Roleplay > Vignettes

Renascence

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hobbes:
Renascence
A anything-but-normal story about the unusual events surrounding the unrest in Nova Ardia.
written by hawkwick, hobbes, CGJ and (previously in Season 1) SatanLord.



Chapters 1 and 2 are written for the Nova Ardian revolution RP, Chapters 3+ are for this vignette series. But you'd need to read 1 and 2 to understand what is going on in 3.

CHAPTER 1: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

    1. THE STORY SO FAR
    2. INTERVIEWING FOR YOUR LIFE
    3. WHAT RYAN?
    4. SMALL TALK
    5. WHAT HOUSEWIFE?
    6. THE BRUTALITY OF THE EVIL...AND THE SILENCE OF THE GOOD Mild Torture, Violence
    7. ...SNITCHES
    8. HOPE


CHAPTER 2: ON THE RUN

    1. BREAKOUT Mild Torture, Attempted Sexual Assault, Violence
    2. TERRIBLE PUNS AND HIPSTER BEANIES
    3. I HUNG MY HEAD
    4. STUPID DECISIONS & PTSD Violence


CHAPTER 3: NEW BEGINNINGS

    1. WHOSE HIGH AS A KITE NOW?
    2. SOB STORIES AND GETTING DRUNK ON A PLANE
    3. INSANE ASYLUM
    4. THOUSAND YARD STARE
    5. HIS MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE
    6. INFORMATION AGE OF HYSTERIA


CHAPTER 4: MONEY

    1. THE SPY WHO SAVED ME
    2. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS TRUMPS ROMANCE
    3. BENCHES AND DOCTORATES
    4. SHOCK THERAPY
    5. WHO BUYS PLASTIC CHAIRS?
    6. EVICTION NOTICE

hobbes:
CHAPER 1: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
PART 1. THE STORY SO FAR

This series runs through the series of events leading from Aurelia Octavia's capture to her arrival at the detention facility in Northern Nova Ardia, nicknamed 'The Farm' in the intelligence community. It probably will come off as less coherent to read than usual because it's a series of posts mashed together.


Aurelia stared blankly at the now black stream and the flooding comment section. Her thoughts drifted from the fairly mundane ones she'd been having just before to thoughts of survival; undoubtedly, if they'd found Andrew Ryan, they'd find everyone else sooner rather than later. Even assuming that his security was worse than hers, she'd simply bought her VPN. If they needed to, they could track her card back to her, and then she'd be toast.

She stood up slowly from her desk, noticing her hand was trembling. It means you're not stupid. she thought, going over to the window of her rather run-of-the-mill apartment and parting the curtain, and revealing a good view of Roma. Her apartment was situated directly in front of Primarch Pepe Germanicus Boulevard, placing her in the south side of the Capital. And the Capital was not a safe place to be at the moment. She took in the view momentarily before turning around and quickly going over to her laptop, shutting it and disconnecting it from the Ethernet cable. The blog, as awesome and supportive as it had been, would have to wait. She had to think over her predicament briefly for possible solutions.

Her phone suddenly went off, blasting indie rock into her apartment. She sighed, walking over to where she'd left it on the kitchen counter and checking her messages. Unknown number, yet her phone had somehow recognized it as Andrew Ryan's. Her heart raced. He's looking for me? I'm just a blogger... she thought, checking the text and frowning slightly. 'Meet me at the bunker.' What the hell was that supposed to mean? Andrew Ryan had a bunker?

"Shiiiit." she mumbled. Well this was intriguing and all, but it didn't do anything to remotely un-fuck her situation. Where was this bunker? Was there only one for the whole nation? She briefly considered possible locations before stopping that tangent of thought, too. It was useless to theorize when she had no context. She went back to her desk and sighed, propping her head up on her arm and thinking.

If the secret police didn't bash down her door in the next thirty minutes, she was going to pack up, say her goodbyes, collect her last paycheck from the Pharmacy, and get the hell out of the capital.



Four black SUV's rolled up infront of a seemingly inconspicious apartment complex. About a dozen heavilly armed soldiers exited, making their way into the building.

"What is the meaning of this?" Demanding the apartment complexes owner, blocking the entry upstairs.

