[The Tempest trilogy: Book 2] After the incident in Ostrava's Neoclash arena, Zoya faces dangerous challenges. Nightingale's uprising threatens to destroy the whole Europe, the racist Yeomen movement steps up their campaing against Castaways and Rya...
Is Castaway terrorism really a problem as big as several sources are trying to hint?
I have done my research. During this Neoclash season, before I accomodated myself in the Champion village next to each arena, I visited the courts of over thirty European countries and asked for some files about cases regarding Castaway violence.
According to my statistics, 67% of the Castaways sued for physical assault were released after proving they didn't commit the crime. When it comes to brawls and skirmishes between a Healthy and a Castaway, 58% of them were provoked by the Healthy. Out of these cases, 83% were started by a larger group of the Healthy who united against a Castaway, verbally or physically harrassing them.
All of these numbers come from cases rightfully judged and solved.
- An atricle from Alexandra's blog from December 2nd, 128. Abridged.
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Since she returned from Prague, Zoya has become a completely different person. Long gone is the cheerful, bubbly girl I got to know. It's like something snapped inside her with no chance of coming back. She became serious and reserved, with scary expression in her eyes I haven't seen before.
I'm looking for the right words to describe it, but I don't like the results at all. Vindictive. Bloodthirsty. Cold. Ruthless. I thought that this phase will go away soon, but it's already several weeks since she returned and the situation became only slightly better.
Of course, I understand her. She told me what she saw. I expected her to break down and/or start crying, but she described her mother's gruesome death with numb, emotionless voice that gave me as much creeps as the things she was describing.
I presumed that Alexandra probably died a horrible death, but the Yeomen torturing her to death was still far beyond my expectations. I got nauseous as Zoya described all the vivid details. Then, after she told me everything, including the fact Jaroslav Havel is basically her stepfather, she closed herself into her room and didn't leave for several days, except for food and short walks.
I tried to talk to her. I expected her to not talk at all, but we actually engaged in several short talks. But her one-word replies and lack of talkativeness eventually discourages me from trying. So I'm just waiting and hoping for things to get better soon.
I can't imagine how horrible is this for her. If someone showed me a video where my parents are brutally lynched, I would probably react similarly. However, I'm still alarmed by the amounts of grudge in her eyes. I mustn't let it consume her completely.
And the fact my research stagnates isn't helping either. Right now, I'm standing in front of a computer and killing time by thinking about Zoya. Not even the chocolate bar in my hand doesn't improve my mood much. Zoya's dejection is contagious and I'm a good receiver of negative emotions.
