Revolution

5- The Bloody Tasks

Arlene was assigned to be with Daryl since she mentioned being an experienced hacker. (Thank God they didn't ask how she got the experience.) They were tasked to find as many traitors as they could while in a coffee shop, send locations to other pairs, and deal with the two closest to them. It was a lot but they had to be strict with who got the hacker positions.

In just an hour, they were able to track ten members, two of them were just a few blocks away. They took a break by drinking coffee and eating a few sweets.

Through her lens, the place was colorful with patriotic posters and artworks, one of which she recognized as Elissah's. There were also messages scribbled in the walls of the augmented reality but some were covered with lines. If a person placed something in the AR, only they would be able to erase whatever they put. Taking the effort to block the letters only made things more suspicious.

A fat white animated cat asked if they wanted to order some more. They shook their heads. The cat hissed in response then hopped onto the next table.

Arlene took the chance to observe Daryl. His hair was all natural, wavy and not so dense. He looked similar to Adrian but he did not have the white European gene and curly hair mixed in him. He was dressed in 80s clothing, the kind usually seen in the most iconic movies of the said decade, not the neon aerobics clothing. "Beth's really into you."

"She's like a sister to me."

Arlene's gay-dar was beeping. She chewed on a cookie to mask her smile. "Why don't you tell her that?"

"I already did." He sipped on his tumbler. "What did she tell you this morning?"

"She said I shouldn't flirt with you."

He smirked and pulled off seductive eyes.

Arlene sighed. Another person she had to come out to. It was starting to get old. "I'm gay."

"I didn't expect that," Daryl said.

"I'm going to steal your Beth."

"Just don't hurt her."

"I can't promise that."

"I'm serious. Hurt her and you're dead."

Arlene licked the coffee on her lips. "Okay, Mr. Big Brother."

They switched to chatting through the MR as their topics became confidential and illegal. Daryl gave the commands. 

I will formulate a plan for our killing spree while you track more traitors. Here is the membership database.

He sent a gigantic file to Arlene who downloaded it in no time.

In just one hour, Arlene was able to find six more people, two of them near the area. She sent the information to Daryl.

Looks like we're going to kill four people this afternoon.

That made Arlene feel queasy. At that moment, she wanted to quit, run away and never look back. Her mom would be disappointed with her and she didn't want that to happen.

But she didn't escape. She wasn't running away just yet. She wanted to be part of this group. For that to happen, she had to do what she was told.

They soon left the shop.

"You're okay doing this?" Daryl asked

Arlene looked at him who had to be at least a head taller than her. Why did everyone she know had to be taller than her? The twins, her brother, and even Caroline was taller than her. "M-hm. Why is this okay with you?"