Titan Code
Age
of
Redemption
By Rey Clark
© 2020 Arcane Ink Publishing LLC
All rights reserved.
1
The H.I.V.E was abuzz with celebration. It wasn’t often H.I.V.E allowed personnel outside the underground bunker. A legion of freshly trained combat troops were returning to the base providing one of the few reasons people were allowed top side. H.I.V.E wanted personnel to show support for the soldiers and encouraged them to welcome soldiers back home. It was all part of their propaganda machine.
For Tessa, this was a different celebration. The returning legion meant Sam would also return to the H.I.V.E base. Both Tessa and Arica uncovered the truth behind their brainwashed initiation into the complex, but Sam was still unaware of the manipulation. Tessa ran through the conversation over and over in her mind. How would she convince her friend that his reality was a lie?
It seemed like the entire H.I.V.E headed outside the mountain to greet the newest troops. Crowds of people crammed into the elevators and making their way toward the surface. Tessa met Arica outside her flat so that they could attend together. Arica walked with a new pep in her step and a small cake in her arms. She was eager to see Sam, and the three of them could be a team again. They needed his tactical savvy to help navigate this mess they found themselves in as unwilling participants. Sam was always the best at getting them out of trouble.
Together they exited the mountain, and it felt like heaven when the sunlight kissed their skin. Tessa never realized how much someone could miss the sun. Back on the farm, she always cursed that yellow ball of fire. The sun bore down hard and relentless in the plains, but here in the mountains, it was a kinder gentler beast. The fresh mountain air cleansed the soul. Being confined underground breathing recycled stale air wasn’t ideal. She had grown accustomed to the stagnant air, and compared to the crisp open air, she realized how much she missed it. Strange how things so simple as feeling the sunlight and breathing air can have such a profound effect on one’s mood, but Tessa found her spirits lifted by the exposure to the surface once again.
H.I.V.E personnel packed into a large concrete amphitheater carved into the face of the mountain. Below the seats, military ranks held at attention. Tessa learned the recruits would complete several drills to demonstrate their new skills. She found the display to be another manner of government propaganda designed to entice sheep to follow the herd. A military display of might to instill a sense of superiority among H.I.V.E personnel. A psychological game of cat and mouse in which the mouse did not understand it was being hunted.
Tessa and Arica could not pick Sam out from a distance, but they knew he was down there somewhere. Once everyone sat and the performance began, it proceeded as Tessa expected. They designed these exercises to showcase brute strength and intimidation. The show being nothing more than propaganda, and the audience loved every minute. They chanted and cheered on their new troops and reveled in their military prowess. Tessa wished she could shout at the top of her lungs. She wanted to tell everyone they were being duped.
Tessa came to realize that these loyal supporters were blind to H.I.V.E’s real mission. All the people watching these drills, including the soldiers, assumed they were doing their part in making the world a better place. They believed in their convictions to better humanity and solve the problems caused by past generations. They were lambs being led to slaughter. Most of the people sitting in the amphitheater would die here on earth. H.I.V.E would launch its most essential members into space to colonize a new world, but they would leave those that labored its creation behind to rot. Most of these people would not gain passage on H.I.V.E’s arc vessel. They would not reap the benefits of Project Genesis, but they would be the creators of the components.
Tessa found H.I.V.E’s betrayal of its people disturbing. It made her skin crawl and having knowledge of their plans troubled her. Tessa was a human first and an Evo second, and both lived here on earth. H.I.V.E’s crimes against humanity were unforgivable in her mind. People with ultimate power preyed on the weak as if they didn’t matter and took advantage of the trust those people gave. Tessa felt deep down in the core of her soul that H.I.V.E was evil, and she had to stop them.
After the drills concluded, the crowd disbursed. Some returned to their work in the H.I.V.E and others loitered about outside. Some tried to remain in the sunlight for as long as they could manage. Security didn’t allow people to linger for long. If people had no reason to be outside, they must return to the base.
Tessa and Arica waited with the groups of people with a loved one in one of the new military legions. Neither of the girls were related to Sam, but he was family all the same. They got a few sideways glances from people wondering how a Latina and African American girl could be related, and even more confused when reunited with Sam, an Asian American. There was a moment of judging eyes until their own loved one returned and then lost their focus of hate.
Sam received several hugs from the girls, and Arica almost dropped the cake in her excitement. From his uniform, they noticed he wasn’t just a soldier, but a unit commander. Tessa figured with his wit he wouldn’t end up as just another military drone. Sam was a talented thinker, and a superb fighter.
Sam’s spirits seemed high and grateful to reunite with his friends. They all took a seat on the concrete ground outside the mountain entrance to share Arica’s
