02-27-2020, 01:43 AM
Laurene Ferre managed to convince her work to let her travel to Kerlile. It was a difficult task, given that she was now a news anchor rather than an investigative journalist like she’d started her career as. But with all the new things happening in the Matriarchy, it was a fascinating place - the reforms had been rather unexpected, and were happening much more quickly than most people had expected. Yet, few still wanted an assignment to that country, where journalists were frequently persecuted.
Her eagerness and her ability to subtly manipulate people had combined to ensure that she was able to travel - and, conveniently, that she had her expenses paid. Of course, she would never return from the Matriarchy, nor complete her assignment on arrival. But they didn’t know that. The thought rather amused her. She’d enjoyed interviewing politicians on TV in Laeral, either helping or hindering them as she saw fit. But returning home would be a nice change of pace, and an opportunity to pursue other activities that interested her.
She was too young to retire at 35, but she had all kinds of plans for what she wanted to do in the future. After the bright lights of television studios, she thought she might like to do something quieter for a while. Perhaps work outdoors, or with animals. If, of course, they let her. The message had said that her mission was over, but not that she was free to choose. She was, of course, very up-to-date with the Kerlian reforms, and she guessed that perhaps she would be granted more freedom than she would have even a year ago.
Her flight was quiet, and she sat doing work as they flew, keeping up appearances until the final moment. Perhaps, if she had time, she’d even send back some stuff as they were expecting. Though she was perfectly okay with taking advantage of people, as she’d been taught in childhood, she liked many of those she worked with. If the reformists were to ask her, she’d suggest that Kerlile try and improve relations with Laeral as they were a lot further forwards in feminist progress than she had been taught as a girl.
As she landed and stepped foot on Kerlian soil once more, she felt all the muscles in her body relax for the first time since her teens. Laurene was safe once more, safe from discovery and the terror of living under a false identity. The reforms helped, perhaps if Kerlile had been as it once was, she wouldn’t have felt so comfortable. But as it was, she grinned on passing through border security and continued to grin as she took out her phone and dialled the Aurora Centre for further instructions.
*
Sofia Lance didn’t want her partner, Christopher Jackson, to be suspicious if she just disappeared overnight. It was better to wait, and create a situation where her absence wouldn’t be noted for quite some time. So she spent the time after she received orders to return being as irritating as she could, in the hope that he’d break up with her. It was an unpleasant thing to do, and she felt bad about it, but it couldn’t be helped. This was something she had to do for her mission, and for her safety.
She came home acting very drunk, and called him by the wrong name on purpose, planting suspicions in his head. Then, she proceeded to start eating out after work and coming home late. She left the house messy and never cleaned up after herself, always running off somewhere and saying she’d get to it later. One night after work, she spotted him in a car on the other side of the street, and let him follow her to a fancy restaurant where she ordered a table for two, went into the bathroom and put on extra make-up.
As an Aurora, it was easy for her to watch him watching her, especially since he himself wasn’t trained at all. Really, his movements were extremely obvious to her. When she ordered champagne with two glasses, she saw him storm away from the window where he’d been watching angrily. Sofia stayed out late that night, coming home at about 1am and deliberately smearing her lipstick and ruffling her clothes. She drank all the champagne herself, and had made no attempt to hide it from her breath.
It worked. He yelled at her, and accused her of cheating, which she denied in a way that seemed extremely false. He then told her he was sleeping on the couch, and when she woke up in the morning, her bags were packed and sitting next to the door, and he had already gone to work. She called her own work, at the Women’s Chapter of the Socialist Party of LOM, told them her boyfriend had thrown her out and she was going to need to take a few days off to sort out a living situation, which they accepted.
She then took her bags, and headed to the airport, smirking at how easy it had all been. Any sadness she felt at the end of her relationship she buried deep down inside, not allowing herself to feel anything for a second. It was another skill she had learned in training, skills that made her able to be cold and cruel without a second thought. She flew via Laeral, and on the second flight, thought a woman sitting up in business class looked very much like someone who had been in the younger class than her during training.
