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I often find myself reading over these old files (or new, in your case). For some reason I was drawn to them. Maybe it was because of those involved. Yes, that is it. I hoped to learn more that was lost in the years that can now never be reclaimed. But perhaps a part of her remains somewhere in here.

It's my only hope of peace at last...


_______________________
Preston was a decent boy.
That's what his Mother had always told him. You're a decent boy, Preston; don't let them make you forget that. Of course, that was back when he clung to his Mother like the child he was. On the base he was sheltered from the rest of the world, only ever seeing his Father when he was off-duty. But like with all boys, eventually curiosity overcame him, and even a boy as young and timid as he was prompted to explore.
Not that the base was such a rigorous and dangerous territory to explore. It wasn't long before his face was common amongst the on-duty soldiers and officers. And then they were calling him a decent boy, among other things.
"That Lilly's boy, Preston; he's pretty decent."
"A real nice kid."
That's what they'd say. He would bustle about, exploring, smiling at the authority faces that towered over him, and so long as he never veered into the barracks, no one seemed to mind where he ventured. Then it wasn't just him, the decent boy, that he heard whispers of.
"Can you believe what I heard? Carl's daughter has been wandering about in the control rooms again."
"What, little Mara? She's no harm. Probably knows more about those instruments than the tech-boys. She's sharp, she is."
"I guess so, but they shouldn't let children wander in there. One of these days she's gonna figure out how to activate the terminals."
"I wouldn't worry. Besides, she's nothing compared to General Martin's daughter."
"The General's? You mean Charlotte?"
And that was how Preston first came to hear of the illusive Charlotte. And the more he heard, the more curious he became. Apparently she lived on the west side of the base, which wasn't connected to the main offices, which was why he had never met her. But she was about his age, perhaps a year younger, and seemingly always a topic of discussion that the officers quickly changed whenever they noticed Preston eavesdropping. After all, how could they let such notions enter such a decent boy's mind?
Eventually he thought no more on it, and returned to his explorations of the base. And as he grew, Preston began to understand the workings around him. Fort Casper they called it, based on the fringes of a cold valley of mountains in a territory known as Wyoming. They were not on any battle front, which confused Preston. Weren't the military always at the front lines?
"Well, no," his Father explained once, "not all soldiers are at the edge of battle, and not all soldiers fight on the same kind of battlefield. We're more of a garrison; a strong-hold. Our job is to safeguard the gov's arsenal."
Arsenal? What was an arsenal? And an arsenal of what?
"Weapons, son. The most mighty of all weapons. Surely you've seen war vids."
A couple, maybe.
"Do you remember the rockets they sent over the soldier's heads? The ones that smashed the big nasty tanks out of the way? Well that's what we do. Only our rockets can go over any soldier's head in the world, and they can blow up more than tanks."
As Preston began his studies at the small on-base school for the officer's children, he began to understand. Slowly his boyish mind became knowledged, particularly in the ways of war, and he understood just what this instillation seemingly in the middle of nowhere was for. It rained great balls of fire down on the enemies of the gov. And they were in no shortage.
But Preston began to lose interest in the ways of war. For as he began school, he also became aware of just how many other children were on base. And among them was a little girl with long, dark blood red hair named Charlotte.
"Hi," he said timidly one day after class. "My name is Preston. I already know you're Charlotte."
She eyed him suspiciously. "And how do you know me? I've never seen you before."
"Oh I've heard about you," he replied earnestly. "The officers talk about some of the other boys and girls on base. They've talked about you especially."
That made her turn up her nose and go marching out of the room. Preston watched her leave, quite puzzled. He had hoped she would be impressed. Instead she seemed angry. Did she not like the officers talking about her? Did they say mean things that Preston didn't hear? Maybe he shouldn't have said anything...
From that day on he made it his goal to apologize to her and make her forgive him somehow. At first it was impossible, since now she was determined to come nowhere near him. But eventually the school year ended, and when it began again she seemed to have forgotten their previous encounter.
So on that first day back, Preston made his way towards her, brimming with confidence. He had made a few friends over the year, but he had hoped to make the little red-haired girl one of those friends. Now maybe he would succeed.
"Hi, my name--"
And then she was gone out the door, without even pausing to listen. Preston would have remembered to be irritated by such rude behavior had he not been so shocked by her audacity. Had she really just walked by him while he was talking?
And so it was for quite some time after.
But he would not give up. Because as another school year came to a close, as did another, and another still, Preston was beginning to realize that he liked this Charlotte more than just a playmate, regardless of how few their meetings became. He didn't quite understand it, but there was something more he liked about her that he couldn't explain. A sudden, happy feeling that overcame him every time she was around. If only she weren't so constantly dodging away from everyone else.
It were these feelings that first prompted him to explore over to the west side of the military base to try to meet with her in her play places. At first he had little luck, so he stuck to pining for her attention during school. And with time she began to acknowledge him. Eventually she allowed him over to her living quarters on her side of the base, and Preston soon learned why he had never found her before. She was the daughter of the Staff General in charge of Casper Operations. Such a long title for such a seemingly kind, but sad man.
"Your dad runs this place?"
"Yep," Charlotte replied, brimming with pride. "Shoots the nukes and kills the traitors!"
"He doesn't seem like...a war general."
Charlotte shrugged. "What is a war general supposed to be like?"
Preston thought about that.
What is a war general supposed to be like?
And it was after that day that he knew what he wanted to do.
Preston would become that next Staff General in charge of Casper Operations. Then he would shoot the nukes.
Then Charlotte would be impressed with him.