Mike had repeated to me many, many times, to the point where I had lost count, that we were all the villains in someone's story. And I, too sure of myself, didn't want to listen, convinced that I had never done anything wrong to deserve that title. Then came the Expedition.
The Expedition represented the largest investment of Humanity. A new planet to colonize, devoid of any other species, was presented to us as free. But Mike was convinced that the Governance was lying to us. Why was he always the only one to anticipate what was going to happen? Why was he so intuitive?
Mike, with his piercing eyes and innate distrust of authorities, began to see things that escaped most of us. With every mile traveled, he raised questions and doubts about the Governance and the true motives behind the Expedition. But each of us chose to ignore him. Perhaps I should have listened or simply looked around me more carefully.
Blinded by my certainty and trust in the Governance, I disregarded Mike's persistent warnings. He described the Expedition as a much darker enterprise than we were led to believe. The subtle signs, anomalies in the official reports, all pointed to a reality that I refused to accept.
However, Mike's doubts materialized as we ventured deeper into this new land. Strange structures, remnants of a past civilization, emerged from the landscape, and signs of recent warfare were plastered on these walls. Questions grew increasingly urgent in everyone's minds, although we continued to suppress them under the weight of our official mission.
Mike, constantly on his guard, was trying to gather evidence, to piece together the puzzle that the Governance seemed to want to hide. His warnings, once ignored, began to raise concern among the team members. Disagreements were emerging, creating tension within the group.
As tensions mounted within the team, I found myself at a crossroads, torn between my loyalty to the Governance and Mike's warnings. His findings seemed too bizarre to be ignored, but questioning authority meant facing an unimaginable reality.
The point of no return came when we discovered an underground command center, hidden from the Governance's knowledge. The screens were flashing with alarming information, revealing that the planet we were colonizing was not as pristine as we had been led to believe. An intelligent form of life existed here long before our arrival.
Mike, whose fears were confirmed, explained that the Governance knew all of this. They had deliberately omitted these details to maintain the morale of the Expedition and avoid widespread panic. The mission was not just to colonize, but to take over an already inhabited planet. To decimate the remaining inhabitants to have free rein…
My world crumbled as the truth unfolded before me. The Expedition, meant to symbolize the future of humanity, was an enterprise based on deceit, greed, and disregard for any form of life that was not human. Anger and shock mingled in my mind as the consequences of our actions became evident.
Mike, who had seen this revelation coming from the beginning, was now the moral compass that I did not want to listen to. Divisions within the team reached their peak, with some rallying behind Mike while others, still loyal to the Governance, refused to believe the betrayal we were facing.
The days that followed were chaotic. The information we had uncovered in the command room circulated among us. Some demanded justice, others sought ways to rectify the mistakes of the past, while those who preferred ignorance gathered around the Governance.
For my part, guilt was destroying me. I had been complicit in this deception, blinded by my loyalty to a corrupt authority. The faces of the inhabitants of this planet, erased by our arrival, haunted my nights. I realized that I was part of the wrongdoing in the story of these beings whose lives had been disrupted. I realized that I was indeed the villain in their story…
Mike gathered those who were ready to fight for truth and justice. A clear division arose within the team, with each choosing their side. The confrontation between the supporters of Governance and those seeking to right the wrongs became inevitable.
The Expedition, once a symbol of hope, was now the stage for an internal struggle for morality and redemption. The choice before me was clear: to remain on the side of betrayal or to join those who were fighting for truth, even if it meant facing the consequences of our mistakes.
And so, in the shadow of this new planet, an internal and external battle unfolded, where the boundaries between good and evil were redefined by the choices we made.
Mike's words haunted me continuously. We're all villains in the end.
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