2100 AD: A Sly Pretense

by Tariq Saleim

  Izzy looked at the Commander. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

  “Do not start something you cannot end,” replied the Commander. His choice of words and tone was undoubtedly threatening.

  His answer came as a surprise. She had been expecting an appeal for mercy.

  “I will surely end this today,” Izzy said. “You and your plans will not see tomorrow. I am not afraid of what you may have planned before coming to see me. I can take on anything. I am the most powerful person in this world. I am the god of this world.”

  She paused briefly, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Some mysterious energy was entering her body and vitalizing it in this time of difficulty. “History is written by the victors, not by the vanquished. Today at 1300 hours you will go down in history as a traitor and I will be the savior. Your legacy is that of treachery, cruelty, and wickedness. Mine is of greatness, brilliance and excellence.”

  She gestured to the two soldiers to arrest the Commander. They moved closer to him and looked at him respectfully, hoping that he would not resist arrest. The Commander recognized them—they had served under him in Sector Forty-seven decades ago. One of them had been captured by rebels and the Commander had personally led a team to attack the rebel hideout and extract him. The Commander had been injured in the assault, but the mission was successful. Now this soldier stood face-to-face with his superior, wishing that the earth would break open and swallow him before he had to arrest his beloved mentor. The second soldier faced the same dilemma. It was difficult to believe what they had heard from the chairman. The Commander was not a traitor and they both knew it, but duty called for action.

  The Commander sensed their trouble and smiled. “Let’s go,” he said, and the three men walked out of the chairman’s office.

  ***

  At 1200 hours the chairman addressed the nation. She renewed her commitment to keeping the UPF a peaceful and fair place. She emphasized the importance of making sacrifices and hard decisions. She explained that it was hard for her to believe that two of her most trusted team members were involved in a conspiracy to overthrow her government and had killed thousands of people by colluding with ORRF. When evidence left no doubts in her mind, she did not flinch from doing the right thing. Justice was being delivered at 1300 hours today. She congratulated the citizens of the UPF on this momentous achievement, for today the enemies of the UPF would know that the chairman could rise to any challenge to protect her subjects.

  At 1300 hours, the Commander and Tank were torched alive. Their death sentence was broadcast all across the UPF. Their screams were heard in all corners of the world—as promised by the chairman.

  CHAPTER 20

  Sector 9, Sub-Sector 295 (formerly known as Krasnokamensk, Russia)

  “Were you connected the whole time?” Tank asked.

  “Yes, I was,” replied the Commander.

  “It was painful. I disconnected immediately.”

  “I did not. I needed to feel the pain. I want to be reminded of this pain.”

  “She was your girlfriend. How could she do this to you?”

  “Was she your girlfriend?” asked Coco, the only woman in the room.

  “Yes, she was. We had been in love since we were young. We parted ways when she became chairman,” replied the Commander.

  “Why did you do that?” asked Coco. “What more could you possibly want?”

  “A normal relationship, a family, kids, but that was too much to ask from the world’s most powerful woman. Or, should I say, the world’s most evil woman.”

  “What happened in your meeting this morning?” Hawk asked.

  “I showed her the videos and requested her to give up everything.”

  “Then what happened?” Spike asked.

  “She insulted me, shot me, attempted to rape me, then begged me to join her—and then torched me alive, as you all just saw.”

  “She raped you?” Spike asked. The others stared at the Commander in confusion.

  “She wanted to have sex one last time, for old times’ sake. I hesitated and then she forced herself on me.”

  Coco was startled. “How could she rape you? She is tiny. Look at your size.”

  “She had seventeen guns pointed at me, thanks to our friend here.” The Commander looked at Tank.

  “She loves you so much,” Coco said, totally ignoring the Commander’s reference to the seventeen guns. Instead, she took the argument into a different dimension. “So you are the one who broke her heart. You are the one who forced her into her fruitless exploits. In all those men, she was always looking for you. You destroyed her and made a bitch out of her.” Coco nodded her head, as though she had understood and solved an important puzzle.

  “She is a psychotic bitch who has murdered thousands of people in her quest for power,” the Commander reminded her.

  “Never say no to a woman who opens herself to you.” Coco looked at Nile, who was sitting silently.

  Hawk noticed her staring at Nile and knew his suspicion was right—Coco was in love with the guy. He shook his head in disgust. What an ugly choice, who just got uglier.

  “During our meeting she informed me that she had a state-of-art MRD in her head. She paid homage to your talent,” said the Commander to Tank. “She did not know that I had one in my skull as well, connected to this new me here.”

  “Interesting,” Tank replied.

  “It is,” said the Commander.

  “How exactly did she rape you?” Hawk asked.

  “That is of no relevance to you,” replied the Commander. Hawk rolled his eyes in response.

  “What is the plan now?” Tank asked.

  “I need to get back to my family. They must be devastated by my absence.” Nile had finally decided to join the conversation.

  “I need to go back as well,” Coco said, even though it wasn’t her family she meant to return to.

  Hawk and Spike did not bother to reply.

