Fire & Metal

*Clink* She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. *Clank* Her arm ached after the hundredth swing of the mallet. The blade was almost as flat as she needed it to be. She swung her free arm around to twist a ball of glass in the fire, ready to be shaped. This is what happens when your blacksmith father takes an extra hour for lunch, she thought to herself multitasking her dad’s unfinished projects. The demand for blacksmiths skyrocketed in the country, but Ada figured it was because men were out drinking while the kids got stuck running the shops. She had to give her father some credit though.

Ever since he and his wife took Ada in as an abandoned infant on their doorstep, her father taught her skills that would deem her valuable in the workplace. The Great Cleanse made sure to keep all those in the slums busy and purposeful. Sometimes Ada wondered what life was like at the borders of the U.S.. Those who were considered Cleansed folk after the war were relocated to the center of the country and restricted to travel outside their Cleansed districts (unless you were selected to work in the White House, or you were a lucky elderly retired applicant whose request was granted to be rehomed in the Purified districts for the remainder of your short lifespan).

Sweat dripped down Ada’s back. With tongs, she molded the glob of fiery glass into a bowl, mouth pinched in concentration. Her neck stretched to see her work up close and sudden pain pierced her collarbone. Ada yelped and dropped her tongs, rubbing the searing burn on her neck. It appeared that the locket around her neck got too close to the heat and burned her collarbone to the touch. Ada sighed at the damaged glass on the floor. Unsalvageable. That damn locket. It was her only keepsake from her real parents. The heart-shaped locket accompanied her the day the blacksmiths found her on their front porch.

Ada ditched the shop to deliver an order from the Purified State Headquarters themselves. Two cases of silver bullets. She ink-stamped a receipt and attached it to the packages. Grunting while hauling it to the borderline, Ada wondered if the Purified Headquarters smelled like the slums; blood and oil. She looked at all the women in the square. Usually just women crowded the streets since the men were forced to the coal mines supplying the high demands of coal trains, the main mode of transportation besides horse carriage. Ada remembered being taught in school about how the world used to rely on corrupt technology and electronics which were more efficient but manipulative. She remembered the test questions asking how the Great Cleanse war began and the ideals that caused it. The country’s current President Eve used to be a politician advocating for a return to the olden days when decent laws and morals taught people to trust one another. With over half the nation behind her fight, President Eve stirred a revolution, known as the Cleanse, amongst old-fashioned citizens blaming younger generations for being defiled from deceptive technology.

In Ada’s twelve years of age, she’d never known the luxuries her grandparents recollected to her. Talks of devices that sent messages in an instant without the need to send minutemen; boxes that warmed up your leftovers at the push of a button; electric cars instead of rusty model T’s or horses; railway systems that used magnetic levitation without the use of coal.

She rounded the corner to see a Purified officer waiting for her by her hometown welcome sign. “My deepest apologies, my lord. There was a misfortunate engagement at the shop. Please accept my most sincere regrets for my tardiness,” Ada declared. The officer loaded the cases in his horse buggy. “Whatever, kid,” he muttered. Purified speak the most absurd verbiage, she thought to herself. She bowed as he turned to leave. Ada went her way but stopped after hearing a beeping noise.

She peeked around the corner to see the officer raising an odd-looking gun to a symbol on her hometown sign. A red light blinked on the symbol and beeped again. “Barcode scanned,” said a static female voice, like it was from a radio. There was no woman in sight. Who said that? Ada had always noticed that symbol but took it for graffiti. Where did that red light go? What was that beep? The officer then made a quick take around him as if to check for spies, to which Ada flung herself back to hide. After the coast was clear, she saw him raise his wrist to his lips. “Cleansed District 41 cleared,” he said to his wrist, “Follow-up in two weeks.” He headed towards his carriage. Adrenaline shot through Ada’s veins.

Without thinking, she darted towards the carriage and leapt into the trunk, ducking her head from sight. She’s always been curious about the border, and she seized the opportunity. Her father won’t notice her absence anyway.

Heart pounding for another hour, she felt the carriage stop in front of a train station. But this was different from her hometown station. Polished walls and glowing lights illuminated the entire area, signs with blinking words instructing where to go. Ada’s mouth was agape. She heard the officer dismount and head inside to speak with other men in uniform, so she quietly slipped out the carriage and marveled at what she saw. A nearly empty station due to how late it was in the evening, the station reminded her of the pictures she saw in her schoolbooks. She approached the railway tracks, eyes transfixed on their gleam. The blacksmith in her worshipped the craftsmanship of the smooth metal, nothing compared to how the Cleansed tracks were assembled; jumbled steel and jotting nails decaying away. Something told her that it took more than fire and metal to build these railways.

She leaned forwards to admire them up close, and she felt a tug at her neck. By the time she realized it, it was too late. The locket clamped down to the railway tracks, metal to metal, and trapped her there. This was no ordinary train.

Magnetic levitation railways. Just like her grandparents said.

No, no please, no, she prayed to herself. Her panicked hands frantically tried at the hook. She begged her necklace to unhook itself and free her. Oh God, please. This damn locket! She heard a hissing sound. The train! And based on what her grandparents told her...these trains are fast.

Suddenly, the chain unhooked, and she jumped to her feet. She turned to run only to discover five officers waiting behind her. Her heart stopped. What have you done? She cried in her head.

The officers discussed with each other what to do with her. She barely heard them, head spinning. Everything was piecing together. Why else would President Eve imprison Cleansed in the middle of nowhere other than to reap the luxuries herself?

“You know what the protocol is, Dave.” “Yeah dude, I’ve just never been in this situation before.”

With resources dwindling down and population count rising, there wasn’t enough to care for everyone comfortably. Sacrifices were made, and her kind was one of them.

“I don’t know, man, can’t we keep her prisoner?” “Dave, you gotta do it. Orders are orders.”

Ada’s textbooks always referred to the downfall of the country as the cause of global warming issues; population control; disease pandemics; things that could not be controlled. But the Purified solution had never been about morals.

“Can’t we just take her as an assistant and swear her to secrecy like a hire?” The officers shook their heads among themselves. “She’s seen too much, Dave. She ain’t even old enough to work in an office. And it’s not like we can dump her in a nursing home like one of them old Cleansed folk who can’t tell nobody.”

No, Ada thought, the Purified solution was a selfish massacre to protect their own kind. It’s no wonder the borders are blocked off; the Purified never reformed to the old ways. It was all hypocrisy. The outside world was still evolving, and the Purified kept it for themselves.

The bullet train zipped past her. She was astounded in fear and wonder at the speed and silence of the engine. How she wished her people witnessed this invention. Instead they were living a lie stuck in a time warp laboring their lives away.

“Oh god, okay. Give me the gun.”

Hot tears spilled down Ada’s cheeks. She reached for her locket only to remember it was still stuck to the tracks. How betrayed she felt. She would die with this secret and her people would remain in the dark, living in sweat and iron while their dictators lived in castles of gold.