The Princess and the Necklace

Five decades had passed since the outbreak that changed the entire world into a fear-driven society. Hopes and dreams no longer drove human ambition but a deep-seated defense mechanism wired for survival. Fight or flight was embedded into decision-making and therefore public policy underwent a drastic reformation to promote the elimination of threats. Personal liberties were replaced with utilitarianism and a global government that defined the “Greater Good”. Local representatives posed as civil servants but were ultimately emissaries to The Authority. Any resistance in any form was met with harsh consequences including public shaming. Whistleblowers were praised and rewarded for their loyalty. Every nation was now unified under a single administration that boasted perfect egalitarianism. Relocating would not change anything aside from the scenery and had to be granted beforehand. The Authority determined what was acceptable based on the principle of moral obligation to the planet and its inhabitants. Their power had gone unchecked for far too long and corruption inevitably ruled the land. After the deadly pandemic, people began to judge others harshly based on their compliance to guidelines recommended by the government. It fractionalized every culture by criticizing independent thinking thus promoting the notion there is only one acceptable belief system. Gradually, as the majority became indoctrinated to a single set of ideas, a totalitarian structure of government arose. Silencing was easily achieved as individuals daring to question this movement faced peer rejection and a threat to their livelihood. They were labeled as uneducated, heretic, conspiracy theorists. Opposition waned creating the perfect environment for absolute control. Free will and independence, the very core of what it means to be human, were given up voluntarily as the power of persuasion was attested once again.

Elizabeth always hated her name. All her friends had custom names that highlighted a characteristic or feature like Lovely or Stripe. She had inherited it from her great-great-grandmother just like the necklace she always wore. Unlike her name though, she loved that necklace. It was a rose gold heart-shaped pendant that fell right below her collarbone from a delicate cable chain. The soft champagne pink color was unique to modern precious metals. Valuable items such as pure gold were collected by The Authority during The Wealth Redistribution Act. Having a higher gold to copper and silver ratio made the alloy rarer and more fragile. Although the necklace withstood over a century of wear, its appearance remained polished and tarnish-free. The heart had small hinges on one side and fingernail thin indention on the other that indicated it must be some sort of locket. Elizabeth had tried to pry the front and back pieces apart when she first received the gift but it never opened. Intent on preserving the last tangible memory of her mother, she fastened the lobster claw clasp under her hair and left it there. She came from a line of British royalty that did not exist any longer. There were no borders to demarcate Great Britain. It was just another part of the entire landmass only known as the European continent. Monarchies were a term learned about in history classes along with the evils that their form of government entailed. For this reason, her family’s heritage was a source of generational shame that was best left unmentioned. The locket and her name were the only evidence left of her family’s lineage. Every remaining heirloom was confiscated by The Authority after the passing of her grandmother 1 day shy of her 105th birthday. She learned that her mother was wearing the locket and only the clothes on her back the night of the raid. The palace was set on fire and her mother barely escaped the angry mob that forced her into hiding for the next 2 years. Her family name had been tied to accusations of discrimination and oppression, which carried a hefty weight. To avoid scrutiny from local snitches, Elizabeth kept the necklace out of sight by hiding it under her shirt. However, its sentimental significance outweighed the risk in her eyes because it represented a connection to her mother, something she had never really had.

Living as an outcast took its toll on Elizabeth’s mother, Charlotte. Growing up she had been afforded every luxury imaginable. She had the finest clothes and toys that made her the envy of children around the world. However, that changed overnight as she was forced to abandon all the comforts she was accustomed to merely survive. It was as if allegiance toward the monarchy declined at the same rate as her grandmother’s health. Slow and steady until the night she took her last breath and then she and it was no more. Anyone left representing such an archaic system was faulted as being privileged at best and dangerous at worst. A family tree that once served as Charlotte’s greatest source of pride now-disgraced her. With the royal family subject to exile, no one was safe and this became the breeding ground for hysteria fostered by The Authority.

