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Cath's here! I've been writing this thing for a long time. Now that it's been corrected, I'm posting it! A big thank you to the two people who helped me. You'll recognise yourself 
"Do you know what the difference’s between you and me?" Theodore said to his pupils before closing his textbook, as expected, none could answer. The teacher got up from his chair and walked around his desk to stand in front of the class, his pistol on his hip as a proof of his supreme authority over his pupils. He was authorized to use any means necessary to make people learn. Theodore White was in his thirties, he had no beard or short hair. At this moment, he stared at his class with a serious look, knowing that nobody would dare to say anything, he felt them thinking really hard.
"We're your pupils?" Asked a boy with round glasses.
That boy was the typical nerd of the class, when no one was looking, the bullies were extorting his money. The boy was a stereotype by himself and Theodore often turned a blind eye when he was bullied, hoping that the little guy would toughen up a bit.
The teacher shot at the table in front of the pupil.
"Wrong. Anyone else want to try and answer the question?"
"You are in charge of our education?"
Theodore opened his mouth but the bell rang and the pupils had to leave the class as it was the end of the day. The teacher went to the teachers room, Terry was the last one remaining. Terry was younger and seemed nicer than any of the educators of the school, nonetheless he had to carry a pistol and wore the uniform of the establishment. After putting his course sheets in his cubby, Theodore went to the metro and sat at his reserved seat in the second class wagon. As always Veronica was already seated in the space next to him. With the smallest smile she greeted him.
"How's your day?" She asked.
"As usual, how 'bout you?"
"You know me. So, have you found the answer yet?"
Theo laid back on his seat and sighed.
"What's the difference between you and me?" He said for himself.
Veronica sighed as well then she turned herself to him.
"I am actually on the board for the seventh expedition. That was a tricky question, but I thought you'd have found it by now."
"I can't access a commander's profile so easily, Veronica. But if you wanted me to stalk you, you should have made it clearer."
She shrugged and turned away. They had both known each other since high school but had never tried to take their relationship further, nor did they want to have something serious.
Veronica was thirty-one and wore that number on her shoulder armour on her left side. Her uniform was made of light armour pads coloured in red and black and with the insignia of the special security forces, also known as the SSF. Her job was to act as an inspector of military facilities, but she could also be commissioned by the governmental army in a colony.
Theodore stared at the window as the scenery changed from a busy city to a suburban environment. Cattle and wheat were standing in the fields and the metro's last station was a small village with wooden houses and a church. When the train stopped at the terminus, which was an old train station made of brick and stone, the remaining passengers got off and calmly walked back to their homes. Theodore saw Veronica going back to her family cottage and the teacher did the same, Theo missed his home. Once home, he felt the urge to sleep.
The next day, he got up and went to the church.
"My children, remember to be the most efficient you can be, remember to represent our town to the capital. We are blessed with the presence of a military inspector and two engineers of the official administration. So, learn well and honour our town of Malik."
"For Malik." The people said before going to work.
On the train, Theodore turned to Veronica. The seventh expedition was supposed to be launched in a month, it was intended to find a new habitable world to colonise and to exploit the inhabitants. The personnel hired for the expeditions are second class assets chosen for their skills and for the fact that they’re expendable. The first class assets always stayed in the home world to guard it.
"Do you think that Malik has a chance?" Theo asked.
"I've got another question for you and your pupils. How can you love something that doesn't exist? I was searching for this one yesterday night. As for Malik, I doubt our generation will give it a chance."
"How long do you think the expedition will last?"
"I can't give you the details, but all I can say is that it's going to be shorter then you expect."
As soon as they got off the wagon, a man snatched Veronica's notepad. She ran after the thief, but the man was too agile and fast.
"Damn it!" She shouted before activating her communicator in her headset. "Requesting self destruction of the notepad, regimental forty six seventy nine."
