Dystopian Fiction Stuff Just For Funsies. Do Whatever You Want With Them (as Long As You Credit Me Even

Dystopian fiction stuff just for funsies. Do whatever you want with them (as long as you credit me even tho I'm just another amateur hehe), I'm just throwing out ideas here and there. Cuz I'm bored.

Cordelia gets to the Surface, and during her stay there, she learns that a group of Surface-dwellers, the Rebels, are planning to overthrow the Underground Colony she came from, due to the Colony leeching off resources from the Surface. Cordelia feels guilty that she implicitly gave the Surface-dwellers information about the Core.

Earlier, Cordelia saw some of the Surface-dwellers in poverty and desolation, with some even fighting each other for food. She briefly considered bringing them back to the Colony for a better quality of life, despite having seen the Chipping procedure that takes away one's free will. A trade-off, basically. Trade in your free will for a roof over your head and a decent meal.

Cordelia feels torn. She's thinking of staying at the Surface to help improve the Surface-dwellers' way of life, but she's also worried that the uprising against the Colony would cause chaos, and in her worst-case-scenario imagination, possibly even destroy the Core and wipe out all life, both on the Surface and in the Underground ("which is NEVER gonna happen so STOP thinking about it," she scolds herself).

Cordelia had been taught, during her childhood Underground, that there was nothing good on the Surface. That it was literally uninhabitable; totally unfit for any and all life. As it turns out, there actually have been people living on the Surface. Now, she's just trying to keep everyone safe. She doesn't want to be caught in the crossfire. She doesn't want to have to take sides. She never wanted to betray the Colony, either. She just wanted to escape getting Chipped.

Cordelia had learned about this topic called "families" in her Pre-Disaster Studies. Where there was such a thing as a "mother" and a "father", instead of just Caretakers. Where there were "brothers" and "sisters" instead of just Batch-mates. Where this thing called "love" was supposed to thrive. She sometimes wondered what it would be like to be part of a family, instead of just being one of the 1,000,000 Batch babies looked after by Caretakers. She sometimes wondered if her Batch-mates could be considered "brothers" and "sisters". Some of her Batch-mates shared that sentiment, but were quickly shut down when their Caretakers reprimanded them with that creepy robotic tone. Other Batch members laughed at the mere idea.

When Cordelia went to the Surface, she saw how some of the Surface families behaved. She saw the loving and affectionate families and felt a sense of loss in herself, for something she had never had. She saw the cold and distant families and was reminded of her own Care Unit (a group made of Caretakers and their respective Batch members). She thought that their reasons of their aloofness were the same as those of the Care Units in the Underground Colony; that is, to avoid any attachment, especially love, that may be a detriment to the collective wellbeing of the Colony, or in this case, the rest of the Surface-dwellers' society. Still then, there were downright cruel and abusive families, making her perplexed about the complexity of families.

Dystopian fiction

"Miss Lynn," A young Cordelia called her one night as she lay in bed. Lynn was just getting ready to leave the Wards' Dormitories.

"Yes, Cordelia?" Despite them being mere Caretaker and Ward (and despite Cordelia being only one of 1,000,000 Wards in her Batch), they have a very close relationship, almost like a mother and daughter, but in secret; family-like bonds were highly discouraged in the Colony.

"Has anyone ever tried going to the Surface before?"

Lynn paused, looking for the right words to say. It was a sensitive issue, and she wasn't sure if this was the right time to tell her. But Cordy seemed old enough; she would understand. Lynn looked around furtively, before going to Cordelia's bedside and whispered, "I'm gonna tell you a little secret. Okay?"

Cordelia lit up and nodded enthusiastically. She loved being trusted with secrets. It made her feel important; like a Treasurer keeping the most valuable treasures under lock and key. It was mostly things like each other's favourite colour or deepest fears, which Caretakers weren't supposed to share with their Wards. This secret felt especially important. Valuable, even.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cordelia."

"Me?"

"Well, not exactly you. Your Namesake from last century." Cordelia didn't know what that meant, but she continued listening. "This Cordelia was a curious young lady. She once stumbled into the Colony from the Surface."

"WHAT!" Cordelia yelled out impulsively, and Lynn quickly shushed her in a panic. Cordelia immediately put her hands to her mouth. "I mean, what?"

Lynn glanced around quickly, hoping the ensuing silence would erase any evidence of her storytelling. Not a peep. She silently exhaled in relief before continuing the story. "No one knew how she got here. No one knew how she even knew how to get in. But they had to get rid of her."

"No!" Present-Cordelia gasped in horror, quietly this time.

"Oh, yes," Lynn affirmed. "They couldn't let anyone--" she looked around again, "anyone, know that there were still dwellers on the Surface."

"But I thought there was no way anyone could survive on the Surface," she said.

"That's what they teach you in School, Cordelia. That's why this is a secret."

Dystopian fiction stuff just for funsies

The Surface. A place once filled with life, water and all the right temperatures.

Until the Disaster struck.

