[Lauchenoiria]

Aurora Centre, Unknown Location, Kerlile

Olivia Pierre glanced around at the mess. Things were being piled up in cardboard boxes, two lorries were parked outside being loaded up with paper to be taken directly to the recycling plants in a special collection, and computer hard drives were being destroyed before the rest of the equipment was loaded onto yet more lorries. As Olivia walked through the office area of the complex, she saw members of staff putting potted plants in boxes from their desks like it was any old office shutting down. It was rather surreal.

Most of the office staff had managed to find new jobs at other agencies, particularly the Censorship Bureau following their announcement that they would be reviewing many extra foreign films. Some of the staff who taught ‘normal’ subjects had found employment as teachers, some who taught other things had found jobs as martial arts instructors, but many more were struggling. The mood was subdued, but it was that of a closing company, not that of an espionage programme.

She headed past the office workers, trainers and assorted security personnel until she was out of the main building and crossing what appeared like a generic unused field to another building on the other side. This building was large, and seemed like a large block with no windows on the lower two floors, but Olivia knew that inside was a large courtyard with a garden and many windows overlooking it. Usually when she visited, it made her nervous and upset, but today she felt so much lighter.

As she approached the building, the woman who acted as ‘manager’ of this segment of the Aurora Complex opened the outer door and waved to her, smiling. Behind her, Olivia could see that the three other security doors had been left wide open and she couldn’t help but speed up with a spring in her step, almost skipping the last few metres before reaching out and shaking the woman’s hand.

“Olivia, I’m so glad you could come,” the woman said warmly, grasping Olivia’s hands between both of hers.

“Of course, Poppy,” Olivia smiled, “I wouldn’t have anyone else do it. They deserve to hear from someone other than my mother. She’d probably be cruel about it. I imagine many didn’t think this day would come.”

“Oh, I don’t know, since you started visiting regularly, there’s been a resurgence in hope among the girls. You’ve done wonders for them, Olivia. I can’t thank you enough.”

“I did the best I could do, I only wish I could have done more before now,” she sighed. “Have you assembled them already?”

“I did when one of the others saw your car pull in,” nodded Poppy. “They’re in the courtyard, it’s such a nice day, it would be a shame to keep everyone inside.”

“Then let’s go,” Olivia said decisively, walking in ahead of Poppy. They passed through the first two doors, Poppy closing the first to keep the cold out. Then they were in a crossroads, the door to the left marked ‘security’, the door to the right ‘administration’ and the door ahead of them, which had been left open ‘residences’. The pair continued to walk forward, finding themselves in a corridor which ran alongside the courtyard, full glass windows ahead of them.

Walking along a little, they came to a patio door which led out to the courtyard and headed out, walking to where a couple of picnic tables were set out. Olivia sat on the table, her legs on the bench, and looked out over the gathered women and girls. There was about 30 of them in total, ages ranging from children to women of around 40. Some were sitting on garden chairs, and others on the grass, looking at her with a mix of trepidation and hope. Poppy stood beside her.

“Hello everyone,” Olivia called, projecting her voice loudly so that everyone in the courtyard could hear. “I have good news. Some of you have waited far too long for this, and for that I apologise. My mother is a cruel woman, and for too long people like her have been in charge of government in this country. But things are changing,” she paused, looking around the room. Everyone, even the children, was watching her.

“We have a Reformist President, and a Council who are willing to consider new ways of doing things. Those who believe in the days of my great-grandmother, and the cruelty she saw fit to unleash on the people of Kerlile and the world, are falling out of favour, growing old, and being replaced by people who can see a better way of doing things. Which is why I am delighted to announce that the Council of Kerlile has unanimously voted to end the Aurora Programme, effective immediately.”

She paused to allow them all to take it in, and then continued. “As a result, all those who live and work on the Complex are being allowed to – and asked to, I might add – leave. That includes all of you. You are completely free to go, whenever you like.”

There was a silence, and then someone let out a cheer, and all of a sudden, the courtyard was a cacophony of noise, people talking over each other, hugging, and running around. Olivia and Poppy looked at each other, and shared a smile. Olivia had been paying regular visits to those who failed the Aurora training, those who weren’t allowed to leave the Complex ever, for several years now and it gave her great joy to be able to tell the women who’d had their freedom and lives stolen that they were getting them back.

“Ms Pierre,” came a small voice suddenly, and Olivia looked down to see a small child, of about seven or eight, with a large burn all down the side of her body. “Thank you.”

“This place never should have existed,” Olivia replied. “What’s your name?”

“I was Kimberley before the accident, but I don’t know my real name,” the girl shrugged.

“What happened to you, Kimberley?” asked Olivia softly, moving to sit on the bench so there was less of a height difference.

“There was a fire, it was an accident, but I got burned and so they said I looked too cons… I don’t remember the word, but they said I can’t be an Aurora because of it.”

