
She walked up the garden walkway up to the front door. She tried to hold back her tears as she reached for the door handle, realizing there that this wasn’t her house anymore. She let go of the spindle, and was almost about to knock when somebody spoke from behind her. Turning around, she thought she was dreaming.
The man was visibly surprised. She ran to him, hugging him and sobbing, mentioning names familiar to him. Slowly she came to, pushing herself away from him. She calmed down eventually. She was first to break the silence.
“I’m sorry, I mistook you for Dan. You must be William then. Your dad must have told you, I bore you a year before I was laminated. You’ve grown so tall I almost mistook you for him!”
His surprise slowly turned into understanding. “So this must be Katherine”, he thought.
“Miss Ross was it? Actually, Dan was my grandfather. The William you were talking about was my father. He died twenty years ago, and twenty years before that, my grandfather passed away. I’m truly sorry…”
“Is that so? I see… So it has been that long. Well, its okay, I already knew this would happen. Can you take me to where he’s been buried? I would really like to visit him…”
The gravity of one hundred years had just begun to dawn on her. Their love child William was now a father and now in front of her is her grandchild. And yet, one could mistake them for a couple, if their looks would be the basis. She’ll just take this one step at a time, starting with Dan, then with William, then maybe she and her grandchild can spend some time together, to make up for lost time.
“We’re here Ms. Ross…”
Katherine burst into tears. She knew all about this already, that Dan wouldn’t be alive anymore. She knew that sad truth, still she couldn’t help but hope. Well, at least now she can begin to heal. She knelt in front of his headstone, pulling away the vines that have overgrown Dan’s tomb. Tears once again welled in her eyes when she read the inscription written on the headstone…
Dan F. Schubert
2380 to 2467
Ever dearest, I hope I did not make you wait, I love you
Katherine bit her lips, trying to stop herself from crying. She continued to pull the weeds away from the headstone, distracting herself and keeping herself from bursting. As she pulled the last few tendrils away, what she saw lashed against her like a cracking whip…
Dan F. Schubert
2380 to 2467
Ever dearest, I hope I did not make you wait, I love you
Melissa Schubert
A hundred years will not be enough to keep us apart
