The Geodomes: Gamma

The domes had seemingly popped up overnight. They were seen first on social media, then the news started doing stories. No one knew where they had come from or why. All the stories pointed to the same shell company, 'Genetech', as having purchased the land they were all in all 12 locations around the world. They were massive. The geodomes each took up over seven square miles each. People tried looking inside, but the frosted glass made it impossible to see anything but vague colors. Drones were flown over. People tried to break in. No one was seen coming or going, ever, though there were three doors on each geodome. They were a mystery and the conspiracy theories abounded.

According to the latest investigations, every geodome was exactly the same in every single way. Down to every inch. My personal theory was Aliens. My brother scoffed and said no way, it had to be the illuminati. We were both mostly joking.

I went into the kitchen and the woman on the news was excitedly talking about a thirteenth dome being discovered, floating on the ocean. A massive domed ship. My mom was watching TV, letting the scrambled eggs burn, so I slid the pan to the off burner, getting her attention.

"Hey Lovie, what do you think about this?" she asked, turning back to the eggs.

I shrugged. "Anyone see anything or did it just appear overnight? I still say they are Alien ships."

"No one has come up with anything better," she said.

My phone chirped and I frowned. No one ever messaged me this early, my friends were all still in bed. I was the only one with a summer job that required a 5 AM wake up.

I opened the text.

'Invitation 12 - June 23 - 0800 - Ecklun KS'

I stared at it, frowning. "Mom, the one close to us in that little town in kansas, what's the town?"

"Edmon? Ecklan?"

"Ecklun?"

"Yeah, that's it!"

I stared at the text and hit 'info' on the sender.

Genetech.

All of my hair tried to stand on end.

"What is it, Lovie?"

"Umm, nothing. Some prank or something. I gotta hurry, can I get those eggs in a sandwich?" I asked, pouring myself some milk.

The 'on location' news lady was interrupted mid stream and the local station cut in. "We are getting breaking news that waves of invitations have gone out all across the world from Genetech, inviting select people to come and tour the geodomes. The invitations were sent moments ago via text message and email. We have one here that reads..."

The voice cut off as I ran upstairs and swiped my finger over the mousepad on my laptop, waking it up.

4 new emails, newest: Genetech.

I opened it, my palms sweating.Why the hell was I so nervous? It wasn't like I could accept, Ecklun was a good two hours from me! I had opted out of buying a car, saving my money for college.

"We are pleased to extend to you this invitation for an exclusive, one time only tour of our Gamma facility based in Ecklun Kansas. We have invited eighteen individuals from varying backgrounds to tour our facility and offer public insight into what we do here.

This invitation is non-transferable.

You will be allowed to bring recording devices, phones, computers etc for your 3 day 2 night stay within our facility as we show the world, through you, who we are.

Should you choose to accept our invitation, hit 'reply' and simply say 'yes'. A new email will be sent with the arrival time of the car that will pick you up.

You are encouraged to contact local media and interview as much as you wish. Your family will be allowed to accompany you to the facility, but only those with invitations may step inside. You may not livestream, but you can record and share everything you have recorded once the tour has concluded.

If you reply in the affirmative, you will be required to fill out a questionnaire about dietary needs, medical information such as allergies, etc.

We truly hope to see you there!

-Genetech."

Ho-leee shit! I stared at it, then read it again, then again. Should I say yes?

"Lovie? You are going to be late. What is it?" Mom asked, coming in with a sandwich on a plate for me.

"I got an invite! That they were saying on the news? I got one!"

"Oh! Oh, wow! They read two emails on air, they were identical to each other, said the same thing, let me... Oh it is, isn't it!" she said excitedly. "Are you going to go?"

"I don't know? Should I? I mean, why me? I am a nobody?"

"They said it was random and you aren't a nobody! You are smart! Top of your class!"

"Top of a class of twelve isn't saying much, mom."

"You got a scholarship!"

"I am a girl going into AG, they pretty much had to... I think I am going to say yes. I bet they have all kinds of plants in there, right? It's got to be a science lab? Like putting a tropical rainforest in the middle of Kansas? How cool would that be?"

"Do it!" she said smiling.

I hit 'reply' and said 'yes', then sent it. Immediately, my phone chirped.

"Thank you for your reply! We have emailed you a questionnaire."

I sat down at my desk and filled out the questionnaire, forgetting about work until they called.

