Orazio (Vol. 1) Orazio and the Isis hormone.

Bye Orazia

"You are very handsome, what's your name?" says Orazia.
The boy, the most adorable boy Orazia has ever seen, takes her hand. "You won't know," he says.

Orazia laughs. She doesn't know why, but the boy's defensive attitude amuses her. What does he think she can do to him?

"Too bad, I'm Orazia." she says.

"Hah! Nice name!" says Orazio. "I'm Orazio, like the wine... or the song..."

Typical Orazio. But wait a minute... that's not what he said.

Suddenly Orazia wakes up. She was just dreaming. She was dreaming of the day she met Orazio. Where is he? What happened to him?

Orazia is in a hospital bed. There is no part of her body that doesn't hurt. She has several broken bones and severe burns.

She touches her head and feels the skin on her scalp. Her mane is gone, burned. Her beautiful blond hair is gone, but she has her beautiful face. She touches her face. All of her flesh is covered in severe burns. She can't see out of her left eye.

Orazia breaks down and begins to cry uncontrollably. She misses Orazio, but most of all she misses her mother.

What has she done wrong? She only fell in love with one boy, a nice boy. Why does she feel it has ruined her life?

"You should have died." That's what her mother would say if she were here.
Orazia cries inconsolably. For God's sake, she's only eighteen, but the world seems like a horrible place to her, full of horrible people.

At that moment the door opens. Orazia closes her eyes in hopes that it isn't who she thinks it is.

"Ah, you're still alive," comments a voice.

She recognizes the voice but does not open her eyes. She doesn't care about anything anymore.

"You look like shit," says Esther.

"Fuck off," remarks Orazia.

"How rude," Esther says sarcastically. "I was coming to say goodbye to you. I don't think we'll see each other again."

"Where is Orazio?" asks Orazia.
"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine with Isis. I think the two of them are very much in love," lies Esther. "I don't think he'll remember you very much."

"Will you shut up?" Orazia says.
Esther ignores her and begins to talk. "The AI already has a verdict on your case, I guess you'll want to know."

"What's that?" asks Orazia.
"Murderer," says Esther.

"You had planned to use me as a scapegoat from the beginning," says Orazia refusing to open her eyes.

"And you had planned to betray us from the beginning" says Esther. "Well, it could have worked out well for you. You could have killed Isis and maybe now you would be in Mrs. Johnson's mansion with your beloved Orazio. But things don't always turn out the way we want them to. Especially when you're a hyper-muscled fucking moron."

Orazia decides it's not worth answering.

Esther stares for a few seconds at Orazia, who is still lying on the bed, eyes closed and not speaking.

Esther smiles half-heartedly. "I imagined this would be more fun, you know? Anyway, thirty years in prison. When you get out you'll be 48. It's a big pain in the ass, I know. That's what happens when garbage gets in the way of the goals of people like me." Esther pauses, waiting for Orazia's reaction. "Anyway, it was good to work with you Orazia."

She turns to leave, but pauses for a moment.

"Maybe you think I should feel bad about what we've done to you," says Esther.

Esther waits a few seconds for an answer from Orazia, but it never comes.

"Under the circumstances" says Esther "it is often said that it was nothing personal that we needed a pawn and you were there. But it wouldn't be true. I hated you from the day we met. So pretty, tall and strong and with that cute boyfriend of yours. Fuck you! I fucked up your life and I feel good about it. Bye Orazia."

Orazia has tears in her eyes.
"Fuck you" she manages to say.

Esther smiles and walks out, closing the door behind her.

Orazia stares at the white ceiling of the hospital room. She's only 18 and she's going to spend the best years of her life in a maximum security cell. It's not fair! It's a fucking injustice no matter what the AI says!

Suddenly, Orazia goes from being plunged into utter misery to feeling a cold anger growing inside her.

She sits on the bed with tears still rolling down her cheeks and rests her bare feet on the floor.

She stands up.

She walks over to the window and looks out at the city. She gently rests a hand on the armored glass.

Outside stands a tank, an armored military vehicle bristling with weapons. It's hard to believe that just one of those weapons would be enough to destroy the entire building.

Orazia looks at the huge device. It was probably manufactured by Mrs. Johnson's company... The Company... what a shitty brand.

Orazia smiles. It's ironic that in the end she and Mrs. Johnson fought on the same side. But she is alive and Mrs. Johnson is not.

She does not like to be locked up. It's not fair and she won't accept it.

She looks at the tank again. It's there for her.

Do they really think that's going to stop her?

She makes a slight pressure and when the armored glass starts to crack, she's barely surprised.

The tank's turret slowly turns towards the hospital. It's huge, armored gun raises up.
She smiles.

Very well, if this is the end of her story, so be it. But she has the power to choose her ending. She's not going to let anyone write it for her.

A little more pressure and the armored glass shatters.

Do you want to be free or do you want to die?

I don't know if I'm going to die and I don't know if I'm going to be free, Orazia thinks. But I'm going to fuck that fucking tank up.

The cold rage that has been building up inside Orazia explodes and the girl jumps out of the window.

Twelve stories high.

The tank aims its cannon at her.

But it doesn't get to fire.

Three generations of the Isis hormone hit the armor manufactured by The Company and Orazia's bare feet shred the tank like paper.

She holds no weapons. She has nothing to fight with.

But she has everything to die with...
The tank explodes, showering the street with metal and shrapnel.

A chunk of shrapnel hits the hospital window, sending it into a slow motion wobble.
She feels it... but she doesn't care. Everything is okay now.

Everything.