Cinder

4 - Lost and Found

"I am aware that these are troubling times."

Spyglass's voice played over every available screen and communications channel there was, as it often did whenever he had an announcement to make. No longer was he simply the leader of the Remnant Fleet; he essentially held power over the entirety of the frontier, and his declarations were treated as such.

"Let it be known that no problem escapes my knowledge, no matter how large or small. Dealing with each is a process by which efficiency and value must be taken into consideration, and the top of my priorities is eliminating those who would commit treason against peace in the name of freedom."

Gates sighed, not really wanting to listen to yet another propaganda speech, but not having much choice. It's not like anyone could tune the AI out.

"What all who fight fail to understand is that freedom is inherently biased towards violence, towards anarchy. Total peace can only come through total rule, and so long as certain idols continue to live, they will inspire many into rebellion and threaten to destroy what we have constructed."

She paid a bit more attention now. Was he making a move? Some kind of play against them?

"One individual's name has been used as a rallying cry above all others, used a symbol of hope to unite those who oppose us. Their actions in the past have blinded those from seeing the potential for the future, anchored them in a state of reluctance to accept change. As such, I made it my purpose to find them and extinguish the spark that they had unknowingly wrought ..."

He took a pause, and she began to worry. Was he talking about-?

"... Now, that objective has been completed."

Her breath caught in her chest, and she dared not move as fear gripped her heart.

"Tobias Four is dead."

No. This couldn't be real. Ice spread through her chest as she felt the full impact of those words crashing into her.

"He was not a savior, but a man. He is not a martyr, but a corpse. He did not lead you, but rather allowed the idea of him to do so instead. Now, you can see that he was not an untouchable force; he bled, just like any other."

"And think on this; if even he failed ... what chance do the rest of you have?"

...

He's alive.

That was the only thought running through Gates head, and potentially the most important one since his death had been announced over two years ago.

Davis saw what she did, and seemed a bit more apprehensive. "I don't know. There's a lot of people on the frontier, a few of them are bound to be missing the same fingers that he was-"

"And how many of them had Pilot training?" she cut him off, nodding her head towards the screen. "And the gear, and any reason to save me?"

He pursed his lips. "Point taken; but for all we know, it could be a trap."

"A trap?" she said skeptically, unafraid to raise her eyebrow and signal quite bluntly what she thought of that.

He became more frustrated. "Come on, Elizabeth! What are the chances that it'd really be him, after all this time? And that he'd appear at the exact moment you needed it most?"

She sighed. "It'd be nothing short of a miracle, a one-in-a-million chance."

Turning, she stared right back at him and grit her teeth. "Fortunately for us, that's something that Four is well known for."