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Mark, I found something. Come here” Helly said motioning towards herself.
They’d been looking around the new breakroom trying to see if they could find any remnants of the old one or anything else that may help their revolution. They knew they couldn’t stay on the severed floor forever; eventually the outies would figure out how to break down the barricades they’d set up and find their way around the innie guards that stood in shifts at every exit or entrance to the severed floor. Or maybe activate the Glasgow Block and have their outies walk out. That option felt doubtful to them because they’d already found the new security room hidden down on the severed floor. Plus, they assumed if they were going to activate a Glasgow Block on them they would’ve done it by now. They did not want to eliminate the possibility however, because you never know with outies. Maybe they were waiting for a certain moment to turn them off, or maybe there was some other option they could use against them. They did not want to chance it, hence their search of the whole severed floor to find anything to fight against whatever the outies may be planning to use against them up there.
Mark walked towards Helly as she was running her hands over a long crack in the break room walls. “This crack looks bigger than the other cracks in the wall doesn’t it?” She asked, shoving hard on the wall.
Mark came closer and peered at the wall. “Yeah. Why do you think it is?”
“Maybe it’s a door. Here, help me push”
Mark and Helly pushed and pushed and pushed but still nothing happened.
“Let’s try pulling.” Mark said, stepping away from the wall out of breath.
He and Helly gathered their strength and pulled at the crack in the wall hard as they could every which way, pulling then pushing but it wouldn’t budge. Helly took her shoes off and used her foot as a fulcrum to really get a hang on it. Finally, the wall unlodged; a puff of dust hitting their faces revealing a hidden room behind the wall.
“What is it?” Mark coughed, waving dust out of his face.
Helly stepped in the room. “It’s a bunch of tapes. Cassette tapes it looks like. Boxes and boxes of them. And tape players.” Helly stepped towards one of the boxes and opened it. She took one out and walked over to the nearest tape player to put it in. A voice came out of the speaker.
““Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me-” Helly paused the tape with a gasp.
“Mark. It’s the break room apology. It’s someone saying the break room apology.”
Helly ran back to the box where she’d found the tape. She grabbed a handful of other tapes and played a few seconds of each of them. Each one had a different voice saying what they knew as the break room apology.
“They’re all saying it. That’s a whole box of all different people saying it.” Mark said in shock.
“Do you think all these boxes are just recorded apologies?” Helly asked. Horrified.
“There’s another tape player over there. Let’s check.” Mark said, starting towards the other side of the room. “Let’s each do a box at a time on two separate tape players, we can check faster that way.”
For the next few hours Mark and Helly went box by box, putting tape after tape into their tape players trying to see if the apologies were all that were in the boxes.
Helly eventually came to a box that was smaller than the others, but it was still overflowing with tapes. She put the first one into her tape player. “NO I DON”T WANT TO. STOP! I DON'T WANT TO!” Helly gasped and paused the tape. It was a child’s voice. Or it sounded like that anyway. “Mark!” She said with urgency. “This one is a child!”
“What?!” Mark shouted from across the room, rushing towards Helly.
“Listen.” Helly said. Pressing play again.
“You must.” Came an adult voice booming over the tape. You have brought shame to Kier. You are now old enough to face consequences for that shame. Now sit.” A sound of a chair being pulled out came after the adult speaker was finished talking.
“NO!” Screamed the child’s voice followed by the sound of a chair being kicked over.
“Brave kid.” Mark said.
“Yeah. Go her.” Helly responded, her face beaming with pride at the rebellion of this child she did not know.
“Now Helena-” Helly froze. Mark gasped. “You should have thought of consequences before you decided to reject reciting the nine principles. This is what we must do when we shame Kier and his legacy. Now tame your tempers, and SIT.DOWN.”
Mark looked at Helly, who was breathing heavily, her eyes widened in shock and panic.
“NO!” Shouted child Helena. What sounded like a smack rang out over the tape. Helly jumped, almost dropping the tape player on the ground in shock.
“You hit me in the face! My Daddy won’t stand for this! I’m going to tell him what you did!”
“Your father told me to bring you here to tame your tempers by any means necessary. He encouraged this method of punishment should you not cooperate.” The adult voice said.
“He did?” Child Helena said, her voice more timid now. Quieter. Smaller.
“We can turn this off if you want.” Mark said. Noticing Helly’s eyes starting to tear up.
Helly turned towards him, eyes suddenly full of fire instead. “No. I want to hear it. I need to know what this is.”
There was a pause. A silence on the tape.
“WELL THEN HE’S STUPID THEN!” Child Helena said screaming again.
Another smack rang out over the tape followed by child’s scream.
“Helena. If you continue to refuse to cooperate you will be tied to the chair until you decide to cooperate.”
“I don’t like it when you do that” Helena’s voice, quiet this time.
“Well then do as you are told.”
Silence rang out. Filling up the small room Helly and Mark sat in. Waiting to be filled.
Then the small voice was heard again. “Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me-” Helly ejected the tape and reached for another one to put it in the tape player. “I WON”T!” Shouted little Helena over the tape. Helly fast forwarded. Same story. Screaming, then eventually submission. Helly tried each tape fast forwarding each time until submission. She heard as Helena’s voice grew older. As her time before submission became shorter and shorter. As her screams became softer. Until eventually she reached one tape with no rebellion. No emotion. The voice sounded identical to hers. This must be Helena matured. Helly listened as she heard her own voice saying the words from the beginning of the tape. “Forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me and only in me shall their stain live on. I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands. All I can be is sorry, and that is all I am.”
“Very good Helena. Again.” The other voice said.
“Forgive me-” Helly stopped the tape.
“That was. That was her. They got her. She. She was like me…..and they got her.” Helly said. Helly frantically started pulling more tapes out of the box. Listening to tape after tape after tape. But every tape was the same. Emotionless,cold,no fight.
“Helly…” Mark said, putting his hand gently on her shoulder.
“NO!” Helly said, swatting Mark’s hand away. “There has to be more! That can’t be it! They can’t have broken her like that! They can’t have broken her and it never came back! They can’t.” Helly burst into tears and Mark pulled her into his arms.
“She did come back Helly.” Mark said holding her tight.
“No she didn’t” Helly sobbed, her voice muffled as she had her head pushed into Mark’s shoulder.”
“Yes she did Helly. In you. You’re proof that they didn’t break her. Not entirely. You were there. Within her. All along. All of this and you were still there. You’re still here. Lumon didn’t win then, and they’re not gonna win now do you understand? You’re proof of that. We’re proof of that. And we’re gonna beat them. For good this time.” Mark stood up bringing Helly up with him. He lightly pushed her off his shoulder and looked at her in the eyes. “We’re gonna beat them. We’re gonna win. Now come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up and try to find something to eat. And we can start on the next phase of our plan. Dylan is waiting for us in the office.”
Helly sniffled. Then nodded. She rested her head in the crook of Mark’s shoulder and put her arm around him as they walked out of the room with the tapes. Helly took one last look at the box of Helena’s tapes before they shut the door.
“Let’s take these bastards down.” Helly said, venom lacing her every word.