2 Need to get out

Sara's mother and father were both members of the Labor Force. The term Labor Force was just a nice way of saying slave labor. When someone hasn't reached a certain level of fame by the age of twenty, they were automatically forced to enter the labor force. Laborers were the majority of the population. They were the ones that worked the factories and kept society moving and working smoothly. They were also the bottom of the social hierarchy. They were the ones that were most likely to be thrown in prison, or to become addicted to drugs. The ones most likely to become alcoholics. Most likely to die without anyone noticing…

All Labor force was allowed a base amount of income, then any followers they had would be taken into account and more income would be added on top of that. The base amount of income was not enough to live on, so most labor workers would still try to get some fame numbers up in order to get a bit extra to survive on.

Sara's father was an F ranked celebrity. The ranking system was pretty difficult to understand and explain, but it basically boiled down to this: 0-99 followers was G ranked; 100-1,000 followers was F ranked; 1000-10000 followers were E ranked; 10,000-100,000 followers were D ranked. From there, the ranking system changed; recognizability and following, along with social influence and relevance all began to affect your rank. Of course, there were a lot of people that criticized the system saying that the categories of relevance and social influence could be considered as subjective. Even with the criticism, the ranking system hadn't changed in almost twenty years.

It'd been in place for almost thirty years currently. Really, the ranking system did more good than harm. Before, if you weren't famous by traditional sense, you would be ostracized by the traditional forms of media and fame. Meaning, those that were internet famous, or famous due to playing video games or whatever new form of media would still be considered lesser quality celebs. They would still be at risk of falling into the Labor Force. Almost thirty years ago, that's exactly what happened. The traditional forms of fame and media had tried to clip the wings of an internet sensation and that person had fallen into the Labor Force. The public backlash at seeing someone who wasn't one of the "elite celebrities" being bullied into slave labor was almost enough to overturn the entire system. Everyone suffered. The public was already angry due to being told they could move up into a higher position in society if they just gathered the fame to do so. They were tired of the snide remarks of the celebrities that they had hoisted up into the positions that they held. They were told one thing, then shown that the truth was very different.

Finally, after many riots and labor strikes, the government stepped in and came up with the ranking system. No longer would the celebrities that had gained fame at a young age and then never done another relevant work be able to enjoy that cushy lifestyle. These older celebrities were the first to fall in the ranks, while those that were famous due to the internet were pushed higher and were able to enjoy a higher status in society.

There was still some discrepancy in internet fame and traditional fame. For instance, the top ten celebrities were all from traditional fame garnering methods. Movies, television, and singing. But, if you were to look at the top 100 instead, you would find that almost half were internet famous. And these internet celebs seemed to grow in fame slowly every day. Their traditional fame counterparts would leap up in fame all at once, but would suffer from longer forms of stagnation. This was obvious, as their work could take weeks, if not months or years to complete one project. But, when that project was released, advertisement companies were used to ensure their work was viewed by many more people than those on the internet. Of course, that wasn't always true. Those that were internet famous and resided in the top 100 of the ranks also used advertisement companies, but many times their work only seemed to appeal to a certain demographic. For example, most internet celebs were younger and appealed to younger generations. Most older generations did have a high amount of internet awareness, but because they were members of the labor force, they didn't have as much opportunity to leisurely scroll through things online. Then, they had different interests to the younger generations. While a few might enjoy hearing about an internet celebrities day, most were more interested in things that they found interesting. For instance, it was shown that the majority of mothers liked watching funny animal and people videos as well as tutorials for various things. It was similar for the older male generation as well.

Of course, gaining fame wasn't the only way to live well in today's society. If one was evaluated to have high potential in the science and math industry, then one would be groomed to enter those fields. The evaluation was usually done through the elementary, middle and high school years and one was usually informed of the schools decision to further your education before the end of high school. Schooling was another thing that wasn't a choice. If one wanted to drop out, they would not be able to survive in the current modern society. This was because the government gave each citizen a monetary amount based on that person's fame. But, you needed to present a valid diploma to be eligible for the amount. If you were found to not have graduated, you would be denied your payment. If you are denied your payment, then you would basically be working in the labor force without getting paid anything at all. You would have sold yourself into slavery. Sure, you don't have to pay for your home, but what about food? What about your camera that you would need to use to get famous? Never mind the fact that the only way for you to receive the money that you were owed due to your fame you have to be able to receive it from the Government, which you would need a diploma for.

