Do We Continue

Kelly

"Brian has had another dream today," Kelly announced to Alex as soon as he walked through the door. "He was outright scary, I don't know if it was that stupid death dream or what!"

At first Alex appears as if he didn't hear Kelly. His lean, owlish face is furrowed in thought as he stares at different holographic images.

Kelly grumpily stands over Alex, "Did you hear me? We screwed up with trying to undo the bonding."

"He was dreaming that death dream before the last bonding. I used to have a dream ever so often where I was shot and died before we left for this farce. I lay dying in this dream, I whisper; tell my mother I love her. This happened for a couple of years, never knowing when it may happen again. Yes, it scared me. Then one day I was walking home and there were protesters against the Regime. Out came the soldiers, they started shooting at the crowd. They had not placed their weapons on stun, they didn't care that some of us were just in the wrong location. A guy my age was standing next to me, he was hit. I think he knew he was dying." Alex grimaces, "He said, tell my mother I love her and not to be sad; we'll be together again one day. Anyway, stopped having the dream."

"Sorry," Kelly looks at Alex and shakes his head. "I never knew that. I have heard of protests having become violent. More and more question what is happening, I..."

Alex interrupts him with a tone of disapproval. "It wasn't the protesters, it was the Regime! As for Brian, he never wanted to come here in the first place. He started having that stupid dream when we got here and not before. It's not real, it is all stress related and disappointment that he is not home. Now we learn his father is supposedly a traitor along with some other relatives and they have been executed. So the word is stressed out. You don't understand how hard it is when you are dreaming you are dying, then watch someone die because he was in the wrong place or wrong time. Life sucks sometimes. I hate remembering my own death dream, even though I no longer have it." His tone is somber, "It felt so real."

"I know that a dream that repeats itself is an expression of our subconscious fears." He shrugs, "I simply can't let go of whoever that sneaky programmer was up too. I think it has to be one of the original bonding programmers and I have no idea what they are or were up to."

"Anyway, what about Brian? You seem to be concerned about all of them. We did right. I think about this a lot now. When they finish going through all of the Youth Corp then we run our wake-up program, with fingers crossed this last bonding will be undone. We can't leave the Youth Corp the way it is. As we have discussed before, the Regime sees them as living weapons that are being trained for some purpose. Twisting young minds is wrong. Hunting for small children that fulfill their need is evil. We are doing them a favor as they may have a chance to think on their own. If you are afraid of dying," He take a short pause, "You should have thought about that before now. Breaking the bonding is something I will be proud of right up to my last breath. Maybe my own death dream did teach me something. Watching that guy die and some officer running up with his weapon aimed at me is a memory that will never leave me."

"That reminds me, I gave you the code so you could look up officer information, Did you use it yet?"

"Yeah, I appreciate you helping me with that. I know you said to use it right away. Your supervisors sure have underestimated your abilities." Alex frowns as he says, "What about the program?"

"I told you I have been going through the program." He glances about, there is always a feeling of being monitored even though he has a program to check for monitoring. "That Avena program; I don't know who wrote that, but it is one complex program. I have been working hard to isolate the different parts of the program. I don't know how this individual did this. I know that there is a missing line of code..."

"You told me before. When they finish with the last of the Youth Corp members we will," Alex gives Kelly a wink. "We will magically wake them up with the sunflower and the word Avena. All will be good then as they will be awoken from their hypnotized state."

Kelly's smile and humor is obviously forced. "Yeah, the Under Twenty Gang strikes. We will be heroes."

"Yeah, the Under Twenty Gang. This time we will be the heroes. They will thank us later or hopefully they never find out."

Kelly nods in agreement. "Yeah, Brian and fellow Youth Corp members are idiots." He frowns, "Unfortunately, really smart idiots. If they find out and our program doesn't wake them out of this...I don't know, none of them seem like themselves anymore. I get so tired of, the Great One this; the Great One that; I will die without hesitation for our Great Leader. Sick of it. None of them seem like themselves. From what I am hearing, others are beginning to notice their...what is it called?" He tilts his head for a moment. "Yeah, over the top devotion. It doesn't feel real for anyone who has worked closely with any of them, they know there is a difference after they went through that sick bonding procedure."

"Do you still think that Avena program was supposed to be a wake-up program? Or, Kelly is your second thought that it is something evil?"

"I have been trying to decode the program, bit by bit. Don't know, but I am pretty sure someone else either did something or is going to do something. Something they are hiding from everyone. Maybe we made things worse rather than better."

