Asunder Chapter 9

Chapter 2.4 (9)

The Disruptor

The Rebellion

Machine-

1. any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks

2. an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals efficiently; "the war machine"

3. an efficient person; “he was a magnificent fighting machine.(1)

1. Advanced English Dictionary

- Present Day -

- The year 2296 -

Ace looked below. The grass beside Diego shimmered faintly, indicating the camouflage coverings worked well at hiding their airships. Diego reached the rally point first and stood in the open field, waving his arms and pointing to where Ace should land his ship. Though Ace quickly learned how to fly an airship safely, it took him three times as long to learn how to land the aircraft.

He visualized the landing area and pulled back on the throttle. The reverse thrust of the engine kicked in, and while adjusting the rudder, he slowed to an eventual stop and hovered right in front of the area. At about 500 feet, he began his descent. Filling the ballonets with air, he increased the density of the balloon. This transition made it dense enough to create a negative buoyancy, which caused a slow and steady dive. He then adjusted the elevators to create a perfect angle of descent. Skill and accuracy were critical components at this moment. Too much momentum and the impact would ignite the Syron, creating a blast zone half the size of a city. Too little, and he would float off the mark and possibly tip the aircraft, resulting in the same morbid fate.

He slowed the flow of air into the ballonets. Two hundred feet. One hundred and fifty feet. One hundred feet. A gust of wind struck the aircraft, steering his angle slightly off. He adjusted the elevator and pulled the rudder to the left. Lightly jarring the airship, it shifted into position. Fifty feet. He reversed the flow of air and rapidly drained the ballonets. The momentum shifted dramatically. The highly explosive Syron tanks jostled, and Ace felt himself losing grip. Ten feet. He veered toward Diego’s airship, and another gust of wind forced him further. He released the throttle and quickly filled the ballonets, which caused a sudden shift and drop of the airship. It slammed into the ground. Ace braced himself for the end. With his eyes squeezed tight, he imagined the Syron igniting. The canisters clattered into each other. One of the containers slipped loose of its roping, sliding across the hull, and slammed into the sidebar.

The balloon squished against Diego’s just feet away, causing his friend’s airship to lift slightly to one side. He opened his eyes and saw Diego running around frantically. The Syron containers shifted again as the ship leveled out onto the gravel below. Diego’s eyes bulged as he jumped on one of his anchors to steady the ship. The two airships hugged and moved, then, after a moment, settled into place.

“Holy heavens, boy!” Diego yelled through the comlink, his voice also trailing through the wind.

“Ya tryin' to kill us!?”

Ace stood in silence. Sweat ran down his face. His fingers loosened their grips on the rudder and throttle, and he fell onto his knees. His breathing was shallow. Diego jumped off of the anchor and ran over to Ace.

“Dat was close!! Are ya okay, boy?” His voice was less angry and more concerned now.

Ace shook himself of the shock and, grabbing Diego’s hand, lifted himself.

“Sorry, Dee, I thought I had it.” His voice trembled as he stood there with his hands on his hips.

“Oh, ya had it alright, da wind just be much stronga here dan in da east.” He replied reassuringly.

Ace nodded his head, still breathing heavily. Diego lifted his hand to his brow and looked around, squinting. “I don’t see any sign of dem. Day said dis be da coordinates, but maybe we be early.”

Snapping out of his daze, Ace looked around. It was a high desert plain, with the mountain range just a mile ahead, looming like a giant sentinel. Dry yellow grass coated the land all about.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Ace asked.

“I be certain. Check ya map if ya so concerned I got us lost.” Diego retorted reproachfully.

Never concerned about the literalness of Diego’s rhetoric, Ace reached around and grabbed the map out of his back pocket. It was a map book his father had given him as a child. He had kept it on him at all times. Even though he had worn out its torn and aged pages, it had saved him numerous times, and he wouldn’t disregard its accuracy now.

