Chronicles of the Unknowns: Intervention

Chapter 14

We arrived at the location where the president wanted to meet us. There were a lot of men with guns. That was mainly for show. They knew we'd stopped missiles, tanks, airships and submarines. Guns weren't going to stop much.

On the way their Timothy had explained that I needed to fall back a bit. The messenger had been a close call. It was only a matter of time before they figured out my real identity and put it all together. Not all humans were complete imbeciles he'd said.

We decided to go with good cop, bad cop. Timothy and Ayana would be the good guys. Dziko and Sakima would be the bad guys. We'd start off nice and if they didn't work. Intimidate them.

The President did not greet us with warm smiles and handshakes. His look was cold and stern as he took us all in.

"I admit my country has suffered defeat at the hands of you abominations - I mean you Unknowns. I asked for you audience so as not to suffer anymore casualties," he said.

His military had taken a devastating blow. The only reason he was talking was because he couldn't afford to fight anymore.

Ayana was the one who spoke up.

"All we ask for is the locations of any Unknowns you have captured. Our objective is to free them from whatever they have been subjected to."

The President's face grew red.

"So you blow up our military and cripple our transit services thus ruining our economy?!" he asked outraged.

"We have only treated you with the same respect and dignity you have given the Unknown community," Ayana said cooly.

He didn't have a response for that.

His gaze floated between all of us. I saw his eyes linger on the scar on my left arm. Then he looked away. With a large exhale his shoulders sagged with defeat.

"Give them what they want. We cannot afford to continue with this battle. We need time to recuperate," he said.

This time they would fall back, but only so that they could regroup and recover from their losses. In his mind, this wasn't over.

He ordered someone to give us the information we'd requested and sent us on our way. I noticed Sakima and Dziko hung back while we went on. Then they caught up a few moments later.

"Couldn't resist giving them a threat?" Ayana asked, looking at her sister. Dziko shrugged.

"He still thought they have a chance. We should have gone 'bad-cop' first. We wanted to make sure he realizes we don't give second chances," she answered.

"Should have taken him out right then and there. Show the rest of the world what's coming for them," Sakima agreed.

"We can't have the world thinking that we'll wipe out any humans that stand in our way. That's what Giovanna wants to do. We're not like that. We have to be reasonable. We can't afford not to be. Unknowns need to know that they have power people on their side that won't wipe them out too. That's our only edge over her. We need to keep it," Timothy was the one who said it.

Dziko looked like she had tuned him out, but Sakima gave a slight nod. I still wasn't sure the words had stuck with them.

"C'mon. Let's go save some Unknowns," I said.

***

We split up between the different locations that Unknowns were being held captive. A lot them were in handcuff or bound by other various methods to prevent them from using their powers. People were stronger abilities were locked into cells and essentially chained to the ground. It was depressing.