The Abandoned Chapter 2

Chapter 2. C.J.

Earth- Raton District

 

         C.J looked at the remnants of yet another destroyed ship from Arkacia.

“Damn it! How could they shoot at them?! They were leaving! Those damn rich b******s!” she pounds her fists on the now cooled black metal. Every few months she, along with all the other branches of Archive send a cargo pod of sickly people to get treatment from IAON. However, every time, maybe one will make it in, illegally of course, and are shipped back to earth once captured. The rest are killed by the Arkacian Council and their weapons.

         “C.J! Stop! Take it easy, this isn’t your fault! Those people knew the chances and risks. They knew the percentages and numbers. They decided to go on a practical suicide mission. This has nothing to do with you. Please C.J”

         “Raphe…” C.J looked over at her best friend. He had always been there for her. They grew up together in this district, and he was by her side when her parents died. As he always says, he will stay by her side until she dies. The Raton District of earth was hit with an epidemic that wiped out nearly half of all the humans living there. Her parents died, and Raphe’s younger sister did too.

Raphe gently took C.J’s hand and guided it away from the ship. “please C.J. You’re going to overdo it again.”

C.J left the ship and walked towards her building where she and the rest of the Raton District Archive members stayed. It used to be an orphanage, 100 years ago before everything went to hell. Funny how this place still seems to house the orphans. C.J thought to herself. No matter what happened, Archive had been there for her, and she will always be there for them too. Raphe followed her inside and watched her carefully, looking for any signs of an oncoming attack. C.J may be the leader and figurehead of Archive, but she isn’t exactly the most physically strong.

C.J walked over to her station where tons of massive screens showed numbers upon numbers endlessly scrolling. She sat down and began to type: My fellow Archive rebels. Today I saw the remnants of a ship I had sent into space to try and use the resources that IAON have. They shot it down when the captain turned the ship around to return home. Cowards! While IAON is a masterful creation, those who think they are higher than us keep it for themselves. Did you know? I hacked a conversation earlier on and found out that they’re scared of getting sick. They’re terrified of the Earth and of us down here. That’s why they stay up in their fancy space ship judging us like gods when they’ve never had to work hard like us. Keep doing what you do best. Survive. We are the past. We are the present. We are Archive.

---C.J

 

While C.J wrote the message to send to the other branches, Raphe looked out to his right. An alarm faintly sounded, signaling the arrival of an Arkacia representative.

         “Damn, I’m not in the mood for one of their pompous a******s right now.” C.J angrily said and stormed out of the building to line up with the rest of the people in the district. Raphe took his place opposite of her. According to the Arkacian law when a representative is present, the men must be separate from the women. What a stupid law. They’re just looking for a fight, I know it. C.J thought angrily to herself. The town was dead silent, waiting for the incoming space pod to land and the representative to step out.

 Every month Arkacia sends at least one representative to watch over production of machinery, when there are factories in the districts. Raton District isn’t known for machinery, instead the citizens there survive through electrical engineering. Rumors said that some of the first residents in the Raton District were part of the reason why IAON was made in the first place. But any information on that is up in Arkacia along with all the wealthy who could afford to abandon Earth.

The Arkacian Representative this time was a man named Jezebel. He was thin, frail, and cruel. As he stepped out onto the ground, the anxiety in the air was palpable. Last time he was in the district he beat a child almost to death because the little guy ran in front of him. B*****d. C.J thought angrily.

“God, this place is suffocating. To think that I would have to breathe in this disgusting gas you scum call air.” Jezebel remarked as he patrolled the lines of people. As he walked by Raphe he looked at him and sneered. “I see some of you cockroaches just won’t die. Oh well, you’ll slave away until I say otherwise. Unfortunately, I have been assigned to reside here for the next month. The Arkacian Council has assigned this area a job. You are to build a computer system that is able to protect Arkacia from the hacking of the rebel group Archive. I expect this to be done within the time frame of my dreadful stay. I expect the best accommodations of course. Which of you worthless people is the head engineer?”

Raphe looked at C.J. Being the head engineer in the district she is required to have personal conference with the representative. But he doesn’t think she can take it. She’s on the verge of another attack, and he’s worried about her. She’s running out of time. C.J stepped forward and kept her head low.

“Sir, that would be me.” She answered humbly.

Jezebel looked her up and down. “You? But you’re just a dumb broad. How could you be the top engineer here? I can’t believe this is the number one electrical engineering district. There’s nothing but pathetic amateurs at best. And with a girl as their leader? Rediculous. I want the blueprints by sundown.”

C.J looked up. “Sundown? Sir, that’s only 4 hours away, we need more time to think up a solid plan.”

“Oh? Then you better work your parasitic asses off. Because you only have 4 hours. Get on it…what’s your name?” Jezebel asked.

“It’s Casey, sir.” C.J responded.

“What a s****y name. Get to work.” Jezebel ordered and walked off.

With his disappearance everyone mingled together, whispering in hushed tones. Raphe walked over to C.J and touched her arm. “What are we going to do C.J?” he asked her. 4 hours was nowhere near enough time to make a solid plan with everybody and get those plans distributed. The Raton district alone had around 100,000 people living in the downtown area, and another 500,000 spread out to the outskirts.

C.J looked around and raised her voice “Listen up! I need the fastest messengers to run to get all the engineers they can to gather at the old orphanage! We don’t have much time, but if we work together we can just barely make it!”

“Are you sure about this C.J? Your health…” Raphe asked her.

“We don’t have a choice Raphe. Especially not since Arkacia is keeping an eye on us with Jezebel here. Let’s get to work. We have a lot to do.” She replied, and they walked into the shade of the orphanage.