The Real World

by Jacob Long

  “Fascinating,” he says holding it up in the air. “Its a personal cloaking device. It renders an individual invisible to scanners. But how does an exile get their hands on one of these?” Fetu is the only one who has seen exiles firsthand. The rest of us have only learned about them at the academy. In Paradisum, everyone is genetically engineered to be born with super-human abilities. If there is ever an infant that is born without them, they are still raised and treated the same as everyone else until they turn eighteen. If they have not developed any abilities by the time they reach this age, they are deemed unfit to live in Paradisum. They are exiled to the outskirts for one year. If they can survive five years outside of the walls, they will be let back in.

  Some of them are late bloomers and develop super-human abilities. They are also let back in. However, most of them, don't survive for very long. Especially amongst mutated plants and animals. "My only guess," says Fetu, "is that the Ministry is looking to expand their territory. That means that they're sending out scout teams to look for the best place to start a new city. This exile and his pack must have attacked them."

  I spot something on the exile. There is a slight tear at the shoulder of his shirt. And it looks like there is a cut on his shoulder. I stand up and walk toward the exile, forcing RT and Sienna to finish applying my cast as I move. As they complete the process, I kneel down and grab hold of both sides of the tear. I pull more of the fabric apart.

  A few more inches down, the cut reveals itself to be a laceration opening from the bottom of his shoulder down through his chest and to the top of his abdomen. It's about an inch wide. "Looks like it's infected," I say. "RT, Sienna, what do you guys make of this?" RT immediately begins to scan the cut with his manica while Sienna scrutinizes it with her eyes. "Check out the singe marks along either side of the cut. It looks like it's from the blade of a Ministry sword," RT says.

  One of the Ministry's favorite weapons is a sword that produces a surrounding flame. "Judging by the infection, the battle probably occurred a few days ago," Sienna adds. "He and his pack must have attacked a group of scouts," says Fetu. "He may have been the only survivor."

  "Once he saw us, he was most likely planning on reporting it to more Ministry scouts," I say thinking out loud. "Wouldn't they kill him for having attacked the previous scouts?" asks Sienna. "Actually, they would let him back in, and brainwash him, eventually turning him into a slave," Fetu answers. "The Ministry keeps tabs on all of the exiles. Check the back of his neck." RT makes a slight incision in the back of the exile's neck and pulls out a microchip. Fetu continues, "If the exile doesn't return with super-human abilities or the chip doesn't go offline after five years, they send out scouts to eliminate them." "Looks like we may have found our key to the city," RT says, breaking the little air of silence. "Okay, but what are Ministry scouts doing with personal cloaking devices?" asks Gabriel, "Who do they expect to run into out here?"

  "There are rumors of other groups who defected before the Ministry took over," says RT, "It could just be a precaution." "You don't think the Ministry has wiped those groups out already?" asks Gabriel, a little snidely. "They haven't wiped us out," RT snaps back. "All right," says Fetu, "We need to move on. RT, Sienna, quickly and carefully search the exile for any more clues and anything that may be able to help us. Gabriel, Jayden, use your lasers to etch out some handles for us. We need to get over this wall soon. We have a long journey ahead of us."

  It turns out that the intervention of the exile significantly enhanced our plan for sneaking into the city. Originally, we were going to set off an explosion just outside of the city, and catch a ride back in. Now we have a much more subtle method. After examining the cloaking device, RT discovered a way to send a distress signal back to the main city. We set a trap. When another scout team arrives, we steal their uniforms and hovercraft. We head to the city, taking the body of the exile with us. Fetu tells us that Carlisle and Fulloway will want him to have a proper burial. It's strange to think that they care about that. If only the exile would have let us talk to him. We could have saved him.

  RT pilots the hovercraft since he is most familiar with their technology. Back on Idem, we have the schematics for hovercrafts, but they use a lot of Omega crystal energy, and we try to conserve the crystals as much as possible. As we approach the twenty-foot wall that surrounds the city, I feel confident that we can pull this off. Previous Commandos have been teaching us how to pose as Ministry soldiers for the past year. Of course, this operation is far from seamless. Ministry scout units only consist of four people, so one of us has to go without a uniform. It only makes sense that Fetu rides in the spacious cargo area due mostly to the fact that the scout uniforms don't fit him. They barely fit us. Mine personally is a little loose.

