Seneca Rebel (The Seneca Society Book 1)

by Rayya Deeb

  Dom nodded and his podium went white.

  "The floor is now open to expelled S.E.R.C. scholar, Dorothy Campbell, for response and statement regarding the S.O.I.L. accusations against her that have brought us here today."

  I was intimidated by the faces turned toward me and the fact that my fate was in their hands. But I was also driven— by the truth, by Dom’s spirit, by the hope of this place. I knew we could help fix the problems if they’d just listen to us. Dom didn't want the weight of it to be on my shoulders, but it was, and he couldn't help that. I decided to take the blunt approach.

  "Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, thanks for letting me have this opportunity to tell you what really happened. I may be young, but I'm no idiot. Yes, I expected action to be taken against me. It was my goal, and I’m prepared for it."

  A rumble moved through the Senate. Former Navy Seal, top ranking S.O.I.L. agent, Gregory Zaffron, was about to be challenged by a sixteen-year-old girl, in a room full of the entire judicial body of this accelerated form of government. It was my turn to get rhetorical. I turned to Gregory.

  "Did you honestly think I'd continue to just let things be once I knew about the deceptions being played out in Seneca?" I shifted my focus away from Gregory's glare to address the Senate.

  "We were chased, hunted, unjustly characterized as runaways on the national news, brutally attacked and left for dead in the middle of the forest, but that didn't stop us." I saw so many looks of astonishment that right then and there I could see the Seneca Senate, at least most of its members, had been unaware of Gregory's actions. "B3 News was fed blatant lies about the supposed Necrolla Carne Disease that in turn filled the minds of innocent Seneca citizens everywhere with fear about its destructive power. But we found out the truth. As a dutiful citizen of Seneca I take very seriously my social contract to The High Doctrine of Seneca Society, which is that: We shall pursue and honor the truth above all else. For ourselves, for our fellow Senecans, for the ultimate, incontrovertible liberty of the Seneca Society.

  "Isn’t it our obligation to chase the truth and come forward with what we've found? And, if not me, then who? Who is going to identify the problem, speak the truth and stand up for what's right? Dom and I knew we had to chase the truth. It was our obligation to this society."

  I felt the wind against my back. "Corrupting people's blood with nanobots is the ultimate intrusion. Blocking memories and changing the course of people's lives without their knowledge or consent is cold-hearted manipulation. It's tyranny. It's enslavement. It's the farthest thing from what Seneca is all about, but it is exactly what S.O.I.L. is doing. Yes, I broke the quantum encryption and determined that all of us are being tracked and analyzed. Every thought in our minds and every movement we make is collected data, and you have no right to mine my brain for data without my consent. Nobody should have the right to do that to anyone else."

  One by one, panels in front of the members of the Senate were lighting up, demonstrating their approval. I felt empowered by the lights. The sun shone on my face, beaming down through the salt-crystal windows in the dome above us. I noticed that Gregory’s body language had changed infinitesimally, as he shrank back slightly, his shoulders slouching forward just a bit. The Senators couldn’t see it but I could, and it gave me a burst of adrenalin. He hadn't expected them to respond to me like this because he thought he was invincible. That his misuse of power would continue unchallenged.

  Just then I received an incoming flex, and it wasn't from Dom. You're playing with fire, Doro. I have your back, but won't be able to protect you from what is to come. It was Ellen. Oh my god. She had the implant, too. Slowly, Ellen Malone's layers were peeling back like a fresh onion. One by one, each tier disturbed me more than the last. I had no idea what was at her core and this wasn’t the time to engage in a flex-off with her to find out. She flexed me again; You’d better learn to use your new implant before some other people around here learn that you have it. I scanned the faces before me. Many eyed me just like Ellen did, but I couldn’t let uncertainty cripple my drive. And I couldn't trust that Ellen knew what was best, or that she would do what was right for me or Dom. This was my fight and I had to go by my gut instincts.

  "Gregory wants to label me as an insurgent, and that's fine, because the truth is, if I didn't rebel against the wrongdoings of S.O.I.L., the foundation Seneca was built on could implode, and destroy everything you have worked to create." I took a deep breath and aimed my final blow at Gregory's campaign of deceit.

