“That’s more than a contribution, brother,” Sabien said. “That moment defined who you are.”
“Agreed. Geon it was incredibly brave of you,” Aurora said with a smile.
“I wish I had a Biolimb like you, G,” Kumuki said while deep in thought, looking down at his own arm and back at Geon’s.
“You
all
were amazing,” Aurora continued. “I can’t believe we just jumped off of a building! And running away from CARE? I do not believe it.”
Just then, the reality of the situation hit Geon. He realized that his LifeCuff was in the central unit and that it would eventually be discovered.
“Guys,” he said suddenly solemnly. “I’m sorry about the cuff.”
“G, don’t worry about it,” Allea said. “Honestly, they probably would have found out one way or the other. The most important thing is that we have the information, and whatever it may be, we need to decide how to use it fast. We don’t know how long it will take for them to discover your cuff.”
Geon knew she was trying to make him feel better, but the truth was, if he hadn’t dropped the LifeCuff, they may have never known who infiltrated their headquarters.
“As soon as I get home, I’m going to start working on the information we received. There is no telling how long we have before they discover who we are,” she said.
“Please keep me updated,” Aurora replied. “This means everything to me as well. To my family, as well.”
Allea nodded as they continued the ride toward Enkia, talking about the inconceivable adventure they had just shared. When they reached Aurora’s home, they said their goodbyes and parted ways, heading back to their own home, where Geon knew Mama V would be waiting for them.
When they finally docked the boat, Kumuki had to be woken from his sleep, exhausted from the events of the day. Geon was fatigued also, but tried not to acknowledge it, telling himself to stay focused until they were safely home. After what seemed like hours of crawling back through the aqueducts, they finally stumbled into their house, just as the sun was peeking out from below the horizon.
“Ally, maybe you should get some rest,” Geon said tiredly, crawling into his REMpod. “You don’t… want to… push yourself… too…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was asleep. Kumuki and Sabien as well. It was a long night for them all, and the next day would be the most important of their lives.
It was only hours later when Geon was awoken with a startling shake.
“G, GET UP!”
He sat upright and rubbed his eyes, looking at the mortified face of his sister next to him.
“G! Can you hear me? I think I’ve done it!”
“Wait… what? We just got home,” Geon sleepily mumbled. “Need to sleep.”
“G! Sleep can wait!” she yelled out, grabbing his body and shaking it again. “It’s CARE. You won’t believe what I found out!”
“What is it?” Geon replied, now suddenly awake and interested. “Is everyone else up?”
Geon slid out of his pod and shook Kumuki and Sabien quickly awake.
“Guys, get up! Allea found something!”
They all got up and gathered around Allea, and she began to tell them what she had found. She was noticeably upset and more emotional than usual, her eyes wide and her hands quivering as she pulled up the holograms from her LifeCuff.
“The information was encrypted of course, but it wasn’t too difficult to bypass it. It’s worse than we thought. I… I don’t know how to even tell you this. But I think that we’re going to be in serious trouble… very soon.”
“What is it?”
“It’s everything,” she said. “Everything and more. Enkia is just one of many underwater cities around the world. And there are more cities like Zenith also, where high-level CARE members are protected. But that’s not the worst part.”
Geon found himself suddenly torn, wanting to hear what secrets CARE had been keeping from them, but also indignant from being withheld information about the world he lived in.
“Go on,” Sabien said.
“The conspiracy is everywhere, Sabe. It’s
everywhere.
We already know that they control everything. Well, it’s almost as if… as if… what Mama V said about us, the people who live here… us… the Dissenters… it’s almost as if they
want
us to die!”
“What?”
“It’s… I mean, there’s so much information that was never released to us. The permamist isn’t receding, it’s thickening. The water levels are also rising. Floods and other disasters are actually getting worse, but all these things aren’t being reported by them. And there’s other information about resources there. They have devastated and deteriorated everything this planet had to offer us. There is nothing left. There isn’t
nearly
enough for the amount of people left on the planet, and that’s
not
even counting the unrecorded people like the Dissenters!”
