The life of a delta was harsh, and since there were always many deltas, it became even harsher. Additionally, deltas had many children.

This was because deltas had restricted access to buying, legally of course, many products, including contraceptives.

If a delta woman did not give birth to 5 children or more, she lost all her rights and went to work on remote farms outside the city, where she would die after long working days. If a delta man could not procreate, he faced a similar fate. That's why in delta families, it was common to have more than seven siblings.

Families of 10 or 15 members lived crammed in houses made of scrap metal, dirty and in ghettos where at least 10 people died every day, and it would take almost a week for one of them to have died of old age. It was a festival of violence and infections.

But let's go to Iván Five Seven's house. (Yes, deltas didn't have last names, but rather a clan number assigned by the government years ago). Iván was a 16-year-old boy, the fourth son of Roberto, a baker who contracted tuberculosis and struggled to work every day. The bakery was now run by his older brother and him. His two older sisters were busy serving in the homes of wealthy Betas. Despite their efforts, feeding 10 mouths was not an easy task, so when Iván was carrying flour through the ghetto, he saw an ad from an alpha looking for a servant and his face lit up:

"THE YOUNG HEIR OF THE ALPHA HOUSE: THREE HELMETS, HAS REACHED THE AGE OF MAJORITY, AS MARKED BY LAW THIS ONE MUST CHOOSE HIS LIFELONG PERSONAL ASSISTANT, THEREFORE ALL YOUNG MALES BETWEEN 15 AND 17 YEARS OLD FROM THE CITY, OF GAMMA OR DELTA CASTE, ARE SUMMONED TO BE EXAMINED BY LORD D. CESAR OF THE THREE HELMETS, 18 YEARS OLD, AT THE GATES OF HIS MANSION NEXT MONDAY AT 10 AM. HEALTHY YOUNG MEN, WITH HEALTHY BODY PROPORTIONS AND A SUITABLE ATTITUDE FOR THE PROMISED SERVICE WILL BE VALUED. THE LUCKY ONE WILL BRING FORTUNE TO HIS FAMILY, AS WELL AS A DAILY ECONOMIC ALLOWANCE THAT ALLOWS FOR THE WELL-BEING OF THE SAME"

Iván didn't think twice, it was a golden opportunity, he loaded the flour as quickly as he could and prepared for the exam on Monday. It was Saturday, he only had two days to prepare... but what should he prepare?