The murder card

Dear diary, at first I wasn’t sure if I should meet up with Ian. But due to curiosity, I did. I got the see where the group lives. Underground, below the Central park. It was dark, so I don’t remember the whole way to get there, but I am sure I could remember it, if necessary. The entrance is through the river, hidden by trees and bushes. We causally sat down by one of them. It looked like a normal bush, but it has a hidden button. As you press it, you need a password for it to open. I don’t know it yet. As you type the correct password, the bush slowly starts to grow, eating you up. There you suddenly find yourself in a small metal box, pulling you down, like an elevator. It opens its doors to an underground tunnel. It is very small and narrow, so Ian had to duck. At the end of it there is a small round door. He tells me it could sustain a bomb if case wrong people came. But so far, there has been no such case. Which was odd to me, so Ian explained. Many people don’t know, but there are cameras all over the park. One even looks over their entrance. One of their scientist involved, Rei broke in the system, changed its feed. Now instead of live stream, security only sees a continues video that plays over and over, nothing out of the ordinary. We walk through a door, which can’t be opened from outside, only from the inside. Their habitat was not what I have imagined. I though their hiding would be small and in some abandoned building but instead it is marvelous. It was rebuilt from an old bunker from world war two. The enlarged it, modernized it, equipped with high end technology. They grow their own food, modified so it can grow without a sun. They made a nice cozy home for themselves. The sleep in bunk beds, in far corners or even separate rooms. They have furniture, tables, couches, which make their place feel warm and homey. That was the first thing I saw, which was just the tip of the iceberg. Their group consist of scientist, doctor, computer engineers but mostly, refugees. People who had nowhere else to go, who fled our society in fear of death. People who were chosen to die, but did not want to and neither did their families. I had to know, how it is possible that they have not yet been found? The refugees and the entire operation. Ian gave me an easy answer. One of their members, Rei Blackwell rigged the chips of the refugees to make them appear dead. An easy task for him, I was told. It was however harder to hide their home, but eventually it was done. He wasn’t really sure how, Rei will explain it better, Ian says. He did however tell me, that a second chip was discovered, which I didn’t know we even have. No one knows about it, except them. The chip is implanted in our brains and its purpose remains unknown for now. The group is keeping busy, not being useless as I accused Ian of. They’re trying to infiltrate EasyWay’s main database, but as expected, they have not yet been successful. EasyWay hides their information very well including who is the founder of the company and the names of people who are currently in charge. Their main goal is to uncover their true intention, which is also not clear. I never though the company has any other intentions besides being a mega store, but they are sure that it is hiding something. No one is sure, but everyone seemed to have a theory. The more I was told, more questions I had. How were those selected for the murder card able to find and join the group, for instance. A man named Mark Collins was responsible for that. He was judge, respectable man in his community who had a lovely wife and children. Sadly, not even his social status could protect him or the member of his family from the Murder card. He lost his daughter. He pulled every string possible, he even tried bribing. All his efforts were in vain and him and his family were left heart broken. That led him to see things from a different perspective. It changed his way of thinking. He started noticing, really noticing cries of desperation from applicants who pled in sorrow to get out of the Murder card faith. He started approving their requests, he approved everyone who he though deserved it, up to the point where he approved nearly all of them. His actions were frowned upon and landed him in hot waters. He was told he would lose his job if he didn’t deny the next hundred applicants. He found himself in a crossroad, not knowing what to do. He worked hard for his positions, one that offered many benefits. But he was not able to condemn death sentences any longer. Just when he was feeling more lost than ever, luck was on his side and he met Ian. They made a deal. Mark would deny the applicants their request, Ian would offer them an escape, a chance for life, here. For a while their system worked and many lives were saved. Everyone was happy, but it was too good to be true. Soon their deal was found and Mark was caught. EasyWay could not track the group so it was up to Mark to withhold information. He did and it cost him his life. It was then that the rest almost got caught, they barely escaped. That happened two years ago and ever since, they were not able to save any more applicants. They were able to fine a few people who were approaching their sixtieth birthday however. Those numbers were small, but better than nothing Ian said. I agreed. This is no small and irrelevant activist group. It’s a small society, hidden from the rest of us, waiting to come out of their hiding, with a bang. Ian was so pleased that he was able to show me the basics, but he didn’t trust me well enough to show me the rest. It was up to me, so I have to decide if I will join their group. But I can only join them, if I give them more information. Solid information, not just speculations. My intentions were clear before I entered their premises but now, I am not so sure if I should report back to Mary. If I do, they will be found quickly and murdered, every one of them and they don’t deserve that. They’re good people and they believe they are doing the right thing. But they are only guessing, they have no solid proof. But they surely are convincing, they made me doubt everything I was taught to believe. So far I have always been convinced I was right, my way of thinking is right and I was taught to like our system, to respect and live by it. Is it possible that what seems to be right is actually wrong? Could our whole structure be hurting and using us? It makes me sick to think that it just might be. That I have been wrong my whole life. I’m not sure of anything anymore. Who’s right, who’s wrong, who is good and who is bad, … If I pick Ian’s side, what then? Life as I know it will end and the rest of it, will change drastically. But maybe that’s a good thing, since it hasn’t been so wonderful or what I had planned. So far, my life has brought me nothing but disappointment and sorrow. But what if I make it even worse by joining Ian? I almost decided not to join, but doubt keeps eating me away and again I am not so sure. Whose side should I pick? What’s right and how will I know for sure?