The Insurrection

Chapter Four

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one." ~ John Lennon

We found records of all kinds; names, contact information, pictures, birth dates, anything you name it is there. And those were just for the Liberator members; there were records of misdeeds that UniFed and WorldKeepers have done too. Crime after crime that people knew happened but never spoke about. From house raids to kidnappings to sham reasons for imprisoning the innocent to unjustified killings. Every single one of them was illicit, but if UniFed was the law, then who was going to stop them? Page after page revealed the depraved doings of UniFed and only served to confirm the suspicions we had of them. We also found lockets and identification cards inside the safe. We figured the lockets were how the Liberators revealed themselves to one another and each put one around our necks. Leon took the identification cards and pocketed them in case we needed them for future use.

"Okay, we have all the contacts for every Liberator member, we just need to reorganize them again based on who is still alive but in hiding," Taika says.

"How are we going to do that?" I ask.

"Do you have a Commu lying around here?" Leon asks.

One Commu was assigned to every family and allows us to access the internet, of course under the censorship and supervision of UniFed.

"Yeah, but it is really old," I say.

"I will go get it!" Alex says excitedly as he runs out of the room.

"I have to keep him safe somehow in all this; I cannot let this harm him in any way," I tell them.

"Of course, we will keep him safe, but you have to know that there is going to be a risk for him if you get involved at all, a risk that your parents had taken," Taika reminds me.

"I know, I just wish-"

"Here you go, Leon!" Alex rushes back into the room.

"Woah careful there little man, why are you running like your hair's on fire," Leon says with a laugh.

"I am checking if I have a speed superpower," says Alex.

"Alright let's see," he whistles, "You were not lying when you said it was old," Leon remarks.

"I warned you," I say as Leon starts up the ancient machine.

"I am assuming you do not know the password."

At the shake of my head, he proceeds and unlocks the Commu with lightning speed and skilled fingers. Just watching him working around and getting into screens that are private from the public and only accessible through clearance is humbling.

"Alright I just got access to UniFed's death records, so just call out the name and I will tell you whether or not they are still around," Leon says.

Taika starts listing names of people that have been working closely with my parents, people that had hope and reason to fight back, people who were brave enough to risk their lives and families for others.

Mila. Latasha. Nicodemo. Leonzio. Anita. Sophie. Zhong. Seth. Johann. Viktor. Rama. Amir. Cheryl. Nita. Zahra. Hediiye. Valeria. Fayiz. Tau. Ellie. Paolo. Lilibeth. Lahja. Miko.

There were three hundred and fifty-three members in total. Only twenty-four remain. Every other person was killed in cold blood by UniFed. Of course, their death records did not say they were killed; they were listed under car accidents that never took place and fatal diseases that they never had. Their families were also killed slowly one by one so no one would notice.

"There are twenty-four people that we are assuming are still alive. If UniFed is after them then they will be in hiding. Leon, can you check if UniFed has any records for them." Taika says.

"I already checked; they do not have anything on them which is why they still cannot find them." Leon answers.

"That is weird, UniFed should have everyone's records."

"Unless one of the Liberators wiped them off. Alan, you and Alex are Unidentified Citizens, right? How did that happen?" Leon asks.

"UniFed took them away," I say hesitantly.

"If UniFed took them away then our Chips would not be able to translate anything you or Alex say, but they do. That means that it was not them that took them away."

"What does that mean?" Taika asks.

"It means that someone with mad hacking skills wiped off your Identifications so that UniFed would not be able to track you down."

All this time I thought our Identifications were taken away from us as another form of punishment, but it was just a way to keep us safe. A weight I didn't know existed lifts off my chest.

"You think it was one of the Liberators?" I ask.

"It has to be," he says.

"But then how did they track down his parents? And all the other Liberators who did not get caught on the mission?" Taika asks.

"This must have been their backup plan if anything goes wrong," Leon says as he does more typing on the Commu.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I ask.

"Leon, do you think you can wipe off our identifications too?" Taika asks.

"Yeah, I am already on it. Are you sure you want to do this though? Because there is no going back after this."

"I am sure," she says confidently.

With a click, he says, "Okay, it is done. Try saying your name."

"Taika Virtanen"

We all listen to our Chips for the long sentence of identification, but no sound comes out of it.

"Leon Schneider"

We listen one more time, and still nothing. Taika's face starts breaking into a small smile.

"We did it," she says.

We all look at each other, this is it. We made a commitment to change the World and maybe we will fail, but if we do then we will leave things behind for the ones after us and the ones after them. And maybe we will succeed and live our lives the way we are supposed to. The way we are meant to. Every person in this room must work together whether we trust each other or not, and maybe us trusting one another here is the first step we have to take.

Our Insurrection has just begun.