He flipped through the pages until he reached their destination. They were in what used to be known as Montana, just west of a long-lost town called Fishtail. They had followed a remnant outline of what used to be Interstate 90 and headed southwest when they saw the River. No sign of life remained. What buildings were there had eroded and “gone the way of the grass,” as his dad would say. Two hundred years or so of nature’s will and way would turn anything to rubble. The highway was nearly indiscernible; only a slight deviation in the grass growth from the height they had flown allowed them even to see it. This was the closest to home he had been in years.

“So am I wrong?” Diego probed smugly.

“Nah, you’re right.” Ace continued, “Well, partially right. You were off by about half a mile, so… not right at all.”

Diego erupted, “Boy! Whatch ya mean not at all? I be more right dan ya ever been in ya whole life! One mile, pssshh, dat be exactly right. Ya probably not reading dat old map of ya’s correctly.”

Diego shook his head and kicked the dirt with his arms crossed. The man looked up into the distance. He quickly shook off his frustration, grabbed Ace by the shoulder, and pointed, “Hey! Der dey be!”

Ace raised his eyes and saw two figures walking toward them. They stood about a quarter mile off, and though he couldn’t make out their faces, they appeared human. Ace quickly stuffed the map book into his back pocket and hoisted his bag onto his shoulders.

He turned to Diego excitedly, “Let’s go meet them!”

“Easy der sailor, we gonna wait right here. Ya tink I’m gonna leave dis Syron sittin’ by its lonesome waitin’ for some fool kid to walk away and get it stolen. No sir. We waitin’. Dey may look human from here, but we be waitin’, in case dey be decoys, my boy.” Diego looked at Ace reprovingly.

“Decoys?” Ace indignantly remarked, “I highly doubt they’d send decoys! If the machines saw us, they would’ve annihilated us by now. Not send decoys who look like humans to check it out!”

“Oh, ya be so smart ya know what dey be tinkin’ now, eh? Don’t ya tink dey’d be wantin’ dis here Syron? Don’t ya tink dey’d be wantin’ to know what kind of idiots be flyin’ in dis territory? Don’t ya tink dey’d be wantin’ to get on da inside, get to know us, find da rest of us, find out our plans?” Diego raised his eyebrows.

Diego wasn’t completely off his rocker, but Ace still thought it silly. The machines were merciless. Brilliant but merciless. They wouldn’t waste time with espionage. They would send Takers to eradicate, not investigate.

Ace shrugged, “Fine then.”

He set his bag down and began staking his airship ropes into the ground, just in case the ballonets spontaneously released. After he had nearly all the anchors hammered in, the guests arrived at the landing site: a man and a woman. They introduced themselves to Diego as Ace wiped the sweat from his brow and tossed the hammer and spare anchors into the hull. Walking over, Ace broke up the newly forming conversation between Diego and the guests.

“And dis is my brova Ace. He be wit me since da start.” He turned, grabbing Ace’s shoulder and introducing him with a broad, pearly white smile. Clearly, Diego had already recovered from the small argument just before their arrival.

“Hello,” the man nodded, eyeing the markings on Ace’s face. Ace reached out to shake the man’s hand, but no hand came in return. The man’s pale, middle-aged face glared deep into Ace’s soul. His short blonde hair rustled in the wind, and bright blue eyes never left Ace’s face tattoos.

“My name is Agro, and this is Korin.” He motioned to the woman at his side.

“Welcome,” The woman smiled and presented her hand for an actual greeting. She had glanced at Ace’s tattoos for only a moment. She didn’t linger long like others and instead met his eyes. He had not interacted with a female in months, and he felt himself faltering for a response. Her shoulder-length dark red hair whipped about in the wind, and she continually pulled the strands from her mouth. Her almond-green eyes resembled those of a seer. Ace grabbed her hand and felt the callouses only mining could create.

The man and woman before them wore similar clothing to each other, familiar to Ace but not likely to Diego. Heavy polyspun weather-resistant trousers covered their legs and lined their overcoats. They donned thickly woven scarfs tucked deep into the waistcoat worn underneath—clothes of the free mountaineers—Outlanders. They each had leather satchels and long rifles about their shoulders, with a smaller sidearm on their thighs. Likely, they carried knives beneath their jackets and another pistol hidden either in the tall boots they wore or strapped along their chest.

