Part 1: Welcome to Adoy

Chapter 5: Meet the Bramley Family

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Our story begins in the small region of Adoy. Adoy was located roughly halfway along the south coast of Sapey. It was home to around ten thousand families. In appearance, it was like most other small regions. It had agriculture, industrial, and commercial zones. Most residents worked or studied within the region.

Adoy had the benefit of being located near the coast and to water inhabited by a vast number of Water Sapes. This provided the residents of Adoy with jobs relating to fishing and the extraction of resources located in or around the ocean. This meant residents employed in these jobs would frequently leave the region by train. For the whole journey, they would be confined to the train. They were only allowed to exit the train on arrival at the coastal workhouse. This was used as a base for their jobs. The residents of the neighbouring region of Hoy also worked these waters. Hoy was located east of Adoy.

Besides being located near the coast, the Adoy region was unique from other regions because of its residents. For all other regions, the vast majority of residents were very content with their lives and their lifestyles. In Adoy, the number of residents who were dissatisfied was small, but it was growing. They questioned the way the system operated. They questioned their lack of freedom in terms of travel and usage of currency. They even raised questions about the real threat posed by the wastelands.

The values of the residents of Adoy more closely aligned with the House of Divine Knowledge than the Business Sector. However, there was not a strong, fervent following like in many of the other regions. The Adoy House of Divine Knowledge was considerably more liberal in its approach to sharing knowledge and teaching than most other regions. They provided scope for its attendees to question anything preached or taught. This led to its residents becoming more open-minded; hence, more questioning of their world. This willingness and freedom to question sparked a chain of events that would change everything.

At the centre of these events was the Bramley family. The Bramley family did not appear to be particularly different from any other family that could have lived anywhere in Sapey. However, they found themselves at the centre of events that would change the course of Sapien history.

The Bramley family consisted of five Sapiens, two adults and three children. The two adults were the parents of the three children. The father was Jacob and the mother was Janice. Two of the children were in their late teens; they were brothers. The oldest brother was Darius; he was one year older than his younger brother, Demarcus. The youngest was Darlene. She was four years younger than Demarcus.

Jacob worked for the second-largest water agriculture business in Sapey. He was the captain of an average-sized fishing vessel. For six days at a time, he would work at sea catching Water Sapes. He seemed like a reserved male, but his fishing trips brought out the adventurous side of him. Janice was a childcare worker for the largest childcare business in Sapey. She took care of small groups of children between the ages of one and three years old. She loved working with children and became very close to the ones she looked after. Even years later, she would still remember the names of these children.

Darlene was halfway through her compulsory education. She wanted to be an explorer. It seemed like she had inherited her father’s desire for adventure and had the intellect to be successful. Her teachers dissuaded her from focusing too much on these ideas, as there was limited scope for explorers in Sapey. Jacob subtly encouraged her. He would argue that her interests could align with helping the Government find new locations for future regions. Deep down, he wanted a different type of adventure for her.

Darius and Demarcus were very close. However, their personalities were very different.

Darius was athletic and rebellious. He was very good at sports and desired to be a sports star. Sports gave him an avenue to express himself that he could not find in other aspects of his life. He took very little interest in what he was taught in school. Therefore, he did not excel academically. He was good at debating other students and even his teachers, which often got him into trouble. He secretly spent time with other students who were also rebellious like himself. However, they chose not to voice their opinions as openly as he did.

Demarcus was more focused on his academic studies and was considerably less athletic than his older brother was. Despite his physical limitations, Demarcus was always very competitive in whatever he did. Darius had considerable influence over his younger brother. This often caused Demarcus to become involved with Darius’ mischief. However, when things went wrong or they were caught doing something they should not be doing, Darius would always protect his younger brother. Demarcus aspired to either work with technology or become a philosopher for the House of Divine Knowledge. He was sufficiently talented to pursue either career.

Darius reminded Jacob of himself when he was younger. This caused him great concern. Janice was the calming influence in his life. Without her, his life would have been very different. Darius did not have a grounding influence. His closest female friend was more likely to compound his desire to rebel than curb it. This led to concerns about Demarcus as well, as he could easily end up in the same trouble as his brother. Both Jacob and Janice hoped that sports might help Darius become more disciplined and less rebellious.

The Bramleys were a close-knit family. Jacob and Janice would do anything to keep their children safe. However, they were not prepared for the events that would soon unfold in the Adoy Region.

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