The Kingdom

July, 18th of 2034

I still remember everything about that night, my parents sat side by side on one of the couches meanwhile I was on the fluffy carpet of the living room, watching the Christmas special’s that were airing on the TV that night. I could barely contain myself since if I was able to overcome my sleepiness maybe I could see Santa Claus coming right through my door and receive the gifts from him instead of getting them tomorrow morning from under the tree.

It’s funny to see now how our childish wishes are so innocent. Meet Santa Claus, the Easter Rabbit or the Tooth Fairy and a bunch of other needless things that children can make look so important. How we want that our parents give us freedom to do anything we want and when they do not we get mad at them, after all how dare they to take our right to be independent even being children... Today my only wish is to have them back.

I’m going to tell you a story. The story of how I became this and how everything started to become shit on the world. I hope you pay attention because there’s not much time for us.

....

The television was loud, and the little girl laughed at the bad jokes from the comedians. Her parents were just watching that scene with a warm smile on their faces, that joy gave them all the courage to face the government. They wanted a better future for her and for all of the children.

···

Everything has changed, the states that once formed Brazil now are split between 2 countries just to avoid a civil war: the United States of the South (UES), with the South region plus São Paulo; and the Amazonian Republic (AR) with the rest of the states.

It happens that while the thesis of the separatist project was brought to the table as something helpful to the poor people, a rising organization called Shadow used this as an opportunity to make their dirty business even more dirty and profitable. In short time they controlled almost all of UES and the country got the nickname of The Kingdom because of how they treated everything.

Nowadays I can understand what happened, but in that time few knew about it. My parents were allegedly politicians but before the division, they worked for ABIN (the Brazilian Intelligence Agency) and were undercover when the country collapsed. They tried to stop Shadow from getting even more power but obviously failed.

The system that wasn’t already very equal became even more oppressive with the creation of six castes, were it was almost impossible to rise and any attempt of rebellion was strongly suppressed by the army. The army, by the way, is now just a fancy name for mercenaries hired from Ark Corporation, a big Inc. that also took advantage of the bad economy to privatize everything: from the press; federal companies; public services like health, sanitation, water, fuel, police forces to the fucking army.

In the early years did the people revolt against the change, after all how they dared to turn great and proud Brazil into a new Germany from the Second World War? Until a new ruler, someone who "only" wanted the good of the nation managed to control these revolts with her promises and sweet words. So the country entered a time of relative peace if you consider the fascist times without some freedom of expression. But this woman was only the corrupt public face of Shadow, someone I've only recently discovered, it is controlling everything.

I've talked a lot about this damn organization but I have not explained what it is yet. It controls many areas of crime, from gun, drugs and people trafficking to the thief who steals your wallet on the street, but what makes the organization the most profitable are the bloody illegal fights shown to the world over the internet, where the betting is huge and very competitive, generating even more corruption and much more social inequality. C5's with no chance to rise in life and no money to support their family often resorted to these tournaments to earn some cash.

There are still those who want to unite the two countries again, rebels mainly coming from the Amazonian Republic which is a much more honest and progressive government than ours. These rebels try to infiltrate the government, the police, Shadow... few survive. For a long time, I believed they were wrong, that there was no point in bringing the two countries together again and that the only chance to have a better place was to defeat Shadow. But they are right, UES must disappear.

...

Let's go back to the fateful night of December 25, 2020, as I said somewhere above my parents watched me watch TV with that smile that I loved so much. God, I still remember how excited I was to get my gifts straight from Santa's hands and then if they tried to put me to bed before I saw the good old man.

It was just past midnight when the power went out, it left my parents alert, soon after I heard noises from cars braking in front of the house. My dad went to the door holding his gun, my mother took me to my room and made me promise not to get out from under the bed for nothing.
I heard the first shots and my momma said that she loved me. She made me promise that I would never forget it and that my father loved me as much as she did, I thought she was exaggerating but I hardly knew it would be the last time I would hear her voice and that promise would remain in my mind every single day of my life. So she went downstairs to help my father.

The shots continued for a while longer, and then they were replaced by cries of pain. I remember closing my eyes tightly and covering my ears just like I did when there was some boogeyman in the room but it did not work, I could clearly hear the pain of the two people I loved the most in the world.

Until it all stopped and I could finally open my eyes, I thought it was all over. Then I saw two bloodstained shoes appear. I held my breath trying not to indicate my position but it didn't work. A big rough hand pulled me by the throat and I found myself hanging in the air. That man was tall and strong, I remember his face was covered with blood from a deep cut on his face as he tried to choke me. I remember feeling my senses escape from me, but before I fainted I was able to record that monster's face.

I wonder if I had died that night something would have happened, or if my survival was a choice of fate.

When I woke up hours later, with a purple and swollen neck, the first thing I did was run into the living room, I wanted my mom and dad. It wasn't hard to find them, my father's body was completely bloodied and tied to a chair, his face almost unrecognizable, a large pool of blood around him. My mother wasn't far away, she was completely naked, her legs in a weird position, her body was also nearly unrecognizable and she had a hole in the middle of her forehead.

I guess that's where I stopped believing in any fairy tale. I sat on the floor, dirtying myself with the blood of those I loved. That scene, along with the face of the monster stayed in my head and to this day are part of the nightmares that wake me almost every night screaming.
The next day I heard footsteps come from behind me, from where the hallway of the house was. And I turned to find a gun pointed at my head, I was shaking with cold and fear, but I was not affected by it as I could be with the horror show at my side. A man, who, unlike the one who was pointing the gun at me and the others in tactical armor, dressed in social clothing put his hand on the gun and lowered it.

Then he walked over to me as he took off his suit and covered me. He picked me up and pulled me out of there. I would have been one of many C5's if it were not for him, but he adopted me and gave me his name.

But I will never forget my real name. I never forgot the promise I made to always remember their love for me. I never forgot that monster's face. I have never forgotten my father's disfigured face and my mother's broken body. I never forgot the promise I made that day to find who had done it and take revenge.

In this diary, you will find documents proving the government's connection with Shadow from the United States with the coup. You will also find the whole scheme of their dirty business and their hierarchy in detail. Some, I killed by myself. Still, others are loose around causing terror. Deliver this to the rebels, you no longer have to stay here, take Ana with you, get out of this hell.
I'm just asking you to do something for me, say hi to André, he's always been better than all of this shit.

...

PS: If you’re reading this I’m probably dead. Don’t come after me, you don’t need to die as well. If by any chance I got lucky and succeed on what I’m doing: I probably won’t save the country but at least I’ll save it from a terrible thing. If that happens, I’ll find you eventually. If not… Well, I’ll see you on the afterlife.

Carolina