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Description

If it hadn’t been for the adults who said otherwise, Jay would probably have believed that the metal beams of the Dome had always been part of the view for people when looking up at the sky. For as long as he could remember, there had always been metal beams criss-crossing above them all, glinting in the dull sunlight which shone through the glass encasing of the Dome. It seemed impossible to him that once upon a time, that lifeless, murky sky was a clear, bright blue, wide and endless and beautiful.

But yes, once upon a time, the Dome did not exist. Once upon a time, there was no tyrannical government that took away every freedom possible from its people. There were no Keepers who hunted down the vulnerable citizens for no particular reason. People didn’t have to fear for their lives at every waking moment, because safety was something that was always assured. Back then, life was a blessing, and it was filled with infinite possibilities.
Or so Jay was told. Seeing the current state of his home nation, it was very hard to believe.

It was about two decades or so before Jay was born when the former democratic city-state of Tori was replaced by the totalitarian dictatorship of Gaiola. The president was assassinated, as were members of Parliament, all in the matter of a few days. It was a brisk and unexpected coup d'état that left the general population bewildered and disorientated, and this made it easy for the new regime to completely take power.

‘The world is being infested by war. Had Tori had its way, this place would have been a full-on bloody war zone by now. But we are not Tori, we are Gaiola. And we intend to keep this nation safe, from any deadly outside power, for the well-being of all our citizens.’
Amongst the many propaganda articles, this was what Gaiola promoted in the first few months of its rise to power through the heavily censored newspapers and other media. Any person in their right mind would have instantly read through this obvious lie. As far as everyone knew, the former nation of Tori was nowhere near entering a bloody war. But apparently, not everyone was in their right mind. Slowly, but surely, Gaiola gained a supporting body.
All means of self expression were banned, including writing, art, music, plays and much more. Again, Gaiola justified this act as a way of ‘protecting its citizens’. The citizens were only allowed to read Gaiola’s main newspaper, but being already heavily-censored and filled with propaganda, this was no help in obtaining reliable information.
Private stores were forcefully shut down, instead every adult was assigned a job from the government which would allegedly ‘help Gaiola protect its citizens and make life better for everyone’. Many were made to be workers at the heavy-industrial factories which were once the main supporters of Tori’s economy, boasting the latest technology. It was in these factories where countless firearms were produced even though Gaiola had promised its citizens that war would never be a part of outside conflict. High-rising buildings. Enormous department stores. The structures that were once Tori’s glory and pride were almost all abandoned by Gaiola, as it saw no purpose for them. Obviously there were no such things as individual civil liberties.
And of course, there were the Keepers, the paramilitary force who were there to ‘ensure the citizens’ safety’, but seemed intent to do the exact opposite. The Keepers were free to do almost whatever they wished, and this often meant mercilessly killing off citizens with their many firearms, for no apparent reason at all. In their black military coat uniforms and their crimson blindfolds, it seemed like the Keepers never even cared that they were taking a fellow human being’s life. They almost seemed to be enjoying it.
If the citizen was ‘lucky’, they won’t be killed but would be ‘arrested’ and used as a punchbag or a screw toy. Basically, the Keepers did nothing but threaten the citizens’ safety.
There were many protests at the beginning. Thousands of people gathered in the streets, but when the protests were faced by hundreds of Keepers armed with every kind of firearm possible, who showed no mercy in opening fire at anyone who happened to be at the scene with their pistols, rifles and machine guns as soon as it even started, the population soon became too terrified to mount any further reaction.
Many refugees attempted at escaping the city-state to neighbouring countries which still held free societies. At first, the Keepers tried to control this by killing anyone who attempted to cross the borderline, but soon the flow became much too thick for the Keepers to handle. Which was why Gaiola decided to build the Dome.
They told the citizens that it was another necessary measure in order to keep the nation safe, by preventing anything dangerous from entering, and in a way this was true. The looming wall of concrete towering over the nation’s tallest buildings looked impossible to breach, and the mess of iron beams and glass that made up the dome arching high above their heads seemed like the best defense from any attack from above. Surrounded by the strongest of all shields, it seemed like Gaiola was invincible against any future invasions.
However, this also meant something else; the Dome was invincible against any breaching attempts from the inside. This fact made itself clear soon enough. The moment the fifty metre wall was constructed around the city, all escape-attempts abruptly stopped. There were exactly four gates that lead outside of Gaiola, and all these gates were kept under strict surveillance for 24 hours. Without the government’s direct permission to leave, it was virtually impossible for anyone to even approach the gates.
No one could get in, no one could leave.
This was how Gaiola soon controlled every aspect of its citizens' lives, and that was how they intended to keep it.

++++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 2 is here! This is mostly a fill-in episode to explain how the Dome came to be.
Thank you for reading, and comments are most definitely welcome

(Based off of Neru's Jailbreak . Characters belong to Neru and Sidu)

Title Page: fav.me/ddtr9ya
Previous Chapter: www.deviantart.com/tsukareta81…
Next chapter: Coming soon...

