Rebellion
⌛Twenty-Fifth⌛

Hariette and I hid out a mile away from where we were actually supposed to be. It’s four in the morning, which means we have two hours before the sun comes up. The hill we sat on was tall enough that we could see past the trees below. Our target building was far enough away that sector zero wouldn’t be threatened by us coming too close.

It’s not like they know we’re here anyway. Well hopefully.

I wore my glasses to see where the system’s orb was. The area was too crowded, there was too much information being reported at once. It was from sector zero, the other sectors, even Hariette being next to me gave me information I didn’t need.

“I can’t tone it down.” I said quietly.

It was a bunch of blue words and numbers I didn’t need to make sense of. I wanted to replace the right set of information but with everything moving, it was hard to read. I should’ve included settings to deal with this.

“Wait...” Hariette put her hand on my arm as she stared at the mirrored building. “Look where the glass is.” She pointed to just one glass window on the face of the building. I narrowed my eyes and the lenses focused on that.

Oh. There it is. Though it was a little hard to replace.

I found my target. It was processing billions of different information about absolutely anyone and everyone. I planned on completely destroying that for a fraction of a second.

“My tablet won’t even be able to handle all that information for longer than a day.” I said, amazed with what I could see. If I could figure out how the engineers came up with this, I would probably have more knowledge than I’m supposed to. Who knows what I could create if I replace the blue print for this.

“Before you let your nerd side take over, we have to talk about what’s going on.” she said as she turned off her contacts. “That building has one floor only, that’s where the orb is. The stairs will just lead you there.” She told me.

Guessing by what I could see at the moment, it looks pretty high up.

“That might take me a minute to get up there.” I warned her. It’s not like I always run up stairs for fun or to work out so she has to replace a way to give me time.

“You should work out.” She said plainly, but I knew where she was getting at.

“No, I’m fine.” I said in the same tone.

“You’re clearly not lightweight or anything...” She started off casually. “But next time you try to take over the western hemisphere, I need to know that you can run up a few steps.” She said.

She lost me at clearly.

“I can do push-ups.”

“Yeah, push-up your way to the top. That’s fine too.” She said sarcastically.

I looked at her slowly, the blue lights from my glasses dying down. She knew I was staring at her but she didn’t glance in my direction. “Better calm down, Aurora.” she warned me because of the way I was looking at her. I rolled my eyes at the thought and shook my head, putting my attention back on what I was supposed to be focusing on.

“Maybe we should move in right now and get this over with.” I suggested.

“Sector five is still on standby for two hours.”

“That’s what Iris wants. He wants the plan to go on as we said a few days ago.” We need to get over doing what was originally planned and get spontaneous. “That’s not what I want.” I told her.

“We’re not touching sector five.” she told me, a little harsher than before since I was persistent. “I’ve been talking to Alya for a few hours, she’s willing to move.”

“Conflict of interest?”

“I thought that at first, but she made it very clear that she would rather you finish all this than being apprehended before anything happens.” she said as she sat back in the grass. “Iris was never going to let you finish. He just needs to know how far you’ll go.”

I sort of figured that.

“Lunar thought about moving but because she’s close to sector zero as well, that would look suspicious.” Hariette explained.

“What do we do with Alya’s sector then?”

“She said she’ll cover for you. She knows that someone’s going to have to stop you, but she wasn’t sure which sector it is. So, I thought about placing her sector along the inside perimeter the second I let you go in.” She explained, drawing out what she wanted me to see.

Around the base of the building, a red line appeared. Hariette wants to put Alya’s sector right in there. It just means only I can go in and no one else will make it by.

“This does become a conflict of interest if it’s one of the other four sectors, not sector zero. She won’t order to shoot if it’s one of us.” Hariette said. “However, if you don’t make it, she’s willing to fight.”

My objective is to just get the chip in. It seems like that’s not in Iris’ best interest but it is in mine. That’s where the fight will really happen. Of course Iris doesn’t want to deal with permanent damage.

