literature

RotP 14 - Welcome to the IPA

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Saph opens her mouth to speak, but then looks away nervously.
I follow her gaze to Alina, who nods and begins to explain, "I'm sorry for the little charade, but I expressively asked them to not tell you anything up to now. We feared that you'd jump out of your bed to try and do something foolish again."
Saph cuts in, "Don't you even dare to deny it, you so would have jumped at the opportunity to throw yourself back into the fight."

I push Saph from my lap and ask, "It's nice that you are all so worried about me, but still...what the hell is going on? I mean, you just basically abducted me from a hospital, and brought me to some military facility. The only reason why I kept silent up until now is, because I consider Alina over there a friend. But now I've had enough of the secrecy. What is going on, where are we and could I please get some damn clothes?! Cause it's getting chilly in my pajamas!"

Alia blinks a few times before she asks, "I gave you a message, why didn't you get dressed?"
"Because I was chained to a drip and various other devices as you might remember!"
I let out a long sigh, pull up the blanket of the bed to keep myself warm and say, "Never mind that though. Answer the other two questions please. Let's start with 'Where are we'."
Alina scratches her head, when a guy in military clothes comes in and declares, "You're at IPA headquarters, Mr. Eternium...could someone get that guy some clothes?"
"Thank you Sir...wait, 'IPA headquarters'? The hell?!"

While a soldier comes running, carrying a change of clothes in my size, Alina starts, "It's Artie's fault. I don't know how he did it, but his PIM took over the Psionic corps of the eastern countries over night. They just suddenly rose, trapped their commanders and toppled the respective government in a short but bloody battle. When we realized what was going on, the Warsaw pact had revived itself, however this time under the rule of the PIM instead of the communist regime."
"But...aren't you from Russia yourself? And a Psionian at that?"
"I know what you are getting at, but my loyalty is to the people of Russia, not to some invading force, Psionic or not. And these people are suffering right now."
"Is it really that bad?"
"You remember the IS?"
"Those terrorist guys from Syria and surroundings?"
"They pledged their allegiance to the PIM."
"They did what?!" I shout, almost jumping out of my bed.
"Well it was either that or face annihilation by the PIM. And they're not even halfway done. They already conquered most of Asia and are pressing against the borders of Europe relentlessly. The USA have begun upping their military in response to the PIM's action. It's obvious they are preparing for war, but let's face it...if it comes to that, countless people will die."

I let Alina's explanations sink in and finally ask, "Okay...so we're on the brink of World War III."
"You...are awfully calm for someone who was just told that the world was breaking apart."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm still waiting for the big freak out, but until then, tell me please, what are the UN, the NATO and whatever doing about all that?"
"They are doing whatever they can to prevent an invasion of Europe, but this is an enemy nobody was ever prepared for. I mean, they've got people who can melt a tank by looking at it!"

I lean back, look up to the ceiling and finally ask, "And you brought me here, because..."
"Because we, that is the International Psionic Army, needs you."
"Association."
"Pardon?"
"IPA. International Psionic Association. Not army."
"Fine, association. Though we sure could us an army."
"For what? To pit us against each other on the battlefield? To see who has the bigger bone? To hopefully eradicate every last one of us in the process?"
"Now you're just being melodramatic."
"No, I'm being realistic. Alina, look at us! There's like...12 Psionians in this room here, surrounded by like 200 soldiers with guns! You're really going to tell me that they need this little ragtag gang to save the world?! Seriously?!"
"I understand that this may be hard to comprehend, but..."

I get up, grab the clothes and walk briskly towards the next door.
Behind me I hear Saph say, "I'll talk to him. Give him some time, okay? I mean, he just learned what happened in the past year in a few minutes. I'd be..."
I stop dead in my tracks, turn around and ask carefully, "What was that just now?"
"That she should lay off you for a moment and let you collect..."
"No, that thing about the 'year'. Saph, I was in hospital for about one month, if even..."

I stop talking in the middle as I see the faces of my friends and only then I realize it. They've grown older. The changes are little and I guess I attributed them to the stress of the past few encounters, but what if really more time passed than I thought?

"...what happened to me?"

Saph leads me into what appears to be a changing room and after sitting down, she explains, "Well...you were hurt quite severely in the encounter. Not so much physically, though you really took quite a beating, but you just refused to wake up for months. I...can't even tell you how relieved I was when they finally called and told me that you had woken up."
"But...but that's impossible! I mean..."
"You've been in a coma for almost an 9 months, Ref...the world around us changed while you were asleep and when the PIM rose to power, it became obvious that we had to do something."

"Oh...oh, I get it...I'm dreaming right? This is all a dream and I'm gonna wake up any moment now, right? Come on now, this stuff is completely..."
"I wish it was just a dream, but I'm afraid it's not..."

