Bloodstained Rose

Chapter 16

Nomad and Megumi did not hesitate when surrendering to the Liberation troops. They managed to get near the Mobile Carrier to find themselves overwhelmed by the forces. After a few hours in the cold with guns pointed at them, the two were finally moved to a small jail in the center of town. After getting a rough shove to the back, Nomad stumbled forward as the cold winter air from the cell enveloped him. The door behind him had let out a clang, leaving Megumi and himself in silence.

He tried to regain his bearings, realizing the severity of the situation. There wasn’t a doubt that the G.E.I. would be coming back to the town to retaliate. Liberation had been ruthless as they tried to interrogate him and Megumi, but the G.E.I. would be far more oppressive with the inevitable attack. He looked further into his cell to adjust his eyes to the dim light, revealing the lack of furnishings inside. Hay had covered the floor while in the corner he could see a rusty overturned bucket.

The scent from the rotting hay beneath him brought him discomfort. He and Megumi were left in green skivvies—a cotton sweatshirt and pants. Against the floor, he could feel moisture started to collect on his clothes. The only light source in the room had been from a small, barred window, barely illuminating the two. He then investigated the other cells to see a familiar face peering back at him.

“I’m so glad to see you two,” Rowan said with a cracked voice from through the darkness. “We thought they killed you both.”

Nomad watched her start to emerge from the shadows, covered with dirt and pieces of straw. Her clothes were the same as his but covered with grime from the melted frost. He looked behind her and could make out another figure in the back.

“Is that you, Kiss?” Nomad asked after letting out a sigh of relief.

“Yes.” Kismet replied bluntly.

Hearing her unenthusiastic voice made him shake his head before bringing out a chuckle. With her usual grumpy stare, he would have been unable to guess she was a prisoner aside from the clothes.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Nomad continued. “I thought they were going to massacre you both. That was one hell of a push.”

After glancing over at the two, he couldn’t see any bruises or signs of abuse from being in captivity. The extent of interrogation involved being in the cold for a few hours with troops trying to extract information. The encounter had barely been traumatic, leaving him on edge with weapons continuously pressed into him. His only memories of how Liberation operated were whatever stories his dad told him. This encounter, however, was a far cry from any of the old stories.

“What’s the plan to get out of here?” Rowan whispered to him, trying to not to draw the attention of the one and only guard in the back.

“You’re not in a hurry to go back, are you?” Nomad replied without hesitation.

Kismet had let out a fit of contagious laughter, causing Nomad to follow along. He looked over to Megumi to see her already staring off towards the light coming through the window. Her eyes had sunk as she seemed completely out of phase with the rest of the room. Nomad could only imagine the thoughts going through her head. He had not been well informed of her future prospects her father had laid out, but he could feel her anguish.

“What did they do to her?” Rowan asked again, this time crawling towards him. The small set of bars between them let out a dull thud as she clenched them.

“I’m ok,” Megumi replied, before taking a moment to clear her throat. “They were trying to find out about how the Mobile Carrier worked, if there were any other patrols.”

“Hopefully, you gave them nothing.”

“I gave them enough to keep us alive.”

“Christ,” The man guarding the front of the jail had muttered. The utterance caused Nomad and the other to seize up while he stepped towards the bars. His eyes pointed to the floor, only showing his timid demeanor as the light draped his face. Nomad’s head tilted upon eye contact, almost as if he had met him once before. Before his father passed, he and several kids in Kashmir spent day after day in shelters. The man continued, “Can you guys just shut up for a few minutes? I was given orders, so you know, be quiet.”

“I don’t think they’re going to do anything drastic,” Nomad interrupted him. He started to slide towards the back of cell to lean into the wall, remaining unfazed by the troop. “He seems like a nice guy, don’t you think?”

The soldier shook his head, letting out a long-winded sigh as he started to back away. Almost as if on cue, the front door had swung open to reveal a silhouette of another soldier.

“Yeah, pretty boy is the nice guy,” Paxton spoke with his usual drawl as he stepped inside. The room had gone silent while he stepped forward, light illuminating his bold frame. As the soldier started to move aside for him, Paxton reached into his pocket to retrieve a small plastic flashlight. He pointed it towards them and pressed a switch on the side. There was a loud click, followed by a powerful ray that had filled the room. He flashed it towards Nomad, causing him to flinch.

“I’m nice too,” Paxton said once more as he leaned into the bars and faced them. “Until I’m not.”

“Sir,” the solder had snapped to attention as he chirped. “I gave them orders—”

“Shut up,” Paxton swiftly replied before waving his hand, “get out.”

The soldier stepped away from the group and started to make his way over towards the door. Nomad’s eyes had locked onto Paxton as he started to step over towards a small wooden chair in the corner of the room. A thunderous cadence from his boots striking the floor had caused them to tremble. Shortly after, Paxton grabbed hold of the chair and began to drag it over towards the bars. The sound of wood scraping against the floor produced a series of discordant notes that amplified the tension in the claustrophobic space.

