swc daily - die, choose, betrayal @-bookdragon- total:649 Snake Eyes I walked down the hall. The lights were off due to a power shortage, it was cold too, but that wasn't why I was shivering. I couldn't help but imagine the worst, and the worst sent chills down my spine. They had called me here for a reason, but what could it be? You were never called to the Centre for a good reason, but sometimes it ended up being good for you, just not for others. “Please, this door,” the woman said. She worked for the government, she allowed this tyranny. I decided I didn't like her. The door opened to a small room with one table and two chairs across from each other. It was an interrogating room. The woman sat down. When she looked at me she seemed like any other person, but how could she be, she worked for the government. She gestured for me to sit down and I did.The chair was the same as the metal ones with rigid backs that was used in schools, offices, homes and just about anywhere. It was the standard and there was no other kind in this country. I had been told that chairs in other countries were different. Pa had told me that in Danland they made comfortable chairs which had cushions and padding. If only Herthyr had that. “Alys had an audio player. Illegally. Very illegally. Alys Bondurant. This isn't about you, it's about her. She'll be punished for her crimes, but we need one witness's word. You're her friend, even if you didn't know she had it you'll still be considered a witness,” she explained. Alys Bondurant was my closest friend, she lived two houses down from me. Her eyes looked strikingly like those of a snake, it was something she was often made fun of when we were little. I had stood up for her, that's how we became friends. Being a “witness” would mean betraying her, and being “punished for her crimes” would mean death. “I understand that she is your friend, but she has put you in this situation by breaking the law. If you don't agree we'll have to punish you for being uncooperative. You're good, you don't break the law, you don't deserve to be punished for crime half as much as most people, but she's allowing you to be punished. If you just admit what she's done you'll be hailed as a hero for saving Herthyr from art!” she continued, but now there was a different light in her eyes, one that was almost sorrowful. I had always been there for Alys, but she had often turned her back on me. If I was a witness she would be killed, but if I wasn't a witness I would be killed. She wasn't worth my life. “Alys Bondurant had an audio player which she acquired illegally and illegally listened to music, a form of art which is highly forbidden by the law of Herthyr. I, Lorence Tintern verify this as a witness of the crime,” I recited. We had memorized the statement in the fourth grade. We had learned to murder in the fourth grade, and now I had chosen to do so. ○ ○ ○ I looked down at my hands, two dice in my palm both displayed one dot. It was called snake eyes, and was what I chose as a way to remember Alys. Her last words to me were “Remember what you've done”. It has haunted me since. Though the woman had not lied. I had been hailed as a hero of Herthyr. I now was rich, had power and was considered one of the elites, but I was not happy. I worked for the government, convincing people to murder their friends. It is horrible, but now I understand the woman better. She didn't want to convince me to be a witness: she had to.
