(Y/N)
I rush into the classroom just as the door was about to slide shut.
The robot assistant, Micah, stared at me through its visor. It was a queer little thing, barely half my size with a black box on its head covered by a visor and a white round sphere with a screen in the front for its body. Whatever it lacked in height and emotions, it made up for in scathing sarcasm as though it were an actual human.
I gave it a curt nod as it slid the door shut completely.
"I would say you're 10 minutes late, (Y/N), but I can tell you are, funnily enough, five minutes earlier than the usual time you arrive." It said, its voice monotonous yet loud enough for the entire class to hear.
I wince just slightly. Sarcasm, right.
It uses its body screen to create images of two arms gesturing me to my seat. "I suppose the great queen deserves to take a seat, no?"
I start feeling slightly annoyed. Sure, I was late, but did it really have to rub salt on my wound?
I look at my section. The classroom is huge, housing over sixty of my peers. We have rows of white desks sectioned by walls for every youngling. The front of the desk holds two buttons: the red button is for answering questions and the blue button is for asking doubts.
I roll my eyes and sit down. Just then, Soumya walks in.
She's our teacher in the field of 'Scientist and Philosophy', one of the three subjects we have.
She's around 5'7, with red hair and deep brown eyes. She had a slim but toned figure, like all the people now have, with a special genetic modification few scientists have ever had:
Enhanced Third-Person Empath.
She can essentially perceive what younglings like us feel, but unlike the doctors' Second-Person Empath, it does not work for the ones who have long since retired. Moreover, she will not be affected by what she perceives at all.
Perfect for a teacher.
She looks at Micah. "You may leave. Take attendance for all the students and clean the centres. I want it done before noon." She curtly orders. It is only when Micah leaves that she stands up and speaks, "Today, younglings, we will be discussing a very different topic compared to what we generally do. Does everyone here recall how and why we arrived at this planet we now call home?"
After a collective nod of everyone in the classroom, she continued, "Can anyone tell me then, what special object from Earth was placed in each spaceship had along with the five people in it?"
I pressed the red button just as everyone else did. Soumya looked at her PDD and called out, "(Y/N)?"
Immediately I stand up and respond, "The Correction was a 'book' from Earth sent by each 'country' on every spaceship sent to space. It listed all of humanity's greatest errors and was meant for us, the future generations. While the original copy no longer exists, a version of it has been uploaded to every assistant bot as well as our PDD's."
Soumya nods her head, though her expression remains passive. "Correct, (Y/N). As a reward, you will be granted fifteen personal points to your PDD."
I nod and sit. Our PDD's were our very own Personal Documentation Devices, something we were taught to use the moment we learnt to walk and talk. Personal Points are our currency outside learning parameters, which we could use to buy upgraded clothing or food.
Soumya continues her lecture, "The Correction taught our ancestors crucial things for survival. Lessons for future generations so that this planet will never end up like Earth did. Now I will explain to all of you what changes have since been observed on Columbis."
Soumya proceeded to mention a lot of things. For one, our ancestors recognized that one of the reasons for differentiation in humanity was the method of upbringing. Some 'parents' were strict while some couldn't care less about their younglings. So, our predecessors devised a plan.
Unlike Earth, Columbis has two-thirds of the planet designated to land. Most seawater is potable and requires little to no filtration. The land is divided based an age groups. 20% of the land is designated for the upbringing of younglings until they reach 10 Columbis years, which is calculated to be 16.5 years on Earth. 70% was given to the able and working population while 10% was given to the old and retired.
Younglings, like me, are placed in separate facillities corresponding to our learning level. We know neither mother nor father; only teachers, trainers and doctors.
In fact, rapid technology advancements during our ancestors' ride here allowed women and men to work on par. At birth, the uterus is removed from female younglings and placed in lab centres where further offspring are created. This was devised centuries ago, and since then all offspring are procreated this way.
Our ancestors also figured that greed had an important role to play in both love and war. While it sustained humanity for a long time, it was also the cause of most crime.
Over the years our ancestors rebuilt here, they spent a lot of time pondering over how to influence the instinctual greed all humans inevitably have, irrespective of their upbringing.
Finally they came up with a solution; all clothing would be unisex and every colour represented a particular department; you could wear blue and be a scientist, white and be a doctor, yellow and be an engineer or black and be a soldier in the army. Younglings are made to wear green as they haven't been sorted into a specific department yet. Robots were designed to take over jobs for cleaning, stitching, mending and cooking. Living quarters are provided to everyone and so is water and nutrition pills, once again collected and created by the robots.
Only food was an indulgence, for one could use PP's (Personal Points) and get a robot or two to fetch fresh fruit instead of the bland pills we take for nutrition.
Our ancestors made one more crucial change: they made sure the future generations sent out exploration ships out to space in hopes of finding more life forms and contacting Earth. We did end up finding one more species apart from us in the K2B2 system, and have learnt to speak their language.
We call them the 'Lollets', for their language 'Lalitan' is quite the tongue twister. They have learnt to speak our sole tongue, English, as well, and we live in harmony, looking for more allies and comrades through space.
Our precursors also made sure no government or power alone would control society. With enough planning as well as ample teaching and control over the future generations, they were able to ensure crime rates never rose. Even a lost PDD is returned to its user, though their PP's were reduced significantly for irresponsibility. The people rule themselves in sovereignty.
Titles such as 'miss' or 'mister' are never taught to us because they differentiated the people based on gender. Thus, everyone is called by their first name, which is chosen by the system.
Soumya concludes her lesson on this note. We stand up to go to training, when suddenly, all our PDD's begin to buzz.
We all collectively click on the 'play' button that has shown up on our screen.
Immediately, we see the Head of our facility, Uma, on our screens. Her voice rings loud and clear.
"Year 9 Younglings of the Columbis academic year 2520-2521, assemble in the sorting hall immediately."
All of us freeze. The year isn't over yet. Our being sorted into departments isn't supposed to happen until we reach Year 10, unless it's a grave emergency. This has never happened before.
We all line up and walk into the massive room on the opposite side of our classroom. It's huge with marble flooring and walls lined with windows and curtains. At the far end of the room is a stage slightly elevated. I see Uma on the stage, a look of urgency on her face.
We all quickly sit on the floor as she begins to speak, her genetic modification, Amplification, loudens her voice just enough for everyone in the room to hear.
"Our spaceships have caught a signal from Earth. The population of humans on Earth survived."