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A hope in a dystopia

Communism and capitalism wage a seemingly endless battle for control. Beneath the facade of these opposing forces lies a hidden truth – an intricate web of power and manipulation, led by a secretive oligarchy clinging to feudalistic traditions. The world stands on the brink of collapse, haunted by the constant threat of a nuclear Armageddon. Will Lucian and his “twin brother” 虚字 save the world from the hands of a dystopian society? Or will the world be destroyed in a nuclear armageddon?

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11 Chs

Claire Dacier

I removed her body armor and opened my backpack. I took a clean towel and a plastic bottle of sterile saline solution. It seems my paranoia paid off.

I supported her neck and lifted her shirt a bit to reveal the wound. I squeezed the plastic and the liquid came out pressurized. The liquid just dripped to the ground as gravity willed it.

After cleaning her wound, I tied the towel around her stomach and applied pressure to the area. But still, this is a problem. She is losing a lot of blood, and sadly I do not know what blood type she has.

I began carrying my backpack on my chest and carried her on my back. I walked through the collapsed skyscrapers hoping to find a first aid kit. And just a few minutes later, thankfully I found one.

I took the first aid kit and walked away to a safer place, which was on the road. I opened it and thankfully there is an ABGM (Automated blood grouping machine). And to make it better, there is a blood transfusing machine. I put the ABGM on her pointing finger, clicked a lever and it instantly read her blood, albeit wounding her finger a bit.

O+

Thankfully we have the same blood types. It would be a hassle to find a rarer blood type among these corpses. I cleaned the device, put it back inside the first aid kit, and continued my journey towards the hotel.

After a few minutes, I finally reached the hotel and there were a bunch of my fellow schoolmates. I wouldn't be shocked if someone sees me, but that possibility is low due to how much the population of the school is, and due to how many people are here.

I instantly looked for a free staff for me to bribe. I looked around and saw a waiter. He may be just a waiter, but he still is an employee with access to a private pathway.

With great difficulty due to still carrying her on my back, I finally reached him.

"Good afternoon sir. How may I help you?"

"You already know"

He stayed silent, either he was unsure of what to do or testing me.

"My face is famous everywhere, minus the dying part, you would know I have the money. I need a room on the highest floor fast"

He turned around and walked away

"Come with me"

I let out a sigh of relief, I thought I would be declined. We reached the door leading to the staff bathroom, but instead of a bathroom like the door said, it was an elevator.

"Top floor?"

I just stayed silent, I did not need to repeat myself. As a result, he just pressed the top floor button.

We reached the top floor in less than a minute thanks to the power of elevators, albeit it is much faster than a normal elevator.

I now stand on a door that leads to my room, or rather our room. And now for the payment.

"Can you reach out for my pockets? It is in my right pocket. I am currently occupied thanks to her. Just withdraw the amount and get yourself a 20 percent tip"

"Are you sure sir? I might take more"

"It doesn't matter, I can easily get it back in a few days if you ever decide to steal it"

It was just a fact, with enough manipulating in the stock market I could easily become the richest man. All of my fellow clones were one of the richest men if they did not die. However, that probably is a reason why I do not want to get that rich.

He reached out for my right pocket and took my phone. After tinkering with it, he gave it to me back.

500 septillion aureus, plus another 2 percent tip for him. While it may sound like an enormous amount, well it was a decade ago. Before that amount would get you to the top 0.000125 percent. But now, it is just on the top 0.025 percent.

But still, even tho it is not as worth as it used to be it still is big enough for that 2 percent tip to last for an entire lifetime. As he finished withdrawing the money, he gave me the keycard, turned around, and left.

I opened the door immediately, put her down on the bed, and plugged in the blood transfusion machine. I injected a needle into my vein in my left arm and with the free dominant right arm, I put two fingers on her throat to search for her blood pressure.

I estimated her weight from me carrying her, after which I looked at her body to put some estimations on how much blood she lost.

She is currently 46 kilograms, and as I remember, she was 48 kilograms before. As I estimated, she lost 2 liters of blood. It was severe, but as I remember, the blood loss was not fast enough. But what was she doing there for a long time? Oh well, it may be a private matter.

I waited for some time until I had a liter of blood or a bag, I began a blood transfusion, took another needle, and inserted it into the vein of my left hand again. I started the blood transfusion on myself to get the last remaining liter of blood.

I took a scalpel and tweezers and cleaned it in case it was ever used. I removed the bandage covering her wound and opened it. While it was uncomfortable using my left arm to hold her, it was still doable.

I kept operating her until I finally removed her bullet. After which I cleaned her wound and stitched it up. And just right in time the bag was mostly full, and being impatient I just removed it from my arm, took the bag, and replaced it with the already empty bag.

Feeling tired I sat in a chair and closed my eyes.

Then I woke up for absolutely no reason in the middle of the night. I blamed operating her for this. I may have all the knowledge, but I never once had to use it, well except when I was stock trading. So this was new for me, my mind and body never once had to work hard.

I stood up and called the front desk using the telephone on the shelf, why it was on a shelf and not on a table? I will never know. I waited for a couple of minutes until I just rescheduled the call and instead just called one of the hotel's servers. While it may not be that effective compared to calling the front desk, it sure will be faster.

I miscalculated the number of people here, it took 30 seconds until finally, someone spoke up.

"Good evening, how may I help you?"

It was no longer nighttime, it should be morning since it was 2 AM. But I calmed down my intrusive thoughts on correcting her and just proceeded with my request.

"Hi, I would like to order 8 clothes and pajamas. 4 of them are for a boy and 4 of them are for a girl. The boy's size is medium, the upper body is 45.5 inches, and the lower body is 28.3 inches"

I began running calculations in my head to figure out her sizes. As I remember she is currently 4'9.