“So about sector five...” I was slow to start since her expression changed. She really did not want to do anything with Orion’s sector. “Just move his sector around to give Lunar more room, we might need her sector.”

Again, Hariette gave me that look, the one where she doesn’t like what I want, but she didn’t say anything out loud this time.

She talked to sector five about spreading out around sector zero, and based on Orion’s sudden resistance, it wasn’t how this was supposed to go. He still brought his sector out but he wasn’t too happy about it. This is where the talking will start. Everyone will get suspicious and tense.

I was counting on that.

Hariette told Lunar that she had enough space to cover for Alya if she needed the help. The other sectors weren’t needed, but I knew they were the ones that might do something to stop me. That’s why we had to place Alya so close to the front.

A lot of changes were made, and no one knows that I was about to start this earlier than we were supposed to.

It shouldn’t take longer than five minutes.

In my hand was a small box with my chip in it, the finished product of it. Too bad I can only use it once. I really just want to hope that my tablet doesn’t fry from all the incoming information. It’s going to be a lot for a while till the chip gets removed. I don’t want my tablet to break but if it happens I won’t be that sad. The worst that can happen is that it might restart on its own, or have a little glitch...or explode.

If I’m going to get in trouble, might as well make it big.

Hariette started to split sector leaders from their sectors, but that wasn’t enough to make them squirm. Alya was still in place and Lunar didn’t have a problem. The other thirteen, well...we’ll see about them.

I did not say a word as I walked with Hariette. I listened to her argue and try to be quiet but her patience was being pushed rather quickly. The other leaders were making their demands but she didn’t want to hear it. The fact that they were arguing proved that they were trying to follow Iris’ orders, but they didn’t try too hard. If they were going to be moved, then they would have to make the most of it. How spontaneous can they be with resistance? I probably shouldn’t underestimate them. It’s surprising what they can accomplish when they work together. Hariette and I stopped right between the road and the remaining trees. As we got closer, the lights on the road began to glow a brighter white so we had to stop further back.

Sector zero knows we’re around now.

“What’s supposed to happen is you walking straight in, replaceing the core, and using the chip.” Hariette explained to me and looked up at the building. “The two windows that are glass are not energy absorbing, so sector zero has a clear shot.” She pointed to the first one on the side that she showed me earlier.

If something happens, there goes my chance. Or my life. Whichever comes first.

“Because Iris plays a part in this, I don’t think you’d get shot.” She said but added, “fatally.”

So a warning shot, maybe for me to back off.

“Or, they won’t care, and they’ll let you do what you need to.” She also added because that was a big possibility.

“That’s the best case scenario.” I said.

That won’t happen. I’m expecting a warning shot. Iris doesn’t want me to touch anything. Alya should be able to hold off any other sectors long enough for me to get by. I’m not counting on sector one to hold down sector zero. I am counting on Lunar’s sector to take care of that, however.

Hariette shrugged and turned to the sound of others walking between the trees.

The sky was beginning to turn a lighter shade of blue as the sun came up. It was dead silent around us. Hariette was waiting, checking the surroundings. Nothing was out of the ordinary. It won’t be till I do something that a sector will show itself. I stared up at the building, seeing the glass window that was well blended with the black exterior.

I just wanted to get this over with to see what Iris is going to do to me.

“Think you can handle it?” Hariette asked behind me.

I turned hesitantly when her hand was on my shoulder. I was so lost in thought that I forgot where I was. That’s a little troublesome. My fingers held on tightly to my small box.

“I’m good.” I said. It wasn’t a lie. But there was something definitely wrong. “Are you going to stay here?” I was curious. I wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with other fifteen armed people or not.

“Don’t worry.” She whispered. “No one will get pass me.”

Well I was assured.

I turned around again to face the building and see what I’m up against. It shouldn’t be much. I should be able to get in, use the chip and get out. No one spoke as I took another step forward. The lights on the road brightened up as I got closer.

