"Shay.he lies.Shay.he lies.He is deceiving you all.you must not give
in.Shay."
Shay Haring opened his eyes, breathing heavily and dripping with cold sweat. Every night he had a dream, a dream telling him the same thing. And he never knew what it was. "Who is 'he'?" he would ask himself day after day. "Lying about what?"
The questions ate away at his conscience. Shay feared the night, trying to avoid the same dream that haunts him. And the thing that frightened him most was that he couldn't tell anyone. Necrotan was an average city, an average city with a population of average people building average technology. The students that graduated were sent to mediocre colleges to get their average grades. There was just nothing there that was out of the ordinary. Necrotan didn't even have a news show. There was no news. Day to day, in and out, it was all the same. Necrotan was under the rule of James Shinning. Shinning was the elected leader for Necrotan, with promises of peace and tranquility. He vowed that the good city of Necrotan would live on forever. What he created was a city with absolutely no individuality. A city forced to conform. Those who prophesized about different ideas-politics, religion or anything out of the ordinary, were either exiled or imprisoned. His citizens feared him. Yet there was something that Shinning feared, too. Shinning feared being overthrown. The reason for his conformist city was that this way, anyone who tried to rebel would be imprisoned. If there was one thing Shinning dreaded most, it was losing his power.
Shay lived alone. There was no family in his life. His mother was murdered in front of his eyes when he was nine years old. Memories hung over his head, threatening his very sanity. His home was a small, battered shell made of cardboard, but he never stayed there for more than a few nights in a row. He had no means of getting food or clothes, so he stole from his neighbors, stole from strangers, he even used to steal food from the children. He spent his whole life running. Hardly anyone knew of his existence. Shay had few friends; it was hard for him to trust people. Those who knew about his true life could easily expose him to the authorities.
Although Shay's relationships with friends often didn't last long, Kristen Walker was an exception. He had known Kristen for much of his life. As far back into his past as he remembered, she was there for him. Nothing could separate them. For years Kristen and Shay met in secret and discussed the sheer evil of Shinning's rules. Shay despised Shinning, and he had an odd feeling about him, like he'd actually met him before. Shay vowed that he would do anything to liberate the city of Necrotan and bring it back to its once beautiful state.
"Anything today, Han?" The voice of Shinning broke the silence in his circular, Cathedral-esque office. There was a window behind his desk that gave a great view of Necrotan. The desk itself was chrome, shimmering metallic silver in the sunlight. Shinning was a tall, thin man. His skin was pale and his face was expressionless, no emotion at all. His jet-black hair was slicked back and his eyes were cold, shallow pools of gray. "Yes, sir. We managed to discover an underground meeting this afternoon. It seems as if they were trying to plan something.but we can't find out what." Han's voice quivered for a brief second. His short, stout figure paced back and forth as he said this. Han was Shinning's right-hand man, but really had no mind of his own. An empty wreck of a human, relying solely on the orders of his leader. "How did you find out?" Shinning pressed his fingers together and furrowed his brow. "Well, based on past captures, we installed tiny surveillance cameras in areas where some suspicious activity occurred." Han was fidgety; it wasn't often that neither he nor Shinning knew what the violators were captured for. "It seems as though your plan worked, my friend." "Thank you, Sir," Han grinned, "what would you wish to do with the criminals?" "Seeing as we don't know exactly what they were doing, technically we have no right to punish them."
The smile on Han's face vanished as soon as these words were spoken. Han loved punishment. After all, it was his job. He adjusted his glasses and regained his composure, the startled look on his flabby face faded and he began to pace back and forth even faster. "But Sir, why the change of heart? You've never spared someone we've caught! Why start now?" "For years, we've imprisoned the people who have been caught trying to introduce new ideas. I still support my conformism. But, imagine if we could do something different with those people. Instead of imprisoning them, what if we put them into training camps? Training camps.for the army of Necrotan!" Shinning pounded his fist against his desk. "We could make an incredible force, then use that force to expand our city and make a country! It's brilliant!"
Han rested his chin on his hand and pondered this for a moment. "But Sir," Han said "we only have about forty or fifty people in the prison as of now. That's really not enough for an army. How are we going to recruit an army? We would have to imprison people for no reason. Not that I mind that or anything, but, wouldn't that make your relationship with the citizens worse? They could turn to anarchy."
