HERE BE DRAGONS

It was announced officially on VoiceHub but it is still hard to believe. For centuries our people have lived in these caverns. My own ancestors were among the pioneers who positioned the mirrors that flood the passageways with reflected light, and my mother’s family is known for their hydroponic vegetables. I myself am an Air-flow Engineer First Class.

Outside is another world entirely. Our source of light and air, of course, and everyone makes at least one trip a year to the viewing platforms to watch the stars move, but otherwise Outside is alien territory.

But VoiceHub informs us that the Gateway has been closing at a centimetre a decade, and we are no more able to prevent it than to halt the stars. Before my children are born it will be impassable, though my grandparents remember walking through it side by side.

Tomorrow our group of young people will squeeze out one at a time. We bravely say that they will find another entrance, but in truth we know there will be no coming back.