The Heart of Rebellion

Rian Emerson knew he was going to die. In fact, the precise moment of his death was due to occur in 22 days, 5 hours, and 27 minutes, on the day of his 30th birthday. He supposed he ought to feel lucky for the 10 extra years his father’s good behavior had bought him, but it was difficult to do so when facing imminent execution for the crimes of a grandfather he’d never met. Even if he had more in common with said grandfather then he’d ever had with the father who’d been executed at age 20, months before Rian was born. The limited lifespan of the condemned was the price to be paid when an ancestor rebelled against the Republic. The Republic, after all, was responsible for uniting the survivors of Earth after the great world war and subsequent nuclear near-extinction. The same Republic was also responsible for the totalitarian laws they currently lived under, and the fact that it was seen as reasonable to continue to execute the descendants of rebels. Ideally, the condemned would continue to behave so each generation could live longer and their descendants could someday die again of old age, the perfect insurance that rebelliousness not be passed down. Unfortunately, this concept didn’t sit well with Rian, who decided from a young age not to have children and to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.

7 hours before the mission, he took one last glance at the anatomically correct heart-shaped locket around his neck, snapping it shut. It was a copy of the same locket all the condemned wore to signify their status to the world, impossible to break or take off, delivering an electric shock if attempted. The date stamped inside was a constant and cruel reminder of their limited lives. We’re cutting this awfully close, he thought. No matter, if everything went as planned, after tonight there would be no Republic to execute him in 22 days.

The plan itself was simple, deploy a poison to eliminate the President and his conspirators in the senate during a private dinner at the President’s mansion. The rebels’ success, however, depended entirely upon an 8 year old girl, Ayla, whom Rian had found living alone in a small shack in the forest only 6 months prior.

Ayla Ritters was due to be executed in 1 year, 10 months, and 6 days. Her father was a second generation condemned, as Rian’s father was. Fearing his impending execution date, he’d attempted to flee the Republic with his newborn daughter, accidentally leading them straight into a severe radiation zone. Before his premature death at age 18 of radiation sickness, he managed to return his daughter to the Republic’s borders, hoping to spare her his fate. The doctors predicted she’d sicken as well, and placed her in an orphanage under vague medical supervision. She lived a shockingly healthy life up until age 7, when she inexplicably went missing. There had been evidence of child-trafficking in the area, so naturally it was an assumed kidnapping. Where Ayla was concerned, the Glorious Republic’s leaders found this information unworthy of their time and resources. She was, after all, a condemned, and an exceptionally tragic one at that. Her father’s escape attempt broke the law, bringing her sentence to 10 years of authorized life, rather than the 30 Rian was allowed for his father’s subservience. They saw no need to search for a child who’d be allowed to live less than 3 more years anyways. As inhumane as it was, this glaring oversight allowed Rian to discover the key to his dreams of rebellion.

Ayla was a special child. The radiation had indeed effected her body as it had her father’s, but instead of killing her, it granted her, in Rian’s eyes at least, the singularly most valuable skill in the world. Ayla’s skin cells developed in a way to allow her to choose whether or not to reflect sunlight. According to Ayla, either it didn’t manifest until she was a toddler or her doctors and caretakers must have missed it, (Rian believed the latter more likely, as it further proved their negligence where she was concerned). When she was 4, it began to happen as a defense mechanism. Her family’s crimes were well known, and when the other orphans were being particularly cruel to her Ayla would simply disappear. It took her until age 6 to understand why she would suddenly go unnoticed, and another year after that to practice harnessing her ability enough to control it at will. She decided the Republic couldn’t kill her if they couldn’t find her, and they couldn’t find her if they couldn’t see her. She escaped the orphanage, stealing supplies enough to last some time and knowing she could return invisible to the city whenever she needed more. Luckily, Rian happened upon her in the woods in a rare moment of visibility only a couple of months later.

Before meeting Ayla, all Rian’s plans were essentially suicide missions; no result he could see ended with him escaping alive. He’d lived his entire life preparing to die at 30, however, so he was prepared to sacrifice himself if it meant the destruction of the Republic. When he first found Ayla, his mission only changed so much as to include protecting her and setting her up with resources in the event of his death. It was only when she showed him her ability and begged him to let her help that he began to dream he may have a future after all. He knew, as much as he wished to keep her out of danger, that if she succeeded, Ayla’s invisibility would mean their salvation. It seemed insane to allow a small child to play assassin, but Ayla’s craving for a more just world rivaled Rian’s own.

6 hours before the mission, he found her in the sunflower field behind the mountain cabin they’d been working out of. That such flowers, vibrant with the colors of light and life, could live in a post-nuclear world always filled him with awe. Ayla was laying on the ground, watching their tall stalks sway in the late afternoon breeze. She looked entranced, and the sight of her childlike wonder struck him with an overwhelming desire to spare her from what was to come. He spoke quietly, so as not to startle her. “It’s not too late to change your mind little one.”

She turned her head to him and responded in barely more than a whisper, “I know. But the world is broken, and we’re the only ones who can fix it.”

He gave her a half smile, the light not quite reaching his eyes. “While you may be by far the most awesome of us, you know the others and I can do this without you.”

She frowned, her eyes beginning to glisten with unshed tears. “But then you’d all die! First my mother when I was born, then my stupid father for trying to escape, and then you! I don’t want you to die. I don’t want to die either, and I don’t want to be a condemned! You said the only way to change the world was to change who controlled it. I am your best chance and you know it! Jakob says we don’t know exactly how everything will go after President Marin is dead. He says for all we know the world could stay the same and the rest of the condemned and their children like him will still die, and I’ll still have to stay unseen in the woods forever or die like the rest of them. He says if you do the mission instead of me and you die I’ll be all alone.” A tear slid from her blue eye down her cheek to her pink nose.

Now it was Rian’s turn to frown. Jakob’s father was another condemned around Rian’s age that he’d recruited to his cause several years ago, and as his son was only 2 years older than Ayla he’d become somewhat of a companion to her. The man had always had a cynical side, and even though their new plan to use Ayla’s ability gave them a higher chance of success it bothered Rian just how eager he seemed to send her into danger in place of the adults. Especially considering the man doubted their efforts would even make a difference. If everything went well tonight he’d need to keep an eye on him in the future.

“Jakob’s father has taught him to be as cynical as he is. He was hesitant to join with me in the first place, believing there was no hope and nothing could be done. Honestly I’m still surprised I eventually talked him into it. Don’t listen to Jakob. We’re doing this with you only because you wanted to help. It was and remains your choice. What we do tonight will make a difference Ayla, whether you decide to go through with your part or not. The world is not completely broken. It is damaged, as we all are, but I believe with the right leaders we can flourish once again, as we did before corruption was allowed to reign. The human race discovered this land untouched by radiation after the war for a reason. It is our second chance. Our ancestors survived the war so we could collectively create something new and better. The formation of the Republic caused us to stray from this goal, so it is up to us to remedy that. But it can be done. We can do it. You can do it. Have hope Ayla, especially now, when we are so close. I believe we can make a better world, and even be around to see it.”

Ayla unconsciously touched the locket around her neck, identical to Rian’s own, and smiled through her tears at him. Her smile always reminded him of not only how young she was, but how she was still able to reach the level of hope only a child could have no matter how the world had failed them. He would do anything to ensure that hope never died. She took a shaky breath in and out and slowly stood up. “Okay. Let’s do this.”