2024
My blood is boiling as I grab the briefcase at my feet. Being here isn't good enough today; not for him. As I wrap my hand around the edge of the back passenger seat's roof and jump out, the black plastic slams against my upper leg, reminding me of the dozens of fliers he stuffed into it. I roll my eyes at myself, dreading standing in that Stadium, handing them out like a moron who doesn't know what he's doing. People shouldn't need them to decide whether to be a part of the military. We shouldn't be asking them to join at all. The Vice-General has already waved off my concerns of the overcrowding at the base. If I didn't know about the outposts, I would have called him an idiot, but that's the last thing he is. He knows exactly what he's doing. I feel like a pawn and I can't escape; not yet. I have to hold out until these six weeks are over.
"Davis," a deep voice says from behind me, snapping me out of my daze. I glance back irritably, already frustrated at having been escorted here by three men. It's as if they expected me to run, or forgot that I have my own car.
"Sorry," I mumble, daring him to nudge me forward.
He seems to get the subtle message, because he doesn't move. Flexing my shoulders back, I walk up the concrete walkway to the doors of the auditorium-like building that has progressively housed the Council's annual ceremony for the last four years. I've never attended one speech. They've somehow managed to do without me before. Yet this year, I'm crucial to the success of their recruitment quota, something that I don't intend to fill.
The corridor in between the doors and entranceway to the auditorium is long and fairly narrow. Footsteps of the three men echo behind me. The path is completely empty, meaning that everyone must already be seated. As I catch sight of the bleachers facing a stage at the far right end of the room, my suspicions are confirmed. I have to take a second glance at the crowd as I pass them, surprised that at least a couple hundred people showed up. I never expected this event to be so popular. I break eye contact from them, nearly walking right into the back of a suit. Thankfully, the man ahead of me continues walking, giving me enough room to create a gap between us. It's clear that it's Aves, the other four Council members ahead of him. Every single one is all-but-oblivious to the crowd. One thing is on their minds. I suppress a groan as I climb the steps onto the stage. Guards are below it, blocking us in, and a microphone is centered at the front edge. Out of habit, I go to stand at the back of the stage beside the other Council members, thinking to myself that I've been to way too many of these spectacles to count. Aves breaks off from us and goes to stand at the microphone. The indistinct chatter from the crowd fades the second that he looks ready to speak and I focus attention on him, ready to hear whatever line of bullshit he's been rehearsing to himself.
“Thank you to all of you for coming today,” he speaks. “Today, we are here to commemorate five long years since the founding of Crestpoint. It has been devotion and the respect of all of our citizens for our future that we have come together and built a country for us to inhabit and grow. Each of us is gifted a home here, a family, not because of us, but because of your efforts and undying loyalty to one-another. With these values, we have established a strong economy, an outstanding military, and a spirit that will surely preserve the life that we sought out to create for ourselves, for our friends, and for our children. Today, we gather to talk about preservation and as we have done each year, to set an annual resolution for our citizens as a whole to strive towards for the betterment of our society. With the level of strife and conflict facing us in the first stages of this country’s development, we must take initiative to protect ourselves from a declining slope, as many other countries have done and continue to do. I can talk about building bonds with our neighbors and keeping an eye out for criminals, but those are practices that we already take to in our lives. At this point in our growth, we have a peaceful nation. What we need is a stronger public effort to keep criminals accountable and methods to ensure that accountability is met for those seeking to harm this peace. This is where our soldiers come into play. Over the past three years, we have taken significant effort to raise awareness for our military and build their skills in order to protect us in everyday life. We can only defend ourselves so much without the proper training and such training is costly and can only be completed by those who are strong enough. Each and every one of you plays an invaluable role in maintaining the safety of this society, but as in any country, some perform best as scientists, engineers, soldiers, and even architects. We all have different roles and must develop them for our nation to succeed. As such, to strengthen our count of soldiers, we are seeking to recruit a handful of capable men and women to lead our nation in military capabilities. To give you the face of our soldiers, I would like to introduce you to Sean Davis, my First-In-Command.”
Applause sounds through the auditorium to compliment his speech and I straighten up a little more, ready to give my own rant of vague explanations.