Oh my God.
“And it’s very clear that CARE is taking care of themselves and no one else. That amalgamation of fish slime…
SFISH
… that we eat everyday… it’s not even nutritious! And what Aurora said is true. They
do
keep the workers of those factories locked up like a prison. And the fish and other nutritious foods, they keep for themselves and even distribute it around the world, but only to CARE members! You know Maganto’s TechSci Concours project? Well, the reason he didn’t win is because CARE didn’t want to draw attention to it. They’re
already
using that same technology to grow food for themselves. We just don’t know about it because they have no intention to share with us!
“That’s not right!”
“Unbelievable,” Sabien said, getting noticeably angry. Allea was now tearing up and having trouble expressing herself.”
“And Narakai… what Aurora said… it’s TRUE. CARE sends people there… to DIE! It’s awful!”
“I can’t believe it,” Geon said. “We knew it was bad. We
knew
it.”
“It’s worse, G. You know how we’ve been getting less and less notification of natural disasters lately? Well, I found a glitch in the system, but it wasn’t an unintentional glitch. CARE has been intentionally
delaying
information about these events to us. I think they
want
us to die!”
“Why?” Kumuki screamed, joining in the hysteria.
“Think about it,” Geon said with a nod. “They know there aren’t enough resources left for the world, let alone even just for them. If we all die, they have a decent chance at survival. I can’t believe this.”
“But what about the Excelerators,” Sabien asked “And school. I mean, if they wanted us to die then why regulate our exercising, which will only give us a
better
chance of survival? Or why send us to school where we can learn more about them and this world? They might as well let us sit around at home, not go to school, and get fat?”
“Here’s the crazy thing,” Allea said. “The Excelerators are actually harnessing electricity for them. We are like guinea pigs generating their power!”
Geon was overcome with anger, clenching his fists.
“As for school… honestly,” Allea continued. “They probably do it to give the facade that they want to help us. And maybe it’s to steal our intelligence, our resources, and our innovations. Don’t forget,
we
are the masses… the
majority.
”
Geon was sick to his stomach after hearing the truth. This is what he had been searching for since the day he awoke, but hearing it now was more onerous than he was prepared for. The thought of CARE, not only selfishly taking care of themselves, but systematically eradicating the other people of the world was enough to made Geon physically ill.
“The level and influence of CARE is even deeper than any of us can imagine,” she continued. “The Dissenters… there are
many
more of them than we ever imagined…
millions,
all over the world. CARE treats them like animals, and there is even a group called the Lionsmen that go out and search for and kill the Dissenters… particularly the Jackals. They
hunt
them!”
“Oh my God,” Geon said, his fists now clenched and his blood boiling with rage. “How can they do that? How can they get away with this?”
“It’s not right,” she said. “And if we don’t do something about it, they’ll deal with us the same way they deal with everyone else.”
She’s right. We need to act fast.
“I haven’t even told you the worst part,” she continued. “There is a frequency they use on us. It’s everywhere. It’s in our pods… it’s in our schools… it’s at restaurants… stores. It’s
everywhere
.”
“What does it do?”
“It’s a subliminal code of some sort,” she said. “It took me awhile to figure out the translation, but basically, they’e
brainwashing
us!”
“I KNEW IT!” Sabien cried out, throwing his arms into the air.
“The frequency is a method of behavioral modification… mind control even… and it basically translates into a simple message.
Stay in your place. Do as you are told. Do not question anything, or you will lose everything.”
“You mean… you mean that CARE is trying to alter our minds from a subconscious level?” Geon asked in complete shock.
“Exactly, G. They aren’t
trying
. They
have.
Have you noticed how people are so docile here? No one questions anything except, really, us. That’s because of them. They’re training the human race like animals. The frequency puts people in this malleable, obedient stupor, where we never question CARE’s motives or actions.”
“Like at the art gallery!” Geon exclaimed, thinking about how they all lost track of time when they were there.
“Exactly. That kind of mind altering is happening everywhere around us. They even trick us into thinking the food we eat is delicious.”
