Chapter VII: We are the Gigalist

Tom shoots people and says stuff.

I stepped off the bus, standing out like a dark speck against the otherwise colorful crowd that filled the Azuman landscape. Tall buildings reached for the sun, like metallic flowers that had yet to bloom. The sight disgusted me. Azuma used to be a beautiful land of nature. It was a paradise; a place where people would go to escape the stress of regular life. But now, the Equinox had turned it into the capital city of their new world order. I wanted it gone. I wanted to destroy every building and everyone inside of them. I wanted to-

I stopped myself. I didn’t know why I felt so passionate about this. Before the war, I had never even been to Azuma. I suppose just the thought of the Equinox destroying such a peaceful place was enough to piss me off. I didn’t bother checking into a hotel; there wasn’t any time. Alex tossed me my bag out of the bus and we headed for the city’s center. Everywhere we walked we saw political propaganda about how much the Equinox cared about the people. It made me wretch. The sooner I could leave this befouled paradise, the better.

I blended in as much as I could with the crowd of people that were huddled in one giant pile in the middle of the square. In front of it all, a concrete stage with a mahogany wood podium stood in omen of what was to come. I looked down at my watch and counted down the seconds.

As soon at the clock struck noon, a middle-aged man stepped up onto the stage. I looked around at the nearby buildings, and saw Alex going into the entrance of a multi-story shopping mall. It would take her a few minutes to reach the roof. We were slightly behind schedule, but ultimately it wouldn’t matter. The man raised his hand for silence.

“Hello, good citizens of this fine city. As I’m sure many of you know, my name is Commander General Alfred Histop. As you may also know, I have led several of the recent victorious raids against the members of the foul resistance who seek to keep our fair people under the oppression of a centralized governmental machine.” I saw a flash of light coming from the roof of the shopping mall, and started to move. “These people would stop at nothing to destroy what we have all worked so hard to build. Our soldiers on the front lines will gladly lay down their lives in defence of the values that we all hold dear to our hearts. Ladies and Gentlemen, we will protect these values at the very cost of our souls.”

“Pathetic.” A voice rang loud and clear over the hushed audience. The voice was mine; and it was right behind the General. In the same instant, several shots rang out, killing the bodyguards instantly. As the sniper fire echoed over the city, I heard Alex’s voice in my ear, telling me to go. I pulled a pistol out from its holster, and held it against the head of the cowering general. “Pathetic.” I repeated.

“You ‘men’, you ‘brave warriors of equality’, you’re all pathetic.” I shouted out at the top of my lungs. “You say you will protect the people? You say you will protect their rights? Then tell me, o’ fearless guardian, where are their bodyguards? If the resistance is so evil, what is to stop them from butchering everyone in this audience? You’re going to protect them?” My voice was rising in volume. “You can’t even protect yourself!” I pulled the trigger dramatically, lifting the gun up into the air as the General’s brain splattered across the floor. “Pathetic!” I shouted again.

“Equality.” I began, taking my place at the podium. “Fairness to everyone. A world in which everyone will live in the same house, with the same pay, and the same amount of food at the table. A world where the strong and the weak co-exist and cooperate. It sounds so lovely, doesn’t it?” I took the microphone off the stand and began pacing back and forth on the stage.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t mind such a world. But that is not the world that the Equinox seeks to create. That world is not possible. It is human nature that the strong will dominate the weak; that is the very reason for the distinction between strong and weak. We live in a world where it is the duty of the weak to become stronger. When the weak can beat the strong, and take back what has been taken from them; only then shall we know equality. When there is no more weakness in the world; then we can truly be equal!” I pounded my fist on the podium as I walked past it. “Not by getting a fake, idealistic sense of equality handed out to us out of the pity of our so-called superiors.

“Do you honestly think that the Equinox views you as their equal? Do you think they care about your life?” I stomped my heel on the ground. “They do not! They believe all of us- the weak; the strong- all of us to be beneath them. They only wish to make us turn our hands out to them and beg them for what isn’t theirs to give. They wish nothing more than to lord over us as dictators; where the strong control the weak through broken promises and false ideals. They do not want equality; they want power!” I stood behind the podium now, and slammed my fist on it hard enough to shatter the entire frame, letting it crumble into ruins.

A man jumped up on the stage and thrusted his fist into the air. “Long live the resistance! Down with the Eq-” I drew a pistol, leveled it without looking, and shot him in the head.

“And the resistance is no better! The old system failed. A land where the weak decided who was strong based on a few choice words and some promises of a better life? Pathetic!” That was the fifth time I said that word. “The weak should not have to rely on others to get strong for them, but rather they themselves should get stronger so that there are less people to be weak!” I kicked the shattered remains of the podium into the crowd. “Resistance? Equinox? It makes no difference to me.” I said, my voice taking on a more calm, leveled tone.

“They are both wrong. Both paths lead to oppression. The only way to truly gain freedom is to rip it from the chest of those who would oppose it.” I made my point by resting the bottom of my foot on top of what remained of the General’s head. “Melding together into one? That is useless. The only way to get strong is to rise above the pathetic shambles of your meaningless life, and make a difference in the world!” My voice became aggravated again. I picked up the microphone stand and snapped it in half between my fingers. “Get off your lazy asses and do something with your life before it gets taken away! Stop sitting around and waiting for others to do something for you! Just get up and do it, damn it! Don’t wait for the world to get better, because it won’t! You have to fight for it!” By this time, Equinox guards began marching onto the stage. I shot one twice in the stomach, then once in the head. “We are the Gigalist!” I shouted into the crowd. “We are the ones who do something! We are the ones who will change the world! Don’t you forget it!” The guards locked my arms behind me. I was out of ammunition, but it didn’t matter. Everything was going exactly according to plan. A bag went over my head, and I was knocked unconscious.