Cultural Dichotomy, 2417

Chandur sat back in the hydropool and relished the sunshine that shone down on his body. The air this high up was clear and sweet, and the smog layers were at least a hundred yards below his vantage point. The Council Tower and the Parliament family quarters were all he had ever known.

He had been lounging and swimming after his nap, and he was thoroughly enjoying his last day as a child. Today was his 21st birthday, and tonight he would celebrate his increase in stature, and join the Council.

After today, he would have all the rights and privileges that accompanied citizenship. He would be given quarters of his own, and his wife would be selected for him.

He would even have access to the finest in real food.

It promised to be an exciting time.

~ ~ ~

Far below the city, Malrissa sat in a chair and sighed. Her respirator dug lines in her cheeks, and she readjusted it without thinking. The bitter air stung her eyes, but not as bad today as it was sometimes.

She filled each small cube that came down the production line with a mixture of the NourishGel liquid that would be eaten by the workers here in Undercity. Today was her 21st birthday, and it marked the last day she would work here on the line, at a child’s sit-down job.

Tomorrow she would be reassigned to the growing fields or the loading machines, where she would get to stand on her feet for 13 hours each day, helping to turn the city’s waste by-products into fresh supplies of NourishGel.

Tonight she might actually get a taste of a real apple; her brother had smuggled a couple into the barracks.

It promised to be an exciting time.