After School Special

After school ended, Cirice needed to get home and tell her parents what happened. It was quite a strange day at school, and she knew she was being lied to. Her parents were in a loose group of people that passed down old history textbooks and primary source documents from before the rise of the United World of America. Because they were armed with that kind of knowledge, she thought they could straighten her out on the details. However, as she was making the trip, Major Brodyn and a couple of soldiers pulled her aside.

“Hey there kid, I remember you from class.”

All of them reeked of cigarettes. Smoking had largely died out, but many in PlunderCorp took it up to deal with stress. Each of them stood much taller than Cirice, with great strength and uncertain motives. Cirice just thought of them as meatheads, so she tried to talk around them.

“Oh yeah, Major Brodyn! Thanks for answering my questions today.”

“You sure had a lot of them… In fact, you were the only one asking.”

“Was I? The presentation was so interesting that it’s hard to believe I was the only one.”

“Why were you asking so many questions, young lady?”

“Oh, I’m just curious.”

Brodyn took a step towards her.

“I’m sure that’s not all, is it?”

She had to think fast.

“You got me, I was interested in joining! I know I’m small and weak, but I’ve wanted to join PlunderCorp since I was little!”

There was a pause, then the men erupted in laughter. The two soldiers drew their hands away from their pistols.

“You had us going for a second, we thought you were an anarchist or something!”

“Usually girls your age are busy playing with dolls or something. Why are you so interested in joining already?”

“Well, it’s like you said in class, everything we have comes from PlunderCorp! Why wouldn’t I be interested in the source of everything?”

“Well I guess I can’t fault your logic.”

Major Brodyn reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a card.

“Come with your parents and meet us at the headquarters this Saturday if you’re serious. We’ll give you a tour and even let you join early.”

“You mean join immediately?”

“Of course.”

“I’m only 13, though. Is that a problem?”

“Of course not, we bring in kids even younger than that all the time! Usually, their parents just sell them to us.”

“Sell?”

“Yeah, when parents can’t afford to raise their kids, they’re sold to be frontline soldiers for PlunderCorp. You won’t be one of those kids, though. Pinky promise.”

The delivery of the last two words made her shudder. What kind of messed up prospect scouting activity was this? He talked to her like a child. He KNEW she was a child. Either way, Cirice knew she had to go along with it. Her heart raced and sweat collected on her forehead as she reached out her right hand, extended her pinky finger and…

“No no NO! What are you doing? How can you work with these people? These monsters? These slavers? They’re going to use you up and spit you out like every dimension they invade!”

That’s what she thought to herself in an otherwise imperceptible fraction of a second. A little longer than a blink. Time seemed to stop as she steeled herself. Making the final reach and connecting their fingers, she knew she had sealed her own fate.

“Good girl. See you Saturday, hopefully at our regional headquarters.”

“Hopefully?”

“We’ll see you Saturday if you’re there or not. Remember, it’s in your family’s best interest that they come too.”