First topic message reminder :
It was long past curfew and Cora could hear the voice from one of the loudspeakers that were on every street corner informing people that anyone caught outside without a permit would be taken to one of many detention centres that filled the city. Despite this, the young woman didn’t budge from her perch by the river front. The smell of the toxic water below burned her nose, but even that wouldn't keep her from staring longingly at the twinkling lights on the opposite side. That was her home, the place she had loved and belonged in until she was sixteen and torn from everyone and everything she loved to start her life here as little more than cattle. No, scratch that, cattle had more freedom. This city was ran by the men. It held war and perfect order in higher regard than absolutely anything else. There was no art, no real music. Nothing beautiful or thought provoking. It was everything her true home hadn’t been. The city she currently stared at was a matriarchy. It didn’t consider men second rate citizens, it simply meant equality came much easier. While they did indeed have their own army and soldiers, they also devoted time to creating beautiful architecture and maintining lush parks for the citizens to take long walks in whenever they chose. That was why it hurt so much that all girls born in a year that ended in an odd number were sent across the water once they reached sixteen. They were raised in paradise, then turned out into a hell of men’s making. It was an agreement both cities had with each other, that the girls would be exchanged in order to keep the gene pool fresh, and to avoid conflict that neither side would win without great loss.
It was long past curfew and Cora could hear the voice from one of the loudspeakers that were on every street corner informing people that anyone caught outside without a permit would be taken to one of many detention centres that filled the city. Despite this, the young woman didn’t budge from her perch by the river front. The smell of the toxic water below burned her nose, but even that wouldn't keep her from staring longingly at the twinkling lights on the opposite side. That was her home, the place she had loved and belonged in until she was sixteen and torn from everyone and everything she loved to start her life here as little more than cattle. No, scratch that, cattle had more freedom. This city was ran by the men. It held war and perfect order in higher regard than absolutely anything else. There was no art, no real music. Nothing beautiful or thought provoking. It was everything her true home hadn’t been. The city she currently stared at was a matriarchy. It didn’t consider men second rate citizens, it simply meant equality came much easier. While they did indeed have their own army and soldiers, they also devoted time to creating beautiful architecture and maintining lush parks for the citizens to take long walks in whenever they chose. That was why it hurt so much that all girls born in a year that ended in an odd number were sent across the water once they reached sixteen. They were raised in paradise, then turned out into a hell of men’s making. It was an agreement both cities had with each other, that the girls would be exchanged in order to keep the gene pool fresh, and to avoid conflict that neither side would win without great loss.
