Madness. To describe this world, I could very much say madness. Madeline, in a bunker, deep under ground, didn't know almost almost all of humanity was gone until six months after the major attacks.

Madeline was young then, a youthful mind. Now, she's a crippled old lady. At age 18, Madeline was the youngest billionaire are that was also self made, every recorded. And therefore, was the most successful person ever recorded.

 Madeline wasn't always a Tryant went she found the City of Teal. Madeline had reached out, to about 200 people after the war. All wealthy enough to buy materials and survive the attack. And at least two people from every continent. And with that, Madeline sent out messages and signs, to meet at Nevada. Every person brought at least one useful material, too.

But this was not the issue. It was never the issue. She was, heroic, she saved us all. But it was the tryant she became that was the problem. Soon the population of the City of Teal, was 220. Madeline had given birth to two children of her one, proudly. 

But one day, her son, age ten...At least from the stories My mother has told me. He chased his only red ball, out of the city. And something must've happened, nobody knows what, but he didn't come back. They searched everywhere for him...Until they found his leg. And it was determined, something cruel had killed him.

Breaking down, Madeline sent orders to cut of all exits. Nobody could leave. With an extremely hard and fixable plastic, developed by Madeline herself, she was able to make a shield around the city so it was ensured nobody could leave. And of course, she set down the first two iconic rules of the city.

No choosing your spouse. And no leaving the city. Madeline, after her son left, questioned if he would ever have a future in the first place. To "Ensure" the safety of all Children's futures, she gave them spouses, assigned their jobs, and killed them if they were hopeless.

And now I'm stuck. Getting "married".

Madeline was a foolish tyrant who insisted on pressing her griefing onto others. And therefore I, Hartee of the Elmore House, am stuck with a series on responsibilities. Including getting assigned to somebody. The most Madeline ever found of her son, was a leg. A leg. I wished she had never founded that leg. Because if she hadn't, there would've been some hope in him being alive.

Dont get me wrong, that kid was dead. On top of it, it's been seventy years since then and Madeline barely functions. But, if she had still owned hope, she wouldn't've pressed such extreme conditions onto the future of her people. She wanted something good for us, and instead has made things worse. 

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At age 14, we get assigned our jobs and go through training for two years. And at 16, we're off on our own, working. Still with the family unit we grew up in. But at 18, we get separated from them and we grt slammed into our own unit.

Most of the people here, are pretty brainwashed. Madeline? A hero? Absolutely. Not. So in the end, It's just me. Tomorrow my class, which, we keep the same classes for our whole educational career, gets assigned. And there's a ceremony. And I'm. Terrified. Because then I'm fully committed to this horrid system. I would rather be her son than be here. But I can't leave. It's almost impossible to do anything fun here. 

So congratulations, Madeline, you win. Hartee  is now a fully committed citizen in the city.

Madeline killed dumb students, because she thought her son was dumb. Because, he was stupid enough to chase his bouncy ball outside of the city, and never come back. So in her logic, they'll die either way. From their hopeless stupidity.

The spouse rule, is to keep the population going. But also so citizens could watch each other, and so nobody was alone long enough to do something stupid. But also so we have a future. We're the only 300 people on this planet, and This is how we manage ourselves.

Do I hate her? Many people wouldn't. Many people would look back at how she lost her child, and how it made her the way she is. And they pity her and follow her blindlessly to the very end of their child's life. But regardless of how she lives, she's wrong. Everything. Wrong.

What suddenly makes people make excuses for other people? The older you get, the more you get old excuses. Childhood is in it's prime, when children can choose What's right and what's wrong without excuses. I try to keep my mind how it was like when I was a child. But it gets harder and harder.

Tomorrow, I have to say goodbye to my mom, and dad. I have to live with somebody I don't know. And I'm not proud of it. Who would take pride in such a thing? The brainwashed citizens. But just like me and a small group of people, I am enlightened. 

I always will be, too.

I wasn't enlightened, until the last day of my bestfriends life. It had been five years ago, but I still remembered it like yeserday. Alanta of The Loki house. She had gotten the news, she was to be executed that day.

Alanta was a troublemaker. Alanta rude to everyone, but me. She said something very wise, before she died. A girl who had never paid attention in class and couldn't divide a decimal, said the smartest thing yet,

"She wants everything after her name, but she doesn't want us to deal with the blues that come from it. Ironic, too. Seeing as Teal is a shade of blue. Hartee, I know you think I'm an idiot. I know that sometimes you were embarrassed to be around me. But we all learned about it in class, there was a time when we could choose. We could be a great society, without Teal's rules. What she's doing, is for her mere amusement. She's killing me, because she wants to punish people for mistakes controlled by nobody."

The fact that she had to die for me to realize that, disgusts me. But, there's nothing I can do now. I need to save myself, everyone else is goners. Every enlightened person, slaughtered. They aren't troubled, they're scared.

But Madeline is scared, too.