by Keegan Long
McKenna had started to make me tear up as I gave her a tight hug and refused to let go.
“I don’t know what to do,” I told her as I cried on her shoulder. “I don’t know what to make of any of this.”
“It’s up to you and your choice alone,” she spoke into my ear. “But you will never be alone. We will be there right by your side the entire way.”
“Thanks, sis,” I said as I broke up the hug and wiped my tears away. “I will try my best then.”
“That’s all you can do,” she said. “Try.”
Jill soon later appeared in the doorway and smiled down at us as she saw the two of us together. “We’ll be in California within the hour. It’s time to get ready.”
Time sure does fly when you have constant visitors coming in and checking on you. Even that little nap in between really helped and I was recharged and ready to go.
We followed Jill to the main floor where everyone was prepping their gear and getting ready to go.
“This is a covert mission,” Jill informed the group. “That means no assault rifles. No heavy armor. And no explosives. Bring only weapons you can conceal.”
“That’s no fun,” Susan sighed as she threw her back full of explosive to the corner of the room.
“California is patrolled by an entire army of Cerberus Centaurs and drones at all times. We can’t fight through this one.”
“Damn it,” Mitch cursed under his breath.
“And dress to blend in,” Jill told us. “People are barely surviving where we are going. So, don’t stand out.”
“Just great,” Nicole sighed.
“Now stop complaining,” Jill said. “And get your things ready. Wheels touch down in ten minutes.”
We all quickly acted and changed into the appropriate clothes for the mission. We dressed in partially ripped clothing so we looked like we lived on the streets. The only people that were living large in today’s world were the wealthy elite in the capital. Everyone else had to struggle to survive. It was time for that to change. Everyone deserved better.
“Everyone strap in!” Jill commanded. “We’re beginning our descent. We’re going to land just outside the city and walk from there.”
“Here we go once again,” Joe joked as everyone strapped into their seats.
The plane slowly began its hovering descent as it approached the ground below us. Frank insisted he pilot the plane this time since he was able to react faster than a droid if certain circumstances occurred. That was still debatable though.
The plane finally touched the ground and I was the first to unstrap from my seat. I took my pistol that I was bringing and concealed it like Jill told us to do. There was no way I was going into that city without a backup plan.
“Remember, we’re blending in,” Jill reminded us of the mission. “We’re going to find Keegan’s sister. Ask her about where she’s seen him last. And get the hell out of here. No detours this time. We can’t afford it.”
“Best get going then,” I said as I lowered the plane’s cargo ramp and lead the group outside.
To my amazement, the first thing I saw was a series of giant skyscrapers that were still standing. These were much different than the ones in New York we had seen previously.
In New York, most of the skyscrapers were missing a piece of its building or looked like they would fall at any moment. The skyscrapers here were standing tall and pride and were being well maintained with no damage to be seen. Some of the skyscrapers here were even projecting news reports and amber alerts on the side of the buildings.
“Dang,” I commented as I took in the scenery for a couple of minutes. “Didn’t expect that.”
“The states that are controlled by Cerberus are well maintained for the most part,” Jill explained. “Anything else beyond it is just another wasteland.”
“The wealthy elite who fund the Cerberus army get to live safe in the towers with all the luxuries of the world and are protected by Cerberus,” Joe added. “Everybody else has to live in the streets or destroyed buildings and have to struggle to survive.”
“The city is huge,” I examined.
“It sure is,” Jill said. “Millions of people live there. Mostly in fear and keep to themselves. Good thing I know exactly where she is.”
“And can we trust this person?” Bekah asked.
“I trust Makenzie with my life,” Jill assured us. “She hates Cerberus just as much as any of us. And she’s been my spy and recruiting people to our cause here in the city. So, when the time comes to strike we’ll be ready.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I said. “Now let’s get going.”
We began walking towards the city, which did not seem that far away from the looks of it, but would soon realize that was not the case. It took us about an hour’s worth of walking to finally make it to the entrance of the city.
“Are there any check points when entering the city?” I asked Jill.
“They don’t care who enters and leaves the city,” Jill explained. “The only part they care about are the skyscrapers that house the rich and Cerberus buildings. Everything else they could care less about even though they still patrol the streets to find excuses to bash some heads or drag people off to who knows where.”
“Best to not get involved with any of it,” Joe said. “Just keep your heads down and we should get out of all this alive.”
We continued down our path and were soon later in the heart of the city. I was amazed to see all the people roaming and walking around. I can’t remember the last time I had seen this many people.
To my unpleasant surprise, I saw what Jill was talking about earlier. Tents and houses made of boxes and wood planks littered the streets. Small campfires could be seen coming from these places that people now had to call home. This was no way to live out your life. And the people from the skyscrapers just watched out their windows as they lived like they were royalty.
As we made our way through the main street a Cerberus patrol made their way through the crowd of people as they came towards our location.
