The Know 4

   The streets were completely empty and still the only motion came from the occasional auto-electric trolley train that ran down the middle of the street. There were no people on the sidewalks either. I always knew it was empty during work and school hours but this was crazy. Combined with the silence it created the illusion, the feeling rather, that I was the last person on earth, and yet a sense of peace engulfed me. I felt calm, and for once I didn’t feel the pull of stress. Ever since I was young I liked being alone. It allowed me to drift off into my own world.

   Suddenly my Ii-glasses lit up and showed the time in bright green numbers. It read 6:32pm. In about 5 minutes the streets and sidewalks will be filled with people going home after a long day of work and school, and the stress will return. I began walking a bit faster down the sidewalk, not wanting to get stuck with the usual crowd of people, and then it happened again. Only this time it was louder and more apparent. I froze in my tracks and looked up at the speakers attached to the sides of the buildings. It was that static crackle sound from on the bus, only this time it was accompanied with a high pitch screeching sound. Quickly I covered my ears with my gloved hands and started running down the sidewalk. The deafening sound lasted about a minute then it quit abruptly. I continued running until I reached our hotel building.

   I pushed the door open hard and jogged into the lobby. Immediately I noticed the confused stare from the guy standing behind the check-in counter. Ignoring him I collapsed into the nearest chair to catch my breath.

   "What’s…up with…. the… GSS?" I whispered to myself still out of breath.

   I bent forward in the chair and set my forehead in my hands, and thought about how stupid it was to freak out like that. I took a deep breath and lifted my head up and looked at the door I came through. Right away I noticed a small silver bell hanging on the door. Fear rose in me again as I realized I didn’t hear it when I ran inside.

   "Is everything ok?" the guy asked as he began to walk over to me. His voice assured me that I hadn’t gone deaf.

   "Yeah everything is cool." I said taking one more deep breath.

   He plopped himself down onto the black couch across from me. His skin blending in with the dark shade of the love seat. If not for his white uniform he would have been practically invisible. He starred at me from across the coffee table. I matched his stare and looked up into his eyes. Surprisingly he had one brown and one pale bright blue eye that could easily be mistaken for white.

   "Well you didn’t seem fine when you came in." He said with a small grin.

   "Yeah well it’s just been a weird day."

   "Oh…" He said trailing off.

   "So… why are you off work so early? Isn’t that against the Unites laws?" He said, now sitting up a bit taller.

   "School." I said correcting him.

   "And isn’t talking during work hours against the laws too?" I said before he could start again.

   He rolled up his left sleeve revealing multiple watches, and started counting down from 10.

   "3…2…1. Well now I’m off, its 6:37" he said looking back up at me, just as someone walked in. This time I made sure to listen to see if the bell rang, which it did.

   "I don’t get this new time thing they installed in the United Laws. I mean if everyone gets off at 6:37 what was the point of you standing there all day if no one is going to come in?"

   "Well I do paperwork all day and order food from the grocery factories. Then when my workday is over the hotel owner has the business trainees come here after they get out of school or college… or whatever they have. So they come by and manage the desk for an hour until 7:37 so people have that hour after work to check in or reserve a room. Since they cut out personal phone calls from the work schedule. So anyway this leaves 23 minutes for them to get home before curfew at 8:00. Since the auto-electric trolley train comes by at that time. Ha… I swear… someday everyone’s job will be replaced by auto-electric robots."

   "I didn’t know anyone was aloud to work later than 6:37."

   "Yeah the Supreme Ruler allows it if it relates to education."

   "Speaking of education, you look young enough to be in school, why aren’t you?" I said more relaxed now.

   "Oh… I dropped out in 11^th grade two years ago. What about you?"

   "I’m in 13^th, I graduate this year."

   "Wow you must be pretty smart considering there are 15 grades, or unless you’re dropping out too."

   "No I’m actually graduating." I said standing up. He stood up as well.

   "Well I better get going." I said to him.

   "Okay, well it was nice meeting you." He said extending his hand out to me.

   "Yeah see ya around." I said accepting his offer for a handshake.

   With that I turned around and started walking to elevator.