Page 44 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 1

nineteen

Ispenthalfmy day in the records room and didn’t get through a third of the information. There was so much information I’d never seen before or knew existed. The laws regarding Omegas changed almost weekly for a while after the attack. Some were good ideas, others were trash, and I’m glad they got thrown out. Then they started to develop the system we have today but instead of just placing them with a pack who met the criteria they had them apply. Omegas still had a choice in the matter but the packs that passed and didn’t have the money to stay in the game started to riot.

This was when they took choice out of the equation altogether. Now it was which pack was next in line. How much money did they donate? Who were they related to, and what benefit could they bring to the members of the CoF?

Of course, this wasn’t how it was written on paper but I could read between the lines. It wasn’t hard to see those that got favored or even moved up the line when they greased the wheels. As a member of the CoF I’m entitled to an Omega joining our pack, but the problem lies in the fact I can’t choose who the Omega was. They give out whichever Omega was ready to begin breeding. When they were collected at sixteen, when their designation appears, they are trained, educated, and prepared for a life to be pampered and produce offspring that will hopefully be Omegas.

If Cambrie went into the program, I had no idea if she’d be the one we’d be given or if it would be another eligible Omega. You’d think we’d be sending them out to packs as soon as they were ready but no, we have ten Omegas, according to the report, that can be paired with a pack but none of the applicants could entice Yoram’s attention with a bribe. Everything I learned about this whole situation was just asinine.

A knock sounded on my actual office door. After lunch I’d come up here to get some real work done. Even if I couldn’t deal with the major problems we still had day to day issues to deal with keeping the city running. “Come in,” I called.

There was only one person my secretary didn’t alert me to and it was the devil himself. Yoram opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind him. He was tall and slim with a head full of neatly styled white hair, with a full silver mustache. Every suit he wore was simple and classic with everything in its place and pressed with sharp seams. The only pop of color he had was his tie and pocket handkerchief which today was a bold fuchsia. His belt always matched his shoes which were shined so you could see your reflection.

The old Alpha had a backbone of steel and never once slouched or had a momentary lapse of bad posture. He was rigid in his appearance as he was crooked in his politics. For him to feel the need to visit me in my office meant I did something he didn’t like. Which meant I saw him at least once a day but the look on his face told me I’d really pissed him off and I think I know what it might have been.

“Marius.” He nodded in greeting. “Hard at work I see. Is that the petition for the low income housing to go up on the west side near Bril Point?”

“Yeah, they’ve got good backing and they are partnering with a few other local organizations to offer support in the area. It’s a decent proposal and they already have plans to ward off issues that arise with low income sections,” I shared, looking it over once more.

“Good, good, let it pass to the next stage to let them know they’re doing a good job, then I’ll have the Zoning Commissioner deny them,” Yoram instructed as he pulled the sheets from my hand, looking them over. “This group just won’t give up. It’s the fourth time they’ve tried in two years.”

“I don’t understand. It was an excellent idea that would cost the city or the taxpayers hardly anything. People need an alternative to going homeless when they fall on hard times. This would help support those people and keep them out of the city funded shelters,” I argued, frustrated that once more Yoram was going to try and strong arm me into doing things his way. “Besides, the zoning angle won’t work, they’ve already gotten approval.”

Yoram’s lips thinned as he tore up the petition and dropped it in the garbage. “Why should we support those who aren’t doing their part for Oscad? If they were working hard at their jobs, providing for this country and the people in it, then there shouldn’t be this problem.”

I sat back and placed my hands in my lap keeping my expression neutral as Yoram showed the vile sack of flesh that he was. “What if they work for one of the many companies that just filed for bankruptcy and shut their doors? They don’t have a job to work hard at.”

Yoram scoffed. “They weren’t working hard! If those employees did their jobs right the company would have been making money and never would have had to file for bankruptcy.”

“So it would have nothing to do with the recent tax increase on sold goods within the city?” I countered. He knew I tried to fight it but with Alton out and deemed unfit to vote the City Magistrate was brought in to replace him. Which meant… I was on the losing side every time right now. Which reminded me I needed to check on the old coot to make sure Yoram hadn’t had him killed without me knowing.

“You made your feelings quite clear in your voting,” Yoram said, brushing off the fact that I made the argument that this very thing would happen if we raised the taxes.

“I’m sure you didn’t come here to deal with the low income housing matter,” I remarked. “So what is it that I can do for you?”

Yoram stepped in front of my desk and took a seat in one of the chairs as if it were his throne. Clearly this wasn’t going to be a quick matter or he would have just come right out with it. No, it was obvious he needed to maneuver carefully around whatever he was going to say… or rather not say.

“It was brought to my attention that you made some odd requests today in the records department. I felt it was best to come and speak with you directly to find out what possible reason you could have for looking into the birth records of Omegas for the last sixty years,” Yoram said so eloquently you’d have no idea how furious he really was.

No one had alerted him, he must have some protocol in place that notified him when people request information he didn’t want them to have. Bethany might be a busybody but she wouldn’t tattle on me. Instead she’d have denied me the information and told me to beat it. By Yoram doing this it told me far more about him than he realized.

“While I believe the system we have in place now was right for a time, I don’t think it’s the best way. We haven’t seen an increase in Omegas being born, in fact there are fewer births overall since we started paring them together. When Omegas don’t have the choice in their pack or who they bond to they don’t prosper. The ones in packs now have fewer heats and only one out of ten conceive from a heat when they do happen,” I explained. “If we want this city to recover, grow, and become prosperous once more, something needs to change.”

“So you think it’s the Omegas that are the problem?” Yoram inquired.

“Yes in a way,” I pulled out a sheet I made notes on. “I looked at birth rates from Betas and Alphas that have chosen their partner and they are having kids five out of every ten. That is exponentially more than what is happening with our Omegas. The chances of them being an Omega out of that type of union is once every ten but since they are having more kids they are producing more.”

“That can’t be true. We don’t have nearly that many in our government Care Centers,” Yoram argued.

“Yes, why would anyone be reluctant to give up their child to the government, never see them again, and have no idea what kind of pack they end up with?” I mused, thinking of how Cambrie viewed being an Omega. “A child’s worst fear nowadays is to find out they’re an Omega. So it stands to reason not all of them are coming forward voluntarily.”

“How could you possibly know that from looking at a bunch of old records?” Yoram blustered, his mustache twitching, the only sign he was enraged.

I leaned forward on my desk, resting my elbows on the edge and clasped my hands together. “Did you forget that my best friend and partner run the largest shelters in the city? It’s not hard for me to find out information like that.”

“Are you admitting to me that your shelters harbor and hide Omegas from the government?” Yoram snapped.

“Not at all. I’m merely sharing what the average layperson says in regards to being an Omega,” I countered, realizing I was on a slippery slope here. “If people don’t feel it’s in their child’s best interest to be taken to one of our Care Centers, then they won’t. There are other countries for them to live, granted many of them are far worse off than we are or in constant battle over land and power. It’s the reason we’ve become the pillar of our kind, showing that you can live free and love who you want.”

---