CELESTIALS PRESENTS: THE FIRST SQUADRON

gww 1

ASHLAND

5–02–4993

8:09 PM

‘The Old Era setting of the Municipality was a place of peace and joy, love and understanding. This generation, above all, stood for life and prosperity. Our leaders showed care for the citizens. The government, known as The Assembly, led the nation with gentle but dominant fists…

The spirits of the land lived amongst the citizens and their presence was reflected through nature. The forests, deserts, and mountain terrains were even said to be living beings, witnessing everything the public underwent; discussing and gossiping amongst themselves…

This was the era of freedom. The selfish ways of man were prohibited, and the sheer idea of our governing force showing absolute reign over the Public was not even thought of. However, everything has changed now...’

“‘War was never a form of solution…’ No, I don’t like that.” I muttered to myself.

“Helena, if you’re going to write a book, you must create an idea and keep it. Expand on it, make it better — elaborar.”

“Arlo- What are you doing here? I told you I can’t hang today, I’m busy-”

“Doing what? Miserably failing at pursuing your dreams of being a writer?” Arlo interrupted.

“You know… I ought to just-”

I chased him around the room.

“Hey, hey- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. You know I came to help. I knew you’d be writing in this scrapbook of yours so why not-”

“Why not come over and find out what’s in it, right? Nosey.” I sneered.

“How can you blame me. We both know I don’t like secrets.”

Arlo Franco was my best friend, to say the least. He and I shared a bond like no other two in this era. We had constantly been around each other since conception; a very rare friendship in the eyes of most people.

We were inseparable, so people always recognized us as a pair. When one was missing, the whereabouts of the other were the first questions in a typical conversation; Where’s Arlo?

We were both 19 at the time, in the European nation of The New Era Municipality. Industrialization was booming, and technology was in its most advanced state. Knowledge was more valued than fortunes — this was the age of the intellectual renaissance. Our assiduous scientists made advances and discoveries almost every day now. Over 20 years ago, the country commenced the construction of macroscopic data streams, a plan meticulously developed to prevent anti-government network hackers. Visibly enlarged holographic data fragments would now be streamed through every district’s towns and cities in a tube at a rate 150% faster than the speed of light. Containing the flow of data within the tubes was proven to be more efficient than saving them in a hard-drive, or even in the cloud.

Technology couldn’t have been any better.

Although The Municipality desperately tried to coat itself with this perfect snow white blanket, its flaws poked through the façade. A gray, foggy mist of pollution and depression had enveloped the country for over a decade by this time.

I found myself writing about the Old Era a lot. I found its beauty breathtaking. Unfortunately, the majority of the public didn’t really care.

In the year 3891 the world underwent a war that would permanently deface the 7 continents. As a result, countries formed into one; people were united, some were divided.

Most of what was once known as the continent of Europe had eventually evolved into the largest country in the world, The Municipality.

The first Great World War started as a violent worldwide campaign against the president of the United States, McCoy Garland. He overstepped his boundaries a countless number of times and sacrificed the lives of many innocent people all over the world, to say the least.

Consequently, people wanted him dead. Everyone wanted him dead.

What made the situation even worse was the fact that it was a nuclear age. Every developed country harnessed some sort of destructive nuclear weaponry in its arsenal, and threats were increasing. Tensions between many countries rose, and even the United Nations eventually split up.

To make a long story short, the US president was kidnapped and murdered.

Also known as the most skilled and covert assassination ever performed, the event left an inexplicable impact on the people of the United States. People all across the globe celebrated and rejoiced. The smart ones didn’t, however. They knew nothing good would come from Garland’s death. The smart ones knew that this would lead to something bigger than what the world could handle, but they stayed quiet and pretended to be happy.

No one could discern who or what killed Garland for months. Through evidential research, they eventually concluded that it was the German extremist group, the Schaden.

So, the US sent the first missile.

Real rash, and easy as that. They named it Alfred. It took Alfred only about 10 minutes to reach Berlin. It wiped out millions of innocent people, leaving nothing but ash, debris, and despair behind. The simple push of a button was all it took to start a war.

A nuclear missile. All because one hated man was killed. But for the US it was okay, right?

Germany fired the second missile towards Los Angeles… Then another towards New York, then DC.

Eventually the mistakes of two countries became everyone’s war.

The countries of the European Union formed an alliance during the war, and eventually conjoined to create our country.

After the war, we built a massive partition to separate the borders of our country from all other parts of the world.

Our nation was led by The Assembly, with its most significant figure being a Governor, newly elected every 20 years. The Old Era held the 1st through 26th Governors. These individuals led the nation with love and care.

