The Albanian

A tale of administration and regulation set in a dystopian future perhaps not so far removed from our own...

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10102052:0717
Mary Worth, 33, Class 4. ID: X217467
14 Augusta Compound
IX District

     Administrator Grainger tapped the PDA and wiped a gloved finger across its surface with a tick-tock motion. He sighed and lifted his eyes to the lacklustre ball that laboured at the skyline, its pale light filtered weakly through the standing buildings of Augusta Compound and a faint breeze followed it. Housing Unit 14 stood on the first floor.
     He cast a glance at Senior Administrator Ribero who gestured onwards; the man�s mouth, as always a savage gash in a pockmarked landscape. The lips twitched, it could almost been a smile. �Something the matter Grainger?�
     The younger man shook his head and returned the PDA to the pocket at his side. �No nothing�� he muttered.
     Ribero sniffed and stalked onwards. �Good, I�m hungry, I don�t need to be messing around in there.�

     Grainger rapped curtly on the door to HU14 and waited, his heart thumping in his chest. Silence. The breeze picked up and blew sand across the walkway with a sibilant hiss, a small eddy of blown sand twisted at his feet. Ribero moved suddenly reaching for his weapon.
     �No, wait,� Grainger said quickly, throwing up a hand. He knocked again, louder this time. �Just let me handle this will you?�
     Ribero cursed sourly and returned the firearm to its holster with a look of disgust. He stepped back and turned to stare out across the interlinking blocks that comprised the sprawling Augusta Compound.
     The door opened as Grainger made to knock again. A woman answered, half-hidden behind the door, a bathrobe bound tightly at her waist and her auburn hair in disarray. Her eyes widened slightly and her mouth moved noiselessly.
     �Hello Mary,� Grainger said with a light nod.
     Mary Worth clasped a hand to her chest, her eyes creasing and the corners of her mouth curling ever so slightly. �Frank? My God� Frank? It�s been� how long?�
     �A long time�� He acceded.
     �How are you?� she said, blinking rapidly and exhaling, her relief palpable.
     Grainger set his jaw and raised his warrant card so that she could see. �I�m sorry, can we come in?�
     Mary blanched and her hand tightened on the door frame, her words tripping and stumbling from her lips. �I�I� it�s not a good�. not a good time, Frank, I�m just on my way out� and � and� how�s Judy?�
     Grainger placed a steadying hand against the coolness of the door, his gaze hardening a little. �Mary� we�re coming in.�

     Mary sat on the couch and clutched at her robe, her fingers bunching and twisting the soft material. Grainger sat opposite her, his hands clasped between his legs and his shoulders hunched. Ribero leaned against the far wall arms folded, his fingers tapping impatiently, his mouth twisted into a disagreeable line.
     �Mary,� Grainger said softly, extracting his PDA, �we�ve had a tip-off and you know as Administrators we have to follow up every-�
     She shook her head wildly, exaggeratedly. �A tip-off? What� what about? I haven�t done anything wrong.�
     �You know why we�re here,� Ribero snapped, scowling.
     �I just need to a check a few things, Mary,� Grainger said, ignoring his partner. �You�re a class 4 citizen aren�t you?�
     �No, no� I�m class 3, just waiting for my papers-�
     �Mary, hold out your hand.�
     Trembling Mary held out a hand whilst, Grainger passed the scanner across it briefly. It clicked.
     He raised his eyes to hers. �ID number X217467, Mary Ann Worth� Class 4.�
     She shook her head. �There must be a mistake, but it�s okay, I can go down to the Municipal Sector and get it straightened out this morning.�
     �Where�s Larissa, Mary?� Grainger asked.
     �She�s not here, she�s at her Grandmother�s,� Mary replied swiftly, blinking back big blurring tears.
     �F**k this.� Ribero spat. �This is taking too f*****g long.� He started towards the rooms beyond the living area.
     Mary sprung from her seat, a terrified gasp escaping her lips. As she flung herself before him, Ribero brought back his hand and swatted her from her feet. She crashed back across the couch with a grunt but scrambled to her feet and moved towards him again. Grainger caught her arm and wrenched her back. �Mary no! You know it�s an offence to impede a Administrator-�
     Ribero�s boot crashed against the door.
     �Well, well, well.� He cracked a humourless smile. Grainger moved beside him, already knowing what he�d see, his heart heavy.
     �And who is this?� Ribero said crouching, his dark eyes danced dangerously and his thin smile was mocking, almost jubilant. �You must be Larissa� but you, you shouldn�t be here at all��
     Mary pushed past them both gathering the two children in her arms. One, a girl around six years old, honey ringlets hanging to her cheeks and her green eyes glistening. A coded tattoo marked the inside of her right wrist, a signature, a seal of approval. Wrapped within the girl�s secure embrace, a baby, a few weeks old at best, its azure eyes inquisitive, round and blinking. The girl removed her hand from its mouth, the need for silence no longer required.
     The scanner clicked in Ribero�s hand and he arched an eyebrow. �It seems we have an unchipped child here.� He stared into Mary�s eyes and his gaze tightened.
     �Please,� Mary choked, �he�s not mine� I�m looking after him for a friend, I� I��
     �Then you are harbouring an illegal neonate and liable to prosecution.� Ribero stood and produced his PDA configuring a design upon its screen with a finger. As he did so he tilted his head slightly to speak into the mic at his throat. �Bring me the Albanian.�

