"Master your emotions, keep control, keep vigilant. Serve, respect, honor. Safeguard choice. Safeguard critique. Always be prepared to give the most. Never surrender."
She said the words out loud. The sentences and their meaning resonated in the atrium. She felt proud, so proud. This was her moment, the moment she committed to her truth.
The colonel repeated: "With this vow, you become a sworn Guardian. There is no before, there is only the repetition of Now, in which you protect the Enclave that was assigned to you." They had practiced the ritual again and again.
"Do you fully understand your responsibility and the life you commit to?"
She did not hesitate: "Yes, sir." On her confirmation, he plugged the Guardian's sequence into her DNA. It intertwined directly, making it visible to anyone screening or scanning her. The colonel moved on to the next recruit.
"She would always remember that day," she told the children. "She came fresh out of training and became a sworn Guardian. The feeling of intertwining strands of DNA did not compare to anything, it was like being instantly upgraded to something more than
human."
The children of Q.w3's Educational Gathering watched her shell-skin and armour with awe. She knew that among them there were little ones that would dream of a future as a Guardian tonight.
Her once-a-month educational talk on the functioning and role of the Guardians at the Enclave's Educational Gatherings was one she highly enjoyed. A decade had passed since she became the Guardian in charge of protecting Enclave Q.w3, by all means an Enclave to be proud of. All Guardians knew that The Enclave you served was not yours to choose. Fortunately, Q.w3 was inhabited by content, happy people that chose a non-interfering way of life, based on ecology, healthy food and contributing to society.
She had told the children the story of how she had become a Guardian about a thousand times, but with them on the edge of their seats, she could not resist.
"The only event that had impressed me more than me becoming a Guardian was the establishment of The Enclaves it self. On that day, all residents of Earth had committed to end War & Conflict. On that day, the Elders had executed their plan to divide the globe into Enclaves: communities founded on the desires, values and convictions of its residents. Those still seeking war and violence for their life experience would all be gathered in Enclave R.a1, those seeking to explore substance abuse and other forms of addiction would find each other in Enclave T.y2. And those seeking the religions and gods of the old world were welcomed in Y.j4.
"These were extremities, more nuances were made in other Enclaves, but the basic idea was that, based on the amount of people longing to live a certain life, the Elders assigned according pieces of land. Furthermore, Enclaves were served by
Guardians, who protected the values, lifestyle and derived laws an Enclave was
built on. They were peaceful law-enforcers, but highly skilled, trained and armed to the teeth. Anyone not willing to live by the standards of an Enclave was deported to his
matching community." As the children were very much aware of the destructive power her shell-skin held, they kept quiet.
"As Earth was an abundant place that held enough resources for all, assigning land based on desired lifestyle was the easiest way to satisfy all. If one member did not feel
at ease with a chosen lifestyle anymore, if children outgrew the convictions of their parents, or if one wanted to travel for the sake of experiencing different lifestyles, one could file a transfer request at the Elders, almost all of which were granted."
"Sgt. Base, how do we travel from one Enclave to the next?" one of the youngsters asked. They all loved talk of Looping, an experience that had not encountered yet.
"Traveling between The Enclaved is done through Looping; the opening and entering of a wormhole suitable for atom transition. Of course all Earthlings are well-trained in the meditative connection and control needed to Loop; deconstructing the physical body before and after opening a wormhole was a newly acquired evolutionary treat.
I believe your next Gathering will be about Loop Training?"
Base's questions spurred an enthusiastic roar among the children. Her time was up.