Theo was already giving his lesson about the history of the expeditions. The seventh expedition wasn't the seventh, there has been a lot of expeditions, but the only major ones were noted. The teacher believed that one day, one of his pupils would help Malik to become a second class asset. Every minor town always wanted to become a second class asset as it could make them famous. But none have yet succeeded.
At midday break, every teacher of the establishment gathered in the teacher's cantine. Terry sat next to Theo, which was unusual since the two never talked to each other. But no one cared that much as they were all more focussed on eating.
"Sophia has been spotted near area. If she tries to approach this school, notify the director as soon as possible." A teacher said.
"You've mentioned me?" A woman said as she casually entered the room.
Everyone got up as she announced herself. Sophia was a class one citizen and had an important role as instructor.
"The Pietro family has decided to pick your school to a field trip alongside the seventh expedition. Of course, only half of the staff and pupils shall participate. I've been appointed to supervise the whole process and I've decided that you shall take part in a competition to prove your worth."
There was no reaction about what she had said as the staff was made of class two citizens, except the janitor who was a class three, his job was his life. Sophia organised a small festival where each class had to do sport activities and quizzes. The class of Theodore was slightly above average and so they had the possibility to participate in the field trip. The day was already over and it was time to leave the city.
"What's the real difference between you and me?" He asked as Veronica sat at her usual place.
"I pose enigmas most of the time." She replied without emotion.
"Exactly that. I'm on board for the Seventh expedition."
Veronica looked mildly surprised then she looked at her notepad absentmindedly. Theo looked at the window with a bored look. Veronica read the report on what class of citizen was onboard. There were four different class. The first, which was composed of citizen without an inhibitor. The second class had citizens with an inhibitor that deprived them of any desire or lust, those citizens composed half of the entire population. The third class were those whose inhibitor made them mindless slaves, those people were outcasts, they lived in small agricultural or mining villages. The class zero was composed of people with prototype inhibitors, those class of citizens were really rare.
"I haven't asked yet, how's your day?" He asked.
"The usual, how about you?"
"Sophia came to pick us for the seventh expedition. It was a small event this afternoon."
"Was it fun? Did you enjoy it?"
"That was ok, I guess? The kids loved it, even the four-eyes boy. You should have seen him lifting those heavy bags by himself, it was impressive."
"He's 12, right? It isn't like he's 6 or something."
"We do have some difference, don't we?" Theodore said without looking at her.
When he did look at her, they were already at their destination. He noticed that she had let her hair down but he hadn't the time note the need to talk to her new appearance. The leader of their village was waiting for Theo and when he saw the teacher, he approached him with a determined look. Theo noticed that the leader was tightly holding his notepad against his chest.
"I've received a report saying that you've got a pass for the seventh expedition. I need it more than you do. Give it to me and I shall reward you."
"Master, I can't. I need it for my job. I have to teach the next generation, if we're lucky, they will do something for our village."
"You don't understand, I am your leader. With your pass, I can make Malik prosperous. Give it to me, it's your last chance."
"Sir, I can't do that. I need to go now, I have to rest after this tiring day."
Theodore walked away but the leader held his arm.
"I can't let you do that." The leader said before punching the teacher in the face.
The master threw the unconscious man in a far away bush after he stole his pass. Theo woke up after some times, he discovered that he had been robbed by his leader, his notepad was broken and his keys were nowhere to be found. He didn't know where he was. He roamed, trying to find a path or something familiar. After searching for an hour, he saw a dirt path and he met Terry, walking with his supplies.
"Theodore? What are you doing here? You're in Valerian territory."
"Is that so? I didn't know I could walked such a distance. Can you tell me where the nearest train station his?"
"I could tell you, but it's better if I showed you myself. After all, we're supposed to work in two hours. It should take an hour or so."
"Thank you, Terry."
Both men walked along the path, they were joined by Nina, a quiet woman dressed in dark green clothes. She was mostly walking behind the men and they forgot that she was there. The pathway was so quiet that they could hear a train in the distance. Thy were relieved to know that they weren't too far from the train station.
