Tourist

You stand perplexed inside the doorway, as you watch passersby crowding towards the centre. You live relatively close to the centre- on Ulica Kastricnickaja- in the hipster area. You see a lot of young people and hear them chanting slogans in Belarusian. This intrigues you because you are familiar with Russian, and Vital' mentioned how Belarusian was repressed. [[approach the younger people in English and ask them what they're saying]] [[continue walking silently, avoiding interactions]] [[you go to the Enzo cafe for wifi to check the news]]

You approach a young girl with short, dyed red hair and ask her what the commotion is all about. "We are going on a peaceful protest, since they rigged the elections this year again," she says. "Oh really? I haven't heard. Who won?" "It's not a question of won," she says "because we all know we voted for Svetlana Tichanovskaja after Lukashenko imprisoned her husband- but somehow he got another four years added to his 26 years in power!!" Suddenly, as you enter the main street, you notice you can hardly look around and see your own feet, due to the dense crowd. You are in the middle of a crowd, that is chanting. "What are you saying??" you scream at the top of your lungs to Masha, the redhead. "Veram, Mozam, Peramozam!!- We believe, We Proceed, We Suceed!" she yells back at your face. You are struck, in awe at how united people of all ages feel inside the energetic crowd. They are all chanting. Some are crying. Some are angry. As an international Humanities student from the Netherlands, you start to feel inclined to join. [[throw your fist in the air and start chanting]] [[suppress your feelings and move your backpack in front of you to deter pick-pockets]]

You squeeze your way through the crowd and make it into Enzo. It appears everyone had gone to the protest, as the cafe looks empty. This is a bit shocking since yesterday it was still full. Regardless, you take out your phone and connect to their wifi. [[you check the internet for news and try to reach your family]] [[you get worried and return home|The Morning]]

You turn around to a redhead asking you somehting. "Sorry, I don't speak Belarusian," you say. "Do you have water by any chance?" she asks you in English. You rummage through your backpack and hand her a bottle of water. "Thank you. Are you a tourist? It's nice of you to come out to protest with us!" she says. "I'm Masha by the way." You introduce yourself. "Yeah, this is my last day here. I'm flying to Vilnius tomorrow. I'm staying with my friend here. He's out at work right now. What are you protesting for?" Masha explains how the 2020 elections were rigged again. People voted for Svetlana Tichanovskaja after Lukashenko imprisoned her husband. But, desptite this, Lukashenko announced himself as thepresident once again, adding anothoer four years added to his 26 years in power. Suddenly, as you enter the main street, you notice you can hardly look around and see your own feet, due to the dense crowd. You are in the middle of a crowd, that is chanting. "What are you saying??" you scream at the top of your lungs to Masha, the redhead. "Veram, Mozam, Peramozam!!- We believe, We Proceed, We Suceed!" she yells back at your face. Masha offers you a white-red-white flag. You are struck, in awe at how united people of all ages feel inside the energetic crowd. They are all chanting. Some are crying. Some are angry. As an international Humanities student from the Netherlands, you start to feel inclined to join. [[you take the flag and engage in the protest|throw your fist in the air and start chanting]]

You continue walking down the street towards the cafes and restaurants to find wifi. You want to call Vital and ask him what's going on, but you're beginning to be approached by what looks like a police officer. [[continue walking silently, avoiding interactions]] [[you say 'Hello' and start slowing down]]

[''''(text-colour:#c92a2a)[''Note:''[ The game you are about to play is a documentary-fiction interpretation of the Belarusian anti-dictatorial protests of 2020. It combines multiple days-worth of events into a single day to prioritise the user experience over historicity. Although your character's narrative is fictitious, many have parallel experiences of police brutality, protest assault and shock.] ''Trigger warnings:''[ police brutality, violence, totalitarian regime, blood, death]]''''] (text-colour:red)[August 9th 2020. ] You submitted your final assignment and are backpacking through Europe for the summer. You have a layover in Minsk on your way to Vilnius and decide to stay at your friend's family home in the city. Leaving your friend Vital's housing complex, you are suddenly engulfed by a crowd of people. [[stop and look around]] [[lock the door behind you and join them]]

As you continue walking, you find it more and more difficult to stay out of the crowd. People are crowding the streets, and even cars start honking in sync. You cannot stop taking videos and photos of the events, but as soon as you try to post them using near-by public wifi, you realise that it has been disabled. You try to find another source of internet to connect to social media. Though, since it's very crowded, all you can see is the lit up 'Enzo' logo. You remember Vital' mentioned it was a place he wanted to take you, and that it had safe free wifi. [[you go to the Enzo cafe for wifi to check the news]]

