Post by Meredith on Mar 2, 2016 3:33:03 GMT -5
Meredith Monroe was tired.
It had been a busy week, month, year. She'd been shuffled back and forth from the island to all corners of the world. At every stop, she was forced to lock eyes with innocent people and lie through her teeth, telling them that Ashford Academy was the safest, most nurturing environment for their gifted children. Whenever an assembly was held at a public school, intended to inform the outside world about the Ashford Project and urge gifted children to not be afraid, to come forward and find their destiny at the only place where they could truly hone their unique skills, Meredith was expected to be present. She gave speeches about the personal growth she experienced as the prefect leader, evolving from a perpetually scared, weak child to a powerful, respected leader, and with every misleading speech, she hated herself more. Back on the island, there were always piles and piles of paperwork awaiting her attention and signature. Beyond that, she was somehow still expected to deal with the auditions and selections of the new Alpha members. It was becoming more and more rare to see the leader interacting with her soldiers for anything other than strict business. It was becoming rare to see her at all. Some of the prefects wondered why, but to those who paid attention, it was obvious. She wasn't just busy. She was drowning.
But even more than Meredith was tired... she was tired. Not just physically but mentally, emotionally, spiritually exhausted. It was no wonder why no one else lasted more than a year on the job. It seemed like the moment she was noticed as a standout among the prefects was the moment she began to lose everything.
At first, it seemed to be worth it. At least, she believed she was doing good work. Compared to the last two leaders, Meredith looked downright saintly. Under her leadership, the prefects saw a reformation. Their ideals of safety, peace, and order were restored, and corruption was not tolerated. For a short time, she and Calista even unified the school's factions and brought unprecedented peace.
But the sun had to set in paradise. The Ashford Project kept finding games to play, turning students on one another with one scheme after another, whether it was seeding clones on the island to incite violence or blatantly holding a tournament of dog fights that would make President Snow proud. As friends and loved ones died, notions of alliance and loyalty were scrapped, and the idea of peace went to hell. And as the gifted spiraled further into self-defeat, the prefect leader found herself more and more useless. At first, it was the rumblings of her ineffectiveness. Then, it was rumors of mutiny. Few had witnessed her epileptic seizures, but as soon as word spread, there were whispers that she was dangerous and needed to be taken down. Finally, when it was clear that the prefects couldn't be provoked into actually pulling the trigger on their own leader, the government simply worked on edging her out: making sure she had so much meaningless work to do off the island that she couldn't be effective on it.
The snide remarks of her being a sitting duck of a leader, she could handle. The threats of capture, she did not fear. But truly, actually being useless in the face of all those whispers... there was no point anymore. Enough was enough. She knew what they wanted.
It was only a matter of letting those close to her know and praying that the next person in line could do better than she did, could give more than she gave, could succeed where she failed.
It was time. Meredith sat at the largest table in the prefect lounge, an assortment of coffees and teas arranged on the table since there was nothing better she could do for these people, and waited.
It had been a busy week, month, year. She'd been shuffled back and forth from the island to all corners of the world. At every stop, she was forced to lock eyes with innocent people and lie through her teeth, telling them that Ashford Academy was the safest, most nurturing environment for their gifted children. Whenever an assembly was held at a public school, intended to inform the outside world about the Ashford Project and urge gifted children to not be afraid, to come forward and find their destiny at the only place where they could truly hone their unique skills, Meredith was expected to be present. She gave speeches about the personal growth she experienced as the prefect leader, evolving from a perpetually scared, weak child to a powerful, respected leader, and with every misleading speech, she hated herself more. Back on the island, there were always piles and piles of paperwork awaiting her attention and signature. Beyond that, she was somehow still expected to deal with the auditions and selections of the new Alpha members. It was becoming more and more rare to see the leader interacting with her soldiers for anything other than strict business. It was becoming rare to see her at all. Some of the prefects wondered why, but to those who paid attention, it was obvious. She wasn't just busy. She was drowning.
But even more than Meredith was tired... she was tired. Not just physically but mentally, emotionally, spiritually exhausted. It was no wonder why no one else lasted more than a year on the job. It seemed like the moment she was noticed as a standout among the prefects was the moment she began to lose everything.
At first, it seemed to be worth it. At least, she believed she was doing good work. Compared to the last two leaders, Meredith looked downright saintly. Under her leadership, the prefects saw a reformation. Their ideals of safety, peace, and order were restored, and corruption was not tolerated. For a short time, she and Calista even unified the school's factions and brought unprecedented peace.
But the sun had to set in paradise. The Ashford Project kept finding games to play, turning students on one another with one scheme after another, whether it was seeding clones on the island to incite violence or blatantly holding a tournament of dog fights that would make President Snow proud. As friends and loved ones died, notions of alliance and loyalty were scrapped, and the idea of peace went to hell. And as the gifted spiraled further into self-defeat, the prefect leader found herself more and more useless. At first, it was the rumblings of her ineffectiveness. Then, it was rumors of mutiny. Few had witnessed her epileptic seizures, but as soon as word spread, there were whispers that she was dangerous and needed to be taken down. Finally, when it was clear that the prefects couldn't be provoked into actually pulling the trigger on their own leader, the government simply worked on edging her out: making sure she had so much meaningless work to do off the island that she couldn't be effective on it.
The snide remarks of her being a sitting duck of a leader, she could handle. The threats of capture, she did not fear. But truly, actually being useless in the face of all those whispers... there was no point anymore. Enough was enough. She knew what they wanted.
A resignation... and she was happy to give it.
It was only a matter of letting those close to her know and praying that the next person in line could do better than she did, could give more than she gave, could succeed where she failed.
It was time. Meredith sat at the largest table in the prefect lounge, an assortment of coffees and teas arranged on the table since there was nothing better she could do for these people, and waited.