     Grainger watched as the door opened to permit the tall man who ducked his head as his entered and removed a wide brimmed hat. The Albanian was skeletal with a waxy pallid skin, stretched like parchment over flat features. His head was bald and domed and his eyes were colourless and bleak. Wordlessly, he set down a black case upon the table and opened it with long tapering fingers.

     Tears ran down Mary�s ashen cheeks as Ribero began to read from the PDA:
     �By issue of the State: citizen�s of the Fourth Class are subject to governing rules in accordance with Para 13a of Article 9 of the Population Bill, 2047��
     Grainger�s eyes flickered between the three, his throat tight and his chest thudding, unconsciously he tightened his grip on Mary�s arm. The Albanian�s emotionless mask was in direct contrast to the horror and anguish that wreathed Mary Worth�s features. Ribero�s eyes glinted as he read on seemingly oblivious of the ministrations of the Albanian�s hands as they moved over the case�s contents.
     �Unauthorised or surplus offspring are deemed property of the State��
     �Please�� Mary said, �please don�t...�
     Her knees buckled and she crumpled to the floor.
     ��and are therefore liable for confiscation, destruction or employment if it is considered beneficial to the State.�
     �Please� I�m begging you��
     Ribero lifted his gaze and nodded to the Albanian.
     �Rules are rules, Mary and the law is the law. One child per family unit. You brought this on yourself��
     The Albanian tapped the syringe with a long finger and removed the cap from the needle. And then, looking down at her as if seeing her for the first time, said.
     �Which one do you want to keep?�


.......................

According to estimates published by the United States Census Bureau, the world population hit 6.5 billion on February 25, 2006.
The World�s population is currently growing by approximately 75 million people per year and is expected to hit 9.1 billion by 2050, a rise of 40%.

