Beyond the North

Tragedy

[Years Earlier]

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Her name is Cynna Otrach. She's a normal young woman like anyone else, living with her father in a small apartment in Zone 4. She's the only one in the group attending college. After leaving the classroom, she walks until she's far enough away, then puts on headphones, pops a cassette into a Walkman, and begins to walk home. Upon arriving, she's greeted by her father's welcome, and once inside, she quickly has to go out to buy some things, as her father will soon be heading to work, as usual, every day, dull and monotonous. When she gets home, she finds a letter on the table. It reads: "I've left you an afternoon snack in the fridge ;b." She sighs and heads to her room.

There, she packs a few things, grabs a backpack, four water bottles, and a jar of magnesium powder. Then she leaves the house and heads to a random place. Finally, she arrives at an older building than any around, and after some time, she manages to find an entrance, noticing some shoe marks on the floor.

— "Well... looks like I'm not the only one doing this..."

She walks for a while until she finally has an idea: she's going to climb as high as she can, just for fun. She looks around and sees some holes in the ceiling, which is enough. She rubs some magnesium on her hands and starts climbing the pipes and machinery, even though they're old, they probably won't fall too easily.

At one point, when she jumps onto one of the pipes, it comes loose, almost causing her to fall. She looks down and sees the ground several meters below her, then she smiles, even with her heart pounding. She finally climbs through one of the holes and reaches the roof, where she sees a tower that appears to be the tallest so far. She takes a sip of water, breathes deeply, and starts climbing the tower.

— "Ah, yes... I remember this feeling..."

Finally, even though the tower sways a bit, she reaches the top. She looks around, everything seems so small compared to her. She then releases one hand from the tower, opens her arms, breathes deeply. Her heart still beats, but not with fear, but with accomplishment. But soon, she looks up at the tall buildings and reaches her arm upward; at that moment, she wants more.

Late at night, her father, who worked as a laborer in a factory, finally came home. He threw his clothes on the couch and lay down on it, but unfortunately, he couldn't just stay there. He got up and headed to the kitchen, where he found a letter on the table. It read: "I made your dinner, it's in the fridge." He gave a slight smile and went to Cynna's room, where he found her sleeping, then quietly closed the door.

— "Good night."

When she was a child, it was her father who taught her how to climb and do parkour. At that time, he taught her to pursue her dreams, to fight for them. At that time, he taught her to provide a better future for those who had nothing, to provide a better future for their children. At that time, he said that humans were imperfect, cruel even, but still capable of kindness. At that time, her mother was killed, by envy from her neighbors, who spread rumors that led her to the gallows. Her father, however, never stopped believing in his words, never stopped believing that there was still goodness. At that time, he was strong. But... what went wrong?

During the day, an execution took place, as usual. The snow fell, and in contrast to that angelic white, four people were executed in front of everyone by gunfire, for "disturbing the peace." After that, people went back to living their lives as usual. It's not like Cynna felt guilty or anything, but she didn't know how to react to the situation. In front of her, she saw her father praying for the victims who were now dead. Cynna then continued walking toward college; anyway, it's not like that was going to change anything in her life.