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The sound of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird plays in my ears as my eyes move over the pages of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I have read these words over a thousand times but each time feels like the first. Perhaps it is because I know what I am doing is forbidden, what I am doing is wrong. Anything that the Kommander sanctioned to be unfit for the people of Ixia were banned: books; music; plays; poems. Anything the Kommander thought to aid in the cause of the Uprising. Anything that he thought gave the people of Ixia ideas, and encouraged free will. Everything that could be burned was, anything else that couldn't was destroyed in other ways. I was surprised to come across the cache of forbidden objects hidden in a locker in the basement. I suppose no one thought that one of the Soldiers would ever venture down here and look around, because Soldiers don't think for themselves. Soldiers except for me, of course. I've always known that I was different from the others. It was both a blessing and a curse.
I was specifically bred to be a solider for the Kommander. Before the uprising the Kommander was a biochemist in Moscow, Russia. He worked from within his own private research facility housed underground in an old military bunker. The Kommander used his knowledge in biochemistry to become the forefront in Genetic Modification and the pioneer of Human Engineering. It was within this facility that we were created. It was here we became super soldiers. We were engineered to have strength, hearing, and athletic abilities far superior to that of normal humans. Along with the superhuman abilities we were also engineered to follow orders, be emotionally distant, and only need for the essentials of human life. Instead of growing up with a mother and learning my ABCs, I grew up with 25 other boys learning how to run, hunt, and kill. When the Kommander had successfully birthed and trained enough soldiers, he used them to fill his army. With the help of his army of super soldiers, the Kommander successfully usurped the Seat of Power from the President of the Ixia, and it was under a state of martial law. The Kommander made Washington his new home and renamed it Ixia- a salute to his homeland. Within the year, United States citizens had formed an anti-military group and staged an uprising to overthrow the Kommander. It was unsuccessful. The Kommander captured and publically executed the leaders of the uprising to make an example of them, and to make a statement to anyone else that should choose to move against him. To prevent any further conflict within the city, the population was set into factions based on their personalities and their abilities. There are five factions: Khrabry- those who are brave, strong and natural-born hunters. Members of this faction were used to supplement the regiment and give support to the Soldiers; Sobirat- this faction mainly consisted of those that were best suited to growing, preparing and serving food; Chestny- those who were honest, reliable, and good workers; Umny- those that were smart, ambitious, and curious; and lastly, Krotkiy- those that were quiet and shy but were not afraid of hard work and were above all loyal. Once the population was divided, the Kommander rid the country of anything he believed would encourage people to undermine his authority, and bring about another uprising.