I looked in the mirror of the dressing room as I put on my lipstick Since the Yellow Jackets took Dr. Steel's place money was needed as currency, or so they said. The world was in poverty since money wasn't necessary when Dr. Steel ruled. It was Corrupted now. Violent again. There weren't many people who weren't afraid to walk out of their own front door. Since the continents were connected, by Dr. Steel himself in order to unify the world, nowhere was safe. Except for maybe his island but no one ever ventured there since the day he went missing. That place brought too many happier memories that died when he was gone.

The forensics officers gave up a year after the incident. You'd think they wouldn't stop until they found something but everything they'd think they found would just lead them on a wild goose chase meant for nothing. I was so young then. Naïve. I thought he'd come back like a superhero, ready to save the world from sadness and pain. I would still like to believe he'd be back someday… But it's getting harder every day. I put on my eyeliner. I looked to the left and right of me. Other girls were doing as I was. We were putting on our costumes, or Slut Wear, as some of the other women here called it. I was only 17 but not the youngest person working at this forsaken strip club. I've seen girls as young and 13 and 14 working here. When your parents work for the Yellow Jackets and you have no money and nowhere to go, a job with good old Mr. Sullivan seems really tempting when he offers you somewhere to live as well.

All you need is to entertain perverted men who try to shove money in your underwear just to feel you up. But then again, beggars can't be choosers. When you live in a world where the population is great and the number of jobs are little, you learn to work with what you have in order to eat. I can't even tell you the number of prostitutes and drug dealers there are these days. Both are easy ways of getting money and the people who work those jobs always tend to find their way to clubs like this. If you work here, you'd be lucky if you didn't lose your virginity before 15. I was one of the lucky ones who still had her virginity at 17. I agree with Dr. Steel when he says we don't need to continue to repopulate, especially when the resources are as far and few as the number of jobs available.

Mr. Sullivan came into our dressing room, "alright ladies! The show's about to start so get your stuff together and rock the house tonight!" he chuckled and walked out. He wasn't that bad on a good night but when we don't make enough money, that's when he gets a stick up his ass. With good reason, mind you, since he needs to make sure our roof doesn't leak. I stood up with the rest of the women here and we walked out on stage. There were about 20 of us and 10 poles. As we rehearsed, half of the women would start on the poles and the others would freely strip-dance. I usually get the pole first since I can't dance to save my life. I also got the hang of doing really cool pole tricks so that's a plus for me.

Our club is particularly popular though because we tend to dance to Dr. Steel's music as well as whatever else sounds good. People get to reminisce about the better days while watching girls dance around practically naked. The show was about to start soon. We heard t Mr. Sullivan introduce us to the crowd. We all did our parts rather well and the crowd enjoyed it. It was nights like this that we were able to go out to eat afterwards and get ourselves a real meal. This normally happened maybe once every few months, if that.

Going out to eat was especially fun for me and the other girls my age and younger because the slightly older women had stories from when they worked with Dr. Steel. Some of them were toy soldiers, nurses, and toy scouts. They would talk about what they used to do for him, how they did it, and how it was always done peacefully…. Even though sometimes he just wanted to blow shit up. Sometimes their stories were funny, and some were just inspiring. All the while making us sad as well because we remembered the times when the world was a better place, before the corruption and filth invaded.

That night when I got to my room I lied in bed thinking. I wondered what could've happened to our leader and where he could've gone to. I wondered how he disappeared like he did and felt sick. I walked over to my friend's room and knocked on her door. Mary was my closest friend, I knew her since we were kids playing with toys together. Toys, I scoffed to myself. I wonder if they even exist now aside from the ones that girls use on slow business these days. She unlocked her door and looked at me, hair messy and eyes puffy from sleep.

"Carol, it's two in the morning… What the hell are you doing up?" she asked groggily.

"I can't sleep… Can I hang out?" I felt bad for waking her up but I felt like I was going to cry if I didn't have someone to go to. She waved me in

"Want some tea?", she asked walking over to her since, grabbing a pot and filling it with water. I nodded and sat in a chair. She made the best chai anyone could make. As she got the stuff ready for tea I stared out into space. "Mary… I can't help but feel like he's out there somewhere.."

"Oh Carolyn, don't start this nonsense again", she piped in.

"But think about it! What if he's hurt? What if he's wounded and infected and no one is there to help him? What if he's kidnapped and is being used as a sex slave for some sick pervert's joy? What if the Yellow Jackets had something to do with it?" I went off. Even still my imagination's overactive.

"I don't know. Maybe nothing happened. Maybe he's hiding cause he couldn't handle the pressure of being world ruler." she said starting to get a little annoyed. Unfortunately her words matches the words of everyone else on this planet.

"But he would've been back by now after seeing the state we're in… I want to find him", I said almost desperately.

"You're crazy." she huffed.

"So was he." I looked up at her as she gave me my tea. She pursed her lips. She reminded me of mom when she did that. We both sat and drank tea in silence for what seemed like ages before she spoke up.

"You're really serious about finding him, aren't you?" she put down her tea and looked over at me. I looked at mine and nodded. "As soon as possible before this becomes too much for the world."

She scoffed. "I think there's a little more to this than just the world, Carolyn". I blushed, still staring at my tea. Maybe there was a little more to it, but what did it matter? He was too old for me anyway, but there was no denying it. "But in any case… I'll stick with you anyway"…

I smiled at her, "Thank you!" I practically screamed, hugging her really tight.

"Carol, you're choking me" she fake coughed. When I let go she caught her breath and said "You're so lucky I'm your friend." she said hugging me back. Then she smiled at me with a hint of mischief in her eyes, the kind of look I haven't seen in forever, and asked, "So, what's the plan?"