The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 13

CriSPe INSTITUTE
08.01.8462 - 6:00 PM

Lélia arrived at the time for the lecture, which would be given in one of the conference rooms in the first basement of the Institutes of War and Representation. The room was already complete, with 120 new members of the representative body approved for that year. As usual, Lélia would open the preparatory course and give another five lectures during the first semester.

"Welcome, welcome!" She said to the room, all in absolute silence. "Congratulations on approval. I know you must be extremely excited," Lélia didn't even introduce herself. She knew it was unnecessary; successful people didn't need to present their resumes. "Keep this nice feeling... this happiness.... vivid on your memories. You will need it for the rest of your life," she gave a small smile. "I inform you that nothing you have read about the representation service or war studies is true. There's no glamour, there's no fame, and often there's not even respect for your individuality," she added that last-minute comment, raising one of her eyebrows. "There is hard work, there is study, and there is endless research, meetings that last weeks, pressure after pressure," she listed with her fingers as she was talking, her body language speaking in public was much more didactic and choreographed, and her accent even changed a little for a much more neutral one. "So, when you think about giving up, remember the happiness you are feeling right now, the excitement, and ask yourself: 'Is this really what I want for myself?'" She paused for a moment, watching her audience. "I'll start by giving you some data so that you can start to assess whether this is what you intend to follow for the rest of your life. After all, I don't intend to have people incapable or unwilling here for four years, and if you're going to give up, do it a favor to all, give up as soon as possible to save unnecessary work for both the Institute and you."

Everyone was perplexed by Lélia's frankness. She spoke all of this with the calm and ease of someone who has repeated the same speech annually for the past decade.

"My dears, I'm not saying this to discourage you. I'm just being sincere to save your hearts and your psyche. There's no shame in giving up. There's shame in being unhappy doing something you don't enjoy for the rest of your life. Giving up means leaving behind something that no longer suits you and trying something new. It often means reinventing yourself and being reborn from the ashes to something better, something that completes you, that pleases you. So, in case you realize that this is not your place, I will wish you the best of luck with your next choice. To those who believe they are in the right place and will feel fulfilled here, follow me."

Lélia took a glass of water from the table in front of her and drank.

"Anyone here under twenty-five?" She questioned. Almost the entire room raised their arms. "See? You are still children; you are forced to choose a profession you are supposed to follow for the rest of your life when you have barely lived fifteen percent of it. So it's up to you to choose when to change your path and pursue a different career. I just want all of you to be in peace with yourselves, here inside CriSPe, the Representative Institute, or outside these walls. We have an entire psychological support department for you. You received this information in the welcome kit earlier today. Don't hesitate to use it. I want happy and willing people here and at ease with themselves. Do you know why? Happy and fulfilled people don't piss me off," Concluded Lélia smiling and taking another sip of water.

"Well, let's go back to the data. I don't want to scare you, just pass on the reality: only 37% of representatives get married, and out of this 37%, only 48% end up 'procreating' and less than 30% manage to keep their marriages for over a decade. Hard, isn't it? If you are an attached person who enjoys watching a movie under the covers with a partner, you should have a solid sense of organization. I suggest you marry journalists, writers, researchers, or any other profession that allows your spouse to accompany you in sudden changes, or who don't mind having varied partners to watch a movie streaming, whichever prefers to sponsor this lecture of mine."

Everyone in the auditorium laughed as Lélia came down from the pulpit with her microphone and began to parade gloriously across the stage.

"If you're not prepared to a representative life but enjoy the bureaucratic work, we also have some work to be done over CriSPe Institute, which does not require abrupt changing but is available only for the most outstanding students. Now let's go to the course. It will be four years of academic training mixed with practice. The first semester is strictly academic, don't expect to get mixed up with the other agents and representatives. After these four years, you will pass a final exam, where you will or will not be selected to join the staff. Other data: of the 120 students who enter each year, around 29 drop out, and by the updated average of this year, 98% pass the final exam. Now enough with presentations and data, let's start with the subject. I will be teaching some Master Classes during this first semester. In the following semesters, you will have little contact with me, but in the last one, I will come back to haunt you."

Lélia took one more look at her audience.

"Well, let's go then! In recent years, the Old World and the New World have plunged into two major wars: the Musical War and the Last War. First of all, it's obvious, but let's remember, there is a big difference between Old World and Old Continent. Old World we use to define the Original Continent, from which we arose, and the Far Continent, two continents of ancient and primordial magic, with more mysticism and rituals. The New World refers to the Old Continent, the continent that dominated the globe, and the New Continent discovered a few centuries ago, where we are." Lélia looked around the room. "I'm relieved. I've already had classes with students who took notes in this part of the lecture. I wondered if I would be an extremely applied person or without any notion of geography. You, blonde, in a blue vest, sitting in the second row, hi, what's your name? Please, tell us about The Musical Wars."

Lélia loved to scare the newcomers that way. She always chose the best-dressed girl but always asked something easy to be answered. The slim blonde girl with her face covered in makeup, wearing a navy blue vest, was suddenly startled.

"Hi, my name is Clarice," said the girl in a tense way.

"Oh, Starling?" Lélia asked playfully, trying to make the girl more comfortable.

"I wish," answered Clarice.

"Which one? The books, Foster or Moore?"

"Hard choice."

"Indeed it is. Well, sorry for the kidding. Now I'm going to shut up and let you explain to us about the Musical War," said Lélia seeing that the girl was calmer.

"Well, the Musical Wars took place between 8,122 and 8,130. Bernard Herrscher, at the time heir to much of the Old Continent, married Victoria Veiga, heiress to another considerable part of the Old World as well as the New Continent, considerably increasing his power over mainly the New Continent. Herrscher believed that he would be able to impose a 'new world order,' managing to control kingdoms on all existing continents with the marriage. But this was the same intention as the Veiga, who married their only daughter to King Bernard. As time went by, the power of the Veiga Herrschers grew, but it was not what both families wanted. The Veiga believed....

"Okay, great, you already gave us a good introduction. Thank you, Clarice. Well, the Veiga believed that they would manage to usurp Herrscher's power. The Herrschers have always been very demanding and serious. They rule their population by discipline and hard work. While the Veiga commanded a part of the Old Continent and vast tracts of land in the New Continent, it had always been considered wanton for the time. Much of modern cultural production is the result of the Veiga era. Both have always been cultural rivals, but believed that with marriage it would be possible to stand out once and for all," Lélia paused and took a sip of water. "Both were wrong and ended up trapped in the other family's inconvenient culture. Neither of the two families stood out, and then the most unexpected thing happened, Herrscher tried the last card, ordering the murder of Victoria's parents. Bernard submitted his wife to his will and his five children and began to rule with an iron fist the nations that once belonged to the Veiga. At that time, a considerable part of the lands of the Old Continent was under the Herrscher dynasty. They also controlled three-quarters of the New Continent. Bernard had now begun to have his most solid plan for global domination. He just didn't expect his second eldest daughter to join the countries of the New Continent and her maternal family with a plan to break that domination. He didn't even expect his wife would kill him.

That was one of the moments that Lélia found the most interesting in history. It was the moment when Charlotte had come to power after her father's murder. She continued to narrate details of the war while most of the students kept their eyes on her.