Deadly Secrets

2. Panic (rewritten)

"Enough! We are done with this discussion, and if you really felt as attacked as you say, you would have listened the first time I said that!" ASEAN yelled while UN took a moment to pop an ibuprofen. China opened his mouth to retort, but ASEAN cut him off, "And as for America, we have had these very same discussions with her, she simply hasn't brought it up during a meeting in which nuclear weapons weren't a topic of discussion."

There was a moment of quiet, and I was glad I was still muted because I couldn't stop the laugh that burst forth after hearing ASEAN's statement. So nuclear weapons weren't brought up by one of the organizations? Ha! Why in the world would those two pick a fight that they were clearly going to lose like that?

A sigh brought my attention back to UN, and the anxiety that had been in my chest slammed back into me at full force. He pinched the bridge of his nose, as if trying to lessen the headache he clearly had. "Alright, it's time we discussed the only topic that is immediately important to us all at the moment."

Here it comes, I knew something was up, it was finally time to find out just what had prompted UN to send me that strange message. I straightened in my chair, leaning closer to the screen of my laptop. Out of my peripherals, I could see others doing the same, while some simply scoffed and looked onwards unbelievingly.

"A few days ago," UN began, moving his hands out of frame, likely to hide his fidgeting, "we received word of a new anti-government organization that has begun to make themselves known. They call themselves Phobos."

His words were met by quiet exclamations and unconcerned scoffs. "I don't see the problem," United Kingdom dismissed with a wave of his hand, "We've dealt with anti-government groups before. We just have to make our law enforcement aware of them and have them arrest the blokes before they can do any real damage to one of our governments."

My father's statement was met with agreements from many countries who seemed just as unconcerned as he did. I still wasn't so sure, UN wouldn't have brought it up in a meeting instead of a mass email if this group was like the morons we have brushed aside so easily in the past. Not to mention the name: Phobos, really? Like Mars' biggest moon? Or did they mean the Greek god? It was probably the latter: the Greek god of fear and panic. That was another thing that worried me, and Greece's uncomfortable expression told me they didn't like it all that much either. Anarchists we've dealt with before had simple names that labeled them as anti-government, they were unorganized and certainly never this creative. There had to be something else to it.

"That's just it," UN broke through the mutterings with exasperation and irritation leaking into his tone, "this group isn't like the anarchists we've dealt with previously. They aren't attacking our governments, somehow they know that we exist and are directly targeting us."

And just like that, the other shoe dropped. UN's words were met with complete silence, a special rarity that I was unable to enjoy. In that moment of silence, everything clicked in my head. As UN paused to take a breath, I unmuted my microphone and spoke, "Is that why Germany isn't here, UN? And why Russia looks like someone beat on 'im?"

UN seemed surprised, "Um, yes, Germany was taken from his home by Phobos a few days ago, that's why we know about this group at all-"

Before UN could finish, a cacophony of noise drowned him out. Some nations sounded worried for Germany's wellbeing, some demanded to know if he was dead, but the vast majority of the noise was from those panicking about how Phobos found out about our existence. All of the noise made it hard to think, but I didn't dare mute my computer for fear that I would miss something important. I had to admit, though, even I was getting a little panicky. If Phobos found out about our existence and discovered where Germany lived, then how many of us weren't safe in our own homes? More importantly, did they know about my states or Canada's provinces? Even if they didn't, they would certainly find out if they came for me, there's no way we can stay in this house anymore.

UN's drowned out shouts broke through the noise when EU's dark blue hand reached over to press something on his computer. Everyone except him was immediately muted, "Calm down!" he shouted, the other nations' mouths moved only for a moment before they realized they had been muted, "You can panic later, right now I need to get the facts to you and tell you the plan we have come up with to keep everyone safe for now." He took a steadying breath before continuing, "Russia, we have not received word of Phobos activity so far east, were you attacked by Phobos?" A light blue hand quickly flashed into frame, and Russia's microphone was unmuted.

Russia's expression soured, clearly having hoped the last part of my question would be ignored. Not today, Ruski. "Да, I was attacked, but if it was a kidnapping they failed badly."

"Alright," UN nodded slowly, his voice taking on a calmer demeanor, "Please tell us exactly what happened."

A grunt was all the acknowledgement Russia gave before staring at the screen and giving an irritable sigh, his crossed arms tightening. Embarrassed? Too bad, this could give us all the heads up we need to escape from Phobos one day. "I was walking to a meeting I had in Moscow, and a big, black van came up beside me. Men wearing black, eh... Защитное снаряжение-"

"Protective gear?" UN supplied Russia with the English words that had eluded him.

"Да," The blue on Russia's face turned an amusing shade of purple, "anyways, they jumped out of the van with metal bats and tried to force me inside. Needless to say, they weren't as strong as they thought." A small, predatory grin crept onto his face with his last sentence.

I attempted to say something, but remembered I was muted. An irritated grunt escaped me before I noticed the chatbox on the side of my screen and quickly typed into it.

You're not human, Russia, there is no way they could have given you that bruise with a bat.

A scowl immediately formed on the man's face. UN sounded like he was going to say something but cut himself off when his eyes flicked over to the side of his screen, his eyes narrowing consideringly. Personifications have superior strength to humans, maybe if a smaller country was talking I would believe them, but not Russia. He's one of the few nations with similar global influence as me, meaning his strength and healing factor is close to mine as well. If he had been hit with a metal bat, at the very least, the mark would have healed by now. UN seemed to understand this as well, and sent a grim look through his screen to Russia.

"Russia, is there anything else you would like to add?" UN's tone was measured, serious but lacking any true emotion.

The large, russian man scoffed, muttering some unflattering remarks that were no doubt directed at me. Finally, he looked back up from his desk, "There was something weird about the metal, alright? I don't know what it was, but the colors were... off, it released a kind of... small light, I guess."

"The bats were colorful and glowing?" UN questioned.

"I don't know!" Russia threw his hands up, his voice growing more irritated by the moment. "It's not like I got a good look. I fought them, then they ran like little children!"

Wow, so helpful. I couldn't help but facepalm.

UN did not push him any further, instead moving on with an audible strain in his voice. "Thank you for your help, Russia. Moving on, we will now discuss a safety precaution that I must insist you all follow. If all goes to plan, it will help to prevent the capture or attack of another personification." He moved a clipboard from out of frame to rest in front of his keyboard. "Starting as soon as possible, everyone will be grouped up and will have to share a house with their group until we figure out how to make Phobos a problem of the past."

I cringed, UN's text made a lot more sense now. There was no way I could leave my states to go play house with other nations, and bringing them with me was just as ridiculous. No one could know about the personification of my states, it would endanger them. Canada told the others about his provinces, but he doesn't have as many enemies as I do–I can't take that risk.