Chapter One
Cain was a beautiful person.
He had to be.
Afterall, his entire genetic code had been handpicked by his mother.
Not a freckle or blemish marred his golden, tan skin. With his dark brown eyes and dark brown, nearly black, hair he looked like an exact copy of his father in his younger days. Which, indeed, Cain was.
His elder sister, Kitra, resembled their mother, Katriel, virtually without a fault. From their lips to their hair—they were identical. The only difference was their disgusting personalities. whilst Katriel was analytical and manipulating, Kitra was cruel and reckless. As were many of the great leaders in the Ivory War, which had raged on for seventy-nine years.
Cain and Kitra only shared one thing in common: their younger sisters. Lirita and Azelie were the youngest in their family. They were both small, quiet, and pretty—as well as their mother's obvious favourites. The only problem was that neither of the two sisters had been seen in over six years. The sisters were young too, only twelve and ten respectfully when they disappeared. Quietly and secretly, Cain and Kitra shared their pain and desperate need to find their little sisters. Unfortunately, as per usual, their dearest mother refused to say a word of where the younger girls were hidden.
In Cain's mind, Lirita and Azelie were the only good things left in their dark, hellish world. The two of them were the only members of his family who had not had their genetic code refined and purified. They were natural. Cain yearned to be like them when he was younger. Not only to relinquish the pressure of being the heir but to be human.
To be more than transient.
to see what he and his family might have been.
As it seemed apparent, after all the editing and purifying, there was something not quite right in their minds.
"This place is hideous," said Kitra as her lips curled into a snarl.
The pair of siblings, Cain and Kitra, followed their mother out of the sleek black car. Apathy rested on Cain's face, whilst Kitra snarled in disgust at their newfound surroundings. Their mother, Katriel, huffed and waved to the driver to leave them and park the car.
"This is your family's ancestral home." She shot Kitra a dark look. "You would do best not to disrespect it."
"Whatever," said Kitra, rolling her eyes, "I'm just so glad our ancestors chose such a lovely, brilliant location for their summer home whilst their people were starving and dying of Bow Fever."
"That's old history," huffed Katriel, tucking her purse under her arm. "History that neither of you have any business with."
Kitra and Cain exchanged brief looks.
The older sibling narrowed her eyes, switching her vision to their mother. "How come you haven't said anything about Cain? He's being annoyingly quiet. It's disturbing. Ever since we left Columbia he hasn't said a word!"
"Because, unlike you," Katriel brushed her black hair back and fixed her olive green gloves, refusing to meet her daughter's eyes. "Your brother knows better than to voice his opinions."
Both Katriel and Kitra looked at Cain expectantly—the former with an eyebrow raised and the latter with annoyance. Cain gave no word or motion of response to their words.
"He's a stone," remarked Kitra with a sarcastic flourish of her hand.
"Well, I'm going to go settle in," Katriel sighed after a pause, apparently pleased with her silent, stony son. "You both may explore the château, but please don't break anything." She stared pointedly at Kitra, who simply smiled somewhat innocently.
It wasn't until their mother appeared to be thirty metres away before Cain released a starkly loud sigh of exasperation.
Kitra swirled around to face her younger brother, annoyance clear in her dark eyes. "I can't believe you left me hanging there!" She scoffed, adding, "you're a terrible little brother."
Cain chuckled slightly at his older sister, crossing his arms. "Hey, I just know better than to show any flicker of emotion in front of our mother."
"You're horrible."
"Oh, and by the way, it was Hayte's Disease that killed twelve million people under the reign of King Clèves. Bow's Fever was a hundred and forty years later, killing eight million people and ninety percent of the old province of Dominica's population," recited a smug Cain to a flush-faced Kitra.
"Oh, shut up," hissed an irritated Kitra.
"This place is...quaint," Cain mumbled as he brushed his hands over the old fountain that he and Kitra were rested against. The pair of them, sweating in their casual clothes, hid from the blazing hot sun in a shaded outdoor corridor. It was summer in Fennley, the perfect place to live if a person wanted hot, dry, dusty air and burning weather all summer long. At least Kitra seemed to have calmed down since the first few hours they arrived at the château. Either from the heat driving her to exhaustion or the slow familiarity in olden walls that surrounded them. The majority of the château was of a worn golden shade—damaged from years of hot, dry sun that arrived in the summer to the thick tule fog that fell in the winter. The appearance of the château was peaceful enough to lure an unsuspecting person into believing that there was no war raging on less than two thousand kilometres away. The château was no grand castle or palace, although Cain and Kitra hadn't lived in any castles or palaces since before they could remember.
