The Beginning of the End

Izumi awoke early, rolled up the futon bed Ralis had let her borrow, and set it in the corner. Next, she tied back her messy hair and dawned her uniform. After doing so, she inched open the door to the rest of the house, moving slowly as to not wake everyone else.

While she knew she’d told Ralis that she would join him and Maki in going to the market that morning, she knew she needed to get back. She snuck into the living room, put on her boots, and started toward the door when the light suddenly turned on behind her. She froze in her tracks.

“Ah,” Ralis’ voice came from behind her. “Going on an early morning walk, Izumi?”

Izumi sighed and turned around. Ralis stood ready for the day with a yawning Maki at his side, still dressed in her nightclothes. “Yeah,” she laughed awkwardly. “Just a walk.”

“How about you wait for us then,” Ralis said cheerfully. “We can all head up to the market together.”

Izumi shivered as the man narrowed his eyes at her, a non-verbal message to stay put. She waited awkwardly near the door as Maki went to get ready and Ralis slipped on his shoes. He didn’t say anything, but Izumi could sense his disappointment.

Once they were ready to go, Ralis led them out and up the street, towards the market. “Maki,” he said, “Do you have our list?”

“Umm-” Maki patted the small pockets sewed into her dress, then pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it into a sheet larger than her face. She held it close, examining it. “Did we need potatoes and soap?”

Ralis nodded. “That’s the one, keep it close.”

Maki folded the map back into its small shape and slipped it into her pocket, patting it twice to make sure it didn’t fall out. “Thank you for coming with us, Izumi,” she said. “Shopping with Ralis is boring.”

“Yeah,” Izumi said scratching her head. “About that, Maki.”

She locked eyes with the girl who seemed to sense what she was about to say and frowned. “What?” she replied.

“I, I have to leave,” Izumi sighed. “I need to get back to my job.”

“Right now? Today?”

Izumi nodded. “I’m sorry. You remember those bad people from the other day?”

“The ones that hurt you?” Maki replied quizzically.

“Yes,” Izumi said gently. “Those bad men want to hurt more people. In fact, they’re going to try to do so this afternoon. I need to stop them.”

Maki looked at the ground sadly as Izumi finished speaking. Izumi felt guilty. This girl obviously looked up to her, in a sense. Was it right to leave her like this?

She shook her head, absolving herself. She needed to stop Tez, he was a threat to society. Leaving Maki and Ralis needed to be done. If she didn’t, how could she stop him?

“I guess if you’re stopping bad guys, that’s okay,” Maki replied.

“Really?” Izumi asked, surprised.

Maki nodded then grabbed her arm. “But promise me you’ll come back to see us after you win, okay?”

Izumi smiled. “Of course.”

They walked together in silence for the remainder of the short journey, enjoying the quiet time together, listening to the sounds of the world waking.

As they walked, Izumi took in the sights of the Lower District. It wasn’t a place she had often been, recently, at least, and thus had missed most of what it had to offer. She remembered the tall multi-level apartments from her time down here as a child. She remembered how the buildings only went up a few stories on the surface but bored deep into the earth as well, allowing dozens of families to live in each home.

As she remembered this, she glanced at Ralis, wondering how the man was able to afford a place of his own. Had he worked within the government at some point? Maybe he was the descendant of a Named Person?

As she thought to ask, a flock of birds flew past, distracting her. She waved her hands at them, trying to shoo them away, costing her a few looks from the people that were up and about. She frowned at Maki as she caught her snickering.

“What?’ Maki asked. “It’s funny.”

Izumi thought about it, smiled, then shrugged. “I looked ridiculous, didn’t I.”

“It happens to everyone,” Ralis said as they passed a long, dark alleyway.

Izumi glanced down to see what seemed to be a hundred pairs of hollowed, desperate eyes looking back. She slowed to look further but Ralis caught her hand, pulling her along. “Don’t,” he said. “It’s not polite to stare at those whose fortune has failed them.”

Izumi gasped. “Those were all…”

“People? Yes.”

Izumi walked in shocked silence. She knew things were bad, but she’d never heard of anything like that. She looked up into the sky, thinking of Lily, of what she must have gone through in order for them to get by. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Soon, they emerged into a far more crowded street than the one they’d been on, and Izumi was forced to grab Maki’s hand to prevent being separated. She gasped as the Wall and Market came into view. She’d seen the wall before, of course, everyone had. However, she didn’t recall ever having visited the market section.

“This place is amazing,” she shouted to Maki, trying to reach her above the noise of the hundreds of shoppers and traders.

All around them, the people bartered, begged, and traded goods. Above them, on the wall, the elevators slid up and down, side to side, between the dozens of stores lining the wall, screeching as they started and stopped, depositing hordes of people at different destinations.

As she followed Ralis to a stall close to the wall, she felt someone jostle her right shoulder. At the same time, she felt a hand slip into her left pocket. Acting on instinct, she let go of Maki’s hand, grabbed the hand in her pocket, spun around, and threw her assailant to the ground with a sharp crack.

Ducking on instinct once more, she flipped the man who bumped her over her and onto his comrade. The crowd parted instantly. Izumi heard shocked gasps all around her.

She ignored them, stepping forward and kneeling next to the men on the ground. The first one she’d thrown was out cold. The second was rubbing his head. “What’d you do that for?” the man asked.

“Cut the crap,” Izumi replied. “You were trying to rob me, weren’t you?”

The man’s eyes dashed around frantically as the crowd grew. “Please,” he whispered. “We’re just trying to provide for our family.”