However, about 9 years ago the nation fell into the hands of a Governor whose motives resembled the exact opposite of the ideals of the past… ‘The literal personification of evil, the 27th Governor.’

Her leadership style had a grave impact on the nation. The Public didn’t see her as a friend, but as a totalitarian dictator. An evil woman with ambition higher than that of Julius Caesar, simply seeking to expand her power through war, and terror. By now, she held The Assembly in the palm of her right hand. Manipulating them into obeying her every word, she practically made them worship her, and forced the Public to do the same. She single-handedly made the government the ultimate dictating force of the nation.

This was a war-torn era. The beautiful setting of the Old Era had been vanquished by the gloominess of today. The color of life was no more, and the public had lost hope.

I didn’t though.

Neither did Arlo.

I stayed with my twin sister Faithe in the Ashland District, just north of Lisbon. We lived in a residence studio; room 1209, HiRISE #342. Our accommodations were just substantial. There wasn’t much room, but it was enough for the two of us.

Faithe was mute.

9 years ago, my parents deciphered a code left behind by the 21st governor of 4884.

Of course, back then the public was too content with the state of our nation to care about the contents of the secret letter. Except for my parents, of course.

Ronaldo and Dolores Caxemira were originally professors of Quantum Physics at the University of Ashland. They eventually began using that as a cover up to their real occupation; Deciphering the code.

The 27th Governor promised them money, notoriety, and respect.

So, they earned it, and the fame changed them.

The 21st governor was a man of valor and adventure. His name was Michael Ozil, and he was known as one of the most notable governors of our nation. He accomplished much in office; constructed and passed groundbreaking laws, molded perfect Assembly senators and congressmen for each district, even built the 700,000 sq. ft. Palace at Schlossbridge as the new Assembly HQ and residence for future governors.

Ozil’s 4884 Expedition was a significant story about him venturing outside of the walls of the nation for no other reason than to explore the rest of Europe. Great World War I forced our country to diminish all foreign relationships and affairs. After many years of our nation being in seclusion, he was curious. We all would be.

This was a very dangerous trip, so of course he brought company with him. The texts say he brought along a band consisting of his 7 best officers, 4 mapsmen for directions, and a baker.

A baker.

The textbooks never explained why the 21st brought a baker with him on such a dangerous journey. As students we made fun out of it, because he was a weighty man. We assumed he just got extremely hungry every now and then.

His plan, if I remember correctly, was for 2 mapsmen to lead the way for the expedition, and the rest of the entourage to follow at exactly 1 kilometer behind. This way, the mapsmen would take the first hit if there was immediate danger ahead, and send out a warning call back to the Governor. This plan backfired.

The mapsmen did run into some trouble one night, and they were both slaughtered. When the governor heard the call, he gathered his band and attempted to flee the area. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by bandits. See, this was a failed plan from the start, because the 21st didn’t consider the enemy planning a flanking ambush. Long story short, the thugs killed all of Ozil’s officers, another mapsman, and the baker.

The 21st Governor did escape the situation, and he also managed to help the last mapsman escape as well. Coincidentally.

Although they were both severely injured, they managed to get back to The Municipality.

Well, the governor returned. The mapsman bled out right before entering the gates.

It was tragic! No one here had ever witnessed such a catastrophe. Our sweet beloved governor was going to die!

Me de um tempo.

He died a few hours after he was transported to a hospital.

Ozil saw something out there. Upon return, his condition was too critical to say what, or who… But he saw something. Something terrifying. Luckily, Ozil had a photographic memory. Everything he saw on his journey, he wrote down, with immense details. However, he wrote in a code that only his mapsmen and whoever else he taught it to could decipher.

You see the problem now?

This code was harder to pick apart than everyone thought. The 21st governor was probably one of the smartest men in Europe, and he spent days meticulously transforming the alphabet into this special code. Only a man with his brain could do that. People would wonder why he wrote that whole journal in a code more enigmatic than anything the world has ever seen.

Yes he found something, out beyond those walls. Something critically important.

That’s where my parents came into play. They studied cryptanalysis for 20 years, so which better individuals to come to, right?

They let this job consume them. They spent everyday building cipher machines with rotor scramblers, testing different permutations of letters, etc. Things Faithe and I wouldn’t understand.

Eventually my parents shut us out. They moved out of the house, and The Assembly practically adopted them. We were forced to take care of ourselves. This had a huge effect on both of us, but it literally broke Faithe. She felt like the only two people that were truly there for her were no longer around.

So, Faithe just stopped.

She stopped smiling, laughing, singing… talking. Ever since then she’d been mute. Never speaking, only making apathetic gestures.

I still didn’t know why this job was so important to them, and I didn’t know if I would ever find out. But I knew I still loved them.