Chapter #13

   Bluren was roughly yanked downward, by who she couldn't see. Then hand was large, covering her mouth and much of her chin, and strong. The hand steered her around and started pulling her down the hall. After getting over her alarm, Bluren's slow brain began to work again. No! It said This is not acceptable. What's going on!? She had to do something- fast.

   So she did, and it was the first thing that came to her mind. She bit down on the hand as hard as she could. With a surprised grunt of pain, Bluren's captor let go of her. Bluren whirled around and was surprised to see the boy. The one with the partially metal face, who had given her the letter from the Masters. He was holding his human hand in his mechanical one, and glaring at her as if she had broken a punishable law.

   "Why are you here?" Bluren croaked. Her voice obviously hadn't been used in a while, but still it was strong and echoed throughout the hallway. Now the boys eyes widened and he looked around frantically, as if to make sure no one was listening. "Shhhhhhhhhh!" He said, glaring again. "You have to come with me. There isn't much time before they come to retrieve you." He stood and reached for her hand, but she backed away.

   "No." She said insistently "First you must tell me who you are, why you are here, why I have to come with you, and where we are going." The boy looked exasperated and replied "Listen, all will be explained soon. You're going to be fine. I'm here to help you, and bring you to a safe place." All of a sudden there was a shout heard far away, down the hall. The boy grabbed Bluren's hand and ran with her in the opposite direction.

   This looked like the place where all of the masters usually walked around, busily going somewhere, but they were all gone. The twisted elevators were empty, and the whole place was huge and empty and quiet. The boy placed his hand on the pad beside an elevator. Instead of opening the door, the pad turned an angry red. The boy muttered something under his breath about "Already!" And "Denied access" and "have to go the hard way." .

   The boy grabbed Bluren's hand and they bolted together towards a huge staircase, leading down. They went down the stairs so fast, Bluren was sure she would end the trip by falling. On what she thought was the bottom floor, Blurn and the boy ran to the far side, where they stopped at the corner of the wall. The boy let go of Bluren's hand and began to examine the grooves in the wood wall. "Yes!" He exclaimed, and for some reason Bluren didn't know, she felt relieved, too.  The boy pressed a small button on his wrist and a little saw blade popped out of the palm of his hand.

   He continued by buzzing through the wood wall, until a good sized section was almost entirely detached. He pressed on the wall, and it fell through. There was a dark passage inside. The boy motioned for Bluren to follow. She didn't know why, but she trusted this boy. So she followed him.

                                                     Chapter #12

   New panic welled inside her as she realized this. Why hadn't she recognized her own image in a mirror? What was going on? Those deep set tired eyes were hers, as well as the bruise. How long had she been here? The bruise was fresh, so not too long. Oh, if only she could remember what had happened...

   She heard herself take in a deep ragged breath. He throat was parched. She had to get out, but how? There was another iron door on the wall with the mirror. A few painful steps and she was there, examining the handle. The door was locked of course. Bluren shuddered with the thought that someone had locked her in here. That was one of her biggest fears, not being in control of herself or her safety. 

   The lock was had a small electric handprint lock. When it rejected her own print, she decided to try something else. She crossed the room again to where the medical supplies were set neatly on a table. When she got there, however, she realized they weren't medical supplies at all. Laid out on a tray, were six screwdrivers in several different sizes, screws, and a small pile of bendable scrap metal. 

   Taking the top sheet of metal, she rolled it into a thin cord. The biggest screwdriver she used to roll the metal flat, then she folded it again, and did the same thing until she had a nice hairpin-like object. She repeated this with every piece of metal, until she had a pile of little chords. Then she punched the sharp screws into two of the chords to connect them, doing the same until she had a long strand. Now for the light. The light that was shining on the bed thankfully had wheels, and she soon assembled the her cord of metal to be touching the lock, light, and also resting on the table to keep it from falling without her having to touch it. 

   Now came the tricky part. She was going to try to break the light, cause a spark, which would travel through the cord, fry the handprint sensor, and unlock the door. The chance of her plan working wasn't very high, but it was all she had. Just as she looked up, she noticed a small circle on the wall. As she came closer, it suddenly dawned on her. A camera. She was being watched. Thinking fast, she grabbed a screwdriver and smashed the camera with it. Now she had to work quickly. She smashed the light bulb with screwdriver as well, which sent sparks flying everywhere, the room smelling like smoke, and ending with a loud sizzling sound. 

  Bluren had been covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut, so when she opened them, she found herself in complete darkness. Standing up, she felt her way to the door, moving aside things she had used to fry the lock. She could feel a burning hope in her chest that it had worked. She felt the door knob, and it turned! A wave of sweet relief washed over her as she pushed the heavy door open. 

   Outside she was alone in a long hallway with fluorescent lights. There were doors like hers on each side. She thoughtlessly ran and looked in windows on the walls of the rooms. That's was it. A window on the outside, and a mirror on the inside. Most of the rooms were dark, but at the far end of the hall, there was a light. She ran, every step full of pain. She pressed her face to the cold glass, like a child looking eagerly into a bakery. 

