• I’m not going to lie; I’ve never been much of a hider. That’s why it was of no surprise to me when I was found.

    “Git over here, yah filthy rogue,” I heard one of the agents yell across the abandoned supply depot, my temple of refuge.
    Amazing, I’m the rogue and they can’t even use proper grammar for their lives.
    So the thought may have crossed your mind. Who am I and why am I in this position? Well the answer, or answers, are actually quiet intricate and I won’t even pretend I know what is going on fully.

    My name is Ariel and I live in a city called Deva. Deva is a typical city ran by an evil duet of dictators. Maybe not so typical, but Deva is home none the less, for one reason only. That reason being, no one has even seen outside city limits. From life to death, every moment of your life is spent within the towering metal walls of the city. That explains the majority of who I am, but what about the former question, eh?

    In the city of Deva, you are implanted with a Locatory Chip at birth, a way that the city can track every move you make, lock onto you easier with cameras, control your thoughts and emotions, and most of all control your purchases. Cameras are placed at every corner of the city, which is unfortunately kept under a fluorescent light at all times, so night or darkness hiding is a no-go. The only dark we know is our eyelids. Your every emotion and thought is sent to a master computer held by The Mission’s Operatives. Imagine the control required to control your emotions. The theory behind this is for revolt, war, or murder to take place, a strong feeling of hate is required. That’s what the mission believes and would gladly imprison anyone who went against that. But more about The Mission later. To make a purchase, a supplier should plug his or her purchase modulator into the back of a person’s neck, into a small USB jack which transports all transactions to The Mission’s headquarters. A USB jack that I don’t have. I’m the only human within this city that wasn’t born within city limits. I’m not sure where I came from, but the only absolute is I don’t have a chip, USB jack, or any place in this city, which explains my term of Rogue. Back to the events at hand.

    “This is inhumane, a huge demeaning of my rights as a citizen… as a human!” I shouted as the Agent grasped my wrist ever-so tightly and pulled me harshly to the awaiting HTV. (Hover Transfer Vehicle)
    “Enough screaming and squirming yah nasty rogue,” the Agent who grasped me yelled to me.
    The end of his sentence was the last thing I heard before they jabbed me with the Nano-Needle, the cool liquid/robot mixture surged through my blood and I fell to the ground.

    Time passes even when you aren’t there, which is unfortunate for me, I’m a bit of an information freak, meaning I need to know everything that is going on in my immediate area.

    I awoke with a stir in the lap of a stranger. I tried to sit up fast, but tricked my weak body into thinking I could. I fell back to the leg of the stranger, obviously male. I glanced up, through half open eyes. The man’s long fangs sparkled immensely in the over-head light. We were outside, but there was no doubt I was in Government custody, why else would I be in the arms of a soldier. But things didn’t add up. Soldiers were usually less than ready to touch anyone other than their enemy’s throats.

    Time that I explain more to you. Soldiers in the army of Deva were all spliced or combined with animal DNA and by the look of this soldier, I’d have to say he was made up of half human and half snake DNA. The large fangs and smooth skin were a near dead give-away. Unlike the agents, they never interfered with citizens, much less Rogues like myself. A contrast to the silence broke my train of thought:

    “Try your hardest to keep awake, it’d be best for your head,” the man, or creature, spoke.

    “I-I-I uhh--- where am I?” I sputtered out, in shock of the broken silence.

    “Gilbreth Street, actually,” he smiled calmly as he spoke.

    “Are you… Are you waiting for back-up?” I asked horrified.

    “Hardly, I just saved your life. I suggest you try to keep quiet, my work shan’t be in vain,” he whispered as two shadows passed where we were, or what I could now make out as an alley.

    “Why would a mindless soldier like you save me? I mean, honestly, aren’t you like the government’s mind slave?” I said inconsiderately.

    He calmly turned his head and revealed the back of his neck behind his hair. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a destroyed USB port and a horrible scar on the back of his head.