"Remove him" echoed a man behind a mask, seemingly the commander. The owner was grabbed and thrown away from the doorframe and into the lobby, as the team began to make its way upstairs. They were searching for a certain apartment...

The sound of a yell from downstairs led to Aurelia suddenly dropping her plastic lunchbox on her foot. They're here. she thought, quickly remembering Andrew Ryan's escape from the stream and speedwalking over to her window, throwing the curtain aside to reveal four Black SUVs parked directly below her aparment. A knot was starting to form in her stomach.

Another knock, a yell from downstairs she couldn't make out. She took a deep breath and looked down. The fall would break her legs, and she'd be twice as fucked as she was now. She needed to hide. She quickly went over to her kitchen drawer and pulled out a kitchen knife, before walking into her bedroom and shutting the door, waiting, trying to steady her breath. They were probably outside now.

The troops moved straight to her apartment, and with a hard kick burst inside. They looked around the immediate vicinity, before going straight for her laptop and bagging it. They looked around the kitchen, seeing a drawer open. They noticed how her stuff was strawn around the apartment.

"Left in a hurry?..." questioned one of the soldiers

"Shhh...Or she's still here" whispered the other. They moved toward the closed bedroom door, and one of them tried to open it...

She could barely breathe. They were already ransacking her apartment. She didn't want to die. Just as she'd gotten set up again, the government fucked her over yet again. She waited for the first man to open the door before lunging with the kitchen knife at him in a fit of rage, brand new tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Get out of my apartment!" she shrieked.

The first man to open the door took several steps back, peddling backwards while pointing his rifle at the knife weilding woman. The others did the same.

"Drop it now! We will shoot! Drop the fucking knife!" They pressed their fingers on the triggers, aiming right for her chest and ready to shoot on a seconds notice.

Aurelia dropped the knife and fell to her knees, sobbing. She hadn't even gotten a moment's notice before they arrived. She could have run, she could have done something except for pack stupid useless lunches and clothes. But now she'd pay the price. Filled with sadness and grief and rage, here she was. For the first time ever, she wanted nothing more than their deaths. The very thought repulsed her, but so did they. She stopped thinking and started listening. She would try to prolong her pointless life as long as she could.

Upon dropping to her knees, one of the soldiers moved behind her back and handcuffed her. "Get moving, you're lucky we didin't shoot you the first time." They moved her - more like dragged her - out of the apartment and down to the cars below. The apartment manager was still tidying up the lobby from the previous confrontation when they left with Aurelia, not saying a word to him. She was tossed in the middle SUV with a guard next to her and after all the soldiers had loaded up, the SUV's peeled off.

Aurelia took a deep breath in the SUV, looking up at the plain brown roof of the thing. She supposed she'd be staring at a lot of plain colors soon, or, if things went really bad, at no color at all. She didn't know what type of punishment to expect. She just knew that typically, once people got caught by the Gestapus, that was it. You never heard a word out of them again.

She blinked out the last of her tears, trying to blow the bit of her shoulder-length blonde hair that had fallen on her face off of it. Her view drifted from the ceiling to the black-clothed figures of the secret police. There were probably legitimate incentives to doing it. She wondered how many of them had doubts, how many of them had been legitimately indoctrinated. She wondered if anyone she had known in school or in college was one of them now.

Most of all, she wondered if they felt anything at all when they burst into her apartment and cuffed her. They must have. she thought. They didn't shoot me, but they had a valid excuse.

The SUV's rolled past several other scenes of police in action; men and women being rounded up, at least one being executed. It quickly became evident a citywide, perhaps even nationwide crackdown was underway. They soon picked up speed; speeding right past the usual police headquarters, seemingly head out of the city. A black bag was placed over her head as the left the city limits, masking where the SUV's were going to her eyesight.

After driving for about another 25 minutes, the SUV's made a sudden turn and came to a abrupt stop. She heard the doors opened and she was pulled out of the SUV, placed on her knees with the bag on her head and her hands still handcuffed behind her back. She felt the cold press of what felt like a barrel against the back of her head. A rather...rotton stench was in the air.

"Orders, sir?" barked a operative behind her. She heard footsteps, and the smell of a ciggarrete competed with the rotten stench in the air.

