Disclaimer: I don't own.
:}
Jade woke up, stretching and wondering what new hell was waiting for her today. She was now living in Yerba, of all places, just eight years after escaping from this hellhole. 'Lot has changed since then.' She told herself, even as she started her morning routine. 'Jails less of a sieve now, and less of a hellhole at the same time. Who knew there would be so many social reforms in just eight years… Still ruled by a dictatorship, kinda sorta, but the people voted for that, just after the end of the civil war. And somehow, I'm right back where I was, people watching me twenty four seven.'
Guards snapped to attention as she walked by, looking for her morning shower and a cup of anything to help her wake up. 'They have coffee in the prison now. Life is so much better now that they have coffee. Plus, not just a chain link fence between freedom and captivity. They even have female guards, so when you shower, you're not being perved out on nearly as much. Everything's so much more secure… Except Sheema is still at large, at least to Yerba. Woman was a monster, even if we did teach her how to dance. She escaped with us, on the day when I learned what a Duck Truck was. Basically a tuck that could float, and would allow us to drive over relatively smooth water, part of Sikowitz's brilliant escape plan. A short drive from one island nation to another, and where did we wind up? Gustavia! We wound up in one of Yerba's closest allies, and were lucky they weren't bothering to do much more then check each of us for citizenship and send us home. Gustavia, it seems, was getting foreign aid from the U.S. and wanted to keep things friendly. We were, in effect, exiled from Yerba, Gustavia, and related countries. Sheema was arrested, but probably put in a much more humane prison, cause apparently Gustavia wanted her for a laundry list of crimes as well. What kind of people were we dealing with?'
'Okay, getting off track here. I went home, just like everyone else, and assumed the whole Yerba chiz was over. Only, while it wasn't, we were safe, but only as long as we had the public eye on us. So what do we do? We do our damnedest to become famous, and I hate to admit it, but some of us did. Like Robbie. Boy made it, and all because he chose to follow that stupid lead and worked as a part of some other persons show. But then, the scandal hit, and everyone not Robbie got blacklisted.' Her mind wandered as she finished her shower, and got ready for her day. Her uniform was waiting, something she had to wear, even if it didn't flatter her much. 'All prisoners have to wear a uniform.' She reminded herself. 'Technical a prison, cause of indentured service, but it's not like I can just go home. No, this is my home…' Memories flooded, of how she came to be back in Yerba.
'Sigh, it wasn't Vega's fault. Honestly, we shouldn't have had any problems at all, except we did, because Beck had to be the knight in shining armor to that girl, the girl who was working for, you guessed it, Yerba.' Jade recalled, once again, as parts of this reminiscing was a part of her morning ritual. 'That girl led him, good matured, wanna be savior Beck, into a bad situation. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous so much as being designed to have him, me, and anyone else trying to help tossed into U.S. jail. Didn't work out that way, and she got arrested, because they forgot papa Vega was a cop.' Her momentary smile faded. 'Only, while we didn't do anything illegal, we did some questionable things to help Beck help a girl I didn't much like. The entertainment industry decided to make an example of us, part of the plan, and everyone who helped, all of us save Robbie, were blacklisted. We had too many enemies tangentially attached for anything else to have happened.'
Jade was now staring out a window at the countryside. 'I like so much of what they've done here, even if I can only see if from a distance. New industry, helping the country come into the twenty first century. Sure, biotech originally came because of the local flora, and the fact that Yerba still allowed, and encouraged, human testing. Saved them months of pre-trial time, and only cost them a little in money. Hard on the people sometimes, but hay, it brought industry, and in the end, helped Yerba build up it's own. Whomever thought of that was a genius. Moreover, they were able to negotiate an end to the civil war based on the promise of new jobs. Chancellor immediately went back on his word, arrested and dealt with many of the rebels. But it ended the war, made Yerba safe for tourism again.'
A knock let her know her time of reflection was coming to an end, long before she was ready. 'Beck and I fought over several things, but when he accused me of cheating, just because I found Vega easier to hang with once my dream was over, I got way despondent, and sough some form of relief. Honestly, I thought, I'd wind up back here, and the Chancellor, with no one else to punish, would just throw me to his guards, or something just as bad. Was way self destructive back then.'
She walked towards the office, doors opened for her, and entered, looking at the men in uniform who snapped to attention as she moved behind the big desk. 'Sentenced to life as the new Chancellor, though the electorate said they'd let me choose any title I wanted. I said princess, and so now I'm the fucking princess of Yerba. Sure, technically I'm in charge, but I can't retire or abdicate until I fulfill the stupid promise I made when I gave the people a choice. Why'd I think they'd want a democracy? They've had several, and they always ended in a dictatorship. So I do what I can, search for other businesses to move into this shit hole of a country, while marveling at what a little technology could do for our Vampire Moth problems. Tourism is up, though my former friends aren't willing to drop by any time soon. We chat on line, now that we have a killer internet. Honestly, they always had a good internet, which was partly why we never lost phone service last time were were here.'
Jade wanted to keep reminiscing about her friends, who she missed, but had work to do. "Okay, I know we're dealing with the Gustavian ambassador at ten. I know, oldest friends of the country, so we need to be nice. Question is, what am I doing after that?"
:}
I know, kinda obvious. Still, someone had to pay for what they did in Yerba, and I figure, life as their dictator, making things better. So, thoughts?