by Roy Anthony
"I know what you are. You're one of those humans." Jarmu said and paused to examine Aris before he continued. "And do you know what I am? I am an Activist."
Aris tried not to show any emotion at the news, and he continued to play his role as a Sap. But in his mind, he was terrified because he didn't know if the Damurian was telling the truth or not. Aris wondered if they tried this tactic on numerous other Saps to see if they were humans?
"I knew you wasn't a Sap by the way you tasted. If your blood is mixed with the others, no one could tell, but if someone tastes your blood alone, then they will be able to taste the difference. But it's still savoring. If I keep you locked up, others will get suspicious, so I have to let you out, but you must continue playing as a Sap. Okay?"
Aris still did not respond and kept up his role as just another Sap, so Aris slowly came forward and grunted at the bucket of slop.
"Yea, you'll get it, but I need you to know, that if you stay low and don't draw any attention to yourself, maybe I could get you out of here, and to your home," Jarmu said.
Aris tried his best to hide his emotions at this information. He thought his eyes betrayed him when they quickly widened, showing his excitement for the news.
The Damurian seemed mad at first, because of the lack of reaction of Aris. Jarmu quickly covered his expression with a cryptic smirk, and dropped a tablet in the bucket of the slop and stirred it around in the bucket.
After a while, the aroma that the slop usually gave off begun to intensify by ten. Aris couldn't wait to eat the slop. His senses took over his mind, and all he could think of was consuming the slop.
"But, I need you to tell me who you were supposed to meet on Crimson, so I can notify them where you are. Us Activists, we don't know everyone who is an Activist because of the fear of our government hunting us all down and killing us. But I know you were supposed to meet up with an Activist and you didn't have a chance to meet up with that Activist member, because you are here instead of with them. So I need you to tell me the name of that Activist member you were supposed to make contact with, so I can report your whereabouts to them. And soon get you out of here. Get you home to your family. With your own kind." Jarmu smiled as he said this.
Aris did not know what to do. He did not know if it was safe to blow his cover in front of Jarmu, so he said nothing.
But the smell of the bucket of slop that was in front of him had become more potent. The smell was so strong that it caused Aris to salivate from his mouth.
Jarmu slightly nudged it closer to Aris, but still out of reach.
"M, Ma, Mar, Marumaru." Aris lowly and slowly said in a muffled tone.
Jarmu slowly stood up and moved the bucket of slop with his foot. Aris began to get worried that he had lied about everything, and Jarmu was going to slaughter him.
Jarmu slowly opened the cage, and Aris quickly bolted over to the slop and promptly started to eat from the bucket. Jarmu petted the head of Aris as he ate.
Chapter 19
“Bolt, please pick up. I need you.” Quora said to herself as she waited for Bolt to answer her message, once again.
Quora was stressed out, and she was unaware of the Palox dust that glistened on her head and on her clothes.
Quora was exhausted from searching for Aris. A civilized being could not witness the destruction of a species that looked so similar to its own without going mad. She wanted to give up, but she thought of Aris trapped somewhere on Crimson, or worse, what if Aris was in one of these factories.
Her hands grasped her own head to stop the images of the Sapthians that wouldn’t leave her mind. She couldn’t get them out.
With deep concentration, she found a way to make the images leave, but just as quick as they would disappear, they would just as quickly reappear.
Light from her messenger blinked and vibrated. It was Bolt. Quora quickly pressed the button on her messenger, and the holographic version of Bolt appeared in her room. She hoped he had some good news for her, but either way, she just needed someone to talk to.
“Quora, what is wrong? What happened?” Bolt said as he watched Quora with her hands on her head.
“We failed. We fucking failed.” Quora said in a depressed tone. “As Journalists, we failed our planets. How could something like this get approved without being reported about?”
Bolt tried to caress the head of Quora as she sulked with her hands, almost violently griping her head, but his holographic hand just went through her.
“Quora I, I wish I had better news for you, but I talked to my powerful friend, and she denied my favor.” Bolt explained. “There’s politics at play here. A powerful planet wants Crimson in the GC.” Bolt sat down in his captain chair.
Her head quickly rose up, and she intriguingly looked at Bolt. “Which planet?” She quickly asked.
“She didn’t say exactly.” Bolt observed Quora and her expression and anticipated her next question. “And nor would she say. She’s a seasoned Galactic politician. She knows what to say and what not to say.”
“Bolt I, don’t know.” Quora stood up and paced around the room. “I need you. Not just me, the future of our species needs you. They must be investigated thoroughly. I know they could not pass a thorough investigation.” She saw the reluctance in the facial expression of Bolt.
She knew he was devoted to his career. He would be reluctant to put his career in jeopardy for the sake of Journalism. The same profession that kicked him out and told him he wasn’t good enough, but she wanted to make him see her point of view.
Quora opened her files on a virtual screen and displayed new pictures to show Bolt.
His eyes widened in horror, and his jaw dropped. “It’s like looking at a human farm. This is grotesque.” He said.
