The light on the dashboard blinked off, leaving the room in darkness. Akagi stared at the panel, then got up and flipped the emergency switch on, flooding the room in dull yellow.
He went over and reached down and opened a drawer hitched to an old cupboard the authorities had given him when Akagi had asked for a writing space. Not big enough for his work, but Akagi appreciated the craftsmanship and had allowed the cupboard to stay, to dilute the switches, lights, and panels that made up this cruel future.
A single clock, ticking.
"Akagi."
Akagi shut the drawer then smiled at Sekino.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing," Akagi admitted. "Just a memento."
She nodded slowly, eyes going over to the control panel.
"Another disturbance?"
Akagi nodded. "They are...everywhere on the mainframe now. I don't know what to make of it."
"Perhaps Maxis has gone insane."
She brushed her hair behind her ear. Akagi hesitated, then said, "I hope not. Despite what he is, we need Maxis. He was built here, after all. In this country." Akagi smiled. "Japan has always been ahead of the curve."
"Some say we suffer for it."
She was reading the outread on her screen, but Akagi wasn't fooled.
"I would be careful," he said, reaching out and lowering the screen, spotting emerald text trailing down, "who you trust. Facts are not doctrine; they can be...massaged. Turned. They think they have a good idea what's coming but Sekino..."
He sighed. "If we've learned anything, it's that we know very little about what's actually going on."
"The mainframe has only caused us ill--"
Akagi shook his head.
"The pros outweigh the cons."
"Akagi, it's the apocalypse. The generator..."
She didn't finish. Just then the lights flickered.
A bang, coming from the lower level. Akagi frowned at Sekino.
"Trouble."
They went through dark corridors and to the bottom of the warehouse, Akagi rushing over and turning the screen on the wall so that it was facing him.
Mura got close to the camera, sticking his tongue out.
"Trouble," Sekino agreed.
"He's in a good mood." Akagi rubbed his chin. "Maybe that will help."
"It never has before."
The doors swung open, Mura and his ilk spilling in then hitting the killswitch, the panels slamming.
"What happened?"
He could see the blood peeking between the flaps of the canvas, the clothes they'd manage to stitch together, inlaid with bulletproof material Akagi himself had developed.
Mura adjusted his goggles on his head, adjusted the many bags he had stitched to his belt. Grime on his face; grime on all their faces. They looked like they'd been through--
"Hell," Mura blanched. "Fucking doves found miliary weapons."
Akagi sighed sharply through his nose.
"How the hell--"
YOU ARE READING
Molly - Part 4
Science FictionThere wasn't a statue of liberty anymore--there was no need for it. And as the sun dawned and the fog rolled in and the buildings became so high they blotted out what little sunlight there was it could only be said that yes: this was the end of the...
