Finding Humanity

Chapter 5

Corey's long day at work could have ended with news of dissatisfied rich folk, a riot among underpaid workers, or a funeral he was obligated to attend.

But no it had to be a summons from angry tower religionists—the worst thing to face when he was just about to get done with the twenty hour period that he definitely wasn't getting paid for.

What a day. Another stressed sigh slipped passed his lips when he glanced at the headlines that floated above his wrist in glittering cursive script: Minister Rejects The Order.

The Order of the Code, the largest religious organization on the planet and it's headquarters just happened to be in his Nation. And they happened to dislike—. . .

As though sensing his thoughts, the headlines switched to heavy block lettering spelling out the words: IS COREY ROYA THE REASON FOR THE MAJOR DISSENT AMONG RELIGIOUS MASSES?

Not dislike, they hate me. He bit back an annoyed groan and tried to control the emotion that threatened to spill out of him.

Keep calm. Keep breathing.

This lengthy week could have easily ended with a peaceful day, if it hadn't been for the food shortage that had ravaged the nation—or rather, the poorer parts of it. It was a disaster caused by a phenomenon he could not change and yet was still bothered with until the break of dawn as though he was the Code itself. And the media had no problems broadcasting the ire of the people. 

I seriously need to get another job. . .

"This has to be a joke." Leaning back into his chair, Corey scowled, his blue eyes burning with fury as he glared into the holoscreen, watching it flicker with more distressing headlines. His gaze shifted at the three uniformed men kneeling in front of him.

He had almost forgotten that they were there.

His shoulders shook and his body tensed with rage as he flung the transparent screen down on his desk, watching it explode into tiny blue crystals. He shot out of his seat and slammed his hands down on the hardwood table beneath him, enjoying how the men before him trembled.

"Heretics, they're all damn heretics I tell you." He ground his teeth on each other then held onto his face with one hand, fighting off his frustration. "I refuse to believe this."

The Code, damn those fools. The Order is not supposed to tarnish my name. I'm the damn face of their organization.

Counting to ten and focusing his gaze on his fingers, Corey forced down the residual flares of anger. It was a bitter pill to swallow but he'd have to meet his father about this. . . again.

The thought almost made him hit his fist on the desk. Keep breathing.

"Sir!" The moment Corey just managed to regain his calm, a man rushed into the office.

He seemed flustered, but remained composed as he fell to one knee, the North's emblem pinned proudly on his chest. The insignia declared him a friend, not that he needed to show it. He was well known already, a rising captain in the army.

But when faced with Corey Roya, the youngest minister in the world, who could stay calm when the possibility of being suspected as the enemy loomed over their heads?

"Ah," Corey fell into his seat on the man's arrival.

His gaze homed in on him as he kneeled a step behind behind the three messengers that had brought him news of The Order's rebellion in the second and third districts surrounding the Capital.

"Westley's kid." Corey's blue eyes lit up when he said the name. Finally, a face I can stomach!

A faint sheen of pink splashed against the young man's cheeks as he hurriedly looked up. The message in his eyes clear: this isn't the place for familiarity.

Telling me what to do, Issac? Corey almost laughed at that, but maintained his stony expression.

"I'm assuming you have something to report, go on with it." He eased his frown into something more indifferent and relaxed in his seat.

"Minister." Isaac stalled, his voice filled with hesitation.

"Oh," Corey sighed and reactivated his holoscreen bracelet, a brand new screen of translucent blue now hovering in the place of the previous one. "It's more bad news isn't it, Issac?"

"I am afraid to say. . . the garrison stationed to the east of Nicia has fallen, Sir!" Issac announced loudly, his tone grim and expression carrying added gravity. "It is unknown whether there are any survivors."

Shocked gasps echoed in the room and the minister paused, his cool gaze landing on the other men that knelt in front of him, effectively silencing them and stifling their outbursts.

"All of you are excused."

