The Dome City

Description

Jane glanced over at the wall noticing for the first time a very thin see-through square glass, lodged just inside of its structure. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, however at that moment a robot appeared on a screen and said:

“Hello Jane, my name is Bato and I’m the Artificial Intelligence that controls the Dome City.”

“What year are we in?” asked Jane.

” 3030 Jane.” Bato replied.

Jane felt confused, she couldn’t remember anything clearly, yet had a strange, vague recollection of it being the year 2025. She opted for curious and probably forbidden questions:

“Why am I here in this place and why can’t I remember anything?”

Bato looked at her, he was void of emotion:

“Child, those are forbidden questions here in the Dome City” he confirmed “and I’m not allowed to answer them for you, the First Law of the Dome City is never to ask why you’re here. Your memory has been erased for a reason and once again I can’t answer why, you must follow all the rules and regulations of the Bato Artificial Intelligence system here, remember, nobody can go outside, and no-one contradicts our Law!”

OK, Jane thought, let’s try this question:
“How and when was the Dome City formed?”

Bato, rather surprisingly, answered her question quickly
“The Dome City was formed in the year 2025 because World War III broke out and chemical warfare destroyed most of the Earth. We made The Dome City from old malls which were no longer in use after the year 2020 as Internet retail had taken over the world of shopping.”