I’ve been here since birth. Some refer to us as ‘the Cloud People’ or ‘Sky People’. In reality, we’re neither. We’re just like the rest of them on the ground, humans. Except our commander, Commander William, believes that it is safer up here then on the ground.

You see, when the Commander was around 12 years of age, a nuclear power plant went off near his house. His parents passed leaving him and his siblings with their Grandma, 3 states away from where they originally lived. Which meant the kids had to leave everything they knew behind. Their friends, their house, everything.

So as the Commander aged, he soon realized that a power plant could go off again but be bigger and destroy the ground. He came up with a plan to basically build a society in the sky. Except we’re not necessarily in the sky, we’re just pretty high above the city. Anyways, throughout his 20s and 30s he worked on his own place. He named it Azure Metropolis. He even had his siblings working with him on this project.

It took around 7 years for everything to be done. Around the 5th year, their Grandma had passed. In some ways, I believe Commander William believed if he built his city high enough, he might would be able to see the people he loved and cherished once more. That they would see him and everything he had accomplished since they left and tell him how proud they were of him. Of course, that can’t happen.

After Commander William and his siblings finished Azure Metropolis, they began making posters to ‘promote’ their new place. They, mostly Commander William, knew if they wanted this place to be successful, then they needed more people. They needed doctors, farmers, engineers, teachers. They needed people. Yes, there was 3 of them, however they didn’t have all of these skills. They’re parents left them at a pretty early age and their Grandma wasn’t much help. So they held interviews in their Grandma’s house that they had inherited after her death. They used it for supplies and now interviews.

It took a year and a half but they finally had enough people. The population was up to 127 people. They had everything they needed. The doctors, farmers, teachers, and engineers that they needed so desperately, they finally had. Commander William always claims that he finally felt complete. Like he had accomplished something.

Over the years, Azure Metropolis expanded and grew. In size and population. As of now, Azure Metropolis has been here and operating for around 45 years. Commander William is old and honestly, nearing death. They say his youngest son, Peter, will take over. However, the greedy and rich want his oldest son, Jacob, to take over. Anytime anyone asks Commander William about it he always says the same thing:

“As long as I can breath on my own and speak my mind, I am commander, nobody else.”

And he could still breath on his own and speak his own mind. He still remembered everything, but he was getting weak. And the breathing part? Partially true. He could breath but sometimes needed oxygen treatments. It was getting harder for him to walk and stand to speak at our discussions, which happens once a month. Honestly, it was getting hard for everyone to go to the discussions because it was like you got to slowly watch the Commander deteriorate.

Today was our monthly discussion. As I was getting ready, a knock on my door startled me out of my thoughts.

“Who is it?” I called out, as I walked over to my door.

“Iris. Hi.” It was Peter. Him and I were the same age, we grew up together. He honestly didn’t want to be in charge.

“Peter? What are you doing here? Should you be at the discussions hall?”

“It’s dad. He just like stopped breathing.” Peter was inside my house now, pacing the floor. His eyes started watering.

“What do you mean? Did he?”

“No. Well… I’m not sure, I left before I could find out.”

“Well you have to go back.”

“No, I can’t. I-“ He looked down. “If I go back there, either Jacob is gonna wanna kill me or Dad’s soldiers will be their taking me to his throne.”

“Why is it so bad being in charge? You could change this place, Peter. Make it better.”

“Iris, you don’t get it. This place isn’t what it seems. This city has been deteriorating since Dad has. There is so much stuff that needs to be done and soon or this place is gonna collapse. Dad hasn’t been able to do it, nobody else really cared.”

“Collapse? You can’t fix it?”

“Dad is the one that built this place. Him, Uncle Tim, Uncle John, and Aunt Mary. All of them are dead, nobody knows where the plans for this place is located. We can’t fix something if we don’t have the right supplies.”

“So what are you gonna do? Have you checked your house?”

“Of course, I’ve checked my house. It’s the first place I looked. I have an idea but it’s on the ground and what if something happens while i’m down there?”

“Peter, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“But the whole reason this was built was to protect us from what was on the ground. When Dad was down there it was just nuclear power plants, but what’s the threat now? Is it near the supply house? I’m scared.”

“Then what else are you gonna do? Your options right now seem pretty slim.”

“What? What options do I have?”

“Well you and I can either travel down to the ground, go to the supply house, and get the plans orrrr-“

“Or what?”

“Or we go to the discussion and see what happens. And hope Jacob doesn’t take an axe to your head.” We laughed a little.

“Yeah, well pack a bag. Guess we’re taking a trip to the ground.”