Chapter Text
The town alarm is what wakes them all.
Young and old, rich and poor, the loud ringing of the bells pulls them all from their slumber.
For those who are deigned valuable enough to reside in the Square, the bells are particularly resound. It’s the noise Felicity Palmer has been roused to every day for the past three years. The bells ring and she and her husband rise from their bed to start their day.
There’s few alive who still remember what it was like before the Omniscient took over. There used to be more rebels and protests but as people grew to forget what it had been like in the time before and their children were born not knowing any different, peace and prosperity spread across The Society.
Or at least that’s the image they like to promote.
Felicity groans as she walks through the morning machine. They didn’t have all this high-tech stuff where she grew up and even after three years, she hasn’t gotten used to the speedy shower and being dressed by a machine.
“Good morning Mrs. Palmer, your coffee is prepared and waiting for you.”
The regimented voice of their AI speaks the familiar words as Felicity makes her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. The house is bigger than she ever used to imagine houses could be growing up and she’s still in slight disbelief that she lives in what can only be described as a mansion.
Though she never imagined how true the old titbit ‘money can’t buy happiness’ would reign.
“You know you really shouldn’t be drinking that.”
Ray’s voice no longer makes Felicity jump. She knows now after three years of marriage that he’s going to be sat at the island when she enters the kitchen. That’s the thing about living in The Society, nothing ever changes.
“Technically coffee is full of antioxidants and caffeine promotes central nervous system stimulation. Therefore, it is healthy and in line with our productivity guidelines.” Felicity rambles off the familiar response.
Coffee isn’t something a lot of people have access to, one of the benefits that come with a husband who works for the people in charge and living in the most upmarket part of society. Felicity never had a cup before the age of sixteen but she has quickly become addicted to the caffeine-filled beverage, averaging around four cups a day. It’s her only vice, she doesn’t drink or smoke like Ray and so many of his friends, so she excuses herself for her reliance on the privileged good.
“You must have built up a tolerance to it by now,” Ray tells her and Felicity shrugs, sipping the sweet nectar with a long sigh.
“It still works its magic.” She replies curtly.
“What’s my schedule for the day?”
Just like that, the brief moment of domesticity is gone. The charm that Ray had when their mate status was first revealed has all but worn away by this point in their marriage. The fleeting teasing of her coffee habits each morning is the only spousal warmth the two of them share and then, just like every morning, it’s straight to business.
“Your morning is scheduled in the lab and then you have a meeting with the Council at one. Then, of course, we have the gala tonight.” Felicity reels off, pulling up the information on her panel. The small, touch screen insert in her wrist allows her to access all of the information she needs to and is cleared to see. It was Ray’s first ground-breaking tech, the thing that put him in the Omniscient’s eye and now, everyone in The Society is required to have one.
“Alright, we should get moving. The Omniscient wait for no one.” Ray tells her and Felicity sighs, downing her coffee and looking longingly at the food fabricator before she grabs a banana and heads out to the shuttle at Ray’s side.
The glance she gets at the sky tells Felicity that it is blue. That is not a surprise. The sky is always blue in Starling City. After research found that productivity levels are boosted when humans perceive the weather to be nice, the projection project was launched. The piece of tech now launches an image of a nice day into the sky, even if it is miserable, and a protective barrier stops rain from getting in.
They quickly exit the gated area of the Square and head towards the shuttle stop.
The main area of the shuttle looks packed, as it always does this early in the morning, but Felicity follows Ray away from the queues waiting to join the public transport to the separate line a few steps away. This one leads only to the Tower, only for the mated, and is, therefore, practically empty. Ray gestures her towards a seat and Felicity sits down, her husband in the seat across from her.
Felicity looks out the window at the city flying past. She doesn’t try to engage Ray in conversation, not after the first time when he had looked at her as if she had two heads and told her that he likes to use travel time to catch up on communications he may have missed.
Some people talk of how Starling used to be before the Glades declared themselves independent and the city was the epitome of the American class divide. Of course, that word’s banned now within the city walls. People are not Americans, they are members of The Society and subjects of the Omniscient.
“The Tower.”
The overhead voice speaks plainly and Felicity rises from her seat, following her husband off the shuttle and into the tall, imposing building. The Tower sits in the middle of the city and it is where the Omniscient are based out of. All the algorithms that control everyday life in The Society are run from within the Tower and the secrets of the Omniscient’s success lay within its walls as well.
