Bab 44: Part 43
The uneasy peace we had brokered in the square lasted only for a few hours, but those few hours felt like a reprieve from the storm. By the time nightfall came, we had managed to convince the rioters to disperse, though they were far from placated. The woman who had spoken up for us—her name was Layla—had insisted that we organize a meeting for the next day, a chance for the movement to discuss their grievances and what came next. The crowd had reluctantly agreed, but I could see in their eyes that trust was still a rare commodity. They weren't looking for words anymore—they were looking for action.
Mara and I had returned to the command center, but the tension between us was palpable. She hadn't said much since we left the square, her face unreadable, but I could feel her thoughts churning beneath the surface. She didn't believe that the truce would hold, and neither did I. Peace, I knew, was an illusion in times like this.
We sat in silence for a while, staring at the glowing screens that flashed with reports of more unrest in other parts of the city. The fires had spread, the violence had escalated, and each new update seemed to confirm our worst fears—that the revolution was slipping through our fingers.
"How long do you think we can keep this up?" Mara finally asked, her voice a mixture of exhaustion and frustration.
I didn't answer right away. The truth was, I didn't know. We had promised the people change, but the more we tried to give it to them, the more we seemed to take a step backward. The system we had tried to replace had become so deeply entrenched in everything we did, in every decision we made, that it was hard to know where the revolution ended and the old regime began.
"Not much longer, I think," I said quietly. "Every attempt we make to quell the unrest just fans the flames more. We need something drastic. Something real."
Mara turned to look at me, her eyes sharp. "What are you suggesting? More violence? More crackdowns?"
"No," I said quickly. "But we can't keep pretending like we're in control when we're not. If we want to show them that we're different from the old system, we have to do more than talk. We need to make a bold move. Something that can't be ignored."
Mara studied me for a moment, her gaze weighing me as though searching for something in my expression, something that would tell her I wasn't just another politician looking to save face. "And what do you have in mind?"
I hesitated. The idea had been simmering in the back of my mind for a while, ever since the protest in the square, but I hadn't allowed myself to truly think it through. It was reckless. It was dangerous. But maybe, just maybe, it was the only way forward.
"We need to dismantle the power structures that are holding everything together—the corporate deals, the special interest groups, the corrupt officials. If we really want to change things, we need to take down the people who have been profiting off this chaos. The ones who've been pulling the strings from the shadows."
Mara frowned, clearly skeptical. "That's going to be impossible. You're talking about taking on the entire system, Psycho. The people who run the country—the corporations, the oligarchs, the military. You can't just… wipe them out."
"I don't mean literally wipe them out," I said, though I could feel the words coming out more impulsively than I had intended. "But we need to strip them of their power. We need to hit them where it hurts."
Mara stood up, pacing the room. "How do you plan to do that? Do you want us to start shutting down the economy? Arresting every politician? You think the people will rally behind that?"
I felt a cold rush of unease. The idea was taking shape in my mind, but I didn't have all the answers. I had seen the anger in the eyes of the people in the square—the fear, the desperation. And I knew what I wanted. But Mara was right—this wasn't just about taking action for the sake of action. It had to be strategic. It had to work.
"I don't know," I admitted, my voice low. "But I think we need to find a way to expose everything—make it public. If we can show the people who's really in charge, who's really been pulling the strings, we can break the system down. We can destroy their control."
"You want to leak their secrets," Mara said, her tone sharp. "You want to expose everything—every deal, every crime, every dirty secret."
"Yes," I said, the idea growing more solid. "We need to make them bleed in the public eye. Not with violence, but with truth. We show the people the rot underneath everything, and then we give them the chance to tear it all down."
She stared at me for a long time, the silence between us heavy. I could feel her thinking, her calculating mind working through the risks. She wasn't agreeing with me—not yet. But I could tell she was considering it, weighing the consequences.
"You're talking about a public revolution," Mara said finally. "But you're also talking about chaos. This could destroy everything we've worked for."
"I know," I said. "But we can't keep pretending like we're fixing things when we're just patching over the wounds. We need to burn it all down. And once it's gone, we rebuild. From the ground up."
Mara looked away, her eyes distant. "You're asking a lot. The people will have to make the choice. If they see us as the ones trying to save the system—if they see us as part of the machine, even if we're on the outside—then we're no better than the ones who came before."
"And if we fail, if we don't act, they'll see us as just another set of false leaders. Another group of people who promised change but couldn't deliver."
She nodded slowly. "So what's the plan? Who do we expose first?"
I didn't have an answer yet. But I knew one thing for sure: we had to start somewhere. The revolution wasn't just about overthrowing the government—it was about exposing the rot that had been festering in the system for so long. We had to make the truth undeniable, no matter how dangerous or ugly it was.
"We'll figure it out," I said. "But we need to be prepared. It's going to get worse before it gets better."
Mara met my gaze, her eyes hard, but there was something else in them now—something like resolve. "I'm in," she said quietly. "But you better be ready for the consequences. If we do this, there's no turning back."
I nodded. I wasn't sure if I was ready, but I knew there was no other way. This was the only choice we had left.
As we left the command center, the weight of the decision hung over me. I didn't know where this would lead. I didn't know if it would work. But I knew one thing: the revolution had reached its breaking point. And if we were going to save it, we had to go all in. No more half measures. No more pretending.
We were going to burn it all down.
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