“Thanks… we’re glad we could be here to see you, I mean to help you… I mean anytime…” Ace trailed off as he fumbled with conversing with the opposite gender. She eyed him awkwardly and turned to Diego. The blonde man looked at Ace, perturbed by Ace’s pubescent interaction with Korin.

“We’ve been waiting. We were worried there for a moment, but then we saw your ships landing, and the relief you brought to our hearts was immense.” The woman spoke with more authority now. “Do you have the goods?”

“Oh, we got ’em for ya. All ninety-seven lectens worth.” Diego replied proudly.

They both looked at Diego wide-eyed.

“Ninety-seven lectens?” Korin asked in surprise.

Diego turned and pointed at Ace’s hull, which contained half the load.

“And da udder half be in my airship right over der.” He turned, pointing to his now.

“That’s wonderful!” The woman remarked.

“And we appreciate you landing so close to the rally point. Any further, and we may have risked being detected. This area is relatively safe, but we can’t be too careful.” She said with hesitance.

“How close were we to da exact rally point?” Diego questioned, easing his eyebrows and glancing at Ace, clearly trying to prove a point.

“Well, you’re about half a mile off, but landing safely with the load you have was all we cared about.” The man replied.

“See, I told you it was half a mile.” Ace grinned at Diego, who was glaring and gritting his teeth at Ace.

“Is there a problem?” The man asked.

“Oh, no problem, no problem at all.” Ace grinned, slapping Diego on the back.

The man pruned no further and proceeded to get down to business.

“We need to get this Syron to the camp as soon as possible. We radioed in some support. Can you deflate the blimps so we can be more discrete? This area is still technically out in the open, and we don’t want to risk having the airships seen.”

“Easy enough,” Diego retorted.

“We got heavy tanks to save and reuse da Helo5. And we got da reflective tarps for camouflage. No need to worry, brova!” Diego motioned for Ace to start his decompression system as he walked to his airship to do the same.

The man and woman turned to each other and spoke quietly. Ace pretended not to be eavesdropping. He unloaded the tubing from his cabin in the back of the dirigible and began hooking it up to the blimp's decompression system. Hoisting the heavy hose, he ratcheted it into place and started the unloading process.

“Of course, we can trust them. They just risked their lives hauling explosives across the country for us.” The woman spoke under her breath to the man.

More inaudible mumbling came from the man. They both looked over at Ace, who was activating the decompression system and pretending not to notice them.

“The communication was clear, the comlex was encrypted, and their orders are just as valid as ours.” She grabbed Agro’s hand reassuringly and then whispered in his ear. Agro’s face softened, and he nodded. He squeezed her hand back. They then quickly let go and shifted to more formal postures, clearly not wanting their new acquaintances to see the affection.

“There’s no chance your deflation system could ignite the Syron, right?” The man yelled over the whirring sound ensuing when the activators initiated.

Diego looked back and laughed, “Only if da temperature setting be off, or da gasket be misaligned.” Diego suddenly took on a serious face, “Wait, ya reset the temperature to da new climate like I told ya, Ace?”

The man and woman gasped and gripped their rifles tight, bracing. Ace looked at Diego, confused.

What was he talking about? There was no temperature setting?

“Bwahahaha!” Diego erupted into uncontrollable laughter. “Did ya see deir faces, Ace? Dey tought I be serious! Bwahahaha!”

Their faces turned from horror to annoyance.

“Nah man, der no chance dis be causin’ any explosion, hehe.” Diego wiped tears from the corner of his eyes with his leather gloves.

“This is not a joke. I hope you intend to take this mission seriously.” The man admonished disgustedly.

“Ah, cool ya clusters man, I be da most serious man when it comes to destroying dese machines.”

The man eyed Ace questioningly. Ace nodded to reassure the couple Diego was serious.

