Imperfect

Part 3: Renegades

    
     Her voice came first. "The blood test came back positive. Why would he come to me?"

    Another voice, a male one,
answered. "Jade, you saw the newsfeeds. He ran because he was found out."

    Her voice was frail. "My parents didn't want to lose me. The Command, they lied."

    "That's why the Renegades need you now, more than ever. It's also why we need him." Kane opened his eyes, and was faced with a dark room, completely devoid of furniture and, surprisingly, people. Was this still part of his siste-, no, Jade's home?

    Voices came through again, but they were coming from the other side of the wall.

    "Is he awake yet?" Jade again.

    "I'll check." They were going to use him for something. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be pleasant. The door behind him opened, and he curled up.

    "You're awake, finally. Name's Reilly. Welcome to the home of the Renegades."

    "K-Kane."

    "We know. You're all over the newsfeeds, which is exactly why we need your help. If not, Jade would've kicked you out as soon as she knew you were telling the truth."

   "What's the Renegades?"

     Reilly smiled. "The people who are getting us out of the Command's control."

     Kane's jaw dropped in shock. "To where?"

     "The surface." Reilly said simply.

     "The surface? But it's radioactive!"

     He laughed "Nope. The Command have been lying for years. Jade hacked their systems and there's proof, the surface isn't radioactive. It's where humanity belongs."

     There was a single Netscreen in the Renegade base, and the room it was in was filled with at least a hundred Wretched inside. The screen displayed the room he'd been in. They were waiting.
The Renegades looked at him with a mixture of hope and hatred, as if he was their only chance, a last resort they didn't want to use. Before he could say something, the screen behind them switched to a live newsfeed. There was a woman in a cell, her dark hair matted to her head, dark brown eyes filled with tears. Kane choked back a sob, refraining from reaching out for his mother.

     An announcer's voice boomed out. "Aileen Grayson hid her son, an Imperfect," he said, spitting the words out like poison. "As an Absolute, for fourteen years. This is what you get for lying to the Command." A man walked up to his mother, and stabbed her in the chest. Kane felt a weight bear down on him. She wasn't dead, no. She would get up, she'd twitch, something would happen.
His mother's lifeless body didn't move. "The boy is still on the loose. If anyone finds Kane Grayson, hand him in. Those found harbouring him will face the same fate as his dear mother."

     The screen shut down, and Kane's body nearly did the same. His mother died for keeping him, and he'd die too, if he didn't get out.

  "How," he asked, voice cracking. "How do we get out?"

    Jade stepped out of the crowd. "I'm a hacker, and if we get to the top of the Absolute Command Building, I'll be able to send out a video and shut down the security system." She turned to Reilly, looking the slightest bit angry. "Apparently you can climb."

Kane turned to Jade, swallowing his fear. "It's not like I have anything to lose."