“Thank you,” I say, looking at everyone in the crowd. “Military is a command central to a nation that needs leadership; a guiding hand that has experienced battle. It is a segment of the government and as such, it is entirely under the supervision and control of our citizens." I pause momentarily, hoping that at least a few people in this crowd can see through my lie. "As soldiers, we fight as one under all lines of fire. We take responsibility for each other’s mistakes and take a stand for what is right even when it’s a direct risk to our own lives. However, we do operate in numbers. While our bonds are strong, there are only so many of us to fight for the safety of our families and this nation. That is why we recruit. We do not force any citizens to become a part of our ranks. We ask that others join us and we bring them into our family. We ask that all those who have a determination to fight for our country join us. Our family is recruiting those of you who are between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six. We will train each and every one of you to fight, to hold the values true to Crestpoint, and to defend our families and friends. We ask you to give yourselves up for each other and join as one. So, please come speak with me and anybody else in the Council about recruitment. I look forward to working with each and every one of you. Thank you.”
As I finish, I step back to where I was beside Tilus, perfectly content in letting Aves finish this up.
“Thank you to every one of you who came,” he says cheerfully. “I hope that you will leave today with a better understanding of the role our soldiers play in society and the value that each of our citizens holds to building a stronger, more stable country for us to enjoy. We will leave off on this note and I will see you next year during our annual parade. It has been a pleasure to collaborate on the safety and stability of Crestpoint. Farewell.”
Applause breaks out again and I relax, the hard part being over. With any luck, the Council will leave me alone to do the rest of my job. In a single-file line, we walk off the stage and go to stand behind a table that's set up at the base of it. The crowd slowly disperses, but it seems as if only the adults leave. As people begin to approach us, I reluctantly lay my briefcase onto the table and open it up to display the fliers, a lot more anxious to discourage everyone from joining by forcing them to grab one and go. Unfortunately for me, the first person to approach me is a teenage girl with deep blue eyes and blonde hair. I smile at her with disinterest and listen as she goes on a rant of why she thinks she'll be the best soldier ever. Before ten seconds have passed, my eyes transition to the growing line of people behind her and I accidentally drown her out. She doesn't seem to notice, continuing until a man drags her away by the arm, presumably her dad. Before I get to catch a single breath, another one jumps in front of me, both hands on the table, nose barely a foot from mine. I widen my eyes at her to get her to step back, failing to catch her attention whatsoever. Her eyes are too focused on my chest, managing to gape at me for so long that it's amazing that I'm the only one uncomfortable. I brush her off with a flier and brace myself for the next one. A hand lands on my right shoulder, making me jump.
"You've got this," Aves says in a serious tone as soon as my eyes recoil to him.
"Yeah," I agree encouragingly, happy for him to leave.
He proceeds around the table from behind me and I watch as the other four Council members follow him out of the auditorium, along with all of their body guards. I have a hard time not getting angry at getting abandoned here by every single one of them to tackle this line. It shows how much commitment they have to their jobs. Time passes slowly, despite my best efforts to make it fly by. Thankfully, most parents don't seem to like the idea of their teenage children joining the military, making the line shorten exponentially. When the final girl leaves, I grab the excess fliers that a few of them left on the table and glance at my half-empty briefcase, wondering what the heck I'm supposed to do with the rest of them. Relieved to finally be alone, I raise my eyes to the bleachers to convince myself that this day is over, only to spot another girl sitting in direct eye-line of me, leaning comfortably over the edge of the rail. As frustrated as I am at having another person to stare at me, I can't help but wonder what she's doing all the way over there. She's looking at me, clearly interested in speaking with me. I question whether she stayed there to be polite, but her face becomes a little uncertain. I can't imagine her as a soldier. She's cute, her long, dark-brown hair and eyes sparkling in the light shining from the ceiling. She really doesn't seem determined to ask about joining and the thought somehow relaxes my body. Everything seems more familiar and as I begin to question why, it dawns on me that she's the reason. She has to be the girl I remember. The resemblance is impossible to mistake. Natalie can't be serious about this. I won't let her do this.