Dateline: BUREAU VERITAS Industrial Revolution Party (IRP) News Bulletin

It was to damn early in the morning to be this optimistic, after all, the world was falling apart. Or blowing up. Either way, the news reports were wrong – the earth was not okay. Just Party propaganda. Their version of events - I had to get the hell out of here.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker crackled to life. “Attention, Attention, evacuation under mandatory order.” I was in the middle of the street. I looked around and darted into a doorway. Pressing up against the building I scanned the crowd for active UIA agents. It was not safe for me to be out of formation.

“Attention, Attention, mandatory evacuation, report to your ……...” I felt a doorknob in the middle of my back. I twisted it; the door opened. I waited until the next evacuation announcement to slip in.

I locked the door and saw the bank of television monitors on the wall. The news reports were reporting the evacuation was under control; telling comrades to remain joyful and exit in an orderly manner.

Christ, I had enough of Party’s fake news, reassignment camps, oxygenation treatments and the degradation of the human condition to last me a lifetime... Everything and everyone were controlled by the party. The Industrial Revolution Party. The IRP. The lucky few who lived in the unoccupied territories had no idea what the Party was doing inside the resettlement camps. But their time was coming.

My sister lived in the ‘Before Times’ Unoccupied quadra - and I had to make there if I wanted to stay alive. I made a promise. The Party was in the process of reorganizing her quadra area when it happened.

“Commander, can I see your papers?” Her voice startled me, I turned around. “Ah, yes Agent …. Mitra,” I said. As I glanced at her UIA uniform name tag.

“I just stopped in to see the latest news report bulletins. How did it happen?”

She never took her eyes off me. I reached into my uniform for my papers. “I hope you understand commander, she said, I’m just following protocol. You’re not in protocol formation – singles are to be procured, interviewed and punished.”

“Well done, Agent Mitra,” I said. “I see you take your training seriously.”

I pulled out my service revolver and grabbed her weapon from her holster.

“Get against the wall and turn around,” I shouted. I used her restraints and pushed her into a nearby office and locked the door.

I ran to the basement stairwell. Lucky for me, every building in the complex connected to the tunnels. I grabbed what few supplies I could find. Flashlight, batteries, water, coffee, chocolate - considering this was the Bureau Veritas building – I hit the jack pot. Bureau Veritas: The Ministry of Truth. Party Officials received all the forbidden luxuries denied to the rest of us. I loaded my messenger bag and tore the complex map off the wall.

I could still hear the evacuation announcements underground. I opened the door and entered the tunnel. Lights flickering at best. I had to make it to the perimeter zone if I wanted to make it out alive. I knew of a small gap in the wall next to the Party parking structure. I made it there alright, I crawled thru and tossed my bag up on the wall, I pulled myself up and stood-up.

It was the first time I could see the mass destruction in real time. Smoke rising in the distance, alarms barking in the night sky. People shouting and running.

“So, this is what freedom looks like,” I said to myself.

I jumped down and blended into the crowd. I still had my uniform on. It would provide me cover – but I was defecting. No question about it. I had my fill of the Ministry of Truth and the oppression of my fellow comrade. Ever since the Industrial Revolution Party took control, I rejected the IRP party line: dehumanizing and controlling people; forced mass conformity; and Labor reassignment camps. I was done. I started walking faster. Just thinking about it made me angry.

“Commander, Commander, you’re heading the wrong direction,” yelled a comrade. “That’s the way to the evacuation helipad. The Command Center is this way.”

“Damn it, another UIA Agent,” I said. The Party’s secret police. Separate from the military but with more power.

“Yeah, I know, I shouted, I have to find my sister to give her a heart-shaped locket. It has her chip in it. She can’t travel without it.” Yeah, yeah,” as he waves me off. Crazy convert.

Oh, yeah, did I mention the Sim Card Chips. Every man, woman, and child are chipped and cataloged. Only thing missing was a scan bar on the back of my neck with an expiration date.

I walked most of the night. I needed to get to my sister before daylight. By now, news must have reached the unoccupied territories. I was getting sleepy. I wanted to stop and make a coffee when I saw a small crowd near a fire.

“Evening,” I said. The group was a small family, older man, woman, and their daughter. The daughter must have been about 21 years old. Her parents seemed much older. Probably the labor work in the reassignment camps.

“Hard to believe it’s the end of the world,” the old man said.

“What,” I asked.

He suddenly looked up at me and started to rock. “I can’t believe that I would see such a thing in my lifetime.” “They didn’t store it correctly.” “You have to store it correctly or else,” he said.

“What do you mean they didn’t store it correctly?” As I sat down and pulled coffee out of my bag - everyone fell silent. “I’m happy to share I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” I said.

“No, no, that’s not it,” said the daughter. They haven’t seen coffee since the ‘Before Times’. The party forbids it. If she only knew.

“Well, then, if it’s truly the end-of-the-world, coffee for everyone– let’s celebrate!” I got a round of applause.

