WATCHING//A Flash Fiction Piece by Moi
Hello, everyone! Another week is here, and today I wanted to bless you all with a flash fiction story by me! I submitted it to Havok last month, but it wasn't accepted, so since I still really liked it I'm going to publish it here on The Writer's Song!
Note: This story IS based on a song from the 1980s! If you can guess the song, I don't have a prize for you, haha, but I will give you a virtual high-five and some virtual pizza xD So here it is!
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Outside the window, a bomb exploded.
This was the only way it could possibly have ended, but at the same time, I found myself wishing for something more. Something better. Something that would have made the effort worthy. An end to justify the means.
We’d burned the planet down, but with time, I could have helped it heal.
“Sir, we don’t have much time.”
The walls of the fortress trembled. My legs rocked beneath me as I turned to see my councilor. He looked at the floor, his military uniform adorned with a dozen medals for his service. Meaningless now.
The window shattered and glass rained down on us. People in the back of the room screamed and ran; I stood motionless.
Rain, one of the women in the room, sank to her knees in despair. I let her. I might be a dictator, and this world might have been formed under my perfect hand, but this was a bit of an emergency.
The rebels, weary of our constant surveillance, had finally gathered enough of a force to attack us. My army fought back, but there was little we could do against the massive weapons of the neighboring nations.
I’d once thought that if I were to be faced with the destruction of everything I’d tried to build, especially so close to the goal, I would mourn. But I didn’t. A strange sense of peace settled over me.
“Rain,” I said, my voice gentle. “I am different from the other men who have seized power, and I would thank you to remember why.”
She looked up at me and sniffled. Another explosion rocked the walls of the building.
“Hitler, Napoleon, Julius Caesar…think, what do they have in common? They had a vision. They had a goal. But they made a fatal error, and that was to believe they would rule forever. No man can rule forever.”
I turned away from the window, back towards the other side of the control room, lit by dim electric light. Urban legend said I was a vampire, but I preferred darkness simply because it was easier on the eyes.
“The surveillance machines have been operational for years now. They operate with no maintenance; surely you all know this. We can sleep and they will still keep going. The question…” Something boomed below us, down on the first floor of the building. Behind me, someone screamed, and Rain covered her face with her hands.
I stopped talking. None of them were prepared to listen. Not that it truly mattered; I knew from the beginning this could not last.
That was why the emergency switch existed.
Leaving them to scramble around on the computers, I walked into the backroom, letting the heavy door fall shut behind me. The thundering bombs, falling on the capital, muffled the sound.
In the middle of this room—so dark, lit only by the pale green light from the windows—stood the largest mainframe in my arsenal. The one built specially by my engineers, allowing our surveillance to be all-powerful.
I walked to it, letting my fingers skim over the controls. If only the world had been able to understand. This could all have been avoided if only they’d allowed themselves to see that I was helping. People needed to know the truth about each other and those they trusted. To show them that—it was all I ever meant to do.
Fear was just an unfortunate tool. Not one I wanted to employ, but a tool nonetheless.
A gun clicked behind me. I chuckled but didn’t turn.
“What is that thing?” Rain’s voice was suddenly strong. “What are you going to do with it? You were about to explain.”
“Yes, but you weren’t interested, my dear.” I sighed. This wasn’t something I could deal with right now. I simply had to put my DNA into the mainframe and the last-ditch effort would be realized. My safety net.
I could die, but my memory never would.
“Tell me the truth!”
I turned around to see her pale face glowing in the sickly green light, her fingers tight around the pistol. She trembled as she pointed the gun, and yet...there was resolve in that face. I could admire that.
“You have such courage.” I sighed. “But then, the videos have already told us that.” I turned to the mainframe again, letting my hand slip once again down the controls.
“I might just arrest you and let you stand trial,” she said, her voice shaking. “You don’t have to die.”
“Yes, darling, I do.”
My finger slid into the only important slot, the one that only my touch could activate. The mainframe booted up and began to hum, flashing a single word across its one interface:
Uploading.
They would never forget me, even if I did not survive.
“What’s that?” Rain’s gun moved from the mainframe to me and back again.
“It contains every bit of data we’ve ever collected. Every cry of a baby. Every death. Every moment of intimacy. Every little thing that no one ever knew we were watching. And I’ve just released it to the public so all it will take is a quick search to find out everything there is to know about anyone.” I smiled. “Many have tried. But no one will be remembered as long as me. Because there are no more secrets.”
Rain cried out and shot me in the chest.
Pain spread through me, but as I fell, calm washed through me, along with true peace for the first time in years.
No one need ever regret this but me, and I had done what the people needed. After all, what was a world without trust?
If only I’d had longer. After all…I’d almost made it.
7 comments
This was...WOW.
ReplyDeleteYou leave me speechless EVERY. TIME.
Great job, Faith!! :D
~ Lily Cat (Boots) | lilycatscountrygirlconfessions.blogspot.com
You know I know what this song is and also what I think of this story 😏
ReplyDeleteUM. EXCUSE ME, FAITH. BUT WHAT IS THIS EPICNESS???? DUDE. This was...wow. o.o I don't have words! So intense! I LOVE how the main character was like...an evil dictator? Sorta? Like, this was from the corrupt dystopian dictator's POV??? That is insanely unique! And everything was falling apart and just ALKJSD:LJF:LDJF. This was amazing! I just love your flash fiction pieces SO MUCH. Scratch that. I love ALL your writing so much! <33333
ReplyDeleteThis story is just SO BRILLIANT. I can't with it. O_O
ReplyDeleteHOW DO YOU DO IT?!??!
ReplyDeleteAlso I googled (sshhhhh I already know I'm a cheater xD) it and I think I know what song you're talking about.
UGGHHH HOW DOES YOUR BRAIN CREATE SUCH AWESOMENESS GIRL?!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis story is soooo good, I love it! <3
Fantastic!!!
ReplyDeleteHello, friends! Do make yourselves comfortable and stay for a while--I'd love to chat with you! I simply ask that you keep it clean. :)