Capítulo 1: Prelude to Destruction
She awoke, just like every other day. The moonlight was coming in through the slits in the blinds. As she walked over to draw the blinds she looked over at her clock. It had just turned to 7:45 P.M.
"I'm gonna be late." She groaned as she drew the blinds to reveal a city full of bright life. As she walked over to the bathroom to start her morning routine, she stumbled over a laundry hamper splaying the blood stained clothes in the middle of her room. When she got to the bathroom she quickly started to undress revealing pale white skin, she hopped in the shower with her toothbrush in her mouth. She clicked some buttons on the shower wall and music started to play and the shower started. She scrubbed away at her skin as though the blood was still there. After she finished her shower she grabbed her brush and hair dryer. She slipped on her school uniform and headed out the door.
He lazily rolled out of bed and landed on the ground with a hard *thump* he moaned. It was the weekend which meant he had nothing to do today. He went and checked his hair in the mirror. It was sloppy, but it went with his style. He slipped on his spectacles to grab a pair of jeans with holes in the knees. He took a quick sniff check revealing that they were fresh, he had just left them on the ground. He put them on grabbed a blue & black checkered shirt, threw on a hoodie, brushed his teeth. Before he could leave the house his mom yelled in a soft sweet tone, "Be back before lunch". He grabbed his longboard and started to skate, he put on a pair of wireless headphones and put on some tunes. He mostly listened to 50's music occasionally finding a song that he liked from his era. The song was "La Vie En Rose". Then the world went black.
He came from new money, not the dirty old money that came from oil. He worked hard for it. Being lonely in school to focus on his grades, rarely doing physical activities (besides swimming), but still had a magnificent body that others would work hard to achieve. No matter what he ate, he would weigh 130 lbs. It was difficult at first for him, being alone all the time. He kept a journal of weird ideas and horrific social experiments he thought of knowing one day when he had the money he would do some of them. He wore rimless circle glasses, his hair was always tied back in a bun, and he was tall with a leaner frame.
He gazed out on his city all lit up in the dark morning sky filled with stars. By the position of the moon, he guessed it was about 11:27 P.M. and another should be here in a couple of days. At first, people came here by choice flocking to a new city filled with wonderful technologies, to a city that slept during the day and was awake at night. This was his greatest achievement in his own eyes, others were confused by this. A man purchased the Yukon territories, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut area and demolished it, leveling everything, and declaring the area previously known as the Northwest Territories a new country known as Lunae Lumen, which is Latin for moonlight. Now though he had resorted to kidnapping, only four kids would ever be kidnapped. The last one was just picked up.
He never worried that he would be caught as the kids' memories would be wiped and the would just integrate into this society. The other three are doing just fine so he felt it was time to bring the final one here. It was time to bring his son home. "Claudius." He sighed under his breath.
His parents were looking to get a new start. They wanted something new, so when the idea of a city that was asleep during the day and awake at night seemed exciting, and the first million to sign up would get free housing. You could cause how big you want your house to be what it looked like, it also came fully furnished.
When they first got there there were millions waiting to get in, from all over the world different people coming together. At the entrance to the city, they were checking personal items brought by families. They had a zero weapons policy, people who had brought weapons with them handed them over, scared they would lose their house. Slowly, but surely his family made their way up to the front, they had sold everything they had except the clothes on their backs and some of his gaming systems, having been told all their money would be turned into the proper currency, known as gill, which he recognized from one his favorite game series Final Fantasy.
They were driven to there house which was just what they imagined it would be like. "Conner, you ready." his dad said with a chuckle. He smiled when he looked at his son's face filled with excitement, he hadn't seen his son this excited for a long time.
A reporter for an American news channel. "Yes, that's right a brand new America has popped in in the Northwest Territories, and its owner is multi-billionaire Leonard Garcia, who has also purchased the Yukon territories and Nunavut. He claims housing will be free to the first million the rest will receive what they can pay for. There is only going to be one city in this country and it shares a name with the country, Lunae Lumen. It's open to anyone except known criminals. Don't worry they will pay to have you flown there, you will be provided with cars. Medical fees are a thing of the past with their state of the art hospitals that guarantee 100% precision every time. Oh man, this is like the days of communism, all this free stuff. We'll this new country succeed we'll find out.
He went in and out of consciousness, first, he was in some sort of vehicle, an ambulance maybe? Maybe he had been in an accident. Next, he was in a plane, he looked to try and figure out better where he was before he fell into the blackness again, but this time he could hear "La Vie En Rose". Louis Armstrong's voice whisking him further and further into the darkness. When the song ended he abruptly woke up. He was on some sort of operator table surrounded by several doctors. He tried to say something, but when he tried nothing came out his whole body was paralyzed. Again, he fell into the blackness. When he awoke he had no idea where he was or who he was. His mind was blank. Some people in some weird clothes approached him and escorted him into another room with a single chair. When he sat in it the two people stood there as they did a male voice came over the loudspeaker, "You two are dismissed.", with that the pair left."Hello, in a second we will have some questions if you can speak, answer the question, if not nod your head yes or no."
