My dear Rose, you were born into fortune, Jade whispered to her infant daughter, caressing the top of the child’s head with her thumb. You live on the better side of the island, my love, so don’t throw that privilege away.

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At the start of System 1B, there had been a few foolish women who refused to accept the downfall of System 1A. They just couldn’t grasp the need for the gender divide, Jade said, smiling as she weaved her spidery fingers through young Rose’s platinum blonde curls. 

Why was there a divide? Rose asked innocently, turning her head to face her mother. Jade paused, her face just a bit flushed. 

Well, my love, that’s because we learned from the failures of System 1A. In System 1A, men and women were allowed to roam free with each other and… nothing good came out of it. The intermixing of sexes led to inequality, stereotypes, and other issues that contributed to System 1A’s downfall and the Council wisely voted on a separation between men and women for the better. 

Jade cleared her throat and continued. As I was saying, there was a group of foolish women who disobeyed System 1B’s rules. Most of them were stubborn, traditionalist women who believed that men weren’t wild as the Council said and that the Council disseminated propaganda. Jade gulped as she stared into her engrossed daughter’s big, sea blue eyes. 

And um, Jade lowered her voice. And your grandmother was one of them. 

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Jade laughed nervously, pausing here to collect herself. But alas, your…  Jade struggled. 

My grandmother, Rose suggested gently. Jade nodded and continued to talk. She and those other women crossed the line onto the other side to be with the wild men living on the other side. She couldn’t bear to live without your, uh, grandfather. But you see, Rose, everyone involved ended up dead. I remember hearing in the news that the men had lured them over to savagely murder and feast on those women, that it was some scheme. Jade paused and in a more thoughtful voice said, Rose, my dear, when you leave me tomorrow, just remember to never ever leave this side. You stay right where you belong and you will be happy and safe. 

Laughing, Rose said, I know, I know, Ma. You always say this. 

Jade, taken back, responded, Rose, of course I always say that. I say that because I would never forgive myself as a mother if you were to follow your grandmother.

I would never, Rose replied, smiling warmly into Jade’s eyes.

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... And finally, your mirror, the Councilwoman grinned. She always knew that the girls looked most forward to this part. Rose was no different. Originally slouching, Rose now sat up as straight as a pencil. Rose donned an eager smile as her anxiety ridden fingers trembled in her lap. 

The Councilwoman, upon noticing this, continued indifferently. As you know, the mirror is a woman’s most prized possession. It is completely unique to her and her only as it is handcrafted specifically for her based on her personality, birthdate, and other qualities. Now, the mirror holds the magical power of ending a woman’s life. Whenever she wants to end her life, she simply has to smash the mirror and a cloud of perfumes will engulf her. There will be no remnants, no reminders of her existence. Just a darkened mirror. 

The Councilwoman paused, placing a velvet bag on the table. You may open your bag now, she announced.

Rose hurriedly opened the velvet bag only to frown. The mirror’s border was simply… pink. Specifically, a very pale, almost white, pink. And the mirror’s border was made of iron, a common and cheap border.

What? Rose cried.

I’m sorry you are displeased, Rose, but this is your mirror. As the Council states, the crafters purposefully make them a certain way based on… 

The Councilwoman wasn’t sorry, as clear in her monotone voice. She didn’t even care because she had heard so many young women complain about their mirrors at this point.

Rose ignored her. She was extremely disappointed because for years she had fantasized of how elaborate her mirror would be, expecting it to be as Jade’s was-- a light teal sapphire border, with intricate, brilliant gold designs that would create different patterns based on the tilt of the mirror. But instead of that beautiful lovely mirror she had wished for, she had received a dull, muted one. Rose snatched her papers and left for her newly assigned home. 

When she got there, she went straight to her kitchen table to sit and try to understand why she got this mirror. She examined every inch of the mirror, desperately trying to find any pattern, any special little thing that would make her mirror less generic. But nothing.

Frustrated, she stowed her mirror in a drawer by the bedside.  

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Rose didn’t realize that in her own backyard was the famous Dividing Wall until she heard a lower pitched voice on the other side. A man’s voice.

Curious, but mainly feeling the need to take revenge on the Councilwoman for giving her this mirror through disobedience, Rose visited the wall.

Hello? she shouted, banging on the black obsidian wall. Silence followed. Expected. She lingered for a few minutes, then decided this was a sign and headed inside. But then a man’s voice followed. 

Hello, he said. Let me guess, you came of age and didn’t like the mirror you were given so now you’re trying to rebel by breaking the System 1B rules of man and woman?

