Chapter Two

"Master Letara?" Ahh. Another successful day. "Master Letara? Are you awake?"
"Yes Corvental, I'm awake thank you." Hmm. Note to self: switch from Assistant to automatic alarm. Waking up to a dulcet chime is much better than Corvental's squeaky little voice. Note to self: wake to chime or music rather than Corvental.
"Ah... um, may I come in? I mean if you're ready for your schedule." Why is he my Assistant Master? He is so annoying.
"Yes. You may come in." I slid out of bed and put on a soft light green robe. The large golden double-doors slowly wooshed open. The short, hunched over man in a silver cape and dark green boots that I know and "love" scuttled in with a file screen in his arms.
"Today after you are ready for the day, you are first scheduled to observe the Workers to make sure that they're up to snuff. Then you are having lunch with the Worker Leaders. There is a rumor that the workers are slacking off. We of coarse know that this is impossible, but it will show the Leaders that everything is in order. And if all goes well. which I'm sure it will, than you have the rest of the day to do what ever you like," he said quickly. His eyebrows joined together to form a point on his forehead.
"Thank you very much Corvental. May your day be productive." He bowed and stumbled his way backwards out the doors.
"W.A.L.L.S., Bach, randomize, forty decibels, shower, soft, ninety degrees Fahrenheit. For breakfast, green pepper omelet, black coffee, two buttered pieces of toast on white bread." There was a bleep of confirmation. W.A.L.L.S. was my room; W.A.L.L.S. stood for Watching Artificial Learning Life Simulation. It give me whatever I need. A soft melody oozed out of the walls and the sweet smelling aromas from the welcoming shower wafted into my nostrils sending them tingling. Those poor Workers. They shall never know sweet luxuries such as this. Maybe that would help motivate them... Maybe I could get a little Worker instead of Corvental. Yes. I think that that might just work.
As i began to undress and get in the welcoming shower, I began to think of how I could present this idea for the Workers to give them something to look forward to so that they would work harder. The steam began to rise from my skin just like my few worries.

