“Okay, enough of this. We need information about the current state of this conflict. We need answers. Are the majority of the fighting force here gangs and not rebels?” I asked.
“You are correct. The real rebels are pushing toward the capital of this world. The Freedom Rangers license my assistant for more sensitive operation.” The underking said.
“That must cost a pretty penny for an underking’s service.”
“2.3 trillion to rally the gangs in this world to run hit and run attacks on military supply lines. You marines, however, are a nick in that plan. This world would have fallen within the year if it wasn’t for you dropping your battle crazed asses here. Since when do marines fight rebellions?” He asked. I couldn’t answer that because marines were mostly used for alien forces.
“He has a point.” Alicia pointed out. “For civil conflicts, it’s usually left for the planetary force.”
“Okay, back to the subject at hand,” I said. “Is the location my general planning to attack, a ganghive, and not the rebel base?” I asked. The underking stared at me silently.
“Remove your helmet.” The underking said. My heart started racing. What would he be up to?
“Why?” Alicia asked, but the underking said nothing. I needed this info. It wasn’t like I had any family or friends that he could hunt after this is all over. I removed my helmet, so he could see my face. His eyes glowed up, and he smiled.
“It’s you!” The underking said. “Facial recognition, voice recognition, and retina scans are all matches.” He said.
“How can you scan all that?” Jerry asked.
“His eyes!” Alicia exclaimed. “They must be cybernetics implants.”
“Yeah, I see,” I said. “You act like I know you, but I’ve never meant you.”
“Remember when I said, we get manpower from gangs, one of the reasons we want manpower is for our warriors. We watch them from childhood as they grow and develop. I remember you, Blu.” He said. My heart dropped, and I reached for my pistol.
“You don't know me,” I warned. He grinned.
“Oh, I do. Blu, you are a born fighter, born from a warrior bloodline.”
“My mother sold me for Blue Dust. I don't care about my bloodline.” I said.
“Blue Dust is extremely potent. It’s one of our best creations. First, hit, and you’re addicted. A mother selling her newborn for it is more common than you think. Plus, I heard your mother got away with your weight in Blue Dust. That’s was a well-struck bargain.”
I snapped and kicked him against the wall. The chair broke under him, and I was thankful we tied the chains around his body. Jerry grabbed me, and Alicia stepped in front of me.
“Relax, he’s trying to rile you up,” Jerry said.
“Don't be mad. The junkie bitch didn’t even get a chance to enjoy it. I heard she was strangled by your dear old man shortly after. Your family was one screwed up bunch.” He said between coughing and spitting out blood. He scooted up against the wall.
“Shut your mouth!” I said.
“Fine, I’ll stop talking about your family. I’m no masochist, but you are a warrior, just like your father and his father, and so on. I wanted you in my army for a long time. You could have been my elite guard. A warrior like you is born once in a thousand generations. One of the best killers I have ever seen in one's youth. Cold, focused, and lucky.
“Your gang was one of my investments. I watched you closely and couldn’t wait until you survive your 20s. That’s when we recruit when boys are in their prime. Then the aliens attacked the world, and I thought you were lost. But you’re here. How about it, Blu, join my ranks.”
“Why would he join you when he’s apart of the military?” Alicia said.
“Why wouldn’t he? Even as a commander, you’re not being paying more than the average working man. With me, you get to fight, fuck, and feast to your heart delight. You’ll come home to a harem of beautiful women. All the food you could ever want. A suite in my estate in Underworld. All the entertainment you could want and so much more. All you’ll have to do is wipe some people from existence when I need it. What do you say, Blu?”
“I say, take your offer and shove it up your ass.” I snapped. The underking snickered, which made me feel little. I looked to Alicia, “Can you get the recording of him admitting the plan is a trap?” I asked.
She nodded. “I got it.”
I glanced to Jerry, “Stay with her. I need to cool off.” Then I stormed out of the room. Everything he said riled me up so much. I didn’t know my mother was dead this entire time, but I didn’t care if she was alive. At least I thought I didn’t. Maybe some part of me was hoping she was still out there so I could give her a piece of my mind or get closure. To think my father ended her as well. What kind of family did I come from? I couldn’t dwell on my past, or I’ll get lost in it. I made my way inside an empty classroom and shut the door.
Most schools were virtuals, but this school was trying a more blended approach. They believed that pure virtualization of school was poor for children's social development. So they took the virtual aspect of it and put it in classrooms. This way, children still had to meet in person at school but digest all their lessons through virtual realities. I didn’t know which was what, but I sat down in one of the virtual chairs. I began tinkering with the pod until I found databases about old world history.
I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I was drawn to famous figures who had a poor upbringing. I found relief when seeing people who had abusive or neglectful parents still make something of themselves.
“How could my mom do that to me?” I said to myself. It was painful to say out loud, but it’s a question that plagued me since my childhood days. I knew the effects of Blue Dust. It allowed people to have pleasurable daydreams. They dreamed it, and it was real to them as they languished in bliss. I have seen so many junkies sniffing Blue Dust and the crazy crap they would trade for a gram.
