The Revived

“President, sir, we’ve found something.”

Four hours after the attack, President Clay and the military were finally gaining control of the city again. Tez had disappeared in those hours, along with all trace of his forces. In total, his attack had resulted in the casualties of thirty-seven Named. The riots in the Lower District, however, had been just as bad, worse even. Ten soldiers lost along with two hundred and twenty-six civilians.

John was ashamed. It was his actions that had caused this great calamity and it was his hands that needed to heal it. “President?”

John glanced up, hiding his face in his hands. “What do you want, Jefferson? Now isn’t the time for stupidity.”

Jefferson frowned slightly, but straightened himself, placing an envelope on the table. “That was uncalled for, sir,” he said, marching out of the room.

John sighed and opened the envelope lazily. What’s the point? He thought. Tez won.

In the envelope was a two-page report. John began to glance through it when something caught his attention. “Impossible,” he said, dropping the report and rushing out of the room.

***

Ralis wiped the sweat from his head and settled down slowly into a seat. “Can we continue like this?” he asked Father Prosbin.

“We have to,” Prosbin replied, handing Ralis a cup of tea before sitting down to rest in his own chair. “Where’s Maki?” he asked.

Ralis shrugged. “She was playing with the children last I saw her. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“She is a bit unusual,” Father Prosbin noted. “Of course,” he continued, seeing Ralis’ expression, “I don’t mean that in a bad way, she just seems to have a bit of an older soul than others.”

“I’ve noticed,” Ralis replied quietly. “I think it's everything she’s been through. She’s lived too rough a life. She’s been through far too much for one her age.”

“It’s people like her that the world really needs though,” Prosbin retorted. “People that know what it’s like to be alone, to be hurt. That know pain. That said, it’s awful, but at the same time, maybe through her experiences, and those like her, we can learn and build a peaceful world.”

“Wouldn’t that be something?” Ralis chuckled. “Do you think the Revived age?”

Prosbin shrugged. “It’s only been a few months since Maki’s returned. I can’t say I’ve seen a physical difference, but she has matured mentally. Why?”

Ralis shrugged, “Just wondering…”

“Wonder later,” Prosbin said, rising to his feet. “We’ve got things to do.”

“I’m just glad they got the riots under control,” Ralis replied. “I’ll be able to go get some more supplies tomorrow.”

“Take as much money as you need when you do,” Prosbin smiled. “And take some of those Revived men with you. They look like they need a workout.”

As the men started back into the chapel, Maki came running up to them. “I told you she was fine,” Ralis said.

Prosbin smiled. “Of course,” he said, before walking towards a woman waving him down.

“Come look,” Maki said, as she approached, grabbing Ralis’ arm and dragging him towards the front door.

“What is it?” he asked, letting himself be pulled along.

“You just have to see,” she replied, pushing open the front door of the chapel with the help of a few other children her age that were gathered there, waiting for her.

In the eerie light of the moon and dying fires, it was snowing. Ralis smiled as he watched the flurries fall, dissipating the smoke and quelling the embers of the fires. “See,” Maki exclaimed. “Isn’t it pretty?”

Ralis agreed. There was a strange beauty to it all.

***

Alone.

Why? Mire thought, clutching his head. Why? Why? Why?

He stared into the flames of his fireplace, wishing that they’d burst from their confines and consume him. He thought about throwing himself in, but whenever he moved to do so, he froze. He couldn’t, not yet. He still had a mission to complete.

The Revived. They needed to pay. It was their fault.

He stood and paced the room. We lost. I lost. I lost everything, he thought, as his steps echoed through the silence.

He paused by the window, struck with a sudden idea. He grinned. “Arden,” he called, summoning his head of security.

“Yes?” the man questioned, entering the room.

“We have a bit of work to do. How many men do you think it would take to work the field?”

“Depends, what do you plan to do?”

“I intend to plant it. Tonight,” he said, turning to face Arden.

The man paled at the request. “Tonight, sir?”

“Tonight,” Mire confirmed. “Spare no expense, just get it done.”

“Of course, sir,” Arden bowed, “but what do you intent to plant?”

Mire’s grin grew.

***

Watson forced her way into Tez’s office, kicking the door open as she passed the guards. They didn’t try and stop her. Tez raised an eyebrow at her as she entered. “What?” he asked. “Do you not appreciate what I’ve done for you?”

“We lost Reis and Mirus in that attack, Tez, along with half our soldiers-”

“Is that what this is about?” Tez interjected sternly. “We have more now.”

Watson leaned forward, slamming her fist into Tez’s wooden desk. “I don’t care,” she said, “Revived aren’t supposed to die, Tez. What happened?”

Tez stood, meeting her gaze with furious intent. “Do you not think I’m angry too? Do you not think I want revenge?”

