Mockery

It was very unexpected when I barged into Dad’s office in the middle of his meeting, but what I had to tell him about Ezri couldn’t wait. “She’s one of us!” I blurted out with no warning, and once I elaborated, the sheer shock on their faces reflected the gravity of the situation; Ezri is someone up the ladder.

As soon as I said it, all the women in that room were deemed as suspects. A few even had the gall to look at me funny, believe it or not. The only reason that I didn’t go off on them was because it would’ve displeased Dad, who eventually excused everyone to give himself time to think, as well as to talk to me alone.

Now, with the burden weighing heavy on us, I sit across from Dad as he stares out the window, his mind probably plagued with thoughts.

“Dad, let me join the taskforce,” I plead. “I know you think I’m not qualified, but no offense- we wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for me.”

“This is also a matter of your safety. Do you think I’m comfortable with the idea of my daughter hunting down the largest threat we’ve had in over a century?”

My hand clutches on the armrest. I’m not a little girl anymore; I’m 18, perfectly capable of making my own decisions. “You should be, if it’s me we’re talking about. It’s not like I’m some reckless buffoon—”

“Enough,” he silences me. “I admire your certainty in yourself, Calla, but sometimes you need to acknowledge it may not always be warranted. We each have our limits, and I’d rather not test where yours are when the stakes are so high.”

“Fine then, but if you need me to figure anything else out for you, you know where to find me,” my words come out bitterly as I cross my arms and lean back into the chair. Limits? Please, like that matters at this point. Even Lux couldn’t handle the pressure.

Dad sighs, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. He spins his chair around to face his computer, and after tapping a button on the screen, a projection pops up on the wall behind me. It shows a list of Class-A citizens; that is, people who are marked as having strong influence or authority. The IPU keeps record of social status for better supervision. I recognize most of them from the Convention.

“Calla,” Dad says, his voice turning grave. “You must remember that Ezri is not working alone – her followers didn’t appear out of thin air. For all we know, we could be surrounded by conspirators. Who can be trusted?”

“Exactly, Dad. So, shouldn’t you recruit people you know you can trust?”

The way he avoids my gaze tells me everything. He knows I have a good point, but since he’s so stubborn, he’s adamant on not taking any chances. But as the week went on, there’s something I’ve noticed about the mansion; being the temporary replacement of the Headquarters, it’s supposed to be constantly bustling, yet it’s been getting quieter day by day. The numbers only get fewer, which means less people are handling this.

I’m a survivor too, but I’m coping a whole lot better than the “professionals” Dad prefers so much. Why can’t he see that?

“Incoming Call,” a notification reads across the projection. At first glance, it’s nothing out of the ordinary – the president gets calls all the time, after all. But what causes my chest to tighten is where it says the call is coming from… The Headquarters. Dad stares at the wall in disbelief, his finger left hovering over the computer screen. The soft pinging sound echoing from it fills the room as Dad contemplates what to do, but just before the last ring, he answers it.

And then, there she is – Ezri. She even has the audacity to be sitting in the president’s seat. Outwardly, my expression stays composed to match her own, despite my adrenaline pumping – that last part alone makes me frustrated. Nobody else has grated my nerves so much.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Mr. President. Are you alright?” Ezri asks nonchalantly, her chin sitting on her knuckles.

Straightening his posture to appear less uneased, Dad says, “Let’s not waste time with chit-chat. Why have you called, Ezri?”

“Maybe I just wanted to say ‘hello.’ You know, check and see how you are doing?”

I’m almost tempted to throw something at the projectile.

“I doubt that highly. Please, get to the point.”

“You doubt me, do you?” Ezri places her hand over her heart. “Wow, that hurts my feelings,” she teases sarcastically. “But very well, I suppose there is something I’d like to show you.”

Ezri stands up, and someone follows her with the camera to the window. Outside is the familiar lawn surrounding the building, and what should be present are the golems on alert – except they aren’t. The metal frames of the golems lay scattered across the grass. From what I can tell, there’s no sign of damage; they’ve been powered off.

“The Admins’ dead bodies proved to be quite convenient,” Ezri pulls out a tablet and dangles it in front of the camera. It’s the device used by the Admins to control the golems. She thinks she’s clever. Disabling the golems was obviously smart – letting us know she has access to the Admin System wasn’t.

“What will you do now, knowing you no longer have a line of defense?” Ezri continues. “That is my question to you.”

Thanks to her meddling, simply sending more golems to HQ would be useless. As soon as they reach the radius, all Ezri has to do is repeat what she did with the golems already there. Not even a nuke would be viable anymore, since the Admin System can command those as well, along with anything else requiring executive order.

That means, there’s only one option left…

“Ezri, I’m only going to warn you once,” Dad says. “Do not provoke the IPU to take drastic measures. Think about what you’re doing very carefully – you’re a ragtag group of criminals, and we’re the sole power of the world. Do you honestly believe you can defeat us?”

“I do, actually. If you’re as strong as you say you are, then prove it. It should be easy for you to take out some misfits, right?”

Those weapons in storage have been collecting dust, and now it seems they’re finally about to be touched – by human hands, in fact. The idea is unthinkable, yet as Ezri becomes bolder, it gets increasingly necessary.

But Dad’s silence is deafening.

“You disappoint me again, Mr. President. I expected you to have some backbone, but it looks like—”

“So, you got into the Admin System, huh?” I spring out of my chair and march behind the computer, shoving my face into the camera’s view. Dad is completely bewildered, but I ignore him. If he won’t put this woman in her place, then I will.

“Oh, this is surprising.”

“I’m sure you’re well aware of the passcode needed to get in there, and how it’s virtually impossible to hack into. Am I correct?”

“Yes,” she answers.

“That means you’re someone who knows the code, who was also at the Convention. In other words, the list is narrowed down even more.”

Her eyes seem to twinkle with amusement. “And what ‘list’ are you referring to, blondie?”

“Your identity, who you really are – and because of your carelessness, the IPU is another step closer to finding that. Once they do, it doesn’t matter what you try to pull now, because you won’t even exist.”

Ezri slants back, folding her fingers together. There’s nothing about her demeanor that says she feels even remotely threatened, but surely, she’s intelligent enough to realize the importance of what I said – or maybe I overestimate her. Her tone dropping lower, Ezri says, “Instead of targeting me, you’re going after myself in the current year… That’s the plan?”

“It is. Good luck stopping us.”

Ezri laughs in my face. A full on, heartfelt laugh, banging on the table while holding her stomach and everything – like she’s never seen anything funnier in her life. Even whoever else is in the room with her can be heard chuckling. It’s far from the type of response I was hoping for, and certainly not the one that makes me feel any better. How dare she not take me seriously? Does she think I’d actually bluff?

“Hold on, hold on, just humor me for a second. What are you going to do again?” Ezri asks while she wipes away tears.

My hand balls into a fist. “You heard me, we’re going to track you down and—”

Another burst of laughter cuts me off, and I didn’t know it was possible for it to get louder. I’d just love to know what’s so hysterical about any of this. She must be crazy.

“Oh, goodness… I assure you, blondie, you’re in for a very rude awakening. But if you insist on this pursuit, then I won’t prevent you.”