System Nullification

Chapter 21

~Jackson

 My life is partially the cliche "Homeschooled to elementary school" type of thing. I was isolated from a lot of people because my family was always out on jobs. Plus, I didn't really like my tutor. I was born into working for the government. Naturally being a lazy kid and not wanting to do any favors for President Phake, I chose the laziest job on the list. I decided to go help manage the computers.

 It took a lot more effort than I ever would've thought. I had to study everything on codes, how it all worked, touch typing (which I now treat like a natural talent), but luckily my family descends from a branch of working on computers. So naturally they were pretty happy when they found out about the job I chose. Everyday I had to deal with cranky head managers that barked at me after every mistake. I'm not like that now. I only get aggravated if they're experienced.

 So I lived basically a near soulless life. What changed my life was when I finally went to a public school in 3rd grade. I met Iris, Brianna, Skylar, and Reed, and in that very moment, my entire life was changed.

 It made me realize how different my world could be with people in it.

~Iris

 It was the day after we completely obliterated one entire building from the Behemoth Corporation.

 "How am I ever going to bring people onto my side after something like that?" Cameron asked. "This really opened my eyes. I'm still hated by the rest of the distributed power."

 "I'm sure you can claim that power sometime," I said. "You're fully aware of the fact that it'll take a lot of time."

 "We shut down one entire facility in a matter of like, ten minutes," Jack chimed in. "I don't think we're doing too bad so far."

 "But what was the entire point of that?" Cameron asked. "I know it'll take a while for them to fix the entire thing, considering the fact that Jackson disconnected the entire building from the rest of the Behemoth Corporation before shutting it down and making it self destruct, but still..."

 "Come on, Cameron," Nick sighed. "You just gave a reason to be optimistic about the entire situation and yet you're still upset. You're tough. You got this."

 "Thanks, Nick," Cameron said. "But after they fix that up... then what? We won't be able to shut down the entire corporation without being caught, they'll all come after us, and that's way too risky."

 "What kind of risks would end up happening?" Will asked.

 "I'm still unsure about the setup of a rebellion and therefore I can't let it happen yet," Cameron replied. "I want as many safe lives as possible for this yet to be made scheme."

 "Ah, fair enough," Will said. "Now what?"

 I sighed and stretched, cracking my knuckles. "I just realized how out in the open this building is despite its appearance from the outside," I pointed out. "And from our appearances, someone could easily pass by and get suspicious. We should probably go home before—"

 The sight of Reed surprised me a bit, and for no apparent reason at all, he looked to his left. He spotted me. He looked at my hair, then looked at Jack, Will, and Cameron. "Oh, shit," Jack groaned. "Of all people that had to catch us, it just had to be the smart one."

 "If we move anywhere he'll text us about it. He'll say something like, 'Average pedestrians wouldn't be that armed. You got your weapons from some sort of organization,'" I sighed.

 Reed approached us before we could say anything else. Then Cameron and Nick disappeared. "Those dickheads," Will facepalmed.

 "Hey guys..." Reed greeted us, staring at my sword.