Dystopian story- Solveig

Day 1

I was so curious to finally meet Solveig, with whom I have been in touch for some years. We started communicating after an international project, when she took my address and started illegally writing me emails. She was really good at computers, but she was also lucky that her parents worked for the government.

Her parents know we're talking and they got me a visa to finally visit Solveig after so much online communication. The problem was that she lived in Alvheim and it was really hard to get in there. Alvheim is marked as a totalitarian state on the map and no one knows what's really going on there. Solveig doesn't really tell me about her country either, probably to not put her parents in a bad light.

I flew a private plane up there; the flight was quite long and my head ached. On landing, about 4 people were waiting for me, all armed and they escorted me at a checkpoint where I had to undress from top to bottom. It wasn't the most pleasant welcoming, but I'm not complaining either.

After that, the people escorted me in a khaki jeep to the girl's apartment. In the car, I looked out the windows and saw poor and sad people, but it wasn't as bad as I imagined.

We arrived at the building where Solveig lived. The men, who didn't take their eyes off me, took me to the front of her apartment.

She was more beautiful in person than in the pixelated pictures she sent.  I hugged her and stepped into her house. It was a big and beautiful house, more beautiful than any block of workers I passed by.

We ate dinner and I met her family. Her parents were nice, but they kept asking me questions about me and didn't say anything about them.

I received an identity card, it's a piece of blue and thin plastic, which has all your information. Mine is a partial card. You have to scan it at any door you enter through. If you leave the house and go to the store for example, you have to scan the card when leaving the house, entering the store, at the cash register (the government must know what you bought), when leaving the store and at the entrance to the house. The cards had to be scanned in several places, for example Solveig had to scan hers every hour at school, to prove that she was not absent. All the data gathered by the cards was in the government's system. Those in the government had a yellow card, a card that opened more doors.

 Solveig had school and I waited in the house until it came back. I admit, I tried a few times to go outside but the system at the door told me that I must be accompanied by an official, that is, I am not allowed to go anywhere without Solveig.

When she arrived, we both went for a short walk through the city. The places, which we saw, were overly beautiful and clean. The walk was nice and I really enjoyed spending time with Solveig. Unfortunately, we rushed back to her apartment because she had the obligatory afternoon training.

She dressed in a short and khaki uniform. She had a beret with the country emblem it. On her shoulder she had her training level noted, which was quite high.

I was allowed to come too, but I would have to remain until the end and respect the visitor conditions.

Upon entering the unit, she scanned her card and I scanned mine. When I approached my device, a security guard came to me, as if he felt my card. He respectfully greeted Solveig and put a sticker with a visitator on my shirt.

She quickly went to the large ground, while the guard tied my hands so that I would not walk through the unit and escorted me into a glass room from where I could look at the training ground very well. The training lasted for some time, but I waited. They were doing all kinds of exercises, quite strange in my opinion. A kind of self-defense, including exercises to shoot with the gun to the target.

These trainings were mandatory for all students, but the exercises were divided into different categories, Solveig being already advanced.

In the evening, I slept in her living room, on the hard sofa, but I still slept really well.

 

 

Day 2

Today I woke up and ate a small and tasty breakfast with a lot of protein and vitamins. The food differs a lot from the one at home, although both are delicious.

I waited again until Solveig returned from school, meanwhile I browsed her parents' books and read some sequences from them.

One book was about all the culture and history of the state of Alvheim, and the political scale was explained.

The cards worked like this:

Black card - The card that detainees and people without rights have. With it you cannot enter any room, basically the dirty streets were a "prison" for you.

Light blue card - A card used for a limited term by foreigners, with restricted possibilities.

Dark blue card - The most common card, had the rights of a normal citizen.

Yellow card - Card owned only by people who work in the government, with special rights and benefits compared to a normal card.

White card with the emblem - It was a single copy that belonged to the leader. The card information is difficult to access and the card has all the possible rights and benefits.

On each door it was mentioned what kind of cards are accepted.

As I mentioned the leader, his identity was unknown. No one knows what he looks like, but the citizens have to respect his order.

Solveig finally arrived home and I was very happy to see her. She was a little sad because she got a pretty bad grade in history.

She was a good student, maybe one of the best, that's why we met at the international science project.

Today I went to meet her friends. We went to a bakery where two girls were waiting for us.

