Letter from a Broken Heart

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 27 Mar 2002 14:30:56 GMT
Author Unknown
Exclusive to Roadhouse Sierra

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Disclaimer:

The message was received last week into this computer from an unknown source. It arrived via e-mail with no e-mail headers whatsoever. Therefore we have no means with which to verify it's authenticity. The message had no title and no signature. We have chosen to give this message the title, "Letters from a Broken Heart."

Some of the material contained in this message may be a bit disturbing. We are releasing the details of this letter in it's entirety.

It's authenticity can only be determined by the reader.

Read at your own risk.

Hello.

I hope whoever gets this message passes it around to their friends. It's the only one I will ever send you - if this thing works. This is my second try. I am sitting here writing - actually speaking to you at a desk. My friends are outside waiting for me.

In front of me is my mother's old, worn Bible, a copy of a Constitution and my father's Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver. I have only one bullet left. If our calculations are correct, you should receive this message before it's too late. I think it should be around Easter for you. It should be the year 01-- if this machine is working, and if I'm calculating correctly.

Who am I? My name is not important. Neither are my parent's names. But some of you may know them. I'll talk about them later. You will understand why my name is not important. Where am I? Somewhere in the mountains of North America. But that is not important either. I really can't stay long. I'm writing to you because I'm going to start a rebellion. That's correct, a war. It would be best if I first told you about life here today.

If my calendar is right, it is November 30, the year 18. I am sorry, that is 2018 AD to you. We stopped using the first two digits years ago. For most of us, life is wonderful. The snowcapped mountains are beautiful this time of year. I wish I could show you all the new technology. Everything is voice command. A few years ago, the Probe finally sent back pictures from the Alpha Centari system. Scientists say they have proof that life exists on other planets. I thought you might like to know that. For some reason, I still find it hard to believe. The medical industry thinks they've got the aging problem licked. The news said by next year, people can live to be 200 years old in an accident free life.

The Network is bigger and better than ever. You called it the Internet. I know what you are thinking, but most of those computers made it through those rough times. The ones you are using however are ancient compared to what's available now. In fact, my friends and I sometimes used your computers for target practice. They are antiques now. The newest circuitry uses cerebral-cell enhanced integration that --

I am sorry. I have to remind myself that you might not comprehend some of the everyday things here.

No one goes hungry anymore. Television, movies, radio and books are all online. Everything is online. Everything delivered to your door. There aren't even money problems. Anyone can get a line of credit. Most people, anyway. And what's most important: The world is at peace. I turned 18 a few months ago. That means I can vote, get a job, maybe even start a business. Yes sir, I'm an official adult now. They say I can set my own destiny.

But I'm throwing it all away. All for the rebellion I'm going to start. Yes, I will start a war. I will fire the first shot with this, my last bullet. I won't miss. I take full responsibility for what I am doing, and I know the consequences. And I know what will happen if they catch me.

You should be asking, why would I want to do this? Good Question.

You see, there are two kinds of people in the world today. Those who have the Registration on their right hand, and those who are Registered on their foreheads. The party members, public officials and their families are privileged not to have their Registrations showing. But those who came from the work camps, the laborers, the ex-prisoners, military and many other lower class people have forehead Registrations. No, it's not just here. It's virtually every person on this planet. Everyone has a Registration. Everyone needs a Registration. That's how you get access to the Network. And since everything is on the Network, no one can buy or sell anything unless they are Registered.

I hope that explains that.

Now you are asking, "So where is your Registration? On your hand, or on the forehead?"

Well, I have neither. My friends and I are among the few people left on earth that fall under the category of "Un-Registered" persons. Since I can't send you pictures, I can't show you what a Registration looks like. But I remember my father showing me an empty soup can he saved from when I was younger. I remember the thin black lines on the label that he said, "identified the cans as they went through check-out," whatever that means. Anyway, that's what a Registration looks like. I don't have one. And I don't want one, either.

You see, I remembered what my mother and father told me.

I live in these mountains. I was born here. I was raised here. I have been an outdoor type of person all of my life. I feed myself well. My clothes aren't bad. And I'm in pretty good health. I have never stolen anything. My father called stealing "evil." I have all these things because of what I do. I am a Network Terrorist. That's what I'm called by the Network and the Government. According to your files, you would call me a computer hacker. I learned to do this from my father. People told me I'm pretty good at it. We live in what is known as the Underground. That's why they have never found me.