The patrol was made of six soldiers covered in black armor and helmets with one Centaur droid leading the patrol and one at its rear.
I looked above my head and also found the sky was filled with Cerberus drones flying around as they patrolled the city from a bird eye’s view. Cerberus had this city under careful watch and nothing happened in this city they did not know about.
“They sure have this place under tight security,” Sarah commented.
“It’s best we keep moving,” Jill said as she lead the group down the street.
As we kept walking I took in the sights and events of the city. Flags of the Cerberus symbol flew from buildings and street polls. I even saw a man get shot by a Cerberus Centaur as he was caught trying to steal food from the market. He pleaded to the robot that he had gone days without any food but that did not matter. The robot shot him once in the head without any hesitation or remorse and left his dead body in the street and carried on. I was told that the people who lived on these streets were responsible for disposing of the dead. What a horrific way to live.
“We’re here,” Jill said as she stopped in front of an apartment building that looked like it had been vacant for many years.
The building was half destroyed with most of the roof missing. There was no door so we walked right in.
“Let me do the talking,” Jill told us.
As we walked in and entered the first room on the right we saw a man sitting on a barely standing couch with a fire lit next to him. He looked at us as we came into view and got up to meet us.
“Well, look who it is,” the man said as he approached us. “Madam President. It’s good to see you.”
“Always a pleasure, John,” Jill replied as they exchanged a friendly hug.
John was a big man and by the looks of it one you did not want to pick a fight with. He had no hair on his head but made up for it with his scruffy brown beard. He was wearing a
ll black no avoid being seen from the Cerberus soldiers outside. He had a pistol at his side but I also saw that he had a shotgun leaning next to the fireplace.
“What brings you back to the city?” John asked. “It looks like you brought some others with you this time.”
Jill went around introducing everyone and came to me last. The mention of my name jolted his eyes as if he just seen a ghost.
“My god,” he gasped. “Is this the one?”
“Sure is,” Jill smiled. “She knows about it now.”
“You know about the prophecy?” I asked.
“Sure do,” John replied with a big smile. “The story has been getting around a lot more recently. Some are dedicated and believe it and some think it’s nothing but a made-up story.”
“And what do you believe?” I asked him.
“I believe it,” he responded with confidence. “It’s given me hope in the darkest of times. Probably the only reason I’m still alive today. There’s even an entire organization devoted just to you and the prophecy.”
“Really?” I asked in amazement.
“Sure is,” he told me. “Call themselves Phoenix. I reckon they’re still out there somewhere looking for you.”
“Dang,” I mumbled under my breath but he heard me.
“The prophecy about you gives us hope. And it will be hope that will free us. And I yearn to see that day when you fulfill that prophecy.”
“Well, thank you,” I told him. “I shall try my best.”
“No to change the subject,” Jill interrupted. “But we’ve come to see her.”
“And it’s rather urgent,” Mitch added.
“I’m sure she’ll want to see you too,” John said as he lead us over to the couch he was sitting at.
With barely an effort at all John lifted up the couch and moved it to the side of the room. He came back over to where the couch was and lifted up a panel from the wood floor that revealed to be a trap door of some sort.
“I have to admit,” McKenna spoke. “Was not expecting that.”
“Very clever though,” Joe added.
“She’ll be down there,” John said as he ushered us down the ladder to their underground secret base.
I was the first to go down the ladder that leads well beneath the ground. My feet finally touched the ground and I was amazed on what I was seeing. A series of tunnels and rooms that were lit by many different lanterns being run out some sort of power source that was not your traditional style of fire.
People were roaming around on their everyday business. Some were suited with heavy armor and weapons while others looked like they were just scientists or just your regular citizens.
“Wow, this is amazing,” I said out loud as everyone came to my side from coming down the ladder.
“I’m glad you like it,” a woman’s voice said as she came into view in front of us with two bodyguards next to her.
“Makenzie,” Jill acknowledged as she went up to the woman and greeted her with a hug. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise, my friend,”
Makenzie was young and by the looks of it only a few years younger than Jill and Kevin. She had her brown hair fixed up in a ponytail and had the presence of dirt covering much of her face.
“Please excuse me of my presence,” she apologized. “I was not expecting visitors today. Especially the from the President.”
“It was a last-minute thing,” Jill told her. “And quite urgent.”
“I bet,” she smiled. “Follow me.”
Makenzie turned around and began leading us down the tunnel and to what eventually looked like some type of war room with a table in the middle of the room with a map surrounded by chairs.
As we entered the room she left her two bodyguards outside the room and safety secured the door behind her as she ushered everyone to take seats around the table.
“It’s nice to finally meet all of you,” Makenzie said as she took her seat in the main chair of the room. “I’ve heard so much about you all.”
“Especially me I’m guessing,” I said.
