Be Quiet

Andail

”Be quiet”, whispered the Gondolier through his teeth, clenching his jaws in concentration. “It is absolutely essential that you keep quiet.” The warning was superfluous, as none of his six passengers were even remotely inclined to chat.

The slender vessel glided soundlessly over the pitch-dark water of the canal, foot by foot, passing beneath a wide pedestrian bridge, on top of which was situated a restaurant of some sort, and the coloured light of festive lamps reflected in the soft water ripples. As they reached the other side of the bridge, they were met by the spectacular view of the city center in the distance; the turquoise haze of countless lights adorning the walls of seemingly endless towers, the multitude of transparent bridges that shot through the air like horizontal icicles, the red and white dots of a million hovercrafts, and above it all the huge dome ceiling, like the film of a gigantic soap bubble, encasing the city hermetically.

They were still miles from the downtown area, but even amongst the shady inhabitants of these suburban docks were watchful eyes, whose owners would not hesitate to make that fateful phone call upon the sight of the gondola.

Akatosh

However, everything had been going well so far. Some surveillance drones came uncomfortably near, and the ship was nearly spotted by a worker, but the gondolier escaped notice every time. Thanks to his expertise (and the ship’s state-of-the-art camouflage tech), they managed to leave the sprawl and its docks behind, slip through the outskirts, pass the guarded perimeter and enter the city proper without triggering an alarm.

The passengers visibly relaxed. For the first time since the trip began, one spoke, letting loose a mumbled “military lockdown on the centre my ass”, met with muffled laughter. “I said be quiet!”, the gondolier hissed, but he too was optimistic now. This part of the city was guarded as well, but only by riot police, which would be far easier to trick than the army. In addition, while the little vessel did sink noticeably deeper into the canals than usually, thanks to the heavy load of the passenger’s cargo, but his fears were unfounded - the hard plastic hull held strong, no water entered.

The gondolier dodged a patrol and steered deeper into more populated parts of the city. Almost clear. A little over a mile to go till the agreed rendezvous point.

VinceTwelve

They all noticed how different the air was here, inside the great dome of the city. There was no smell of fire. No smell of war. And perhaps most striking, no smell of death.

On the edge of a nearing overpass sat a couple enjoying a picnic near the canal. The woman was unlike any woman any of them had ever seen. She was... clean. She wore a tight pink corset, ankle-length dress, and a matching bonnet. One passenger of the gondola thought that her hair was the colour of the copper bullets currently loaded into their weapons.

The woman was playfully deflecting the gentleman's advances. His coat tails spinning in the air as he turned to attempt another kiss.

Except perhaps the gondolier, all eyes in the boat were mesmerized by their dance.

It was apparent that the great dome protected the city, not only from the poisonous air on the outside, but also from every care in the world.

Just as the boat passed underneath the couple, the gentleman accidentally brushed a wine bottle that was sitting precariously on the edge.

The silent passengers could do nothing but watch as the bottle fell toward the gondola.

The Ivy

In one mechanical movement, the gondolier drew his weapon, aimed, and fired two shots. The passengers watched in mute horror as the picnicking duo crumpled to the ground, not slowly as they had seen in films, but as fast as a falling...

The bottle shattered in the bottom of the gondola.

“Shit!” spat the gondolier.

“What have you done?” cried one of the passengers, a heavily-scarred man in his late thirties.

“Would you shut up?” hissed the gondolier. “I hit them with sting—nonlethals. They’ll wake up in a few hours, and by then,” he tucked his weapon away, “we’ll already be done.”

“Done for,” said the man with a morbid grimace. But his countenance showed his relief.

The other passengers lowered their heads. No alarm had sounded; the episode had gone undetected. They were still alive, which meant they had a chance to make it downtown...and into the core.

A short silence was broken by one of the women, a girl only in her late teens. Her voice was small. “How much longer?”

At that moment, the boat was jarred by something in the shallow water. They scraped to a halt. The gondolier broke into a Cheshire cat grin.

“Darling, we’re home.”

Wyz

The passengers started muttering quietly and a duffle bag was pulled from the cargo cabin.

“All right, let’s all remember the instructions. The masks don’t go on until we’re inside. Bear in mind, these people are not like us, so try to talk, walk and act like them. And for goodness, carry your weapon concealed at all times.” The gondolier gave his party a penetrating look.

“Any questions?”

The group looked at each other as if they were encouraging somebody to ask a question in order to delay the moment of truth a little more. The girls with the small voice took the initiative and asked the obvious.

“Will you come along?”

The Gondolier put on his grin again and said. “I’ve managed to bring you here, from here on it’s your party. Now, go change.”

The passengers put on formal dress over their clothes and tucked away white half masks with long pointy noses. Their weapons were also fitted snugly under their clothes.

“I will give you four hours.” As the six disappeared in the darkness the gondolier walked towards a tree nearby and leaned in the shadows, killing some time as he waited for his ‘freight’ to return.

