The Thoughtless Believer

“You shouldn’t believe everything you read” Came a mysterious voice that echoed over the crescendo of sounds emanating from the tramway. A tall man with dark hair and vibrant eyes that echoed the forest of Inasa.

Brayden couldn’t help the hint of a smile that slowly crept to his lips as he flipped through the news media of the latest terror strike in Inasa’s harbor. Another group of renegade thugs seeking to overthrow the powers that be, and yet starkly in contrast to this chance meeting, Brayden felt the slightest hint of empathy for the group being smeared in these rigorous media campaigns. The Provisional Republic they were being called, a new age group of militant youth seeking to destabilize the very fragile government that currently existed. Brayden supposed that there always had to be a villain.

“Who is to say that I do?” He questioned the man, whom he now could envision fully as he turned to glance in his direction. He was tall, stoic in appearance, clad in the faux leather that encapsulated membership as part of the Inasa guard. The IG as they were called, had been more of a present policing force with the recent attacks than they had in the past and he assumed despite the media’s efforts to villainize and paint these attacks as ineffective, that the sudden police presence was at least beginning to startle those in charge.

Inasa was a new city on the frontier of a breakthrough. Earth’s first of its kind that existed in the atmosphere of the planet in place of the ground that had been sullen by its previous inhabitants. While many cities still existed on the surface, years of evolution and advancement had seen cities burrowing into the skies, being held up by massive platforms that supported them in low earth orbit. The Problem for most in attempting to live in Inasa’s mass was that you had to be able to afford it. To a commoner the only way to do so would be through joining as a guard or like Brayden you have to have a vocation of some type to render you useful, otherwise you were more like the citizens here, simply living your life in leisure because fate allowed you the luxuries of wealth and prestige.

Was it a fair system? Not in the slightest, but it was in essence the way of the world and unless you came from a poverty-stricken family like he did, you wouldn’t be aware of the struggles that those in the Provisional Republic were attempting to fight against. Were exploding bombs and causing havoc the way to do it? More than likely not, but in the same essence he could still empathize with their cause because he too knew what it was like to be a victim of the city.

Despite his being a doctor, and former military officer, he knew it was impossible to save everyone, and sometimes you couldn’t save anyone at all.

Echoing his own thoughts, he turned fully to analyze the man now, he was handsome in the traditional sense, a long face, high-cheek bones and vibrant eyes that echoed in contrast to his porcelain skin. The black attire made the paleness of his skin and the vibrant color of his eyes echo even more as he perched his lips, leaning nonchalantly against the side of the tram, an amused but very callous smile crossing his lips.

“Because if you didn’t that would make you a traitor, better to be painted a thoughtless believer than a traitor of the caste, wouldn’t it?” He seemed to speak in riddles, and yet the overall sentiment of his argument was valid. Empathize with a group of terror fanatics and you could be labeled one yourself, but Brayden has often found himself to be very mindful of his actions. Perhaps it were years of military training or even practicing bedside manner, but often times a thoughtful approach to your words could alter or change the entirety of a situation.

“Traitor is a strong word as is calling one a thoughtless believer. Belief requires a faith and no one has ever fully committed to faith without at least some resonant thought of it. Whether it be the heart or the mind that has compelled them to do so.” He paused momentarily.

“But to simply understand a happening and find the compassion to understand both sides of an issue doesn’t make one a traitor either.” Was this a weird conversation to be having with a stranger he’d only met moments ago? A stranger who’s name he did not even know, nor did he know much about him aside from the fact that he was wearing a guard’s uniform? Perhaps, but he had always been a sociable person in his experience, and it was rude not to respond when someone addressed you.

Having slid his holo-pad to the side Brayden studied the man further, he was nestled beside the door as if he were ready to exit at a moment’s notice. Brayden could have taken that as being a guard’s duty had he not noticed a few other minute details that were off. The discoloration of his boots, the lack of polish in the sigils that decorated both arms. There were a hyper amount of details that he was used to gathering in his profession, always studying charts to ensure the well-being of his patients meant that there wasn’t much that he missed in terms of analysis, and now that he had gotten over the sheer appearance of this man, he was being to feel increased anxiety.

“Perhaps there is hope for you yet then.” The man spoke further and he turned just in time to see him move, the entire tram rumbled from a few carts up, everything seemed to move in slow motion in those moments as a roar of screams that sounded like someone trying to speak with a mouth full of cotton, Brayden stood to attempt to get a visual of what was going on but in a matter of seconds, the blast radius and sheer force of glass had encapsulated him. He felt himself fall backwards, and in an instant, he believed he had met his demise, but instead found himself opening his eyes, a sheer blue forcefield surrounding his frame. He found the stranger’s arms tucked around his waist as he had been thrown out of harms way and in a matter of seconds.

“What the?” He questioned but found that it was useless to speak as his words didn’t come out quite succinctly or even clearly. Before he could question the stranger any further, the man was already on his feet, Although the man’s forcefield had saved him, Brayden found his ascent to his feet to be much harder to acquire but he couldn’t allow him to get away. This had to be the work of the very same group he’d just been reading about on his holo-pad and now he had suffered a similar incident to that of the harbor that morning.

“Hey!” He yelled now realizing that where the tram had crashed that there were hardly any room to walk much less attempt to catch up to the group of what he imagined to be imposter guards. He could see four or five of them together in unison trailing the railway as he attempted to follow behind them. It was a stupid endeavor he kept telling himself, but if he didn’t do so who could? For some reason this man despite knowing the tram was going to blow up, had decided to save him from the explosion that now left the tramway rendered useless. His instinct as a doctor told him that he should stay and help those who had been injured, but his experience as a military officer told him he needed to find out just what this group was up to. . . he was the only one in that moment who had even a remote chance of stopping them.

