Prologue

Prologue giving exposition from a non-main character standpoint, as well as foreshadowing for future events.

Prologue

As impossible as it sounded, Adrian was excited at his siblings’ death. He was, of course, devastated as well, but he could not shake the glee he felt as he looked at his brother and sister’s preserved bodies in their caskets. Yes, they had died, but their death had triggered his Virtue.

It had started when he heard his sister’s voice. Her last act was to call him through the small Omni-rings they wore, which acted as communication devices. She had screamed to Adrian about being attacked by a bear. She didn’t have to say she was in the Deciduous Reserve; there was no other place in the area where bears still lived. It was two miles away, but he had found himself outside the gates only a half a minute later. His Virtue was the Virtue of Alacrity; his muscles functioned at impossible levels of efficiency and speed. It didn’t give him super strength, like the Virtue of Capacity, but he knew that the plyometrics he did at school were now redundant; he could now run faster, jump higher, and work longer than any normal human. The Reserve security guard saw that the twelve year-old boy had a Virtue and instantly let him in.

Utilizing his speed, it hadn’t taken very long for Adrian to find his sister. His older brother was there too because she didn’t have a Virtue; about three fourths of the population didn’t, but you had to be escorted by someone with a Virtue in order to be in such a dangerous place. Timothy had the Virtue of Understanding, which albeit wasn’t the best to have in a Reserve, but it allowed them to get past the guard. It was Adrian’s sister’s last day before going off to an Academy (a common one, of course), but it had always been her dream to work in the Reserves, so she had begged Timothy to take her.

And here was the result. Adrian found them both lying dead on the ground, with the bear nowhere in sight. Timothy had claw marks all over his body, but she looked perfectly fine. That is, she did until Adrian moved closer and saw that her rib cage had been crushed. The bear probably hadn’t even bothered to use its claws; it had most likely simply smashed her against a tree.

Adrian hadn’t been able to speak for fear of crying. He had simply motioned his mother and father to come with him. Mother didn’t have a Virtue, but Father had the Virtue of Ubiquity, and he had instantly taken them back to the house after they retrieved Timothy and Adrian’s sister. Adrian had stayed quiet as Father and Mother wept. He felt sad, but excited that he had turned out to have a Virtue; ever since his sister had learned that she didn’t have one he had been afraid that he would be Common as well.

Father called a Funerary, who had come today to overlook the disposal. He had also brought two Virtue Workers with him, most likely to inspect Adrian and catalog him and his Virtue for further recruitment. People with Virtues worked in the Bureaucracy, officiating across the country for any government matter. They were certainly intimidating when they first walked in the door; they were both very tall, wore black suits, and walked into the house with a sense of purpose.

“How you holding up, son?” The first Worker asked him, putting his hand on Adrian’s shoulder.

“Better than I would be if I hadn’t gotten a Virtue,” he replied, “You understand how much I would be scared of that.”
“Of course we do,” the other Worker said, “You come from a family full of Virtues; you would be terrified of not getting one.”

“But now you do,” the first Worker continued, “And a wonderful Virtue it is. Citizens with Alacrity normally work in First Response or Order Retaining; are those where you wanted to be of use to the Bureaucracy?”

Adrian thought for a moment. He had hardly been able to think about his ambitions since he hadn’t even known for sure if he had a Virtue yet. “Actually, I wanted to be a Virtue Worker, like you and my brother Timothy.”
The Workers looked surprised. “This is… unusual,” the first Worker said, frowning, “But not unheard of. You do realize that usually citizens with Understanding are Workers?”

Of course Adrian did; Timothy had been one. Understanding was needed to figure out what Virtuous citizens had when they couldn’t figure it out for themselves. “Yes,” he said slowly, “But you said that it wasn’t unheard of.”

“This is true. We have recruited Alacrity before for this employment, but we will have to verify with our Superiors before we officially recruit you.”

Adrian was delighted. At least he would have a chance to carry out Timothy’s work.