Behind me, I heard Hariette give the signal.

And that was my cue for me to run.

I can give Iris a show like he wants, pretend that I have no clue what’s going on and act like I’m doing the greater good without a motivator. Then again, he might see through it. He’d be an idiot if he didn’t.

The second I was out in the open, I could hear shouting around me. This was what they were waiting for. I needed to believe that Alya’s sector could give me enough time to make it. I ran to the entrance of the building and when I got close enough, the doors opened to let me and closed right behind me.

Just like planned, the inside security system should be fried. I was the one who took the extra precaution to take it down.

When the doors closed again, it was pitch black. For a second I didn’t take anymore steps as I tried to at least see something that would be able to help me. When I tilted my head back, my glasses began to analyze the orb that was on the top floor but that didn’t help me much. I continued to look around, to replace something, anything, but all I got was darkness.

Though, when I took a step forward, that didn’t happen. Under my boot, there was a blue light that glowed like it was breathing. It faded and brightened over and over again. I took another step and the next panel glowed.

This is a game.

If I take the right steps, the floor glows. If there was a security system in place, it would’ve already gone off from one wrong step. I kept walking around till I hit something with my foot; I lifted my leg and put my foot down on what I couldn’t see. The light glowed.

I just found my way up.

From here on, I just had to climb up the stairs. I kept going up, following the spiral and lighting up the building in blue lights. Every now and then, I would look down and be amazed by the path. But my focus was to make it to the top so I could replace my way to the room. I don’t have that much time to stop and stare.

I got to the top and the floor already had a pathway for me to take. I followed the light to a door that glowed around the edges of it too. Even the knob was glowing. I wasn’t hesitant when I opened it.

I’ve seen the environment before.

The orb was right where Hariette said it would be. It levitated in the center of the room, it’s power source right underneath it to keep it up. The lights around the room continued to breathe easily, the pulsing mimicking how I breathed now.

I saw the two windows that Hariette also mentioned. There’s two outcomes that could happen. I go for the orb and nothing happens because sector zero doesn’t have orders to hurt me. Or I go for the orb and I get multiple warning shots that make me back away.

Either way, I was going to try.

I walked calmly to the orb and looked for the little button I would need to get access. Once I found it, I looked on either side of me. Nothing broke the glass windows.

Yet.

The slot opened and I found the blue chip.

I didn’t take it out. In fact, I left it in as I took mine out of the box in my jacket. I lifted my chip and slipped it in beside the blue chip. If mine is strong enough, it will take over the initial system and ruin it. If not, then nothing happens.

For a second, I was worried that redoing mine might have made it weaker than it was supposed to be.

It was taking longer than expected.

I backed away when I heard others coming up the stairs. The chip still wasn’t working yet and I was worried. There was no time for me to do anything about it. Another sector stormed the room, completely surrounding me and pointing their guns at me. By the few faces I recognized, I saw that it was sector one.

And Sirus rushed in no second later.

The room went from blue to red, pulsing brightly in the dark. I started to smile.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He said angrily as he lifted his gun up.

Was he not expecting this? What was the whole point of this in the first place? Did he easily forget!

My tablet started to vibrate in my other jacket it pocket and it didn’t stop. I lifted it out to see what was happening. A hologram of a globe opened, and the image was set on the Western hemisphere where there were multiple red dots popping up.

It worked.

It actually worked.

Sirus was not happy like I was. His sector continued to spread out, loading their guns. Now I had no idea what was about to happen. This definitely was not planned, I could see it by the look on his face as he walked towards me.

“Get the fuck down.” he pushed me down and went right to the glass window, using his gun to shatter the glass.

What the hell is he doing?

“I knew Alya would do this bullshit. I should’ve fucking stopped her...done messed it up for all of us.” he was not in a good mood as he got the rest of the glass out of the way. “The last thing I fucking needed was for her to do this shit. Both her and Lunar are about to get it.”