   Inside was Tara, with her unruly orange hair fanned out on the hospital bed. She was still asleep- or unconscious -with the same light beating down on her tanned skin. The same table, with the same objects, were also there by her bedside. Was this a test? Just as she was about to call out to Tara, a sweaty hand clamped down on her mouth. 

                                                    Chapter #11

   Bluren's eyes were closed, but she could feel the scorching light behind her lids. Her hands were laying flat on some sort of table, with stiff parchment underneath. She clenched her hands into fists, crumpling the paper with that satisfying crunching sound. Bluren focused on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. She thought. What position was she in? She wasn't sitting. Slowly she opened her eyes. The light burned down on her. Just now had she realized the smell of antiseptic with a trace of mint in the air.

   And then she remembered.

Bluren's first instinct was to strike, at anything, but she held herself back and strained to remember more. She didn't open the door. She must have fainted instead. It felt as if she had to pull the thoughts out of the air and insert them back into her brain. As if they were floating slowly away from her head. Then she remembered something else.

   Tara.

   She had to get out of this room and find Tara. A thousand possibilities of things that could have happened to her ran through her mind. Did they taker her? She could be outlawed. That one sent a tingling shudder down her spine. She shakily sat up on the table she found she was laying on. Her whole body ached like she had been stung several times at every joint. Bluren looked around. She was, indeed, surrounded by medical supplies. There was a long window on the wall Bluren faced as she sat on the hospital bed.

   When she came out of the sleepy daze she was in, she realized there was someone observing her on the the other side of the window. This someone had big eyes, a matching lilac colored tunic, and was sitting on her own hospital bed. It was understandable why this someone was in a hospital room. She had handprint bruise on her arm, that looked like it came from someone big lifting her up by only her arm. The girl had old eyes, even though she could be no more the thirteen. Her eyes told of knowledge and sorrow and change, all at once, which proved to be taking its toll. The girls mousy hair was in a tight french braided rope that led all the way down her back.

   Bluren gave the girl what she hoped was a sympathetic smile. The girl smiled, too. Now it was time to go. Bluren slowly let herself down from the bed, but so did the girl. That was weird. She raised her arm in the air, and the girl did the same. The girl was copying her every move, but why? Wait. Bluren took a deep breath and looked down at her own arm. There it was, the imprinted hand bruise. That wasn't a fellow patient. It was her reflection. 

                                      Chapter #10

   That night after her first day working for the masters, Bluren's feet were heavy with exhaustion. As 700 had escorted her back to her quarters that night, she had said that The Masters would give her her first task to complete the following morning. Bluren wondered what they would assign her to do. She lay over her bed with her eyes closed, mentally turning over the events of the day. The food had both pleased her then disturbed her. The freedom to freely invent all day was wonderful. This whole place was strange, unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

   Bluren was pulled from her mind by soft knocking on her door. She jumped up to peer through the peeping latch. Through the slit in the door, she saw two strikingly blue eyes smiling intently at her. Startled, Bluren jumped and slammed the peeping latch. Her heart was pounding, and her mind was bouncing around trying to figure out who that was. Not 700, she couldn't look into the latch. Who else? The mechanical boy? No, his eyes were two different shades of blue.

   Cautiously, Bluren opened the spiraling door. A second later she was engulfed in a huge fuzzy embrace. What made it fuzzy, was the curly mop of hair that surrounded the beaming face of none other than Tara. "Tara!" Bluren exclaimed "How did you get here?" She was grinning at the sight of her friend. "Well, it took quite a bit of persuasion." Tara explained "But I finally convinced the entrance guards to let me bring you your mail in person." She dug through her lumpy mail bag, and handed her a stack of advertisements.

   "Tell me everything!" Tara said, sitting on the bed and patting the spot next to her for Bluren to sit down. "Well" Said Bluren, and continued to tell Tara about the events that took place since she got the invitation.

   "Wow.... And they just gave you all this stuff?" Tara said, gesturing to Bluren's spacious room. "I guess." Replied Bluren "But I still don't know exactly what I'm doing here. 700 said that I am to build things for the masters. I'm not sure if I have any choice in what I build for them, if I can eventually go back to the beach, or what..." They sat in silence for several seconds, before Bluren spoke again "700 also said that I have some sort of appointment this week, in the medical apartment this week." Tara suddenly jerked her head up and exclaimed "Do you have any idea what the appointment is for?" In a strained, suddenly worried, voice. Bluren was caught off guard by Taras sudden alarm. "Why, no, not really. I can't remember why I didn't ask 700." She really was racking her brain to think of the reason... It all seemed fuzzy.

