by Gideon Mills
Marcus rolled his eyes. He wasn’t even thirty yet. If he was ten years older or more, he might get where she was coming from, but this was a bit absurd.
“Okay, Mom. I’ll make sure to see if Amita wants to have kids before we go any further.”
“Good.” His mother leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Go do whatever it is you have to do.”
She turned and left. Marcus couldn’t help but think she knew exactly what he was doing. His mother always made him feel like she knew more than she let on. Yet, this couldn’t be one of those things. There was no way she knew this. Not many people did and none outside of the Resistance.
Marcus finished and headed back to Amita’s place. Today was going to be a long and important day.
20
About to change the world
Amita waited outside for Marcus to return. Being alone in her apartment was too much to handle. She had to be out in the air. It really was fresher here than on the street level. Amita wasn’t sure how she had even survived breathing down there. The air was so much cleaner, and her lungs felt alive. Not that she had realized back then how bad it was.
At the two-hour mark, Marcus pulled up, just as promised. Amita really was starting to love the motorcycle if for nothing else than it gave her a reason to hold him more.
She walked over to him. “About time,” she teased.
Marcus shrugged. “My mother cornered me.”
“Oh. About?”
“Us.” Marcus handed her the helmet.
“Do tell.”
He replayed it for her. Kids. Kids were what his mother wanted. Back on the street level, Amita had never given it much thought, but here, it was different and more likely. With Marcus, Amita would. She definitely would.
“Sure, kids. As many as you want.”
Marcus grinned. “We’ll see.”
Amita jumped on the back of the motorcycle, and they left for the meeting point. Even though Amita had been here for a few weeks now, she still didn’t know the upper levels of New Detroit very well.
If push came to shove, Amita could get to her work, and that was about it. Well, the dojo too. She was terrible with directions, and it didn’t help that Marcus did all the driving. Amita had never driven before, so that was for the better. No one bothered to tell her if she could drive or not. She hadn’t been taught how to.
Instead of the warehouse, Marcus took them straight to an area that wasn’t far from the elevator to the street level. They left the motorcycle and walked to the entrance to the lowest level of Detroit.
“We are freeing the slaves?” Amita asked.
Marcus nodded. “We’ll start there. It will make it tougher to do the experiments. That mineral is vital to it all.”
Amita hadn’t thought about it, but that made sense. “Okay.”
They went to the street level. Amita worried about having so many people going to the lowest level. As they rode down, Amita voiced her concern.
“Nothing to worry about. Lots of people have been making the trip over the last day. They’re hiding out so not to draw attention. We are two of the last few to go since we’d draw the most attention.”
“Oh.”
The Resistance had thought of everything. Amita really hadn’t paid any attention. She felt terrible for the people who had to stay on the street level that weren't from there. It was truly dreadful.
As they exited the elevator, Amita and Marcus were greeted by the awfulness. Amita gagged on the air, as did Marcus. They held hands and walked in the opposite direction of her old work.
After a bit of walking, they joined a small group of people. Amita recognized none of them.
“This can’t be it.”
“It isn’t,” Marcus said.
“Okay.” It didn’t seem like enough people. Not nearly enough.
They stood around for a while, while a few more showed up. The people were covered in filth. They must have been forced to spend time here. The nastiness of her clothes was one thing Amita didn’t miss. A few rust-covered cars arrived, and they split up and headed out of the city.
Marcus and Amita sat in the backseat. He pulled out his laptop and went to work. Before going to the third level, Amita had rarely seen a computer. Now, they were everyday occurrences. Some of the things that would have been impressive to her in the past were nothing to her now.
That was both great and worrisome. Amita didn’t want to be part of the problem, and the upper levels were definitely the problem. The Mara Corp and their control were problems. From what Amita had seen, Jonathan owned a small company. It wasn’t too bad, but they had no power. Any company with power was the problem. Of course, right now, that was Mara Corp. Keres made sure she and her business were all that mattered. Mara Corp really controlled the world. It was undeniable and frightening to think about.
“What are you doing?” Amita asked.
“A group of us are attempting to break into the controls of the mine. It has so many layers of protection both onsite and on the web. We need to break through to weaken those onsite.”
“Oh,” Amita said. That was all above her. She knew so little. “What am I supposed to do?”
“When we arrive, we’ll break up into small tactical teams. The drones will still be active. We can’t shut them down remotely. We have to take them out onsite and free the people. We have more cars arriving to take them to different cities.”
“That works.”
21
Attacking the Mine
They had arrived at a place similar to the last one they’d seen when Jonathan and Ihor had taken them to the mine. Marcus was ready to do this, not only for Amita, but for all the people that had been hurt while he lived a life of luxury. That truly shamed him.
It had felt like a lifetime while they sat in the car, as Marcus’s fingers danced over the keyboard. Pounding away, his cybernetic fingers had moved even faster than the real ones. They were a blur on the keyboard.
