Chapter Text
What does it mean to be free?
I'd say it's subjective.
Freedom is something that many take for granted. Freedom is fleeting, especially as a child, when all you wish for is freedom. Freedom from school in June. Freedom from your parents once you leave the house to take a walk or hang out with friends.
Everything used to be great. Everything used to fit together, like pieces in a puzzle.
Until the war.
It all changed then.
After it settled and our country had to pick up the scraps, the government advertised a new era of peace, that they had it under control and nobody was to worry.
They were lying. They always lie.
Behind closed doors, they're running an underground operation. I've seen enough to know just about everything. There's no peace. What there is, is trafficking. There's murder. There's people profiting off these awful things, too. None of them are good.
How do I know, you may ask?
It all started with..
Haha, you thought I'd tell you? Loserrr.. I can give you my half of it, though.
My name is Renji, but call me Ren. I'm 24 years old, and I like to go out drinking with my buddies and when I have the time, a bit of fishing never hurt anyone. I'm no good at it though.
My job?
I'm apart of a wanted vigilante group. Name's Task Force 1010! It's got four members. My best friend is Faline, shes 30 years old and just as cheery as I am, but way smarter.
Her girlfriend is Valentina, who's also 30. I've got a small crush on her, but I've lost my hope at this point. She's really pretty! And serious. Real serious. And mean to me.
And there's Claude. He's.. he's a character. He's the youngest, being 19. I don't know much about him. Just that he hates me. In his words, I'm insufferably cheerful considering our current world state. But I'm pretty sure it's only bad in our country, so he's lying.
We do a whole bunch of stuff to make the world a better place for the general public! Me and Valentina are the best at hacking into websites, taking the bad ones down, and I can do a lotta things online. It's been my side hustle since I was 13.
Faline and Claude are super smart and help us plan out our tactical missions, which only happen if we're made aware of something bad about to happen. So they're less often.
Usually it involves breaking in somewhere, killing or injuring a bad guy, (if necessary), and saving someone from said bad guy. Or taking something important. I'm sure you get the gist. It's fun, though. I like being able to save lives.
But it gets scary sometimes. I get hurt a lot. It's because in those tactical missions, I'm the main backbone since I'm the strongest one, physically. I guess everyone relies on me. Plus, any mission could be my last.
That's why I'm grateful for my friends.
They freed me, all those years ago.
Freedom is really amazing!