Episode 7
=== USER 6545198 NOW CONNECTED TO HIDDEN SERVER “Spring” ===
=== ENTER PRIVATE ENCRYPTION KEY FOR MESSAGE OPERATIONS ===
--- Private Encryption Key: ************************* ---
=== PRIVATE ENCRYPTION KEY ACCEPTED ===
=== MESSAGING OPERATIONS INITIATED ===
=== PREVIOUS MESSAGE WAITING: “Message me when you can, please.” ===
---< what do you want >---
--- USER 6545198: Look… I’ve had a few distills… I just want to understand something. Everything I’ve done, everything i am… is following orders. Doing the right thing. Doing what is best for our society ---
..
---< was that a fucking question? >---
..
--- USER 6545198: No. Well, ---
..
--- USER 6545198: yes… I don’t know, I just don’t understand how letting half the moon wither and die is good for society in the long run ---
---< you are lucky you are the politician, if i was you id have you executed just for saying that hama >---
--- USER 6545198: Cmon just tell me, reiterate, just be honest. Whatever. What are those people supposed to do? >---
..
---< i dont care. they dont matter to me at all. it is what it is thats human nature. the strong rule >---
..
--- USER 6545198: Sure but do we not have any responsibility to them? ---
---< do you have a responsibility to the animals you eat? to the plants you harvest? ---
..
---**---
=== USER 6545198 DISCONNECTED ===
=== AWAITING COMMAND ===
Emson knew about the Ground Zero Protest. Most people had heard of it. While there were a few people in The Design who never thought about The Founding, Emson was following the protests with focused urgency. She planned on attending the Ground Zero protest herself, even though her parents had locked her ID and biometrics from Founding access. To get around it, she had bought a fake ID chip and bioblockers for the first time. Now she was hesitating at the pillars. Would they work? Her heart was racing…
... and then nothing happened. No beeping, no red light, no Planetary Security member grabbing her arm. She tried to act like she expected that, and smiled feebly in the direction of the guard as she walked through The Pillars of Creation. The crowd that was in front of her was not very large, yet was growing quickly. People of all genders and ages were exiting off of maglevs, walking out of alleys, stepping out of doorways. She looked behind her. Planetary had closed most of the gates leading into The Design. A few people trickled through the remaining gates, interested in the protest like her. Whether they actually cared or just wanted to document that they were there, she didn’t know.
Emson looked around her. Groups of people were walking down the streets of The Founding toward the square. Crates had been set up near The Pillars, though no one stood on them yet. The crowd was murmuring. The air was heavy, but with what? Anticipation? Discontent? Emson frowned. Physically she was uncomfortable. She knew this was probably a dangerous place for her to be. Mentally she was full throttle. Anxious, exhilarated, fearful. She needed to center herself. Why am I here? To hear the truth of why people in the Founding are against the split. To hear another side of the story. To see with my own eyes what these people need, so I can figure out how to best help them. Emson breathed a measured, deep breath. Her heart rate slowed.
Emson moved away from the pillars, and into the crowd. She wanted to blend in as best as she could. If the protest turned vengeful, they might not treat someone from The Design kindly. A man had climbed up on a crate with a speaker. Emson slipped further into the crowd, and turned to listen.
“Hello! Welcome! Welcome to Ground Zero! Everyone, may I have your attention please!” The man speaking paused, waiting for the crowd noise to soften. “Welcome to Ground Zero!”
This time, the crowd cheered haphazardly in response. The man held up both hands towards the sky, and the crowd grew quieter.
“We all know why we are here. We are here, we all came here to be witnesses. We came to witness, to show our faces, because The Founding is faceless. So we are here to show that it is our faces that adorn The Founding.”
More assorted cheers. The man continued. “Now, The Guardians say The Founding will be fine. The Guardians say the Founding will survive.” The man held his hands out to quiet the boos that started to rain in from the crowd. “The Guardians…” the man halted the boos once again. “...the Guardians say that this is what is best. What is best for The Founding.”
The man paused. He surveyed the crowd. They were silent. “But let me ask you. What is The Founding?” The man paused again. The crowd was still silent, expecting him to continue.
A voice yelled from deep in the crowd. “WE are The Founding!”
The crowd roared.
“We are the founding!” The man on the crate pumped a hand towards the sky. “If the split is not better for us, than is it better for The Founding?”
The crowd was ready to respond. “No!”
“If the split hurts us, then is it better for The Founding?”
“No!”
“Do the Guardians have our best interests at heart?”
“NO!”
The man had taken the energy of the crowd and doubled it. Emson looked around. People were livid. She felt her heart rate start to increase again.
“Tonight, we are going to hear from several invaluable, intelligent, and proud members of The Founding on why you should continue to protest the split. I pray that the Guardians listen and take some notes.”
