text: [Themes: family friendly, female protagonist, science fiction, action]
  
  "Let me tell you this - it's amazing how perceptive can change the entire picture. You started off by believing that the breakers were bad and me, the leader, good. Which I didn't particularly mind. But when you found out what I did to all those disabled people, the killings of the breakers fell on deaf ears. After all, they seemed better than what you initially thought, and I was worse than you originally thought. So a role reversal, good becomes bad... but now you're not sure, aren't you? No. Now that you're about to become more than a breaker, you feel unsure. So here you are, turning to me. Me, the very essence of confidence. Funny how things work."
  
  I was frustrated, yet I knew that talking to him was the only way to save my family. I might as well just leave, but I was worried that he would kill them. "Stop beating around the bush. Tell me everything you know, or I'll break you this very instant!"
  
  "Little wittle Emeza Mer. You know, I have always been great friends of your parents. Knew what an inquisitive child you were. And now, you didn't even stop to question what a bush is, but I'll tell you regardless. It's a plant that only exists in the world of the Ones Above."
  
  Barely able to hold back my rapidly rising temper, I growled, "What does that have to do with anything?"
  
  "Oh, it has to do with everything, you fiery little bug. And yes, I know exactly what a bug is. Hmm....... how should I say this?" The leader drew out his words without any indication of urgency of the situation; deliberately, slowly, unaffectedly. Unable to bear it any longer, I snapped.
  
  "Just say it. Or I would not waste a second longer dealing with you, you dirt dwelling tube worm!" I readied myself, about to break the man who broke many others before me.
  
  "At least allow me to tell you one last story, Emeza Mer," he said, his voice free from any note of worry or fear. "A story called 'The Truth'. A story that will prove to you that attempting to breach the boundaries is a waste of time. Because I know the Ones Above. And I know that they're not worth going to. They don't need our help; they never did. Not when you know what I know. Because you ought to remember this: the story is far from over. All this time, you have barely made it to the end of the first chapter. There is a plot twist, and it's up to you to figure it out. Now, why don't I give you a moral to help you? Riddles had always been your expertise, after all. "
  
  He leaned in, and I recoiled. Heaving a deep breath, he said, "No one ever said the heroes had to be right. No one ever said that the villains had to be wrong."
  
  "What?" My hand rolled itself up into a fist. "Enough with these riddles!"
  
  "Oh, figure it out. Nothing comes easy when you're dealing with the leader. Figure out the plot twist of your story - hint, it has to do with who I really am - and I'll tell you all you need to know."
  
  I glared at the leader, and my hard eyes melted into my triumphant grin. Never challenge a bookish girl on books. Piecing together all the facts, the leader's vast knowledge when it came world of the Ones Above, I finally understood.
  
  > Were a breaker who was masquerading as the leader, but turned on your team once you realized how much glory and power you could get
  Quizzically, he looked at me. "And where did you get that theory from?"
  
  "You seem to know a lot about the Ones Above, and always seemed to have a personal grudge against the breakers. In fact, turn on those lie detectors in a corner and we'll see if my predictions for your villain backstory are correct."
  
  "This would be interesting." He sat confortably in the chair, and sighed contentedly. "Also, this isn't a lie detector; it's a massage chair."
  
  "What's a massage?"
  
  "It's... nevermind what it is. A breaker, huh? Tell me more." His voice became amused, and I was worried that I got it wrong. Nevertheless, I went on.
  
  "The leader before you went by the name of Berten, did he not?"
  
  "I doubt that's of any importance, but yes, he was Berten." He was confused, which meant that he was naturally more inclined to understand what was going on.
  
  "And that was also the surname of Wall Berten, founder of the breakers. But why would Berten entrust the role to someone other than his own son?"
  
  "What are you saying - that I'm the brother of Wall Berten?"
  
  "Oh, we can put in sibling rivalry... although that can be ruled out by the fact that it is recorded in most documents that Berten only had one son. So what is it then? The insistence to cover your face. The desire to hide your name. You, so called 'leader', are none other than Wall Berten. Take out your mask and prove me wrong."
  
