At night, inside a dimly lit army tent somewhere in Malaya...
The humid air hung heavy. A kerosene lamp flickered above, casting long, shaky shadows on the canvas walls. Outside, the distant murmurs of restless soldiers echoed into the jungle.
Inside, two men sat cross-legged on a worn mat. In front of them was a small spread lukewarm rice, a few pieces of dried fish, and a pot of tea that had long lost its warmth.
The Major, young and unassuming with round spectacles perched on his nose, didn't look like a soldier at all. In fact, with his gentle face and soft voice, he could easily be mistaken for a schoolteacher or someone who worked in a newspaper office back home. He gently stirred the tea with a metal spoon, letting the clink break the silence.
The Captain, taller and leaner, his face hardened by the sun and battles, took a slow bite of the fish. His uniform sleeves were rolled up, revealing arms marked by scars and mosquito bites.
The Major exhaled as if trying to release something deeper than air. "Emperor... what a joke. They use him to justify everything we've done. To be honest, I miss the Taisho era. Simpler times. It's all gone now replaced with this militarism under Showa."
He paused and looked at the swirling tea. "Is it the Emperor's fault? No. We did this. All of us."
The Captain raised an eyebrow, brushing a fly away from the rice. "I heard you were part of the Kodoha. How'd you end up here? Thought they executed or imprisoned everyone involved."
The Major gave a short, dry chuckle. "Correct. Young and dumb, I suppose. We expected support from the Emperor... but instead, we were told to be crushed."
The Captain leaned back, arms folded. "You're not angry? After all that? Betrayed like that… I mean, we looked up to him more than any of those damn politicians back home."
The Major adjusted his glasses with a slow, almost theatrical touch. "It was expected."
"Expected? Then why join?"
The Major smiled faintly. "Because it was interesting."
The Captain frowned. "Interesting? You joined a coup attempt because it was interesting?"
The Major shrugged, casually picking at a grain of rice. "Who knows. If it had succeeded, I'd probably be working in an office right now instead of leading 'animals' in the jungle."
The Captain squinted. "'Animals'? You mean us?"
The Major nodded, slowly. "Yes. Us. Them. All of us."
The Captain burst into a short laugh and slapped his knee. "Ah, I get it. You think this is all a game. You're damn right we are animals, all of us. Following orders like dogs. You're either an idiot or a madman."
The Major raised his teacup, eyes glinting in the lantern light. "I'm probably both."
He took a sip and sighed. "We like to think 'monster' and 'animal' are terms for others. But we kill, we torture, we burn villages, we behead, we rape… and for what? Between us, we're still human. But to carry out such things, we pretend we're not. That's escapism."
"Escapism?" the Captain echoed, voice softer now.
"To make ourselves believe that humans can't do these things. That we're better than this. So we dehumanize others and ourselves. We become monsters. We become the 'animal.'"
The Captain stared at the ground for a moment, silent. Then asked, "So how did you end up here? After being arrested?"
The Major gave a nonchalant shrug. "I suppose the military needed officers more than they needed to punish me. The influence grew stronger after that incident. I was released but reassigned, sent far away. This place? Not much different from prison."
The Captain poked at the dried fish with his chopsticks. "They just needed someone to lead."
"Exactly."
They sat in silence for a moment, the jungle sounds returning to fill the space between them.
"This war will bring consequences," the Major murmured. "If we win... what a joke."
"What's so funny?" the Captain asked, his tone sharper than before.
"We've got famine back home. And yet we started a war. Against China, then the West. America cut our oil and what did we do? Attacked them. Stretched ourselves thin, chasing colonies in Southeast Asia."
He looked up, his glasses catching the light. "You think we can win?"
The Captain didn't answer at first. He only stared, troubled.
"You expected this," he said at last. "Expected we'd lose, but you didn't oppose it. You just went along... to see what would happen."
"I'll probably be executed this time, for what I've done," the Major replied, calmly pouring more tea. "But that's just part of the game."
The Captain stood, brushing crumbs from his uniform. "I need to get back to my boys. We'll talk again tomorrow. Slim River's next, right? We're reuniting with the division?"
"Yes," the Major nodded. "Slim River."
He leaned back slightly, gazing at the ceiling of the tent. "You know... there's this boy. A local. Malay. Heard he's been traveling with a Chinese girl."
The Captain paused. "A boy?"
"Yeah. Nothing special. But he's still alive. That in itself is impressive."
"Should've been sent to the labor units. Romusha."
"He ran."
"Huh…"
The Captain shook his head, stepping toward the flap of the tent.
"Funny, isn't it?" the Major said behind him. "We talk like this war is a story. But every story has consequences. And what if... what if the consequences we expect are nothing like the ones we get?"
The Captain paused, then pulled the tent flap open. "Then I guess we'll read the next chapter tomorrow."
He stepped out into the dark.
The Major remained seated, alone with his tea and his thoughts, staring into the flickering lamp, whispering to no one
"Let's see how this story ends."