Maeve couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that lingered after hearing the recording. Protocol Zero. The very name felt ominous, like a shadow creeping at the edges of her mind. She had thought the sirens were the Council’s ultimate weapon—an unbreakable system of control. But now, there was something more. Something even the Resistance hadn’t anticipated.
The days grew shorter as Maeve worked tirelessly, splitting her time between her job at the siren maintenance center and her nights with the Resistance. The tension in the city was palpable, and even though the sirens continued their rhythmic screams, Maeve sensed something was coming. The air felt heavier, as if the city itself was holding its breath, waiting for the inevitable.
One evening, while Maeve was adjusting a crucial relay in the heart of the city’s siren system, her colleague Rona caught her off guard.
“You’ve been quiet lately,” Rona said, her voice light but probing. “Everything alright?”
Maeve kept her focus on the relay, trying to keep her hands steady. “Yeah. Just a lot on my mind.”
Rona leaned against the wall, watching her. “It’s funny, isn’t it? How we’ve gotten so used to the sirens. Most people don’t even hear them anymore.”
Maeve felt a knot tighten in her stomach. She had been friends with Rona for years. They had started working together at the siren center at the same time, learning the ins and outs of the system. Rona trusted her. And now Maeve was keeping the biggest secret of her life from her.
“Yeah,” Maeve said softly. “Sometimes I wonder what life would be like without them.”
Rona chuckled. “Chaotic, probably. No one would know when to wake up, when to go to bed, when to stay inside. The Council says the sirens keep us safe, and most of the time, I believe them.”
Most of the time. Maeve caught the hesitation in Rona’s voice. Was she starting to doubt the Council, too? Or was it just idle curiosity?
“Do you ever think about what life was like before the Fog?” Maeve asked, testing the waters.
Rona sighed. “Sometimes. But it feels like a dream, you know? Like something I might have imagined. I was just a kid when the Fog first came. My parents used to tell me stories about clear skies and open fields. But that’s hard to picture now.”
Maeve nodded, feeling a pang of guilt. Rona had lost her family to the Fog, like so many others. The Council’s narrative had always been clear: the Fog was a force of nature, something beyond their control. It kept people in the cities, kept them dependent on the sirens. But now Maeve knew that wasn’t the whole story.
She wanted to tell Rona the truth, to confide in her friend, but she couldn’t risk it. Not yet. Not until she was sure.
---
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OVER THE SIRENS🌸
Science FictionIn the distant future, society is ruled by a powerful global alliance that governs the last remaining cities on Earth. The world is recovering from decades of war, climate collapse, and disease outbreaks that devastated the population. Survival is n...
