The Cipher

Chapter thirteen | Cyrus

The first time Cyrus had seen Aspen since her panic attack, and he was sitting across the table from her at yet another council meeting.

  Hopefully she’d be able to handle it this time.

  She sat rather close to Zulu, sitting with her back straight, ready to pay attention. She clasped her hands quite business-like, looking around expectantly at her older peers. Although she was the youngest (aside from Cyrus himself), she looked like she might even fit in. She looked to be Zulu’s age with this new way she was conducting herself. Not to mention the look in her eyes made her seem like she had seen so much for her young age, which Cyrus supposed that she had.

  Cyrus could tell she was determined.

  “Let’s begin.” Onyx said from one of the other shoddy tables.

  Various heads nodded, and Cyrus followed their lead.

  Zulu stood up. “Round two.” she joked.

  Everyone laughed, even Aspen, who knew the joke was at her own expense. Cyrus wondered if she was truly laughing or if she was simply putting on a mask to hide from everyone.

  “Aspen, Cyrus. We need to plan to break Shields free, and our best shots at that are sitting in this room. Primarily, we have Zero, our undercover coordinator and attacks commander. He says he has a plan.” Zulu now looks to Zero.

  Speaking of whom, Zero is a strange name. In a time where you could choose your own name, Cyrus figured he would choose something that didn’t mean ‘nothing’. 

 Zero had a caramel complexion and dark brown eyes along with blackish brown hair. His jaw line very pronounced, and set as he thought of how to speak.

  “You see, the best way to get to Shields is to infiltrate HQ. It will be difficult, but not impossible. We already have people on the inside, but we need people in the laboratories. They usually hold valuable information. This information will be helpful in retrieving or emulating the Dream Land pill, in which would be useful for future endeavors. Beyond that, there is an enormous housing facility for Pre-Landie books, called the Archives. If we can land someone in there, the rebels are golden. We’ll also need people in the soldier platoons, and guarding platoons, in order to get Shields’  execution schedule. Then, once they know, they’ll report back and we can go from there.”

  Cyrus watched as Zulu’s mouth opened to speak, but Aspen spoke over her.

  “I thought we were worrying about getting Shields free?” she asked. “It seems to me that seizing the Archives is not our biggest priority.”

  Zero nodded his head.

  “Well, in order to make any attempt at rescuing your brother successful, we need to get the rebellion’s claws sinking deeper into HQ’s organization. Rescuing Shields will not be easy, or quiet. However we fetch him, or even if we can, it will go out with a bang. A rebel leader gone missing from HQ custody will not go over easily. It will not take long for them to realize who has done it, and at that point, they will not stand to manage this foolishness on the “down low”. They will launch a full scale war in the middle of the Society if it means getting their point across. They want to be in charge. But if we can manage to get our hands on some of their books, some of their scientists, we will have just as much power as they do, you see. 

  “This war will come down to who has the most knowledge; who is the most innovative. I guarantee you if we can get our hands on any of the knowledge in the Archives, we will be able to expand upon it and overtake HQ, whose followers can’t think outside of themselves.”

  Zero had everyone captivated, his spiel making Cyrus realize why he was the undercover coordinator and attacks commander. He was incredibly smart. There was no doubt in Cyrus’ mind that Zero was more than happy to join the rebels, what with a brain like his. In the Society, his mind must have gone to waste. If HQ monitors IQ and whatnot, and it was true that these secret scientists hidden away in an HQ compound were insanely smart, why wasn’t Zero one of them?

  “I think we should have Aspen, Onyx, Cyrus, Zulu and I infiltrate the Archives and the science labs. I know my way around them, and can teach them everything I know. I haven’t given much thought as to who should be in the platoons, but someone who is obedient, and who is good at being like the average Landie. I know we have people who used to be in them themselves, and those should be the selections me make. Those chosen to be in the Archives and science labs are allowed to speak more openly, due to their jobs of sustaining HQ’s technological advances, they are allowed to be more creative than most. HQ values them more than the finest jewel or metal; these people are what make this government happen. To Hell with HQ, without these geeks, we’d be living in tents, peeing in holes, and using gas lanterns.” he sassed.

  At his last words, everyone seemed confused. Mentally saying, ‘What is a gas lantern?’ But Zero merely rolled his eyes, obviously not believing it was important enough to explain.

  “The only parts of this plan that need filling in, is how we will get everyone into the Archives and into the platoons. Also, we will need better disguises than wigs and colored contacts. Something more permanent. Anyone have any ideas on those platforms?”

  A older woman in the back raised her hand.

  “Myself and Neriah have the ability to hack into the system. We could get everyone into the Archives. And as for the platoons, their barracks are usually unlocked, as HQ doesn’t think it’s very important to keep them contained properly. Their schedules cycle so that they can see their families and whatnot. They usually stay for a few days at a time. We can get anyone in when an old cycle completes, and a new on begins. As for getting into the Archives and labs, we can get you in, but everyone will know you’re the new guys, which isn’t uncommon down there, but you will have to be sure that you are very well disguised, especially Aspen and Cyrus. These people are very intelligent, they will use big words and-” 

 Zero cut the woman off. “I’ll take care of that. I used to work down there, okay?”

 The woman nodded respectfully, obviously Zero was her superior.

  “Now what about these disguises?” Zulu addressed.

  Onyx cleared his throat and spoke. “Well, I’ve managed to find ways to stain hair. I can make them darker, or lighter for a fairly long amount of time. As for the eyes, colored contacts will have to do. I can find a way to stain the skin darker too, if that’s what you’d like. It’s still experimental, and it isn’t nearly as permanent, but it will help immensely.”

  Cyrus didn’t expect that from Onyx, and apparently nobody else did either, for the faces of shock spoke for themselves. 

  “Well, looks like we’re all going to be busy. I want to get a list of all our undercovers by the end of the day from Zero himself. If you want to take it up, go through Zero. Do not defy him, do not disrespect his choices. I trust him.”

  Zulu faintly smiled across the room at Zero who returned the same smile.

  “Everyone is dismissed, and I expect no lollygagging. We will meet back here at sundown. Get started!” Zulu clapped her hands together and everyone scrambled out of their seats and the air filled with the hurried speech of rebels with a deadline.

  Cyrus was amazed by how quickly the meeting had gone. Just in at least twenty minutes, the rebels had formulated a plan, and were preparing to execute it. Cyrus supposed that was how things should go over, there wasn’t time to spend hours arguing and deliberating.  

  There was a life on the line, after all.