LGM

The six passengers walked cautiously onto a granite terrace, overlooking only a small fraction of the expansive domed metropolis. The little girl pointed at a spiral tower made of flawless glass in the distance, “Look!”

The brutish-looking one of the group discretely lowered her hand and whispered, “Hush, child. We must not draw attention to ourselves.”

The other four passengers remained quiet. The scarred man adjusted the weapon in his belt, overcome with the odd feeling that he would soon need to harness its power. The other female in the group drew closer to the child, “Stay behind me, darling. We’re almost there.”

The citizens passed by the passengers as they travelled together, winding through the perfectly clean and symmetric streets and passages, approaching the core at a steady pace. In what little darkness could be found between the tall, majestic architecture there was a small figure, scurrying alongside them, yet remaining hidden. Watching and waiting as the passengers inched closer and closer to their destination.

Meanwhile, the Gondolier sat under the tree, smoking a substance from a turquoise pipe that smelled familiar of Lavender. A man in a white-plated uniform approached him cautiously, his barbed baton removed from its holster.

DanielH

"I was hoping this wouldn't have to happen, officer." The gondolier spoke calmly.

"Your arrest warrant never specified alive, so I would think before fleeing." The officer replied authoritatively. He started towards the Gondolier, baton in hand. Immediately the Gondolier leapt up, firing his gun, but the attack was useless against the officer's armour. The Gondolier fled as the officer began to attack.

The passengers were having no better luck. Having reached their destination, a formal party, they had to make their way inside, then into the basement, but the way in was a conspicuous trapdoor in front of the guests.

"We have to leave the basement into the sewer, that's an unguarded path to the core." Spoke the young girl.

"It's not going to be easy." The scarred man replied. They all knew what a challenge it would be getting past the guests. As they stood in an alley, the party only around the corner, the scurrying figure approached.

"Listen!" Spoke the stranger. The scarred man pulled his gun. "Wait! I'm not one of your lot, but it would be in my interest if tonight went well." The group knew it might be a trap, but what choice did they have?

TheJBurger

“My name is Gary Kloss. I was Victor’s partner in the lab. You might know him as your leader.”

The group stared at him reluctantly.

“I know why you’re here. I’m sorry for everything we’ve done to you, and I’m here to help you get to the override.”

With Gary as their lead, the group entered the party and seemed unnoticed by its guests. The dancers mingled with each other, happy and oblivious to everything around them, their faces and true identities hidden by masks of lore. A feeling of ostentatious pride and ignorance permeated the room.

“Keep walking.”

At the back side of the party, the group entered the basement and smashed in the pre-supposed spot that contained an entrance into the sewer system. The rushing sewage revealed itself, showing the murky and hidden workings of the superficially faultless party. A quick trip down the tunnelling led into the core of the city, the group’s destination.

“This is as far as I’m going,” said Gary. “Once you go down that path, you should reach the dome controls in less than an hour.”

He sighed. “I am... sad... that this must be done. But... the people need to know.”

Bulbapuck

“So tell me something,” The Sheriffs’ questioning of the mysterious, recently caught Gondolier had just begun. “How is it that even though I know every man, woman and child in this city, I’ve never heard of nor even seen you?”

“Well, as you probably figured out by yourself, I’m not from this city. I’m from the outside.” The Sheriff started to laugh and proclaimed “As we both know, there is nothing on the outside of that dome, nothing but dangerous mutants.”

“You’re wrong, there are people out there. I can prove it!”

“Then answer me this. A couple of years back I sent out a man to investigate the outside, he never came back. If people could live out there, then why wouldn’t he come back?” The Gondolier had no reply.

Meanwhile, the group had finally reached their destination; the dome controls. As they stood next to the controls, the tension in the air had thickened and everyone was completely silent.

The young girl spoke with a mild voice: “are we sure about this?” But they all knew that it had to be done. The scarred man stepped up to the controls and entered the key combination they’d been given.

Wyz

Even though it was miles away, in the distance the pneumatics sounded a loud thud throughout the dome. The giant south, east and west doors slowly started to open giving access to the thousands of people that in the meantime had gathered around the dome. They were far from equipped like the dome army; they were carrying weapons, but not armed. Men, women and children—families—had grabbed whatever belongings they had. Step by step they were pouring inside.

The six sat on the floor of the control room, their weapons lying in front of them; some of them were holding hands. The force would enter soon, but they were not going to fight. They were sick of the fighting; it was done.

“Do you hear that?” The Gondolier said.

The Sheriff obviously heard the sound, but did not admit and continued his story.

“There is nobody out there, and you my friend, you are just an anomaly to that: a glitch that must be fixed.”

“Ahhh be quiet! It is too late for you now. We too are entitled to have a life.”

The Gondolier gave the Sheriff a penetrating look. “You people are no longer living a lie.”