{"sf1_id":794413,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Submission.5","author":"MagnumGit","words":3157,"posted_at":"2014-12-11T06:28:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Mild Drama","Military","Sci-Fi","Story Progression","USCA","War","gritty","space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/794413-submission-5","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/794413","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=794413\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nIt wasn't long\nafter that their shift ended, and they were escorted back to the classroom\nwhere the Forge Master promptly distributed Chits and requisition stubs to\neveryone within the class. The Forge Master called for attention moments before\nany could leave, all heads turned to him. The centuries old human spoke curtly,\nhis time precious as well as their own, a quick announcement was all he made;\nthat the southern district would be increasing the curfew time by two hours;\nall residents would need to be home by 30:00. He gave no reason as to why, he\ndidn't need to, they had already heard about the killings; no amount of\ngovernment sponsored media suppression could keep word from spreading after\nthat many deaths. \nsixteen in the\nlast week alone perhaps even more, as bodies have cropped up everywhere. Bodies\nwasn't the right word though, these 'remains' were mutilated things holding\nonly the vague impression of humanity\n \nTo combat the\nrising panic, CA guard patrols had been increased, and curfews set, never was\ntheir an explanation as to why such a thing happened, but they could guess as\nto why.\nDaniel only half\nlistened, he didn't really care whether or not he had a curfew, and he lived\nclose enough so that he could walk home in only a matter of minutes while there\nwas still daylight. \nHe glanced over\nat Gwen who was fidgeting slightly where she stood, wringing her hands over and\nover. He was surprised, she seemed nervous, and because of that she seemed\nstrangely human. \nHe didn't know\nwhat to think of that. \n...\nIt was still\nlight out when they were released. Light enough so that the sporadic\nstreet-side lamps had no need to come on, otherwise this place felt as if it\nwas always plunged into an eternal night. Grey light filtered through ashen\nclouds, Gwen breathed silently behind her filter-mask. Around her other\nstudents plodded into the courtyard and out through the open gates, iron black\npartitions that surrounded the massive complex for miles. \nSomeone brushed\npast her and murmured an apology without looking, she was surprised, and felt\ncompelled to squeeze the spot where she had been bumped. She could count the\ntimes someone had touched her on one hand-- in public at least. \nShe came to the\nedge of the street now, she moved to step forward, as she always did on her way\nhome to her sequestered district housing. She paused mid step, her shoulders\nhunched down and eyes blazing. \nShe didn't want\nto go, she never did. That damn time of the month, that one day she dreaded\nabove all others. A closed door Meeting with the DAS; she clenched her hands,\nteeth set; she turned to the right, and began walking. \nIt was either\nthis, or the labor camps. And everyone has heard the stories of the labor\ncamps... some would rather choose death over such a fate. \nHer legs felt\nlike leaden blocks as she moved, each step more resisting then the last.\nThoughts and memories screamed through her mind, yet she sought to silence them\nas she could almost feel her damnable collar pulling towards the Southern\ndistrict CAO o the Civilian Affairs Office. \nShe turned the\nlast corner, and was greeted by the all too familiar architecture of the CAO\nHer light footsteps faltered, fear and loathing overwhelming her as she lay\neyes upon the entrance way. \nStronger then\never now was the desire to turn, to flee and keep running until her feet bled\nand legs turned purple. \nEvery step\nforward would be another tear if she were weak, she rebelled against such\nweakness and shuffled forward, her eyes stinging. \nThe door opened\nof it's own accord, folding inwards like a trap box. The lobby greeted her\neyes. The only thing that served, as seats in the barren room were two metal\nbenches pressed against the wall on either side. Two adjacent doors lead out of\nthe room while ahead of her was a self-service reception booth, she penned in\nher serial number.