  "Seneca is everything I ever wanted the world to be. Safe, fair, peaceful, dedicated to education in areas that actually matter. I see a future here where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and be the best they can be. But the tyrannies of an operation like the one around the fake Necrolla Carne virus, lying to people and intrusively penetrating their brains, are the fastest ways to quash all that hope. And someone like Gregory Zaffron, who perpetrates all these horrendous crimes, should in no way be a representative of the Seneca Society. The Seneca I believe in does not stand for oppression and hypocrisy. If this is put to an end before it is too late, Seneca really will be fertile ground for a whole new existence. The one people have always dreamed of. Freedom was never really possible here until these truths were exposed, right here, right now."

  All of the Senators' screens lit up and I basked in the brightness.

  "I hope that you will all see that Dominic and I didn't do any of this for our own selfish motives, or to play games or take control of anything. We just wanted to shed a light on the truth and expose a flaw that I think can ruin the future of the place I want to call home... Thank you all for listening."

  Much to my surprise, and Gregory's despair, the room exploded in white light. Every panel on the Senate was illuminated. I felt amazing. My whole body buzzed from the surge of positive energy in the room. Ellen was deadpan, maintaining a vacant stare. I knew she was pissed off that I had blown off her flex, but I was no longer worried about what Ellen thought. I looked at Dom. There was a glimmer of hopeful anticipation in his piercing eyes. In the end, the truth will always set you free.

  As Wallingsford's screen stayed illuminated, a hush settled over the room. "We will now hear concluding statements from each one of you, in the same order, please. Agent Zaffron, you may proceed."

  Gregory was fueled by the desire to win, to conquer two pesky teenagers, to remain in control. He showed no fear, and was filled with a malevolence that made my stomach turn. "Senators, we can all appreciate Ms. Campbell's sweet sentiment, but don't be fooled by a wolf in sheep's clothing in our midst. This sweetness is only skin deep. I ask you to let the hard facts that S.O.I.L. has collected and presented to you determine the outcome in the best interest of our society. Rebellion and assault on S.O.I.L. intel can only be a threat, not an ally to our society. Having witnessed the persistence of these two individuals as they infiltrated our security methods, I began to understand their capacity to disrupt. I stand by the current S.O.I.L. procedures, as they have been put in place in the best interest of all of us here today. We are dedicated to protecting what you are building– by any means necessary. Sometimes great success comes at a great cost. This is a perfect example of one of those times." He was resolute and cold-hearted. "On behalf of S.O.I.L, I, Agent Gregory Zaffron, motion that, should Campbell and Ambrosia be found guilty of breech of our laws as outlined in the High Doctrine of Seneca Society, they shall be placed in solitary confinement until they are legal adults, at which point they shall be terminated."

  A rolling thunder of private chatter emanated from the crescent-shaped audience elevated before us. Dom looked as if he hadn't just seen a ghost; he was a ghost. I don't think he’d ever expected it to come down to a moment like this. I, on the other hand, might not have been in my element running down a bridge and jumping off a ledge into oncoming traffic, but I was ready to rock in this war of words. We couldn't allow ourselves to feel helpless against a system that was there for us. I stared at Wallingsford, c
homping at the bit for my opportunity to speak.

  "Dominic Ambrosia. Do you have any closing statements?"

  Dom looked at me, then back up to the Senate. "I just hope everyone sees the truth in what Doro is saying. There is nothing more to it. Seneca is my home now. I don't want to do anything to compromise that. I am only here to help."

  Gregory muttered under his breath, "How cute."

  I tightened my jaw, but was unable to contain myself a second longer.

  "Funny," I spat. My glare ripped into Gregory. "To me it seems you are the one in breech of the laws of Seneca as outlined in the High Doctrine, so I think you should be the one who is terminated."

  Gregory exhaled a puff of disgust and shook his head in feigned disbelief.

