Gardenia awoke to find herself lying on a bed in a reasonably well appointed room. While nothing compared the to indulgence of the upper class of the Institute, it resembled a bedroom more than a prison cell. The bed was comfortable, and the room was furnished with a table and chairs, and a carpet, albeit threadbare, covered the floor. A small side chamber contained a toilet and a shower cubicle, and a selection of various clothes were hung in the wardrobe. The only things that made the room seem not like a home were a locked door, a camera in the main room, and a large screen built into one of the walls.
The screen crackled into life shortly after Gardenia awakened, displaying a logo of a black spider on a white background. Speakers crackled into life, and an electronicly distorted avuncular tone filled the room. "Good evening, Miss Pirose. I apologise if the room is not what you are used to, but we are a little, how to say it, less well off than the hosts you are used to. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Spider, and you may have heard of me."
Gardenia gets out of the bed and looks around her "cell". A look mixing both confusion and concern plasters her face. There are no windows, only a locked door. Static crackles throughout the air, followed by the message from Spider. It was just another layer of confusion added to the mix. "Where are you? How do you know my name? Where am I? I want to get back!" Her face turns to desperation as she profusely banged on the locked door. "Get me out! GET ME OOOOUUT!!"
An audible sigh escaped the speakers. "Miss Pirose, please, relax. If I had any intention of hurting you, I have had plenty of time to do it. I would like for you to consider yourself a guest, as opposed to a prisoner. I certainly have no intention of treating you cruelly. After all, you have been a victim all your life. Brainwashed from your very birth. Never given the opportunity to think for yourself.
Tell me, why do you think we, the Partition exist? Surely in this ideal world that the Institute manages so well, you would have thought there would be no cause for dissatisfaction, much less open revolt."
Gardenia hears the question and doesn't reply. She doesn't want to -- all her life she has been told that the Institute has been the solution to all the problems that have plagued mankind, and any form of resistance against it is merely childish horseplay.
A pause. Then Spider spoke again. "No answer. Clearly, there is a problem with your philosphy if it fails to account for such deep dissatisfaction, the kind of unhappiness and anger that would drive people to risk their lives - and lay them down - in order to change this world. Have you ever looked at this world, the people, through anything other than the lens of a propaganda camera? Have you ever seen the truth? Have you ever even tried?
Or are you content to sit atop your ivory towers, riding the misery of those below? Are you happy with your life as a useless parasite? One of my recent recruits was not. He came from a high family, almost on the same level as yourself. He came to me, to us, to fight. And he gave his life for a cause he believed in. If only you could say the same. I remember when the Institute were much more impressive. To think, you harboured ambitions of running it all, when you've never lifted a finger in your life."
Gardenia was offended after hearing the question posed by Spider. She flared up, "You are wrong! YOU ARE ALL WRONG! WHY DO YOU WANT ME HERE!? IF YOU REALLYWANTED TO BE NICE TO ME, GET ME BACK TO THE INSTITUTE! I'M NOT GONNA JOIN YOUR STUPID TEAM, NOT LIKE THAT IDIOTIC TRAITOR!"
Spider chuckled, a deep reverberating laugh. "An interesting concept. A man who follows his own path is an idiot. Tell me Gardenia, what about my words makes me wrong? What possible point could you raise in support of your ideology? What arguments do you have? Why does the Partition exist, if the Institute is not flawed?"
Gardenia said nothing. She doesn't like to be challenged, and so headed back to her bed, but not before a call, "I'm hungry. Get that stupid traitor of yours to bring me something to eat."
Spider sighed. "I see you have no intention of behaving in line with your position, or of listening to anything I have to say. Mr Portwyn-Elise will bring you your meal as soon as he is able to." The speakers clicked off, and the faint hum in the room ceased.
Gardenia slowly laid back onto the bed. She slowly chewed through everything Spider has told her. But the Institute wouldn't lie to me, she thought, they're my family. How can I not trust them?
Is whatever he has been saying true? Is there really a revolution? Why has no one told me? Why would the Institute lie to me? Have they been using me? Is nothing right?