A few others moved near the window as well, aiming and getting ready to shoot. He’s not planning on shooting at other sectors, is he?

“What the hell is going on?” I asked quickly.

“Our deal with Iris is null. You weren’t supposed to touch the damn thing. Now I have to deal with sector zero.” Sirus said bitterly.

“You can’t just-”

“Someone cuff him.” Sirus ordered​.

“You can’t-”

“Shut up, Aurora!” he snapped.

I pulled my lips in as I felt someone tug at my arms, cuffing my wrists so I couldn’t break free. If I even tried, the cuffs will only tighten until it squeezes my hands off.

Sirus can’t fight other sectors, but it looks like he was going to try. I was completely surrounded so that means I’m not going anywhere. I don’t think I need to be handcuffed, but with how pissed off Sirus was, I wasn’t going to yell at him for wanting to cuff me. What I was going to yell at him for was threatening another sector.

And actually firing.

I know it’s sector zero, but they’re going to kill us all if he doesn’t back off.

“Sirus-”

“I swear to God, Aurora, if I hear your voice again I will fucking gag you myself, you hear me?” he threatened me. I did not want to sit here and take that.

I kept quiet when I heard shooting again. The other soldiers moved away from the open spot. A hand pressed down on my back to get me down on the floor while sector zero continued to fire. My hands even moved over my head as if I could really protect myself but I couldn’t. These were all warning shots. Sector zero wouldn’t risk damaging the entire core. Iris would have every single one of us executed.

“This is not what’s supposed to happen.” Sirus said angrily as he backed up against the wall.

“This is your fault.” I said and immediately caught his cold glare. He’s serious about getting me to shut up. “You’re the one that engaged. Don’t get mad at me for doing what was planned.” I snapped at him.

This was all him. Storming in and threatening every sector outside was all him. Alya’s not going to fight back. Sector zero is down there for that. She doesn’t have to do anything.

Sirus called Hariette since his sector couldn’t take anymore of the open fire. Knowing Hariette, she was going to be resistant until Sirus surrenders first. That’s never going to happen. I didn’t expect much. His contacts glowed bright blue as he cursed under his breath.

“Hariette, get Iris to call them off.” he said quickly. By the way his expression changed, she probably said no. Sirus doesn’t take no for an answer.

The shooting stopped for just a second, long enough for him to move to the open space of broken glass and aim his gun outside again.

“No, I’m aiming right at you. Tell Iris to take care of them or I will shoot. Tell Alya and Lunar they’re next if you’re planning to do nothing.” he threatened her.

He will do it too.

I sighed and brought my hands down so I could rest my head on my arms. These cuffs are hard to move in. I didn’t have anything else to do but stay down and wait till my life actually wasn’t in danger anymore. Sirus was persistent with his threat; he motioned for a few others to join in and I could bet they locked in on Alya and Lunar to prove the threat was real to Hariette. Sector zero was still quiet. It wasn’t surprising to know that Sirus would get this serious and obnoxious, however, I believe he means well. He wouldn’t be so angry if sector zero didn’t interfere the way they did. Since things didn’t go as planned, he had to make a quick decision. Was sector zero really going to do something? Yes, they absolutely were. Iris didn’t want me to do a damn thing. His sector wasn’t going to let any of this slide. That’s where Sirus comes in.

Hariette was compliant because Sirus put his gun down.

I just wanted these handcuffs off me. It’s not like I was going to run anywhere. There’s a lot more soldiers around and it’s not like I could out run them. However, I got the feeling I was going to stay handcuffed for a while.

Sirus motioned for his sector to move. I was helped up off the floor so I could leave with the rest of them. My sudden hostility came from the fact that I was going to be arrested for real, with my rights read and everything. I shrugged off anyone who was touching me, and proceeded to walk on my own without any help. My hands are cuffed, I’m not handicapped. I had a feeling Sirus was going to do something stupid so I was quick to get up to him as we made it outside.