\n\nShe felt invisible eyes watching her; she knew all to well about the countless\nmicro-cameras that would be scanning her form, every inch of her suspect to\nsearch. The holographic display on the check-in station floated before her\neyes, she placed the hand with her PDD on the molted brown hologram, it\nflickered briefly then flashed green, her designation scrolled across the\ninterface before it vanished back into the projector. \nShe then sat on\nthe cold, metal bench, her blood already chilled to the point  \nShe waited nearly\nthree minutes, eyes occasionally cast up at the doors before narrowing on her\nwatch, counting the ticks down to the last second. She waited no longer when\nthe door across from her clicked and was pushed open, shadows obscured a face\nand Gwen wished her heart to cease it's insistent beat. Her thoughts drifted\nback into her mind, and thus the cycle began again. \n...\nHis footsteps\nechoed through the street, dampened by the thick smog that washed over the\nground, a cold stagnant air weighed against him. Daniel wiped the lenses of his\nmask clean from the condensation that built upon it, the street was ever warm\nfrom ten meter wide and tall tubes under the streets that carried boiling water\naway from the forge works, yet the air was cool from thick layer of smog clouds\nthat forever blotted out the sun.  \nThis led to a\ncomplete, and total darkness on particular days when the forges ran hot, and\nmuch water was needed to cool the ever-burning burners lest they turn molten\nthemselves. Today was one such day, and great gouts of steam rose from the\nstreet, curling about his ankles and grasping at his heavy coat and mask edges.\nLike dread fingers clawing at him from beyond what was believed to be the end.\n. \nIt was getting\nlate, it had been a few hours since the morning shift at the forge works had\nended and the night shift took over, but even so Daniel still had to maintain\nthe set time of the curfew, fortunately he still had plenty of time to make it\nback to his hab-bloc before too late. His pace set at his leisure, he strolled\ndown the fog-coated streets. He cast a tentative glance upwards, once again the\nonly thing he saw were those ever-present clouds of gas and ash rolling above\nhim, gorged on a constant supply of smoke from the towering vents of the\nforge-works. He searched the skies for a break, any possible hint of what lay\nbeyond would be enough or him so long as he could glimpse of what stars truly\nwere and a true sun's warmth. They say Orion had twin moons, though he had seen\nneither. He stumbled as his foot caught in a depression in the road and he\nfought to right himself before he fell. \n\nHe nearly connected his face to the hard asphalt had he not righted himself, he\ncursed at his own carelessness, the roads were rarely maintained and he had\nbeen stargazing at an overcast sky.\n\nHe cast off any shame he had, he took pride in it even, he was probably the\nonly one who even thought past the grim nature of these factories to the world\nabove and the possibilities further out. He was unique, and he was damn proud\nof it. He glanced at his PDD, he had to get home or he would face significant\nreprisal if he missed the curfew. Such things would be detrimental to his goal\nof leaving this cesspit and ascending to the Northern district as a person of\nwealth and influence.\nWhile his dreams\nran wild, he let his local knowledge take him through the streets of the\nsouthern district, long has he walked these roads and he knew them as well as\nhe knew himself. Aside from the occasional stray turn he managed his way into\nthe southern district central plaza where he had a straight path back to his\nhab-block, he let thoughts of a warm bed and much needed dinner carry his legs\na little faster. \nNeedless to say\nhe came by the Plaza often, the CBU had several commerce stores centered around\nhere, and he had often stood behind the Plexiglas windows, marveling at the\nexotic oddities that were housed inside; be it in the form Alien literature,\ngrav skippers, personalized PDD's and other paraphernalia that drew his eyes.