Chapter Four

A man and little girl sit at a large dining table with an abundance of food to eat. The little girl has black hair in a ponytail and appears to be no older than seven. She wears a pink dress and has a white knitted jacket. Her eyes are bright, beautiful blue like the ocean or the sky. She always has this smile on her face and is also full of energy and optimism. She is playing with her doll at the table. To her left is her father, Byron Cash. Though no one says it, everyone wonders: How can a terrible man like Cash produce a sweet girl like her.

"Daddy! Look what the princess is wearing!" says the girl

"Looks sweet, darling." says Cash as he takes a bite of his steak.

"Daddy."

"Yes darling?" asks Cash

"I heard one of your friends talk about the cleansing. What's that?"

"It's when we round up the ugly people and take them away."

"Why are they ugly?"

"It's just something abo---"

Cash gets interrupted by a man in a dark green suit with a black tie and an officer visor cap.

"Mr. Cash, we have news for you about a factory."

"Ok. Penny, darling. Why don't you go to your room."

"Yes, daddy!"

Penny runs out of the dining room to be greeted by a maid and they leave the room to go to Penny's room. Cash gets out of his seat, straightens his jacket and asks

"About what factory?"

"In the Philadelphian Redzone. The terrorists attacked the factory and set up a base of operations according to our intel."

"Anything else?"

"They likely got intel on transmitter, train and factory locations."

"I'll have to talk to Colonel McFarland." says Cash "But for now, I need to announce the cleansing."

"Yessir." responds the officer

"Most importantly, we don't need the public to know about the factory. Last thing we need is the people rioting."

Cash picks up a dark blue officer visor cap with a metal jolly roger piece on it and stiffly places it on top of his head. They exit the dining room to head to Cash's office, as they were walking they walk around the beauty that is Cash's house. The floor made of a glittering polished spruce, walls of bright white and the chandeliers look like they were made of gold. The roof extended high above their heads. They reach the office and it's more grand than the rest of the house. On the floor is a blood red carpet leading to the desk, symbolising the blood that was spilled by Cash. The walls are a desert tan with spruces beams leading to the roof in an arch. The desk itself is large and also made of spruce. On it was the globe of the New Earth and behind the desk was the flag of the NAC. It looked like the United States flag however instead of the stars, it's the flash and circle. The flash and circle is a symbol of fascism. Cash sits at his

desk. Two SEDs stand guard near the supreme leader. Officers and workers set up a large camera and a television ten feet in front of the desk.

"We're going to play the PSA before your broadcast, supreme leader."

"Good." says Cash as he gets ready for his showing.

The PSA starts to play on the television. A black and white cartoon figure similar to an officer in the similar uniform to the high ranking officers. The cartoon figure also has a pair of square glasses. The figure moves around a but and starts to talk

"Hello children, your neighbourhood, your home and even you are part of our grand system. Like cogs in a machine." says the figure with a squeaky voice.

"You know what parts a machine needs? The best ones! Or in our case the North American people which are most of you children watching. Do you know what those parts are?"

The figure looks and dances around cheeringly and says

"It's a providing father, he'll work all day to provide for the family and serve this nation to keep it going. It's also a caring mother, she'll take care of the house and the youngsters. But most importantly they produce perfect children. Then it's you, the children. You guys are to be taught the ways of being an adult so you too can provide and keep the machine running."

The cartoon figure looks down appearing disappointed.

"Unfortunately, some parts aren't the best, they clog up the system. They take up space for the best parts. We call these people "Freaks." What we do is take away Freaks to a place where they won't harm you, so YOU can remain perfect."

The cartoon figure points towards the viewer's perspective and smiles. He then proceeds to says

"Thank you for watching the PSA and remember long live the NAC." Then a countdown starting from ten begins.

"Sir, you're on in ten seconds." says an officer.

"9."

"8."

"7."

"6."

"5."

"4."

"3."

"2."

"1."

The broadcast plays on televisions:

"Hello fellow subjects, today is the time again for cleansing. We must keep things perfect for us as a people. I do this not in hate but in the name of purity, to protect the North American people from the Freaks." Cash places his hands on the table and puts on a stern face.

"We know who is a Freak in every household. We will take them to a cleansing hospital to be disposed of. SEDs will enter your homes to collect Freaks, resistance will result in immediate termination. It's a natural part of life. Remember, to keep this magnificent machine running."

The Broadcast ends, cameras turn off and the officers start clapping.

"Good job sir." shouts one the officers.

"Thank you."

Cash gets up off of his desk and walks away from the desk to prepare for the celebration in Angel City. But outside Angel City, it's different. Throughout the country there are lines of people labeled as Freaks to be killed in the hospitals. SEDs survey the area and enter homes, most people give their children labeled as Freaks up, very few fight back. Though there are many, Freaks make a small of the population, about one out of thirty people is a Freak and very few freaks escape. If a Freak lives then they are permanently branded as government property. To most they are broken toys beneath a crooked crown. North American regions are divided into commonwealths, the largest commonwealth being Deseret. Then those commonwealths are divided into zones: The Red zones which are forbidden to the public, these areas are war torn and are now used for base, factories, trains and more. The other zones are called Yellow Zones. Yellow zones are where the people live. These zones function like a city, they're heavily guarded by SEDs and NAC soldiers. Stores, houses, hospitals and other necessities are in these zones. Resources from these zones are sent back to Angel City for their luxurious uses.

