Talindarian year 4692, July 5, Valtari
Valtari, 4692, July 5. Orinoco Gold Bunker, Entry 6
Mother came back home drunk again. It's not like there's a lot to drink in the bunkers, but every now and then the bar gets a new shipment of a variety of alcoholic drinks.
To my chagrin, I was home alone, which meant Mother would have an argument with me. Okay, it isn't personal, because she does this with whichever talin is there, but I prefer when there is someone there to lessen the flow of curses and alcohol-breath.
I looked around the scantily-furnitured room and realized, like I always do in these situations, that there is nowhere to hide.
Mother walked (more like stumbled) through the door. "Va-a-altari!" she slurred. "Yo-o-ou're ho-ome?"
"Yes, mother."
Her beady eyes scanned the room and noticed I was alone. I watched her straighten up, shaking the alcohol off.
"Valtari, I know we haven't seen eye-to-eye."
"About what, mother?"
"You know I know you believe in the war."
"I don't believe in the war - I know there is a war." I'd recently read something about this - saying that you 'believe in something' means you're really much less confident - you don't say 'I believe in the sky', no, you know there is a sky. I know there is a war because there is one! Nobody can lie about something that big for so long!
"And the newswoman? Do you think she lied?"
"Yeah! I think the Vyrkoll tortured her into saying that! Or threatened her, or whatever! It's a trap, and everyone here is going right into it!"
"No, you stupid little girl! The Vyrkoll wouldn't've stopped the translation so soon! They would have made sure that everyone got the message instead of cutting it off at 'they're lying to you!'"
I crossed my arms. "Why would they do that? They needed it to sound like a real message! Otherwise, you wouldn't believe them!"
"Hah! The war's over! It has been over for a hundred years! The Vyrkoll do not hate us anymore, we do not fear the Vyrkoll. We do not need to be lied to anymore. We should be free!"
"Free? No, you'll be dead! We aren't being lied to, we're being kept safe! Mom, don't you see?"
"No, don't you see?! The government is lying to us! No, the government isn't even Talindarian anymore! The government is all made up of Vyrkoll who are doing this to us because they won!"
"That'll mean they'll kill you if you come out! They obviously don't want us out!"
"I'll just tell them that we're sorry, and that the new generation isn't going to start any wars. I'll tell them that we can go back to coexisting and it's going to be fine!"
"It isn't!" I screamed. "You're going to go out there and die and it's going to be MY fault that I didn't stop you!"
"We're going to have so much freedom out there! And if you're so scared of an imagined threat, go ahead! Rust in this bunker forever, if you so wish!"
Mother whirled around and stomped off to her bed, where she flopped down and soon began snoring.
So there, future talins and/or other species. You can see how I'm failing. I know I should tell the guards everything, but this is my family. I can't betray them...
Talindarian year 4692, July 3, Crescent Beach Bunker
"Tonight, we strike."
"Tonight?"
"I'm ready! I'm more than ready!"
"Remind me of the plan again, please?"
Tae was addressing a group of 70-or-so talins who had agreed to break out of the bunker with him. He would've waited for more, but as time went by, the talins slowly cooled down. He needed to strike while the metal was hot, and so there they were. Seventy-four talins against sixty guards.
They would need a miracle.
Talindarian year 4692, July 5, Valtari
[Continuation of Entry 5]
An hour after my mom fell asleep, my dad walked into our room.
"She's asleep? Good."
"I got yelled at." I tell him.
"Yeah, I-"
I look at him.
"I heard you two going at it. Um, yeah. Sorry. I think I'm corrupted."
It's his favorite word - 'corruption'. He'll use it in any scenario he deems even slightly describable.
"You're not corrupted, dad. You... don't enjoy getting yelled at by mom. Nobody does."
"But you're my daughter! I have to protect you. Corruption is when you don't do what you're supposed to do."
I almost sigh. I know what corruption means, especially since he says it every three seconds AND defines it half the time.
"I don't need protection! I'm old enough!"
He hangs his head, too old and tired for all of this. He and my mom had children really late in their lives: he's 83 now, and she's 89. My boisterous brothers didn't help matters, and neither did my mom and her slide into madness that began in her 60s.
I wish I was strong enough to help them. But I'm really a tiny piece of lint in their eyes - means nothing, does nothing. Unable. Helpless.
And sometimes I look in the mirror and see that piece of lint. Nothing more.
Talindarian year 4692, July 3, Tae
Miurt, Poa, and I creep through the dim halls. Guards, creaking in their rusty armor, don't even turn their heads to look at us. I skan the helmeted faces, looking for one I know I won't find.
I raise my knife, and one of the guards sinks to the floor.
One of the other guards turns, but deems nothing wrong that his friend is leaning against the wall. "Aw, you. Stand up."
The dead guard doesn't - as dead guards are prone to do - but the second guard rolls his eyes and resumes picking at the black paint on his chest-plate.
He doesn't let out a squeak, either, and we're left with one guard. He looks like he's asleep - but who knows. The problem with doing it during the night is that the guards are the tougher, smarter ones. Usually brought in from the battlefield, these were the ones who survived the fights they'd been in.
