The Perfect World (The Perfect World Series Book 1) (25 page)

“I’ve seen this before! It came on one day when I was in my room. We had to have a big assembly afterward saying how the video was just a lie and that we shouldn’t believe what we saw.”

John smiled triumphantly at the words. “That would be our doing. We try our best to reach out to those who feel that something isn’t right. People like you, Cyrus.”

Cyrus smiled gratefully back at the old man for his words. Huo cleared his throat to draw attention to himself. “While the touching moment is nice, shouldn’t you finish the story, John? I’m sure this boy would like to hear the end.”

Cyrus nodded at the words. John clicked a button with two long bars that turned into an arrow as the video stopped.

“Okay, sorry for the interruption. I know how you like to keep on track,” John told Huo before turning back to Cyrus. “With better weapons and larger forces, guerrilla warfare changed into large bloody battles. With so much energy devoted to trying to defend their own nations, it wasn’t long before the United States and China found enemies coming at them from all sides as their allies fell. The United States and China were surrounded and outnumbered, but you wouldn’t know it by the way the people fought. They knew what they had to lose, and they weren’t going to give it up without a fight.”

“The people of China fought especially hard to remain free. We had only just tasted freedom after so many years without it. It was cruel for us to have to face losing it again so soon,” Huo added solemnly.

“It’s true.” John nodded sadly. “Yet, in spite of the best efforts of those brave people, they still fell. Or I should say, they retreated.” Cyrus looked at him curiously at these words.

“Fortunately for us, a United States scientist named Sabir Sunil invented protective force fields that couldn’t be penetrated with normal weaponry. They could sustain damage from all of the most advanced technology and could house thousands of people within their protection. As our last act of rebellion, we set these domes up all  over the world to protect those remaining people who believed in freedom and living by their own hand. All of our forces retreated into these domes, where we have remained ever since. We are the last remnants of the free world.”

Cyrus remained silent after the long story, not knowing what to say. He almost couldn’t believe that such a horrible story could be true. Yet, with what he’d seen and what he’d gone through, how else could it have come about?

“My poor country.” Huo’s voice was a heartbroken whisper. This caught the attention of both Cyrus and John as he became passionate once more, his sadness fading into his anger. “It was a terrible fate for all those countries who lost their freedom, but none suffered as much as we did! The United States has never had all its freedoms taken away or been oppressed like so many nations had. China had just obtained its freedom. The Chinese communists had finally fallen after World War Three. My people were able to speak their minds, communicate to the rest of the world and live where and how they wished, something that we had not been allowed to do for decades!”

Cyrus could have sworn he saw tears appear in the dark eyes, but they quickly disappeared as rage overtook the dark-eyed man again. “Then, those bastards ruined everything for us! They had the gall to look at my people, stare them in the face and say that they just didn’t understand what a good life they could have. That the government, we had fought so hard to be free of was superior to anything we as individuals could come up with ourselves. These people, many of whom lived in free countries prior to the perfect world, dared to tell us that they knew better! If it had been up to me, I would have never allowed anyone from any country where this nonsense came and chose to accept it live in our Quarantine Domes.”

“Huo, that’s enough.” John’s voice was a soothing stream in the midst of a raging fire. Not that it seemed to impact the fiery man beside him.

“You always defend these people, though I will never understand why.” His voice was firm and even, his deep black eyes smoldering with fire. “They ruined your country too, in case you’ve forgotten.”

John’s crystal blue eyes studied the other man with composure. He appeared used to such outbursts, and he showed no sign of alarm. “I do not forgive or condone those responsible for the disaster they have inflicted on the rest of us,” John spoke evenly and carefully. “However, I would not go so far as to blame those who had nothing to do with it. They are the descendents of the victims of the terrible war of assimilation, just as we are. They are not the perpetrators themselves. You should not wish such a horrible fate on them. They do not deserve it.”

Huo’s eyes had cooled, and his expression was one of resignation as he examined John, giving him a dismissive shake of his head. “You are too forgiving. Someday, it may be the end of you.”

John smiled, looking as though he had been expecting this response. “Only time will tell, I suppose.”

“So,” Cyrus drew out the word, trying to get their attention back, “the other two continents were defeated and brought under the perfect world system. What happened after that?” 

“Well, six leaders were chosen to rule over each continent,” John continued in an informative tone. “They are the supreme leaders of each continent. Each of them chose a small staff of people to help them run economic, educational and military matters. Each supreme leader has a military general under their wing that runs the armed guards who keep the children and adults in line. There are also a few money men, media types, and underlings who do the leader’s bidding. These are the people who are known as the wise leaders. They make the decisions for the  millions of people living on this planet. They create the laws, they decide what people eat and learn, and they also decide the ‘destinies’ of all the children in their system. This is the perfect world you’ve been living in for eighteen years.”

“I wouldn’t call it living as much as enduring,” Cyrus mumbled to himself, and he found that both the adults were looking at him sympathetically.   

“That is a very brief outline of why our world is now in the state it is in,” John concluded getting up from his chair. “You will  be getting a much fuller picture of what happened when you take our history courses.”

“History courses?” Cyrus repeated in confusion.

“Yes, of course, dear boy. You don’t think that we’ll let you stay ignorant now that you’re free, do you?”

“Not to mention that keeping an uneducated lay about around isn’t good for any society,” Huo commented crisply.

“Precisely why we must educate you before you start an internship. We will put you into remedial courses at one of our trade schools to give you some skills you can use to get your start. From there, you’ll be free to better yourself as you see fit.”

Seeing the overwhelmed look on the boy’s face, John chuckled. “I know it’s a lot to take in right now. We’ll go slow and ease you into things. I know you’ll enjoy living here, Cyrus. I think you’ll do well.”

