Guilty Until Proven Innocent

For the first time in Mari's experience at school, there was no attempt to stop her from finishing her grade and moving on to the next. The staff at Royal Academy #57 were more than delighted to see her leave for the Imperial Military Institution of Aria-Centrum.

No one questioned her parents' inability to understand what they had signed when Mari turned in her holo-chip. No one questioned the odd last name on the completed form either, and best of all no one questioned Mari if she was an Undesireable. 

It was now Augustus and Mari's parents had come to see her off to the academy. Mari's older siblings sent money once again for her to ride the hyper-train from the Southern part of the continent of Mu to the Northern half.

Her mother was crying and Mari was beginning to believe it was her default reaction.

"Mom, it's okay, I'm coming back," Mari promised.

"That's the problem," her mother cried. "You shouldn't."

"What are you talking about!?"

Her father rubbed his bald head and feebly told Mari what he and his wife discussed last night.

"Your mother and I are afraid that if you come back to visit you might get stuck. This place is cursed. We are all stuck in The Pit," he said.

"Don't call it that," Mari's mother replied.

"Everyone already does. It should be called a black hole," Mari mumbled. "But just because I come back to visit doesn't mean I'll get stuck."

"What will you do alone up there," Mari's mother asked.

"I won't be alone! I will have friends, like at school," Mari lied. "My friends at school took good care of me every day, my new ones will look out for me!"

Mari's parents nodded their heads and sighed. They were already at the station, there was no use arguing now. 

 A friendly chime at the hyper-station sounded and a woman's voice blared over the speaker:

"Boarding soon to the capital, Fadeno. Boarding soon."

Everyone braced themselves for impact. A bright light shone and Mari looked to the left in its direction. She clutched her backpack to her chest and everything went silent. Everyone held their breath waiting for the hyper-train's impact.

"That wasn't as scary as I heard it would be," she giggled. "Signing a safety agreement was silly!"

A sudden sound pierced the atmosphere, all the electronics in the area flickered, and a large gust of wind almost lifted her off the platform. The wind made her eyes tear up, her shoulders tense and shivering. Mari used her right hand to hold onto one of the numerous safety bars for dear life, and her left hand to hold onto her precious backpack.

The wind suddenly switched direction, pushing her from behind. Her long black hair whipped the front of her face, and she screamed, her parents screamed, and the entire platform screamed. 

As the wind subsided a repetitive whump, whump, whump, echoed in the sky. Bright blue translucent train tracks appeared slowly on the edge of the aerial platform, with small azure sparks flying out of it. The hyper-train flew out from the sky, latched onto its electric tracks and it slowed down, without the screeching sounds of a regular train. Instead, it was replaced with the sounds of electric crackling and static in the air.

Everyone's hair stood up from the static shock, but Mari's did not. Her parents pointed it out just as she was about to board the hyper-train.

"Dad you don't even have any hair," she whined.

"Your hair would stand up like everyone else's if you washed it this morning," he scolded her.

"Don't mind him," Mari's mother said. "He just needed one more chance to be your father."

Mari gave her parents one last hug and got onto the hyper-train. She was wearing her good pair of shoes for the first time outside of school with her faded pink running shorts and worn-out white shirt. She sat on the leather upholstered seats and smiled to herself, knowing that she was going to be okay.

Without warning the hyper-train lurched forward, and Mari smacked her head into the chair in front of her. Sparks flew out from her hands scaring the other passengers in the cabin and people started jumping out of their seats. 

One of the conductors entered the cabin to see the commotion and found Mari struggling to stand up against the speed of the hyper-train. Her eyes glowed an ethereal blue and she coughed up little sparks. She plopped back into her seat, rubbed the back of her head, closed her eyes, and tried to make the pain stop.

"You! Weaver," the conductor shouted at her. "None of that on the train! You want to kill us all?"

"I'm not a Weaver, I'm Mari..."

