"Freedom Always Comes at a Price"
— Bro, I get your logic, but I don't share your ideas. You chose that path and think it's right — fine, so be it. But after so many years in captivity, I just want to be myself, not a number or a call sign. I want to live my own life, not try on other people's images. I don't have another one. I want to make my own decisions, whether they turn out right or wrong. And take responsibility for them.
"Freedom Always Comes at a Price"
— Hi again. Listen, sorry about my friend's behavior. He's military. You know how it is — rough around the edges, seen a lot.
— I'm used to it, — she replied sadly. — These mercenaries don't see us as people at all. Ah well, it's a job…
— Yeah, I know the feeling well, — Drone nodded, recalling his prison path.
"Freedom Always Comes at a Price"
Drone doesn't believe in grand ideas—not in the state, not in PMCs, not in "brotherhood," and not in a "bright future." He believes only in himself. And in the idea that even the worst choice made of your own free will is better than the sweetest form of slavery disguised as care.
"Freedom Always Comes at a Price"
The city certainly made an impression after thirteen years. A shiny shell and a rotten core. The pace was overwhelming. From the bus window, he'd noticed that some high-rises still hadn't been repaired after drone strikes. The top floors were burnt out or destroyed. "Strange, the war ended a few years ago. No one interested in investing?" Drone wondered silently.
"Freedom Always Comes at a Price"
Several buses, past their prime, stood by the roadside. No wheels, missing windows in places, but patched up with plywood. And a military tent with a smoking chimney. Probably heating a potbelly stove inside. Someone had stuck a tattered propaganda poster on the canvas: a soldier smiling carefreely under the slogan: "War is Your Destiny." Who even thought to put that up here?
"Don't Let Me Fall"
— Spark, don't let me fall...
— Even in the grayest everyday life or the darkest future, there is a place for personal will and the striving for something better, remember that, — she smiled at him, and he quickly stepped out onto the landing.
Michael ran. A struggle, albeit without hope of victory.
Michael Drone