Aerion
06-09-2004, 08:40
Bethron was a young boy, 13 years of age, living on the streets of Astevane, the capital city of the so-called "Grand" Kingdom of Aerion. Bethron was practically an orphan, his parents forced to work twelve hours a day, seven days a week as a practical wage slave to one of Aerion's massive corporations, owned by the Aerion elite. Bethron did not enjoy the luxury of the spoiled youth of high society, but rather grew up in the massive 100 story concrete, glass, and steel apartment blocks in the a district of Astevane. It was not the poorest of the poor, for the poorest of the poor were the homeless without homes, and those the infested "cardboard" towns where the homeless lived en masse.
He lived on what was known as the "Commoner" side of the river, and on the opposite side of the river was the magnificient luxury of the elite. Some nights he would sneak onto the banks of the river, and gaze across at the shimmering lights of the luxurious city on the other side. The Royal District, the Financial District, the Embassy District, and the Entertainment District were all the very wealthiest areas of the city.
At times he would see skylights dotting the clouds, indicating some amazing event going on. He would imagine dancing at a ball, or riding in convertibles down the Royal Avenue in the Royal District where it was the place to see, and be seen. But he would never know that, he would not know the wealthiest lifestyle. For he was born on the "commoner" side of the river, considered secretly as some said inferior by blood to those who lived on the "elite" side. They, the commoners as they were called, though by standards they were not quiet owned by any one yet as wage slaves it was almost as if they were indirectly owned, could not cross the river.
For so elite was this world, so isolated, that even to enter one must have been known. Officers in the Royal Army stood at the check points at the bridge to cross the river, ensuring none of the "rabble" would get across to the other side. So, as it went, no one truly knew their ultimate employers. The elite, and high society were just referred to as "they". "They" own us he would often hear, "they" control this nation, and "they" do not care. His father had tried to exceed in his work, but had received an injury. Though the poorly funded health care system attempted to fix his leg, they could not, and it grealty inhibited his work. This is when Bethron had to turn to something that he never wanted to, that other boys often had to, and that was sickening to his stomach. Bethron had to turn to male prostitution.
By night he would work the dilapeted avenues near the seedy underground clubs where the elite would sneak to indulge in their every fetish that was not even an acceptable decadence on the "elite" side, and as he had heard they indulged in about every decadence there was. Technically, by Royal Law, "activites" with a minor under 16 were illegal. However, practically, the policing forces, and surveillance were conspiciously absent from this area. Even though crimes of violence rarely happened in Aerion, as police patrol drone robots, and surviellance were everywhere these sorts of crimes against innocence as they might be called occured often. Often nights he would find himself in the back of a luxury vehicle or at some seedy hotel with some wealthy businessman or politican from the elite side, allowing himself to be prostituted.
Often, the only pay he would get from a single session of this was perhaps $40 on a good night for a full 8 hours. Sometimes he might get just $15 for a full 8 hours, and sometimes he might just get left without any pay because he could not really do anything about it. He would sometimes use this money to support his family in buying the food provided at the "supercenters", gigantic mega-stores with all stores rolled into one, owned by a single megacorporation. There were malls, but variety was the choice of the elite, not of the poor. They dealed with generic. Or perhaps he would go to buy drugs, his favorite past time, and the favorite past time of most who did not hold a permanent job. Those who held a permanent job that involved performance or efficiency were often drug tested, but he did not hold a permanent or even a legal job, so he could do what he wanted to. He was spending more money on drugs lately than he was on supporting his family.
Most recreational drugs were legal, in a certain amount, but there was little sympathy for those who created a "public disturbance" through their use. He just dealt with pot at first, but lately was sniffing up crack cocaine. One particular megacorporation, a large part of which he heard was owned by several highly placed Royal Government official, had virtual monopoly on all of the recreational drugs in the central provinces of Aerion. Officially, they were a pharmaceuticals company. Unofficially they supplied all the drugs, but most of the stockholders knew any way. The megacorporation had drug sales, and street marketing of it down to a tee. They had street pushers, and dealers who were making thousands a night. It was a viscous cycle. If a person did not pay up, by law they could be arrested, or the drug dealers would often carry on the illegal activities of being a pimp, by pimping boys out and getting them hooked on the hardest drugs. The same happened with girls, but in his particular area boys were more popularly used.
Why did all this happen? For the longest time he had been taught, in the earlier grades of school, that the Royal Family was the greatest family in Aerion, that the King was the Hope of Aerion, and that the King's word was law. He was taught this, and yet he heard a different story from his parents. The King was a corrupt demon, a man who allowed a vast body of filthy corruption to exist below him. A man who even promoted this filthy body. A man who claimed to be a Freemason, but at the same time all of his Freemasonic brothers were the worst hypocrites, breaking every one of their "moral" codes except the oaths that said they should benefit one another. Vast corruption existed, the rich did not care for anything and held the public as wage slaves. He had heard rumor on the streets of something called the "PLA" of Aerion, the People's Liberation Army of Aerion........yet...there were dead bodies found in the street, gruesomly mutilated, of supposed "members" of the PLA. OR they had been taken into official custody, if not unofficially gruesomly slaughtered by agents known on the streets as the "Royal Henchman", but supposedly were actually part of some secret agency of the Royal Government that was not officially known of.
