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The red sunrise stirred something deep within my soul which had remained dormant for many years. Her red hair shook my body with the passionate, intense feelings she filled me with. Memories of how she swept my life off its hinges, derailed it and changed the course of it forever, melted the ice in my heart. And Darren too, his kind smile never failed to leave my jaw tense from frustration at the memory of his lifeless body. I knew that this bitterness would remain on my tongue forever, and my scars would never fade, but I also knew that if I continued like this I would waste whatever little I was given.

I am thankful for all the time I spent with her, however short, in the expanse of the universe, the impact she had on me, would carry on for a lifetime. If this was all planned by a cruel fate, then I would even be grateful for what little fate had spared us.

The following evening I returned to Cransfield. Having not showered or eaten for three days, I returned looking pale, my skin dry and digging into my bones. Nobody seemed to notice my presence, even as I entered the brightly lit kitchen, and shoved the half eaten loaf of bread down my mouth. And no one realised that I had been gone. I once again returned to my dark room, where I sat under the candle light, alone. My shadows oscillated against the empty walls.

When I woke up in the morning, exhausted from my trip, I took a shower. I no longer had to worry about leaving used towels around the room, so I just dumped it on the bed next to mine. I changed into a fresh set of uniform, and a woolen coat over it. On my way to class I was interrupted by Ms Harvey.

"Layla White, this is a message that Ms Williams has asked me to relay to you. She wants to see you in her office right now." She said her face barely hiding her feelings of disgust.

"Thankyou." I replied, trying to sound respectful. I had a vague idea of why I was being called over to Ms Williams office. Since the day I first entered Cransfield I had always been afraid of this woman, but this time I experienced no fear.

I walked up the cobbled staircase of the main building, onto the fourth floor. Three rights, and 2 lefts. It was the furthest room on the floor, and it wasn't particularly large either so I always wondered why it was that particular room. I knocked three times, and a muffled voice behind the thick wooden doors replied. "Enter."

Without a moment's hesitation and unflinchingly, I marched into the room. Since the last time I saw her she had not aged a single day. It was as if time had remained still for her. And just like last time she was still sipping a porcelain cup of english breakfast, the only object on the table. It caught me off guard, so my voice cracked a little as I spoke. "Layla White here, at your request, Ma'am."

She put down her teacup, and smiled, with the slightest amount of sadness in her eyes. The same smile that so many people had given me before. Her long, greying hair was brushed to one side and tied neatly. "I believe we have met before, Layla?" Her voice had a slight sharpness but none of the strict tone, she displayed at our assemblies. It was much friendlier, lighter. "Have a seat." She pointed at the same chair, she had gotten me to sit in years prior. Noticing the slight tensing of my shoulders, she said. "We have a lot to talk about. I know you want answers, but I can't explain with you like this." She walked up to the window, encompassing a view of the entire school campus, looked out onto the bleak whiteness and sighed. "What drink would you like? Coffee? Tea? Green tea? Jasmine? English breakfast?"

"English breakfast." I responded bluntly. She poured a steaming cup and handed it over to me. It had an earthy scent, and was bitter to the taste. Somehow I enjoyed the bitterness, it calmed the raging emotions that I could not describe. "I have a lot to ask you."

"I understand. Of course you would have many questions to ask me, with everything that's been happening, Layla dear. But I'm afraid I cannot answer all of your questions. However go ahead, ask away. I'll see what I am able to disclose to you." Her voice soothing, like a parent counseling a troubled child, but with a hint of menace.

"What happened to the red haired girl?" I questioned bluntly. Soon anger was consuming me, and I continued by making a glaring accusation. "What did you do to her?". I growled, venomously.

"Ahh, yes..." She began, her voice relaxing a bit. "Unorthodox Specimen Case 007. She was a difficult case. We had to take extra precautions when dealing with her." She pressed her fingers to her nose bridge thinking. "No... Dealing isn't quite the right word... Disposing. Yes, disposing of her."

"You...!!!" I glowered at her, but was disrupted by her fingers forming into a quiet symbol. It worked, I swallowed my anger and shut up.

