There is a world, different from ours. The world perhaps the same with us in terms of technology advancement yet their geographical structures, history, and figures are different.
In that world, there are also seven continents just like ours. The land and sea ratio was slightly different as it has a ratio of 3.5: 6.5 but that is not important at all.
It is the prelude to something terrible which is about to happen to the whole world that makes the beginning of something else. In one of the continent in a certain city, a young man dazed off to the vast sky above him.
His eyes were filled with nothing but hopelessness, followed by his helpless expression leaking out slowly. This young man was lying on a large ground filled with grasses. Around him, there was a large pave way which people walked in it. Some of those people brought their kids around the place.
“How should I face today's matter?” the young man muttered but he did not have anything good on his head to solve his current problem.
“Mommy, balloon....balloon...” a girl raised her tiny and cute hands towards the stands which sold the balloons full of color and that moment was just like the everyday matter to the young man who heard all of that. Obviously, the mother would react to that as well, she bought two balloons and the little girl pulled the strings that tied the balloons up and down in high spirit.
The young man felt warm inside his heart just because he could see and hear the kids happily play in this place.
“This park is never empty. But despite that, I can still relax my body and heart here, with the blue sky as a roof and the ground with grasses as the bed. But one thing I don't like to hear is...” the young man was just enjoying his leisure time when he heard another people voice. Different from the mother and the kids earlier, it sounded like a couple flirting with each other.
“Damn it! Just as my moment of peace is about to reach the max...” the young man felt irritated to that.
“The cloud above is just like you currently, floating above most things. And it also likes soft cotton as if I can feel it with my own skin.” The male voice sounded.
But then the female replied, “Clouds is not soft like that. It is the accumulation of the evaporated water from the surface of the planet which grouped together. Why are you still using an old-fashioned expression to flirt?”
The young man then raised his head a little as he glanced with the corner of his eyes towards the direction of the voice. The couple was sitting on a bench and as the young man expected, their position showed that they were already intimate.
“Lovey-dovey couple, here it comes....” the young man sighed, he disliked the sound when they kissed each other, especially when they did that passionately!
In this world where the technological advancement was not much different than ours, there was also free wireless fidelity around the park. And the young man used this to his advantage as well. To reduce his irritation, the young man reached for something inside his pants.
“Let’s see some news on the internet first then. This hour should be the prime hours for news to get broadcasted.” He grabbed his communication device. It was similar to the smartphone either in form and functionality.
After some tapping and slide here and there on the smartphone, he opened the application specialized for the hot news. When he saw the front page of the website, it still showed the news from yesterday until today's morning.
The young man looked at the sky and saw the sun was almost reached its peak and after that, he also saw the clock displayed on the smartphone. It was close to his prediction about the current time and he was almost correct!
‘This time it should be eleven o clock judging from the position of the sun and the shadows of the thing around me. But looking at the clock on my phone...’
The time at the phone showed eleven past five, slightly inaccurate five minutes from his prediction. He frowned and felt the light of the sun now seemed to be hot, no it was already this late and he still laid on the ground without going to the shade to cover.
“Guess I should move to the place beneath the tree.” The time for the latest news still not arrived and yet he was basking in the heat of the sun at noon. He could see that now people were gathering at the shade of the large trees or they wore a hat to protect their head from the heat.
At the time when the young man sat down on a large tree not far from his previous position, he could hear a bugging sound. At first, he ignored it, who could say for sure that it was something large? Perhaps it was the machine from the construction nearby or perhaps it was also the sound that came from the street outside the park.
But soon he heard that sound come closer and louder as time passed. He did not know why but something from his heart desired it, it was a long time since he had this inside his heart. The young man often heard this sound many times actually but he was always passionate every time he heard this particular sound.
‘They're above me!’ the sound reached the loudest degree of decibel as it was the moment where that thing passed above the young man. The young man raised his head, with his sparkling eyes and excitement he looked at the blue sky filled with clouds in it. But this time there was something else in the sky!
Their engine roared and it produced a unique sound every time they passed through but that was the thing which the young made like it. Because above him, some jet plane passed through and not just one, it was a squadron!
