3 years later, Frank, now 29, during those three years, he was being rehabilitated after he went "crazy" and started telling "false news" about the Q.A.F. He was kicked out of the Q.A.F and was sent to an insane asylum to be given Neurotic Therapy, which was a medical practice in which a patient's head was attached to a Mind Reader. A Mind Reader is a machine that reads the activities in a person's head and interprets them or converts them as text or visuals. Frank was now a patient "in need" of one. He spent 3 years in the asylum and then he was sent into Once he was rehabilitated enough that he could now properly think and function. He was now fully rehabilitated. He was legally allowed to leave the asylum and a car came to pick him up. He went into the car and asked the car driver why he came to pick him up. The driver answered that it was a woman named Amelia. Frank thought the name sounded familiar. He had been in the asylum for more than 3 years so it was hard for him to remember anything. The circular symbol of the Quadaric Rehabilitation Centre(Q.R.C) and the torturous conditions of the asylum still haunted Frank. Maybe he forgot his past because of the Neurotic Therapy that he was subject to. He started pondering, mesmerized by the outside world. It had changed a lot since he last saw it, perhaps for the worse. He saw the poor state that it was in. People were suffering. Yet citizens still believed that they were surviving for the right cause. Frank had also been brainwashed so he "willfully" supported the I.F.Q.S. Either way though, Frank couldn't deny that the cities had gotten worse over the years. When the car driver got to their destination, he stopped and parked the car. Frank got out and reached for his wallet. The driver stopped him.
"Don't worry. No need to pay. Also, your money is outdated. We don't use those anymore."
Frank was confused. He didn't know what to say. Then the car drove off. Leaving Frank alone in a world that was now alien to him. Frank started feeling anxious, slowly panicking. His chest started to hurt like a squeeze. Cold sweat dripped down his face. Frank was having a heart attack. He started feeling nauseous.
"Oh my god! Are you okay Frank?", a voice yelled out in a panic.
"Please help. I not feeling okay. My chest hurts. Please help!", Frank replied fraily.
The mysterious person called the emergency number and an ambulance came speeding, got Frank on a stretcher, and took off. Frank was in pain. He couldn't handle the pain. Then, he started remembering bits and pieces of his past. Including his brothers-in-arms and his family. All of this combined made Frank's situation even worse. Luckily for Frank, the ambulance got to the hospital in time. There, he was treated with medical care and so he was fine.
After that incident, a mysterious woman came to sit beside Frank who was on a hospital bed.
"Thank god you're fine Frank. I would've cried if you had died just as we met again.", the person said.
"Met again?", Frank thought to himself.
Then Frank finally recognized the voice.
"A-Amelia!?", Frank said shockingly.
"Yeah! It's me! Don't tell me you forgot. Am I really that insignificant in your life?", Amelia responded.
Frank remembered his conflicted feelings towards her. Should he tell her?
"Umm Amelia.", Frank muttered.
"What is it?", Amelia answered.
"H-How do you feel towards me?", Frank asked nervously. "Um, I feel close. Why do you ask?", Amelia responded flusteredly.
The question came out of nowhere and turned Amelia's expression to a frown giving Frank a weird look.
"Only close?", Frank said in assurance.
"What?", Amelia replied.
"I-I thought you loved me...", Frank said embarrassingly.
"Wait what-", Amelia paused.
"So you were willing to date another woman away from your family?", Amelia added.
"Wait, no, that's not what I meant by that!", Frank tried to explain.
It had seemed to Amelia that Frank was a freak.
"I-I can explain!", Frank yelled.
This certainly didn't help the situation.
"Frank! This is not how I remembered you...", Amelia said sadly.
"No wait!", Frank tried to stop Amelia from leaving but failed.
"It's a misunderstanding!", Frank yelled desperately from his hospital bed.
Amelia barged out of the room with teary eyes. She was heartbroken. She felt disgusted by someone whom she had been close to. As a friend of sorts. It wasn't very comfortable to say all that in a public hospital. Everyone outside the room had heard what they were arguing. Frank felt pathetic yet again.
"I shouldn't have survived the war.", Frank sadly thought to himself.
"I should have never returned home. I should've died with the others! I am a shameful display of mankind itself!", Frank cried.
"Why do keep messing things up? Why does this have to happen to me of all people?"
Frank was so focused on explaining himself that he didn't even realise that he saw Amelia's actual face without the armoured mask that they wore in the QLTs.
