Girls at April Town High School are leaning on the overpass railing, enjoying their Sticky eggs stuck on some watery bread. Their colorful dresses dyed with chemical dyes fly under the bright turquoise sky, unbroken by a single cloud.
The day of June is always sweet and bright, with Rosin-scent air freshener’s scent flowing in the slow air. It’s a charming summer in the year 2212, where little seems to change: the same solitary sky, the same deserted roads, the same orderly apartments, and the familiar sign reading, “The grass is sleeping—please don’t step!”
Yet, the oleanders lining the roads have vanished. As the environment deteriorates, plant life withers away, only weeds remain. Crops and vegetables are only growing in huge greenhouses. Every acre of soil carries the taint of mercury spilled from the nearby pharmaceutical factory. and the groundwater flowed beneath layers of nuclear ash—they are pure white, like snow on a camellia petal.
The tallest among the girls is Charlotte. Her features were so faintly defined, that it seemed like a hot towel could easily wipe them out. People say her personality is just like her face—extremely diluted and boring. She often laughs and claims it was her “superpower” to blend seamlessly into any crowd.
But her superpower seemed to vanish today. At 1:00 p.m., she had been called to go to the principal’s office. And now it’s the time.
She left her friends behind and stepped into the empty corridor. The dim lighting cast long shadows, and her footsteps echoed sharply in the silence. An invisible hand seemed to squeeze her heart as she walked, and breathing seemed harder than ever. Foreboding appeared in her mind.
But, as she entered, it’s an office full of flying confetti, cotton candies, and the smile or welcome of a crowd of teachers. The sunshine shines through the window, so bright, so lovely. All things and items rush to Charlotte like floods, she felt like her whole body is pouring out of her dress like a bottle of milk.
“Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations!” they cheered in unison. “You are a fertile woman!”
Charlotte’s blood froze.
The widespread consumption of tainted water and poisoned crops has led to a huge decline in fertility among the global population. For most, the damage was irreversible. Fertile individuals are very few; their existence is monitored and controlled. They were confined to special facilities and treated as vessels, forced to bear children to sustain humanity’s fragile survival.
Charlotte remembered the body check her class had undergone last week. She had laughed during the fertility test, joking that the odds of her being fertile were zero. Now, her laughter seemed like a cruel irony.
She feels a hand dive into her stomach, light up a match in the vast darkness, engraving the phrase “infinite merit” in her stomach wall.
“Congratulations,” the principal said, “You’ve been entrusted with a monumental responsibility—a chance to contribute to humanity’s future in the most profound way possible!”
The voices around her swelled, each adding to the growing weight of expectation.
“This is an extraordinary honor.”
“You’ll be part of a legacy that ensures our survival. Few are given this opportunity.”
“You are among the rarest and most precious of individuals,” another added. “Your ability is a gift—not just to you, but to all of us. This is the role of a lifetime.”
“Now, have some cotton candy or ice cream,” one teacher chimed in cheerfully. “You won’t get to eat these at the birth center. What flavor would you like?”
Charlotte forced a smile, but her mind was reeling.
That night, lying in bed in her cramped apartment, Charlotte stared at the ceiling.. Yesterday, she was a girl; today, she is a clean and neat container. Her eyes are black and bright, like two wells. Deep in her eyes, there are two tears perfectly lying at the bottom of the well.
Tomorrow, she would sign herself into the birth center. Desperate to escape her thoughts, she scrolled aimlessly through her phone. That’s when she found it.
A blog post. Its title was simple: “Paths to Freedom.”
The writer, hidden behind the pen name “Echo,” described the oppressive reality of the birth centre. But what truly caught her breath was the promise of escape: a detailed map to “Auroville” in India.
Preparation:
Secure supplies: food rations, water purification tablets, a medical kit, and portable energy packs.
Escape Route
The post included a link to a hand-drawn map, encrypted behind a code provided at the end of the article. It marked out the safest path from her region to the underground tunnels outside the facility’s perimeter.
- Checkpoint Ruby: B Situated near a factory. Each morning at 6 a.m., an old man with a huge beard delivers food waste to the treatment plant. Echo suggested bribing him to hide inside one of the swill containers.
- Checkpoint Henry: The second waypoint was a concealed drainage tunnel, hidden by overgrown foliage. The tunnel led to an abandoned transport line no longer monitored by drones. “It smells terrible,” Echo admitted, “but it’s the fastest way out.”
- Arden port: Several miles north of the port stood a small inn known as the “Green Inn.” Inside, an elderly couple could be trusted. “Tell them, ‘What a lovely Mayday,’” Echo wrote. “They’ll know you’re one of us. When enough escapees gather, they’ll take you across the sea in their fishing boat.”
The Destination
Echo described Auroville as a sanctuary, founded by Sri Aurobindo and Mirra Alfassa hundreds of years ago. It was not a paradise—There is resource shortages and constant vigilance. But there, people lived freely, outside the government’s grasp.
“If you reach Auroville, look for the rising sun on the main gate. Knock three times. They will know you’re one of us.” Said Echo, “The journey is perilous; being caught means death. But it’s the way to freedom. True freedom.”
The post is deleted by its author a minute later.
Charlotte could hear the calendar on the front door puffing in the wind, the mayfly landed quietly on the street lamp, and the sound of her neighbor’s daughter crunching on a bergamot pear in the dim light of their refrigerator. Sound after sound, she felt the entire world was beating in unison with her heart.
She scrambled through her apartment, grabbing supplies and shoving them into her bag. She could hear her heavy breath as she checked the clock one last time. The hour had come.
And that starts the journey to Auroville.
