human
Narrator:  Faced with the unexpected, they had done as they had always been told and sought shelter. That was the result of the instructions that were broadcast every morning.
gpt
Narrator:  If she was being honest, the little girl never really listened closely to anything in the morning broadcasts other than the Songstress’s singing, but she was astonished at the adults’ foresight and planning.
human
Narrator:  But everything that had happened after they had fled to the shelters had been too unpredictable even for the adults. —The appearance of the Witch Cult. Occupation of the control towers. Cryptic threats and demands and then the flooding that came not long after.
gpt
Narrator:  The vicious woman’s voice had riled up unease and hatred in the hearts of all the people cowering in the shelters.
human
Narrator:  Her unbearable voice and unsettling words had been more than powerful enough to sink the whole city into despair.
gpt
Narrator:  They were locked away in a gloomy shelter with no way to contact anyone outside.
human
Narrator:  There were no signs of anything getting better, and one of the floodgates had even been opened for a second, forcing them to hear the sound of all that water crashing over the city.
gpt
Narrator:  The shelters had originally been constructed as a countermeasure against intermittent flooding, so there had not been many injuries or deaths due to the earlier flood—but that meant very little to the people still cowering in fear.
human
Narrator:  The voices that had encouraged everyone at first had gradually weakened and then started to grow uneasy and angry at the silence, and before long there had been people making no effort to hide their rage, which had spread, creating a mood of aimless disagreement and annoyance, becoming a silent madness that scratched at everyone, spreading everywhere like wildfire.
gpt
Narrator:  And then the flooding had snapped the last thread of their nerves, bringing on the collapse. A swelling, violent mood filled the air, a dangerous atmosphere that could quickly devolve from people glaring at one another to their yelling at one another to their hurting one another to their even killing one another, all with just a single spark.
human
Adult:  "Agh."
gpt
Narrator:  The only reason it had not exploded yet was that right as their nerves were strained to their limit, the girl’s little brother had started crying.
human
Narrator:  The seething adults had still had the good sense and pride not to be violent in front of a sobbing child. —But even then, they had come dangerously close to the edge. In the end, though, the explosion had been delayed by her brother’s crying.
gpt
Girl:  Cries softly as she pats her brother’s head, hugging him from behind.
human
Narrator:  After that, there had been no more quarrels in their shelter. But that was only holding thanks to a fragile equilibrium. Everyone knew it was just a temporary respite. If another buildup began, a child’s tears would not be enough to keep the peace.