Arlington

Sixteenth Chapter

Location: Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Address: 13000 South Dakota 244, Keystone, SD, 57751

Date: 1/23/2015

Time: 5:15 a.m.

The United States government had declared martial law. It took effect on January 12th, 2015. It passed with around two-thirds of the house. This action was taken in the wake of terrorist attacks on American soil, and due to civil unrest within the nation. The unrest was due to highly publicized police shootings and the high-profile court cases afterwards.

The people were more scared of the police than terrorism in the country. All thanks to Laurene Powell Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jack Dorsey, who had significant control over the way things could be portrayed to their audiences. Facebook, Twitter, and The Walt Disney Company created public animosity toward the police. The people had an inherent fear of police brutality due to the images that were fed to them through the media outlets.

In 2012, Barack Obama had signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, which authorized an indefinite detention of United States citizens without due process. The result of this led to the rise of missing person statistics. Anyone who had the slightest potential to be a threat went missing. The government kept tabs on the public's cellular devises and computers. The public started to recognize that these terror attacks were not inflicted on them, but exclusively onto the government.

Soon, there were people in favor of Anonymous; a cult-like following had emerged. Guy Fawkes illustrations could be seen all over billboards, graffiti, posters, and all over the media. That image had become a threat to the government. They couldn't get the actual contributors to Anonymous, but they sure as hell punished those supporters.

America could feel itself being punished, and that made a lot of people unite. Maybe that is why the people were out there this morning. They watched a fleet of tiny UAVs deface the memorial.

Malachi and Valery were in the crowd, completely blending in. They hid both their faces under Guy Fawkes masks, along with everyone else. She looked at Malachi and asked him, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

He defended his decision as the 100 UAVs descended upon the mountain. "It makes sense to me. It's like my own artistic expression of how I feel about the president."

Valery watched those little creations. "I think a lot of people will be offended."

The crowd was amazed by noise those buzzing the UAVs were making. "I know, that's the point."

From the perspective of the crowd, the UAVs were clearly manipulating the image of the statue. Paint was being fired from canisters held by the UAVs.

Malachi heard people shouting and cheering behind him. "I feel like Barack never catered to my community," he said. The roar of the crowd turned to concern and wonder. "My mom marched in Selma during the Civil Rights era," he added. The crowd was audibly confused. "Afterward, she ran with the Panthers in the 70s." Valery gave a nervous chuckle as if people were catching onto them. "That's where I get my fighting spirit from. She had seen the horrors of what oppression can do. She was an artist; a beautiful painter. This is my ode to her."

* * *

It was Jasmine's first time on the bike. And she was completely in love. "Oh my God, it's like a Hummer." She could hear Jessica laughing in her helmet. Jasmine was dressed from head-to-toe in her own customized gear; grey, and white. She felt like a Power Ranger. In her mind, flying in the sky on a hover bike, you couldn't tell her that she wasn't one.