"Forgive me, I might have gotten a bit ahead of myself. But we are doing everything we can to protect our people." Kaila said, "We're just trying to make a safe or people to come and be safe, a place where they can live withot fear, where theatcan live in peace and safety. We just want to protect our people, that's all."
The room, pindrop quiet at what she said earlier, as the council smiled,.
Jarvis sighed, turning off the camera.
"So what else should we see?" Isa asked "Do you guys have anything else you'd like to show us?"
Kaila nodded "Yes we do. We'd love to show you around more of the HQ. And maybe see a bit of the outside area, If you don't mind. We can show you the cafeteria and a few other areas, Naeme, can you see them out? I need to talk with the other members about something.
Naeme stood up, looking towards the two "Of course, it will be our pleasure"
Colt was outside the room talking with some other Guard members, when they stepped outside.
"So do you guys want to see more of the zone?" Colt said, looking at Jarvis and Isa "You guys are more than welcome to."
"Yeah, we would like to see-"
Naeme's radio crackled to life
"Boss, something is going on. Can't reach any of our connects at the ATA."
the trio looked at eachother with worry
"Nobody is responding to their check-ins, We run a risk of being spot if the trains run."
Naeme sighed, she knew they would be in trouble if the trains ran, it was risky enough now, if the trains run, it could be dangerous.
"I'm inroute right now,Tell them to cease till we got this figured out."
The radio crackled to life again, the voice of another man "Gotcha."
Naeme sighed, turning back to Jarvis and Isa
"Alright, it looks like we may have to put a pause on the tour, Colt and I need to head back to the HQ."
Jarvis and Isa looked at her with worry in their eyes
"What's going on? Is everything alright?" Jarvis asked, his voice full of concern
"Yeah, we've just got some problems we need to take care of right now. I know you wanted to finish the interview, but this is important.
"What's going on?" Jarvis asked again
Naeme hesitated for a moment "There's something wrong with the ATA."
Colt sighed "I'll get them out of here before anything happens"
Colt looked at Jarvis and Isa, his eyes serious
"We don't know what's going on but we need to make sure you guys get out of here, It's not safe for you two. You're welcome to stay here but it's not safe. We need to make sure you guys get back to the city ok."
Isa nodded "I understand. We'll head back to the city then."
Colt nodded and the two followed him
"Since you can't use the rail, We have a cleaned-out sewer which is the way out " Colt said
The group went down the elevator, heading to the bottom floor
"Is it safe?" Jarvis asked
"It should be," Colt replied, his voice unsure, not knowing what to say.
As they walked through the doors to the main room they saw a lot of people around
"Is something wrong?" Isa asked, looking around at the people in the area
The people were panicked, looking around, talking to eachother in hushed voices
"It's gonna be alright, we just need to get you out of here" replied Colt, trying to calm the group down
They walked to a room with a tunnel, "This is it." Colt said, leading them through the tunnel "This takes you from 22nd, It's gonna be a long walk back to your car but I'm sure you'll be ok."
"Why is this happening?" Isa asked, looking around
"It's just a precaution" Colt replied, not giving any real answers.
The three walked along the sewer, trying to get back to the entrance
As they got out the street was a empty place
"Stay safe you two." Colt said, as he closed the manhole.
"We will." Jarvis replied
The two walked through the streets, heading to their car, It was a long walk but they would get there.
Isa looked down again
"Seems like everytime something going good happens it's overridden by something else." Isa said
Jarvis sighed "It's probably nothing but I hope everything is alright."
Isa sighed "Me too, It's just so frustrating."
The two got into their car, and headed back downtown
Isa looked out the window, "I want to see what happens with New Atlas, I want to see what they're planning, but I don't think I'll be able to see it."
"I know" Jarvis said, his voice low.
The two looked at eachother
"Well we better head back" Jarvis said, looking at the clock, the sun slowly setting in the sky.
They headed back into the city, The sky dark, The air filled with tension, the two feeling a bit uneasy.