While changing into the clothes I ask, "So what do they want from us?"
"I don't know...they brought us here 'for our own safety', seeing how Artie has a bone to pick with you and stuff."
"Yeah, 'for our safety', right...alright, I'm going to clear this up and then I'm going to wake up into my boring old life. Honestly, the places my fantasy goes are scary at times."

I leave the room again, leaving Saph behind without giving her another chance to speak and face the military guy, "Alright, what's the deal? What do you want from us?"
"Getting straight to the point, huh? I like that in a man."
"I'm taken, thank you very much."
The man raises an eyebrow and Alina whispers to me, "The general is not exactly known for his sense of humor, Ref..."
"Neither am I, but it's how I cope, so deal with it," I reply dryly.

The general pinches the bridge of his nose and says, "If these weren't such dire times..."
"Cut to the chase please, I've got some catching up to do from the looks of it."
"Right...walk with me please."

The man waves me to follow him and I follow him reluctantly.
I don't like this whole thing one bit, neither the sterile surrounding, nor the bomb they just dropped on me, nor the armed soldiers accompanying the two of us down the hall.
The general signals them to wait in front of a room and waves me to step in.

It is a conference room with a large table located in front of an equally large screen mounted to the wall in it.
We sit down and the screen comes to life, showing multiple people in different military uniforms on it.
The general rises and explains, "Gentlemen of the UN joint force, I present to you Mr. Refugnic Eternium, our trump card."
I rise myself so they can take a better look at me and then say, "I beg your forgiveness, but you seem to know who I am, but I have to admit that I don't know a thing about what's going on here."

After a short pause, an old man on the upper right asks, "You haven't been briefed?"
"We tried, however there were...complications."
"We do not have time for 'complications', General Müller! The enemy is getting stronger each passing day!" a younger man slams his fist on the table.
"I know that, but we cannot help what we cannot help. Now, to the issue at hand...Mr. Eternium, are you aware of your significance?" another general asks.
"No."
"Is it true, that you defeated Arthur Tremolov in combat and brought him in?"
"Sort of, yeah, though it really was more just lucky hits. And the last encounter apparently knocked me out for an entire year."
"That doesn't matter. What does matter though is, that you defeated him. Your very existence will deal a crushing blow to the enemy morale."
"...what the hell are they talking about?"

Müller sits back down and signals me to do the same, before explaining, "Right now, countless Psionians from all corners of Europe are flooding towards the PIM, because they are promising them a life free from the persecution of the 'Untouched ones'. And if this flow isn't stopped or at least slowed down before long, they'll soon have an army more than just capable to start World War III. The United States have already declared that they would not allow the PIM forces to set foot on American ground and have begun to ready their Nuclear missiles. If Europe should fall, the world will be consumed by nuclear hell fire."
"Okay...so where do I come in? As I already said, there's like 12 of us here, we can hardly stand up against a damn army, can we?"

Müller nods and presses a button, saying, "Bring in the files please."
A female officer appears through another door, carrying a number of files on her arm.
Most of them are labeled as 'Top Secret'.

Müller browses through them and finally says, "Current estimates are talking about 50,000 Psionians of the PIM. It's only a matter of time until Artie has indoctrinated them enough to follow him into war."
"Wait, wait, wait...Artie and 'indoctrinate' someone?! Have you met the guy?! He's..."
One of the general's on the screen interrupts me, "Seems like he does have some brains in that head of his after all."
Müller nods and says, "Yes, our intelligence suggests that there is someone behind Arthur Tremolov. However all our efforts to figure out who that 'someone' is has come up empty so far. They are hiding behind Arthur. We have come to call that person 'the Phantom'."
"How dramatic," I scoff, still waiting for the alarm bell to ring.

The officer says while handing another paper to Müller, "Sir, this just came in."
Müller studies the paper and then says, "Finally some good news for a change."
"Why, what does it say?"
"The influx of Psionians apparently slowed down in the past week."
"Maybe there just aren't that many left?"
"Our estimates talk about 500,000 people being affected by the event worldwide."
"Five hundred thousand?!" I exclaim, almost choking on my saliva.
The officer explains, "That is merely an estimate our secret services came up with doing some math. Nobody knows the exact number. During the first year there have been various riots caused by people trying to hunt down the Psionians as if they were some sort of monster..."
"Yeah, I remember those witch hunts..."
Müller takes over, "We believe that they have driven the vast majority of Psionians into hiding. They are afraid to use their powers, but are also reluctant to join the PIM because it would mean turning their back on their loved ones. And that's exactly where you come in."
"How?"
"We want you to be the spearhead of a coalition force. The defenders of humanity, comprised of both humans and Psionians."