  I was so clear, so certain, but everything changed when the mask was removed. The old man who stood before me was not Wall Berten. "I have to say - when I asked you to guess the plot twist, I never thought that our conversation would be steered in this direction. No, I meant for us to talk about the Ones Above, not me. But here we are, and I have only one thing to say - you were close. And after all you did, you deserve to know the truth.
  
  You're right about Berten only having one son. But little is known about the family not directly ruling - I am Wall's cousin. He had always been rebellious, challenging the laws, and wanting to seek out more than he should. Overly curious. He also had a misguided view of humanity, and was willing to sacrifice the world for one small child. Not the best for a ruler. Due to this, I was made to know the secrets of the leaders when he was out with his mum, but when my cousin found out I had been elected leader, he went beserk. Threatened to steal our secrets, but it all got destroyed. It can now only be passed down with words.
  
  Eventually, he became a breaker to try to convince people to get to the land of the Ones Above just so he could learn the secrets of the scroll. It still irked him that he did not get what he thought was his 'birthright'. Yet the word spread, and you're here, attempting escape.
  
  But I don't advise it, which is why I'm going to give you a choice. I can tell you the secrets entrusted to every leader, and you would be one of them after me. Or you can go on with your foolish quest to help a nation that does not need your help. The choice is yours."
  
  > become a leader
  He slowly removed his mask after my family was sent out of the room. "Emeza. You have been more perceptive than most before you, and just like how the breakers were eager to get you on their side, I am too." He no longer sounded unaffected, and the easy and light tone was gone. It was replaced by a weary seriousness, as if the man before me was about to die at any moment. Given how old he looked, it was a possibility.
  
  "I am Tefira Berten, cousin of Wall Berten, son of Berten who had a glorious reign before me. Through the power of the phone, I have frequently talked to the Ones Above, the ancestors of the one who created our land."
  
  "So...you know the Ones Above?"
  
  "It started from a simple letter and a discovery." Unlocking a cabinet, he brought out a typed letter and passed it to me. It crumbled under the touch of my fingers, so I set it on the table and began to read.
  
  Hey, I'm not sure if this would ever get to you guys. In fact, I don't even know if we're wasting money getting a phone, an impenetrable box and this wifi router thing just to dump it into the ocean. But it was my our great great great grandfather's will (I'm not sure how long ago it was since Scientist Martin Barre was alive), and since our boomer parents and the generations before were to lazy to do this, my brother and I are working on it now.
  
  Enough with the long talk that you probably don't understand. Chances are that Tom Tucker is dead and no one remembers him... heck, is anyone even down there at all? But okay, since my brother told me to stop with the pessimist talk and all, I'm just going to get on with it.
  
  Dear citizens beneath the sea,
  
  Yes, I'm horrible at writing letters. My English teacher said so too. I guess that should be a good enough hook... if a hook's needed in letters. Also, good morning, or whatever time of the day it is. I am Philip Crimson in a faraway place in Canada, and water only exists in small parts. We breathe in something called air instead of water, and inhale oxygen while exhaling carbon dioxide. Or it's the other way round... I'm not much good at bio either.
  
  This letter is to ask you to contact us with the phone (according to the files that our ancestor documented, you should have knowledge of using phones) and tell us that you are alive. There is a different server or something for residents of the ocean (seriously, what do you guys call yourself?) but with this router, you should be able to call us. This is the number: 089-6473812. Just in case, I've labelled the gadgets. Technology in the past was so unreliable.
  
  My brother came back into the room and is pressurizing me to write this, so if you want to see horrible posts to cringe all day long, follow @NCrimsonXDlol on instagram.
  
  I really don't have anything else to say, except that I'll be pretty surprised if you call us back.
  
  Yours sincerely... or is it faithfully?
  
  Philip Crimson
  
  When I tore my eyes away from the letter, leader was in a video call with two young... boy? They had skin the colour of the dirt, but a lot lighter that it was almost white. Just like Cinderella in the illustrations, and the other books from the Ones Above.
  
  "Hey, dude. Leader's back, Philip!"
  