Rose gasped.

I was that eighteen year old, too, one time, he sighed, sadly.

Oh? Rose said, pausing as she was hesitating if she should ask. She decided yes and egged him on, Do tell.

When I first moved here, I was incredibly saddened by my boring orange mirror. So, like you, I rubbed my nose in the business of the past owner of your home when I moved here a few years ago. Fortunately, she did teach me a lot though, so I would stick around if I were you.

Well? What did she teach you? Rose asked, still standing near her home. 

About men and women and how they really were when she was young, how they were together successfully before the Council’s regime, how it was the Council who tore the sexes apart and banned any and all marriage. It was part of the Council’s agenda to save humanity from becoming what they deemed vulgar. So, they kept the sexes apart to make them more civilized. That’s why they spread propaganda to the women of how men were savage and vice versa-- to avoid anyone from ever wanting to cross the line and costing the perfect civilization.

Rose thought he was crazy, talking against the government, so she tried to push aside his thoughts. Yet, the thoughts stayed in her head all night. 

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As much as she wanted to avoid him, Rose felt compelled to meet with him again. So the next day, Rose and the man, Kai, met. He explained himself, pulling out various history textbooks, given to him by the former resident of Rose’s home, and reading them aloud to her. 

By the end of the first few months, Rose behaved just as radically as Kai, questioning the Council’s authority and ridiculing her mother’s words. It was inevitable that this happened as they spent so many nights under the beautiful stars examining the history of System 1A, 1B and previous dictatorships, trying to answer the most complex questions with philosophy and ethics, reading and listening to classics salvaged from long before. 

Rose started to feel a connection with him, the tightest she had ever felt. She had feelings for him, unexplainable and never before discussed. A new obsession with meeting him flooded her head day in and day out, and every time they met, a sort of warm feeling buzzed through her skin.

Kai. Rose said one night, tracing the stars with her finger. He stopped mid sentence, describing Pyramus and Thisbe’s hole in the wall, turning to glance at the Dividing Wall.

Yes, Rose?

I feel something for you, just as Thisbe felt so strongly for Pyramus.

That’s called love.

Then I love you.

I love you, too.

They were both silent for a while. 

I want to be with you, Kai.

Come. Escape to the other side, like Pyramus and Thisbe did. We can be together forever, too.

Silence.

How do I get over the wall? Rose asked.

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Rose held her mirror up to the wall as Kai instructed her to. She pressed the pink mirror against the cool obsidian.

Soon, light enveloped her and she was on the other side, right next to the man she had been talking to for ages. 

Kai was almost a head taller than her. He was lean and his muscles were taut. He had an angular face and a squared jaw, finished off with a long and thin nose and lips that curved into a sweet, big smile. His short dark hair protruded over his face, flopping onto his beautiful eyes of rich, golden honey. Rose felt warm and safe in the cool night in his embrace.

So this is what men look like, she said to herself.

The moment of security was over once the alarms started shouting. Red lights flashed in the air.

Rose and Kai both knew what they had to do: run.

So they ran, stealthily weaving through the masses of homes, until they came across the edge of a forest. Seeing no one near, they took a seat on a rock, their mirrors in one hand, and placed each other’s hands in the other. 

Stop right there, someone whispered from behind. Both Rose and Kai turned around, strengthening the bond between their intertwined hands. I think you both know what the penalty for breaking the law is, the voice croaked.

Rose and Kai looked at each other, fear racing through their heads.

Any last words?

Yes. Kai interjected, his voice wavering. Rose, I love you with all of my heart. You have made me feel so happy, so special these past few months. But look, now we at least can be together for eternity when we die and escape this prison we call society-- my love, let us use our mirrors for one last time. Together.

Rose smiled and together, they cracked their mirrors. 

But it was only Kai who left the island. Rose had only pretended to crack hers.

Well done, Rose. Thank you for contacting me about him when you meet him. I will say that was an exceptional performance. I could really feel the love and desire. You almost fooled me into thinking you were like him and in love with him, the figure graciously commended Rose.

Rose was quiet for a moment, as she actually did fall in love with him, but she would never tell. She didn’t want to be killed and she certainly wouldn’t let her feelings be the cause of it. 

Thank you, Councilwoman. Now do you think I can get a better mirror, one I rightfully deserve? Rose asked, grinning at the thought of a better mirror, a better truth.

Of course. I suppose we misjudged you when we were making the mirror. But first, let's burn those books you were talking about.

And together, they left the darkened orange mirror on the rock.