Beyond the Veil of Solomon - Cyberpunk (Skeith & Nadie)

[Skeith Takahata II]

In the darkness of a small studio apartment, the silence was broken by a loud alarm. A woman's grumbling voice could be heard as she fumbled for the holographic screen, blindly trying to find the button to answer the call. An irritating beep could be heard as she hit the right button. She sat up slowly, turning to face the screen. She wore little more than her lingerie, and her dark hair was a mess due to uneasy sleep. "This is Wilson." She muttered as she ran her hand through her hair, yawning loudly.

"Wilson, it's Jack. We need you at the station as soon as you're available. There's been another attack." The man who appeared on the screen was a young man with messy brown hair, stubble, and a pair of glasses. His voice was quite soft, and he certainly was no soldier.

"Jack, it's three in the morning..." She groaned before kicking the sheets off. "What was the target?" She asked, conceding to the fact that she was going to have to suit up.

"Solomon's Archive. It was bombed a little over an hour ago. The terrorists have already claimed responsibility." He responded, thumbing through some documents on the incident.

"Any demands?" She asked.

"Only what we usually hear. The sooner you get down here, the sooner we can get to cleaning up this mess." He said finally.

"Alright, I'll see you soon Jack." She brushed the screen aside, hanging up the call. As the screen faded, she looked outside to see it was raining heavily. She sighed heavily as she rose to her feet. "Computer, deployment preparations."

"Understood." Came a mechanical female sound. "Coffee: Black. Adrenaline Patch: Large. Nutrient Paste: Small. Is this procedure correct?"

"Yes." She groaned as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Very well. Your breakfast will be prepared in twenty minutes." The computer responded.

"Time enough for a shower then. Two turns to the right, and one to the left." Jade responded as she walked towards the bathroom.

"The water is already running. Shall I do something about this weather?"

"Yes. Authorization code 11973, Atmospheric location code 992." Jade spoke aloud as she stripped her panties and bra from her pale body before climbing into the shower. Roughly a half hour later, she slapped her adrenaline patch onto her arm, and began drinking the coffee as she descended the elevator to the garage. She climbed into her squad car, before turning the key. The engine roared to life as the car lifted up, hovering three feet from the ground. She turned on the siren and began traveling towards the site of the attack. Her eyes panning out the window towards a large holographic bill board of the city's ruler, Nicolas Solomon. The caption, "Trust in the Wisdom of Solomon" was flashing beneath the image. She took another sip off of her coffee before returning her attention to the road ahead.

She could already tell, this was going to be the start of a very bad day.

 

[Megitsune]

"Be wise. Don't Trust Solomon"


That was the caption what flashed on the hacked billboards along with a person wearing a white, emotionless mask and red cloak.

"Wise up citizens of the city. Solomon is a liar and is controlling you all" The deep, altered voice of the terrorists leader blasted through speakers through out the city that usually played motivational speeches from Solomon.

"Free yourself from government control!!! We are Liberty!!! We will save you from corruption" After ending the speech the leader tore off the mask.

"This thing is freaking hot!!!" Savanna said as she ripped the cloak off, tossing it aside with the mask then grabbed her helping of nutrient paste, eating as she looked at the tv hologram that was broadcasting the news of the bombing.

"It went off without a hitch" Savanna's right hand man, Luke reported as he started setting up plans for the next attack.

Liberty formed from a small number of people who realized the massive corruption and greed of the city's leader. Dispute forming the group fairly recently Savanna was planning this for several years. They managed to release themselves from the nano machines that kept the citizens from rebelling. They wanted to spread the word and help the rest do the same.

Their hideout was deep in the slums of the city in an underground bunker. Long abandoned and hard to find. The group was small. About fifteen people but it grew daily. From teens to middle aged adults members of Liberty was growing and Savanna was happy that people were finally opening their eyes to the truth.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Jade listened to the media broadcast as she pulled up to the site of the attack. Her gaze panned over to the hacked billboard, drawing a sigh and a grimace from the young officer. Stepping outside of the vehicle, she looked up at the masked figure, and crossed her arms. She shook her head before walking over to the taped off crime scene. "Officer, can we get these billboards reprogrammed before it creates a scene?" She asked as she approached one of the men on duty.

"Right away, ma'am!" He responded quickly before hurrying off to gather his equipment.

She gathered her rifle before heading towards an adjacent building. She keyed in a quick access code into her arm as she walked, bringing up a holographic image of her partner. "Jack, I'm on site. I'm heading to a vantage point. Do you really think that any of them will still be around?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, but when the boss says jump, I jump." He responded. "Until I hear otherwise, your orders are to simply keep an eye on the surrounding area until the investigation is completed."

"Roger that." She hung up the call before hurrying into the building. She was quick to ascend the elevator and set up shop on the roof of the building. She laid down at the edge of the roof with her rifle, using her scope to examine the area.

 

[Megitsune]

Once everything was in place Savanna grabbed the cloak and mask and put them back on before standing in front of the hologram camera. After giving Luke the ok he flipped the camera on and soon a realistic looking hologram appeared in front of the previously bombed building.

"Be wise, Don't trust solomon" she chanted the slogan again and again. "We can not be stopped. We will continue our revolt against your corrupt government until we expose all the secrets about your precious Nicolas Solomon. He controls, he kills, he is scum and will be brought down by us!!!"

A group of people who were there to watch the police investigate the bombing were now watching Savanna's speech. Some began to wonder if this crazy person was telling the truth.

"Iunno, this Solomon guy does seem rather...shady" one man said and others agreed. "Maybe we should join" another said. A hologram screen appeared to show the crowd images of people being tortured, subjected to human experiments under Solomon's command.