"Let's see what she has to say, first." said the man infront of her, with a almost robotically calm voice. He crouched down infront of her, taking another puff of his cigarrette and blowing it right at the bag concealing her face.

"And why, dear, are you here?"

Aurelia closed her eyes, gasping slightly when she felt the barrel on the back of her head. She wouldn't be bullshitting anyone here. So when the man with the cigarette puffed into her face and asked her for the truth, she blinked behind the bag, her eyes mildly irritated by the cigarette smoke, and quickly stammered out what she knew.

"I-I ran a blog! An anti-government blog!" she admitted, perhaps a bit too loudly. The fear in her voice was very apparent.

She heard a slight chuckle from infront of her, almost maniacle. "Search her and take her inside". Before the man had even finsihed his sentence, the two guards holding her upright let go, and she suddenly and abruptly fell on her face onto what turned out to be concrete. They patted her down and searched - rather intrusively - all of her pockets and areas she could conceal a weapon or electronci device. They found her wallet, with ID and money, and a phone. She heard them playing with her phone, before the battery popped out and it completely died.

"As fortunate as it is that we have so much, unfortunately this staging area is compromised. Amputate the concompliants, we have what we need."

"Copy." echoed, and a single volley of rifle shots rang out, before what sounded like sacks of potatos hit the concrete. "Clean up crews on the way - Load up the compliants." She felt herself being picked up and placed - moreso thrown - back into the SUV. One of the soldiers spoke, jokingly. "It'le be a bit of a drive to 'home', sweetheart." She heard the SUV pull out, and within a few seconds it was on the move again.

Aurelia let out a small shriek when she heard the gunshots, one that quickly dissipated when she was thrown backwards into the SUV, where, after a painful landing, she rolled to a stop, letting out an desperate groan as the SUV started moving again. "Where are we going?" she asked the man who had given her the snarky comment.

"The farm, of course!" He laughed, seemingly the senior operative in the car. He didin't respond to her after that, and the car drove for what felt like a hour, maybe more, before the car pulled up to what seemed like a gate, but it opened with a much louder sound. As they entered, all light stopped entering the SUV's; pitch dark besides the lights inside the SUV. The door opened, and she was pulled out of the SUV again; this time the operatives pulling the bag off of her head; it looked like old abandoned parking garage, dimly lit. The operatives pulled her by her arms to a large door; what turned out to be a blast door. They pulled her along a long hallway, making several turns and passing the occasional secret police officer or military officer passing them by, seemingly without a care for her prediciment. She was tossed into a cell, alone and still handcuffed, and the cell door was slammed shut.

They no longer seemed to care what she saw or didin't saw, perhaps they thought she was to terrified to recall, or, perhaps, more cynically, they just thought she would never leave?

Aurelia responded in kind, not saying anything for the rest of the ride either, instead just pondering various theories inside her head. The first thing that came to mind was a server farm, but the words 'kill farm' also popped into her mind, undoubtedly from some TV show or game somewhere. Isn't that a type of military training area though? Nothing makes sense.

Once she was thrown into the cell, she sighed, looking around at the featureless walls in desperation. It appeared her prediction from the car had come true. She sat down and pulled her handcuffed hands under her legs, which were still barefoot and wearing pocketed pajama pants, before bringing them back up. If she was going to rot in here, she might as well have her hands in front of her.

She examined her handcuffs, which appeared fairly run-of-the-mill, and frowned. She really wanted to kill someone right now.

hobbes:
CHAPER 1: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
PART 2. INTERVIEWING FOR YOUR LIFE

This series runs through the series of events leading Aurelia Octavia through her first interview with a shady man revealed to be Francis Keeves. May be slightly less coherent than usual as it's several posts mashed together.




After what seemed like at least 45 minutes, the door was opened suddenly.

"Octavia, Aurelia. You're up." Two guards entered the cell, immediately noticing she had shifted her handcuffs to her front. "That's not regulation. Let me fix that for you." The first guard seemed to rather innocently uncuff her, when the second send a forceful thrust into her back; knocking her to the floor. They recuffed her behind her back before pulling her over to a interrogation room. "Don't do that again, Yeah?"