    ********************************************************
    My eyes shot open. I pulled a strand of blonde out of my eye and then tried to lift my arm, yet to no avail. Apparently, from what I gathered in my half-alive state, I was being carried like a child. I glanced up towards the face of my carrier, even though I was sure I knew who it was. The sharp angle of his jaw and angled features of his face game him the look of a snake, and a man, an intimidating man.

    “I’d prefer you’d stop staring,” he said tensely.

    “I’m sorry, but that’s all I can really see at the moment. If you angled my he---“ my request was broken mid sentence as he dropped my upper body and my head dragged just inches from the rode.

    “PICK ME UP!!!” I screamed at him.

    His brute strength proved useful when grabbed my hand and lifted me to my former position. My eyes fell back to his neck.

    “So where exactly are we going? And why don’t you have a USB, and where did that scar come from?” I asked curiously.

    “All in due time, girl,” he answered calmly.

    “So what? Why not tell me now?”

    “Because we are not alone.” he finished. And that shut me up for a while.

    I couldn’t help but ponder the reasons for his maimed USB and the huge scar that dominated the space most call a neck. But that was the least important of my unanswered questions. Where was I going? What happened after I blacked out? Why did this soldier claim to not be part of the government, and more importantly, could I trust him? Things rushed through my head until finally the silence was once again broken.

    “We’re here. I believe you can walk? Am I correct?” he asked politely.

    “Yeah, yeah I think so.”
    And with that he set me down. He glanced my way and motioned for me to follow him. A quick glance around the area and a few street signs led me to the conclusion that I must have been in a Nurture-Zone, a place where they keep newborn babies and their mothers.

    “Why are we here?” I whispered angrily.

    “Shut up,” he replied harshly.

    And with that he grabbed my hand and led me to the house we were already approaching. I’m not sure why but the interaction made me flush harshly, but a quick wipe of my brow and pat on my cheek calmed me down as I followed the man.

    “Who are you?” I asked, still angry in confusion.

    “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” he whispered hastily, now he seemed frustrated, almost nervous.

    When we finally reached the door, he slowly cracked it open, and slid us both through. I didn’t make a noise, even when I cracked my toe on the edge of the metal door. All the lights in the house were turned off, but the fluorescent glow of the windows still lit up the house.

    “We can talk,” he said calmly.

    “What about Nurture-Cams?” I asked of the programmed cameras in each house in the city of Deva.

    “This appears to be the only place I’ve found where the camera’s don’t work, the only place in this city,” he answered.

    “So there are absolutely no cameras at all in this house?” I asked excitedly.

    “No, there are cameras, they just don’t work, see that light on the camera? It should be green, but it’s just a dull yellow. I think they have yet to hook these cameras up to the main server.

    “Are you telling me that this house is unfinished?” I asked in awe.

    “Yes, technically. It’s a huge offense for us to be in here, but since neither of us have Locatory-Chips, they can’t locate us, or track our movements,” he replied with a matter-of-factly voice.

    “Speaking of that, what happened to your chip, your USB, and more importantly what is your name? Scratch all that, just tell me anything you know about yourself,” I questioned.

    “Name’s Zane, yourself?” Zane replied.

    “Well,” I started, “My name is Ariel.”

    “Well, Ariel, My name is Zane, and I’m a former member of the Deva Army. Since it seems to be of such interest to you, I lost my chip during my first shedding, and the USB, well, I destroyed that during a bit of a battle,” Zane explained.

    “Shedding?” A shudder ran down my back. I already knew that snakes shed, and it was of common sense that Zane would too.

    “Yes the shedding of my retired skin,” he said all too casually.

    “Yuck. But explain to me, how did I get here, I remember being in the hands of an Agent of The Mission’s, how did I get with you?” I inquired.

    “I guess you could say that I kind of saved you. I wasn’t aware there was anyone in the city that lacked a Locatory-Chip, or even had a destroyed USB. But it seems that you never even had a USB,” he began, “I sort of need more people like myself… for reasons I’ll inform you of later.”

    I was about to respond when I noticed how tired I still was.

    “Get some rest, and talk to me in the morning,” he commanded.
    .*~.*~.*~
    To be continued.