Anna’s Locket

Clang! Clang! Clang! Anna felt the bed shake before she registered the Headmaster’s cane pounding on the metal frame. 

“Get up! You have school!” The young Headmaster said. Most people seemed young, Anna reflected. The elderly were the first to die during the SARS-21 plague. 

The headmaster hobbled from the room, leaning on his cane for support. Though the headmaster never spoke of it, everyone understood it was a souvenir from the war following the plague. SARS-21 was a biological weapon that killed four billion people, and war erupted around it. Before it was over, another 5 billion people had died. The survivors had many war scars, both seen and unseen. Most had never received proper medical attention.

Anna lifted her wrist, and the outline of a small keyboard raised like red welts on her skin. She touched the clock icon, and the keyboard welts faded. A digital clock sprang on to her retinas, showing 0700.

Anna crammed her tablet display in her backpack and ran for the front door. As she approached, it opened, recognizing the nanites in her blood. Each person had special encoding, allowing passage only through authorized doors.

The crowded sidewalk couldn’t hid the evidence of war. Centralized Administration had repaired many buildings, and only occasional patched potholes and bullet holes marred the otherwise pleasant street. Centralized Administration still conducted repairs around the city. However, things seemed well-kept in this part of town.

Holographic signs decorated the street. Each sign held some state-sponsored slogan espousing the benefits of living for others, giving of yourself, and obeying the rules. Loudspeakers broadcast messages meant to inspire the citizens. Anna paid no attention.

Anna noticed a thin, scraggly man stop and stare at her. His eyes seemed focused on her chest, and she flushed; Anna had not yet reached full adulthood. Anna looked down at herself and realized he wasn’t looking at her chest, but at a heart-shaped locket she wore! It had somehow slipped from under her shirt, and it now rested on her chest. She tucked it back in, then hurried away.

Anna glanced over her shoulder, and the shaggy man followed her. She picked up her pace, pushing her way through the crowd. She ducked into a passing alley and broke into a dead run. 

Anna looked back. Her stalker had disappeared! Anna sighed with relief, turning back around. The man stood before her! She screamed.

The man grabbed her arm, reaching for the delicate gold chain around her neck. With a jerk, he pulled the chain free, glaring at her. “Where did you steal this!”

“I—I didn’t steal it!”

The man turned, pressing a hidden button on the locket, and it sprang open. He turned his furious gaze to Anna. “Where did you get this?”

Someone blew a whistle, and the man whipped around. Anna snatched the locket and barreled toward the alley opening. The mugger glanced at her, then tore off in the opposite direction. 

A black-clad Law Enforcement Agent rushed by her, following the mugger. Another LEA stopped beside her, huffing. He rested his hands on his knees. “Are you okay?”

Anna nodded, unsure how to respond. The LEA stared at her. “Contact me when you get to a safe area.” He turned on his heel, following her attacker. Anna knew he had beamed his contact information to her, and she should have seen the info impressed on her retina, but nothing appeared. She shook her head in wonder, walking the last block to the school.

Anna hurried to the entrance and almost collided with the closed door. Confused, she tried to pull the door open, but it wouldn’t budge.

Anna sensed someone shuffle behind her. “How can they expect a child to do a man’s job?”

Anna whipped around, a quick retort on her lips. A tall young man stood behind her, a quirky grin on his lips. “Nathan, if they needed a man, why did they send you?” She raised an eyebrow, and Nathan’s grin grew into a full-fledge smile.

He sidled around her, and the door slid open at his approach. Anna followed him in. “Having a bad day?” Nathan asked.

“Every day is bad with you, Nathan.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Nathan padded down the hallway, ignoring her.

Anna hurried down several corridors, reaching her anatomy class. The door wouldn’t open. Anna pulled on it, making it bang against the doorframe. M. Biles, the ancient anatomy instructor, stopped mid-sentence and came to the door. It opened before he reached it.

He narrowed his eyes with disapproval. “You are tardy, M. Laine. Why won’t the door open for you?”

Anna shook her head. “I—I don’t know! Nothing has worked for me today! Doors won’t open, my tablet won’t work, nothing! Ever since I got mugged.”

M. Biles pursed his lips. “I received notification an incident occurred outside the school. Normal behavioral protocols should not allow any violence to occur.” He nodded to himself. “You should go to the office and lodge a complaint.” He nodded again, dismissing her.

Anna approached the office, fear growing with each step. She took a deep breath, steeling herself, then entered the office. A small kiosk stood on one side of the room, and a sigh above it read, ‘Please register. M. Graves will see you shortly.’ She crossed to the kiosk, but the screen blanked when she drew close. In a panic, she stood frozen in front of it.

Anna heard racing footsteps pounding down the hallway. They stopped at the door, which refused to open. Someone began kicking the door, and Anna sank to her knees, covering her head and sobbing.

“I did nothing! I did nothing!”

