Uneasiness began to set in when a sea of white entered his peripheral vision. A week ago, the tides of change had swept up onto the shores of the United Atlantea Federation. But for the events to happen this quickly? Something was amiss.
Mandy grabbed Julia, who sat next to her in the lecture theatre. Despite attempting to keep her tone soft, the entire row could hear her obnoxiously loud voice.
“I don’t like this one bit…Who are these people?”
“Mandy, didn’t we see them while shopping on Sunday?”
“Yeah, they’re called the Swan–” Mandy tilted her head sideways. “–Sorry, I forgot.”
Julia scratched her head. “I forgot what they’re called, too.”
“Those guys are so cool! They told us that the Federation has everything under control and we should–”
Tasha noticed more heads were turning in their direction. “Mandy! Julia! Everyone can hear you.”
“Oh! Sorry!”
“My bad!”
“Good thing we have Mandy over here making this lecture less tense than it already is.” Carmelo winked at Mandy, who had already hidden her face in her hands.
“Shut up, Melo!”
“Yeah, you don’t talk to ladies like that, ok?!”
Carmelo seemed taken aback by Mandy’s words. “Ladies?! Julia-wise, I understand. But you?! You certainly weren’t acting like one the other night–”
Mandy’s face flushed red in an instant.
“I’ll keep quiet now.”
“Good.”
Tasha eyed Mandy suspiciously.
“What, Tasha?”
“That explains everything.”
“Explain what? Nothing happened between me and Carmelo.”
Tasha could not help but shrug her shoulders. “Wow, I did not say anything between you two. Why are you getting so suspicious…unless?”
Mandy looked away quickly. “Nothing happened.”
“Sure, sure, Miss Lady. I’m sure you disappearing at 3 am on a Thursday wasn’t anything suspicious, yeah?”
“Wh–stop that, Tasha!”
There was an unbearably tense silence where the sea of white standing at the front of the lecture theatre had their gaze staring forward into nothingness. The corpsmen started to arrange themselves into a row-by-column formation. The sequence where they executed the move elicited a roaring ovation from the youths. Never in their lives had they seen soldiers performing drills in living colour.
“Encore! One more time!”
The youths started applauding at the display of choreography. From the formation, one representative emerged to swiftly turn his body gracefully clockwise to face them.
“Swans, attention!”
Almost instantaneously, the corpsmen placed their hands by their side in a coordinated manner as a guest, escorted by a staff member, walked into the lecture theatre. The corpsman representative turned toward the guest, saluting him with immense vigour. The entire act felt like a drill they had rehearsed to the point it became second nature.
“Sir, good day, sir!”
Returning the salute, the guest nodded his head. He looked older, with his well-kept greyish-black hair. His unique facial features featured sapphire-blue eyes, giving him a look akin to a scholarly commander from bygone eras littered throughout history. Also, his chiselled physique hugged his well-fit uniform, causing the female citizens in attendance to blush, gasping at his masculine appearance.
“He’s pretty handsome, yeah?”
“Didn’t know you were into older guys, Tasha.”
Tasha frowned. “Come on Mandy, so it’s your turn to poke fun at me?”
“Hah, just getting back at you for earlier.”
The corpsman turned his body around, returning to the formation. “Thank you, sir! Swans, corridor formation!”
The formation split into two groups as they awaited their next orders. When the man, accompanied by the Administrator arrived at the lecture desk, both groups formed columns at opposing ends in the lecture theatre, with the corpsman representative rejoining them.
“Good day, students. Last week, the United Atlantea Federation began its journey through uncharted territories. Before I continue, please remain silent…”
The Administrator paused for the response he desired.
“...Thank you. The United Atlantea Federation has strategised and thought of our efforts to counter this threat from the Drazen Empire.”
Maintaining an emotionless, almost lifeless expression, the Administrator read word-for-word from the printed paper.
“Today, I have Commander Alexander Temporean, representing the Swan Contingent, to brief you on the United Atlantea Federation’s countermeasures. Kindly put your hands together to welcome our esteemed guest.”
Satisfied by the equipment check after beating into the microphone, Commander Alexander Temporean spoke into the microphone with a voice filled with unwavering might amplified by the A-V system. “Thank you for that warm introduction, Professor Greenspan. I am the Chief Commanding Officer of the Swan Contingent, Alexander Temporean. You may or may not have heard about me, however, I am honoured to stand before you on behalf of the contingent I lead. A pleasure to meet you all, future soldiers…of the United Atlantea Federation Armed Forces.”
“Isn’t that Commander Alexander Temporean?”
“Yes! It’s him!”
As though a celebrity had descended from the mountain of omnipotence, Commander Temporean smiled confidently at the ovation. He seemed entranced by the cult-like devotion of the youths.
