by Jamie Davis
“You’re right. Sorry, Sis.”
“Don’t apologize to me.”
“Yeah, um, sorry, Cass.”
“It’s okay, Eric. This is why it’s important I join you guys. You all need to understand something about who the people on the other side are and why they believe the things they do.”
“Fair enough,” Eric said. “Why don’t you and Shelby come down and rally with us this Saturday morning downtown on Water Street, just off the square in front of City Hall. That’s where we’ll be holding our event. It’s near the Bizarre. We are protesting some recent measures brought up before the City Council by the mayor to extend police initiatives to shut down enhancements when cyber-humans are arrested or taken into custody.”
“That’s horrible,” Cass said. “How can they do that? It would be like taking someone’s arm or leg off and then putting them in a cage. In Cass’s case, it would kill her.”
Eric nodded. “That’s exactly the way we all feel, too. You understand us now, Cass. I wish it hadn’t happened the way it did, but I’m glad you have had this revelation. I’ll send you the final details on the time and place we’re meeting in the morning Saturday as soon as we iron out our permits and stuff.”
“That would be awesome,” Shelby said. “Cass and I are looking forward to helping out any way we can.”
“You should both know, however, there is a chance the police will get involved, breaking up our demonstration. There have been rumblings that they are not going to let us have a rally at all. We still haven’t gotten word of approval for the demonstration from the city. No matter what they say, we’re going to hold it anyway.”
Cass considered what he said. She’d never had any kind of dealings with the police before. She’d always been taught that they were there to protect others and to help people. Something about the way Eric referred to them hinted that he’d had different experiences. That was something else she could help with.
“We’ll be fine,” Cass said, looking at Shelby for reassurance. “It’s time I got more involved. If there are risks to that, then so be it.”
“All right, then. I guess that means I’ll see you on Saturday. If you can’t make it, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll see you this weekend.”
“See you, Bro,” Shelby said as she reached out to cut the connection. She turned to Cass with a huge smile on her face. “I’m so proud of you, Cass.”
“I’m not trying to do something to make you proud, though that is a nice side effect. I’m trying to do what’s right and stand up for something I believe in.”
“Well, whatever the reason, I am proud of you. We’re going to have a blast at this rally. You’re going to see a lot of other folks just like you.”
“I hope so,” Cass said. “That would be great. It’s time I got involved and learned about who I am now.”
Chapter 20
As Cass headed downtown with Shelby to meet up with Eric on Saturday morning, she wasn’t sure what to expect from the coming rally. She and Shelby were dressed for cold weather. It wasn’t going to rain, which was good, but it was going to be a bit windy. Both wore coats, hats, and scarves against the early morning chill.
Eric arranged for all of the rally attendees to meet in the underground area of the Bizarre. The marketplace hadn’t officially opened yet and the vendors hadn’t arrived. Everyone was able to spread out and assist each other in assembling the placards and signs they were to carry during the demonstration.
Cass and Shelby worked at stapling the cardboard signs Eric had printed up to long wooden slats so they could be carried by the demonstrators.
Most of the signs were focused on encouraging new laws for broader rights and protections for cyber-humans under current constitutional provisions. A few were also aimed directly at calling out Sapiens movement members as racists and bigots. Those were the signs that made Cass uncomfortable when she first read them.
Shelby must’ve seen Cass glancing at the girl next to them. She had assembled a bunch of those anti-Sapiens signs.
She nudged Cass’s elbow to draw her attention back to what they were working on. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to carry one of those signs if you don’t want to.”
“It’s just a little bit of a shock. Six months ago, I would have fallen under that description. It’s as much a stereotype as what the other side believes. I never considered myself bigoted before now.”
“You’re more open to learning about and respecting others,” Shelby said. “You were open enough to change your view about me before you had your accident. After everything you’ve been through, you’ve become more open about how you see yourself now, too.”
Cass shook her head. “But what kind of person would I have been if I had not been injured? What does that say about who I was before I became a cyber-human?”
“You’re still adjusting to everything, Cass. Heck, you’re still healing from your injury. Try not to push yourself to get too used to it all too quickly.”
Cass finished stapling the sign they were working on and set it off to the side with a stack of others. “I hope so. I still don’t feel a hundred percent like myself. I’m not even sure what that means anymore.”
“Change is inevitable, Cass. We all change. You’re not going to be the same person you were five minutes ago. We’re always becoming something different, hopefully for the better.”
“Except for my dad,” Cass remarked. “He hasn’t changed at all. Now, I don’t think he ever will.”
“Don’t worry about him. He doesn’t have to rule your life anymore.”
Cass didn’t answer. She didn’t think Shelby understood how much her father controlled so many aspects of her life. He paid for her tuition. He made it so that she could live a comfortable life while she went to school. He could take all that away from her if he wanted to.
Eric happened by at that moment. “Signs look great, ladies. I’m glad you all came early to help out. I think everyone is just about finished up, so gather up what you’ve done and let’s head out to the street. The rest of the demonstrators are starting to show up and we can start handing out the signs to people.”