I gently lower the body into the same crouching position the first one's in. I step back, looking at my work. Their purple blood invisible in the dark halls, barely spreading due to the rags we stuffed into the gashes in their necks. They look like they're almost sleeping.
Miurt creeps towards the third guard. I can't hear a single thing, but he opens his eyes.
"Hello." He says. His tone isn't suspicious or threatening yet, but soon he'll realize that a group of talins out this late isn't the most normal thing. He'll also notice that the second guard, who just reprimanded another for sitting, is doing the same activity.
"Hi." Miurt is as cool as always. Not a muscle in her face serves as a hint that there was something else she is doing.
Poa steps deeper into the dark of the hallway, and falls. I don't realize a thing until his horns creak and spit out sparks as they scrape across the stone floor, and the guard turns.
I can see the cogs in his mind turning. It takes him half a second to grab Miurt and shove her body in front of him.
I smile as non-threateningly as I can, but it looks like he's too smart to be fooled. It's not like I'm known for being a nice, easygoing talin. No. I just had to acquire myself a reputation of being an angry talin with a past of brawls and scuffles in the corridors and mines.
"Step away from me. Go on, three steps back."
I take three steps back as Poa stands up. "Hey!" he says. "No hurting my sister!"
The guard looks at Miurt. "I'm not hurting her. Yet. I will if you don't follow your friend's example."
Poa takes a step forward, instead. "You're not a bad person, you aren't! Please, let her go!"
The guard shifts around, ignoring Miurt's protests. I realize that he's in the perfect position to choke her.
"Poa. Step back, right now!" My voice rises. "This is just a misunderstanding, Poa, but you'll make it much worse!"
The guard nods. "Tae here is absolutely correct."
A chill creeps up my spine. He knows my name. I know it isn't- isn't Dant (his name is hard to even think about), but I was absolutely sure I wasn't infamous enough to be on the watchlist for all the guards.
Poa steps back. Once he's in my range, I grab his shirt and drag him further back. "Poa." I hiss in his ear. "Quit that."
Poa presses his lips together but complies.
"Okay." says the guard. "Three more steps back and I release your sister."
I drag Poa with me until the guard decides we're far away enough.
He lets go of Miurt, which was a bad idea. She whips out her knife and plunges it into his stomach.
I watch his shoulder spikes instinctively bristle as the rings on his waist slide lower down to cover the wound. He reaches for his gamma-gun as Miurt pulls out the knife of his body.
Knife hits gamma-gun, and steel shatters. Miurt flinches away from the shards as the guard points the gun straight at her chest.
Poa screams as the guard pulls the detonate-lever.
Talindarian year 4692, July 6, Valtari
I wake up and see my grandma's face.
"Gramms..." I yawn, blinking the sleep out of my eyes. "Good morning."
"Darling. I heard you talking to Immika yesterday night?"
So grandma was right outside when it happened? And didn't help me? Talk about betrayal.
"Talking is a... bit of an understatement."
"Darling. I know you and Immi aren't of the same views sometimes."
"Yep." I try to go back to sleep. She won't let me.
"Is it my fault?"
Heeere we go again.
"Did I raise you wrong to contradict your own mother? It's my fault, isn't it! I didn't do enough for you. If you're doing something wrong it can't be your fault! It's mine, and only mine. Please, darling, Vali, let me fix it! What have I done wrong? Tell me!"
I try to stop her. "Gramma, you've done nothing wrong! Of course it's my fault. You've been the best!"
As it turns out, ineffectively. "Vali, you don't know what you're talking about. You're too young for this! Your small, impressionable mind is completely under the control of us all! And the government has taken over it!"
I bury my head in my pillow. It's going to be a looong morning.
Talindarian year 4692, July 3, Tae
The guard looks at me. Poa has collapsed, sobbing, and I'm just standing there, bluntly staring at Miurt's body.
The guard points the gamma-gun at me and I leap at him.
Here's one bit of information about gamma-guns: it takes a while to get them to shoot. It has nothing to do with the charge: it's everything about re-setting them up. Inside one of those weapons is a bunch of mirrors, shielding, and pieces that all shift around when it fires. As the guard frantically pulls the levers recocking the gun, I'm halfway there. He panics, drops the gun, and pulls out an electrocontrell.
I can see his hands shaking as he tries (fails) to calm down. I'm at his throat as the gun hits my stomach, and we die together.
July 4
An hour or so later, I wake up. Not dead. My sigh of relief is audible, but then I realize that, you know, maybe it isn't the best place to say "I've won!"
We're still inside the bunker, and we definitely have at most half an hour before the shift changes.
I check the guard. He's definitely dead, neck torn up, blood pooling around him.
Poa is nowhere to be found.
Instead, I hear the fear-inducing sound of guard-armor, clacking against the stones and quietly screeching against each other.
I try to stand up and can't. I'm still under the control of the gun, and this time, I know I'm dead.
Boots fill the hallway.
I close my eyes.
"Tae."
My heart skips a beat. It's Dant.
But that's not going to save me. Nothing will, even evidence that I didn't kill anyone here. I'm too much of a thorn in everyone's side. In the end, this is probably the fate that I should have received many years ago.
Death.