“Well then, Commander Sylas expects us back by nightfall. We need to hurry if we will be back in time,” Korin interjected, apparently done with the jokes and the exchange of masculinity.

Ace’s balloon rapidly decompressed, indicating he successfully stored the Helo5 in the heavy tank. The fabric, made of memorystatic material, carefully folded in on itself in the decompression process. When they expelled the Helo5 from it, a perfectly folded chest-high square of Statomat remained. This process even amazed Agro as he examined the containment status of each Syron tank.

“Pretty sleek,” Agro remarked.

“Right!?” Diego butted in. “I helped design da tech myself.”

Ace eyed Diego and scrunched his face. No, he didn’t. Ace thought.

The carrier vehicles arrived shortly after, and a group of six men and women, two from each of the three magnograv trucks, began transferring the Syron from the hull of each airship to the beds of two of the vehicles. With the help of all ten of them, the process proceeded quickly and smoothly. Once they entirely removed the Syron, both Diego and Ace engaged the Camofab tarps they had positioned over each airship hull. Once activated, it was difficult to discern their presence, even when standing directly next to the activated tarp. Lastly, they initiated an instant cooling system throughout each craft to remove any heat signatures left behind from their running time. This step ensured no Watcher could pick up on the airships’ heat signatures from their previously running motors.

Quickly hopping onto the back of the third vehicle with Agro and Korin, they sped off toward the mountain range. Each truck bore a magnograv engine, making the mining transport rigs into modified military-grade vehicles, allowing them to suspend in the air roughly two feet via the engine’s technology. This sort of tech had been something Ace had only heard about, not yet seen with his naked eyes. A reverse magnetism, also reversing the gravity in a closed system, allowed the object to hover. Ace heard it required a lot of energy to run an engine like this, requiring the superconduction of something like the Caerulum the humans mined for the machines.

“Why are they using magnograv on these rigs? Seems a little excessive, doesn’t it?” Ace yelled over the rushing wind as they cruised along the desert valley, sitting in the back of the carrier.

Korin responded. “Do you want the Watchers to find us? Do you see a dust trail behind us? Something tires would easily stir up driving out in this terrain.”

They all looked out behind them. The hovercraft had not stirred even a single speck of dust as they traveled. Ace stretched his face in embarrassment. “Good point.”

As though Diego could read Ace’s mind, he spoke up, “Dis be runnin’ on Caerulum?”

Korin grinned and nodded.

“Oh boy, I bet dat be pissin’ off dem metal heads!”

The comment caused them all to laugh, except Agro.

After about thirty minutes, they approached the canyon, splitting into the mountain range. The ground began to ascend, and Diego stretched his neck, taking in the vastness of the mountains. They drove into the vast chasm flanked by monumental rocky ascents. A small creek slithered along off to their left. The use of the magnograv was genius. They left no tracks—no evidence of their existence. It was essential in a world where satellite imaging or Watchers noticed every discrepancy. They eventually curved around a small lake and headed for a point ahead, marking the canyon's end.

“Beautiful, huh?” Korin asked them both.

“Breaftaking,” replied Diego.

“Is this your first time seeing mountains like these?” Again, asking the both of them.

“Yep,” replied Diego, not taking his eyes off the scene.

“No,” replied Ace.

The woman looked at Ace curiously. But before she could probe further, the vehicle suddenly stopped, shifting the passengers into each other from the inertia of their sudden speed change.

“Where are we?” Ace tried to change the subject as they all settled back into their spots

“An old mining facility.” Answered Korin. “Back when they first discovered Caerulum, they presumed this would be a good location since, as you know, they found it in conjunction with Corundum.”

“Agro,” a voice called out from the rig beside them.

Agro jumped out and walked over to the other rig, speaking with the man who called his name.