*
Noemi Saller had long since forgotten what hope felt like, if she had ever known. Upon receiving her message, she knew there was no way she could get out of Shuell. She contacted the Matriarchy asking for help with returning, and was told to sit tight and wait for a response. That had been over a week ago, and she was covered in scratches that her pet cat had given her when she squeezed him too hard while she was stressed.
Continuing to work in her job as an engineer, she made certain that her colleagues didn’t see her fear or her worries. If they had seen anything, she would have surely been taken away by now. The thought stressed her out - they’d torture her, almost certainly. She’d been trained to resist, of course, but there is only so much someone can do and the longer one resists for, the more pain one suffers. If it happened, she would have to make some difficult choices over how much she was willing to suffer.
Her life continued as normal, except that she continually checked her messages, hoping that Kerlile would find a way to rescue her before she was captured, but no such message came. The next time she contacted them, they irritably told her she had to wait just a little longer. She was not pleased with that response, and almost punched the wall on receiving it. It wasn’t fair, she hadn’t even had the chance to do anything, and now she knew that Auroras were being hunted. She had little time left.
One morning, Noemi woke with an uneasy feeling. She couldn’t place the cause, but it made her wary. She ate her breakfast quickly, without opening any of the curtains or blinds. The thought of going to work frightened her, but not going would look even more suspicious, so eventually she worked up the courage to get ready and leave the house, keeping away from the windows beforehand. She looked at her car, and had a disturbing feeling that she shouldn’t take it. Something about it looked wrong.
It was freezing as she walked, and she kept looking over her shoulder in case she was being followed. So when it became clear that she was being followed, she felt completely sick. There was no way this would end well, and running away would only make it worse for her. So she froze on the spot, and clenched her eyes tightly shut. It was a few minutes before she heard them approach her, warily, like she might have set a trap. She hadn’t.
She didn’t resist when they grabbed her and dragged her to the van. She just kept her eyes clenched shut, pretending that she wasn’t there, that if she couldn’t see it then it couldn’t hurt her, like a disturbing version of peek-a-boo.
“Please,” she whispered suddenly, as if it would help.
“Shut up,” one of them said to her, and pulled her more roughly.
As she was handcuffed and thrown in the back of a van, she thought about the day they took her from the orphanage. Though she had been three at the time, she remembered it somewhat. She remembered the look of fear on the face of one of the orphanage staff as they took her, looking at Noemi like she faced a terrible fate. Perhaps the future wasn’t so difficult to predict.
*
Sou Liren had spent the last week of her life having a very good time indeed, in spite of her fear. Upon being recalled to Kerlile, she had contacted them asking for assistance, knowing that it would be difficult to leave Shen without raising suspicion. Unlike with Noemi, the Kerlians had responded to her, considering it at least possible to rescue her. They’d instructed her to leave her university in Singse and make her way to Liaren, on the island jutting out from Shen that was a popular vacation spot.
She spent the week at an establishment which would have been very illegal in the Matriarchy, on the orders of her superiors. There were two advantages to this: it was unlikely that someone would look for a Kerlian there, and also such places were rather wary of the Shen authorities. Liren had been rather nervous beforehand, but knew that those assisting her in her escape would meet her there. The thought of spending so much time around a male worried her, so she chose to spend it with a woman. She was 18 and inepxerienced in such things, worrying about the attachments and early marriages that many Shen subjects got into.
It was almost a disappointment when the knock came on her door. Three Kerlians stood outside, two women and a man. Male employees of the Kerlian Intelligence Service were rare but not unheard of, even though many foreign states considered their existence a rumour, much to their glee. One of the women remained behind in her place, and she headed out with the other woman and the man.
“Enjoyed yourself?” the woman asked once they were outside, smirking a little. They took a taxi to the docks, speaking in English, but with false accents. Liren kept her Shen accent, and the other two sounded Lauchenoirian. Liren did not bother to answer the question, and the other two settled into a conversation about types of fish.
