by Ben Woollard
Chapter 3
The Memoir of Franz Thompson:
Now that the UCG had control of The Device, the only thing left to do was round up the rest of the Singulars. Most of us who were sent out to find them felt like it was below us, seeing as all the Singulars now seemed to act not much different from small children. Still, we captured them, and we did it as ruthlessly and effectively as we could. General Director Shilk charged us with it personally in an address to the UCG fighting cores. My team, lead by Remus, was still swollen with the memories of the Shilk’s praise of us, and we were all eager to make a further impression on him.
All in all we only found another three Singulars, one of which had died from drowning in a river. Those that were still living were wandering with torn robes out in the countryside, living off of bugs and tubers. They were just as idiotic as the first ones had been, and they didn’t run or protest when we tied them up and transported them back to Columbia. We had all grown proud, especially Remus, who had received an extra amount of praise from Shilk, and was even called to visit the man from time to time. As a result, we all felt justified in hurrying our prisoners along, often resorting to whipping them with sticks or other tools to get them moving. After a week of searching and finding nothing other than the odd wandering settler angry at being bothered, the hunt was officially called off, and the UCG returned to quietly scheming.
It was around this same time that our cavalry team was split up, with the majority going to join other units that were being put together in a massive restructuring of the UCG troops. The only two among us who were not sent to join other teams were Remus and I. We were both told to come meet with Shilk himself; our commanding officer told us that he had a special assignment for us, if we were interested. We were both curious, and a bit nervous. Neither of us had any notion of what kind of assignment the General Director might have in mind.
We went to his office together, neither of us speaking. By this time the capital building had been fully relocated from its old locale to a single story building on the other side of Central Plaza, spreading out over a number of blocks in the heart of Columbia. We walked through corridor after corridor to get to where the higher ups operated. I had never seen the internal structure of the UCG, and was amazed by the number of people that I saw working. Many were typing on old refurbished typewriters, while others were busy making posters and printing pamphlets on presses stained with rust. The pamphlets reeled out rhythmically into neat piles to be distributed throughout the city and the nearby settlements. Everywhere there were men and women running UCG operations of propaganda, logistics, and communications. I caught the eye of a girl with her head slouched in her hands and an air of boredom around her. She smiled at me and I smiled back, then we rounded the corner and progressed into a long series of halls with soldiers standing at attention before a seemingly endless set of doors. The officer showing us the way led us to the most elaborate looking of them all: a doorway made of oak with plant-like carvings sunken into its surface. The room it led into was the most ornately decorated that I had ever seen, with a huge stained desk facing the door, and two plush chairs in front of it. A thick, ornamental rug lay across the floor, and UCG flags hung from every corner.
“Ah welcome, welcome, please come in,” Shilk said from where he sat furiously scribbling on papers that were strewn across the desk. “I’m very happy to see you boys,” he said, getting up and saluting us. We saluted back and sat down in the chairs, which were of a considerably lower height than the one that Shilk sat in. “Now, I imagine you boys are wondering why I’ve asked you to come here, correct?” We both nodded.
“Do you two know the symbolism behind our wonderful flag here?” Shilk asked us. We didn’t say anything, neither of us wanting to be the first to speak. After an awkward couple of seconds, Remus spoke up.
“It represents the UCG, sir.”
“Yes, yes, you’re not wrong, but the symbolism goes much deeper than that,” he said with a grandiose air. “It’s a shame they don’t drive this knowledge into you at The Academy. You see the black that surrounds the two inner concentric circles? That is the threat of collapse, the parasitic forces that are always lurking to undo the work of civilization that we have striven towards for so long. Now, the outermost circle, the red one, represents the United Central Government itself, and its protecting influence over the purity of the white inner circle, that being civilization, the light that shines within the outer darkness and shelters us all.”
“And the blue and white stripes, sir?” Remus asked.
