"Hello Alfred, I'm George and I'm here to take you to your new home."
A tall man with tanned skin and black hair stood before a little kid not older than 8 years old.
He wore a classic suit that one would expect from a respectable member of society.
He had a professional and seemingly carring smile on his face.
And he was currently kneeling in front of the child as to not seem intimidating.
But internally he only thought that this task was a chore.
He worked for a growth company as a 'recruiter' and his goal was to help the new children to integrate by showing them around.
Most of the time the kids were well behaved and followed the advice of their parents and the seemingly kind older man.
But sometimes there were little brats that were too clingy and refused to leave their parents side no matter how much they tried to convince them.
And this was the case for this particular kid, Alfred.
He was what one would expect from an 8 year old child, Black hair, brown eyes, a clear skin nothing out of the ordinary.
His build was a bit muscular for his age but it wasn't really rare for child born on crops planets.
"Listen kid! I know that you don't want to leave your parents, i was there too and i know how hard it is to leave the one who loves and cares for you the most...but the separation won't be forever and you will be surounded by so much friend at the institution that you will not even feel lonely for a second."
Alfred looked at the man for a moment before going back to clinging to his mother's leg.
"I don't wanna ten years is too long!"
His voice sounded exactly like the sound of a small kid that was holding back his tears
And if George wasn't used to this, he would have maybe showed some sign of pity on his face.
But he had a job to perform and he didn't have the time to waste hours trying to convince each child.
So he chose the fastest method he knew to get this over with.
"Hey you wanne see a cool trick kiddo?"
And without waiting for an answer he took a step back before jumping in the air.
But contary to what one would expect, the laws of gravity didn't seem to apply to him as he stayed still in the air.
In front of this display, Alfred opened his mouth wide.
And so did his parents who showed some signs of surprise.
People that could fly were not that commun at least not on this planet and the rare individuals who were able to perform this surreal act were always so busy that it was extremly hard for mortals to meet them.
"So cool! how do you do it? Are you a god?"
George couldn't help but smile in front of the kid's innocence.
"I'm not quite a god yet...but i still managed to learn one or two tricks...and it would have been impossible for me if i didn't receive the best possible education in the institution."
He paused in his speach and looked right into Alfred's eyes with an inspirational expression on his face.
"And you will also be able to do it, if you accept to join us, that's why your parents brought you here... to assure you a future."
Of course, that was a lie, the institution surely offered the best education there was to reach true power.
But it was impossible for a corportation to make every young kid able to fly without going bankrupt or ruining the kid's potential.
The only thing they could guarantee was an opportunity, that's all.
But that wasn't the saddest thing about the situation.
It was quite sad to see an old man basicaly try to scam a child to make him leave his parents.
But it was even sadder to know that the parents, that the kid was deseparatly clinging to, wanted nothing more than his departure.
The institution accepted children between 8 and 11 years old and judging by the child deamanor.
He was barely 8.
It painted a sad picture.
Alfred's parents didn't love him and they only concived him for the reward.
The reward that the instituion gave to every parent that submitted their child to their educational curiculum.
The planet they were on, Atakar was a crops world.
It meant that it belonged to a growth company.
And its goal was to create the greatest amount of powerful people possible.
And the best way to achieve that goa,l was to guide children from a young age so that they will be perfectly prepared for the cruel reality.
Even if It meant ruining some of them.
But now the issue was how would these orgasinations get their children without breaking the immortal laws.
Well the best way was to make parents willingly submit their children.
That's why most crops world had a system of reward that encouraged parents to give their children to the growth company.
In front of a reward that was basicaly trash for the company but could be life changing for any one else,most people would willing throw away their children.
In fact, submitting one's children has became such a normal act, that one would be seen as an irrational fool if they refused.
After all, why would you refuse to give to your offsprings the best possible education if it was not only for free but you would even get payed for it?
But even if nearly everyone complied, most people still waited for the maximum age limit before submitting their children.
But there was bound to be some scumbags in every society that tried to exploit the system.
These people were called 'rabbits' and Alfred's parents were one of them.
"Go little champion, I have faith in you, go and come back strong for daddy."
"I know it hurts to leave mommy but you need to spread your wings, little angel, go and make us proud."
Their voices were so oversaturated with fake kindness that it seemed nearly like a parody of loving parents.
But to the young child that has never known anything else, it was just how his parents normaly spoke to him.
As for George, he could obviously discern the fake careness of the couple, and even though he was used to such a sight, he couldn't help but despise them.
'Heartless scumbags...'
but no matter how much he was disgusted by their behavior, his job was still more important to him than a random child.
After all, if the institution didn't condamn this kind of behavior but even encouraged it, who was he to go against their will.
And so he just kept his usual kind and unwavering smile as he extended his hand to Alfred.
"Come now, your new friends are waiting for you."
And after so much persuasion, even the stubborn child couldn't help but extended his small and chubby child hand towards the older man.
But he didn't do it without turning around to look at his parent for a last time and even his child eyes were able to tell that their smiles seemed strange.
But as he turned forward to look at George with his unsure eyes, he saw that he he wore a similar expression on his face.
And so he could only dismiss his suspicion thinking that it must have been his imagination.
And so surrounded by three smiling adults, the young child, Alfred happily walked toward the institution building followed closely by George without knowing that just know, he had been sold by his own parents.
And the worst thing was that this situation didn't even happen in some shady dark place.
No! it was in front of the instituion arguably the most frequented place of this world.
A small child has just been sold in public and no one found it abnormal.
This was just how life was on Atakar.