Gamestar Forum

<a href="http://[glow=red,2,300]]The Beginning of sameness: A Giver prequel[/glow" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://[glow=red,2,300]]The Beginning of sameness: A Giver prequel[/glow</a>

PROLOGUE: A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON

The war was finally over. I cannot believe that we made it through. WW4 had been so destructive, so devastating. It had been a nuclear war. Less and less resources were being provided, and now countries are fighting for the smallest of the remaining resources, such as a newly discovered water spring. Entire countries had been wiped out, nothing left but barren wastelands. Beautiful landscapes and scenes were now nothing but burned tree stumps and craters. At least a two thirds of the world’s population no longer exists, and the remaining third lives in fear, starving to death, killing each other for the smallest loaf of bread. Animals were extinct. All that mattered now was food, water, and weapons. Armies used to fight other armies, but majority of the armies were all dead. World War 3 started the elimination of armies, and World War 4 completed it. Nuclear weapons had devastated cities and destroyed armies. Nothing was left. And it was all our fault.
It had started with the disease. The disease affected nearly every human and animal it infected, eating away on their organs until the victim died. It was a slow, painful death. Suddenly the world population was dropping like a rock, and dead bodies were too contaminated to touch, so they were left where they lay. Nobody wanted to go outside, and crops stopped growing. Food became scarce, and no one wanted to go search for some, for fear of catching the disease. The air constantly smelled of rotting bodies, and hundreds died everyday.
World War 3 began, with the USA accusing Russia; who had been barely affected by the disease; of releasing the disease into countries all over the world. Other countries began taking sides of the two opposing countries.  Armies were wiped, and millions of live were lost. Eventually, with both sides suffering from a heavy amount of casualties, the USA wiped out Russia and the other countries that have sided with Russia. The United States of America had attacked Russia so hard, that the survivors might as well be living in the stone age.
A decade later, several scientists, desperate for a cure, found a new species of trees. According to some animal and human tests, the bark in that tree was the cure. The world found out in days, but the USA, who had found the cure, was hesitant to send their newly found cure out to the world and demanded a high amount of money and resources from the countries. World War 4 began, but with all the soldiers maimed and killed and armies destroyed, countries began invasions using nuclear weapons.
This time, nearly nothing survived. Three quarters of the worlds’ countries were obliterated. Near the end of the war, the disease passed, but the damage was done. Earth, our world, our home, was dying.


CHAPTER 1: RECOVERY

   My name is Mark Skeinburg, and I am a survivor. I was born during WW3, and my parents were killed when I was 2 years old by a grenade. I had have no siblings. I was left on a street, by myself, until I was adopted by an elderly couple who loved me very much. World War 3 was over by the time I turned 5. I was 15 when World War 4 began, and my step-parents were killed when I was 16. I scraped through WW4 and lived to 21. I came up high in the country I lived in, a well respected man, but I trust no one. Everyone I loved is dead. I am alone, a survivor.

