Five Years Later

The classroom was full of energy—twenty-seven children aged eight to nine, all fidgeting in their seats as their teacher pulled up the history presentation.

"Today," Mrs. Okafor said, her voice carrying that practiced authority teachers developed, "we're going to learn about the System Revolution. Can anyone tell me who led the resistance against World President Mark?"

Hands shot up immediately.

"Reynard Vale!" a boy in the front row called out before being properly acknowledged.

Mrs. Okafor smiled. "That's right, David. Reynard Vale. He's in all your history books now. A man who challenged tyranny when most of the world believed it was impossible."

She pulled up an image—Reynard's face from five years ago, standing in Mark's command center, delivering that final broadcast. The children leaned forward, recognizing the moment they'd been taught about.

"He showed us," Mrs. Okafor continued, "that the System—these abilities we all have—doesn't make some people better than others. It just shows what we're capable of. What we do with those capabilities is what matters."

A girl in the back raised her hand properly. "My dad says we can't use the System for jobs anymore. Is that true?"

"Very true, Amara," Mrs. Okafor confirmed. "After the Revolution, laws were passed. Employers can't require you to show your System rank. Stores can't discriminate based on what level you are. Housing doesn't have rank restrictions anymore. Everyone gets equal access to services, regardless of what their System says."

"But then what's the System for?" another child asked, confused.

"It's for you," Mrs. Okafor said gently. "To understand your own capabilities. To track your growth. To help you see where you excel. But it's private. Yours alone. Not something others can use to judge your worth as a person."

Across the city, in a coffee shop where people of all ranks mingled freely, two friends met for their weekly catch-up.

"Can you believe it's been five years?" Aisha said, stirring her drink. "Five years since the broadcast. Since Mark fell."

Her friend Marcus nodded, looking out the window at the street where people moved without the visible stratification that had once defined everything. "Sometimes I forget what it was like before. Then I remember my cousin—lost her home during Mark's housing restrictions. C-Rank wasn't 'good enough' for her neighborhood."

"Where is she now?" Aisha asked.

"Got her home back," Marcus said with satisfaction. "One of the first restitution cases. Government apologized, paid reparations, guaranteed her housing rights regardless of rank."

"That's what I'm talking about," Aisha said, grinning. "Finally some actual changes. Not just words. Actual policies that help people."

Marcus raised his cup. "To Reynard Vale. The man who actually gave a damn."

They clinked cups, a small gesture repeated millions of times daily across the world.

In government halls across the globe, the past five years had been turbulent but ultimately transformative.

President Dubois of France walked through the Élysée Palace with his chief of staff, discussing the latest economic reports.

"Homelessness down ninety-six percent globally," his chief of staff read. "Employment stability up. Access to healthcare and education expanded to previously restricted populations. By every meaningful metric, we're better off than we were under Mark's regime."

"Or Hugo's before him," Dubois added. "That's what people forget—Mark was just the visible culmination of decades of hierarchy-based governance. Reynard didn't just remove one tyrant. He dismantled an entire system of oppression."

"And your approval rating has never been higher," his chief of staff noted. "Supporting Reynard turned out to be… politically advantageous."

Dubois allowed himself a smile. "Sometimes doing the right thing aligns with political benefit. I'll take it."

In Ghana, Samuel Osei stood at a memorial ceremony, addressing families who'd lost loved ones during Mark's eight-month reign.

"We remember," he said, his voice carrying across the gathered crowd. "Every person lost to policies of hierarchy. Every family torn apart by rank-based discrimination. Every life that mattered, regardless of what a System said they were worth."

The memorial wall behind him bore thousands of names. Too many. But at least now they were acknowledged. Honored. Not forgotten in the machinery of tyranny.

"And we commit," Samuel continued, "to never letting it happen again. To maintaining the principles Reynard Vale fought for. Equality. Dignity. Human worth beyond measurement."

The crowd was silent, respectful. Then, gradually, applause began. Not celebratory. Acknowledging. A promise made collective.

Not everyone had fared well in the post-Revolution world.

Former leaders who'd supported Hugo and Mark found themselves politically radioactive. Their careers destroyed. Their legacies tainted.

McLeod, who'd betrayed Reynard during the UN meeting and sided with Hugo, had been forced to step down within months of Mark's fall. His party had abandoned him. His constituents had voted him out. His name was now synonymous with collaboration with tyranny.

He sat in a small apartment—nothing like the luxury he'd once commanded—watching news coverage of the five-year anniversary with bitter resignation.

"They make him sound like a saint," McLeod muttered to no one. "Reynard Vale. The perfect revolutionary. They forget he was Hugo's son. Forget where his power came from."

But the world had moved on. Had decided that origin mattered less than actions. That Reynard's choices defined him more than his father's crimes.

McLeod would spend the rest of his life in relative obscurity, a cautionary tale about backing the wrong side of history.

The position of World President had been officially eradicated three years after Mark's fall. A lengthy process involving international treaties, constitutional reforms, and coordinated governmental restructuring.

Some had suggested Reynard should take the role. Reform it. Make it something benevolent rather than tyrannical.

He'd refused immediately and absolutely.

