Chapter 1:Isolation
[Subject:Sabitsuki (Surname redacted)]
I was born in Japan, but I remember little of it. I was transferred to Europe as a young child. From what I've heard, most people are relocated to different locations every few years at least, but it seems to be more like every few months people come and go, except for me. I stay here, in city 17. I don't know much about this place-we're in Europe, I think, but no European government controls us. The combine is the closest thing we have to a government, but I don't know much about them, either, beyond what I've learned from Dr. Breens broadcasts, and the little contact I've had with them. For as long as I can remember, I've stayed in my bedroom under direct orders from them. As per there instructions, I am to8 make a comprehensive record of my dreams each day on the computer provided. In return, I am provided food, protection, and most importantly, medicine. In my early years, I caught a disease known simply as "rust". Its a terrible affliction that causes my skin to become red and inflamed, making nearly every movement painful, which is then followed by vomiting up this horrible, vicious red substance, which tastes and smells like rotten meat. If left untreated long enough, this liquid will leak from everywhere in my body-tear ducts, my nose, my ears-you get the picture. And yet all of this pales in comparison to the vicious hallucinations it inflicts, which are too painful for me to recount now. Moreover, the medicine for such a disease is difficult and costly to manufacture, which is how the Combine has secured my cooperation. My medicine is not without its side-effects, however, and can account for much of my memory loss. As such, it is as though this room is my entire world. I'm fine with this, as the rest of the world is right fucked, from what I've seen out my windows and off my balcony.
My day starts as many others before, as I rise slowly from bed, my bones creaking in protest of my sudden movements. After a nice stretch and a yawn, I roll out of bed. I tend to sleep in my clothes, so I'm ready for the day with limited preparation. I eat my wheat meal as I fire up the ancient computer, and it makes several angry beeps before the monitor flicks on with a staticy whine. It isn't long before I'm recording everything that's happened to me over the night. Tonight was relatively tame, actually. As always, I woke up in my room, but it was different. Decayed would be a good way to sum it all up. Then, I would proceed to what I call the Nexus-an odd, flat black plane crisscrossed by white lines nearly randomly. From there, the dream could go any number of ways. In this case, I ended up in a forest. Most every tree was dead, and I wandered about for a few hours, before happening upon a small cabin. Inside this cabin, I met an old woman. She was obviously a witch, and fit every stereotype as such. She gave me a broom, which, true to folklore, allowed me to fly. I flew far, exploring the vast marshlands my mind crafted for me, dotted here and there with rotting houses, strange monoliths of brick and stone that only give a vague hint anyone had lived there. Right around then was when I woke up. Nothing traumatic, which is nice, if rare. Not long after I'm done, My overseer pops in. first in the door are his Civil protection lackeys. He's always accompanied by at least three of them, big, scary guys with gas masks and guns, who look at you in such a clinical, emotionless way its nearly unnerving, but not as bad as the good doctor himself. 'creep' does not even begin to summarize the man. He's tall, even by my standards, towering over my 6 ½ foot frame as he calmly takes his data and leaves, his shaved head augumented with several strange metal protrusions all over his cranium. He comes without saying a word, and leaves without saying a word. That's pretty much it for my day, after that, with not much else to do. I have hobbies-I used to read, before they began burning books. Nowadays I simply end up drawing an awful lot, and I'm getting pretty good, too. Its just that I often find my drawings often drift towards the subject matter of my dreams, which as I've stated before I have no intention to revisit. Such is a normal day-it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon exactly when things deviated from such norms. Deep in thought as I examined a recent drawing of a cactus, I was startled by a sharp thudding on the glass doors to my balcony. A short girl in tattered clothing was trying to get my attention, knocking frantically but saying something I couldn't hear. On instinct, I let her in, and she dashed inside, ducking under my table as a city scanner floated by with no explanation, except several panicked expletives mumbled under her breath. Once the synth had passed, She crawled from her hiding place, and attempted a proper introduction.
"Er, good evening, miss. You really saved my ass just now. Names Tetra, Tetra Cubbage. nice to meet you."
She says, extending her hand out in my direction. I simply looked at it for a few seconds.
"You, uh...you shake my hand now."
"What?"
I replied as I examined the exasperated girl. She was a little on the short side, with large aviators goggles resting above ratty brown hair worn long past her shoulders. She was dressed different from the usual blue uniforms of most citizens, instead wearing a large canvas coat with many pockets over some scavenged clothes. In her coat, I caught the telltale glint of gun metal, but I couldn't be sure if she was, in fact, armed.
"You grab my hand, and you move it up and down. Its how you say hi to someone for the first time."
She instructed plainly, with no frustration, just a little confusion. I did as she instructed, and she was quite pleased.
"You have a name?"
She asked as the handshake ended. I shrugged and told her;
"Sabitsuki. I think."
