don't tell them you can see

It was March 12, 2148, when the tragedy occurred. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, cool but not too cold. It had to be one of the prettiest days the country of Lucidus had ever seen. It appeared to be a seemingly normal day: adults were off to work, children were on their way to school, and civilians strolled the city streets. Aasira was on her way to the bullet train to catch a ride to work when all of a sudden a loud crackling noise filled the air. Everyone looked up to the sky to see a bright white light, coming closer and closer to them until it was practically touching them. Screams of terror and confusion came out of the people. The light was not only bright but scorching. It felt as hot as 1,000 suns being forced down upon them. Then, the bombs went off.

Everything went black.

That’s how it was for years. People were forced to aimlessly wander around in the dark for what felt like an eternity. Children cried out for their mothers, longing to be in their arms once again. Families were now forever separated by this absence of sight.

One day, about three months after the Great Blinding, Aasira regained her sight. She looked around her: the city that was once filled with beauty and peace was now almost completely in shambles. Buildings were falling apart, the streets had massive holes in them, the lush green that once flourished was now covered in black ash, probably from the debris from the explosion. She squinted her eyes, trying to get herself to adjust back to having her sight. Then she realized something: on the surface of a few buildings she saw the words “don’t tell them you can see” written in her language, spray-painted small in bright red. Confusion filled her thoughts. What could that message mean? Was she the only one who could see? Who couldn’t she tell? She glanced around her and saw people, some that she knew, walking around undirected, whose eyes were covered in a grey film that made even the brightest of eyes appear lifeless.

Aasira then noticed another group of people: men walking around in all black military uniforms, their faces hidden by large helmets. Their uniforms had the flag of Arra plastered on them, the country they were at war with at the time of the Great Blinding. They all had some sort of weapon strapped to their bodies or in their hands. Just the sight of the men scared Aasira, and she knew to avoid them at all costs, and that they could possibly be the ones not to tell about her sight. Thankfully, they spoke a different language than the people of Lucidus, so they could not read the messages that were on the walls.

Aasira decided she needed to get out of this open area and get somewhere she could hide for now. She walked slowly, not trying to draw attention to herself. She watched the men that were pacing the space around them, that were scanning the people as they went.

“What could they possibly want from us?”

After she evaded the foreign guards, she made her way to an alleyway. The sight of it alone was enough to make Aasira shiver. She took a step and headed into it, then a creaking sound came from behind an old crate. Her eyes immediately darted over to it, then another pair of eyes met hers. They were light brown, and she had never been so happy to see someone’s eyes before. She did not feel threatened or scared under his gaze; she felt safe.

“Can you see too?” the man questioned her.

“How do I know you’re not one of the ones I’m not supposed to tell?”

“Aw you liked my message? Pretty convincing huh?” He laughed at himself for his clever remark. “But I promise, I’m not one of them… How long ago did you wake up?”

She explained to him what had happened to her.

Then he explained his story. He was also out on the day of the Great Blinding; he had been heading to his job at the Capitol. He was the former Lieutenant General of Lucidus, and he had been until the blinding maimed him too. She figured that is why he looked so familiar to her. He was one of the most respected generals in the country, and everyone adored him. He regained his sight only one week after the event and because of his position in the government, he was able to gain access to the inside plans of Arra and how they were trying to take over, and that's how he had survived this long. He gained their trust by convincing them he would not kill them and would aid them in taking over. The only reason he chose to patrol was to see if anyone else had woken up and to help them.

“Have you ever thought about fighting back Res?”

“The thought has crossed my mind a couple of times. I just knew I couldn't do it alone. There’s too many of them to take them all at once.” He paused before speaking again. “You should hear the things they are planning to do. It’s terrible, Aasira. They want to literally wipe us off the face of the Earth. They think I’m one of them, and I’m disgusted to even pretend to be a part of it.”

Now filled with rage and love for her country, Aasira said, “Res we can’t just let them do this to us. We have to fight back. This is our home and I won’t stand for it. I won’t go down without a fight.”