The next morning, Frank left the hospital and went to look for Amelia. He searched house by house. Yet he couldn't find Amelia. He felt guilty for not telling her that had a family sooner. As he searched, he started to lose more and more hope. Then, Frank began to lose himself in his thoughts again. It seemed that this was his coping mechanism. Pondering endlessly in his mind until someone shook him back to his senses. It was a mysterious man. He gave Frank a piece of paper with words written.
City Square at 2100 today
"Huh.", Frank thought.
The letter also had a symbol at the back.
So that evening, Frank stopped looking for Amelia and instead went to the City Square. There, he saw a suspiciously dark alleyway where a group of people waited for Frank's arrival. They were wearing masks and dark robes. He walked towards them in the alleyway. One of them handed him a piece of paper. Frank unrolled it.
"Do you know the truth about this society?", it read.
Frank unrolled it fully.
"Don't act suspicious or run."
Frank looked up at the group and saw them just staring at him. Frank felt bewildered. Then he became mad.
"I got home from war and this is the treatment I get huh?", Frank said.
"It has gotten worse."
He thought he was getting ganged up on.
"Am I getting robbed right now?!", he thought.
Then one of the people came up to him. Frank was now confused.
"Who are you people?", Frank said.
"Shh!", the person whispered.
"Let's meet again at 12th Beorgen St.."
Frank was now profoundly confused. He hardly pushed the mysterious man back. The group then left him alone after that.
"Was this a prank or what?", Frank thought.
After that weird interaction, the group left and walked away. Frank shrugged it off as some weirdos who were probably high or just a bunch of drug addicts. Most likely stoners. He realised that the security cameras were off the whole time. Maybe that wasn't a coincidence. Sometime later, Frank had fully given up on searching for Amelia and instead went to the address the mysterious person gave him. The city he was in was just too large and confusing to him. He didn't understand most of the instructions the tour guides gave him. It felt like a maze. Once he arrived at the place, he saw a regular building. The door was red. Frank opened the door. Inside was a luxurious place like a mansion. Frank was profoundly confused. Then a man walked towards him.
"Well, well, well, look who it is.", the man spoke maliciously.
"Who are you?", Frank asked.
"I have some horrible news for you Frank.", the man continued.
"What is it?", Frank asked cluelessly.
"Your poor friend Josh has unfortunately passed away in battle under my command.", the man added.
"K-Krieger!? Captain Krieger!?", Frank said shockingly.
"Yes, yes. It is me.", Capt. Krieger answered.
Frank suddenly remembered bits and parts of his time in the Q.A.F. The horrible atrocities. The countless deaths. Frank moved a step back getting ready to defend himself from Capt. Krieger.
"Time has moved far past since you were in that mental asylum.", Capt. Krieger explained viciously.
"There are now new otherworldly technological advances that are beyond our comprehension and society has become dystopian."
Frank tried to leave but the door behind him locked itself automatically.
"Oh, no need to do that Frank! I'm not going to hurt you. I want to have a chat!", Capt. Krieger persuaded.
"Fine.", Frank accepted.
"Ah, there you go. Finally, you understand!", Valen spoke suspiciously.
Frank sat down on a sofa.
"Can't you feel it, Frank? Or do you simply try not to? Are you scared that the public will judge and criticize you?"
Frank took a moment to think.
"See Frank? This is what I'm trying to explain. This senseless dystopian world isn't what I fought for! I fought for a world where no foolishness such as the state of society in today's day and age, Frank. I foolishly believed there could be a better future for all of us. I believed in the government to do the work.", Valen explained frustratedly.
"And that's where you were wrong.", Frank added.
"Yes. I foolishly trusted in the only thing that could have caused all of this madness and genocide!", Valen complained angrily.
"It was this mistake that made me realise how weak-minded we human beings as a species were. We are an embarrassment of nature!"
Frank sighed in impatience.
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"I got kicked out of the Q.A.F and they brought me to my home planet so I can revisit my hometown which is now a dying town in the countryside. I'm in an alien territory right now so what do you want?", Frank said impatiently.
"Well, my point is that, if you truly cared about making the world a better place or making your nation proud, you should consider joining our Anti-Quadaric Coalition(A.Q.C)."
Frank stood up from the sofa to leave. It was obvious that he was not believing any of this thinking that Valen was simply just mentally ill.
"Hey, hey! I-I can also help you and Amelia off of this planet to a much safer revolutionist-controlled planet! But, you must join our coalition and do a favour for me.", Valen desperately tried to persuade.
