Utopian Short Story

Kin stretched out the gaming poster and slotted one end into the stand, he took a look at the pile of posters he had and heaved a sigh. The work was much drearier than he thought and after spending three days in Hewat and hundreds of repetitions of the same activity Kin didn’t think it could get any worse but Kin knew he would rather be efficiently slotting posters all day than having to be the waste collector that removed radioactive liquid from heating cells. He sighed in relief as the meal bell chimed and hurried to the village centre where he lined up for a paper bag of lunch and sat at his usual spot in a corner next to the warm heating vents left over from the war. Hewat was still being cleaned up from the effects of the last world war and although there were still bits of ruins everywhere, the government was making exponential political and economic recovery and growth, unseen before in the world stage.
The square was quiet except for the crumpling of CitycorpTM sandwich papers and the crunching of jaws on lettuce which droned on as the villagers ate. CED (Citycorp Enforcement Drones) hovered around to monitor as CitycorpTM rations were being handed out. Ever since the government takeover and Hewat village was one of the “lucky” few agglomerations that was being used to trial the new government rations. The government had been using BM or bio-meat as a new alternative to red meat, there had been an escalation in the prices of black market meat. Kin examined the packaging of the food and the forever present government message “Productivity, Sustainability, Positive activity”. The village of Hewat were responsible for wheat production, although Kin worked for the government with employment and advertising he knew the importance of the rows of dishevelled buildings and windmills that surrounded him and their role in supporting the nation state as an agricultural centre.
As the lunch bell rang again, Kin shuffled with the mass of quiet children to head