Ally

"We’ve secured a line with an accomplice," Ed said, clearing his throat, as soon as he entered the room and saw everyone had taken their places behind most of the tables stretched throughout the bar room. Finn, Siri, Lancer, Max, and Iris were all there.

Ed stood at the head, his arms crossed, eyes overlooking the room. He gestured to a small, metallic device on the table, its polished surface reflecting the dim golden light of the candles. It looked out of place in their world of grime and decay- too pristine, too advanced.

They narrowed their eyes at it, having never seen anything like it before.

“What is that?” Siri asked, echoing Iris’s own thoughts.

"It’s called a comm channel," he explained. "Something the nobles use to communicate over long distances. It will allow us to speak to our . . . ally without meeting in person. I just tested it, and now I´ll show it to you."

Ed glanced down at the device in his hand, then held it up. “We have an ally on the inside. Someone with influence. Someone who can help us from within.”

Before anyone could question it further, the device crackled to life, emitting a low hum. A voice followed, smooth and calm as if the speaker was completely at ease despite the gravity of the situation. A murmur of surprise rippled through the room.

"Greetings," a male voice said.

Iris tensed at the sound, her eyes narrowing slightly. She didn’t like this. The voice- whoever it was- reeked of privilege, of someone who had never known hunger, fear, or loss.

"We’re ready," Ed responded, his tone neutral.

"Let´s proceed, then," the voice said. "My name is Kieran Braun. I wish to help you overthrow the Monarch´s empire."

Silence.

"The Braun family," Lancer said, surprised. "He´s of the Braun family. One of the strongest nobles in Arnem! He´s a nobleman!"

 Edward merely smiled, as if expecting this reaction. "Indeed, he is," he remarked. "And he´s going to help us seize control of the city."

Lancer and Finn sat back, exchanging looks. Iris and Siri stared.

"This is madness," Finn said. "I love it!"

Lancer rolled his eyes. "Why should we trust a nobleman? This is beyond stupidity! He´ll bring an entire army of Prowlers down on us within minutes!"

"Trust me, Lance," Ed said. "He´s on our side."

"How can you be so sure?"

The device blinked and vibrated again and the voice, Kieran, answered. "Gentlemen, ladies, I agree with you on the fact that you have no reason to trust me. As far as you are concerned, it is my kind of people who were responsible for your situation in the first place. However, the rebellion has always failed until now because there wasn´t enough organization. With Ed, and you guys, this is about to change."

"Tell me, everyone," Ed said, as the voice stopped. "Wouldn´t it be a tremendous advantage if we had an insider, a spy who is within proximity to the king and the noble ministry?"

"Be that as it may," Lancer said. "A nobleman on our side? That´s crazy! And why the secrecy? Why doesn´t he show his face?"

"Be rest assured, I will reveal my identity as the time comes. I understand your dilemma, however, I am risking my life at this moment for a chance to an audience with you."

"From inside the palace," Max interjected. "We need to raise an army. Recruit rebels. Persuade the other sectors. Aren´t you taking this too safely on your side? We´re the ones facing the tip of the sword . . ."

"I need the rebellion´s help in gathering people. Gathering troops. It would be much more convincing for you to persuade the masses in the poorer sectors, than a nobleman asking them to march towards the castle himself."

"That is a fool´s errand," Lancer said. "We´ve been trying to convince them for decades. We´d be lucky to gather one man for every thousand."

"Which is still much better than just us lot," Ed said. "The goal will be to give as many people as possible enough hope that they are convinced we´re up to something. We want to finally change something. We´ll never be able to gather a bigger army than the Monarch anyway, considering each Prowler is worth at least a hundred men."

"That´s it, the Prowlers," Siri said. "They won´t just sit back and let us destroy their pretty palace. You . . . we´ve been in hiding for such a long time. They´re catching onto us, the moment they decide to send a couple down here, we´re done for."

"I can assure you that you have nothing to fear from me in that regard. Part of my agreement with Edward was that I was to know nothing of your hideout. And the most I know about the location is . . . Sector One. Which is no secret by now I assume."

"In fact," Ed interrupted. "Kieran here will be feeding the ministry fake information concerning the rebellion, to spread out their search throughout the other sectors once again."

"Okay, okay," Lancer said. "Let´s take it we succeed in raising an army of about ten thousand. What else? Unless you want them to throw punches against Prowlers, we´ll need weapons. Obsidian weapons, if we can get our hands on them. We´ll need food. We need a place to hide and train an entire army."

"Will taking control of the elemental trade somehow work against the Prowlers? If they don´t have any . . . tablets to consume, it´ll significantly increase our advantage," Siri said.

"Too obvious," Ed said. "We´ll have to make it seem like an accident. A big one, to be clear. But more than that, we´ll need to neutralize the Monarch´s troops."

"Food should not be a problem," Lancer said. "We´ll multiply our trade and it won´t be suspicious as long as we do so gradually, since it´ll be disguised as a restaurant."

Ed nodded. "Kieran will provide us with the weapons, and we can find and build more at the place where we´ll hide our men."

"And where is that?" Max asked. 

Ed continued after a short pause. "We´re still searching. However, a suitable candidate would be the Ghoul-dominated sectors, since they´ve been desolated and abandoned by the Monarch for years."

"And for a reason," Max said. "All of this sounds way too optimistic. The Ghouls can easily kill those Prowlers like insects! You think we´re a match for them?"

"Not all of us," Ed said. "But we have to make sure . . ."

At this Max tensed a bit, staring Ed in the eyes. 

"What are you suggesting?"

Ed smiled. "I am suggesting that we at least try. We´ll go and scout the area, make sure we can hold an army. Those sectors mainly only consist of factories, since a majority of inhabitants were killed, while the rest moved to other sectors. And after all, Ghoul activity has been quite dormant since the initial attack. Chances are, we´ll come back without encountering any."

"That´s just wishful thinking," Iris thought. But she wasn´t going to interject, not when they were finally going to the outer sector. The sector that contains her home. The sector closest to the Shroud. The sector that, when crossed, will grant Iris the freedom she´s been yearning for. This was a perfect chance, and Ed knew that too. 

"Who´s scouting?" Lancer asked. 

"Well, our chances have never been better," Ed said. "Three Replicants including Iris, assuming she wants to come too."

She knew it. Ed was planning on sending her away. 

 "I´m in," she said promptly.

"I´ll keep things smooth on my end," Kieran´s voice sounded. "Am I to take it that you´re my Proxy, Edward?" he asked.

"Actually," Ed replied. "I´m out quite a lot. Since we need someone between you and our rebellion group, it must be a person who is involved enough to know about our plans, and yet stays available here in the lair."

"I´ll do it," Max raised his voice. "I´ll be the Proxy."

"No," Ed said firmly. "It’s too dangerous. You’ll be putting yourself right in the middle of everything. What if something goes wrong?"

"Ash needs to be safe, Ed. If this means we can secure a future for him, then it’s worth the risk."

Ed looked at him, then sighed in agreement. "Max will handle the negotiations. We’ll ensure that Ash stays safe."

He spoke something quietly in the comm device and then cut the link. Everyone watched as it went dead.

"The plan is set, then," Ed said, standing up from the table. "We’ll move out tomorrow night. Everyone needs to be prepared. This is our only shot."

Iris sat there in the flickering candlelight, her mind swirling with doubt and determination. Tomorrow, everything would change. She just wasn’t sure if it would be for better or worse.