Frank stopped to think. It was a rather good offer that he simply couldn't refuse.
"If you were thinking that everything will be fine if keep on living like this, that's not going to happen. The war has drained the Q.A.F and the I.F.Q.S of resources and has completely crashed their economy to the ground. That's why the world hasn't changed a lot in over 5 decades. 'The Century Year War' is now coming to an end. Other sectors' militaries have allied up and now surround the last of Quadaric troops and planets. This city is dying too. The people are suffering but they are still believing in the propaganda. The same propaganda that had been fed to you."
Valen finally hit the nail on Frank.
"It's over for whatever your dreams and hopes during your service in the Quadaric military were," Valen spoke defiantly.
"Join us and you'll be spared of the massacre the final days of the I.F.Q.S's reign will be."
Frank finally accepted the truth.
"OK, I accept your deal. What do you want me to do?", he asked.
Valen then continued to explain to Frank the entire mission operation.
"So wait you want ME to hijack the Information Network Centre of Quadaria(I.N.C.Q) l-like the information centre that controls all news outlets of the all the planets under Quadaric control and expects me to swiftly make an escape and watch as it all plays out?", Frank asked in ridicule.
"No, no. You and a bunch of others. This operation is going to happen all across the sector so that includes other Quadaric-controlled planets!", Valen laughingly explained.
Frank was reassured by this.
"OK, I accept your deal.", Frank spoke.
"It will cause the public to rise against the I.F.Q.S for their heinous acts and a chain reaction will start ultimately leading to the fall of the Quadaric rule. The Senator of Quadaria, Asreilius R. Watson, is a good man. He has good intentions and good goals but he's been brainwashed by the I.F.Q.S so we can't expect him to do all the work. He despised the idea of anti-intellectualism! He wanted to get rid of all idiocy and all forms of it! He was a good friend... I met him a couple of times during my 30 years serving in the military and for all the medals I would receive...," Valen spoke sadly.
"He would be there to congratulate anyone who had fought bravely for their rightful nations. I was one of them but now, I'm a changed man who's seen the brutality of war!", Valen said maniacally.
"You can leave now, Frank."
Frank quickly went to leave but then he asked Valen one final question,
"What happened to my family?"
Valen sighed.
"Frank, your family is dead."
Frank was shocked.
"D-Dead?", he said in denial.
"Yes, Frank. Dead."
Tears poured out of his eyes.
"I-Impossible! How!?", he cried.
"They were hiding a revolutionist refugee. Once the inner-rim policemen found out, they executed everyone involved on the spot except for the spy who they brought in for interrogation.", Valen explained coldly.
"W-Why?! Shouldn't Quadaric citizens have to go through rehabilitation?!", Frank was in denial.
"It has been rough times these days, Frank.", Valen doubled down.
"They didn't want to waste extra resources on worthless traitors!"
Frank was devastated by this. Calling his family worthless traitors? Never in his life would he have thought he'd hear those words.
"B-But, aren't they under protection due to the contract?", Frank asked weakly.
"The contract doesn't apply to traitors.", Valen explained maliciously.
"Besides, you know what would've happened if the Quadaric Intelligence Bureau(Q.I.B) caught on don't you?"
Frank was disheartened and quickly left the building as soon as he was permitted to. The door opened and Frank went to a nearby apartment building and rented a room as it was getting dark and before the curfew began. Frank couldn't believe it! His entire family was dead! He cried while running. His life had gone full downhill. He found no purpose in life... well, all except for one, Amelia. She had always been kind and nice to Frank. Always cheering him up. That's when he realised that he loved her. Once Frank got to a flat, he rented an apartment and quickly went to sleep now depressed by the truth, he curled up into the bed in a fetal position. Maybe this was a test after all? A test of handling the truth? Perhaps that's the exact way someone unable to handle the truth would think! Either way, the loss of Frank's family would be one of the millions of families suffering in the Quadarium sector, just another unfortunate loss of life in the greater scheme of things. For someone like Frank, the idea of insignificance never came to his mind. This was more likely than not, the works of the I.F.Q.S propaganda. It became obvious to Frank how much it had influenced him. Now, he was free of it. He was free of the chains that the propaganda had tied him down for so long but now not only had he been freed from them, he had escaped the barrier of facade the I.F.Q.S had built up. Perhaps Frank should appreciate this.
