"Let me just… And alright, it's on. Hello?"
"Greetings, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Dr. Johnson Parker and you are?"
"I don't really trust so you can just call me Bliss Flower for now."
"Alright, then 'Bliss Flower.' We here at HPI didn't expect to find any survivors, especially not two groups. You're aware there's another group just like yours, yes?"
"Yes." They must be talking about Alex and his group, and if he was correct then they should be talking with the "HPI" right now too…
"So tell me what kind of shielding system are you using, whatever you're doing it seems to be working quite well."
Muted.
"Anyone know what he's talking about?"
"No clue."
"Slow down for a minute, we barely know who you are and now you're asking us about some kind of 'shielding system.' Can you at least tell us what the heck the 'HPI' even is…?"
"The Human Preservation Initiative, we're a group intent on preserving and maintaining after the collapse. Evidently, you must be using some kind of shielding system to protect yourselves from the radiation. We searched yours and 'Lonely Days' homes and found nothing."
"Wait, you know what caused this?!"
"Alyssa, wait!"
"Why didn't you do anything to stop this?!"
"Trust me, we did all we could. But don't worry, that information along with a lot more can be yours as long as you cooperate with us."
Muted.
"Alyssa, I know you're mad but you shouldn't flip out like that."
"I know, it's just that… I…"
Emile practically felt the same way. If they knew that this was going to happen, why didn't they do anything to stop this…? He didn't believe them one bit, "we did everything could" my ass.
"I think we should just end this here and leave."
"What do you mean…?"
"We should just pack everything up and run somewhere we can't track us."
"I agree, we still don't know if they're hostile or not and all they've done so far is just spout a bunch of nonsense about "shields."
"Yeah."
"I wouldn't advise doing something like that."
What…?
"Hey, um guys…? The screen…"
"Holy shit…"
"What do you want from us…?"
"We just want you to cooperate with us. So please, tell us what kind of shields you're using."
"We don't know what you're talking about, we don't have any magical 'shields' or anything."
"You must be if you're somehow unaffected by everything. We're in contact with your other group right now, if both of you don't cease this folly we'll have to cut ties with you damned animals all together."
"He's muted, what do we do?"
"They could still be listening to us right now though, I didn't even know satellite cameras could go that far…"
"He called us animals… We don't even know what they want with us…"
"I don't think anypony knows."
"Why do you always say weird things like that? that's not even a real word."
"It's not weird, you're weird!"
"You both need to shut up."
"All of you quiet! I'm gonna unmute him. We'll show these bastards just what these 'animals' can do."
"For the last time we don't know what you're talking about. Shields, radiation, energy, we don't know anything about it. One thing we do know is that we're all human. We've just been somehow transformed into 'ponies' if you don't believe me that's fine."
"I see, well so be it then. We'll keep in touch."
"Wait, one more thing, does the name Emile sound familiar to you?"
The "doctor" fell silent for a bit.
"Yes, what of it?"
"Nevermind."
Call ended.
"What now…?"
"I think we should just wait and see what happens."
"Dammit, none of this is right! We shouldn't just 'wait' we need to fight back, now!"
"But we can't just fight back…"
Recording ended.
July 10th, 2015
Dear Journal,
They just kept damned arguing. I talked to Alex about it, and it seems like his "meeting" went just as well.
There goes our days of peace…
I honestly don't blame them though, everything's been tense these past couple days. We still don't even know what the HPI wants. They're so confusing…
At least they don't want us dead. If they try something though, we'll be ready. We won't let them just use us like tools.
Like I said before, we'll show them just what these "animals" can do.
I wonder how they kept humanity… They were talking an awfully lot about "radiation." Maybe they mean becoming a pony…? No. If they did they wouldn't have acted like it was something deadly.
Alex's thinking about relocating apparently, they could stay with us but we don't have a lot of room here. Me, Minuette, and John stay in the "master" bedroom while Alyssa stays in the kids other bedroom with Buddy.
Madeline and Blake just sleep on the couch.
We could probably fit two more people in our bedroom since human beds are pretty big, maybe use those mats we got for the trip…
Still, the HPI knows where we live too, so it won't make much of a difference.
Dammit… All that gave us was more questions than answers…
Can we even escape them? Even if we somehow get away from their satellite cameras they still might be able to use drones to spy on us. I know those are (were) pretty expensive, but they're a military group. They should have those.
I feel so powerless… I might go visit Alex tomorrow, radio or phones won't do. I want to see him in person.
I probably sound so weird right now…. I just want someone to talk to, someone who understands me. Ugh… Kill me, kill me, kill me.
I hope he never reads this.
"Doctor Johnson Parker…" That name… That's my father's name, and my last name…
It couldn't actually be him right…? Maybe it's just a coincidence…?
I hope so… If not… What kinda cruel twist of fate is that…?
I'm so tired… There's too much going on… So, this is Bliss Flower, peace.
I still don't know if I like that name or not…
- (Still Not) Bliss Flower