The 7 Plan

Chapter 5

"Hello, sir." A man in black slacks and a cream dress shirt greeted Boss.

"Hi, One." Boss didn't bother asking One any personal questions, he was always so gruesomely optimistic. They were both staring out of the glass building that was a home and office to One, a luxurious structure that stuck out like a shiny needle among a pile of dull, broken ones.  They were in Division 1 headquarters and One was the Division's leader.

"When are we going to initiate the Plan?" One turned to Boss with a huge smile plastered on his face. Boss believed it was permanently glued there and it annoyed him. But wasn't that what he was fighting for, peace? Wasn't he the cause of this man's eternal happiness?

Boss looked back out at the crumbled landscape he was surrounded by. One's building was in a safer part of Division 1, so there weren't huge craters and broken chunks of asphalt surrounding them here. There did lay immense heaps of gray powder and scraps of melted metal from collapsed structures. The smoky clouds were slowly evaporating, exposing the slim rays of sunshine. Overgrown weeds were splashed among the heaps of brown and gray, the only color in this landscape. They were not the weeds he once knew, they were now thorny and a sickly green. Cat-sized rats scuffled across the road, their eyes were a bloody red, and their tails were long and thick. Boss knew several people had resorted to killing these animals for food, and he felt guilty that he could live in luxury while others suffered.

 Coincidently, he noticed a man scurrying across the weathered, dirty path, hunching over something in his hand. Boss realized it was a basket filled with irregular ruby berries. The radiation had caused a lot of the plants to mutate, and he hoped those berries were safe for the man to eat. He was probably rushing to his Fallout, where his family lived to be protected from the radiation. The nuclear war was somewhat expected, so several Fallouts were built underground for families to live in while the war took place, to be protected from the radiation and heat. Unfortunately, only the ones who were lucky enough to be in their Fallouts and far away from any impact of the bombs survived, which were only a few thousand.

Boss didn't want to do this. He knew what would happen. Once the Plan was in place, people would not resort to peace, and he would have to implant the P-Chips into every civilian's brain. He didn't have a choice, no matter what he thought otherwise.

He stared into One's eyes, a glint of silver peered through his dark pupils. Boss wondered about the man whose eyes those really were, the one who was born with those eyes; the one that seized them before he was cruelly erased from his own mind. These will be the only people left, if they could even be considered people. What did Alatea call them? Human robots. But he didn't have a choice.

"Tomorrow, at noon," Boss stated through clenched teeth. One stared at him with that ghastly smile fastened to his face. It was slightly eerie, although One couldn't realize that. He had no idea he was commencing the beginning of a mass murder.

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 "Almost there," I softly said. Today was the second day, the day The 7 Plan would begin. I could see a spot of a gray mound in the distance, and I knew that had to be the ragged edges of Division 1. The ship had to be close by. They probably didn't hide it in a cave this time. There was no need to when they would be implementing the Plan today and it was basically invisible. Before the war, I might have said it was impossible to notice an invisible ship, but after two years of practice, I've seen the slight clues that give it away. When the sun shines directly on the ship, it looks as if a thousand stars haven fallen to the earth, just random glitters in what seems like nothing. I looked for that now, but the sun wasn't shining, so hopefully it would break through the clouds once I got closer. But I doubted that, I haven't had the best of luck lately.

I was about half a mile away from the gates of Division 1, and there was still no sun.

"I guess I have to find it on my own," I mumbled. I slowed the boat down once I was a hundred feet away so the engine wasn't as loud. I didn't want anyone to know I came back, yet. Once I arrived I parked my speedboat into one of the docks that jutted out of the pier. I stepped onto the wood and glanced around the dock. I stood there for a good five minutes and probably looked like a clueless idiot to the men guarding the gate. But I was; everything looked normal to me. Maybe it was impossible to find without the sun because I could not see the ship anywhere.  

"What you looking for ma'm?" A rugged man wearing the Determinators ID underneath his RA suit approached me from the gate he was guarding. Oh, so now he decided to help.

"The ship for the Determinators, is it here?"

"Can I see your ID? I don't want no imposters going in there." Of course, he didn't need to ask this question, the only ones that would know about the ship would be the Determinators, but I guess he did it for safety reasons, and to stop unwanted guests, like me.

I was ashamed to be a part of the Determinators, but sadly, it was the only life I knew after the war happened, and maybe I was an imposter now, but he didn't know that, and I still had my ID. I showed it to him.

"Wow, must be nice to be a part of the team. I mean, I am to, but I don't do any of the fancy stuff you must do, only sit here and guard this fence from –" He was interrupted by the sound of a shrill siren pulsating in the distance. I was shocked by the sound, and could do nothing else but stand still and listen to the piercing noise. I didn't know what went on in the Divisions, so I was mesmerized. 

After a few minutes the noise abruptly stopped, and a man's cheerful voice swept through the air.

"Attention all civilians. Please go to your nearest medical facility. It is time for another radiation checkup. This is a mandatory assignment. Those who do not go will be found and forcibly taken there. Remember, this is for your benefit. Please report to your nearest medical facility promptly. Once again, this is a mandatory assignment. Thank you."

I could feel the blood drain from my face. Every single one of his words was thick with lies. I felt dizzy, I recognized the voice as One's; he was one of the seven "human robots". His voice sounded so optimistic and sincere, that none of the civilians could ever doubt his motivations. Little did they know they weren't his. They were starting the Plan, and I had to stop it.

"You okay ma'm? You're lookin' a little pale, "commented the rugged man whose name I still didn't know.

"I have to go. Where is the ship located?" I hoped that Boss would still be in there, and not helping One yet.

"I'll walk you there." We walked a little ways down the pier, and he pointed to an empty space. It wasn't vacant, though; it was where the ship was docked. I noticed the fragmented pieces of sea and sky, and realized it was the mirrors of the vessel that fractured everything it reflected. I whispered a "thank you" to the man, and walked along the wood to the side of the ship. I pressed my hand onto the scanner, and the mirrors glided open to reveal a dark staircase. I stepped inside and climbed up.