"Mmf." she grunted in understanding at the guard, not saying anything as she went over to the interrogation room, which looked quite a bit similar to what she had expected. Her heart was still racing; her hands were probably still mildly shaking. She simply wasn't okay right now. She sat down in the chair in the interrogation room, frowning and trying to rub her aching wrists through the cuffs, before waiting again. For something to happen.

The guards sat her down, one standing in the doorway. A simple man wearing a suit entered through the other door, and signalled for the guard to uncuff her. Without question, the guard uncuffed her and left the room, presumably to watch through the inevitable one-way glass.

"Howdy" said the man, in a simple, plain spoken voice. "I'm frank." He extended his hand over the interrogation table, offering to shake her now-uncuffed hand. He was holding a yellow vanilla folder in his other.

"I'm sure you are." quipped Aurelia, rubbing her wrists properly now, and examining the man. Her eyes were probably slightly red; she was sure this man could read her recent history like a book. The crying and all.

The man sighed, retracting his hand and sitting across from her. He did, indeed, read her recent story rather well. But it was a story he had read many times before from people in her situation. He opened the folder, pulling out several IP logs, conversation histories, ecetera; it was plenty of information against her. He laid these out on the table, before getting to her information file.

"Ms. Aurelia Secunda Octavia, 24, lives in Roma. But it seems, you live two lives; one as a respectable four year university student, paid for by the state, Working now as a licensed pharmacest, also heavily subsidized by the state, and making a respectable income. Yet, you live a second life, under the alias Juno, and defile the same government which has molded you into a otherwise productive member of our society; to which I simply ask, Why?"

She didn't stop rubbing her red wrists when the man asked his question, instead looking around the empty interrogation room, and sighing. "Really?" she asked, a knot forming in her throat already. "You start abducting people and your army starts a crackdown on free speech and you wonder why people try to go against you?" she paused, sniffing a bit. "Was that a rhetorical question? You know why."

He sighed, re-adjusting his sunglasses. "The crackdown only became a necessity due to some of the more...radical...members of your persay organization. People speaking out so brutally against the state weakens it. Anyone with half a brain would recognize that and I am sure you are smarter than you come off as, Ms. Octavia. Now, what do you know that we don't know already?"

"Maybe you shouldn't be so afraid of change." retorted Aurelia, trying to look through his sunglasses. "We shouldn't be torching each other. But we shouldn't be barging into people's apartments because they criticize you." she continued uneasily, trying to grasp for justification that didn't immediately paint her as a radical. "Besides," she said. "I don't know anything. I swear." she said.

"The high level activists were running streams, but you sure as hell saw that. I just ran blogs, I didn't communicate with any of them." Her brown eyes blinked, and the hint of red around her eyes was unmistakeable. She really had been crying too much.

He chuckled loudly. "We have access to your laptop your blog and your phone. Do you honestly expect that story to hold when we go through them? The consequences would be...most dire if you're lieing to me, Ms. Octavia." He retained his cold stare through the sunglasses and calm expression.

"I swear. Please. I ran blogs, I shat all over your government. I urged people to watch Ryan. But I didn't do anything more!" she insisted, looking down, and blinking out more tears. His laugh had made her extremely uncomforatble. It was...artificial. But questions about him would have to wait for her. She was more focused on self-preservation at the moment.

"I'm just...I'm just a pharmacist."

He nodded, she was starting to crack. "And what do you know about this... Ryan?"

hobbes:
CHAPER 1: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
PART 3. WHAT RYAN?

This begins our co-op series and covers the second half of Aurelia's first interview with Frank.


He nodded, she was starting to crack. "And what do you know about this... Ryan?"


"R-ryan?" asked Aurelia, looking up at her interrogator. "Well, he's uhm, he was a journalist, and he's a writer, and, er, he's a big anti-fascist. He ran the streams. He jumped out a window. He sent all of us a text. That's it, that's all I know!"
she spurted out in a panic.

He nodded, not writing anything down; either the conversation was being recorded, he already knew this, or both. "And what did the text say?"

"Uhm." she paused, trying to remember the exact wording in the heat of the moment. Her day had been hectic. "Meet me at the bunker. The status quo has changed." she recalled.

"That we knew, but it had been assumed you understood the meaning."