High school drop outs were nonexistent by this point. Unless someone wanted to live off of their parents their entire life while working for nothing…then they had to graduate.

Currently, Sara was in her last year of high school. She hadn't been recommended to continue her education, so the last two years were not mandatory. The next four years are the years that she would have to get famous. If she wasn't able to climb up to D rank in four years, then she would join and forever remain in the Labor Force. Sure, there were ways to break out of the Labor Force, but the likely hood of that happening was low. There were maybe a handful of people that were able to leave the Labor Force every year, that's in comparison to the hundreds of thousands that join it every year. Of that handful, most would rejoin the labor force within the year after leaving it.

Sara lay atop her bed staring at the ceiling while lost in thought. Her parents hadn't started her career online early like most did. She and her mother had been very sick after her mother had given birth to her and her parents hadn't thought to document it for online viewership. If they had, they probably would have been able to leave the Labor Force shortly after she had been born. The illness they had been sick with was something that only affected a few hundred people within a ten year span and most succumbed to the illness shortly after contracting it. The fact that they had both contracted it and survived was something that people would have loved to watch. She knew that her father had been beside himself with worry and taking his stress and worry to an audience hadn't even crossed his mind. But…she couldn't help but feel regretful at the missed opportunity. Things could have been different if they had tried to vlog the experience. She could have been able to build a following from her parents following and wouldn't have to resort to copying someone else's ideas for views. What else was she supposed to do? She didn't have any talents, at least none that she knew of. She didn't have a novel lifestyle. Those with parents in the Labor Force made up a majority of the population. She wasn't able to think up and implement comedy skits, every time that she tried she was always told that it wasn't that funny; apparently her sense of humor wasn't something that many people were able to understand. She couldn't write poetry, couldn't write stories. She wasn't picked to further her education….

At this point, Sara felt that her life would just end up like her parents.

Sara frowned as she climbed off her bed with a huff. She and her parents lived in a small two bedroom apartment. It was the standard for most three person families. All the housing was given by the Government, except those that had the money to actually buy their own. Most, like Sara's family, could not.

Sara walked down the hall toward the empty living room. Her parents worked from eight in the morning until eight at night. Every day. They only received two holidays off a year and they wouldn't be the same holidays every year. The holidays were alternated every year and they didn't get to pick. The Federal Humanitarian Offices passed the bill of having two holidays off and they were the ones that chose which holidays. They received three sick days every year and they could not add them to the next year if they didn't use them. Of course, all medical expenses were paid for by the government as well, so that was a plus. But then again, a dog didn't have to pay its owner for room and board and vet visits either. And they received free food, which was not covered by government services. If you were a member of the G ranks, you were eligible for food cards which would get you breads, meats, fruits and vegetables. But, once you rose up out of that rank, you were SOL.

Clothes and daily "necessities" were not seen as necessary life needs, so they were not provided to the Labor Force by the government.

Sara had been eating dinner alone for most of her life. There were times that she waited up for her parents before eating when she was younger, but she hadn't done that in quite a while.

Sara walked to the fridge and pulled out an apple. She stood over the garbage can as she peeled it. Her mood was still sour at her failed attempt to put out a successful video. Her high schooling ended three days ago. She'd hoped that she would have been able to put something out that would have brought in a few more followers and that she could have a steady climb from there.

It wasn't just for her, she wanted to allow her parents to climb up as well. If she climbed up, then her hardcore followers would start following her parents, which would bring their ranking up.

Sara's mood worsened as she ate her apple. Her eyes remained unfocused on the world around her as her thoughts kept spiraling further and further out of control.