"Hello?" you say to the officer Without saying a single word, what appears to be a police officer grabs you by the wrists and puts you in handscuffs. He says something under his breath in Russian. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. I'M A TOURIST! I DONT SPEAK RUSSIAN PLEASE THIS IS ILLEGAL!" In his broken English he responds, "You are under arrest. You are in protest as foreign agent. You are going to station." Before you can say anything back, the officer is joined by two other men who laugh and drag you into a black van. Together with 3 journalists, you are driven to a prison. Your belongings are taken away from you. You are placed inside a cell with another person, who is curled up in the dark corner. Naturally, you approach the person. "Hello?," you ask. No answer. "Are you okay? What are you here for? Can I help you?" Again, no response. At this point the goosebumps down your back tell you to pause your efforts, since you think the person may be a criminal. You do not yet know, but you are actually placed in a prison with peaceful protestors, and not ruthless criminals. "OMON," the person manages to spit out. "Who?" "OMON, riot police. ''Law enforcement force under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus''." At this point you are perplexed and feel out of the loop. Did the protests get so violent? You notice this boy is has tears dripping down his face. You try to locate his eyes and mouth but are taken aback by how indistinguishable the bruises and swelling has made the two. He appears to have been almost beaten to death. [[you continue talking...]] [[you remain silent|you say nothing and fall asleep]]

"Veram, Mozam, Pe-ra-mozam!" you all chant. The atmosphere is electrifying. Suddenly the redhead taps your shoulder and hands you a flag. It's a red-white-red flag that you first confuse for a Polish flag. Masha, the redhead, explains that it's the Belarusian flag that was used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic (BNR) prior to its Sovietisation. "But I've seen it before too. My friend Vital's dad has photos with it from the 90s?" you yell over the crowd's chanting. "That's because the democratic opposition, the Belarusian Popular Front, used it in the 90's when Lukashenko first came to power," Masha cries back, "we're reclaiming our right to independence! That's partially why we're walking towards the Viktor Tsoj Wall!" "Who's that? Is he a Belarusian figure?" you ask "No- he was a Russian-Korean rock singer. Maybe you've heard of the band Kino? Anyways, they have this famous song called //Peremen// (//Changes //in English) which Belarusian radios (text-colour:red)[=(cycling-link:"banned in 2011","you can find more about this on website rferl.org - \"Belarusian State Radio Reportedly Bans Politically Sensitive Song\"") (text-colour:white) [= because of how politically charged it was. Rock was considered anti-communist in the Soviet Union. There's speculation that he was assasinated by the Russian government in the 90s because of how influential he was to activists. He's become an icon of change." As you approach a massive wall, you start to hear people connecting to bluetooth speakers, with a melody playing on several speakers out of sync. You become increasingly overwhelmed. Now is the time you can turn back and give yourself space to process everything that's happening to you. (text-colour:blue)[= [[you see the Viktor Tsoi Wall]] [[you go back|you are so shocked by the overcrowded street that you decide to post a photo on Instagram with hashtag #Minsk]]

Amidst the commotion you hear screaming and notice a trail of blood on the floor. Men in black with 'OMON' lettering on their chests are rounding-up innocent protestors. [[rush home to use the vpn and Vital's clandestine internet set up]] [[you keep moving|you go outside]]

As soon as you log back onto your phone you see you have 10 unread messages from Vital on Whatsapp. He sent you an invitation to join Telegram, which he explains is a locally popular and safer alternative to Whatsapp. He asks you to SOLELY communicate through Telegram, and that he will use it to update you on events. You accept. Your reception is still active too. You are confronted with a highly likely internet cut in the coming days, Vital says. He invites you to a group on Telegram to keep track of the protests and news. You subscribe to NEXTA- an underground grassroots Telegram feed that updates on most recent Belarusian news and news about Belarus from the outside. From there you find out the government is planning to restrict communication into and out of Belarus. International media outlets will have restricted access to Belarusian news, making all Belarusian events following the protests seem less significant to the international public. The thought of not being able to reach your loved ones makes you panic. [[rush home to use the vpn and Vital's clandestine internet set up]] [[you go outside]]

When you get back home, you realise that the internet has been disabled in the entirety of Belarus. You cannot reach your family or arrange to leave the country. [[you go to bed, and wait for next morning |The Morning]] [[you decide to wait for the next morning and go out again |lock the door behind you and join them]]

