The End of the Beginning
Chapter 66: We Are The Many

“And what conclusion is that based off of?” Jake roared.

“After some more digging,” explained Nancy, “I found that it would have actually been impossible for Hammond to delete any ISAF files. She simply doesn’t have the clearance to do so, even in her position. Her username and password would never have worked as we found they did. UNIRO and ISAF are on different data storage networks whose personnel don’t have access to by themselves for security reasons just like this.” “Maybe she hacked her way in,” presented Jake.

“No. No. A hack would have been pretty obvious to me. This was a simple deletion on a personal account. Trust me, I tried. Remember when you said no one in ISAF would ever think it was possible for her to do something like this? They’re right, its not, that’s why it makes sense Hernandez did. He has complete control in his position…” Jakes face twitched.

“I tried to delete an ISAF document using Hammond’s username and password, it didn’t work. It wasn’t her account that deleted the files Jake, it was Hernandez’s, at least, I think it was.” “You think,” snarled Jake.

“Well, it was his tablets IP address that was in communication with ISAF servers that contained the deleted files so I can at least pin him down that far but…” “What do you need to confirm that it was him?” asked William.

“I need a clear-cut log in via Hernandez himself, deleting a similar file set to definitively prove it was him. Whatever masking program he used that concealed his username and password with Hammond’s was good, I can’t crack it. It’s the one smoking gun I need.” “I think I have another,” William said, getting up out of the chair. “Actually, I think I have a few.”

“What?” asked Nancy.

“He said - ”

Suddenly Nancy’s glass tablet unmuted itself, startling the group. The live news feed dissolved into static. The voice of the reporter who was commentating broke up into inaudible tones.

“What the hell?” William said, picking up the tablet.

Jake and Nancy crowded behind him. The static-filled screen turned an alarming primordial blood red atop silence. On this backdrop of red were five black symbols, four of which were the triangular symbols William and Jake had observed on Samir’s arm, each one taking up one corner of the screen. At the center of the screen was the fifth symbol. It was a hollow black circle that contained a black cross separating the circle into four equal parts.

The screen changed again back to static, then to a series of flickering, grainy images of various world leaders, past and present, giving speeches and shaking hands. A low mutilated inhuman voice began narrating the video.

“Fire, an element of rejuvenation and power. Our oldest creation.”

Images and clips flashed across the lambent screen of the burning dam and of oil disasters in the past. The Gulf War. Deepwater Horizon. Exxon Valdez. Oil trains ablaze in countless countryside’s.

“Prometheus did not intend fire for a few, he intended it for all. Yet, it is the few who wield it, the few who create with it, who destroy with it, who kill with it.” Pictures of stock markets crashing appeared. Images of recessions and depressions, of dictators and militaries and videos of social disorder and turmoil started repeating over and over again. The Second Korean War and its nuclear devastation gutted into the insidious video. William gripped the tablet tighter and tighter.

“With this stolen power, the destiny of billions is determined carelessly and arrogantly by a collective corrupt and dysfunctional few that bicker about the truth of facts and distort the facts of truth. Governance no longer governs for the many, it governs for the perseverance of itself.” Clips of falling glaciers, burning landfills, nuclear plant accidents, and environmental ruin now filled the screen.

“This is not governance, this is societal suicide. Those who supposedly rule above you do so through lies, fraud, greed, and the belief that they are too powerful to be touched. But no more…” A map of St. Lawrence Island appeared within the Bering Sea.

“The world’s leaders cower together to fan the flames of their dwindling control through the false hope of UNIRO, a puppet of their inaction and vainness; their last effort to continue the world they built. To any and all hearing this message, should any world leader attempt to leave St. Lawrence they will be shot down without mercy or further warning. And, very soon, they will watch their disorder burn. Prometheus’s gift will be returned to its rightful owners, the people…” Images of burning and collapsing buildings appeared overlaid with burning national flags.

“They thought we were scattered. They thought we were weak. They thought we were the representation of a few. They are wrong…”

The blood red background and its black symbols reappeared.

“We are here. We are you. We are the many who stand with nothing to lose but our oppressors. We are Terra Nova.”

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