Korin continued, “Well, they never found any Caerulum; the only thing discovered beside the corundum was ancient hand-carved dwellings and sculptures. They think the natives who once lived here thousands of years ago had sculpted ceremonial altars or something. It’s stunning when you see it. Anyway, a local to the area informed one of our people about its location and its discrete entrance. He told us no one really knew about it besides his family, and since he was the only family member left, it was certain to be hidden. Well, we took up shelter there and have used it as an outpost ever since. There’s a big, beautiful lake on the other side of the peak, once used to cool the Caerulum diggers long ago. Someone built a damn here as a power plant a couple of hundred years prior. We’ve managed to repair some of its features so that we can use it as a power source now. It’s all very convenient, almost like it was all meant to be.”

Ace pulled out his map and flipped to the page he had been studying before. Running his finger along the canyon, he ended at the small blue print indicating a body of water—”Mystic Lake.”

Korin eyed the map, “What do you got there?”

“Just an old map,” Ace responded and quickly folded and stuffed it into his back pocket again.

“Not just any old map, that thing is a relic,” Korin noted.

Agro jumped back in the bed of the rig.

“They are opening the doors now. Just be warned, they do a Tenen scan when we get in there.”

Ace was glad for the disruption, though he hated Tenen scans. He kicked himself for pulling out the map as he let his curiosity get the best of him. Not fond of relaying his past to others, Ace cursed himself, as something like the map was sure to allude to it. They didn’t need to know where he came from. The less they knew, the better it was for everyone, even Diego.

“Tenen scan?” Diego protested.

Ace remembered his last Tenen scan. Whenever the machines shifted him from one mining facility to another, they wanted to be sure he wasn’t a carrier, so they performed a Tenen scan on him each time. He knew it was more likely out of spite and punishment rather than genuine concern, as Seers couldn’t carry the pathogen the Tenens scanned for. The feel of the tiny creatures crawling all over his body made him shudder. Even if someone weren’t bothered by insects, having a hundred of them simultaneously crawling on you would make anyone uncomfortable.

“I never had a Tenen scan before?” Diego shyly admitted. “What is a Tenen anyway?”

Taking the opportunity to display his superior knowledge to the others in the back of the vehicle, Agro explained, “Tenens are small ant-like insects genetically created to detect the presence of AV-Simplex-3, the machine-made virus which causes acute viral meningitis and is deadly in 90% of the population. In making the virus, the machines ensured only seers were immune. We, Seers, have chromophores within our retinas, enabling us to see the Caerulum, and a byproduct of this genetic anomaly is the presence of protective antibodies that provide strong immunity against AVS3. Therefore, the machines hoped only the Seers would survive when they disseminated the virus.”

Ace rolled his eyes and sarcastically whispered to Diego, “He’s so smart.”

“Shut it, man, I be listenin’.” Diego unexpectedly pushed Ace’s face away.

Agro continued, “An unintended consequence of the antibody/virus theory was the inevitable presence of the Chromophore Gene carriers. Since Seerism is an autosomal dominant condition, those who are carriers are not only carriers of Seerism but can also be asymptomatic carriers of the virus. These carriers have a minimal ability to detect the Caerulum due to the single gene copy, as well as are silent carriers of the virus and could be utterly asymptomatic while infecting all those around them. This hidden infection is why the machines created the Tenens to ensure AVS3 didn’t infect entire colonies of people already vetted for mining. The machines created the Tenens to protect the non-Seers since colonies were not made entirely of Seers. Also, since there weren’t as many Seers as the machines had first predicted, many humans are allowed to survive to ensure the posterity of Seers. These people act as cooks, cleaners, and childcare workers within the mining colonies.”

“An unpredicted blessing in disguise, I suppose,” Korin interjected and smiled. “Proof the machines aren’t gods. They can’t predict every outcome, no matter how good their prophetic algorithms claimed to be.”

Ace smiled at the woman. She was correct. They weren’t gods.

“They want you both to wear these until they complete the scan,” Agro handed Ace and Diego a respirator mask.

“But aren’t you both exposed now, too, having been around us?” Ace asked defiantly. He looked at Diego, who rolled his eyes as he placed the mask on, implying Ace should do the same.