Yes, I have found some of your files. The technology that helped me find your data is what we are using in hopes of contacting you. Some of us thought maybe it would work in reverse. Either it's a pretty good guess, or I'm just talking to myself.

Enough about me. You want to know why and how I'm going to start a rebellion with just one bullet. Fine. Let me tell you about my parents and what I've seen in my life.

It's important.

I was born the 4th day of July, in the Zero year. According to what my mother told me, they took their recreational vehicle to my grandfather's house in the mountains around Thanksgiving in the year 99. In fact, they should be there now.

I guess my grandmother was sick, and dad wanted to take care of her. They knew the Zero year was coming. They had lots of food, a few guns, medicine and other stuff. I guess everyone thought the computers were going to mess up at the Zero year. My grandfather didn't believe it. That's what mom told me. He called them paranoid, but they were going to be together, just to be safe. Dad took time off his computer security job to be with his parents. Dad said that's when his father found out he was going to be a grandfather.

Then something happened. I don't know when, but I think they said it was before the start of the 02 year. Mom and Dad never wanted to talk about it, but it must have been horrible. They said the whole world knew about it. They blamed people like my parents. For all these years, I never knew why. Anyway, my grandfather did not want my parents at his house anymore. He told them to leave.

They tried to get back home but Mom said they never made it. They never saw their home again. I remember her saying the roads were blocked. But my father was smart. He drove far away, back into the mountains. He said they were going to stay there until it was safe to come out. That's where I was born -- about eight months later. During that time there was some kind of special operation going on, I was told. Something like "Save the Children, Stop the Hate," I think.

I don't remember much from when I was younger, just moving around a lot. My father told me this was because the land didn't belong to us. It belonged to the Network. He said they stole it by Executive Order. I have seen a lot of those in my life.

I remember other children I used to play with. Their parents, like mine were all part of the Underground. Many of those children are my friends today. Our parents taught us how to read, write and pray. We hunted our own food, and made our own clothes -- all in the Underground. For a long time, I never knew why so many people were in the Underground. My father had saved up lots of food. That's why I remember the labels on those empty cans -- the ones with the Registrations on them.

My mother told me everything became very expensive. I guess people still used money back then, even in the Underground. Then the money went away. I remember when they would make us pray whenever the sky over a city had a red glow at night. I saw a lot of those when I was young. But we were safe. We were in the mountains.

I remember the Year 4. My father would go into the town and yell and pray for all the people who were standing in line at the post office. Everywhere we went, people were in the Line. Some of my friends left the Underground and stood in the Line. Mom said they were just hungry. Sometimes we would pass by the camps. They were guarding the people there. I remember my father saying people like him were there. Some of them were his friends. The guards were from the Government.

In the Year Five, I got to use a computer for the first time. It was at a church. Things were okay, I guess. People had food again, but my father kept us in the Underground. He said he didn't like what was going on. Whenever we went there, he would show me how the computers worked. He fixed computer problems in return for food and other things. He taught me to do the same. People would bring their computers to the church at night so we could fix them. Sometimes I would hear my father arguing with the Pastor. I remember the Pastor saying, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" and "There's nothing we can do about it." Mom told me that it had something to do with an Executive Order.

You see, the Government was always worried like it is today. There was an order that all Pastors had to submit their sermons in writing before Sunday morning. That's why they wanted my father to keep their computers working. All sermons and names of people who went to any church had to be sent over the Network. If Pastors did not do this, the Network would not take the cards people used for tithing. If the Pastors could not make their payments to the Network, the Government would come and close the church.

For some reason, the Network didn't like the Pastors. The news said they were people like my father. I don't think the people at the churches were happy. The Government began to close many of them. We had to stay in the mountains longer.

I remember Mom crying when one of the Pastors refused to obey the law. They surrounded his church with tanks. Some people stayed in the church with him. The news said the tanks had no choice but to open fire since he would not come out. The church burned to the ground. Mom said it was because Dad was helping the churches cheat on their cards so they would not have to pay. People in the underground wanted to bury the bodies, but the Government prevented them. That's when I first heard the word terrorist. Many people were terrorists. My Dad said he was proud to be one. I never knew why. In the Year Six, around January, everyone in the Underground was talking about the newest Executive Order.