The next morning, Frank searched for Amelia once again, this time full of determination and confidence. After a couple of minutes, he found her house. He rang the doorbell. He waited for Amelia to answer. After some time, he grew impatient with waiting so he tried to find a way to get inside. He went around the back trying to see if there was any way for him to get in. There was. A small window was left open presumably due to jamming. Frank quickly grabbed a metal pipe and hardly pulled the window up and used the metal pipe to stop the window from closing. Then he slid threw the window and continued his search for Amelia. He searched everywhere from the kitchen to the bedroom to the living room. Yet he found no signs of Amelia. Then, Frank started to question if this was Amelia's house. He started to panic as he might have broken into someone else's home. Then, the front door opened. Frank immediately went to hide in the bedroom closet. A mysterious person came walked in. Frank held his hand over his mouth trying to stay as quiet as possible. The mysterious person walked towards the kitchen. Footsteps echoed as deafening silence kept Frank on full alert.
"What have I done!?", Frank regretfully thought.
"I've just broken into a random person's house! What was I thinking!? Oh no... I'm a home intruder now! I'll surely be thrown in jail if I get caught!"
The homeowner was confused about why the lights were on inside the house. Fearing that a home intruder might have broken in, the homeowner quickly grabbed a knife and slowly backed away backwards to call the police. Frank was now actively panicking. He quietly got out of the closet and tried to find a way out. The phone the homeowner rang loudly scaring Frank and causing him to accidentally knock a vase over and also scaring the life out of the homeowner making them scream in fear. It was a female voice. Frank apologetically spoke up,
"Hey, hey. Don't attack! I-I'll be leaving now!"
He scrambled in panic and tried to get out the back door but he couldn't so he gave up and revealed himself. He forward towards the homeowner raising his arms as he went into the the lights.
"I-I'm sorry! I meant to break into someone else's home!", Frank explained miserably.
"Wait that sounds even worse!", Frank thought.
"I just want to get out okay? Please don't call the police. I promise I'm not going to hurt you!", Frank desperately begged.
The homeowner then came out of hiding. Pointing her knife at Frank just in case he tried to attack. Then, the woman looked carefully at Frank, inspecting him.
"Wait, Frank!?", the woman asked sounding surprised.
"Wait a minute...", Frank thought.
"I recognise that voice. I-It's Amelia!"
Frank was also surprised at this revelation.
"A-Amelia!?", he spoke.
"Yeah, It's me! Don't tell me you didn't recognise me. Also, what are you doing in my house!?", Amelia asked angrily.
"I-I was trying to umm apologise to you about what had happened yesterday. I-I truly apologise for my actions Amelia. I should have told you that I was married earlier. I-I wasn't trying to be weird or anything like that!", Frank explained stutteringly.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me."
Amelia surprisingly put the phone back down.
"I-I guess.", Amelia spoke unsurely.
"I'll forgive you for now."
Frank took a sigh of relief.
"Thank you.", Frank spoke.
"No worries.", Amelia responded.
"My service in the Q.A.F as a medic has taught me some valuable lessons, Frank."
Frank thought about that.
"You became a medic?", Frank uttered.
"Yeah, well, I've always been a medic.", Amelia answered.
"I don't remember you having a medic armband.", Frank dug even further.
"Well, I got mixed with a different platoon remember? I tried to change my job in the military but it didn't necessarily work out all too well. Capt. Krieger taught me to value what I'm good at, helping others. I've always been a good medic. I wanted to be a soldier leading the charge but I'd changed my mind. I want to help those who've fallen in battle. Staying behind and helping.", Amelia explained.
"It's rough out there Frank. Sometimes I just want to stay inside away from the outside world.", Amelia started sobbing.
"I hate it here Frank. Knowing that eventually all of this place will be taken over. It pains me to think that."
Frank brought Amelia to the living room to sit down.
"Amelia, we need to talk.", Frank sighed.
"You know, I feel guilty about not fighting alongside my brethren but here's the thing Amelia, I've found out something dangerous. Something secretive that has been happening for decades."
Amelia was now curious.
"I-I don't know how you'll handle this Amelia.", Frank explained.
"What is it Frank?", Amelia asked curiously.
"I'll get straight to the point. The I.F.Q.S are not the good people they make out to be. I have intel on all the terrible things they've done. I'm going to join the revolutionists to fight for the right cause Amelia. Do you accept my request?", Frank revealed.
"So all this time I've been fighting and fighting and fighting but it was all for nothing?", Amelia said in disbelief.
"Yes, Amelia. I thought the same too.", Frank reassured.
"All the countless, sleepless nights and all those fighting and deaths all for nothing!?", Amelia cried.
