Harmony, Hegemony, History.
Those three words built the foundation of the Geddon Dynasty for the past millennia. However, throughout that dynasty, there have been those who couldn’t fit within their harmony, their hegemony, and their history, who were erased from the golden walls and ivory fences out to where we grew up with nature, with tigers, bears, and pandas.
We were revolutionaries, abandoned and deserted by society. I was born to nobles, expected to marry the future king of the Geddon Dynasty, and back then, when I was sixteen, I thought that Harmony, Hegemony, and History were not just three words but the foundation of how I lived. Every day we were taught the importance of Grace under the Carol Trees that were decked in amethyst and lapis lazuli. At home, I learned all the important things: Math, scripture, chess; all to turn me into a leader that would be respected in the future. What changed? Why did I leave my future behind to join the revolutionary out where we are hunting our own food, making our own weapons, and planning a takeover in two weeks? It all goes back to when my opinion changed on Harmony, Hegemony, and History.
Throughout my life, I had learned that our history was full of noble people who did noble things. I learned about those who came upon the land in which Geddon was founded and how they outlined the laws, why they were the laws, and that we were meant to follow harmony, hegemony, and history for the rest of our lives. We were all told not to go past the golden wall, as they told us that it was “keeping us safe.” The wall didn’t even have windows, but we learn that the Golden Wall was built by our founders to maintain Geddon security.
I remember the day distinctly. I was curious, so I dug a hole in an unmonitored part of the wall, and at first, all I heard was nature speaking to me; the soothing trickling of the rivers, the chirping birds, the swaying of the trees. I was entranced, and every day I took five more steps than the last. I began to wonder, “why did we build this gold wall?” until I tripped over something.
I thought it was a rock but when I picked it up, I saw the thin bones of what looked like a child’s hand. It had been under the soil for some time so I assumed it had been about five decades since the child had passed. I began wondering more and more about my society, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how little I actually knew about the Geddon Dynasty, and their goals, the finances of our society, or anything else about the kings and queens, who, following our constitution, were declared “Emperor of the world.” We didn’t even know why men had to get married by 18 and then had to disappear for anywhere from 1 to 30 years. As long as we were pristine, obedient, and happy, I realized we didn’t care where or how we got our money.
That’s why at 17, I decided to cut my hair to pretend to be a man and went to the black market to get a fake ID so I could see just what they had the men of our society do. That day, my revolutionary instincts began to glow as bright as the gold that they used for our walls. The first thing they did was ship me on this weird flying contraption where they showed us a map. In the gold was all the places that we had “integrated” while the gray indicated a “no-zoner” right where our wall was. The red was where other men were, “integrating” the Geddon Dynasty from other places, and finally, we were the “Silvers” the ones who served our country by taking a place that could be run by the Geddon Dynasty, but currently had a “less-than-manageable” leader, so we were supposed to “integrate” it into ours. They gave us guns, but I was considered the most skilled driver, so I got a tank. I thought it used cannons, but they told me it was the “secret weapon” and to use it once we drop. When I did, the tank did not send a cannonball but an explosive force that decimated the land and anyone nearby. For those that survived, the rest of the men did their job. The general then gave us medals and told us to “hide it from our wives” as we were transported back home. We were the testing unit, and whatever they put in the tanks made the wars last for weeks instead of the decades they used to.
It was then; I decided to go back to the hole I dug in my curious years to find it patched. With this, I was reported and got tortured as if I were a man, but when they discovered I was a woman they let me go, but when they discovered who exactly I was, I was no longer able to marry the future king , and my parents disowned me. With that, I finally just climbed over the wall and went to the gray area and ran and ran until I found people in uniform.
By the time I got there, it had been five days, and I was hungry, thirsty, and needed society. This was when a revolutionary brought me in, gave me food, water, a community, and taught me real history. For a millennium, the Geddon Dynasty had been invading the world, in hopes of ruling it all, installing puppet rulers and harshly punishing anyone who tried to rebel. We were always rich because we were always stealing from others. I got the tattoo of the revolutionary on my arm. A sword piercing the golden wall, and I slowly rose up through the ranks for my passion.
Back then, the revolutionary had been a small coalition, but for the past twenty years we’ve been taking rebellions across the world and uniting them for the final battle against the Dynasty. After two decades of building secret communications systems with other rebellions, there was going to be an exodus to meet us so we could finally crack the golden walls of Geddon. I am now forty, childless, and the revolution is relying on us. The man who would have been my husband is currently the emperor. After a millennium of their attacks, the Dynasty had control of the entire world, except for us hidden revolutionaries.
