NathanLet me out, Mommy! I promise I won't do it again. Please, let me out!' I beg and I beg long after I hear the basement door shut behind her.Silence and darkness. I'm all alone in the blackness. My hands are throbbing from all the splinters that got caught in my skin. The box is made of raw wood, but somehow it shrank since the last time I've been here. Now I barely fit and I have to lower my head every time I try to stand.Mommy says I have to be punished and think of what I've done. I am a bad boy. I made mommy angry. I told her I love her. Again. I wonder how long it will take this time until she lets me out. Days? Weeks? Last time it's been a month.But then she saved me....She looks straight into my eyes when she lies. I watch closely, absorbed by those beautiful and unique eyes of hers two different worlds, one more perfect than the other. Does she f

NathanAnother flawless presentation, Mr Oaks. We wouldn't have expected anything less from you.' The chairman's adenoidal voice breaks the silence.I have always disliked him. There's an air of double-dealing and deceit hanging over his words. He would constantly praise my father's abilities during his fancy dinners, yet his face had betrayed his hollow actions every time. We started as poor and we will forever be tainted by our inferiority.Today's meeting is held in the old Library, a sign of power and fatuous attachment to our history. The room oversees the whole campus and it looks more of a vault rather than a boardroom. The glass wall that encircles us seems too fragile to protect all the leaders of the state gathered in one place. Still, I know better than all, the invisible shield is nothing more than a honeycomb mesh of trillions of nanites programmed to emulate the strongest material on the planet. Nothing comes in or out, other than air.Everyone

TammyThe underground is nothing more than a complicated maze of tunnels and quarries. Down there the oxygen is scarce and the air so damp soon their skin gets covered with sweat. They keep running, their boots splashing in puddles, and growing the distance between them and the guards with every single breath. Still, the deeper they get into the unknown, the more unbearable the smell. It started as a mixture of dust and grease and something vaguely metallic, only to morph into a defensive odour of sulphur and mould. The walls have long lost their human touch, concrete turning to hard clay and wood pillars barely holding up the roof. Whoever continued the digging must have been in a rush, determined to never coming back, for their sloppy work is a miracle it hasn't collapsed.They continue following the winding tracks and looking over their shoulders every time they hear the distinctive sounds of splitting and cracking of timber. The white beams of their flashlights captu

TammyDon't do anything stupid!' Luther jumps off of his throne, shaking and visibly awestricken. You heard her! Bring them in!' He adds through gritted teeth, his eyes fixed on the gun pointed to her head.Soon the door slams open revealing two rebels carrying a barely conscious Nathan. His foot is still bleeding and the wound has doubled its size. He slowly raises his head towards the centre of the room, choking with blood when he sees her bargaining for their lives. Tammy gasps in horror at the sight of him, once a beautiful face now painted in bruises. A swollen black eye covers half of one side, while the other is bleeding, leaving out only the light blue in a sea of red. She tightens the hold around the grip as a burning wish of punishing everyone present flames her entire body. They lock their gaze for a second while she watches him being dumped at Grace's feet, his cracked lips begging her not to die. Tammy moves her to stare away, battling the tears that are gat