The next week was filled with interviews and planning, packing for my three days. The email had said to pack for warm and cold weather and for nice occasions as well as clothes I could get dirty in. I felt ridiculous hauling a suitcase the size of a trunk with me to the car that came to pick me up, but the driver seemed to expect it as he loaded it for me.

My brother was sulking in the seat next to me. "I swear, you can sneak me in your suitcase!" he said for the hundredth time.

"I promise I will get lots of footage for you. The news company gave me all those video cameras. And I will see you in a couple of days. You won't even miss me, you spend your whole weekend playing call of duty anyway. Come on, Drew, stop sulking. Tell me again what signs I am supposed to look for in the walls?"

I nudged him and he continued to sulk. He was only fourteen, but still bigger than me. Mom sat on the other side of him, smiling and looking out the window. She was tall, 5'9". My dad was 6'3" and Drew was already 6' at fourteen. Mom says she didn't know where I got my height from, no one in her family was small. Dad said he thought his grandma had been short like me, from what he could remember.

I wished he could have been here. He was driving back from Houston and wouldn't be home until morning. We were used to him being gone, it was the life of a trucker. He didn't seem to think the domes were a big deal, said they were just a media stunt. Some corporation was going to make big bucks with all the hype they were causing.

The car pulled up to a media circus. I was led to a small group behind a red rope where several others already waited. All young like me. I waved at Drew in the crowd and smiled as my mom took pictures.

"This is hella crazy, huh?" A tall girl asked me, leaning way down to talk to me. "News said you were eighteen?"

"Yeah! Just short!" I answered, smiling, trying to be heard over the crowd and reporters.

"From south of KC, right? In Missouri?"

"You've been watching all the interviews? Smart! I should have done that!"

"I'm Ivy!"

"Lovie!"

"Real name? I thought it was a typo!"

"Real name!"

"Cute! I'm from Manhattan! Kansas! I'm an influencer!"

I looked up at her and I could see that about her. Her perfect hair, perfect make-up, perfect smile. "I'm a farm girl! Maybe you could make me over!"

"Not a chance! You are adorable as is! There, that van that just arrived? That's big time Lovie, smile and wave!"

I waved, but my jaw was starting to hurt. I looked around and more people arrived as 8 AM ticked closer. By 7:55, all 18 of us were there, lined up.

There were nine boys and nine girls, all of us 18. The news had said they had probably chosen us because we were the social media gurus and they were wanting to appeal to a certain crowd, whoever Genetech was. All I knew was that I was underdressed. I looked like someone's grubby kid sister, and I had attempted to dress up in my best jeans, best boots and favorite t-shirt.

The door lit up and a feminine electronic voice spoke. "Thank you, for attending or inside sneak peek weekend at Gamma Geodome base! I would like to ask that our guests step up to the door one at a time when you are called! Alessandro Legge! Nettie Livingston! David Waters! Maggie Ortega! Kenan Higgans! Aysha Joyce! Eric Pearson! Ivy Lewis! Jaydan Wyatt! Kattie Patton! George Lopez! Lovie Mason! Timothy Barker! Marta Acosta! Zachary Vaughan! Tanisha Hinton! Marcus Chester! Ella Jenkins! Please, step into the decontamination chamber one at a time and then proceed into the facility!"

I gave my family a final wave and a smile as I got in line between two tall boys as we were called. The boy in front of me turned and looked down at me, smirking. "Lovie?"

"Yeah, hey," I said, blushing. He was cute-ish, but he looked like a bad boy. He looked mixed raced, his tightly curled light brown hair definitely had african american in it, and his bright green eyes made him look stunning with his mocha skin. He also knew he was hot.

"Geo," he offered. "My dad is George."

I nodded with a tight lipped smile. Geo was a player and not my type. I knew his game, he was here to get into the pants of all the girls.

"Nickname?" the boy behind me asked.

I turned and looked up at him. He wasn't as hot as Geo, but he still had a bad boy look. His full lips made him attractive and his hazel eyes sparkled, even when he was scowling. He wasn't 'ladies man' bad boy, he was 'brooding and quiet' bad boy. He was the only other one besides me who was wearing jeans and not slacks or dress pants in the case of the boys. All of the girls were wearing dresses or skirts.

"Umm, family name. Real name," I answered, feeling myself blush under his scrutiny. "You?"