This Valerian territory had few villages and those were scattered in plains, it had only one train station which was the only mode transportation available. The territory was composed of dense forests, plains and hills. The paths were made of dirt and sometimes gravels. It was the poorest of the Valerian territories. The richest regions were occupied by the Pietro's House which had conquered all territories before redistributing the regions to its sub houses, like the Valeria's house.
Theodore went to his wagon when they reached the train station, he found Veronica reading something on her notepad, she didn't look at him when he took his seat.
"You're late, I was going to report you as dead."
"I like your new haircut."
"Why thank you. I like your… never mind. What happened anyway?"
"Our great leader has just stolen my pass, so yeah. I'm boned."
Veronica looked at him with an emotionless face, she glanced at her notepad, typed something on it than focused on Theodore. He had a big bruise on his cheek and he had dried blood at the tip of his lips.
"I have to say, you look like shit. There is no way you're going to work like that. Remember that you represent Malik. When we get off, follow me to the SF station, I'll get you something to look more presentable. Notify your director about that."
"About that, my notepad is broken and I lost my keys."
"Shit… we can't rat our leader because of his position…"
"I've never seen you talking like that, Veronica." Theodore said with a surprised look.
The woman looked down and excused herself for such behaviour. She had a bad sleep last night as her cousin was giving birth to a pair of twins. Theodore, on the other hand, had an average sleep despite being thrown in a bush.
Once they arrived at the SF station, Veronica led her friend to the male locker room. She then told him to fetch some spare clothes as she went back to work. Theo chose clothes similar to his. As he was putting on the trousers, he overheard a conversation between a man and a woman. The guy sounded really angry.
"What do you mean by you lost them, Nani?"
"I am sorry, sir. I did everything I could but they escaped. I will assume the entire responsibility." Nina said quietly, without correcting her superior.
"Everything you could? Everything you could? Those criminals were right there and you didn't catch them? You're useless!"
"Once again, I am terribly sorry, sir. We were outnumbering them so far, but someone jumped out of nowhere of shot us. I will assume the entire responsibility, sir."
There was a loud noise, like a slap. Theodore decided to leave as he wasn't involved in this discussion and he was running late.
At this time of day, the streets were crowded and the road trafic was noisy. The people were in a hurry and the car horns screamed, the rush hours were the only times when the cities looked alive. The trafic lights had a timer on them, and the discount on them were giving a the feeling of being in a race. The police was checking if everything was running smoothly. When Theo was about to cross the pedestrian pathway, he saw Sophia standing on the other side, she was leaning on the trafic light, looking at her notepad. As a first class citizen and instructor, she was wearing a dark blue skirt, a white shirt and a light blue tie. Unlike him and any second class citizen, the first class wore colourful clothes. The middle class wore dark clothes and the third one wore combination of work with a colour representing their work branch.
"You're late, teacher. It'll be deducted from your pay. Now, follow me to your school, we need to talk about something during the trip." She said as he crossed the street.
"Sure, What is it?"
"I've received numerous complaints about how the teachers lost their pass. But they probably didn't, they were stolen. I have made a mistake by doing that. But first, I'd like to see yours."
Theodore didn't do anything and Sophia immediately understood, she frowned.
"That's a good thing, you're the last person I had to check. I can now destroy the pass without any casualties on the teaching staff." She pressed a button on her notepad.
Theodore had a little thought about his leader but it didn't bother him much.
"In three months, it's going to be the mating season. Your chip should let you have some sexual desire. The thing is, we'll arrive at our destination. I'd like to remind you that you can't copulate with one of your pupils, even if some are almost legal. It is important to stay professional. Also, I'd like to book you for that. You've got the DNA that I'm looking for."
"Copulating between coworkers is forbidden, even during that time."
"I'm a first class citizen, I can do that with whoever I want. Anyway, they'll learn about my past on the next post."
"Excuse me?"
to be continued
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