She shook her head. "Nononono. I don't. I don't know where he is. I don't know where his bunker is." she paused. "I don't even know why I got the text!"

He nodded, making a signal to the man behind the one way glass that looked like a phone. "And what do you know of the man who hacked our systems today?

A face of mild shock went over Aurelia. "What? I'm in the dark about that too, seriously." she paused. "I sure as hell didn't help the man, if that's what you're asking. I write blogs, I don't break into government systems."

He nodded, and, as if on que, a guard entered, bringing Aurelia's phone. The man in sunglasses took it, thanking the guard pleasantly. He casually began typing away on Aurelia's phone, as if sending out a message. She didin't know the phone had been modified to give off a false GPS signal.(edited)


She stared at the man briefly. "W-what are you doing with my phone?" she asked.

"What am I doing? Nothing. What you are doing is messaging your dear Ryan back saying you're being chased by secret police and need him to help you find the Bunker."(edited)
Soon enough, he finished his message, pressed 'send', and placed the phone on the table infront of him, but just out of her reach.

"Oh my God." said Aurelia. "You're using me as bait? Is that what you wanted from me?" she asked the man, her furrowing her brow.

"It took you this long to figure out?" He chuckled, stretching himself out. "You're low down enough to be expendable either way but high up enough that they'd probably come for you"
"And the best part, dear, is in the 21st century you can be the bait without leaving the comfort of this facility!"

"High up enough?" she paused. "I've never met them!" she said. "Why would they care about me? I have two blogs! I don't get up and yell on camera like they do!" she ranted.

"Well, of course if they don't bite we go one up the rung. It's not hard to follow."
He shifted his position, repositioning his sunglasses. "In any case, you are in a Classified Level Three installation which mandates the wrong people seeing it don't live to tell the tale. If you're suggesting you're not useful to us now I highly suggest you find a way to make yourself useful."

Aurelia paused to wipe her face. "Ugh." she grunted, clenching her fists in frustration for a second. "Fuck off!" she hissed, tears starting to flow again. "You're just gonna turn my life upside down and then blackmail me with my life to help you?"

"I believe you perfectly knew the risks when you took on your side-professions." He retained his calm, emotionless state.

"I wasn't expecting you to care when I took on my 'side-professions'! And then you went and-" she paused. "Fuck it. You know what your felllow government assholes did with Vienra and all that. I'm not going to convince you." she sighed, looking down and leaning back in the chair. "I'm not gonna alter your viewpoint in any way, am I, you automaton?"

He nodded and stood up "We're done for tonight. Get some sleep." , he then walked out, briefly leaving her alone. Guards then arrived and attempted to handcuff her again, before moving her to her cell.

Aurelia had a feeling in her chest she hadn't had in quite some time. Some sort of raw emotion that was a mix of regret and anger had taken her over. And she hadn't even gotten the chance to act on it because, like her, the interrogator had just given up. As soon as she got back into her cell, she sat down in the corner, slightly trembling.

The guards moved her to the cell, this time having the coutesy to uncuff her before moving her back inside. The door slammed shut and locked again.

hobbes:
CHAPER 1: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
PART 4. SMALL TALK

This co-op further introduces Aurelia and Frank, who begin speaking more frankly (pun intended)



The guards opened the door again, "Hands against the wall." They moved to handcuff her again, this time having brought the black bag again.

She was jolted awake, sluggishly standing up and waiting for the guards to handcuff and bag her head again.

The guards handcuffed and bagged her again, moving her outside of the cell. They walked for what seemed like a few hallways before entering what turned out to be a elevator; going straight up a couple of floors.

The elevator moved up, stopping abruptly at what seemed to be the top of the shaft. The doors opened, and what sounded like a blast door opened before a rush of fresh air surrounded them; she was now walking on what felt like hard wood floors (since she's barefoot). She was sat down in a chair and uncuffed with the bag removed on a front porch of what seemed to be a cabin in the woods. Woods surrounded the area, but the occasional soldier can be seen walking around and a indescrept fence can be seen a mile or so down the road leading to the cabin. "Wait here" ordered a guard, and he left, leaving the other one with her. Some bagels and milk were on the table.