  At the entry point, it's clear to see that this wall was built for battle, if necessary. It reminds me of the pictures I've seen the Great Wall of China. It is thick with sentries that walk along the top. There are two defense cannons set atop the wall on either side of the entry point. "Unit 206 reporting," I say to the guard. "Unit 206" he repeats checking his tablet. He looks up, "What is the status of Exile 139?" I hold the implant in the air. "Deceased. A mutated black bear attacked the exile," I reply "This is all we were able to retrieve." The guard takes the implant without hesitation.

  He inserts it into his tablet. "All right, you are cleared to go through the scanners." He gestures us forward. The scanning system will scan the implants in our necks to make sure we are indeed the Ministry scouts of unit 206. Fortunately, RT has a program in his manica that scans and copies the implants. It will trick their scanners into thinking that we are those scouts. However, as RT pilots the hovercraft forward, I get a terrible feeling that there is something we haven't anticipated. Sienna is a level 3 telepath, so if one of us can sense something bad, it's her. Immediately, I look to her in hopes that she will assuage my worried mind.

  My eyes meet hers, and she shakes her head."Everybody down!" She yells. As we all drop to the ground, I look through the glass wall to see a strange bald man with a menacing grin. He has a tattoo of a star on his head. Everyone except for RT gets to the ground in time. A massive wave of energy surges out onto the hovercraft. It looks like a concentrated lightning storm. RT is hit and falls to down. Sienna and I crawl over to him. She checks his vital signs while I push the throttle forward. RT is fine, just unconscious. Sienna places her hand on his head, and he immediately wakes up.

  The hovercraft abruptly stops in between two platforms. We are still inside of the wall. Both platforms are filled with soldiers running up to us with stun guns. “Get to Fetu,” I say to Sienna, “We can't let them control him.” The sun tattoo guy is most likely a telepath. I'm guessing that he sensed our presence and attacked us with that psychic energy. Our psychic inhibitor chips will protect us from level 3 telepaths and below, but he may be more powerful. And if he is, I figure that Fetu is the main guy that we want to keep out of his control. I have a feeling that these soldiers are willing to go through a lot of trouble to keep us alive. I plan on testing how much. “Fetu on your left!” I yell. Fetu bursts out of the cargo container and attacks the soldiers on his left. Sienna runs over to him and jumps onto his back.

  I stand in between the soldiers on the right and my team. One of the soldiers lunges toward me. I dodge his attack and trip him. He falls, and his stun gun hits the control system for the hovercraft. Electricity flows throughout, and the vehicle shuts down, dropping about two feet to the ground. Another soldier jumps down and stabs at me with his stun gun. I block his attack with the manica on my one good arm, and hit him with a jab to the face, followed by a plasma blast to the neck. He falls to the ground. We have to shoot them in the right spot on the neck otherwise their armor will protect them. I realize that this is the first person that I have killed. I guess training gets you ready for the action and not so much the result.

  It's too much to think about right now though. Now is not the time for sentiment. I'd prefer not to kil
l them since most if not all of these people have had some level of brainwashing performed on them. Unfortunately, if I let them live, they could end up killing one of my teammates or myself. They trained us to face this dilemma when we were young so that we wouldn't have to think twice about it in combat. It looks like it is working.

  The next guy nearly gets my face before I slap his wrist and take his gun away. I blast him as well. Gabriel speeds around on both sides, taking out soldiers in the blink of an eye. I spin around to see him stop a soldier from stunning me from behind. "Clear out the left side!" I order. "We need to get out of here!" "Yes, sir!" he runs over to the other side. With him and Fetu over there, the left side quickly clears out. RT works his way over to my side, and I slowly back up while taking out soldiers. Luckily, these are only foot soldiers. They are still superhuman though so RT and I can only keep up with them for so long. If it weren't for the plasma blasters on our manica, we would be out of luck.

