"I ruled this town until my police chief banished me to Genville. A glass dome in the middle of the city, surrounded by an acid trench. Inside live the last genetic engineers.

The prisoners have built a paradise. They themselves are products of genetic engineering, all born in tanks. They are more beautiful than angels, know no shame in sex, no jealousy in love. They don’t build houses. They let them grow. They don’t kill animals. They pluck meat from the bloodbush. If anyone tries to act like the boss, they laugh and throw him into a pond.

It’s wonderful, strange, and eerie. I don’t feel at home here.

A warrior from the desert has fought his way all the way here. He’s calm, strong, dangerous—everything I’m no longer. My wife sees the difference and despises me even more.

Outside, my former police chief is preparing to take the dome. With an army that speaks only the language of violence. But why should I save a world that’s so foreign to me?"