When they arrived at the docks, they made their way to a Lauchenoirian-registered yacht, and sat on deck, sipping at some alcohol and canapes, pretending they were just there for a nice holiday in the heat of the equator. Liren herself was far too nervous to join in much of the activities, but she relaxed a little when the other woman joined them. They did not bother to exchange names while still in Shen territory, in case they were all captured. They sailed straight for international waters, wanting to get there as quickly as possible. When they arrived, Liren laughed aloud in joy.
“Oh, I hated it!” she cried aloud, laughing and leaning back on a sunbed, helping herself to a chocolate canape. “They’re so old fashioned with their gender roles. They claim that women can do many things, and it’s true, but really, there’s so much that needs work. And it’s impossible to do anything, lest the government shut it down. I’d have been no use there.”
“I don’t envy you,” one of the women remarked while the other dealt with the actual matters of sailing. “I’d have hated to be an Aurora. It wouldn’t have been so bad in a country like Xiomera or Lareal where their feminism is more advanced. But Shen, or Shuell, or LOM… I’d have rather faced whatever consequences refusing assignment leads to.”
“Imprisonment within the Aurora Complex,” Liren clarified. “Not, like, the worst kind, they have activities and can study things, and sometimes teach school subjects to young Auroras, but they’re not allowed to leave. I confess, I was tempted, but in the end the thought of possibly never seeing the sun again was too much.”
“I imagine they’ll be releasing them,” the man remarked, speaking more freely than a Kerlian man usually did. “Since the Programme is being shut down.”
“It’s being shut down entirely?” Liren said, startled.
“Yeah, the reformists want rid of it,” the woman nodded.
“Good,” said Liren suddenly. “I hated it. I’m not even going to pretend any more. If they want to kill me or lock me up for it, fine. But I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went to.”
“Don’t worry, they let you Auroras say anything, the reformists. They let the rest of the population say a lot too,” the man said bitterly
“Surely that would be a good thing for you? Given your… well, gender” Liren said.
“I know my own kind,” he replied, “and some of them are dangerous.”
They remained silent for a while, and continued to sail as the sun began to set, turning towards Lauchenoiria and eating their dinner.
Her eagerness and her ability to subtly manipulate people had combined to ensure that she was able to travel - and, conveniently, that she had her expenses paid. Of course, she would never return from the Matriarchy, nor complete her assignment on arrival. But they didn’t know that. The thought rather amused her. She’d enjoyed interviewing politicians on TV in Laeral, either helping or hindering them as she saw fit. But returning home would be a nice change of pace, and an opportunity to pursue other activities that interested her.
She was too young to retire at 35, but she had all kinds of plans for what she wanted to do in the future. After the bright lights of television studios, she thought she might like to do something quieter for a while. Perhaps work outdoors, or with animals. If, of course, they let her. The message had said that her mission was over, but not that she was free to choose. She was, of course, very up-to-date with the Kerlian reforms, and she guessed that perhaps she would be granted more freedom than she would have even a year ago.
Her flight was quiet, and she sat doing work as they flew, keeping up appearances until the final moment. Perhaps, if she had time, she’d even send back some stuff as they were expecting. Though she was perfectly okay with taking advantage of people, as she’d been taught in childhood, she liked many of those she worked with. If the reformists were to ask her, she’d suggest that Kerlile try and improve relations with Laeral as they were a lot further forwards in feminist progress than she had been taught as a girl.
As she landed and stepped foot on Kerlian soil once more, she felt all the muscles in her body relax for the first time since her teens. Laurene was safe once more, safe from discovery and the terror of living under a false identity. The reforms helped, perhaps if Kerlile had been as it once was, she wouldn’t have felt so comfortable. But as it was, she grinned on passing through border security and continued to grin as she took out her phone and dialled the Aurora Centre for further instructions.