“Why, those symbolize the wide open skies and wonderful land of our great country. The land in which we live and die: the former United States, now the states of the United Central Government.” I was impressed by his explanation; I had never known there was such depth and meaning within the seemingly simple design of the UCG flag, although it had always been able to stir in me a strong sense of loyalty.
“Of course,” Shilk went on, “this doesn’t answer the question of why I’ve asked you two to see me here today. The truth is that that flag also represent the internal workings of the UCG itself. It has always centered around the authority of the General Director in conjunction with the cabinet, and for a long time this way of doing things has been uncontested, but lately things have been stirring which might act to threaten the stability of this structure: the disease that looms at the edges. Some of my friends in the cabinet feel entitled to more of a say than they currently have, and I’ve started to worry that certain people forces might be hungry for my position, and the power that it represents. So it has become important that I make around myself a protective ring, in the same way that the UCG is a ring to protect society. And that, my friends, is why I’ve asked you here today. As the top two members of your squadron, you’ve both proven yourselves to be hard working and loyal to the UCG cause, and I think you will make excellent additions to the valiant red that will protect the center of the UCG, the center of the center, from the threats without, all in the name of collective prosperity. Do you understand?” Again we both nodded, although neither of us understood what becoming this “valiant red” might actually consist of; we were only eager to please.
“Very good! Then as of today you are both officially instated as members of my inner circle: the Central Authority Protective Unit, or Red Caps, as I’ve decided to call them. Quite a catchy name, don’t you think? That is, unless either of you protest…” Shilk said this last part ominously, and even if either of us had it in our heads that we might not want to join, the tone of the General Director’s voice made it clear that we weren’t being asked.
“It’s an honor sir!” Remus said, standing up and saluting, and I did the same with equal enthusiasm. Shilk smiled saluted us in return.
“I’ll have Officer Dumas give you the rest of the information you’ll need, as well as your new uniforms. I’m very excited to have you both working side by side with me.” With that Shilk went back to his desk, and we went with the officer who had brought us in to receive our uniforms, and to meet the other Red Caps, an assortment from various units: cavalry, infantry, security, all hand picked by the General Director. We were buzzing with excitement, and as we left the capital we both spoke eagerly of the futures that lay ahead of us, certain everything would be bright.
***
The weeks that followed my entrance to the Red Caps were a daze; it was like becoming royalty overnight. Everyone respected us, and we honestly felt that we were better than the rest of all the lowly UCG troops. No one else had the authority to command us, not even the members of the cabinet, who supposedly worked side by side with Shilk, although I rarely saw them. We thought of ourselves as the elite of the elite, truth be told, and a lot of us lauded it over everyone we could. Remus was especially prone to this behavior, as he had gotten it in his head that he was one of Shilk’s favorites, which he was, in all likelihood. He was proud of himself, and never lost an opportunity to show it.
It was ar
ound this time that I started seeing one of girls who worked in Central, Lucie. Remus would always laugh at me, saying that I was wasting my time.
“Don’t you know how many girls you can get around here?” he would tell me. “Why the hell would you only want the one?” He couldn’t grasp level-headedness, and I wasn’t much better at the time. I think that’s why I liked Lucie: she was grounded in a way that I never was.
For the most part being a Red Cap was uneventful, at least at first, since all we did was escort Shilk around the city to his meetings, academy appearances, and public speeches, which he had been giving an increasing amount of. Despite the perceived honor of our position, we were essentially glorified bodyguards and errand boys, protecting a paranoid leader and delivering the messages he didn’t trust to be sent through the regular channels, occasionally even doing things like moving furniture around his office. It wasn’t long before that began to change, however.
I hadn’t thought much about The Device since we had brought it back to the city from the hole we’d found it in, and I was under the impression that it had been destroyed; clearly it was dangerous. That was naïve thinking, of course, and it turned out that Shilk had The Device transported to a facility at a location that only he and the scientists working there, who only answered to Shilk, knew about. I learned this when the General Director asked me and Remus to go with him to observe some testing that was being done. We went to the building in a carriage with all the windows closed so that no one could see who was inside. When we got there we went down a flight of stairs. I couldn’t shake the feeling of similarity to the tunnels we’d first received The Device from.