\nBut for now, they were mainly closed, usual neon lights darkened and windows\nshuttered with steel girders. The Plaza always looked oddly peculiar during the\nnight cycle, as it was with everything at night, it seemed different- hostile\neven, like he didn't belong here, that he was unwelcome at this time. The only\nthing of any familiarity was the lone figure that sat alone on one of the many\nbenches that surrounded the statue in the center of the southern district plaza\nGwen D. The\nHybrid girl from his class. \nDaniel didn't\nrecognize her at first, the shroud of fog did well to occlude her from view,\nbut as he drew closer he saw it was indeed her. With her face hid by shadow and\nthe heavy coat she wore he could only see that it was Gwen by the telltale\ntraits she and her kind carried; the exotic ears and overall small stature. \nOne of her ears\ntwitched, and she shifted. Daniel had no doubt she seen him, her and her\nnatural senses far surpassed his own, it was said that they could see in the\ndark as if it were day. Daniel set aside his mental conjecture; he left her to\nher own devices. He had to get home and had no time to waste it on a moody\nhalf-breed. \n\n...\n\nShe often came her to the Plaza, often she would come to sample the various\ndifferent shops, other times she came here simply for the subtle companionship\nthat came with being amongst a crowed. \nShe would sit against the polished marble bench, beneath the shadow of\nan iron replica of an armored soldier, a rifle of some sort held above him. \n \nPeople always\nsaid that it was raised in victory, Gwen thought otherwise. She wondered if it\nwas rather raised in the relief of his survival. Proud that he fought against\nthe myriad of horrors the galaxy had to throw at him and came out still\nbreathing and whole. Gwen knew herself well enough to know that she would never\nto be able to do such a thing; she wouldn't try to fool herself into thinking\nthat there was no idle threat waiting out there amongst the stars. Humanity was\nalready locked in conflict with the Fyrainians. Who knew how many more\nunsightly creatures lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike. She would be weak\nand frail in facing such a storm. \n \nShe was surprised at first, the sound of steady footfalls carrying through the\nclouded plaza street. Her exotic ears twitched, focusing in on the sound of the\nsteps; they sounded familiar. \nShe glanced\naround as the stranger passed her by, she recognized Daniel almost instantly,\nthe snobbish smirk was incriminating. \"Hey.\" She nearly jumped at the sound of\nher own voice, it sounded foreign to her, \"Hey, Daniel?\" She called again, her\nvoice cutting through the tuneless night. \nDaniel glanced\nover his shoulder at her with a tired look of expectation, Gwen paused, she\nhadn't really thought that he would stop to listen to her, she hadn't thought\nof what she would say if someone had. She felt the treacherous glimmer of hope\nflair inside her, clawing at the need for companionship of any kind. \"...If you\ndon't get moving your gonna get locked out.\" He called back to her, once more\nhis stride carrying him off into the dimly lit streets of the Hab-blocks. \nA wave of alarm\nrushed over her, he was right, Gwen chanced a look at her PDD and was stunned\nas she observed the time, her heart had to be reminded of what its job was,\nafter several seconds. She scrambled to her feet, her uniform crumpled and\ndirty with sweat. \"Daniel, stop.\" She ran after him, \"Daniel please! Stop!\" she\nshouted now, her voice echoing off the frigid steel walls of the various\nestablishments within the plaza. \nFor a moment\nDaniel seemed not to hear her, or care. If so, he took pity on her as he turned\nto stare at her from over his shoulder, his eyes filled with a callousness that\ncaused that forgotten spark of anger to flare within her and give her strength\nshe forgot she had possessed. \"Daniel-\" She was cut off as she began. \n\"What? I'm\nfucking busy.\" He shouted as he continued along the path that would lead him to\nhis bed, and then a restless sleep. \nGwen stared at\nhis back, unbelieving of what she was hearing. \"What do you mean, busy? This is\nyour fucking off hours you git!\" She grabbed his shoulder and spun him around\nwithout thinking, and for a moment she was horrified by her actions, the metal\nband around her neck felt like razor wire as she remembered once again, who\n-and what- she was. She couldn't pull her hand back fast enough. \n\"What the hell!\"\nHe snapped when the damned gene-freak grabbed him, she spun him to face her; he\nfelt the strength of her grip and shrank back. She was strong, far stronger\nthen her wiry frame would say otherwise and it scared him. \"Fuck! Calm down!\"\nHe said as he looked Gwen in the eyes and he tried to steel his resolve yet he\nfelt it weaken instead. He saw that Gwen was more frightened of herself at that\nmoment then him- if he intimidated her at all. \nHe swallowed\nhard, words coming shakily as he beheld the fire in her eyes. \"Ok, fine what do\nyou want? I'm listening.