"Timothy is my real name. Friends call me Thee. I don't answer to Tim or Timmy."

"Good to know," I said, turning since I was next up to step into the doors.

When they opened, I stepped in quickly as they shut behind me. I was expecting something to happen, but all I saw in the little corridor was another open door with a blinking green light. I walked ahead and through the door, then it closed behind me. As soon as it was shut, I was blasted with air that had a strange smell to it. Seconds later, the door in front of me opened and I walked through as it shut behind me. Red lights came on, so bright I shielded my eyes, but they were off before I could do more than hide my face. The next door opened and I went through to the group that was already inside and waiting.

I looked around, a little underwhelmed. We were inside of a dome within the larger dome and it was just a blank, empty space. The others were talking, but I moved around, trying to see in through the next door. It was the same frosted glass. I turned to the others and stood on the fringes, listening as they all talked and flirted. Geo was laying it on thick with Ivy and she was smiling and flirting like she loved every second of it.

A smaller man sidled next to me. He was still taller than me, but still on the short side for a guy, maybe 5'8". He had dark hair that hung just past his shoulders and a semblance of a goatee. I couldn't tell his background, I only knew he was very exotic looking and adorable with his big brown eyes and tan skin.

"I'm Alessandro," he said quietly. "Ali to my friends."

"Lovie," I answered, blushing. "Your name is a little all over the place."

He smiled and looked around. "Not many people know that. I'm like, 1/16 English, pretty much just the last name really. The rest of me is Isreali. Alessandro? I think my mom just read too many romance novels."

I laughed at his good natured humor. "Lovie is a family name," I said, though he hadn't asked.

Thee came around the group of people and looked me over before trying to look in the door like I had. He came to stand near me, eying Alessandro.

"Wonder why they had to do all that," he said to me, deciding to ignore the other man standing there.

"So we don't bring in any outside germs or spores or anything. If they have certain plants in here, they won't want any invasive native species coming in, or any pollen or whatever else we might carry in on our clothes and shoes."

He looked down at me consideringly. "What are you going to school for?" he asked.

"Ag. Agriculture."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "I didn't know what Ag meant. What about you, ponytail?"

"Me?!?" Ali asked, shocked. "My hair is down?"

"And you won't have it tied up in a ponytail or man-bun before the day is out? What are you going to school for?"

"Medicine," Ali answered, perturbed.

"Why do you ask?" I asked. "What about you?"

"Engineering. I ask because I was trying to find the common denominator. Everyone picked is 18, smart, relatively easy to look at, give or take a few," he said, his eyes sweeping the room. "They say it's random, but I am starting to think it's not. I was talking to Marta and she is studying to be a vet."

"I mean, we are all 18, about to go to college, we will all be wanting to specialize in something. Right?"

"Yeah, but how far into it are you? Marta said she grew up with it, Her parents were both vets, she just needed the piece of paper. What about you, ponytail? How into medicine are you?"

"Alessandro," Ali said through his teeth. "I have studied ahead, did AP classes through school and VoTech. Why?"

"And I am ahead too. My dad was an architect and my mom an engineer too. I grew up with it. I'm guessing you grew up on a farm, Little Love? You studied Ag more than you needed to? Got into specialties?"

"I guess I did, I was just interested..."

"Point is, I think it's not random. If we ask the others, I am thinking they will all have something they are honed in on as well."

"Why does it matter?" Alessandro asked irritably.

"Now that you have all arrived," the electronic voice intoned, "please step through to the main pathway and follow it to the first guide dome."

The door opened.

"When do we get our cameras and phones and bags back?" someone asked loudly.

"Are there people in here?"

"Where are our things?"

There was no answer as we stood a moment, listening and waiting. Thee broke the pregnant silence by taking my arm and pulling me through the door. I paused and he did as well as we looked up and around.

It was huge. Not huge, colossal. Trees, gardens, plants in the bright daylight. I could see the sky, the clouds, everything. It went on for miles. There was a black rubber pathway that led to a far dome in the distance. The biggest difference I noted was that it was cooler inside, a comfortable 70ish. The air smelled clean and like the country.

Thee started pulling me again and I tugged my arm out of his hand. He glanced back at me with a scowl, but he kept walking. Alessandro was right behind me and the rest of the group close behind.