I swiped through my omniwatch for possible cures for Blue Dust, but the only thing is neuro wiping, where a machine would wipe the addiction from a person's mind. The procedure, however, was costly, with no room for government aid. Maybe my mother had no chance after her first whiff of it and couldn’t help herself.
I found myself going through videos of viddhubb. There were thousands of videos of people surviving Blue Dust, and it gave me a new empathy for my mother. That empathy soon evolved into heartbreak. My eyes watered, and I cried myself to sleep. Maybe Justin had a point. This system the king created was too cruel.
A few hours passed, and I heard the door open. I snapped awake and pointed my pistol at whoever walked through. It was Alicia. She had her hands up and looked frightened.
“We need you to come here,” Alicia said. I rose to my feet and followed behind her.
“What sup, Alicia?”
“This guy refuses to talk unless you are there, and we did everything besides highly unethical means to try to get him to talk,” Alicia said.
“This guy...” I said.
“Tell me about it. It’s like he doesn’t feel pain, like nothing we do can really hurt him even though his life is in our hands.”
“Let’s make him understand that,” I said as we entered the room. The underking was a battered and bruised mess. Jerry leaned on his knees, breathing heavily. It seemed Justin had joined him and was just as winded. I only imagined he was here on some vendetta. Despite the underking appearance, his demeanor was that of a bored man. I watched his eyes glow, and then his jaw reformed itself.
“How are you that unfazed?” I mistakenly asked while looking at him in shock. His eyes met mines
“I don't care what happens to this meat sack. I’ll just grow a new one.” The underking said. We all shared a confused look.
“Huh?” Jerry voiced all our thoughts. The underking grinned.
“He probably just buying time until reinforcements arrive,” Justin said. “I read that book you talked about the underkings. They suppose to h
ave state of the art stealth cruisers that take them anywhere. He’s probably waiting for that ship to save him.”
“Oh, hell no.” The underking said. “My ship is worth hundreds of billions, and right now, a marine battlecruiser sits in orbit. A battlecruiser would annihilate my ship. I won’t risk my cruiser for this meatsack.”
“You said that again. You act as if your body is just some tool you’re using.” Alicia said. The underking snickered once more.
“You see, the final initiation to becoming an underking is mind uploading.” The underking admitted.
“Bullshit!” Justin said.
“Impossible,” Alicia said.
“I’m learning so much gangster lore today,” Jerry said.
“It’s true. Our technological prowess is second only to the first queen herself. We have technologies that the top brass in the government would have considered science fiction.” The underking bragged.
“Then, where are you right now?” I asked.
“Right now, my true self is comfy in my underground bunker on the Underworld. This meat sack you talk to right now has a carbon base, cybernetic brain, and spine that uses quantum entanglement to relay my thoughts from my housing unit.” The underking said.
“I didn’t understand half of that,” Jerry said. I have to admit I was lost along the way but fearful of voicing it.
“He uploads his mind to a computer. That computer remote control the body he is in.”
“Oh, snap!” Jerry said. “That means he really has no fear of what we do to him. This is all a game to him.” Jerry reached closer to him and grazed his finger on his face. “We could carve you up like a pumpkin, and you wouldn’t feel a thing. You are truly untouchable...”
“Jerry...” I warned. Jerry pulled away but didn’t take his eyes off the underking. I understood his feelings more than words can explain.
“Blu...We had no fucking chance.”
“We?” Justin said. I swallowed and started feeling my sweat form on my brow.
“Jerry,”
“No, no, no... These guys are unbelievable. They go to worlds, transform street gangs into fucking underground empires! Then they profit from them as these gangs rape, ravage, and kill worlds for everything they’re worth. And these assholes are so powerful that they live on an uncharted world and virtually immortal. You can’t even rise up against them and take them down. There’s nothing you can do but suffer their power. This is loony!” Jerry said before cackling. Then he whirled on the underking with his pistol, and I leaped to slap his arms. Four bullets went into the wall next to the underking. Again the underking showed no fear or reaction.
I pushed Jerry into Alicia. He was still broken by the way he glared at the underking, but the crime lord showed no reaction to him. I never thought I would come in contact with an underking, the literal architect of all my misery. I wholly sympathized with Jerry's frustration. There’s nothing we can do to these underground titans. We can only suffer them. They have made themselves into permanent powers in the Phoenician kingdom.
“Take him out here, Alicia,” I said.
“Blu, come on, I’ll chill,” Jerry said. “Got so much to ask this bastard.”
“Go,”
Alicia dragged Jerry out with all her strength as he hurled a rainbow of insults at the underking. It looked like all his childhood trauma did leave grave scars on his psyche. A brief silence followed until Justin spoke.
“Doesn’t that bother you,” Justin asked the underking?
“No.” The underking said with no facial or vocal tells. Even if the body wasn’t completely natural, there should be something.
“Care to explain why?”
“Why should I care?” The underking countered.
“Because they are human beings, with feelings, emotions, and pain.”
“Feelings, emotions, and pain are all the same thing. Don't speak in tautology.” The underking said. Justin growled and marched toward him. I intervene, slightly with one arm.