  "And the fact is that it won't stop with Dominic and me. You will have to come back to the Senate and ask that more and more people be terminated. Because the reality is, people will eventually catch on to what you’re up to. If the skills needed to ask the right questions and break into the system exist in Dom and me, it’s there in others just as smart as us. There are bright people sitting even now in the most basic session available in S.E.R.C. They’ll piece it together, too.

  “The last thing I want to say, Agent Zaffron, is that if anything happens to Dom or me, the quantum entanglement you have established with every Seneca citizen, whether they’re in Seneca or somewhere else in the world, will be broken and destroyed. But first they will get a very explicit message regarding what you have done. I've already coded it that way."

  "You're bluffing."

  "Then call me."

  Gregory was speechless. It was the first time I'd ever seen him visibly shaken. There was a resolved silence in the row of thrones. My own silence was proud. It was all out of my hands now. I marveled at how uniquely different silences could be.

  Senator Wallingsford stood. "Agent Zaffron, Dominic Ambrosia, Dorothy Campbell– please accept our appreciation for your statements in this session. The Senate will now convene and vote on a solution."

  A mirrored blue dome appeared over the panel of Seneca Senate members. Dom, Gregory, the guards and I just had to wait. I grinned like a schoolgirl because I knew it would irritate Gregory. Gregory drilled his nasty eyes right back at me, but I could sense him cracking. Dom didn't even look up from his podium, he was so in the zone. None of us spoke. No matter how high the tension we were all trying to maintain poker faces.

  After twenty-eight minutes standing in strained silence, the mirrored blue dome dissolved into the cool salty air.

  Senator Wallingsford motioned Ellen Malone to the floor. "Senator Number Two will now give the determination and conclusion of the Senate."

  Ellen Malone's panel lit up. I still didn't want to look at her, but I couldn't help it.

  "Senators, Seneca Advisory Committee, S.O.I.L. agents and officers, respondents, thank you for affording me the honor to address you today."

  The panels all lit up and, as they faded back to opaque, Ellen spoke with a command I'd never heard from her before. "I personally know these two scholars, and can attest that they are not a detriment to our society, but rather an asset. That is why it is with such pleasure that, on behalf of the Seneca Senate, I hereby dismiss the accusations brought forth today by the Seneca Observation and Intelligence League against Dominic Ambrosia and Dorothy Campbell."

  The screens all went white. So did Gregory's face. And color returned to Dom's. At the same time stupendous relief flowed through me, I had the thought that Ellen was a chameleon. Whose side was she on, anyway?

  "In fact, the direction of fault is in choices made by our own S.O.I.L. Indeed, we are a society made up of human beings and, thus, error is unavoidable, especially in this stage of our collective infancy. Correction is in our blood, though, and our internal mistakes must be promptly and responsibly remedied. Moreover, we find it morally reprehensible that such intrusions were taken against not only the citizens of Seneca, but especially the league of Senators that have led you, Gregory Zaffron, and your colleagues, and have trusted you to be an instrument of their decisions. This is an issue we will address at a later time. Until the facts of this case are thoroughly investigated, you are placed on indefinite suspension from your S.O.I.L duties."

  I thought about kicking up my feet like Gregory had in his absurdly machismo fashion that day in my room in S.E.R.C., but instead I let Ellen's words do the gloating for me. Gregory was beginning to look apoplectic.

  Ignoring him, Ellen continued, "Although these S.E.R.C. scholars went against the system, what they're fighting for couldn't be more righteous. They represent the epitome of what we stand for in this society– peace, equality, harmony and inviolable freedom. Hence, we find it in the best interest for the future of the Seneca Society to reinstate Dominic Ambrosia and Dorothy Campbell as S.E.R.C. scholars. In addition, we would like to establish them as leaders of a new S.O.I.L. project where we will collaborate with them in discovering ways in which to break the invasive quantum entanglements. Simultaneously, we expect an effort on the part of S.O.I.L., with a newly selected Chief S.O.I.L. Agent in the S.E.R.C. division, to work towards a better, more just future of Seneca intelligence operations."

  Senator Wallingsford's panel lit up. As Ellen Malone took her seat, he spoke calmly, and it echoed throughout the ancient salt mine turned judicial chamber. "Mr. Ambrosia, Ms. Campbell, do you accept this determination in your favor?"

