A word appeared on the Touch Wall. She moved and pointed at it.  

“Why do we live here?,”she asked. The class was silent.  

“Global Warming,” said a girl under her breath. The teacher smiled.

“global warming.”she said. and then it appeared on the TouchWall. Then the name Greene Corp. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I hate that company; they make my dad work long hours for minimum wage. I never see him because of them. And if he doesn’t work, he’ll get terminated. The thought of that brings chills down my spine.

“Who can tell me why we are in our dome?” the class was silent. She walked to the Touch Wall and pushed the play button. There was music playing. Then the video did a fade away of our Dome. There was an old woman in a lab coat.  

“You may ask why you are in the Dome. Well, it’s very hard to explain.” She walked to a Touch Wall with a very complicated math equation on it.

“A chemical called Carbon Dioxide was released to the air, and it sped up Global Warming. After that Greene Corp built a dome for America’s safety.” She waved goodbye and the movie cut. The bell rung.

“Three paragraph essay on Global Warming due Thursday! “she called. I rolled my eyes and ran into the hallway and waited for my Soul Bonder Nate. I saw him across the hall. His brown hair bobbing up and down. He smiled and waved. My face got hot.  

“And here standing is my Soul Bonder Kate.” He called. When he said my name, I smiled. The way he said it my smile grow bigger. He grabbed my hand and we walked to Dome Tech. Dome Tech was another boring class. We talked about the difference between a Dehamacufiler, which controls the Dome’s temp, and a Demazculafire, which controls the day and night,. This was the lesson for the day. There is Dome Tech, Dome History, Dome Statistics, Advanced Equations, Dome Metaphase, then there is Dome Citizenship. Dome Metaphase was my favorite class. It talked about how the Dome works and how you control the central electricity of the Dome. That is where my dad works. All schools are training us to work for the dome. The DP loves young kids working with him.  

“And the red button can only be pushed if you first pull the lever on the right,” teacher said. I rolled my eyes. The bell rung, and I waited for Nate and we walked together to evening meal. We got in line in numerical order. I was the Third in line. We got our food, then I sat at mine and Nate’s table. Nate’s friend Caleb sat down. He was usually first in line. Then his other friend John sat down next to him. He is behind me in line. After a little bit, Nate sat down.

“Have you guys heard the  Remembering Pill.” John asked. We shook our heads.

“No why would we? It sounds stupid.” Picked Caleb.

“ My brother told me the story. There is a pill in the DP headquarters. If you take the pill you’ll know things. You’ll know the real reason we’re in here. You’ll remember.” I looked at him amazed. Then I looked at Nate. I thought really hard on this.

”No you’re lying.”Nate said.

“No, it’s true!”whined John.

”At least we don’t have rhyming names” said Caleb. Nate glared at him.

“What? I’m just saying. I mean did they pair you two up just for laughs?” Nate and Caleb laughed.

If it was true, I could get out of this shit hole. I could be free. But what about mom and dad? I could save them too. My sister she could live a normal life, but she loves the Dome. She wouldn’t want to leave.

“Kate?”Nate asked. He looked worried. I grabbed his hand and smiled. Then we started to eat. 

“Of course we are eating the usual mashed potato’s with the side of ham.” whined John. Nate laughed.  I raised my hand,One of the teachers looked this way. Then she looked at her watch. Then she smiled and started to walk towards our table.

“Yes Kate?”

“ Can I go to the principal’s? I want to ask about an Internship at the DP quarters.”The teacher smiled at me.

“Oh, I see you want to be just like your father. Yes, you may go” I got up and walked to the double doors and rung the bell.

“Name?”said the speaker

“Kate of third quadrant.”

“Reason?”

“Internship”the door buzzed and opened. I walked in and sat in the chair in the center of the room. There was the usual three person desk, but only one principal.

“I hear you want to have an internship. Where are you interested in?”

“The DP headquarters. I want to be like my father and make him proud.” He looked at me and smiled.

“Your dad should be proud. These grades are astounding. You have in A in Advanced Equations.” I smiled. That was my least favorite subject, but somehow I still did well.

“I will allow it, but The spot you will be interning is Neurology.  My helper will give you the form. Take it to your living quarters and have your father sign it” I shook my head. The door buzzed open and I got up and walked out. The helper handed me a form. I gave her a friendly hand shake then walked to class.

After school, I biked to my living quarters. Mom was sitting and reading a book, and dad was watching the Holographic TV.

“Hey dear!”they said in unison. I sat next to dad and embraced him.

“Wow, you’re in a good mood Kate.”

“Hey Dad, I need you to sign an internship form.” He looked at me with a wide grin. His face glowed with pride as he took the paper out of my hand.

“Hun, can you grab me a pen?” Mom came out with a pen and peeked over Dad’s shoulders.

