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On Mars there is not much gravity, so you have to pull the feet to break the neck. They let the loved ones do it.
When he points to me, Fitchner grins. I am chosen tenth. Tenth out of one thousand.
He tips backward onto the ground. I’m dazed from striking him with my forehead. Seeing red. Seeing double. I stumble toward him. Tears stream down my cheeks. He’s twitching. When I grab his golden hair, I find him already limp. Like a wet golden feather. Blood pulses from his nose. He is quiet. He no longer moves. No longer smiles. I mutter my wife’s name as I fall to cradle his head. His face has become like a blood blossom.
He disagrees with the rules, but he follows them. It is possible. I can do the same until I have power enough to change them.
I’m a sheep wearing wolves’ clothing in a pack of wolves.
“You do not follow me because I am the strongest. Pax is. You do not follow me because I am the brightest. Mustang is. You follow me because you do not know where you are going. I do.”
“Are you serious?” he asks in confusion as though I misunderstand something as basic as gravity. “Boy, allegiances crumble as soon as we board that shuttle. Some of your friends will be spirited away to the Moon Lords. Others will go to the Governors of the Gas Giants. Even a few to Luna. They will remember you as a legend of their youth, but that is it. And that legend will brook no loyalty. I’ve stood where you stand. I won my year, but loyalty isn’t found in these halls. It is the way things are.” “It is the way things were,” I say harshly, surprising him. But I believe what I say. “I am
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I am the spark that will set the worlds afire. I am the hammer that cracks the chains.
These people are all about glory, victory, and family pride, yet they know nothing of love. Nothing of family. These are false families. They are just teams. Teams that play their games of pride. The ArchGovernor has not even said hello to his children.
Words are a weapon stronger than he knows. And songs are even greater. The words wake the mind. The melody wakes the heart.
