The O Men

11

          At any given moment I could have been caught. My work was dangerous, yet fruitful. Every single failure within the war had been altered in the news, and only I kept a view of the truth. That's not to say that there weren't many failures, there truly weren't. The State had been right in believing that I was well suited for the job that inevitably caused the deaths of millions upon millions of enemy soldiers. The ones that had trained me on basic battle strategy learned quickly that as long as they don't make any reference to the deaths being caused, I can provide quick and accurate counter strategy, which provides me with little bursts of satisfaction. In those moments I forget that I am killing people, but I see it as my only use in the world apart from betraying the State in hopes of liberation within or beyond my lifetime. I have an improved living situation, a bed with an oak frame, the walls are solid white, the sheets on the bed are oddly soft, with a silky texture that appears to be wildly expensive, as I quickly learned everything is here. The room feels to be temperature controlled, although I can't figure out from where it is. The floors are clean, the dresser has a mirror that is so clear, I was startled to see my reflection in it for the first time. The mirrors were hardly ever clean in the blocks - mirror solution is too expensive. There are foods that I've never had before that I'm now eating in a daily basis. Bread, butter, even real sugar. There was even real wine that I had been having, alcohol does not have an age limit in the State. If you become addicted to alcohol as a kid, and you were a commoner, then the State would believe that it was better. If the commoners are drunk, they can't rebel against what they don't understand. I am fully aware of the affects of too much wine and I drink it with meals to help keep myself from getting drunk. From what I've learned, drunk people betray many secrets, and I can't afford that. At any rate, my plan is going well. Laying in bed that night I contemplated small ideas and unrealistic fantasies in an attempt to carry myself to sleep.

         "Charlotte" I heard a voice say in a low whisper. I ignored it thinking I was dreaming, as I didn't hear the door open. "Charlotte it would be wise of you to wake up!" I heard the voice whisper shout. At that point I abruptly sat up in bed and saw Rose's face at the edge of it. "I have not much time to explain, but I heard word that the State is suspicious of your intent and they plan to send the top tier observers to come question you, and they feel to know damn well that you're still part of the Opposition." Without wasting any more time I got up and was about to slip into dayclothes when Rose stopped me. "Don't wear those. They've been chipped. Wear these." She hands me a set of dayclothes from a different city, "we're going to Meridian." She finishes. She carries me on her back and climbs up on my furniture with little to no noise, just as a professional observer would. There is a window that I had no knowledge of that had granted her access and we swiftly escaped. It's key that she makes no more noise than a soft rustle when she walks, for the microphones planted around the area would betray our location if it picked up footsteps or the breathing of a human being, and even then, she manages to stay out of range of most of the receptors, while being very quiet. I could even feel her heartbeat slow considerably, it must have been some sort of technique to help them sneak around and observe others on the rooftops, and maybe even in others blocks. It's not something I like to think about, I guess I should be used to the lack of privacy, but I'm not. Suddenly, something blows right past me, blowing my hair around a little. Silent shooters.

         Rose jumps off the building and lands on a waste cart just before an array of bullets rushed past. The waste cart started up and we both sat perfectly still until the building, which looked like a renovated grain silo, went out of sight. After about 30 minutes, Rose gets up, and maneuvers herself into the passenger seat. I was horrified, unaware that the driver was part of the Opposition too, and he had helped us pull a fast one up and out of here. I sat in the waste trunk, among the decaying produce and smelly plastics and we headed towards Meridian. Just as we were about to leave the city, I happened to remember the invitation.

"Stop!" I shouted, causing the waste transport coming to an abrupt halt.

"What was that about!?" Yelled Rose from the passenger seat.

"I just remembered that I've found an Opposition member that lives not to far from here. We need to go see her it's nearly 21:00"

Rose looked at me with uncertainty but the benefits seemed to outweigh the risks and we headed off to the block of this mysterious Opposition member. Giving the driver the address and riding for nearly 15 minutes, we arrived at a rather nice looking block building. "I'll stand guard outside" she said. I simply nodded in response.

Walking up to the door, I didn't realize that this could be a trap, this could end up being like another Ashier, but at this rate, all I had left to lose was my life. I knocked on the door, half expecting a gun to my head, and the 18 year old girl opened the door, smiling genuinely. I knew then, that this was truly worth the risk. "Come in, and quickly." She whispered. I went inside, looking around at her oddly clean block. I assume that her parents must be part of the major party if her block looks this well furnished. Her block looks rather new, and it's much bigger than my block. It has a lot of the expensive things that I had seen before at the silo. Yes definitely she has some involvement in the Major Party. What I couldn't comprehend was why she would be against the O Men if she received these luxuries. I saw her go up to the Visor and switch it off before letting me come in range of it. "I'm able to keep it off for a few hours but I tend not to like keeping it off for more than I need to. It's a rather risky thing to keep it off for the full 12 hours. I personally feel it's unsafe to have it off for more than an hour, they start to suspect you." I can only nod, wide eyed at the fact that she turned off the visor free of consequence. "Anyways, my name is Lilah Lynn Phence. What's your name?" I froze. Did she just say her last name was Phence? Why yes I think she did. "H-hi my name is Charlotte Rose Phence" I said as I remembered that Rose is my middle name as well as the other Rose's first name. "Phence!?" Lilah exclaimed in delight. "Oh my do you know what this means dear?"

         "...no I don't," I said, hesitantly.

         "It means that we are cousins." She replies with a look of surprise and relief on her face. "It means you come from the superior family! You're from the family known by the party for it's genius!"

         My stomach felt heavy as I realized just exactly why I hadn't been Removed yet. I am part of the O Men state's family experimental success. I had heard about an undisclosed family that was experimented on where the descendants obtained higher brain power, but I never would have thought that I would be part of this family. I am a valid option for the hand down of power from the O Men. They're trying to mind me toward O Men policies, they need me to uphold it when I receive the power. Lilah wouldn't receive this power because I'm more closely related to the dictator, his last name previously undisclosed, but now I know what his name is - Orion Manning Phence, O Men, for short.