Chapter 13

After a shower Lena found her clothes washed and folded. She followed her host to some sort of communal eating space. The stores were slim but her meal left her satisfied. She learned that the stone passages once functioned as extraction mines. Minerals made their way towards the coast to be refined and shipped. However, the mines had fallen into ruin, abandoned for a century.

That is until recently. Verus had been recognized as illegal by the Grand Committee of Zarmina. Numerous associates of Verus had outstanding warrants for murder, abduction, fomenting rebellion, and various hate crimes against synthetic humans. They had feared a raid and followed rumors of a vast mining complex north of Rhod. Verus repurposed the complex, using its remote and impregnable location to their advantage.

Lena soon found the media outlets had grossly exaggerated Verus’ numbers and influence. From what she had seen on broadcasts, she assumed Verus’ member count reached into the thousands. In reality it amounted to a few dozen, and nearly every month another member scavenging for supplies was lost to local law-enforcement patrols. Verus did their best to stay hidden and apart from society, surviving on the diminishing supplies that remained in the facility.

“Lena, we must leave here soon. I will answer your questions once we are underway,” her captor said.

Moja, the dark skinned woman who had interrogated Lena, sat across from her at the table. Although Lena pried about their practices, Moja spoke cautiously and gave away very little.

“So, where are you taking me?” Lena asked, finishing the last bite of her canned peaches.

“You will be taking us,” Moja corrected. “to Vogt,” she added.

“What’s in Vogt?” she said through a mouthful of food.

“I will explain in time. Just know it is imperative to our cause.”

“Hold on,” Lena interjected. She pointed her fork at Moja. “I still don’t understand what your cause is. You never told me why you people commit all these crimes against synths. I mean, I’m not necessarily pro-synth, but I also don’t go out of my way to stop people from making their own choices.”

Moja was silent for a moment, meeting Lena’s gaze. “Neither do we.” Moja stood up and walked out of the room.

Lena sat alone for a moment in silence. Moja called her from outside the room. “Are you coming?”

Together, they walked down a narrow stone-hewn corridor. It soon opened to a vast chasm where the walkway turned to a bridge that spanned its unseen depths. Upon reaching the other side, they again entered into a narrow passageway. Grimy lights suspended from the ceiling cast light upon a metal-grid walkway. Moja stopped at a window clouded with ages of dust. In the room beyond, two young men around Zark’s age practiced a balancing exercise. One of them possessed shaggy black hair and a crude mechanical left leg.

“Who is he?” Lena asked.

“Kenny. I asked him to travel to Vogt on a recon mission. He returned…barely,” Moja said, her voice heavy with regret. She watched the two men. “His skill in operating a motor vehicle proved insufficient.” Moja turned to face Lena. “He was involved in a collision in Vogt. It angered the wrong people. Once they found he was unlicensed and Verus, they assaulted him…nearly at the cost of his life.” She turned back to the window. “He managed to make it back to the vehicle and return after a couple of strangers stepped in to save him. We did not have the resources to save his leg from infection, however.”

Lena watched the two men. Kenny was attempting to balance on his prosthetic.

“But his mission was not in vain,” Moja continued, “I trust his information to be true.”

They watched Kenny mimic the acrobatics of his instructor. Lena’s head buzzed. Moja spoke again. “I do not mean to keep you in the dark, but there is much you do not know or understand.” Lena nearly responded, but thought better of it. Moja led her further down the passage.

“Years ago, before the Seven Sectors were established, I studied as a geologist. The UN commissioned us to take samples from select locations around the planet. Our main purpose was to determine the age of various geological periods in the planet’s history. On one particular assignment, we were sent to a remote location on the antisolar side. In the barren ice fields of Stiria. This site was unlike any of the others we had been assigned to.”

“What was so different about it?” Lena asked.

“The briefing we received told us that an anomalous formation had been picked up by satellite imaging within the desolate ice plains. They wanted testing done in and around it. We soon determined that the formation had not been the result of erosion or weather patterns.” Moja went on to describe how a colossal geometric structure rose from among the vast expanse of ice sheets. The structure was visible against the eternal night sky from kilometers away.

“What was it?”

“We were never certain. We concluded it to be both ancient and new.”

Lena remained silent. Moja continued. She was still unsure how any of this justified the bigoted practices Verus committed against synths.