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."