Cass and Shelby stood up. Each of them bent over and picked up a stack of signs. Cass hadn’t realized they’d made so many.
“Wow, Shelby, we might have to make a couple of trips to get all these upstairs.”
“They’re not that heavy. It won’t take us that long.” Cass and Shelby followed the others from the underground garage up the stairs and into the alley before heading out to the street nearby.
The number of people gathered there surprised Cass. Everywhere she looked, she saw people with all varieties of enhancements and augmentations. Some of them she remembered seeing from her trip to the Bizarre the first time. Others were even more unique. There was even a woman walking around on long leg extensions. She had to be nearly eight feet tall.
Cass and Shelby set their signs down in a pile next to others. People came by to take the signs while the two of them went back downstairs and gathered up the rest they’d made.
“Looks like we’ll make it in two trips,” Shelby said. “Make sure you remember to save one for yourself.”
“I will. This is all kind of exciting, Shel. I’m glad Eric was able to obtain the permit for the March.”
Shelby shot Cass a look. “He wasn’t. Whatever gave you the idea he did?”
“I just assumed since we had all these printed signs and things that he’d gotten some sort of official permission to move forward. You mean he didn’t get the permit from the mayor and city hall?”
Shelby shook her head. “No, that’s why it’s even more important this demonstration happens. They are trying to keep us quiet. We can’t afford to let them silence us. We have just as much a right to have a rally day as everyone else does.”
Cass didn’t answer right away. Her mind was swimming in thoughts of how she’d gotten wrapped up in doing something that might be illegal. She had never even stolen a
candy bar in her entire life. The idea that someone would intentionally go against the law was alien to her.
Shelby took one look at her and laughed. “Good grief, Cass. You’re pale as a sheet. Don’t be that way. Everything’s going to be just fine. What are they going to do, lock up everyone standing out here on the street? They won’t have enough room in the jail if they do that.”
“That’s not necessarily a reassuring thing to say,” Cass replied. “If they wanted to lock everyone up, I’m sure they’d find a way to accommodate us.”
“You worry too much. Come on. Let’s get upstairs before they march off without us.”
They carried the final load of signs upstairs and got there in time to hand them out to the remaining people in the street. Cass wasn’t good at estimating numbers in a crowd, but she figured there had to be at least a thousand people there. They filled the street for an entire city block.
Eric’s voice sounded over a loudspeaker from the front of the march. “All right, let’s get started. Remember that our chant is ‘cyber rights, right now.’ Let’s try it together. One, two, three!”
The crowd shouted out as soon as he finished counting. “Cyber rights, right now! Cyber rights, right now.”
Everyone cheered and raised their fists above their heads along with their signs.
“Well done, let’s start heading towards City Hall and let them know that we won’t be silenced. Let them hear our voices as we call out for justice.”
With Eric’s words, the marchers started down the street. They were about a kilometer away from City Hall.
It was going to be a beautiful morning. Despite the chill, the sun was shining and the breeze from earlier had died down. Cass’s excitement overcame her apprehension and soon she shouted and chanted along with all the rest as she and Shelby marched side-by-side down the street.
They hadn’t gone more than a couple of blocks before they saw the first sign of a police presence. Cass saw police cars blocking the side streets as they passed by. At first, Cass thought the police cars were there to keep side street traffic from interfering with the marchers.
Then she spotted a group of police with helmets and clear plastic shields in the next cross street gathered behind the line of police cars. A nagging worry began tickling the back of her mind. Those armored police officers were dressed for more than traffic control and now she thought the police cars looked more like they were positioned to keep the demonstrators in, not passing cars out.
“The police seem to be trying to herd us in one particular direction,” Cass said to Shelby as they marched along. She glanced over her shoulder. A police department van now followed behind them, moving slowly but keeping pace with the marchers.
“They’re just here to make sure we don’t start breaking things or destroying property,” Shelby said. “They think we’re just here to be trouble-makers. They don’t understand what we really want.”
Cass shook her head. “It doesn’t look like they want to find out. Why would they bring a van or dress in riot gear for something like this unless they planned on arresting a bunch of people?”
“You’re just being paranoid, Cass. Keep marching and stay with the group. There’s safety in numbers. We’ll be fine.”
Cass kept going but continued watching the encroachment of the police while she walked at Shelby’s side.
They almost reached the point where they were to make a left turn up the main boulevard towards City Hall when things started slowing down. Cass and Shelby were towards the back of the demonstrators and couldn’t see what the hold-up was. There seemed to be something going on up at the front of the march.
“Can you see what’s going on up there?” Cass asked Shelby. “I thought maybe with your height you could see over the crowd.”
“I can’t see anything. Maybe if you get up higher, you can make out something with your telescopic vision.”
“I can try. I can’t see over everyone’s head, though. Let’s move to the sidewalk. Maybe I can stand on something to see over the crowd.”