  Dom was elated. He nodded to me as if to say, "The floor is all yours."

  I knew what I wanted. It wasn't too much to ask. "We will agree to it if you allow my mom and my dog to come live with me in Seneca, and Dominic's parents and brother, too, to live with him."

  Senator Wallingsford moved forward to speak, but Ellen Malone's somber face caught my eye. No matter what had been done to me, I wasn't going to stoop to Gregory's level. I had to be my best me— so there was one more thing to ask for.

  "And I further request that Ellen Malone's son, Connor, be allowed to come live with her."

  Ellen became uneasy. She leaned into Senator Wallingsford, but he brushed her off, because he already knew what he was going to say.

  "Considering the great positive change you have just brought our society, that certainly is not too much to ask. It would be a pleasure to have your loved ones join us. Welcome back to Seneca."

  The man in the blue suit who had called the session to order promptly adjourned it and the blue dome rose over the Senate and lowered it below the surface of the salt mine.

  Dom bounced down from behind his podium to throw his arms around me in an enormous bear hug. "You are seriously incredible, Dorothy Campbell. Do you know that?"

  "See, I told you I wasn't spying on you that day we first met. I really did just think you were handsome. But now I think you're kinda smart, too."

  Gregory began to storm out with his escort, but then abruptly turned toward Dom and me. "You think you’re such geniuses. You’re going to wish you’d never put your noses into any of it. This isn’t over."

  But it was– for now, at least. I smiled. Nothing could wreck this glorious moment, not even Gregory Zaffron.

  52

  IT FELT SO amazing to be back in S.E.R.C. A place that was once nothing short of bizarre to me in every way, shape and form, felt like home now. Familiar. And, armed with the knowledge that soon my mom and Killer would be here, too, I was at peace for the first time in a very long while.

  It was Tuesday. My first day in session after everything that had happened. All I could do was look forward to lunch in the meal hall. I hadn't seen Reba since we were thrust together in that horrid memory wipeout, brainwashing attempt. I didn't want my first contact with him to be via my flexer implant. I owed him a huge "thank you" for having my back in there, and I had to give it to him in person.

  I strolled into meal hall with pep in my step, ready to order a quesadilla and reconnect with my good friend. As soon as I spotted him at our regular table, my face lit up. I rushed over.r />
  Reba was quietly eating alone. I snuck up behind him and stood there as I tried to think of something witty to say, but before I could–

  "I knew there was a reason I just had to order this quesadilla."

  "Reba!"

  He spun around with a sprawling smile across his face. "Campbella!" he shouted as he sprang up from his seat and hugged me. We bounced up and down, laughing like goofy little kids.

  "Que pasa chica?! I thought I was never going to see you again. I mean I knew I would but thought I wouldn't... if that makes sense?" His words were going a mile a minute, all blending together. Man, how much had I missed this guy?

  "Somehow, coming from you, it makes perfect sense." We looked at each other in equal parts disbelief and glee, but that untouched quesadilla sitting there on the table had my name all over it.

  "It's all you." Reba pulled my seat out like a courtly gentleman. We dove back into our mealtime ritual like it had never been broken. As I reconnected with my buddy and the best Monterey Jack cheese known to man, I told him all about how I’d seen my mom again, and how Dom and I had been handed a most just resolution by the Senecan Senate. I spared our conversation the details of my new assignment by the Senate, because they’d made sure to impress upon us that it would be a top-secret operation. But Reba seemed to know at least a little something of what went down.

  53

  TWO DAYS AFTER our arrival back in Seneca, Dom and I began our declassification project under the wings of S.O.I.L. They didn't want to waste any time, but they also didn't want to distract us from what we’d originally been brought to do here. We started to meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after sessions ended for the day. An empty acoustic carrier would take us on a ten minute trip from S.E.R.C. to the Claytor Lake computer center. We always arrived just three minutes after three and stayed through dinner. Crazy to think that only a few weeks before, we had been on the run from S.O.I.L., and now we were spearheading our own S.O.I.L. operation.