Ava couldn’t believe anything Drake was saying, it was all too fantastic for her to believe. She had become accustomed to disappointment and had figured out something must have happened given how long he had been. To see him in the company of soldiers, well she dreaded the worst. Tears streaked down her face and as she grabbed hold of Drake.
“Do you know what this means!”
“I’m well aware of what it means...” Drake said plying himself from her grip. He had asked his new benefactor to not mention anything about what he would be doing in exchange. Instead they would say that he was being employed to do menial labour, something that Ava wouldn’t worry about.
“What happens now?” Ava asked, turning to Howard, who stood with his guards, a smile still on his face.
“Well little miss, I’m going to need you and your brother to head to the entrance, a private welcoming committee will greet you and take you on a tour. Then you’ll be checked into one of the finest hospitals we, the Atlantis Empire, have, Sacred Vessel. Drake will then go to his new job for orientation.” Taken at face value, what Howard said could be seen as friendly but Drake knew what the last one meant, guilt starting to eat him over his lie, one that was sure to snowball.
“Thank you Drake...I” Drake stopped Ava from continuing.
“You don’t need to say anymore, you’re going to get better...That’s all I wanted.”
“How touching... Now these are yours...” Howard put two key cards in Drakes hands with some force. “If you’ll excuse me, I have some more dreams to make come true...” He smiled and turned away with his guards, a wave of tension went with them.
Ava enthusiastically led the way, practically dragging her brother. Drake could tell that she needed a rest though as he grasp was weakening quickly. They never spoke about their expectations of hoe they would live now. Probably afraid of creating a world too good to be true. Once they stood in front of the gate, expectations had already been hit low as the entry point was not a glorious golden archway of dreams but a manned crossing point. The access to the Dome came from two grey heavy looking doors watched over by both manned and automated turrets. There was a line here for entry but it was people begging to be allowed in. Ava met all their eyes and grew jealous of her own position, her heart went to those who were in need of her place in the Dome. Drake tore her away for her own sake, earning hate calls from those who remained. A guard peered over a metal barricade and looked at the key cards in Drakes hand. The siblings couldn’t look this man in the face though, this gatekeeper for their new was wearing a pitch black visor attached to a riot helmet. The barricade opened and they were pulled inside before anyone else got in. Ava looked back at the crowd and into their silver eyes, all wanting what she now had. She wanted to apologise to them all but never found the words.
The doors to the tunnel opened, guiding the siblings inside.
“Wasn’t there supposed to be a welcoming committee?” Ava asked as they walked down the tunnel when lights flooded the area, revealing it to be a clinical white stretch, with wall lights providing the illumination. Hanging on the walls were portraits showing scenes completely alien to the Silvers from outside. Beautiful sunsets, green, lush forests. The floor beneath them went from sheet metal to a rich red carpet with gold lining.
“Look at all this...” Ava said in shock, not knowing where to put her eyes, everything was more luxurious then she had dealt with in the past. Drake focused on the paintings though, wondering if they were representative of what inside the Dome was like or representing something else, more primordial. They heard footsteps and from ahead, a group of four guards, with a guy in a expensive suit leading them.
“Ah so you are the new recruit Howard told me to greet.” His eyes were fixed on Drake first and foremost. “And that means you are his sister, the one we should extend our greatest care to, if that information is correct?” The newcomer looked at Drake, waiting for an approval. Ava stepped behind her brother, who took an aggressive stance.
“Relax, my name is Duke Rosealyn, I’m one of the highest members of government here at the Atlantis Empire, a few tiers behind the Emperor Triumvirate.”
“The who?” Ava asked innocently, Drake was at a loss to explain who this group was, everyone on the outside just referred to those in charge as the leaders, or, mood depending, those jackasses.
“A council of three, together they decide every law the Atlantis Empire follows. They also reside over the conflicts we engage with. Now come with me, time is of the essence with this sight seeing tour! No doubt you’ll want to get your sister admitted sooner or later.” Duke had already turned on his heels and looked over his shoulder. The siblings though were still suspicious of the intent of the guards who stood at the ready, despite Duke’s friendly demeanour. “Oh don’t worry about these, I asked for some volunteers from the Vanguard squadron, a division within the Vector Unit arm of the military.” As Duke snapped his fingers, the four guards removed their helmets. There was two women and two men within the group.
“Let me introduce you! From the left, we have Gwen, Sara, Ash, and Cen.” Each of them stood forward and bowed when their name was called, and each hid their feelings under a mask of loyalty. One thing that Drake quickly noticed was that the colour of their eyes. Gwen had silver eyes like his, hinting that she too had been allowed in. The rest had colours he had never seen before, with Ash having a striking purple that seemed expressive. Cen’s eyes were the colour of emeralds that faded towards the edge. Sara though, she had the most striking, a crystal blue that reflected deeper then eyes should. He felt them all examining him, he knew that Duke invited them here just to give him a glimpse of his future comrades, maybe showing him what he was destined to become.
“You okay Drake?” Ava asked, she found the stares unnerving and turned away, they didn’t sit right with her, even the eyes that were the familiar silver still haunted her.
“See? Nothing to worry about! I’m sure if you give them a chance you’ll fit right in.” Duke laughed, Drake knew that last line was very on the nose about his own fate. However, now was not the time to press anything.
