Night 2


Rdece.Jabolko was not a happy man. He had refused to go along with the assembly’s decision to put to death a man he had believed to be innocent. Warluster was a fool, to be sure, but likely guilty only of antisocial behavior, not murder. The individual Rdece deeply distrusted, however, was still at large.

The sun had gone down before the Gacaca assembly had ended, and by the time he made it back to his small house, it was too late for dinner. He lived alone, and there was no one waiting for him with a kiss and a hot meal. He allowed himself a twinge of regret at this continuing state of affairs, then stripped off his day clothes and settled into bed. After one last glance at the machete that had rested on his nightstand for months, he turned off the light, rolled over, and closed his eyes.

Just as he was about to drift off into sleep, he was suddenly jolted back to alertness by the sound of footsteps outside the door. He sat up sharply, reaching for the machete. “Who’s there?” he called, his mind racing. Had he forgotten to lock the door? No, he’d remembered. He was sure this was the Interahamwe, come for him at last!

Yet it was an unexpected sight that greeted his eyes as the bedroom door swung open and the moonlight flooded in. There in the doorway stood the dark and shapely silhouette of a woman, her hands at her sides, unarmed. As his eyes became accustomed to the dark, Rdece observed a seductive look in her gleaming eyes.

“Who are you?” he asked, trying to sound forceful. The woman responded by taking a slow step forward, then another and another. Her hips swayed hypnotically as she moved; Rdece was entranced. His eyes wandered slowly over her half-dressed form; her skin was dark and smooth, while her face, framed by long dark hair, featured bright eyes, half-closed, and a suggestive smirk. Slowly he let his arm fall to the side, his machete clattering to the floor.

Now she was almost to the bed. One last time, Rdece tried to speak. “What do y-” he was cut off as the woman placed one finger over his lips. She climbed on top of the bed, her legs straddling the spellbound man. Placing both hands on his shoulders, she forcefully pushed him down to the bed and covered his mouth with a passionate kiss.

All thoughts of resistance left Rdece at that moment. He returned the kiss hungrily and wrapped his arms around the woman’s lithe form, giving himself over completely to his body’s desire…

…

FLASHBACK

Inside a sterile white laboratory, two men were speaking in low tones.

“What you’re proposing is dangerous,” the first was saying. He was dressed in a white surgeon’s coat, and was cleaning several metal implements as he spoke. “She may have survived the first dose of nanites, but it’s unlikely she’ll survive long with the concentrations you suggest.”

“True,” responded the other, a man dressed more casually. “But think of the potential gain if it works. No epidemic has even approached the magnitude of AIDS. If we can succeed in expanding our network in this fashion, it will spread throughout the continent in a matter of months, with very little direct involvement from us. If there’s one thing that can be counted on without fail, it is mankind’s lack of self control.”

The ‘surgeon’ thought about this for a moment. “Your argument is sound,” he conceded. “She’s only one person, after all; we’re sure to gain another node before long. Still, I wish we didn’t have to risk our first and only node. I would’ve liked to have more time to study her.”

The casually-dressed man shrugged. “Not to worry,” he said. “You’ll soon have more than enough material to work with.”

The surgeon nodded and returned to his cleaning task, meticulously scrubbing each tool. “Who would have thought that our first convert would be a prostitute?” he mused. “Targeting those who appeared intelligent seemed like a logical choice, but appearances, it would seem, continue to deceive. I suppose it’s true… many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

END FLASHBACK

…

In a building across from Rdece.Jabolko’s house, a figure clad in black crouched on the roof and held a pair of binoculars up to his eyes. He was carefully observing the wild dance of the two figures inside. Yet this was no common voyeur. He was also monitoring something carefully on the screen of a small PDA.

Some time later the activity inside the bedroom became quiet. Two figures lay silently inside, embraced tightly in one another’s arms. And still the man in black watched and waited.

Several hours later, his expression became grim as he stared at the PDA. A hushed curse escaped his lips. He stood up and headed for a door on the roof, disappearing into the shadows.

…

At about the same time Rdece.Jabolko was arriving at home, another man was still on his way back from the proceedings. He had a little further to walk, as his house was on the far north side of town, down a long and secluded dirt road. The man known as Crazed Rabbit had long stood out among the people of Gisenyi as an unusually upright man. His trustworthiness was well-known, as his commitment to the truth extended even to situations in which it was not in his advantage to be honest. Tonight, he had not participated in the execution and was returning home with a clear conscience.

Abruptly, he felt something sharp pierce his neck. He gave a loud cry as his hand flew to the spot, hoping to swat away the insect or whatever it was that had bitten him. Instead, his hand came away with a small dart. He stared at it for a moment, puzzled. Then he fell to the ground, unconscious.