You see, a lot of people were cheating with their cards. People didn't want them, they were cutting them up and burning them. That made my father happy. It was happening in other countries, too. I remember my mother saying the emergency credit system had fallen apart. Terrorists were everywhere. People wanted Washington -- the people who ran the network, to do something. I guess that's when the Registrations started.

It was optional. People could keep their cards, but the news said that terrorists from the Underground were stealing or cheating with them. The way to prevent cheating and theft was to have the Registration stamped on your right hand. Computers got better then. But there was a big argument at the United Nations in New York around that time. People had different money systems. To fix the problem, everyone agreed to used the same Registration system. This was so no one would go hungry. People stood in the Line to get their Registration. But my parents would not.

I and my friends in the Underground grew up faster than the other children. We had to. Our fathers taught many of us how to hunt, fish, grow food and even make our own clothes. For a long time we were so busy that we never had time to watch the news on the Network. Sometimes we'd go to the camps and help the people there. We would pray for them. They used to give my father hope. By the year Eight, many of those people died. The others were people who didn't want to follow the orders of the authority. Anyone who went to the camps could not leave unless they had been Registered. And those Registrations were stamped on their foreheads.

Most people didn't mind since the new computers used the Registrations. It made using the Network easier. But my father never did. He kept telling people not to be Registered, but more and more people didn't listen. He tried to organize the people, but they were too old or too weak to fight back. No one wanted to get involved with my father. People kept calling him a terrorist. The few people who would listen kept saying, "Wait until the right moment. If we do anything foolish, it will give the Government the excuse to declare Martial Law."

My father told me that a lot of people thought the Zero year would bring what he called the "Second Coming." But he always kept saying, "No man knoweth the day or the hour." He's right. No man knows. Neither do I.

Neither do I.

In the Year 10, the newer generations of computer finally arrived. It was some kind of private/public joint venture. I was already pretty good at networking by then. When we figured out how these new computers worked with the Network my dad and I had a lot more computer customers.

With the new computers, you can just speak and listen to your own computer, rather than typing. Most people loved them. But these computers can also look back at you. They had to in order to read the Registration from the hand or forehead. It became so convenient and popular that all the business did all their customer transactions on the Network. With all those terrorists running around, the government said, this was the safest, cheapest and most reliable way to do business.

My father tried to tell many people at the churches that this was wrong, but they labeled him a "conspiracy theorist," and said he should just learn to adjust to the new technology. But they still wanted him to bypass the Network security checks on the Network so they could talk and do business in private. After a while my father stopped helping them.

There were many things going on around the world back then. I would hear about them while helping people with the Network systems. There were several wars going on, but no one had any idea what they were about. The government would not give any information. It was because of the new Executive Order called, "National Security Protocol." The only way most people found out there was a war was when they would receive a notice on the Network that they had been conscripted and had to report to the nearest Post Office.

One thing I will tell you: We found out that a lot of people were very upset with the United States for a long time. I don't know why. The Government never told us. But believe me, you will find this out. Even before your time, your government made some people very mad. Some of them that you think are your friends are not really your friends at all.

Some of the older children went to the Post Office to see what was going on. There was a line there. There was always a line for some reason. Anyway, they got too close and were taken away. We watched from a distance. A lot of the police there spoke different languages. But the electronic translators from the Network helped everyone understand. There was nothing we could do to help our friends that were taken. We never saw them again.

You see, our country didn't have enough healthy people for military service. Other nations had called this country for help in the past. Washington said they were just "returning the favors." My father was very upset about this. He thought we should fight back. My mother just cried all the time. But no one would do anything. No one wanted to do anything that would give the Government the excuse they needed. That's what I remember hearing.

I remember bad things happening in the Year 11. Registrations became mandatory. It was another one of those Executive Orders. Some people tried to stop it, but it failed by one vote. There were lots of people wanting help getting to the Underground.

My father and his group said they wouldn't take anyone that did not have their own weapons and food. My mom made them change their minds and they began helping people anyway. That's when my friends and I had to do a lot of hunting for food. We had a lot of people to feed.

We found out that a lot of the people we helped to the Underground were helping the government find us since we weren't on the Network. They found our campsite eventually. The only thing that saved us was that one of the people we helped told us they were coming. They took mom away. My father got away wounded. My friends said he got two of the Government men. He couldn't walk anymore. He told me a few things before he died. But the most important thing he told me is what inspired me to send you this letter.