"I-I don't believe this Frank! I can't believe this!"
Frank jumped in,
"You have to believe this. The I.F.Q.S is in a losing war. We are surrounded. Sooner or later, this planet will be revolted too. Amelia, you need to understand. I don't want you to die. If the Q.A.F gets desperate, they'll draft you as a conscript along with all the other citizens. The citizens are suffering yet they blindly believe whatever the I.N.C.Q or the Q.N.N tells them. I don't want to lose you too."
Amelia was confused.
"Don't you have a family? Won't you lose them too?", she asked.
Frank took a breath,
"Amelia, my wife, my kids, everything one of them is dead. They all died when the I.F.Q.S found them of no use. This didn't happen to me, because I was out at war but this happened to everyone on my home planet. They were underdeveloped so they didn't pose much help to the Q.A.F.", Amelia was shocked.
"Th-They were all dead!?", Amelia shouted.
"Yes, and I don't want to lose you too.", Frank tried to persuade Amelia further.
"Wait when did find this out?", Amelia asked.
"Capt. Krieger told me about it.", Frank explained.
Amelia was baffled by this.
"Yes, Capt. Krieger is a part of the Anti-Quadaric Coalition(A.Q.C).", Frank added.
"He is? I didn't expect that. Mr. Krieger is quite a loyal man. He was the last person I'd expect to be a member of the revolutionists.", Amelia said baffledly.
"He's one of the leaders. A-Anyways! This is getting off track, Amelia. Just tell me, do you accept my request to join the revolutionists or not? We need to keep this conversation down as the I.F.Q.S has eyes and ears everywhere!", Frank insisted.
"Fine, I accept only because you are a part of it.", Amelia accepted.
Frank then left a note of the location and time of the meeting for Amelia and left the house. The I.F.Q.S had hidden microphones and cameras inside every house and building under Quadaric control and Amelia's house was no exception. Soon, the Q.I.B sent out intelligence agents to arrest Frank and Amelia and take them into custody for further interrogation just like they did with any other revolutionists. So Frank and Amelia had to quickly escape to a much safer place.
A few weeks had gone by, and Frank now a revolutionist member, went full undercover as didn't want to get caught by the intelligence agents or any agent for that matter as he was now a wanted criminal! The I.N.C.Q had sent out falsified or "verified" information about Frank and Amelia being revolutionists. They were to be shot on sight. Although capturing them would also be helpful. Frank attended secret meetings, sabotaging Quadaric infrastructure, and stealing classified pieces of information. Amelia started packing her things to leave for another planet in a secret revolutionist spaceship with Frank. The Q.A.F was getting more and more desperate as the coalition had predicted. They started doing an annual search of every house and building for revolutionists every week or so. They also announced that the new conscription was to happen. Since this was happening in the more Quadaric-controlled territory as some parts of Quadaria had already been liberated by revolutionists by then, most of the inner-rim defence forces were either policemen, wardens, guardsmen, or even Quadric Royal Troopers in some rougher areas. It was slowly becoming a full-blown civil war!
On the day of one meeting though, Amelia and Frank had to take a train to a revolutionist hideout. They saw many ruins of abandoned, broken, and worn down buildings and hung people. It was yet a horrible sight to bear, definitely not the best suited for the faint-hearted, and most certainly disheartening. But they couldn't turn back now. They have gone too far in. Once, they arrived at the base they took a ladder underground and were allowed in by a revolutionist guard. Capt. Krieger was there with 5 very high-ranking-looking men.
"Welcome to our hideout or HQ as we call it. Gentlemen, these are the two recruits. There are about 10 more coming,"
Capt. Krieger took a moment of silence,
"In the meantime, you two go meet the other members of the operation. It's a good time to be on good terms with them. Welcome to the A.Q.C.", he introduced.
Frank and Amelia went to the dormitory. In the dorms, Frank and Amelia met up with 7 other newly recruited members of the operation. One of which was Friedrich Jauqer, the POW who escaped from the enemy POW camp all those years ago. Frank was shocked to meet him again.
"Of all the people...", Frank remembered about Josh.
He wanted to meet him one last time but he couldn't. He'd have to arrange a special free day and devise a plan to not get arrested all just for a conversation with Josh so Frank kept it as the 2nd most important thing on his list of things to do. They would have to live in the base for a day or two until the operation started. Frank now was worried if they'd fail or not. Amelia reassured him. It seems that Frank and Amelia had bonded well beyond friendship. He'll have to see if this relationship lasts for long.