"More tea, darling?"

Bellamy nodded stiffly, his mother's sickly sweet voice the last thing he wanted to hear that day. But he had to, for his own sake. She thought he was crazy.

"Thank you mother." He replied, taking a sip from his cup.

"I must say, its... a surprise to see you. How are you feeling?" Her patronizing tone gave him the urge to roll his eyes, but he squashed it.

Clearing his throat, he waited until she sat down on the dining room chair opposite him to start speaking.

"I am doing perfectly fine, mother. Always am." He replied.

His mother's perfectly lined red lips pursed, her left eyebrow raising, silently questioning his statement.

"That is what I'm here to talk to you about today. I know you think I'm sick, or something. But I need to prove to you I'm not. And I think I've found a way to do that." He said, setting down his tea cup choosing instead to fumble nervously with his fingers.

"Please, Bellamy. I don't think I can take much more of this. You need help! I've spoken to your father on the matter, and he agrees. You rambling on about meeting a 'real girl' in your dreams who is going to stop you from getting married in real life- what will people think?

"Mother!" He snapped, his chair scraping across the floor as he stood up. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he began to try to reason with her. "I know it sounds insane- do you think I just readily accepted the fact that I was meeting up with a real person from the past when I fell asleep?

His mother stayed seated in silence, giving him the chance to continue.

"I did my research mother. She is- was- real. So is the town. It's not like any type of dream either- it feels like I'm waking up, and living. Its real. I know it is."

Looking across the table at his mother, he paused, his heart pounding. She still thought he was crazy. He sounded crazy.

"Her name is Pippa White, and she is unlike anyone I have ever met. She was real, mother. I went back into the history documents for 2016, everything is there. Pictures, articles, documentation. I saw her in an old media file when I was working- at least I think I did. I only saw her from behind. That night I woke up in the same town, and there she was. Every night since then it's been exactly the same. Who wakes up in the same place with the same person every night?"

"Even if what you're saying is true, she is dead Bellamy. Long gone. You need to be concentrating on the future!"

Bellamy sighed, nodding slowly. "I know she is, mother. I know that right now there is no way she is alive. But there are bigger things out there that we can't possibly begin to understand. There is a world outside of this bubble!"

"Never speak like that again. You know the consequences. This bubble keeps us safe from the world outside- why do you think only the drones can leave? The world isn't as complex and questionable as you believe- where you got those ideas from in the first place is beyond me!"

He gritted his teeth. "This is happening- I don't know how it's possible, but there has to be an answer."

"Bellamy, you must know how absolutely ludicrous this sounds." His mother butted in, her knuckles at her forehead rubbing her temple exasperatedly.

"Of course I know that! It is utterly and completely insane. But what if? What If it's not just in my dreams, and somehow this is actually happening?"

"Enough!" the table shuddered, tea cup shaking, as his mother slammed her hands down onto the table. "I've put some thought into it. The hospital has a number of private rooms where you can stay for a short while. Just until we've done any tests the need doing. This is for your sake, darling."

She was going to lock him in a private hospital room- and possibly throw away the key. At least until his father won the presidency, and probably until he retired.

He gritted his teeth.

"I. Can. Prove. It." He had never lost his patience around his parents. They had lived their whole lives around him with perfect fake smiles, choosing instead to vent their anger in goodness knows which way. So he had done the same. Fake smiles and a life dedicated to his work. But this was different. This was something he actually cared about.

His mother sighed before sipping from her tea cup. "And how exactly are you going to do that?"

"I asked Pippa to put together a time capsule, you know, something you bury in the ground for people in the future to dig up. So that's what we are going to do. She buries it in a place the government drones can reach, and we dig it up. Inside will be the proof." He replied.

"You want to active the drones, to dig up a bit of earth that may or may not hold a box. Bellamy, I can't just make that happen." She said, exasperated.

"No, you can't. But father can." Bellamy sat back down. He knew what was about to come next. His father was a Politian after all.

"Fine. The drones are scheduled for a sweep in two days' time, they can pick up the box then. If there even is such a thing to be found." She replied, picking up her tea cup ready to take another sip.

"Thank you mother."

"Bellamy. If we do this for you, I want some things in return." She said before taking the final sip from her cup. Setting it to the side, she folded her hands on top of the table, leaning forward. Now it was time for business.

"Of course you do mother." His parents had never done anything for someone else unless they got something in return.

"I will get your father to give you some co-ordinates the drones can stop at, on these conditions."

Bellamy sat up in his chair, bracing himself for the things he was about to agree to do.

"If there is no box, you will admit yourself into the hospitals care for psychiatric screening." She paused, waiting for him to answer.

"Fine."

Nodding, she continued. "If there is a box, you will publically give support to your father's campaign. This will involve dinners, publicity, and your appearance in the community rooms. You're desirable, darling. And the people want you. The more they like you, the more they like your father."

She paused again.

"Fine." This time he answered between gritted teeth. Time out amongst people wouldn't be too bad, especially if he knew he was going to be seeing Pippa at the end of it all- and that he knew she was real.

"And Finally..." He caught the twisted smile sneaked onto his mother's face. It was gone in the same amount of time his heart sank to his feet.

"You will marry. Your father's election is not far away now, an eligible bachelor is good enough until then, but once he is in office then eligible will not do. You will become engaged, and you will marry."

"Who exactly will I be marrying mother?" He asked, though he did not want to know the answer.

"Whoever you choose. But if you do not choose, then your father and I will." Her matter of fact tone irritated him. She sounded like she was choosing the color of his next dinner suit- and not the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

"Melody?" His mother had practically shoved her down his throat, it was no secret that she was who his mother wished him to be matched too.

"It is a natural pairing. She is of optimal age, appearance and stature. Her father is head of technology- and when he retires you will be in a prime position to be his successor. But... I know you. And you make up your own mind on things. You have until the election to choose."

"How kind of you." He replied sarcastically.

"Is that an agreement, Bellamy?" She asked, leaning back, waiting for his answer.

He looked down and closed his eyes. What she was asking from him- for a box. His heart pulled painfully in his chest. A wavering doubt clouding his mind. He was selling his future for the possibility that the box might be real. For a girl that was now long dead. But he knew she was real, had been real... and something niggling in the back of his mind told him that the box would be there.

"Yes, mother. I will accept your terms."

He couldn't bear to be around his mother any longer.

"I assume I will be hearing from father by this evening- so will that be all?" He asked, standing up readying to leave.

"For now." His mother answered, standing from her chair as he turned and walked towards the door to call a car.

"Bellamy." She called out as his car arrived.

He turned and nodded, silently telling her he had heard her.

"I was being serious about not talking about the outside. You know it is not allowed, but the consequences- Bellamy, people listen to you, if you start talking about things you shouldn't, it makes you dangerous. You know the game we play, so be careful. People can listen in at any time, people do listen in at any time." She looked around the room conspicuously.

Bellamy's blood ran cold. He nodded again, her warning sinking in. The government was twisted; he had had his suspicions. Hearing them validated only confirmed to him the lifestyle decisions he had made up until now. Now he had entered the game, there was no going back.