Of course, the people inside the park also raised their heads simultaneously. They exclaimed and pointed at the plane which already passed through them. Some of them became a little noisy but the majority of them turned to normal again.
“Plane, flying in the sky unhindered. The thing that changed the transportation and movement of civilization...” the young man was filled with awe and still looked at the sky as if his hope was on it.
But after that, his awe and excited expression turned grim all of the sudden. He recalled that the matter today had to be faced no matter what he did to avoid. He just reached for his smartphone once again to check something, for the sake of delaying the inevitable.
When he opened the headline news, it was actually refreshed!
“What’s going on for today? What is the meaning of this?” the young man became flustered. Although the news was astonishing, he only worried about the impact it had on him. He started to hear the people around him urged the closest person to check the news on the internet too.
“Quick check this out! Is it true or is it just a hoax?” someone exclaimed and pulled their friend over.
“From the looks of it, it seemed like real though?”
“Then if this is real, what should we do!?”
In summary, the content of the news went like this:
Invasion? Several Unknown Flying Object Passed Through The Border!
At 1100, the stationed unit in the border north of the empire detected several unknown flying objects came toward the border. Despite the warning from the stationed unit, the flying objects did not stop nor route.
The worst part is that those flying objects attacked the facility of the stationed unit, crippling them from the ability to identify the intruders. Fortunately, our Ministry of Defense reacted as soon as possible by sending three squadrons to reconnaissance the situation at the northern border.
“Any kind of threat will be dealt with immediately! Until the confirmation of our empire current status, please prepare for the worst.” Said Minister of Defense.
For more detailed news, please watch the news on the television that will be aired in the afternoon.
-
The young man walked away from the part dispirited. There were two reasons why he was sad and the first one was he lost his place to feel peace, to feel at ease. Second, he also lost the only place that provided him with free internet!
“Well, at least this confirmed that the news is real though.” The young man shrugged his shoulders as he walked to the downtown where the place he lived was. Several cars passed by, several red lights were passed as well. The young man felt empty inside, different from where he looked at the sky and the planes.
After he walked through the red light district, he turned around and arrived at a dirty and untidy complex. The only place in the downtown where he could live his life.
“Home sweet home?” despite the sight in front of him was uncomfortable to look but he smiled slightly at the sight of his home. No matter what, that place was his home after all. He grew up and raised at this exact place.
“Is there anyone home?” the young man jokingly asked. Despite the fact that he had become an orphan and this complex was the thing which the previous owner gave to him reluctantly, he was hoping that there would be his family member inside. That hope now only became a fleeting dream, an unfulfilled wish. Meaning that he lived alone for the last years, not that he counted on the years he had passed by himself.
He heard nothing! Of course, that was expected since the complex was empty and isolated, what he wanted to expect from such a place?
Opening the door, he finally entered his house. He turned on the light and the electricity did the job as it made the light bulb shine. And the problem this young man had that made him gloomy since leaving park was because of one important thing...
“I need money.” The young man was almost broke. To the point of searching for free internet access around the city. And the worst part of it was because he was fired from the previous job that made the situation rather hard for him.
‘Oh, yes. Before that, I need to turn on the television first. There is important news soon.’ He checked his phone again and saw the clock was almost at twelve. It was almost the time and since the news was urgent, he could not miss it. Not since it was aimed at the entire citizen of their empire.
Then he turned on the television and he switched it to the main channel of the empire. It was starting to air and even live broadcast at that!
“Welcome to the noon section of today's news. In [Daily Talk] today, we have an important issue that made me and the crews have to do this on live and that is to invite someone to our studio here.” The host was a female with her wavy, brown hair. Her attire was formal black clothes with grey colored dress covering her knees.
She appeared to indicate that someone was going to come and from the looks of it, that person seemed important. Then she continued, “For today, the host will be me, Rana. Currently, on the internet, we received news regarding the threat around the northern border. And from the source of the news, it seemed like it came from the military itself meaning that this information is permitted to be spread.”
