A Greater Good

“You blew up half the city!” Malcolm turns, his voice the low, hollow chamber of deep rage. Jasper stands away from him, his eyes gaze upon the destruction he had wrought. Malcolm wishes he’d turn around. Jasper’s eyes could always betray his emotions. Malcolm longed to see a deep regret, a passing horror in his brother’s face. When Jasper finally turns, he is the statue of resolute belief.

“A necessary evil, for a greater good.” his voice is calm. He is at peace with his decision. It is this fact that truly breaks his brother’s heart.

”Necessary? Three hundred people are dead. Maybe more. Nothing about this was necessary.” Jasper laughs, as if he is faced with an ignorant child. “You don’t understand.” is his only reply.

And in truth, Malcolm could not. It’s true that both brothers had fallen in with a group of radicals known as the Freedom Project. It was a rush at first. Like minded people who truly sought to change the world. It’s true at one time they both believed the words, the cause. But somewhere along the way, Malcolm began to question. The Freedom Project began to attack as viciciously and as mercilessly as the opressive government it rose against. He could not reconcile the loss of innocent life.

It was not until some time later that Malcolm realized that severing his path from the Freedom Project also meant walking away from his brother. Jasper was too far in, they had him. They knew exactly who he was, how he fit into their plans. For years, he sat, a prisoner of the Bronze Order--the harsh military group that would call itself a government. He was tortured. His family was killed. He had nothing more to lose and they knew that. Alvaro, the leader of the Freedom Project saw through Malcolm. He knew he was not a true believer. But Alvaro whispered in Jasper’s ear. He knew he could make him do anything. And here they both stood, a harsh testament to that fact.

It was Jasper’s brain that built the bombs, and Jasper’s hand that detonated them. Alvaro and the Freedom Project would take credit, but they would not carry blame. This is how they worked. They provoked madness and then disappeared once more into the misty darkness from whence they came.

This most recent attack was meant to spark a revolution. It was a ruse, set up to look as if the Bronze Order had ordered the attack themselves. But the people did not rise. And Alvaro and the Freedom Project stepped away and left it in Jasper’s hands. Malcolm knew this, and yet still Jasper could not see.

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand, brother.” Malcolm cries grasping Jasper’s shoulders and forcing him to face him. “They’re gone. They’ve left you. This was for nothing. Those deaths. For nothing. Just like Marianne. Just like Andy.”

“Don’t say their names!”

“How many more, Jasper? How many more like you have lost a wife, a child to what you’ve done?”

This is enough to turn Jasper’s head. A shadow of doubt passes across his face.

“It can’t go on like this. Someone has to stop them.” his words are less careful, his asuredness fading. Malcolm approaches him again, sadly grasping both sides of his head.

“Someone will. But not like this. This is not the way.” Jasper looks over the bridge once more, at what he’s done. He begins to sob.

“It’s too late. It’s all too late for me.”

Malcolm begins to cry as well, at the sight of his younger brother. He’d once made a vow to protect him forever. How can he protect him from this? The desperation is too much to bear. Jasper turns to him, resolution once again in his features.

“I’m sorry.”

Malcolm rushes forward, because he knows his brother all too well, and what actions soon will follow. But his feet cannot catch up to his mind. He watches in horror as his brother throws himself into the ash filled wind. He looks away at the sickening crack of bones on the pavement below.

The only hope that remained to Malcolm was that his brother had found peace. Reunited with his Marianne and with his child Andy.

It was a cold comfort.

In the end, Jasper had been right about one thing. What he’d done was the spark to a revolution. Not in his action, but in his death he spurred a fire in his brother. If no one would fight, then he would fight for them. And when they saw how their hero defended, they stood in line behind him.

Battles were fought--bloody, ghastly battles. And sometimes, Malcolm wondered if it was even worth it. If too much had been lost already. And then the Bronze Order finally fell. Malcolm faced the dawn for the first time in fifteen years, a sunrise of a new world. And in that moment he only thought of his brother, Jasper.

In time the world returned to a new sort of normal. Democracy found its voice again. People lost their memories of the darkness that came before.

But Malcolm would never forget that fateful night, all those years ago.

Or the 301 lives therin that were lost.