  "To this day, I still can't tell if it's an elaborate prank or if our crackhead ancestor's actually a genius."
  
  "Of course it's a prank. Just a very good one."
  
  Leader looked at me, saying, "I don't get the slangs of the Ones Above."
  
  "Me neither."
  
  To them, he said, "This is Emeza. I'm thinking of appointing her to be the next leader. Prove to her that you don't need us coming to your world."
  
  "Well, man, it'll be quite cool to see you here," the Philip said. "But I thought you said that you cannot since you have to have a key or something?"
  
  I smiled triumphantly at leader, but he simply said, "You don't need our help with war, do you? We have armed battalions and if we can recruit the sharks-"
  
  "There are lots of wars going on at the moment, but IDK." He spelt out each individual letter, which caused us to frown in confusion. "IDK means I don't know, bro."
  
  "I'm not your brother," leader said rather uncomfortably.
  
  "They're weird, I give them that," Philip's actual brother said. "But I guess that you could just stay where you are since we would not be able to explain this to our parents if you magically turn up at our doorstep. Maybe I'll get a house or something, then you can come."
  
  "Urgh! I have that peer tutoring thing now. I gotta run, catch ya later!"
  
  "I guess I ought to study for exams, we'll talk soon, leader and Emeza."
  
  They left us staring at the phone, leader in bewilderment, me in shock. Aside from their strange language (I could now understand why they came up with weird phrases like 'adding salt to wound' when salt was meant to go into your mouth, not wounds), they seemed relatively... normal.
  
  "What do you say?" leader asked. "Convinced? Now sign these papers, and you'll be the next leader."
  
  > sign the papers
  I reached out to put on the mask just as the illusion faded. Despite how real it had felt, I was merely in a holographic simulator. Knowing exactly what I had to do, I put the entire Fs-83 in invisible mode and drove it back to leader's headquarters.
  
  Leader took off his mask as soon as I entered, and I signed the documents for real. He also admitted that he was going to die of old age soon, which was why he needed a successor. I was going to lead this country, and I was going to lead it right.
  
  "The first thing I'm going to do is welcome all people and animals back into the Safe World, no matter who they are. Breaker, disabled, sharks... it's going to be the world for everyone. Also, I'll negotiate a deal with the breakers - they can have Keybreak and break out as long as we end this rivalry."
  
  "But- but... you can't..." leader stammered.
  
  "I'm in charge now," I said, and even though he appeared frail as if he was dying, I felt no pity for him. Okay, maybe a little ounce, but it was tinier than a seatree seed. "I can do as I like."
  
  "And how do you think your family would take your betrayal? Your friends at the breakers' base?"
  
  "Hmm... I could wear the mask and remain hidden to prevent backlash."
  
  He nodded, which seemed to sap a lot of his strength, but I was not done talking.
  
  "But why repeat the mistakes of the past when I should be improving the present? One of the things that the breakers want to do is topple you from the throne. Interestng, huh, how I pretended to be on your side and am now taking the throne from the tyrant?"
  
  "They would not be happy - everyone has been trained to hate the breakers through all my censorship-"
  
  "I know very well. But it'll be a gradual process, and we would slowly show the world that breakers are just the same as them - people with goals they are willing to fight for."
  
  "And what about the breakers?" he challenged. "They would not be happy that you're ruining this mission to gain glory and power-"
  
  "It is not about the glory and power! It's about change! Very well, then - if some of them hate me, then so be it. You can't please everyone. But this is me being who I am - not fully breaker, not fully Safe World resident either. I am a hero, a fighter, a conquerer. This is my story, and I am the protagonist."
  
  "And I'm guessing that if a faraway writer is here, the words 'The End' would be slotted here," leader said.
  
  As much as I hated arguing with a man who would be dead by morning, I had to disagree with him. The words flowed easily as I watched my first real enemy defeat himself. "You think so highly of yourself, so much so that you think the story has been about you the entire time. But you are wrong - this is not the end. It is only the beginning of a glorious reign, a new age. Because this is my story, and it always had been"