{"sf1_id":878473,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 7","author":"Nazca","words":1277,"posted_at":"2015-06-25T18:06:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Mind uploading","Science","War","Wolf","corruption","dystopia","implants"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/878473-victernus-chapter-7","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/878473","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=878473\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            Lynn took a step away from the\ntransporter when it rematerialized him. There were few sounds in the forest at that\ntime of the night and the air felt a bit moist, like it was going to rain soon.\nBut, the quiet ceased when Mahalia stepped out from behind a tree and pointed a\nstun gun at him. He chuckled, \"Seriously?\"\n            She smiled, \"Seriously. Put him\ndown.\"\n            Namara grinned. I'd take her advice if I were you.\n            Lynn rolled his eyes, \"What are you\ngonna do, stun me?\"\n            With the gun already charged, she\nshot an electric bolt into Lynn's side, causing both him and Namara to convulse\nand drop to the ground. She shook her head and laughed, \"So this is why Namara\nhates you! Ha!\" She bent down and produced a rope from one of her pockets,\nbinding his hands and feet and then dragging him out of the forest. Reaching\nher Mustang, she popped the trunk and shoved him in, closing it behind him.\n            The stun was only temporary, and\nboth Namara and Lynn were conscious by the time Mahalia returned to the\ntransporter. Namara was lying down, still recovering from his encounter. He\nwatched her in the low light of the forest. Thanks\nfor that. But, you know that Lynn has the sanctuary's location now... We can't\nstay there anymore. He said he was going to torch it.\n            She rested her forehead against the\nbig tree and sighed, \"Darn it... And we can't build another one...\"\n            Namara agreed. All of my assets are probably frozen.\n            Mahalia struck the tree with her\nfist, \"They're on our trail now, Namara. Our other facility is going to be in\nthe range of one of their new towers... There's nowhere we'll be able to hide,\nand we can't leave either, thanks to the last immigration measures. We're\nscrewed...\"\n            Namara raised an eyebrow. What towers?\n            She turned and slid down the tree\nwith her back. Namara saw that her face was tired. \"Everyone in this country\nhas to be microchipped, supposedly to keep out terrorists and illegals. They're\nputting up towers everywhere, and there will be few blind spots. They'll send\nout drones to anyone who doesn't have a chip.\"\n            Namara lowered his eyes. Wow... He looked away from her, staring at\nthe dense trees in front of him. Thoughts raged through him for a while. Of all\nthings he feared would happen, this - the day when his own country, the one\nthat claimed to have his best interests in mind, would turn on him - was the\nworst. Are you sure there's no way out?\n            She raised her head, looking\nupwards, \"I'm sure. This society is trying to choke us, and a lot of people are\non board with it. To them, we are\nterrorists.\"\n            He chuckled. Well, if we can't escape, we could always become the so-called\nterrorists they're looking for. He glanced back at her. And we could bring this system down. How\nlong do we have, exactly?\n            Mahalia sighed, \"A week, at most.\nWhat kind of crazy idea do you have in mind now?\"\n            We\nneed to get Theo working on defenses... and weapons. But, I want to find a way to\nget a message out to everyone first. That way, they have a chance. And we'll\nsee what they decide.\n            She crossed her arms, \"You do realize\nthat if we fought back, it would be\nconsidered terrorism, right?\"\n            Namara sighed and narrowed his eyes.\nIt's not terrorism if that isn't the\nintent. The intent here is to change things for the better. I don't care if I\nam labeled that way. What someone else assumes isn't always true. I will not\nfold myself under this so-called democracy again. He laughed. I'm already a fugitive anyway. There's nothing\nelse I can do here.\n            She stood up and rested against the\ntree, putting her hands in her pockets. \"I'm not sure what the others would\nthink about that. That's very risky, you know.\"\n            He nodded. Staying here is risky too. If you want, you guys can get chipped and go\nundercover. I don't think I'll need to. They're not going to be configured to\ndetect wildlife. And, while the already-fugitive goes out and commits acts of \"terrorism,\"\nyou guys can stay unconnected to me. Or, if you can find a way to get a secure\nconnection to me, you can direct me to weak points in the system. You know?\n            She nodded and turned around, beginning the\nactivation sequence for the transporter, \"We'll have to speak with Theo and\nChomp first. Come on. Let's go back and get whatever we can.\"\n            Namara watched her, unmoving. If you haven't noticed, it kind of hurts to\nmove right now...\n            Mahalia sighed and then picked him\nup, returning to the transporter and activating it. The light enveloped them\nand they appeared back in the sanctuary. She carried him up the stairs in the\ncourtyard and laid him down in the center of the first control station. Going\nto the edge, she summoned a couple of screens with her hands and started a\nvideo call with Theo. A few seconds later, he picked up. \"Hey, what's up?\"\n            She cut right to the point, \"I know\nyou don't like us interrupting your work, but finalize whatever you are doing. Something\nhas come up, and we need you to work on some new stuff fast.\"\n            \"You actually caught me at a good\ntime.\" He sipped on a bottle of Coke in his hand. \"What do you need?\"\n            Mahalia looked back, \"Namara?\"\n            Namara began his list. I need weapons that will make me capable of disabling\ndrones, some tech that'll help me get in and out of tight buildings undetected -\nnot just my invisibility device - and take out several areas at once... maybe\nexplosives. I also need a way to hack the news stations. You get the idea.\n            Theo crossed his arms and leaned back,\nhis eyes widening, \"What in bloody hell are you going to do with all of those\nthings?!\"\n            Mahalia clarified, \"The government\nis putting up towers that will send drones out on anyone who isn't microchipped\nby next week. You and Chomp have to leave the facility before that time or all\nof our research will be destroyed. The sanctuary is compromised, and it may be\nburnt down very soon. Namara hopes to stop this from happening.\" She turned\nback, \"Right?\"\n            Namara nodded but didn't say a word.\n            Theo put one of his hands to his\nforehead, \"I can try. I have a couple things ready that might help, but I wasn't\nplanning them for this...\"\n            Mahalia tilted her head sternly, \"Hey.\nWe need to do this, or all of our efforts will have been for nothing. Humanity\nis going to go down the drain. I'm sure you don't want that to happen either.\"\n            He nodded, \"Yes. I don't. Again, I'll\ntry. Bring yourself and Namara over here so I can give a couple things to him.\nHe'll need time to... adjust.\"\n            Adjust?\n            \"You'll see.\"\n            Mahalia typed a few things in to the\nconsole, \"I'm sending you the entire sanctuary's database. It'll be downloaded\nto the backup drives. Once done, the database will be deleted here and the\npower will shut off. Got it?\"\n            \"Yep.\"\n            \"Alright, I'll see you later. I'll\nbe there with Namara soon.\" She shut off the video, picked up Namara, and\njogged out.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877057-victernus-chapter-6.json"}