The Ungoverned

Chapter 1

THE JOURNEY

“My name is Leilani and I may have been the last of human kind.”

The beginning of this journey took place in a car. Confined in a, beat up, 1997 Honda Accord, my companion and I sped through the mountains that led up to Lake Vanie. I looked over at him and he blinked those big, red eyes of his and smiled. He was a robot. Standing at about 5’6” and pure metal, Bot was the most faithful companion I ever encountered. It was the year 2059 and our world was a hybridization between “The Stepford Wives” and “I Am Legend.” My name is Leilani and I may have been the last of human kind.

Before the world seemed abandoned, I lived on a cul-de-sac on Madison Street. Well, everyone did. Everyone lived in the same, two-story home, with the same cut lawn, with the same Morano parked in their respective driveways, and a two-child allotment because, in our world, everything and everyone was equal. Social issues, such as race and gender inequality, seemed mundane to the new, Social Order we were assigned. All workers were paid the same amount, all students received the same education, and every family received a robot as a part of the Conglomerate’s new, “Equity Initiative.” Everything seemed fair; everything seemed normal...and we were The Ungoverned.

Gazing into the snow-filled mountains, I hope to, one day, run into a sign of how everything changed. How our world went from billions of people to just myself - and Bot, of course.

“Leilani, we’ve been driving for exactly, 5 hours 36 minutes and 12 seconds, should you not take a break?” Bot questioned.

“Maybe we should.”

I pulled the car over and turned off the ignition.

I suppose, before we move ahead with our journey, I must tell you how we got started - How life was before seclusion, and how we ended up in ‘97 Accord.

Bot was always my conscious. I remember when my family first received him. The Ungoverned dropped robots off in front of everyone’s door. They made an announcement stating how they were revolutionizing the way used machines. Every family was given a robot to ease the workload around the house. But that’s because The Ungoverned wanted everyone to have enough energy to run the Conglomerate.

The Conglomerate was the biggest industry in the city. It was where everyone from the highest government officials worked, to where the “blue collars” worked. Being that the officials of The Ungoverned rolled out this new, world order, they were paid the same amount as each person in that building - no matter their role, no matter their title, or lack thereof... Well, so they say.

My parents also worked for the Conglomerate. Their roles as Machinists, to The Ungoverned, meant they created every metal object our society used. Not only did they work at the Conglomerate but they built a secret lab in the basement of our home to perfect their creations. If The Ungoverned knew about this, we would’ve been sent to The Haven, or even worse, executed for being militant. Any major remodels to one home meant all homes needed to be remodeled, as well. My parents made my brother and I extremely aware of the costs of soiling our secret. We knew just how important my parents were to The Ungoverned but we also knew that no one was irreplaceable. There were things my brother and I were too young to understand but as I grew older, life made much more sense.

My brother, Luke, was quite the machinist, himself. Whenever a toy of ours would break, he was the first one to fix it. He could make a tool out of any household object and said he would be the best inventor The Ungoverned had ever seen. Of course, no one would give him that title (because titles were obsolete in our society) but he still strived for excellence.

Luke was a twin but due to the two-child allotment rule, Mother had to decide which baby to keep and which baby to terminate. Once a woman gives birth to their second child, they’re given an infertility drug so our population can adhere to the two-child maximum, rule. Mother was so devastated by the inarguable choice, she didn’t speak for almost a year, after that. I was only six at the time but mother’s silence answered a lot of questions for me.

Mother and Father spent most of their time in their secret lair. Being that they created each robot, they knew the ins and outs of its properties - but with The Ungoverned’s final manipulations, my parents knew these robots had a specific mission.

“I can’t sleep until we find out what they’re doing.” Father always whispered to Mother. They’d leave their bedroom door cracked and I would get bits and pieces of who The Ungoverned actually were. Ungoverned citizens weren’t allowed to work for the Conglomerate until they were seventeen and we definitely weren’t allowed to ask questions. So the majority of my answers came from puzzling riddles I had to decipher from my parents.

“What good is a man whose eyes aren’t fit to see war?” Replied Mother. “We will work on Bot and he will be the answer to all of our questions.”

Mother kissed father on his forehand and Bot entered my vicinity. “I know, Bot. I shouldn’t be snooping.”

“Indeed, Lani. Shall we go downstairs for a bit of television before bed?”

I turned on the television and The Ungoverned’s Creed scrolls through the screen before we can watch any channel.

“The Ungoverned was established to create of society of equity and equality. Each family, no matter color nor creed, would be provided the same allotment to abolish the system of hierarchy and prejudice. All customs will be fair and just and anyone opposing The Ungoverned Law shall heed the consequences fit of the crime.”

Blah, blah, blah, I thought. The Ungoverned Creed was our Pledge of Allegiance. It was on every billboard, every commercial, every radio station, and announced every time you restarted your Robot. After twelve years, you’d think I’d be used to it but something about our creed bothered me. However, any visible disagreement, to our Creed, would subject me to The Haven.

It has been rumored The Haven was worse than jail. You entered and never exited. You physically worked but became mentally broken. It was even said that some of our Bots were once human - Mother and Father denied this - but they don’t truly know what happened in The Haven...I had so many questions - there were so many missing pieces but I didn’t even know what puzzle to look for...Luke may have been “The Chosen One” but I always felt special.

Bot opened up the hood of the car and recharged himself from the engine. I headed to the tail end and grabbed a gym bag from the trunk. I pulled out a water bottle and jugged it as if it were my last ration. I looked down and saw some of the memorabilia I threw in my bag, and smiled. A photo of Mother and Father, the very first toy Luke had every fixed, and a small mirror with my name engraved at the top. I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t even recognize the twenty-two year old Leilani I had grown to be.

I dropped the mirror out of frustration and it rolls to the very back of the trunk. I extended to reach for it and I accidentally pulled out a black Moleskin along with my mirror. It seemed fresh, as if it hadn’t been alone for the past six years, and it was newly placed in this vehicle. I flipped through the pages and all were empty except for one page in the middle. It read,

If you’re reading this, Leilani, then all mankind has ceased to exist and the twenty thousand dollars I left, below the fabric of this trunk, is useless.

With my Swiss, I ripped through the fabric of the trunk with all of my strength. I created a hole big enough where I could pull back the fabric, left and right - and there it was - a bag filled with perfectly wrapped, twenty dollar bills in one thousand dollar increments...

My name is Leilani but why was I chosen to be the last of humankind?