Mod Superhero

Chapter 7.60 - Mission Briefing

TINA had made an expanded briefing room that was big enough to hold all the Resistant members that were in the backup lab. Emmett, Clara, McGuire, Athena, Lock, Daedalus, Wight, and Venture were all present. They were already in their full nanite armor, sans helmets. Even Wight had opted for a nanite suit, if only for the cloaking.

TINA explained multiple times that they didn't need to suit up in their armor yet. She could form a full set of armor for them in moments, but everyone insisted on being suited up for Emmett's briefing.

His friends and comrades watched him intently. Clara and McGuire smiled reassuringly, while Athena and Lock's faces were hardset, like the final battle had already started. Venture stood, looking approvingly, arms folded behind his back. Wight's face was unreadable, even to Emmett's eyes.

McGuire pumped his fist. "Speech! Speech!"

His chant was met with eye rolls and chuckles around him. But there were some echoes too—these came from outside, trickling in through cyberspace. There were thousands more Resistance members tuning in from bases around the world. He could even feel the watchful presence of Icarus and TINA in cyberspace.

When they'd hacked the Belport Bulletin, Emmett had known there were eyes on him. Hundreds of millions of people had watched his broadcast, both as it aired and afterward. But that was different. Emmett was tapped into every Resistance base. He could see and hear his comrades across the world as easily as those in the room with him. They were from all walks of life—former Summit capes, villains, unregistered masks, and even those who'd tried to live quiet civilian lives. They were distant, but they were all Resistance members, and they were every bit as real as the people in front of him.

Again, Emmett felt like he was at a point of singularity. Maybe it was the weight of what they were about to do, the weight of responsibility or of expectation from the other Resistance members. Either way, if he dwelled on it too long, it felt like he'd get stuck there or crushed beneath it all.

So he partitioned it away and focused on the moment.

Originally, Emmett had wanted Wight or Venture to speak with him—to say something. They had just as much experience and just as much a right to speak. But both men declined.

Emmett spoke alone.

"So this is it. We've planned for this moment. For some of us, it felt like a lifetime. For others, it has been. But we're not planning contingencies anymore, and we're not testing theories. We're about to do something that we can't rewind. Tonight, there's no going back.

"I'm not going to pretend that this will be easy. We've always been the underdog. They have armies of supers and machines. They have legal authority when it's convenient, and deniability when it's not. We've never been equal—not on paper. They were ahead of us in every way... Not so much anymore. Now we have an army of our own."

Emmett paused before continuing, "We've all sacrificed so much. We've been on the run, been outside the law. And we're all here because we didn't wait for permission to do the right thing. Didn't wait for permission to protect people. Because we didn't fall in line when the Summit and the Brotherhood told us to.

"And you did it knowing what it cost.

"We all started out wanting to do what's right, but we're not doing this because we think we're the good guys... We're doing it because the alternative is unacceptable.

"The Brotherhood and the Summit claim they're saving the world, but it's already hollow and broken beyond repair. Their world is one where the most powerful people decide what justice means based on convenience. Where the Brotherhood gets to define order with mass surveillance and incarceration. A world where children die because life-saving technology is kept from them. Where wars are perpetuated to keep bloodsucking vampires and weapons manufacturers in business. A world where the rest of us are told to be grateful for whatever's left."