Aurelia took a second to examine her newfound surroundings. "What...the fuck?" she mumbled to herself, looking around at her surroundings. But then something clicked. The elevator. Clearly, they had some sort of underground base, and this was just one of the exits. She briefly looked over the other soldier and then the food. I'm totally the bait. And this is the trap. she thought, at first.

The interrogator exited through the front door of the cabin, this time wearing a dayshirt and jeans, but still wearing sunglasses. "What a beautiful morning outside" he said, mostly to himself, before moving over to the seat ajacent to her and taking a seat. Still completely calm and carefree.

"I see you recharged." she told him mockingly. "What's the catch this time? Is this the trap?" she asked.

"Fortunately for you, no." He nodded, "Your cooperation was never necessary for the trap. As valuable as your friend is, this facilities location is far more valuable. You'll never hear or see him again, most likely."

She took another deep breath; this time of fresh air. "Well, he's not my friend. And I don't know him." she paused. "I thought you already knew that. Surely you've been through my files."

"In a interconnected world, dear, one doesn't need to meet face to face to know someone." He looked out into the forest, spreading his feet out.
"Why do you suppose this place is off the grid?"

"Because you don't want the international community taking satellite pictures of your little farm?" she asked, almost in disgust.

He chuckled, almost mockingly. "You don't think every nation on this planet doesn't have installations like this one?"

"No, because most nations don't round up people who write blogs against their government." she quipped.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'd be misinformed, but that is aside the point. Tell me, what is, or rather, was, your end goal?"

"I..." she paused, thinking over her end goal. "I guess...help convince people to try and change the government for the better?" she said, unsure. "I had no end goal, really. I just wanted to spread and discuss my views somewhere." she paused, trying to word it carefully. She had a feeling that if she called Mr. Robot, as she'd christened him, anything more drastic than automaton, she might end up a lot worse than she started. Unfortunately for her, right now, she was trying to hide a type of rage she'd never experienced before. And she could only hope it would work.

He rather evidently seemed to be able to tell she was holding back. "You are free to speak candidly. I am not here to lay a hand on you..." He slyly pointed to a guard watching them "They, however, I'd be far more careful what you say around them."

"You got my answer. Not 'candid' enough?" she asked.

"I expected something far more snappy and to the point." He seemed to already be learning her traits.

"Well, you're not gonna get something to the point, because I haven't made up my mind on what my end goal was." she said. "Happy?"

"Mhm" He smirked as he grabbed a bagel, "You're free to eat. I imagine you haven't ate or drank anything in a day or so."


Aurelia kept her arms crossed. briefly before she noticed him grab a bagel too. Uneasily, she took one into her hand. She was starving, but she wasn't going to bite into it until he did. Instead, she examined it, wondering why they would increase the percieved comfort of the interrogation room each time. First a gun barrell, then a textbook interrogation room, and now this.

He confidently took a bite of the bagel, noticing her apprehension. "If we were going to kill you, don't you think it would've been using a method far cheaper than food poisoning?" He downed it with milk, continuing to observe the woods peacefully with his shaded eyes.

She took a bite immediately after his, satisfying her grumbling stomach with her favorite breakfast food. He was right. "Why do this?" she asked.
"Why feed me and bring me to a cabin?"

"I like changing up the atmosphere. You are, indeed as you said, useless tactically and strategically. But what you can offer us is the mindset of the average dissenter. And that, indeed, is useful information."

"Forcing me to make myself useful?" she asked the man. "I'm surprised you care. You could snatch a lot more 'average dissenters' if you tried." she paused to chew.


"Unfortunately 'the list' that got you caught is content contributors of dissenting information - yourself included. We were watching you for some time, but were force to act when the aforementioned Ryan decided to blow the cover on it. We were forced to act on the information ad had. Some, arguably many, put up a fight immediately and were more radical. A few like you got caught in the crossfire." He paused to drink, "Which, of course, is what he wants as a terrorist; he knew we'd have to crack down or the people we want would slip away, which is precisely what he wants to paint it as we're violently cracking down on dissenters and start his little guerrila war. He's killed before, he'll kill again, and he made himself the perfect mechanism to do it." He paused again, taking another bite from his bagel. "What it comes down to is you're a pawn in a rather large and dangerous game."