"This is the reality that Solomon does not want you to see." The people of the crowd murmured more, disgusted and shocked by the images shown

Savanna heard the people talk thanks to a member already in the group having a recording device on him. She smiled under the mask and spoke again. Raising her hand and pumping her fist she began to chant again.

"Don't trust Solomon!!! Don't trust Solomon!!! Don't trust Solomon!!!" The crowd began to repeat the chant.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Jade's eyes narrowed as the masked figure continued it's speech. She quickly brought up her holo-com and began issuing commands. "I want that billboard scrubbed now!" She shouted.

"We're doing the best we can, but we're being blocked out of the system!" A technician replied nervously.

"Fine, then get me a trace." She growled as she stood up from her sniping position. She hung up the line with the technician, and immediately opened a new one with her partner.

"Jade, the big wigs want you on this one one. Once that trace comes back, you're to begin an immediate investigation of the area. I know it's not a dream job, but you're the best we've got for the task." Jack spoke, as he continued to shift through documents. "We've organized some information that might help to narrow your search. Stuff like relative distance to bombing sites, assault on company personnel, etc."

"I'm beginning to think it was a bad idea to wake up this morning." She grumbled. "Fine, once the trace is in, I'll begin my search." She rubbed at her brow, irritated by the nature of her task. Once the trace came back, it only showed a section of the city, where a potential hide out might be.

She returned to her car, and began heading towards the location. With a flick of a switch, the appearance of the car shifted to that of a civilian vehicle, helping it to blend in with the slums.

 

[Megitsune]

After the broadcast Savanna took off her mask and cloak, a big grin on her face. "Looks like we got more on our side" she said while she sat down and started mapping out their next attack.

"That was some crazy footage" Luke said. "How did you get it?"

Savanna's stayed focused on the hologram map for a moment before vaguely answering. "I have someone on the inside...." Luke nodded and left it at that.

Savanna was getting a bit stir crazy from being stuck in the bunker so she decided to go out. She wasn't too worried about being spotted. That was what the mask and cloak was for.

As she walked the broken down streets she just shook her head at the sight of the slums. Run down buildings, bad water, little food supply and over populated. This is what motivated her to do something about all the corruption and greed.

While walking down the market place she spotted a crowd. A man in a similar red cloak she had was shouting.

"It is not wise to trust Solomon!!!" he said and spouted all the same things she said.

"Is he reading a script or something?" Savanna muttered to herself. She has seen impostors before but didn't do anything about it. The more people pretended to be her the less likely they would find her.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

As Jade's vehicle pulled into the slums, the watched through the window at the people in the streets. It was a sad tale to be sure, but surely they must have brought it on themselves. Perhaps they were lazy, or made themselves enemies of the state. It simply had to be the case. Or at least, that was the lie that Jade kept telling herself. Bringing her vehicle to a stop near the impersonator, she climbed out of the vehicle, and folded her arms, watching his display. She knew he wasn't the real thing. No one would be so stupid as to found a rebellion and waltz around in public. Still, she could see that this individual was becoming a hero in the eyes of the less than fortunate populace. A fact she was going to have to change. She locked her car, and began wandering the streets, her hands in her pockets.

 

[Megitsune]

Meanwhile, at intelligence HQ they were analyzing the newest broadcast of the terrorist leader. Since the first attack they have tried to identify the culprit. Savanna had been very careful to conceal herself but however, she is human. And humans make mistakes. That mistake was not covering her neck this time around, exposing her star shaped birthmark on her beck slightly below her right ear. Birthmarks were very rare since most people just remove them. Savanna decided to keep it which was yet another mistake. HQ informed Jack about the discovery so he could contact Jade.


Savanna watched the bantering idiot before turning and walking away. She accidentally bumped into the woman walking by.

"Oh, sorry" she said then just went on her way, tucking her hair behind her ear as she walked by the woman.

 

[Skeith Takahata II]

Jade said nothing as the woman brushed past her, though she did pause to examine her as she moved by, noting the strange birthmark on her neck. She continued walking for a couple of paces before she heard Jack coming in on her comm link.

"Jade, they slipped up. We've found a means of identifying the target. A star shaped birthmark on their neck." Jade's eyes widened as she turned around to look in the direction the woman was going.

"Damn it, Jack. I just saw her!" She growled.

"Her?" He responded inquisitively.

"Save it. I'm going after her." She turned and began running back after the woman. It didn't take much to find her, since she was walking around in broad day light. "Ma'am!" She shouted as she approached, reaching out to grab her arm. "Not so fast." She said just loud enough for her to be heard, but not enough to make as scene. "On behalf of the Solomon Security Force, for the bombings of several locations throughout the city and the murders of several innocent men and women, I'm placing you under arrest." Her gaze was cold, as her free hand drew a pistol from her side.

 

[Megitsune]

Savanna went about her way, thinking nothing of the encounter. That is until she heard the woman and felt her hand grasping her arm. She stood frozen as the woman spoke, revealing herself to be a cop.

"How did they...?" she thought then it hit her. She placed her free hand on her neck, cursing herself that she didn't get this damn thing removed.

"ok Savanna calm down. Execute plan G7" she said then just gave the officer an innocent look.

"I'm sorry officer, but you have me mistaken for someone else"

As she spoke to the cop the gave made a motion with her hand behind her back, signaling a citizen to alert all the nearby member's of liberty.

It took only seconds for every member within the area to crowd around the cop and it was to surely break her hold on Savanna. As she as she would break lose she would disappear into the crowd of supporters.

"It will take more than a lone cop to get me" she smirked, saying it mostly to herself but the cop might have heard her as she faded into the sea of people.