   Tara gripped Bluren's wrist, and forced her to look into her eyes. "Wait. Bluren-" but she was cut off by a light tapping on the door of Bluren's room. Tara's eyes darted from the door and back, but she ignored the tapping, which grew louder and more impatient with each tap. Tara was talking fast now "Bluren, how long do you think you have been here?" What? Why was Tara asking this? Bluren had told her that she had been working for... For... A day? Three? With sudden realization, Bluren's eyes filled with tears caused by panic and confusion. The tapping was pounding now, and someone on the other side of the door was yelling something, a voice to deep to be 700's. "Tara," Bluren choked "What's going on? I can't remember how long I've been here." Tara spoke in a low whisper "Bluren, this is bad. You have been here for a little over a week, and I'm sure I'm not mistaken that that scheduled appointment in the medical apartment already happened."

   There was a huge bang, and when Bluren and Tara looked up at door a long crack had formed down the middle. "Tara, you have to get out!" Bluren yelled as the next deafening bang came splitting through the air "How?!" Tara yelled. Another crack brought down a corner of the door. Through the hole in the door, could be seen the enraged face of a front door sentinel. "Bluren Steelman." He said with frightening calm "Open this door."

                                                      Chapter 9#

   Bluren waited in her inventors office for no more than ten minutes before her projects and tools were delivered at her door. The strange part was that they were delivered by the same messenger who gave her the letter from the Masters. She knew him right away from his half-steel half-human face and hands. She hadn't known what to say, so she didn't say anything other than a small thank you. The boy had stared at her as if he recognized her, too.

   The next half hour was spent unpacking musty boxes of hard drives, her own personal tools, and other various parts of potential inventions. While rummaging through, she happened to find the small wooden chest that she had packed Bethany's project in. She carefully handled the small iron diamond and set it on the table. Also inside the box, was a leather bag, about as big as the palm of her hand. Bluren undid the drawstring and took out the tiny chrome cylinder.

   This was supposed to bring down the dome connection. What was the dome connection, and why did it need to be brought down? Bethany had said that the masters were banishing people who tried to defy their intelligence. Bluren had been personally invited to work for the masters. Was she out of danger? Bluren felt a pang of guilt about what Bethany's note had said about the masters becoming too powerful. Was she just contributing? No. She was determined not to do that. Bluren would get to the bottom of whatever was going on, and find her sister in the process.

________________________________________________________________

   At around one o'clock, Bluren was interrupted from her work mapping out a blueprint, by an announcement on the loudspeaker. "Attention Masters. The hour of eating has come!" It was the voice of the boy that called her on the stage at her initiation. She still didn't know his name. "Please join in the cafeteria for a lovely meal. Please return to your offices after eating, and thank you for your work."

   The cafeteria was almost as noisy as the experimentation facility hallway, only with voices instead of machinery. People were lined up along the food counter. There were mounds of food. Everything from breakfast cereal to meat, such as chicken. This much startled Bluren, meat animals were almost never seen and seldom eaten by people of Bluren's class. She had tasted sausage once on a Christmas, and lunch meat once when she had volunteered at a Grocery and they were throwing it out. Bluren loaded her plate with anything that looked appealing. Noodles in a cheese sauce, thickly buttered rolls, a boiling onion soup with herbs and spices, and fresh cows milk, all of which were great luxuries.

   She said her prayer, and as she started to eat, she thought of the expensive breakfast rolls she used to make each morning. She thought of the people of outside The Beach that lived without home or work. She was eating enough for maybe three of those people to have a good meal. There were people she knew that thought it a delicacy to have hot soaked oats with a sprinkle of home-ground cinnamon. Bluren suddenly felt sick. How could this all be free? Where was all this food coming from? She looked around at the others in their nice clothes and smiling faces. Did they ever wonder or think of the food they might be stealing from those outside?

   Bluren ate her milk and buttered roll, but returned the rest to the counter before heading back to her work.

   

    