“Conspicuous, probably. I’m so, so sorry Kimberley,” she said gently.

“It’s okay, we’re all going to be safe and free now, because of you and the others. Thank you,” Kimberley said, and then ran off back into the group. Olivia noticed she was by far the youngest.

“Goddess, I can’t imagine the horror of their lives,” whispered Olivia.

“It’s not pleasant, no,” Poppy agreed. “Some people here consider themselves the lucky ones, especially those who refused assignment rather than failed. They’d rather be imprisoned here than sent out on some risky mission.”

“I know you’ve done the best you can for them, you and the others, but still. I’d hate to be trapped here forever.”

“The administrative team and I try our best to give them the best we can, but it’s difficult with your mother’s security personnel in the other corridor trying to make things worse. We had to fight so hard to get them to allow this courtyard, and the other things we try to get to make it better for them. Thank you for all you’ve provided, too.”

“It’s a messed-up situation,” Olivia said, shaking her head as the would-have-been Auroras began to leave the courtyard and disperse to their various rooms to pack things.

“Yes, it is. That’s why I pushed so hard to get this job, I was afraid it would go to someone who would just hurt them. But that’s history. Could you accompany me upstairs, maybe? There’s one girl who wouldn’t come down. She dislikes crowds.”

“Of course,” nodded Olivia, and she followed Poppy to a different set of doors leading into a staircase. Olivia rarely went to the upper floors, where the bedrooms were. The ground floor was admin, the second living space and kitchens, and the top two rooms. The upper floors reminded her too much of the fact that despite the appearance, this was a prison.

They stopped outside a door on the third floor marked 317, and Olivia softly knocked. There was no answer, but Poppy gestured for her to enter so, tentatively, she did. Inside looked like a cross between a student dorm room and a prison cell. The window had bars across it, the door locked from the outside, but inside was a desk strewn with books and art projects, a reasonably comfortable looking bed, and the walls had posters. Soft music was playing from a CD-player in the corner.

“Poppy, can you just leave me alone!?” a teenager said, spinning around on a chair from where she’d been drawing, and abruptly falling silent and standing up when she saw Olivia. “Um, sorry, I…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Olivia waved away the apology and gestured for her to sit back down. “I’m here with news.”

“Unless you’re here to tell me I’m free to go, I don’t want to hear it,” she said, crossing her arms again, her fear of Olivia’s status quickly passing.

“That’s exactly what I’m here to tell you.”

“Well then, I… wait, what?” she paused and looked up in shock.

“The Aurora Programme is ending, and all of you are free to go,” Olivia repeated.

“I…” she trailed off, then laughed and stood up. “Yes! I knew it! Take that, Chloe! I knew things were going to fall apart. It’s why I refused assignment. Why should I risk my life when things will pass soon?”

“You have a talent for seeing the future, then?” smirked Olivia.

“It was obvious. Charissa Clarke had just been discovered, I mean, there was no way this could keep going on. My name is Carina, by the way. Well, my Aurora name. I want to know my birth name.”

“You can, all in due course,” Olivia assured the teenager as Poppy slipped off to help with the general chaos. “How old are you, Carina?”

“I’m fifteen, but I’ll be sixteen in May. I don’t have to go back to an orphanage, do I? I know how to look after myself, after all that training. Please, I can live on my own.”

“That’s… not up to me,” she said carefully.

“Yeah, I figured. Still, I better pack my stuff! I’m glad your lot, the reformists, managed to convince them to let us actually keep our own things here. This year would have been a lot more tedious otherwise. Wanna help, or have you got places to be?”

“I have some meetings to get to,” Olivia excused herself and slipped quickly away before the teenager could start chatting again. She made it into the staircase and exhaled. That one didn’t like crowds? Well, it wasn’t her place to question such statements.

She headed out of the building, leaving the doors open behind her, much to the annoyance of some security personnel she smiled sweetly at on departure. Back in the main area, the children who had been training to become Auroras were boarding buses, ready to be taken back to assorted orphanages. The youngest girls of the group didn’t quite grasp what was going on, while the older girls were busy arguing about how they were capable of being independent. It made her smile.

Olivia got into her car after waving at the woman who was checking people in and out of the complex to indicate she was leaving. Her mind was still on Kimberley, the young girl who seemed so calm about things, even though her life must have been horrendous. These people, the girls stolen by the Kerlian government and raised without any real childhood, were a million times stronger than she’d ever be. What happened in this place was an atrocity, Olivia thought. She was so glad it was over.

She drove back down the rural roads to the Complex, finding her way back from memory, even though there were a hundred turn-offs, and the place was a deliberate confusing mess, passing through a thick forest which almost certainly contained wolves. Seeing the Aurora Centre had solidified what she had already been thinking. Her mother couldn’t be allowed to get away with this. There would need to be a reckoning, some day soon.