Of Gears and Humanity

| 02.1

[ELENA]

My mother may have passed before I turned five, and much of her was more like a dream to me than memories, but I remembered her stories. Vividly. She would always hold me close before bed and tell me the tales of her youthful adventures. Through her words, I learned about the War, the machines, and the darkness beyond our Gate. They weren't the best tales to share with a young child, but my mother always changed the way the stories flowed; with colorful descriptions, I was able to listen without being afraid. My father hated what she shared with me; they fought constantly about it. But my mother believed I needed to know the truth. My father wished to keep me in a bubble, save within our marble walls.

When I reached my teenage years, I quickly realized how false my father's stories were. While his educators and teachers told me all of Earth was beautiful and green, how weather was universal, comparable to that of the forever rising and setting of our sun and moon, my mother's stories were different.

She described a world where Earth was beautiful while bordering Homestead because humans maintained their little corner of the world. If one were to leave the safety of our town, my mother explained how the world changed. The war left parts of Earth without the clouds to protect it from sunlight and the ground suffered because of it. The ruins left over after the Attributions left the humans were burnt, decayed, eroding due to scorching winds. The Gate was built to hide that part of Earth from peering eyes, as a mask, not protection; nothing could be done to protect humans from the sky above.

As Carmine came to a slow trot, I noticed the difference, just as my mother described. The beauty of Earth ended, but not immediately. The forest had been lush for a while, but as we were miles away from Homestead, I noticed the change. Many of the trees were brittle, wilting away under the sun. The animals had vanished, too. The world had become all to quiet as Carmine continued ahead down the road; even as it disappeared and became nothing but dirt, he knew to keep straight. As did my focus because the dying lands kept my attention away from the heat beating down on my head.

I wiped the sweat away from my forehead as I held onto Carmine's reigns with one hand. "I don't know why papa lies to me." I glanced back, watching the last of the dying trees disappear into the distance. "What good is telling me how beautiful the world is when it isn't?"

With a deep frown, I glanced up at the sky, shielding my eyes from the intense rays of the sun. "Kings and queens take royal tours, Carmine," I said as I watched a thin cloud try to pass over the sky. It struggled without moisture. I felt as if it would fade away with the pushing winds. "The tours was where my father found you, right?"

Carmine, still slowly walking, neighed and bobbed his head. Looking down at him, I sighed. "How did an animal like you survive this far out? It feels as if the Earth is melting out here." I closed my eyes. "Is this what I was to learn today? To prepare for my coronation? To learn all the lies I was ever told?"

Carmine stopped. For a moment, I thought he needed to catch his breath, brace himself for further heat. But when he didn't proceed, I had to open my eyes and look ahead. Unable to blink, shock coming over me, I saw why my horse remained in one spot.

Just yards before us, taller than I could have ever imagined, was the Gate. Made out of a combination of metal and stone, the walls seemed endless. From left to right, the deep, thick border seemed to dig into the Earth. The ground just beside it looked forced, cracking, struggling to sustain the weight.

With a small hop, I jumped off Carmine's back and approached the monstrosity. I had to pull my mother's journal from my bag to compare it. Flipping to the center of her old book I bookmarked with a red string, I read the first passage to myself, "The Gate is taller than ever recorded in human history. Made by our ancestors with the help of machines, the Gate's metal seems to shimmer when I approach it. I'm unable to tell if this is due to the sunlight or if there is something special about the metal gifted to us by the Attributions."