"It's boring," seethed Kitra, "and hot. Too hot."
Cain slumped down next to his older sister. "We should have stayed in Columbia," he stated with a hint of longing on his voice.
Kitra shook her head and brushed her long hair back over her thin, pale shoulders. "I don't know about you," she began wryly, "but I didn't really enjoy the constant bombings keeping me awake at night. At least now we're in a geodesic dome."
"You think they'd turn down the temperature," he muttered in response, looking down at his dusty shoes.
"The dome is too old for that feature," sighed Kitra, stretching out her legs. "The reflective shields barely work, much less the power shields. If we got attacked again, our defences would hardly hold up. I guess that's why we moved deeper into the kingdom. Less risk."
"But that's not the only reason mother moved us here," Cain said grumpily.
A twinge of Kitra's easily-provoked angry flickered through her dark brown eyes. "I don't want to think or talk about her," Kitra said, glaring off at some ornamental decoration on the top of a wall.
"She's going to make us decide at some point. Or she'll decide herself," Cain responded with a heavy sigh.
Kitra let out a small smirk, her stare off in the distance unwavering. "You're just nervous that she'll pick you."
Cain's expression turned sour. "She doesn't like me."
"Well, she doesn't like me either," Kitra replied bluntly, "but she's stuck with us. We know it's going to be either you or me. So we better make a choice before she makes it for us."
Definitions (in order of appearance):
Explaining beforehand because there are many facts that characters will refer to without further explanation.
Genetic Editing/Purifying - typically reserved for only wealthy people who can afford the high price. It can be used to correct genetic mutations, prevent any inherited genetic disorders, or cure viral infections and certain types of cancerous diseases. In some cases (very few), genetic editing is used to genetically modify unborn human embryos to produce "desirable physical traits." Not a lot of information is openly known to the public, as germinal choice technology is very new, and because very few cases have ever been made public. It can be difficult to determine which humans have been genetically modified and many of the side effects are unknown, but the idea is slowly becoming more popular in the higher class communities of the kingdom. Any cases of genetic editing/purification outside of the kingdom are unknown.
Hayte's Disease - never fully extinguished from the reign of King Clèves. Few cases are noted in geodesic cities and western cities, where the cure is easily accessible. But the disease runs rampant in the far-eastern biophilic cities of Dakota, Belcourt Tammins, and Sumner as well as on battlegrounds. Hayte's Disease spreads through contaminated food and drink as well as insects. Symptoms include trouble breathing, cold sores, swelling of the neck, and eventually death. If Hayte's Disease isn't treated within the first week of contraction, death is almost certain.
Bow's Fever - extinct. Few cases were ever recorded in the kingdom since it mostly only affected Dominica and the majority of the Southern provinces. But Bow's Fever caused extreme social panic when it was at its height as it spread by physical touch and insects.
Geodesic Dome - a reflective domed shield that usually covers urban areas in addition to smaller, separate estates of the wealthy. A relatively new invention, along with genetic purifying, it creates a habitat with a controlled air temperature and sustained energy flow. The reflective shields cause the covered area to appear invisible to the outside eye (although newer tech is being created to see through these shields) and the power shields absorb and reflect away any power blows the geodesic dome may be hit with. Typically covers cities and is the favoured location for the majority of high to upper-middle class people.
Biophilic Cities - once the most sustainable and healthy types of cities, now many are overrun with crime, disease, and poverty. Few biophilic cities have reflective shields and almost none have power shields, as many are older in design. In the kingdom, biophilic cities tend to be worse in state the closer the location is to the war front against the United Republic. The closer to the ocean, the more sustainable the cities are. Middle-class people tend to live in biophilic cities closer to the ocean (referred to as "western cities") whilst lower class people tend to live in cities closer to the war (referred to as "zone cities"). The majority of soldiers come from "zone cities" near the front where they are accustomed to daily bombings and poverty.