                                               Chapter 8#        That night, Bluren unpacked her things and laid them carefully into the armoire. She changed into a pair of the silky pajamas that came inside, and not knowing what to do next, sat on the bed thinking about all the fortuitous events that had happened lately.    To think that her top priorities had been to become Emi's best employee, earn enough money to keep her house, and to finish Bethany's project. Of course, the ladder was still important, but her life had changed so much in the past few days, her list consisted of many more things. For instance, being prepared for the exciting day ahead. In the morning she would have to be out of the dorm, which is what 700 called the girls housing place, by seven o'clock and meet her by the elevator at seven fifteen. 700 would introduce Bluren to more people, and show her where she would begin her invention work.    The clock on the wall told nine thirty, so Bluren said her prayers and pulled the cloud-like comforter up to her chin. The room was dark. Bluren could hear dogs barking below the street. Although she didn't have to worry about those dogs breaking into her house anymore, or about the cold, or the struggle to keep a good spot in the bakery, Bluren felt hollow and lonely. It was like the first night she spent all alone in the house after Bethany had gone. It was a deep loneliness, almost a fear, but more of a sadness. She closed her eyes a shut out the world, stubborn to stay that way until she fell asleep.______________________________________________________________________        Bluren's alarm went off at six fifteen. She had also discovered her spacious bathroom last night, which had the same oak wood cabinets, stocked with supplies, a bathtub/shower, toilet, and a mirror covering an entire wall of the room. She had stood in front of that mirror for several minutes, staring at the girl reflected. She had only am old green-tinged hand mirror at home, and couldn't remember the last time she had seen herself in a full length mirror. She was small, but strong. You could see that in her shoulders. Her hair was a honey color that almost matched her tanned skin. It was tied in loose bun at the back of her head, with strands falling out. She wore a light blue shirt, with faded jeans and a stained white apron still tied on. Her expression was serious but curious, paired with large eyes that couldn't decide if they were hazel or blue.    After showering, and brushing her teeth, and praying again. She changed out of her old clothes, and into one of the white dresses in the closet. The white dress was full, fell just past her knees, and fit perfectly. She slipped into the leather work boots, which were snug and comfortable. Lastly was the purple silk blazer. Pulling her long hair into its usual knot behind her head, she headed out the door.    700 was waiting by the elevator, clipboard in hand. "You look nice!" She remarked and they stepped inside. Another round of jostling, deposited them at the entrance of another hall, but this hall wasn't as nice as the dorm rooms. It seemed to be made entirely of linoleum and stainless steel, and smelled of the antiseptic used by the nurses in the small sick building at The Beach. There were heavy metal doors with hand print pads on the walls. Different sounds came from the other side of each of the doors. Sawing noises, whirring of machinery, rushing of water, people shouting random numbers, and the clicking of a thousand buttons. Bluren wished to cover her ears, but 700 was trying to speak. "This is the experimentation facility." She shouted over the raucous "This is where you will be working for the next few weeks. I will show you to you office."    As they walked down the hall, the noise only continued. Finally, they reached the door marked 475. "It already knows your print, so you can place your hand on the pad." 700 yelled. Bluren wrenched her hand from her ear, and placed it on the scanner. The door clicked open. "Hurry, inside!" 700 exclaimed, her formality slipping. When they entered and shut the door, all the noise suddenly stopped. As if by magic. The room had white walls with purple linoleum flooring, a gargantuan workbench, a tool box that was taller than Bluren, and a - blue this time - apron, with her name and number finely embroidered on the front. It reminded her of the apron she had at the bakery.    "Alright. You're inventing supplies will be brought to your office in thirty minutes, until then feel free to explore." 700 announced "I hear the masters have left you several goodies hidden around. When your things do arrive, you are to work on them until the breaks." She smiled "If you happen to need anything, I'm only one push of the button away." She pointed to a large glowing white glass button on the wall. With that 700 headed back out into the noisy hallway.                               

                                               Chapter #7

   It was surprising how much dust there was in Bluren's house. She had been packing most of the afternoon, and that meant going through old boxes. As small as her house was, she could still manage to fit at least 25 boxes of things like old projects, assortments when she was little, and things Bethany used to have.

   It was strange to think that she was leaving The Beach, a thing she had never been allowed to do. That when she finished at the Masters headquarters, she had gone straight to the bakery to resign. Emi looked concerned and asked why, but The Masters had given her instructions to tell no one of her recent employment. "Well, we will miss you Bluren." Emi said, smiling "And thank you for your help." Ciri, who didn't have to worry about his former competitor anymore, wished her the best and waved goodbye with the biggests of grins on his face. Bluren really would miss the bakery, the smells of bread early in the morning, Emi's kindness, and the happy faces of the customers buying goods.

   In two short hours, Bluren had her things packed and ready. She had been told that she would be given cloths, cooking things, and other essentials when she moved into her new quarters. It puzzled her as to why she needed to move houses, when she could just ride her bike to the Masters headquarters, although she hadn't time to ask. The things she had decided to take were several well-loved books, a small stuffed animal called a Tiger that she had won in a school contest when she was little, her pillows and blankets, and of course Bethany's project.

   After her house was cleaned, Bluren just stood for a moment staring around. This was the home she grew up in. Ever since she could remember she had lived here with Bethany. The swept dirt floor was their pen and paper. Bluren had grown up watching Bethany draw abstruse designs and blueprints with thin twigs. Bluren herself had made pictures in the sandy earth and invented stories to go with them. These years of creativity drastically slowed as soon as Bluren graduated school. She had graduated in 2470, the same year that the weather and sun had died for a whole week at a time. It wasn't just a blink in the sun or a drop in the temperature, at all went out at once, without warning. The little electricity rationed in The Beach was all of a sudden non existent.

   Bluren remembered it as being one of the only times in her life where she had actually seen the masters. There was a meeting called at the gate of the Masters headquarters, and one of the Masters had gotten up on a high balcony and announced to everyone that this problem would be over soon, and not to worry. For a week they all had to carry lanterns wherever they went, causing tiny glowing dots to dot the streets.