The first thing he did was spot Alya. He was really going to fight her about what’s going on. I don’t know who was going to stop him, but I rushed over to him and pushed him back as best as I could because I was restrained. Alya was just as prepared to take him on as he was to fight her, and that cannot happen right now, not after what just happened.

“Hey, I was the one that got her to do this for me. If you’re going to be mad at someone, be mad at me, not her.” I told him as I kept him back. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the division between sides. Both sectors were kept at bay for now.

Sirus was angry with me because I was taking her side in this. Alya risked everything to make sure I did what I needed to. That was part of the plan in the first place. Iris obviously didn’t want to break our precious societal system.

Whatever the deal was, it’s going to be called off.

“Sirus, look at me.” I got his attention because he was so focused on getting to Alya. He looked down at me, his dark eyes having a wild fire in them. He locked his jaw and I saw his fist clench. I know he was just inching to pull the trigger on the gun that was in his other hand. “Do not touch her.” I was very clear. I know he’s mad but he can’t fight her or Lunar. “If it’s really a problem, Iris will deal with them.” I said.

Altair and Orion were somewhere nearby watching but they had nothing to say yet. Hariette was not too far off, and Lunar showed herself from behind the trees. The others were hidden around at their posts. By the way that sector zero wasn’t charging at us, I take it that Iris already knows something happened.

The tension was biting through the air. I don’t understand why everyone was like this, but we have a lot more to deal with than what I did today.

I warned Lunar and Alya not to mess with Sirus for the rest of the day. Orion didn’t get any closer either. Altair was slightly pissed off about how things happened today. When Haroldo and Libra heard everything, they rushed over to see if I was okay since things did get a little out of hand.

It was a minor set back but it’s a good thing I’m alive. I don’t think sector zero likes me very much.

“So everyone is sort of indifferent. I don’t know what Iris’ specific terms were but it looks like all this doesn’t cover it.” Haroldo said as he looked around.

“Figures. Sector zero went on a rampage for a minute.” I said, remembering​ sixty seconds of just fire power and anger.

“We all saw that part. Hariette practically started screaming.” Libra said.

“No one got hurt so I don’t feel too bad.” I said. Although everyone is mad at someone and that’s sort of not good.

I lifted my tablet from my inside jacket pocket. It’s been vibrating the whole time, not even a second to stop. My glasses read through everything that came to my tablet. The glass is supposed to resist thermal shock but I don’t know for how long. It was getting hot and keeping it on me would not help.

“Can you take these handcuffs off me?” I asked since it was still difficult to move around freely.

I need someone with a higher ranking to take these off. It’s finger print access and it’s not like I have the means of trying to get someone’s finger print off of something I touched.

Haroldo was the first one to move in efforts to help me with the handcuffs but no second later did we hear a gunshot. We all jumped from the sound although it seemed like it came from far away. There was a branch on the tree we were standing next to that was shot off. It was actually pretty close to Haroldo who was trying to do something he wasn’t supposed to do.

Sector zero does not want me uncuffed.

“Sorry.” He said sheepishly.

I guess I have to stay handcuffed for now.

“Can I just leave then?” I asked.

The two of them didn’t answer. I sort of knew that I couldn’t go anywhere. Sector zero has the entire perimeter surrounded so I can’t run away. It’s not like I would but it would be a nice attempt.

This is terrible.

I’m really going to be brought in.

“Okay, I’m leaving.” I sighed and turned away to walk out of the grass. It was very early in the morning and I should really get some sleep.

At this point I wasn’t worried about what was going to happen to me. I did what I needed to and I was done. All the stressing and freaking out and panicking, there’s no reason for it anymore.

I walked around but didn’t go too far. I saw a few of the sector soldiers walking around, and they were actually in a good mood. When they saw me, they would get excited and tell me how cool this all was despite everything they had to go through. They really don’t change. None of this was cool, but these are the things they love doing. I will never understand why. I tried to ignore it when it came up but a lot of them were happy for me.

It was odd.

I went to replace Sirus. He’ll know what’s going on.

