* * *
Lara-Su paced outside the Kremlin while Naomi just watched. After a few minutes, the boys came back with Aeryn joining them a few minutes later.
"Hey, Christopher!" Lara said as she pulled him aside. "How'd it go? Did you talk to Aeryn about how you feel about her?"
"It-uh, never came up." Christopher mumbled.
"Never came up?!" Lara said incredulously. "Oh, Chris..." She shook her head pityingly. "You are one impossible kangaroo, you know that?"
"I don't really want to talk right now." He said mournfully. "Could you PLEASE just leave me alone for a while?"
"Okay," Lara said kindly. "But don't think for a minute that this is over."
"I knew you'd say that." He sighed as he walked away.
"Hey Aeryn!" Lara heard Naomi call. "What's this?" Lara turned to see Naomi pointing at a small part of the Kremlin Wall that seemed different from the rest. Then she saw why, it had faces carved into it.
Aeryn looked decidedly disgusted. "That is the Wall of Remembrance or as it's more commonly known, the Wall of Shame."
"What's the deal with the faces?" Nick asked. Aeryn sighed.
"My father did not event communism, it is an ideology he brought from his home world. On Earth it had...poor results." The corner of her mouth twitched at the understatement. "When he went about building communism on Mobius, he made sure that it's faults be explored and addressed. These-" She pointed angrily at the stone faces. "Are the tyrants and monsters responsible for millions of deaths and used communism as their excuse for mass murder."
She pointed at large letters that had been carved into the wall. They weren't Cyrillic characters, they were Latin. "WIR WISSEN BESSER." Aeryn read. "We will know better." She translated. "These creatures represent everything that we want to avoid." Aeryn spat. She pointed to a face. "Pol Pot." Then she indicated the next face. "Enver Hoxha." And so it went, Aeryn pointed and recited them name of each face on the wall. "Nicole Ceausescu. Andrei Zhdanov. Lavrenty Beria. Kim Jong-Il. Andre Vishinsky." She paused as she came to the last two faces. "These are the most repellent of all; Joseph Stalin." She said indicating the last human face. The remaining face was that of a mobian primate. "And Alynna Colleton."
Lara stared at that last face, suddenly she felt the world dropping out from beneath her as she had another weird dream. "How can I be dreaming when I'm still awake?" She asked no one. Suddenly she found herself staring at the face of Alynna Colleton, only it wasn't on a wall and there was no one around. It was a faded poster of her with captions reading slogans like "WAR IS PEACE! FREEDOM IS SLAVERY! IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH! WORK IS FREEDOM!"
When she stepped away from the poster, she found that she was in the same spot she was in during her last dream. "Wait a minute," she muttered to herself. "You can't read in a dream! Something's very wrong here!"
"That is an understatement," said a voice. Lara twirled around, trying to find the speaker. "You won't be able to find me with your eyes." Came the voice again. "You must listen with your soul."
" 'Listen with my soul?' What the hell is going on here?" She said to herself.
"When the time comes, you will know." The voice said, answering Lara's unasked question. "Until then." As quickly as this strange "vision" came, it went just as quickly. Lara found herself back where she was, standing in front of the Wall of Shame listening to her friends talk, if they noticed her spacing out for the last minute or so, they gave no notice. Lara tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Naomi say to Aeryn;
"I take it they aren't very popular around here, eh?" Naomi said, referring to the dead tyrants on the Wall, trying to lighten the mood.
"About as much as Robotnik would be, were he still alive. Maybe even less." Aeryn agreed. "At any rate, I think I've done enough kvetching today." She looked at her watch. "And I promised some friends I'd meet them downtown. Let's go."
As they departed, Lara cast one last look at the stone face of Alynna Colleton, hoping it would yield some clues as to what was going on. All she found was stony silence.
* * *
Lara-Su paced outside the Kremlin while Naomi just watched. After a few minutes, the boys came back with Aeryn joining them a few minutes later.
"Hey, Christopher!" Lara said as she pulled him aside. "How'd it go? Did you talk to Aeryn about how you feel about her?"
"It-uh, never came up." Christopher mumbled.
"Never came up?!" Lara said incredulously. "Oh, Chris..." She shook her head pityingly. "You are one impossible kangaroo, you know that?"
"I don't really want to talk right now." He said mournfully. "Could you PLEASE just leave me alone for a while?"
"Okay," Lara said kindly. "But don't think for a minute that this is over."
"I knew you'd say that." He sighed as he walked away.
"Hey Aeryn!" Lara heard Naomi call. "What's this?" Lara turned to see Naomi pointing at a small part of the Kremlin Wall that seemed different from the rest. Then she saw why, it had faces carved into it.
Aeryn looked decidedly disgusted. "That is the Wall of Remembrance or as it's more commonly known, the Wall of Shame."
"What's the deal with the faces?" Nick asked. Aeryn sighed.
"My father did not event communism, it is an ideology he brought from his home world. On Earth it had...poor results." The corner of her mouth twitched at the understatement. "When he went about building communism on Mobius, he made sure that it's faults be explored and addressed. These-" She pointed angrily at the stone faces. "Are the tyrants and monsters responsible for millions of deaths and used communism as their excuse for mass murder."
She pointed at large letters that had been carved into the wall. They weren't Cyrillic characters, they were Latin. "WIR WISSEN BESSER." Aeryn read. "We will know better." She translated. "These creatures represent everything that we want to avoid." Aeryn spat. She pointed to a face. "Pol Pot." Then she indicated the next face. "Enver Hoxha." And so it went, Aeryn pointed and recited them name of each face on the wall. "Nicole Ceausescu. Andrei Zhdanov. Lavrenty Beria. Kim Jong-Il. Andre Vishinsky." She paused as she came to the last two faces. "These are the most repellent of all; Joseph Stalin." She said indicating the last human face. The remaining face was that of a mobian primate. "And Alynna Colleton."
Lara stared at that last face, suddenly she felt the world dropping out from beneath her as she had another weird dream. "How can I be dreaming when I'm still awake?" She asked no one. Suddenly she found herself staring at the face of Alynna Colleton, only it wasn't on a wall and there was no one around. It was a faded poster of her with captions reading slogans like "WAR IS PEACE! FREEDOM IS SLAVERY! IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH! WORK IS FREEDOM!"
When she stepped away from the poster, she found that she was in the same spot she was in during her last dream. "Wait a minute," she muttered to herself. "You can't read in a dream! Something's very wrong here!"
"That is an understatement," said a voice. Lara twirled around, trying to find the speaker. "You won't be able to find me with your eyes." Came the voice again. "You must listen with your soul."
" 'Listen with my soul?' What the hell is going on here?" She said to herself.
"When the time comes, you will know." The voice said, answering Lara's unasked question. "Until then." As quickly as this strange "vision" came, it went just as quickly. Lara found herself back where she was, standing in front of the Wall of Shame listening to her friends talk, if they noticed her spacing out for the last minute or so, they gave no notice. Lara tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Naomi say to Aeryn;
"I take it they aren't very popular around here, eh?" Naomi said, referring to the dead tyrants on the Wall, trying to lighten the mood.
"About as much as Robotnik would be, were he still alive. Maybe even less." Aeryn agreed. "At any rate, I think I've done enough kvetching today." She looked at her watch. "And I promised some friends I'd meet them downtown. Let's go."
As they departed, Lara cast one last look at the stone face of Alynna Colleton, hoping it would yield some clues as to what was going on. All she found was stony silence.
* * *