The Revolutionary (Final Part)
The Revolutionary (Final Part)
They recalled how a few days ago dark clouds were seen in the city, unlike the previous times where they appeared in the wasteland. While the golden lightning didn't manifest, the pressure from dark clouds had created many incidents.
"Can he be speaking truth!?" A woman on a street asked as she gazed at her mobile screen. "Is the government really planning to use us as guinea pigs for some weapon of mass destruction!?"
"They wouldn't!" A man next to her to muttered in a low voice, unsure of his words.
"I have seen those government officers in the slums!" A middle-aged man spoke. "And didn't a carnage happened there a month ago!?"
"Now that you mention it!" A middle-aged woman recalled something. "That incident took place the same day when the golden lightning manifested above the wasteland... for the first time!"
"You guys are wrong!" A twenty-year-old protested. "The slum carnage was different from how those people disintegrated in nothingness!"
"Maybe the government was using different weapons!?" A buddy of the twenty-year-old argued, "Using different styles will avoid suspicions!"
"It is possible!"
"We have to run away before they kill us in some freak experiment!"
"Revolutionary, please kill those officers!"
"Kill them all!"
The will of the people was easy to manipulate if one knows how to use facts with fiction.
For thousands of years, propaganda had been used to manage public opinion by various organizations whether they were religious, dynastical, or the government.
And what does propaganda relies most on?
Words!
Most people often ignore the power of 'words' but in fact, the power of words was the greatest power of all.
A master of words can change the perspective of an individual.
Can anything be more powerful than changing the perspective?!
No!
A favorable perspective was no less than brainwashing!
The power to make others do what one wants without arousing suspicion!
This was the greatest of power for no one was safe from this, regardless if one was an ordinary human or a powerful mutant!
This was why the politicians spent so much time creating a sympathetic node with the public.
As long as one knows what interest or frighten the public, one can have their attention and use it for own benefit.
Kiba has always known about the power of words. Maybe more than anyone else for he has always used this power to charm women and torture men.
This was why he decided to use words to change the perspective of the entire city!
Ever since the incident at the wasteland, he and Claudia have created multiple plans to tackle the attention of government and other organizations.
When Eva informed him of a possibility of his other persona's involvement in the mining incident being known, he decided to use one of the plans by modifying it to match the current requirements.
He used the explosives, droids and other materials he has 'borrowed' over the years to strike the police headquarters.
His attack has three major objectives. Firstly, he wanted to destroy any evidence that might lead to Zed.
Secondly, he wished to ensure the government attention was diverted from the first objective by blaming it on revolutionaries. This will also help in avoiding future troubles to a great extent.
Why fight the government directly when you can use others for it?
This was why he decided to make the revolutionaries as the scapegoat. He didn't care about the consequences the revolutionaries will face from his actions.
Everything so far looked good in theory, but there was a possibility of everything going awry!
He was confident in his ability to impersonate as a revolutionary, but he wasn't overconfident to believe the government would blindly buy the narrative he was selling!
After all, what he knew about revolutionaries was from the media and corporate knowledge. He didn't have the inside information on the style of revolutionaries like the government.
This troublesome possibility brought him to his final objective.
Turn the will of people against the government, or at least against the investigators!
He was sure the government has the ability to pacify the public, but the damage done to their image will be far too great!
After all, can the public forget the details he shared about the government and their goals!?
They wouldn't!
He has lied but he has used evidence to back it as facts!
The suspicion was already set in people!
Every action from now on would be seen with skepticism, especially after the pictures of the investigators were made public!
The government might send more forces to help but that will only create more trouble.
It was possible to kill a person, but never thoughts!
The fear once set in the mind would never vanish!
----
Fifth floor, Police headquarters.
"You are lying!" the investigators shouted in unison but alas, their efforts were useless.
The live feed only carried what the masked man wanted.
Zzzz
"Hmm?" The masked man looked at the tablet.