“I’ve got a long day ahead of me,” Paxton finally spoke after taking a seat in front of them. “I’ve also got a lot of errands to run, so we’re going to have to cut to the chase.”

“I told you everything,” Megumi started to mutter.

“Shut up,” Paxton snapped back. He turned to flashlight in his hand towards Nomad, shining the light directly into his face. After inspecting the patch on Nomad’s shoulder, he asked, “That’s an officer insignia, correct?”

“This,” Nomad said before looking down at his uniform, “just barely.”

“Don’t fuck around with me.”

“He’s an acting commander,” Megumi spoke up, drawing Paxton’s attention towards her as she began to crawl her way over to the bars. “They’re not worth your time. If you want help getting access to the information inside the Mobile Carrier, I’m the one who can do it.”

“I’m going to get that information,” Paxton said as he started to reach into his other pocket for a small book. He popped it open with his thumb before lowering the flashlight towards the ground. “I know it would be fastest to just let you go inside, but I don’t really want any of you near it until my guys finally crack it.”

“Then what do you want from us?” Nomad asked him.

“Which one of you is the General’s kid?”

Nomad tried to not to turn towards Megumi, so he lowered his head. Before he could even process a response or weigh his decisions, he heard Megumi already starting to speak.

“That’s me,” she said softly. “My name is Megumi Kawaguchi, I’m with Field Research and Development for the Weapons Administration.”

“Hot damn,” Paxton muttered as his nodded in response. “Why do they got you out here? That don’t make much sense with you being high profile an’ all that jive.”

Megumi lowered her head, only causing Nomad to lean away from his spot on the wall to jump in.

“No one in this unit had the choice to come out here, it’s part of the mandatory service.” Nomad declared, confident as he addressed the major.

“None of you Eurasianoids get choice,” Paxton replied, this time thumbing through the pocketbook to an empty page. “I don’t even know if any of you are telling the truth. For all we know, you’re just telling us what we wanna hear. If you want to go back home, you’re all gonna have to start gettin’ real useful real quick.”

He pulled a small plastic ink pen from his left breast pocket, squeezing the cap with his teeth. As he pulled it free, he started to thumb through his book, taking a moment to get to the next blank page.

“What are you guys doing out here?” Paxton asked after spitting the plastic cap into his lap with precision.

“They’re building a reactor,” Megumi replied. “There’s an energy problem that’s supposedly going to affect Kashmir in the next few decades, so they think this Cosmo Cradle up north is going to solve that.”

“We live in the age of fusion reactors,” Paxton shot back, keeping his eyes locked on the book. “Why the hell y’all need new energy? Doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s what I know, the Weapons Administration’s Chief officer tried to lead this operation without the Premiere knowing,” she paused for a moment, trying to recall the many names involved. “She might be up to something else, nobody asks questions about the Weapons Administration, it’s like its own government.”

Paxton tried to scribble as much into the book as possible, keeping track as Megumi started to continue. He continued to mutter under his breath, repeating her words back to her.

“Who’s she?” He asked, taking his attention from the book.

“Her name is Melora, she created a lot of the A.S.B.’s,” Megumi said, waving her hands before finally concluding, “that’s all I know.”

Paxton shook his head and continued to write. After a few more seconds of silence, Megumi let out a sigh, anticipating a response. Nomad clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing as he watched Paxton continue. A thought flickered, something he had been certain would get a rise from his captor.

“Mizumi sent you,” Nomad asked as he leaned against the cold brick confinement. Paxton shifted his eyes away from the book for a moment, trying to keep his bearing. “She’s still alive, right?”

“She is,” Paxton replied after finally turning his attention away from his notes. “What’s your angle here?”

“Shirow’s still alive too, right?”

He had not uttered that name in years. At this point, he had no concern about ever having to go back to Kashmir or finishing his deployment. He watched Paxton’s gaze sharpen; a flicker of suspicion had danced across his face. Instead of giving a response, he closed his book and slowly started to stand from the chair.

“What’s your name?” Paxton asked.

“Nomad,” He replied without hesitation. “My father was in Liberation, but because of circumstances, I’m here.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Paxton had slightly been fazed by the admission, but he continued away from the cell and towards the door. “More unfortunate, I have places I have to be.”

Nomad chuckled as a sly grin formed on his lips. His eyes followed Paxton while he made his exit before trailing over towards the man by the door. As soon as Paxton had left, the man from before had shown a sign of intrigue as he started to walk into the jail house once more. He stepped over towards the bars, making eye contact with Nomad.

“Who exactly are you?” he asked.

His face had a striking similarity that Nomad could not piece together right away. The light from the window had barely revealed his brown hair and blue eyes.

A few moments after staring at him only prompted Nomad to finally say, “Nomad, the son of Shift.”

The words caused the young man’s face to go pale. Megumi had lit up upon recalling the name. Her father had told her many stories, and the name had come up more than once. While intrigued, she remained silent waiting for the situation to escalate. The man started to pull away from the bars and head back towards the exit. After shutting the door, the four were finally left alone with the sour smell of the dimly lit jail cells.