   A small rap at her door caused Bluren to snap out of her memories. When she opened it the same little girl with the short dark hair cut and white dress was there waiting to escort her to the Masters Headquarters. Gathering her bags under her arms, she took a last look and followed the girl out the door.

____________________________________________________________

  

   In the Masters headquarters, the girl lead Bluren through the entry hall, up the tube, past the of purposeful people, and into an entirely different section of the building. It was a quiet corridor, carpeted with a red floral print, and had homogeneous bronze circular doors running down one side of the wall as far as Bluren could see. The walls were dark wood planks, sanded and lacquered until it's was smooth and glossy. They walked down the hall until finally stopping at a door with the number 475 above the door. Bluren wondered if it was a coincidence that that was her own number.

   "This room is yours" the girl said "You can activate the door with your handprint. All you have to do is place your hand on the pad in the wall." So she did, and when she did so, her palm tingled as the pad scanned her hand. The door spiraled out into the wall and the girl motioned for Bluren to step inside. The room was so much bigger than Bluren had expected. It smelled like the cinnamon buns made at Emi's bakery. She happily inhaled the familiar scent.Plush white carpet, not unlike the one in the hall, a huge round bed with fluffy violet cushions, and an armoire made of the same dark oak. She opened it, and inside were several pairs of white dresses, purple blazers, and shin length leather work boots.

   There was one window on the side of the wall. Bluren pushed back the heavy cream colored curtains, and looked out. The window had a breathtakingly high up view of the whole town. She could see the beach, the school with children pouring out of the doors, the grasslands, and even the bakery by the ally.

   The room was wonderful, and a flood of gratitude filled Bluren's mind. She turned around. "Thank you." She said "This is the best place I've ever lived." The girl smiled. "Only the best for the masters." She said. "I have been assigned to be you guide and helper. If you ever need anything, please tell the operator on you telephone in the bathroom through that door." She curtsied and started to leave "Wait!" Bluren called "If your to help me, what should I call you?"

   "Oh, yes I forgot!" The little girl exclaimed "I am called 700."

    

                                                       Chapter #6

   What? The room erupted with a cheer, and Bluren looked around her, stunned. This wasn't right. How on earth did the masters know about her. The eyes of everyone in the room were turned her way, and everyone was clapping. Numbly Bluren pulled herself up, feeling awkward and out of place. The walk down the rows of seats was one of the longest (or so it felt) she had ever done. As she climbed the steps to the top of the stage, her mind zoned out, the She was still aware of her surroundings, but everything looked and sounded faint and fuzzy.

   There was a cushy white armchair next to the boy in the white suit. He was smiling at her and motioning to sit, so she did. The boy started talking, but Bluren was too busy contemplating what he had just announced. They had all gathered here for her. To give her a seat with the Masters. They wanted her to become a Master. That couldn't be right, she was no one, she didn't even work for them in the first place! How did they know what she did? Her stomach fluttered as she remember what the boy had called her: Talented. A master had just summoned her to a huge meeting, called her talented, and offered her a Masters position.

   Someone was shaking her arm. Bluren snapped out of her fuzzy dream world and looked up. The boy was still there, smiling at her. It seemed as if he was always beaming. "Are you alright?" He asked. "Oh-yes-and I'm sorry. A little caught off guard I suppose." She managed a small smile. "We completely understand, Bluren." He said, stretching her name so it sounded as if each letters sound was its own syllable. "This must be very sudden for you. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we are sure you will find your summoning worth it." Bluren looked out to the crowd, which was murmuring and clapping in agreement.

   "Well, we might as well get down to the point" the boy stated. "The Masters have called you here today to offer you your own Masters position. Do you accept?" Bluren could feel everyone watching her every move. If she was a master, her life would surely be different than it was now, but would it be better? Was declining the offer even an option? If she accepted, maybe she would find exclusive information that would help her find Bethany or make life better for the people of the "Green Dome". The whole dome thing was very new and confusing. "I do." Bluren replied as confidently as she could, sounding a lot better then she felt. "And it's an honor to begin working with you." She addressed the audience. "Very good!" The boy said, and everyone clapped. "You will be shown your new home this evening. Until then," He said, getting up. "I suggest you pack, and tell the bakery you won't be coming into work tomorrow." 