[[The communication system has been restored.]]
"It is fine!" The masked man said in an audible voice, "We already have left the impression we wanted!"
"Impression!?" Davis was terrified as he thought of a possibility, "You are not a revolutionary?!"
Ellen, Tamara, and others thought in a similar fashion.
"No, I'm indeed a revolutionary!" The masked man removed his mask, "Just not your definition of revolutionary!"
Everyone looked with eyes wide open as the face behind the mask was revealed
"He is..."
"KIBA?!"
"What is going on?"
"Never thought esteemed investigators from the government would know of me!" Kiba crushed the mask, "I feel flattered!"
"What are you doing here!?" Jason tried to make sense of things.
Just what was his objective?!
Why would he attack the police headquarters?!
"I now know the type of revolution he wanted to create!" A civilian woman muttered after knowing the attacker was Kiba.
"...Me as well!" Her husband consented.
BANG!
A faint sound of rumbling originated from far away.
"Oh?" Kiba looked back.
His vision passed the black barrier and arrived on a blond man attacking the barrier with his fists. The blond-haired man's fists were like missiles as they created intense vibrations.
He was Liam!
The top investigator sent by the government!
"Powerful but not enough!" Kiba mused with a smile, "The barrier is a legacy of Castor Damon's knowledge."
"Castor Damon?!" Ellen was horrified by his words.
He has the knowledge of the great scientist?!
How was this possible?!
Unless!
"Could you be responsible..." Tamara trailed off at the terrifying guess.
"You can learn everything in a short while!" Kiba turned around. "There are many knowledgeable persons waiting for you all in the underworld... and I'm sure they will be more than happy to share their information with reputed investigators like you!"
"Bastard!" Davis tried to stand up from the floor.
He was sure what awaited for them if they didn't fight back now.
THUD!
He fell on the floor just like others as the air above them smashed down.
"Farwell," Kiba took out a grenade from the jacket, "It was fun to know you all."
"You wouldn't go scot-free!" Tamara shouted in resentment, "You evil creature!"
"Evil?" Kiba laughed loudly as he finger moved on the firing pin, "Evil is purely subjective."
What might be good for one might be evil for another. Not like he cared about being called good or evil.
"You are killing innocents so that is evil!" Jason looked at him with deep hatred.
He didn't wish to die but he knew his fate.
"Innocents? What about the slum dweller whose memories you were forcefully retrieving!? You should know what his fate would be!" Kiba said with contempt. "Or what about the people you killed in one way or another to get your hands on information?!"
"That is not the same! We were doing our job as investigators and those deaths only occurred because we didn't have any alternative!" Ellen argued, trying to find ways to stop him. "We had permission from the government!"
"So the permission of government gives you the right to torture and kill?" Kiba laughed at the logic. "But I also have permission to kill you."
"What?!" Ellen was startled.
He has permission?!
"Who gave you permission?!" Davis asked, trying to think who could have ordered him.
Is he working for some powerful organization?
"My desires!" Kiba answered with a playful smile, "They pretty much decide everything I do!"
"Bastard!" Jason cursed loudly.
"You would suffer hell!"
Kiba ignored their cursings as he took out the firing pin.
"You aim here is to destroy the life I have built for myself!" Kiba's voice turned cold. "Nothing can be eviler!"
He threw the grenade at the investigators and turned around.
"Stop!"
"Please!"
"You can have me!"
"Kiba!"
The investigators begged and cried but he ignored them. He stepped towards the civilians who were on the opposite corner.
"P-please don't," A woman begged, "Let us go."
"I plan to," Kiba let out a sigh, "But before that, there is something I have to do."
"What---?"
The civilians didn't even get to contemplate as their eyes were stuck on his. They felt his eyes were vortex of unmeasurable depths.
"I hate slaughter when I have an alternative," Kiba's voice passed in their heads, "And thankfully for you, there is an alternative which suits my goal."
