jinwoo
ALL DAY, Yoon has been talking to everyone in the Alliance base about what he knows.
So far, he knows that a war is coming, and it's coming soon, but he doesn't know exactly when. He knows that the Malums are leading the attacks, but countless other Nocturas are going to join. He also knows that we, the Alliance, are going to have to play a very important role in this war.
And now we're trying to figure out what, exactly, that role is.
We're sitting in the dining hall, multiple tables stacked together and chairs surrounding those tables, so we can all speak with each other. There are humans and Nocturas both here. There are people who work at this base and people who are staying here.
And then there's the Alliance leader, Minho, and me.
"We fight for Nocturas," Yoon is saying. "But we don't kill humans, unless it is absolutely necessary. We also don't support the gangs, like the Malums. That means... this war is going to be difficult for us."
"Do we have to pick a side?" A woman, a Noctura, asks. "Can we not just go up against everyone?"
"What about just not fighting?" A man, a human, suggests. "Why do we have to choose a side and fight in this war? We can just sit this one out."
"Unfortunately, if we do nothing, then change will not happen," Yoon responds. "We need to do this. Not everyone, of course. If you do not want to participate in this war then there is no need for you to. But those who do want to participate, please, we're going to need you."
"We should fight for the humans."
We all look over at Minho, sitting next to me on my left.
"Why?" Yoon questions.
"Yes, they hate Nocturas, but I understand why," Minho explains. "We kill their people just to survive. It would make sense that they would want us to stop. But the Malums and all the other Noctura gangs are killing for fun. They're making things worse for the Nocturas who want to get along with the humans. If we side with the Nocturas, we're not siding with all Nocturas, really, we're only siding with the gangs. And I don't think that's the right thing to do."
"I agree." I speak up. "The humans... I think what they're doing is not wrong, but it's not entirely right either. Still, they're just doing what they believe they need to do because they want to keep their people safe. Isn't that all anyone wants to do? We just want to keep ourselves and those close to us safe. Nocturas directly put humans in danger."
"It's not our fault, though," a Noctura man says. "We didn't ask to be born this way. The humans are killing Nocturas because we are different from them. They're not trying to help us be different or anything. They just resort to killing."
"I say we just fight both the humans and the Noctura gangs," the Noctura woman who spoke earlier says. "That way it shows that we are not for the humans killing Nocturas, but we are also not for Nocturas insensibly killing humans."
People around the table begin murmuring.
"If we fight both, it may show that," Minho responds carefully, quieting everyone. "But where will we get with that? We don't have a large army. If we fought with the humans, maybe it would give us a chance to show that we don't hate them and we don't want to kill them. Maybe it would open their eyes just a little bit."
"Their eyes are never going to be open. They want all Nocturas dead." The Noctura man says.
"Not all humans do." Minho shakes his head.
"I wanted your opinions," Yoon says suddenly, addressing everyone at the table. "But I already made my decision before I even called for this meeting. I see that there will be many people who do not want to fight, people who want to fight for the gangs, people who want to fight both sides, and people who want to fight for the humans. And that is completely your decision to make. But I just want everyone to think about what the Alliance is, what it stands for."
Everyone is silent as Yoon is speaking and letting us mull over his words.
"The Alliance was created to show humans and Nocturas that both of us can get along. That there are alternative ways to solving this problem than killing. The Alliance is literally an alliance between humans and Nocturas. If we fight against the humans, we are breaking the promise of what the Alliance was created to be. We are not for insensibly killing humans. We are not for insensibly killing Nocturas either, but we understand why people do it. We know there is a better solution out there, and we're working on that solution. Actually, I've heard reports from the Alliance labs that we are close to perfecting our solution."
"What solution?" A woman asks.
Yoon takes a deep breath. "There are underground labs that no one but the Alliance knows about. We started research around the same time the Alliance was created. In those labs, we are trying to do everything we can to extract life essence from plants or animals and change its molecular structure so that Nocturas can ingest and feed from that, instead of humans."
The table is silent.
"That's... that's amazing," a man whispers.
Yoon nods. "We've been able to extract the life essence, and we're now working on changing the structure of the essence so Nocturas can eat it. Once we do that, we just have to mass produce it and give it to Nocturas. We're so close to being able to do this. Our scientists are racing to figure this out as fast as they can, but I don't think it'll be done before this war starts. If we fight with the humans, against the Noctura gangs, I think it will form a small bit of trust between us and the humans, especially the AAN. And once we complete the life essence research and get an alternative food source for Nocturas, Nocturas won't have to kill humans anymore. And humans will not need to kill Nocturas."
"That sounds really great," the Noctura man says. "That sounds amazing, yes. But when we go into this war and start fighting, the humans are going to kill us. That's just the facts. They're not going to see that we're fighting with them, they're going to see that we're Nocturas and we need to be killed."
"I think we let the war start," Yoon explains. "And once it starts, we join the humans. We kill the members of the Noctura gangs alongside the humans and show them that we're on their side, we're here to fight with them. This war is going to be a very difficult one for the humans to win, so I think they'll take any help they can get. At least until the war is over. And once the war is over, I'm hoping that we'll have our new life essence for Nocturas to eat and we can truly form a nationwide Alliance between humans and Nocturas."
The people around the table fall silent once again.
I agree with Yoon. I think we should fight for the humans. It seems like the most right thing to do. We can't fight with the gangs, because they kill humans just because they want to. The humans kill Nocturas because they are trying to help themselves and their species survive.
If we could really get the life essence from plants and animals and change it so Nocturas could it eat...
That would be a miracle for this world.
"I'm in," I say suddenly. "I want to fight with the Alliance. I want to fight with the humans."
People around the table begin nodding.
"I'm with the Alliance," Minho says.
"I am, too."
"Me, too."
"I fight for the Alliance."
Everyone around the table is nodding.
Yoon gives everyone a smile. "Then it's settled. I'll contact the other Alliance base. Begin recruiting anyone you think would help us. Contact everyone you know, human and Noctura. Don't be afraid to take risks. This war is coming soon. We'll need any help we can get."
Everyone nods and thanks Yoon. Then they all start heading away, going off to either plan or recruit people or sleep.
I turn to Minho, wondering what he's going to do.
"Do you have anyone in mind to ask for help?" I ask him.
Yoon stands up, but stays near us, listening to Minho's answer.
"I have an idea," Minho says quietly. "But it's going to be risky. And we're gonna have to leave the base."
I glance back at Yoon before looking over at Minho.
"Okay, I'm in. When are we leaving?"
"Right now." Minho gives a slight grin. "Are you ready?"