Let Knowledge Live

The acrid, foul-smelling smoke drifted lazily across the darkened, book-laden room from Aekyung's dry, cracked lips. Her eyes folllowed the billowing smoke disinterestedly, however, she carefully avoided the pile of study work stacked messily on her desk - the pile at least 10 centimeters in height and completely untouched as of yet.

In sharp contrast to her relaxed figure slumped languidly on the uncomfortable wooden chair her father had forced on her under the guise of a gift - "So you can study for longer, Aekyung" - her fingers twitched uncontrollably, an unwanted side-effect of countless sleepless nights and more caffeine overdoses than what was healthy.

Aekyung wearily lifted raised the nearly burnt-out cigarette to her lips once more and inhaled deeply; exhaling almost immediately after, a disgusted grimace twisting her pale face. Oh, how she hated it - the sharp, nauseating smell of nicotine that seemed to cling insistantly to her hair and clothes, the spasmodic coughs that mercilessly wracked her frail body, but most of all, she hated the dependency. Yes, she hated it, but to kick the habit required time and effort - both Aekyung did not have, or was simply unwilling to give.

Her roving glance grazed lightly over the glowing, pulsating neon-green digits on the digital clock perched percuriously near the edge of her desk, barely just registering the time - 05:47 AM. Yet another restless night filled with lonely bitterness; her only company the faint stars blocked out by blinds that were rarely opened and words in harsh black ink marching in neat, precise rows that drove her nearly to insanity.

'It's almost sunrise'

Begrudgingly, Aekyung labourously lifted herself from the unyielding wooden chair, untangling her cramped limbs from underneath herself and trudged blindly to her bedroom window. She tugged on the cord of the blinds - gripping it firmly in an attempt to stop her fingers from shaking violently - and let her eyes wander past the prison-like burgular bars that kept the world out and her hemmed in, to the dark horizon that was just beginning to lighten.

It was not quite time for the sunrise yet; it seemed that Aekyung had once again miscalculated the arrival of the dawn - the second time this week, she noted anxiously. She was bewildered and agitated.

With each turn of the moon, the sunrise occured later and later; not by much though, only a few minutes, but to Aekyung it only meant longer nights and more loneliness.

The clock finally flashed 06:00 AM with tiny, monotonous beep, and the horizon flickered with light - the long-awaited dawn. Aekyung watched in renewed awe as the sky lightned from a deep, inky blue to a vivid medly of deep oranges, yellows and reds. The light seemed to dance across the sky in a lively, energetic dance as it bled effortlessly into the sky like watercolours, banishing the darkness with its bright flames of colour; heralding the beginning of a new day and the end of the never-ending night.

She smiled peacefully as the rays of warmth gently touched her face.

As the radiant sun lept gracefully in a swirl of bright, white light into the morning sky, Aekyung found that her fingers were at last stilled.

The doors of the cylinderic glass tube swished closed around her. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, but she refused to let the panic of claustrophobia show. 'It's almost over' murmered a voice in her mind - a voice hers, yet not hers.

The glaring red beam roved over her right wrist, reading the microchip embedded in the unbreakable titanium alloy bracelet that adorned her arm - tracking devices programmed with all their information presented to each child at birth. Her familiars flashed over the screen:

Name: Il Aekyung

Age: 18
Grade: 3rd year
Rank: Gold; student
Height: 177.4748 cm
Weight: 34.973068 kg

IL AEKYUNG: PRESENT

Aekyung's irritation and anger threatened to overwhelm her panic at being confined. How dare they know so much about her? She wouldn't be surprised if they even monitored her thoughts these days. There was nothing they wouldn't do to gain knowledge, it seemed.

They - the government of the current era - were composed mostly of what Aekyung had come to learn were crazy, micromanaging freaks. Obsessed with knowledge and the pursuit thereof, they were slowly killing the youth with endless studying and experiments carried out on students, prisoners, and occasionaly, ordinary citizens, experiments known to the public as coding; changing DNA patterns and using radiation to improve - or even deteriorate - certain aspects of the average human body, in an attempt to create a superhuman - to better the species, to elevate the chances of survival.

Girls weren't allowed to receive coding, unless declared unfit for reproduction, but Aekyung had been in - by force - for several coding sessions, all of them to improve her intelligence and brain capacity, her capacity for learning having been declared unfit at the age of 9

Over her various, rather painful sessions, she had come to discover just how unnatural coding was. Her body, her mind was never the same as it used to be.

Her own being wasn't her own anymore.

It never was to begin with.

Vivat Scientia: Let Knowledge Live.

As they sought to let knowledge live, did they not realize that were letting the people slowly die?

I just want to do it, you know? Maybe by overdose, I don't know. I just want to have some control over my life, even if it means taking it.

Endure for a little longer, Aekyung. It's not time yet.

Are you sure?

Yeah, I'm sure

The faces around her were all emotionless, expressionless and blank, almost robotic in their uniformity. The so-called future of the country, pushed to this extent. All in the pursuit of knowledge, the search for greatness. It sickened her.

