Ground Zero: Prequel to Numbered Series Read Online Free

her mother say, just before she
slammed her bedroom pod door.

 
    ***

 
    With so many cadets graduating at the same time, from
many different fields, City 01 had something of a festival air about it.
Eschewing the crowded public transport pods, Aurelia and her parents walked the
few blocks to the Medical Institute. They passed Block 3 on their way, and
Aurelia kept her eyes firmly focussed on the pavement beneath her feet. Marnee
had lived there.
    It was natural that this be a time for reminiscing.
She was about to leave training behind. The only problem was, that all her memories contained Marnee. And it was still so painful to think of
her. Three days ago she had sat beside her, brushed the pale blonde hair,
laughed at their shared memories. And when they were done, when they had
reminisced as long as they could, she'd held Marnee's hand. And she'd promised
that she would celebrate on graduation day. That she wouldn't let the sadness
mar her achievements. Yet it did, and she was helpless to control it.
    “You'll get first in the cohort,” Marnee had said.
    “I...”
    But Aurelia had had to bite off what she was going to
say. She was so used to the friendly competition between them, used to sharing
the top spot with Marnee, who had grown into a brilliant Med Trainee as her
confidence blossomed, that it was natural for her to remind her friend that she
too could get first in the cohort. But, of course, she wouldn't. Not now.
    The large Medical Institute loomed in front of them, a
flood of red and black Med uniforms streaming into the
tall front doors. Aurelia squeezed her mother's hand, feeling a deep ache in
her heart.

 
    ***

 
    The time was growing near. Every Year Five student had
to inject. But, of course, each had to wait until a suitable patient had been
found. Aurelia knew that the patients would be sick with little or no chance of
survival. These were considered the best candidates for the Trainees first
injections, since the psychological stress of injecting someone likely to die
anyway was less. But that didn't ease her worries. She spent more and more time
thinking about what her father had asked her.
    “If you fail to inject someone that is supposed to be
injected, what will happen to that person?”
    She was still uneasy about taking life. But the more
she thought, the more she thought she could understand what he was getting at.
    “They will die anyway,” she said to him, coming to his
desk one evening.
    “Ah,” he said, putting down his screen. “You've had
time to consider then?”
    She nodded, and perched herself on the edge of his
desk.
    “If I refuse to inject a patient, someone else will do
it anyway. I'll then become a Failure, and will not have had any other effect
on the outcome of the situation, making it illogical to refuse to inject
someone.”
    “Very good,” said her father. He appreciated logic.
“Take it further.”
    “I'm not sure yet,” she admitted. “But I think that
you're telling me that if I disagree with the system that it's better to fight
from inside than from outside. Maybe that if, when, I'm qualified, I will be in
a better position to change the system.”
    “Possibly,” said her father. “Though
you might also not be.”
    Aurelia nodded her head in acquiescence of this. “But
by becoming a Med Worker I can save lives, as well as taking them, and include
the possibility of trying to change the system. Whereas if I refuse to perform
injections I can save nobody, because I will become a Failure.”
    Her father's blue eyes clouded a little, but he nodded
in agreement with her. “Sometimes, Aur, there's no right answer. You must learn
this. As hard as it can be, there are times when the only thing that you can do
is to mitigate the negative, rather than removing it altogether. Life just
isn't black and white.” He smiled at her. “It would be boring if it were. There
are millions of shades of grey in between, and it's up to you to navigate them
as best