Today's shift was hard. Your commander had you searching the marketplace for signs of "Collective propaganda". You've always had strong feelings about the Collective:
[[They're a dangerous subculture. (adversarial)]]
[[They hold the moral high ground. (sympathetic)]]There's been a heated back-and-forth between the RAI and the SOC for the last two sessions, all to do with the Collective. SOC believes that they are simply advocating for a traditional lifestyle, but RAI see them as dangerous terrorists. Your stance:
[[We have to do something to stop them. (adversarial)]]
[[You'd never say it publicly, but they have a point. (sympathetic)]]The marketplace is surrounded by the Collective's influence. Their trading network is pervasive, with some doing business on the open market.
[[Their underground network is destroying our economy. (adversarial)]]
[[I procure goods from them on occasion. (sympathetic)]]You get on the train, and think about the day ahead. Today, you've been tasked with one of the Collective's former strongholds, an abandoned subway station on the edge of Letafort.
[[They always leave a mess for me to clean up. (adversarial)]]
[[It breaks my heart to destroy their work. (sympathetic)]]TO BE CONTINUEDTO BE CONTINUEDYou don't realize you're asleep until a knock at the door wakes you up. You must have dozed off on the couch. You glance at the clock. It's after 21:00. Didn't realize I was that tired... you think.
Whoever's at the door knocks again.
Were you expecting a visitor?
[[No.]]
You stand and creep across the room to the door, taking care to avoid a few notoriously creaky floorboards. You straighten up to peer through the peephole, and see[[Lily.]]She raises her hand to knock again but before she does you pull the door open.
"What are you doing out this late?"
You grab her arm and pull her inside.
"Relax, I wanted to check on you and you weren't answering."
You look down at your wrist and see 6 missed messages from her.
"Sorry. I fell asleep right after work."
"Yeah, that's why I was worried. I know your train home goes right by the gates."
"And?"
"You didn't get stopped by the protest?"
[[You lie.]]You think of an answer quickly. "Actually no, I left early today. Had to take Mom to an appointment."
"Why didn't she ask me to take her?"
"Well, you haven't been that dependable as of late."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She crosses her arms.
You roll your eyes. "Disappearing for weeks at a time, strange new friends hanging around, new tattoos," you point at her shoulder.
She pulls her zip-up back up to cover it. "Whatever. It's not like I wouldn't drop everything for you or Mom if you needed anything."
"i'm just saying. Those people can be dangerous. Especially if you end up in the wrong places. Like that protest today."
Lily averts her eyes. You can tell that she wanted to be there.
"You should stay away from stuff like that. It's dangerous."
"Whatever. I'm grown now, I make my own decisions."
As if she needed to be grown to do that. Lily had been impossible to control ever since she was young. She had an adventurous spirit, and was never afraid. That, plus a single mom that was always working, was a recipe for a rebel.
"I gotta get back to sleep. Another long day tomorrow."
"See you on Saturday?" she looks up at you in anticipation.
[["We'll see."]]
After your sister leaves, you settle back down on the couch. You pull up the broadcast on your watch, set it on the table and magnify the display so it takes up your whole vision.
3 dead after the Collective riot in downtown Aiatabi
<img src=https://longtermduskglimpses.neocities.org/story/newsanchor.png>
The AI news anchor tells you about the casualties, the effect the incident will have on tomorrow's commute, and assures you that no one you know was injured.
Her voice lulls you to sleep.
...
[[You dream about the man you saw with his face smashed in.]]
...
You awake to your alarm. You make a quick meal, and then head to the train station. You've got a busy day ahead of you on the assembly line.
The train is almost completely empty. You're sure that people are scared of taking it now after yesterday's attack. Luckily for you, however, as your commute is quiet.
<img src=https://longtermduskglimpses.neocities.org/story/gates.png>
You pull up to the front gate. They've beefed up the security.
You approach, and hold your hand up to scan on the pad by the entrance.
"ID?" The first guard asks.
"Bios aren't good enough anymore?" you ask.
Another one shakes his head. "It's not for entry. We're investigating potential connections to the Collective. We really aren't sure how yesterday's events happened, and the Assembly is investigating it as a domestic terror incident." He holds out his hand.
[[Give him your ID.]]You hand it over and he scans it, and gives it back. "Have a nice day."
Inside, everyone is huddled around, whispering to each other.
You overhear one of them.
"It was shocking to see them make it that far."
You think to yourself:
[[They will lead to the end of our ways. (adversarial)]]
[[I wish I could join them. (sympathetic)]]The Collective's protests reached all the way inside Voltaya's gates for the first time yesterday.