The city was quiet, all of the buildings closed, the streets empty.
They finally made it to the car and headed home.
The car ride was filled with silence.
As they pulled into the parking garage, Jarvis was the first to speak up
"We should talk to the editors."
Isa nodded in agreement, "Yeah. But it's getting late, we should talk about it tomorrow."
"Ok, I'll head to the office." Jarvis replied
They got out of the car and went their seperate ways
Isa took a deep breath as she walked to her apartment
What happened today had left a lot on her mind, she had so much on her mind, so many things on her mind.
She knew what she wanted to say. She knew what she wanted to write.
It was a good story. It was a good article. But she knew there was more to it than that.
She didn't want to focus on the negatives. She wanted to focus on the positives.
The positive article about how New Atlas was going to make a safe place for everyone.
The positive article about how they would stop the violence.
The positive article about how they would make the city better.
But no one would believe them. No one would see that the article was the truth.
She sighed, thinking about the article.
It was the truth.
The city was going to collapse
It would collapse.
No matter what they did, it would collapse.
That was the only thing on her mind as she got home and into her bed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jarvis walked into the building and greeted the receptionist.
"Hello! Let David know that Jarvis is here, he's looking for him."
"Ok, He's been expecting you." The receptionist replied
Jarvis smiled and took a seat in the lobby.
He opened up his laptop and began working on his article.
After about half an hour David walked in, He was wearing his normal business attire.
David smiled "So what did you get?"
"I got a lot. It's good stuff. But I think we need to talk about it before I send it over."
David smiled, nodding "Alright, Come with me."
The two went to a meeting room and sat down at a large table
"So, what is this about? You said it was important.
"It is. This is about New Atlas." Jarvis said, his voice serious
David sighed, he knew he should have known that
"What do you mean?" David asked
"Well the place is basically a revolution right now, Shockingly well built, They have some really cool plans and it's amazing how much they have done already. But the place is filled with fear and tension. And with the government the way they are, there's not much chance that this will end peacefully." Jarvis replied tapping against the desk
David face sat still in a small frown "I'm afraid you're right."
"They don't know what they're getting into, and it may not even be good for them. They think that if they just do this one thing they'll be able to fix everything. But that's not the case. That's not how it works."
Jarvis's voice was firm as he spoke
"It's a good idea, but the government is not going to go easy on them, they're going to attack, They're going to come in and take it over. They're going to fight back. And when they fight back it's going to be bloody and messy." Jarvis paused "I know that they're trying to do the right thing here but I don't think that's the way to do it. We need to figure out another way to do this."
David nodded "Alright. I'll think about it."
Jarvis nodded in agreement.
"Did you get any good footage?" David asked
"I got some good footage"
David nodded "That's good."
"I have a lot of good footage of the area." Jarvis said, gesturing to the laptop
"Yeah, I was talking about your interviews. But yeah, that too."
"Yeah." Jarvis sighed
David smiled, "Well, I hope this is good. You said they were a little hostile, but I don't know how bad it was."
Jarvis shook his head, "They were fine." He played the interviews to him.
David listened intently, nodding in approval.
"This is good." David replied "This is good."
Jarvis smiled, feeling proud of himself.
"Do you think we could do a piece on this? Like a positive piece of what they're doing?" Jarvis asked
David paused for a moment "Well that is up to the head of the station." David shrugged. "I don't know if it's possible."
Jarvis nodded in understanding.
"Well I'm gonna head back to the office, Tell Isa I said you guys did great." David smiled and walked out of the room, leaving Jarvis to himself.
Jarvis sighed, walking to the breakroom, Kella sitting there half asleep with her laptop in her lap.
Jarvis took a deep breath
"Hey Kell." Jarvis said as he walked over to her. "You alright?" He asked, looking at her
"Oh hey Jarvis, I'm fine, Just trying to figure out some things." She said with a yawn
"That's good." Jarvis said, pouring himself a cup of coffee "God I'm so tired, I should have went home instead"
Kella chuckled a bit "Ditto on that, This curfew is a pain in the ass."