"And what if I don't want to be anyone's pawn?" she asked. "Before your asshole party took over, this place wasn't so bad. I'm sure Ryan remembers it. We're all just trying to get back to what it was like before." she explained. "That's my end goal. Normalcy. Peace. Not living in a police state."

"The police state was relatively normal to you before you got rounded up and sent here. Which is understandable. Unfortunately, it looks like you're making the rhetorical 'police state' worse rather than better." He reached down to his other side, picking up a briefcase from the ground and opening it. He placed several photos of a torched van, complete with bodies of Roma police officers, on the desk facing her. "This was something a..."acquatance" of yours did last night."

He paused, taking a drink while she inspected the photos. "As expected, they're setting up checkpoints around the capitol and the government quarter has been completely sealed."

Aurelia examined the photos. "Ugh." she frowned, looking at the torched bodies. "Obviously nobody in their right mind wants to see people die." she started. "But the cops weren't the target, you know that, right? It was your government. People are really gunning after the leaders. I'm sure you know that. Deny it or don't, but everyone at the top just wants power, or they want to keep the power they already have. That's what people don't like. We want to share power, like most of the rest of the world." she explained calmly. That sounded a bit preachy. she thought to herself.


He reflected on what she said, taking another sip from his milk. "And what would make your so called revolutionary leader - Ryan - any different than the current government? Perhaps it is the case he just wants power as well?"


"He's an anarchist." she explained. "So he goes too far the other way. But it's not the same."


"What is same or not is purely a matter of opinion, unfortunately. Furthermore, I fail to come up with a anarchist state in recent memory that actually was able to survive"


"I'm not supporting an anarchist state. And if it was him versus another democratic movement, I wouldn't choose him. I'm only choosing him because he's the last chance for someone more sensible to actually make a working government."


"History is written by the victors, I am afraid, and propelling a Anarchist into power seems far from practical for a democratic state. And the democratic state was not without its problems; you may of been lucky, being born to a family of note, but povery and unemployment have both decreased dramatically under the new state. People are earning more money and are able to spend more"

Aurelia frowned slightly. "It's not about getting an Anarchist into power, it's about getting the NLP out of power. And that's us. There's other countries out there that have democracy even better than we had it. And people are happier when they're not rounded up, threatened with death, and thrown into cells."


"I'm afraid democracy is, as well, relative. Rokkenjima was toppled for a democratic regine a hundred years ago, the 'democratic regime' was far worse than the one you live under now in repressing liberties and people, so much so that the ruling family revolted and took control back for the Empress three years ago. We, fortunately, do not have a hereditary regime, rather than a system ran by people who understand it rather than making blank checks. You have exchanged the ability to choose your leader - a ability that is always abused regardless - for prosperity." He took another sip of his drink, looking out into the woods.


"A lot of us aren't happy with it. But you know that already." she said, now straightfaced, as she finished the bagel. Something clicked in her mind. Maybe she didn't have to be a pawn.


"Or, perhaps, the Supreme Empire of the North, which had 'democracy', but the outcome of a election and its elected leaders actions led to a civil war - which destroyed the entire country. One hundred million dead. A number so high it's hard to fathom outside of a statistic. Needless to say they now operate under a different system; I am curious to imply, What nations perceive your definition of 'superior' democracy?"


"Mm. South Hills comes to mind. Veduro somewhat comes to mind." she paused. "But I can't think of any that don't also have a king or Emperor at the top. Maybe we should get a king instead of your little pisspot government. Even a four hundred year old family works better." she said.


"South Hills almost elected a idiot billionare as its President. And the same royal families who conveniently make people who speka out against them dissapear. Covnenient. Hell, I recall a article on the Rokkenjiman and Dartfordian royal families funding genocide."

"What's the point of this? You're not going to convince me. And I'm not going to convince you." she took a quick look at the guard.

"We have nothing but time, hon." He grabbed another bagel, taking a bite from it firmly.

"You organized this little picnic. I'm sure you can organize a bunch of other shit too." she said, looking up at the ceiling. "If you have an interrogation cabin. you'll have a bunch of other wastes of money somewhere, too."

