Descension

CHAPTER 33

Zeline sits in the center of the abandoned refinery. Echoes of conversation and crackling burn barrels fill the room, the refinery now full of people. At the door, rebel cyborgs are checked in and given a spot. A makeshift medbay had been set up at a distant end of the building. People, reunited families and strangers, gather together to eat and drink in a celebration of newfound freedom, laughter and song resonating from them. The coup had fully unpacked the goods taken from the ports of Rio and York, and had now begun to disperse them among the group. Within those goods, amongst weapons, explosives, rations, and protective wear, was also a crate full of paint buckets. Beside firelight people were marking themselves and helping to mark others with red handprints, stamping the excess into makeshift banners. Zeline paints her armor black. It dries fast beside the drum of flames she sets the pieces next to, her eyes fixated on the deep, oxidized blood stamped onto her shoulder pad, the color a grim contrast to the lively carnelian of the paint.

"Zeline!" Dannika's voice calls from behind her,

Zeline whips her head around to face Dannika, ready to greet both her and Joaquin, only to find Dannika standing alone. Dannika's tear-stained face says it all.

Zeline stands up and rushes over to her, wrapping her arms tightly around Dannika. Dannika sobs into her shoulder and squeezes back, Zeline whimpering at the strength of Dannika's arms before pulling away and setting her hands on her shoulders.

"Where's Joaquin?" Zeline asks.

Dannika sniffles, her teeth chattering as she fights a sob, "The Ordership took him! We were doing recon!"

"Okay... do you know where they might have taken him?"

"Nyet- no! No, I have no idea- he could be dead by now!" Dannika screams.

That grabs the attention of a few coup members, concerned eyes turning their way.

Dannika sniffs and gasps for breath, wiping her eyes, "Where's Khenan? I know they're linked! He can track him!"

Zeline's eyes darken. She gulps, flashes of Khenan's petrified body consuming her mind's eye as she searches for words. Failing to muster together speech, she simply shakes her head. She watches as Dannika's gray irises consume her pupils, the light draining from her eyes.

Dannika's lip trembles. "No... no, I never linked with Joaquin..."

"I did."

Dannika perks up, her lips parting in a shock of hope.

Zeline continues, grasping Dannika's hand, "I can give you his location if you link with me."

Dannika immediately squeezes Zeline's hand and nods, her brows knitting in desperation as she forces her shoulders to relax and give way to Zeline's connection. Zeline feels their pulses sync and her chest fill with a deep, all-consuming dread. It's okay, Zeline speaks to Dannika through their bond. We'll find him. Zeline searches through her database until she finds Joaquin's chip ID, then pulls up the location. There! He's at a high security prison in the Slavic Ternary. Zeline disconnects after sending Dannika the coordinates.

"Dannika... I don't know if-"

"I have to," Dannika snaps, gritting her teeth, "I can get him. Please..."

Zeline takes in a deep breath, holds it as she flits her gaze between Dannika's desperate eyes, then sighs.

Zeline hands Dannika a thin steel card, "Here's my Ordership clearance card. This can get you inside anywhere."

Dannika gingerly takes the card, cupping it within her hands, "Thank you," she whispers, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks as she turns away.

Zeline sighs as she looks back over her shoulder to the coup crowding together within the refinery, her brows knitting as she saunters over to her now dry armor, kneeling down to attach the plates to her bodysuit. It won't be just Khenan and Joaquin that we lose. She snaps on her cape, tattered and stained red from the blood of battle, then rises, her regalia dedicated to a new cause. It could be all of us.