"Yeah tell me about it." Jarvis replied, taking a sip of coffee. "You said you have things to do?"
"I'm just trying to figure out what to do for this piece I'm working on."
Jarvis nodded "You'll figure it out."
Kella nodded "Yeah. But I just feel like it's not coming together. It feels like there's too much going on."
"Yeah." Jarvis sighed, taking a sip of coffee. "Like everything nowadays."
"Yeah, It's all crazy." Kella replied
The two stood there for a moment, silent.
Jarvis looked up at the clock, it was 12;32 AM
"I hope Isa's getting her sleep" Jarvis said
"Is she doing ok? She seems out of it"
Jarvis sighed "She ain't doing to well, She says she's fine but I can tell she's out of it, She's Not used to this kind of stuff" Jarvis looked down at the ground. "I think this is stressing her out."
Kella nodded "What about you? You seem out of it" Kella looked with concern.
"I'm fine, I'm just worried about Isa. I just wanna make sure she's ok, and not worrying too much"
Kella paused for a moment, looking at him
"Well if you need to talk or anything you know I'm always here, right?" She replied, trying to reassure him
"Yeah I know. Thanks Kell"
"No problem" she replied, sipping her tea.
BRRRRR
BRRR
Jarvis sighed and looked at his phone, It was Maria calling
"Oh shit it's my sister" He said, picking up the phone.
"Maria holy shit, Are you alright? How are you?" Jarvis said, his voice full of worry, as if he hadn't seen his sister in years.
"Oh my god you don't know how good it is to hear your voice bro." She replied, her voice sounded calm, relaxed, but exhuasted.
"How are things over there?" Jarvis asked
"It's tiring, been working nonstop for the last few weeks responding to medical calls, most of them injured protesters or cops. It's been hard trying to keep treat everyone. especially when we're stretched so thin."
Jarvis paused, he knew what she was doing. He knew that she was doing everything she could to protect everyone. But it still hurt.
"I'm sorry" Jarvis replied,
"It's getting bad Jarvis. I don't know what we're going to do."
Maria paused, her voice shaking, She didn't want to say it but she needed to be honest with Jarvis.
"I don't know if I can do it anymore." She said, her voice quiet, weak.
"Then don't, I can imagine being a paramedic is hard, especially with this going on, nobody is going to blame you, you're already helping a ton."
"I'm scared Jarvis. I'm really fucking scared. What if we lose this? What if it gets worse? What if we can't stop this?" Maria paused, she was trying not to cry, She had seen so many people die, and it hurt.
"Don't worry sis, everything is going to be alright, we just need to stay calm, stay calm and take things one step at a time." Jarvis replied, his voice soothing.
"Okay, Okay." She replied, taking a deep breath, calming herself. "I love you"
"I love you too" Jarvis said, smiling
"I'm going to head back to the hospital. I'll call you later, Ok?"
"Alright, Talk to you later"
The two hung up, Maria's words weighing heavily on Jarvis's mind.
"Everything okay?" Kella asked, looking at Jarvis,
"Yeah, my sister is a paramedic and she's been having a rough time. She's been responding to a lot of calls lately."
"Yeah, It's been rough for everyone. Especially people in her line of work."
Jarvis nodded "I know."
"Is she ok?"
"She's doing alright. But I can tell she's worried, and scared."
Kella nodded, sighing.
"I'm worried too."
"Me too." Jarvis replied, his voice soft.
The two were silent, the sound of the clock echoing through the room.
"I'm gonna try and get some sleep" Jarvis laid on the couch.
"Goodnight Jarvis."
"Goodnight Kella"
Jarvis closed his eyes, and tried to get some rest.
He knew the world was fucked.
He knew that he was going to have to do something about it.
But right now he needed to sleep.
He needed to sleep so that he could wake up tomorrow and fight the world.
And hopefully win.
Hopefully.