“ You know what happened . Everybody does .”
“ I don ’ t . Tell me . What happened ?”
He looked down for a second , shook his head , chuckled , then looked up .
“ I made a mistake . Simple as that .”
I paused , to act as if I was considering his answer .
Then he shook his head again , and chuckled once more , and sighed .
“ Lets be honest . You and I both know that this was more than a mistake . This was a massacre ,” he said , and he closed his eyes and leaned his head onto the main doors on which he was leaning on .
I remained standing as I turned around and turned my head to observe my surroundings , with its piles of corpses , blood and glass . There was smoke in the air , and yet no fire could be seen . The city looked deader from here . What remained of the buildings were aged , with their black color fading to a dull shade of gray .
“ It was my idea , you know ? To build this … this city . It was as if I was reenacting every single science fiction story ever told , of great utopian cities which fall into the state of dystopia . However , you would not believe this , but … but it worked . I founded this city as an independent state of the world , a state which will surpass all others in technology , science and art . And you know what ? It was that state . It was what I dreamed it would be . I mean , look at my arm . My right arm . Blown off , detached , in the bloody war of ’ 89 . And yet , look at me now ! I ’ m …”
He took out his right hand from his pocket , and with some struggle took of his large black glove using his left . His right arm was revealed to be made of glass . It was transparent and reflected light , and due to it transparency , I was able to see the machinery in the arm operating , twisting and turning what seemed like millions of mechanical components , that made up for his arm .
“ Beautiful , isn ’ t it ? It ’ s made of glass . Just like this city . Pure . Clear .”
He put his arm back into his glove and returned it back into his pocket .
“ Fragile ,” he continued . “ But … that ’ s not the point . What you witnessed was a technological marvel … And we have more ... Flying cars , pills to give you super strength , even robot dogs , wearing cute little red ribbons on the neck . So you ask , if this city has become what it had meant to become , then why would it fall ?
He laughed so hard I could see traces of tears in his eyes . And then he pointed at the giant titanic walls .
“ Because … It ’ s because of these bloody walls . Look at them ! There is no need for them ! Technology or not , these walls are useless ! Why do you think this internal war got started ? Why do you think all those people died ? Why do buildings fall ? It ’ s because one day some people asked questions that we never answer , like they always did . And these questions ask about the walls ! ‘ Is this a prison ?’ ‘ An experiment we are being kept inside of ?’ ‘ A declaration to the world ?’ ‘ Are we alone ?’ And what do questions do to people ? Usually ? In the end ?”
I remained staring at the walls .
“ Death comes ,” I answered .
There was a bird flying over our heads , far up in the sky . It soared from behind us , and continued onwards towards the end of the wall . It left a loud cry .