Chapter One “The strength of an empire is not in the people and their rights, but in those who rule It.” the cold voice echoed throughout the factory. “The people should be grateful that a strong ruler has come,” repeated the masses tonelessly, “All hail our lord Yakarr, ruler of our great and prosperous land.” and then they returned to work. I sighed silently to myself as my companions and I assembled the various items. I was surrounded by little more than flesh and blood robots hour after hour, week after week. Hundreds of people, and not an original thought between them. Not that it was their fault. A few decades ago this was a thriving country. It was a democracy with free will and free choice until one day, a very charismatic man became our leader. Slowly silently and cleverly, he wrested power from our other two branches of government until one day, he stood alone at the top of the food chain and all the power was in his hands. That’s around when he began his complete conquest of the whole population. I’m not talking about arresting innocent people, crushing all opponents and using fear to wield a nation like Hitler or Robespierre. He didn’t have to dirty his hands with such messy business because as slowly as he had wrested power form the rest of our government, people stopped caring about what was happening. They slowly became less curious and more supportive of Aaron Yakarr, until they were following every order like a bunch of flesh and blood robots. This was not magic, it was science. Specifically a drug by the name of FWA or Free Will Acid, named as such because of its ability to dissolve your ability to think for yourself. A little before he became our lord, he began to order the food industry to inject it into our food and water supply. He claimed it was a steroid to enhance the brain’s ability, and because even then he was well loved, no one but a couple of naturally suspicious people thought anything of it. One of them was my mother. In the beginning, my mother tried her best to shield us from eating any non organic food, hoping that she could protect us from the mind numbing effects for as long as possible. However after a while, it became impossible to avoid ingesting FWA. However, when my brother and I took it, we found something incredible happened to us, or rather didn’t happen to us. We did not slip into the zombielike state of mind that the others did. Now, I’m sure that the other people in our nation didn’t feel the effects either, but my brother and I tested ourselves constantly. We listened to speeches by Yakarr, and we didn’t get the urge to volunteer more or work overtime. We constantly had debates with each other on politics and various environmental issues. We kept studying our favorite books and writing and drawing to see if we had lost interest in them. Nothing had changed in us at all. We had beaten the biggest danger to our health without even trying. We were essentially free. Freedom however had its consequences. I sighed as I looked around at my peers. Over there had been the prissiest girl in my high school, the head cheerleader. Long golden hair, once curled perfectly now was brushed and put back into a boring ponytail as she oiled some machine parts, not caring that oil got all over her hands and clothes. Her beautiful blue eyes were vacant as if the girl inside her had vanished, leaving only an empty shell. Work after school was almost as awful as school itself. Once, I had disliked school with the normal hatred of the average over homeworked freshman, but now I longed for the old days. Now instead of being taught advanced mathematics, like calculus we were only taught how to assemble and disassemble various objects, and how to measure things and cut in a straight line. The worst part however was the acting. I had to sit silently staring straight ahead, as expressionless as the rest of my class. One slip up, I knew and I would probably be sent to the nearest “hospital” to be injected with FWA by the pint. Once the doctors (who were one of the few people who didn’t eat FWA) figured out that I was immune to it, I would probably be sent to more scientists and doctors, and would be poked and prodded day after day until they could fix my “problem”. Then I would be sent back to my town, as bland and uncaring as the average person doomed to assemble necessities forever. Now doesn’t that sound fun? Please post any comments on the feedback thread GlooMi’s Story List No exceptions
Chapter 2 After what seemed like forever, the factory bell rang. Most people would expect cheers from a mob of tired workers, but there was only dead silence as we filed out of the stuffy building. I let out a small groan as I saw the outside world for the first time in six hours. The outside of the factory was only better than the inside because of the fresh air. Everything else was just as dim and dreary. The building itself was uglier on the outside than within. It was small, made of concrete and steel, much like the machines it contained. The ground around it had as little hint of life as the workers. Only tiny wisps of grass poked out from between the slabs of cement, brown and barely alive. The factory did not sparkle like the steel beasts we worked with, and it had no windows. It was a fat little monster, squatting on a plain of darkness, surrounded by gloom and despair. “What a country you rule Yakarr,” I muttered to myself. “Your people are mindless, your brilliant cities have fallen into disrepair, and the only bright spot on the horizon is your home. Though only God knows what horrors lie hidden beneath the marble floors and Persian rugs.” I glanced around using my peripheral vision. Good, no one had heard me. I made it home without an incident. Walking home in the dark was no problem anymore because crime was virtually gone. The only exceptions to this rule were the rebels who occasionally stole some scientific equipment, but our town was nowhere near any of the previous sites of the crimes. Soon I came into view of my neighborhood and its collection of tan houses. To an outsider, all the houses looked the same, but I always knew which one was mine without even having to look at the address. My home was not a particularly interesting one. It had only one floor plus a basement with three bedrooms and a bathroom, nothing special. But it was my native soil so to speak, and that made its ground more sacred to me than the holiest cathedral in Rome. As the door slammed shut behind me, I went running down the hall to tackle my older brother, Ben, into a hug. He towered over me at six foor two, but I still almost tackled him into our yellow floral wallpaper. He merely laughed and hugged me back. My mother poked her head out of the kitchen door and smiled at us, her careworn face lighting up with joy at seeing me. I knew that it was stressful for her, watching her children go off to work and school and then sitting around the whole day worrying that they won’t come home. I don’t think there’s anything else that she does all day but sit and worry. She didn’t have to work because she had severe arthritis in her hands and knees and couldn’t stand for more than an hour at a time. Standing at a machine all day was impossible for her to do. She could barely stand up long enough to make dinner. “How was your day?” Mom asked quietly as Ben and I filed into the kitchen. Ben rolled his eyes. “Same as usual.” I nodded in agreement then went for one of our wooden cupboards. I set out the plates and spoons as he carried the big plate of fried chicken over. “Well normal is good right? That means nothing has changed.” I nodded again and began to eat. The next couple minutes were filled with the sounds of gulping and swallowing as we ravenously attacked the food. When we had finished the meal, my mother stood, picked up the plates, and threw them into the cleaning chute. I listened to them clatter their way through the vertical metal tunnel and then opened my mouth and unwillingly released a massive yawn. I hadn’t realized how tired I was. I got to my feet, my chair scraping against the smooth tile floor. “I think I’m going to head up to bed,” I informed my mom and turned to go. Just as I was about to make it out the door, Ben chuckled. “What?” I said irritably, “I’m tired.” “Remember when you would complain when Mom put you to bed at 9:30?” I read the clock on the microwave above the stove. It was only 8:00? I allowed a small laugh to escape my lips before turning in the direction of the hallway and stumbling my way towards my bedroom door. It opened with a creak (we didn’t have the money for electric doors, so it used an old fashioned hinge) and I took two steps and jumped into my bed. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in midair.
