Below the Cities
Quote:
"This is Earth. Sort of. Now it is called 'The United World under Peace'. How stupid is that? The old cities still stand proud and tall, in a way. Pollution took over Earth, slowly accumulating and accumulating, until the year 3029. It was then that societies fell apart, crumbled at the moment people began dying.
Before that year, the pollution had been bad, yes, caused cancer and asthma, and many, many other things. However, the population had reached a boiling point. The average house size was twenty feet by twenty feet, and it wasn't uncommon for three or four families to share a one bedroom apartment.
To deal with the rising populations, the various countries throughout the world created a group called the 'People's Health and Welfare Department', around 3025. They didn't do the good they had intended. They had good intentions, it was said. However, the choices they made didn't reflect this. They decided pollution would be an excellent way to reduce the population. A free way, since caring for the population had reduced funds. And After all, there were plenty of ways the human race could survive, and they could take the best of the best, leave the rest.
And it was done.
The day after they decided this, in 3033, over three thousand building crews flew into the sky, no explanations were given. No one could see what was happening, the smog hiding the huge skyships. After a time, they were forgotten. In 3042, the polution had gotten so bad, when people left the circulated and purified air of their homes, even with masks on, there was a very limited time that they could remain outdoors. Because of this, the dead began rising in numbers.
Except for the few that P.H.W.D selected. They were evacuated. PHWD had waited for the day the pollution would reach this ultimate high, had known it would happen, and the aristocracy of the world were snatched and taken into the skies. Scientists, Doctors, the most brilliant of mind and body were all taken into the skies.
My great, great, great, great Grandmother was there that day. It was what took her mind. She said she watched these shining metal angels come out of the grey smog, gathering up screaming families. All the wealthy, the intelligent of us,and the people with the healthiest bodies were gathered by the people in the gravity defying suits. Absolutely no one knew why.
They snatched them from the streets and the 'Angels' turned their faces upwards. And they took them. Up into the skies.
For three months, the pollution stayed horrible. Three long, long months. The PHWD's plan worked, and most of humanity was killed. But after three months, something happened. PHWD had discovered something they didn't plan on. Everyone they took wasn't used to labor. It was hard, and they were lazy. If they left everyone to die, there would be no one to work in the halls or fields they had created.
So they created Wind. The breeze we feel occasionally now...it is not real. Our atmosphere is too heavy for oxygen now, and so it cannot move like it used to. There is no 'low pressure' and 'high pressure'. But the PHWD...they needed to keep some people alive. They found a way to keep Below alive. There isn't enough power in the world to clean up Below now, but they use turbines to suck in air, and send the smog through a purifier, and so we have just enough to breath.
Now. After the Wind, we could see into the Above occasionally. What the PHWD had done...they built entire cities in the sky....huge bubbles. With completely pure air. They live there, happy, smiling. Occasionally, Below has to raid the Above, just to survive. But, I am getting ahead of myself again.
It was exactly a week after the Wind, my Grandmother said, that the Angels came again. Now of course, we know now that these are not Angels, but men in combat uniforms, there suits lit up to see through the smog they fall through. Gas masks unlike any we had been given. But we still call them Angels, ironically. They came, and people ran out to them, reaching out. The Angels had come before, gathered up us lost souls, and taken them Above. Why wouldn't they do the same now?
People ran to them. And the Angels hovered above us. The Angels took their time, each selecting a healthy looking male. Always a male. They gathered one each into their arms. My Grandmother watched fearfully. It didn't feel right to her....why only Men? Why hadn't they come before, when people were dying?
Fearful, she ran inside, and peered out of her window. The Angels lifted up their Chosen, then carefully aimed at the people around them. Then they opened fire.
Now, we very rarely are raided. Above uses Below as a breeding ground. They raid us when they need new workers. Otherwise, we are left to fend for ourselves. The workers who missed their families and escaped...they tell us many things. The people of Above...so happy...so healthy...bright and shining from the sun. There are ten different Above Cities. They are each ruled by one family, descended from the PHWD's members..."