“The crew who came out here today are all Seers. We are immune,” Agro responded matter-of-factly.

Ace strapped on the uncomfortable respirator and breathed in. The taste of the air converted in the respirators was sour. Well, we are, too, he thought, annoyed by the implication they were carriers. Diego and Ace were Seers. There was no way they could have the virus, but it hadn’t mattered. They still would be scanned. He doubted they would risk taking his and Diego’s word for it.

The vehicles pushed forward, hovering over the creek now. The canyon became much tighter, and after a few minutes, they came upon a large rock face to their left. Then, with great subtlety, a massive rectangular discrepancy outlined in the rock face as it slowly protruded, revealing a grand opening into a large and well-lit cavern. Diego eyed Ace with amazement.

Once all the vehicles were inside the great hall, the door shut behind them like a stone covering a great tomb. People bustled about in conversation, many taking little notice of their arrival. The ceilings were some fifty feet tall, the rock a mix of limestone and quartzite. Within the walls of the great cavern, cubbies had been dug out, large enough to create a room to fit a small family. Ladders climbed to many of the tiny spaces. Yellow lighting illuminated some nooks, where Ace saw a few groups of people eating or resting.

Along the edges of the great room, tunnels traversed further into the mountain. Large bundles of cords stretched every which way. Human-sized containers and multiple thopters lined the far wall. A host of more magnograv vehicles filled the space as well. The rebels had managed to compress a small army into the area. He had no idea how extensive this operation was. And with all of this, a spark of hope lit within him.

In the corner of the great room, which didn’t catch his eye until they exited the vehicle, stood a most peculiar large stone ring. The precision of the carving of the rest of the cavern shadowed in comparison to the intricate detail lining the massive ring. The structure had to have been twice the height of Ace. Steps ascended the archways, ending at the center, where there appeared to be an altar. The disregard taken by its inhabitants dulled its beauty. Metal containers and machine parts lay strewn about its perimeter. The altar contained a few motor actuators in the repair process, lying upon its majestically carved surface.

Korin, taking notice of Ace’s intrigue, leaned in and whispered, “Beautiful, isn’t it.”

Still in awe, Ace replied through the respirator, which muffled his voice, “What is it?”

“No one knows, probably some sort of sacrificial altar built by the natives who ruled this land.”

After exiting the vehicle, a band of soldiers wearing face masks reprimanded Ace and Diego and guided them to a decontamination chamber, spraying them down with a cleansing gas. Once finished, the soldiers transferred them to another room, after which they initiated the Tenen scan. It felt as bad as the first time he had experienced it, though Diego handled it much worse than Ace. Even after the soldiers cleared them for entry, Diego rubbed his thighs and scratched awkwardly in all his crevices.

“Man, I was not expectin’ dose tings ta be so itchy,” Diego snapped as he scratched his head. “How are dey sure dey get ’em all off ya? I feel like there’s a family of dem nested in my dreads, man.”

“I think it’s just your native critters already living there, Dee.” Ace laughed.

Diego glared at Ace, “Oh, ya real funny man,” and scratched his scalp.

Korin met them along the corridor and guided them to another room within the cavernous tunnels.

“There’s no time to waste. Commander Sylas is ready to begin. We’ll meet them in the control room.”

“Now? Like we are beginning now?” Ace asked, surprised.

“The Syron was the last detail. We are all ready. There won’t be another chance for two weeks unless we attack tonight.” Korin responded in a commanding tone.

Ace looked at Diego, who shrugged his shoulders and laughed, “What ya worried about, boy? Dis is what we came for. Were ya hopin’ to wash ya face first? Maybe get ya hair brushed and pretty?”

The comment even made Korin smile.

“Shut it, Dee, I just… just… didn’t realize it would be so quick. I’m good… perhaps just a little hungry, is all.” Ace, embarrassed by the remark, trailed off.

“There will be some food in the control room. Let’s hurry.” Korin picked up her pace.

