ERQ

5: Consequences

        She dreamt a vision, where she saw 200 armored men in exposure suits with gas cannisters on thier backs, who were coming to kill them all. They had guns, but thier main weapon was the gas they would be pumping into the sub-levels. Her neighbors the Down'Ers were given no warning; they would be the first to die. 

        As the gas sank to the lower levels, rats died by the thousands. The pain was unbearable, the great Hive Mind, wounded by the loss of so many of Her kind, retreated to forests and jungles. And so dispersed, She could not save Jeannie. And as Jeannie tried to escape, the gas came to her, and first came the convulsions, and then the pain tore through her as it began to destroy her from the inside out...

        Jeannie awoke with a start, and immediately sent to her Children through the Hive Mind:

        'All rats come to me!!'

        'We do! We do!'

      100,000 heard the call, who then called out to 100,000 more, who in turn called out to another 100,000, until every rat in the Sub-Levels heard the call. Every rat in Scaveneger Town, every rat in every alley, and the rest of the city, all of them knew of her summons, and every rat responded. Those confined in wire cages began to chew thier way out. Those in plastic holding cells fought to get out. But those were safe from the gas, and so she sent a calming wave to them; they soon relaxed.

       Jeannie knew about service tunnels leading out of the city that were too small for humans to get out, but were still large enough for rats to get through three, sometimes four abreast.

        The multitude that gathered before her looked like some massive cloud of gray and brown fur. It writhed and pulsed with life-energy, which sent a rush of power through her the likes of which she'd never felt before. But at the same time the intensity was almost too much for her to handle. She swayed slightly, but soon got a hold of herself.

        'We will hide, we will survive, and then we will fight again. Come with me now and live!'

        'We do!! We do!!'

        The power of this multitude of smaller voices almost knocked her off her feet. But she held her ground; she had to. In such large numbers they would not respect weakness.

        This was the Hive Mind made real -- a communion of close to one million tiny animal minds who'd heard the call to greatness and did what it asked.

       Jeannie tied up her fur coat made of rat pelts and took her messenger bag with her. It had all her plans in it, and thus remained a valuable weapon against her enemies. As they left, she took the computer that she'd been using and tore it apart, taking the hard drive and placing it in her messenger bag. She smashed the motherboard with a hammer and then drenched the whole thing in kerosene. What was left of her personal chambers she covered in every item that she could find that would burn, and then lit it on fire. Once she'd done this, she flooded the whole room with enough chlorine to destroy any evidence of her presance, and then left it behind.

        The 2-Legs Giants may have won this battle, but she would win the war.

        Jeannie then walked to a nearby service ladder and began the climb up to G-Level. She directed the Hive MInd to send them to the landfill closest to her kingdom. Every rat scurried to every hole, pipe, and crack within the sewer grate, pothole, and basement of the city, running as fast as thier little legs would carry them.

        The exodus was something to behold: Business temps and security guards all stepped aside as a fur covered wave of rats flooded the streets and sidewalks. They scurried under, over, and around every object and creature in the city. Human females -- women -- screamed and ran into whatever building was closest, and men took out thier guns, but surprisingly enough, not a single shot was fired.