Jurian’s army is in the TV now. It all started when Aaru figured out how to make the real guns. Everyone was fascinated by the fact that it is, in fact, possible to shorten life. The views of death did not change. Jurian gave this taking away of life its old name; ‘killing’.
“Otro’s still willing to cooperate with us. That’s a good thing, don’t you think so? It might be troublesome if they turned against us,” Jurian sighs.
Otro is the second army created. It branched off from Jurian’s army (which he decided to call Albens) and it was created by one of Melecio’s friends. Unlike Albens, Otro was working more in the background and they were very careful, unlike Albens which showed off its immense strength. Albens was well-liked and introduced a lot of new things. They fought with other armies from time to time, most of them branching off from Albens or Otro. If not from those two, then the new armies came from older armies that branched from Albens or Otro before.
We’re at our underground ‘conference room’. It’s spacious and has many white couches and golden-beige décor. It’s a cosy place. Only Jurian, Ansel, Aaru, Melecio, Felix, and me are allowed in this place. It’s a private decision-making place.
“What if they did turn against Albens?” I ask.
“Yeah, what would we do?” Melecio asks too, cautiously.
“We’ll eliminate them. Simple as that.” Jurian says.
“Yeah, eliminating them would be the best idea. If they even try to turn against us… let’s crush ‘em!” Ansel says. The enthusiasm in his voice tells me that he’d be more than happy to do that now.
“That might be indeed the best idea. But we have to look into Otro’s insides, no?” Melecio says.
“You’re speaking as if they’re already turning against us,” Aaru says, laughing. “But it’s a good thing to be cautious. Give me a word and I’ll cease their gun supply.”
Aaru’s running something along the lines of a gun factory. Albens is also known for manufacturing guns. If other armies want guns they can just ask. What Albens gets in exchange for that is what Ansel calls ‘entertainment’ and Jurian calls ‘cooperation’. There were a couple of fights before. Felix called them ‘mini-wars’.
“Maybe eliminating them is not the best idea?” I say.
“They’re pretty strong indeed…” Melecio says. “I don’t think attacking them directly would be a good idea.”
“Or it would,” Jurian says. “You know, we could have a bigger war…”
“But they didn’t do anything… we can never know if they ever will.” Melecio says.
“I’d like to avoid having to fight at this stage,” Felix says. “Don’t you think it’s better to get Albens more known first? I think the best thing to do is to build in strength so nobody would be able to beat us.”
“Build in strength, you say?” Jurian sits down on one of the white leather couches. “That might indeed be a good idea. We’d lose face if we get overtaken.”
“You think you could get overtaken?” Aaru cannot hide his surprise. “We have the gun supplies, we’re the only ones that know how to make them, we have the books, the knowledge and the skill… and we’re also working on bombs… and you think we could get overtaken by Otro?”
“You do have a point,” Jurian agrees.
“Don’t underestimate them,” Felix says. “They may be hiding something, you never know. It’s better to be cautious now.”
YOU ARE READING
Shards
Romantizm"Three gunshots. All aimed at me, all ricocheting with no miss. Broken glass. Screams - silence. I gazed at the long legs and closed my teary eyes. One more glimpse. It was all over. The only remaining sound was the music of the insects with a bac...
