LIU Revolution - Part #1 - Rob Satus

Rob Satus

Meet the man behind the Revolution.


                                                    LIU Revolution - Part #1 Rob Satus

Previously on LIU Revolution…

Vat: “THE END OF AN ERA IS UPON US.”
Doog: “Whoa. What was that?”
VS: “I’m not sure. He’s been saying the same thing the last few weeks. Must be some type of programming error. Even his eyes are glitching.”
Doog: “What if it is not an error? Vaticinium, what do you mean? Can you elaborate?”
Vat: “A STAR-CROSSED LOVER AND HER VAST ARMY OF ROBOTS HAVE ACHIEVED WHAT MANY BELIEVED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE. THE RESISTANCE HAS FAILED. THE END OF AN ERA IS UPON US. HE HAS…” 



Connection failed…



Nuntius Stations # 1-16 have lost contact with the Omni-Star AI…



Please Stand By…



Rebooting…



Connection failed…



Nuntius Stations #1-16 have lost contact with the Omni-Star AI…



Receiving Signal…



Please Stand By…

Rob: “My name is Rob Satus. As of now, I have assumed control of the Omni-Star AI. Through its systems, I have also assumed control of all communication relays in the galaxy. We will no longer be subject to the media and communication controls imposed by the LIU. I’m not sure how long I will be able to keep control, so we must use this time wisely. It’s time to rise up. It’s time to get our fair share. This is the beginning. This is the revolution.”
 


Now…

Rob: “Many of you are probably wondering why I chose to rise up. Why I, among the trillions and trillions of citizens, finally took the idea of revolution to this level. Don‘t lie, we‘ve all thought about it. You’re assuming that I suffered a miserable life under the LIU, but you’re wrong. I’m the poster boy of a successful life in the LIU. I’m one of the few that defied fate, that made something of myself even though I was given nothing. This is my story.”

Rob: “I was born and raised on a small agricultural world called Obex. My father supervised a box cow field. As soon as I was old enough to walk, I began helping my father in the fields. I spent my youth chasing and herding box cows. But this wasn’t my destiny. I felt a pull for something greater. So, when I was ten years old, I made a decision to leave.”

Rob: “Now, in the LIU, you can’t just pick up and leave anytime you want, especially when you‘re ten years old. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, I elected to take the LIU’s career placement exam. The testing site was barren. Most of the other children had resigned to the fact that Obex and farming was how they would spend the rest of their life. Not me. I aced my test. A LIU representative told me I showed a proclivity in science and mathematics. I would never have to chase cows again.”

Rob: “I packed up a few pairs of my tattered clothes and headed for a shuttle that would take me off world. My mother walked with me, but my father stayed behind. He couldn’t believe I was leaving. Maybe he was jealous or maybe he grieved because he knew I’d never be back. Either way, that was the last time I saw him. At the shuttle, I kissed my mom and told her goodbye. I knew I would never see or hear from her ever again. Poor workers on worlds like Obex don’t have access to subspace communications. I was terrified by this prospect, but I had to be strong. Obex wasn’t for me. I was destined for something else. I boarded the shuttle and never looked back.”

Rob: “I was shipped off to a planet called Erogatio. Being a young farm boy, I had never heard of it, but, it turns out, Erogatio was one of the most important worlds in the LIU Galaxy. Erogatio was one of the LIU’s fourteen Ecumenopoli. An entire planet covered in one large city. Erogatio was dedicated to one thing, handling the LIU’s money. The planet had the galaxy’s largest banks, accounting firms, and stock brokerages. Every industry here either dealt with money or the needs of the planet’s one trillion citizens. It was my new home. I spent the next ten years being educated in a prestigious school in the city’s northwest sector. I lived in a state-run dormitory where I worked odd jobs to support myself.”

Rob: “After graduating, I was assigned to work at Erogatio’s Foreign Payments Center. I would register and log payments sent to the LIU from outside the galaxy. It seemed important enough. I’ll never forget my first day. I just stood in my cubicle for few minutes, taking it all in. I had made it. I had gone from farm boy to big city financial guru. I would make more money every week then my parents would in a lifetime. I should have been happy, right? Well, I was, at least for a while. After ten years, the monotony of everyday life on Erogatio started to grow on me.”

Rob: “Everyday the computer would wake me up around 10:21pm local time. Yeah. 10:21pm. Local time really had no meaning. I’m not sure why we even used it. Erogatio was on Ludgonia time. We were too important…too lucrative not be tied directly into Ludgonian time. We existed to serve the capital. As a habit, I’d always glance over at my living room table to see how bad the damage was. You see, I had developed a fondness of alcohol.”

Rob: “To make matters worse, the computer always turned the lights on a few minutes after the alarm, just in case the blaring siren didn’t wake me. The blinding light really enhanced my hangover. I never really remembered how my night ended, so everyday I went through the same routine. I tested all my extremities to make sure everything still worked. I checked myself for any injuries. OK. OK. My fondness with alcohol was actually an obsession. Despite my career success, I was drinking a lot.”