  We need to get out of here before they send in the heavy hitters. Gabriel works his way back over and helps us take down the remaining foot soldiers. As we walk a little further, I turn to look into the room where the bald man was. He's still there, just staring at us. He must not be above a level 3 telepath. But where did the psychic energy attack come from? Fetu punches through the thick glass, and shoots the telepath, knocking him unconscious.

  Fetu opens the storage container and turns to us. "Stick to the plan. Secure the entry tower." His voice booms. Naturally, Gabriel gets his gear on the fastest and runs to the elevator. "It's dead." "Stairwell, over there." Sienna points. "Lockdown initiated," an electronic voice comes over the building's sound system. A few feet before the stairwell, two doors start to close toward each other. One comes out of the ceiling and the other from the floor. Gabriel starts for it. "Wait!" Fetu yells."We want to stay on this side. Gabriel, when it closes, weld it shut. Jayden, you do the same for that side." He gestures to the right. "I can't infiltrate the system remotely," RT says primarily to Fetu.

  Nobody asks, but everyone is thinking the same question: how are we going to get up to the observation room? Fetu doesn't leave us wondering for long. He takes a brief scan of the area above the elevator, and sprints toward the opposite wall. He jumps up and springboards off of the wall, shooting himself like a cannonball into the wall. Now there is no doubt in my mind that he could have caught up with that exile in the forest. He was probably afraid that he might smash him in the process.

  Now I hear the sound of metal creaking as if it is getting bent. I turn to Gabriel. "Go with him. We'll get the doors," I assure him. Gabriel runs up. Gunshots and screams of terror are swiftly silenced as loud footsteps bound throughout the room above.

  The footsteps make their way back, and I hear a loud thud on top of the elevator. Fetu pops his head out of the hole and smiles. "Sorry, that took me so long." He jumps out, and Gabriel follows, pointing up to the ceiling. "That-," Gabriel says and points to Fetu "-was all him. I didn't want to get in his way." "Guys the doors." Fetu gestures toward the doors that have yet to be welded shut. As Gabriel and I head over to separate walls, I can hear Fetu punch another hole. This time, into the elevator doors. The creaking metal sound is back as I assume he is prying the doors open.

  Fetu, RT, and Sienna head up to the second level while Gabriel and I weld the lockdown doors shut. We finish and head up the elevator shaft. The climb is a little tricky with only one useful arm. As I poke my head up into the observation room, the floor shakes, and I hear a loud crash. I stand up to see Fetu walking back from tearing the sky tunnel away from this entry point tower. Sienna and Gabriel are at the big hole in the wall spraying it down with a specialized foam of RT's creation.

  When it dries, the foam will be as strong as steel. RT is at the controls. I walk over and stand by him, observing his skills in action. He finishes convincing the other towers that the 'intruders' have been apprehended, and they inform him that they are sending a transport vehicle. This vehicle will most likely have the city's administrator on board. Administrators are typically a level 4 or above. He'll also have with him several Level 3 soldiers. At least we prevented the 'entire' cavalry from heading our way.

  Something catches my eye up on the screen. There is a flicker and a beeping notification. "There's a hovercraft signaling us to let them in," RT informs. "Redirect them," Fetu says. "Tell them this entry point is closed until further notice." "Wait!" I say putting my hand over the comm button. "That craft has slaves." "I'm sorry, Jayden," replies Fetu. "The mission has been compromised too much already. "We need another hovercraft," I reply, thinking quickly.

  "The one down there was heavily damaged, and there are only three slaves on that transport. They won't slow us down." He thinks about it for a moment. He knows I'm right. "All right," he says. "Send them here." "Thank you, sir," I reply. "I will be fully responsible for them. He nods. "The Administrator just left the central hub," RT reports. "He and his team should be falling out of the sky tunnel in less than two minutes..."

  8

  The Supreme Ministry designs and constructs each of their cities with the same basic layout. It starts with a massive wall that surrounds the city in a perfect circle. The wall has five entry points, and each of these entry points has a sky tunnel at the top of the wall that leads to the center of the city. This way, members of the Supreme Ministry can travel throughout the city at rapid speed. Fetu eyes the foam wall. "How's that download looking?" he asks. "I still need to bypass the defenses to the central hub's mainframe," RT replies.