"Yes," Claudius replied. He looked down and saw he was in a light blue.... Come on think what am I wearing. "Hey um, what am I wearing?"
"That is a gown that sick people wear." The voice explained.
"Wait, a-am I sick?" he stuttered in a worrisome voice.
"No, but it seemed appropriate. Now, do you know who you are or what your name is."
Claudius squinted hard trying to force memories into his brain, but to no avail. Claudius he suddenly thought, "Claudius, am I, Claudius?"
"Yes you are, do you remember your past?
Claudius tried but just could not remember, "No, no I don't."
"Do you know where you are?"
"No."
"Lunae Lumen, It's a fairly new country-" Before he could finish Claudius said something.
"Oh I know where I am now, I must be dead."
The voice chuckled a little bit, "No, no you aren't dead, but you nearly were. We found you unconscious in the snow near our city. We couldn't find any trace of relatives whatsoever, so we brought you back to health. You seem to have minor amnesia, but we are sure it'll clear up." The voice cut out.
"Well, what should I do while I wait for my memory to come back?"
"I have decided to adopt you boy, for the time being, you will live with me and go to a school. If you remember your family and where you live I shall return you otherwise you will live here if that's okay."
"Well I don't know who you are can we meet in person?"
"Sure." as the voice from the loudspeaker said that a door open from under it and a man walked out from it. "Hello my name is Leonard, Leonard Garcia, and this is my utopia!" He raised his arms up and the walls lit up displaying a city all lit up. Some were recording kids and teens in school while a teacher gave some lessons on some form of math that Claudius didn't recognize. Everyone seemed really happy there weren't any crimes going on, traffic seemed to flow like water, and it was night.
"Wait!? You guys aren't vampires right." Claudius joked.
In response to the joke, Leonard said, "Yes, we are and we are going to suck your blood." chuckling afterward. "No, we are just nocturnal, the first city to have a backwords sleep schedule. Now will you come with me," he said extending his arm to the boy. Claudius got up and decided it would only be until he regained his memory.
They exited a building that stood above the rest, to which Leonard explained that it was a government building since he owned the country he was the leader and discussed important stuff with other leaders from other countries. They got in a vehicle that resembled a car, which promptly left the ground and hovered. Claudius was astonished and quite delighted to be riding in the futuristic vehicle. They arrived at a house that looked similar to all the other houses, but like all the others it looked a little different. When they walked in lights illuminated the house in a radiating manner. Straight ahead was the kitchen, off to the left was a living room with shelves filled with works of Stephen King to Manga from Japan. There was a T.V rigged up with several gaming consoles including an Xbox 360, Xbox One, Ps2, Ps3, Ps4, and Switch. Claudius noticed that there was a shelf filled with many games as well, Fallout and Elderscroll, The entire Final Fantasy collection, and many other mainstream games. However, there was a cigar and a bottle containing a liquid that reminded him of rubbing alcohol he didn't mind that though when he noticed a record player and some Frank Sinatra vinyl. Leonard showed him up the stairs which lead to several rooms one of which had a T.V mounted on the wall and a bed with the sheets all messed up. Then Leonard showed Claudius to his room which looked identical to the other room but the sheets were all neat.
"Hey, are you hungry Claudius?" Leonard asked rubbing his stomach.
Claudius looked at his stomach which grumbled a little, "Yeah." he chuckled.
They headed out to Leonard's car and drove off. During the drive, Leonard asked Claudius what he would like to eat for lunch to which Claudius responded Ramen. Leonard seemed happy with that answer. When they arrived at a building that looked similar to the rest of them but had a sign in neon lights that read " _____ Ramen House".
The building's inside looked amazing and smelled even better. The scent of wonderful ramen filled Claudius's nostrils. They took some seats near the back of the building He saw many people who were speaking in different languages, but understood what they were saying.
"Hey Leonard, can you understand them too?"
"Yes, it is one of my inventions that are implanted in people's ears. It allows you to understand any other language, and it is paired with contacts that can let you read language and understand it. It is a technology only used here and nowhere else in the world."
"But what if I remember my family, will you take these things away from me?"
"Sadly yes, I do not want this technology out in the world they aren't ready for this yet."
"Oh, okay"
A server walked up and asked them if they were ready to order, which caused Claudius to say the first thing he saw which was shio ramen with beef, Leonard had chosen the same thing.
"So tomorrow you'll start school, but today we can hang out."
"Oh, wait how old am I?"
"We don't know Claudius, when we found you, you had no form of identification on you. How
old do you feel?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm sixteen or seventeen, not sure though."
"That's the same age of two of the other kids like you, however, they chose to stay here instead of pursuing their past. Hopefully, you all will get along."
"Wait I'm not the only one here who can't remember where they came from?"
"Yes, but it's not just those two. That's why my house has so many rooms."
The ramen arrived and they both started to chow down. Each bite was tastier than the last mouthful of delicious ramen until the last noodle was slurped up. When Leonard got up to leave without paying, Claudius questioned him. Once they were in the car Leonard explained that he had already paid since they don't have a physical form of cash it was taken directly out of a bank account. Claudius asked how such a thing could work, to which Leonard responded they believe that they are actually getting paid but in reality that just keeps them working. There was no actual currency and no one actually got paid which meant that everything was truly free. Claudius was astonished by this, but Leonard explained there were a few people who didn't live in the city that produced animals, vegetables, clean water, energy, and other things as well. They didn't get paid and they understood that they were making a sacrifice for the greater good.