\" He did listen, yet he rubbed the spot where he was\nsure would bruise later in the morning. \nGwen didn't\nrecover her wits as quickly, she never let her emotions control her before; out\nof habit she fingered the metal band that dictated her life, half expecting it\nto kill her on the spot. \"I need a place to spend the night.\" She spoke,\ncatching his gaze she saw him try to mask his fear, but only cause more. She\nwould find it funny had it not been her that was the object of his fright. \nEven so, she\nthought she didn't grab him that hard. \"I can't make it to my hab-block in\ntime, I need to stay at yours.\"  She\nrepeated herself, her voice free of the shake it had before as she put the past\nbehind her and blocked it off as she always did, the only thing that the past\nharbored were mistakes waiting to be unearthed and realized once again, and it\ndidn't take long for them to burrow their way to the surface. Why encourage it\nto come sooner?\n\"Why would I help\nyou?\" Daniel said, breaking her reverie. He hardly could believe it, a damned\nGene-Freak asking him for help? He would think that he really did get a suit\npuncture, and this was all some sort of insane high before he choked on his own\nvomit had it not been for the soreness of his arm.\nShe surprised\nherself with how calm she was at that moment, even with the flood of emotions\ncoursing over her mind the same anger she fell prey too before fell over her\nfeatures. \"I think you know why.\" \nThe arrogant\nsmirk that always seemed glued to his lips fell from his face for the second\ntime that night. \n...\nIt was fast\nreaching time when the 'grid' was set to lock down the southern district\nhousing, yet two shadowy figures seemed eerily unhurried to the thought of\nbeing locked out at night; thrown to the elements and whatever else lurked\nbeneath the streets 'till nightfall. They stood at the edge of the Southern\nPlaza, their faces obscured by full masks. These two beings that seemed almost\nalien behind their industrial masks, bug-eyed lenses and coiling tubes, but\nthey knew better, they've seen real xenos species and knew enough to know that\nthis visage bore no resemblance to any known sentient beings in the universe. \nThe naturally\nconceived ones at least. \n\"Att'a girl,\" The\nshorter one chortled, his eyes fixated at the seen playing out across the\nplaza. \"Good to know the youngsters still have some fight in them these days.\"\n\"They're leaving.\nWe can continue.\" The tall man stated, his eyes never leaving the retreating\npair, the Abhuman marching the young man through the night. \n\"Why? Does the\nscenery upset you?\" The short man sighed, his boots smacking the moist concrete\nground with loud smacks of rubber on rock, the tall man seemed more at ease to\nstride soundlessly. \n\"You know as well\nas I do that it's dangerous in these parts, I'd rather not end up like the\nothers.\" The tall man cut his shorter compatriot off, his tone was needlessly\nurgent. The shorter portly man eyed his compatriot, clearly annoyed with the\ninterruption. \n\"Are you talking\nabout the 'situation' or these Spies you never shut up about, or just the\ngeneral fact that these buildings look read to fall down at any time.\" The\nshorter man noted, his covered face leaning close to inspect a nasty spot of\nrust at the base of a store with dust grey windows they passed. \nThe Tall man\nlooked down at the short man, seeming to glare, but with eyes hidden behind\nthick lenses he could just as well be laughing. The Short man prattled on, \"I\ndon't know why you are so insistent on all this buggery about stealth and such,\nand we're not in an active war zone you know.\" \n\"You don't know\nthat, this place could come under siege at any moment, it's bad enough that\nthis had happened.\" The Tall man snapped his eyes trailing on each and every\nalley they passed by. \"Besides, this is an important depot planet for the\nwestern front-lines, the 425th, 897th, 233rd,\nand 52nd Forward Armies get the majority of their munitions from\nthis worlds star-port, and let's not forget that it houses the largest orbital\nrepair station for our Dreadnaughts in the western outer-systems. If we were to\nlose this planet, our entire counteroffensive in this part of the galaxy grinds\nto a halt, and crumbles, and the Fyrainians have an open door leading right to\nour inner systems.\"\nEven with this\ngrave news settling upon him, the small man was just as cheery as ever. \"Then\nwe'd best make sure we don't lose it, Major, that's why we're here after all,\nis it not?\"\n"}