Today the high ranking people in Angel City celebrate this day as to them it's a second holiday other being the founding to their great nation. Important officers of the NAC party at the NAC HQ. It's a large skyscraper with several floors coming up to a pyramid at the top with a platform around it. On top of the os a large ornament that bears the flash and circle on top of it. In one of the top floors is a large room where the highest ranking officials are celebrating. Generals, actors(actresses), war criminals, politicians and the supreme leader himself. Everyone in the room is chatty and loud, people can barely understand a conversation. Cash steps up to a podium and says

"Ladies and gentlemen."

The room quiets down and people stare up at Cash waiting for his speech.

"We are all here to celebrate our success as a nation. Deterring the DAP from destroying our way of life. We have overcome obstacles such as the Materials War, the One Day war and of course the soon destruction of the terrorist group calling themselves the Resistance.. I would like to toast for the security of this nation and our way of life. Thank you."

Cash drinks from his glass and steps down from the podium. People cheer and applaud after the speech and continue to party. Cash walks around the room, people are laughing at jokes and chatting about each other. A woman walks up and says

"Good evening, Mr. Cash."

"Good evening, Miss Ellisha Swanson. Good job on making this quinquennially PSA."

"Thank you."

Cash continues to walk around until he comes across a Colonel in full uniform. He has bright blonde hair and blue eyes.He is wearing a full dark green uniform with the standard green officer visor cap. On the right side of his uniform are three gold NAC medals. Cash walks up to the Colonel and says

"Good evening Colonel Edward McFarland."

"Good evening Supreme Leader, how can I be of assistance?"

"I would actually like to talk to you about the security of this nation privately."

"Of course sir."

They walk outside of the room and start to walk up a flight of stairs to the roof. Once to the top they exit the building and are on top of a walkway surrounding the top of the building. They can see the rest of the city, the skyscraper towers over Angel City. The city is filled with beautiful modern housing, unlike most of the nation there are actually numerous amounts of trees in the city. There are other other skyscrapers towering over. These towers have many purposes such as being apartments, hotels, hospitals and other luxuries. In the distance you can see Cash's mansion and even farther you can see a large impenetrable wall surrounding the city.

"You see this, Colonel Farland?"

"Yes sir."

"All of this is due to our security."

"I understand that sir."

"Do you, Mr. Farland? Because last time I checked, I thought I put you in charge of maintaining the security of the Philadelphian Red Zone."

"You did." stutters the colonel

"Then you must know about the terrorist attack on the factory, and to my understanding that was your responsibility and you failed."

The two men continue to slowly walk around the platform, you can tell that Colonel McFarland is anxious about his situation. They come to a stop with Cash's back facing the building and McFarland's facing the edge of the platform.

"Maintaining Red Zone factories is important for our flow of resources to Angel City, as the capital is the heart of this nation, if you mess with its resources then heart stops beating and the nation collapses."

"I won't fail you again sir."

"I know you won't." responds Cash as he aggressively shoves McFarland. He begins to lose his balance and falls off the platform. The Colonel's body plunges to the bottom of the tower. Cash walks back into the building to be met with a soldier in a tan military uniform and a tan officer visor cap with a general insignia on it.

"My apologies, Supreme Leader. Is there a problem?"

"Colonel McFarland is dead, General Griffiths"

"What sir?" responds the general confused to what he heard

The two men then continued to walk downstairs and talk

"Colonel McFarland has committed suicide."

"What is the plan sir?"

"We'll arrange a funeral to honour him and then I want you to put Colonel Joseph Mueller in charge of the Philadelphian Red Zone."

"Yessir."

Several hours have passed since Colonel McFarland was murdered, people continue with their lives as normal in Angel City. NAC soldiers and SEDs patrol the city, harass beggars, guard facilities and stand guard on juveniles scrubbing spray paint off of walls. The citizens of the city continue to live their lives: Having lavous parties, enjoying their lives, going to theatres and more. In the yellow zones across the country things are different. People are living their lives like

modern rural areas. There is more security in these zones, people are constantly checked and searched for suspicious items, Drones are over the area and people leave to work in factories in these zones.

In Angel City, Cash and his council are in a large room at the NAC headquarters. In the room is a large circular table that seats Cash's council and military leaders. This consists of eight representatives for the eight commonwealths, the current VEI ceo: Anja Thornton, General Griffith, Colonel Mueller and of course Byron Cash.

"Hello everyone, we are here today to address and discuss the factory attack in the Philadelphian Red Zone. Terrorists have attacked the factory and likely have information on factories and other facilities." says Cash

"We need to increase security on facilities in the Northern English commonwealth." says the representative for that commonwealth.

"I'll divert patrolling squadrons in the commonwealth to important facilities." says General Griffith

"Good. I want Colonel Mueller in charge of troops in the Philadelphian Red Zone to search for the terrorists in the zone." says Cash in a harsh tone

"Yessir." responds the colonel

"Miss Thornton, I believe you have something to tell me?"

"Yes I do sir."

"Please start."

"The new SED models have been performing well throughout the nation. Crime rates have dropped by two percent and the models crushed a riot in the Floridan-Indian Commonwealth."

"Good! How's the progress of Project Faraday?"

"We're ahead of schedule, we'll be starting training soon."

"Glad we all understand. It would be a shame if someone failed. You are all dismissed."

The council members all leave the room and then are followed by the NAC security. Cash stands up from the desk and walks out of the room. He continues to walk around until he finds Penny, his daughter. Penny is playing with a doll and some other toys. He picks up Penny and says

"Hey there, darling. What are you playing?"

"I'm playing princess."

"You are? That's nice, darling."

"Thank you, papa."

"I want to tell you something."

"What is it, papa?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"And I promise to never let anything happen to you."

"Thank you, papa."

But one must remember, all good things must come to an end…