Trust

“Everything? What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I just think that a company that has complete control over news and every other method of communication will abuse that power.”

“By sharing false information?”

“Yes, but I was more so talking about the absence of any information that would in any way damage their image. If for example they just so happened to, I don’t know, let’s say, kill an identical copy of every of their citizen, it would be rather convenient if the News just happened to miss it.”

“So, you are trying to say that everything Gazation ever said was a lie?”

“No, don’t be stupid, I’m just saying that you shouldn’t trust them so easily. While we are already talking about it, did you get all the information you gave me directly from Gazation?”

“No, I got it from, from… I got it… I… I. I don’t, I don’t remember.”

“You don’t, you don’t what?!”

“I don’t re-“

“Yes! I understood that you don’t need to repeat it! But how the fuck did you forget who you got that info from, I don’t need a list of sources, a general statement is enough.”

“I have no clue at all! And you out of everyone shouldn’t tell me that I can’t forget shit, you forgot how your fucking parents looked!”

“But that’s not important!”

“Yes, yes it is, Your parents should be way more important than what shit will go down in 50 years.”

“But not right now and that’s not the point!”

“Dude, calm down! I have no clue where I got the info from but I’m pretty sure I didn’t get it from Gazation in any way.”

“How can you be sure about that, what sources are there even besides Gazation?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Oh for fuck's sake!”

We both stopped walking.

“Look, I’m sorry but if that concerns you just think of it as speculation. As long as you don’t take any of what I said as the one and only truth there shouldn’t be a problem.”

The sun vanished behind a few clouds and a light wind moved the grass under our feet. I turned around.

“That’s not the point, I asked you multiple times to just shut up if all of this was made up.“

“But it isn’t”

“Multiple times! And only after I had already listened to you for nearly an hour did you first think that you should maybe tell me that you don’t even know where you got that story from!”

“It’s not just a story”

“It has as much worth as a fortune teller’s predictions! And that doesn’t change that you thought it wasn’t necessary to tell me that you didn’t know where you got that all from.”

“Firstly, I only noticed that I didn’t know where I got it from after you asked me and secondly, you didn’t, you didn’t ask me until nearly an hour had passed! So don’t act like it’s only my f-”

She Twitched and looked at me scared. I blinked. She slowly walked back. I looked down at my arm. It pointed at her, my hand clutching my knife.

“I’m sorry.”

I turned around and put my knife back into my pocket. I started walking again, she wasn’t following me, she would eventually I thought, but she didn’t.

“You are still thirsty, aren’t you?”

“That’s not your business, there is no reason for you to care about that.”

I turned back to her.

“If I didn’t care, why should I have given you the decision to continue talking or to search for water?”

“Maybe you were manipulating me and not the other way around, maybe you wanted to gain my trust by showing that you cared about me in any way.”

“You’re overthinking that one, there was no malicious intended behind asking you if you were thirsty. I just wanted to be nice.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but, but you just don’t look like someone that wants to be particularly nice.”

“That’s just a reflex.”

She stepped back further.

“But doesn’t that kinda prove it, you have a reflex to take out your knife and point at people with it, that even triggers in a simple argument. Maybe you just are way more violent than you look. No, what am I even talking about, you, you always were this violent.”

She started walking backwards faster like she was about to start running.

“Relax, I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

“You were always like this weren’t you?”

“Like what?”

A tear flowed down her cheek.

“What did you do to the teacher?”

“What?”

“You, you- you murdered- you murdered our teacher, didn’t you?”

“Why are you revering to him as our teacher now?”

“Why, why did you kill him?”

She started running but tripped and fell to the ground. I saw this as an opportunity, I slowly walked toward her. She started crawling away from me.

“No! No, please! Please don’t kill me! Help! Anyone, please help me, this man is a psychopath, he murdered someone! Please help me! Anyone?!”

I walked in front of her, and she stopped and looked at me. She was crying.

“I won’t hurt you, I promise so please stop running away.”

I gave her a hand to help her stand up, but she didn’t take it.

“Why did you kill him?”

“He was a bad person.”

“No, he was a good teacher, he didn’t do anything.”

“We already had this conversation, didn’t we?”

“Why did you kill him?!”

“I just gave him what he deserved.”

“Why did you-“

She looked at something behind me, even more, scared than before. She didn’t say anything, she just slowly lifted her arm and pointed at it. As I turned around, she whispered three words.

“Who is that.”

It was a shadow, it already had its knife out ready to charge at us at any moment. As I grabbed my knife it began to run towards me. At that moment a simple thought went through my mind. If that thing was a future version of me, it would know whatever I tried now, and how could I beat something that knew what I would do? I closed my eyes. It swung its knife at me. I opened my eyes, It missed. I didn’t move an inch, but it still missed me. It swung its knife a second time. Another miss. A third time. Miss. I dodged its fourth attack with ease and swung my knife directly towards it. But it was too slow, it could have easily dodged it, but it didn’t. I killed it, just like that. It had never been so easy before, so why now? It fell to the ground and my knife slipped out of my hand. It opened its mouth. And said four words:

“This should be enough.”

Before closing its eyes as I heard a voice behind me quietly whisper:

“Thank you.”