"Please do not stray from the path," the feminine, electronic voice said suddenly.

I looked back and Geo was stepping back onto the path.

"Follow the path to the first dome waystation. Your next set of instructions will follow once you have all arrived."

For some reason, a few of the guys decided to make it a race. Laughing, they pushed past and started running. Geo was among them. A few girls followed, also laughing. I was content to walk.

"Hey girl," Ivy said, moving up to walk next to me. "This is wild, yeah?"

"Very," I agreed, noticing how she was looking at Alessandro. I didn't blame her, he was easy to look at. "Ivy, this is Alessandro, Ali, this is Ivy."

"Lovely to meet you," he said with a charming smile.

She smiled, showing perfect teeth. "You too. You on insta?"

"Afraid not. I don't have an online presence at all. I'm more crunchy granola and less filter and followers."

Thee snorted. "He says that, but I have $500 says he knows who you are and follows you. He is just trying to be cool."

"Oh? So you know who I am?"

"Fuck you Ivy," he said irritably, looking over his shoulder at her.

Her face went red. "Thee?!? I didn't even realize that was you! Wow, you've grown!"

"You're the same. Still into fashion and making your own clothes and sewing?"

"Yeah? You remembered?"

"Not until I started putting pieces together. Little Love, come walk with me," he said, dropping back to take my hand and pull me ahead of the others.

I looked up at him, a little confused and angry. I pulled my hand out of his and he gave me the same perturbed look as earlier. "I don't like being touched without my permission," I said softly, so the others didn't hear.

"You're smart. People don't usually equate farmers and smart, but you are. I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"What if this isn't a sneak peek preview? What if it's an experiment? We are trapped in here with each other. Think about it. I bet we all have a skill that is essential for the Shift."

"The Shift?"

"When the shit hits the fan. Some people say zombie apocalypse, nuclear war, whatever. Point is, there are certain jobs that are essential after something like that happens. Not lawyers or businessmen or actors or athletes or artists. No, real essential, as in live or die. We..."

"What are you two talking about?" Ivy asked, catching up. Ali was next to her, looking down at me carefully, as if assessing my mood or my needs. Was Thee bothering me.

"Oh, jobs and stuff," I said quickly, giving Ali a smile. I noticed then that the few others were crowding close too.

I picked up my pace, my short legs working twice as hard as the rest of them. They all got the hint and stayed quiet, but kept up easily.

I pushed into the dome and looked around. It was a round theatre. There were 18 seats in the middle, a giant screen on one side and a counter with drinks and food on the back wall. I grabbed a water and sat down in one of the edge seats. Thee quickly sat next to me, but didn't look at me. The others were all talking and laughing loudly on the side, but as soon as the rest of us were inside, the voice filled the room.

"Please be seated and watch the live coverage about to be presented."

Everyone sat and I sighed dismally as an unusually tall boy sat right in front of me.

"Really, Lurch?" Thee said disgustedly, poking the boys shoulder and pointing at me.

"Oh, sorry," the boy said, standing and moving to the back row.

"No big," I said quickly, "Thanks!"

"No problem," he said with a shy smile. He wouldn't win any beauty contests, but he seemed nice.

"You didn't have to be rude," I whispered to Thee.

"He could have paid attention," he said, scowling. "You're welcome."

I sighed, but said nothing else as the screen lit up. Everyone went quiet as the camera looked down at earth and rapidly zoomed in. It almost felt like falling, it was disorienting. A few people chuckled uncomfortably. It slowed as it got closer and finally, the dome was in view. I had seen aerials of the dome before, and I knew that even though it was called a dome, it was rectangular in shape and flatish on top. It got close and panned over the people outside. I saw my mom and brother and I smiled. This was kind of cool! I heard the others whispering, pointing out their families. The camera slowly pulled back, back, back until the dome was no longer even a white dot on the landscape.

My smile slipped as the first red burst appeared. There was a second, and a third, then the map was covered with red, orange, yellow...

The light from the dome changed too, it was orange.

There was a scream as someone stood up, then everyone was standing.

The camera pulled back and there was no green on it, only fire. Blue ocean and orange and yellow so bright I had to look through my fingers.

After a moment, the bright flares faded and died out. Now there was blue and black. The light in the dome went back to it's normal color. The camera zoomed in again until the dome was in view and all you could see around it was blackened, desolate land. Nothing else.