Surveillance 

“What if it is true?” Jesse asked, staring at the mirror. 

“There’s no way. Totally bogus story, Andy’s always spreading lies,” Olivia responded calmly, not bothering to look up.

Jesse inched closer to the reflection. He didn’t dare blink as he peered into the large opal eyes, his large opal eyes. 

Olivia sat up from where she was reading on the floor and slid over to Jesse. She gave him a shove with her shoulder, “Stop thinking about it, it’s creepy!”

“I know! That’s why I’m thinking about it! Besides, Andy’s dad would know!”

She rolled her eyes, “For goodness sakes, I guarantee the government isn’t going to implant cameras into your eyes anytime soon!”

 Jesse sighed and fell onto his back, swiping his hand to shut off the hologram mirror. Olivia fell back too, laying next to her friend. They stared at the stars through the skylight, contemplating Andy’s claims. Olivia almost laughed at Jesse’s stupidity. Of course Andy was lying. There was no way the government would be able to plant cameras in their eyes without anyone knowing. 

Jesse broke the silence, “I’m just sayin-“.

“Oh my gosh! Get over it!”

“But it would be so easy. They would know how to do it too. We have the technology, I mean we already have implants in our ears!”

Olivia laughed, “Yeah, but that’s different!”

“No it’s not!”

“Yes, it is. Our telepinnas are for communication and can easily be removed.”

“Yeah but-“ Jesse was interrupted by the quiet buzz of his own telepinna, located in his ear. He could tell from the ringtone that it was his mother, “Accept.”

“Jesse Richards, you get home right now!” his mother yelled through the device. Jesse rushed to his feet immediately, “I’m coming mom, almost home!” he lied.

“You better be”, the woman warned before the call ended. 

“Your mom?” Olivia asked while helping Jesse gather his belongings. 

He only nodded as he slid on a shoe, “Optimus, what time is it?”

The AI attached to his wrist responded immediately, “It is 11:00 p.m.”

Jesse didn’t bother saying goodbye as he dashed out the door and hopped on his hoverboard. The slim machine lit up and levitated above the ground, awaiting Jesse’s command. Jesse leaned forward and the hoverboard shot him across the street. As he rode, Jesse’s mind thought back to what Andy had told him earlier that day. 

“My dad was having a total freak out. Screaming into his telepinna and throwing things everywhere. I didn’t hear the whole conversation, but I heard enough. He was yelling about how someone crossed a line, that something was a total violation of our rights. I should’ve gone to bed, but I kept listening. I heard him say things, things about the government implanting little cameras into our eyes and controlling people.” He paused, savoring the attention, “Let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Jesse was so deep in thought that he didn’t have time to jump off the hoverboard before he was thrown over his fence and into his mother’s prized rose bushes. 

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Jesse pressed his hand to the detection system on the front door. The door gave a little beep as it confirmed his identity and slid open. Jesse readied himself for the yelling that was sure to come from his mother. But as he neared the living area he was only met with the blue light of the hologram T.V. His mother and father sat before it, utterly transfixed. 

“The enemy lines have now advanced as far as Ellington, where civilians are fleeing for their lives. The tide has turned against our favor, I urge everyone to do what you can to help protect us from these barbarians.” The young reporter said while wading through 3D footage of the bloody battles.

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Jesse had a hard time getting to sleep that night, he didn’t want to think about what was happening in the south. When exhaustion began to overcome him, he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stay awake. But it was in vain as he was soon fast asleep with thought of cameras, war, and Andy Johnson. 

The next morning started off completely normal. Jesse woke up five minutes before school started, skipped breakfast, waved his mom goodbye, and rode to school. But as soon as Jesse stepped inside he could tell that something was off. Everyone looked up as he entered and he saw the questions in their eyes. As he walked down the long hallway, people continued their muttering. Olivia’s hand shot out and careened him in front of her. 

“Woah! What-“

“Shhhhh. Just listen. You know those ridiculous stories Andy was spouting? Well now I think they might not be quite so ridiculous. Andy’s missing and his house is totally sacked.” Olivia gushed. 

“What do you mean missing?” 

“I mean gone! Vanished! I saw his house. Everything was wrecked. It looked like there was a struggle. But you know the weirdest thing? I came back a few hours later and it was completely fixed! There were a bunch of big black hovercrafts outside too.”

Jesse rubbed his eyes, trying to comprehend everything Olivia had just told him. “So you think it was the government? That they didn’t like Andy’s big mouth?”

Olivia’s eyes skirted the room, “Yes. No. I don’t know. All I know is that the government hasn’t been running things well for the lower districts and there’s talk of revolt. People are looking to sympathizers in the north for help, and the government doesn’t like that.” 

It was now that Jesse observed the sweat streaming down his best friend’s face. The fidgeting of her fingers and the aversion of her eyes. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

Olivia pulled Jesse further into the corner before blurting, “Jesse, my parents are sympathizers and so was Andy’s dad. 

Jesse’s eyes widened in shock before he shook his head, “We can’t talk about this.” 

He began to walk away but Olivia pulled him back, “Come on Jesse! This is serious, you can’t just ignore this. And you can’t tell anyone. The government has crossed some serious lines. There’s thousands of people in southern labor camps and even more brought into the military involuntarily. What they’re doing is wrong.”

Jesse ignored her again, “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

“I’m not going to class. The same people that destroyed Andy’s house are soon going to be knocking on mine. My parents and I are fleeing.” Olivia now had tears in her eyes, “Jesse come with us! It won’t be long before the government looks to the northern districts for labor and army recruits and you’ll be the first to go.”

Jesse only shrugged her hand off, “I have to get to class.”

“Jesse you’re being insane! If you’re coming, meet me in the ravine behind my house at 8:00. If not, forget I ever existed,” Olivia said angrily before stalking off. 

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Jesse found himself going through the motions of the day. He knew that he couldn’t just leave his parents but he also knew that she was right. Unrest had been growing for years and soon his life would drastically change. So after school Jesse found his legs carrying him to Olivia’s house. Jesse slowed as he drew closer, praying he wasn’t too late. He loosed a breath as he spied Olivia crouched, stuffing something into a bag. She looked up and her face broke into a wide grin. Jesse began crossing the clearing to meet her when a bright light illuminated the area. Everything happened so fast after that. Voices were shouting and feet were stomping. Jesse was knocked to the ground and the next moment hauled to his feet by an unknown pair of hands. 

Everything was muffled and blurred. It took Jesse a moment to steady himself.

“You traitor! How could you! I trusted you!” 

Jesse looked for the source of the noise and found Olivia sandwiched between two men in black uniforms. “You’re a coward Jesse Richards!” Olivia spat at him. 

“No, no, no… I didn’t tell anyone! I swear-“ Jesse rasped out.

“You didn’t have to,” a tall man said as he stepped out of the crowd, “We’ve got it all right here.” The man motioned to an Omtimus screen in his hand. The device emitted a live image of itself taken twenty feet away, about where Jesse was standing.