Location: Glaif Private Cemetery
Time: 5:45 PM, January 15th 2108
I was staring at an empty patch of grass. I wanted to believe there were two small sections where the grass was matted down and dead, as if two heavy objects had been resting on top of it. But it had been long enough that I couldn’t even fool myself. The grass was perfectly even, nothing was out of place.
I’d have to remember to thank the groundskeeper.
Burials aren’t common in Velstand. Well, outside of the most religious countries I don’t think burials are very common anywhere. I remember reading that in the past that wasn’t the case, but trends like that can only last so long. There just isn’t the space for it. Property in Velstand is expensive enough already. I don’t want to imagine how much it would cost to find a gravesite for everyone.
Well, I suppose there is room, just not anywhere convenient. Thanks to augmentations becoming more commonplace we’ve had generations of strife and conflict. Population numbers are lower than they were back when everyone was getting a hole in the ground. If you really wanted it, you could buy loads of cheap land outside of Velstand city limits.
But burying anyone out there would be meaningless. The vagabonds and miscreants that populate the areas surrounding the city would dig them up in hopes of finding anything of value within moments. Then they’d leave the body to rot in the sun.
Now, you’ll have to forgive me; because that was all a pointless interpolation to make it clear how out of the ordinary it is that my family has a private cemetery located by our primary residence in Velstand. It should be obvious to anyone that my family is not bereft of wealth, status, history, or noble achievements; but we are not alone in that regard. Thanks to the war there are a handful of families with similar status. Even those like the Kaldsens who dwarf us.
Yet only the Glaif family has a cemetery. We’ve never been religious, but we believe in tradition. We respect those who came before us, and will always honor their legacy. We would never abandon their beliefs because it became inconvenient, or expensive. The glorious headstones and monuments of my ancestors will never be thrown aside. And one day, mine will stand proudly alongside them.
At least, it should.
You’ll need to forgive me once again, because that was another unnecessary interpolation I planned on using to make a point. It might be normal for an average Velstand citizen to receive no grave or burial, but that is hardly the case for a Glaif.
Despite that, no matter how hard to look, you’d never find a headstone for my deceased father or older brother. Despite them passing only a few weeks ago there was nothing to remember them by. The closest thing I had was a government notification sent to my mother, informing her that they were eliminated by the ARA for unlawful augmentation use. A catchall claim used by MID to justify state sponsored murder.
They were both honorable men. They would never do anything to put this city at risk. My Brother was an aide to Ministry Director Kalder Kaldsen while my Father was the director of the Bureau of Augmented Affairs. Logically speaking there’s no way either of them would actually be guilty of unlawful augmentation use. They must have somehow gotten mixed up in some conspiracy that is bigger than the Glaif family. Or perhaps they just learned something that was not meant for their ears.
So they were killed. They were both willing to give their lives for this city, but not like that. Neither of them deserved such a meaningless fate.
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And if that wasn’t bad enough, their deaths came with an even worse punishment. They needed to be forgotten. Whether real or fabricated, unlawful augmentation use is a serious crime. The city would never allow anyone with that label to receive any kind of monument. They needed to be removed from history. That way no one could ask questions about their deaths
I tried to convince my mother to let them have gravestones, but she rejected me without a thought; simply claiming that I didn’t understand how the world worked. She even had the two unmarked slabs of stone I placed in the cemetery removed. Apparently, even that was too suggestive.
Would my younger brother even remember them? It was terrifying to think how easily such courageous men could be eliminated from history. How many headstones were missing that I didn't know about?
At some point during my pointless visit to a barren patch of grass it started raining. I had already checked the forecast, so I wasn’t particularly surprised or bothered by it. I only pointed it out because of how strangely the person watching me from a few meters away was dealing with it.
She had remained uncharacteristically quiet while waiting for a chance to start a conversation, but once the rain started picking up I could clearly hear the distinctive sound of water evaporating into steam. Tired of waiting, I turned around and finally acknowledged her.
Kathrin Kaldsen. With a self important look on her face she was standing perfectly dry in the middle of the rain. Any drop of rain that got too close to her was instantly vaporized into a small cloud of steam.
As members of the newly established ATC we’d spent a good deal of time together lately, but we’d been classmates for far longer than that. As augmented members of distinguished families we’d both been attending Evergreen Academy from the beginning, and there have been no shortage of other events attended by the both of us. I wouldn’t say that we were ever close; yet there was a mutual understanding. Despite my distaste at how my father and elder brother were treated, I would one day join MID; an organization dominated by the Kaldsen family. And with our similar ages and the fact that Karen Kaldsen was already running the one agency no Glaif would ever be placed in, it was likely that I’d eventually be serving under Kathrin as an advisor; like my brother did for Kalder. From there I would make sure she never turned into a person that would callously throw away the lives of honorable men.
“Oh, Grant? Is that you? What a coincidence, running into you here.”
Having realized that my full attention was on her, Kathrin spoke while twirling her hair.
“No, that’s a lie. You clearly came to see me.”
While the Glaif cemetery was technically private property, it wasn’t exactly uncommon for locals to walk through it; admiring the memorials to my fallen ancestors. Yet even so, Kathrin’s presence here is far too conspicuous for me to believe she just so happened to show up.
“Wah, it sure is humid today. Seems like it gets like this every time it rains.”
“No, I’m pretty sure that’s your own fault.” It was hard to take her seriously while she was surrounded by steam.
“Hot as well, wouldn’t you say?”
“It has been warm lately, but that should be expected this time of year. Once again, I feel like any moments of extreme heat are your own fault.”
“Hahaha, maybe.”
Kathrin produced an incredibly forced laugh.
Honestly speaking, I wanted to end the conversation there, but that wouldn’t have been appropriate. For her to come see me outside of class under such odd circumstances Kathrin must have had something important to talk about. Not to mention how coy she was acting.
“Kathrin, should we take this conversation inside? I will have the staff prepare us something to eat.”
“No, that won’t work. I was supposed to talk to you where no one could overhear. And it was also important for us to be somewhere that would remind you of your family that Karen eliminated.”
It didn’t come as a surprise, but Kathrin gave up on whatever act she started with. That was the first piece of good news since she showed up. Kathrin wasn’t clever enough to get her point across while also remaining aloof. It was better for her to just be completely upfront; even if what she had to say was unpleasant.
“Then tell me without any superfluousness. What are you here for?”
“How do you feel about joining up with me and the Prince from the Pacific Empire to build a better Velstand?”