I raise an eyebrow and eventually say, "Sorry, but that's impossible."
"What?!" Müller asks, hitting his fist on the table.
One of the other generals on the screen asks, "You would forsake your country?"
"Oh, it's not impossible because I don't want everyone to get along. But much rather because you still seem to think that Psionians aren't human any more. News flash, we are! You can't build a bridge between Psionians and 'Humans', because there is no river to cross here! And why me anyway?! I'm a fucking programmer!"

The officer clears her throat and asks, "Mr. Eternium, you are most instrumental to the whole plan, because you are the only one who has ever bested Arthur in combat."
"Well big deal, give me a medal, but why the heck should I lead some coalition force, even though I don't have any idea about military stuff?!"

Müller sighs, "Because this is not a war we can win with weapons. This is a Propaganda war and with you, the only person who ever defeated Arthur as the spearhead, all those Psionians who are still hiding among the populace will finally have somewhere else to go instead of helping Mr. Tremolov destroy the world."

"...assuming I do it, then what?"
The officer spreads out a number of fliers in front of me and explains their plan to use me as some sort of idol to get the remaining Psionians to join the IPA and, if possible, to leave the PIM. The promises are largely the same as the ones the PIM is making, but I don't buy it.

After she is done explaining, "And if I refuse?"
"...just sincerely hope that you won't," the officer replies gently.
I hate it when people dodge questions like that.

I sigh, "I guess I don't have a choice then..."
"Splendid! I will begin with the preparations immediately!" the officer exclaims and wants to rush off, however I hold her back, "However!"
Everyone in the room stares at me in anticipation.
"We will not go to war. We will not be used as weapons either. The IPA was meant as a gathering place for Psionians to feel safe. Where they can figure out their newfound powers, how to control them and how to use them for the betterment of all of mankind. This is the IPA I can be the spearhead of."
"Well, that sounds quite reasonable..." Müller starts, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, but I'm not quite done yet.

"As such, we will not answer to any governmental structure, especially not the military. We will be a civilian association and if one of us screws up, he is to be tried by a regular court. Think of us as an extension of the police force. Will that be okay?"

Now Müller is sweating bullets. It's obvious that I guessed right. They had intended to use us as weapons, either against the PIM directly or, which would be even worse in a sense, against the army of a 'rogue nation' or something.

I hold his gaze for endless seconds, until someone from the far end of the room suddenly claps, "Bravo! Really great speech. And such admirable determination!"
I turn around and look at the new face on the screen.

A politician from the looks of it, though I can't quite place his face.
"Mr. Eternium, I am Zachariah Roberts and I have been tasked by the United Nations to oversee this attempt to stop the spread of the PIM's influence. I will get the paperwork ready immediately and once you sign the contract, it will be all yours."

I get up and say politely, "Please do not try to fool me. I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but if I get the impression you're bullshitting me, the deal's off."
"Good, good. Just keep that fiery determination for the cause and we'll get along just fine."
Roberts disappears from the screen, as well as the other generals until I'm alone in the room again with Müller and his adjutant.

Müller pats me on the back and says, "You're doing the right thing, Commander."
I sit back down and murmur, "Then why do I feel like I just sold my soul to the devil?"

Nobody answers me, but if that's the way it's going to be, I'll at least do my very best to do this my way. And hope that I don't screw up.

A few hours later, my little fellowship is gathered in a way too large hall. I stand on a stage, a microphone in front of me and explain what's going on and what's going to happen.

After I'm done talking, Saph asks from the front row, "And you had to do this on a stage because..."
"They said I need to practice speaking in front of an audience. Any other questions."

One of my friends, a young girl named Sophie, asks, "What...if we don't want to?"
I point over to the large door with the exit sign and reply, "Nobody is forced to stay here. I made this decision by myself, now everyone needs to decide whether they want to roll with me or bug out."
"So...we can go?"
"And if anyone tries to stop you, they're answering to me."

Sophie looks over to the door for a few seconds and then says, "In that case, I'm staying."
"Good. Welcome to the IPA then, I guess. Again."

I leave my podium under the applause of the few Psionians I had managed to gather before things went crazy.

But I have a feeling, that things are going to get even crazier from here on out.

As I head over to the quarters assigned to myself and Saph, I pass by a mirror and look at myself in my new clothes and a sentence from one of my favorite video games shoots through my head.

I whisper, "Welcome to the IPA, Commander. Shit."
Whoops, this one's a wee bit longer than usual.
Sorry! But there was just so much content I had to fit in there!

I hope you weren't bothered by the length too much and will still take the time to tell me what you think. :)
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DracoInduperator's avatar
IMHO "Shit" doesn't even begin to cover it.