Tale of The Broken Sword

Chapter Sixteen : The Michigan Rebellion

22nd September, AD 2056

Advanced Research and Development Commission Headquarters

Downtown District, Detroit.

The canteen was sure quiet even for a normal working day like this. I swirled my spoon over the bowl of cold soup, replaying the words spoke by the Representatives moments ago. Janice popped up from behind and slapped my shoulders.

“Surprise,” She smiled before revealing a man behind her. It was Mr. Simmons. Gripping onto a cup of coffee, he sat down opposite of me and Janice, to the next.

“Tough meeting, huh?” He took a sip from the cup. “The Representatives were desperate for a solution and they want it, fast.”

“Yeah, and they doesn’t want the mission to end in a disaster and cause another Michigan Rebellion.” Janice explained.

“Michigan Rebellion?” I asked once more.

“Right, you don’t know anything about it.” Simmons sighed. “Doesn’t matter anyway, this will be a History lesson for you.”

“History lesson...” Janice chuckled before looking at Simmons.

“Alright then, you know that Michigan went from a state to become a city, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied softly.

“This incident happened fourteen years before the Bombings had happened. It during that time when our ‘beloved’ Government happened to came across a large deposit of natural resources in the Michigan state.” Simmons clarified.

“So what?” I said. “I mean, it’s the governments land right?”

“It is,” Simmons said. “But there’s something that triggered the worst of all to happen.”

“What is it?” I was dumbstruck by Simmons words. They don’t seem to be understandable to me at all. If it’s the governments land, they can take it all as they want and the people should be glad that the resources would propel them to new heights in the economic markets. Nevertheless, I waited for the full explanation of the incident.

“Our government has a major problem on funds and well, they do impose heavy tax on business owners and citizens alike. So when they found out that there a huge amount of natural resources deposit under the grounds of Michigan, they issued a policy made specifically for the state itself.”

“What does the policy says?” I frowned.

“It states that the Government charges a 200% tax on every profit the state makes from selling those resources.”

“No shit,” Janice interrupted. “It may sound crazy but it is true.”

“Right,” Simmons said. “Anyways, the people of Michigan grew restless and they wanted the Government to decrease the taxes. But the ignorance of the pencil-pushers and the officers in the White House prompted the citizens to hold a demonstration.”

Simmons paused for a while, taking a sip from the cup of coffee before continuing on. I was deeply focused on what Simmons had said and I didn’t realise that I was leaning too much on his side.

“Do I look like a story-teller? Damn it, quit looking at me like you’re a five year old child or something like that!” He growled.

“Oh, sorry.” I leaned back onto my seat and straightened up my body.

“Anyways,” Simmons smiled a bit. “Demonstrations held out for weeks and they were adamant that the Government would change. They’re wrong in fact. The Government dispersed the crowd with tear gases and batons. But some of them, like those of the policemen and all, each carried along a real gun.”

“Then, on the eve of Independence Day, shots were fired upon the crowd near the White House. Thirteen people were killed that day.” Simmons gloomily said.

“That’s a separate event. They called it the July Massacre. But it has something to do with the Michigan Incident.” Janice spoke out.

“And so, the massacre caused a public uproar and several states started to show signs of rebellion. Especially the state called Michigan. A lot of things had happened during the two years after that massacre. Some of which I myself could not remember.”

“Did the Government quell the presumed rebellion?” I asked.

“No,” Simmons replied. “They did not; instead the Government kept quiet and waited for them to make a fatal move; one that could create a scandal or a reason for them to disintegrate.”

“And then, it happened.” Janice said

“Yup, it happened. Michigan staged a rebellion and they burned every government offices in the state. They tried to kill and assassinate every possible person related to the policy or to the administration of the state. Boy, they were rough during those times.” Simmons leaned back on his seat.

“That rebellion nearly caused another civil war in the United States. But then it died down gradually and the Government had no choice but to dissolve the state and left only the last city, its capital, Lansing. It was renamed Michigan City shortly after the rebellion. But over the years, Michigan City grew from a small one to a major city before being bombed by terrorists. So that’s about all in the Michigan Incident.” Simmons threw the cup away and stared back to me.

“What the Representatives meant was that if the mission had gone awry and the people learnt of our role in the possible assassination of their ally’s leader. They would rebel and things like this would happen.” Janice said.

“That’s right, and the Science Forum’s gonna start in two days time. So I’d best be readying you all for it.” Simmons placed his hands in his pocket. “That means, you’re gonna meet up with your teammates to get soften up with each other.”

We walked out from the canteen and into the long hallway that extends into the Research Department. Crossing the length hallway takes five minutes by running and it seems it’s gonna take awhile for us to reach into the Research Department considering the our current pace.

The Michigan Incident gave me the chills. What would happen if the mission had gone in a disaster? What would happen then? Will the United States crumble to dust if the rebellion happened for the second time? All these questions linger in my mind but nobody knows the answer to it. But one thing’s certain, failures must not happen.