"Memoirs of Columbia"

Before my career working in Columbia, I'd heard very little of it. Being a young woman fresh from university eager to start my life, I was more inundated in personal interests than follow stories of this strange city in the sky. Some called it a modern "Icarus" because it flies so close to the sun! Indeed, strange it was.. even now, I'm not even sure if it was part of the United States! I became part of the science group of Columbia right after the turn of the millennia, in the year 1901 at the age of twenty-two.

The Columbia science group approached me for help based on two requirements I could fulfill. They needed someone who could calculate and log electronic wavelengths, which I was familiar with, and they needed more women on their team. They needed women because their main subject of research was a little girl, and the men were often confused by her behavior. Behavior that could easily be explained by a woman.

The little girl's name was Elizabeth, she was quite extraordinary but such a poor, sad, neglected creature Elizabeth was. They called her simply "the subject" but I refused to do that... why not "the girl" or "Elizabeth"? For goodness sakes she is a person after all! They had her locked away in this sort of false living environment, and would watch her every move through thick transparent glass. Elizabeth lived there day after day, all by her lonesome. It tore me apart inside to see this poor soul live like that day in and day out. We did our jobs, but we were not happy there. There were different viewing stations for each room in the environment Elizabeth lived... bedroom, library, dressing room and so on... the women would often have to chase out the men when Elizabeth got naked. No reason for observation when it came to that!

Getting to Columbia was quite the thing! I'd never been on an airborne machine before so I was very nervous. We had two choices for travel, either by floating airship which would take two days, or by rocket ship that shot straight into the sky and arrived within minutes. My brother advised against the rocket ship because he explained that there was the chance an internal mechanism would fail and the fuel would cause a deadly explosion. I chose the airship, which was a long uncomfortable trip, but I'm glad I didn't risk my life taking a rocket ship! I'd heard there was a few rocket ship accidents including a crash landing because the parachute didn't deploy and another where someone was cooked alive from inadequate ventilation!

I'll never forget stepping off that ship onto Columbian ground! Amazingly, the temperature was pleasant and the air was thick! The day was so bright and beautiful! The city was polished and new, floating amongst the clouds! Such an amazing feat of engineering to keep those massive structures afloat over the Atlantic, I'll never understand the undertaking... very impressive. But it was also daunting. I leaned over one of railings along the city edge to look below, when my shoe caught on my dress and I nearly toppled over the rail! The railings are rather low, and there's no security nets to catch you. It shook me up so badly, that I became ill and had to stay indoors for three or four days to get over the fear of my environment.

I lived in the building that the other women scientists did. The room was small but cozy enough. Not much of a view looking into clouds from the window, but the swaying motion of the building put me right to sleep! Some complained of motion sickness, but it never bothered me.

Over time, the troubles of my job in addition to the major flaws of the secluded society became more and more difficult to deal with. I began to live in fear. With each day that passed by I felt was a step closer to my grave. There were gangs of hoodlums that used these contraptions called "skyhooks" to quickly escape authorities via shipping rail, so many crimes went unpunished. I saw a brave man get robbed and when he tried fighting off the gangsters, and they placed the skyhook on his head and tore into his flesh. That man barely survived, nearly bleeding to death. I didn't agree with the politics there either. Most Columbians had hatred toward foreigners and negroes fueled by their leader named "Father" Comstock, whom had a pseudo-religious following. I refused to listen to his sermons or visit any of the many shrines they had built for that man in Columbia, and I personally never felt disdain for people with different color skin than my own so I never fit into the social circles there.

One day Elizabeth had climbed atop the library staircase and started throwing books around the room. She was screaming and acting quite erratic! A few of us were watching her when suddenly, a bright flash filled the room and we saw a spot on the wall that looked like a hole that led out of the library! When we realized that Elizabeth had done this with some supernatural force that she possessed.. I don't know how to explain it, but it was very frightening. Elizabeth had the ability to focus physics in certain points of space with brainwaves that causes a rip in time and location. This would bring two points of space together to a spot that opened a "tear" in reality. Conceivably, Elizabeth could open one of these things and walk through it whenever she wanted. She could be free! But she never decided to leave... she would look through them or throw things through them, but never go through herself.

As Elizabeth was growing older, her powers and tantrums became more and more intense. We had to build a series of devices that would assist in leeching out the effective brainwaves as well as limit her control in the environment. But each month or so, she found ways around it and the process became a frustrating exercise for the scientists. Eventually, in fears of the aftermath that would come if Elizabeth were to escape, they brought in a team of the worlds top engineers to build a mechanical security device called the "Songbird".

The Songbird was a massive flying machine that resembled a giant bird of prey! It would swoop through the skies monitoring the city for any sign of Elizabeth's appearance outside of the lab. It would also check up on her at the lab every hour to make sure she was there. It was an intimidating thing that has to be seen to be believed! I became good friends with one of the mechanics that worked on the songbird. His name was Charlie. Charlie wore the same old patched up trousers everyday, so I joked around with him that if he wore better clothes, I would consider marrying him! Looking back, I wasn't joking... I wonder what ever happened to him.

I left Columbia in 1903, and moved back to New York. I reflect on my time in Columbia as a frightening but beautiful one. I will never return, but I did hear recent rumors that Elizabeth had finally escaped from the lab! I wish her luck! Hopefully, she'll be able to control those powers of hers and bring order to Columbia's chaos.