“I know the prophecy if that is what you are asking,” she replied. “I believe you have an important role to play in the future of our world. What you do is up to you as it is your choice alone.”
“Thank you,” I nodded. “Appreciate it.”
“So, what was so urgent you came all this way to see me,” she asked.
“It’s about Keegan,” Jill said.
“What about him?” she asked. “I haven’t seen him since that day when all the drones and robots began firing on us.”
“We know,” Jill told her. “We know everything.”
“Oh, I see,” she spoke as her smile dropped and her face became the sight of someone remembering a bad memory. “I knew this would happen someday. I’m sorry I should have told you sooner.”
“We understand,” Jill reassured her. “How would people look at you if they knew your brother was responsible for all of this. The robots. The drones. And even Cerberus.”
“This isn’t how it looks,” she began to explain. “I lied to you. There is one time he did see me after Cerberus Day. It was about a month after the One Year War. He found me and explained everything. Then after that, he would be on the run from Cerberus for the rest of his life. I never saw him again.”
“Please,” Jill asked. “Tell us everything.”
Makenzie took a deep breath and waited a couple minutes before continuing her story. “Keegan wrote the code of the program that came to be known as Cerberus. The program links every piece of technology together and is the backbone of the Cerberus Federation. He created an AI system that thinks and behaves on its own. A program that even evolves.”
“I would have never thought,” Joe commented. “I thought that was impossible.”
“Everybody did,” Makenzie continued. “But Keegan found a way and created what became Cerberus. I soon learned that Cerberus does not even have a President or commander. The entire organization is run by this this one program. She’s everywhere you go. She controls everything.”
“She?” I asked confused.
“Yes,” Makenzie confirmed. “Cerberus is a she. She can talk and think. Learns just like humans do. Manipulates and controls people out of fear. If she deems you as a threat or unfit to live she can have a drone above you in seconds.”
“You’ve met her,” Jill realized. “You’ve seen her before.”
“Yes,” Makenzie answered as I saw her close her eyes and try to forget that bad memory. “She has no body. She is very much alive though. She travels through every piece of technology. Screens, phones, computers, drones, Centaurs, and more. There is nothing she cannot see.”
“We have a way to defeat her finally,” I told her as I tried to make her forget her terrible memories.
“You do?” she asked as she looked up at me with a sense of hope that she had not experienced in a very long time. “There’s a virus out there that will destroy Cerberus for good.”
“A virus created by Keegan,” Jill added.
“Of course, he did,” Makenzie smiled. “He has always been one who thinks he has to redeem himself from his mistakes.
“Do you have any idea on where he might be?” Jill asked. “We need to know.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t,” she answered as she looked towards the ground until a thought came to her. “But I think I have an idea.”
“We’re all ears,” I told her.
“You need to find a way to transmit a broadcast across the entire nation,” Makenzie suggested. “I know he stays in the cities to blend in with the crowd of people. The last thing Cerberus would ever expect. Transmit a broadcast so every screen projects it. He’ll see it no doubt. Tell the people your story of the prophecy and how you intend to lead the people and in the end not only will you alert him that you are looking for him but you will unite the people to rise up against Cerberus. He will come.”
I took a few moments to ga
ther my thoughts on the plan Makenzie just proposed as everyone was looking at me and waiting for an answer. I was not expecting to do anything so soon but I knew I was not alone and I had to at least try.
I cleared my throat and gave them my answer as I looked over at Susan. “And I know just the person who can help.”
10
The Broadcast
After our meeting with Makenzie, we started to mobilize Makenzie’s resistance army that she had been building under the city. Men and women were preparing for a fight as they went to the armory and grabbed what guns and ammo that could be spared.
The plan was for Makenzie’s resistance group to cause a distraction by attacking Cerberus patrols throughout the city and hope that it would get most of Cerberus’ attention. While Cerberus was distracted, we were going to sneak our way into the broadcast station of the city where they air all news reports to the city.
When we got in Susan was going to change the frequency of the station so it transmits to all devices across the nation. Once that was all prepared I was going to transmit a video of myself and tell my story and hope that does the trick and gets Keegan’s and the people’s attention.
Makenzie would lead the groups that would be ambushing the patrols but insisted that we bring extra personnel to accompany us. She warned us that it was still highly likely that we would meet resistance as we fought our way into the broadcast center. She assigned John and a couple of others to tag along with our group.
“Remember, no matter what happens it is crucial you get that message out there,” Makenzie told me. “Don’t be afraid. Just be yourself and you have Jill right next to you the entire time.”
‘Thanks,” I told her as we exchanged smiles. “Appreciate it.”
The two of us parted ways as our group began climbing back up the ladder and Makenzie lead her group to a different exit of the underground base.
As we made our way out of the apartment building we saw the city still alive and busier than ever. Drones and planes filled the sky as they traveled on their daily business. People were exchanging in a series of trades of different foods and items they possessed.