Chapter 4 - The Rebellion (At a Glance)

The walk back to the apartment was a little awkward. I could tell Charmaine was feeling bad by the way she kept shooting sympathetic and apologetic looks my way. It normally wouldn't irritate me, but she's been doing this for five minutes now, and I know the whole situation was just eating her up inside.

"You can stop feeling bad," I said as we neared her apartment. "It's not your fault."

As soon as I said it, Charmaine burst into tears. "How could you say that?! I told you the city was safe and that you would like it here. I should've gone with you on your first day to check it out. In fact, I should've checked the location earlier so you wouldn't have had to go there. Because of my carelessness, you… " she sniffed. "You could've seriously been in danger."

Well, technically speaking, I was in serious danger when the government kidnapped me and tried to inject a microchip inside my body, which could've been a fatal experiment from what the researchers were saying. I didn't tell her that, of course, because it would only make her feel worse, and I don't think she would believe me. And I wouldn't blame her. If I had a friend who came back from the hospital after being concussed and she started talking about how the government was trying to use her as a human science experiment, I would probably take whatever she said with a grain of salt.

"It's okay," was all I said. "Now I know to be more careful in the future."

"Man, now you don't even have a job anymore and no reliable source of income. You don't have a lot of work experience either, so it will be hard finding you another job." Charmaine was speaking quickly. "It's okay, though. I can convince my manager to give you a position doing something. Um... maybe you could write articles? Or, ooh, you could conduct surveys! Or maybe even be a custodian? Lots of businesses could use custodians."

I sighed. "Thanks, Char, but it's been a long day and I'm really tired. Maybe we can discuss it tomorrow."

Charmaine nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. You've had a rough day."

We got back inside the apartment and I was about to crash on the couch until I noticed the little black box on Charmaine's dining table. I suddenly thought about something. "Hey, Char. Could I use your computer?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just give me a sec because I only have facial recognition on it. I'll set you up with your own account." Charmaine tapped on the box and the holographic screen opened up. After she made me an account, Charmaine told me she was going to take a shower first and then make us dinner. At the mention of dinner, my stomach rumbled. I felt much less dehydrated thanks to the IV fluids from the hospital, but I never got a chance to eat since earlier this morning.

When Charmaine was gone, I opened up a new browser tab and searched up the Rebellion. I was a bit curious about them after having a brief encounter with them, and Charmaine didn't tell me much other than they were trying to overthrow the government, which, knowing Charmaine, could just be an exaggeration.

As I skimmed through websites and poured over news articles, I couldn't gather much about them. Nobody knows for sure who they really are because they often cover their faces and "move in the shadows". They are rarely ever seen in cities or rural areas. Those who have reported seeing Rebels' faces out in public could not get a good enough look, as the Rebellion always does their best to stay out of the public eye. I guess I was just lucky that they decided to show their faces today.

The most information that's given about their identity is through their own propaganda and messages they leave in public areas and broadcasts. They're always recruiting and the only way you could apply was through online encrypted messaging apps. No one knows where they are located. Posters and graffiti advertising their ideals of independence and bringing back a government run by the people for the people are strewn about the tunnels and buildings of the country. It seemed Charmaine was right in her statement that the Rebels plan is to indeed overthrow the government.

They were a bit curious, though. The media portrayed them as villains, but in my experience, they saved my life and seemed to value saving people. I decided to dive deeper into my research.

𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍

"That was the most risky mission we've ever done," Braxton groaned, throwing himself back in the swivel chair. "Too risky not covering our faces this time and sending all those people back to the main city."

"Yeah, but it was a good call." Doriyan took a seat next to him at the control center. "It was just a quick drop-off. Even if the hospital suspected us of being criminals, they can't directly investigate us without reasonable evidence, and they don't have anything on us. If anything, the hospital probably has no choice but to run with the story of us telling them we found them drugged outside a club. What excuse did you give about that one girl, Evelyn? You brought her in last."

"Just told them I found her unconscious in the streets." Braxton put his hands on the control panel and raised them up, a holographic screen following his hands. "Do you think she'll be a problem? She knows our names and faces. She could easily report us to the authorities."

Doriyan sighed. "We'll just have to hope she was either too dazed to remember us or that she sympathizes with us. I mean, we did save her life, after all. It'd be a pretty shitty thing to do if she ratted us out. Besides, even if the authorities do come looking for us, we'll just have to keep an even lower profile." Doryian turned his head to the other side. "Yeah, Gaia, why did you decide to let her go? What did you mean when you said she would be useful later?"

Gaia was busy fiddling with the watch on her wrist, furiously typing away at it. "Did you hear her accent?"

"Yeah? So what?"

"She has a very heavy Cathesian accent, so she's not from here." Gaia didn't even look up from her watch. "Also, when you asked her if she had anybody to contact, she only mentioned a roommate. She couldn't think of anyone else to contact, so she probably just moved here, and hasn't had the chance to meet other people, and doesn't have any family around. That, or she's a social recluse, but I very much doubt the latter."

