Candice could not understand why there was so much cruelty in the world.
From a young age, she was inspired by The Watchers that came to her school to talk to her about their jobs, and how one day, she could be a Watcher too. She wasn’t too sure what made her love the Watchers so much, but she could remember her eyes drifting over their glossy cubicles, layered with glass and graphs, and screens. She couldn’t help but experience wonder and curiosity.
These people, were so prevalent in her life. Yet they remained in these cubicles, locked in the mind of their Offender.
All these memories danced behind her eyes, as Candice lifted a shaking finger to press the button for Level 6 in the elevator. Next to the perfectly printed number, a small engraving which stating the Offender level began to glow. Her excitement was embarrassingly visible, and she turned to hide her blush from the door man, which she then realised from his stoic position, was a Hologram.
‘You’re bloody ridiculous.’ She thought to herself. She couldn’t remember the last time she had hidden from a Hologram. Maybe when she was a child, but certainly not in her recent years. That was something she was above.
Candice was Evolved. She should know the difference between a Hologram and a Projection, between an Android and a Human.
Irritated by her actions, she began to chew her nails. A nervous habit she was ashamed of, and made to be ashamed of.
‘Natural’s chew their nails Candice, not Evolved. Candice you are not a Natural.’ Her mother’s voice echoed through her head, and she was temporarily blinded by the short memory and its vision.
Candice pulled her fingers into fists by her side. “Stupid chip.” Her fists twitched slightly, as she fought back from running a finger over the line in her wrist where the chip had been lodged into her bone at age five.
The Hologram offered her a mint, but Candice politely declined.
She was too distracted by the speed of the elevator, and the blurs and snippets of views of Watcher offices she was able to glimpse at.