“Then I think I have a plan for us.”

They sat down and talked out all the details of their plan to the most minuscule parts, everything from the exact timing to how to react if someone noticed they were up to something. He decided he was going to go through the main entrance, past the guards and security, and to the back door to let her in. Then they would together go up the stairwell, “since no one uses those things anymore.” After that, they would go to the command center room and find the airborne cure that was locked somewhere inside that room. Then they would get out as fast as they could and save everyone.

It had to be done quickly because the Commander of the Arra Army had secret plans to kill everyone in the city and made sure no one ever remembered the country of Lucidus.

They walked out of the alleyway and into the public eye again. They thought they would be in the clear until Res heard footsteps coming from behind them. He turned around to see a couple of guards heading towards them.

“Go along with it,” Res said underneath his breath. All of a sudden he grabbed her and placed handcuffs around her wrists and began to yell at her.

“I found this one hiding in that back alleyway over there. She can see somehow, so I’m going to take her back to the Capitol to see what they want me to do with her.”

Aasira could not believe he could switch over to that persona so well. It was completely unlike the sweet and kind Res she had been with moments before.

The guards laughed with him at her, and they left him to “take care” of her. As soon as the guards were out of sight, Aasira asked if she could be let out of the tight handcuffs. He declined, claiming it would be “too dangerous” if someone were to see them together without it. She was fine with it, she thought. She understood why it had to be that way. He was just protecting her.

They continued walking and eventually strode into the Capitol building. The two friends went straight into the elevator and headed up to the top floor. Once they arrived at the heavily monitored control room, filled with screens filming and watching every part of Lucidus, Aasira was completely absorbed by all of the pictures of her country plastered on the walls. One picture was before the attack: everything was beautiful and full of life, and everything seemed to be perfect. One was during the attack: you could see the light coming in and about to destroy everything. One was after, when the entire country was in ruins. Buildings were falling apart and all life that was left had disappeared. The final picture was an image of what they wanted to transform Lucidus into. It would just be an extension to Arra so that they could continue to become more powerful. This brought tears to her eyes.

“Aasira, I need to take some of your blood. We have a machine here that can read your blood and tell us why you regained your sight,” Res said. “I already tested my blood. I have a certain genetic mutation called XϴZ, and if we have the same mutation, the machine can combine them together and make a serum that can cure everyone.”

She could see the hope glimmering in his eyes.

She agreed, and Res took a clean needle and extracted some blood from her arm. He took the blood and placed it in a test tube in the machine for testing. As the machine finished testing her blood, she walked around the room and noticed files placed on the table next to the machine. She picked them up and began looking through them.

“Case #1: Res Galt

Cause of Sight: XϴZ”

“Case #2: Nova Volt

Cause of Sight: XϴZ”

“Case #3: Zerd Crynn

Cause of Sight: XϴZ”

Confused, she placed the files back down.

Then she noticed a letter written in Arra’s native language.

“ To General Axiom of Arra,

Like I promised, I have been avidly working on my tasks of collecting the test subjects. There have only been three, including myself so far. But I promise that I will perfect this technology for the country. Once I am able to get these results, I will make the serum that we will be able to use later in the war against our other enemies. Then we will take out the citizens of Lucidus as you have commanded us to do so. These people are nothing but a stepping stone to us. My sincere gratitude goes to you for letting me accompany you in taking on this task. You will not regret it, sir.

General Res of Lucidus”

In disbelief, she looked at Res. Fear coursed through her veins. She felt herself go as white as a ghost. She was left utterly speechless. How could he lie to her like this? She made a run for the door, but Res heard her footsteps and quickly went after her and grabbed her. She screamed and cried for help, but no one could hear her.

“Turns out you have XϴZ too.” His voice was sinister.

It had all been a lie. Hot tears began to fall down her face as she cried out. She couldn't believe she had been so naive. He grabbed his gun from his side and placed it at her temple. He pulled the trigger. Her body hit the floor with a thud, and he dragged her lifeless body back to the lab where Nova and Zerd both lay cold for future testing.