"She was a bright girl, that one. Her future was almost sealed, with her intelligence and Psychometric Test, we all presumed that she would be working for the Department of Medicine within the Ministry of Scientific Research. Arrangements were even made so that her position was guaranteed. Finn was especially moved up a grade so that both of them could earn that position. Only a few people, namely Sebastian Austin, the Head of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Audrey Collins, the Head of the Ministry of Love predicted that she would find out. And out of all of us, no one could predict her violent reaction. She rejected our way of life with every ounce of her life. We had no choice but to order her disposal, as a possible threat to society. The way she thought, her naive ideology could poison the minds of those in the dome, if we let her roam, unchecked. It's such a shame, really, to lose such an intelligent, kind girl. And her disposal was rushed too, we didn't have nearly enough time to prepare, so it was prone to all kinds of mishaps. The vote turnout was 7-6 in favour of disposing her, if Sebastian hadn't so fervently defended her, maybe we could have been more thorough." She exhaled heavily, aware of the fact that I was glowering at her. "We had no hard feelings against her. She simply figured out our secret. The risk was too great. And that girl... she had the nerve to threaten us about it." Mrs Williams muttered under her breath, clenching her jaw in frustration, her voice leadened with guilt.

"But you had a choice. You didn't have to kill her."

It would appear that I had touched upon a nerve. "No it was necessary." She denied. "You don't understand. You simply don't understand anything, our society, our education system, or me at all." Her face relaxed, as the bitter smile reappeared on her face. She chortled a little.

"What's so funny, huh?!" I exclaimed in fury.

"Your ignorance of course, Layla dear." Her callous words pierced me sharply. "Shall I give this ignorant fool a history lesson?"

I bit my lip tightly, to prevent myself from hurling insults at the wretched creature in front of me. Part of me was also curious about what she had to say. Hesitantly I nodded my head.

"The dome is a barrier to protect us from the dangers of the outside world." She explained thoughtfully.

"I know. The teachers are always telling us that." I blurted out.

"Yes, and they should be. And be patient, do not interrupt your teachers. Ahh, where was I again? It is a leader's job is to protect their people from both internal strife and external conflict. What I'm saying is that, as one of the thirteen leaders of the dome, it is my job to ensure that each and every one of you, live a happy, fulfilled life, free from any extreme pain or conflict. That's why we all raise you in the same environment, with equal opportunities, in an idealistic environment. With no parents and no previous socio-economic backgrounds hindering your growth. No child needs abusive parents, deadbeat, alcoholic fathers, and selfish mothers. For a healthy upbringing and transition into adolescence, all a child requires are attention and care from a supportive figure. That's where your guardians and carers come in. To guarantee the best possible upbringing, your guardians are especially chosen by psychometric tests. From late childhood to adolescence, is when a child's brain begins to develop exponentially. At this time we prioritise social interactions with peers, physical activities and academic pursuit. This allows for the child to develop their skills and talents in all aspects. During adolescence we encourage pursuing sexual relationships as a form of stress management therapy, due to the copious amounts of academic studies we expect completed from you. It is at this point in your life, where expectations will be placed on you. People who perform well in academics, or in the psychometric test performed by Bubbles, are favoured, and are given the right of passage into society. Your future job will be decided by a combination of your psychometric test, as in how well your personality fits with your occupation, and your academic intellect, determined by a series of tests conducted in your final year. This is to make sure your aptitude and compatibility for your job is high, leading to an unstressed, healthy lifestyle, allowing you to live out a long satisfying life. At the age of 29-37 an application for marriage can be applied, and using the data from your psychometric tests, job and socio-economic status, the Ministry of Love is able to find a partner, whose personality and wealth is similar, or compatible with yours. Once you reach your 60's, due to failing health, which is very rare, thanks to our excellent health care, you will be able to apply for euthanasia, in the Department of Medical Reseach, and pass away peacefully. What a blessing the dome is, to support such a magnificent lifestyle!" It seemed like she was patronizing the system. "We will never go hungry, never be at war, never experience the hardships of my generation and never suffer from internal conflict. And the future will be even greater!" She laughed hysterically.

"That's not what I wanted to hear." The coldness laced in my voice even surprised myself. "All you've been doing is going on about how much you love the dome, and our system, but you haven't mentioned WHY you had to dispose of Kim, Hannah and Felicity or any of the supposed dangers. As far as I know this is all a scheme to manipulate us into giving you a cushy life." I stopped when I saw her twisted smile, slowly contort into a wrinkled frown.