“Excuse me, Am I bothering now?” from the studio, a hoarse voice could be heard and it also broadcasted to the viewers as well. When the audience heard the voice, they were shocked as hell! They recognized this voice anywhere they were in the empire after all.
“Not at all, Your Majesty.” Said Rana the host as she let out a polite smile. She even acted in an initiative to offer the guest a seat. In the studio, there was a large table with several long chairs beside it.
The guest then sat down on one of the long chairs and he directly faced against Rana who also sat down on the opposite side. The guest then said, “I am sorry to intrude you so suddenly but since this is important then you can start.”
Everyone who watched it would be in for a surprise because the guest was the current emperor of the empire himself!
The long but clear subtitle below the screen was enough confirmation of the identity of the one in the interview. It was their own emperor after all. And the young man’s country was ruled in the monarchy as long as five century. But when the last centuries came, the country changed their policy.
The subtitle was written like this: Frizgerald X, Current Emperor of The Orwan Empire. Regarding the national defenses.
“This problem cannot be wrapped up under the rag. After all, the north border of our empire is the international route of the world and everyone must be witnessed it.” The young man who watched the television remembered the geographical location of his country.
Emperor Frizgerald X then heard what the host Rana had to say. She said, “Usually when this situation happens, what can you do in your position Your Majesty? Can you give an example because maybe some of us are not clear about this.”
“First thing I would do probably to make contact with the unknown assailant. That is why we send some of our planes to investigate. But the problem lies when the unknown craft attacking our facilities and units within our own territory and that act can only be seen as an act of threatening our country!” replied the emperor in a strong tone.
“Oh, another conflict is rising in the border.” The man felt like an interesting topic was going to be revealed on the television. He barely had anything in his life that could make his spirit raise anymore and a new event was one of them.
Usually, he heard about daily news and the main topic was almost the same. The example of that would be a natural disaster occurrence, weather prediction, robbery, infrastructure development, or about the public figure. Everyday hearing that would make a person bored to death if those things failed to interest him.
But his leisure time was interrupted by a knocking sound from his front door. The man’s expression became dark when he heard the sound again for the second time, with the increase in volume and intensity.
He sighed before he stood up and walked to the front door, opened it and saw that someone actually came to this forsaken place. Of course, it was also a routine for this person to show up.
“Mister, when will you pay the taxes? It’s been a month already and you did not pay it to this date. So can you assure me that you will pay?” said the person that showed in front of the man. The person wore formal clothes that indicated his job, someone who collected tax to the people that barely live their life just to pay the tax and live to see another day
“You know my condition already don’t you? I don’t have a stable job because the condition is not suitable for me. Besides, most of my application got rejected anyway.” The man replied.
Looking for a job was not as easy as it seemed, especially if you were only a high-school graduate. That was the problem with him now. He had to accommodate some very basic taxes and even that was hard to do.
“What should I do then? You will have two choices. First is to properly pay up your taxes or this place will be confiscated. There are only these choices left for you.” Said the person. Then he continued, “Mister Wright, I can only help you this far. Sorry.”
The man who was called Wright did not know how to reply. He failed almost a hundred times just because of his educational background. Second, he failed dozens of times to prove his own worth. And third, he felt ashamed for the current life he had was because of the ‘jobless allowance’ policy this empire had stated.
“What’s that? I don’t need your apology. This is all because of me lacking luck and time.” Wright shook his head and smiled when that person said it.
“Anyway, John you only did your job as a new employee. Helping me is already good.” Wright added it to confirm his own words. The person who Wright called John thought about something that he overheard from his supervisor.
It was related to the sudden aggression and now the empire perhaps opened its door of opportunity to the people that still jobless like Wright.
‘If it is lack of opportunity and luck, I can give Mister Wright this information but should I do it?’ John still hesitated whether to tell Wright about it or not. And this was noticed by Wright immediately.
“What’s wrong? I can’t believe you are still hesitating in something. If it comes to it, I can just move and you have to give me equal compensation.” Wright said.
“Actually, there is something that I have recently heard. I don’t know if you are interested to hear it. Because this can also serve as additional work for people like Mister so would you hear me?” asked John rather nervous. He even readjusted his collar to show how frightened he was.