Emson’s brow furrowed and her nose scrunched. Pray was not a verb used often in The Design. Was he one of the few people who believed and prayed to the old gods? Or was he using the word figuratively? She didn’t have time to ponder. As the next speaker was climbing up on the crates, she heard the amplified voices of Planetary Security.
“Back away from the pillars! I said back away right now!”
It was the harshest Emson had ever heard Planetary speak to anyone. She knew people would complain that Planetary would treat those from The Founding and those from The Design differently, but she had never experienced it herself. She looked towards the yelling. A few protesters were backing away from The Pillars, as they were instructed, but they were shouting back at Planetary. What they were saying, Emson couldn’t hear.
The next speaker had taken their place on the crate. It looked like a female. She looked… old. Emson was used to seeing youthful, rested faces in The Design. This woman had deep creases weathering her face, yet she moved fluidly. Emson wondered if the woman had gotten access to Tier 1 nanobots later in her life. Early enough to stave off many degenerating processes, but after life’s experiences had imprinted themselves in the wrinkles crossing her face. The lady raised her hands to quiet the crowd. The crowd noise only slightly subsided. The air was electric.
“Hello everyone. My name is Aellana. I was a Second on an estate in The Design for 30 years. Until last week, when I lost my job.” The crowd started booing loudly. Aellana didn’t make an effort to quiet them. It drowned out her next words.
“...would you fire me? And they wouldn’t say. Maybe they couldn’t say. I asked, was it something I did? They told me I had done nothing wrong.” The lady paused, her voice frail with emotion. “They said they are going to use either a robot or someone from The Design.”
The crowd started growing louder and more restless. Emson quickly glanced around. Many people were nodding their heads in agreement. She surmised that many of them had similar experiences with employment in The Design. The speaker continued.
“They don’t care about us. They don’t care that that job was my life. They don’t care that I now have no employment, and can’t pay my rent.”
More commotion at The Pillars. People were throwing things at Planetary Security. One Planetary guard grabbed a protester who had come too close, and started beating him with some sort of security baton. A few protesters grew bolder, most started backing up. Emson heard a third voice try to calm the crowd. It must be the next speaker.
A firm grip was suddenly around Emson’s arm. It pulled her, hard, whirling her around. She gasped.
“Oh the gods! Relcheir, is that you? You scared me! Oh the gods… what happened to your mouth?”
Relcheir pulled his scarf up on his face, covering his bruised cheek and swollen lips. “I thought I recognized you. What are you doing here? This place is way too dangerous for you.”
“Too dangerous for me but not for you? I’m not the one who is injured. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, thank you for your concern,” Relcheir said genuinely. “You should be concerned about yourself. We need to get you home.” Relcheir pulled on Emson’s arm towards The Pillars.
Emson tried to ask Relcheir how he was, what he had been doing the past hundred cycles, but the crowd was incredibly loud and it drowned out her voice. The protest was devolving into a riot. A woman next to Emson yelled. “The Guardians don’t even live in The Founding! They don’t care about us!” The scene felt surreal to Emson. It was similar to things she would read about in the forgotten corners of the archives. It was what she wanted to see, but now that she saw it, she couldn’t help but feel like a terrible mistake was being made. But who was making the mistake? Her? The protesters? The Guardians? She didn’t know.
Emson and Relcheir continued their way through the crowd until they could see the gates between The pillars, then both stopped. Protesters and Planetary had formed rough lines, facing each other. Protesters yelling demands, pleas, obscenities. Planetary yelling commands and insults. Emson could barely believe what she was hearing.
“You live in Founding, you fucking Planetary traitor!”
“I ain’t like you! You’re worthless!”
“You’re no better than us!”
“Oh yea? I don’t see you wearing a badge!”
Relcheir had already started pulling Emson away from the gates when the first protester charged the line of Planetary Security. The brazen charge empowered the crowd. Dozens more followed suit and dashed towards the gates, screaming. Emson heard the loudest bangs she’d ever heard in her entire life, then her ears started ringing. She tried to cover her ears with her hands, but couldn’t. Relcheir had turned and ran, yanking her arms hard. He wasn’t letting go. Emson had to run to keep up with him. The ringing in her ears was slowly fading, and she heard screams all around her. Protesters were running in all directions. She yelled at Relcheir over the mayhem.
“What were those noises?”
“They have guns. We need to leave, right now.”
Emson had never actually seen a gun. Security in The Design didn’t carry them, and they had been illegal to civilians for decades. She was glad she hadn’t seen one before. They were terrifying.