“I-”

“Shut up,” Tez snapped. “I didn’t think they would die either but now we know. We’ll need to be careful from here on out. The Goddess has revealed to me that there is a certain point at which a body becomes beyond repair. Once you’ve crushed it enough or melted it, frozen it, whatever, it becomes unusable. Those points of extreme are ones we must avoid, so for tomorrow’s attack, we’ll need to move carefully. Take their explosives first, then we can complete the rest of the plan.”

Watson frowned. “Why didn’t She just tell us before.”

“Do you think Mirus would have blown the building himself if he knew he could still die? Would Reis have fought trained soldiers knowing that enough bullets could rip him into unrepairable shreds? No. You can’t have fear in an army, Watson. You need soldiers who obey without question, without fear.”

“What about you?” she replied. “Aren’t you afraid now?”

Tez grinned. “Very, but I trust Her. She’ll get us through.”

“What is the plan tomorrow anyway?”

Tez sat back down. “We finish our mission.”

Watson frowned. “But what is our mission exactly, Tez? I know my goal, but what’s yours? Is it really to reshape society? Is this really the best way?”

Tez sighed. “Fear, Watson. Fear. Don’t let it stop you. Everything is going exactly as planned, trust me. Even Reis’ capture and Mirus’ death were part of it. Trust Her.”

“Of course,” Watson replied sourly, marching from the room. “Why wouldn’t I?”

She stomped back to her room, throwing herself on her bed, thinking of the day, of what had happened. What she’d become. I really am a monster, she thought, then began to laugh.

***

Izumi was tired. Her body ached as it had never ached before. She tried to sit up but found her strength lacking. She glanced out the window to her right and realized that she was back in the capitol, in the hospital building there.

A woman sat in the chair to her left, asleep. She seemed familiar, but Izumi wasn’t sure why. Instead of trying to think about it and making her migraine worse, she stared out the window, watching as snow began to settle on the tops of the houses and buildings of the city.

She sighed to herself as she remembered Tez was out there, somewhere. She’d failed.

Beside her, the woman began to stir. Izumi turned to face her. “Oh,” the woman said as if surprised to see Izumi awake.

Izumi smiled. “Do I know you?” she asked.

The woman shook her head then paused. “Possibly,” she said. “You know my husband.”

Izumi stared at the woman, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar, then it clicked. “You’re Martha,” she said. “President Clay’s wife.”

The woman nodded. “Correct.”

“But, why are you here?” Izumi asked, trying to sit up.

Martha set her hand on Izumi’s arm. “Rest,” she said, gently pushing Izumi back into the bed. “I just came to thank you.”

“For what?” Izumi asked, confused.

Martha smiled. “I saw you fighting him,” she said. “You and you alone fought him, all of them, for our sake.”

“There were others,” Izumi replied.

“But not at first,” Martha said. “I just hope that someday I can repay you for what you’ve done, not just in saving me, but my husband as well. He means the world to me, even if he does make mistakes sometimes.”

Izumi smiled back. “I’m glad I could help.”

Martha nodded and stood. “I have to go now, but if you ever need anything, Izumi, I’ll be here for you.”

Izumi smiled until she left the room, then let the smile fall from her face. Despite what Martha had said, Izumi knew, she had failed.

***

“I can’t believe it,” John said, staring at the images projected on the screen. “How did we not find this sooner?”

“They’re very small,” Jefferson replied. “Even our best microscopes had a hard time seeing them.”

“Incredible,” John whispered. “And this is what’s driving them? How they live?”

Jefferson nodded. “We’re pretty sure, although, despite this, we aren’t any closer to figuring out how to stop them. We’ve theorized that enough destructive power might do it, as well as extreme temperatures, but beyond that, we have no clue.”

“Hmm,” John hummed, observing the screen. “Do they react to anything? Magnets? Electricity?”

Jefferson shook his head. “No, not that we’ve seen. We got them to buzz a bit around really high voltages, but beyond that, nothing really affects them.”

“Who would have known,” John said staring at the thousands upon thousands of microbots swarming before him. “Can you figure out what’s controlling them?”

“No,” Jefferson said, “but not for a lack of trying. Granted, we’ve only discovered this earlier today…”

“That’s fine,” John said. “Just keeping looking into it.”

“Of course,” Jefferson said as John left the lab.

“Tez can control them,” he whispered to himself, thinking of what he’d seen at the party. “Tez and his soldiers… but how?”

But still, he thought. To think that there was technology this advanced, capable of bringing the dead back to life… it’s incredible.

As he started back into the hallway, he made a call. After the events that evening, he knew what had to be done, and now, he knew how. “Commander,” he said as the man answered.

“President,” the man replied.

“We know how to destroy them.”