OGENUS EARTH 🌎 🌊 {Dystopian Sci-Fi Adventure}

Losing My Religion

Karen shivered against the chill in the interrogation room. She'd been in there for hours by herself, locked away and stewing over what to do. The Legionnaire had tossed her in this cell without any other information and left. 

Then, Persephone and some man had come in, but they left too, no questions asked.

The brutish Legionnaire who'd yelled at her and thrown her around, dragging her through the halls like a common criminal. He was a result of the systemic patriarchy that had brought about mankind's near extinction. The only answer was a complete purge of the toxic machismo that poisoned humanity.

Coeuss would be of no help to her now. And Karen couldn't access her fellow disciples surreptitious digital forum to alert the others from here, but Samantha could. She could get a message to the others and warn them.

Unable to stave the webbed network of firing nerves tingling beneath her skin, Karen shoved the chair back to pace the room. 

The stress of the past few days was worming its way onto her face and into her posture. Her usually bouncy brown curls hung limp and matted from restless nights.

"She can't see us right?" Ben asked from his position behind the glass plate in the adjoining room.

"Not unless we want her to." Persephone answered over her shoulder, catching sight of the Architect staring through the digital two-way glass at them. It was indeed as if Karen was able to see them.

Persephone had been slogging through footage to name the other Architects that had been secretly meeting in the server bay on negative-seventeen. She had six names thus far, but she still needed to cross-reference those names against communications with Arc City Two and the Architect's personal data.

"Do you think Marcus has had success with the other one?" Ben continued, absentmindedly scratching his chin.

"I hope so," Persephone replied. "Her attempted escape only speaks to her perceived guilt."

"What are you looking for?" Ben wandered over to where Persephone sat.

She had been partially hidden behind a large projected screen, moving documents and data with clean swipes. Ben could see several windows open, some running algorithms in real time, while others scoured security camera footage using facial recognition software to identify features.

The upheaval that exploded in the next room distracted them both and they glanced up to see Marcus bursting back into the interrogation room with more people. First, he shoved Samantha through the door with so much unnecessary force that she crashed into Karen.

The two women struggled while Marcus tossed two more young women in, both howling their protests without any of the decorum expected of Architects.

"How many ladies did you tell him to round up?" Ben mused to himself quietly.

A light went on in Persephone's mind, one that sent an electric jolt through her body to stand her up straight. "Women." She repeated before stalking out of the room.

Ben scrambled to keep up, unsure of what Persephone was after. They met a self-satisfied Marcus in the hallway as he closed the door to the interrogation room.

"Caught that one talking all secretively to the other two." He boasted.

"Good work." Persephone nodded, her expression remaining neutral. "I seem to recall that it is against our procedures to put more than one suspect in an interrogation room?"

"I'm just rounding them up for you to knock down," Marcus replied, still riding the high of his recent captures.

"Interesting choice of words," Persephone noted. "Please move the women to separate rooms while Ben and I fetch Captain Matthias."