- Grandma, Grandma, Grandpa, I’m back!

- Welcome sweetie! Go take out your uniform and wash your hands. And don’t you forget about taking off your shoes!

Ten years had passed on a flash.

Jacks’ mother, Sasha, now divided an apartment with Elicias’ parents - Donavan and Amelia.

Her own finances, as well as Jacks’ and Elicias’, had all been confiscated by the government under the guise of “investigating” either if they were fellows in crime with Shabe or not.

It was absurd, but the government needed both as much resources as possible and to eradicate any sources of future resistance.

All employees of squeam, as well as their entire family two generations up and two generations down, had been deprived of all their assets and possessions.

Technically it wasn’t taken from them, but, rather, “frozen” in the banks while the “investigation” was on course.

However, there were no news on the case and the families had no lawyers to defend them. Sasha had done the best she could to defend their case in court, but even with the best of her efforts she barely missed the audiences’ deadlines three times.

All kinds of bureaucratic problems had been put on their way, and a law which allowed the government to “borrow” money from the squeam employees frozen assets had been passed on congress.

The situation was dire, and the family had to work hard to even buy bread. Many times Sasha thought of giving up on the legal process and just find some kind of work, but Donavan and Amelia refused vehemently.

Both had found jobs, but none of them paid well.

Squeam was too big, and in its downfall, all the world economies fell as well.

The initial infrastructure damage only was enough to consume a first-world country monetary resources, while the following damage due to all the chaos once all telecommunications and other essential services were cut had eaten more than half of the worlds’ collective riches.

On the few months of the aftermath, Sasha, Donavan, Amelia and Christina were all taken in custody of the army as their houses were thoroughly searched and scrutinized.

They had been interrogated and Sashas’, Donavans’ and Amelias’ neurosets had been confiscated.

In a certain way, even if they lived in poverty now, it was a good thing they had been taken in custody back in the day. They weren’t treated too badly, and everyone had their neurosets confiscated by the government anyway.

Everyone who didn’t kill themselves immediately or managed to hid it, of course. In some cases, people had even been tortured in order to reveal were did they hid their neurosets, but these kinds of tactics couldn’t be used to the masses - in the end, governmental propaganda was the main reason why people gave up on their neurosets - the “suicide-inducing drug”.

The fact is, the Jack and Elicia’s family managed to remain within the safe boundaries of a military headquarters for months, while the world outside was chaos and confusion.

They managed to avoid rebellions and conflicts, gangs and militia, hunger, disease and thirst.

In the end, they returned to society in the exact moment when all kinds of professionals for all kinds of professions were needed. The world needed to recover from the damage, and only through work, force of arms and anti-enemy propaganda could the governments control the masses.

Workers’ rights were revoked in the whole world, and private property was a joke, since the government gave production quotas to everyone who, in name, owned them. If you had a canned food factory, you better produce on 120% of your production potential, else it would be taken from you. If you had a three-bedroom house, you better have at least three adults living in it, or someone would be assigned to live with you.

It was a sad sign to see destroyed and abandoned houses next to packed-full tenements. However, it was easier to control people if they lived in small spaces.

Besides, every demolished house or ownerless products which were left behind because they couldn’t be packed on small rooms could be used. Even the terrains of the demolished houses would be used for small-scale planting, so no one could say they didn’t have something to work on.

It was on one of these small-scale plating zones that Amelia worked on, while Donavan worked on a food-processing factory west of their apartment. Sasha, of course, was on charge of learning as much about law as possible. She had to do it by herself, and without access to the internet - of course.

Things were difficult at the beginning, but the family gradually adjusted itself to the new lifestyle, as well as the world around them.

Christina, obviously, thought all of that was but normal. All her life she had liven under these chaotic worlds’ rules.

- Another serving, please!

As Sasha observed her granddaughter, a stiff smile and a flame of rebellion could be seen on her face and eyes.

Elicia’s and Jack’s spare neurosets had been hidden, and only she knew were.

Someday, her granddaughter would be able to meet her parents. She didn’t know how, but she could feel it on her soul.

As long as these items remained hidden, she was confident something good would happen.