Not all of us,
Geon thought to himself looking at Kumuki who sat wide-eyed and appeared confused.
“And there is a magnitude of other information about other human experiments that CARE has done on innocent people, trying to figure out ways of controlling us to do their bidding. I don’t even want to give you the details. It’s
awful
!”
“Okay,” Geon said shaking his head. “Guys, we got the info we wanted. Now what do we do with it?”
“We need to talk to Mama V,” Sabien said. “Let’s tell her everything.”
They rushed out of the room and woke up Mama V, sitting by her pod and told her everything from the beginning. Geon could see that she was shaken by the tale of their harrowing escape the night before, but when they told her about all of the secrets and conspiracy behind CARE, she immediately broke down and began to cry. This was the first time Geon had ever seen her look so weak and vulnerable, and it pained him to watch her in this state.
“Oh my babies, Mama V is so proud of you. I’ve vanted for so long to tell you all of dees things!”
“What?” Sabien said. “You knew about this?”
“Not all of it, my dear. Not all of it. But Mama V is one of the few living people in the vorld dat is not a CARE member and dat know about dees things.”
“How?” Allea exclaimed.
“Well… I need to tell you some things to explain better. You know the story of the scientist who invented the REMpod?”
“Sure,” Allea said. “Dr. Sivila Jace.”
“Yes,” she said, suddenly smiling. “Or as I call him… Sivi. He vas the love of my life. And vat you don’t know is dat he vas actually the top scientist for CARE. He developed the REMpod, and numerous other inventions for dem, but when he discovered vat CARE was really doing, and how they were abusing their power, he tried to leave. Of course, they vouldn’t let him leave, and they locked him up in a mental facility.”
Mama V lowered her head and sobbed as everyone came closer to her and tried to comfort her.
“I’m so sorry, Mama V,” Geon said. “We had no idea.”
“I know, baby, it’s okay. None of you knew. Lost love is alvays hard. But he vas… he
is,
an amazing man. And he could have contributed so much more to dis vorld if they hadn’t locked him away.”
“So he told you all of their secrets?”
“Yes, Sabien. Sivi told me everything. CARE thinks he has lost his mind from all of the different mind-altering torture tests they did to him, but he hasn’t lost
anything
. He just pretends so they von’t know. He told me many things about CARE and I’ve vaited my whole life to tell you!”
“This is unreal,” Sabien said, shaking his head. “Everything is connected. You were right, G.
Everything is connected.
”
“Do you remember the day when I fell down and vas sick and you took my cuff to get medicine? Well dat vas all a ruse! I needed to go see a friend of Sivi and didn’t vant CARE to know where I vas going. Mama V not sick. Mama V is fine!”
“Mama V, how could you?” Allea blurted out. “We were worried!”
“He had something for me. A gift from Sivi. You know your REMpods…” Mama V continued. “Every single night I have to run a program on them to block dees subliminal messages from entering your brains. So I had to go and get an updated version of the program from his friend. Sivi told me dat if I could free the mind of even one child, then one day, perhaps, that child will help us free the vorld again.”
That’s what Mama V was doing in our room late that one night!
“So, each night I run the program on your pods so dat you can continue to dream, think, and imagine freely. And you have made me so proud because you did just dat!”
“That’s why you told us not to use the pods at school!” Kumuki said, looking bashful.
“And that’s why the Dissenters don’t seem as affected as the people who live above the ground,” Sabien commented.
“And even at Jungle Wars,” Geon added. “People seemed more
free
.”
“Exactly. I didn’t vant you influenced by them. Mama V is so proud of you all. Mama V is so happy. Vatever happens, I know dat you will know vat to do. And I vant you all to know that I have never been more full of love or more proud in my life.”
She is amazing
.
She’s done so much for us and sacrificed so much. If it weren’t for her, making the effort to block those signals, none of this would have happened. We would be just like everyone else.
They all came close to her and embraced her tightly and then let her rest, heading to the main room where they could talk more about the plan.