“
Zarfa, my brother, my master, my commander, my king! I have done as you asked. All of the squad leaders, platoon leaders, and the other seven commanders are en route. What happened? How did they do this to you? What is this new weapon?
”
“
A new mutant, powerful, fast…gruesome. Half man, half…squid or some other
t
euthida
-
type creature. It was terrifying to look at and even worse to feel grasp your body. I could barely break free from their tentacles and they have vicious beaks that caused most of the damage on my body.
“
Also, some assassins came for me several days ago in Alexarien. One of them gave me some cryptic information on his deathbed. He alluded that my sister was giving orders within the Faraza and they seem to be after me… I don
’
t know if I believe him, but it is possible.
T
hat is all I can discuss for now. I am so tired. Wake me when they arrive. We need to come up with a plan,
”
he barely was able to say before falling asleep.
Zajifa nodded and rest
ed
his head back down on Zarfa. He loved the man lying helpless and almost dead right in front of him as dearly as he loved his own family. When he said
“
my brother,
”
it was no mere courteous title or formality. It was what he actually felt for Zarfa.
Zajifa stayed by Zarfa
’
s side as he slept. The woman who was attending to Zarfa continued to do so. She had stripped him earlier to wash him and now she was slowly pulling new clothing over his nude body. The blood flow had stopped from the treatments and it seemed as if he would pull through despite the fact the injuries were quite severe.
Zarfa awoke startled, and looked around the room in confusion. The woman who
had
dress
ed
him
was kneeling by his head. She
stepped back and allowed him his space. Zajifa awoke and stared at Zarfa.
“
What is wrong?
”
Zajifa asked.
Zarfa stared him in the eyes, not shifting his gaze away from Zajifa
’
s face. He was conscious and frightened. Nobody knew Zarfa could even be frightened. But here he was, looking into the eyes of his best friend and close companion, scared. His voice had a small tremble as he said,
“
I think I
’
ve doomed us all.
”
* * * *
“
So, we are at war now, I assume. I don
’
t think that Synaptix is going to take this lightly. I had questions before and allowed you to give me incomplete answers. I, however, have joined you and have proven a formidable ally to your cause. Now I deserve answers,
”
Max said sternly as he leaned over the table.
He had a serious look in his eyes, one that said
don
’
t lie to me
. But he wasn
’
t angry,
purely
determined and looking for answers. He knew war was coming, but he never realized it would be so quickly upon him, and now the small fragments of information Crimson had given him weren
’
t enough.
“
You assume correct,
”
Crimson said, sipping on her dry gin martini.
“
What would you like to know?
”
“
First, do we have an army? As far as I can tell, it is you, Luther, and myself.
”
“
An army? No, but I will be sending out the video feed tomorrow. That is bound to recruit a few. I don
’
t think we will need a huge force for what I plan to do and how I plan to do it.
”
“
That leads me to my second question, what is it you plan to do exactly?
”
“
Take over the government. You and I both know they don
’
t do anything to help the people anymore. Everything is legal, there is nothing moral or immoral so long as you can afford the license it takes to commit any kind of deed. We also both know that giant corporations that feed the government income can get away with anything they want. We are an open human testing lab and powerless to stop it. The law says that full disclosure is the only law,
let the people decide.
Right? Wrong! Did Synaptix let anyone know they were drawing them to a product that would make them lose free will via their advertising? No! Does Polyhelix let people choose to further advance their bio-engineering? No! They have the Faraza kidnap lab rats for that cause.
“
Does Barometrics care if sunshine here causes a flood in some developing country? No! They don
’
t care at all. The government? Doesn
’
t care so long as they
’
re fed and fat. Nobody has a conscience anymore and nobody gives a damn what happens, so what I plan to do is destroy the companies that practically control this globe and as a finale, take down the fine Alexarien government. After that, Ilyeion will soon follow, and we shall rewrite history. Give people a choice.
”
“
Well, that is all great and everything, but how do you plan to do this without an army?
”
“
For one, I
’
ve got a few aces up my sleeve. For two, when the video feeds start going out, I assume the masses will rise up with us. I know I should have been trickier and developed a small following sooner; there are a lot of things I wish I had done different, but now we are out of time. I hope that people will open their eyes to the deceit and lies that permeate our society. I hope that our cause spreads like an infection, and I hope for it to be
immaculately
in time.
“
You see
,
right now Polyhelix and Synaptix are both seeking to take the government as their own and expand to global domination. Both have the means to do so, however, neither of them wants to unite. If one goes after the government right now, they get weakened and are vulnerable to an assault from the other. Neither
is
strong enough to wage war on two fronts. The government will stay neutral so long as it is just a war between companies. They don
’
t care about war and murder in the streets. If something happens that the company hasn
’
t paid for yet, they will retroactively produce a license at a high cost to make things right.