Her thoughts gently wound up to ifs, whys, and hows.
Time passed, and still no food arrived.
Gardenia stared into the sky. She still hasn't eaten since she left for the mission, and God knows how long how much time has elapsed since then. She hears her stomach growl, but is in no position to do anything.
The communication link sparked into life again. "Tell me, how does it feel to be utterly powerless? You stood at the top of a cold, dispassionate organisation that sought until to further their own agendas, no matter the cost to those under their control. Ironic, is it not? You are so used to treating people with disdain that you fail to notice when the scales of power are tipped the other way. I hope this experience has given you time to think and reflect.
So tell me. Are you in the mood to talk with me in a civil manner, or will I be wasting my breath?"
All sympathies towards Spider have since fizzled out. He is only toying with my emotions, taking advantage of me!, she thought, I can't be subdued to him. I'll have to act impassive.
With a sly grin, Gardenia said out loudly, "No, but it might be in your best interest to feed me. After all, wouldn't it be a waste for you to capture me, and then letting me die because of simply not giving me food? Also imagine the press in the Institute. They won't be happy losing their portrait girl..."
Spider laughed, a deep reverberating laugh that resounded around the room. "Imagine the press? Oh, I know the press. Of course they won't be happy. Why should I care? I'd gladly burn those offices to the ground, joined by the vast majority of the population of the Undercity. Your press is a joke - anyone with half a brain can see it for what it really is."
Don't worry though, I have no intention of letting you die. After all, having seen your attitude, I could win this war by letting you be rescued and helping you ride a wave of sympathy to the Director's post. You'd do such a terrible job that I'd be able to walk in unopposed within weeks of you coming to power. Regrettably, the odds of you making it that far are low, or I'd seriously consider it.
Now then, as for your food. It's not coming for a while. After all, you did instruct me to get a man I told you was dead to bring your food, and he doesn't seem very motivated to get up and get to work. I have found you to be a rude, self-centered brat, which leads me to believe your parents have dedicated more time to turning you into an unthinking sycophant than they have on raising you properly. It is beyond time that you learnt some common decency and respect. So, until you can be polite and civil, you will continue to go hungry. After all, the human body can go 3 weeks without food, and there are hungry people out in the city that the food can be given to instead. After all, they know to appreciate things that others take for granted. Should you wish to contact me, you need only to speak. Farewell." The screen blinked back out again.
Gardenia grunts. It was not going along with her plan. She tossed and turned in her bed, waiting for sleep to arrive.
However, it never did. Hunger was weakening her, and the isolation in her room was not helping either. She rolled over to the screen, with a weak growl, "Fine, you win. What do you want from me?"
"What I want from you? An interesting question. What could you have that I could possibly want? It's not power - I have enough of that, and more each day. It's not to recruit you - even I'm not that idealistic. I have no cause for you and your family's wealth. I guess, were I to define it, that I want to hear your philosophy. I want to hear you rationalise the world around you. I want you to justify the organisation that you so frequently appear as a public champion for. I want you to explain why you think that we, the Partition exist."
That's it? Gardenia thought, that's all he wants? My perspective?
Even I know that's not gonna help anyone win, and he says I'm not fit at being a Director.
"What do you really want from me?" Gardenia replied weakly, "and keep in mind that I won't answer anything until I get food."
"And again, you misunderstand your situation. You are in no position to demand anything. You won't get food until you answer. It may seem trifling to you, but your answers are the only thing you can provide to me."
Gardenia gets frustrated about Spider's words and went back into the covers. She dug into her pockets and felt the pressure of two metal blades. Huh, apparently the Partition was stupid enough to allow me to carry weapons. I'll tell that to him later, she thought.
Without really knowing whatever's gonna follow, she hurled one of the knives towards the screen. The knife gets lodged onto the screen.
"Still think I'm helpless?" she called out.
A network of cracks spread from the point of impact. The screen however stayed intact, the picture barely flickering. "Look and see for yourself. This is the most you can do. Now, are you finished with your temper tantrum, or do you need a minute?"