"Power concentrated in one person," he'd said during the interview that went viral, "is how we got Hugo. How we got Mark. I don't care how well-intentioned the person is. That much power inevitably corrupts. So no. We distribute authority. We build systems with checks and balances. We make sure no single person can ever do what Mark did again."

The interviewer had pressed: "But you're the only one people trust with that power. The only one who's proven they'd use it responsibly."

"Then trust me when I say no," Reynard had replied. "Trust me to refuse. Because that's the responsible use of potential power—recognizing when it shouldn't exist at all."

The clip had been shared billions of times. Analyzed in political science classes. Cited as the moment when a revolutionary became a statesman.

——

An isolated cemetery on the outskirts of Hudson. Small. Quiet. The kind of place where important graves could exist without becoming tourist attractions.

Reynard stood before three headstones, his expression contemplative.

The first: Chief Ryan Matthews. Firefighter. Leader. Hero. "He valued civilian lives over his own."

Reynard touched the stone gently. "Still teaching me about leadership, Chief. Even now."

The second: Anthony Smith. Friend. Guardian. Brother in arms. "His sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Reynard's jaw tightened. "I miss you, Anthony. Every day. I hope… I hope you found peace. Wherever you are now."

The third, directly in front of him, weathered by years but meticulously maintained: Margaret Vale. Mother. Guide. Light. "Fought for her son to the end."

"Mom," Reynard said quietly. "I wish you were here to see everything. To see what we built. What we changed. You always said I had potential—I hope this is what you meant."

He gestured behind him, and four children approached cautiously. The oldest—a girl of five with auburn hair and Sienna's caring eyes—led the way. Behind her came three four-year-olds: a boy with Camille's dark hair and wild energy, a girl with Alexis's platinum blonde hair and serious expression, and another boy with Evelyn's gray-blue eyes and thoughtful demeanor.

"These are your grandchildren," Reynard said to the stone. "The oldest is Sarah. Then Jacob, Lily, and Marcus. And—" he gestured to the stroller where a one-year-old slept peacefully, "—that's Emma. Sienna wanted more. Said one wasn't enough."

The children touched the gravestone with small hands, curious but respectful in the way children are when they sense something is important.

"Grandma?" Sarah asked. "Is she really under there?"

"In a way," Reynard said gently. "Her body is. But I think… I think the part of her that mattered most is somewhere else. Somewhere we can't see but can still feel."

Jacob was already pulling away, his four-year-old attention span exhausted. "Can we go home now? I'm hungry."

"Yes," Reynard said, smiling despite himself. "We can go home."

They walked back through the cemetery, the children running ahead with that boundless energy only small children possessed. Reynard pushed Emma's stroller, following at a more measured pace.

Home. A concept he'd almost lost during those eight months of hiding. That had seemed impossible when the world wanted him dead.

But now…

They reached the house—nothing ostentatious, just a comfortable home in a quiet neighborhood. The kind of place where neighbors knew each other and children played in yards without System ranks mattering. They had more money than they could spend, but they didn't feel the need to do so.

The door opened before they reached it. Sienna stood there, her auburn hair longer now, her expression radiant as the children ran to her.

She kissed each one on the cheek, laughing as they talked over each other about the cemetery and the graves and how Jacob had seen a bird.

"Shoes off before you go inside," Evelyn called from within, her evaluator precision applied to household management.

The children obeyed immediately, struggling with laces and straps before rushing into the house proper.

Reynard stepped inside to find Camille, Evelyn, and Alexis on the couch. All three visibly pregnant. All three looking exhausted but content.

Camille was maybe six months along. Evelyn around five. Alexis—always the planner—was earliest at four months.

"Don't judge us," Camille said immediately. "We're growing humans. We're allowed to be tired."

"No judgment," Reynard said, kissing each of them on the cheek. "Just appreciation."

He moved to the kitchen where Sienna was already preparing dinner. The familiar routine of cutting vegetables, checking temperatures, coordinating multiple dishes simultaneously.

"Need help?" Reynard asked.

"Always," Sienna replied, handing him a knife. "You're on vegetable duty."

They worked in comfortable silence for a while, the sounds of children playing in the background mixing with the normal chaos of a house full of life.

Finally, Sienna spoke. "Do you regret anything? Looking back at everything—the fighting, the hiding, the risks we all took. Was it worth it?"

Reynard paused, considering. The knife stilled in his hand as he actually thought about the question.

Did he regret? Anthony's death would always hurt. The eight months of suffering under Mark's policies would always be tragedy. The people lost would never come back.

But he looked around. At Sienna beside him. At the three pregnant women on the couch who'd believed in him when the world didn't. At the children playing—his children, their children—who would grow up in a world without systemic hierarchy. Without rank-based discrimination. Without the casual cruelty that had once been considered normal.

He thought about the memorials. The policies reversed. The ninety-six percent reduction in homelessness. The laws protecting people regardless of System rank. The dismantled concentration of power that had enabled Hugo and Mark's tyranny.

All of it.

The pain and the triumph. The loss and the victory. The struggle and the peace that followed.

"No," Reynard said finally, returning to cutting vegetables. A smile touched his lips—genuine, complete, the expression of someone who'd found something worth everything it cost. "This was truly a wonderful experience."

THE END