"I recommend you stop talking too much, Layla. Anymore, and I would be left with no choice but to also eliminate you." She paused, adjusting her expression. "That would be very unpleasant indeed..." A wry smile crept up her face. "As for your question, I will explain the best I can. But first you must listen to my story, maybe afterwards you will understand why these actions are necessary precautions. In 2047, I was born amidst a battleground. They named it the battlefield of Cinis Terram. Cinis Terram is derived from the latin for Ashen Land. Why they decided to name the battlefield after such a thing? Because after the battle ended, nothing remained of the entire country, but ash. "The grim expression plastered on her face unsettled me. "My father, an alcoholic soldier, beat me on a daily basis, and my mother, another victim of his cruel violence, was powerless against him. She always gave me whatever little food she was allowed, and starved. The soldiers in the camp would take turns raping my poor mother and beating me up. Of course they were nothing but mere foot soldiers, forced into life and death situations by their country, so in a way they could also be considered victims. Murders were common, and the air was so choked with black smoke, from the gunfire, and repugnant stench of rotting corpses, it was suffocating. The filth of the quarters, even the medical tent, and lack of antibiotics, ensured death, the moment you were grazed by a stray bullet. In such an environment I was raised. Nuclear weapons were unleashed, causing many innocent casualties, although currently all countries have supposedly destroyed their nuclear weapons in an attempt to control the damage of the war, I have no doubt in mind that those insolent, prideful pigs, still haven't destroyed them in a dirty attempt at victory." Her brows furrowed in an immense rage.

"I first realised it when I was raped at the mere age of thirteen, as I tried to stop the streams of frustration pouring out of my clouded eyes, bitter to the taste. My powerlessness. How weak and pathetic I was. My heart longed for a place where it could rest and heal. I longed for an end to this despicable war, which had killed the humanity in so many people. But how could I end such a war? How could I? How could I change the fate of a single person, much less the entire world. It was impossible. I despised my lack of ability to change anything, and allowed myself to waste away in a cycle of self loathing. But then one day, as my mother's bleeding carcass was being eaten away by the vultures, something changed in me. She had died of internal hemorrhaging from unknown causes, but I think it was caused by brutal rape. It wasn't untreatable, even with our terrible, and even if she wouldn't have made it, no one tried to help her, no one cared enough about her. She was left to die, serving as nourishment for the soil. Nobody cared for her existence, once she was branded as damaged goods. It was in that moment that I knew, I didn't want to live like this. I didn't want to live as a tool to satisfy men's desires, only to be thrown away once they got bored of me or if I came down with a terrible illness. The feeling of helplessness crushed me."

"Did you give up?"

She nodded. "In a way, yes. There was no hope for me anywhere on the battlefield, so I fled. I ran and ran and ran, to a place where stray bullets would not reach. Across the raging seas, across the scorching deserts and barren plains I ran, in a desperate attempt to flee. Far away, far, far away from the flames of conflict, in search of a paradise. Finally at the age of 21, along with 12 others, I was able to create the structure known as the Dome. It was our paradise, the one that all of us envisioned. Forever free from the cruel hands of war. We sought solace in those golden wheat fields, the mauve lavenders, that grew so naturally. It was something that could heal our damaged souls. We named the town Paradisus meaning paradise, orchard, park and town. That year we accepted 200 other war refugees. Just like us they dreamt of a lush, fertile land on the edge of the world, away from all violence, away from all wars. And the following year 500, we lived a simple, frugal life within the fields, living off the land. We would share our crops, amongst ourselves, no one would take more than they needed. There was no need for disagreement or conflict. Everyone, traumatised from the war, lived in peace. Our first few years were spent in harmony, far away from any threats, we were certain that no one would disturb the peace, it was an unspoken rule between us to never use violence, never fight, and never discuss our pasts, to allow for our scars to fade. That's why no one could ever predict the existence of Nathan Anderson. It happened in 2084 we had finished constructing the first dome and our population had risen to 7000. It was also the time where the current world superpowers grew wary of our existence. We were an existence outside the rules, and had many freedoms and liberties, so it was natural for them to be threatened by our existence. Even so it was an unfounded paranoia, had they done an investigation they would have come to realise that any conflict was the last thing that we wanted. We simply wished to be forgotten about in a lonely corner of the world. Anyways back to Nathan. As the first generation of children to be born into the town and to relatively normal parents we could hardly suspect him to be such an abnormality. I knew his parents well, they were Patricia and Brian Anderson, two of the founders of the dome. They were both doctors treating the injured on the battlefield, who had escaped from that hell to begin a new life within our town. I had watched that boy grow up. That boy exhibited traits of high intelligence from a young age, and he was especially well mannered, polite and even charming to talk to. I presumed that following his parents footsteps, he would grow into one of the leaders of our society. Then one day his image shattered when he was caught dissecting an abandoned stray dog. We, his parents and I, all found his behaviour highly distressing, so we consulted former psychologists and urged him to get treatment. Meanwhile tensions between countries, beyond our domain only escalated, and feelings of fear and hatred towards us grew larger. In the August of that year, relations broke down horribly. Nathan also came back fully cured that very same August. Actually I was shocked to see him thanking me so sincerely when he returned, because when his parents and I tricked him into having his first appointment, I will never forget the eyes of deep rooted hatred, pitch blackness that he gazed upon me with. This time he seemed to radiate with the light of the sun. He told me that he wanted to become a doctor like his parents and save lives, and only dissected the dog out of curiosity, but now he understood that it was wrong to hurt others, regardless of who they were. His smile eased my heart temporarily from the threats of war. Little did I know that he was able to spin webs of lies upon lies, so masterfully, and that he had other plans for the future. During the very next year he was able to kill 1082 people. It was the largest instance of genocide commited by a single person, in the record of human history."

