The Potente

Seven

Dawn filled me with a new sense of despair. I was up at first  lighy, I don't  remember falling asleep, I was tossing and turning almost all night. Exhaustion must have taken over. I could not shake of  the feeling of dread, wondering  if I  would have to get used to it now. Now, more than ever before, I truly hated the Potente. How cpuld they be cruel enough to assign a human to this role? How can they force me to ensure that their sick hane is in perfect order knowing it will result in people losing their lives? I could feel the anger swirling in me.

Whatever the Potente are, they are most certainly pure evil. I loathe them  and would gladly set them alight and watch them burn. I dismissed the idea. Fire would have no effect on them. Our ancestors learnt that the hard way. As far as we humans know, these creatures are indestructible, undefeatable. The only reason there are less of them now is that kost disappered after the war. No one knows where they went to, or where they came from . All I do know is that no one has ever seen a Potente die.

I was provided with several ivory dresses. Male  servants wore light brown long sleeves jumpsuits, and females wore dark green dresses. The colour of my clothes sets me aside from my own species, making me an outsider to  my own kind.  I am still insignificant and worthless to the the Potente, but to other humans I am the greater evil, hated even more than the Carriers. It only makes me loathe the Potente more. The door opens and Gunnen comes in.

" I will be giving you the responsibilities for your role today. Pay attention I will not repeat myself," his voice didnt hold the same hatred that Elysian had when he had spoken to me. I find myself not knowing how to react. I can handle being hated by them. Being treated this differently to other humans would break me.  I force  myself to remain calm, and push all my conflicting emotions aside.

There is nothing I can do. This is my fate. I just wonder why  it has to be so miserable. I follow Gunnen silently. He is surely trying to trick me by pretending to be nicer than the others in the Council. I refuse to be a fool. I know the Potente are not capable of empathy or kindness. They are selfish and only care for their power and status, much like some  humans. 

It makes no sence  to me. All humans are suffering together,  and instead of helping each other we only care for our selves. Even the Potente have some respect for their own kind.  Perhaps thats why they had won the war so easily. Humans are very reluctant to help each other unless it gains  them something in return.  I am startled out of my thoughts when we stop in  a room filled with odd looking devices.

They are black windows with thin strings connecting them. It confuses  me greatly.  " We are using human technology to make this easier for you," Gunnen says. Human technology? Like the kind that the higher classes have access to? " What are they," I feel stupid for not knowing, even if it is not my fault. I learnt so much about my own kind  and am disappointed at myself for not knowing  what these devices are. " I believe  its called Computers," Gunnen replies.

What a strange word. Appropriate for the strange looking device.  Gunnen shows me what I  am to do, I do not  understand it fully, but apparently these screens will flash red and if it does I must go tell  him. It doesnt seem to difficult, and I  wonder what he isn't  telling me.

He walks away leaving me lost, and I  wonder if he purposefully gave me as little information  as possible so that I  can mess up and get punished. It seems highly likely.  He had warned me that I would get punished if I dod not  go to him every time the screen flashed red. It seems a bit silky to me. How is this ensuring the games work well? And how often does the screen flash?

Half an hour later, I am panting from exhaustion. I have run up and down a total of 15 times now, even Gunnen is irratated. He frowns hard before turning to me. " I am adding to your tasks," he says. Adding to tasks to a role is not unheard of, but us dreaded by humans. The more there is to do, the harder it is to please the Potente. 

" You press this button when the screen flashes red," he says pointing. " And will make sure to keep track of how many times it happens," he orders . I nod my head, almost relieved at another task that seemed to easy to be true.The screen flashes red. I press the button and it goes back to normal. I wonder what it is I am doing?

Gunnen is still here, I realize. " What does the red light mean," I ask. I hope I  do not get punished for the question. " When anyone is close to escaping the screen flashes red," he says, sounding bored. My heart skips a beat. His words shattered my entire soul and he is walking along as if nothing happened. This whole time...I've been helping them  stop people from escaping their games?

I've  been...killing of...my own species. My head spins.  I feel nauceous. No wonder no body wins. They never had a chance in the first  place. " If you tell anyone about this, or do not do your role, you will face a punishment far worse than death," he adds, before eventually walking away.  My heart is pounding  against my chest, trying to escape the body of a traitor.

The silence once he is gone is suffocating.  I wish I had never asked. That he had never answered. Could there be a punishment  worse than this  ? The  screen flashes red again and I feel myself freeze. This is torture. But they can do so much worse. Guilt consumes me. I am allowing people to suffer so that I am saved. Disgust and hatred fills  my body. 

Strangers and innocents. People with lives of  their own. Injured ,dead , or worse.  Them or me? My hands tremble slightly, I feel sick. I breathe  out slowly.  I'm  only human. Anyone else would do the same, I remind myself. I chose me.I hit the button.