                                                      Chapter 5#    The girl did not follow Bluren into the room. Instead, the doors shut almost silently. The room was quiet and the only sound that could be heard was a slight clicking, coming from a secretary at the other end of the room. The secretary ( or at least that's what Bluren assumed she was ) had short blonde hair, cut like the other girls, was wearing the same purple blazer and crisp white dress, but Bluren really couldn't see any more. The girls back was turned. She was standing, and facing a huge computer screen that stretched across the wall. She was clacking away on a keyboard on a desk at the bottom of the screen. Every so often she would reach up and touch the screen itself and use her finger to drag things into different places.    Bluren stood for several minutes waiting for some kind of acknowledgement that kept not coming. Now a little more exasperated then nervous, she cleared her throat, loudly. Then, as if a cannon had gone off the girl jumped and spun around at the same time. This made Bluren jump as well, in alarm. The keyboard girl stared at her with eyes crazed with fear and confusion, as if she didn't know weather to run, attack, or faint right there. She seemed to be strongly debating the ladder in her head. Before she could decide, there was a slow cracking of shoes on tile, coming from a hallway to their right.    The clacking shoes belonged to a boy. A young boy, older then Bluren, and considerably taller, but young. Bluren judged maybe seventeen. He had short cropped mouse brown hair, kind chocolate colored eyes, a sharp nose, and a wide grinning mouth. He too (like everyone else, it seemed) was dressed in a sharp purple blazer, over white pants and a white shirt. He smiled and spoke in a smooth, adolescent voice, "Bluren! My dear, we have been awaiting your arrival with less patience than we should." He grinned, and seemed genuinely happy to see her "Now come, we must discuss my reasons for summoning you. Right this way, please." Down the dark hall they went, back to where this boy came from. They walked and walked along the chessboard-like tile floor. They passed closed manicured white doors, hearing faint sounds with each one; people talking, machines buzzing, and a stranger sound Bluren didn't know. It gave her waves of emotion, with each new sound. All were different, but had some similar quality that gave them the aspect of floating through the closed doors and around the hall.    "Excuse me?" Bluren asked the boy quietly "What is that sound?" For a moment the boy looked puzzled, then seemed to remember something. "Oh that? That's music. The masters have been debating on wether to keep it, or throw it out." He smiled down at her as they walked. Bluren ponders this. "What does it do?" She asked. Now the boy had to think. "I really don't know. I think that's why some want it gone." He replied frankly "But it does give you a nice feeling, doesn't it?"  He added with a knowing smirk. "Yes. Yes it does." Bluren said "I do hope they decide not to get rid of it."____________________________________________________________    Bluren followed the tall boy to yet another important looking door, but this time, the doors parted by themselves when he got near. They entered a gargantuan room that looked as if everything, but with clean white walls, had  been slathered in purple. Like a concert hall, there was a stage and rows of seats. The lights were starting to dim and Bluren couldn't see much. She looked around for the boy, but he was gone. She could hear their anthem start to play, she could hear people whispering, and the lights were stareing to glow back on. Bluren didn't know what else to do, so she quickly sat down in the seat nearest her.    On the stage, there were huge, heavy looking, purple curtains draped in white fabric. The anthem continued as they slowly started to slide apart. They opened to reveal an gigantic white throne-like chair. In the chair, to Bluren's confusion, was the boy who had just walked her to the room. He was dressed opposite everyone else now, with a purple shirt and pants and a new white blazer. He sat with dignity as the clapping started. Bluren had not looked around before, but now she saw hundreds of people, dressed in the uniform outfit. She noticed that the first row of seats at the bottom of the stage were raised slightly and the people who sat there were dressed all in purple.    As the anthem ended, the boy stood from his chair, and spoke into  a nearby microphone. "Good evening, fellow masters!" He greeted the others in the room. They cheered, and he grinned his kind grin at them. "I know that you have all been waiting for this long awaited day, as have I. Tonight we have important business to discuss, so I wish to start right away." The anticipation was in the air. "Tonight, we have gathered here to offer a masters seat to the talented denizen of the green dome- Bluren Steelman!"

                                                  Chapter 4#

   Bluren felt as if every five minutes her heart went from being frozen, to being on fire. That morning, she had hurried with her work. While doing this, she had almost cut her hand with the knife. Emi scolded her, and told her to slow down. Bluren wasn't sure when she would be back, so she told Emi, who said it was alright if her and Ciri handled the shop for the day. Bluren obeyed, but it was difficult.

   At about 10 A.M. Bluren hung up her apron and set out into the cold world outside. The gears of her bike seemed to be harder to push on that particular day. Her arms and legs were rigid, and not just bacause if the cold. When she rode into the clearing before the masters gate, she saw With relieve that Tara was waiting with her heavy mailbag slung across her shoulder. Tara saw Bluren too, and grinned. Bluren found it difficult to smile herself, so she only waved. "What do you think they will do?" She asked nervously, and for nearly the tenth time. Tara grabbed Bluren's shoulders and held her at arms length. "Bluren" she said "I honest-to-goodness don't know what's going to happen when you walk through that door. All I know is that your one of the smartest people I know. I have confidence that you and be able to deal with whatever they throw at you, and I will be there to help."  

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   The doors to the Masters head quarters were huge and made of dark oak wood and were coverd with tiny elaborate carvings. Bluren hadn't seen anything like it, they were beautiful, but could easily crush her flat. There were no handles or door bells, like the ones on other official buildings in The Beach, so she knocked as loud as she could. Her knuckles hurt from rapping the hard wood. It was another cold day, so she wrapped her blue shawl tighter and stamped her boot clad feet to keep them from growing numb.