Several more savage kicks and the doorframe broke, sending the door clattering to the ground. Two LEAs raced in, taking in Anna’s cowering form. One LEA grabbed a stun wand from his utility belt and approached Anna.

She cringed, and the LEA dropped forward, cracking her across her scalp. Panicked, she scrambled to her feet and dodged the LEA, running thought he door.

Anna charged down the hall, dodging students and passing into the commons through an open door. She bolted from the school grounds, her hands shaking, and touched her bruised face. God, I must look a mess!

The sky clouded over, and Anna wandered the streets all afternoon until darkness came. It begain raining. Anna turned down a side street and found a narrow alley between two buildings. The buildings did a passable job sheltering her from the rain, but water continued dripping from her soaked clothing. She shivered.

Anna heard something, and she crouched down, wrapping her arms around herself. She hoped the dark alley would keep her hidden. Footsteps came closer, then stopped just out of sight. “If you surrender now, I promise you will have a speedy sentencing.” Anna’s heart sank.

The LEA stepped in front of her, but Anna scrambled up, dodged him, and sprinted into the alley. Each step, the LEA got closer and Anna screamed. The LEA grabbed her shoulder, and she fell hard. Her breath slammed out, and she gasped. The LEA straddled her, one arm pinned by his knee. “The law binds you! We will use anything you say at your sentencing!” He pinned her other arm, and she bucked. Nothing would dislodge this man!

The LEA’s head rocked forward with a loud thunk, and his eyes rolled up. He fell on top of her, and Anna couldn’t move at all! Someone lifted the LEA off her, then threw him aside. The mugger stood over her, glaring.

“Do you still have it?” 

Anna’s hand grabbed for the locket. He reached down, pulling the locket from around her. He rose, heading for the end of the alley.

“Please don’t take my mother’s locket! It’s all I have left of her!”

The man stopped, his back strait. “This belonged to your mother?” He turned towards her, an unreadable expression flashing across his eyes.

Anna nodded, not sure what to do.

“Was your mother Ronnie Laine?”

Anna nodded again.

He kneeled in front of her, grabbing her arms. He stared into her face. “Are you Anna?”

Anna, uncomfortable with the intimate gesture, tried to back away. “Let me go! You’re scaring me!” He let her go, then sat on the ground wearing a stunned expression.

“You must be about thirteen now.”

Anna nodded, not sure what to make of his sudden change of heart.

Understanding and compassion crossed his face. “Anna, I am your father.”

She stepped back, and her eyes opened wide in disbelief. “No, you’re not.”

“The locket has a picture of me in it.”

He opened it, placing it in her hand and pushing it towards her. “See for yourself.”

Anna stared at the locket for a moment, then turned it toward the light. A young man stared out, a half smile on his face. It could have been anyone. Her mother had never shared that the picture in the locket was her father. Still, there was something about the eyes.

“If you are my father, then I hate you!”

He pulled back as if struck.

“You abandoned us! You let mother die of the plague!”

“I didn’t abandon you. I loved you and your mother! But I had to leave. I’m a hunted man.”

“You didn’t have to abandon us!”

“It was safer for you if I wasn’t around. I saw your mother whenever I could, but it wasn’t often enough. The last time I saw her, she died of the plague and they had already placed you in state care. You were in a different town! I didn’t know where to look!”

Anna mulled over his words, not believing them. “What did you do this morning?”

“I activated your locket. It disables the nanite neural inhibitors. You aren’t under state control anymore. Your mother and I designed them.”

“How can I trust anything you say? You abandoned me to an orphanage.”

“You can believe whatever you want to believe. I have no control over your mind. Soon, the nanites in your blood will die, and you won’t even need the locket anymore. You will be free, like me. You must decide who to trust!”

“So, just wearing this locket caused all my troubles today?”

Anna’s father nodded, a grin spreading across his face. “Come with me. I can free you! We will live with other free people!”

Anna remained motionless, gazing at her father’s face. “Is all this true?”

Her father nodded again.

Anna glanced several times between her father and the locket, indecisive. She looked into his eyes, her expression growing icy. Anna met her father’s eyes and let the locket slip from her fingers. “I don’t want this.”

Her father’s eyes grew wide, then rolled into the back of his head. He stiffened, convulsing, then fell to the ground at her feet, unmoving. Anna smelled burned skin and ozone. The LEA stood over her father with a stun wand, rubbing the back of his head.

Anna nodded to the LEA. “You heard all that, right?” The LEA nodded, grinning. “Yes. I recorded everything. You may return to your orphanage, M. Laine. An LEA will debrief you in the morning.”

Anna nodded, feeling calmness spreading across her body. The neural inhibitors already reasserting control. If giving up her mother’s locket was the price of safety, it was a price she would pay. Anna marched from the alley with her head held high, knowing in her heart she had done the right thing. All she wanted was a hot shower and a warm meal. Tomorrow would be a better day.

The End