That level of high profile information means heavy security. There are long lines of mateless workers every day who have to be scanned and searched every time they enter and exit the building. For the mated, however, it’s a much simpler process.
“Good morning, Mr. Palmer.” The security guard greets at the mated gate greets. Ray nods politely at him and steps aside to let Felicity through first. The guard averts his eyes, as a mateless, if he’s suspected of showing any form of disrespect to a Society wife, he could lose everything. Including his life.
It doesn’t surprise Felicity that most of them choose to avoid looking at her.
They reach Ray’s lab and Felicity’s desk which sits outside it, visible through the glass wall, and Felicity settles down into her seat.
Another day in the office.
Another day that’s exactly the same as the last.
Her morning is boring. It involves a lot of arranging meetings for Ray and rearranging other meetings. Ray doesn’t break for lunch so she doesn’t either, eating the sandwich, Helen, the mateless worker brings her from the food fabricator downstairs. It’s bland and dry but Felicity thanks her profusely for it, nonetheless, smiling at the smile she manages to put on the young girl’s face.
“Felicity?”
Ray calls her into his office just as she finishes eating and she moves quickly.
“What’s up?” She asks, frowning as he shuts down half of the protocols in the lab.
She knows what this means.
He wants her help with something.
“I can’t seem to get this processor to run at its full capacity.” He explains in a low voice, quiet enough that if the microphones in the lab are still enabled, they won’t be heard. Felicity frowns, moving to look at the code. Within a couple of seconds, she spots the issue and fixes it, stepping back with a smile.
“There you go, that should do it. You just had some of the code in the wrong order and it was inhibiting the processing speed.” She explains and Ray frowns, looking back over her improved code with an impressed look.
“Thank you, Felicity. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.” He smiles and she nods, taking a deep breath. That’s the most affectionate thing Ray has said to her in months. It’s hard not to get emotional. His panel alerts and Ray frowns, letting off a curse as he looks at the message.
“What is it?” Felicity asks and Ray shakes his head, booting up the system so that the lab is back at its full working level once more.
“The Council are here and they’ve brought a guest.” He says quietly, tidying up his work area.
“Who?” Felicity questions, very confused as to who could have her husband so rattled.
“Commissioner Chase.”
Felicity freezes.
“As in…?”
“Yes.”
She lets out a low curse of her own.
Commissioner Chase is the youngest commissioner in the history of the Omniscient. Known for his strict regulations and borderline cruel practices, he’s been serving in the Outlands for the last four years, leading the crusade against the Lawless. It was announced a week or so ago that he would be returning to society and he has been granted a higher position on the Council in payment for his service to The Society and the Omniscient.
And now he’s on his way to Ray’s lab.
“Felicity? You need to not be in here when they arrive.” Ray tells her and Felicity jolts, nodding her head.
“Right, okay, going. Now.” She tells him and takes a deep breath, moving back out to her desk with a few deep breaths. She doesn’t know why she’s so nervous, she most likely won’t be acknowledged by any members of the Council anyway.
There’s just something about Commissioner Chase. She doesn’t feel like she will feel safe around him. It’s more than his reputation.
She doesn’t know what it is.
Sure enough, when the Council arrive, they walk past Felicity’s desk and into Ray’s lab without a second glance at her.
Felicity gets a good look at Commissioner Chase as Ray starts giving the Omniscient a tour of what he’s been working on.
He’s young.
She knew this already but she wasn’t quite prepared for it. It somehow makes him scarier. If someone barely older than her can inflict all the damage he has, what will he accomplish by the time he’s older?
His face is stern with a chiseled jaw and harsh features. If he didn’t have such a terrifying persona, Felicity supposes that he might be deemed attractive but his aura is far too hard for anything of the like to properly pass through her mind.
Staying as quiet as she can, she moves to the doorway so that she can listen and she winces as she listens to Ray try and fumble his way through an explanation of a new algorithm that she wrote basically all the code for.
Not that the Omniscient will ever know that.
He can’t get it to work and Felicity knows exactly what the issue is. The men are getting more and more agitated and Felicity winces.
“You need to allow for the coefficients. It’s a binomial algorithm.” She speaks before she can control herself and all eyes in the room flick to hers.
“You allow your mateless to speak, Palmer?” Commissioner Chase questions, looking at Felicity with a snarl and she frowns, looking over at her husband.
