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03:33 PM

"This is Earth. Sort of. Now it is called 'The United World Under Peace'. How stupid is that? Like we are really at peace. Our old cities still stand proud and tall, in a way. They are crumbling somewhat. 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 from the very air they needed to live. That's called irony.

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 they needed to line their own pockets. 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 to the general public. No one could see what was happening, the smog hiding the huge skyships. After a time, they were forgotten. In 3042, the pollution had gotten so bad, that 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. It didn't help that the filters were old and working full capacity, so constantly breaking down.

Except for the few that P.H.W.D selected, people were evacuated. PHWD had waited for this day, 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 of confusion and chaos. 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, another example of irony. 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? What were these people doing here? They frightened her.

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. It was their way of saying 'Back off, we got what we came for'.

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. They don't see Below people as people anymore. To them we are dirty and stupid. But we'll show them, hm? 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. It's not right, and we will show them this." 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? We will get to go to Above someday?" 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. Heavy dust lifted into the air as the humans moved through the streets, but quickly fell down to add another layer unto the various ruins. Mannik didn't pay it any attention, however, leading the children through the streets quickly. The pistol on his hip was upstrapped and loaded.

While humans bodies hadn't adapted to the atmosphere, various animals had, and humans were not at the top of the food chain anymore. Best to be prepared.

They moved quickly through the ruins. The children were used to this world and it's dangers, and followed orders as if they were small soldiers. They stayed put when told, and kept their strange masks firmly sealed, although it made them sweat and it itched horrible where they sealed unto their skin. One by one, the children were dropped off, safe and sound after a day of lessons. Their homes ranged from old basements, to holes dug into the ground, to getting into a basket to be pulled up to the second story of an old building still standing. 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.

Each one was precious, since it seemed that the majority of people in Below had become sterile. There was no proof, but Mannik's guess was that it was due to the pollution as well. Their entire world was based on it.

The tall male wanted nothing more than to got to his own hovel, curl up and sleep, but he had a meeting to get to.

The kids were important, and Mannik had no problem helping them, however, it wasn't, and would never be, the most important job in his life. Their small community under Seven, one of the huge cities of Above, never had enough sunlight to grow their own food. They got meat from the animals they were able to hunt and kill, but it was dangerous and even that ran out sometimes. So, Mannik's job was to fly one of their few precious ships to Seven. Grab what he could, and return. Firearms, new masks, parts to fix their purifiers, vegetables, anything and everything was fair game to bring back. Everything would be used in one way or another.

Mannik finally reached the concrete building without any mishaps, and stepped inside quickly. It had been some kind of building to hold animals thousands of years ago. Marine ones, by the enclosures. Mannik happily unsealed his mask, taking gulps on the fresh air flowing in the building, then stepped part the large enclosure. The glass had long ago been broken out, but inside still sat fake rocks, covered with dust. A flight of stairs, and Mannik was standing at the top of rows and rows of seats. He moved down them, glancing into the tank long since emptied of water.

A group of people were gathered, arguing. When Mannik was spotted, they quickly quieted, greeting him when he walked down more steps into the tank. These steps were their own. They had carved them into the wall slowly. If they ever were bombed, though unlikely, it had happened, any plans they had made should be safe this far down, with concrete surrounding them, and they could be carried on by the next generation.

As usual, the group got right down to business. "You brought up last week, Mannik, that our ships need some repairs. Getting the parts is as risky as getting a new ship. So we weighed the options, and we've decided to go with a full ship. A few, if this goes right." A slim, short woman with cropped red hair spoke quickly and briskly. "And you will make sure it goes right..."