“Come on Ava, let’s get this over with. As soon as your treatment begins the better.” The pair then followed Duke out of the tunnel and into the Dome itself. Before they exited though, Drake caught sight of a pair of paintings, positioned opposite each other that seemed to depict the same thing, a pair of Vector Units carrying a standard of the Atlantis Empire, their armour was ornate in comparison to the ones he had seen the past few days. There was a set of initials and a quote embedded into the right hand of the lead machine. G.C. Triumphant. Drake assumed that G.C. was the artist, one that was good at painting what he saw clearly. He was reminded that he was now expected to pilot one of those machines, and fight, and kill.
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Regardless, he stepped out into a surprising breeze, and felt the warm sun bearing down. Drake looked up and was in awe at the illusion of the sky, you could hardly tell that it was under a glass ceiling, conditions on the outside being perfectly replicated inside.
“I should tell you now that this Dome itself is more of an agricultural space, there’s a town here for supplies for the farmers and a few homesteads but that’s it.” Duke walked up to a waiting vehicle that ran on wheels and treads, a cross between a truck and a tank. “Please board so we can continue this tour with a bit more speed.” Having no excuse, the siblings followed.
Now aboard the transport which bore military markings they started whizzing through fields of crops, being harvested by Silvers and what looked like robots. Drake had heard of robots, even seen some that had been dug up by farmers on the outside, but they were always broken, never to awake. Sara caught him looking at them.
“A Silver like you has never seen anything like that I bet...They’re just dumbs though.”
“Dumbs?” Ava asked, adding herself into the conversation, seeing how on edge Drake was feeling already.
“It’s a class of robot, the only one that’s really available now. It means they can only do one thing, it was a way of controlling them in times gone by. Sometimes they were made that way, other times it was forced on them.” Sara had a way of telling the story, but it wasn’t good. The crops gave way to open green fields, the likes the siblings hadn’t seen before, and with farm animals all over the place, though looking very different to the breeds that were on the outside.
“That doesn’t look like a cow...” Ava said puzzled.
“Geneticists were able to recreate older versions of these animals to give superior meat yields, unlike those that continued to evolve in the worsening conditions outside.” Duke explained while he passively observed. “Those beasts you know are in a different league then these fine pedigrees. Though it suits those on the outside I guess.” In between these short snippets, a heavy silence filled the vehicle, with Ava and Drake unsure of what to say, and the others wanting to say nothing. Then Ava saw buildings on the horizon, and strange effect the curving sky had as they neared the edge of this dome.
“Ah we’re coming up to the town for this district. Then it’s straight through to the next Dome where the hospital is that you’ll be staying in.” Duke said narrowing his eyes at Ava.
“Can’t wait to get rid of her? Or to get her on her own...” Drake replied, allowing what he said to hang in the air.
“I meant nothing by it. Besides you should worry more about yourself and the work you’ll be doing.” Duke’s reply sent a shiver down Ava’s spine, and naturally she had to ask.
“What do you mean by that? What work is he doing?”
“That’s not for me to tell you, I’m sure you can have a nice long talk about it when he learns about it.”
“I’ll tell you about it when I come and see you. Don’t worry though, I’ve been told that it’s not a major job.” Drake reassured her, but he glared over at Duke who was stirring still, but he couldn’t figure out why. Now that they were in the town, the clear difference in living quality was apparent, the buildings were pristine, being protected from the elements. Each was in the consistent style as each other and the people looked the same, though it was strange. In the fields it seemed like it was Silvers doing the work, but the ones in the town, walking around leisurely, was people who looked like they had never stepped out of the Dome in their lives. As Drake absorbed that disturbing fact, and made him ponder the fate of those who had been allowed in before him, Ava was distracted by a series of posters she had seen in several shop windows, that of her idol, Melody Moon. A realisation ran through her and she let out the giggle of a thirteen year old girl.
“Will I get to meet her?” She asked Drake excitedly, he on the other hand was already trying to figure out how to let her down gently. Duke overheard this, and in a voice somewhere between compassionate and manipulative, promised her.
“You want to meet her? I know her agent personally, I can arrange visit to your hospital bed.”
“You can do that?” She asked, and Duke nodded with a smile that made Drake sick to his stomach, but it made Ava happy, so he kept his concerns to himself, after all, all this was for Ava’s sake anyway.
For Melody Moon meanwhile, she was traveling in Darren’s personal car, what he dubbed a sports car, though any other details were lost to time. It ran fine and all, having gone through countless modifications to make it run on the fuel cells that powered everything in the Domes.
“Have you looked through the itinerary yet?” Darren asked as they sped through open highways that served as the back bones of the Domes transport network. There was many ways to travel from Dome to Dome and she had done them all. There was one performance she had done where she had been flown in while sitting in the hand of flashy and bright coloured Vector Unit , that was a special gig for the army, before they marched into battle with the powers that by in the east. She sometimes spared a thought for them, having heard that very few ever came back from that battle line.
“Are you listening? We have a tight schedule for the next few days.” Darren said, raising his voice, when it looked like Melody wasn’t going to answer again, he went to hit out but she spoke first.
“I’m listening, at eight in the morning I’m to appear for a fan meet and greet at the Red Wing café. Then at ten, I’m to appear on Channel Five’s Morning Rise program for an interview and song performance.” She found the next part hard to say and wanted to block it from her memory that she would be forced to do it, but again the imminent spectre of assault by Darren made her comply. “Then at twelve thirty, I will do...do a private performance at the estate of General Luxley and his associates. Then after that at four, I have a hospital appointment. At five I’m to appear on a the Atlantis Sound Central radio station...”
“Enough, You got the important parts down at least.” Darren shown no concern for her, she was just a tool to him, and she looked out the window at the endless blue sky, wanting to be free, like those who lived on the outside.