Exodus: 01

"This is your city. It's time to take it back."

A world war two mask with a disguised voice covered the City Tower and half the buldings on the street, shutting off all the warnings.

During the time that followed the appearance of the Mask every soul around me had their breaths stuck on their throats. No matter when or how the Mask always managed to cause an impression.

That Mask had become familiar to the citizens, even too familiar. It kept repeating the same phrase time after time while the people stared at screens all around them. On the ground soldiers began to slowly regain control. My drone was dying out. If the crowd were to move into the City Tower they had to do it immediately.

I had to do something.

Carelessly, I opened the way through the people, pushing them aside to clear my path to the closest building. Officers were laying around half sitting desperately shouting at the headquarters. With their armour malfunctioning their vision was scrambled since the helmets covered their faces completely. Close by I saw one of their guns sitting around unattended. I have to confess my plan was lacking in a lot of areas but in those circumstances I didn't have time to come up with a bunch of new gear and hacking tricks. Simple good old-fashioned violence would have to do.

Passing by a couple agents gave me great satisfaction. I jumped their bodies and got the gun. Soldiers used short assault weapons that emitted magnetic pulses to stun the crowds. Using lethal methods was prohibited unless the soldiers felt like their lives were in danger. The thing is, they always felt threatened by the people, disregarding the numbers.

I touched the thing. Felt the weight and balance of the long square shaped monstrosity, ironically, painted in white. I was ready to get up when the officer who I supposed belonged to wrapped one hand around my wrist. I didn't think twice and kicked them on the helmet throwing their head back to crash against the concrete floor.

Up on the buildings the Mask transmission was cut off. It lasted a decent amount of time before the Leadership could shut it down. They were having more trouble cracking the Mask codes.

On my way to the blockage, holding that laser gun was extremely painful. It was heavy and kept throwing me off my center when I skipped the soldiers. The crowd was divided, Most were starting to speak up, spreading agitation down the street while the rest was still hesitant on what to do.

Near the barricade the Force had put up to block the people from approaching the Tower, I reentered the chaotic horde of people to get cover. Everyone was so distracted discussing if it was safe or not to enter that no one noticed the cold white monster I carried.

A lot of pushing and pulling were done until I could reach the steel boards. Ahead of me, at the main entrance guards were getting up one by one. The disturbance frequency had various effects on each individual, it was hard to predict how long it would take for every agent to get up and strat firing at the protesters. Aiming for the entrance, I mounted the gun on the board, pointed straight to the rising soldiers and fired.

A glass door shattered calling the attention forward but nobody moved.

I fired again. The recoil was strong but not as bad as I imagined given the size of the gun. My second shot hit a Force pig, sending through the broken door. Feeling the power of the weapon for the second time got me confident. I watched the other pigs run either for their guns or into the building. Before they could get away I pressed the trigger again but didn't stop when I hit another glass. Instead I kept shooting no matter what I hit.

Someone behind me yelled a celebration. Voices followed coming from all around me.

As a destructive avalanche that swallows everything on its the way, the people ran in a massive weave of range against agents everywhere. Many stumbled on me on their uncontrollable rush to the Tower. It was unstoppable. Gun in hand I watched thousands of people advance united to occupy the most important building in the Tier-1.

Pieces of glass flew across the monumental steps that led to the door. All the guns that were taken from the officers and thrown in a pile in front of the Tower and set on fire. It was a celebration even though no one got past the main hall. It was the first time illegal citizens set foot on those doors. Doors that were turned into dust.

"Connect to devices nearby." I wouldn't leave without trying to warn the rebels. First I would get to a safe and hidden place. Thankfully, my new gadget was one of the most advanced A.Is on the market. It practically ran on its own.

"Send a viral alert."

"Denied."

- What the fuck? - I kept trying and trying to connect, but my systems kept shouting "DENIED" on my face. Nothing worked. Text messages, websites, social media, nothing.

Continuously I tried to connect to any network available. Didn't matter what kind of link I used, not even the simplest of codes got sent. My links to the cameras that showed the Force tropes were also cut off. I was powerless. Inside the Tower, the people had no idea what was coming for them. Everyone of them would be massacrated like disposable material.

Leaning against the wall of an alley I scanned my brain desperate for a solution. Anything that didn't involve an internet connection. Something able to emit or project an audible or visual warning. A drone. My baby drone had its own projector. It was small but it could project a message to warn the people.