Getting down to the basement levels we were greeted by a pale, hunched man who Shilk introduced to us as Jeffrey Godard, the leader of the project. On the main floor stood The Device, with a number of subordinate workers standing around it, charts and clipboards in hand.
“Greetings everyone,” Shilk said from the mezzanine on which we stood. “I hope we are all looking forward to today’s tests. I know we all understand the significance of today’s outcome. We are on the precipice of a bright future for the UCG and all its citizens! Now, are we ready Mr. Godard?”
“Yes, General Director, sir,” Godard said in a nasally voice. “Bring out subject one,” he yelled to one of the assistants, who went through a door in the corner of the room and came out with a man I recognized as one of the Singulars we had found out by Alexei’s Grove. The man only looked around serenely at everyone as he was connected to The Device. The helmet was fitted and all the small gauges and meters checked. When he was fully connected, the assistants gave the thumbs up, and Godard, who stood in front of the control panel, flipped the switch.
There was a loud popping noise, and the face of the trapped Singular frowned slightly, but otherwise didn’t change at all. After a few minutes, when the noise stopped, the helmet was removed and the man interrogated. There seemed to be no change whatsoever; he was the same idiotic being that had come into the room ten minutes earlier. Godard frowned, but yelled for the next subject to be brought in. I didn’t recognize the woman that was lead into the room by the assistants, although I figured she must have been a Singular as well based off the simplistic expression on her face, nearly identical to the man who now sat, his arms and legs shackled, up against the wall. The Device was activated and again there was no change in the subject attached to it. Shilk and all the workers seemed disappointed.
“Hmm,” Shilk said. “It seems you all have more work to do. Too bad.”
“I’m sorry, sir” Godard said. “Perhaps we need to try different subjects. People who haven’t been connected before.”
“Perhaps. As for those two,” Shilk said, gesturing at the two Singulars who now both sat up against the wall. “They are no longer any use to us. Remus, Franz, come with me.” He led us down the stairs to where the two figures sat slouching against the cold brick. He kneeled down and examined the Singulars closely; they smiled up at him. “Disgusting,” he said, and brandished a pistol that had been concealed beneath his suit.
“Remus, take this and shoot the woman there. Right in the head. Don’t miss, now.” Remus looked at the General Director doubtfully, but when he saw that the man was not joking, he took the gun from his hands and pointed it at the woman, who didn’t seem to understand what was happening, and only kept smiling. A feeling of horror crept up my spine, but all the years in Academy and as a member of the UCG troops had taught me to keep my mouth shut and listen to authority. Remus hesitated, but not for long. The blast boomed throughout the room and sent my ears ringing. Shilk grinned with sparkling white teeth.
“Very good!” he said, taking the pistol from Remus’ hand, and handing it to me. “Franz, my boy, you do the honor of dispatching this other vermin. Go on!” I took the gun automatically and stood there for a moment, staring at the body of the woman that was now collapsed into a bloody heap upon the floor. The man I was to kill was cowering with his eyes clenched tight and his hands over his ears. I stepped forward and pointed the pistol at his head. I felt nausea growing in my stomach, and I knew everyone in the room was staring at me. My palms sweated and I gritted me teeth. “Now Franz,” I heard Shilk say in a warning tone.
