I thought that I should post this little story I wrote for school.  It got turned into a monologue for my Acting class, but I liked it better in the story form, so that will be the one I post. Sorry if it is a bit rough... I typed most of it in large chunks, and never did too much editing. Here you go!

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It was easy at first… laser tag training missions, virtual-reality invasions, and target-training simulations. We were always fighting the dark, evil, computer-generated terrorists. Artificial Intelligences with no life, no thoughts, no fears. Nameless and faceless... shadow-beings, whose only goal was to keep me from completing my mission and serving my country. And that was what I had signed up to do: serve my country, spread freedom and democracy, defend the lives of citizens, and bring justice to all the world. What noble goals. How proud my parents were, seeing their son shipped off to fight for freedom and glory. They baked a cake, and we had a little party. My mother started to cry, seeing her only son going out in the world on his own. Her little Johnny, off to war. My father beamed with pride, looking at me in my pressed uniform, hands at my side.

And so I went off to war. It was a strange feeling, being in this land infested with insurgents, terrorists, and suicide bombers. Some of the other soldiers were scared, realizing that there was no going back. Some got sick out of nervousness; others were just homesick. But it would all be okay, because we were here. We would wipe those crazed villains out, and restore peace and equality. We got into some of our first firefights, wiping out enemies as we pressed on for justice. It was just like the training: you see the enemy, aim at him, and shoot at him. You move on. It was easy when they were just figures in the distance, no doubt planning some new way to terrorize innocent civilians. But I can’t do it anymore. I can’t stand it.

The more I saw of my enemies, the harder it became. Their vague identity as terrorists and criminals began to be replaced with their identity as humans. Being in their homes and seeing their families and friends made them seem less and less like shadowy, AI terrors, and more like actual people with lives, with fears, and with troubles. Real people like me. But I couldn’t let that get in my way. I shouldn’t have felt mercy for them… they were hurting innocent people, and prohibiting the spread of justice. They were stopping us from bringing freedom. Whatever pain and suffering we put them through they deserved. I needed to stop worrying. I’d go back to my bunk, listen to some music, get pumped up. Try to get in the spirit. Try to crush these doubts, these insecurities. I was becoming stronger. I couldn’t let these little worries stop me from bringing freedom to this desert wasteland. If I wasn’t here fighting these terrorists, they might be attacking us at home. Killing innocent civilians. I was out here to save innocent citizens, to apprehend criminals. But I can’t do it anymore.

These doubts were clouding my mind… I had to focus. I needed to snap out of this daydream, to pay attention to the situation at hand. I looked around me, taking in the details. Matt, a fellow soldier, was holding the prisoner down; Luke was aiming his gun. I looked at the prisoner, the enemy, the terrorist, the criminal, the person. I looked into his face and saw his fear, his worry. His life was in our hands, and we were about to end it. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I knew what he meant. Help me. Save me. I have children, a family, a home. I’m just like you. I tried to look away from his face. I looked at his shoes, covered in dirt. I saw his pants, stained and torn because of his chase and capture. I looked at his arms, scratched and cut. Bleeding. I saw the drops of blood running down his arm, collecting on the ground. Real, live blood from a real, live person. When we go back to camp tonight, our hands will be stained with his blood. I looked into his face again, only this time I didn’t see just his face. I saw my father’s face. I couldn’t do this. I tried to look away, but my gaze was drawn back to his face, which had turned into my face. I can’t do this anymore.

                The image of my face stared back at me, pleading, begging. About to die. But Matt and Luke couldn’t see this. All they could see was the enemy, the criminal. They couldn’t see inside the person like I could. They were blind. They could only see what society wanted them to see. I ripped my gaze away from the victim and turned to look at them. I could see inside of them, too. Luke was the oldest of six, all raised by a single mother. His only choice had been to join the military, college was out of the question. He was doing his best to support his family, as his mother’s health was slowly failing. His vision was clouded by his hatred, his sorrow. I looked at Matt. Both of his parents had been in the military, as had his grandfathers, and probably their fathers too. There had never been any question about what he would do… he was raised loving the military. There was no hope for him; his vision was already gone. He could only see through the haze of the propaganda, the commercials, and the pamphlets. What kind of monster had we turned him into?

I looked back at the victim… my face was gone, replaced with his own. I looked into him. I saw what he thought, what he knew. Why was he attacking us? He had been raised that way. He had been taught that we were the enemy, the devil, the infidel. Was he really all that different from Matt? No. The only difference was that Matt had power, control. The victim had been ambushed, trapped, caught. If it had been the other way around, how would things be different? What would it be like if we were the ones trapped, caught, about to be killed?

My vision expanded. I turned away from the victim and looked out into the distance. I saw airplanes coming over the ocean, filled with more troops. More corrupted young minds, more fodder for this giant machine. Some of them had a better chance of seeing the truth than others, but some were already completely lost. I turned the other way, and looked into the enemy camps, their bases.

But wait, are they really enemies? That was the old way of thinking; I am beyond that now. I can see who they are, what they are thinking. I can see their plans, their movements, and their strategies. And I can see their emotions, what drives them to attack us, and why they are here. I look back and forth, between our troops and theirs. The differences begin to fade away, until I can barely tell which is which. My vision expands. I look further in each direction, seeing villages, cities, and societies. I can see more and more, all giant pieces of one large puzzle. I look back to the past, and see countless other wars, all like this. All fought by two identical armies who have been brainwashed to hate each other. I look into the future, and I see more wars, more hatred, more torture, more killing and destruction until eventually social entropy. I see all. I understand now. My vision has reached all horizons; it can expand no farther. I understand. I shout at Matt and Luke, telling them to stop. They might think I am crazy, but it is really they that are crazy… I understand. I reach for my gun, ready it, and aim. I turn, pointing it from Matt to Luke to the Victim to my own head. I continue sweeping it back and forth, until I have found the right path. I pull the trigger.