《City of Truth》


 Chapter 1

    The tiny square I lived in had four houses. Tan lived in the north. He was a mechanical engineer, barely talked, lived a life of routine and hard work. Aisha lived in the west. She was a banker, wildly successfully at the age of thirty. Her mansion was the grandest in the neighborhood. Hiroshi lived in the east. He was a scholar in philosophy, extremely intelligent, sweet, and shy. Although he taught at Princeton and I went to Yale and our universities were rivalries, I enjoyed hanging out with him and we maintained a close friendship. I lived in the south. My name was Catherine ¨C but people usually called me Cathy. I was a lawyer, with a personality as curious as a cat. Things I enjoy included trying anything new and intellectual arguments, and sometimes I got into trouble for one of them or both.


    The story began when I had dinner with Hiroshi on a Friday night.


    ¡°You know, sushi is my favorite, especially the sushi you made.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a sudden change of topic from Kant, and then 21st-century international politics.¡± He said with a grin.


    ¡°You know, that¡¯s me.¡±


    Hiroshi¡¯s white Persian cat jumped onto my lap.


    ¡°Speaking of a change of topic, eh, Cathy,¡± he paused, ¡°I have something to tell you¡­ Erh¡­¡±


    I began to get impatient, but I was also used to his shyness. I looked into his eyes.


    ¡°Eh, I mean, we are good friends, but I wonder, if we can be more than that.¡±


    It did not surprise me too much. I had long felt that Hiroshi treated me more than just a friend. But I was never sure how I felt ¨C especially with what happened with¡­


    ¡°Ah, thank you.¡± For the first time I, one of the best lawyers in the City of the Truth, did not know what to say.


    ¡°Just thank you?¡± He seemed disappointed.


    ¡°Er, I mean, in an era when fetuses are genetically engineered by scientists and nurtured in tubes and bottles, and sexual needs can be easily satisfied outside marriages or even relationships, I am not sure if -¡±


    ¡°You are not sure if relationships still make sense.¡± Hiroshi smiled, no longer seemed shy. ¡°But love will always make sense.¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.¡°It¡¯s okay, Cathy, I can wait.¡±


    ¡°You said something something about genetically engineered babies?¡± Aisha laughed, ¡°you said that when he confessed his love or whatsoever?¡±


    ¡°I expressed how I honestly feel.¡± I replied, ¡°I honestly do not know if relationships make sense.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t.¡± Aisha, like always, seemed a hundred percent sure of herself. ¡°Only sex makes sense, and Cathy, what you need now, is good sex. When¡¯s the last time you got laid down?¡±


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t remember.¡± I felt judged. ¡°I mean, a girl can have other passions in life, like Rubik¡¯s Cubes or ancient Russian literature or ¡­¡±


    ¡°They are not sex.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then, I am not sure if I want to have sex with Hiroshi.¡±


    ¡°Trust me you don¡¯t, you are a beautiful lady, and he is just a skinny dork. Maybe sweet, but you deserve someone with real muscles and a pair of sexy blue eyes.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t know.¡± I actually knew for sure that muscles or sexy eyes weren¡¯t what I wanted. Aisha was hungry for power and money ¨C she also had good tastes for food, wine, and male bodies ¨C but I, like I said, had other passions in life.


    ¡°You ever wonder what life outside the City is like, Aisha?¡± I changed the topic.


    ¡°Undereducated, starving people who fight each other for no reason, producing kids out of lust and whatsoever. Life within the City is so much more civilized.¡±


    ¡°I am still just curious.¡±


    ¡°You are a high-profile corporate lawyer. You never work with anybody who is not a CEO or a leading counsel. Why are you even curious about things outside?¡±


    ¡°People can get curious about things they don¡¯t necessarily work with, right?¡±


    ¡°If I were you, I would be more curious about sex.¡±


    Aisha was a very competent person but also a douche. Hiroshi was not a douche, but he had neither said anything good about things outside the City.


    ¡°Eh, Cathy, you know, outside the City, they don¡¯t really value truth or knowledge or science. Kids like me used to be bullied and traumatized in the Age of Dawn. And now I am a respectable scholar, and I can enlighten the minds of our next generation and advance human knowledge with my intelligence.¡±