   I woke up to a crash and a bang, and my first thought was the nuclear war is back! Head to the safe home! But that can’t be true. After the world was sent into chaos and everything was either blown up or incinerated, the peace treaty had been signed and the war stopped. So instead of jumping out of my makeshift bed, running and screaming, I calmly sat up and peeked out the ruined warehouse’s window, the place where I lived with hundreds of people. I saw the reason of the bang: a man had dropped a broken computer out of the window, and the computer had exploded.
No one look injured, but the explosion would probably rouse up some angry people. Sure enough, a small group was forming and yelling at the man. Some had bottles, and I think I even saw a glint of a gun.
Great, I thought, more violence. I walked away from the window, carefully making sure not to step on anyone. Last thing I wanted was a mob of angry people chasing me. I headed over to the cities’ HQ, where all the food was given out. There was the usual uproar, with people rushing around trying to get food. After getting my food, I went over to an empty table (which was reserved for the political and well-respected men and women). As I sat down, a man with bright blue eyes dressed in a ragged and ripped pinstripe suit walked up to me and sat down in front of me. “Hello Brenard,” I said kindly. “How are you today?”
“Better then yesterday, I suppose,” he replied. “One of my miners stumbled into a pocket of oil. That will sell well.”
Here we go again, I thought. Now he is going to rant on and on about how his company will be the future of the country. I realized that Brenard was still talking and tuned back into the conversation. “... of course, once we get enough supplies, we will escape and head over to the cliff island to make our paradise…”
This was a new topic. I sat up straight in my chair, suddenly interested. “So, do you want to come?” Bernard finished.
“Um… where again?” I asked.
 “My gosh Mark, weren’t you paying attention?!” Bernard exclaimed. “Once my men find enough resources, then I will be taking the resources along with a few other of the superior men to head over to a secret cliff island found in one of the last nature reserves in this entire world. There, we will set up our paradise and live like kings for the rest of our lives. So, I was asking you if you would like to join.” My head was spinning. This couldn’t be right. This wasn’t right. 
“But wouldn’t that be stealing from the community and the country?” was my weak reply.
“Who cares about them?” said Brenard. “We will be living like kings. They can die for all I care. So Mark, are you coming?”
Brenard seemed tense, anxious for my reply. “Give me a couple of days” I said. “It is a hard decision.”
“I do not understand,” Brenard said, “how choosing to live here and choosing to live in a paradise is a hard decision.”
Brenard seemed annoyed, but he was not tense anymore. I chose not to reply, and turned my attention to the stale bread and the cold porridge. Brenard got up and walked back over to this group, but paused and said one thing.
“Come with us. You will never have to eat that kind of food again. You could live like a king.”  He walked away briskly, not waiting for my reply.
After my breakfast, I headed over to the construction area to help out the workers with the construction of the new sleeping quarters. I didn’t have an official job, but I did like to volunteer at a different area everyday and help them out. So far, the construction area has been my favourite.
As I headed over to the crane, one of our last machines in the community, I saw that their was another person visiting as well. Brenard stood with the head constructor near the crane, and they seemed to be having a discussion, and by the look of it, the conversation was heated. The chief constructor made a violent gesture with his hands and stomped off, leaving a fuming Brenard. I decided to avoid Brenard and headed over to the chief constructor to begin my work. Unfortunately, Brenard spotted me and called me over.
“Mark! Come over here.”
As I walked over to Brenard, I knew that I would have to hear what he was mad about. I thought of an excuse, but none popped to mind and so I had to listen to him rant.
“That constructor has no business with me or my company, yet still he annoys me and asks to build in my mining territory.”
“Why does he want to build on your area?” I asked.
“This area for the quarters is too small for the design and they need the size because all the space is already accounted for, and by cutting down he would have to remove some people.”
“Thats horrible. So he asked you to give him some of your space.”
“Yes, and I would prefer he remove people from the building over then building-”
   Suddenly Brenard's face turned fearful and he yelled “Get down!”
I froze in surprise but Brenard pushed me down and I felt flames pass over my head and burn me. The last thing I thought was what about the others?

   It was one week after the incident, which turned out to be an accident involving two tanks of oil being blown up by a malfunctioning drill. 6 workers died, and almost everyone in an 100 meter radius was injured in some sort of way. I got off lucky with a couple of minor burns, but the chief of constructors was still in the infirmary unconscious. He had suffered from bad burns, and the medical workers weren’t sure if he would make it.
   A medical worker fed me with all of this information, and tried to treat to my burns. I pulled away and said “There are others that need attention more then I do. Tend to them first and then I will accept treatment.”
   The worker eased me into a seat and applied some sort of cream to my burns  “Apply it twice a day. Try not to scratch. If the pain becomes unbearable, come back here immediately.”
I told the doctor I would and headed back to the quarters I lived in. While walking back, I kept on thinking about Brenard's offer. How could someone turn his or her back on everyone and leave them to die? But then again, if I don’t go, then wouldn’t I die?