Corey ignored them as they scampered away hurriedly and regarded Issac with a serious look before gesturing for him to rise. "Who attacked? The East?"

Even as the words left his mouth he knew that it was improbable.

"No, Sir." Issac slowly stood up, his youth evident in that single moment as he flashed his mentor a weak smile in quiet greeting. "The attackers seemed to have disappeared. The base was torn down but there was no sign of an enemy tracks, A22 or Gl-aze."

"Men don't just vanish into thin air." 

The atmosphere in the office thickened as Corey processed the information at leisure, not seeming as concerned as the captain that stood before him. "Why did you join the army, Issac?"

"To protect the northern nation, Sir!" Issac said almost unconsciously as he placed his right palm over his heart with his left fist over the other hand, North's official salute.

"Good," Corey said with a deceptively, good-natured smile. "Then you can tell your code-damned father to drag his ass back in here. His vacation is over. I honestly don't know what he thinks he's doing."

"Okay Sir. . ." Issac answered the minister after a slight pause before letting his hands fall down to his sides. "But it won't be easy to get him here."

"That's the perk of being his son, you get to be convincing."

Issac laughed awkwardly, his tense posture relaxing. "I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick. . . he's your vice minister before he's my father, Corey."

"Then it's a good thing that you're my captain before you're his son."

Issac only sighed. "Yes Sir."

"And get me a direct line to Elton Yong," the minister added.

I only hope we can minimize the damage, he thought to himself as he waved away the young captain.

"Those defeatists in the Order of the Code, are they really right about the world coming to an end?" Issac asked as casually as possible while walking to the door. He controlled his expression into an experienced blankness, not wanting his worry to be perceived by the other man.

The minister of North laughed hard at the question and wiped inexistent tears off the corner of his eyes. "They can believe whatever the hell they want! But one thing is for sure, they aren't helping things by being uncooperative and killing themselves because I don't give that matter my attention."

"And the fog?" The young Westley suddenly turned around, his lips drawn into a frown. "It will engulf the earth at this rate."

"Are you having doubts, Captain?" Corey asked back, his tone now laced with authority as he looked up, displeasure visible in his gaze.

"No Sir." Issac stiffened and lowered his head respectfully, stepping out the office and softly shutting the door behind him with a relieved sigh. He decided immediately, to make his way to the Republic of Guntau and get his father.

Though now separated by a layer of walls and unable to see each other, both minister and subject had the same thought running through their mind but didn't dare say it out loud for fear of it coming into actualization.

Is the world really going to end. . . And if it does what can I do about it? Can I stop something I cannot comprehend?

Corey squeezed the holoscreen file in his hand out of frustration, wishing it was paper that wouldn't shatter from the force of his hold. The unease he had been hiding from his subordinates finally bubbled up to the surface.

"I have a really bad feeling about this."

Pressing a button hidden on his desk, he stood up and walked to the window by his right, staring out into the snowy mountains that surrounded him. "I can only assume the others have not had a circumstance such as this. . . Thankfully."

"Sir!" The door to his office creaked as it opened and the officer he had requested for walked in.

The minster turned around calmly, his hands clasped behind his back as his gaze landed on the saluting man. "Send a message to the facility south of here, tell them to be prepared and speed up Operation Cipher."

"Yessir!" The man rushed out at once, leaving Corey alone again in silence.

"Elton, it was as you said. So I suppose all hope lies on me now." He sighed, turning back to the majestic view of the sunset. "I just hope we can survive this, whatever it is."

Trusting his instincts was what got Corey Roya the ministerial position in the first place, and he wasn't about to stop doing so now.

The painful feeling in his gut, the way the hair on his body stood on ends, his uneasiness, they were all a warning. A sign that something was coming for them, something big. And it might just kill them all.

"Sir!" A panicked voice echoed through the office as another messenger ran through the doors just as the officer stepped out, his voice high and alarmed as he fell to one knee. "The state of Nicia has been attacked!"

And just like that the war on humanity had begun.