"All the other patrons saw what you did! Are you trying to sabotage the train with your electricity!?"

"You're so dumb," Mari huffed.

The conductor became even more furious and the other passengers became even more fearful.

"Weavers don't live in the city. Electricity makes them weak, even a child knows that," Mari told the conductor.

 "I saw what she did," said an older man in a sweater vest. 

He pointed at her accusitorially and his brown mustache twitched every time he spoke. Mari found his mustache funny, like a caterpillar living on his lip, and tried not to laugh as he spoke.

"She shouted her magic words and whizzed around the room! After that she got back in her chair as if nothing happened," the man said.

"No, I saw her light up the room and try to set the chair on fire," a woman said.

Many people started giving conflicting statements about what happened and the conductor told them all to sit down or else they would be forced to get off at the next stop.

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When Mari got off the hyper-train a slew of people pushed them out as fast as possible away from her. Her feelings were hurt, because again she was unwanted, but for different reasons.

But now she was considering that maybe something strange was going on.

She should have died all those months ago when she fell off the warehouse rooftop. Her hair wasn't affected by the static wave of the hyper-train. Every time it was about to rain she could tell, but she didn't think much of that because so could her father. His back would ache, and he would complain about getting old. 

When Mari got into the glass elevator connected to the hyper-train platform, she saw a bird's eye view of her brand new home: Fadeno. She pushed her face up against the glass wall, and marveled at the landscape.

It was nothing close to the filth of The Pit she lived in her entire life.

Hover-cars whizzed by in the distance through the hyper-way. Delivery robots on quests to bring mail, food, and impulse online purchases puttered along the skyline, floating like bees drunk on honey. Birds swiftly dodged them while making their way to the tops of the massive trees throughout Fadeno.

Apartments and houses were carved into or built into the sides of the behemoth trees, the city sparing no empty space for its millions of citizens.  The closer the elevator approached the sidewalk, the more Mari craned her neck to the sky, wanting to never leave the glass tube.

A soft ding pierced the air, and everyone shuffled out.

When in the parking lot of the terminal, Mari immediately found where she was supposed to be. A holo-screen reading ROYAL BOOT CAMP QUEUE was surrounded by young adults. Mari sprinted over to the group but all hope left her when she remembered.

She was not wanted anywhere.

Here would be no different.

She stood at the edge of the crowd trying to be a part of them but not in it. She clutched her backpack to her chest like a shield and prayed to the gods that no one would notice her even breathing.

Someone did.

A pretty young woman, with purple hair and orange eyes, cocked her head to the side once she noticed her. She waved hello, and Mari clutched her backpack tighter. She waved hello even faster and Mari again tried to ignore her. When she walked in Mari's direction, Mari started to feel her soul recede into her chest and her body turn cold.

She braced herself for impact.

"Are you okay," she asked. "Like, are you nervous or something? Lost?"

Mari took a glance at her and looked away. She was taught not to talk to or look at people from noble birth and this girl was. Only the very rich and famous, the Rega and the Kuraga could afford to genetically change their babies, making them taller, smarter, and prettier, with strange-colored hair, eyes, and skin.

"It's okay, my name is Tiffany. I was nervous here too during last year's summer camp, but everyone here is really nice."

Mari nodded her head quickly while still looking at the ground.

"What's your name?"

Mari finally looked her in the face. It was the first time someone other than Mr.Sato had asked her name.

"I'm Mari," she said softly.

"Come join us! We got snacks, much better than the gross stuff from the train," Tiffany groaned.

Mari nodded and listened to Tiffany complain about the lack of amenities on the train to the other girls. They gossiped about the other group of boys and who would be the first out of both groups to drop out of basic training. 

Mari didn't know any of the TV shows, movies, or games, they spoke about but listened. She laughed at jokes she didn't understand because others laughed at them, and she agreed with whatever was said.

Mari didn't care about being an Undesirable, a Weaver, or a Rega or Kuraga.

She was just happy to belong.