Within seconds, all life on the Surface was totally wiped out. Except for one little Group, safely hiding Underground. This Group expanded and formed an entire Colony under the Surface. Now, it's our home. Where everything is powered by the Core. Our "sun", if you will. Everything is safe, warm and protected against whatever ghastly threats lie on the Surface.

They give us Tagged bracelets as children to keep an eye on us so we don't go too near to the Surface--or anywhere dangerous, for that matter--and at the age of twenty, the Tag is replaced with a Chip for our identification, and you are officially considered fully Integrated into the Colony.

At the age of twenty, during said Integration, everyone is sorted into specific Categories with respective Roles to serve the Colony. The Category you get sorted into becomes your second name; a Surname. Your Category basically becomes your "family", in pre-Disaster speak. All these Roles go into upkeeping the Colony, and ultimately the Core; and, in the unlikely worst-case-scenario, prevent the Core from burning out. Or even exploding. Which will never happen, by the way, so don't you dare dwell on that definitely-never-gonna-happen scenario. Ever.

Every Batch of babies is genetically engineered to have the most optimal thriving traits, before they are all Inducted into the Colony. And no, they don't live inside women's bellies, or whatever they did back in the pre-Disaster days. The Genes that go into producing each baby are arranged and re-ordered ever so meticulously, as to ensure the best results for a healthy baby.

The Induction is basically a welcoming ceremony for these babies. It is where the babies--1,000,000 per Batch--are "born", so to speak in pre-Disaster vocabulary, as well as given a Name from the Naming Cycle. Every Century, the Naming Cycle undergoes a Rotation. So every individual has a Namesake from every previous Century. A Newborn baby is Inducted; 20 years later, they get Integrated.

My name is Cordelia, and soon, I will be fully Integrated, with my very own Role in the Colony.

More dystopian just-for-funsies stuff cuz I'm bored

Cordelia runs for her life in utter terror when she sees the barbaric procedure of Chipping, an integral part of the Integration. It involves a lobotomy, with that section of the brain responsible for making autonomous decisions being replaced with the Chip; ostensibly for identification purposes, the Chip is actually meant to monitor your every thought, and serve as a system override should you even entertain the mere notion of rebelling or anything remotely un-Colony-like.

So this is the price of Integration.

She chillingly remembers all the times she and her Batch-mates Misbehaved*, and the Caretakers took on a robotic gaze, eyes blank and unfeeling, as they reprimanded them in an uncanny, robotic tone. Those blank stares, those blank scoldings, the kind that deterred her and her Batch-mates from their prying curiosity with their inexplicable creepiness; they were all the same. Did their own minds even belong to them anymore?

Cordelia escapes, unwittingly to the Surface, where she finds that not everything was what she was taught it would be.

POV

I see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Strange, how this exact same sentence is used to describe one's last moments in pre-Disaster literature. I shield my eyes from this strange, new sun and...

"Whoa."

*Misbehaved = not referring to mischief in general, but to "Untrustworthy" behaviour indicating distrust of the Colony or outright rebellion

Random dystopian fiction lore just for funsies

Cordelia learned about her Namesake from the previous century. Past-Cordelia had a rebellious streak. She was very carefree.

Past-Cordelia actually came from the Surface, but was curious and inquisitive. She saw a curious-looking manhole (the same one that Present-Cordelia crawled out of when she escaped) and crawled in.

Past-Cordelia's presence in the Colony caused quite the outrage. The Colony authorities could not afford to let slip that an Outsider had crawled in, lest the rest of the Colony realise that there were indeed people dwelling on the Surface and that everything that they had been taught was a lie.

Unbeknownst to the Underground, Past-Cordelia was actually a spy sent to the Underground.

More dystopian fiction lore just for funsies (and I'm sorry for the inaccuracies and not-very-knowledgeable Geography stuff and continuity issues. This is just me having fun with fiction so do with it as you will as long as you credit me for it hahahahaha yes I know I'm an amateur but I'm just expanding this lore for funsies)

Cordelia was actually a perfect clone of Past-Cordelia. Present-Cordelia is actually Cordelia II. Cordelia I (the original from the Surface) was genetically engineered in a lab on the Surface, so the first Cordelia also didn't have parents. She was literally created to be a child soldier. This leads Cordelia II to feel like she has no identity at all ("I mean, none of us in the Colony ever had an identity of our own to begin with," she recalls.)

When the very first Colonists dug Underground, they used their advanced technologies to push back the magma so there would be more space Underground to build their Colony. This led to the Core overheating, which could possibly cause it to explode, so they quickly had to construct some tunnels leading away from the Core to certain parts of the Surface. This led to lava leaks on the Surface in those areas, creating more volcanoes and volcanic eruptions in the process.

This led to the Surface becoming more dangerous than it already was. Jasper still feels bitter towards the Underground for having endangered his home and his family. When the Colonists had started pushing back the magma, it led to the Surface getting colder, with occasional startling bouts of lava spurts. Therefore, the temperature on the Surface became more unstable than it already was.