Morning in a low-lying slum
In the year 2125, the Earth has become a harsh environment uninhabitable due to global warming, rising sea levels, and pollution.
The privileged few, the Untouchables, live in safe domes, while the majority of the poor, the Gray class, live a life of daily war in a polluted environment.
The 'New Earth Project', which involves migrating to another planet called New Earth, is the Grays' only hope.
But Isis, a fifteen-year-old girl from the Grey class who lives in a shantytown on the water in New York, thinks differently.
Because I believe that we can live well even on a broken Earth.
Isis, who was admitted to a public school with excellent grades, studies like a madman, believing that only she can save her family from the swamp of poverty.


Isis barely came to her senses, checked her watch, and then opened her eyes in shock.
I thought Jack was lying to tease me… … .
It was real.

“This is like a tsunami!”
To explain how offensive this is, we must first mention that the ISIS family lives in a shack on a floating island in New York.
This is the largest shantytown on the east coast.
As global warming causes sea levels to rise by more than 20 meters, the lower floors of Manhattan's high-rise buildings are now underwater.
ISIS also lived in such water zones, that is, low-lying areas.
So, for them, there was no curse worse than a tsunami.

If ISIS graduates with excellent grades, they might be able to find a home on the top floor of a high-rise building or move to a neighborhood that doesn't flood—in short, to the mainland.

(syncopation)
Isis glanced back as she quickly left the lowlands.
Behind the forest of shacks huddled together, one arm of the Statue of Liberty could be seen jutting out from the sea at a 45-degree angle.
The Statue of Liberty collapsed about 20 years ago, and according to adults, it was so old that it couldn't withstand the waves.
Ever since Isis saw old photos of the statue when it still stood, she had wished she could see it in its entirety, if only once.
Of course, I know very well that it is impossible.

Once on land, I was able to run by kicking off the ground rather than walking on plank bridges floating on the water, so my speed increased significantly.
After a few minutes, the school finally came into view.
The ultra-modern building stood out comically against the cluttered surroundings.

Government authorities set up a communal school outside the dome to show that there was a place for low-income children in the education system.
Isis scoffed at the explanation.
He just said he didn't want the lowland kids coming into his dome, how dishonest!

Gray and the Untouchables
However, ISIS's hopes are in danger of being dashed in an instant when he gets involved with Orion, the untouchable of the untouchables and the successor to Parker Corporation.
He made the mistake of violating the school rule that strictly forbids physical contact between Gray and the Untouchables.
Fortunately, the situation was resolved without incident as Orion did not want Isis to be punished for some reason, and from that day on, the two children became aware of each other and felt strange feelings for each other.


Isis took a deep breath.
In a single moment, less than a second, my dream was about to be blown away.
Goodbye to apartments on land, good jobs, and a life without hunger.
It's all over now.
I had to get kicked out of school for bumping into Orion Parker… … .
I could already see my parents' disappointment clearly.
How do I tell them I ruined everything because I didn't hear the alarm clock ring in the morning? How do I tell them that it was a sin to stay up late studying to get first place, as I always did?

Suddenly, I remembered what I had heard from the woman next door.

“If you try to do better, you will fail.
I'd rather my grades be a little worse than they are now.
As my mother always says, it's going to get harder if you act like a bully at a rich kid's school."
I didn't know that might be true.
But what could I do with something like this? Isis hated losing more than dying.
I liked being first.
So, I did whatever it took to get first place.
And I thought it was unfair that being good at studying was an advantage, and that I had to hide it.
Isis was the type of person who hated showing weakness, but at this moment, she couldn't help but shed tears.


ISIS's Secret Garden
Isis and Orion are paired up for a performance evaluation and end up exploring the lowlands together.
The two, who had been wary of each other and felt distant from each other, gradually become closer as they openly confess their innermost feelings and experience dangerous situations where they are chased by gangsters.
Isis falls in love with Orion, even showing him her secret garden and classes with abandoned children, but soon after, an unexpected misunderstanding deeply hurts her and she closes her heart.


“Damn acid rain, it smells terrible.”
Isis chuckled as she watched Orion grumble and pinch his nose.
When I actually put on my impressions, my expression was so funny.
Besides, he was a more honest guy than I thought.
The fish sold at the market was not very fresh.
With no ice available and the room temperature hovering around 35 degrees, the conditions must have been dire. The stench emanating from the market must have been even more unimaginable.

When Orion looked at Isis, this time they both laughed.

“You look less cold when you smile like this.”
“Does that mean it looks less dull than gray?”
“I’m gray today too.”
“It only looks like that.”
As ISIS described the paltry economic activity in the lowlands, Orion peppered them with questions.
Orion seemed really interested in the lowlands.
He even greeted people he met on the street politely.
Isis felt a little relieved at the sight.
I was worried that the guy might be walking around here like an emperor, hunched over his shoulders… … .
No, to be honest, I was having a pretty good time.

(syncopation)
Thanks to this, Isis was able to secretly observe the child.
I hate to admit it, but the more time we spent together, the more I liked Orion.
The gray uniform also looked very nice on her.
There are people who hide their inner fire and don't care about minor flaws, and Orion was one of those people.

"How can we prevent the hungry from turning into rioters? Isis, I want to hear your thoughts."
Suddenly Orion asked.
Isis sighed deeply.
It was because I was thinking of my dad.

“The problem is jobs.
There are so many people who try to live hard somehow.
But robots are taking away human jobs day by day.
Because it seems like robots are more productive at work.
You don't know how many families are going broke because of lack of jobs.
If things continue this way, it won't be long before a serious riot breaks out.
“If we increased the number of people sending News Earth every week by tenfold, what would happen…?”
Orion remained silent and fell into thought again.

Upon reaching the lowlands, Isis felt a strange sense of emptiness.
Now Orion and himself had to turn to either side of the invisible, but clearly existing, class line.
Thinking about it like that made my heart ache.
I wonder if Orion feels the same way. I felt cruel to Mr. Van Duyck, who subjected children who had never understood each other and lived in different worlds, to this experiential learning experience.


An unbelievable miracle
Meanwhile, Miranda, who had been watching Orion and Isis' relationship with disapproval, schemes to have Isis's family win the NEP and leave Earth.
Isis, who is not entirely happy about abandoning everything she has built and going to New Earth for a fresh start, senses an ominous future.
And Orion, who had a hard time accepting the farewell from ISIS, becomes interested in NEP and searches for information, only to be confronted with a horrific truth he could not even imagine.


“Mom, I…….
“I just liked living like this.”
When Isis spoke up, her mother hugged her tightly.

“Of course it wasn’t perfectly good.
Still, in old New York, I picked up bits and pieces and made things, developed methods for growing vegetables, studied hard… … .
“I liked all of that.”
“I know, Isis.
Mom knows everything too.
But if you go to New Earth, everyone can get a better chance.
“You can have your own farm without having to study like crazy.”
A farm? A farm where vegetables grow so lushly that no one starves? How wonderful.
But was my dream to become a farm owner? Suddenly, Isis felt like her mother was an alien, a strange presence.
Then, suddenly, I realized that if I left Earth, my whole family would become aliens.
Alien Isis Mukebarani… … .
I hated being an alien more than being a farm owner.

Isis imagined the path to New Earth.
Six years trapped in a cylindrical spaceship shaped like a cigar.
It was too long, even though it was long.
When I arrive in New Earth, I will be twenty-one years old.
To be stuck in a lump of metal hurtling through space at 20,000 kilometers per second during the prime of my youth… … .

---From the text