He had a mission and he was going to do his part. The others might be better hackers than he was, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help. Marcus wasn’t going to allow this travesty to occur any more.
Amita sat next to him with a look of awe of on her face. There was little doubt in Marcus’s mind that she wished she could do what he was doing, but she just didn’t have that knowledge. Not that he really did.
Just a few more commands and he was done.
“Done,” he said. Amita smiled next to him.
“Let’s do this,” she said.
The two of them left the car, and began the actual assault to free the slaves. Marcus knew this was what Amita was waiting for and so was he. Marcus had disliked Mara Corp before, but now he truly hated it. They needed to expose this to the world, and then maybe they would be able to stop Keres and his family.
The mine wasn’t that far from the car. With their protection on, they made their way over to it. The closer they got, the more tense Marcus was. He was ready to do this.
“The drones won’t have guns,” Marcus said, “but they punch hard. Just like we do.”
Amita nodded. Much of her training had been to learn how to use the arm to inflict a lot of damage. She had been a very fast learner, and Marcus was very proud of her.
In the distance, Marcus heard a loud explosion and screams.
“What was that?” Amita asked.
“Some of the other teams are taking out the drone docking stations.” Marcus pointed to the right of them.
In the distance, a cloud of smoke and dust rose in the air. It was difficult to see. They all wore masks to keep their lungs safe. Marcus wondered if it would do any good with that in the air.
Marcus looked at Amita and she appeared ready to start the attack. To jump in and start this rescue. With that in mind, Marcus pulled out his phone, and let the others know they were in position.
“On three,” a voice said.
One of the voices on the other end was Ihor’s. Marcus knew he had a big
part to play, but might not be in the fighting part of the fray. Amita was starting to get anxious next to Marcus, bouncing in place.
“One, two,” Ihor said. The last one was drawn out. “Three.”
Amita jumped up and sprinted to the edge of the mine. Many of the droids were taken out already but not all. At the fringe of the quarry, she started her descent. Marcus wasn’t far behind her. They were to take out the lower levels while others did the top or surface.
Marcus and Amita, along with a few others, descended deep into the mine. Droids attacked them as they went. The droid wasn’t going to pass for a human any time soon. It was humanoid in shape and that was the only resemblance. Otherwise it was completely robotic in nature. Marcus scanned them to see the exact droid model.
Droid: Mara Corp
Stats:
Intelligence: 0
Strength: 0
Cunning: 0
Speed: 0
Class: Guard Droid
It had been a while since he had done that and forgot what it was like. It made him smile. Amita used her new-found skills to attack. Marcus did as well. The droids were the regular ones that Amita helped build in her old factory job. They had weapons of their own. At least some of them did. The droids fired bullets and lasers at them. It was an intense start to a fight. All around them they fought the opposing forces. Doing their best to kill them, with no regard whether a droid hurt itself or not.
Taking it in was tough. Marcus hated every moment of it. Watching it all was just too much. Instead, Marcus focused on Amita and himself, and in their part of the job. Marcus and Amita weren’t alone. The people with them had different body mods from theirs. Their arms had advanced weapons. They fired bullets at the droids from a distance, while Marcus and Amita took care of the ones closest to them.
The droids assaulted them from many angles and avenues. Defending themselves was hard. Many slipped past the first defense that the people with them provided. Amita was able to take advantage of her Krav Maga training. While still a novice, she managed.
Amita used her cybernetic limbs to crunch the droids. They weren’t as strong as her or even Marcus. The droids were made from an inferior metal. That made it easier to dismantle them and take them out of commission. One punch from Marcus’s or Amita’s arm and they were down for the count. Marcus and Amita worked together, taking many out as they ventured deeper and deeper. Yet it wasn’t enough. Dozens remained.
The light disappeared, and darkness surrounded them. Very few lights were hung.
“You can go,” Amita screamed. “Run.”
The people stared at them. To Marcus it looked like they were completely unsure what to do, or think of this. Never had anything like this happened in the history of the New Republic. Marcus wanted them to be free and safe.
“You are free!” Amita repeated.
Murmurs started, and people began to move. There were so many of them. When they started to run, it was a massive number of voices and footsteps. Amita and Marcus took the front of the group and led them up. They carried nothing this time. That was nice.
When they returned to the light, Marcus looked back. They had a crowd of thousands with them. The sheer number was shocking. It was a line that went on and on. It was hard to believe that this many people had been taken from Detroit or other cities and forced into this. Just that thought made Marcus’s blood boil.
They had to fight their way up. More and more droids arrived. It amazed Marcus the number of robots that were here. The fight above was raging on, loud and hectic. The world was in chaos, and Marcus and Amita were in the center of it. He wouldn’t have it any other way. This was what he was born to do.
So many screams. It hurt to hear people being injured, but it was to be expected. They were starting a revolution, and that meant casualties. Marcus would have gladly given his own life to make sure these people lived and were free.