Gardenia grunted again and plucked the knife out from the screen. She turned towards the door and began hacking away at it. Bit by bit, a hole slowly grew. Unfortunately, as she continued to hack her knife hit a thin layer of metal built into the structure of the door with a horrific screech.
As she realises that that's not gonna work, she sits down and slumps again.
Looking at the door again, she sees the hinges. Maybe I can break it and make the entire door fall, she thought.
She gets up again, and hacks away at the hinges. Her knife blade, already damaged from the metal built into the door, snapped off as she sawed at the metal bolts holding the door in place.
Gardenia stops and begin to get desperate. She looked back at the screen, with a desperate look in her eyes, "Pleease, give me foood... I'll do anything you want after that, I promise...."
"And why should I waste food on someone like you? All you have done is be rude to me, ignore me, and now try to destroy my property in some madcap scheme to escape. Did you even think about who or what might be outside your door? Do you honestly think so little of me as to believe that your escape would be that simple. You are not the first person we have 'looked after' and you will not be the last. What evidence have you given me to make me believe you will comply with what I ask? You've done very little of that up until now, after all."
Gardenia looks up, now with fire in her eyes. She roars, "So what do YOU WANT ME TO DO!? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME DO TO, JOIN YOUR FUCKING REBELLION GROUP AGAINST MY WHIM? WATCH ME LOSE MY PARENTS AND EVERYONE I LOVE FOR MY ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE?! IS THAT THE CASE!? DO YOU WANT ME TO BE SUBDUED BY YOU, AND SERVE YOUR SWEET FUCKING ASS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE?!"
She continued, "I AM A FUCKING HUMAN BEING. ALL I'M ASKING FOR IS A BASIC NECESSITY FOR SURVIVAL, AND YOU'RE DENYING ME ANY!? YOU SAY ALL YOU WANT FROM ME IS ANSWERS, BUT HOW CAN I ANSWER ANYTHING WHEN I'M FUCKING DEAD!?"
"Since when did I ask you to join the Partition? I'm quite clear that all I asked was for you to put forwards the reasons for your beliefs. Trust me, I've been working against the Institute for longer than you have been alive, little girl, and I haven't kept going by recruiting people who are sub-mediocre.
And you dare - YOU DARE - talk of a basic necessity for survival, when the people that the Institute treats as dirt beneath its foot starve to death? When at the very minute that you enjoy another bullshit banquet, families and children go hungry? You have gone less than a day without food, when I have seen children grateful for half-eaten food they have found in a bin because it is the only food they will see all week. You dare lecture me on morality and basic human decency, when you have willingly closed your eyes to the plight of the Undercity for the entirety of your life? You dare accuse me of trying to control your mind, when you have willingly participated in the subjugation of yourself to an ideology you cannot be bothered to defend to those who would attack it?
Welcome to the real world, Princess. Nobody here gives two shits whether you live or die, and at least half of them would be happier with the latter option. You have lived your whole life at the expense of the city, and now they are asking you to justify their cost and pain." Spider gave a long sigh. "Consider this a trial, if you will. Can you even muster the conviction to answer their question?"
Gardenia blistered, "HOW CAN I FUCKING HELP ANYONE WITH FOOD WHEN I'M STARVING MYSELF!? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAS ALL THE POWER HERE, AND YOU'RE SPENDING IT LECTURING ME ON STARVING PEOPLE. WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU NOT HELPING THEM!? OR ME!? FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER SO FAR, YOU ARE A FUCKING PSYCHOPATH WHO ONLY LIKES TO SEE PEOPLE STARVE TO DEATH AND POINT AND LAUGH AT THEM. I HOPE YOU FEEL PROUD ABOUT YOURSELF."
"Oh of course. You starved yourself when you visited official functions. You starved yourself when you went to lavish balls with your parents. You have never starved yourself. All you did was take take take. No thought for others, no thought for their shortages as long as your plate was full.
As for the poor, I am helping them. That is why you cannot win. The people are behind the Partition because we lend a hand to those in need, to those who are hungry. We lend a hand to those who know the value of life, and not just their own. I see no need to offer assistance to someone who, even now, cares only for their own sake, and who would rip the food from an orphan's mouth given the chance. So, I repeat my question. Can you justify your existence to those who go hungry because of you?"