   She looked back at the gate. Tara had gone. Tara used the special secret entrance for employees, and was probably already inside. Twenty more seconds. She knocked again, harder this time, fingers stinging. Now there was rustling inside. A small piece of the wood door flew up, and a pair of eyes as cold as stone stared out at her. Startled by this, Bluren began to introduce herself, but the slit in the door closed again with a snap. Bluren was about to be offended, when she heard a chorus of clicking and sliding coming from the other side of the door. Blot after bolt was unlocked and the door opened with a mechanical buzz.

   At the door was a small girl, so little she was probably schooling age. She wore the purple Masters uniform on top of an immaculately clean white dress. Her hair was dark and short, slightly spiked, like Bethany's was on her vanishing day. Her eyes were an unnaturally dark blue. "Bluren Steelman?" The little girl asked in a surprisingly authoriave tone, as she put out her hand to collect some kind of proof. Bluren nodded, and then handed over the Masters letter. The little girl took it daintily and sent it down a chute in the wall, "Most likely leading to somewhere important." Bluren thought. Bluren lifted her head to look up and her heart nearly skipped a beat.

   The ceiling was transparent, and Bluren could see people walking on top. Seven giant chandeliers hung from the celing as well. The floors were shining marble, and the room was warm and smelled of cider and baked bread and all things good. Bluren and the girl were alone in a great entry room, about thirty times bigger then Bluren's house. At the far end of the room there was a wall will a series of chutes leading straight up. "Follow me, please." The girl said lightly. They walked to one of the chutes, and the girl expertly typed a long numberd code into a pad on the wall. Bluren looked around her some more. The rooms advanced technology was expertly hidden or blended around the room, so the feeling of walking into a palace was still there.

   The tube was made of glass. As they went up, it Bluren thought it was like being in a jar that got tossed in the air, but smoothly and controlled. In a matter of seconds, they had stopped. The doors opened and the girl once again took the lead. There were people everywhere, rushing to and fro purposefully. Ages of these people ranged from about seven to about eighteen or nineteen. This surprised Bluren, because people that old were rarely seen. Folks usually got their vanishing notices before sixteen or seventeen. Bluren had thought about when her own would come, and when she did she always got that squeezy feeling inside. Bethany wouldn't want it, she knew that, so she decided that at all costs she would try to stay as invisible as possible, in case that would keep the Masters attention off her. That plan was apparently a failure.

   They waded through the children passing through,to two double doors, not unlike the ones Bluren entered in. The girl typed the code into the pad again and the doors slowly opened. The girl smiled-was it with pity?- an said "Go on in. He has been waiting to see you."

                                                  Chapter 3#

   Blurens thoughts of the messenger were imideatly replaced with alarm. They had found her? How? She had always been so secretive, and hadn't told anyone but Tara about the project and the plans. She knew Tara was trustworthy, Tara had been her closest friend for as long as she could remember, and had even helped her with Bethany's project.y

   Tara's expression was mixed with shock, curiosity, and pity. "Well...should I read it?" Bluren asked. "I guess." Tara said wearily. The parchment cracked when Bluren unfolded it. The letter was hand written in perfect handwriting, and was sealed with the same letter "M" imprinted in blood red wax. The notice was shorter then Bluren expected.

                       Bluren Steelman, Child 475,

The Masters Head Quarters demands your presence at the head quarters on 5-13. Consequences will be dier if these instructions are not heeded.

               -The Head Of Masters

   As soon as she finished reading, Bluren felt nauseous. "I- I can't." She told Tara, stuttering. She new where the masters head quarters was, she road by every day on her way to work. It was a gargantuin glass building, mysterious, with intimidating fences, and people in purple cargo pants and grey shirts on patrol around the front of the building. Tara frowned "Well maybe they don't know. It didn't say what you had to report about, so maybe is somthing compleatly unrelated", she said, but she still sounded doubtful. "Working for the Masters requires me to come and report at their headquarters sometimes. It's really not that bad, a lot of security, and a little crowded, but other then that, it's just a big building." Tara was trying to be comforting, but Bluren still felt like her insides were being squeezed.

   "This is exactly what Bethany didn't want." said Bluren, more to herself then anyone else "But," her mind reminded her "She also said its time to be brave."

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   Bluren and Tara were both late to work. They had spent time making a plan on how to react to the Masters message. The idea was, that Tara would time her work, so that she would do her Masters report on the same day Bluren went in for "questioning", as they called it, for moral support, mostly. Bluren would answer their questions honestly, and if they asked of her inventions, she would just talk of her other inventions, and not the dimond. Then, after the questioning, her and Tara would discuss what happened, why they needed her, and what they would do next.

