Tony was walking through the base's corridors, heading toward the library, when he noticed several posters hanging on the walls. They all bore the sa ssage:
"Co see Aconé, the fastest in the base!"
He stopped in his tracks when he read the na Aconé. He had heard that na before.
After a few seconds of thought, he rembered: he had t Aconé at the party that followed the competition to go to Australia.
"So he's still alive…" thought Tony. "I'll go take a look. But I doubt he rembers ."
He resud walking.
When he reached the library, he went in.
The place was vast, divided into six sections: literature, history, romance, combat techniques, strategy, and finally, a very particular one… the section containing books stolen from the Chang and Payo clans. That last one gathered their stories, culture, and valuable information about the galaxy they ca from before their arrival.
As Tony made his way toward that section, he was stopped by the library supervisor.
"Tell , what are you looking for in that section?" she asked with a suspicious tone.
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"Nothing. I just want to take a look. Out of all the sections, that one interests the most, ma'am," Tony replied.
She frowned, visibly irritated by the word ma'am.
"First of all, around here, everyone calls Lola or Supervisor Lola, not ma'am. Got it?" she said, grabbing the collar of Tony's shirt.
"Yeah, yeah… Supervisor Lola," he replied, a little embarrassed by how close she was standing.
"Good," she said, letting go of the collar. "Also, unlike the other sections, you can't bring any books from this one back to your room."
"Why?" asked Tony, cutting her off without thinking.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Let's get one thing straight: when I speak, you don't interrupt . Got it?"
Tony nodded.
"To answer your question, we can't afford to lose any information about our enemies, even if it's just their stories. Take a good look: clans never react when it's the chief's wife who gets killed. But when it's their son or daughter—especially the heir—the whole clan rises up. They'd move heaven and earth to find the killer."
"Killing the child will always enrage the parent… unless they didn't love them. That kind of emotion can blind them, drive them to act out of vengeance, and push them to make mistakes," Tony added.
"You think. I see that. It's rare these days. Young people have beco nothing more than soldiers, simple pawns at the command of their superiors, sent into war knowing that half—if not all—of them will die," Lola replied bitterly.
"Supervisor Lola… before coming here, I was told that the Payo clan arrived on Earth pretending to be saviors. But after it was revealed they also ca for war… so humans decided to stay with them. I was told we'd have to kill those people too…"
"Unfortunately, yes. To prove their loyalty to the clan, they have to kill Earth-born humans. Many here call them traitors. But honestly, most people would have done the sa. It's either that… or watch your whole family get slaughtered. So if one day, on the battlefield, they beg you for their life… don't hesitate," she replied solemnly.
She sighed.
"Well, I've held you up long enough. You can go into the section," Lola said.
Tony continued toward the shelves, but he had barely taken a few steps when Lola interrupted him again:
"I forgot to warn you. In that section, there's soone everyone avoids. They're… strange. Demoralizing. And very paranoid. Be careful, alright? There, now you can go."
The warning only piqued Tony's curiosity further. He was even more determined to explore the section.
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