At the surface, they are greeted by Ihor and Jonathan. The Resistance were shuttling people to cars and away from Detroit.
When Ihor saw the people, his jaw dropped. “Good thing we have a lot of buses and trucks.”
The Resistance started to file the people in. Marcus was happy to see so many making it free. The commotion had died down. Things had gone smoothly. Almost too seamlessly. Marcus didn’t like it. Marcus had expected to be stopped, for it not to go well.
As the last several hundred were filling the buses and trucks, in the distance, a cloud of dust rose.
“Not good,” Amita said.
Marcus nodded in agreement. “Nope. You guys need to go.”
“We all go,” Amita said.
Ihor and Jonathan got the people to move faster. Marcus and Amita made their way to the approaching cloud.
“You go with them,” Marcus said.
“No. If you are staying, so am I.”
Marcus leaned in and kissed her forehead. Looking back, Amita spied the buses pulling away. Now, only a half dozen of the Resistance remained.
As the dust bowl moved closer, it was clear what it was. Fifty Security Force members, armed to the teeth. They stopped no more than fifty yards away.
The biggest one stepped forward. “You are under arrest in accordance with Section Fifty-Four.”
Marcus had no idea what that even meant.
“We can’t take that many,” Amita whispered.
“I know,” Marcus said. “Go. Run. I’ll stay.”
“No.”
Amita wasn’t about to lose Marcus. She wouldn’t let him take one for her. If Marcus was going to die, so was she.
22
Pain and Suffering
Marcus scanned one of the Security Force to get an idea what he was going up against.
Justin Smoke: Security Force
Stats:
Intelligence: 1
Strength: 10
Cunning: 1
Speed: 10
Modification: both legs, arms, eyes, heart, ears, lungs
Just as Marcus expected—and he was sure that was the case for them all—he was going to be in for the fight of his life.
Marcus charged the group with no fear. He was sure he was going to die here. All that mattered was that he took out as many as possible so Amita could escape. He knew that many would say this was chauvinist, but he didn’t care.
Next to him was another member of the Resistance. They reached the Security Force members, and a battle started. Marcus wasn’t the best fighter around, but he was no slouch either.
If he had been poorer growing up, not a Ward, he might actually have been recruited into the Security Force. Now, more than ever, was he glad that hadn’t happened. He used his cybernetic arm for most of his attacks. These men were more cybernetic than human.
It was a wonder they didn’t go insane. Studies showed that there was a point where a human stopped feeling human and became more robot. Marcus hadn’t read the studies closely enough to know the percentage but had to think these people were over it.
He punched one in the ribs, and they cracked. A punch to the neck with his regular hand and the man dropped. Much of the fight went like this. Bullets and the like fired around him from the limbs of both sides. Many had upgrades to hunt and kill.
Marcus wasn’t one of them. He had never seen the need until now. Marcus glanced back. Amita was in the fight too, but on the edge. She could escape if need be. Good.
It already wasn’t going their way. A few of the Resistance were on the ground. Marcus wasn’t sure if they were dead or unconscious.
Before Marcus could react, he was surrounded by five SF members. “Give up,” one demanded.
Marcus wasn't going to do that. He looked at Amita and screamed, “Run.”
She saw him and glanced around. She had to see she was the only one who could run. The only one who could still be free.
“Run,” he shouted.
She sprinted away. It was the last thing Marcus saw before the blackness overtook him.
Marcus woke. He w
as surprised that he was awake, since he'd expected to die. He was in the facility that he and Amita had broken into a few weeks ago. His body was secured to a bed, and he couldn’t move.
“What is going on?” he asked.
“Good. He is awake,” a familiar voice said. A moment later, Jameson appeared. “Marcus.”
“Jameson,” Marcus said through gritted teeth.
“I hope the restraints aren’t too tight.”
Marcus doubted that. “Let me go.”
Jameson laughed. “I can’t do that. You angered Keres and embarrassed Father.”
That was the last thing Marcus cared about. His family was dead to him, and they needed to pay for what they had done.
“Like I care about that. You are a monster.”
Jameson laughed. “Me? I am advancing our society, taking us to greater and better places.”
Jameson was deep in Keres’s grasp, and there was nothing to be done. Not that Marcus was in a position to do anything, being strapped to a bed. “You are killing innocent people.”
“They are the filth, the slime of our world. The reason we have to live in cities like this. Much of the world has been ravaged by war. They deserve what they get.”
“I can’t believe you are part of this.”
Jameson sneered. “I am. You have no idea. Soon, you will. Only a few slight upgrades to you and I will have you to do my bidding.”
Marcus couldn’t believe his ears.
Jameson leaned in. “But first, some fun.”
He sent a shock of electricity through Marcus. He screamed in agony.
23
We need to save him
Amita ran as fast as she could, even though it pained her to do so. She wasn’t going to help Marcus there. Her only hope was that they didn’t kill him, that the Resistance would be able to free him. It felt like Amita ran for hours, but she arrived at a car.