I found out they were called Alva and Tove. At first, they didn't talk much, but they began to get used to my presence. After that, I asked them how they became such good friends.

The answer I received shocked me very much, I could not believe my ears. They explained to me that this is how the government assigned them, depending on the grades and physical condition.

You couldn't choose your friends, they were already chosen for you and you had to go out with them at least once a week and report the meeting, so that the government would boast about its social status. All the time I heard: “Everyone in Alvheim is very sociable", but I found out the truth.

In the afternoon, Solveig cleaned her gun and uniform and went to training. I did not accompany her anymore and I stayed in the house, reading more about this state.

 

Day 3

Today I came up with a very good idea. I was thinking about Solveig and I wanted to help her get out of this country, so I asked her to meet Alva and Tove again. We scheduled a meeting with them in the woods, near a cave.

It was safe there and I could tell them what I had in mind. I wanted to get all three of them out of the country because they've been so nice to me since I've been here.

The plan was to get in the luggage area when the plane took off, they could enter with the help of Solveig's parents' cards on the back entrance and hide among the luggage. There is democracy in my country and I also want these three innocent girls to feel freedom.

At first, my idea seemed silly to them. They asked me what was wrong with their regime, so I explained to them what it's like to be able to express your own opinion, to be able to choose your friends, not to depend on the cards, not to have to go through a daily military training and not to be afraid of the government.

They were shocked to hear all this, it seemed to them that I was coming from paradise. They discussed my idea of escaping and the hope of a better life.

I was happy that these girls trusted me and that I could help humanity somehow.

We extended the plan and explained to them how to get through the security at the airport without being detected.

Tonight, they packed their luggage and Solveig prepared ammunition for any possibility.

I am sure that they will be able to get on the plane without the slightest problem.

After her parents fell asleep, Solveig got went in their room and stole their cards from the bedside table.

I put myself on the sofa, half asleep, thinking that maybe sometime I would be able to change all this propagandistic state into a free and pacifist one.

 

Last day

Early in the morning the same gentlemen appeared at the door who escorted me in their jeep. I walked in smiling, although on the inside I was thinking only about the safety of the girls.

If they didn't succeed, what happens then? Will the government incarcerate or kill them? I tremble with fear. I have to think more positively, for sure everything will be fine! They are going to do it; all those workouts weren't for nothing. I'm so proud to be able to help.

We arrived at the airport and went through the long security process. I had to undress again and all the card information was checked. After that, I was questioned where I walked with Solveig and what else I did in my visit here.

All the documents were in good and other people led me to the plane.

There I saw something, which stopped my heart for a second. There were the girls surrounded by many soldiers. I could see Alva and Tove moving, but Solveig was very calm, as if she was dead. They were heading towards me. Alva and Tove were grabbed by the shoulders, and Solveig walked elegantly in her clean uniform. Two of the soldiers also grabbed me by the shoulders and held me tight.

I looked mercifully into Solveig's eyes and she was pointing her gun at my chest. She looked at me and the other girls with her dominant gaze.

All of you have tried to betray our glorious state, so you deserve to be punished harshly. As a leader, I sentence you to death, said Solveig.

In her left hand she held the only white card with the emblem shining and in the other hand was her pistol still pointing at me.

How did I trust and try to offer help exactly to her? I lost faith in people, but I still had to help the girls. I loved Solveig, I've known her for so long, I've come so long for her, but the effort wasn't worth it at all.

Solveig looked at me as if he could read my thoughts:

And I loved you, Hakon, but you tried to dishonorably betray my state so you deserve to be punished.

When she wanted to press on the trigger, I stepped on one of the soldiers with my boot, took the white card out of her hand and scratched Solveig's face.

The gun fell out of her hand and she put her hand on her bloody face. The card was also full of blood so I let it fall out of my trembling hands.

Alva didn't wait a second, bravely grabbed the gun from the floor and shot Solveig straight into the chest. Solveig fell helpless on the ground and yelled loudly.

Although I had no empathy for her at all, tears began to flow down my cheeks and the feeling of guilt hit me.

Thanks to Alva, Tove and I, this country was saved. I still felt bad about Solveig's death, part of the feeling of love was still in me, but for everything she did, sending children to war, killing innocent people and more, she deserved her death.

Her patriotism was the key to her death.