Gardenia's stomach growled again. She realized she actually had to make nice with Spider, and so she did. "Do you think I had a choice to go to those functions? To lavish balls? No, of course not. I am the daughter of a high ranking official. I have to do those kinds of things, else it'll make me look bad. We might be stealing food from starving children, but I have an etiquette to follow," she continued, "please keep that in mind. If you want me dead now, I'll do it. I have a knife, and if you want me to commit suicide just to prove a point to anyone I love, I'll do it, no questions asked."
"You had no choice? Everyone always has a choice. You chose to comply with meaningless social conventions and unneccessary extragavagance solely to protect how you were perceived by others who were just as deluded. Nobody said choices were easy, or that there was no pressure to make a certain choice. However, there is always a choice. Always. Remember that. Convention is nothing. Rules are nothing. Laws are nothing. All of life is making a choice, then living with the consequences of that choice. You are now realising the consequences of your choice. What you choose to do with your life is another choice. Will you throw it away in a symbolic gesture that changes nothing? Will you go back to your old ways? Or will you live with a greater appreciation of the world as a whole, and of your place and responsibilities within it? That is for you to chose, and you alone." A small hatch in the wall opened, and a small baked potato slid through, along with a glass of water."However, you have done as I asked, and I am a man of my word. Now, while you eat, and while you decide your future, I have a little story for you. A story of greed, and a family torn apart.
This dates back to about 5 years after the dome came up. You obviously were not born then, but most of the population do not know this story either. 5 years after the meteorite strikes, the Director of the Institute, Sten Magnus, died of an illness. Neural degeneration about the implants. Solved nowadays of course, but there was no cure back then. Two people were in line to replace him. A consumate politician and the younger of two brothers, Albert Magnus. And a brilliant scientist and technician, the older of the pair, Vitali Magnus. The secretive election and gathering of support was carried out behind closed doors, but Vitali gained the most support. Until the day of the election.
Facing a concerted campaign of intimidation, the supporters of Vitali switched alleigance. He was cast aside by his own brother, relegated to managing a small team of coders. Meanwhile Albert took the helm, propped up by his two most faithful dogs: Karl Marquese and Martino Pirose. His supporters threatened into silence, he began a secretive series of contacts. He secretly met with his supporters, keeping them from the eyes of the two watchdogs. A motion to unseat Albert Magnus as Director was begun, and gathered momentum. After all, many saw the injustice that had occurred.
Until Karl Marquese found out about it. Vitali was taken in the night, and officially disappeared. I know for a fact that he was brutally beaten and tortured to make him retract his challenge to the corruption that had set in. He refused. It continued until Vitali Magnus died. His body tossed into the gutters, and left to be cleared away with the common rubbish. Vitali may be dead. But his will lives on. We refuse to stomach the corruption and extravagance of the upper classes, no matter how long it has been.
Now, if you will excuse me, this has been tiring. I will leave you to your food. Should you have any questions, feel free to ask. You know how to get in touch."
Gardenia tries to look at her food, but couldn't. Her eyes were stinging red, welled up with tears. The food may seem tempting, but after all she has heard from Spider, she can't be moved to eat any bit of it. She called out weakly, using his name for the first time, "Spider, you know I can't change my past. It was all a delusion to who I really want to be. What do I do with my life now?"
"Do whatever you will. Act as you see fit. And never allow yourself to be swayed from what you see to be the true course, no matter what anyone says. Now, I have kept you from your family for long enough. As it so happens, the Institute have one of my best operatives behind bars right now, and you would make an ideal exchange. I've already received confirmation back from the Institute. Remember, don't do anything rash. Take your time to decide what you think is right. Should you decide that the Institute is not the place for you, then come looking for the Partition, as others have before you. Sending you back does not stop you from returning, after all."
Gardenia's stomach growls again. She doesn't even look at the piece of food, and turns around and falls asleep, dulled out by her soft tears.
