“Go forth!” the voice commanded, and Rez flew toward the light.
CHAPTER 37
---usr/systems/server-x/PRELUDE TO MADNESS---
Rez woke up on his back, gasping for air! As his vision corrected itself, he saw the ceiling of his condo. Rez Fayte was back. Caiden Nyx was gone. It was close to ten a.m. Rez lay awake, on the floor in the same spot he collapsed the night before. He traced his fingers over where he had been shot, stabbed, and where he had cracked ribs. He was almost completely healed.
What a night, he thought. He remembered Yvora and the twins, but the pain didn’t bother him yet. He could take it, and tuck it away in the furthest part of his heart. He didn’t have time to be emotional or feel sorry for himself.
He took whatever emotional pain he did feel and converted it into hatred for the system that took away his life, his mother, and Yvora. He spotted a small device on the floor nearby. He picked it up and remembered it was the device Stein used. Recalling the readings he got from his scans during their encounter, he took it with him to the lab downstairs. As he descended the stairs he received an encrypted email from than Knight-1.
I see you have finally awakened! It’s about time, Rez. There’s something you might be interested in. Wizard detected strange frequency waves coming from Zonos Tower yesterday evening before a bizarre wave of violence swept the city-state in specific neighborhoods. This was no coincidence. We are sure Zonos is behind this and they need to be stopped. I’ve already sent over the data Wizard snagged from their network. I’m sure you’ve also gathered data on your own. This madness needs to end, but Rez, promise me you won’t do anything reckless. I will be sending reinforcements to the tower to help you if all goes well. You are needed for the revolution, so don’t die.
Knight-1
Attached to the email were Zonos Tower blueprints and two photos of what looked like large generators. One picture was labeled ‘Underground’, and the other one was labeled ‘Top floor’.
“You always manage to contact me when I’m knee deep in shit. Thanks for the data you sent; it will come in handy. But I ain’t waiting for shit. I’m doing this my way,” Rez said aloud. The memories of Yvora were the only thing driving him forward. With or without help, Rez decided to become an avenging sword of justice.
“Xandra, resurface two additional lab tables. Set lab ‘Table A’ up to construct new weapons via the blueprints I sent to the control arm’s system. I’ve placed the materials I purchased from the bazaar in the prep slots for creation. Equip lab ‘Table B’ with an intel scanner. I’m placing a new device on it for analysis. And lastly, put me in contact with Prime Minister Shino Honda on his private channel,” he commanded.
“Very well. Commencing now,” the AI responded. Two additional large lab tables came from beneath automated hatches in the floor and equipped themselves with the gadgetry Rez needed to get to work.
The work on ‘Table A’ was his promise to the twins; building the weapons they’d originally requested of him. Once the weapons were completed, he was going to track them down, and fulfill his promise of escorting them to Rune Village with their new gifts. He wanted to apologize, and tell them everything that had happened to him, everything that he had remembered. Though there were still significant memory gaps to be filled. ‘Table B’ was set to analyze the properties of the strange device Stein dropped. Rez believed this device could be used to his advantage, considering the extreme danger he was about to subject himself to.
“Vser!? I mean, Caiden? Why are you calling me? You actually showed your face! Are you crazy!?” Shino whispered. He was in his office at the presidential quarters in Neon Tower.
“I don’t have time to chat. I need your help,” Rez said.
“Help? We didn’t even get to work on what we agreed to! This entire city is looking everywhere for you! What happened? I know you didn’t kill Ren,” Shino said while checking that his doors were locked.
“They’re trying to frame me and use it as an excuse to enrage citizens. I was attacked last night by a possessed mob. They were all wearing a new version of datashades, but they were behaving strangely and then blitzed they me. They were even equipped with updated shock batons. General Cain must’ve distributed the datashades when he recruited citizens.” Rez said.
“Shit, you got that right! Stein and Cain don’t know that I’m aware of what they’re up to. Cain is trying to establish his power. This is all really bad! Check this out,” Shino said, sending Rez a link of multiple news clips from earlier that morning. All the clips contained footage from different boroughs and different news anchors chronicling chaotic scenes of violence taking place.
“This just started happening yesterday evening! Stein and Cain are using innocent civilians in a bloody social experiment. The people who are wearing datashades are the ones who are attacking neighborhoods where there has been the most political dissent. I dunno how they were able to pinpoint these locations. It must have been the work of the CSSA. Cain is using every tool he has available to alter the narrative before it even reaches news outlets. The city is under siege.” Shino said.
“That’s why I need your help. I know for a fact that Zonos Tower is the source of the frequency transmission that’s controlling those citizens. If I can get in, I can destroy those generators and cut the connection between the civilians and the person controlling them,” Rez said.
“That just might work. I can give you