“
When all is said and done, there will only be one corporation left standing. When that time comes, they will prepare for war with the government. They might strike immediately or it may take a few years for them to build their ranks back up. Both have had oversight enough to try their experimental technologies right at that moment in an all or nothing play. The government won
’
t stand for that, but their thinking is that it will be too late.
“
This is where we come in. If we can gain support and open people
’
s eyes, then we stand a chance. I hope to drop in at the critical moment that decides who the victor will be, Synaptix or Polyhelix, and strike a deathblow to both. After that, I hope to lead our army on to perform a coup d
’
état on the government. It
’
s risky, we might die, we may never build the army I hope for…
b
ut we are going to try.
”
Max sat there with a bite of food in his mouth as she spoke. He wasn
’
t chewing and he didn
’
t swallow it. He was slightly in shock. Nothing should surprise him any longer, but still, this did. He hadn
’
t blinked once while Crimson spoke.
Finally, he took a deep breath, picked up his water glass, and swallowed his masticated food with a gulp. He set the glass back down on the table abruptly and Crimson still couldn
’
t tell if he was angry or not. He had a look on his face that was hard to read.
“
Well, we all gotta die some time, right? So, I say, let
’
s give it all we have. First thing tomorrow, I will get to work on your other tasks for me. I know you gave me a month time frame, but after today, I assume the deadlines just got moved up. I think Zarfa has proven himself. For now, I am counting him an ally. I am going to make the anti-bot that will spare him if we use the airborne bots.
“
Other than that, I
’
ve got no idea if I
’
ll be able to fill all of your orders, but I will try. Don
’
t think I
’
ll slack off or do anything… I was going to say stupid, but I already demonstrated that I may do that. By the way, keep serenity boosts out of the building. I
’
m already craving one. You don
’
t want me down that path while I am trying to help you, and I figure I would give you fair warning right now.
“
And finally, I want you to know…I am pretty sure I am in love with you. I want to follow you to the ends of the earth. Maybe it
’
s
only
my obsessive nature, but really… No time for romance in war, but after…
”
Max trailed off, not finishing his thought or giving any indication he was going to continue.
“
Right, Max, so let
’
s go cause a revolution, right? Let
’
s go be the
trouble we want to see in this world
. Let
’
s go liberate all the slaves.
”
“
Right.
”
* * * *
“
This carnage…all him? I know he is in bad condition after this, but still, the very fact he even lived is impressive,
”
Sarah said out loud to herself. She shook her head as she stood in a puddle of blood. The train station still had corpses lying about in it. The blood of the Ilithi
d
s had a particular odor that was quite unpleasant. She wasn
’
t at all disturbed by the carnage, but she got chills looking at all that her brother had done.
The way he fought was an art. Every move so precise even against such innumerable odds. There was no way any normal human could do what he did. Even the average splicer was no match for his skill and precision. She had seen the security video, but watching it was like watching some campy movie made by an action director who liked to shock his audience with unrealistic images.
Seeing the carnage, the aftermath, right at ground zero, made it real. It put more vivid imagery into her mind than even the videos. She could smell it, see it, feel it, and it brought her a feeling of rapturous ecstasy. She couldn
’
t help but let her mind linger on the thought of meeting her brother in battle. Even if he was wounded, she would derive great pleasure from breaking him however she could.
She closed her eyes and breathed deep. She took in every subtle note of the fragrances in the air and let them stay in her nose. She devoted them to memory and then in a blink, snapped back to reality.
“
We need to move. I think I know where he is,
”
she commanded, giving her squad of raiders a hand signal that meant for them to move out.
* * * *
“
What do you mean you doomed us all?
”
“
Synaptix, they sent a guard with me from their Psyker Scream division. He helped me fight those monsters and the other Faraza. When the fighting was over…well…I killed him. There has got to be security cameras at the station, ones that Synaptix has access to.
“
I came back to discuss with you guys if we would join them and their cause or go to war with them. I
’
m sorry, but my actions decided for us. We are going to war on two fronts, Synaptix and Faraza. I think I may have doomed us all.
”
“
I think we should call the other eight.
I didn
’
t include them with the others.
”
That was all that Zajifa said back to Zarfa. He
was
concerned, but not the slightest bit upset. He understood that Zarfa had to do what he had to do. He knew his leader wasn
’
t reckless, looking to cause as much destruction as possible. Zarfa had created Legion Nine by accident, by means of his purpose to destroy the Faraza.
Zajifa went into a room adjacent from the one he had gone to sleep in with Zarfa and made a call on a communicator. He was gone for about five minutes before he came back. Zarfa was breathing a bit heavier than usual. The medifoam was helping him to regenerate quickly, but the analgesic had worn off and some of his injuries had gone deep and were still aching.