Ezri

At that point, our perfect world was shattered. The room falls into a still silence, her threat looming in the air. She’s not bluffing, I can tell. The soldiers line up in front of the stage, their fingers ready on the trigger of their guns. Just like the warships, military weapons like those are supposed to be kept away – and after Katz’s golems, they aren’t even allowed to be in human hands. Something major must’ve happened within the next 12 years, and I have no doubt this “Ezri” woman plays a large part.

“So obedient, as always,” Ezri says, noticing how none of us have moved an inch. “Did you not realize what I just said? Why don’t you call out your golems to deal with us?” She suddenly steps off the podium and approaches Professor Katz, who is huddled in a corner and looks shaken to the core. I see her lean down to his level and whisper something to him – whatever she’s saying, it’s enough to make his face go pale with dread.

A hand touches my foot, causing me to flinch, but I remain motionless enough to not catch the soldiers’ attention. I slowly look down to see Shiloh and Jasper hiding underneath some chairs. I’m glad I was right – they’re safe. Their expressions ask me, “What the heck is going on?”, as if they actually expect me to have the answer.

I have no idea. But I do know what we should be doing. We have a troop of golems right outside the building that easily outnumbers them. The golems are directed by our Administrators, who oversee all the bots. Each Admin carries a device that controls the bots at all times. So, the solution is easy – we just need an Admin to alert the golems outside, but just like Katz, they’re all too scared to do anything.

“How boring. You’re making this a bit too easy for me,” Ezri murmurs. “I came all this way, and you don’t have the decency to put up a fight.”

Is she for real?

“What do you want from us? State your purpose,” Dad speaks up, but heeding Ezri’s warning, he stays where he is.

“I’ve already told you my purpose; your demise. Are you willing to surrender, Mr. President?”

All our eyes turn to him, awaiting his response. The anxiety is palpable. Say no, Dad. Demand the Admins to send the golems after these people. What are we waiting for?

“I am not,” he says firmly, and I feel calmed down.

“So, you’re willing to defend yourselves.”

He says nothing. The brief relief I felt soon returns to a sense of disappointment and confusion. With all of our advancements, all our resources, there’s no way the IPU can be this inept.

“Do you want money? Power? There must be some type of desire driving you,” Dad eventually tries to reason, but it’s not a response to her statement. “We do not need to resort to violence. A negotiation can be—"

“There is nothing I ‘desire’ more than for all of the IPU to be buried six feet under,” Ezri shuts him off, her words piercing through like a knife. “Your attempt at persuasion is laughable. I’ll ask you once more, Mr. President. Will you surrender?”

Another moment of silence passes, my pulse quickening the longer it goes on. I’m tempted to yell over there and answer her myself, but soon, Dad finally speaks. “My decision is the same,” he says with resolve.

“Then fight.”

Ezri throws on her hood, and with a wave of her hand, she signals to her followers. Immediately, they open fire. She’s deceived us. In just a matter of seconds, tons of guests rest with the poor souls who were crushed under the ship. We all make a break for it, but almost half aren’t lucky enough to reach the door.

“Don’t look at it! It’s dangerous!” Mom warns me, catching me stare at the carnage that envelopes the room. She’s right; I avert my attention. Watching scenes like this, whether real or fictional, is believed to damage our conscience by making us accustomed to violence and therefore causing us to be more likely to repeat it. It’s the job of a golem, strictly forbidden to people.

The sound of rapid-shooting ray guns fade into a more distant echo as we miraculously make it to outside the Headquarters. The many reporters outside don’t have the slightest clue about what just happened, but as they take note of everyone’s alarmed state and hear the disturbance inside, it soon becomes obvious that something very troubling has occurred.

As soon as I see the golems, I don’t hesitate. Yanking away from Mom’s protective grip, against her complaints, I run across the field before stopping at a golem’s feet. Its height towers over me as it stares into the distance, not even sparing a glance.

“Hey! Get inside now, we’re under attack!”

“Administrator action required,” the golem responds. Of course.

My feet don’t stop to rest as I frantically dart my eyes across the area, hoping to catch sight of anyone wearing a badge of the IPU’s symbol: a white rose on a compass. We had plenty of them present at the Convention, but now, they’re nowhere to be seen no matter how hard I search – even with Shiloh and Jasper’s help.

“Calla… I don’t think there’s any Admins here left,” Jasper says meekly.

“Left?”

“They were, uh…”

Shiloh cuts in and says, “We saw them aiming for the Admins first… Looks like none of them – you know, ‘made it.’”

“Dang it— what about my father? Did you see him make it out?”

Jasper points to the front of the path, where Dad is talking with some government workers who just pulled up in trucks, a solemn look on his face. It doesn’t make sense for him to be alive – if they made sure to take out the Admins, you’d think the president would have an even bigger target on his back. But obviously, I’m not complaining.

“Dad,” I call out to him after catching my breath, my energy spent from running around all over the place.

“Calla, are you alright?” he asks.

His eyes are full of worry as he gently puts his hands on my shoulders and turns me around to examine my condition – but we don’t have time for all of this. There’s a group of deranged criminals from the future inside the IPU’s own Headquarters, and nobody’s doing a thing about it. Impatiently, I wiggle him off me and say:

“Dad, listen. The Admins inside are all gone, you need to call in new ones before it’s too late.”

“I’m aware, but this isn’t your responsibility to worry about, it’s being handled by me and the others.”

“Are you sure?” I mutter, but the stern look from Dad afterwards is more than efficient enough to correct my attitude. “Fine, I understand.”

“Good. Now, I want you and everyone else at the MME Building as soon as possible.”

That test isn’t due until another couple of weeks from now. “Why?”

“We all just witnessed… An absolute travesty. One that hasn’t been seen since the old days,” he says, and for the first time in my life, I hear his voice shake. “It’s imperative we take precautions and check the mental states of all who saw. If we let this go unchecked, the consequences could be dire.”

It's true. No one in this lifetime, nor the last, nor even the last before that, and so on, has ever been subjected to seeing such a massacre – or rarely any form of violence. If the Saski Incident was able to affect the country to the extent it did, there’s no telling what this is going to do.

To think she was able to undo everything we did since in only a moment, all thanks to the Racer. It makes me sick.

All the survivors, including myself, are taken away by trucks to the MME Building. From a window, I stare out as the recently-arrived Administrators order the golems to fall into formation around the Headquarters. The invaders haven’t stepped outside, and oddly, they never tried to follow any escapee out of the auditorium. Do they know the golems are outside and don’t want to fight them? After all, if they’re only from twelve years into the future, then they should know everything we do about the present day, like the Headquarters’ security.

But, Dad is right. I’m not in the position to fix anything, so there’s no reason for me to think so hard about it. The IPU has been the world’s greatest power for centuries, to the point where all the nations were unified into a single country long ago. Those who refused to join us were swept off the earth, because they didn’t stand a chance – and neither will Ezri or her little thugs.

Sure, they might’ve caught us by surprise, but they’ll regret ever coming here tonight. I know they will.