He was sitting in the grass by himself, taking apart his gun. He still seemed mad even though he had some time to get over it. I think I had a hunch about what the deal was but I wanted to be sure about it first. I went to sit next to him quietly; I still wanted the handcuffs off me but I didn’t complain about it yet. He kept quiet even when I got next to him. I know he’s mad at me, and I wish he wasn’t, but if he had told me what was going on I’m sure we could’ve came to our own agreement.

“You can’t stay angry forever.” I said quietly. By the way he didn’t respond I guess I would be watching him try. “Should I thank you for rushing in to help me?” I asked. He looked at me slowly.

He really isn’t in the mood.

“Sirus, what’s the big deal? What was Iris promising everyone?” I still wanted to know and because it has to do with me I’m sure it’s something I wouldn’t agree to easily.

My hunch was correct.

“He’s going to force me to be Commander again in exchange for dropping my charges.” I said.

He didn’t answer.

No one told me because I would stop everything temporarily. I should have known they would’ve made a deal as absurd as that. It was smart of them to try and keep quiet about it, but they failed on their part to hold up their end. There’s probably permanent damage.

“Can you take off my handcuffs?” I asked, moving my hands towards him.

“You think I want my hands blown off?”

“Please, Sirus?” I asked politely.

“No-”

“I said please.” I said, being more demanding.

“You can’t run away. And I like my hands, Aurora.” He said and turned away to finish taking his gun apart.

“Well if you had told me about your deal, I might’ve helped.” I said to make him feel bad about not doing a good job about keeping it secret.

“Bullshit. I bet you think you can turn yourself in if I let you go.” He said.

Well it was a thought.

The second Iris gets his hands on me, I know the offer is non negotiable. He will force me because he can. Do I want to actually go to prison? No. What I want is to be left alone.

“It’s a good thing your deal with Iris might have problems. I hope it completely goes to shit.” I said in spite. He won’t help me then I won’t help him.

That didn’t appeal to him.

“What is your problem?” He asked me. “We all get you out of your charges and this-”

Am I supposed to be grateful that he practically messed with me for a few weeks? Does he not understand what I went through?

“All of you are childish.” I snapped at him because clearly he didn’t get it. “The fact that Iris will have to force me to take this job means I don’t want it!” I said over him so he could get that I was upset about it.

This wasn’t a good deal for them to make. I don’t want the job. I don’t want to go back to what I had before. I did what I did because it was the right thing to do. And once I release all of my info to the system when it’s repaired, the Department of Human Resources will detain me unless the Department of Justice gets to me first.

“Just take the damn position.” Sirus didn’t care about anything else and I didn’t expect him to.

I can’t believe this was what got me so worried. This is what I had panic attacks about. And it was rightfully so because it seems like I can’t get away from anything that happens to me.

Sirus just didn’t understand the choices I was making. “You’d seriously rather go to jail over this?-”

“I can’t take this anymore, Sirus! I can’t handle it. My psych health is such a bad problem that I’ll just break down again and again. I need help and that job doesn’t do it for me!-”

“And you think you need to be put somewhere else for that to change?”

I was...It wasn’t that, I just don’t want to deal with anything anymore.

And by how defensive Sirus got, he didn’t want anything to happen. He didn’t want me to get arrested and put in jail or a mental hospital.

I won’t be around if that happens.

These are the things he won’t tell me out loud even if I ask. He won’t tell me that he’s just trying to keep me here. All I’ve talked about is getting put somewhere and I guess it bothered him. He will never tell me out right that this is what bothers him.

But I could tell just by how he yelled at me.

He hated it.

I didn’t try to say anything over him. Now I got why he wouldn’t tell me anything. Being Commander would keep me around. That’s what everyone else wanted too.

I got up and walked away from him.

I just wanted to go home and sleep but it will only be a matter of time before Iris wants to talk to me about what happened. With the damage I’ve caused, I really might just get off easy if I accept the deal.