When he came to, there was a pungent, irritating sensation in his nose. He grunted, sneezed, and opened his eyes – only to shut them tightly again when a blinding light greeted him. He found himself strapped tightly to a table by his arms, legs, and head.

“Good morning, Mr. Rabbit,” came a voice from nearby. “I apologize for awakening you in this manner, but I’m afraid you must be conscious for the procedure.”

Opening his eyes a little, Crazed Rabbit looked around for the source of the voice. He saw a man in a white surgeon’s coat, withdrawing what appeared to be smelling salts and placing them aside.

“Bored of the old machete and rifle tactics, huh?” said Crazed Rabbit, trying to sound confident. “Why do you insist on continuing this? Don’t you see you’re only hurting everyone, both your people and ours? The genocide is over!”

“Genocide?” the ‘surgeon’ said, turning abruptly. “No, Mr. Rabbit, you misunderstand. I am not who you think I am; my goal is not your death. I seek only to aid humanity; and you, once you have seen the light, will undoubtedly be more than willing to help.”

“Help you?” muttered Crazed Rabbit incredulously. “Not likely. If you’re such a saint, let me go and tell me about your proposal like a civilized man.”

The surgeon shook his head, turning back to a table covered with metal implements. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” he said, selecting a scalpel and turning back. “The sacrifice required of you is too important to leave to your own free will.”

He picked up a diagram and studied it for a moment before continuing. “The maxillary branch of the trigeminal nerve is an excellent conduit to the brain,” he said. “But even more than that, it is among the most difficult to repair. Many who suffer injury to this nerve are forced to live with major facial damage for the rest of their lives. Yet the organization I represent believes we can reverse this, along with many other so-called ‘incurable’ conditions.”

The surgeon began swabbing Crazed Rabbit’s cheek with an alcohol-covered piece of cotton. “Yet as with every scientific advance, we can never be certain until we try, no?” he said. “I must make one more apology before we begin; you, of all people, deserve nothing less than the truth. I cannot tell you this will not hurt, for in truth, damage to this nerve is considered among the most agonizing pain a human being can experience. Alas, to maximize our chances of success, the operation will have to proceed without anesthesia. Yet be comforted in the knowledge that at the end of this you will understand the merits of our quest for knowledge. You will finally see the larger picture; you will be brought to the light.”

“No,” pleaded Crazed Rabbit as the scalpel approached. “NO!” He cried out in anguish as the sharp blade pierced his face below the cheekbone, severing the crucial nerve. After this he was unable to speak, but the pain remained unbearable as the man in white inserted a syringe into his face and injected something.

The surgeon continued working for a few more minutes, then staunched the bleeding and withdrew to a monitoring station. He typed rapidly into the computer for a few minutes, then sat down and watched.

The agony in his face was too great for Crazed Rabbit to notice the headache coming on several hours later. He greeted the unconsciousness that took him gratefully.

The man in white, however, shook his head sadly. “Another failure,” he said with disappointment in his voice. “I hope the other is having better fortune.”

…

The body of Rdece.Jabolko was discovered in the late morning by a neighbor, still in the embrace of a prostitute, also dead. It was generally agreed that the man had shown poor judgment, and was mostly responsible for his own demise. However, when Crazed Rabbit’s body was dug up from a shallow and poorly-hid grave later in the day, consternation once again gripped the town of Gisenyi.

People were already gathering near the town center when the news of Crazed Rabbit’s death arrived, however, for another reason. A second curious phrase had been left there, similar to the previous day’s message. Arranged in large letters formed from stones, this message read:

NOT THE INTERAHAMWE.

Mayor Rwigema, as on the previous day, was there to take charge. “This is indeed troubling,” he said to those nearby. “Not only does it appear likely we have killed an innocent man, but we may be facing a more serious threat than we originally supposed.”

“People of Gisenyi!” Rwigema announced in a louder voice to the gathered crowd. “Tonight we reconvene the court of Gacaca! It is clear that the killers remain among us, for four deaths in two days are too unlikely to be coincidence. Whether the Interahamwe or another threat, it is time to defend ourselves and our families!”

Status List

Murdered

BlackAxe3001
GeneralHankerchief
Crazed Rabbit
rdece.jabolko

Lynched

Warluster

Still Alive

AndresTheCunning
Caius Flaminius
CountArach
Destroyer of Hope
discovery1
Dutch_guy
greaterkhaan
HughTower
Ichigo
Ignoramus
Kagemusha
Killfr3nzy
Motep
Myrddraal
Omanes Alexandrapolites the Idiot
pevergreen
RoadKill
sapi
Sasaki Kojiro
Seamus Fermanagh
Sigurd Fafnesbane
Stig
Tran
TwilightBlade
Warmaster Horus
Xdeathfire
Xehh II