Go Back   Flash Flash Revolution: Community Forums > General Discussion > Critical Thinking
Register FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-29-2005, 11:26 PM   #1
MalReynolds
CHOCK FULL O' NUTRIENTS
FFR Veteran
 
MalReynolds's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: A Denny's Bathroom.
Age: 33
Posts: 6,571
Send a message via AIM to MalReynolds
Default Domes

Eco-domes are a good idea on paper. I mean, really, an elevated sphere, supported by four supports, that has twice the living space of the land below it. Plus, the curve of the supports makes it easy to actually build under the sphere, creating low rent housing, apartment complexes, and places of work that are out of the way. The only people who could really grumble about it were the people who lived in the center, under the sphere. They never got direct sunlight… Sunlight was usually reflected into these provinces with mirrors.
These eco-domes were fairly high up, as well. They covered six or seven city blocks (the exact figure fails me at the moment), but had multiple stories. It was like a big, round skyscraper that was filled with officers. To get into the dome, all you had to do was go to one of the supports (rather large and bulky, you could imagine, to support a structure like this), and use his access card to call an elevator. Then, he simply would climb aboard and exit at the designated station.
As one would think, the cost of living in these structures was not for the faint of heart or light of wallet. An one bedroom apartment would run you around $7,500 a month, plus amenities. Under the dome, however, you could find apartments for much less. In the no sun zone especially, you could usually find cheap living for around $500 a month.
Sunlight would pour into the domes, tree filled parks were constructed, pools, houses. Mansions. All in the domes.
At first, these were great. People would commute to the domes and then go back home under them, or go to a park across the street. But as more and more of these domes went up, it started to obscure the sun more. Eventually, when four domes were grouped around a central dome, all under the central dome was a no sun-zone. People grumbled, sure, but it wasn’t so much a problem.
The domes covered most of the city after a few years, bathing the areas under them in darkness. They no-sun zones were called simply, “Hopeless”. In the Hopeless, crime ran rampant, people were murdered, rape, theft… You name it, it was going on. After the domes covered the city, walkways began construction, creating easy access from dome to dome. Most of the police force worked the domes, leaving the Hopeless to dwell in all the social excrement they created.
Soon, the domes were numbered or lettered. There were sixteen going north-south, and twenty going east-west, all connected with walkways. The north-south domes were numbered “A” through “P”, and the east-west were numbered numerically. The Hopeless were numbered accordingly in the same fashion, the dividing lines between sections only stretches of sunlight.
Civilization had paved over itself.
I didn’t really care about all of this. It’s more of a history lesson for the reader, so if you skipped it, I don’t really care. It’s to help you understand what exactly it is I’m talking about. I lived in dome F-9. I worked in dome E-9. My commute involved walking a short distance, sitting down in a chair, and talking on the phone. In the Hopeless, the dividing stretches of sunlight were not streets, as one might imagine. They were buildings. Work buildings, apartment buildings, crack dens, whatever. It was my job to get on the wire and tell people, people with money for sunlight ready living or working or shooting up, to tell them that we had available space for rent. These places were expensive, but they were bought up by my company. We were the landlords, but we didn’t give a shit. Every piece I sold I got a cut of the monthly rent which kept me above all of them.
There was, of course, the off chance that I would have to go down and fix something for someone. That was the part of the job I didn’t like. Walking around those streets wasn’t just dangerous, it was pretty damn depressing. People living in blankets, the streets occasionally flooding, rats, spiders. Every time it rained, the rain would run off of our domes and shower the buildings directly under mercilessly. Some people wised up and put half-assed water towers. The spiders got damn big down there, big as your fist was pretty common. But I didn’t have to go down there much, thankfully.
I think it started on a Tuesday. I’m not really sure. I think it was Tuesday. It was. My access card jammed for walkway E-9, and I had to call someone over. It was the start of a bad day, I thought.
My desk was barren except for the contacts. People who had filled out an informational sheet were obligated to take a call from me or one of my associates and discuss sunlight strip buildings to purchase. It wasn’t a good card, probably a hang up, considering I could pronounce the last name to well.
“Hello, is… Mr. Murnaugh there?” I said “Mur-now”.
“Hold on, let me get Murnaugh.” He said “Mur-no.”
Shit.
“What is this in reference to?”
“Recently, he requested information on…”
“Yeah, he’s here.” I heard the phone change hands. I readjusted my headset and sat up straight.
“Hello?”
“Ah, Mr. Murnaugh, you recently requested information on our Sunset Strip property, and I was just calling to let you know that we had some available property in the area that you might be interested in. It says here that you’re married?”
“Not anymore.”
“I’m sorry to hear that… In that case, we have a wider assortment of apartments for the man on the lookout for the next big catch.”
“Sure, that… Uh, that sounds great. Listen, do you have anything on the border of E-9 and F-9?”
“Actually, sir, we just sold our last unit to a newly wed couple… It looks like we do have an office space for rent, though. The E-9 F-9 border, single unit. 24 Junior Street, office number 63. It’s got a break room complete with microwave, refrigerator, window with direct access to sunlight, and functioning rest room. Unfortunately, offices don’t come with…”
“Showers.”
“Correct. But between you and I, Mr. Murnaugh, a shower is a mere oversight. You’ve got a functioning sink, and a bachelor like yourself won’t need to clean very vigorously. Sometimes I just take a quick sink-shower on the way to work and it tides me through just fine… I mean, no one gives me funny looks, and I don’t think anyone is saying anything behind my back. Mr. Murnaugh, can I call you Robert?”
“My father used to call me that. Call me Bobby.”
“Alright, Bobby, this unit is available to move into as soon as you’re ready.”
“I’m not sure…”
“Bobby, opportunities like this don’t come knocking every day. You have to realize when something good has landed on your doorstep. A golden ticket, a newspaper, a sack of money, whatever. You wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up. Why hesitate to pick this up? I could put you in the office for… $1,250 a month. Ah, hell, Bobby, you sound like you could use a drink. $1,000 a month. If my boss found out, he’d give me a Cuban neck-tie.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. I began to sweat.
“Alright, I’ll take it…”
“Excellent, Bobby. You won’t regret this. If I lived in the Less, that office would be the place for me and I really mean that.”
I couldn’t help but grin. This was an extra $200 a month for me.
“I’m going to send my assistant down to the South-East structure, and he’s going to bring you up here to sign some papers. After you sign the papers and pay the security deposit then you’ll get your key. How does that sound, Bobby? Does that sound like your new life starting?”
“I guess.”
“Alright, Bobby, South-East structure at 3:00. If you have need anything, you have this number.”
“Thanks…”
The receiver clicked. Something was nagging at me in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t quite place it. Of course, I could later, hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?