"And for the girl, 35.3 inches for the upper body and 21.7 inches for the lower."

I then heard something being pressed, most probably the prices being calculated.

"That would be 26.987 quintillion aureus"

Oh my god, they should just remove those extra zeroes. It would make life much simpler. A million can buy you absolutely nothing, so they should just remove those 6 zeroes, a trillion still can't buy anything while 1 quadrillion can buy a single pack of rubberbands and 50 quadrillions can buy you a 3-day-old bread.

"Ok"

I waited for a couple of minutes until I heard a noise on the door produced by a doorbell. I opened it up and a 20-year-old female was waiting on the door. She had a look of surprise watching me a 13-year-old kid being wealthy.

I took the bag she was carrying with me, took out my phone, sent the money to the hotel's address, and showed her the receipt.

She was about to leave when I stopped her

"I forgot to mention this but, I would like to order fresh raw potatoes, some kitchen knives, onions, butter, a cast iron pan, and beef at 7 AM"

She nodded and started walking again. I immediately closed the door without leaving a tip. I was dissatisfied.

I immediately went to the bathroom to clean myself from all the dust I accumulated when walking to the hotel. After which I clothed myself and went back to sleep.

I woke up from the doorbell, got the ingredients, and immediately started cooking some mashed potatoes and a medium rare steak. I almost forgot about her, so I just made more incase if she wakes up today.

As I was eating my breakfast I heard some groans. I stopped eating immediately, stood up, and went to her.

"Had a good sleep princess?"

I said with a smug to ridicule her

"Haha"

She said with a sarcastic tone

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

She started laughing for real. This is quite creepy

"Even joking about a wounded woman can't break your monotonous voice and poker face huh?"

I have never felt hatred in my life, except at this point. I now hate my face and voice box.

She lifted her shirt a bit to see her wound and she was amazed at what she saw.

"I never knew you could do surgery, how did you do it?"

"Search engines"

I lied I can not tell her that every known knowledge about the world is implanted in my brain.

I turned around, took a plate of mashed potatoes, and gave it to her.

"Eat"

She started at it for a while and broke the silence by getting a request from me

"Can you feed me? I mean I got shot so I can barely use my hands"

That is a lie considering she just recently pulled her shirt to see the stitched wound. But oh well. I sat next to her and began feeding her with a spoon.

While eating, she suddenly reached out for the glass of water near me and began drinking it's water. The audacity of this woman-

She stopped upon noticing what she had just done.

"Yeah yeah! I just regained my strength that's all!"

She opened her mouth again expecting me to still feed her, and she was right, I still kept feeding her myself.

After she was done eating, I asked her a question.

"Why were you faking it?"

"No reason."

"…."

I stayed silent

"Fine fine I was just messing with ya!"

"Why?"

What will she get if she messes with me? Pleasure? Satisfaction?

"Well because seeing your face or voice change feels satisfying"

"I see"

I stood up checked my phone for some information and found out the rebels were mobilizing.

I began thinking about where they were going to attack. A place that has great significance, like a communication tower, power plant, factories, and position.

They are going to attack the city to the left. The reason why they haven't finished this hotel off was because while the military is corrupt, they still had some humanity in them. The rebels are going to use this place as a way to diverge some forces.

"Can you walk?"

She began stretching her arms out.

"It seems so"

"Great, go take a shower and dress up immediately, we are leaving"

I threw her the towel I used and a girl's clothing.

"Huh? Why?"

"It is an emergency"

She began to touch the towel and noticed it was wet, she sniffed it and immediately threw it back to me

"Do you expect me to use a towel you used?!"

I lifted an eyebrow. What does she mean? I mean it is just a towel

"Uugh yeah?"

I threw it back to her. She just had a weird look on her face.

"Oh…."

I finally realized what she meant

"Well then let's go then-"

"Yeah"

She stood up and sniffed herself

"On second thought, I think I'll take a bath. Are you sure you do not have an extra towel?"

"Well, you can use a spare shirt as a towel."

I gave her a spare shirt she can use as a towel

"That can work"

She entered the bathroom and I heard the water running. I waited for her to finish, and while waiting, I began to watch videos on the internet about cats.

I then heard the door open, and she came out fully clothed.

We exited the room, and then the hotel. While walking, I asked her a question

"Where are your parents?"

She stayed silent, it must be a private matter.

"They are dead…"

"Oh."

That was unexpected.

"I'm sorry then. The school is going to close due to the terrorist attacks. Where do you want to enroll next."

"I- am not going to school anymore, I just can't."

!!!!! WHAT YOU CAN'T! WHO AM I GOING TO STARE AT WHEN I AM BORED?

"Why?"

"Prices are just far too expensive, and the wages are so low."

"Want to stay in the same school as me?"

"Hehe"

Some tears started to form in her eyes

"Sorry, but I can't accept that. What do you even gain from that?"

"Well I lose absolutely nothing considering I am rich, and that I gain or rather keep a friend"

I can't tell her that I will also lose someone to stare at during classes

"….."

She stayed silent

"Pls?"

"…. Alright fine"

"Oh! You are smiling!"

"Wait really"

"Nah I was joking"

She smiled fully showing her teeth. Damn this woman.

I hijacked an electronic car that was just by the road, thankfully it was a cheap car so messing with its system was much easier. We drove to my parent's house.

What in the actual fuck?

Instead of being greeted by a tall skyscraper, I was instead greeted by collapsed skyscrapers. I felt my hands and mouth shaking.

"I'm sorry Mom and Dad, I should've told you the truth"

This never would've happened if they knew I was rich. This was all my fault