*
Sofia Lance didn’t want her partner, Christopher Jackson, to be suspicious if she just disappeared overnight. It was better to wait, and create a situation where her absence wouldn’t be noted for quite some time. So she spent the time after she received orders to return being as irritating as she could, in the hope that he’d break up with her. It was an unpleasant thing to do, and she felt bad about it, but it couldn’t be helped. This was something she had to do for her mission, and for her safety.
She came home acting very drunk, and called him by the wrong name on purpose, planting suspicions in his head. Then, she proceeded to start eating out after work and coming home late. She left the house messy and never cleaned up after herself, always running off somewhere and saying she’d get to it later. One night after work, she spotted him in a car on the other side of the street, and let him follow her to a fancy restaurant where she ordered a table for two, went into the bathroom and put on extra make-up.
As an Aurora, it was easy for her to watch him watching her, especially since he himself wasn’t trained at all. Really, his movements were extremely obvious to her. When she ordered champagne with two glasses, she saw him storm away from the window where he’d been watching angrily. Sofia stayed out late that night, coming home at about 1am and deliberately smearing her lipstick and ruffling her clothes. She drank all the champagne herself, and had made no attempt to hide it from her breath.
It worked. He yelled at her, and accused her of cheating, which she denied in a way that seemed extremely false. He then told her he was sleeping on the couch, and when she woke up in the morning, her bags were packed and sitting next to the door, and he had already gone to work. She called her own work, at the Women’s Chapter of the Socialist Party of LOM, told them her boyfriend had thrown her out and she was going to need to take a few days off to sort out a living situation, which they accepted.
She then took her bags, and headed to the airport, smirking at how easy it had all been. Any sadness she felt at the end of her relationship she buried deep down inside, not allowing herself to feel anything for a second. It was another skill she had learned in training, skills that made her able to be cold and cruel without a second thought. She flew via Laeral, and on the second flight, thought a woman sitting up in business class looked very much like someone who had been in the younger class than her during training.
*
Noemi Saller had long since forgotten what hope felt like, if she had ever known. Upon receiving her message, she knew there was no way she could get out of Shuell. She contacted the Matriarchy asking for help with returning, and was told to sit tight and wait for a response. That had been over a week ago, and she was covered in scratches that her pet cat had given her when she squeezed him too hard while she was stressed.
Continuing to work in her job as an engineer, she made certain that her colleagues didn’t see her fear or her worries. If they had seen anything, she would have surely been taken away by now. The thought stressed her out - they’d torture her, almost certainly. She’d been trained to resist, of course, but there is only so much someone can do and the longer one resists for, the more pain one suffers. If it happened, she would have to make some difficult choices over how much she was willing to suffer.
Her life continued as normal, except that she continually checked her messages, hoping that Kerlile would find a way to rescue her before she was captured, but no such message came. The next time she contacted them, they irritably told her she had to wait just a little longer. She was not pleased with that response, and almost punched the wall on receiving it. It wasn’t fair, she hadn’t even had the chance to do anything, and now she knew that Auroras were being hunted. She had little time left.
One morning, Noemi woke with an uneasy feeling. She couldn’t place the cause, but it made her wary. She ate her breakfast quickly, without opening any of the curtains or blinds. The thought of going to work frightened her, but not going would look even more suspicious, so eventually she worked up the courage to get ready and leave the house, keeping away from the windows beforehand. She looked at her car, and had a disturbing feeling that she shouldn’t take it. Something about it looked wrong.
It was freezing as she walked, and she kept looking over her shoulder in case she was being followed. So when it became clear that she was being followed, she felt completely sick. There was no way this would end well, and running away would only make it worse for her. So she froze on the spot, and clenched her eyes tightly shut. It was a few minutes before she heard them approach her, warily, like she might have set a trap. She hadn’t.
She didn’t resist when they grabbed her and dragged her to the van. She just kept her eyes clenched shut, pretending that she wasn’t there, that if she couldn’t see it then it couldn’t hurt her, like a disturbing version of peek-a-boo.
“Please,” she whispered suddenly, as if it would help.