“Just in case all of you are wondering, what I did earlier was known as a mic-check. With that out of the way, I would like to thank all of you, my dearest fellow citizens. Or should I say, the youthful and passionate youths of the United Atlantea Federation?” Commander Temporean spoke with a cheeky tone laced with a tinge of humour. He raised his hands like a maestro controlling the crowd’s emotions with his carefully attuned tonality. “Give yourselves a round of applause. Without you, the youths of the Federation, all of this is for nought. Carry on, don’t be shy. I promise I won’t judge any of you. That’s between you and me.”
As Commander Temporean winked, the youths started cheering and applauding.
“He is so funny and witty!”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“He is so charismatic!”
“No, this applause isn’t for me. It’s for you all.” Commander Temporean saluted the youths quickly and skillfully retrieved pieces of paper from his jacket. “From the bottom of my heart, I can only adorn this heavy uniform to serve as the defender of the United Atlantea Federation because of the citizens’ faith and trust in us.”
The projector screen began playing a screen of the Empire’s economic factors, containing a factsheet of bite-sized information. The slides presented had information about the Drazen Empire, ranging from economy to population and the various nations that unified them under one flag.
“Let me begin, shall we? The Drazen Empire was once a continent filled with various nations and has formed, or I would say, reformed a unified Empire from its glory days. Before I continue, give me a show of hands if any of you here study history diligently?”
Almost nobody raised their hands except for Neptune.
“Allow me to continue. Thirty years ago, the Singularity War changed the world drastically, ushering us in a new world order where the old establishment fell and the status quo shifted. After all, ninety per cent of the human population perished at the war’s peak. A historically dark blemish in the world’s history, as the survivors recounted.”
Commander Temporean walked away from the lecture desk with a microphone in hand.
“We, the survivors of the greatest catastrophe known to man, have a vested interest to ensure the same mistake never repeats. Since then, we have been hard at work. Those countless hours our citizens have sacrificed to rebuild our homeland. The hard labour and unfavourable conditions you all have endured fulfilling your duties. We know. We all acknowledge it. Your actions inspired us to defend our homeland with as much will as you citizens. That brings us to our enemy, the Drazen Empire–”
There was a nervous twitch in the audience.
“–Despite having a storied history as the world’s mightiest warriors, they lack one thing that we have…can you guess?”
“A vision for the future!”
“A future of peace and prosperity!”
Commander Temporean smiled at the youths, like a father proud of his children’s achievements. “Excellent. I always knew all of you would harbour these strong ideals and principles President Nicola has instilled in us via his vision. We all have a reason for our existence. The Empire refuses to look forward, blaming us for retaining the infrastructure of the North’s tragedy. Truly, what a shame. However, one fact remains. As a nation, we have never looked back since our founding. When our brave leader, President Janus Nicola, unified Atlantea."
Taking another step forward, Commander Temporean basked in the glory of having an audience of captive souls looking down upon him with intense admiration like a conductor orchestrating a musical performance.
“However, there is something that we, the United Atlantea Federation, must admit. There is a reason for the Drazen Empire’s actions. It's time for the Federation to unveil the truth after years of keeping it under wraps due to security classification reasons. And that is why I’m here today, on behalf of President Nicola."
Going off-script, the commander hesitated, unaware a youth possessing a trained eye had caught him in the act.
"It all started thirteen years ago.”
*
The sunset in the distance cast a brilliant glow as the youths had chowtime. Despite the meal consisting of a wondrous feast of roasted delicacies, many found themselves unable to eat in peace, especially after the revelation earlier. A long silence descended upon the massive table, where even chewing and the shuffling of metal cutleries touching the plates became audible.
“Hey, Carmelo.”
“What’s up?”
“Do you think…We are going to have to fight eventually?” Bray asked timidly, his plate full of chicken breast, which he couldn’t bring himself to eat.
“Stop ruining the mood, Bray.” Finn scowled as he begrudgingly pierced the lamb rack with his fork. “Just eat the damn meal and get on with it.”
Nobody liked the tense mood and hoped things returned to their simple days of not worrying. As usual, they imagined this Drazen Empire “war thingy” would pass like every other bad day. Unfortunately, this time was different. Everyone knew it. Yet…
“Yeah, stop that depressing talk, Bray.” Mandy shook her head to dismiss the negativity.
“Can’t you just let us eat in peace?” Natalia joined in, not wanting to miss the chance to say something stupid.
“Exactly, Bray. Just let it slide, man…” That goes for Dom as well.
“Yeah, Bray–Hey, what you doing–” Before Bronston could finish speaking, his words were caught in his throat as he reached his hand out–
A sudden whirlwind of emotions engulfed Bray as he slammed his hands onto the table with brute force. The chair he unknowingly stood up from fell backwards with a loud thud, catching his batchmates by surprise.