“Now, we should focus on the Funerary and his services,” the second Worker said.

It wasn’t very long. The Funerary did Timothy first; he read from a book in a language that Adrian didn’t understand and then they all looked on as Timothy’s casket was closed and taken to a transport outside.

Adrian’s sister was a different matter. Before the Funerary could continue the service, the two Workers approached her body. They studied her for a moment, looking at her face, her clothes, even at her injuries. They turned back to Adrian’s family with sorrowful looks on their faces. “Mr. and Mrs. Tullenson,” the first Worker said, “We are sorry, but we cannot allow your daughter to be given a service.”

Father gasped, and Mother gave a quick wail before asking, “Whyever not?”

“We are afraid that we cannot tell you. This is a matter of the Virtue Workers, not of the Bureaucracy as a whole. We must take her away.”

Father begged with them to allow her a service, but they were adamant in their decision. Adrian didn’t question it; the Virtue Workers were very wise and knew what they were doing. Why couldn’t Mother and Father see it?

Mother took a more direct approach; she dove at the casket, intent on using her own body as a shield for her daughter’s. Adrian knew what he had to do; his Alacrity allowed him to dash in front of the casket and push his mother away. She screamed at him in fury, calling him awful things, but he didn’t listen. Adrian was looking to the Virtue Workers, who were nodding in thanks to him.

Suddenly Adrian felt a stinging sensation in his hand, right where his Omni-ring sat. He felt faint, and as he fell to the floor and the world went black, the last thing he saw was the Workers taking his sister away and saying “Your sister’s name will be wiped from the records. You must not speak her name again.”

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Adrian awoke from his nightmare. What a terrible dream it had been! He had dreamt that… that his sister (why couldn’t he remember her name?) had been taken away by Virtue Workers. But that couldn’t possibly be true; she had had a Funerary service and was now being taken to the Mortuary for cremation.

Even as he shook off the terror of the dream, excitement blossomed in his heart. Today was the day when he could go to the Bureaucracy buildings and apply for a governmental post. The Virtue Workers had told him on the day of Timothy and his sister’s Funerary services that he could have a post as one of them, just like Timothy had been. That had been Adrian’s dream ever since Timothy’s Understanding had triggered. He remembered it like it was yesterday: they had been playing poker at the kitchen table. Timothy had complained about always losing because Adrian always knew exactly when to bluff and when to fold. It made Timothy furious because his younger brother continually beat him. Then, during one hand, Timothy went all quiet. As Adrian was deciding to bluff, Timothy just studied him, and it made Adrian uncomfortable. He bluffed, and Timothy immediately called, winning the substantial number of candies in the pot. Adrian had been astonished. Timothy then explained exactly how he knew that Adrian was bluffing, citing habits and details that Adrian wasn’t even aware of. When he finished speaking, his eyes widened as he realized what this sudden, superhuman power of deduction meant: he had triggered the Virtue of Understanding.

Father and Mother had been proud, as no one is sure their child will be Virtuous until the trigger. Adrian’s sister had been happy too, but also sad because she had already learned that she wasn’t Virtuous. After turning twenty-one, she had been given a test to see if she was Common or if she was just a late bloomer, and the results were conclusive to the negative; she would never gain a Virtue.

It made Adrian sad, but he didn’t dwell on it; he was too worried about getting his own Virtue. But now he didn’t have to worry about it. He had Alacrity, and today was the day he would begin his life outside Mother and Father’s house.

A few hours later, he was all ready to go; his possessions had been packed and Father and Mother were waving goodbye to him as he climbed into the transport. The Virtue Worker sitting next to him looked familiar, but Adrian couldn’t place his face in his memory.

“I can guarantee you a place as a Virtue Worker,” the man began, “But before you apply I must tell you about something. Something that cannot be shared outside the Bureaucracy.”

The transport sped on, and so Adrian’s career began.

Author's Note

I am not looking for constructive criticism as this is all I have written so far; I just want to know if this story has merit, and if so, I will write more and then ask for constructive criticism.