The last victim's name flashed across the screen in front of the dull grey classroom, accompanied by a monotonous voice announcing, 'Jung Daehyun, present.

Said boy alighted from the screening room - really more of a stationary elevator than a room - and met her eyes. Unlike her own dead eyes, his held an inexplicable fire - the spark of rebellion. The spark that had terrified her from day one.

We are all the same. We are all prisoners of knowledge.

Are you sure that it's time? Are you sure that this is the only way?

We are sure. Using her, we can finally break free.

Is there no other way to accomplish this?

There never was, soldier

Daehyun regarded her through eyes b with concern - concern, Daehyun?- as Aekyung inhaled deeply on her cigarette.

"That is a seriously bad habit, you know."

"It's not like it's going to hurt anyone other than me." She shrugged his concerns off nonchalantly, wounding him slightly. Only slightly.

"Why don't you just do it?" Now or never, follow orders. Don't let emotions cloud your judgement.

Aekyung looked rattled by his abrupt statement. "Do what, Daehyun?"

"You know what, Aekyung."

She scoffed lightly. "Aren't you the one that discouraged me from killing myself the first time a brought it up, and the second, and the third? Something like 'Endure for a little longer, Aekyung, it's not time yet'?"

She sounded skeptical, but Daehyun knew he could easily persuade her from here on. He reached over with his hand and lightly touched her twitching fingers, caressing them with the tenderness he didn't know he had.

"I thought that at the time, all of this couldn't get any worse, but it obviously did. I think it's better for you. I only want the best for you." His words sounded sincere. He wasn't sure if it was even an act anymore.

"And so...?" Her resolve was weakened, he could tell. He knew her well enough.

"Just think about it, Ae."

Please don't

Eomma!

Kyunggie, come here, darling, what happened?

Daddy hit me because I got 999 for my half-term exa- ex- examination

Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on her?

No. She needs to be the best.

She's only nine, for heaven's sake!

End of discussion, Ahreum. We will do this my way.

Why is Father acting like this?

I don't know, sweetheart. I just don't know.

Kyunggie, what's that bruise?

Oh this? I got 9999 for my exam.

He hit you again?

Yeah, but it doesn't matter, 'cause you'll be here for me, right Eomma?

I'll never leave you, Aekyung, I'll always be right here by your side.

Your mother is dead.

YOU KILLED HER!

She killed herself, Aekyung, there is a difference. Don't let your mother's inconsiderate act distract you from your studies. Nothing but the best will be expected of you.

Can I at least go to her funeral?

No. You have work to do.

Why did you leave me alone?

"Daehyun, I'll do it."

"You will?"

"Yes, but I want to do it my way."

Your mother?'

"Xerolyn monoxide."

"I can get it."

Her only friend, if she could even call him that. Jung Daehyun. She could remember the day she met him, thanks to the damned memory coding.

'No one comes to the rooftop, why are you here?'

'The question is why are you here? As you said, no one comes here.'

Something about him had inspired her trust. He easily became the person that filled the void left behind by her mother, a person she could talk to, a release for the tension and stress of living. Her only ally.

"My mother apparently killed herself. Overdose of xerolyn monoxide."

"But you don't believe that it was suicide, do you?"

"The timing was too... Perfect. The day she died was the same day she was planning to take me away from my father for good. Coincidence, huh?"

"Coincedence indeed."

Jung Daehyun. Her fellow prisoner, her closest friend and in the end, her betrayer.

Honest with himself and honest with his heart, Daehyun came to a sobering conclusion.

My heart will always belong to you, Aekyung, even though it was by accident, but for the greater good, I'm willing to let you go. Because love isn't always about having the person you love, it's about protecting them at any and all cost. I love you, so I'll let you go.

She could feel the xerolyn monoxide coursing through her veins with each erratic heartbeat. She could feel her major organs shutting down. She could feel her lungs struggle to draw the breath needed to sustain her life. She could feel it all, and she somehow felt closer to her mother than ever.

Is this how she felt? Did she go through this? Did she think of me in her last moments?

The soft colours of dawn seeped through the open window as it bled into the inky sky, once more banishing the dark night to usher in a new day. A new day that Aekyung would never get to experience.

As the sun rose gracefully into the royal blue morning sky, Aekyung smiled serenely as the rays of warmth touched her face.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale...

Nothing.

Aekyung's fingers were stilled for the very last time.

Il Aekyung was finally at peace.

Daehyun breathed in the cold, crisp air.

Aekyung was dead, and the revolution was set into motion of so many years of planning.

Standing at the head of an army, he felt powerful. Watching the government officials scurry around helplessly inside the Justice Building gave him the strength he needed.

He would win this war. She could not have died in vain. Daehyun raised his voice in a vengeful war cry that held the strength of two voices; a voice his, yet not his alone.

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Let Knowledge Live

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