“The millions of people that die every day due to all your underground empires are on your heads. You underkings are the biggest mass murders of all history.” Justin said. The underking glanced at me.
“How do you tolerate this self-righteous child?”
“Child?” Justin echoed.
“I do not care about the deaths of people or people in general. You think anybody who becomes underkings still has their humanity? The only thing that kept men’s evil in check was their own mortality. Underkings are immortal in nearly every sense of the word. We have no fear of death nor judgment of the Phoenician kingdom. The biggest threat is no profit or attack from fellow underking. Life is no different to us than video games.” The underking said. Justin was left speechless. I was not surprised. The leaders of my gang were cold-hearted bastards. Of course, their superiors would be even more heartless.
“Enough of this,” I said as I used my video recording app. “I need you to confirm who you are,” I said.
“I am an underking. I am the supreme leader of the gangs on these planets. My confirmation code is 134829503 in the NTK database.”
“NTK?” I asked.
“Not To Kill…You should be able to understand my importance from there. In this continent's southern hemisphere, most forces fighting are gang members that I rallied under payment from interspace rebel group Freedom Ranger. They are currently reinforcing the local rebellion of this world. They supplied us firearms and told us to keep the marines busy while they negotiate with the high king.”
“What?! The high king is here?” Justin said. I ended the recording. That was all my general needed to know.
“I suppose. That’s what I gathered.” The underking said. “I just know whatever the rebels have here is extremely important to the high king. I’ve been trying to find out more information. Anything the rebels have that force the king off his throne must be amazing.” The underking said. My dreams of being a vindicator may be closer than I thought. If the king is near this world, then I can make an impression.
“This is insane,” Justin said. “The actual king on the world.”
“Not sure if he’s on world, but he’s definitely close. His location is probably secret to all but the top brass of the military.”
“Naturally,” Justin said.
“Okay, we got what we need from you, lights out,” I said as I butted his head with the back of my rifle. He actually passed out. I glanced back at Justin, who was staring at me attentively. He left without saying a word. I couldn’t have had it any other way. After all this, I just wanted to sink some nutrient packs and fall asleep.
Entry 13
Phoenician Date: October 16, 1026AR
Military Time: 08:23
Phoenician Classified World: Alexandria Prime
The general had finally reached out to me after weeks. It turned out that the general had ignored my message and proceed with his attack. He even sent documents to court-martial me upon the ending of this campaign. I ended up sending the message to the warmaster. He deleted those court-martial papers. Now I was receiving an intercom mission from my general and warmaster.
“Good day, commander.” My general said. “Project me on a big screen and call all your squad leaders here. That’s an order.” I clenched my jaw. The guy was still attempting to muscle me. His ego must be bruised that his court-martial orders were superseded by the warmaster.
“With pleasure, general.”
After about fifteen minutes, my squad leaders had all gathered in the room. I projected my intercom call on the wall for everyone to see. It was split in two, with the general on one side and the warmaster on the other. The warmaster spoke first.
“I just want to say, good job, Blu taking the initiative. Unfortunately, someone already commenced the attack on that death trap called a rebel base. How many good marines did you lose in that attack before you swallowed a humble pill and watched Blu’s video evidence?”
“warmaster, I didn’t call you he
re for―”
“Answer the question, general! A lot of good marines died to take a base that had no strategic value.” warmaster said. Watching my general getting chewed out was cathartic. I couldn’t help but smile but quickly straighten my face when the general glanced at me. His skin was flushed as the warmaster lay into him.
“I lost 890 marines and a thousand more wounded..” The general admitted.
“Queen’s tits! That’s enough people to fill a team in War Clans.” The warmaster said. War Clans was a virtual reality sport where people fought medieval battles to conquer each other strongholds. I only recently started watching the sport. It seemed the be the biggest virtual sport in the Phoniecan kingdom.
“I understand, but once you hear why I suspected Blu, you’ll understand my doubts on his message.”
“I doubt that.”
“You see, Blu was raised in a gang.” The general said. My heart stopped in my chest. Everyone was there, and I couldn’t hide who I was anymore. I dare not look at my surrounding squad members. I knew Jerry and Alicia were fine with my upbringing, but what about everyone else? What of Justin? I glanced at the warmaster, who simply facepalm.
“Holy hell, boy! That makes your position even worse. You had someone who had in-depth knowledge of gangs and chose to ignore him. General Pillow Fort, I should be court martialing your ass.” The warmaster snapped.
“This knowledge was discovered later through the video evidence he sent me.” General Plows said. The only good thing about this entire situation was seeing him sweat.
“I didn’t send that,” I said. Then I took a look at Alicia. She shook her head. I turned my attention back to the screen.
“This is more important. He snuck his way onto your legion, my lord. He’s probably feeding them information and causing all our casualties. I request that he be removed from the legion and dishonorably discharged.”
“You can’t do that!” Gary said. My heart skipped a beat. “Despite him being from a gang, he did nothing but follow your orders. He has yet to show signs of treason. Also, isn’t one of the marine corp’s mottos Redemption through service?”
Song of Blu Page 12
