Synthetica Read Online Free PDF Page B

to believe that she was destined to
work in the picochip factory until the end of her days. She wanted
to march back into that room and scream, shout, plead and beg Mrs
Persimmon not to send her to the factory – but she also knew that
it was far too late. She had a horrible suspicion that even if she
hadn't applied for a position that was so obviously beyond her
means, they would've taken one look at her parent's backgrounds and
they would've done the same thing anyway. For one wild moment, she
had considered simply not turning up to her new job on Monday, but
she knew what would happen she did that. For every hour she didn't
show up, her parents would be fined an exorbitant amount, both their
jobs would be at risk and they'd most likely end up in prison, along
with her, for breaking the law.
    Her dream of saving up and buying her own SLP was in tatters as
well. There was no way during this lifetime that she'd be able to
save up enough credits to buy one on her wage from the factory. So
there was no hope of progression and no hope of buying her way out.
No matter which way she looked at it, she couldn't escape her fate.
    Just across from her, a couple had just walked out of the building,
the girl sobbing uncontrollably as her boyfriend tried in vain to
console her. Although the boy was making soothing noises, it was
obvious from his slight smug expression that he hadn't received bad
news at all. Anais was tempted to throw her half empty bottle at
him.
    Her RetCom bleeped and she opened a new message from Xander without
her usual spark of excitement.

    How did it go?? Will we be work
buddies too ;)? X

    Anais didn't have the heart to reply. She'd already received several
messages from her parents, asking her how she'd got on, and she
hadn't replied to them either. She deleted it and sat back against
the smooth tree trunk, closing her eyes and wishing she could come
up with just one brilliant idea which meant she wouldn't have to go
to her new job.
    “ Anais!”
    Anais opened her eyes to see Dalla walking across the grass towards
her with a spring in her step. Anais' heart fell further. She knew
immediately what Dalla was going to tell her, and she wasn't sure
she wanted to hear it.
    Dalla flopped down on the grass beside her, pulling out two bottles
of lemonade from her bag and handing one to Anais.
    “ So
how'd yours go?” Dalla asked. Anais, who was taking a long drink,
shrugged.
    “ Alright,”
Anais said finally, as she lowered her bottle. “How about yours?”
    “ Well,”
Dalla looked as though she'd burst with excitement if she had to
keep it to herself a moment longer. “I've been accepted on
Civitas' Program Development internship! Isn't that great?
Apparently it was between me and this guy who's dad works for the
company, and he's some kind of genius at computing, but he got
ninety five percent on his exam and I got ninety seven! So they gave
the job to me! Isn't it fantastic?!”
    “ That's
great, Dal,” Anais said, though her voice sounded hollow to her
ears.
    There was an emptiness opening up in Anais' heart as Dalla went
over every little thing her advisor had said to her. Although she
was happy for Dalla, there was also part of Anais that was
undeniably jealous. And she hated herself for it.
    They
had both grown up in the same part of the city, and while Dalla's
parents both had mediocre jobs working for the medical supply
company, MediTech, Dalla had always seemed to have that magic touch
that meant she sailed blissfully through life. She was top of the
class in most subjects, she was friendly and charming, and Anais had
always known that her friend would end up being a high flyer in the
city. While Anais would be stuck in that bloody picochip factory,
the mind numbing monotony gradually wearing her down day after day
after day.
    But that wasn't fair of Anais. It wasn't Dalla's fault she'd been
born clever and charming, as well as being beyond the usual levels
of beauty that most people had. Although