OGENUS EARTH 🌎 🌊 {Dystopian Sci-Fi Adventure}

Wicked Games

"Everyone's dead!" Regina screeched, her panicked eyes darting between the monitors of Arc City Two's control room.

The carnage she had witnessed was too horrible to comprehend. Sheer terror had seized Regina's stammering heart.

"Patience," Sandra cautioned her bloodied friend and coworker. "We must see this through."

"Ventilation systems have come back online and the nerve gas has been neutralized, it's safe to go above ground." Lauren piped up from behind them. "Shall we send out the bots for cleanup?"

"Yes," Sandra replied, her own hazel eyes drinking in the horror covering every street and building on Arc City Two. "Let's be safe and wear atmosphere suits while supervising above ground."

Lauren nodded and began her tasks without further prompt. The Quorum had emergency procedures in place in the event of something unthinkable, like this. Regina was partially correct, everyone outside was dead. 

Any cleanup and rescue efforts fell to Sandra, the most senior Architect, in the wake of a catastrophic event. 

Lauren found that it was much easier to accept what had happened, and that protected her mind from unraveling the way that Regina's had. If she didn't look into any of the dead gaping eyes on the screen, she didn't have to face the agony of their last moments.

Lauren had done everything she could to help her fellow Architects during the attack, but it still wasn't enough.

Regina's face ran wet with tears, she wasn't prepared for the emotional consequences of their actions. The regret and shame flogged her insides, shredding her nerves to a raw pulp.

Selfishly, Regina did not want to suffer the same fate. She dashed the salty tracks away and turned to Sandra for further direction.

"Why don't you go lie down Regina?" Sandra suggested. "We can overseer the progress from here, and you look as if you need to calm down."

"No, I'm fine," Regina argued, acutely aware that her weaknesses were being evaluated as she spoke. "I can continue."

"Are you sure?" Sandra asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm sure," Regina assured the de facto leader of what was left of human life aboard the illustrious Arc City Two. "I will go above ground with the rest to ensure every victim is loaded into the furnaces."

Sandra's cool expression did not change as she watched Regina for signs of further mania. She'd already lost too many good men and women when the attack began. The still-bleeding gash on her upper arm began to throb and she made a snap decision accordingly.

"All right," Sandra replied, waving off Regina. "Lauren, I'm going to scan the rooms on other floors for survivors. Regina, suit up and get above ground to supervise the bots collecting the dead. We owe our fallen citizens the dignity of using their natural matter for energy."

Sandra turned and swept out of the room, overtaking Regina and failing to notice Lauren whisper something important to her fellow Architect, Sarah.  Sandra simply didn't have the capacity for fretting or remorse in the wake of the atrocities they'd witnessed. 

Within moments, Sandra had Coeuss running diagnostics to pinpoint the origin of the weaponized poison that had been pumped through the city's air supply. It was taking far longer than expected. 

The only thing she knew for sure, the perpetrator had sealed the air vents on negative-six to ensure the survival of everyone on that floor. Whoever had carried out this awful attack, was among them. Coeuss' protocol was to predict and prevent incidents such as these, which meant only a human with knowledge of their systems would have the override code to carry this out.