The old man made his introductions, “Commander, my name is Enrol and this my wife Mali and my daughter Anyour.”

“How do you do Enrol.” I nodded to his wife and daughter. My name is Brock Jamis, Commander Brock Jamis - well, former Commander, the Industrial Revolution Party. The IRP. Heading to the Unoccupied Territory, a free man,” I said.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you Enrol, but what were you saying about storage?”

“Well, you see Commander Jamis, it wasn’t stored correctly. “The earth’s electrical currents must have….ah….ah, the heat core, ah……the storage – leaks and the combination - caused an internal explosion that blew one-third of the earth’s core mantel off into the atmosphere. The nuclear waste caused the explosion. It was stored incorrectly. The IRP Party News Reports says that half the earth has exploded.”

“My father is tired and excited Commander," Anyour said, “he’s not making sense. But he’s correct. There was a leak. Unregulated nuclear waste caused the explosion in the Southern Territories, awful. We just know, our freedom has come with a high price. The evacuations are a Godsend. We are no longer subjects of the IRP!”

“Yes, Anyour, a Godsend,” I said.

“Any news reports of the of type of destruction? Where are they Dragonfly aircraft taking people?” I asked. No one responded.

“It’s getting late,” I said. “For our safety, I think we should all push on,” I stood up to give Enrol a hug and handshake - and bid his wife and daughter farewell.

It started to rain and I could see the evacuation Dragonfly aircraft flying to the Northern territories.

I walked what seemed like hours when I heard him.

“Jamis, JAMIS, ……half-laughing half-singing my name.”

“No way, Nate?” I said astonishment. That handsome rugged hunk was a sight for sore eyes.

“No bloody way,” he said under his breathe, “is it really you Jamis old boy? …… how are you?”

“I mean … are you?”

“Yes, …… yes, I am,” I responded.

He paused and said, “I love you even more man.”

He grabbed me and pulled me into a bear hug, I think he even kiss my neck.

“Get off me you stinky crazy Russian,” I said. Pealing his arms off my neck I must admit, I was still an exceptionally handsome commander, with curly wavy hair and blue eyes. And despite being called ‘Man Curls’ in basic training, I did survive the teasing - and he really did miss me after all….

“God, I’m proud of you Jamis,” Nate said.

“It’s great to see you too Nate, really,” I said nodding.

Nate Masters. Nate and I started basis commission training at the IRP Officers Institute. He was my best friend. He was the best candidate in class. Best athlete, highest academics, and best shooter. He was the unit’s golden boy. Nate had the disposition of a Golden Labrador Retriever - his tail was always wagging with a smile on his face.

“Tell me your news Nate,” I asked, as we started to walk. Instinct and training told us to keep moving.

“I’m headed to the Unoccupied Territory,” he said.

“Me too. Bloody hell….,” I said.

He grabbed my shoulder again and said, “man, its good to see you.”

“What made you defect?”

“Wow, that’s a loaded question. Where do I start? How about Dystopian World Vision I guess.”

“Look, man, I’m not a conformist,” I said. “The last straw was when I got my morning directives – I heard about the explosions and mass casualties, but the party line was to keep it quiet. Indeed, it was the perfect time to escape during the pandemonium.”

“And you?” I asked him.” How did you hear about it?”

“I was assigned to the central intelligence bureau. I saw the photos of the explosion enroute to the Premier’s Office at Bureau Veritas – the Ministry of Truth. The satellite photos were amazing. The earth’s lower hemisphere was blown wide open. Huge craters, magma lava flowing into the atmosphere.”

“Photos?” “What photos? Why Isn’t the Party Central News Bureau covering it?” I asked.

“Party line, brotha, Party line,” he said.

Suddenly, we heard a low rumble and the earth started to vibrate. The vibrations grew more intense. We turned around and saw 3 clicks out ……

“Holly shit, Jamis do you see it?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, I see them,” I said.

We ran off the main road and hid in the brush and trees. The cover of night and rain helped conceal us. Just then, 4,000 Industrial Revolutionary Guard tanks, jeeps, supply trucks and UIA troops marched past us. We looked at each other and realized how much danger we were in, now Enemies of the State.

“Jamis, I need to get back to see my parents.” He pleaded. “We need to get to the Unoccupied before they shut us down.”

“I understand Nate,” I said. “We’ll make it man, I promise.” While we waited for the convoy to pass, I told him a confession.

“You know Nate, I made a promise years ago to someone. And it was in that moment my destiny was born. I promised my sister I would see her again. And I never lost hope. I knew one day I would defect. And find a way to see her.”

And so, traveling throughout the night, with little sleep or coffee, Commanders Brook Jamis and Nate Masters found Jamis’s sister in the ‘Before Times’ Unoccupied Territory. It was a bittersweet reunion.

“I brought this for sis,” Jamis said. As he kneeled.

“I always promised you one day I would bring this to you.” As he put the heart-shaped locket on the neck of the angel, he stood up and said, “May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

As he touched her tombstone.