That said, I hope you enjoy my attempt at explain how CAA came into being. No, this isn't a true story....
maybe.It was the sound of the alarm that woke me today. I blinked, groggy and not yet fully awake. I came to much faster as it cut off, and I remembered what it meant; someone had tried to run. And judging by how quickly the alarm went off, they'd already been caught. I felt a stab of pity for the poor unfortunate. If he was lucky, he'd be dead before entering the eraser. I couldn't think of a darker fate.
With a sigh, I rolled over, though shift was a better word. If you rolled, you would all right off the narrow bunk. I leaned over the edge, peering down at my roommate, who had slept through it. my best friend in the whole world, but also the high-lord snorer. We'd been together in this hades for a long time, and I was determined to pull us through.
"Hey," I said. "Wake up." Silence. "Hey." I spoke a little louder this time. I was answered by a snore. Sighing, I slid off the bed and studied the prone form under the blankets. I nodded to myself, then launched a kick that sent him into the wall. "WAKE UP!"
The sheet-shod figure detached itself from the wall. "...why?" it asked in a winy voice.
I sighed and shoved the sheet off his head. "Because some poor kid just failed to escape. C'mon, Odd! We gotta keep him out of the eraser's hands!"
Odd shook his head, yawning." No point. We'll just get sent there ourselves."
I groaned in exasperation. "Odd, I've had it with your 'doom and despair'! If you won't help me, summon Dox!" he stared at me through bleary eyes, like he didn't even know me. Vexed, I started shaking him and shouting. That failed. Sighing, I turned away,. saying, "Fine, I'll just go-"
Something suddenly forcibly connected with my back, sending me flying into the iron door. I heard a sharp laugh behind me. "That was easy."
Rubbing my back where I'd taken a sucker-punch, I turned calmly to face Dox, Odd's other self. I'm not entirely sure what Dox is, exactly. An evil alter ego, evil twin, or just plain personality disorder, Dox was the violent one of the two.
I jumped on him, unleashing a kick to the collar. He ducked aside, making a palm strike at my throat, which I skillfully deflected. We fought like this for a time, but soon coolness turned into immature amateur wrestling on the floor. Eventually we settled on a truce and sat on the floor. "So who was it?" Dox asked.
I shrugged. "We'll know soon enough. They said there would be a demonstration, after last time, if anyone tried against...but we'll succeed sometime. We just have to keep trying."
Dox shook his head."Wolfsong, there is no way out." He raised his hands defensively as I started to flare up. "Hold it, I'm not despairing, its just a fact. The only way anyone gets out of here is either conforming to their standard or death." He shook his head, starting to look more like Odd than Dox. "I mean, darn it Wolf, they don't even let us see daylight! What can we do?"
"We will escape the Compound,." I declared adamantly, burying my own fear.
The Compound was a prison camp, designed to contain those of us who refused to be fit with the 'ideal' human being society and dictatorship tried to force us into. We spent days either belabored or badgered by our 'Teachers' trying to conform us to the dictator's wishes, or laboring and worse doing the jobs no decent person would have to do. For those who resisted, it was life imprisonment. To those whose resistance was open rebellion, they met their end in the Eraser's arms.
I had been in the Compound since my youth. I hardly even remember daylight. Odd/Dox had. But what I didn't really have, I couldn't miss, right? But I did stil remember a time outside the darkness of the Compound, a time when a mother's loving arms held me, tried to even when the soldiers broke them to take me away. I never forget.
I was going to go outside someday, and it wasn't going to be by the Teachers choice. I would be free someday, and everyone with me.
A few minutes later, our caretakers came to get us. There was to be a demonstration for us unruly, strange ones. odd looked a nervous wreck. I struggled to keep my face clear. Who was it going to be?
The room was large. It had to be, to hold all of us. A podium was raised above our heads. On it stood one of the Teachers, who I recognized with a grimace. He called himself Jingo Jaden, and was known for his stern hand. The truly frightening part of him was that he did not behave like a maniacal monster. Quite the contrary, he behaved more as the disappointed father who must punish his favorite child. Even when he gave you to the Erasers, it was with that disappointed look in his eye. Of all the Teachers, he gave me the most chills. A couple of other officials stood up there with him, then the two guards with the victim between them. i sought the person's face, and gasped when I realized who it was.
"No," I breathed. "Not her. Light, you filthy blackguards, not her! Not Kris!"
