Wise Men

Chapter 10

Excuse any paragraph issues--technical issues
--Napoleon

“Rising from the ashes?” A blond woman with more bosom than brain  spoke into a microphone while staring into the news camera. Evidently,  she had caught wind of the newest story, and so had every other major  new station. Like sharks in bloody water, they swarmed.      

“After the  arson of this abandoned building, a mysterious trio has been giving  speeches as to mysterious corruption within our state government.”

That new story was us.      

Perhaps  we were the newest fad, but the sudden hype on blogs, twitter, and  online news sites was beginning to tell me otherwise. Vi had video taped  the last rally and posted it on Youtube. She sat next to me now on the  bunk in her dorm, casually perusing Facebook before moving toward  google's latest take over.      

“Over a million views, Chris,” she  said, a smile blooming like a spring flower on her face. She kept  herself calm on most days, but inside I knew she was jumping for joy and  shouting to her heart's content. In my opinion, she was finally getting  the attention she deserved, even if it was behind a blond wig.    

However,  good press never came alone. There were an equal amount of dislikes on  the videos and hateful slurs written in incomprehensible grammar, even a  few detailed passages on how ludicrous they were. Revelin came by not  five minutes later, oblivious to the positive message and focusing his  emerald orbs on the darker corners of the media.    

Today, a new  ninety-nine cent tabloid was stuck to his fingers. “They're saying we're sexist  because our name has 'men' in it and not 'people.'” He jabbed a finger  at his chest. “Us, sexist. We're trying to liberate the fucking lower  class we'd get absolutely fucking nowhere!”    

Our newest recruit,  Fae, sat on two desk chairs with stocking clad legs crossed on one  chair, while she leaned back with her thin arms crossed over her chest.   

“The stupid is spreading, Revelin. We'll have to stop that epidemic as  well.” Her nose scrunched at the look of the tabloid, below even her odd  tastes in gossip and literature. Vi, huddled in the corner of her bed  with her laptop and its bright, blue-white glow on her face, glanced  over at Revelin from her vantage point.    

“Just ignore them,  Revelin. We're doing something and we're getting noticed.” She spoke  with only half a mind as the other half was spent managing the  exponentially growing facebook page. After tampering with the software  on the computer, I managed make it so anything she did could only be  traced if the signal could be traced through servers across the world. 

It'd take anyone days to unravel it, if they were determined enough.    

To  herself, she murmured the new likes and newest posts, keeping the  numbers locked away in her memory. Able to turn even the most surly of  commenters docile, she was a brilliant PR rep, especially with her  knowledge of social networks. Neither Revelin nor I could have told her  the difference between a tumblr or a twitter.    

“I can't just ignore  it--” he didn't finish his sentence before Vi slammed her laptop shot.  Rolling her eyes, as though Revelin were acting the insolent child, she  took his hand and dragged him out of the dorm. I gave Fae a needed shrug  to which she said, “To each her own,” and followed the pair.

“If I  can't convince you myself, then maybe I'll have to show you.” To the  backdrop of fading stars, she hailed a cab once we reached the street. I  doubted we'd be able to all fit in that backseat, but sure enough, we  did—when all of us took up half of the others laps. Fae, squeezed  between the door and me, didn't complain but blushed slightly after  giving me a weak smile looked out the window rather than at me.