The control room appeared like any other room within the facility. A small dark stone chamber where a large table sat in the middle, with blue light emitting from its center, creating multiple maps floating before the people surrounding it. Upon entering, a tall woman with smooth, ebony skin and towering fluffy black hair, which made her appear even taller and distinguished than she already was, stood at the far end of the table, eyeing the newcomers. She hushed a fully heated argument between members around the table, which suddenly dissipated into whispered side conversations.

The woman cleared her throat. “Welcome, Gentleman.” She spoke with gravitas and allure. She had to be nearly sixty years old, given the white speckling her frizzy hair donned. Her face glowed blue in the light of the table, but this was not the reason for the blue burning in her eyes. She was obviously a Seer. A common attribute in most Seers was pale blue or green irises. She wore similar clothing as the rest of the army, except her scarf was dyed a bright blue, which only added to the effect of the glow within her eyes.

“I am Commander Alivaria Sylas.”

They both bowed their heads and uttered, “Hello, ma’am.”

“We much appreciate the risk you both took at getting the Syron to us. We are forever indebted to you. The crux of this entire mission rested on those containers. You men not only traversed a great distance but freely gave us something which today is worth far more than this entire facility. And thus, we thank you.”

Claps erupted from around the room, and many of the people who had previously been arguing now smiled at them and joined in the applause.

Ace leaned over to Diego and whispered, “You didn’t tell me how much the Syron was worth!”

“Didn’t tink ya needed to know, didn’t want ya scamperin’ off wit my gold.” Diego smiled back at Ace.

He supposed even if he could sell the Syron, there was not much he could do with the money anyway. Even the free colonies out there were too meager to provide much luxury.

“Let’s get down to business.” The commander announced. The applause died down, and the focus was re-centered on the maps before them.

“Tonight is the night! Scouts have just informed us there was a large exodus of Takers and Watchers deploying from the mining facility. We are unsure why, but something has stirred them up and led them from the facility. We likely don’t have long, but this is our only shot. The mining colony is approximately 350 miles southwest of our current location. We have thopters which can get us there within two hours. Recon has noted two Watchers at this point and this point,” she pointed to the aerial view map.

“Roughly 2000 humans are working in this colony. It is one of the highest-production mining colonies we know of today. If we take out this facility, it will greatly weaken the machine's energy output. Now, there are seven evac transports located here. Each evac can hold about 200 individuals. Once we get the evacs loaded…”

Ace listened intently but also did the math in his head. If she was correct in her calculations, then it meant only 1400 people, rather than all 2000, would make it out. Without regard for his newness to the situation, he was about to blurt out a rebuttal, but another woman around the table got to it first, “But that’s only 1400. There’s still 600 in there!”

“Not to mention the army of Takers they’ll deploy as soon as we arrive!” Another rough voice erupted from the group. A shorter man with a long, unkempt mustache and large, thick-rimmed glasses slammed his fist on the table.

“Elroy has found a way to hack into the fire alarm system,” she continued without skipping a beat. “Once he triggers the fire alarm, the machines are required to shift the humans to an adjacent containment sector. Elroy will subsequently activate each sector, suggesting the progression of said fire. This decoy will essentially smoke them out. Once the humans are within the last sector, we will begin Phase Two.”

“The last sector abuts the evac helosite. If we play this correctly and do not give away that the system has been tampered with, most Takers will be addressing the quote-unquote “fire,” which allows us enough time to trigger the first series of containment explosions. Team Foxtrot will trigger the first Syron loads, which will hopefully trap most of the army of Takers within the deeper dwellings of the facility. We will then proceed to Phase Three, where teams Delta and Echo will attack the helosite bay, obtaining the evacs. Teams Alpha and Romeo will then open Sector Nine and begin the evac.”

“Preference will be given to children, elderly, and families first, and all single men and women will be requested to aid and join. Once we’ve loaded all the evacs and the flight plans secured, each evac will be given separate coordinates, and mass evacuation will commence. We will then aid the rest of the miners for on-foot evacuation.”

