He built a dome to protect tens of millions of people, but he also caused even more to die on the road there. He stockpiled enough food to last five years, but drained the people of their very last grains of rice. He created this warm paradise, but also brought even more hells into being.
Were they bound together?
Perhaps they were, but only to sink together.
A rooster crowed in the distance. It was one of the chickens raised inside the dome. Artificial lighting simulated day and night, so they crowed right on schedule.
Dawn was near.
Zhu Changxun opened his eyes and took one last look at the world beyond the glass.
Then he turned and walked toward his palace, where the sun never set.
Behind him, the first rays of dawn fell upon the glass. Passing through three layers of it, the light refracted into a rainbow of colors, casting a small rainbow inside the dome.
It was beautiful.
Like tears.
