Of Love and Caste

         "History tells us after Society fell, the Caste System solidified itself so that no government could tell them how to live, how to spend money, or who to trust." Talia strode past her brother as he lay on the ground. He coughed, holding his cracked ribs, silence his only response. "Father wanted a son first, but I was born instead; a cripple at that. The Upper Caste couldn't stand the sight of me, the Middles couldn't use me, and eventually, even the Lower Caste saw me as a burden. But look at me now, Tomas."
         Squinting through the bruising, Tomas looked on the woman he knew to be the sister his family lost long before his birth. Supported by a thin, metallic exo-skeleton bolted directly into her flesh, she towered over him. Her outfit was one of a Pleasurist, vinyl bands barely covering her large breast and tight, toned buttocks. Dazzling, shining platform boots made her a hand taller than she really was; reinforced aluminum, a well-placed kick could break a bone as easily as cast-iron could.
         Leaning down, she gripped his face firmly, kissing his swollen eyes gently. She licked his forehead, moaning as his sweat and blood danced across her tongue. "Tell me, Tomas. When you bedded me the first time, did you suspect? Was there any of those psychic warnings that our family is famous for? Breeding with your sister is a bit taboo even for an Upper Caste man such as yourself, but when you finally suspected, why did you keep coming back?" After running her tongue up his bloodied cheek, she kissed him full on the mouth. "Give me a reason not to end you right now."
         He righted himself and she released her grip. He spat, wiping his busted mouth with his hand, and winced as he got into a sitting position. Bracing a hand against his side, he kept his eyes closed as he spoke. "I've got three reasons. Firstly, I don't have the family's gifted legacy. I'm adopted. The people that you work for, the ones that gave you the exo-suit, made you a Pleasurist, turned you against the Castes and your family, they never told you the whole truth. I'm your brother only by name. Secondly, father and mother never wanted to give you up; you were taken away. They were told you were extinguished, but your current employers guessed of your psychic potential and bought you. That was before the Edict of Equality passed into the Rules. Now every child is given a chance to prove themselves useful in the eyes of their Caste. Mother often spoke of you and Father lit a candle every year on your birthday."
         Coughing and spitting up more blood, he cracked his eyes as much as they would open. She crouched before him still, her eyes searching his face. He winced as he continued. "The third reason, the reason I kept coming back even though I knew who you were, was because I love you."

         The Usurpers destroyed the Caste system, but their victory was short lived. The Usurpers had put many of the Upper Caste House Leaders to death instantly and jailed or kidnapped many of the key figures from both Lower and Middle Caste Houses. Within days of Vice Prime Minister Tomas Shearing's kidnapping and disappearance, he resurfaced with a list of the Usurper Leader and a vengeance to exterminate them with a prejudice.
         His was a crusade, ordained by Fate and Destiny: "These two forces all men are subject to, regardless of Caste," he is quoted saying. He headed a group known as the Noble Rebellion, made largely of Middle and Lower Caste Houses that were afraid of losing their tenuous leading positions. After two weeks of man-hunts and cloak-and-dagger dealings, the Usurpers, from the lowest ranking foot soldier to the mysterious leaders circle, were executed and stricken from the annals of history.
         With so many holes created in the leading Homes of all three Castes, due to both the Usurpers' infiltration and the Noble Rebellion's purging, many Houses were combined into new estates, promoting many Middle Houses into the Upper Caste, Uppers into Lower, and Lowers into Middles. The state of chaos in the Castes lasted for nearly two years before a final accord was struck. The then reigning Prime Minister, Tomas Shearing, brokered the Ruling Treaty and, with much ceremony and publicity, signed his approval on all the new Caste Houses, Rules, and Bylaws. After the final document was settled, the Prime Minister retired and faded into obscurity.
         Surviving documents and accounts show that instead of returning to lead House Shearing in the Upper Caste, the former Prime Minister took a large sum of Imperial credits from one of the newly formed Upper Houses for the Shearing Estates. House Shearing vanished from history altogether. However, Tomas Shearing used the credits to secure himself and his family a new estate in the Middle Caste, calling it House Clarity.
         Rumors of mysterious visitors and secret meetings plagued House Clarity, but none more so than any of the Houses in the any Caste. The facts that are intriguing to note are the accounts of his wife, Talia, a woman noted to have no history of former Caste, House, or even birth. Gossip still floats through historical accounts, unconfirmed by picture or House History, that she was both a cripple and a recluse, while other witnesses reports say she was a woman of stunning appearance and charm, able to perform feats of psychic abilities.
         Nothing of accurately logged fact remains in the Caste Histories, but the family records do show that Tomas and Talia of House Clarity, Middle Caste, both lived an additional fifty-years after the Noble Rebellion, siring several children, who would all go on to hold key political offices in all Caste and Civil offices.