"As always, Gaia, your intuition and observation skills never fail us. No wonder you're in our psychological operations, too," Braxton praised. "But what does any of this have to do with anything?"

Gaia sighed. She finally looked up from her watch. "How many foreign members do we have in the Rebellion?"

Braxton scratched his chin. "Well... Ava's family is from Erdance, but she wasn't born there, so... none?"

"Exactly. Epron is known to have the least amount of immigrants and foreign influences in the world. After the nuclear holocaust happened, nobody wanted to visit, and many of the people who survived and moved away did not come back." Gaia started typing on the control panel and pulled up some files on the screen ahead. She opened one, and a list of folders with names opened up. "These are all the people registered in the Rebellion. Our numbers are very small, with maybe forty or so of us. That's us against almost two thousand people. If the Raven is going in the direction we think he's going after Operation Swan Song is over, we are going to need a lot of foreign influence."

"So what do you plan to do with her?" Doriyan asked. "It sounds as if you plan to recruit her, but why did you let her go?"

"Well, like Braxton said, we can't risk bringing outsiders into HQ. I couldn't do an interview with her on the spot because she was concussed and obviously confused. If she can remember us, she will find a way back to us. And if she doesn't, we don't gain anything, but we don't lose anything either. I think it's worth a shot to try to have her on the team."

"But what if, like Doriyan said, she does remember us but chooses to report us?" Braxton questioned. "We'd all have targets on our foreheads."

"Then, like Doriyan also said, we would just have to lay low. Besides, there are plenty more of us. They can't catch us all. And, even if she tried to report us, she can only go by first names and physical appearances. Having had a couple concussions myself, there's no way she can properly describe what we looked like. Her vision was too messed up to point out specific features."

"Hm, I suppose that's true," Doriyan mused. "I guess it is worth a shot. But what do we do until then?"

Gaia glanced down at her watch. "I just messaged Tess, asking for an update." She frowned. "It's kind of weird because she's taking longer than usual to answer."

Braxton shrugged. "Maybe she fell asleep?"

Gaia raised an eyebrow. "On the nightshift? You know she acts as a bodyguard for the Raven, right?"

"I don't know. I'm really more focused on my job and fighting on the field."

Gaia rolled her eyes. "It makes me antsy having to wait this long for a response. You don't think her cover was blown, do you?"

"I'm sure she's fine," Doriyan reassured her. "Probably on duty right now and can't answer right away. I'm sure she'll get back to us soon."

"In the meantime," Braxton said. "We'll continue recruiting and spreading propaganda around the media. I can go train more units. You can keep analyzing data on current events. And Doriyan can keep doing whatever nerd shit he does."

Doriyan glared. "Being a medic is not 'nerd shit'. If it wasn't for me, you'd be bloodied and busted up all the time on the field."

"Yeah!" Braxton snickered. "And when you're not on the field, you spend time in the infirmary hunched over a computer."

Doriyan crossed his arms. "So what's the difference between what I do and what Gaia does?"

"Easy; Gaia's job is cool, and you do research on plants."

Doryian's cheeks warmed. "It is so much more than that! Do you have any idea how hard it is for us to have access to modern medicine?! I either have to make it from resources I grow myself or smuggle equipment and resources from nearby towns. You will never understand how hard my job is when we're extremely limited on resources and the number of medics we have on hand."

"God, enough! The both of you!" Gaia exasperated. "You guys make me want to rip my hair out every time you bicker. You guys have known each other for years and still can't get along?!"

Braxton cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Yeah." Doriyan frowned. "This is just friendly banter."

Gaia shook her head. "Boys." A buzz on her wrist distracted her and she immediately looked down at her watch. "It's Tess."

Everyone in the room looked expectantly at Gaia as she started to decrypt the message. Gaia caught her breath. "She said she overheard the Raven's personal scientist talking with some of the other staff in the office. She thinks that he thinks that there is a Rebel among them. He's been trying to discreetly interrogate everyone at the office today. She'll have to lay low and halt messages for a while."

"Well, that's not good," Braxton said matter-of-factly.

"No, it is not. We'll have to inform Maverick about it. If things don't work out, we'll have lost most of our intel about what's happening in the Eagle's Nest. We might need to pull her out of there quickly."

Braxton smirked. "Sounds like another rescue mission's coming soon."

𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍𖤍

A knock on the metal door was so loud, it woke me from my deep slumber. I heard Charmaine sigh from the kitchen. Judging from the smell and sizzling of bacon, she had just started making breakfast. "It is eight in the morning on a Friday! Who could possibly be at the door now?" Charmaine strutted off past me and to the front door, opening it an annoyance. "Do you have any idea what time it is- ." She immediately cut herself off when she saw who was standing at the door. Curiously, I tried to peer past her at the unforetold guest.

I saw the figure of an older, buff male in a suit standing in the doorway. He stood very straight, making him look tall and intimidating. "Does Evelyn Anong live here?"