Together, Shelby and Cass started working their way between the other demonstrators towards the side of the street. Everyone was still shouting and pressed forward, packing tighter and tighter towards the front.
Shelby and Cass reached the sidewalk and Cass stepped up onto the concrete base of a light pole. She could see something going on at the front of the group. There was some sort of commotion, but she wasn’t sure what it was.
Cass concentrated, focusing on using her ocular implant for the first time in full telephoto mode. The events unfolding at the front of the group expanded and zoomed into focus until it was as if she were standing right there.
She spotted Eric at the front with the other leaders of the march. They’d stopped and faced a line of police in riot gear with clear plastic shields, helmets, and clubs like the police Cass had seen behind them in the side streets.
The line of police officers blocked the street so the marchers couldn’t make the turn towards City Hall. Eric shouted at the police officers. He raised his fist in defiance towards the police while he called out to encourage those around him.
“Shelby, the police blocked the street ahead. Eric is up there with the others, but they can’t move forward. The cops are all spread out in front of them with riot gear.”
“They’re coming in behind us too,” Shelby said pointing to the rear.
Cass turned to look. Shelby was correct. A double line of police officers, all decked out with helmets and shields, filed in from two side streets behind them. That police line started moving forward towards the rear of the marchers. Most hadn’t noticed them coming yet.
“Shelby, we need to get out of here. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“We have to get up to the front and help my brother. He doesn’t know we’re surrounded. He won’t back down unless he realizes they’ve beaten us.”
“I don’t think there’s going to be anywhere to retreat to if we don’t get out of here now,” Cass said. “The police don’t look like they’re leaving anywhere for us to go.”
The demonstrators in the back of the march started to notice the approaching police behind them. Some of them turned and started shouting at the advancing police officers. Cass knew that wouldn’t solve anything. The police officers were just doing their jobs. The marchers didn’t have a permit to be here.
The line of officers now penned in the marchers so they were trapped on the street inside one city block between dual lines of armored police officers.
Cass hopped down from the concrete base of the light post. “Shelby, there’s no place for us to run. They’ve blocked the street in both directions now. We need to stop shouting at them and surrender. Fighting against them isn’t going to solve anything.”
Shelby looked around and shook her head. “I don’t know. We need to find a way out. We can try to go into one of these buildings. Maybe the doors are unlocked. It’s still pretty early on a Saturday. Most of these stores aren’t open yet.”
Cass ran up to the front steps of a small apartment building. The door was locked. Cass pulled at the handle several times anyway to try and get inside. Several other demonstrators saw what she did and they also started checking for open doors in the buildings on that side of the street.
“We’re trapped,” a woman in front of the next building yelled.
As soon as the woman said it, the police started pressing forward even faster and the first tear gas canisters flew through the air to land in the midst of the crowd. Cass saw one of the gas grenades strike a woman with glowing, rainbow-colored filaments on her head. The canister cut open the skin on her forehead and knocked her down and out of sight. Cass couldn’t see if she got back up again or not because Shelby pulled her down from the step and pointed up the street towards the front of the marchers.
“Let’s head in that direction. Maybe we can slip around the line of police and get away that way.”
Cass followed Shelby. They
ran up the sidewalk, pressing their way between the other demonstrators.
Panic set in among the marchers as more tear gas grenades landed in the crowd from the line of police in the front. People started running in every direction to try to get away from the advancing police officers. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to go.
The smoke from the tear gas filled the street and sidewalk. Cass began coughing. Her human eye teared up and burned. She shut it to try and keep the gas from irritating it anymore. Shelby stumbled in front of her, her eyes closed against the gas, too.
Cass’s ocular implant still worked, though. It was impervious to the gas.
Cass reached out to her girlfriend. “Here, Shelby, hold my hand. Stay with me. I’ll try to get us out of here.”
“Cass, try to see if you can spot Eric. I need to know he’s okay.”
It was impossible to see anything farther than a few feet away anymore. Police officers advanced forward into the demonstrators, pressing the crowd back with their shields. As they knocked people down, officers behind the initial line of police dragged the demonstrators away with their hands secured behind their backs. Several police vans sat waiting with the rear doors open.
“They’re arresting everyone, Shelby. They’re not letting anyone out. There’s no sign of Eric anywhere.”
Shelby panicked and pulled at Cass’s arm. “We have to get out of here. If we get arrested, too, we’ll never be able to help Eric.”
Cass kept moving forward, hoping for a break in the police line, allowing the two of them to push through and get away.
They weren’t so lucky.
The police kept advancing and, before Cass knew it, two police officers raised their riot clubs up right in front of her.
Cass raised her arm over her head and crouched down with Shelby to the sidewalk. “Please don’t hit us.”
“On your knees. Put your hands behind your back. Do it now, or so help me I’ll knock you down myself.” The police officer shouted at the two women. Cass was struck by the anger in his eyes.