The Perfect World (The Perfect World Series Book 1) (24 page)

John pointed to one of the biggest nations to the East of Europe to show Cyrus where Russia was. His eyes widened as he recognized the name of one of the continents on the maps he had seen in school.

“The Europeans already had many ties to the Russians. Their economic woes had led them to increasingly rely on the large nation to the east for their wellbeing. The Russians provided them with the resources to light and warm their homes, along with other resources that powered much of the nations’ transportation systems. For many years, they were the biggest lifeline to these nations, and they had to do their best to please the Russians. If they did something the Russians didn’t like, they would cut off these resources in retaliation. Thus, whenever Russia caused trouble in Europe, or around the world, they did little to nothing to stop them.

“The Russians had used many of their valuable resources to make gains in World War Three, but ended up with little to show for it. In its aftermath, they saw an opportunity to increase their power in the  growing strife of Europe.”

“A long time ago, Russia used its power to take land from Europe, all the way to here.” Huo pointed to a country called Germany. “Russia wanted this land back for the good of their own country.”

“And then some,” John added. To do this, they offered to give the Europeans more of their resources for less money to alleviate some of the pain the European people were feeling. In exchange, the Russian government would have more influence in the decisions made by various governments throughout Europe. To their credit, many of the ruling class in Europe were wary of this offer. However, with the help of disinformation from the media, the people of Europe did not realize the full extent of the danger of this offer.”

“Or they chose not to,” Huo cut in gruffly.

“Facing unrest in their countries and a chance of losing their power if they did not comply, most European nations accepted Russia’s offer. This deal provided short term relief to the Europeans as it was intended to do. However, these government officials soon found themselves facing the same problems they had before when the terms of the deal expired. The European people began to suffer again as they had before, which naturally led riots to start, which are violent protests made by the people. Lawlessness and disorder reigned supreme until the armed forces had to step in again. Order was restored for a time, but no one could know how long it would be maintained.

“That was when the Russians made their next move. They revealed a new form of government, a revolutionary form of government, which would give the citizens everything they wanted. They promised that it would fulfill every need and make everyone equal. It would make the entire world fair for all who lived in it.”

Cyrus’s eyes sparked at the word ‘fair,’ which had been shoved down his throat so many times in his life. John and Huo both shared a smile at the distasteful expression on the young man’s face.

“Not your favorite word, huh?” Huo asked with a grin.

“No,” Cyrus’s reply was bitter.

“Can’t say I blame you.”

“I don’t think anyone could, given that he probably heard that word a million times for the past eighteen years. At least now, he’ll have some idea of where it came from.” John’s smile faded as he continued his story.

“Anyway, the Russians revealed their full plan to the people of Europe. The Russians would allow the countries to keep their political leaders while taking the most powerful positions for themselves, effectively placing every government in Europe under their command. In exchange, the Russians would supply the Europeans with the equality they had gone so far to strive for. They would make sure that everyone had the same amount of material goods, that everyone would get the same amount of food, that everyone would have the same opportunities and that they would have all of that without having to work to death for it.

“Of course, those few government officials who were still loyal to their countries weren’t thrilled by the prospect of giving up their power. The Europeans in the Eastern countries were especially against adopting this new government, fearing that all of their freedoms would be lost under such a system. The Russians seemed to realize that verbal persuasion would not achieve their cause. They quietly began giving their message to the European media, who repeated their words at the offer of money and support.

“The messages distributed to the public said that any resistance to Russia’s plan was merely leftover hysteria from World War Three. The war was over, the media insisted. Russia is our friend and our own elected officials are taking money that belonged to European citizens. Thus, masses of disenfranchised citizens began getting violent. Protests went on nonstop, riots, burning, chaos and unrest reigned supreme in the streets of those countries until they sent their armed forces out to solve the problem.”

“Armed forces?” The question flew out of Cyrus’s mouth before he could stop it. He knew he had been told to be quiet multiple times, but he had never heard the term before.

“Armed forces are men who serve their country and protect the populace when necessary. They are given weapons and tools to help them do so, weapons that are similar to the ones that those black armored guards used on you.” John pointed to Cyrus’s wounded shoulder before continuing. “The unrest continued in small spurts, but once the armed forces moved in, the majority of the destruction ceased. These groups were far from appeased, however, and were just waiting for a reason to start the chaos again.

“The Russians knew that Europe was as good as theirs if they could direct the furious mobs of people to further their cause. They used the media to relay their message about how their new system would benefit the people. It would bring stability and growth to a region that had been stagnant for so long. These empty promises were enough to persuade large groups of angry and desperate people to turn on their countrymen. War came to Europe once more and this time culture, heritage, history and any sort of humanity was eliminated by those who wished for false security.”

Huo made a noise of disgust and John put his hands between his legs and heaved a long sigh.

“Soon, the governments of Europe had toppled, and the Russians took them over. Any of the people who disagreed with the move either fled to another continent or went into hiding. The mobs cheered their victory in the streets that were covered in the blood of their countrymen. They knew their reward was coming; that the lives they had so desired would soon be theirs.

“Little did the fools know that the Russians had never intended to carry out their promises, or at least not in a way that they expected. Amid the celebrations, gunfire rang out and took down members of the mob. The Russian army had been summoned to reduce the numbers of the rebels. Soon, the hunters found themselves to be the  hunted and they ran through the streets in terror.