"What... How? You said that he got better didn't he? He got treatment." I stammered, my veins pulsating and my voice unstable from a vague sense of fear.

"And that's why you are so naive, Layla. Some people are just born monsters."

"Born monsters..." I muttered to myself, frightened about the meaning behind those words.

"Yes, he was born a monster. People like that did exist in the society of the past, although in our current society most of them are filtered out by our psychometric tests, but they most certainly existed. I believe the name for them was... psychopath. Yes, that was it. It's a personality disorder characterised by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Not all psychopaths are monsters though, he just happened to be both, and that's what made all the more terrifying. He definitely possessed all of these characteristics, except that he hid them effortlessly behind the charming mask of his. We were too blinded by his outward appearance to look any closer at who he truly was. I'm sure that had we looked past the superficial, and developed a real connection with him, we would have noticed, and such a tragedy would never have occurred. Perhaps that too was a flaw he exploited. Anyways it started with the death of his parents, when we had his funeral, only him and some of the other founders turned up. His face seemed so genuine, it looked as if he was earnestly mourning for them, so obviously I never suspected a thing. 'Who would do such a thing?' He kept mumbling to himself, clearly distraught. I was rather close to his parents, and feeling burdened by their murders, I shouldered the responsibility to raise their 14 year old son. At that time I was in charge of security, equivalent to the Security Minister, so in a way I felt responsible for their murders. How could I let myself get so complacent? How could I let them down when I promised to protect them? How could I let this happen to them in the first place? Violence and murder had been practically nonexistant in our society, but there was a possibility that they could reoccur, like a disease. In fact they were diseases that plagued mankind since the beginning of time. From then onwards I invested my time into investigating their murders. I was not going to let the culprit get away with it. All of this was happening while I let the boy stay at my house. That was a terrible mistake because, as I was the Security Minister at the time, I had the files of the personal information of every person in the dome, stored away inside my home. In other words I gave a serial killer, access to all the information on his victims. The series of murder continued that year, many other people had died unnatural and mysterious deaths, and my search for the culprit lead my no closer to any person. Everyday Nathan would help clean the simple structure of our house, go to school and visit the library of limited books and read to himself, I was always greeted the bright boy after work and we would eat together. Well that was what I believed from the conversations I had with him, but his effortless lies deceived even me. At the time in the dome we were only producing Transfood. One of our citizens had brought over a revolutionary crop, regarded as a state secret in their country. Nathan was an intelligent boy, and he didn't hesitate to strike where it hurt, he knew all the weaknesses of the dome, and he exploited them. In his dead parent's house, although they only had simple narcotics and antibiotics, even without any advanced equipment he was able to genetically alter a virus to destroy almost all transfood inside the dome. He was truly a genius. He even made sure to leave a small amount untouched, as fuel for the fire, for people to fight over. He used bio-terrorism to commit mass genocide. We were to careless then and caught totally off guard by this. When food became scarce, it resorted to the destruction of the tranquil illusion that we had achieved. Once again fighting broke out, this time internally. Our frail human connections, formed out of a mutual acceptance but nothing more, snapped. Where we didn't argue and fight, or have any human relationships beyond mutual benefit began to expose itself. None of us truly understood each other or even tried to. We took our relationship for granted. Our entire society within the dome was made of strangers, indifferent, apathetic to those around them. Not fighting, using violence was a symbol of peace, and a desire to get along, but could also be seen as a sign of our distanced hearts, and our lack of interhuman connections. Nobody mourned anyone's death, nobody even noticed anybody's disappearance, nobody cared for anyone but themselves, that's why they could commit such atrocious acts without remorse. Nathan a 14 year old boy, had clearly grasped the nature of our society: one without emotional connection, and used that to fulfill his murderous intent. The worst part of it all, was that he was right. It was an unchecked fire, eventually going to consume the entirety of the house, going to explode one day, all he did was speed up the process by sprinkling some fuel. He didn't sow the seeds of chaos, they already existed, he merely watered them. When I saw the expression on his face, I knew unmistakably that he was the mastermind who orchestrated this. The wicked grin on his face, contorted by the flickering light of the turbulent flames outside, and the dark clouds of smoke suffocating the sky, as he sat on his throne, beside the window, witnessing the ends of many people, was undoubtedly that of a monster. It didn't take long after that to find evidence of his crimes, but by then well over a thousand people were killed. We disposed of him on the spot. It was a unanimous decision made by all of the founders. It was simply unavoidable." She concluded.