Something else happened that year. Since my friends and I are not Registered, we can't watch the news. But from what I found out, something happened in a place called, "The Middle East." The Government had long since banned any news from other countries. They called it "inciteful speech." Whatever happened, it caused the U.S. to lose it's seat on the Untied Nation's security Council. They had even lost the power to vote at the UN.

That was the last time I ever saw my father smile.

In the Year 12, my father passed away. The new president moved her offices from the White House to the UN Building in New York. She vows to stay there until the United States regains it's voting power in the UN. So she stays in New York while the First Lady stays in Washington writing Executive Orders. It's been that way ever since.

We've been on our own now for all these years. There are about 35 of us left. We miss our parents. We heard that some of them are still alive in the camps. We still have church, but only at night with no campfires. Open fires are banned now. Banned by Executive Order. We keep in touch with what's going on with a few fake accounts my father and I set up on the Network.

On every Network site there's a logo in the right hand corner that says, "A World at Peace." According to the UN Security Council, the United States has signed a treaty that will effectively end all wars -- forever. I don't know what the treaty says but I hear the Americans have made a few concessions.

Shortly after the "Treaty of 17," everyone who gave information on the whereabouts of Un-Registered people were given extra credits on their Registrations upon our capture. We found this out from many of the people we helped out in the Underground. I found a close friend who had escaped military service. He said he was on patrol against the Idaho Terrorists. One night while he was asleep, he was gang-raped by some of his fellow soldiers while others watched. He made a report to his superiors but they told him that if he ever mentioned it he would be sent to the work camps for life. So he and a few others escaped. He was the only one to make it out alive. He also told me there would be others behind him.

Remember that Alpha Centauri Project I told you about? Well, the Government is real mad about that. The UN wants to tax everyone even more to send people there. But the NASA scientists, the smart ones, have all escaped. I helped one of them. In return, he told me about how those rockets made it so far. It had something to do with electromagnetic differentiation, or something like that. The point is, we thought we could use the same technology they used to communicate with their rockets to speak to you. We first tried to contact the future, but no one responded. My NASA friend said it was because "there is no future."

Perhaps he's right. But like my father said, "No man knoweth the hour or the day." A lot of people thought they knew. Many of them are in the prison camps. They were all branded as terrorists. Many of them are dead. There is some good news, though.

We found out that the Underground wasn't just here in these mountains, but all over the world -- just like the Government and the Network are. Here, we spent the last few months helping people escape to safety. An Underground in Europe said that worldwide, we helped about 144,000 people escape. I don't know where they are today, I just know it came from a good source.

We heard there was a big festival coming. Something about a celebration of "Giya." I don't know what it means, but I managed to sneak near one of the old churches while I was in town. I came back with a note that was on the church to the Un-Registered people and told them what I saw going on.

There were lots of people going in, but very few people coming out. Through another door, I saw people in chains bringing small white packages out and putting them into refrigerated transports. I found someone who recognized me because I looked like my father. He was standing in line at the church. I asked him what was going on.

"It's part of the celebration," he said. He also told me the small white packages were food to go to the prison work camps. That was part of the "Treaty of 17." He tried to make me understand.

No one wanted to pay for taking care of terrorists anymore. No one wanted to feed them either. They were starving and dying in the camps. But the Government set up programs at all the churches so that those who felt sorry for them could make donations to help feed them. We got a report from South America about what was going on inside. I tried to pull the man out of line but he said, "The Government said it's okay, and it's the right thing to do. Don't let the terrorists tell you otherwise."

I never had the chance to tell the people what would happen to them when they walked in those churches, nor did I have the strength to send a message to the camps about what they were being fed. I think they all knew. But since cults are banned, our churches are property of the Government. By Executive Order, they are all now human slaughter houses. After all, I was told, they were used as compounds for terrorists. This is now policy, and the only thing keeping the people at the camps alive.

Maybe this may help you understand why I'm going to start this rebellion with this, my last bullet. But let me tell you about the message I found at the church.

I took the notice back to my friends at our campsite. It had the names of hundreds of Un-Registered people from around the world who had been found or killed. I tried to contact them over the Network, but we have not received any returns. We are, I'm afraid, the last ones on earth.

We all had a meeting last night. We talked a lot, and we prayed. The message told us that many of our parents, including my mother, were still alive at the camps. If we all became Registered, they would be allowed to go free, and we would receive lots of credits on the Network. Enough to buy homes, start businesses, even buy a transport.

