A Midnight Sun Is Rising
The Shadows
The Council has ruled for over a hundred years.
No one really remembers what it was like, Before. Just digital views of planes and bombs and fire, of screaming children and sidewalks soaked in blood. It is better now, The Council says. Peaceful now. But there are those who know better.
He is the son of a council member. He's suspected since he was seven what “better” meant. He’s seen images of mindless herds of workmen tramp into slaughterhouses, babies torn from weeping parents never to be seen again, toddlers gunned down in government facilities. Confidential images, of course, but his father’s study door was left open one night, and the truth has a tendency to be discovered. Such brutal truth, however, could never be allowed to dim the harsh brightness of Society.
But they trust him, the angel child. Gold hair and blue eyes like cold gems. He plays their game, says their vows, is the model of a perfect citizen. Yet beneath the unfeeling marble facade lies an impassioned fire that, once unleashed, will grow to consume all in his path. He is Gabriel Enjolras, and history will not swallow him so easily.
*************************************
She is the daughter of corrupt officers. Not that it is a rarity, but her parents are worst than most. They used to be criminals, but four years of the Academy of Reform and now they work for the state. It's a pitiful life and a lonely one, but she's grown used to it.
She knows the truth. Seen the carnage firsthand, seen the blood and tears and pain. Those years her parents were away she was stuck in the Home with the lost children of the city. She knows what horrors hide beneath their dark eyes and grimy skin. She was one of them once, and years in this sterile new life couldn't change that.
Beneath the lights and splendor of the city is the cold black heart of Society. She still traverses the alleys of the Underground in her dreams some nights, amid the steel and granite hallways not meant for civilian eyes. There are secrets down there, terrible, terrible secrets.
The clear silver waterways that thread through the Society like veins, bringing life to all its citizens, are corrupted. Every month gallons of drugs are mixed into the water, dissolving like a traceless poison. Sedatives, meant to keep the population placid, content, meant to keep the people obedient. She’s seen the “Distribution”. She’s seen the results of the experiments to explore the long-term effects of the drugs. The lab rats were bald, wrinkled, mouths crusted with sores, but still alive. Alive, if such a state when all individual spirit has long since fled, replaced by blind complacency, can be called as much. In her nightmares she sees her family take the place of the rats.
But they don’t notice her, the invisible girl. Brown wavy hair and eyes like glowing amber. She plays their game, says their vows, is an ordinary citizen. Yet beneath her mask of unfeeling obedience lies a bitter hate that, once summoned, will rip apart all in her path. She is Eponine Thenardier, and history will not swallow her so easily.
No one really remembers what it was like, Before. Just digital views of planes and bombs and fire, of screaming children and sidewalks soaked in blood. It is better now, The Council says. Peaceful now. But there are those who know better.
He is the son of a council member. He's suspected since he was seven what “better” meant. He’s seen images of mindless herds of workmen tramp into slaughterhouses, babies torn from weeping parents never to be seen again, toddlers gunned down in government facilities. Confidential images, of course, but his father’s study door was left open one night, and the truth has a tendency to be discovered. Such brutal truth, however, could never be allowed to dim the harsh brightness of Society.
But they trust him, the angel child. Gold hair and blue eyes like cold gems. He plays their game, says their vows, is the model of a perfect citizen. Yet beneath the unfeeling marble facade lies an impassioned fire that, once unleashed, will grow to consume all in his path. He is Gabriel Enjolras, and history will not swallow him so easily.
*************************************
She is the daughter of corrupt officers. Not that it is a rarity, but her parents are worst than most. They used to be criminals, but four years of the Academy of Reform and now they work for the state. It's a pitiful life and a lonely one, but she's grown used to it.
She knows the truth. Seen the carnage firsthand, seen the blood and tears and pain. Those years her parents were away she was stuck in the Home with the lost children of the city. She knows what horrors hide beneath their dark eyes and grimy skin. She was one of them once, and years in this sterile new life couldn't change that.
Beneath the lights and splendor of the city is the cold black heart of Society. She still traverses the alleys of the Underground in her dreams some nights, amid the steel and granite hallways not meant for civilian eyes. There are secrets down there, terrible, terrible secrets.
The clear silver waterways that thread through the Society like veins, bringing life to all its citizens, are corrupted. Every month gallons of drugs are mixed into the water, dissolving like a traceless poison. Sedatives, meant to keep the population placid, content, meant to keep the people obedient. She’s seen the “Distribution”. She’s seen the results of the experiments to explore the long-term effects of the drugs. The lab rats were bald, wrinkled, mouths crusted with sores, but still alive. Alive, if such a state when all individual spirit has long since fled, replaced by blind complacency, can be called as much. In her nightmares she sees her family take the place of the rats.
But they don’t notice her, the invisible girl. Brown wavy hair and eyes like glowing amber. She plays their game, says their vows, is an ordinary citizen. Yet beneath her mask of unfeeling obedience lies a bitter hate that, once summoned, will rip apart all in her path. She is Eponine Thenardier, and history will not swallow her so easily.