Alex looks a bit uncomfortable and just stares at the wall before he shrugs. "I don't think it matters. They need help to get out of this. What happens when say they are seventy years old and all of this brain twisting fades away from them. How do they cope with what they will have done? We have to try is what I think."

"Hope we are not giving ourselves to much credit," Kelly looks about the room, then he gestures at some of the things in the room. "You are living in paradise. I love coming here."

"Better enjoy while you can. I am losing the room."

"What! I thought they were keeping you hidden."

"Yeah, think about it." Alex shakes his head and with long sigh says, " After they gave me permission to do more and never gave me ground rules. Well, I have been out and about way too much. I have been interacting with you, Brian and some of his friends. Now I have been chatting it up with that Dahax trooper. So, I am going to have a new smaller room and a roommate."

"Oh, I am going to miss this room," Kelly says with a grin as he glances at the small luxuries that Alex has in his room. "I mean really miss this."

"Me, too. Still you got to love the weirdo's you are hooked up with. Frustrated that Brian has stopped his friends and you from getting the haze on." His tone becomes low, sadly Alex says, "Liked it better before their bonding. Just started to be in your adventures and now." He shrugs. "Oh, well fun while it lasted."

"I don't think the adventures have stopped. Brian cannot help himself. The haze stopped, because Brian is on another project as you know. Some thought always gets in his head and off he goes. He is always magically inspiring everyone to follow along. I guess that includes me as well."

Alex smiles, then smirks. "Hopefully, we wake the; I love the Great One and will die happily for him Brian." He scowls, "Going to have to coordinate are conversations when he is not there until we can trust him if that is possible. That is if we can use your room to talk."

"If we magically wake him, who knows." Kelly smiles, "You do remember that Brian can be a real know it all jerk at times?"

"Our, know it all jerk. I think the word is douche bag in Earth slang." Alex says smiling back at Kelly.

"What is a douche bag?"

"No, idea." Alex leans back in his chair. "I guess we just have to be prepared for the worse, or you remove the code as you discussed before and we never wake them up from their evil sleep."

"I think, I just needed to come here and say just what you have said." Kelly says quietly. "After what you said happened, seeing someone killed just because the Regime didn't like protesters. We got to give the Youth Corp back to themselves. Maybe, it only works on some. Maybe, Brian stays the way he is, but another is able to be their real self."

"So we are on track to continue as planned?"

"Yes, we may be making things worse, but we care about them and the Regime does not. We can say that we at least tried."

Alex has a far away look in his eye and with a smirk he says. "You know the Youth Corp is their living weapons. What if they become something different?"

Kelly nods and they laugh together. "Maybe, just maybe the Regime will regret everything they have done to the Youth Corp. Your right, if we fail we fail. However, in the months to come or maybe it will take a few years...Maybe they will all come out of it immediately. Would be nice."

Alex nods his head, "Maybe the Youth Corp becomes their worse enemy. After watching that person die for no reason." He shakes his head, "I want to disrupt the government. I didn't know until I met you, then Brian and his friends. I want to fight. My dream became real, but for someone else." He shakes his head. "Thanks again for the code and giving me the program, to see the images of the officers without their fake faces and get their information. I found the officer who shot that guy I told you about. Besides using images to lead individuals into certain emotions; I have a memory for facial recognition. I will never forget that officer's face that killed that innocent person."

"Who is it?"

"It took me two days, but when you think of it pretty fast. It is Martin, he is a pilot and aide. I will never forget him pointing that gun at me with such anger. Although before he turned away I think he looked sad. He has a brother Phattac, who is his twin."

"Maybe it was that Phattac?"

"No, it was Martin. Do you know him? Far as I am concerned he is a monster."

Kelly shakes his head, but he remembers Brian had mentioned that Martin had given him some guidance on one of his speeches."

Alex loses his sad look and smiles. "One thing I believe is that you don't have to scream to make a difference. Just always remember to take advantage of those things you can change."

There is a long silence between them and it dawns on Kelly what Alex is saying. Protesters are always silenced, but those in the shadows may have more effect until the time is right to truly show yourself and resist. He stares directly at Alex and says, "Resist in silence."

"Correct, resistance doesn't always have to be loud."

They both nod and Kelly knows one thing. He wants to make a difference, he could never be loud and vocal like a real hero. However, sometimes maybe heroes are the ones no one sees.