I wanted to see the world

When I was young, I told my mom (who was a school teacher) that I wanted to see the world. We were living in a cubicle apartment in the second zone, and I was always curious about the world outside. Watching all these delivery drones flying around, I was always wondering where they were going. Maybe they were going to the other side of the world, or maybe they were going to the place where rainbows still existed. As I grew up, I realized that the world was not as beautiful as I had imagined, but I still wanted to see it. No matter how ugly it was, I wanted to stare right into its eyes. Finally, I got the chance to do so when I was enlisted as a war correspondent as well as a humanitarian aid worker by VOILA(Volunteers of International Life Assistance) in the wake of the European conflict.

I still remember the first time I stepped into the war zone (specifically the fjords of Norway). As soon as I stepped out of the VTOL, I was greeted by the smell of metal and the sound of gunfire. I was scared, but I pieced together my courage and started to work. During the first week, I took pictures of many things, but the one that I remember the most was the picture of an old woman who was sitting on the ground, crying. No sooner had I taken the picture than she closed her eyes for the last time. I was devastated, but I knew that I had to keep working. I had to tell the world what was happening in the war zone; I had to tell the world what Shivkur and Chinshin were doing to the people; I had to tell the world that the war was not the game of greedy pigs.

For a whole year, I continued to work in the war zone, until one day, my fate was sealed. We were transporting medical supplies to a nearby temporary armistice zone that day. The memory of that day etched into my mind like a scar. My teammate and I were flying in a Tengfue. The sky was clear, and the sun was glistening. For a moment, I thought we finally had a chance to breathe. But then, an unusual metallic taste filled my mouth. Thinking I was bleeding, I touched my tongue, only to find out nothing was there. I looked at my teammate, and he was looking at me with a horrified expression. I followed his gaze and saw that a growing mushroom cloud was rising from the distant ground near the armistice zone. I knew what it was. It was a warhead. As soon as we realized that, the VTOL was hit by a shockwave, crashing into the ground. We survived, but my legs were crushed. I was lucky to even be transported to the hospital. Ironically, my life was shattered by the once "beautiful" world I had always wanted to see. The refugee camp was Shivkur's proxy's "kind gesture to Shinchin", and the conflict ended abruptly. I was left with nothing but a pair of prosthetic legs.

Inbox

>> jacobiscool: Wow Renee, I know you are a reporter, but I didn't know you went through all that.
>> cube_mania: damn that's some heavy stuff. ain't there any like uh robot legs like the ones i saw yesterday?
>> rkj649: @jacobiscool Thank you, jacob. @cube_mania As far as I know, they are pretty costly.
>> nananeko: whaaat?! that's so sad T_T i hwope u r doing okay! remember to smile :)
>> jacobiscool: That's definitely helpful... nana :/