Prologue

A Chapter by H.E.Gordon

Prologue

Dina Turner stood shocked at the scene happening right in front of her eyes, of men and children bound together in chains. They were forced on their knees with blindfolds disorientating them, they didn’t know that their murders are only a few yards away. Chinese officials surround the mass like sharks circling their prey, each armed with a rifle ready to kill anyone on sight who resists, whether they be prisoner or otherwise. Dina and her camera man Howard were behind the force field that stopped the protesters from getting to the mass. For Dina the most ominous sight of the whole scene was the giant hole to the Surface, only a few yards away from the innocent captives.

Dina had remembered the reports she was given before coming over for the coverage, that there was meant to be three hundred Chinese infants who were meant to be joining the mass of prisoners here. However, the Chinese government stated that they were ‘humanely’ disposed of a few days before. It was the first time that she saw with her own eyes the colossal chaos and injustice that the list had caused since its appearance almost two years ago, she cried, looking at all those pictures, imagining all those who were gone and the ones that would continue to be hunted. It seemed a world away on the internet and TV, it felt like a dream in her honest opinion. She knew she was risking her life being there as the situation was unpredictable but, it was her job as a reporter.

“Yo, you ready Dina?” said her anxious looking camera man.

“Are you Howard?” She said looking back to him.

“Nope.”

“Well that makes two of us.” She sighed heavily looking again to the pit.

“How far do you reckon that big hole goes down?” Howard said as he fiddled with his camera. “All the way down to the Surface.” Dina’s voice quivered just thinking about the drop.

“There is no way any of them are going to survive that- sorry. I guess that’s the point but Jesus Christ some of them are just kids!”

“I know and time is running out for them. In ten minutes we have to go online, no matter what the outcome is. Hopefully they will change their minds.”

“Yeah if not, the whole worlds gonna go even deeper into this crazy s**t.” Howard said while he scratched his head with frustration. Dina started with fiddling with her earpiece making sure she was ready. All of a sudden her wristband started bleeping.

“My Holo is going crazy; New China’s response must be online. Sophie, feed up-date please.” All of a sudden a thin laser beamed out only a few inches out from her bracelet. It formed into what looked to be hundreds of individual squares with text constantly being piled on top of one another. She brought the hologram to her face as she skimmed the rush of messages.

“S**t. Get us online now! Both the internet and TV, issue it as breaking news!” Dina shouted. Flustered at her sudden request Howard brought his camera up to his face.

“Honey, activate with live feeds to both NWN studios and NWN Online.” The camera came to life, the screen facing Howard counting down from ten.

“Get ready Dina, we are online in five, four, three, two, one…” Dina used the last few seconds to mentally prepare herself to watch the events that were about to unfold. There was nothing anyone could do anymore.

“This is New World News Reporter Dina Turner. I am reporting from inside New China’s globe at its infamous ‘The Fall’, a hole that has a sixty thousand foot drop to the old Surface of China. I am afraid I have to report dire news to my viewers. New China has rejected the New World Governments appeal to release the innocent citizens both from the Surface and the New World.” Suddenly the sound of trumpets bashing out a vibrant tune suddenly burst into the air. Dina knew exactly what it meant.

“It seems that the President of New China is making a speech.” She signalled for Howard to focus on the building in the distance. Howard zoomed onto the balcony. Microphones and cameras had been set up. A tall, broad asian man in his late fifties stepped out onto the balcony. He stood tall, his shadow loomed over the mass of captives, who were starting to panic and look around frantically from the sudden noises. He raised his hand and the trumpets ceased playing instantly. He then lowered his hand and leaned into one of the microphones. Dina could feel the cold sweat that formed in beads on the back of her neck.

“To the citizens of the New World and the Surface; these people stand for treason against the laws and values of New China. This is because they were listed as Heirs on the document that had been published by the hacker ‘the Order’ just less than two years ago. These ‘kings’ of a supposed new age have no place on this earth. New China will not tolerate any threat to our reformed society.” He stood back up, away from the microphone. His gaze cast down over the Heirs, Dina’s skin prickled from the lack of emotion, not even a slither of remorse was on his face. He put a hand on his head, smoothing his hair back, exhaling and taking his time. For a minute Dina thought there was a glimmer of hope for them to be freed.

“Sent them down the Fall!” His voice boomed across the space, Dina bet it echoed all the way down to the Surface.

There was only a second of silence before the roar of almost every angry spectator’s filled the air. No doubt mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, children, lovers and friends all retaliate against the decision. However the barrier prove too difficult to break through, most just kept pushing, pounding and kicking the barrier hoping for it to come down. Despite the protests, the president went back into the safety of the building while the armed men formed a line and started walking forward; the captives were forced to move back. Dina saw a young couple; both were trying to get through the barrier. The man was beating his fists bloody, the young lady sobbing while banging on the barrier. They shouted in Chinese so Dina wasn’t sure what they were saying but, she was sure that their son was among the captive Heirs.

The soldiers kept pressing on and the prisoners at the front suddenly felt the edge of the hole and tried to turn back. However it was too late and the sheer number of people walking pushed them over and with screams of terror they began to fall down. Realising the danger some even started to fight back blindly at their captors, however the soldiers just kept pressing forward. The chains that bound them all made sure none of them ran, all of them started to be dragged in like in the pull of a black hole. Some clung on for life on the edges of the hole, before being dragged down by the other bodies, however, even then some still clung on to the edge with the adrenaline fuelling them. The soldiers with the top of their guns started bashing their fingers and with howls of pain they too went to their deaths.

Dina swore that the air was somehow darker, thicker, making it difficult for her to breathe. The protestors were quiet, only the soft sounds of sorrow could be heard from the broken people left behind. She turned away from the scene, aware that the camera was still running and Howard had got everything. He focused back on Dina to finish before she broke down on camera. Dina took a shaky breath before she spoke again.

“Due to this course of action New China has taken. There are now only 600 Heirs left in both the New World and Surface. How many more lives will be taken because of this List is uncertain. However if this goes on; it’ll be 599.”