Description

If it hadn’t been for the adults who said otherwise, Jay would probably have believed that the metal beams of the Dome had always been part of the view for people when looking up at the sky. For as long as he could remember, there had always been metal beams criss-crossing above them all, glinting in the dull sunlight which shone through the glass encasing of the Dome. It seemed impossible to him that once upon a time, that lifeless, murky sky was a clear, bright blue, wide and endless and beautiful.

But yes, once upon a time, the Dome did not exist. Once upon a time, there was no tyrannical government that took away every freedom possible from its people. There were no Keepers who hunted down the vulnerable citizens for no particular reason. People didn’t have to fear for their lives at every waking moment, because safety was something that was always assured. Back then, life was a blessing, and it was filled with infinite possibilities.
Or so Jay was told. Seeing the current state of his home nation, it was very hard to believe.

It was about two decades or so before Jay was born when the former democratic city-state of Tori was replaced by the totalitarian dictatorship of Gaiola. The president was assassinated, as were members of Parliament, all in the matter of a few days. It was a brisk and unexpected coup d'état that left the general population bewildered and disorientated, and this made it easy for the new regime to completely take power.

‘The world is being infested by war. Had Tori had its way, this place would have been a full-on bloody war zone by now. But we are not Tori, we are Gaiola. And we intend to keep this nation safe, from any deadly outside power, for the well-being of all our citizens.’
Amongst the many propaganda articles, this was what Gaiola promoted in the first few months of its rise to power through the heavily censored newspapers and other media. Any person in their right mind would have instantly read through this obvious lie. As far as everyone knew, the former nation of Tori was nowhere near entering a bloody war. But apparently, not everyone was in their right mind. Slowly, but surely, Gaiola gained a supporting body.
All means of self expression were banned, including writing, art, music, plays and much more. Again, Gaiola justified this act as a way of ‘protecting its citizens’. The citizens were only allowed to read Gaiola’s main newspaper, but being already heavily-censored and filled with propaganda, this was no help in obtaining reliable information.
Private stores were forcefully shut down, instead every adult was assigned a job from the government which would allegedly ‘help Gaiola protect its citizens and make life better for everyone’. Many were made to be workers at the heavy-industrial factories which were once the main supporters of Tori’s economy, boasting the latest technology. It was in these factories where countless firearms were produced even though Gaiola had promised its citizens that war would never be a part of outside conflict. High-rising buildings. Enormous department stores. The structures that were once Tori’s glory and pride were almost all abandoned by Gaiola, as it saw no purpose for them. Obviously there were no such things as individual civil liberties.
And of course, there were the Keepers, the paramilitary force who were there to ‘ensure the citizens’ safety’, but seemed intent to do the exact opposite. The Keepers were free to do almost whatever they wished, and this often meant mercilessly killing off citizens with their many firearms, for no apparent reason at all. In their black military coat uniforms and their crimson blindfolds, it seemed like the Keepers never even cared that they were taking a fellow human being’s life. They almost seemed to be enjoying it.
If the citizen was ‘lucky’, they won’t be killed but would be ‘arrested’ and used as a punchbag or a screw toy. Basically, the Keepers did nothing but threaten the citizens’ safety.
There were many protests at the beginning. Thousands of people gathered in the streets, but when the protests were faced by hundreds of Keepers armed with every kind of firearm possible, who showed no mercy in opening fire at anyone who happened to be at the scene with their pistols, rifles and machine guns as soon as it even started, the population soon became too terrified to mount any further reaction.
Many refugees attempted at escaping the city-state to neighbouring countries which still held free societies. At first, the Keepers tried to control this by killing anyone who attempted to cross the borderline, but soon the flow became much too thick for the Keepers to handle. Which was why Gaiola decided to build the Dome.
They told the citizens that it was another necessary measure in order to keep the nation safe, by preventing anything dangerous from entering, and in a way this was true. The looming wall of concrete towering over the nation’s tallest buildings looked impossible to breach, and the mess of iron beams and glass that made up the dome arching high above their heads seemed like the best defense from any attack from above. Surrounded by the strongest of all shields, it seemed like Gaiola was invincible against any future invasions.
However, this also meant something else; the Dome was invincible against any breaching attempts from the inside. This fact made itself clear soon enough. The moment the fifty metre wall was constructed around the city, all escape-attempts abruptly stopped. There were exactly four gates that lead outside of Gaiola, and all these gates were kept under strict surveillance for 24 hours. Without the government’s direct permission to leave, it was virtually impossible for anyone to even approach the gates.
No one could get in, no one could leave.
This was how Gaiola soon controlled every aspect of its citizens' lives, and that was how they intended to keep it.

++++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 2 is here! This is mostly a fill-in episode to explain how the Dome came to be.
Thank you for reading, and comments are most definitely welcome

(Based off of Neru's Jailbreak . Characters belong to Neru and Sidu)

Title Page: fav.me/ddtr9ya
Previous Chapter: www.deviantart.com/tsukareta81…
Next chapter: Coming soon...