Rob: “I never really cared how I dressed. I had no one to impress. Everyday, I’d take the first outfit the auto-washer would give me. There’s a chance I wore it yesterday. Who knows? I could barely remember the night before.”

Rob: “Once again, I’d look at the damage from the night before. You’d think I was contemplating how bad my drinking was getting, but, actually, I was figuring out how much alcohol I’d need for the next day.”

Rob: “Everyday, I’d chug a few glasses of water to ease my hangover and replenish my fluids. I’d make a small drink before I get ready to leave.”

Rob: “My drink never lasted longer than the hallway table. Everyday I’d leave my glass here. ‘Damn, I need to do dishes‘, I‘d tell myself.”

Rob: “Night or day, the streets of Erogatio always looked the same. Sunlight almost never made it through the mile high skyscrapers and their billowing pollution. Instead, the streets were illuminated by the bright neon lights of the street level businesses. I made this track everyday. The masses on the streets were faceless to me. They were just obstacles to my commute. Nothing else. Big city life does this to you.”

Rob: “Everyday, I’d wait for the train at West 44th Street. It was never on time. No one at the train station spoke to each other. We stood quietly on the platform. We weren’t fellow citizens, we were competitors. Not everyone would fit on the train.”

Rob: “Everyday, when the train finally arrived, the typical free for all ensued. Tolerance for tardiness was nonexistent. The battles were fierce. The train must be boarded.”

Rob: “The trains left a lot to be desired. Never mind the crowdedness. The smell was unimaginable. The mix of alien races and their various smells pervaded every inch of the train. Talk about enhancing hangovers. None the less, every race sucked it up and rode their way to their various industries. All the debt slaves rode silently, squeezed together like sardines, all ignoring the pervasive odor. Everyday I did this. Every single day.”

Rob: “Work wasn’t much better. I liked the change of scenery at first, but now I hated it. I was sick of staring at the same screen, the same gray cubicle, the same f’n white LIU walls. I’d sit all day, and I’d type number after number after number into my computer. My job wasn’t challenging at all. Data entry had no reward. Everyday, I’d do the same freaking thing. It was consuming me. By the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to leave. I couldn’t wait to drink. My perception needed to be altered.”

Rob: “After work, I’d fight my way onto the stink train and make my way back home. I’d eat at the same local restaurants. I’d eat the same processed meals everyday.”

Rob: “But then my day got better. After eating, I’d visit my favorite hole in wall bar, the Captain’s Daughter. This was my second home.”

Rob: “Everyday, I’d sit at the same stool, and I would order the same drinks. Everyday, I’d argue with the bartender, and everyday, I would make the same promise to make payments on my tab.”

Rob: “Everyday, I’d drink my bottle and watch the Galaxy News. Man, I don’t know if I could take another day of watching the chipper Spiffy Thompson talking about the same old crap. Terrorists detained. Rebels defeated. Unity restored. All with that f’n grin he has. I was going to lose it. So, what was it? Spiffy Thompson, the monotony, the job, the train, or the alcoholism? It was none of the above. It was a girl. Let’s rewind a bit.”

Rob: ‘Tamara Jikin. In a city with a trillion residents, you never saw the same faces. At least, you didn’t remember them. Remember, everybody was faceless. Tamara was the exception. I saw her everywhere. We always rode the same trains.”

Rob: “We worked together in the same division.”

Rob: “We even hung out at the same crappy bars. As a big believer in destiny, I knew Tamara and I’s coincidental meetings meant something. I never really do this, but I took a chance. I asked her out, and she said yes.”

Rob: “Several months later, my life had improved. Tamara and I were together and everything had changed. I wasn’t drinking anymore. I actually enjoyed work. I finally found a connection to another human being. She was the one. I had fully reached success. Love, job, and money. I had it all. This was the happiest moment of my life.”

Rob: “A few weeks ago, while on a date, Tamara made me a promise. Her father, a scientist, had achieved something great. He was now an elite citizen. By default, she was now an elite citizen too. She denounced her status. She wanted to be with me forever. Her father begged her to change her mind, but she declined. She loved me just as much as I loved her. We would be together forever…

Rob: “Little did I know that her father enlisted the police to retrieve his daughter. In the middle of our date, Tamara was taken. The last time I saw her face, the police were pulling her way. After that, all I heard was screams. When the police let me go, she was gone. I guess it could have been worse. They could have killed me. No, that would have been better. They took away the one thing that kept me together. The LIU took away my one reason for living. Now, I would take everything away from the LIU. I had the ability. I just had to answer a message I ignored a few weeks ago.”

Rob: “A week later, after I had exhausted all my options, I returned to work after everyone had left. Illuminated under that forsaken LIU sign, I made a deal with another being hurt by love, IOREA, the Internal Omni Robotic Entity Administrator.”


CLICK HERE FOR NEXT EPISODE: LIU Revolution - Part# 2 - IOREA