"It's now 4189, and this is still how things are. But one day...they'll have no choice but to take everyone on Earth to Above, or to fall with us. Someday we'll make it so." The group of children around the tall male smiled together, all glancing up and imagining the sun's rays falling on them, something so rare and precious to the children of below.
"Is it true?" A young boy asked, his blue eyes focused on the dark haired man sitting on a trash can.
"Of course. We'll find a way. Now...time to get everyone home..." The man unfolded his legs, and stood, stretching. "Masks on..." The male slid his gas mask on. The children did the same, and looked to the male.
Emerald bright eyes peered out, though covered by bug looking eye covers. Short dark hair flopped back and forth in a short gust of wind. Through the quick break in the clouds, sunlight beamed down, revealing a dirty, dusty world. Street ruins were everywhere, and strange sounds seemed to come from strange places. Mannik didn't pay it any attention, however, leading the children through the streets quickly.
Dust rose from each step people took. They moved quickly through the ruins, and one by one, the children were dropped off, safe and sound after a day of lessons. They were Below's future now. They were the next generation, and would decide their fate. It was Mannik's job to train them, when he wasn't busy trying to raid Above himself.
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Speaking of which, he was late for his Scouting Turn. A few volunteers usually took a Speeder ship up a few times a day above the Smog, checking to see if they Angel's were preparing for a Raid or anything like that. The Cities knew they did so, but the Speeders had been left behind as unnecessary equipment for air life, so it was easy for the people of Below to outfly them.
Dust grew and grew around Mannik as he jogged. He arrived at the hanger quickly, hidden in the ruins of a collapsed building. The PhWd hadn't left the bombs like they'd left the Speeders. And bombs were a dead technology now, not having the required materials to create them. But, if they found the ships Below had managed to salvage and fix, they would certainly use a precious bomb on the ships. Mannik stopped to report to the General, a big bulky man.
A few minutes later, and Mannik was in the air. His gas mask was on until he got above the smog, and his bug goggles helped him see through the nasty air, streaming of light beaming from them, shifting as Mannik's eyes moved around. The machine the dark haired boy sat on looked somewhat like a vehicle they used to have on Old Earth: A motorcycle. The only big difference was it's two small wings with divets in them. Mannik perched on it, much like they did on the motorcycles, but his knees rested on top of the divets, helping stabilize the Speeder.
A stream of black flew behind him as he reached the thin strip above the smog. He could see three separate 'bubbles'. This was one of the Cities, containing it's residential area, the fields for crops, and the production area. A stream of black was expelled from the production bubble and slowly sank as Mannik watched. The expulsion area was located lower on the bubble, and pointing away from the other two bubbles. It had been built this way on purpose, Mannik was sure. No one inside would be able to see the pollution they produced.
As the male drew closer, the gigantic turbines that kept the bubbles afloat grew louder, almost deafening. They drew in heavy smog, making the bubbles dip slightly, then the air ran through purifiers, and clean air flew out, making the bubbles rise again. Vaguely, Mannik wondered what it would feel like to live on something with constant motion. Did no one in the bubbles notice this now?
The thoughts flew from his mind. In the residential area, an airlock was opening, and a transport ship was emerging. It was huge, but it puzzled Mannik. Normally, transport ships didn't have windows, transporting different goods between the cities. The only ones with windows normally transported people, but since it was discovered that Below had ships they could use, Human Transport Ships were normally only used in cases of dire need.
Curious, and wondering why this ship was being sent out, Mannik flew closer, hovering next to a back window. He'd only have a few seconds to look before the Speeder was detected and Demolition ships were sent out. While not fast, they'd been modified with various traps to ensnare Speeders, and they were definitely a threat. Since most of the pressure created by the planet's atmosphere was gone, Mannik could take the goggles off for short periods. He did so now, and cupped his hands around his eyes, peering into the ship curiously.
(Figured there would be more than plenty of places you could stick your character if you'd like.) |