“What if I send you the files and you find someone to give them to the public?” Quora asked.
“Quora, you know, whistleblowing is a possible death sentence, and they can still trace the pictures back to you. And that goes against GC law. Before you make anything public, you have to display the information to the GC. They can, and have exiled and demonized Universal Journalists for committing these actions. That’s what you want? To be exiled on some backward planet, where civility doesn’t exist? You would get killed on these planets.”
“Then how are we supposed to get this to our citizens? I see now, what Aris saw, these Journalistic limitations were put in place to give the GC time to run propaganda pieces before our reports are published. To soften the blow to our citizens.” Quora said with passion.
“Quora, if you do this, you are coping out. You know they will punish and ruin your career, and you will be free of MEANINGFUL Journalism, as a Universal Journalist. You will be just like Aris.”
“Aris chose to go deeper into Journalism!”
“Because he knew he would end up dead, and he wouldn’t have to fight anymore!” The two become quiet, but Bolt tried to settle things down. “Look, Quora, you know I care about you, and I want you to continue fighting. Because the universe needs honest people, like you and me, in strong positions, to make real change in the universe and to instill justice. I need you.”
Even though she knew what Bolt said was bullshit, for some reason, his words calmed her. She knew the system was so corrupt that she couldn’t change it alone.
Quora slumped back in her chair, and she was about to tell Bolt to explain to her the options she had in this situation, but Bolt interrupted her.
“Look, I will talk with my friend again. I will plead and bargain with her. I will get more information from her about our Crimson situation.” Bolt reiterated.
She didn’t know what good it would do, but she said. “Ok. I will continue searching for Aris in these godforsaken factories.” Quora took off her jacket and shook off the Palox that covered it. Purple dust went flying everywhere in her room.
“What is that shiny stuff?” Bolt asked.
“Oh, it’s palox. Some fungus that grows on this planet like wildfire. It’s
everywhere.”
Bolt looked closely at the dust. For some reason, it reminded him of something. As if he had seen it before. “Palox, huh.”
“Have you seen it before?” Quora asked.
“I, I’m not sure exactly. But let me go. I will put my friend’s feet to the fire on this issue and report back to you.”
“Thank you, Bolt.”
She nodded her head, and he did the same, and Bolt blinked out of existence.
Chapter 20
The sun of Crimson was so dim that one could stare at it without any eye protection, and see it clearly.
Marumaru stared at the sun as she waited for a young Activist recruit to arrive. The rookie was supposed to be accompanied by a friend who aspired to join the Activist movement. Marumaru wanted to examine the newcomer, and give them the assignment of searching for the missing human. Marumaru only knew the young rookie, and she had not met his friend yet. This was a dangerous risk Marumaru was taking by reaching out to a new member. She didn't know if she could trust them. Matters like this typically wouldn't be handled by her, but the government had executed most of her Activist affiliates, so Marumaru was now the highest-ranking member. She had no one to delegate orders for her, so she had to do them herself. She felt obligated to keep the Activist movement alive, no matter if it cost her, her life.
She tried to be cautious because the Crimson government would commonly use spies to infiltrate the Activist movement. She was afraid the rookie wouldn't be able to detect it. But Marumaru also needed more Activist members, so she decided to take the risk.
She knew that one would always meet secret-Activist members within society. Most members were secret-Activists because one could be instantly killed by the Crimson government if they were just accused of being an Activist. So, just like Marumaru, most Activists played their roles within the corrupt planetary government and secretly tried to destroy it from the inside.
The young Activist recruit approached her, he was a factory worker. "You're early." He said.
"I thought there was gonna be two of you?" Marumaru asked as she suspiciously looked around.
"Yea, it was, but I just got word that he wants us to go to his farm. He said he feels safer there." The worker said.
Marumaru grew suspicious, but with the stoic expression that was glued onto her face, she did not express her skepticism to the worker. She did not know what he knew. "What is this worker's name?" She asked.
"Jarmu. This is unusual for him because he was so eager some weeks ago, but I trust him. He's loyal to the cause. This is a big jump for some. He's probably just a little scared."
She stared at the worker as if he was an idiot or as if he thought she was an idiot. The longer she looked into his eyes, she could tell that he was just stupid and naive, and he had no idea what was going on. Marumaru had been an Activist for too long and had met numerous new recruits, and the ones that got caught and killed by the government had the same naiveness that this young recruit had written on his face. "When was the last time you saw this Jarmu, face to face?"
The worker began to think as he looked around the facility as if to search for an answer.
"It's been weeks."
Usually, she would have killed the recruit to save the Activist movement, so others wouldn't get caught by his stupidity, but there was nothing more to save.
Marumaru then did something she had not done in years, she smiled. "No need for him, I'm here on business anyway. I'm here to inspect this farm. If some officers come looking for me, that's what you tell them…" She began to walk to the back of the factory towards where the Saps were. "Walk with me." She said to the rookie.
The two slowly walked out of the factory and onto the large farm amongst the Saps.
"Why did you become an Activist?"