In the entirety of the debate in his head, he finally found his feet as they began the chase, one step after another, he was sprinting now and despite the lead they had on him he was able to make them out just faintly. There was only so far they could go after all before the railway would end and turn into one of Inasa’s platforms that would allow them further access to the city.

His pace quickened as he attempted to catch them and soon the very platform he’d been talking about was in range, he watched as the group dispersed and while there were several of them that he could’ve followed his eyes focused on one, the same man who had taken the time to protect him from the explosion, the same man who had interrupted his morning readings and for all he know, was the main provoker of this attack. There were a million questions bubbling up inside of his mind and each of them seemed to only elude to a lack of understanding.

Having trailed him for at least a half a mile, Brayden somehow found the strength to leap and tackle him down, having buzzed into a busy market, there were people shopping from various food stands as the two of them rolled into a cart of freshly manufactured apples. Brayden took a swing attempt to flog him as the other man ducked beneath it, sending a knee directly to his thigh or so he thought, in a moment’s notice he’d used the length of his leg to roll Brayden forward and send him crashing to the ground. Having wrapped his arms around Brayden’s neck now the man spoke to him once more.

“Not exactly the best way to say thank you to someone who just saved your life.” He spoke as Brayden thrashed beneath him attempting to break the hold. Despite being bigger in mass than the other man, you could tell he had some type of training much like an IG might. He suited the role well.

“You’re a murderer, why would I thank you for that?” Brayden spat through what words he could choke out, and this prompted a direct laughter from the other man.

“As a doctor I expected more, did you even check to see if they were dead?” He questioned and before Brayden could bite back a response, he found his vision beginning to haze over, the man was choking the life from him as he bent even closer to his ear to whisper.

“You do not remember yet.” The words were haunting, chilling, and sent a shiver down his spine as the echoes of the mans voice were the last thing he heard before his vision were rendered completely dark.

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The sound of a heart rate machine brought him back to life, the room he was in was darkened with visuals of a green hue that faintly glowed from a light source just out of his reach. There was a man standing in the corner that he could barely make out, but now that he’d seen him more than once he was beginning to recognize his stature. Despite the length and the dim lighting of the room Brayden knew it was him, the very same man who had saved him. . . twice now was it? It didn’t make any sense, blowing up the tram, attacking the harbor, and then immediately turning around and protecting his life not once but twice? Who was he and what motivation did he have for this?

“I’m happy to see you’re awake.” He stated now strolling over to the place where he was laid, it was old makeshift cot similar to those of old-world hospitals. Thankfully they were no longer required as hospital stays were rendered useless nearly an eon ago. Most of the procedures that required long-term stays could be performed in the homes of Inasa’s citizens now and therefore, didn’t require clinical services to be provided at an institution. There were two things this told him, one this group of renegades was nestled inside some sort of old world facility, and two that they were no longer in Inasa as these facilities no longer existed there. They were somewhere on the surface below, which meant they had to have a means of traveling back and forth perhaps from the harbor, which could have explained at least that much of why they would attack the harbor to begin with. Distract the guard from other points of destination, but he still couldn’t calculate just what there was to gain from all of this.

“I know you have questions, and I know you’re more than confused about the events of today, but I knew you would not come here willingly without some sort of provocation. A chance to play hero if you will.” There was a broader smile on the man’s face now, one that looked genuine even though he couldn’t tell if it met his eyes due to the dimly lit room. Brayden just looked at him with a confused expression. Even at the start of their conversation, he’d spoken to him like he knew who he was, like he could tell his thoughts before he’d even had them. Not believing everything he read, bringing along the ideology of being a traitor versus a thoughtless believer. It only confused him further specifically because he’d told him just before waking up here that he didn’t remember yet. What exactly did he not remember?

“You are going to give yourself an aneurysm, please stop.” He stated now and Brayden stared at him with intent. How would he be able to tell his brain functionality?

“Then please help to ease my mind.” Brayden said thoughtfully after several moments of silence shared between the two.

“I would love to, but I don’t think that you would believe anything I could say to you. Your mind. . . its been altered.” He said now reaching a hand forward to caress of Brayden’s cheek. The touch was soft and tender, familiar in some strange way, and yet Brayden couldn’t help but react to it doing his best to break away. The man didn’t respond to the rejection of his touch and instead sat calmly for several moments more.

“You’ve been broken . . . changed. . . made to believe a lie, but I won’t let them steal you from me.” He stated now, a determined sound overtaking his voice. Brayden could only stare at him, further confused, his mind has been altered. Just what someone would say if they were attempting to brainwash you into their way of believing. He’d seen the terrorist act right before his very eyes, he’d watched as the tram had exploded, he’d heard the muffled screams of those around him. The desolate despair as they met their final rest. He’d weight the dynamics of attempting to save them or chasing this group down, the Provisional Republic, who were they and what did they want? They believed his mind had been altered, but perhaps it was their minds that’d been changed. No one in their right mind went around exploding bombs and was thought of as a good Samaritan.

“I do not know what you mean. I have never met you before today. All I’ve seen is an exploding tram, you and your group of delinquents running away, and you telling me that I don’t remember something. What memories could I possibly be missing?” He questioned. The man only looked at him expectantly, having turned around to take a few steps back he gave some pause. Brayden could see a sense of stress that emanated as his spine, he was pensive and perhaps dejected from the previous interaction.

“Everything.” He stated simply. Brayden was confused further by the faint sound of his breathing then, almost as if his voice had become muffled, riddled with something he didn’t recognize. Pain, a sense of emotion. It was all so confusing.

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“A failure to Question,

A limit to dream,

A lacking of understanding,

A Thoughtless Belief.”

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Part Two Coming Soon