Cascade

17 - Insurrection

17 - Insurrection

Their orbit carried them around to the other side of the planet, and the sun came into view. The dim glow in the distance hardly illuminated the face of Reynos. To call it a planet wasn’t exactly accurate. It was more of a conglomeration of debris. Large asteroids, cast off moon fragments, and amorphous chunks of ice all seemed to be jerry rigged together. There were tubes and colossal cables holding the assembly in a loosely bound clump. Light shone in small networks here and there, the only signs of any civilization. Jordan had the feeling that any city in this place would be just as haphazard as the planet itself. He knew Reynos was the systems junk yard, but to see it up close and to imagine people actually living in such a situation was difficult to handle.

“Home sweet home.” Melissa said with a groan. They descended closer and Jordan saw that the planet itself was fairly hollow. There were elongated and rocky structures bound and welded together within the core to support whatever structure the planet had, but vast spaces existed between the clumps of rock, metal, and ice. The whole pile of detritus hardly weighed in at the mass of a moon. Whatever gravity existed was made from the objects spin. Jordan peered closer and saw that the majority of the inhabited area of the planet was in fact along the inside, lining the equator. The encampments along the outside seemed to resemble a dirty laundry pile more than linked bio-domes and sealed tents.

“Whatdya think?” Melissa asked, socking Jordan playfully in the arm. Jordan was speechless. He simply stared back at Melissa in amazement, and turned silently back to the most hopeless slum he had ever seen.

The two bracelets buzzed again and displayed a series of messages.

“PROXIMITY: DIVITHCUS PALADIN DETECTED. PROXIMITY: MERCUTH PALADIN DETECTED. PROXIMITY: IMPERIUM PALADIN DETECTED. PROXIMITY: SCENTIA PALADIN DETECTED. PROXIMITY: SILVA PALADIN DETECTED. PROXIMITY: REYNOS. WELCOME BACK, CLAIRE.”

Melissa’s read the same, with the exception of her name.

“The gangs all here.” Claire said. “Including Adam.”

“How did he survive?” Melissa asked.

“However he did it, he’s probably clinging on with the very last strands of life. If he gets to Dr. Luray, he’ll make more than a full recovery.”

“And we are just supposed to barge in there and fight them all? What if this Doctor fellow pushes the kill switch again?” Jordan asked.

“Won’t work.” Claire said with a smirk. “Funny thing about the Terminus Protocol is it eliminates us completely. Files, personnel records, profiles, everything. Our bionics are no longer part of the system. We’ve been disavowed, and therefore, set free.”

“But your bands activated. Why would they call you by name if you are supposed to be dead?”

“It’s automatic.” Melissa replied. “The same signal is sent to each band, but it’s received and interpreted differently by each one.”

“But won’t all the others know you are here now?”

“No.” Claire replied. “The identities of our bands have been erased. We’ll just show up as two error messages. Now someone could figure out what that means, but I doubt that’s the main priority at the moment.”

“Alright.” Jordan said. “What is the main priority?”

“To bring about the new world.” Claire replied.

“Now begins stage two, if you will.” Melissa said. “With the infrastructure essentially brought to total collapse, the power vacuum is wide open. Dr. Luray only has to sweep in to the devastated areas, and begin rebuilding the way he sees fit. People are looking for hope right now. The people of Reynos have been looking for it since day one. Offering power to the underclass with a squad of super freaks on your side……He’ll have no problem gathering up the masses like a tidal wave.”