A Bystander's Syndrome

Spent time sorting through files. While doing this, the outside world becomes crazier as events happen and pass by. One thing is that I didn't involve myself through their troubles. I was a spectator most of the time. Watching the events be reenacted, at least some of the parts. Ambitions are nice, but fighting a government entity is beyond stupid, especially if it's an entity that can pour resources into a department to kill you.

Think about it carefully. If you already have the ability to monitor people and also earn money. Would you still fight? Risk your life? I'm not a bloodthirsty psychopath, and although I have my own ambitions now. I still remain careful.

Hence most of the time I just let the drones take a peek. The difference wasn't much and it depressed me. There are new faces that I couldn't remember among some of the people who are purging the people of Karagi. Karagi's platforms are in total lockdown and other than a few. The bloodbath was unprecedented. The best part? No one other than those who have taken a peek knows that this is happening.

There are some who are aware of what is happening. But the problem was that being morally good and ethical wasn't in their concern at the moment. Watching people die so helplessly does not feel right for the soul. Who in their right mind would be so casual when it comes to slaughter? I wasn't.

After a few hours of sorting through files and watching people die. I took a break and settled down for a moment. Then got a call from Marion about how we should act.

"Come and see this," she said.

I assumed that it was about the massacre. I was right after seeing her point out the senseless massacre. Her face of concern told me all that I needed to know. Didn't want to pussyfoot about the problem. Told her to decide all she wanted.

"You don't give a shit," she told me. I explained to her what I found out. How the Cleaners were making sure that no one was alive. She understood how hard it was to fight a government and once they set their sights on you. It's all over. Not to mention that the operation was a black operation.

She weighed her choices. Marion knew this shit was bad for the soul. But she was also a very smart woman who understands that our foundations are still quite fragile and acting up right now would mean that there's a high chance of failure on our path.

"I fucking hate this," she said, the irritated tone of hers showed much of her displease to these unwanted slaughter. "Nix will want to save some of his underlings. Should I stop him?"

"Do what you must do. Anyone that shows signs of this virus. I'm sorry, but they have to die, Marion. You know that they have to. We don't want anyone getting infected by it here on the upper platforms."

"Got it," she told me as she issued orders.

I stayed around to watch her work. Karagi's Network made it easy for us to navigate through the system. I had everything checked. She had Nix do most of the heavy lifting while she had the drones controlled by Sai's sub-systems. Sai's physical body wasn't around. If anything it was probably hidden somewhere. She said to me that she still has calibrations when I met her as I went to Marion. It was honestly interesting how close Sai is to Marion.

Extracting the people from the lower platforms. We had some of them tested for any virus. Out of the seventy people that Nix rescued. Twenty of them were infected. Nix understood the situation so he had them shot up painlessly. He hated the idea, but also understood that if he didn't. More will die.

After the rescue I had to check the comms and had Sai scrub them for anything that might cause some backlash for us. I had the cameras and sensors disabled, scrubbed clean, and had Sai modify the profiling database of Karagi.

"This is a mess," Marion told me. "Can't believe that they are doing this. I understand because it might cause people to get infected, but what if it's already here in the mid and upper platforms?"

"It might be," I said. "Thing is that it would be better if they keep them out."

Karagi is mostly business and the center of the logistics of the whole region. If Karagi starts to have problems then the trade around this region would plummet. Karagi's a gateway and its where all the goods around the Region flows. They package it here and then send it all over the region. If their goods had been infected or some sort of virus spread through Karagi. That would become a nightmare. Taking out organized criminals was one thing, but they were also killing people off to prevent the trade from stopping here.

It was honestly efficient. How they are getting rid of competition while also solving the possible problem before it becomes uncontrollable. Taking care of the wounded and sick causes money. And with the prices here in Karagi, it would have been better for them to off them than cure them.

It costs money and so they went with the easiest solution. The people that are being killed or will die here are going to be labeled as criminals and individuals who have resisted arrest and fought the government. It was a one-sided massacre with the intent of testing weapons, getting rid of criminals, and also wiping out infected people so that the trade in Karagi wouldn't halt.

It sickened me. But it also made me realize that maybe I'm not so good as a person either. I was a bystander who would rather watch people die than help. Heroics cost a lot of money and it might also cost your life. Ever since I came to wake up in this world, I was always close to death. That thought alone puts the fear of God in me.

Two near-death experiences was enough for me. I wasn't going to gamble my life on uncertain things.