“Thank you, Mr. Eldrick,” Cyrus spoke sincerely as the old man moved towards the door. 

“It’s no problem Cyrus. I’m happy you’re here.” He went over to the door and held the knob tightly in his hand. “And, I’ll have you know, I’m not the only one. You have a pair of visitors who have been waiting for you to wake up. One of them has been waiting quite impatiently for you to get up. He’ll be happy to know you’re okay.”

“He practically wet himself when he saw that you’d been brought into this dome,” Huo remarked with some amusement.

“I was not about to wet myself …” came a sullen reply from outside the door. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

Now, Cyrus was completely at a loss. Who could possibly be waiting for him here? “Who—?”

The messy-haired boy didn’t get to finish as John opened the door and a boy rushed in. He looked to be about Cyrus’s age with brown skin, thick black hair and a thin body. He came towards him with his arms outstretched and his eyes held a few tears as he jumped on his bed, wrapping his arms around him.

“Ahhhhh!” Cyrus yelled as he was knocked against his headboard by the force of the embrace.

“Cyrus!” the boy exclaimed in pure joy. He let go and placed his hands on his shoulders, looking at him with a big smile. “I knew you’d get here! I just knew it! What took you so long, anyway? I really missed you!”

“Ummm …” Cyrus trailed off, not really knowing what to say. He still couldn’t place the stranger who was hugging him.

“Don’t tell me you don’t recognize me?” the boy told him, sounding slightly offended. “Gee, I’m only your best friend. It’s me, Scott!”

“Scott?” Cyrus whispered, hardly believing what he heard. Yet, when he examined the other boy, he recognized some of the features that Scott used to have. His face had changed a little, but it was still recognizable. Tears stung Cyrus’s eyes as he stared at the other boy he never thought he’d see again. “Scott!” he cried out and hugged him back fiercely.

“I missed you too, Cyrus,” Scott whispered into his ear as he held on tight. “It’s been too long.”

“I thought—I thought you’d been quarantined. I saw those guards take you away that night, and I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I was taken to be “quarantined” as they told you.” Scott had let go of Cyrus and had a dark look on his face. “I was not taken to these domes though. They were going to kill me.”

“Kill you?” Cyrus whispered in horror. “But—but they said—”  

“Forget about everything and anything they told you. It was like what we thought when we were kids. They weren’t telling us the truth.” A bright smile lit his face as he said his next words. “We were right, Cyrus. We weren’t crazy at all.”

“As for the issue of sickness,” John cut in with an explanation, “they told you that when you were too sick to live among the other students, you were sent to one of these domes, yes?” Cyrus nodded in affirmation. “The truth of it is, when they think you are too independent, too vocal about your disbelief of their perfect system, they decide to eliminate you. They tell the other students that you were removed because you were sick so that they can execute you and the other students won’t question your disappearance. It’s all just a ruse to cut out dissidents early.”

“We keep a close eye on the nearby domes when they decide to remove students for their executions,” Huo added, looking at Scott when he said this. “We try to send out our own forces to retrieve these students and bring them within our walls. That is how your friend Scott arrived here.”

“That’s also why we were worried about you, Cyrus,” John said. “After we saved Scott from his fate, the number of guards that surrounded that building were almost tripled. It’s become much harder for our small forces to rescue the students inside. Given what Scott told us about you, we figured that you would eventually meet the same fate he did. With the increased forces around your dormitory, we were afraid that rescuing you might be difficult, if not impossible.” He went over and ruffled the messy brown hair on Cyrus’s head. “But you came up with your own escape plan and tried to save yourself. Good lad. That’s the right attitude to have if you’re going to survive in here.” Cyrus smiled shyly at the compliment.

“Yeah, just don’t get yourself killed with any of your other plans and you’ll do well.”

The comment came from Huo, and Scott turned on him with an irritated expression. “Hey, lay off him! It was brave of him to do what he did! Why do you always have to be so—”

John’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from continuing. “That’s enough Scott. You don’t need to defend Cyrus.”

“But—” Scott started to argue again, but a stern look from John stopped him.

“I know Cyrus is your friend, but he is not a child. He does not need your help to win his battles. If he has a problem with what Huo said, then he has a right to answer him in kind. That’s part of what being an adult is, right?”

Scott looked miffed, but he met John’s eyes anyway and said, “Yes, Mr. Eldrick.” 

He smiled in understanding at Scott before turning back to Cyrus and saying, “It might surprise you to learn, Cyrus, that Huo used to make the same kinds of reckless plans when he was a young lad. He learned his lesson back then, and I’m sure his comment was rooted more in concern than insult.” John turned to the other man with a knowing glint in his eyes and a humoring smile on his face. “Right, Huo?”

Huo kept his face carefully neutral, though Cyrus thought he looked a little uncomfortable. “Believe what you want to, John. That’s what you always do, anyway.”

“Something like that,” John responded with a facial expression that seemed to say that he was laughing at some inside joke.

“Anyway, Cyrus, I’ve been waiting for you to get here for years!” Scott exclaimed, sounding excited and aggravated at the same time. “I told John all about you, and I asked him to save you. I knew you’d love it here! It’s just like we always talked about. Things are so much different than what we were told in those awful schools.”

“So, then, why didn’t you get me out?” Cyrus asked not out of anger, but curiosity.

Scott wilted a bit at the words. “It wasn’t for lack of trying, believe me. It’s just really hard to get inside the dormitory buildings to get kids out of there. Like Mr. Eldrick said, that tower had even more guards on it thanks to my rescue and that made it even more difficult to get inside. We just couldn’t risk it. Sorry, Cyrus. I never did give up on you though.”

“It’s fine Scott. You did what you could.”