“Felicity is not a mateless, Commissioner. She is my wife.” Ray explains but the stern man only looks more confused.
“Then what on earth is she doing here and why is she speaking as if she has any idea about what we’re looking at?” He questions, his gaze trained on Felicity with a deep scowl on his features. She immediately looks away under the intensity of his gaze.
“Mrs. Palmer was granted an exception to work as her husband’s secretary, Commissioner, due to her exceedingly high results in her pre-marital IQ test. Simply put, the Omniscient didn’t feel that a mind like hers should go to waste.” Commissioner Kord explains and Chase frowns, an eyebrow raised in question.
“That’s a strange allowance.” He comments, his eyes swooping over Felicity’s frame in a way that makes her feel wholly uncomfortable.
“She’s um… she’s Kuttler’s daughter, Commissioner.” Another member of the Council, Commissioner Bowen, speaks up and Chase’s expression spreads into a smile as understanding dawns on him. He looks Felicity up and down very purposefully, his eyes lingering on her torso and she fights the urge to fidget on her feet under the scrutiny of his gaze.
“But she shall return to your household when she bears your children, Palmer?” Chase asks but his eyes never leave Felicity’s body. She hates being discussed as if she’s not in the room, especially with Chase’s disgusting, lascivious gaze trained on her.
“Yes, Commissioner. When my wife and I are lucky enough to be graced with a child, she will return to our household to fulfill her duties as a Society wife.” Ray replies and Felicity forces herself not to gasp. She’s known that’s been the deal for years, the one that was struck after her IQ test proved that her mind might be useful. It hurts, however, to hear Ray speak the words as if he’s waiting for the day when she will stay alone in their house and play pretty little housewife with their children.
“And how long have you been married, Palmer?” Chase questions. Felicity does shiver as he walks towards her, his eyes still never on hers but trained on her body.
“Three years, Commissioner,” Ray replies quietly but Chase still catches it, the air slipping through his teeth in a hiss as he reaches Felicity’s side.
“Three years and no child? She’s obviously defunct.” Chase comments and Felicity forces herself to continue looking forward as his hand lands on her lower stomach, where she would be swelling if she were pregnant. This would be totally inappropriate behavior from anyone else but Chase is a member of the Council. With the high position that he holds within The Society, Felicity knows that any resistance or reaction could prove catastrophic for both her and Ray.
“We still have two more years to fulfill our duty to the Society.” Ray comments, reminding the commissioner of the rule and Chase lets out a slow hum. His hand falls from Felicity’s stomach but she only has a moment of relief before his lips are at her ear.
“Better get to it, Mrs. Palmer.” He tells her in a low growl and Felicity cannot stop the small yelp she lets out as his hand smacks against her ass. Tears spring to her eyes but she knows she cannot show her weakness, not in front of Chase. The man lets out a cold laugh and Felicity very almost breaks.
“Felicity, you may return to your desk.” Ray finally speaks after a moment of silence and Felicity resists the urge to slump in relief as Chase steps away from her.
“Yes, Sir.” Felicity bites back, forcing down the rage rising in her as she rushes from the room. Not wanting to sit at her desk where the Council can still see her through the glass, she flees to the bathroom and overrides the time allowance protocol in the furthest cubicle. The hot sting of humiliation rises in her and the tears follow not long after.
How dare that man put his hands on her like that? How dare he call her defunct and speak of her body as if it’s a piece of meat at a market?
It takes her half an hour to work up the courage to exit the bathroom once more and when she does, it’s to the sight of her husband stood by her desk.
“What on earth were you thinking?” Ray hisses at her, anger all over his face and Felicity frowns, confusion the only thing she can consider right now.
“I was thinking that you were about to make a fool of yourself in front of the entire Council!” She counters, moving around the desk to sit in her seat.
“Are you trying to land yourself back in the Outlands? Because you’re doing an awfully good impression of someone who is.” Ray tells her and Felicity takes a deep breath, collecting her emotions.
“No, and for your information, I only stepped in because I was trying to help you. Unlike you, who just allowed Commissioner Chase to humiliate me in front of the Council.” She bites back, that sick feeling rising in her once more as she remembers the feeling of his hands on her.
“Did you want me to get both of us exiled to the Outlands?” Ray asks, throwing his hands up and Felicity sighs.
