Gaia

"Introducing the 'Keep Gaia Clean' initiative! Remember to use your red bins for waste, blue for recycling, and green for toxic waste..."

Mari watched as the slender, beautiful red headed woman on the holographic screen that always rotated in the sky showed off the new initiative the government had come up with. That screen was constantly rotating, so it could be seen from any balcony or window despite what level you were on. If it wasn't showing off pop culture icons in advertisements, it was glorifying the weak government's shitty ideas. No matter the city was so corrupt. They were too busy coming up with things like that. It was way too late to save the earth from pollution, now. Not just that, but it was a joke to think that government had any power. It was all in the hands of the Lords.

They only had Gaia to live off of, which was no bigger than a hundred miles in diameter and was located around what used to be the country of Belarus. Most of the Earth had been destroyed by humans, other than the little bubble of Gaia they'd preserved, and when people found out that they could no longer expand horizontally, they decided to go vertical. Massive buildings were stacked on top of one another, so high that skyscrapers was no longer a modern term. Everyone wanted to be at the top of the "space climbers", now. The higher up you were, the closer to the gods you were. Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards for Mari. Even mid-level would have been a treat, but she was stuck at the very bottom. Ground Level. Where you could still smell the chemicals that destroyed the rest of the planet.

Mari stood with her neck craned to watch the screen as it floated by, tugging on her gloves as she watched the woman continue to talk about the initiative. Eventually, the screen disappeared behind K Tower, and Mari didn't feel like moving after it. The initiative was never going to work. She looked around to make sure no one was around before she headed towards L Tower, where she'd been waiting for someone with an access card to get to the elevator. The glass elevators shot up and down the towers like speeding bullets, but you needed an access card to get to certain levels and heights. Either that, or you had to know someone. Unfortunately for Mari, she had no card, no friends, and Andy had yet to figure out how to make a fake access card.

She slid into the elevator with the man who'd opened it, ignoring the odd look he gave her. She just gave him a sweet smile in return.

"Do you mind scanning in my level?" she asked. "I have a friend on Level Four of M Tower, and I was going to take the bridge from Level Five of L Tower. I left my card at home by accident."

The man seemed hesitant, but scanned in the level she'd asked for. She beamed, looking through the glass elevator at the screen again, which had reappeared with the same red headed woman gesturing to some old pictures of nature and plant life. Almost as if those trash separation bins would work magic and bring life back to earth.

"You know, they say that the ocean is the next frontier," Mari said. "We totally destroyed land, but the sea is so big and deep that even we can't get our filthy hands on it. You know there's still fish living in the ocean? Crazy fish. Like, super weird looking ones."

"You sure you should be going out at this hour?" The man asked, interrupting her. "Tiny thing like yourself? You can get hurt in the lower levels."

"Yeah," Mari said dully. "Thanks."

The glass doors slid open and Mari exited, hurrying towards the bridge that linked the towers together. The heels of her boots clicked against the metal bridge, and it was the only sound on that level other than the talking of the screen. Level Five was mostly residential, other than a few convenience stores here and there, but they were all closed. That's why it was the best time for Mari to go.

She stopped in front of the store she'd been visiting for years, peering inside to make sure no one was around before sliding a card into the access key slot. It took a moment, and Mari was looking awfully suspicious out there, but eventually the door beeped and clicked open. She eyed the card, slipping inside and shutting the door behind her.

"Dammit, Andy," she mumbled. "Another slow key."

She moved towards the register, sliding the same card into the computer now and booting it up. A few clicks here and there, and there was a sudden stillness in the store that signaled to Mari that the security system had been shut down. Well, at least Andy's new key wasn't a complete failure. She tucked the key back into the pocket of her jacket, holding a small flashlight between her teeth as she started plucking products off the shelf. Some shaving razors, a couple packs of instant noodles, and one of that good mascara that made her lashes look like she'd gotten one of those ridiculous extension treatments they advertised on the tv.

She was about to leave when she spotted the candy, biting her lip. She thought about it, then scanned the area for chocolate. Nope. No chocolate. Just that cheap lab-made stuff. She grabbed a pack of sour cherry chews anyways and stuffed it in the bag, carrying it over her shoulder as she went back to the computer to turn the security system back on and lock the store up again. Mari took only what she needed, so she wouldn't get caught. Every now and then, however, a treat didn't hurt.

She was quick to get out of there, avoiding security cameras as she made her way back to ground floor. Once her feet were back on the concrete, she knew she was safe. There was little to no security protecting the people who lived on ground level. For the most part, they were homeless. They'd camp together in clusters, and those with tents shared their "living space". Everyone would pay in their own way. In Mari's case, she brought over convenience store goodies.

She slipped back into her tent, where Andy had been impatiently waiting with Marcus and Nina, who they shared the tent with. Nina, who was just ten years old, was the first to excitedly grab and look through the bag. Marcus, her father, just seemed glad that Mari hadn't gotten caught.

"Your key is slow as hell," Mari told Andy, tossing him the card.

"Of course it is," Andy said, catching it and looking it over. "You asked for a master key so you don't have to carry more than one around. That's a lot of information on one little chip. It's going to take a while to process, especially the first time."

"Well make it better."

"Oh, sure," Andy said. "I'll just dig through my huge stash of hobo tech supplies to work on making my illegal master keys 'better' for you."

Mari gave him a look, but he gave her the same look right back. It was hard having a twin brother, at times. He knew her too well. She looked back at Nina as she squealed and pulled out the candy.

"You got candy!" she said, grinning.

"Yeah, it's all yours," Mari shrugged.

"Thanks, Mari," Marcus smiled. "You know this stuff isn't necessary."

"Whatever makes her childhood less weird," Mari said, grabbing a bag of chips and going back outside.

She munched on a chip as the screen came back around, now showing off one of the singers of the new era in an advertisement for cherry soda. Andy followed Mari out, also looking up at the advertisement of the singer, though he wore a goofy look on his face.

"Ella Stellar is pretty hot," he said. "Hey, you think that's a real snake on her shoulder?"

"Of course it's a bot," Mari said. "See how it's kinda twitchy when it moves? I've seen a video of a real snake. They move differently. There's like three real snakes left, and I think they're all being preserved in labs."

"Either way, I'd let her sit on my face," Andy smirked.

"You're disgusting," Mari told him. "Get your head out of the gutter."

"I live in the gutter. Ella can't hear me from way up there, anyways," he shrugged.

Mari craned her neck up at the towers. She couldn't even see the top of it from where she was. That's how far down they were.

"Did you know that the penthouse levels are so high up, your ears pop when the elevators shoot up there?" she told Andy. "And the air is thin, so they have oxygen control systems and temperature control that we've never seen before down here. And the sky is a different color."

"What color?"

"I dunno. I've never been up there."