Memories of my years in cadet training streamed through me. I saw the greening hills where we hiked and spent hours talking about the glory of the land the UCG would unify, how we would tame it and make it ours. I saw the teachers’ faces; sometimes filled with tears as they spoke of the collapse, and told us loyalty was the only way to prevent such an atrocity from repeating itself. I thought of my family, who had worked so hard to send me to The Academy, and who I hadn’t seen in so many years; I knew the United Central Government was my family now. My utmost duty was loyalty to them, and I even reproached myself for allowing sentiment to get in the way of that. I pulled the trigger and watched as the cowering Singular was turned to carnage. Did I really feel in that moment that what I did was right? Certainly some part of me revolted from the murder, but it was overcome by all the reasoning that I was capable of. That it was necessary to go the furthest lengths for the cause of holding everything together was taken as a given by us all. I felt Shilk clasp me on the shoulder.
“Good job, son. You did the right thing,” he said. This was my first encounter with the true nature of our job as the private soldiers of the General Director: the day had been a test of loyalty, and we had passed. I left that bunker changed and reeling with a thousand justifications.
I went to dinner that night with Lucie. Right away she could tell that something was off.
“You seem stressed,” she said, and I looked at her through eyes that failed to recognize myself from what I thought that I had always been.
“I just don’t know how capable I am of fulfilling this new position,” I told her, unable to explain what I had done. How could I? Would she run from me screaming, or simply turn pale and never speak to me again?
“You just need time to adjust. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, Franz.”
“I hope your right,” I said, but her words did little to ease my discomfort, the doubt that was clawing at the inside of my mind. That was the first night we spent together, and at the time I thought that as long as I had her, maybe I would be all right, that if she could form my system of support, things might not be so bleak.
Chapter 4
The days passed and our ‘stead grew larger, our crops flourished, and we were able to build up something of a storehouse in preparation for the fall and winter already fast approaching. The other settlers showed us how to dig a sunken room to keep the food colder than if it were above the ground, and we used it to dry some meat we bought from a local settler who gave us a deal on one of his slaughtered pigs. I went and watched the creatures get their throats cut; it wasn’t a sight I’d ever seen before, and I felt I should get closer to death. I felt sorry for them, contented as they seemed rolling around in the muck of their enclosure. The first one was taken
out of its pen and had its blood let out into a bucket while it squealed and writhed. I flinched and struggled to watch the sight, but it was over fairly soon. When the second pig was killed I made myself watch close and didn’t flinch.
I thought a lot about what Tahm Pucket had shown me, and my dreams were filled with circling carrion birds over war-torn fields. I wanted to believe that I’d just imagined all of it, but everything reminded me of the vision he’d shown me. It mixed inside me with the memories of Alexei’s Grove, the screaming confusion of the Singulars as they choked and beat themselves to death. I wondered what caused them to turn so violent, and couldn’t shake the feeling that it was tied up with the things I’d seen from my encounter in the woods. I didn’t see Tahm again for some weeks, and most of that time I was focused on improving the ‘stead, though my mind was constantly filled with dark images that wouldn’t leave me, even while I slept. I thought of Shiloh and Momma and Grandpa: I felt I had to get them out of Columbia as soon as possible, and the further along me and Theo got our small dwelling the closer it would come. Still, I figured there was no way we would be able to support another three people until at least after the winter, so my hopes were still far off.
“You alright lately Sam?” Theo asked me one night while we were sitting at the table after one of the few days we both had free. “You seem far off, like something’s bothering you.”
“Yeah, I’m alright. I’ve just been thinking, you know, what do you think the Gov will do now? They’re so entrenched in their own ideas, and there’s no one who opposes them. Everyone in Columbia believes, at least mostly, in what they’re doing. I mean, shit Theo, we saw what the kind of practices they use ourselves.” Theo looked at me for a while and seemed like he was thinking hard about it.
“I don’t know,” he said finally. “I guess that depends on how things go on the inside; how the people running the UCG decide it’s gonna go, right? I don’t think anything extreme is gonna happen, though. Why would it? There’s no one to oppose the Gov now that the Singulars are gone, and the settlements are cooperating, more or less, not that they really have a choice. Doesn’t seem like it’s in anyone’s interest for there to be more fighting.”