Chronicles of the Unknowns: Division

Chapter 2

           

A few moments later two Enforcers appeared before us. Their uniforms were disheveled and had several tears in them. The "E" insignia that was normally very visible and unique to each Unknown was completely torn off on one, and ripped in half on the other.

"What brings you here today?" Philomene asked sharply.

"The humans. T-they are...they are..." one of them stammered.

"Out with it! We do not have all day," she quipped.

The original Unknown that spoke cowered away slightly before the second one put his hand on her shoulder and took a step forward.

"The humans have captured everyone and we are the only ones who managed to escape. They have taken our fellow Scouts and Enforcers and have done horrible experiments on them. They are trying to harvest their powers. In many cases the experiments have gone horribly wrong and they die painfully. We are in no position to stop them just the two of us. They are too many. The humans...they are more powerful that us," he said.

"No human is more powerful than any Unknown," Philomene stated simply.

I watched as the blackness of her fingers began to creep up her hands. Did she feel it was necessary to kill these two Unknowns? They had done nothing wrong.

"With all due respect, Philomene, you have not been out there as we have. The humans are very efficient in their methods. Unknowns are dying in droves," the female Enforcer said.

Philomene's hand's clenched and I knew she was a few inches away from taking things into her own hands.

"They are not exaggerating Philomene. Unknowns are dying just as they are saying. It would be most appropriate to seek the Supreme's council as it appears she knows what is best. We can only act as mediators in this situation at the moment," Leona said.

"The Supreme has already stated on several occasions that now is not the time. You two must do you best to abstain from being killed or captured until then," Sebastian said, sounded like he was more than ready for the conversation to be over. I was sure he'd watched it play over at least a hundred times by now.

"But...but you don't understand. We cannot run and hide – they have the technology to track as. We cannot fight back – we are too few compared to their numbers. It is suicide!" the male Enforcer cried.

Initially I thought Philomene was going to reprimand them, but it was actually Leona who stood up.

"We have already spoken. The Supreme has already spoken. She is unwilling to do anything for you, so you must take it as it is since there is nothing we can do until we get the command. You two are Enforcers – you were trained to fight and kill and protect your fellow Unknowns. Start doing it," Leona said harshly.

I was shocked at her to be completely honest. It was very rare for her to be agitated. Philomene's attitude problem was an every day situation. When she wasn't in a bad mood was when you really had to be concerned. With Leona, if she was upset then it was definitely a big deal.

Still, her word choice bothered me. It wasn't that the Supreme had no desire to help, she simply felt the most effective strategy was to wait. Many Unknowns were dying, but I did not think she didn't want to act. What if that Enforcer found other Unknowns and repeated Leona's words? Tensions and emotions were already riding high, all that would do is create more division at a time when we needed to stick together the most.

I saw Leona's eyes flash to me as she registered my thoughts. There was nothing in her facial expression that really gave anything away. Besides, she knew how they would react to her words. Maybe she did not think they would react badly.