The memories of the civilians were churned out and replaced with few adjustments as he wanted. If he hasn't copied the psychic ability of the monk then he would have killed them as well.
But now this alternative worked better for him since he could make them remember as he wants to.
"This should be enough!" Kiba waved his hand and the civilians were pushed to the end of the floor.
He turned around and saw the struggle on the face of investigators as they tried to escape from the grenade without any success.
"Send my regards to Castor and Lisa in the underworld!" Kiba said as rays of white light surrounded him and the droids. "I'm sure you would have fun there in the investigation!"
BOOM!
The grenade exploded into green flames.
"No!"
"AHHHHH!"
"Pl..ea..se"
-----
Outside, the police headquarters.
Liam launched another fist on the black barrier covering the fourth and fifth floors.
CRACK!
The barrier cracked like a mirror and fragments of black energy floated all around. Liam jumped into the fifth floor while few others jumped in the fourth floor.
"Damn!" Liam gritted his teeth in anger as he saw the state of the floor. There were civilians lying in a corner with minor injuries but there was no trace of the investigators.
He noticed green flames at the end of the floor and knew what they signified.
"Those terrorists!" Liam's eyes turned bloodshot...
-----
Section I, Dream Rise House.
"He is in a vegetative state..." Kiba sighed in disappointment as he checked the condition of the slum dweller he had teleported from the forensic room. "His brain has been ruined by memory retrieval equipment."
Forceful retrieval of memory has severe side effects. The doctor didn't really care for the life of a slum dweller.
Of course, before the doctor can retrieve his memories fully, Kiba had killed the doctor.
[[What should we do with him?]]
"This could have been avoided if I was a few minutes earlier." Kiba glanced at the old man on the glass examination table. "Euthanize him."
[[Understood.]]
Claudia knew he has a soft spot for the slum dwellers. Otherwise, he wouldn't have helped them by killing slum overlords. Nor he would have helped the woman and her two children by giving them food and money.
"If only living beings stop lusting after power and eternal life..." Kiba stepped towards the elevator. "So many deaths could be avoided..."
[[You are thinking of the impossible, sir.]]
"I know it very well," Kiba entered the elevator, "It was just like Elissa once told me...there is an attraction to the impossible!"
[[........]]
------
Five hours later at the police headquarters.
The entire perimeter was filled with ambulance and military vans while news reporters and protestors were placed outside the barricade.
Emily sat near the entrance of the building. The injuries she took during her battle with droids were healed.
"In just a week we have lost so many of our comrades!" Emily said after taking a sip of coffee, "First by the incident at the wasteland, and now this!"
"Don't forget them!" A woman officer next to her pointed towards the protestors far away. "We are now public enemies!"
"Yes!" Emily sighed in frustration.
"Emily!"
"Hmm?" Emily and the officer next to her turned around as her name was called loudly.
Emily was startled as she saw a familiar figure running towards her. Before she could say anything, the figure hugged her.
"I'm glad you're safe!" the man said with heavy breathing, "Thank god!"
"K-Kiba?!" Emily was completely caught off guard by his sudden arrival and hug. Her cheeks blushed as she saw the strange expression on the woman officer next to her.
"I'm sorry.." Kiba freed her from his arms. "I didn't mean to..."
Emily looked at him and noticed traces of worry on his face.
"He was worried for me?" Emily was surprised.
She was impressed by his conduct and personality during the dinner but never thought he would care so much about her.
The attack had shocked everyone in the city but for him to be here despite everything... She couldn't help but look him in a different light.
"Why are you here?" Emily asked so that he can clear her doubts.
"I saw the news!" Kiba said with a bit of sadness in his voice. "I was afraid the terrorists have killed..."
He trailed off in between but Emily and the other woman felt an aura of melancholy from him.
"Thank you!" Emily moved forward to hug him with an affection she has rarely shown in her life. "I'm glad you are here!"