Izumi narrowed her eyes, watching the man carefully. She grabbed his wrist, feeling out the vein there. “Say it again,” she commanded.

“Come on,” he said. “The police are gonna-”

“Say it,” she said firmly, pressing on his arm.

“Ow!” the man yelled, “Fine, fine.”

He took a deep breath— Izumi felt his pulse start to slow slightly. “As I said, we need food for the rest of our family. We’re out of money. My brother and I just wanna help them, okay?”

He glanced behind her. Izumi turned to see a girl not much younger than her. She held a small infant in one arm while restraining a smaller girl with her other. She sighed and stood up, pulling the man to his feet. “You should know better than to rob a soldier,” she said.

Izumi saw his eyes widen. She ignored him and looked at the other man, boy, she now noted, lying on the ground. “Where's your parents,” she asked as he began to stir.

“Taken,” the boy said.

Izumi narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

The boy glanced around at the crowd. The man, his brother, nodded. He continued. “Last night, though I thought you’d know being a soldier and all.”

“Who took them?”

The boy sat up. “The soldiers, who else? Our parents are Revived, and because they were Revived, they’ve been taken.”

“What?”

Izumi looked around at the crowd and found that the faces were not directed at the boys but her. Faces of anger, of hate, of distrust. What’s going on?

At that moment, Ralis broke through the crowd, led by Maki. He grabbed her arm, whispering in her ear. “I just found out myself,” he said. “Come on.”

He pulled her away from the boys, from the crowd, watching their angry faces, their fearful faces until Ralis pulled her onto a side street, away from the crowd.

“What’s going on,” she asked. “Those boys said-”

“Shush,” Ralis said. “There’s been no official announcement yet, but it seems the Revived are being drafted.”

“Drafted? What for?”

“Use your head, Izumi,” Ralis shot back. “Why do you think? What force could possibly beat Tez’s own?”

“Oh no,” Izumi whispered. “But isn’t this what Tez wants? Distrust? What are they thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Ralis replied. “I asked someone and apparently the Revived are going to be paid, but still… they’re all being pressed into service.”

“All of them?”

Ralis nodded. Izumi looked at Maki. “Surely not everyone,” she said.

Above them, in the sky, a swarm of drones flew past, catching Izumi’s attention. “Those are broadcast drones,” she said, stepping past Ralis to get back into the square.

The drones threw trash and dust into the air, drawing several shouts from the shoppers. The drones formed together into a large array, projecting a 3-D image into the air, the symbol of the nation— two large herons wrapped around a cherry tree, holding a ribbon in their beaks, which, in turn, held together a bundle of scrolls.

“ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS. ATTENTION ALL CITIZENS,” a woman’s voice echoed from the drones. “All Revived are required to report to the nearest security station for registration. I repeat, all Revived, must report for government registration. To those qualified, a reward of fourteen months standard pay will be given.”

“Fourteen months?” someone in the crowd shouted. “That’s absurd! Where’s that for me?”

“Any Revived who fail to report,” the voice continued, “Will be forcefully registered and face imprisonment and fines.”

“That’s ridiculous!” someone else called.

Within the crowd, Izumi saw a stone fly into the air, smashing one of the drones.

From across the marketplace, Izumi saw the unmistakable gray uniform of the security forces emerge. They forced their way into the crowd, tackling the man who threw the stone to the ground. One of the civilians grabbed the officer, punching them straight across the face. In a moment, they were all at each other’s throats.

Izumi backed into the alley, turning to face Ralis and Maki. “We have to get you out of here,” she said.

Ralis nodded, pulling Maki close. “Where do we go?”

Izumi looked outside the alley. Things were heating up. “I don’t know,” she said. “Your house?”

“Too far,” Ralis said, “but I have an idea.”

Izumi nodded. “Then let’s go.”

***

“In just a few hours,” John said to Mire, “This will all be behind us.”

The car bumped and jostled, but John felt calm. Their plan was going well. A force was already being gathered at the mansion of the most trusted Revived from the bunch they’d grabbed during the night. The rest were imprisoned, waiting to receive payment for “registering.”

“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind, John,” Mire said cautiously. “I don’t know if this is right.”

John sighed. “I added the extra order, Mire, because think about it. Tez’s group is full of Revived. What if there are more of his group among the rest of them? What would we do then? We can’t kill them, not yet. This is the best we can do.”

Mire narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to imprison them all, then? For how long?”

John shrugged. “For as long as it takes.”

“John,” Mire said.

“No,” John shot back. “I’m President, aren’t I, Mire? Doesn’t that mean that I, not you, have to lead this nation? I took an oath, and I will uphold it.”

“Then what’s your plan?”

“As I said, we’ll hold them until this little revolution is over. Our army will defeat Tez, then life can go back to normal for everyone.”

Mire crossed his arms. “Your fears are valid, John, but is it really right to punish an entire group of people for the actions of a few?”

“What’s right doesn’t matter right now, Mire,” John said as the car came to a stop in front of the estate the party was being held. “We have a mission to accomplish and a society to save.”

He swung open the door and slid out of the car before Mire could reply. “I’m sure the Named will agree with me,” he said in finality before closing the door.

“I’m sure they will,” Mire sighed. “And that’s what worries me.”

After a moment, he exited the car and followed John into the building, observing the numerous forces of Revived and normal security posted around the estate. “Maybe Tez is right about some things,” he said. “Maybe our society, at least some branches of it, are dead.”