“This is a public service announcement; farming days are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Please check with your district number for your required day. This is a public service announcement-”

The announcement came from the many TV screens set around the city. On it, the AI that kept the peace. Or at least, obeyed Them. Ever since the infection, the world had fallen to shit. Humans survive only by farming to feed their families; the order to “donate” their blood to the survival of Them. If you were weak or sick, you mysteriously disappeared. If your blood was special, you disappeared. But, while They might have feigned ignorance, it wasn’t hard to tell what happened. After all, They ruled the world. 

The screech of the subway echoed up from the staircases that led underground and a rush of people ascended the stairs to join the throng of people already moving about their day. Despite the Apocalypse, the population of humans wasn’t decimated. Cities still remained full and busy. But every aspect of their lives were controlled by Them. Their jobs, who they married, how many children they were allowed and even worse, when they were chosen to die. Humans were all accounted for thanks to a microchip embedded into their bodies. It controlled their money, their ID and their access to certain places. It had become so commonplace that no one remembered how the world had once been. They lived longer than humans and They remembered the beginning of it all. People born in the last eighteen years had no recollection of how the world had once been. Humans were now nothing more than exciting pets for Them. 

August stepped up from the subway, adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and looked out from under his hood. He lived in the slums so coming to a bright, colorful city was always a startling reminder of Their rule over them. In the slums, it was easy to be forgotten. Thankfully, his microchip allowed him to work within the city limits and his blood rations every week allotted him enough money to get by. 

He was buffeted from behind and he turned to see another pushing past him from the subway. “Move it, Gutter Dog!” The man snarled.

Gutter Dog. Right. That was all he was. Born in the slums, that was all he was good for. Adjusting his backpack once more, he melded into the crowd heading for downtown. 

Cars were banned for humans. Only They had them. Humans were meant to walk. The subway was useful to bring in those from outside the city walls into the downtown for work. But it was controlled by the AI. No chance of taking it over.

Downtown was the epicenter of the city. Neon lights painted people in bright colors. Working droids called from open doorways and flashy store fonts. They looked so human but their near lifeless smiles and the barcode on the backs of their necks were a dead giveaway. The Infected controlled the birth rate, which meant prostitution among real humans was resigned to humanlike droids. As part of everyday life, the chips continuously released birth control. It was just one more way they controlled the humans; like nothing more than cattle.

Flashing screens set on tops of buildings or on store fronts made sure no one missed the faces of the Charlemagne family, the ruling family of the Infected who governed North America. Along with their faces, the AI, a silver face with utterly no character at all, recited the laws of the citizen and city as if they weren't already cemented into every human’s mind. 

The crowd before him began to part and he had only moments to get out of the way as a sleek black car pushed through. He frowned and glared at the blacked out windows. Fucking Infected. All high and mighty but they hide behind bullet-proof glass and blacked out windows. Once the car passed, the crowds swelled one more. He let the crowd take him further downtown. The closer he got to center city, the brighter it became. Skyscrapers had every surface covered in flashing screens with ads of products and services. They rose so high, the sky above them seemed to have a neon tint to it. Dumpsters piled high with stinking garbage littered the back streets and criss-crossing streets and walkways rose above his head. These crosswalks in the sky connected to higher streets and even higher shops on the towering skyscrapers. It was a city on top of a city on top of a city. No matter where one went, they lived in a prison of metal and concrete. 

He turned right into a dingy street that was less flashy than the rest. Squished between a clothing store and a restaurant, a small storefront sat quiet and unnoticed. It didn’t host any bright lights or flashing ad screens. In fact, it was probably the only drab thing in the city. It was here that he walked into. The door gave a gentle ding when he walked in but he wasn’t here for the merchandise. He walked through shelves of junk. Technology and other things that no longer worked or were outdated. A fine layer of dust over them spoke of the business that was run here. He was probably the only person to come and go from this place in a while. 

He reached the counter and held his wrist out to the only futuristic technology in the place. The scanner crossed over his wrist and beeped green. It was the only way they were allowed to go about their days; no matter what place you went into, one had to be scanned so the AI could track where you are at all times. Just another way the humans were controlled. The store was his designated workplace and having himself scanned in every day was what was expected. Once he was scanned, he passed the counter and pulled aside the curtain to the back room. Inside, there was a faint smell of jasmine and the gentle static sound led him to a work table where an older man was bent over and was using a soldering iron to work on whatever hunk of junk he had before him. August gave an amused smile before he moved over to him.