Chapter One

"Carmella, get up!" I didn't want to open my eyes. I was so tired.
"Carmella, get your butt out of bed! We need to go!" I had another nightmare. A Serpent was attacking me and was jabbing me with long skinny needles. He tore at my pale skin and pulled out my dusty brown hair.
"Carmella, you'll be punished if you don't get up right now!" Anton was punching me now. He always kept me in line. He'd always been my best friend. Almost thirty-seven years ago when we were created, we worked together. We were just normal Workers, trying to survive the day. Our lives would last forever. Every new body was about the same. Sometimes my eyes were lighter or my hair would be darker, and even Anton's teeth were either straighter or more crooked than when he was first created.
An ear splitting whistle screamed. All twenty-six Workers lined up as a Serpent strode into our quarters. He was a small man with a profound chin and a flat nose. Even though he had the body of a twenty-eight-year-old, he had to look up at us Workers, even though we had bodies that of a seventeen-year-old.
He wore the standard uniform: a forest green jacket with a black pants. His rank of Warden gave him a dark, dull orange cape that fluttered tauntingly whenever he walked.
"Good morning Workers," Serpent Calfon said emotionless. He began to stride past us while glancing at our twenty-four hour uniforms of gray. He said nothing, which meant that they were adequate.
"Your station today," he began as soon as he reached the end of the sleepy line of workers, "will be in the Oxygen Room. Your instructor shall remind you all the processes of which you will provide oxygen to the world. So you should feel proud of yourselves." Sometimes I wondered if Serpents could feel any emotion at all, let alone have a soul. They reminded me of space: empty.
After role call, Serpent Calfon escorted us to the Oxygen Room.
"Good morning Workers," the Serpent said in automatically in a bored tone, as did all he Serpents. "I am Scientist Sarvon. Today, you will be producing oxygen." She brushed away a thick lock of blond hair from her face as she tried to hide herself rolling her eyes.
"No, really? I thought that we were making cakes." I thought. We weren't stupid. She continued.
"Half of you will type these codes," she began to hand out sheets of paper to every other person, "and half of you will throw switches and levers in sequence to these codes." Anton and I automatically went to work together at a near by computer screen and waited for the others to do the same.
"You may begin now." A massive wave of clicking and typing filled the room. Every now and then, there would be a 'beep' or 'boop' from the switches and buttons. Everyday for six hour shifts, we were to work. But once every two hours we'd get energy pills that provided us with vitamins and minerals and all that stuff that we needed to carry on. We never got real food. We never felt hungry, but we never felt full either.
The Serpents get to eat food. Serpents got to do whatever they wanted.
As we worked, Anton and I began to whisper about Worker gossip, about how much we hated the Serpents, and which one was the worst, things like that.
"Psst. Carmella," Anton looked puzzled at me.
"What?"
"The Head Leader is here, Master Letara." His eyebrows almost touched above his nose. Usually, when unnecessary Leaders supervises Workers, especially the Head Leader, it means that either a Worker is exceptional, or needs Altering.
Altering only happens if a Worker isn't functioning properly, or is behaving badly. Although Altering happens very rarely, a girl a few months ago was she told a Serpent that it was hard for her to hear, and when she could hear, there were unbodied voices talking to her. She was taken in to see Doctor Serpents, and her hearing was improved and the voices disappeared.
"So? What about her?" I wondered why Anton cared why the Head Serpent was here.
"So? There's a rumor going around that she's going around looking for a good Worker!"
"Why?"
"I don't know, but who cares? She's the Head Leader!"
"Why are you calling her a Leader? You know she's a Serpent."
"Well, she is standing right behind you, for one," an acid sweet voice cooed. Oh crap. I turned around. A woman wearing a tight brown bun in her hair and bright red lips stared back at me. Her face was soft, and made her look innocent from everything bad in the world. But her sickly yellow eyes glowed evilly into my dull gray ones.
"Ah, um... M-Master Letara! Uh, you look nice," I mentally slapped my forehead. How stupid was that?
"Why thank you. We Serpents try to look our best for you Workers." She put extra emphasis on Serpents. She stared at me for another few seconds while I tried to think of something to say to her. But before I could speak again, she had turned to walk away to talk with Serpent Servon.
"You're screwed," Anton whispered. Way to go. I could feel my face fill with blood and turn red. Man! I can't believe that the Head Serpent had snuck up behind me just as I called her a Serpent. I wanted to crawl away into a little hole and stay there.
"Anton, why didn't you tell me that Ser- Master Letara was right behind us?" I hissed at him.
"Well, I did tell you that she was in the room." Yeah. That makes it all better.
"Bite me."
For the next three hours or so, I worked in churlish silence. Every now and then I'd look over my shoulder to see if any more Serpents were looking at me, or glare at Anton. He was so dead. But finally, the whistle blew.
"Alright Workers. You can go back to your quarters for thirty minutes," Serpent Sarvon called. A long slow sigh of relief flowed from the mouths of the Workers. My hands were shaking from all of the keys I pressed.
As w headed for the door, I tried to keep my head down and tried to leave as discretely as humanly possible. But of course, a white cape brushed against my face.
"worker Carmella," Serpent Savron said. "Warden Calfon wishes to see you." I glared at Anton.
"I'll see you later... hopefully," I hissed as I past him. His face flushed and he lowered his eyes. Serpent Calfon walked up to me in the hallway. His face was dimly lit from the low lights in the metal walls. The room seemed like a skeleton to her. Beams were supporting the ceiling because they were underground.
"Worker Carmella." Here we go. "Because you have insulted Master Letara, she will be the one to decide your punishment."
Double crap. Not only will I be punished, but bu the Head Serpent! I heard that she gives out long and grueling punishments.
"You are to report to her immediately. Do you know where her office is?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Oh of course. Everyone must know where the Head Leader is." Sweat was running down my back sending goosebumps pulsing up and down my arms and legs. I turned away, gulped and headed towards the cave of the Head Serpent.

Prolouge

We are falling. The morals of man are fading. What happened to humanity? What will happen in the future? We were told that a wonderful, peaceful utopia will arise. We believed them. But that's not how it is.
Life barely exists. Chaos is peace. The earth is barren and flooded, the air is thick and dark. Urban environments are all that exist. No plants to give off oxygen. No way to breathe; until a machine was created to filter and generate oxygen. All forms of diseases and most harmful bacteria had been removed and terminated. Even the people that carried the disease. But that didn't help us. We all die within seven months of our creation anyway.
We are made; not born. We were made to work. I was created three months ago for the sixty-third time. Immortality through cloning and mind transference used up so much energy that the world had almost lost all of its energy permanently. But the demanding for everlasting life was inevitable.
They thought they could solve it: the problem of free will. The Leaders. We Workers call them Serpents because they twist and manipulate people's minds and thoughts like a snake constricts a rat before swallowing it whole.
The Leaders claim to have eliminated disease, they eliminated global waring, over population, rape, and even murder. But all came at a price. They did not care. They did not realize the number of lives that would be lost.
The Surface Dwellers, as we call them, believe that nothing is wrong. They have been manipulated by the Leaders. They don't even know we exist.