Endless War (Complete)

Chapter 1 "The War"

The War

As I watch the required history programing for my last official day of schooling I see the stunning beauty this world once held. Endless fields of grain have been replaced with expansive desserts, and mountains once covered in thriving forests are now a towering rock facade. Thriving cities have been covered by expansive domes to replace their atmosphere, depleted by the declining state of our world.

The cause of the decline, 200 years ago we were invaded from above, The Fallen settled our world against our will. These creatures became a drain on our resources, then war ensued to claim back our world, a seemingly endless war. I will have to face that reality tomorrow, when I earn my citizenship by facing our enemy. Though we share our world with these creatures, I have never seen one. Not only do our domes provide an atmosphere capable of sustaining life, but they keep us safe from our enemy.

My mother interrupts my studies, "Shouldn't you be finished watching your programing by now." I close my eyes and refocus on the present.

"Sorry, I got caught up in thinking about the fallen, I had to struggle a little to come back from the chip." I turn my head and look back at my mother and smile.

She walks over to me and quickly brushes the hair off of my neck, opening my cerebral port. She sighs, "looks good". She is always worried that the tech will overheat and burn out my brain. She closes the port with an audible click, "Your fathers killed him. I know you just rolled your eyes at me, but there was no other cause of death."

She continues talking but I have heard it all before. She said that dad was too interested in the Tutelary, they saved us, they were the ones who put up the domes that keep us safe. My father thought there was something else going on, something with the programing of our chips.

I don't know what to think about it, why would they save us and provide us with tech to teach us, just to betray us? Tomorrow I turn eighteen and get a new chip, it will teach me all I need to know about warfare. That education will keep me safe as I take part in cleansing this world of The Fallen. I don't understand why my mother thinks the way she does.

"Don't worry about your mother, she is only human after all. I can assure you that your fathers death was due to a heart attack. You know that. The only reason there is ever a death in this world is because they die before we can save them." I sigh, as Therapist is projected through my own eyes and into my auditory receptors. Yet another benefit of the chip, an on board phycological imaginary friend that grows up with you, because the Tutelary cares about our mental health.

I find myself at conflict with my own mind, I want to believe my mother but at the same time, Therapist has been here for me since childhood. She has been my only friend for 18 years. I attended school and even learned how to interact with others my own age, yet I never met anyone my age. My mother let me out to play on our rooftop lawn where I could see other children playing but I could never touch them or even speak to them.

I saw children all around me in our microchip classroom but we were never able to interact. They told us that it is to dangerous with bullies developing during childhood and peer pressure pushing some to kill themselves. Now that every family is only allowed to have one child they do everything in their power to keep us safe.

I chuckle darkly to myself, yeah they keep us safe by sending us out to war. They tell me that there is nothing for me to worry about, everyone comes back now.

"With our advancements in weaponry and tactical skills, it is rare for someone not to come back." Therapist chimes in.

I suppose that before my father died he and Mom both did their two years and both of them came back fine so there is nothing to worry about. Right?