As soon as you step outside you are confronted with a bleeding teenager, limping and holding onto to his friend [[you turn around]] [[you try calling Vital]]

You ring Vital multiple times, but realise that your phone no longer has any service. You turn to look at the boy again and feel you have no option but to help him. [[you approach the boy|no, he needs help]]

Are you sure you want to go back? [[yes|you go to the Enzo cafe for wifi to check the news]] [[no, he needs help]]

You approach the boy and help his friend but as soon as you turn around in the direction they are walking in, there is more commotion. You see an OMON soldier bending over a limp, lifeless corpse. The (text-colour:red)[(cycling-link:"body is contorted","For more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/protests-violent-clashes-belarus-ruler-cracks-down-after-contested-vote-n1236276")] and the soldier is confused. The crowd goes silent and a single, skin-crawling scream is heard. [[you turn around]] [[you are in shock. You take your phone out and take a photo to hold the soldier accountable]] [[you are perplexed and look around for help|OMON]]

The young boy and his friend exchange looks with you and one another. The boy's eyes start filling with tears. Suddenly you realise you have become part of the people, albeit unfamiliar to you and speaking in a foreign language. You embrace one another. "I'm sorry, I have to go back home and reach my family. I need to leave this country as soon as possible," you say. [[you turn around]] [[a doubt?|OMON]]

After talking to the young boy, you find out his name is Sasha. He is a Belarusian linguistics student who was beaten and raped by the OMON soldiers after peacefully protesting on Independence Square, you are both filled with adrenaline and fury. But, after only 6 hours of incarceration, you are freed and sent home. [[you pick up your phone, passport, backpack and leave |The Morning]]

You say nothing back and doze off. When you wake up, you are met with an officer. The boy is gone, with only a pool of blood left in his place. You are told you are being sent back home. [[you pick up your phone, passport, backpack and leave |The Morning]]

But what if you stayed? "What if they need my help?" you think. Out of nowhere you are attacked by an OMON officer. All three of you are rounded up and before you have a chance to act, you're hit on the head and lose consciousness. Hours later you find yourself incarcerated in tiny concrete room, with no one but another boy. As soon as you start seeing clearly, you notice he is shrivelled in a corner, tears dripping down his face. You try to locate his eyes and mouth but are taken aback by how indistinguishable the bruises and swelling has made the two. You scramble up to help him but cannot get up. "Are you okay? How can I help you? What happened to you?" you manage to blurt out As the shrivelled boy twitches to face you, you realise he is almost beaten to death. "OMON...They beat me." [[you continue talking...]] [[you say nothing and fall asleep]]

You remember Vital' had mentioned the presidential elections a week earlier, and assume there had been a rigged election. Since you barely speak any Russian, you find the public's Belarusian chanting difficult to understand. As you march with the people, you begin to notice the white red white flag. You are confused at first, since it looks like the Polish flag. But you recognise that it's the oppositional flag used in the 90s protests for democracy, since Vital' had mentioned it to you a while back. Someone taps you on the shoulder. [[turn around]] [[walk faster]]

You are trying to squish yourself through the tightening crowd. More and more people seem to be wearing red and white. As you walk with the people, you begin to notice the white red white flag. You are confused at first, since it looks like the Polish flag. But you recognise that it's the oppositional flag used in the 90s protests for democracy, since Vital' had mentioned it to you a while back. Suddenly, you are tapped on the shoulder. [[turn around]] [[walk faster]]

You continue moving with the crowd. You see that you are moving past the memorial wall and enter the Independence Square. Out of nowhere, you hear a blood-curdling cry and notice a limping teenager covered in blood. [[you don't know what to do and call Vital to ask for help|you try calling Vital]] [[you turn back around while you still can]]

You end-up taking multiple photos of the street and notice a (text-colour:red)[= (cycling-link:"massive white-red-white flag","You can find more information by copy-pasting this link into a new tab in your browser: https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/19/for-belarus-tech-workers-in-exile-polands-business-visa-is-a-vital-lifeline-to-escape-repr") (text-colour: white) [= moving further up the street towards Independence Square- which is where everyone seems to be heading. 'This has gotten really intense,' you think. Since you've been out of the loop for a couple of days, you decide that you should read the news. Since you only have service, and no 4G or 5G internet, you shuffle back to the Enzo cafe, where earlier Vital had mentioned you could get safe free wifi access. (text-colour:blue)[= [[you check the news|you go to the Enzo cafe for wifi to check the news]]