“Wow, Neurology? Do you want to be a Neuroscience?” I shook my head. Mom and dad smiled at each other and Dad signed the paper. Dad gave me a kiss on the forehead. I nudged him off and rode the escalator up to my room. I peered out the window and looked at the sky. And I watched it slowly turn black.

“Kate wake up!”Kim called to me. I jumped up and walked to my closet. I grabbed my Sunday clothes and slipped them on. I walked down the escalator. The air smelled like eggs and bacon. Mom and Kim were watching TV. Dad was already at work. I looked in the kitchen and saw the stove make breakfast. It was a fascinating thing to watch.

“I heard you are an intern where I work. It’s just not my department. Maybe you are not good enough for my department,” Kim said. She gave me a smug face.

She always thinks she is better because she is smarter. I rolled my eyes. The daily required news came on. The DP popped up on screen. Kim blushed.

“Don’t you have a Boyfriend to be with?” she grimaced. I laughed because I won this round.

After breakfast, I went up the escalator and grabbed my bag.

“Have a nice first day!” Mom called from the living room. I waved bye and embraced her. I walked to the DP headquarters. It was the brightest building in the Dome. I walked through the security and into a room.This man was sitting at a desk.

“Hand” He demanded. I stretched out my arm and placed my hand on the cold counter. He pressed this thing to my hand I felt a sharp pinch.

“Swipe this over the circles next to the door. It will be unlocked.” He pointed at the door. When I was done there was a female scientist waiting for me.

“Hello, my name is Lee Anne. Are you my intern?” I looked at her and shook my head.

“Very respectful. So, you’re Dave’s daughter? How nice you’re following in his footsteps.” I shook my head. We did a professional embrace and she gave me a tour. We finally got to The Neuroscience hall.

“The very last door to your right is your office. I will send some papers down for you to sort.” I shook my head and walked down a hall.A door caught my eye. The sign read Authorized Personnel ONLY. I looked at the clipboard next to the door. It was an inventory sheet of all the pills in the room. There was Zolf,Magnessium,and then Remmeberitium. The last one caught my eye.

“Ah, curiosity is getting the better of you. You should not let that happen. Not here at least.Ah you’re interested in Pharmacologists. ” I looked behind me.

“What is Remmeberitium?”She looked at me for a moment and then smiled.

“It is a substance that is used in upper class Dome management.”

“is it dangerous?”She smiled

“It’s not dangerous. It’s just expensive to make”

“Oh.”

“As I said before. Your door is on the left.”

“Sorry mam. I won’t let it happen again.”

“Better not,” She walked away. I waited for the noise of the door to shut. Then I walked to my door. It was a decent room with a strange odor. There was a stack of papers in the middle of the room on a box. I grabbed them and started on them.

After about three hours and twenty paper-cuts, I was done. The door opened, and  jumped.

“Lunch time. When you’re done, there will be more.” The door closed. I slid all the way down in my chair. I got up and closed my door. The door caught my eye again. I looked at the Lee Anne’s door. The light was off. I walked to the door and slid my hand over the Chip Scanner. It opened. A cold breeze hit me, chills ran up my spine. I walked in. I walked all the way back to the cabinets. I read the clipboards  

Zolf, Magnesium, Carennium, Alabartressium.

“Remmebritium.” I tried to open the case but it was locked.

“Tomorrow you guys will be mine.”

School was the usual boring thing. I aced all my classes and hung out with Nate. Then we went to lunch. I waited in line. I sat down at our usual table. John and Sam sat down on the far right. Nate came after them.

“How was yesterday?”Nate asked. I looked at him and shrugged.

“That teacher has been eyeballing us for a while” John pointed  out. I looked over and we made eye contact. I smiled. She started to walk over.  The teacher grabbed me by the arm and smiled.

“The principals want to see you. They told me to escort you,” Nate looked at her.

“Is there a problem? What did she do?” Nate looked concerned.

“You should hold your tongue in the presence of an elder!” She pulled me away and out the door.

We stopped at a door and then she thrust me into a chair.

“Wait here. Don’t move.” She demanded. She walked through the door and slammed it behind her. I sat there nervously. My leg was bouncing up and down.

What have I done. I should never had said that. Oh no what if they send me to the place?

“Come in”. Said an electronic voice. There was a small chair in front of a long desk. Behind the desk was three older men. The first one glared at me, the second one gave me a half grin, and the third pointed at the seat. I sat down on the cold leather chair.   

“State your name, Then we will move on with your punishment” said the first.  

“My name? Oh, my name is Kate. Kate from the third quadrant.” I was nervous.  

“Kate from third quadrant?” said the second. I just looked at him.

“Yes sir.” I uncrossed my legs.  

“And what is your assigned living quarters?” said the third.  

