The Glass Divide 1
The Glass Divide
The sky above the city was an endless shade of gray, as if nature itself had surrendered to the suffocating order of the regime. Metal towers loomed over the crumbling remnants of old buildings, casting long shadows over narrow streets teeming with desperate faces. The year was 2147, and humanity had exchanged freedom for security in ways they could no longer undo.Beneath the layers of sterile steel and concrete was a secret that no one dared speak of. It wasn’t the cameras embedded in every streetlamp, nor the facial recognition drones that circled like vultures. It was The Divide—a massive glass wall cutting through the center of the city, splitting it into two worlds.
On one side of The Divide were the Exalts: those chosen for their intelligence, loyalty, and "moral fortitude." They lived in the Lumina District, a place of perpetual light, where clean air, lavish gardens, and advanced technology made life comfortable. On the other side were the Subverts, a population deemed expendable, forced to live in the Decay—a sprawling, polluted slum where survival was a daily battle.
Fourteen-year-old Lin, a scavenger from the Decay, crouched behind a mound of rusted scrap metal, her heart pounding like a trapped bird. In her hands was a metal claw device, a crude creation of her own making, extending her reach to grab useful debris. Today’s target was an intact microchip—a rare and valuable find that could feed her and her best friend, Jax, for weeks if traded wisely.
She glanced toward the shimmering wall of The Divide, its glass glowing faintly as if mocking her desperation. On the other side, a sleek Exalt patrol drone hovered lazily. If the drone detected her, it wouldn’t hesitate to sound an alarm, summoning guards with weapons she could scarcely imagine.
“Lin!” A whisper broke through her focus. Turning, she saw Jax, his dark hair sticking to his forehead, crouching in the shadows. “Are you done yet? The patrols are circling back.”
Jax was a few years older than Lin. They were both orphans and had met on decay.
“I just need a few more seconds,” Lin hissed, carefully extending her claw. It snagged the chip, pulling it from a tangle of wires. “Got it!”
As they scurried back toward their hideout, the drone’s mechanical whirring grew louder. Jax grabbed Lin’s hand, their footsteps muffled by the ash-coated ground. Finally, they slipped into a hidden entrance beneath a collapsed bridge, descending into a dark labyrinth of tunnels.
Inside, their small hideout was dimly lit by a solar-powered lantern—one of Lin’s few prized possessions. She placed the chip on a makeshift workbench and turned to Jax, who was sharpening a small blade with careful precision.
“Do you ever wonder what it’s like over there?” Jax asked, nodding toward The Divide.
“No,” Lin lied, keeping her gaze fixed on the chip. She’d spent countless nights imagining what life might be like as an Exalt, but she’d buried those thoughts long ago. Daydreaming was dangerous in the Decay.
“I do,” Jax continued, ignoring her tone. “I bet they have more than enough food. And clean water. And they probably don’t have to worry about getting sick all the time.”
“They don’t worry because they don’t care about us,” Lin snapped. “To them, we’re just a problem to keep contained.”
Jax shrugged, returning to his blade. “Maybe not all of them think like that.”
Lin shot him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Just…people aren’t always what we think they are.”
Lin frowned but said nothing. The silence between them was heavy. Jax focused on his blade, and Lin got to work dismantling the chip. But her mind drifted to a memory—a rumor she’d overheard at the market about an underground network called The Glassbreakers. Supposedly, they were working to bring down The Divide, uniting the two sides of the city. Most dismissed it as a fairy tale, but Lin found herself wondering. If The Divide fell, what would that mean for people like her and Jax?
Two nights later, Lin’s curiosity led her to the edge of The Divide. She’d told Jax to stay back, but being the over protective friend he was he went. Now, hidden in the shadows, Lin studied the shimmering wall up close. The glass was impossibly smooth, yet it pulsed faintly, as if alive. Embedded sensors lined its surface, scanning for any hint of tampering.
As Lin crept closer, her breath caught. A figure emerged from the other side of the wall—a boy around her age, wearing the clean, fitted uniform of an Exalt. Immediately Jax was infront of Lin. The boy approached the glass, staring directly at them. For a moment, panic surged in Lin’s chest. Was he about to call for the guards?
Instead, he held up a hand, pressing it against the glass. Lin hesitated, then mimicked his action. Her palm rested against the invisible barrier, separated from his by only millimeters.
“I’m Cassian,” he said, his voice muffled but audible. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
Jax’s eyes narrowed. “One of who?”
“From the Decay.” He glanced over his shoulder nervously. “You’re...not what they told us you’d be.”
“What did they tell you?”
“That you’re dangerous. That you’d kill us if The Divide wasn’t here.”
Lin laughed bitterly. “And what do they say about you? That you’re selfish cowards who’d rather let us rot than share your luxuries?”
Cassian’s face reddened, but he didn’t argue. “I don’t think it has to be this way,” he said quietly. “There’s a group—on both sides—working to destroy The Divide. I can help you find them.”
Lin stared at him, her mind racing. Was he lying? A trap? Yet, there was something in his eyes—a flicker of hope that felt disarmingly real. She shared a glance with Jax his eyes were too filled with hope. Could the rumors about The Glassbreakers be true?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Jax’s voice, “Lin, the drones are heading our way. We get out of there, now.”
Lin hesitated, her hand still pressed against the glass. “Why would you help us?” she asked Cassian.
“Because I’m tired of living behind a wall,” he replied. “Aren’t you?”
For the first time, Lin allowed herself to imagine a world without The Divide—a world where she and Jax wouldn’t have to scavenge to survive. But as the sound of drones grew louder, she knew that tonight wasn’t the night to decide.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, retreating into the shadows.
The Divide remained, but now, for the first time, Lin saw it not as an immovable barrier, but as something fragile—something that could be broken.
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