“Many were killed outright. Some were captured and placed into black vans to be assimilated into their new world order. Others still were captured while they watched their family and friends be killed by Russian forces. Those who remained were put into buildings which were only unlockable from the outside. They could only leave when the Russians wanted them to leave. They only ate what the Russians could feed them, which was, at times, absolutely nothing. The young children were forced into re-education classes, where they would be made ready to participate in their new order. The adults were chained to factories and other facilities, made to work up to twenty hours a day, then sent to a large room with a plain white mattress to sleep on. Every day, they would work under the guidance of Russian soldiers and would do nothing but work, eat and sleep. Everything they produced was done for Russia’s benefit. This was the routine they worked for the rest of their miserable lives.”

“Serves them right,” Huo remarked coldly.

“Perhaps,” John replied noncommittally. “Anyway, this is how the perfect world got its start. The Europeans were forced to labor for the benefit of the Russian rulers. A few money men, political figures and media people who had supported the Russians also benefited from their people’s enslavement. The Russian people, for a short time, enjoyed the fruits of the labor of the Europeans with no consequences for themselves. That quickly changed, when the Russian government decided to enact something similar for their own people. The Russian government enjoyed the complete control they had over Europe and wished to build a similar system with their own people. Soon, the entire continent was bound by the rule of a few people from a palace in Russia.”

John turned the small screen back to himself and moved his fingers across the screen. He turned it back to Cyrus, who looked at a new map on the screen. It was the same map, except now the continent of Europe showed only Russia.

“It would have been bad enough if it had just ended there,” John started again as he folded his hands together. “Unfortunately, other leaders and power hungry men saw the potential to build a similar system on other continents. They wanted the complete control over their people that the Russians had over all of Europe. They purposefully stirred up the restlessness in the Middle East, Africa, and South America. They decried the unfairness of the current systems of government, saying that the best and most enlightened way to live was to become more like Russia.

“Hitting on old wounds and dividing the different classes, these leaders found similar groups of disillusioned people, intrigued by the idea of bringing forth a new world where they could have everything they could ever dream of. They believed the propaganda spewed from Europe that everyone was living happily in a completely fair, equal world.

“All of these areas soon fell to fighting and bloodshed. Much as in Europe, countrymen turned on their own and murdered them. Blood covered the streets and destruction reigned supreme. When all the governments were toppled, when bodies were piled high in the streets, the mobs of Africa, South America, and the Middle East met with the same fate as those of Europe. The mobs that had fought for the cause saw their numbers cut down to a quarter, then shut up in factories to do grueling labor for the rest of their lives. Thus, freedom and choice fell in three more areas of the world. Only two now remained.”

John turned his screen around again to change the map. When he showed it to Cyrus, Africa, South America, and the Middle East had their names changed to Libya, Venezuela, and Iran respectively.

“The only free nations left were in North America and Asia. After seeing what had become of the other countries under the perfect world system, most of the people in these areas were more than willing to resist converting to it. However, most people are not all people, and there were still those who were persuaded to fight for the perfect world.  

“A bloody struggle went on for years between the two sides with guerrilla war tactics being used against those who wanted to remain free. This meant that those people supporting the perfect world would attack those who were against it at random, making life very unpredictable and stressful for those who resisted the movement. Still, the people held strong in both continents and fought back to maintain their way of life.”

“They were helped largely by two large, powerful countries in both regions,” Huo explained as he pointed the two nations out on the map. “One of them is called the United States of America, and it is where we are right now. The other is my homeland of China. Both of these two nations gave weapons and supplies to the smaller countries to help them resist the perfect world system.”

“Yes, China’s help was crucial for keeping our enemies at bay in Asia. Their help was also a surprise to many of their neighbors, given that they had been enemies in the beginning of World War Three.”

“Really?” Cyrus was intrigued.

“My country had been ruled by an oppressive government long before the perfect world system was developed and implemented. During World War Three that government finally fell, and we were able to join the rest of the free world. Not that it lasted very long.” Cyrus heard some bitterness in Huo’s voice.

“It has lasted within the Quarantine Domes of China,” John reminded him gently.

“That’s little consolation for how long we suffered.”

“True, but it is better than nothing.”

Huo shrugged as a response, and John turned back to Cyrus, who was impatiently fidgeting on his bed.

“The combined efforts of the United States and China bought the North American and Asian continent some time. It also gave aid to those few remaining places on other continents who still resisted their oppressors. I don’t have to tell you that this resistance greatly annoyed those who wished for complete global domination. Since those who ran the perfect world could not win by the strength of their armed forces alone, they resorted to inside forces to finish the job.

“The leaders of the perfect world in Russia and other successfully converted countries began sending large amounts of weapons into the United States and China to help the rebelling forces inside both countries. Once the rebels were supplied with modern weaponry, they began sending as many of their own men into the United States and China to organize the rebels and stir more trouble. The result was that both the United States and China needed more resources to defend their own countries, leaving many of their allies with little to no support. Without that support, the smaller countries started to fall, leading to scenes like this.” 

John paused to tap his fingers against the small black device, and Cyrus jumped a little as harsh noise filled the otherwise quiet room. It was the sound of people screaming, crying and running. John turned the screen towards Cyrus, and he watched as people ran away from the armed forces. Cyrus’s brow furrowed as he stared at the carnage on the screen with a feeling of familiarity. When he saw a person jerk and fall with blood soaking their shirt, that’s when he knew.