Her thoughts were violently interrupted as she crashed into the back of Relcheir. He had suddenly stopped running down the street. He stood, staring down the row of buildings. She turned to look. Fifty meters ahead, a line of Planety Security guards were marching towards them. A few protesters who were running ahead tried to pass the line of Planetary. The guards swung their batons, beating the protesters to the ground. Emson stared in disbelief..
“This way. Now!” Relcheir pulled her to the left into an alley. His voice sounded strong, confident.
Emson’s mind was blank. This was too much, too much to process. She didn’t know where she was, what she was doing, what was happening. This wasn’t real. Her mind, previously existing only in order, struggled to grasp reality in this newfound chaos. She clung to the confidence in Relcheir’s voice, feeling the strength in his hand as he pulled her along. It sounded sure, felt sure, sure of something, of anything. That was more than Emson could say of herself. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other. They rounded a turn, and Relcheir stopped again. Another line of Planetary Security. Emson felt an unusual chill in her body. It was fear.
“Fuck! They are trying to pincer the protest.” Relcheir didn’t sound sure anymore. There was no more confidence for Emson to leech. She started to panic. “I think we can make it across the street before they get to us.”
“You.... think? Can we or can’t we? Oh gods, are we going to die?” Emson was beginning to get hysterical. Relcheir turned to her, put his hands on either side of her face, and forced her to look him in the eyes.
“Emson. I need you to keep yourself together. Focus on your surroundings. Breathe.” Emson closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Relcheir waited a pulsar, then said “Okay. Let’s go.” He took off running across the street, Emson’s hand in his. She focused on his strides. She could easily keep up with him. She hadn’t really ever considered before that she might be fast…
“You two! Stop right there!”
“Don’t stop Em! Focus on the alley! Faster!”
Emson launched forward. They were over halfway across the intersection. She was ahead of Relcheir now. She glanced towards the Planetary Security guards. A handful were running towards them. They were fast too. The fearful chill returned. Focus on your surroundings. She turned her eyes to the alley straight ahead of her. She was almost there… was that another set of footsteps? She skittered into the alley, and turned. Relcheir was right behind her. He was quickly looking from his right to his left, back and forth. He ran into the alley and turned as well.
“Stay behind me. Get ready to run,” Relcheir gasped.
A man turned the corner. He was shorter than Relcheir. He was wearing a hat, a gaiter obscuring his lower face, and had the same type of studs in his ears that Relcheir wore. Emson couldn’t tell by his clothes which side he was from. Relcheir put his hands up to fight. The man held his up in peace. He spoke in a measured voice.
“You have five pulsars before planetary is here. You won’t outrun them alone. I can help.”
Relcheir growled, “I don’t trust you. Leave us alone.”
The man’s voice didn’t waver. “Take this right, then a left, then open the gate on your right. It’s not actually locked.” He turned. Three Planetary guards rounded the corner.
Relcheir pulled Emson down the alley. They turned right then left, which was the only way they could go. They came to a small clearing. The backdoor of a building was on their left, as well as another alley. Straight ahead was an opening to a main street. A metal gate was on their right with a large chain on it. Darkness lay behind the gate. Relcheir started straight forward, but Emson stopped.
“Rel, what if he was telling the truth?”
“I don’t want to find out. Let’s go.” He turned, a few meters from the main street entrance. Emson hadn’t moved. She heard commotion behind her around the corner. It sounded close. Her instinct was to hide, not run. She dashed towards the gate. She pulled hard and almost fell over when it swung easily open. She rushed in, and pulled the gate closed. She heard Relcheir’s voice. “Emson!”
It was too late. The unknown man stepped backwards into the clearing, along with two planetary guards. Emson peered through the bars of the gate. A guard swung his baton. The man sidestepped, and kicked low. The guard's leg was kicked out behind him, and he went down on one knee. The second guard was yelling into his earpiece, slowly advancing on the man, who had backed up a few meters into the courtyard.
All of the sudden, the man slammed his shoulder into the advancing guard, who crashed into the wall and crumpled. Emson blinked. How did she miss his movement? How did the man close the gap between him and the guard? He must have been incredibly fast…
The man turned towards the first guard, who was still sitting on his knee. He was motionless, mouth agape in shock at what he had just seen. Or rather, what he didn’t see. The man stepped forward and brought his knee sharply upwards to meet the guard’s face. Emson turned away and grimaced. The noise made Emson’s stomach turn. A few pulsars later, she turned to watch again. Both guards lay motionless on the ground. The man was slowly walking towards the gate, and Emson. His eyes seemed to notice her, even though she thought she was hidden by darkness. His shoulders relaxed. He did not notice another Planetary guard come from around the corner. Emson’s eye’s widened. She opened her mouth to warn him, but her voice was caught. The guard raised a baton to strike.