Ascension

Elijah

I can definitely say it feels weird not having Lorelei around. We know for sure that she is okay. However that doesn't mean I'm okay. Or Alivia. She definitely isn't okay with any of this. She sobbed in her room for at least two days straight. I wasn't much better at the beginning. I spent the first two weeks moping.

I felt like I couldn't function without Lorelei next to me. The only way for me to get through the day was to tell myself she was okay. I haven't talked to her in about four months. Not that I don't want to call her but too much time has passed since I have called her and it would feel awkward and forced. Plus she is busy trying to win the war for us on the inside. So that's why I don't call her.

Alivia and Indiana still talk on a constant basis. Indiana fills me in on Lorelei. It seems she has a knack for this spying thing. She has already got them out of jail which took a lot shorter amount of time then we had originally thought. Good for her. Anyway I decided I wasn't going to do politics like America wanted me to do and I signed up for the army. I moved very far very fast in the army. I was the fastest, most endurant person on the team.

I know that isn't because of the training I did when I was in the Trials five months ago. It is because of my parentage. My drill sergeant said I was made for the military. I'm not. I'm just glad they don't have me strapped to a table dissecting me like some science experiment. Anyway about three weeks ago they gave me a job of training the new recruits.

Alaina is now second in command of the base and is doing well. America is a wonderful leader and has thwarted all potential attacks. The government is trying to figure out the best way to go about his war. Our mysterious benefactors are being mysterious as usual. All is right in our world. I think.

There is one thing on my mind that I don't like to much. America hasn't heard from Lorelei or Indiana in about two weeks. She is starting to get worried. We don't know what is happening at Headquarters and it worried everyone. You can actually feel the tension in the air. Strange I know but I don't know.

"Hey Alivia are you doing okay?" I ask.

Alivia looks up at me like I'm crazy. Maybe I am. I don't know. Her face looks red with tears.

"Does it look like I'm doing okay?" She sniffled.

"I'm going to take that as a no."

"Do you need to talk about it?" I ask.

"What's there to talk about? Indiana is gone and nothing is going to change that." Alivia sighed.

I'm just trying to help out around the base but I don't think anyone appreciates what I'm trying to do. I walk away from Alivia. The best thing to do when she has these episodes is walk away and call a nurse to come put sedatives into her system. So that's exactly what I do. I feel bad calling the nurse to come drug up Alivia but it's what she needs. I'd read somewhere that the price of war is more than just limbs. I hadn't understood until now. The war demands limbs and health and our sanity.

Some of us hold on to our sanity dearly and others have freely given it up. It's kind of sad to think of it like that though. Sadly it's the truth. I watch as the nurse forcibly shoves the syringe into Alivia's arm. She calls for someone to take care of her baby. The sight of the syringe going into Alivia's arm brings me back to the tragic day where Lorelei stayed behind by knocking herself out using sedative.

I decide that I need to talk to someone sane. Before I even realize where I'm going I am right outside Alaina's room. I start to knock but hesitate. I don't know why. I tell myself I'm just being weird and knock on her door.

"Come in!" Alaina calls.

I walk into the room and it exactly the same as the last time I've seen it. Neat and Clean.

"What are you doing here Elijah?" She asks.

"I needed to talk to my best friend." I explain.

"Just one of those days? Yeah I needed to talk to you as well." Alaina explains.

"Welp. I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"What do you need to talk about?" She asks.

"When do you think Lorelei is coming back?" I ask.

"Too controversial. Next topic."

"What have you been up too lately."

"Top secret. Next."

I laugh at her. It isn't top secret. She just wants me to believe it is.

"What kind of things do you think I can do here?" I ask.

"Like for fun?" She asks.

"No just to get out of the bunker. I've felt so couped up in here." I explain.

Alaina thinks for a while. She taps her desk and looks through her computer files.

"Hold up I do remember America saying something about military personnel going to the darkness to retrieve files of some sort." Alaina tells me.

She keeps scrolling through files.

"Ahah." She says as she finds it.

She turns the computer screen so I can see it.

I read it. They are going to the Darkness to see if they can recover lost research. They are looking for a troop of military personnel.

"Look look look!" She says gesturing to the bottom of the screen, "For promising youth. That's you Elijah!"

"I guess."

"You guess? YOU guess? Elijah you are the Colony's most promising prodigy! They will surely take you." Alaina assures me.

"Oh I sure hope so." I tell her.