She eyed the woman who argued and gave her an acknowledging nod.

“Once all teams have evacuated, Phase Four will proceed, and teams Bravo and Charlie will finish the final detonations of Syron, which will be the end of the facility.”

Quiet cheers echoed by the individuals lining the room.

“We will have less than one hour to accomplish this mission. The nearest other mining facility is here, and the nearest Watcher here.” She pointed to two areas on the map. “Even with the speed of their flight commanders, it would take them an hour to reach us, which gives us little time. Thus, there is no time for mistakes. Here are your final assignments and objectives. We have planned this for over a year, and I am confident you all know your roles, but this is it.”

Two women walked the room and handed out compads to everyone. Commander Sylas leaned over and whispered to a man at her side. Whispers erupted through the control room as people received their assignments. Diego and Ace opened their compads and scanned the documents. They both were assigned to team Bravo, the final detonation of the Syron.

Ace flipped through the files containing maps of the facility. The colony’s layout appeared like every colony he had lived in before. He sighed. It was all coming to fruition. He was with the rebels finally and could seek the revenge he always sought.

Suddenly, while browsing the assignment in the compad, a digital folder off to the side caught his attention.

“Colony Resident Manifest”

He looked up and around. Everyone was focusing on their compads, absorbed in the assignments and schematics. Even Diego hadn’t noticed Ace examining the room. A spark welled inside him.

Maybe, just maybe, the name was there.

He tapped the folder, and a massive list unfolded across the screen. There were serial numbers of all the individuals who resided in this colony. He looked down at his wrist. The faded ink of the tattoo still showed all the digits, and the corresponding first four digits of the nine total would match his—010775291. The other five digits could be any number. Although the machines did not capture her at the same time they caught him, he remembered, without a shadow of a doubt, that the first four digits of her numbers matched his. They had compared numerous times.

The top of the folder bore a search bar, so he typed in the first three digits, and most of the serial numbers faded, leaving 57 results. Entering one more digit, he watched as the results faded into seven results. There was no need to type any more digits. No matching results resembling his digits appeared. Frustrated, he quickly cleared the search bar. Just as he was about to close the folder, a thought struck him: such an easy thing. He returned to the search bar and typed the surname “Wilder.” The screen loaded briefly and then returned the expected zero results. Nearly defeated, he swiped out of the search bar. Suddenly, a peculiar memory ignited within his mind. She had been captured much later in life—at an age when she was smart enough not to give her real name to her mechanical overseers. With one last bit of hope, he returned and typed the surname once printed across her apron hanging in her dormitory: “Jenkins.”

Though, with his confidence fractured multiple times already, he had not expected much in terms of success. After a moment that seemed an eternity, the results faded, leaving one result pulsating in the blue light of the compad. His heart pounded, and his head felt fuzzy. With lips tingling, his fingertips became numb.

Could it be?

His hand shook as he tapped the serial number. It was actually the first three digits, not four. He rolled his eyes at himself. Then, an image of the young woman’s face replaced the fading numbers—her long brown hair was just as he remembered. Her deep green eyes glowed in the digital image. The same green eyes would bear into his soul like his mother’s would. Hands on her hips, lecturing him about playing too rough with his youngest brother. The screen presented a short profile of her housing locations. She remained where he had last left her.

Then, the realization struck him. They were going to the same facility he had lived at before. Where he last left her. How had he not seen it on the map? Though there were plenty of mining facilities in the area, he thought he would at least recognize the one he had been to before. He knew it all too well. He thought of his abrupt departure, of what she would feel to see him again.

An annotation was displayed on the screen beside her name, indicating her marriage status. They did it, they actually did it! Those lovebirds, he thought. He scanned the top of the document. Her name emblazoned across the top was a solace to his weary heart. However, it was not her actual surname, as she was more intelligent than he. She had not given the machines her correct surname, likely to keep her true identity hidden. He read it out loud, whispering it to himself. The healing balm of family. His sister.

“Jane (Jenkins) Rose”.