Fanon:Persuasion

Persuasion is the seventh episode of the Revolution series by WikiBuilder1147. It depicts the adventures of a group of youngsters as they fight against the oppressive regime under which they live their lives in constant scrutiny and fear.

Previously on Revolution…
After recapturing Miami from the Government encampment, Ben and company must now face the painstaking task of freeing her from the clutches of Government influence. The quest to break the spell surrounding Miami's mind...

Chapter 1
As Harry drove on back towards their hiding place, Ben opened the newspaper he had obtained from the camp.

"HUNDREDS MASSACRED BY RAMPAGING TRAITORS!"

"DANGEROUS INFERNO OF TREACHERY INCINERATES THOUSANDS!"

Ben rolled his eyes. He knew only around a hundred guards had been killed at Roger-Alpha-9 and Victor-Charlie-624.

He flipped through the paper, and eventually something caught his attention.

The Defiance List was a list of people who had been arrested, imprisoned and/or executed by the Government. Published annually, the Defiance List was succinct and ruthless.

"Allen, François - Mediterranean - Encouraging irresponsible behaviour - IMPRISONED FOR 30 YEARS."

"Alto, June - SimNation - Destruction of public property - IMPRISONED FOR 7 YEARS."

"de Malle, Frederik - Germanica - Protesting against government policies and causing public disruption - IMPRISONED FOR LIFE."

"Hodgson, Nathaniel; Hodgson, Tania; Hodgson, Cedric - SimNation - Exhibition of destructive behaviour and propagation of rebel theories and undesirable ideologies - EXECUTED."

Ben's eyes hovered over "executed". All three were murdered by the Government. Miami's father, mother and younger brother. Tears began to well in his eyes. Harry quickly noticed that.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Ben quickly snapped out of it.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just got something in my eye." He wiped the tears away.

"Ookay, then," replied Harry.

Chapter 2
The four were back at the cave. It was alterady sunset by now, and another fire had been set up. Miami sat on a large rock at the end of the cave.

"Miami," said Harry, "You need to snap out of it! Hundreds have already been killed by the Government."

"They were traitors. They deserved to die. And so do all of you for your treachery," came the reply.

"Don't let them spoon-feed you, Miami!" said Alex. "They are brainwashing you with false information!"

"The Government is always watching," Miami mumbled. "Always. Watching."

Ben listened at the exchange as he sat a few metres away, silently eating. He couldn't break the news to Miami. It would scar her.

"Shut up, Miami!" Harry shouted. "Shut up with that freakin' bullcrap. That's what keeps the Government going. What makes the population accept all of the massacres and murders that are happening all the time at the hands of the Government."

"They will find me, and then you will--"

"I said SHUT THE HELL UP!" Harry slapped Miami. She winced in pain, and Ben dropped his meal.

"Harry, step away from her!" he cried. He then went soft again. "You're hurting her."

"Oh. I'm...I'm sorry," Harry replied, to Ben's surprise. Harry stepped away from Miami.

"Can...can you leave us alone for a few moments?" Ben asked.

There was an awkward silence.

"Alright," they answered, albeit reluctantly. They went outside the cave.

Ben picked up a spare log and placed it in front of Miami. He sat down in it, looking straight into Miami's eyes.

"I know that, somewhere, you're in there, Miami," Ben said.

"I am here, Ben," she replied.

"Physically, yes. But you're not the Miami I know."

"What do you mean?"

"You're...you're meant to be the rebellious one, Miami," Ben said. "You're the one that's meant to break the rules."

"People change, Ben."

"Yes, but not like this!" said Ben. Then, he stopped, and lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Miami..."

"For what?"

He raised his head to look Miami in the eye again. "Your family. They're...they're dead. Executed by the Government."

Miami's eyes dilated. She looked as if she had been stabbed in the heart, multiple times. Her breathing became heavy.

"No..." Miami gasped. "It can't be! NO!"

"I'm afraid it's true," he replied. He opened the newspaper to the Defiance List. He could see her eyes fearfully and furiously scanning the page.

"No…" Miami whispered again. "No…no, no, no…" A tear fell from her eye.

"My...my little brother...6 years old...had nothing to do with this," she mumbled. "And he was killed as well?"

"Miami, I'm so, so, sorry," Ben said.

Alex and Harry poked their head through the cave entrance. Their eyes welled with sympathy.

"Mum...Dad...Cedric...," she sobbed. "Dead..." She fell into Ben's arms. Her body bobbed up and down as she cried.

Slowly, however, the cries morphed into heavy breaths, and those into growls. They got progressively louder, to the point of frightening Ben.

"Uh... Miami? Are you alright?" he asked.

She didn't reply vocally. Rather, she burst out of Ben's hold. She held her head in despair as her growling continued to increase exponentially.

"Cedric...," she moaned. She slowly moved her head upwards, and the vision of her face made Ben scoot away in fear; her face was getting increasingly furry. Her iris shifted from blue to yellow, and her canine teeth, normally quite short and stubby, were sharp as a knife. "CEDRIC!" Ben was knocked to the ground in Miami's outburst.

"I'll..." she muttered. "I'll kill..."

Then her voice crescendoed into a roar. Her vocabulary devolved to that of a person from the Stone Age. "I...me...KILL! GOVERNMENT...ME...COME...KILL YOU!!!"

She sprinted out of the cave.

Chapter 3
"Miami! Come back!" Ben shouted as Miami shot out the cave. He ran out after her.

"Did you know…?" Harry asked.

"No…" Ben replied.

"Get in the car," Harry sighed. "We'll have to go after her…again."

Harry started the engine again and put it into top gear before racing off after Miami, who was this time running to destroy the Government.

"Miami! Come back!" Ben hollered again as the car rushed down the dirt roads after Miami, whose maximum running speed had increased by around ten kilometres an hour. As the girl galloped down the path, Harry continued to press on the accelerator, forcing the jeep to move at increasingly whirlwind velocities.

"KILL ALL!" Miami barked in a low voice. "YOU ALL PAY! YOU ALL DIE!"

As Miami tirelessly dashed towards her undefined destination, Ben, Alex and Harry bolted forward in their car. For tens of kilometres, Miami continued to sprint.

"Miami! Stop! They'll kill you!" cried Ben.

A border post, flanked by barbed-wire fences stretching infinitely into the distance, came into view. Ben began to panic.

On both fences, caution signs screamed, "WARNING: 2000 VOLTS."

He watched as two border guards began to empty their magazines upon her. She dodged each bullet, sending the guards into a panic as their guns stopped, refusing to fire further.

"DIE!" the beast screamed. "YOU ALL DIE!!!"

Then he looked on in utter horror as Miami leapt onto a guard's head, tearing it to shreds, before moving on to the next soldier. With both guards lying dead on the ground, Miami crashed through the post signifying that they had entered civilian space. The girl continued to charge forward. Several minutes later, she started to slow down. So did the jeep.

Eventually, Miami ground to a halt. The hair that was all over her body had once again disappeared. Her eyes had returned to their original blue colour. She collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and started sobbing again.

Ben exited from the vehicle and sprinted to Miami. He knelt down beside her and put his arms around his friend.

"I...I killed them...," Miami whimpered. "I...murdered them...I've...turned into one of them..." She gasped for air then continued to cry. The compassion within her resurfaced. The reeducation had been reversed. She was herself again.

"Shh, it's okay…," he said as he rocked her back and forth to calm her. "It's okay, it's okay."

To be continued…