Leave The City - A Trench Story (tøp)

Morph

"Long ago, the world was a dangerous place. There were wars which caused catastrophic population loss,  and mass hysteria about lands which had disappeared into thin air. The earth was in ruins, with few brave enough to do anything about it. Some of the greatest minds of the time banded together to form Better Life Industries, and collectively worked to create Battery City, a perfect haven supported by advanced technology, the one place on earth where humans could be safe. They thrived with the assistance of robotic servants, and were spared the trouble of decision making by brave leaders. Unfortunately, not everyone could see the accomplishment that this city was. Some delinquents formed a rebellion. The called themselves "The Killjoys", and fought against the wisdom of the Industry. Better Life succeeded in holding them off for almost a decade, but the city was ultimately destroyed by foolish children who wanted to control everything themselves. The world was once again a lawless place, the human race left in ruins, struggling to make the important decisions that would determine the direction of millions of lives. After the disaster caused by The Killjoys, what was left of the government realized that the spark of rebellion was most greatly fueled by music. Lyrics that incited defiance of authority and quick-paced beats led to over-confidence in the youth. A group of intelligent women who worried for the future of their children came together to put an end to this danger. They raised their daughters to fight against the evil of untamable musicians producing music which they called "rock and roll". These brave agents called themselves "The Vixens". Over time, one music group in particular was starting to cause quite an uprising. They went by the name "Fall Out Boy" and frequently referred to themselves as "Defenders Of The Faith". The Vixens went on a nearly impossible mission to destroy rock and roll once and for all, coming an inch from success, before they were led astray by the allure of the music, deceiving even the head of the operation herself. Those who governed from the shadows were given no choice but to come out of hiding and take matters into their own hands, quickly disposing of the fallen soldiers, but were stopped from putting an end the rebels completely, as the band managed to destroy them before they could finish the job. The world fell into chaos once more. From this we learned that humans will rebel if they are left in their natural state of mind, and that they crave certain pleasures, such as music and free will. However, if they could be subdued into a more compliant state, they might be more reasonable. We selected a couple subjects, and experimented with the controlling of the mind. Showing a young boy videos of a man, we hoped he would feel more comfortable, and follow along with the actions shown on the screen. After being lightly sedated, he periodically gave in to the music that we had engineered. However, this was deemed far too unstable, a dangerous method of control that was unrealistic to exercise over an entire civilization. After all of these events had transpired, the remnants of what had once been a flourishing governing body gathered together to design a place that could truly keep humanity safe from the threats which they posed to themselves. They drew on all the successful elements of each failed system. After many months, the newly formed council unveiled their master plan. DEMA City would be situated on the island of Trench. A place for humanity to thrive, under the watchful eye of nine bishops, each assigned to their own district, to help the people relate to their leaders more, in hopes that they would submit to their rule out of respect for their appointed bishop, and the greater good of the community as a whole. The bishops advertised their city as a great vacation resort. When people arrived, they quickly saw how well things worked under the council's new orders, and were easily persuaded to stay. The gates were closed, and people went on to have children and grow old in the city. They were given basic meals and menial tasks to help them achieve a sense of purpose. Music was not allowed for the most part, but harmonious melodies were incorporated into daily routines, as well as unifying chants and speeches put to simple music. The Sacred Municipality Of DEMA succeeded in doing what the previous leaders could not do. They kept the rebellious desires of humanity at bay, while giving them a mundane, yet rewarding life. Unfortunately, the bishops allowed the citizens to have too much freedom at first, and some children figured out to create technology which allowed them to gain access to music from long ago, it once again inspired a rebellion, and this time they were called "The Banditos". Regulations were tightened, and many of these citizens took their own lives. Examples were made of them by creating the necropolis of neon gravestones surrounding the city. Weekly assemblies were instituted to affirm the values of "Vialism", the name given to the ideology of the council. The rest of The Banditos disappeared, and the city was once again in peace.

The screen went black and all was quiet once again. The video footage and images that I had just been shown sank into my brain, along with their alluring neon blue captions at the bottom. I looked over to see the outlines of Tyler and Josh, still sitting in their chairs. We all stayed silent for a long time, mauling over everything that we had just been shown. Were we ruining all that DEMA had worked for? Had everything finally been put right, only to be ruined once more by us? The silence provided no relief to my questions. "Tyler?" I spoke out into the darkness. No answer. "Josh?" I asked. Silence. After a minute or two I heard Tyler take a breath. I took that as an indication that they were able to listen to me. "We wrecked it."