Mezrich and Brian had been posted inside of the Mobile Carrier with a handful of the more seasoned troops—a given seeing as they had just seized a major enemy vehicle. The entire night had been spent pillaging the inside. Mezrich had been working fast on trying to get his laptop to connect to the vehicle’s interface. His poorly constructed assembly of adapters and dongles had been taped onto a port by the main panel, barely staying fastened down.

He was apprehensive with being able to get inside and gain full access, but the mission required his success. Several hours of trying to find new and inventive ways to interface had been daunting. The continuous hurdles provided challenging. Being hunched over the laptop and away from the battle was nonetheless a breath of fresh air. Behind him, Brian had continued to pace around the room awaiting an update. His boots constantly tapping against the floor had sounded like an erratic metronome, the rhythm constantly shifting tempo mid song.

“You think it would be faster to just try and hack into it using the keyboard here.” Brian said, still patrolling behind him.

“Oh wow, I would have in all of my years of experience never thought of that.” Mezrich replied, trying not to come off too harsh.

“Are you being ironic with me?”

“It’s called sarcasm, and I was laying it on thick,” Mezrich said as bluntly as he could before trying to connect one more cable. After running a script from his laptop, he managed to finally receive a terminal on his display. The black box and its cryptic text had finally brought some relief after his struggles. Excited, he started to type away at the keys, trying to think of every universal command to get a response. First, he had watched the current time display, then an additional prompt in a familiar language. “Excellent, I’ll just run this rainbow table and unlock the system. Would be easier with the crew, to be honest.”

“Yeah, the major doesn’t want any of its crew near this thing until we crack it.”

“I’m working on that. After this script runs, the emergency override should go right-” Mezrich cut himself short as the floor in front of him starting to emanate a cloud of fog. He quickly grabbed his laptop, pulling it away as the same translucent panel rose from the floor. Brian and the other troops had started to pull back, alarmed to see it start to form a cube.

“Everybody, get out of here!” Brian shouted.

“No, wait!” Mezrich called out to him.

The cube on the floor started to let out a hiss from touching the humid air inside of the vehicle. Inside, a wave of static began to stream across the inside, slowly forming Control. Her face finally formed; this time filled with alarm as she detected the crew. Instead of her hair continuously shifting colors, it had turned a fiery red while she faced them.

“Intruder detected, activating emergency shutdown protocol.” Control said aloud.

“Nuh-uh-uh, I didn’t say you could do that.” Mezrich snapped back as he typed away furiously.

His quick keystrokes had been enough to completely cancel out Control’s next move. Her face remained stern with her normal smile while the cube around her continued to flicker among the fog. After a few moments, her hair had finally started its regular cycle—each moment the colors continued to blur to the next.

“What have you done to me?” Control asked after facing Mezrich.

“I’m in control of you until you start to cooperate with me, uh,” Mezrich quickly rolled his eyes, agitated thinking that he would have to address the apparition. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Control.”

“Control? See Brian,” Mezrich said as he turned back to him and smiled. “That’s irony.”

Brian let out a confident chuckle, excited to finally see progress occurring. Long after seizing and while the smile still lingered on his face, his face started to droop.

“What do you mean?” Brian asked.

“Anyways, Control, now that I’m in control,” Mezrich faced the laptop, continuing to strike the keys. He faced her, feeling a sense of empowerment while composing the next command. Upon pressing the enter key, he finished, “Be a doll and pull up the radar.”

“I cannot,” Control said before twitching and correcting herself. “Now, pulling up the radar.”

“Thank you. Now, create an administrative profile for myself so I can access any databases we might need later.”

“I am not authorized access to certain database files. I am sorry.” Control said, frowning to try and pull his heart strings.

Mezrich scratched his chin as he pondered on. He started to think of every possible method at his disposal to break through. It had been a while since he found himself having to put his computer skills to work. After sitting for a minute, he started felt himself slowly becoming agitated by the bright and disorienting colors coming from inside the cube.

“Well, we’ll figure that out later. This color shift thing,” Mezrich pointed to her ever-changing eye and hair color. “Can we fix that?”

“Is there a default color you prefer?”

“I don’t know, set it to not shift colors. Make it something nice, I’m not a fan of rainbows.”

“Understood,” Control replied. She phased out of view for a few moments, leaving the rest of the crew startled. Once she had reappeared, her skin slowly shifted to a pink hue paired with flowing hair, blue like the ocean. She opened her eyes to reveal her green irises before asking, “Is this nice?”

“Oh yeah,” Mezrich complimented her, slowly leaning back into his chair and observing her new look. “Very nice.”

“Before you try to hit on the robot, let me patch in the major,” Brian said before signaling for one of the men to set up the radio. He looked over to Control and shrugged seeing her interacting with them. Watching something like this entrance a human made his stomach turn. It only continued to make him think of the other horrors inside of Kashmir that had kept their people docile for so long. “God help us.”