   Only three days remained until Bluren was to go before the masters. She was distracted from work, but not from Bethany's invention. Bluren spent almost all her free time rereading instructions, refitting pieces, and testing it out. Sometimes she got frustrated when she did this, for you see, Bethany never specified what the invention was to do. She only said "In this package are instructions to a mechanism that will bring down the dome connection" She had stressed that this project was important and that she must finish it because the vanishing had gone too far. She also said she wished that she could spare Bluren the risk of completing it. Had Bethany had just assumed she would figure it out on her own? Bluren also liked to think that Bethany left out what the invention did on perpouse to keep it secret from dangerous people. That theory made it seem like Bethany wasn't trying to leave Bluren in the dark, which she appreciated. Domes? What risk? So far the dimond didn't seem to do anything but glow and sometimes shiver, which was strange.

   Two days past, tomorrow Bluren would meet the masters. They hadent told her when to come, so she would go during her break and hope they hadent been expecting her earlier. Ciri was confident that he would inherit the bakery, and Emi became more anxious every day, what with her vanishing coming soon. Bluren felt sorry for her. She had done nothing to deserve a vanishing that Bluren knew of. It would be sad to see her go. Emi had known Bethany and kindly gave Bluren a job, and a good one at that, so she could support herself after Bethany was gone. Bluren had thought of asking Emi if she knew the perpouse if Bethany's invention, but abandoned the idea for fear she wouldn't know and ask more questions, which Bethany  wouldn't have wanted.

   After a long day at the shop, Bluren pedaled home. As she was passing the Masters head quarters, she stopped to look at the place she would be visiting the next day. It was the same tall, with blackish looking glass, and doors all around the bottom. There was a guard at each door. "I will have to bring my letter to prove I need to come in." She thought. As she pedaled home, there was no possible way she could have known that this would be one of the last times she would.

Chapter Two

Bluren couldn't believe what Tara just said. "How?!" She she whispered. "Its a long complicated story, that I feel I shouldn't go into now." Tara's eyes glinted mischievously as she said this "but, I sort of found it. It is the right one isn't it?" She said with sudden concern. Tara fished out a small chrome cylinder, no bigger then her thumb, and handed it to Bluren. They stood in silence for a few seconds, Bluren turning the piece in her hand, and examining every inch of it."It's the one." She said, her voice barly audible."Well, go on!" She urged "See if it fits!" Bluren picked up a box on her worktable. Inside there was a diamond-shaped object with two handles protruding out of each of the diamonds points. In the middle of the diamond, there was a clear hole where the cylinder was supposed to go. The cylinder slipped easily into the hole. For a moment nothing happened, until suddenly the dimond sprang to life, shining clear blue light around the room. Tara and Bluren were both thoroughly startled. Bluren had jumped up from where she was sitting. "I didn't expect it to do that." she said quietly. They stood quietly again. "What did she say to do next?" Tara asked "Where are her instructions?"

Bluren went to her bed and lifted the lumpy mattress. Underneath was a large envalop stuffed with neatly folded papers. On the front of the envalop in neat hand writing was:


My dear sister,

If you are reading this that means that I have been vanished. I am not gone, but I have seen where the vanished go, and it is not a place for the happy. The masters are becoming too powerful, they are vanishing ones of strong mind that try to defy the masters intelligence. Sister, what I am asking you to do is very dangerous. In this package are instructions to a mechanism that will bring down the dome connection, a project that I was unable to finish before my banishment came. When you build this, do not let anyone who is even slightly untrustworthy know. I wish I could spare you the risk of completing this task, but the vanishings have gone too far. The domes have to stop. I am confident you can build this. It's time to be brave, Bluren.

-Bethany

At reading the note, Bluren felt the little sting in her nose she felt each time before she used to cry. She felt this a lot, but never actually wept. She was trying to be brave. Inside the envalop were pages of instructions, creased with use, all hand written and illustrated by her sister, but before she could take them out and look for possibly the thousendth time, there was a stong rapping on the door. Panick flooded Bluren's mind. Chills went down her spine. The same emotions were clearly printed on Tara's face, as well. The instructions were back under the mattress in one movement. Tara stuffed projects quickly into boxes just as another chorus of knocks sounded.

Bluren went to the door and slowly opened it. Standing outside, was a boy about the age of her and Tara, a little taller maybe, and he wore the same dark purple coat as Tara with a monogrammed letter "M" in a fancy font. There was a very different defining factor about this boy, however. It started with the left side of his face. His ear was silver, and down the side of his face, flesh was replaced with glossy steel. His other cheek was normal. This continued on various visible parts of his body. His right hand was made with mechanical joints, as was the left side of his collarbone. His right eye was a human blue one, but his left was of advanced robotics, a darker blue, as if those who created it were trying to mimick the boys other eye. Despite this, the boy was handsome and looked kind and authoritative and trustworthy at the same time. After a pause Bluren asked "May I help you?". "The masters have a message for Buren Steelman?" His voice was a mechanical purr, "There are clearly internal gears as well." Bluren thought, too fascinated by the messenger to pay much attention to the letter. "Thank you." She said snapping out of her curious thoughts. The boy nodded and started jogging away with inhuman speed. When the door was closed Tara snatched the letter, looking it over. "Do you you realize what this means, Bluren Steelman?!" She urgently whisperd "It means they found you."