“Of course not, but I did not appreciate you allowing that man to put his hands on me. I have never been so embarrassed in my life.” She tells him and Ray snorts, shaking his head.
“You’ve never been so embarrassed? I stuck a limb out for you, all those years ago, Felicity. I fought for you to be allowed to work, I didn’t reject you as my mate when I was given the chance. You cannot act like that in front of the Council or we will both have to deal with the consequences.” He tells her and he’s so in her face. She’s never seen him this impassioned, this angry. It’s a little scary.
“Well, I’m sorry I wasn’t worth all the effort.” She tells him, pushing away from him in her chair and she hears him sigh heavily. His hand grasps the back of her chair and spins her around to face him. She goes to protest but he speaks before she can get the words out.
“Commissioners Kord and Bowen are still here. They wish to speak to you.” He tells her, suddenly the picture of calm and Felicity frowns, very confused as to what is going on.
“Seriously?”
“Yes, and I wouldn’t keep them waiting.”
Felicity takes a deep breath and throws her deepest scowl at her husband before she wipes her eyes and moves back towards the lab where the two Omniscient Council members still stand.
“Mrs. Palmer, thank you for speaking to us.” Kord smiles patronizingly at her and Felicity nods, folding her hands in front of her.
“Of course.” She replies politely, looking between the two men with a polite smile.
“We feel, Mrs. Palmer, that perhaps it might be time for you to focus on efforts on your true purpose in Society,” Bowen tells her and Felicity frowns, looking between them and Ray.
“I apologize, Commissioners, I’m not entirely sure I understand.” She replies and Kord nods.
“It’s alright, dear. We feel that perhaps your employment here has hindered your adaptation to our ways rather than helped it in the way that we assumed it would.” He tells her and Felicity takes a deep breath as what is happening starts to sink in.
“You’re firing me?” She asks, rounding to look at her husband with an incredulous look on her face.
“Now, young lady, don’t be hasty. You’re aware that this job was a liberty in the first place. Along with your husband, we have decided that it has had an adverse effect on you.” Bowen states sternly and Felicity takes a deep breath.
“So that’s it then?” She asks and Ray shakes his head, the warning evident in his eyes. He places a hand on her back, stiff and obviously a prompt. He’s not attempting to provide her any comfort but instead warning her to behave.
“Your duties will be focused on the household now, Felicity. You were always saying you wanted to spruce the place up a bit, weren’t you, darling? Well, now you’ll have the time.” He tells her and Felicity takes a deep breath, swallowing down the lump growing in her throat.
“What an excellent idea. I’m sure Elizabeth will be happy to give you some tips.” Kord tells her and Felicity takes a deep breath, trying to muster the energy to smile at the idea of conversing about interior décor with Kord’s vile wife.
“How very kind of her.” She comments and Kord nods.
“Of course, we’re also hoping that this will help your chances of fulfilling your duty. Without the stress of a job, we’re sure that your house will be blossoming with the pitter-patter of little feet in no time.” Bowen smiles and Felicity nods, her teeth gritted in a smile.
“We can only hope, Commissioners!” Ray laughs, his hand rubbing over Felicity’s back in what she’s sure looks like encouragement to the men in front of them.
“We’ll leave you to pack up your things and head home, Mrs. Palmer. We’ll see you both at the gala tonight.” Bowen tells them and they both nod.
“Thank you, Commissioner Bowen, Commissioner Kord,” Ray comments as they head towards the door and his fingers press into Felicity’s back, obviously pushing her to do the same.
“Yes, thank you both.” She repeats quietly but is surprised as Commissioner Kord steps forward, his hand briefly brushing her arm.
“I’m terribly sorry, dear, that we ever allowed you such liberties in the first place. It is clear to us now that it inhibited your ability to fulfill your true role in the Society and for that, we are truly regretful.” He tells her, pain evident in her eyes and even as the feeling of sickness rises in Felicity’s throat, she maintains a polite smile.
“Thank you Commissioner Kord, I look forward to completing my true duty.” She spits out even though each word feels like a betrayal. It seems that the commissioner takes her anger as emotion at finally being free to be a perfect, little housewife and he smiles that infuriating smile at her once more before he and Commissioner Bowen leave.
Felicity pushes away from Ray the second they are out of sight.
“Felicity…”
He starts but she shakes her head, her eyes already overflowing with tears.
“Don’t, Ray. Just don’t.”