"Are you sure your decision wasn't made out of hatred for him?" I challenged her.

Once again she laughed hysterically. "Do you take me for such a petty woman? Of course not." She snapped, bitterness laced in her voice. "As I was saying, we eliminated the boy on the spot, and arrested the 123 people involved in the bloodshed. We already had a famine in the dome due to Nathan's bio-terrorism, and we had no prison facilities to accomodate them. It was then when the Federal Alliance offered us an interesting proposal. If we provided them with 120 soldiers every year, they would ignore our existence, even help us by providing us with state of the art technology. If all they wanted was a token of our allegiance, a trophy of their superiority over us, their dominance, then we had no reason to object. That very year, we sent the 123 people accused of taking part in the riot, and sold them as slaves to the Federal Alliance. Perhaps the perpetrators of the incident too, were victims of Nathan's manipulation. We were never going to take the risk of another Nathan, and we were never going to take the risk of another war. Afterwards three other Dome's sprang up in Europe, due to the sheer success of our system. The Bubble's and psychometric tests were invented by our scientists within the dome, to prevent the appearance of someone who could throw our society in a turbulent disarray. Do not get me wrong, what we fear is not a Nathan, but a monster. A monster that could shake the very foundations of this society, to stir up the mud that had already settled at the bottom of the river. Our very society is reliant on mutual benefit, and in a way trust, trust in our lifestyle, trust that everyone is doing their job to support everyone else. There is no one, unnecessary to our society. That's why we cannot break that trust, we have to maintain this truce, even if it's all fake, otherwise the tragedy of 140 years ago will once again befall us."

"You're telling me, that's the reason why Hannah disappeared. She became a slave?" A solemn tear slid down my cheek. "For that stupid reason? Oh my god. Hannah!? Hannah!? A slave? How would she be treated? Why!? Why did you have to take my sister from me?" I broke out sobbing. Relentlessly my painful tears cascaded onto my lap.

"It was necessary. It's a small price to pay for your happiness."

"Do I look happy?" I sniffled between sobs. "You stole everything I had." I accused her.

"A generation like yours, who have never known war shall never understand. As the leader of the dome it is my duty to protect my people at all cost." She handed me a handkerchief.

Wiping my tears, I responded to her. "But is it worth all the sacrifices that you were forced to make?"

She sighed sounding resigned. "Yes."

I had one last question I wanted to ask her. "Are you truly happy?"

She smiled from ear to ear, flashing a set of crooked yellow teeth. "Yes, of course."