The Dome City

The Dome City

Written by Nichole Haines

©2018 Nichole Haines

Jane woke up feeling groggy and confused, she tried to look around, but her vision was a blurred and she found it difficult to focus her eyes. She struggled to remember how she'd ended up in this place as she felt her body lying against some kind of cold metal surface. Slowly and carefully she sat up feeling a little lightheaded and looked around hoping her eyes would adjust. Still, all she could see was darkness as she sought to remember why she was in this dark room on this cold metal surface, yet her mind was completely blank.

She heard a strange vibrating humming - like noise approaching her, she tried to lift herself up fully and control the disconcerting feelings of her lightheadedness and confusion. A floating hologram, a bright red triangle, appeared before her, its face and mouth forming, eyes and lips of electronic black, the rest of its face unpronounced and noiseless.

It stared at her for a moment reading her thoughts and then it spoke:

"Don't be afraid child, you're here for re-education."

"Re-education of what?" Jane asked the hologram.

It continued to stare at her without answering her question, making its disturbing humming vibrating noises which were almost hypnotic, while Jane continued unsuccessfully to try and see her surroundings.

And then it just vanished!

Soon she heard other humming like noises and without warning lights were switched on, within seconds she could see the room she was trapped in. The walls were made from black glass with geometric patterns and the floor from a red marble crystal type substance. She was laying on a metal table but found she was able to sit up fully without those weak and dizzy sensations.

Jane glanced over at the wall noticing for the first time a very thin see-through square glass, lodged just inside of its structure. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, however at that moment a robot appeared on a screen and said:

"Hello Jane, my name is Bato and I'm the Artificial Intelligence that controls the Dome City."

"What year are we in?" asked Jane.

" 3030 Jane." Bato replied.

Jane felt confused, she couldn't remember anything clearly, yet had a strange, vague recollection of it being the year 2025. She opted for curious and probably forbidden questions:

"Why am I here in this place and why can't I remember anything?"

Bato looked at her, he was void of emotion:

"Child, those are forbidden questions here in the Dome City" he confirmed "and I'm not allowed to answer them for you, the First Law of the Dome City is never to ask why you're here. Your memory has been erased for a reason and once again I can't answer why, you must follow all the rules and regulations of the Bato Artificial Intelligence system here, remember, nobody can go outside, and no-one contradicts our Law!"

OK, Jane thought, let's try this question:

"How and when was the Dome City formed?"

Bato, rather surprisingly, answered her question quickly

"The Dome City was formed in the year 2025 because World War III broke out and chemical warfare destroyed most of the Earth. We made The Dome City from old malls which were no longer in use after the year 2020 as Internet retail had taken over the world of shopping."