"Hey there, what's wrong with you?!"
"Watch it, asshole!"
The girls began shouting at Bray for his sudden behavioural change.
“I would appreciate it if all of you at least show some damn concern!” With all the pent-up aggression he suppressed, Bray screamed to let it all out, startling his batchmates.
“You girls have no care about anything except playing house like dumbasses!!! All you do is talk shit! This war is real! Are you guys blind or pretending like it's another joke? The Drazen Empire is not some made-up story tale-like warriors from history who take things lightly! They were serious when they said they were going to invade us! They’re coming for us! What do you not understand, huh?! The Federation lied to us! The New Atlantis Project was ultimately real! It is not a stupid conspiracy theory they disregarded for years! Didn’t you hear that they were forced to admit it happened–and they were directly responsible for the Drazen Empire’s proclamation?! We are going to fight for the mistakes of our stupid politicians!”
The ultimate truth sliced deep into their collective consciousness, stunning them momentarily, yet, it did not faze them from accepting it as gospel. Instead, they would rather reply in a manner befitting those that emphasised their feelings over rationality…
“Watch yourself, asshole! Do you think you’re a big guy with that stupid tone?!?! You think you're so smart now?” Mandy’s eyes enlarged as she retaliated with anger.
“Of course! What are you doing to do about it?!” Bray got into Mandy’s face to challenge her, the severity of his heartfelt words spurred him to embrace his courageous side–for the first time.
“...! You…you!!!” Mandy’s face turned red as she stared at Bray with intense scorn. Rather than having a civil discussion, the easier route seemed highly favourable to her. “You know something? You idiots can all die for all I care!”
She hurled her cutleries like a child throwing a tantrum, causing everyone nearby to marvel at this glorious spectacle of verbal vomit. The spectators pointed their fingers toward their table, transforming their argument into the epicentre of the night’s chowtime entertainment.
“I’m done here! Let’s go girls!” Mandy led the charge as the girls stormed out of the dining hall. Julia quickly followed suit, with Indy and Tasha closely following behind. Unlike her counterparts, Roxanne remained on the bench, bowing down before clearing the plates left behind.
“S-sorry for her behaviour! Erm, let me talk to them. I’ll catch you guys later.” Roxanne waved goodbye before departing with her hands full with plates to return them.
“Ciao, Rox.”
“See ya later, Melo.”
Unsure of the Federation’s grim fate ahead, Bray stared in the direction where the girls ran off. A part of him regretted allowing his emotions to take reign. And another–a small part of him–wanted validation for his honest thoughts.
“Did I say anything wrong?”
“It’s all good, Bray…” Carmelo patted Bray on the shoulder after that impromptu screaming competition.
“Is it wrong to tell the truth? What about the New Atlantis Project?”
“Commander Temporean said we won’t be the ones fighting. So, let’s just play it by ear. There’s nothing we can do about it.” Bronston left a passing remark as he helped himself to another round of food. It seemed he was the only one in the dining hall with an appetite after all that transpired.
“Yeah, the Swan Contingent has never lost anyway. Let them handle this then.” Bray reasoned, unknowingly permitting himself to consume the comfortable lies, regressing to the sheep-like self he detested.
The tension quickly faded as their simple minds regressed to their original state and they began their mindless banter like every other day.
“Er, so, what you guys up to this weekend?”
“Well, nothing much. Maybe go to the brothel or something?”
“Count me in. It’s so hard to get anything on here. The girls are prudes except for a couple…like Roxanne.” Carmelo winked playfully.
“Wait, you and her?”
“Yeah, bro. I’ll tell you how it went tomorrow morning.”
Eyeing the piece of overcooked chicken breast with disgust, Neptune chewed it disdainfully, using his vivid imagination to transform the lifeless meat he consumed into a gourmet course.
Would he, as a result of the Drazen Empire’s fury, end up like this unmoving piece of meat without a head? Like another consumable carcass without an identity. A lifeform reduced to its general name found in the latest state-sponsored dictionary.
Neptune’s lips curled into a bitter smile as he recalled the lunch prepared by his female batchmates. How delicious that simple meal was. Perhaps, the ultimate sign of a well-cooked meal is dedication. And maybe a light sprinkle of love.
“That’s one out of two good meals today.” When one’s life highlight revolved around food, one can guess how pathetic their existence was.
According to that spokesman, the war would never involve the citizens–if it ever happened. But could he take the words of someone of that elite calibre lightly? It sounded fabulous, but that also begs the question: why did they lie about the United Atlantea Federation’s status as the only country that survived the Singularity War? Also, why did they finally admit their fault in the New Atlantis Project?
If they could lie about this without blinking an eye, what sort of skeletons remained hidden in the United Atlantea Federation’s closet?