  “You need to get used to your new bodies before you leave this place,” said the Commander. “We all need to get used to our new bodies.” He looked at Tank, who nodded in response.

  “When I saw the surveillance videos weeks ago, I figured out quickly that they were not faked. I also figured out who must have gotten these made and why.” The Commander looked at Tank, who did not nod this time. “I faced a choice that day and I decided to save your lives. The only way to do this was to kill your bodies, but save your memories so that they could be installed in new bodies. So I shot you with tranquilizers, had your memories extracted, and then used live rounds on your bodies.

  “As far as the UPF is concerned, you are all dead; we are all dead. They will not look for us anymore. They will not harass your family and friends.” The Commander was defending his decision, even though no one was asking for any explanations.

  Nile, Coco, Hawk, and Spike had woken up in different bodies and wondered what had happened to them. It took them some effort to adjust to their new bodies, not to mention their new faces, but after the Commander explained everything they came to understand why it had been done. Now he was discussing the subject again because, ironically, he and Tank were in the same situation, with new bodies.

  “We could not do cosmetic surgery,” continued the Commander. “DNA is the preferred way of identification everywhere in the UPF. It is your passport, your identity, and so cosmetic changes only would not be helpful. You would have been caught quickly. So we resorted to this body swap. We maintain a large inventory of shells—that is, empty bodies that are kept alive without any memories. The UPF collects these shells every year at the time of annual draws. We kill physically abused bodies, but always preserve good ones.

  “Given my contacts, I managed to source decently compatible shells for all of you. We looked at age, physical attributes, geographical exposure, etcetera. We wanted to make sure that when you woke up in your new bodies you did not have many compatibility issues. Some issues are bound to happen, but with a li
ttle patience you can adapt.

  “Now you are free to go anywhere you want to go. Tank has fixed your records as well—you are all now legitimate citizens. Each of you has a business license issued, matched to your core skill sets. You should not find it difficult to start afresh.

  “We have also altered the physical appearances of your respective shells so that you do not resemble the original shell that now houses you and your memories. No one from your shell’s past will be able to recognize you.”

  “I do not know how to thank you enough,” said Spike. “You have saved our lives. Also, a very special thanks for selecting a good-looking shell. For the first time in my life, I think I am better looking than Hawk.”

  No one laughed at Spike’s joke. Hawk stared at him with disgust.

  “What do you plan to do?” Nile asked the Commander.

  “Before I get to that, Tank has to say something,” replied the Commander.

  Tank nodded, got up from his seat, and started walking around the room. “I want to apologize to all of you. My work brought trouble to you, your friends, and your families. I owe a special apology to Spike for his brother, but I want to clarify that I did not kill him.”

  Spike did not look convinced, but decided not to interrupt.

  “I had Ken under surveillance. I wanted to retrieve the stolen videos. At the same time, I could not tell Militia what I was looking for. I did not want these videos to get into their hands. I manipulated the annual draws to have him selected. I would have tortured him for those videos, but he panicked and the rest is history. I just want you to know that I did not murder him.”

  “Not personally, but to me, you are still a murderer,” Spike said. “You put him under so much pressure that he cracked. I cannot forgive you. And trust me: one day I shall avenge his death.”

  “What about Pepper?” Hawk asked. “Did you murder her too?”

  “Who? I do not know of any Pepper,” replied Tank.

  “You are lying,” shouted Spike.

  “If I can talk about Ken, I can talk about anyone,” Tank said. “What can you do to me? My technology saved your fucking life—don’t you ever forget that.”

  “What about the guy who handed over these videos to Ken? Did you kill him as well?” Spike asked.

  “No, I did not. He was so terrified that he committed suicide,” Tank replied calmly.

  The Commander thought it was an opportune time to enter the conversation. “Now that this has been cleared up, I want to move forward.”

  “There is no moving forward for us,” said Hawk. “We are going back.”

  “I am going back to my family,” said Nile.

  “I am going with him,” added Coco.

  “Why would you follow me?” Nile asked.

  “It is my choice. Trust me, you will need me,” replied Coco.

  “You are not coming back with me?” Hawk asked Coco.

  “Nothing between us has changed,” she replied.

  After a brief staring competition between Hawk and Coco, they both walked out. Nile followed them shortly thereafter.

  Spike walked to the Commander and shook hands with him. “Thanks for everything—I really mean it.”

  He then walked to Tank and looked him in the eyes. “You are responsible for my brother’s death and you will pay for it.” He turned around and left the room.

  Tank looked to the Commander. “I still believe you should have killed them.”

  “They are innocent,” replied the Commander.

  “They are a liability.”

  “We shall know in due course.”

  “What is the plan now?”

  “To take over the world,” replied the Commander with a big smile. “Someone told me I was not worth the world. I intend to snatch the world from her.”

  “And just how do you think you will do that?”

  “With your help, my friend, with your help. We are not ordinary people. We have made her what she is; together we can bring her down.”

  “Where do we start?”

  The Commander smiled at Tank. “We destroy what we built with our own hands.”

  Tank smiled back. He knew where to start.

  ***

  TO BE CONTINUED…