"That's...That's a pretty name, actually."
She says, stepping back from me.
"Um...I should probably go, now. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble..."
"In trouble? For what?"
"Its a long story."
She says, opening the door and turning her back to me.
"Wait-I never get to talk to anyone, please don't go quite yet."
I say, a pleading note to my voice. She turns around, and sighs.
"I'm sorry, but the risk is to great right now...But, I guess I can come back later, after the heat has died down, if you really want."
And with that, she jumped off my balcony. I nearly screamed, certain she would plunge to her death, but she managed to jump across the street and on to the roof of a lower building, landing with a roll and looking back up at me, waving once before darting off.
Several hours passed, But Tetra kept good on her promise. Just as I finished dinner-wheat meal again, its the only damn thing they ever feed us- I heard her tapping faintly on my balcony door, a lot calmer than last time. I obliged and opened the door for her, and she stepped inside. I noticed she had a bit of a deft grace to her movements when she wasn't in a panicked state, She looked around my small room, seeming as though she was looking for something, before she turned to greet me again, insisting on another handshake, which I (Uncomfortably) went with.
"So, um...you wanted to see me again. Whats your message?"
"My what now?"
"Message. I thought you wanted me to relate a message to someone. Its kind of what I do."
She says, seeming a little mixed up. I shift uncomfortable as I explain.
"I just, um...wanted to talk."
"Your serious?"
"...Yeah."
There's a couple of uncomfortable seconds between us, before she shrugs and smiles.
"no harm in it, I guess, and I don't have anything better to do. Things are kind of slow."
She takes a seat on the couch, and I shift around on my bed to face her. The conversation is slow going and more than a little awkward, her being a stranger and I being a bit "Out-of-practice" when it came to conversation with real people. Eventually, I inquire about the strange armband she wears.
"Whats that?"
I ask, gesturing to the odd symbol, which puts me in mind of an oddly written, unfinished A.
"Oh, this?"
She says, bringing her arm up and pointing at the orange letter.
"Its a Greek letter, called a Lambda."
"What does it mean?"
"It has some kind of scientific interpretation, but to me, its something far bigger."
Tetra casts a suspicious eye across my room, before leaning in towards me, nearly whispering.
"Its the Insignia of the resistance. I'm a freedom fighter."
"Your...huh?"
"resistance. You don't know about the Lambda resistance?"
I shrug, and she seems absolutely mystified.
"Wow, I'd like to think we were at least an urban legend at this point. Listen, this stays between you and me, you understand that right?"
"Right."
"And you never tell anyone you met me, for your safety."
"Okay, I guess. So what are you guys trying to do that's so important?"
She gets up, and walks to the window, pointing to the monolithic structure nestled in the center of the city-The citadel.
"You know the Combine, I'm sure."
"Yeah, you could say that."
"They've enslaved our planet, killed millions in the seven hours war and now there draining our planet-our home-dry, controlling our minds and bodies as that traitor Breen rules over us."
She isn't facing me, any more, and seems to talking to either her own reflection or the tower itself.
"I won't take that lying down, and neither will my comrades. One of these days, we're going to exterminate all of those bastards."
She looks out the window for a second longer, before taking in a deep breath and turning to me.
"So yeah. That's whats so important. You seem strong-why don't you join us? It'd be a better life than losing your mind in here."
I'm a bit taken aback by all of this, and while I trust this strange girl, I don't want to go get caught up in some war. I shake my head.
"I'm sorry. I'm not fighting material."
"I understand. Not everyone is. But just in case-if they ever talk about shipping you to a place known as Nova Prospekt, you run for it, stick to the rooftops and look for the Lambda. Find your ways to the Canal-there's a group there known as the railroad who help refugee's out of the city."
She says, going over the information again to make sure I remember. While the thought of escape is a tempting one-my fear far outweighs it. I think of the overseer's face staring down at me, flanked by officers, and my blood runs cold. I try to think of another subject, but the Combine is the elephant in the room-every aspect of our lives is dictated by them. It quickly becomes a little uncomfortable again, but we still end up talking and just hanging out for a little while. It feels bizarre, how normal she treats me, a truly alien feeling to me. She jokes around with me a bit, tries to get to know me. To my surprise, she actually does make me laugh a few times. I forgot what my own laugh sounded like. Even though we must've talked for hours, it still felt to soon when it was time for her to leave.
"Well, I guess I have to bid you good evening."
She says, waving slightly as she opens the balcony door.
"I promise I'll come back sometime."
And with that, I say my goodbye and send her off. I...I think she counts as a friend, so I got that going for me, which is pretty cool. I look at the clock-its a quarter to eleven. If I don't get to sleep soon, I won't have an entry for the overseer.
The last time that happened, he extracted the entry himself.
