The Purging

State of Emergency

CHAPTER 26

Theo comes careening into Dr. Stein's lab with a terrified look on his face. He slams his laptop down in front of her, “I think we have a serious problem. Look at this.” While doing his daily review of the postings on bloodwillflow.org, he's come across a brand new video. One under the banner 'Judgement falls upon the Angelista Corporation'.

“When was this video posted?”

He points to an icon in the upper right hand corner, “It's a live feed.”

A single man stands hunched over in the centre of the frame. His flowing white robe obscures most of him from view. The few parts of him that are visible flicker softly with a faint orange light. In the background, a crowd of heavily armed mongrels and vampires brandish their weapons at the camera. A voice from behind the lens says, “We're on. Do your thing, weirdo.”

The man slides his hood back to reveal a pair of smouldering red eyes. Smoke billows from his mouth as he begins to speak, “I am Micheal. Like the archangel that is my holy namesake, I bring the flames of judgement upon mankind. Today, that judgement falls on Archibald Angelista. The cowardly usurper who believes that he has the right to challenge the will of God shall be brought to account.”

The camera moves in a slow circle around him. The landscape behind the speaker is all very familiar to Jakoba, “They're clearly in Seattle. Get me a fix on their position.”

Theo works feverishly away at a computer trying to get an idea of where the transmission is coming from. Extrapolating how high the video is being shot from, combined with the surrounding structures yields quick results, “It's Two Union square. They're on the roof. Think we should dispatch drones to intercept?” Stein shudders to think of what will occur if the drones are sent in. Their standard hyper aggressive tendencies would almost certainly result in the destruction on Seattle.

“No! Have them set up a perimeter but do not let them engage. If they fire on the channel, he'll explode. Occupy them holding back the foot soldiers. Sound the full alert.” Alarms wail at deafening volume throughout the base. Hundreds of drones are mobilized to set up a two block perimeter around Two Union square. At the very least, the mongrels would not be allowed to roam free in the city. All available units are called to the lab and Theo pulls Ben out of stasis.

Jean and Natsuko burst into the room seconds later. Jean cracks his knuckles “What do we have?”

Theo brings the image up on the main view screens, “Take a look.”

Natsuko recognizes someone on screen immediately, “In the background, look who it is directing the soldiers. It's Balder.”

The video feed has been streamed right to Ben from the instant he regained consciousness. He assumed it would take time and effort to seek out his revenge, but his enemy has done him the favour of showing up on his doorstep. Number one forty seven is desperate for payback. He screams at Theo over the comms, “Get me to the fucking surface! NOW!”

“Don't be stupid Ben. We can't just rush in blind here. We need some kind of plan. Our primary concern has to be finding a way to deal with the channel.”

Stein has a contingency plan already in place for such an occasion. Send a channel to deal with a channel. Mo might be able to buy time so civilians can evacuate. She calls down to the research lab, “Mo, this is what we've been preparing for.”

With calm resignation, Mo responds, “I know. Let me out of this cage and I'll see what I can do.” The enclosure surrounding him falls away and the Tesla coils shut down. For the first time since he arrived, the safety protocols are off. No more buffers. A solemn prayer is uttered quietly before setting out into the city proper. He needs the guidance of Allah now more than ever.