Author's Note

Effects of overpopulation:
Some problems associated with or exacerbated by human overpopulation:
� Inadequate fresh water for drinking water use as well as sewage treatment and effluent discharge. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, use energy-expensive desalination to solve the problem of water shortages.
� Depletion of natural resources, especially fossil fuels.
� Increased levels of air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination and noise pollution. Once a country has industrialized and become wealthy, a combination of government regulation and technological innovation causes pollution to decline substantially, even as the population continues to grow.
� Deforestation and loss of ecosystems that sustain global atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide balance; about eight million hectares of forest are lost each year.
� Changes in atmospheric composition and consequent global warming.
� Irreversible loss of arable land and increases in desertification. Deforestation and desertification can be reversed by adopting property rights, and this policy is successful even while the human population continues to grow.
� Illegal (and legal) immigration to the developed world on an unprecedented scale, creating an unprecedented demographic and political problem in Europe and the United States. Even the controlled and legal migration of talented and well-educated people from the Third World to the developed world denudes it of its limited skills base.
� Mass species extinctions from reduced habitat in tropical forests due to slash-and-burn techniques that sometimes are practiced by shifting cultivators, especially in countries with rapidly expanding rural populations; present extinction rates may be as high as 140,000 species lost per year. The IUCN Red List lists a total of 698 animal species having gone extinct during recorded human history.
� High infant and child mortality. High rates of infant mortality are caused by poverty. Rich countries with high population densities have low rates of infant mortality.
� Increased incidence of hemorrhagic fevers and other infectious diseases from crowding, lack of adequate sanitation and clean potable water, and scarcity of available medical resources.
� Starvation, malnutrition or poor diet with ill health and diet-deficiency diseases (e.g. rickets). Famine is aggravated by poverty. Rich countries with high population densities do not have famine.
� Poverty coupled with inflation in some regions and a resulting low level of capital formation. Poverty and inflation are aggravated by bad government and bad economic policies. Many countries with high population densities have eliminated absolute poverty and keep their inflation rates very low.
� Low birth weight due to the inability of mothers to get enough resources to sustain a fetus from fertilization to birth
� Low life expectancy in countries with fastest growing populations.
� Unhygienic living conditions for many based upon water resource depletion, discharge of raw sewage and solid waste disposal
� Elevated crime rate due to drug cartels and increased theft by people stealing resources to survive.
� Conflict over scarce resources and crowding, leading to increased levels of warfare.
� Over-utilization of infrastructure, such as mass transit, highways, and public health systems
� Higher land prices.

Reviews

[Nicole Hellene]

Hey sqiptar! I'm albanian! I'm guessing you must be too or at least you know one because you got the description pretty ironically dead on. You've got us portrayed as bad mutha's. Then again, the italians don't mess with us for a reason.

critiques: Let the dialogue stand alone. Good dialogue should always stand on its own and "she put her hand over her chest and answered�" only hinders the flow and annoys the reader. It's okay every now and then but you have it after every quote.

Ease up on the Albanians in the future man aight?

[R J Askew]

Apocalyptic indeed. Now may be a golden era.

[Bob Carney, "Soon ..]

I didn't read all the problems you listed, but I would imagine longer life spans would lead to higher health care costs as well. This is a disturbing story, especially the last line, but very typically "Howie" in it's delivery. India and China have, for years now, placed restrictions on family sizes and offer free vasectomys to the males. Here's an idea..
Hunting license's are issued in the USA and the main beast taken is the male. This insures a control on the size of the population without endangering it's existence as a species. It leaves enough females to breed and opens the doors for new dominant males to step up. Perhaps someday, movies like "Death Race" won't be so far fetched. Males of inferior stock are tagged and hunted while females must obtain a permit to carry a child. Sounds pretty fucked up, but it isn't too wild an idea. Ancient civilizations used to abandon inferior children to ensure only the finest gene pools. Will it come to that again?

[Sammypookins]

Goosebumps a Sophie's choice of futuristic proportions, the last line sent me cold. A superb write, well paced, atmospheric and very dark. Drew me in very quickly and I empathised with Mary from the first. Well done Howie and this is going in my faves so up yours ! Sam x

[Touché Armada]

Scared me to bloody death, knowing this can happen, oh my god what would we be creating?
Brrrrrr, chilling look to the future, very chilly and heart retching.
Could it all be solved by alowing our life spans to fall again to mid 40's?
Shorter lifes, no medical intervention, falling population?
mmm makes one thing thats for sure, great write, better than great realy, but damn scary.

[Phillip J Clayton]

dude ok am this si so breathe taking man, it's brillianc eis overwhelming worse it's actualy based on a reality, which make sit more emotional to read and heart felt, and by the way the music set the mode perfectly, it actually progressed with the music if read at a moderate enough speed, this is one fo my faves ever of you bro!

cheers!

[Spiritscript]

Ah yes! Hmmm... do you by any chance follow Bible prophecy? Please don't think I'm preaching, ok? I'm not, just curious. Everything you wrote here has been prophecied. Everything you wrote here is of utmost importance. Honestly Howie, this is excellent writing!

[Amanda Crandall]

wow, very powerful write and an impressive piece, Howie the soundtrack is a perfect fit.

[Marie]

Wow. This was wonderfully written and could so totally happen. I like the facts that you've placed in your Author's Note. Thanks for sharing Howie.

[Chantal-lise Mirman]

BTW, I rated this 100 - the first piece I've read that I think has deserved a perfect score.