The Phantom School 86 Choice

I got kicked in my stomach and fell down. It was a pretty strong push, the awful feeling in my gut forced me to vomit out what was left inside me. I coughed and tried to keep breathing. I tried to get up as soon as I recovered from the initial hit, but I was pushed back down to the ground from my chest.

I looked to see who I was fighting with. That moment... It could be the most confusing second in my life. There she was! It was Idil, or most probably the other instance of her. She was aiming the gun at me, keeping me on the ground by pressing against my chest with her foot.

"Calm down, it's me, it's me!" I said.

"It's not you." This wasn't Idil's voice at all... Cansu was back, and she was talking to me.

"Please turn the gun away, you are going to kill me!" I said.

"You were pretty sad about not having sacrificed your life earlier, weren't you?" Cansu said. "Now, you let yourself become a part of the evil and you are now a most serious threat to us. A threat... that we can not allow to last long enough."

"Bold words for someone who ran away from the warzone at the first opportunity." the voice of The Community spoke. "Unfortunately for you, the truth is now revealed to him."

"And that's exactly where you fail." Cansu replied. "Giving in to the dark feelings; the anger, the need for revenge you have acc.u.mulated through years; instead of thinking everything logically and trying to save-"

"We already tried it that way, and if it could solve anything, he and she wouldn't be here today." the voice said, referring to me and Idil. "We allowed Mr. Kenan to try to keep everyone away from danger, yet... It failed. Many times. That's when we understood that we will have to show our teeth. You still think of us as enemies, but in the greater picture; this is the best for all of us. Now, don't stand in our way, or face destruction."

"You've become the very thing you were supposed to destroy." Cansu said.

"Although I don't like your ways, I must admit, I am a bit amazed that you thought of your destruction as a wiser choice." the voice said. "So be it. Many people who decided to face us didn't make it, nor shall you. Not owning a physical body isn't an advantage on your side."

There was a short silence. I was preparing to push Idil away and escape at any time.

"Let us make a deal." Idil spoke for the first time, and broke the silence. "Leave him to us, and we will not stand in your way."

"How will we trust you with that?" the voice asked.

"What are you doing!?" Cansu yelled at Idil.

"The facility is already on the verge of destruction." Idil said. "Your victory is inevitable. So, at least as a grat.i.tude for his services, let him go."

"It was his choice to join us." the voice said.

"It most certainly wasn't." Cansu said. "It is known that you can take advantage of emotional breakdowns and take control of people through manipulation. I know this, because I was with him there. So, in this case, a better question would be... how will WE trust YOU?"

"We have nothing to lose by not making a deal with you." the voice replied.

"We have located the ma.s.s grave your bodies were buried into." Idil said.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" the voice suddenly got excited.

"Now, you are willing to discuss a deal, aren't you?" Cansu said.

"Give us the information!" the voice shouted.

"No, no, no... This is not even close to a fair deal." Cansu said.

"Why is this such an important infor-" I was about to ask something.

"Shut up, we'll get to that later." Idil told me.

"What do you want?" the voice said.

"First of all, him." Idil pointed at me.

"This is not possible, he chose to be with us!" the voice said.

"If that's true, let go of him and let him say it again!" Cansu said. "Let go of him!"

"Alright." the voice sighed. "But in that case, she will have to point the gun somewhere else. Only then it can truly be a free choice."

Idil pointed the gun down, away from me, and looked into my eyes sharply. I was suddenly feeling... different. Like something had been out-of-place all the time, and someone had just put them back correctly.

"It is up to you." Cansu said. I was trying to think about the choices and their consequences, so I stayed silent for a while.

If I sided with Idil and Cansu, would The Community betray and attack us after they got what they wanted? On the other hand, if I sided with The Community, it would be near impossible for me to save Idil or Cansu. Or perhaps, even worse... Cansu could risk killing me if I sided with The Community.

Despite not having any weapons pointing towards me, it was feeling like I was constantly being targeted. This was not a free choice at all...

"Don't let their strenght deceive you." Idil said. "We've survived a lot of-"

"Silence!" the voice yelled. "Let HIM decide." Idil shut his mouth.

Although I didn't get why it was that important, Idil and Cansu apparently had some important information in their hands which The Community wanted so desparately. It could be useful to gain some time.

"I..." I began talking. "I am not a member of The Community."

That was it... Why was it so hard to say?

"You heard him." Cansu said.

"You have something we want." the voice said.

"We had not stated all of our demands yet." Cansu said.

"What else can you possibly ask for?" the voice said. "He is proven to be a most important a.s.set for all the groups partic.i.p.ating in this quest."

"I need to talk to him." Cansu said. "Then, we will continue discussing."

The voice went silent for a while.

"You are given five minutes." the voice said.

"Walk to the intersection." Cansu said to me. Idil helped me get up, and I started walking to the nearby intersection. Idil followed.

"Not you." Cansu told Idil. "I need to talk with him in private."

Idil stopped following me. I finally came to the intersection. There was no one around.

"What are we doing here?" I asked her.

"First of all, you need to take care of your weak mind." she said. "I am disappointed in your ability to recognise and resist the manipulations, despite your vast experience in this field."

"I... I know, but I relied on you. What were you doing all the time?" I asked her.

"I was trying to rescue someone you know." she said.

"About that..." I wanted to talk, but Cansu didn't let me.

"Well..." Cansu said. "She is a clone. The one you saw a few seconds ago... She is not the real one."

"Wait, what? How do you know?" I asked her.

"Trust me on that one." she said. "Her body is same, but her mind is very different. You would understand better if you had my abilities."

"So, the real one is..."

"Yeah." she said. "She is dead..."

Another silent moment followed those words. I looked down, depressed. What would we do with a clone of her? How would we treat it?

"...almost." Cansu said. "The real her is almost dead."