O'Neil stood in his office, far above the majority of the city. It was his own personal district, Wonder Heights, complete with a bank, park, and shops. The Capitol sat on top of it, and within it, his office. There was a window that looked at the outside world. He could see sand in the distance and a faint overlap into the blue waters of a nearby lake. He was proud of his creation. Everything his eye could see, he created.
It was beautiful.
Perfect.
Complete.
He wished she could be there to see it. To see everything. It had been fifty years, and yet he still missed her. He missed the way she talked, and that subtle British accent. Her long flowing hair and thin, elegant fingers. He missed the way his fingers overlapped with hers.
Yet she would never be happy here. It would never be home. The city became a fortress that housed only him. Its walls were not meant to contain his people. They were meant to contain him.
He summoned the elevator that would him to Uptown. On the way down, He saw the splendor of grass and flowing water in Wonder Heights, and wondered what it would be like to see children playing in it. He imagined young families having picnics and couples dreaming of the future underneath the pavillion in the middle of the park. For everything beautiful about Wonder Heights, there was a haunting silence that deafened the heart.
This was utopia. Perfection. The pinnacle of human achievement. At least, that's what O'Neil told himself. For as far as he could see, beautiful structures and towers covered the landscape of his city. Yet what good are beautiful buildings without beautiful people? He grew tired of the loneliness.
A digital display inside O'Neil's wrist showed subject 937 and an unknown accomplice racing to Uptown. At first, O'Neil felt an intense wave of anger surge through him. He couldn't believe the madness. Yet there was a feeling inside of him he didn't fully understand. A strange sentiment of joy. He didn't know what it meant, or where it came from, but it was unmistakable. Undeniable. Unforgettable.
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The War In His Mind
Science FictionAfter war devastated the United States, a survivor buried himself deep underground in a cryostasis chamber connected to a digital world- Wonder City. Dedicated to creating a perfect society, Thomas O'Neil transported his consciousness to the city a...