"I really wanted to do what's right, and make our planet better for our future generation. We don't have a bright future with our current government. Our government is run on an ancient-outdated religion that is filled with corruption. And they undermine and destroy any idea that does not benefit their hierarchy, no matter how good the idea is. If our government would have listened to the first Activists, there is no telling how scientifically and technologically advanced we would be now. And we wouldn't have to rely on these poor Sapthians for sustenance. Science would have already provided us with an alternative. I just want to fight the corruption—" The young Activist said.
Marumaru scoffed at the young Activist, interrupting his speech. "I just remembered all the Activists that uttered the same words you just said, and they're all gone, dead. We lose. We got exterminated in front of the entire planet without anyone seeing it. It was a thing of beauty. When we started this war as Activists, we believed we were on the right side. We wholeheartedly believed in our cause. We believed if we fought for what was right, that RIGHTEOUSNESS would always prevail at the end. But we were wrong. I fought from the inside this whole time. I even had to kill other Activist members in front of government officials. So I could keep my cover from being revealed because I thought the righteous would prevail when it was all said and done. I thought the Activists I killed would become martyrs when we won the war. But all was for nothing. Maybe this world was not what I thought it was... With the truth, we knew about the Sapthians and our species, we believed we had to get the truth out to the public. And once they heard the truth, the masses would revolt against the lies they were told. But we didn't know the masses wanted the lies or didn't care about them. They wanted to continue living a lie because it was safe, and they didn't want to change their daily lives. They were afraid of TRUE change. You know I once witness a colleague skin an adult Sapthian alive as they sucked the blood from his skinless body. It was just for fun. After all that I have seen, I am still surprised at the creative things we do with the blood of the Sapthian. Some mix it with Sapthian male semen as an aphrodisiac." Marumaru lightly chuckled and petted a Sapthian that walked by her. "Our dreams of a better planet never made it to reality. That's how life works, it all starts with a dream, some of our dreams materialize into our physical world, and others stay in our minds, never seeing the light of day. I guess that's how one could measure true power, how much of one's dreams could enter into our reality. Our movement is over. We're powerless."
The young Activist was speechless. He looked at Marumaru with a confused look. "What are we to do then?"
"There is no 'we' anymore. You have two options, save yourself and abandon the cause, like it seems your friend Jarmu has done, or stay an Activist and die with the cause."
"What will you do?" The recruit depressingly asked.
She gave thought to the question before she answered. "I've been fighting for what, I thought, was right my entire life. But now I have to realize it's all over. I'm all fought out. If you want to take the fight in your own hands, be my guess, but if you want to retreat back into society and do what our government says, I won't blame you. Your secret is safe with me."
Marumaru checked the time as the worker suspiciously observed her. Marumaru could tell the young recruit was trying to make sense of what she said, but she didn't feel like explaining it any further. It was up to him to figure it out on his own.
"I must go."
Marumaru was walking away, but the worker stopped her.
"But we can't give up. We have to keep fighting."
She smiled at the new recruit, once again. He wasn't the brightest, but he was young and ambitious, full of energy, life, and optimism. In his eyes, she saw that he didn't get that the fight was really over.
Marumaru threw him a veil of a green solution. "If you want to go out with a bang, put that in the Saps slop. That's all I can do for you."
Marumaru walked off of the farm.
Chapter 21
Self quarantined in her own room Quora had stalled on her inspection for many days now. And in this time, Quora reflected on the GC.
Quora was taught justice would always prevail, but how could such injustice be occur
ring within the most dominant, prestigious organization in the Universe, the GC?
She asked herself this question many times and would get depressed when she searched for an answer. To, somewhat, cheer herself up Quora would read speeches from, Tollehmax.
She wished she were alive when the great General Tollehmax ruled the GC. That was when the GC had a high ethical compass and righteousness and respect guided representatives' decisions. Tollehmax was the founder of the Galactic Council, and he had dreams of the GC making planets better, more civilized, and fair. One of his sayings was, one could only achieve pure civilization through truth, and truth alone. Truth to Tollehmax was recognizing the flaws within a system and fixing it to make a planet more suitable for the citizens.
But in her reflection, images of the Sapthions would block her train of thought.
Quora began to meditate. She blocked out everything outside of her work. She used this method to build a wall around her feeling to avoid dealing with the hurt and pain, her emotions wanted to venture to. Sometimes it felt like the walls were finally coming down, but Quora would persist and focus more on her work.
This usually worked, but now it did not. The image of Aris and the Sapthians wouldn't stay out of her mind. She couldn't focus.
An urge to leave planet Crimson swept through her mind. She played with the thought at first, but the idea of evacuating from planet Crimson and getting back to her ordinary life felt so satisfying to Quora. After hours of contemplating this concept, Quora did something she usually didn't do, and she gave in to her impulses. She had really made up her mind to leave Crimson. She had enough of this planet.
No matter how much she tried, she couldn't force herself to get up and investigate another factory. She wanted to find Aris, but she could not continue seeing the Sapthians in cages.