Chapter 2: The Idea

My caring side and my survival side argued on and on, but I knew what the right choice was. There were two options and no other choices. Or was there? My mind began working in an overdrive as I reached the quarters. Well, we couldn’t take everyone to the cliff  I thought, and some people wouldn’t want to come. But if we start a new community, start all over again, maybe we could even wipe minds so that it could be from scratch.. but someone would have to remember of course, and would have to have all the memories with that person-
My thoughts were interrupted with a shout and I realized that I had nearly walked into a large pit in the ground. I looked for the person who had shouted but didn’t see anyone who was turned towards me, so I shrugged and moved on. Once I was at my makeshift bed, I applied some of the cream to my burns and slept for the rest of the day.
The next day, I decided to tell Brenard and one of the highest men in all of the country, Ratham, who was in on the plan with Brenard. Once I was done explaining, Brenard flew into a rage.
“Have you gone mad?” he yelled. “This is a plan to live as kings as a paradise, not to watch over a couple thousand people! Have you shared this plan with anyone else?”
“No, but-”
“Good! I can’t believe this. You, standing up for them? Last thing I expected. Ever! Besides-
“Enough!” Ratham yelled.
It was the first time he had spoken during the entire conversation, and his huge bulk made even the biggest of men look like a little kid next to him. Brenard was nothing compared to him, and he understood that and sat down.
“Brenard, you bicker like a little child. You better wisen your tongue or learn to hold it! And YOU,” he said, turning towards me, “have a great plan. I completely support you and your judgement. If you need anything- workers, materials, tools- just let me know and I will get it for you.”
Brenard stammered “B-But you can’t just take away my plan. Besides, only I know where the cliff is. And I don’t plan on telling you.”
He stood straight, crossed his arms, and looked confident and defiant. But all of those things wavered when Ratham walked up to him, and they wavered even more when he spoke.
“Guess what? We just took away your plan. And as for the cliff, well, it won’t take me too long to extract the location out of you.”
Ratham brought his hand back and slapped Brenard across the face, who fell over from back from the backhand, and lost all of his sense of confidence and triumph.
“Okay, Okay, I’ll tell,” he said, his voice slurred from the slap. “At my site, there is a map in the ruined building, which is my office. Behind the map, there is a secret passageway that leads to the natural reserve. You will be lead right below the cliff.”
“Thank you for your help,” said Ratham.
We walked away from Brenard, and along the way to Brenard’s office Ratham questioned me about the details.
“So how many people will you be taking?”
“I am not sure yet, but I was thinking about all the people in this country. Approximately 2000 people.”
“That is a lot… but I guess we could handle it. But what would be so special about this community? What would stop them from turning the cliff into a barren wasteland like this dump?”
“I don’t have all the details yet... but I am thinking about wiping everyones mind. And making it a world of no differences to stop any fights or wars.”
Immediately Ratham stopped in his tracks. I felt like he was going to punch me in the face for being a madman, but he did a bit of my idea and a bit of the opposite.
“You are a madman, but this idea is genius. It would put everything there to peace, and stopping war? Genius. Where do you plan on starting?”
   “I was thinking about eliminating all differences, and maybe even taking out all colours.  I’m thinking about calling it ‘sameness’.”
   This time Ratham did punch me. Not very hard, but hard enough to make my arm hurt.
   “You are talking about making a world of black and white! Destroying races, taking colour! You would turn the world into a newspaper, but no one would even know that!”
   “That is where you are wrong. I had one more plan in mind. We should keep one person who has all the memories, who sees all the colours, and every ten years they are given an apprentice who they can pass on these memories to. Religion and tradition would no longer happen, but it would not be forgotten. And of course, colours would live on.”
   “Are you talking about a person who holds all the memories? And a person who receives all these memories?”
   “Yes I am.” was all I said. “Oh and Ratham?” I called, a little nervously. He turned towards me, and I said one of my final ideas. “I had a thought- maybe children should receive their jobs a little earlier in life. Let’s say at like, 12 years old.”
   Ratham didn’t get mad, but instead he agreed. “It would be a good idea. They would be younger, and their bones would have just fully developed.”
   I had to admit, I was a little surprised that he had agreed, since his own child was 12. But because he had his own child I decided not to mention the other child idea.
We reached Brenard’s office, and found the map easily. As me and Ratham stood in front of the secret door, I turned to Ratham and told him one last thing.
“Ratham, when everyone is given this dose, they will all turn to the same build as well. You will lose all of your bulk and height.”
“Mark, for a world of peace, I am ready to lose many things. My bulk will not even be important, and besides, I won’t even remember to use it to bully others. ”
   Ratham walked over to the map and pried it open. Some gears turned and the map-door swung open, nearly smacking me in the head. As we stepped into the passageway, I saw nothing but darkness. Me and Ratham trudged on, until a faint light appeared in the distance.
Slowly, our surroundings changed. The walls went from dirt to rock. The ground for more moist, and there was a little bit of sand on the ground. We walked through the exit, I gasped at the sight. A fog surrounded the area, but I could tell that we were now beside a cliff. A rope dangled from the side, Which me and Ratham climbed up. When we reached the top, I got my first look at what the cliff looked like.
      

      Chapter 3: The Community Rises


   Two weeks later, the planning was nearly completed. Ratham was calling in people from all across the country and some from other countries as well to help out. Construction workers, technicians, scientists, many people had gathered at the broken down community. I only needed to bring in my last idea before the construction could begin. So right before the meeting ended I told everyone my final idea.
   “No strong and or negative feelings.” I said firmly. “Which means no hate, no anger, no love.”
   Everyone looked confused. Ratham asked me a question.
   “But why no love? What is the problem with it?”
“Love can cause problems. Love can cause hatred between people, and that would destroy our community. I’m afraid we can’t have it.”
A technician asked another question, one I had prepared for.
“How can we stop love, or even liking another? We would have to suppress puberty itself.”
“I have met a scientist who has created a solution to suppress feelings. We think that by using this once puberty begins then it will slow the process down, and if the person takes it everyday possibly even permanently stop it. We also learned one more thing: by stopping feelings we may be able to take out color. Some colours like red will be harder with others, but with further improvement we will be able to completely take out colour.”
Ratham asked me a question, one that I dreaded but knew had to be answered sometime.
“If there would no longer be love, how would children be born?”
“We think that a scientist has found a potential way to get children to be born. He has made an injection that-”
There was an uproar. People were yelling, but Ratham got up and yelled in his loudest voice.
“QUIET!”
Everyone quieted down. Ratham scolded everyone.
“Mark has made us go so far and his innovative ideas have lead us to places where no one has thought of. I personally support all of his ideas. If you do not, then you may leave now.”
Ratham glared at everyone, but no one managed to return his gaze. No one got up and left. Ratham sat back down.
“You all better stay quiet now or else,” he threatened, and then became quiet himself.
“Okay… so I guess that topic is over. Our planning is now completely done and we can now go on to building the community.”

