only under liberty
Title: only under liberty
Author: Amata le Fay
Story: Omni
Flavor(s): Peach Pie 4 (by the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty), Pomegranate 1 (explosion), Dark Chocolate 6 (disillusionment)
Toppings/Extras: None
Rating: PG13, for language
Word Count: 1,432
Notes: An exercise to try and develop a relatively new character. Please give concrit on this one; I'm really not sure if it makes sense outside my head and would appreciate feedback.
She'd never had much faith in stability because it had never been present in her life. So when a wall of the simulation in her room in the Omni faltered to reveal a screen showing the image of a man, a man who claimed he could change her life forever, it was nothing startling, at least not for long. Just another explosion. Just like the rest of her life.
“Monika Holmes, I want you to listen to me very carefully and not say a word until I'm finished. I have plans to destroy the Machine around you, and unless you want to go down with it, I need you to join me.”
She'd learned to adjust to things like this, to assess the situation as quickly as possible and apply herself accordingly. And if life had taught her one thing, it was to give up the belief that things would stay the same, because they never did.
“What do you want?”
“By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.” Cryptic, to say the least.
“I meant from me. You said you needed me. Why me?”
She'd learned to stop caring about explosions. If she didn't care, then they wouldn't hurt her. And that was the closest she could get to invulnerability.
“Miss Holmes, you know that the world is in chaos. There's a war coming, and you want to be on the right side, don't you?”
“But why do you need me?” Provoking him just enough to get the answers she needed, but not enough for him to view her as a threat.
He thought for a moment. “In order for this to work, my beliefs have to spread. You young people, this generation, you're the future. I'm spreading my beliefs to you. That, and I need people to make sure that I'm not found.”
The second part she could do without a problem. But what that man didn't know was that Monika Holmes didn't believe in anything anymore, and that was going to be his downfall.
…..
He sent her a map and opened her room door so she could navigate the tunnel system in order to get to the control room. She passed a few people along the way, people her age who were obviously members of the group. They nodded at her as she passed, recognizing her as one of their own, but she was already thinking of herself as separate. The others all looked nervous, wary, like the slightest explosion could throw them off even as they were expecting it. Monika refused to look like that.
She would get introduced to them all later: Catherine and Jonathan, Gabe and Livi, Anna and William. She connected with the latter two more than the others, though it was less of a true friendship than a bond of mutual respect. They were the only three people in the camp that could stay calm under any circumstances, though for completely different reasons. Monika was conditioned, Anna was rational, and William hid everything under a mask.
In time, their numbers grew, though Monika continued to keep her distance. Together they fought and patrolled and recruited even more members until life inside the Omni became a matter of routine. And that's when Monika knew everything was going to change.
…..
It didn't happen overnight, but it was sudden enough to throw things off-balance, at least for a little while. She supposed it had come from a gradual shift in perspective over her lifetime, from naïve to cautious to cynical to apathetic-it was only natural that the next development would be one of the cold and analytical nature. And yet...
And yet, it was hard not to be taken aback when you looked at a person and suddenly you could see all their different weak spots, all the different ways you could attack and maim and kill a person and how long it would take and what would be the most efficient course of action. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she struggled to adjust.
It had really kicked into gear when William and Thomas had gotten into an argument and started punching each other. About ten seconds into the fight, Monika had headlocked Thomas from behind and bashed his head against William's, effectively knocking both boys unconscious. She dragged William to the other side of the room and only then looked up to see everyone, even the Boss, staring at her.
“It shouldn't have been enough of a blow to cause serious brain or skull damage,” she muttered after a moment. “Possible concussions, but I wouldn't worry.”
And with that, she left the room, determined not to let any of it get to her.
…..
“By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.” William spat at the ground in contempt. “What a joke.”
It was night, one of the few times any of them were able to say what was on their minds out of the earshot of the Boss. William liked to take the opportunity to rant.
“Aside from the whole irony of using violence to achieve nonviolence-which already establishes that he doesn't practice what he preaches, making him automatically untrustworthy-he undermines his own point by saying he'd rather have liberty than the promised peace, and-”
“Shut up.” Unlike William, Monika wasn't one to deconstruct the logic of the personal motto of a man who was quite possibly a lunatic. It was wasting your breath, and your breath was a very valuable thing that could be taken away from you any time now.
“He's right, though,” said Anna. “We can't trust him. We all knew that from the beginning.”
“He needs to go.” It came out as a low, intense growl, the most emotion either of the girls had seen from William their whole time here. “I don't give a damn about what happens to the Omni, but he needs to go. For liberty's sake.”
There came a moment of silence, then Anna spoke. “Agreed.”
They both stared at Monika. She stared back at them. She'd anticipated this, of course-her life was bound to change soon. Though this wasn't exactly an explosion, it had the potential to be one, and it also had the potential to be very dangerous. For safety's sake, she picked out several weak points on both her companions in case she ever needed to turn on them.
The didn't really care about liberty, after all. She was just applying herself to the situation.
Finally, she said in the flattest tone of voice possible, “Okay. But you do realize that we're fighting for basically 'peace only under liberty'-just like him?”
William grinned like a maniac. “Just like he claims to be.”
“It's a legitimate strategy,” Anna commented. “To know your enemy, you have to become your enemy. Or at least pretend to.”
Her point was valid, but Monika just couldn't pass up the opportunity. “Still say you're being a hypocrite.”
“Hey, we don't need to be sincere, not necessarily,” William shot back. “Just effective.”
….
She'd never had much faith in stability because it had never been present in her life. So when the Omni shut down all its simulations, locked everyone inside, and began assaulting and killing innocent teenagers with death traps from their worst nightmares, it was nothing startling, at least not for long. Just another explosion. Just like the rest of her life.
“Run!” Screams sounded all around her, the screams of fearful people being tortured to death. Something inside of her twinged, some small remnant of compassion in her heart, and she briefly wished that she could still feel what they felt, if only for a moment. But she couldn't, and so she kept moving on.
She'd learned to adjust to things like this, to assess the situation as quickly as possible and apply herself accordingly. And if life had taught her one thing, it was to give up the belief that things would stay the same, because they never did.
“Do something,” Anna said.
Monika crouched beside the wreck of a corpse, straining to hear what the girl was whispering. She caught two words, but two words were enough. A moment passed as she weighed her options. She leaned forward and placed her hands on the girl's neck.
The two words had been “Kill me.” And so she did.
She'd learned to stop caring about explosions. If she didn't care, then they wouldn't hurt her. And that was the closest she could get to invulnerability.
If there was anything she needed right now, it was that.