Her Name Is Selina

“What do you think of this bit of writing?” Jacob pushes his laptop in front of Allan; he has to put on his grandpa glasses to read it.

“Are there still any Beers left, and does anyone want one?” Andy yells halfway into the kitchen. Everyone lifts their hand.

Cas lights his cigarette and spins the lit match between his fingers while he reads over Allan’s shoulder. Patricia, Edgar and Teller sit next to the fire-place chatting away. Andy returns with the drinks and starts to hand them out when one of the bottles slips out of his hand. Inches from shattering on the hard wood floor Allan catches it with his foot, grabs it and takes a sip like it’s just another Friday night’s DDR competition.

Teller sneaks a look at Andy, this makes Patricia and Edgar giggle. She says something behind her hand and the three of them nearly burst.  Allan and Cas burst into hysterical laughter, too, while Jacob looks on with the biggest guilty grin.

Andy Takes a Seat and quickly scans the screen, his meh expression doesn’t go over well with Jacob but causes Cass to double over in a fit and singe Allan’s hair with his cigarette. The ice in my drink starts to float; I drain the cup and stand.

“Her name is Selina, all her life she was taught to comply with the “good” of society. She was ripped from her mother’s womb and shipped to the….” My tongue catches, but Edgar takes my lead.

“Shipped to the Fortress of Tranquility, were the child populous is trained in the art of Manners and social etiquette.” He takes a breath, “where they suckle from the teat of a… a.”

“A large super computer, an acre in size that floats around reading random inspirational messages while Emoticons flash on the screen at the appropriate time.” Allan chimes and adds, “what if the fortress and the land around it were all like a stage, or rather all of it inside a larger citadel that protected the inhabitants from the outside world?”

“The outer-outside world could be a huge expansive desert where the only things living on it are the occasional…. No not a desert, god damn tundra where coniferous forests have all but taken over the available space. The animals that have survived are gargantuan moose/bear things that munch on the trees and every now and again each other to keep the caloric intake high.” Andy says miming what I assume is a moose-bear.

“These citadels should be sparse, but fucking huge. Hundreds of stories up since they need to hold the entire populous of a metropolitan city with all the amenities added. People need to be able to drive to the bar and grab a sandwich from the corner store on the same level but go to work and school and pay bills on another. We could have a literal representation of the class system.” Cas says lighting another Cigarette.

“There should be a shadow society lurking behind every door, transmitting the data from every citadel to despicable person pulling the strings. Anytime someone even jokes about life without the… Master, they are carted away to the reassessment camps. When they return they comeback the epitome of social harmony, they are the visage of a new world order.” Jacob says into his beer.

There is a moment of silence as we all remember past events, then Cas says though a yawn, “Lets write that, J man delete you limerick and start taking dictation. Daddy’s gonna imaginate all over the place.”