“Shut up,” one of them said to her, and pulled her more roughly.
As she was handcuffed and thrown in the back of a van, she thought about the day they took her from the orphanage. Though she had been three at the time, she remembered it somewhat. She remembered the look of fear on the face of one of the orphanage staff as they took her, looking at Noemi like she faced a terrible fate. Perhaps the future wasn’t so difficult to predict.
*
Sou Liren had spent the last week of her life having a very good time indeed, in spite of her fear. Upon being recalled to Kerlile, she had contacted them asking for assistance, knowing that it would be difficult to leave Shen without raising suspicion. Unlike with Noemi, the Kerlians had responded to her, considering it at least possible to rescue her. They’d instructed her to leave her university in Singse and make her way to Liaren, on the island jutting out from Shen that was a popular vacation spot.
She spent the week at an establishment which would have been very illegal in the Matriarchy, on the orders of her superiors. There were two advantages to this: it was unlikely that someone would look for a Kerlian there, and also such places were rather wary of the Shen authorities. Liren had been rather nervous beforehand, but knew that those assisting her in her escape would meet her there. The thought of spending so much time around a male worried her, so she chose to spend it with a woman. She was 18 and inepxerienced in such things, worrying about the attachments and early marriages that many Shen subjects got into.
It was almost a disappointment when the knock came on her door. Three Kerlians stood outside, two women and a man. Male employees of the Kerlian Intelligence Service were rare but not unheard of, even though many foreign states considered their existence a rumour, much to their glee. One of the women remained behind in her place, and she headed out with the other woman and the man.
“Enjoyed yourself?” the woman asked once they were outside, smirking a little. They took a taxi to the docks, speaking in English, but with false accents. Liren kept her Shen accent, and the other two sounded Lauchenoirian. Liren did not bother to answer the question, and the other two settled into a conversation about types of fish.
When they arrived at the docks, they made their way to a Lauchenoirian-registered yacht, and sat on deck, sipping at some alcohol and canapes, pretending they were just there for a nice holiday in the heat of the equator. Liren herself was far too nervous to join in much of the activities, but she relaxed a little when the other woman joined them. They did not bother to exchange names while still in Shen territory, in case they were all captured. They sailed straight for international waters, wanting to get there as quickly as possible. When they arrived, Liren laughed aloud in joy.
“Oh, I hated it!” she cried aloud, laughing and leaning back on a sunbed, helping herself to a chocolate canape. “They’re so old fashioned with their gender roles. They claim that women can do many things, and it’s true, but really, there’s so much that needs work. And it’s impossible to do anything, lest the government shut it down. I’d have been no use there.”
“I don’t envy you,” one of the women remarked while the other dealt with the actual matters of sailing. “I’d have hated to be an Aurora. It wouldn’t have been so bad in a country like Xiomera or Lareal where their feminism is more advanced. But Shen, or Shuell, or LOM… I’d have rather faced whatever consequences refusing assignment leads to.”
“Imprisonment within the Aurora Complex,” Liren clarified. “Not, like, the worst kind, they have activities and can study things, and sometimes teach school subjects to young Auroras, but they’re not allowed to leave. I confess, I was tempted, but in the end the thought of possibly never seeing the sun again was too much.”
“I imagine they’ll be releasing them,” the man remarked, speaking more freely than a Kerlian man usually did. “Since the Programme is being shut down.”
“It’s being shut down entirely?” Liren said, startled.
“Yeah, the reformists want rid of it,” the woman nodded.
“Good,” said Liren suddenly. “I hated it. I’m not even going to pretend any more. If they want to kill me or lock me up for it, fine. But I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went to.”
“Don’t worry, they let you Auroras say anything, the reformists. They let the rest of the population say a lot too,” the man said bitterly
“Surely that would be a good thing for you? Given your… well, gender” Liren said.
“I know my own kind,” he replied, “and some of them are dangerous.”
They remained silent for a while, and continued to sail as the sun began to set, turning towards Lauchenoiria and eating their dinner.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax