The Dome

You're Charged With...

 It wasn't until they were almost there that a guard stopped them...

"Names," the guard demanded, then called into his radio for another guard.

Silasque hated how they didn't even ask for an explanation. Not that the guards would listen to their explanation anyway.

"I'm Sandra and this is my friend Hannah," Minski said cheerily and confidently, "Nice to meet you!"

She held out her hand and the guard merely stared at it and raised a brow before shaking his head. The guard ushered them across the street where another guard met them. Crap, Silasque thought.

The guards grabbed them tightly by the arms and took them to the Delinquents' Punishment Center, also known as the DP Center. The two girls stumbled along the whole way in the position the guards had them in and when they arrived at the DP Center, they were brought to a room on the second floor labeled 'CAPD Room 3.' Minski seemed to read Silasque's thoughts, because she told Silasque CAPD stood for Crime Assessment & Punishment Distribution. Silasque just nodded in resignation.

The room walls were painted white and the only furniture in the room consisted of two chairs, a desk, and a chair behind that desk, plus a bookshelf.

Silasque and Minski were ordered to take a seat and once they were seated, the guards left and a woman behind the desk took out a tablet from a pocket in her jacket.

"Let's see," a woman with round glasses read off of her tablet, "Minski, you are charged with being out after dark, violating the dress code, attempted break-in, using a fake alias, lying to a guard, and wasting materials."

Minski gave Silasque an I-told-you-that-was-a-thing type of look. Silasque just sighed and waited for the woman to read her list of crimes.

"And you, Silasque, are charged with being out after dark, acting on the death of someone who didn't pass the Test, running through the streets, using a fake alias, and lying to a guard."

Silasque gave Minski a the-last-two-were-your-fault type of look. Minski just grinned and crossed her arms, smiling at the woman in front of her.

The woman, of course, did not return Minski's warmth. Instead, she took off her glasses and put her hands together on the table between the girls and her.

"Minski, this is your third time caught violating the law," both girls could tell she emphasized the word 'caught,' "Your first time caught you got off with a warning and your second time you were rewarded with a year of community service."

Silasque almost laughed at the fact that she used the word 'rewarded.' And she would've if it weren't for the fact that this woman could give her any punishment she wanted.

"As your third offense, you are rewarded with a year of community service in addition to owing three favors to the city that can be used by the city anytime."

At that, Minski's face fell, "You can't possibly do that!"

"Actually, I can," the woman had on a smug expression as she eyed both of them, "And since you aren't technically working yet since you still have to train, I can't charge you with anything more. I can, however, charge you with deportation, which will come into effect once you complete your training."

"Uh, no thank you," Minski looked at the woman half pleadingly, half unbelievingly.

"Well then, that's settled," the woman turned to face Silasque, "As your first-time offense, by law, I am required to let you off with a warning. However, since you are a Guardian-in-training, I have no jurisdiction over what happens to you. The Guardians will be consulted with and you will be requested at my office once they have come to a justifiable conclusion."

Silasque could only nod. Minski, however, was shocked by this turn of events, "You're a Guardian-in-training?"

Minski sounded incredulous, and again, Silasque simply nodded.

"You may leave now," the woman said, clearing her throat.

The two girls got up to leave, and once outside, Minski asked Silasque, "I mean, I wouldn't want to be a Guardian-in-training, but that's so cool!"

"Yeah, totally cool," Silasque tried her best to sound enthusiastic, but gave up, "I don't want to be a Guardian."

Minski's eyes widened, "Harsh."

"Yeah," Silasque nodded and spotted something Minski was holding, "I can swear you didn't have that earlier."

"I didn't. I swiped it off the bookshelf when we were leaving," Minski admitted, grinning proudly.

Silasque shook her head, but a chuckle escaped her lips, "What's it about?"

"It's called 'Our History' and it's supposedly about the history of the Dome," Minski explained, "I've been looking for it. You see, the Board of Guardians ordered all copies of it to be burned some decades back, but there was a rumor that this one copy survived. I found it suspicious that they were burning them, so I figured they must have something to hide. When I got caught in the trap, I was looking for this. I've been looking for years!"

She laughed lightly, "I guess it's a good thing we got caught then, otherwise I probably never would've found it."

"Well..." Silasque grinned, "You never know, you could've found it in the future when you got caught doing something else illegal."

"Hm," Minski considered it, "Good point."

"Mom, I'm home, I'm sorry I ran out," Silasque closed the door behind her and took a seat on the couch.

"Oh, honey! Are you okay?" Her mother came rushing in.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Silasque smiled at her mother.

"Don't you ever do that again!" She scolded, then hugged her daughter tightly, "You know, when I was your age, I got into all sorts of trouble."

"Really?" Silasque had a hard time believing that her mother, the woman who had taught her how to behave and how to stay out of trouble, got into trouble when she was younger. Then again, her mother seemed to understand her many questions and actions when she was younger.

"Believe it or not, it's true," her mother smiled at her and got up, "Come on, it's late, we should go to bed."

"Mom?" Silasque looked into her mother's tired smile and saw herself reflected in her mother, "Were you just like me when you were my age?"

Her mother seemed to contemplate how to answer her, "I was. I questioned too many things, and I found out too much. I had a big mouth when I was younger, had no trouble saying what I really thought. I scared my mother to death, but I was lucky. They never caught me."

Her mother seemed to be in a world far away. Silasque didn't want to disturb her, so she whispered goodnight to her mother and quietly exited the room.

However, as she lay in bed later that night, something her mother said stuck in her mind. 'I found out too much.' What did that mean? Fortunately, even with the question nagging at her like an annoying fly that wouldn't leave her alone, Silasque was able to drift off to sleep.