"Well, it's not actually a interrogation cabin. This is actually the main recepticle for food and supplies. But it's nice for taking people outside now and then as well."(edited)
He finished his second bagel. "Officially, all I have is the interrogation room, which I'm sure you also find dull."

Aurelia responded by crossing her arms. "So, that's it? You just have a bunch of conversations with me? I mean, I know you're using me as bait, but what's next? What's your end goal?"

"Well, at the least you're here - at least - into this blows over. Or into your 'violent revolution' happens. Whichever happens first. But next I presume the guards would take you back to your cell, and we'd meet sometime later. Possibly tonight or tomorrow. We'll see."

"And then you send me home?" she asked. "I doubt that. I attacked one of your grunts with a kitchen knife." she remembered. Scariest moment of her life, probably.

"That certainly would complicate things." he remarked, taking another sip of his drink.

"You didn't know?" she asked. "Fuck, maybe I shouldn't say anything else then." she shrugged.

"I imagine the people who would be sorting your release - if that is their intention, would know, That's not my job however."

"And what is your job, exactly? Interrogator?" she asked, curious.

"That would be correct. Needless to say I disagree with the usual bloody torture that title invokes."

"Good for me." she said, deadpan.

He laughed slightly, observing the woods as the sun continued to rise.

"Well..." she said. "You do this with all of your prisoners?"

"Most are usually far more deliberate and less cooperative. Some get passed on to more..direct...interrogators, some I need to work with."

"I'm only cooperative because I'm afraid."


"That seems to be a common theme, but the question is afraid of what. People are afraid of change, afraid of captivity, afraid of the system. Many are afraid fo changing the system. Everyone is afraid, in the end."


"I'm afraid I'm gonna disappear forever like everyone else the Gestapus caught." she paused, trying to convey exactly what she felt. "Maybe I worded that wrong. I'm only cooperative because I care more about me than I care about some political cause."

"There is not precedence for your situation, I'm afraid. The usual horror stories you hear are in situations where it was decided the person would do more harm than good to continue being in the public light. Hence why you weren't grabbed some time ago. Unfortunately, external factors forced our hand. There is, fortunately, a difference between wanting change in the government and actively attempting to overthrow it. That is where the metaphorical line is drawn, though now more than ever the actions of some have forced it to be blurred." He took another sip of his drink. "And I fear, indeed, things will get worse before they get better. Whether that pertains to my definition or your definition of better, is up for grabs."

"Someone always figures something out. Some compromise. Something that makes everyone happy." she said. "At least, I hope."

"Of course, however, torching cars and forming a armed insurgency is far from the most practical way of doing that. Any government would crack down, not just ours."

"Mm. Vaimeria. Republic. Same response you assholes had. Different reasons." she remembered the newsreel from the week before. "The government marched into another nation. Shot into crowds, apparently. That justifies it for a lot of us."


He nodded, staring into the forrest. "We'll go for a walk around the perimiter tonight." He looked at her, reminded she still did not have shoes. "I'll tell them getting you some clothes and shoes by then. Don't expect them to be too nice, of course."

"Gonna find a nice place to shoot me in the back?" she asked, half smirking. The truth was, she had no idea if she had meant it in jest or not.

He chuckled, assuming it was the former. "The guards will take you back now. Try to be curteous, I don't control them." He signalled for guards to come over, who went through the usual bagging + cuffing protocol to bring her back downstairs

"You like your job?" she asked one of the guards on her way down. As with protocol, the guard didn't respond, placing her back in her cell and uncuffing and unbagging her, before closing and locking the door after he left.

She sighed. Back to the mundane cell for her. She'd probably catch some sleep come night-time.

Around 11 or noon, sure enough the clothes arrived; a rather dull pair of coveralls which read 'INMATE' on the back and a pair of older shoes was slid through the rack usually reserved for food "We'll be expecting your old clothes in the rack" beckoned the guard.

She sighed, taking her pajamas off and replacing them with the coveralls and putting the old shoes on. They were too big, but at this point, complaining wouldn't do anything. She tossed her clothes through the hole, not giving them much thought, before slumping back into the corner.

The old clothes were taken from the slot and presumably disposed of, leaving her with her thoughts for a couple of hours...

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