“Let’s hear it first. And I believe this is a good chance for me as well right.” Wright nodded his head and agreed to hear it.
“Sir, actually the empire wanted its people who don’t get a job yet to at least participate in the Militia Reserve Division just in case something happens. Perhaps by joining you can gain additional income at least for this month.” Explained John.
“Oh, that thing. But that is not easy and I already tried once but got rejected upon registration. Will a second time make a difference?” replied Wright while raising his shoulders. He knew that John had good intention, it was just he did not know that Wright had tried it before.
“Ah, is that true? Anyone can register and can only be eliminated through the test, sir. How can you be rejected in the registration?” John raised his eyebrow. He saw that this short-haired blond man in front of him confused.
“Oh, that is perhaps due to the previous year rules. But this time I hear that anyone can join immediately.” Continued John quickly when he remembered that the previous year rules and regulation was different compared to the current year.
“The cause?” Wright asked as fast as John reacted when he remembered about the recent rules.
“The change in the empire’s policy. This also affects the military and economy, not just on the government alone. So yeah, Mister Wright has more opportunity this time.” John smiled slightly.
Wright started to reconsider this option once more. He opened his mouth, asking: “Is the pay good? How about the duration? Is it different compared to last year?”
“The pay is good. Because I believe a lot of newbies are going to participate as well. But if you ask me, I suggest that you should not participate even register yourself.”
Wright became interested and confused at the same time. In his heart, he wondered if there was a reason why John hesitated to tell him about this earlier. And since his interest was piqued anyway, he might as well ask the reason.
“What’s your reason?” asked Wright again.
“It’s about the overall situation. Have you heard about the situation of our neighbor country? It is said that an extreme party has won the election for the legislation and now their focus campaign leans toward the development of economy and military.” Replied John.
Then John added another information, “They now became active in the technological aspect as well. Uh, you know that we are only average in all aspect. So, I probably know that this could lead to large-scale conflict.”
“My intention is to join any part that responsible for defense. Could you help me recommend one or two?” Wright gave it a thought and asked. He disliked aggressor so he would rather become someone in defense than someone in offense position.
“I’m not sure since this is only vague information but someone from the Ministry of Defense give this card to some of the people from my workplace. Perhaps, they expect us to give this to anyone with difficulties.” John reached his bag and then held something on his hand.
“And the last thing I want to ask, the duration. How long until they lift the condition and disband this division? You don’t tell me this yet.”
“Probably six month. This is also served as a special service for citizen you know.”
Wright nodded in satisfaction. An extra bonus of the special service would not go bad in the curriculum vitae, right? But first, he had to register himself, again. It was also noted that Wright also asked about the thing such as the living condition while they were in service.
John replied that it would be accommodated so Wright should not worry about that. Instead, John worried that the time for the registration would be full and the time would be limited to just half a month time.
“Alright then. I still have work to do at another place so excuse me.” After politely saying goodbye, John went away and Wright had to think whether he should join the recruitment or not. So Wright returned to the living room, turned on the television while at the same time surfing on the internet.
“Okay, according to this card John has given me this is what I should be looking for…” Wright typed in his smartphone on the search engine and found the thing he wanted. On the screen of his smartphone, he found the thing he had been looking for, the recruitment of the new militia unit.
And at the same time, the television also announced the same thing. This surprised Wright because he had not expected it. The easiest way to contact them was by phone number the television showed at the bottom down of the screen.
But he was filling his registration document online at the moment and in his mind, he wanted to ask about this year criteria as well as the duration of recruitment. In this empire Wright lived, the militia unit could be formed in an emergency.
This was due to the fact that their empire often received ‘teasing’ from the neighboring country and this militia unit was basically a unit in training. The unit would be trained with various kind of task from the army, the navy, and even the air force.
‘I am just trying, just trying to be a part of this empire’s air force for once. It is enough if I can get experience from it with this opportunity. Please let me pass this!’ Wright hoped in his heart. It was because he surfed the internet with the last bit of his quota he had.
