[In Distress 02.0] In Pain
Page 28
“Dammit,” Malcolm cursed.
“What? I thought this was good news,” Nick said as he took down the live feed.
“I was hoping there wouldn’t be any public announcement, but once I found out there would be, I had hoped it wouldn’t be worded quite like that,” Malcolm said. “It makes it too easy for people to say that the government does care and they’re doing all they can. These little half measures serve a purpose to prevent people from taking full measures, which is, I’m sure, the president’s intent. That’s the downside to replacing the collars so quickly. If it had been done at the regular annual Evals, then no announcement would’ve needed to be made.”
Will had never thought of it like that. He could see the wisdom in Malcolm’s words. In this instance, speed might work against them.
“Well, what’s done is done. We’re committed,” Syrus said.
“Yeah, and me and Stu can get to work. I’m sure others are thinking the same way you are. It won’t take long for the boards on the darknet to come to the same conclusion,” Nick said.
Will could see in the way Malcolm was distracted that something else bothered him. “Well, you have your hands full here. I’ve got to get back to work.” Will rose from his seat and looked expectantly at Malcolm.
Malcolm nodded. “I’ll go back with you.” He stood and looked at Nick and Stu. “Keep up the good work, you two.”
Back in their office, Will rolled his chair over to Malcolm’s. “What else is bothering you?”
“I was right earlier. There’s no reason for the president to make such an announcement unless he’s going to ask the legislature to amend the charter of New Cali to allow him to seek re-election.”
“We always knew this was going to be an uphill battle. It doesn’t matter who’s leading the government, Malcolm, because you’re leading the movement. That’s all that matters.”
Malcolm smirked and gave Will a rueful look. “That’s a nice sentiment. I appreciate your belief in me. Now, how’s production looking?”
“We’ll get it done. We all worked too long and too hard not to. Do you realize that in a little over a month we will have completed the greatest operation the movement has ever done?”
“And it’s all because of you. You’re the one who saw the patent filing, and you’re the one who did what was necessary to secure it.”
Will’s gaze locked with Malcolm’s, and more emotion passed between them in that moment than ever could with words. “We did it together.”
Chapter Forty-One
The conversation around the dining room table came to a lull. The last collars had shipped out, and everyone was tired. The last few days had been spent getting Panacea back on track with normal operations. Looking around the table at the weary faces of men whose contentment outshone the fatigue gave Malcolm a sense of pride. What they had accomplished was nothing short of astonishing.
They had all finished eating their pancakes and eggs, and now it was time to get up and go to work, except no one seemed eager to move. “Why don’t you all take the day off?”
“Are you takin’ the day off?” Carson asked.
“No, I have work that needs to be done. But you’ve all worked so hard.”
“So have you,” Nick said.
“We don’t stop until it’s done,” Tony said.
“There’s no more breaks from here on in, remember?” Will reached over and took Malcolm’s hand. He had assumed Kaleana’s old seat to Malcolm’s right. At first he’d only sit there occasionally to facilitate conversation, but eventually it had stuck. They’d made their peace with Kaleana’s passing. Now that they had her memorial, it didn’t seem as important to keep that seat empty for her. The empty chair had been a symbol of loss and pain, but her memorial symbolized her life.
“All right.” Malcolm pushed back from the table and stood. “Let’s get to work then.”
They all dispersed to their individual jobs, Malcolm and Will going up to their shared office. A new notification from Oculus grabbed Malcolm’s attention when he unlocked his computer. Ever since he’d apologized to Oculus, Malcolm had done everything he could to relieve the strain his absence had put on his second-in-command. Over time, their relationship had mended until it was as if Malcolm had never left. His retreat hadn’t been all bad, though. Will had developed a good relationship with Oculus, which had proved valuable and served the movement well.
Oculus: All the collars are online.
It was done then. Every Zed in New Cali now wore a collar that the movement could track. It didn’t make them much different than the Geneticists except that the movement would use whatever knowledge it gleaned to free the Zeds. Malcolm’s mind wandered to what it must’ve been like right after the Great Destruction. The caste system including the Zeds and the collars had been established for supposedly noble reasons. Good intentions weren’t enough. They had to have action to back them up.
Lazarus: This is when the fun begins.
Malcolm went over to Will’s desk and saw that he was approving some reports from Panacea before starting his work on the archive. “Do you have a minute?” Malcolm asked.
Will looked up at Malcolm behind his shoulder. “Yeah, of course. What’s going on?”
“I want you to pull up the collar program.”
Will accessed the program that allowed them to monitor the data they received. “Now what?”
“Pull up the map view.”
Will entered in a few commands, and a map of New Cali appeared on the screen. All across it were blinking dots. “They’re all online. I just got word from Oculus. We can now see every Zed in New Cali.”
Will smiled. “Really? It’s done?”
“Yes.” Tens of thousands of dots filled the screen, blurring together. Each one represented a collar, which in turn represented a Zed—a life spent in slavery. The dots impressed the enormity of the task at hand upon Malcolm. All these people were depending on them to keep working and keep going no matter how tired they were or how hard it got. The dots covered New Cali, as if the entire nation-state were made up of Zeds. In a way, they formed the foundation of the nation-state, doing the hard labor deemed beneath the superior Betas.
“This is why,” Will said.
“Why what?”
“This is why we keep going.”
Now the hard work began. They had more data than it would ever be possible to go through manually. They had to figure out what they were looking for and then find it. “We’ll need to work with Oculus to see what we can find.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Excitement filled Will’s voice.
“I think you’re going to be good at it. We’ll find what we need.” Already Malcolm’s eyes scanned the map, as if some anomaly would jump out at him, point to the truth.
Something did catch his eye. A group of dots on the edge of the screen seemed to travel outside the border of New Cali. “Move over to this area here.” Malcolm pointed to the errant dots. “Adjust the view so we can see beyond New Cali.”
Will did as Malcolm requested, and he followed the line of dots until they led to a cluster well outside the boundaries of New Cali. “What do you think that is?” Will asked.
Malcolm felt a grin form on his lips. “A mystery. That is our first bit of truth waiting to be discovered.”
* * *
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Caethes Faron
In Distress series:
In Distress
In Pain
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About the Author
Caethes's writing is influenced by her observations of this imperfect world and the flawed characters who inhabit it. She's lived in seven states and is always looking for the next place to call home with her husband and dogs. She currently resides in Florida.
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Copyright © 2015 by Caethes Faron
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Contents
About In Pain
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Also by Caethes Faron
About the Author
Copyright