  "A time frame would be nice." Fetu replies. "I estimate that I will be done in less than one minute and thirty seconds," says RT "Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" "It is what it is," RT replies. "The good news is that I've discovered what the administrator's abilities are. The other bad news is that I've discovered what the administrator's abilities are." "Lay it on me," says Fetu as he plants his feet firmly behind RT and in front of the foam wall, staring it down.

  "Well, apparently, Administrator Haws can summon lightning and channel electricity through his body. He is also a level 3 telepath." Administrator Haws. I realize again that this another one of my super realistic dream memories. Somehow, I get caught up in them. "Oh, goody," Fetu replies."When is the other hovercraft getting here?" I ask, still engrossed in all of the action. "They are about forty seconds out," RT replies. "So a lot is about to happen in the next two minutes," Sienna says. She opens one of the pouches on her belt and pulls out a small rectangular device. It's a psychic disruptor. RT takes notice as well. He holds his hand up to her. "Keep that as a last resort. I have something that is a lot safer."

  By 'safer' he means safer for Sienna. The psychic disruptor can be used by a normal person to subdue up to a level 2 telepath. When a telepath uses it, the power increases. Unfortunately, during all of the tests, it left Sienna in a weakened state. Taking down Haws most likely wouldn't be fatal, but it could severely injure her. "You're sure?" she asks. She may have an inkling that RT likes her. She at least knows that he cares very much about her, and she doesn't want that care to compromise the mission. "Yes, I promise," RT replies.

  "Gabriel, Sienna, you two go down with Jayden," Fetu says. "I'll hold off the administrator." I look over my shoulder to the seat on RT's right. It's the controls for the right artillery cannon. "With all due respect, sir, I think, I've got a better idea." I climb into it. Sienna follows my lead and climbs into the right one. "Set it on stun," I say. "we don't want to injure the captives." Sienna and I make superb timing as we stun everyone on board the hovercraft.

  Gabriel runs down and takes over the controls making sure the vehicle doesn't come crashing in. I watch on the monitor as he gets it turned around and set up for a quick getaway. He's tying up the scouts as I use the canon to search the area leading back to the ocean. While moving the cannon around, I get another idea. "RT?" I ask, "how far out is the Administrator now?" "Thirty seconds." I pivot the cannon to the side as far as it will go. Just as I thought,
I can't turn it far enough to aim it into the city.

  Fetu catches on. “I got you.” He tells me before running into the elevator shaft. He starts climbing. After a few seconds, my view is raised up into the air and turned toward the city. "Ten seconds," RT says as I get a lock on the end of the sky tunnel. I flip on the infrared, and spot the transport. I switch the mode out of stun and open fire. A massive energy blast strikes the end of the tunnel as the transport vehicle reaches the end. Lightning strikes down and hits the transport just as it explodes. Shards of metal burst in every direction.

  From the smoke and dust, a blue orb of energy emerges, floating in the air. Inside is Administrator Haws and two soldiers that he managed to save inside of his electric force field. They must have been standing right next to him during the blast. Another bolt of lightning strikes Haws, and he emits two powerful bolts of electricity, one to the foam door, and one directly toward the cannon. My screen goes blank as the foam door explodes. We all run for cover. Hopefully, Fetu got out of the way up top. Because of his resistance to injury, one bolt won't finish him, but I doubt Haws plans on firing only one bolt.

  RT runs back to the computer to finish hacking the system. "Gabriel, check on Fetu and see if you can keep Haws busy for a while," I say. "You got it," he replies. He speeds up to the roof through the elevator shaft. "RT, how much time?" I ask. "Ten seconds," he replies. Sienna's fingers fidget around the psychic disruptor that she's still holding. "Wait for RT's call," I remind her. I position myself behind the right cannon controls. Sienna gets behind the left cannon controls. We raise our guns, ready to fire. The sounds of lightning bolts have increased significantly. Hopefully, he is wearing out. Unfortunately, he recharges most of his energy every time he strikes himself with lightning.