Construction was in progress. The cliff was being cleared so that cement could be poured and the houses, which we decided to call dwellings, could be made. Ratham was in charge of the construction of everything, while I looked after all of the technicians planning the community leaders (or elders) and the layout of the water pipes for water and the scientists making all of the injections and liquids. The area I was in charge of was also designing and making the bicycles, which is going to be the main version of transportation. We weren’t going to use much technology in the community except for speakers and holograms, so we were not focusing much on them.
I talking with a scientist inside of the ruined building we were working in when I heard someone yell my name.
“Mark!”
I turned around and saw Bernard stomping towards me.
“What are all these people doing here? This is my office!”
“And hello to you to.” I muttered.
“We have permission from Ratham.” one of the technicians told Brenard.
“Ratham? That man has no hold over me or my property. I order for you all to get out right now!”
Someone must have called Ratham because Ratham walked into the room that moment. He walked up to Brenard and yelled at Brenard, who nearly passed out from shock and surprise.
“I don’t care what you say! We are creating a city that will bring peace and will save the human race! You should feel proud that such a thing is being in an area of your discovery!”
Brenard turned as pale as a sheet and managed to stammer out “O-of c-course yo-you c-can use m-my office a-as yo-yo-your he-headquarters. S-Sorry Ra-Ratham. S-Sorry Mark.”
Brenard ran off, and I let out a sigh of relief. At least that was dealt with.
“Okay everyone, let’s go back to work!” Ratham called out.
The lead scientist called me, and I went over to talk to him.
“Mark, we have the injections ready.”
“Really?!” I exclaimed. “That’s great!”
The scientist led me over to his table, where multiple vials lay. He showed me the one that he had just created, the one for the Receiver of Memories. That’s when I remembered.
“Everyone, may I please get your attention?”
All the technicians and scientists stopped what they are doing and faced me.
“We need to decide a job,” I said, “a very important job. Who will be our Receiver of Memories?”
There was silence across the building. No one had thought of that. Just then, Ratham blurted out a sentence.
“What about you, Mark?”
Everyone turned to look at me. My brown eyes were full of shock and surprise. Me? Why me? I don’t deserve the job! I’m just a random guy trying to save humankind and make a world of peace!
But even on the inside, I knew I wasn’t just a random guy. I was Mark Skeinburg. I was organizing something that people don’t even think of in their lifetime. I never had an official job. Now I was going to take one.
“I’ll take it,” I said.
Cheering broke out across the building. Against my will, I was lifted up on some workers’ shoulders and taken around the ruined community, with everyone chanting my name.
“Mark! Mark! Mark! Mark!”

It was still ringing through my head when I woke up the next morning. I barely managed to get up before someone walked into the room. Ratham grinned and walked up to me.
“Good Morning Receiver,” he said. “Our construction is complete and we are ready to give everyone the injection.”
“Really?”
“Yep. We worked hard all night.”
That woke me up. I got up and, thankfully, I was still wearing yesterdays clothes. I ran down to the main section of the office, where the entire community was lined up. There were separate chairs laid out, and a medical worker with a needle was at each set of chairs. I watched a little boy go up to a station and get the needle. Once the fluid was all in he fell to the floor, asleep. From there a couple of men ran over and took his body through a hallway.
“They will take him to the community in which he will be educated about the community and all of its rules. He will be confused, and won’t remember anything in his lifetime. He will have also lost all feeling and will not see colours unless he stops taking his daily injection,” said Ratham behind me.
“When will my injection take place?”
“Once everyone is done, they will take an extraction of a sample they took from every citizen. Supposedly these extractions have all of the persons’ memories in them. All of these extractions will be put into your injection and then you will injected with the power to give your memories along with all the memories you will receive. After everyone is done, you will have to seal the entrance.”
I watched for some hours as everyone got their injection. I watch Ratham and Brenard get their injections. Finally I was called up. As I sat down on the chair, many thoughts went through my mind. Most of them were to abandon the attempt. But I reminded myself that this was for a community that would last for a long time, this was to stop wars, this was to save humanity.
As the injection went into my arm, I felt a little woozy. Everything went black. That’s when the memories hit me. It was like being hit by a car. I nearly fell over. All of the memories were going through my head, good and bad. I started shivering, but everyone was gone. I opened my once brown eyes. Now they were light blue. But no one would see that again.