Ethan Cerf's Story

The world ended the day the families never went home. At least, they didn't go home the same.

The camps were created as a means for calming a terrified people. Many saw that a containment of the Cured was the only way to get the nation back to where it had started. They admired the iron gates and stone buildings. They admired the illusion of security that the camps provided. It never occurred to them what was built inside. Blood had not yet stained the walls but the sterile smell did nothing to avert thoughts about what become of it. Large screens hung in basements meant to brain-wash and pray the hate away. Or even pray the love away. There were certain emotions people could and could not express. The people wanted normal. The people wanted uniform.

So began, Re-Education.

It started small, with what the establishment called "Productive Labor." How could the Cured begin to fit into society when they were under the impression that they were above those who had worked before them? In order to correct their superiority complexes and their work ethics, they were put to work building, mining, and assembling all sorts of structures and projects. It was hot work, and many passed out from dehydration or exhaustion. But, if a Cured could not handle it, that only meant he had to work harder. These were dire times, and many died from it.

Once the excitement died down, new standards were put in place for what a Cured should be. After all, these creations were meant to be the epitome of perfect. Everything needed to be regular. They added "Suggestive Psychology" to the regime. In order to trim and crop the Cured into carbon-copies, they needed to associate their "negative traits" with things that disgusted or terrified them. This was a time of fear, and any difference from the norm was seen as a sign for a stay in Re-Education. These differences included, but were not limited to, angry outbursts, homosexuality, skipping class, authority issues, and broken laws. In order to cure the Cured, they showed them pictures to represent their negativity, followed by an electric shock or a vomit-inducer. Many victims to this level of re-education came out stoic and highly dedicated to the cause. Some never made it out. There were held for as little as a day or as long as several weeks, but the results were still the same.

Re-Education became a topic of fear within the camps. It was never mentioned out loud, or even whispered, to anyone. It was a threat used by officials to herd the Cured into obedient lines. The equivalent of Voldemort, basically.

It was a world that only those inside the iron gates knew of. Almost. A Cured was able to get a message to the barest of hints of the Amber Rebellion. Only a handful of people at the time, it created outrage among the group. They used the information to recruit more naysayers all over the country, spreading out into almost ten chapters. It was then that they realized only those on the inside could truly destroy the Camps. The Chief Strategists of every division met and devised a plan. They appointed Aimee and Ethan Cerf to be administrators of the Inside. Aimee and Ethan had experience with the rebellion, and knew the systems. This allowed them to stay in contact with each other, as well, uniting the two camps. Aimee appointed Alexandra as her Second. This allowed him to communicate and recruit others in Camp Good, and strategize with his counterpart in Camp Evil. Ethan appointed Vidas Wagnar as his Second. Soon, Kenji joined the Inside, as well as a few others from both camps. The hard work was done by the Premiers, as the five Cured were affectionately known. Intercepting messages and passing communications between camps were crimes that could get them Re-Educated, at best, and Executed, at worst. It was a fate that none of them could assign to anyone else. They all needed to stay secret, and they all needed to stay loyal.

Whether they all abide by those standards is another story that's yet to be told.

He rolled out of bed, quite gracefully, in fact. His bruised hand hit the table and he winced, but it was definitely one of the more successful attempts. Ethan yawned into the mirror. He needed to be awake for kitchen duty within the next ten minutes, and the lack of sleep wasn't helping his case. He had a lot more supervision since the last time he'd been caught passing notes, and the constant nightmares from torture weren't exactly conducive to relaxation. But, it was his fault for getting caught in the first place. He'd been stupid, and was too eager to get a message to the outside that he'd forgotten about the extra security round on Fridays. An amateur mistake, and Aimée had given him hell for it. That is, after she made sure he was alright. She didn't need to deal with Re-Education as much, and he tried to shelter her from it, but she was inherently sinister and knew her way around a lie. He still couldn't figure out how the Society had mistaken her for Good, but these were small blessings, after all.

Tugging on his uniform, he winced as bad memories made his stomach roll. Every time he put on the rough fabric, it gave him flashbacks of everything he had to endure in his time at the Fort. But, if it meant that one day this whole system would come crashing to the ground, he'd do it again. His biggest fear was that by the time his Sorting came around, their work still wouldn't be done. There had been others before him, either successful members of the Rebellion, or executed. He wanted neither. He wanted his Sorting to be the last the Society would have. He wanted there to be peace and equality in the world. He wanted a fucking unicorn.

Shaking his head ruefully, he pulled open his door and came face-to-face with Lou, his current security detail. No, not because he was important. At least not in the sense to be celebrated. Lou was there to make sure he didn't break any more "laws."

"Hey, Lou, how's your Monday? Productive, I bet?" Ethan smiled cheekily and Lou glowered. Without saying a word, the burly tugged his arm and pulled him into the hall. "Aw, not even a sardonic smirk? C'mon, Lou, you gotta give me something," he baited him. But, apparently, Lou was not to be messed with this morning, since he only shoved Ethan forward and made him keep walking.

Making a show of stumbling, Ethan kicked his foot against the door to his left. Kenji's. There was no way to communicate safely within these halls, so he needed something to get his Second's attention. There were plans to be made. Hopefully someone could get to Vidas, but if either of them were caught in the Female Dormitory, it would mean Re-Education for the rest of their lives, or execution. Yeah, people got killed for walking into the wrong building all the time. Casual.

"To the kitchen, recruit," Lou barked. Ethan chuckled, folding his hands behind his back and swaggering down the rest of the hall, whistling the whole time. He had a part to play, after all.

Ethan whistled his way to the kitchen, with Lou only jabbing him in the back once or twice to speed up. But, he was good at playing his part. He knew when to stumble, when to curse, when to smile, and when to glare. It was second nature to him now. Lou could only dream of catching his mistake and wiping him away like the rest of the Mistakes before him. His blood started to boil as he thought of the people who had suffered in the past, simply for being born different. Contaminated species? Try population control. All Ethan had to do was prove it.

He began to peel carrots for today's lunch when he saw Kenji slip in out of the corner of his eye, and he felt his heart sink in his chest a little. Speaking of people who had suffered, he was about to inform his only remaining teammate that their crew had just gotten a little smaller. They were going to have to try hard to make up for it now, since they couldn't exactly recruit. Their team was forged through blood and sweat, and that wasn't something you could just repeat whenever you lost someone.

Ethan continued to peel, but he moved closer to Kenji's corner, taking care to look as nonchalant as possible. "Vidas was sent to Re-Education last night, and I don't think she'll be released any time soon." He wanted to elaborate, but there was no way to do it in here, with Lou watching his every move. Even now, he saw the guard's gaze flick to him while he whispered to what appeared to the other man as the wall. Ethan hunched his shoulders and rinsed his hands, making a show of splashing water on his face and having to turn slightly to reach the paper towels, giving him the perfect view of Kenji hiding. "We'll have to step up to cover for her, but we can do it. We have to do it. We're so close," he stopped and turned back to the carrots as he felt his blood start to boil again. The Society couldn't get away with doing this to so many. It couldn't keep going unnoticed any longer.

"Aimée and I have a plan, and I think--no, I know that it'll work. But, we have to work together. Up for it?" Ethan asks Kenji quietly. They were approaching the expiration date for this conversation, but Ethan needed his confirmation in order to start passing the notes that would need to happen. It was going to be a busy for awhile, but if it meant the end to this, he was prepared for a lot of risky nights. He only hoped that his team would be, too.