Shifty

Chapter 11

"Adjamia. A small overlooked country between Antarctica and New Zealand. Originally discovered by an American explorer in 1836, he announced it to be American land after a nation that never colonised it."

"Then who the hell colonised this son of a bitch?" Bad habits die hard I guess, "poor language" will always be a phrase to describe Amba I guess.

"Good Question" Vanessa speaks with the air of authority and poise that one might expect from a school teacher. I wonder whether, in a different time, a different place if that would have been her chosen path. "So, the Hawaiian Islands belong to America right?" She doesn't wait for an answer before continuing her explanation. "One of the more easterly islands had a large volcano that was not dormant, it could've exploded at any moment. These Hawaiian people were smart, god knows how they did it but they all made their way over to Adjamia and colonised the area. Boom."

"So where did all this 'anger' come from?" I asked.

"Yeah what made them want to fricken kill us?" added Will.

"Well, upon finding out that a part of their nation had essentially taken over forbidden land, America and its allies devised a series of plans to release diseases on the country in order to reclaim the land without damaging it. Great idea in theory though I don't think they ever anticipated that the adjamians had medical technology advanced enough to obliterate the disease and an arsenal that was on hand and ready to be aimed. Pearl Harbour was not bombed by the Japanese navy. It was a framed attack, an act of revenge blamed on the Japanese nation." At the scene of awed faces looking at her Vanessa smirked obviously proud of her explanation.

"Wow" said Caspar in astonishment, absolutely engrossed in the knowledge he had accumulated.

"What made them attack Australia then? What are they doing with the people they capture? What do they look like? Is it an army or an institution they run? How do you know my brother?" I fire the questions at her, increasing my voice level and intensity with each one for however many explanations she can give me, nothing will ever clear the big crappy mess our country now is.

"Woah one question at a time mi amigo" said Vanessa flicking her hair over one shoulder. There that explained it I thought, the curling dark hair and olive toned skin not unlike my own, Spanish heritage.

"Well let me ask then, why did they unleash their fury on Australia?" questioned Will with a curious expression on his face.

"To get back at America, their forces were too strong to get through. They did wait before breaching our borders though, it's a wonder all this didn't come about earlier really. I personally think it was because they needed time to build up both their population and formulate more weaponry because really, what small undetected island could be able to decimate and essentially take over a country as large as ours? I think also they were sort of waiting for the opportunity to strike, the advances in the Afghanistan war distracted the government from looking after and defending our own country best. Perfect opportunity, they slunk in and you know the rest." Vanessa shrugged as if another country taking over our own was something she faced in everyday life.

"Question number 3 Princess, start talking" said Amba in her signature snotty voice, she placed her hands on her hips as she pushed her right side out further.

"They call it 'reshapement'. Though not painful, it is a form of torture. The Adjamians don't kill people I guess after living on a small island where there was nothing ever left to waste, killing is not a part of their culture. It starts out as one week in solitary confinement, no interaction only people sliding food under the door and no objects to look at or interact with, just 4 white walls, no bed, no windows and no excitement. This, in their logic cleanses the brain and provides a prime base for new information. But as ineffective as it sounds, being alone for that long it-it does something to a person. It's brutal, you wouldn't understand unless you went through it yourself. You don't talk to anyone, nothing to look at, it leaves space for your mind to wander with no distractions you have nothing to keep you occupied. Your mind rampages through your life, it leaves so much time to think, regret decisions and come up with so many what-if situations." Vanessa look up, to my surprise her eyes were brimmed with tears, sticking wilfully to their ledge, on the verge of spilling over her lashes. I moved to comfort her but as she saw me she messily wiped away her emotions and moved slightly to the left, away from me. I brought back my hands and stepped back, rejected. "Anyway, that is supposed to create a clean slate for their ways to be brought into their minds. They continually flood the mind with what they would like their ideal nation to believe, propaganda mostly that conveys the good things 'they' have done together as a nation which they are taught to believe they are a part of. The only thing is, they leave out the bad parts, them taking over our country namely." Everyone's eyes have widened by this point, the fact that they had so easily taken over our country seems to have left them in wonder. Everyone except me it seems, the whole story of cleansing the brain making it susceptible to new (fake) information doesn't seem very believable. I could not believe, Brooks especially being convinced into another person's views, even after mental turmoil.

"I don't believe you, that can't be all it takes". All eyes in the room except Amity look at me surprised, even Will and Caspar who had been discussing their new knowledge stopped talking.

"What do you mean?" says Vanessa narrowing her eyes at me accusingly. "Do you not believe me?"

"No, I just don't think you're telling us everything".

"What else do you want to know then una curiosa?" said Vanessa with a laugh.

"Well first of all I want a translation for whatever you just called me. Second of all I want to know what else these Adjamians give us to make us believe their ways, how you know so much about all of this, how you know my brother and where the hell is he?"

"Well una curiosa that is for me to know and for you to find out. I told you everything I know about the reshapement process, I was there at the reshapement camp up until stage 2, even I don't know what stage 3 entails, which answers the next two questions and last of all I guess is pretty obvious now but Lexi your brother was caught and is now at our nearest reshapement camp."