One day, he had decided it was all too much to bear. Sitting in the filthy gutter, gazing across at the luminous lights of the wealthier districts across the river, a great raging fire burned within him. And so, he had decided.......he would try to join the People's Liberation Army, and become one of their street soldiers.
To be continued in Part 2....................
He lived on what was known as the "Commoner" side of the river, and on the opposite side of the river was the magnificient luxury of the elite. Some nights he would sneak onto the banks of the river, and gaze across at the shimmering lights of the luxurious city on the other side. The Royal District, the Financial District, the Embassy District, and the Entertainment District were all the very wealthiest areas of the city.
At times he would see skylights dotting the clouds, indicating some amazing event going on. He would imagine dancing at a ball, or riding in convertibles down the Royal Avenue in the Royal District where it was the place to see, and be seen. But he would never know that, he would not know the wealthiest lifestyle. For he was born on the "commoner" side of the river, considered secretly as some said inferior by blood to those who lived on the "elite" side. They, the commoners as they were called, though by standards they were not quiet owned by any one yet as wage slaves it was almost as if they were indirectly owned, could not cross the river.
For so elite was this world, so isolated, that even to enter one must have been known. Officers in the Royal Army stood at the check points at the bridge to cross the river, ensuring none of the "rabble" would get across to the other side. So, as it went, no one truly knew their ultimate employers. The elite, and high society were just referred to as "they". "They" own us he would often hear, "they" control this nation, and "they" do not care. His father had tried to exceed in his work, but had received an injury. Though the poorly funded health care system attempted to fix his leg, they could not, and it grealty inhibited his work. This is when Bethron had to turn to something that he never wanted to, that other boys often had to, and that was sickening to his stomach. Bethron had to turn to male prostitution.
By night he would work the dilapeted avenues near the seedy underground clubs where the elite would sneak to indulge in their every fetish that was not even an acceptable decadence on the "elite" side, and as he had heard they indulged in about every decadence there was. Technically, by Royal Law, "activites" with a minor under 16 were illegal. However, practically, the policing forces, and surveillance were conspiciously absent from this area. Even though crimes of violence rarely happened in Aerion, as police patrol drone robots, and surviellance were everywhere these sorts of crimes against innocence as they might be called occured often. Often nights he would find himself in the back of a luxury vehicle or at some seedy hotel with some wealthy businessman or politican from the elite side, allowing himself to be prostituted.
Often, the only pay he would get from a single session of this was perhaps $40 on a good night for a full 8 hours. Sometimes he might get just $15 for a full 8 hours, and sometimes he might just get left without any pay because he could not really do anything about it. He would sometimes use this money to support his family in buying the food provided at the "supercenters", gigantic mega-stores with all stores rolled into one, owned by a single megacorporation. There were malls, but variety was the choice of the elite, not of the poor. They dealed with generic. Or perhaps he would go to buy drugs, his favorite past time, and the favorite past time of most who did not hold a permanent job. Those who held a permanent job that involved performance or efficiency were often drug tested, but he did not hold a permanent or even a legal job, so he could do what he wanted to. He was spending more money on drugs lately than he was on supporting his family.
Most recreational drugs were legal, in a certain amount, but there was little sympathy for those who created a "public disturbance" through their use. He just dealt with pot at first, but lately was sniffing up crack cocaine. One particular megacorporation, a large part of which he heard was owned by several highly placed Royal Government official, had virtual monopoly on all of the recreational drugs in the central provinces of Aerion. Officially, they were a pharmaceuticals company. Unofficially they supplied all the drugs, but most of the stockholders knew any way. The megacorporation had drug sales, and street marketing of it down to a tee. They had street pushers, and dealers who were making thousands a night. It was a viscous cycle. If a person did not pay up, by law they could be arrested, or the drug dealers would often carry on the illegal activities of being a pimp, by pimping boys out and getting them hooked on the hardest drugs. The same happened with girls, but in his particular area boys were more popularly used.
Why did all this happen? For the longest time he had been taught, in the earlier grades of school, that the Royal Family was the greatest family in Aerion, that the King was the Hope of Aerion, and that the King's word was law. He was taught this, and yet he heard a different story from his parents. The King was a corrupt demon, a man who allowed a vast body of filthy corruption to exist below him. A man who even promoted this filthy body. A man who claimed to be a Freemason, but at the same time all of his Freemasonic brothers were the worst hypocrites, breaking every one of their "moral" codes except the oaths that said they should benefit one another. Vast corruption existed, the rich did not care for anything and held the public as wage slaves. He had heard rumor on the streets of something called the "PLA" of Aerion, the People's Liberation Army of Aerion........yet...there were dead bodies found in the street, gruesomly mutilated, of supposed "members" of the PLA. OR they had been taken into official custody, if not unofficially gruesomly slaughtered by agents known on the streets as the "Royal Henchman", but supposedly were actually part of some secret agency of the Royal Government that was not officially known of.
One day, he had decided it was all too much to bear. Sitting in the filthy gutter, gazing across at the luminous lights of the wealthier districts across the river, a great raging fire burned within him. And so, he had decided.......he would try to join the People's Liberation Army, and become one of their street soldiers.
To be continued in Part 2....................