The rest of the ride home was silent.
When they got home Leonard took Claudius to the kitchen and explained how the sink worked. Claudius didn't understand how he needs to know how to work one seeing as he remembered, but there was a QWERTY keyboard in which Leonard typed in hot green tea he put a cup under the faucet and turned it on, it produced steaming tea. Claudius asked how that was possible, but Leonard explained that one of the six designed it. He also told Claudius he would learn about the six in school. Leonard went into the living room and pointed at the T.V "This is another thing the six made, it has every movie/show on it you have one in your room too. However the consoles and games I brought here from my old life. They are to stay downstairs. So what do you wanna do?"
Claudius wanted to think and try and remember his past and everything he forgot, but he did not express that. "Let's play a game till the others get back I really wanna meet them," he said with a smile. Leonard walked over and pressed a button on the T.V which turned it on. Leonard was over by the shelf with the games, he stood there pondering which game to play with his son or what his son even liked to play.
"Anything in you had in mind."
"Um, do you have like Smash Bros. Ultimate?"
"Yeah, actually I do." Leonard grabbed a case, pulled out a little cartridge and popped into the Switch. He turned on the television. "You know when I was a kid me and my friends played the game before this. I never got good at the game though." Leonard said as his words trailed off.
"GAME," The T.V said.
"Is he playing by himself, again."
"Yeah, he probably is."
This first voice was feminine. This voice was deeper and belonged to a boy. No, a man, um maybe someone his age. Claudius thought to himself.
"Hey dad can we play too", a pair of younger voices chirped.
*sigh*
Leonard and Claudius went into the hall to see five people in the door frame. Their jaws dropped.
"This is Claudius, Claudius this is my adopted family."
The girl walked up to him and looked up and down, and let out a devilish smile. Her hand shot out "Hi, my name is Spring nice to meet you."
Claudius stood there dumbfounded, "I- I'm Claudius." His hand shot out and met hers.
"Hey." The tall ebony teen said, "I'm Petronius, nice to meet you, Claudius."
His voice was cold but not as cold as his grey eyes that seemed to be a spear that pierced Claudius's soul. "Hey."
The two little girls who were clearly twins, "Hiya mister, are you gonna our new brother?"
"I suppose so. What are your guys' names?"
"I'm Floriana," said the one on the left.
"And I'm Cassiopeia." the other one said.
"Okay well nice to meet you two,"
"Hey, I'm Troy. See you later dad." As the boy walked out the door.
"Who was that?" asked Claudius.
"That's Troy, he's a little anti-social," said Spring, "He's nice once you get to know him. His parents sent him here."
"Pretty much Leonard here adopted him," Petronius said.
"Hey now wait a minute, Flow Cass head to your room please."
"Yes sir." the pair said as they solemnly walked up the stairs.
As soon as they heard the door shut Leonard started talking about it, "Things between America and the middle east were heating up as normal, but this wasn't like the last time the US wasn't having it this time. So they threatened nuclear war. Troy's parents heard about this place and sent him to America with a soldier. I raised him while this place was being built. He is the closest thing I have to family."
"Hey!!" Petronius said shooting Leonard a dirty look.
"Not that you aren't my family, but I taught him English, helped him grow, but after America pretty much wiped out most of the middle east and left the rest a nuclear wasteland. Troy mourned his parents who saved him, but not themselves. He hated them for not coming with him. Now he's just who he is. Anyway, what are we doing for dinner tonight guys?" He asked completely changing tones.
Delila kicked off her shoes," Why do I have to go to school?" As she let out a heavy sigh. She threw herself on her couch. It's pointless she kept thinking. "When will my parents be home?" Knowing the answer she looked out the window at the garbage bin in which she threw their bodies. "You aren't my parents." She hit the window with a clenched fist as the tears rolled down her pale cheeks. She went to her room and took off her school uniform and threw on a hoodie and sweats. Turned on the wall-mounted T.V and flipped it to American news. It looks like America still has a gun held to the world's head, it has to listen or be destroyed completely in a nuclear hell-storm that will consume the planet at the press of a button. Except for Lunae Lumen which was so far ahead of the world in technology, the normal citizen didn't know that, but Delila's "Parents" were part of a team that developed the energy field that surrounded the country that made it seem like it was night, but that was a lie. She also knew about the several kidnapped kids, three were her age. She knew that their leader has ties with the American government and that's why the Middle East is gone.
She knows that the government knows that she killed her parents. What could she possibly do against the entire government? Just bide her time she decided. She looked at her clock, 6:00 where did the time go she thought. She went and put on something more presentable and decided to go out to dinner.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Leonard_Garcia
Leonard_Garcia This is the very first chapter so some of the concepts are shaky, but I plan on marching forward with this novel.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know. If any concepts are unclear comment and I'll do my best to explain. and what should the name of the ramen place be?
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