“It’s L.12 7.12” I hesitated. They all looked at each other and whispered. Then they all looked at me, and back to their conversation. I overheard words like ”Danger” and “Helpless.” But one word got me on edge “Termination.” I jumped out of my seat and ran to the door.I heard the men get up. I ran out the door. And outside the door was a Policeman. He grabbed me by the arm. I panicked. I pulled my arm away and ran. I heard footsteps behind me but I was to scared to look back. I took a sharp left and hid behind a Wastebot. I heard footsteps past me but, one pair stopped. My heart skipped a beat. Then it walked to where I was. I threw my fist in its area.

“Ow what the hell Kate?”said the unknown voice. I looked up and it was Nate. I jumped up and hugged him. He pushed me off and gave me a stern look.

“What in the hell were you thinking? Going rouge?” I looked at him. His eyes deep green.  

“They…..They were going to terminate me.” He looked at me with concern. He grabbed me by the arm and we hid in the back alley of a store.

“Kate we can’t go back home can we?” He looked at me.

“No, this never was our home.” I said  

Home doesn’t trap you in with false sense of hope or peace. Nate looked at me concerned. I smiled at him. Tears developed in my eyes,I collapsed into him and let my tears drain like a waterfall. 

We got out of our hiding spot around 13:01 past curfew. The search has died down but there was a few stray Cops around. Me and Nate were officially criminals. To not strike a panic they made a fake story stating that we being taken to an institute for the gifted. Which is a code word for Termination but I don’t care.

“Hey let’s go to that place. That science lab in DP headquarters. So we can remember or, if it’s false that would be the last thing we see before we are terminated.” After I said that Nate smiled and shook his head. We got up. I peered around the corner and noticed no one. I grabbed Nate’s hand and we ran. W stopped at the park. I peered over a bench and saw the bright building. I pointed at it.

“Good no guards.” We both said in unison. I went to go but, Nate grabbed my arm.

“If you go in there and caught-”

“No, I won’t. If i do i’ll leave you out of it.” I interjected.

“And plus, your coming with me.”. Nate shook his head. I know he is nervous but, this is the best plan. We both ran to the back.

“How do we get in?” I pointed at the vent.

“I need a lift.” i climbed up on Nate’s knee and hoisted myself up. I pulled but, it wouldn’t open.

“Fuck, Nate hand me a rock.” Nate grabbed one and handed to me. I slammed it into the vent. It left a dent but, didn’t break.

“Let me try.” I reluctantly handed Nate the rock. He slammed it in. A loud crunch noise filled the quiet area. But, nothing stirred. I climbed onto Nate’s knee and climbed into the humid vent. I started to crawl. I heard Nate climb in behind me. And we started our way in.

We past workers and some cops on our way to the lab. We walked over a vent and I heard a creek. We came to a hult. I looked down the vent. The hall was dark and abandoned. We crawled backwards. I turned onto my back and i pushed down. The creek was loud. I waited a couple minutes then i did it again.

After about 5 tries the vent came loose. I pulled the vent and it came off. I looked back at Nate. He smiled then looked down.

“Its ok Nate.”I jumped down. I thought i was going to land on my feet like a gymnast, I was wrong. I landed on my feet but, i fell and rolled onto my side. I sat there. Then Nate poked his head out.

“You ok?”

“I’m fine Nate.”I pushed myself off the cold hard floor. Nate jumped down and landed on his feet. I grabbed his arm and i pulled him to go. We ran down the dark hall stopping at every sign. Until finally finding the sign consisting of The Laboratory. We went through an endless hallway until it came to a halt. I went to the door and peered through the window. It was hard to see because my breath was fogging up the glass but, I couldn’t see any light. I looked at the door, then at Nate.

I swiped my hand over the Chip Sencore and it unlocked. When it was fully open you could smell the mildew. I stepped in. Then, i heard a beep and distant murmuring.

“Someone’s here.” Nate and I rushed in and shut the door. I looked at Nate.

“How do you lock this?” he shook his head and pushed the century. I walked away form the door and went to the fridge. Nate was keeping watch.

I want to find the pill. I need to find that pill.I opened the fridge and rummaged through the test tubes and beakers of various liquids, nothing.  

“Kate you need to hurry up.” I rushed through cabinets, nothing. Then I hit one that was labeled “Authorized personnel Only” underneath than sign was a clipboard. The papers were in perfect condition.

Shouldn’t these papers be old? Then it dawned on me.

“Nate we shouldn’t be in here.I think that person is coming in here.”I rushed to open the cabinet, and in it was pill bottles. I looked at the bottles. They all had the same label on them “May cause patient to remember things, seizures, and death is severe cases.” I grabbed 5 bottles and shoved them in my pocket.

“Kate I think you were right, we need to get out of here.” He ran back to me. I looked around and saw a closet.

“In here” we both rushed into the closet and locked the door. I heard a creek. Then i heard footsteps.

“Nate I didn’t close the cabinet.” I couldn’t see him but i know he panicked.