Rogue. (IN REVISION)

4

Chapter 4

A large man leaned over his desk in his dark apartment that looked over the city. It was silent, the kind of silence that made the ear drums ring as if they were crying out to listen to any sound. He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he looked at the pile of papers in front of him. The numbers were dwindling faster and faster.

"How many came in from The Vendetta?" Benedict asked looking at the clipboard that his second in command handed him. He looked it over and sighed, even lower in inventory this time.

"Five-hundred boxes, Sir." His good friend, Pilot replied to him.

"That's not nearly enough. The Kuni (drug addicts) need more than five hundred boxes of Elate. The flow of drugs is getting weaker, The Kuni will get restless and we can't afford that." He said with stress rising in his voice.

"I know, Sir. The Tomtora have been more watchful of what comes in and comes out of Desolate."

Benedict was a drug merchant, a well known and well feared man who sold Elate to those called 'The Kuni' an underground society that manically refused to embrace the fate of Desolate. They thrived on Elate, an irridescent blue patch that attached to the skin and gave the user an unexplainable feeling of bliss, long term users would literally die of their own 'happiness.' In reality, they died of exhaustion and malnutrition. The drug was mixed with two potent substances, Tripizole and Immortalizine. Tripizole was found inside of engines of the vehicles of Elysium after the fuel had been used up inside, a dark blue powdery substance was left which gave the user hightened hallucinations. Immortalizine was a substance from the seed of the beloved pearls from the pearl tree of Desolate, ground up and mixed with Trip.

The white powder gave the user such an adrenaline rush that they felt immortal and nothing could hurt them. Benedict had only tried Elate once, he had the time of his life for a day but the morning he came down from the high, he plunged into a severe depression. That was the side effect from the simulated happiness, inescapable depression that led most people to their death. After his experience, he decided never to get high off of his supply. Benedict was unfeeling about the situation he had found himself after The Divide, everyone had demons that they were ashamed of. Unfortunately he was dealt a repulsive omen that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He led people to their death by giving them a moment of happiness, better than dying knowing you're really a wreck, right? If they took it they died,if they stopped using it, they died. It was playing with two evils that were equally devastating and Benedict tragically got used to it.

"We'll have to find another means of transport." He said, rubbing his temples trying to focus on a solution.

"What would that be, Sir?" Pilot asked.

"I don't know yet. If we don't find a new means of transport for the Elate soon, we might just have to get back into making them."

"That's risky sir." His comrade replied.

"I know it's dangerous, Pilot. I don't see any other way of going about it, unless by some miracle, the shipment for next month will be innumerable."

Pilot left Benedict to sit at his desk to think, he ran over the blueprints to The Vendetta, a ship that came a few times a month to carry in food and supplies to the needy people of Desolate. Before The Divide, he worked on the ship and sailed to the ends of the earth, hauling in everything from food to people traveling over seas to see their loved ones. He loved his job, it was everything a man could want out of a career. Independence, freedom and no one was rude or angry at each other in the crew. Every morning he had woken up to the smell of the sea and the soothing sounds of the waves crashing up against the boat.

Every night was mystifying, the moon shone brightly in the sky as it cast it's silvery beams upon the calm waters. The ship had finally made dock at his beloved, thriving home of Desolate. He smiled and joined the rest of the crew on the top deck to wave to everyone cheerfully. The cheer was short lived when he had spotted a fleet of robots headed towards the ship, was this really happening? Did The Division Bill actually pass? Their bright blue eyes shined like a swarm of fireflies, busily flying towards the ship.

"Everyone, get off the ship! They're evacuating!" A crewman shouted.

Benedict's heart surged with fright as he was caught in a frenzy crowd running about the deck trying to hide and do anything to stay on the ship. Benedict immediately ran to his cabin and packed everything he could just in case he needed to run, "Pilot!" He shouted outside his cabin door for his roommate. The crew of a thousand ran back and forth, to and fro like horses in a stampede. "PILOT!" He cried. He looked frantically for his dear friend and spotted him up against the wall, inching his way towards his cabin. Benedict pulled him in and clasped his shoulders.

"We have to get out of here, Pilot. The robots are taking the ship."

"I know, what are we going to do? Where are we going to live?" He worried. Benedict looked in Pilot's eyes reassuringly, "We're brothers, correct?" He asked. Pilot nodded. "Then, trust me. Everything is going to be okay. We will figure something out. Pack your things, were leaving."

Pilot fumbled through his things and packed everything he could fit in his knapsack. He grasped Pilot's hand and they both ran through the crowd, trying to find their way off of the boat.

"Ben!" Pilot screamed as a Tomper tried to separate them. Rage filled his core and Benedict beat the robot to the ground until its grip loosened enough on Pilot for him to pull away. "We have to run."

Benedict tightened his grip on his friend and ran off the deck and onto the dock of the shipyard, not stopping until the coast was clear of bots and frightened spectators. Their lives were ruined, taken away as the ship was taken over with bots, shooting anyone who resisted. The only home they knew was now gone, no one could change that, their lives would have to be reinvented and they would have to find a place to live. They would have to find a new job, away from the sea and deal with unknown people. The ones they once called family, scattered amongst the land to fend for themselves.

The men walked along the streets hoping to stumble upon a place to hide from the new and 'improved' Police force. They opened the door to a small shack, quickly entering before it turned midnight.

"Are you alright?" Benedict asked.

"Yeah. Just shaken." Pilot shivered, taking his blanket out of his sack and draping it over his shoulders.

"Sleep, I'll keep watch tonight." He reassured his good friend. Pilot nodded and laid against the dirty floor, trying to close his eyes and block out the screaming from outside.