Chapter 5: Riots
I found myself back in the room with the oval table again. We all around the table, looking at each other. It wasn’t the friendliest table to be at. We were waiting for Dana and Anderson. The calm of the room wasn’t necessarily the best thing in the world. It was more like the eye of a hurricane. I noticed quickly that David was absent. I wondered if he would come with Dana and Anderson. I then frowned to myself when I realized that I was wondering about something that wasn’t my business. We all had lives outside of this. Well, they did. All I did was work. And there was the added fact that I couldn’t exactly leave the tower. It was like the tower was sanctuary or something. I was glad to have refuge from the many dangers. I could have used this two years ago. It wasn’t too long before Dana and Anderson walked in with very stern looks on their faces. I’d been waiting for this; the start of everything. I was going out of my mind here.
“We’ve assembled this team, as you know, to combat terrorists against our nation.” Anderson said, “Against anyone who threatens our world. Anyone or anything.”
“Especially cute little smushy aliens?” Harrison joked.
“Have you seen Cersai?” Dana asked, “I can assure you there is no smush to them.”
“You have?” I asked.
“Yes.” Anderson said, “And you will soon too.”
“How soon?” Electra asked, “They are not of this world.”
“If I recall, neither are you, darlin’.” Birkoff smiled.
I could see frustration and anger on Harrison’s face. It was the first flicker of anger I’d seen from him. It was nice to see someone else off their game. I quickly looked back to Dana and Anderson.
“That is different. I am the daughter of a God.” She frowned, “It’s not the same.”
“You can expect to see a Cersai tomorrow. It’s classified and as such takes time to authorize security measures. If this gets out, the world shuts down.”
“When you say…shut down…” Sofia asked.
“Everybody running around like chickens with their heads cut off.” Birkoff frowned, “Not a pretty sight.”
“Mass chaos?” Doctor Kinsler asked, “An interesting notion. Chaos on a global scale could be…”
“More than disastrous.” Dana said, “If it were ever to get out that this invasion was about to occur, the panic in the street might be more dangerous than anything Medusa could do.”
“Thus the importance of security measures.” Anderson smirked, “The world is about to change in a monumental way.”
“Like the existence of aliens?” I asked, “I mean heroes…aliens were pretty much a given, right?”
“We’ve already begun preparing for the fallout of this event.” Dana said, “We handle one crisis at a time.”
“Along with the emergence of superheroes, there are people who want to be equal but opposite of us. They strive to cause this chaos, to rule the world they think is theirs. I believe that these people have been conspiring with the aliens, maybe even bringing them here.” Anderson frowned.
Something snapped in my mind and I quickly said, “Medusa.” Without even thinking.
“Yes.” Dana said, “They are the USA’s biggest threat, but you won’t find them in history books or on the news. Key funders of Medusa come from all around the world, but the most prominent founders come from a little closer to home.”
“How do you know this?” Electra asked.
“Because her family is one of the top investors.” I frowned.
There was an audible silence as everyone’s eyes snapped to her. The only ones who weren’t surprised were Anderson, Sofia and I.
“Alert! Colonel Anderson, Dana Samis, there is an emergency at the Samis Corp. rally.”
“Who in the Hell is that?” I asked.
“ACI.” Anderson said, “Advanced Computing Intelligence. Sort of like Siri, except more human.”
“What’s the emergency?” Dana asked softly.
“There is a riot of sorts. David is under attack.” ACI said quickly.
“What?” Dana and I said simultaneously.
“His identity has been revealed.” ACI continued.
We all looked at each other, not sure what to say or do. ACI brought up a screen showing David giving a speech about the company he jumped from behind the podium as bullet whizzed past his head. I heard a gasp from Dana and couldn’t imagine what she was feeling.
“How long ago?” I asked.
“A few seconds, I have been monitoring the situation.” ACI said.
“Alert the drivers that we’re sending a team.” Anderson said quickly, “Suit up.”
Everyone nodded and moved out of the door. I was walking when Dana grabbed my arm, turning me. She looked to be searching for the words. I didn’t need her to say them.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to him.” I said quickly.
“You do and I’ll never forgive you.” Dana said with anger. But behind her anger was terror. I could see it.
“I thought you weren’t forgiving me anyways.” I said, leaving the room.