(It isn't over yet)
__________________
"A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."

"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, Ill give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor


My new novel:

Maledictions: The Offering.

Now in Paperback!
MalReynolds is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-1-2005, 05:09 PM   #2
Varia
FFR Player
 
Varia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: San Diego, bitches
Age: 34
Posts: 1,713
Send a message via AIM to Varia Send a message via MSN to Varia Send a message via Yahoo to Varia
Default RE: Domes

Stop teasing us with beginnings of awesome stories...ass...
__________________
GB CHALLENGE IS HOMOSEXUAL

ARE YOU HOMOSEXUAL?


I THINK SO
Varia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-1-2005, 09:50 PM   #3
MalReynolds
CHOCK FULL O' NUTRIENTS
FFR Veteran
 
MalReynolds's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: A Denny's Bathroom.
Age: 33
Posts: 6,571
Send a message via AIM to MalReynolds
Default RE: Domes

I know, I'm really notorious for writing just the beginning, but this one is going to full 9 yards.

Uh... I hope.

Mal

PS: Part 2 will be up soon, same thread. Keeping things simple.
__________________
"A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."

"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, Ill give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor


My new novel:

Maledictions: The Offering.

Now in Paperback!
MalReynolds is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-1-2005, 09:55 PM   #4
Varia
FFR Player
 
Varia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: San Diego, bitches
Age: 34
Posts: 1,713
Send a message via AIM to Varia Send a message via MSN to Varia Send a message via Yahoo to Varia
Default RE: Domes

I love this man's sense of commitment.
__________________
GB CHALLENGE IS HOMOSEXUAL

ARE YOU HOMOSEXUAL?


I THINK SO
Varia is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright FlashFlashRevolution