In the beginning, Charlotte’s siblings and a few of the top palace aids stuck together. They looked out for each other and relied on a few trusted contacts to find them a place to stay. Little by little they began to split up and part ways as some married and obtained documents confirming completely new identities. Charlotte did both. She was at the prime age to begin studying at a University under the name Tea. Ever since she was a little girl and heard about glaciers melting and temperatures rising on Earth, she wanted to be a NASA scientist. Despite her circumstances, she was determined to continue with that dream. The energy imbalance had become a global crisis and there was a race to achieve thermal equilibrium. During the course of her education, she met Elizabeth’s dad. They both had the same passion for astrophysics. Study dates turned into actual dates, which turned into love. At last, she could confide in someone and not feel like an outsider anymore. It was a relief but that feeling soon faded when Charlotte found out she was pregnant. Having a child under The Authority’s control and the unknown state of the environment was terrifying for her. She threw herself into her studies and graduated at the top of her class with a master’s degree in space science. When Elizabeth was 2 years old, her mother went on a routine mission to collect satellite sensor information but never returned. There was a terrible accident with the spacecraft and her whole team was lost. An investigation ensued but the cause of the crash was never identified. Elizabeth’s father suspected The Authority was somehow involved. Did they find out who she was? Was the crew getting too close to uncovering the cause of the net energy rise? However, all his efforts went into raising Elizabeth because he knew those theories would only make him a target. In the days leading up to her last mission, he noticed Charlotte becoming more and more hopeless. There were many details in her profession that could not be discussed for security reasons. He vowed to keep her legacy alive and well known for his daughter’s sake. When she turned 16, he gave her her mother’s necklace, the one he had kept safe all those years. He knew of its significance and ties to her maternal ancestry. Charlotte must have removed it right before boarding her last mission, he concluded. It was among other personal belongings found in her locker at NASA headquarters that were returned to him.

The climate crisis became more of a threat as reported by the media in recent days. Species were dying off, the ozone diminishing, and every natural disaster echoed this warning. Frightened individuals preparing for end of the world scenarios devoured the products big technology companies marketed their way. Energy thermometers tracking thermal atmosphere changes and were being broadcasted daily with the local weather. No one could escape the message that sustainability for life on Earth was expiring. Elizabeth and her dad never ignored the fatal warning but their distrust of The Authority made them skeptical. Her dad had witnessed them use fear-mongering before to assert control and domination over the masses. Somehow it seemed like an agenda was behind the whole cautionary message. If only they could access the computer used by Charlotte over the course of her career. NASA was front and center as a primary source of information being cited in news briefs predicting the state of emergency. A handful of scientists, close colleagues of Charlotte’s, disputed the claims as fact. They were quickly discredited and censored in the press. Elizabeth knew her mother’s extensive research was documented in that computer and therein would lay the truth. A small oblong sensor was the only thing stopping her from achieving this goal. She decided it must be an ocular scan passcode after trying unsuccessfully over and over to gain entry.

There were solutions posed to combat the net temperature rise. “Experts” weighed in citing greenhouse gasses as having a detrimental effect on the environment. Certain occupations and businesses were under fire as being chief contributors of these gasses. Bureaucrats stepped in forcing closures and eliminating competition for favored industries. The thermometer tracker would stall temporarily confirming the link between the commerce in question and its heat production. Soon enough another would come under fire for the same concern. Elizabeth’s father, a college physics professor, saw his curriculum changing over time to incorporate new theories, specifically ones pertaining to thermodynamics. He knew it was only a matter of time until he was pushed into retirement and a new teacher with a better understanding of these laws would replace him. The Scientific Method was not being utilized with the completion of new research anymore. Education reform was now considered a top priority of The Authority.

The laptop was opened and shut many times in frustration over the course of the day by Elizabeth. While watching the heat tracker surge that morning, something snapped in her this time. Her life was not her own. Living in a state of fear hindered the creativity and potential she once saw in her friends and father most importantly. There had to be more to life than merely surviving in a world where truth and propaganda were indistinguishable. She pounded a clenched fist down hard on the desk. All the anger that had been building up for years was released in that single punch. The force was mighty enough to jolt her whole body, and shake loose the pendant from its chain around her neck. Landing with a thud between her feet, She saw the space between the opposing hearts widen. Slowly, Elizabeth bent down to retrieve her most valued possession. The weight in her hand was familiar but the small crack that she felt when running her finger along the side was a new sensation. Her finger slipped in between the opening revealing it was indeed a locket. She stared at the shiny gold rim outlining an imprint of an upright lion and unicorn opposing each other with a shield in between. The background engraving was too small and detailed to decipher but she recognized the image as her family’s crest. She had seen it before on her grandmother’s tombstone once visited with her father. The sunlight pouring in from her bedroom window reflected off the inside etchings making it appear alive. Just as she went to reattach it to the chain, the sensor from her mother’s computer still on the desk across from her lit up. It was recognizing the symbol on the inside of the pendant and unlocking. The display steadily transformed into a picture of her mother in uniform holding Elizabeth’s hand. At last, she would be able to sort through an unbiased source of data and draw her own conclusions. It was the best and only legacy her mother could bequest her.