Shay Haring opened his eyes, breathing heavily and dripping with cold sweat. Every night he had a dream, a dream telling him the same thing. And he never knew what it was. "Who is 'he'?" he would ask himself day after day. "Lying about what?"
The questions ate away at his conscience. Shay feared the night, trying to avoid the same dream that haunts him. And the thing that frightened him most was that he couldn't tell anyone. Necrotan was an average city, an average city with a population of average people building average technology. The students that graduated were sent to mediocre colleges to get their average grades. There was just nothing there that was out of the ordinary. Necrotan didn't even have a news show. There was no news. Day to day, in and out, it was all the same. Necrotan was under the rule of James Shinning. Shinning was the elected leader for Necrotan, with promises of peace and tranquility. He vowed that the good city of Necrotan would live on forever. What he created was a city with absolutely no individuality. A city forced to conform. Those who prophesized about different ideas-politics, religion or anything out of the ordinary, were either exiled or imprisoned. His citizens feared him. Yet there was something that Shinning feared, too. Shinning feared being overthrown. The reason for his conformist city was that this way, anyone who tried to rebel would be imprisoned. If there was one thing Shinning dreaded most, it was losing his power.
Shay lived alone. There was no family in his life. His mother was murdered in front of his eyes when he was nine years old. Memories hung over his head, threatening his very sanity. His home was a small, battered shell made of cardboard, but he never stayed there for more than a few nights in a row. He had no means of getting food or clothes, so he stole from his neighbors, stole from strangers, he even used to steal food from the children. He spent his whole life running. Hardly anyone knew of his existence. Shay had few friends; it was hard for him to trust people. Those who knew about his true life could easily expose him to the authorities.
Although Shay's relationships with friends often didn't last long, Kristen Walker was an exception. He had known Kristen for much of his life. As far back into his past as he remembered, she was there for him. Nothing could separate them. For years Kristen and Shay met in secret and discussed the sheer evil of Shinning's rules. Shay despised Shinning, and he had an odd feeling about him, like he'd actually met him before. Shay vowed that he would do anything to liberate the city of Necrotan and bring it back to its once beautiful state.
"Anything today, Han?" The voice of Shinning broke the silence in his circular, Cathedral-esque office. There was a window behind his desk that gave a great view of Necrotan. The desk itself was chrome, shimmering metallic silver in the sunlight. Shinning was a tall, thin man. His skin was pale and his face was expressionless, no emotion at all. His jet-black hair was slicked back and his eyes were cold, shallow pools of gray. "Yes, sir. We managed to discover an underground meeting this afternoon. It seems as if they were trying to plan something.but we can't find out what." Han's voice quivered for a brief second. His short, stout figure paced back and forth as he said this. Han was Shinning's right-hand man, but really had no mind of his own. An empty wreck of a human, relying solely on the orders of his leader. "How did you find out?" Shinning pressed his fingers together and furrowed his brow. "Well, based on past captures, we installed tiny surveillance cameras in areas where some suspicious activity occurred." Han was fidgety; it wasn't often that neither he nor Shinning knew what the violators were captured for. "It seems as though your plan worked, my friend." "Thank you, Sir," Han grinned, "what would you wish to do with the criminals?" "Seeing as we don't know exactly what they were doing, technically we have no right to punish them."
The smile on Han's face vanished as soon as these words were spoken. Han loved punishment. After all, it was his job. He adjusted his glasses and regained his composure, the startled look on his flabby face faded and he began to pace back and forth even faster. "But Sir, why the change of heart? You've never spared someone we've caught! Why start now?" "For years, we've imprisoned the people who have been caught trying to introduce new ideas. I still support my conformism. But, imagine if we could do something different with those people. Instead of imprisoning them, what if we put them into training camps? Training camps.for the army of Necrotan!" Shinning pounded his fist against his desk. "We could make an incredible force, then use that force to expand our city and make a country! It's brilliant!"
Han rested his chin on his hand and pondered this for a moment. "But Sir," Han said "we only have about forty or fifty people in the prison as of now. That's really not enough for an army. How are we going to recruit an army? We would have to imprison people for no reason. Not that I mind that or anything, but, wouldn't that make your relationship with the citizens worse? They could turn to anarchy."