Chapter 3 I was on a dark plain. The ground was the color of wet shale, and the sky was overcast with dark clouds. The whole picture was rather depressing. In front of my stood a boy, a few inches taller than me, around 5’ 5”. He had dark hair like mine, but his eyes were a scary looking blood red. I froze, thinking he was staring at me, but he only sighed and looked the other direction. He looked as if he was waiting for someone, and that someone was late. Then another boy stepped out of nowhere. He was taller than the first boy, but seemed to be about the same age. His hair was a shadowy black color, as if a hole in the universe had opened on his head. He also had his back to me, so I couldn’t see his face. For some reason that made me nervous. “Zaln,” The boy with the scary eyes said in relief. This Zaln boy was obviously someone he trusted, maybe even looked up to. He was obviously the one Scary Eyes had been looking for. “What took you so long?” I frowned at this comment. If this was a dream how could anyone “take so long”? I saw Zaln’s shoulders shrug. “I don’t know. It’s strange that the prof put you here first. I’m the one who usually gets here before everyone else.” “Well, I’m glad that…” Scary Eyes trailed off as another person materialized out of thin air. It was a girl this time. She was dressed very strangely in a long red cloak that dragged a little on the floor behind her. Underneath that, her clothes were more normal. She wore a long green shirt that could almost be called a dress, and extremely tight black jeans. Her hair however was the weirdest part. It was naturally black and her bangs were braided back around her head, which looked a lot like the hot blond elf guy’s hair from that old movie. Was his name Legas? Legals? Who knew? Anyway, some parts of her hair were pure white, as if she had gotten in a bleach fight with someone and forgot to wear a helmet, making her look a little crazy. “Hey Riding Hood!” Scary Eyes said cheerfully. “Wolf,” She replied, acknowledging him with a nod of her head. She then turned to face Zaln, looking over his shoulder a little. She didn’t see me “So what’s the new challenge oh fearless leader?” She said with a yawn. Zaln shrugged again. “I have absolutely no idea what we’re supposed to do, it seems pretty empty to me.” Riding Hood nodded. Then her eyes went wide with shock and fear. “Oh my God!” She yelled pointing her black gloved finger at me. I jumped, frightened, but a little relieved. Someone had seen me at last. Scary Eyes whose real name seemed to be Wolf jumped too. Then he frowned at Riding Hood as she started to laugh. “Got’cha!” She grinned, “You should have seen your face!” “Oooh, you’re so funny,” I muttered to myself. Nobody seemed to have heard me. Good. I had only spent a couple minutes with the girl Riding Hood, and she was already starting to annoy me. I spoke again but this time in full voice now that I was sure no one could hear me. “Moron,” I growled at her laughing face. To my surprise Zaln twitched a little. I saw him look to the left, look to the right, then for the first time he turned to face me. We both gasped in shock as we looked at each other. Zaln had a hunter’s face, for there is no better word to describe it. His eyes were black as his hair and were cold as the icebergs that had once existed many centuries ago. He was good looking, but not stunningly handsome. He had the look in his eyes of one who, if given a task, would pursue it for all of eternity until he could finish it perfectly. Despite the aura of self confidence, bordering on arrogance, he seemed to grow afraid of me as I analyzed him. Analyzed? Where did that word come from? I wasn’t analyzing him, I was simply looking. “Who are you?” he snapped at me, the mask of complete assurance in himself and his abilities once again in place. Wolf and Riding Hood stopped bickering to look at Zaln. “Who are you talking to man?” Wolf inquired, sounding a little nervous. “That girl right there.” Zaln snapped at him, glaring angrily, and a little confusedly at me. I saw Riding Hood and Wolf exchange a glance. “Zaln,” cooed Riding Hood as she lightly squeezed his arm, “I think it’s time to get out of here now, I think you’ve been in the machine too long sweetheart.” “But she’s right there!” Zaln growled as he yanked his arm out of her grip. Wolf and Riding Hood exchanged a look full of meaning, and I started giggling. I couldn’t help it, they thought he was insane and the tough looking Riding Hood actually had used the word sweetheart. “And now she’s laughing at me. Thanks a lot!” Zaln snapped irritably. That only made me laugh harder. “Of course she is,” said Wolf in a soothing voice. “Now let’s go back to the real world and get some sleep.” Everything faded away into a fine silver mist and I woke up laughing.