We are outnumbered in the world by about six billion to 35. We're all out of ammunition and there's no use fighting any more. At least we can live in a warm home, eat good food and even enjoy a little music that we don't have to steal off the Network. We took a vote last night. Everyone decided to turn themselves in, even me. The transport is coming now and we all spent our last night together before joining the rest of society. I had a bad dream last night and woke up in a sweat. I ran from our camp and spent the rest of the night to try and get this machine working. This is my last chance. I only hope you can hear me. I've told you everything I could in the time I have. Now, the sun's coming up and I've been here sending you this message for too long. But before I go, I'd better tell you the real reason I am going to start this rebellion all by myself.

I sit here with my mother's old Bible, a Constituion and my father's old Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver. You see, my friends, all these things are banned. And it is these three items that a person can be killed on sight for having. I thought you'd like to know that. But more importantly, you would like to know who I am.

I am a child of a Patriot. And it was only tonight that I decided to go against my mother's wishes and read the last chapter of this Bible. My father was teaching me about this Constitution thing, and I never knew it. But you did. You had all of these things. I read some of your e-mail. You knew some of these things were coming. So as a child Patriot, I'm going to start this war. I will fire the first shot.

Why?

Because you never did. This Martial Law thing you folks talked about never happened! When this government was blatant about what it was doing, no one lifted a finger. Thank you, patriots. Thanks a lot. Now, the last of us will be carted off to Babylon - or whatever you call it.

Yes, I'm yelling at you. Do you know how many of us died out here? Do you know what kind of lives we were forced to lead because of you? No, you don't, because you were all too busy thinking about yourselves! No one wanted to go to jail. No one wanted to fire the first shot. Well, no one ever did. And most of you went to jail, anyway. The rest of you were either killed or you just took that stupid Registration anyway.

I'll fire the first shot! I'm doing this for you. I don't know if it will change history. I don't even know if you'll ever get this message. But if so, you don't have to worry about who'll fire the first shot to start your revolution. I will. No wonder my father, even in his dying days, kept repeating to himself, "Why didn't we fight back? Why didn't we just start shooting? We had all those guns! Why didn't we just fight back?"

I'll answer his question. Because no one wanted to be labeled. No one wanted to be targeted. Well, my friends and I have been labeled from birth. We have been targeted from birth. And from what I've been reading from your letters, your Network sites and your e-mails, you people knew all about this. You had to!

But we never had a chance. Even when we found the technology to read what you were saying, we didn't have much to work with. None of us know how to make our own weapons. We were using whatever we could find just to eat. No one ever left us instructions on what to do. You left us with little information to even fight a battle. When some of you realized you had nothing left to lose, you were too old and weak to fight back. You wanted us to do it for you. But with what? Did any of you think of what kind of world we would be living in because of your actions, or lack of action?

The only way I found you was because of my dad. You see, just before he died, I told him about this new technology. He gave me all the Network locations (called Earls) that he had in his head. I went searching from there. That's how I found you.

If you get this message, know that the first shot has been fired. Know that you don't have to worry about "giving the Government the excuse they need." I spent my life without ever giving the Government an excuse, and they did it anyway. And the only crimes we committed were staying alive.

I have to go now. The transport just pulled up. They will come looking for me. Even though we all agreed last night to go and get Registered, I know I speak for all of us. Each one of us -- your children, are now leaving with broken promises, broken dreams, and broken hearts. I will now point this last gun, this last bullet at the same place you people pointed your guns.

At my own head.

Now you know. And now I know that by the time you read this, in my time, in my own heart, in my own soul, I will be dead.

Don't cry for me, patriot. This is what the rest of us are doing, but they're just not using a gun. In your time, you kept hearing, "Save the Children! Save the Children" from your Government. Well, if you have received this message, you know what happened to your children. Maybe by firing this first shot, things will change in your future. Maybe this will start the Rebellion that was needed, but never happened.

When I get to Heaven, I may face the Ultimate Judgement. But I will ask God before my sentence, for one last request: I will ask him to Save the Children.

I have read the Last Chapter, and I know what it means. We have lived it. And now I must go. But I leave you with the other reason this gun is pointed at my head. It was my father's dying words.

"Never let them take you alive."

END OF NETWORK TRANSMISSION

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