short story | The Nameless One

It was a hard choice, and had to be made quick. The ally was freed, and comrades old and new were on the ship, ready to sail. The soldiers and mercenaries under the command of the corrupt official were almost dealt with.

Blood split everywhere.

For a higher cause.

There was no reason to wait, as the objective was met. Or was it? The warrior stood on the ship, seeing what unfolded quickly before him. The corrupt official managed to endure the surprised, well planned attack. Before him across the bridge he emerged from the tower with some captive woman he held. Cursed and abused he did. Set the watch tower on fire with the woman held hostage he did. And fled the scene, not before threatening to return and seek vengeance and continue his misfortune.

If a decision had to be made, it had to be quick. Should he chase down and finish him once and for all, for he might be true to his word, and return to plague the town, village and forest as he did up till this point? Or save the lives of the innocent woman, held as whores for his need, and left as hostage to be burned felicitating his escape? Could he hope to do it, hoping his comrades on land finish him off? Were the woman innocent and deserving to be saved? Or chase down the scoundrel and deal with him once and for all, helping thousands, but going against what he always stood for, saving a life? He had to choose – after jumping off the ship, go after the scoundrel, as he was was already far off by then, or proceed to save the woman. Not a moment more he could spare if he has to accomplish either one of them.

What was the question? Was it the greater good? Or lesser evil?

Or why indulge in it at all? For his work was done, he can just simply sail away, for he had a greater mission at hand, which could not wait further, leaving the fate of the woman, the scoundrel, and rest of the people to their own fate.

But the choice was clear. Within the blink of an eye…

There was a dream, of a better world, A world where people are connected and free. Connected by a space covering most of the planet (?) called the Internet. Cyberspace. Not created by some god, but by some men, throughout time, from the machine hardware to the personal computer, the internet to the world wide web, all being shaped bits and pieces, another world created by these ‘founding fathers’ and ~~millions~~ billions of people.

This is a story of one of these men, or more precisely a young man. Just like many of us, interested in computers and the ever changing each moment, ever growing Internet Culture. He who as a boy made it easy for you to get all your news, politics, hobbies, blogs and all interests in one convenient place for you to read, aka RSS whose first specification he had co-authored. He helped create the internet’s (unofficial) front page of the Internet, reddit.

The young man didn’t stop there. When the world continued going down drain at an accelerated rate, when freedom of expression was being threatened everywhere, just as we have soldiers protecting our lands, he one of them who was trying to protect our second world. When the rich, the corrupt tried crossing the lines, there were some like him who opposed the oppressors.

But not all tales end with a happy note. The man who fought against SOPA/PIPA, who tried to make information and knowledge free for the public got trapped in controversies and conspiracies and faced charges for fighting for this world’s freedom. Depression made him away go away, no one might know what was in his mind before he departed.

On January 11, 2013, we lost this fighter. A friend. RIP Aaron Swartz. Your work will continue and never be forgotten by the countless faceless ones.

You can check out what his family, friends, colleagues and others have to say here.

This post was made for the Daily Prompt: Ripped from the Headlines! after seeing my favourite daily digest news blog Mashable, and with thanks to that my small tribute to him.