Conflict through borders

It was a quiet morning in the town of Acori. A medium sized coastal city recognizable for its peculiar architecture of red brick and white stucco, with arches and pillars, walls with layers of orange-red and off-white, giving a vibe of mixed styles, from neo-classic imitation to industrial housing. Small boats lay down the water, waiting for fishermen to get on, whom are still sleeping. On the saturday morning, streets feel empty, the locals lazily moving in their beds while the tiny shines of the sun pierce through their windows. Birds are chirping around and a fresh wind travels through walls and doors. In the popular districts, hanging clothes float motionless over the void and cracked houses have their occupant slowly awakening, while the main square with the temple is still a desert place.

The silence is broken out by some loud screaming, some harsh words disrupting the peaceful calm which was prevailing over the street. “Ast, Ast!” (get out, get out!) were shouted by some puvasts, a race of felines distinguishable by their red fur, to an innocent looking woman, pale skin and blond hairs, not older than 30 years. They weren’t just shouting, but giving stink eyes and using aggressive manners, as they were almost ready to attack her. The poor victim was a scanderian journalist, who just came here to work on an important project about the region. She backed and tried to protect herself from such violence. The closest one screamed “Astal, Scanderii snitoricat!” (Go away, dirty scanderian!) and, in a matter of seconds, hurt her arm with a sharp knife. The journalist cried, hold her injury with her now bloody hand and ran as fast as she could. The agressors stood there, looking with a certain pride at their ennemy running away. Now, scanderians were the one kicked out, not them.

The young woman immediatly went to the closest hospital, contacted her embassy and crossed the border back. After she came back in Scander, the news quicly spread accross the country and became viral. Meanwhile, in Ayaupia, the agressor and few other who participated in the event were interrogated in a police station, and put on a trial. The news also quickly spread out, where word of mouth and local newspaper publicised the event. Opinions were divided, especially in Puvastel, the province where the incident occured, and where grudge about Scander was a common thing among some felines, those who were kicked from the same country, some years ago. What appeared to be a small but serious affair could lead to far more severe consequences.

It was a sunny day in Malon, yet a hard day for Anna who is standing in front of the State Press Building. A fairly modern styled ten story building in the downtown of Malon. As she approached the main doors, she was stopped by a security guard to identify herself.

“May I see your pass?” asks the security guard
“I’m Anna, a journalist working here.” she replies confused, as she reaches for her pass in her pockets.

After she manages to enter the building, which is flooded with people inside the main hall, she quickly heads towards the elevators. Unlucky her all of the elevators are on a different level and so she is forced to wait. As she is waiting one of her colleague greets her.

“Oh, Anna I hope you are alright it must have been harsh what happened in Ayaupia those damn cats need to be teached a lesson!”

“Don’t worry Peti, it was just a small wound, nothing to worry. Those kitties don’t know how to behave!”

“Well, hope your supervisor will not be mad about the halted project.”

“I hope so.” she briefly answered.

They both look at the elevator when it makes a quiet beep and the doors open. They both step into the already packed elevator, and Anna presses the 3rd floor button. The elevator doors close and it begins to move stopping at each floor and unloading passengers. As the elevator arrives at the 3rd floor Anna takes a deep breath and steps out to the hallway. She begins walking towards her supervisor office, which is unfortunately for her is at the end of the hallway. She stops in front of the office door and reads the nameplate on it: “Érseki Jakab”. She knocks on the door then enters the office.

“Good morning, Mr. Érseki. I would like to excuse myself about the incident that occured last day, I know I’ve reacted in an excessive way. I’m deeply sorry for stopping my project, I hope it won’t be too restrictive, I’ve already made a lot of progress into my work.”

“First of all, I would like to see your “progress” on my desk by the end of the workday. Second of all, you are not going to be excused of any work, I’m going to judge your work so far, until that you will do administrative tasks and you are already late on them so hurry!”

She nodded and answered a small “Alright, bye.” before leaving the office. She didn’t have anything to say, protesting would had left her without a job.


24 hours before

When the Minister of Communication ends the call he instantly lights a cigarette inside his office. While smoking he dials the number of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Minister of Foreign Affairs almost instantly picks up the phone.

“How may I help you Ákos?”

“Yeah…one of our journalist by the name of Mesterházi Anna was attacked in Ayaupia, by some felline”

“Ight, we will be taking diplomatic actions in order to bring those damn furries to our land for a fair judgment.”

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs ends the call, he begins walking to his office door. As he opens it he asks his secretary to schedule a meeting with the Prime Minister in about an hour.

A blank silence was the only thing that someone could hear at the police station that morning. Employees registering complaints at the office, cops typing behind computers. In one room, a feline was sitting in front of a desk, looking at the wall behind it. He was being interrogated and was silently waiting to have another question to answer to.

“Do you know her origin?”

  • She was a scanderian, for sure.

The cop didn’t seem to react at that response. In fact, he knew that what happened could have serious implications, but his duty of professionalism told him to do nothing else than make his job.

“Could you explain why did you attack her?”

The aggressor didn’t have any issue with explicitly telling the reason. He wasn’t feeling very remorseful.

“I hate scanderians. I hate those white human asses, they think they are superior to us. 4 years ago, me and my family got kicked out of their country even though we were living there since 10 years. We had friends, jobs, and so on. We’ve fled the poverty of our town to become wealthier, and now we’re back. We had to, again, start from zero. I have difficulties paying some taxes and feeding my kids.”

The cop, which was a feline as well, didn’t flinch at all, and kept being stonefaced, typing on his computer. It translated into “I’ve been kicked out of my home, I feel angry against my previous home country. I’m hateful of the origin of the victim, which is the reason of my current situation and why I did that.” on the screen.

“You know that attacking a foreigner from a close country can have serious consequences, right?”

  • I know right, yeah.

If everyone was calm in the little police station, some were feeling a bit anxious at the Provincial Assembly of Puvastel. A female feline and her colleague, members of the assembly, were discussing with some troubles. They have been informed by an article that just came the day after the incident.

“I mean, that isn’t just an aggression, don’t you agree? Scander has been very tough with felines, and that affair could led to a diplomatic mess.”, said the masculine one.

  • You’re right, however I think we can temper the situation before it could get too serious, answered the female colleague, less nervous than him.

  • What do you think we can do, address the Federal Assembly? The Senate?

  • I’m gonna call the F.A., we need to at least inform them. They will be better than us to address the issue.

  • Alright. Let’s move on, we have a debate in 15 minutes.

And they went to join the other deputees while still thinking about it in a corner of their mind. The female member took her phone and made a quick call before sitting on her seat : “Can I contact you back in one hour? I think we need to talk about this, just five minutes, it’s important, sort of.”