Mason stalked down the narrow hallway. His boots fell heavy on the pale plascrete floor and echoed off the plain walls. He could see his men ahead, gathered loosely in the last room, elec-guns held by their sides but visors still pulled down over their eyes to keep their identities intact. A few were shaking their heads as they conferred to one another in hushed tones.
That stopped when he crested the doorway.
"Where are they?" he asked, his voice rough and guarded. "How many? Any from the Resistance?"
Mason hardly heard the faint, single click from the chip implanted in his neck, just below his left ear. He hardly ever heard it now, even when he wasn't on the clock. His words were clipped out of habit, but as an officer of the Arm, he didn't have to worry about the voice curfew.
"Nine," Arch said, even as he offered a casual two-fingered salute. "Well, there were nine. Now there's only four left. Two tried to fight. Three tried to run. The rest gave up like they all should've done from the start."
"You can't fucking do this to us, assholes!" One of the four remaining had found his voice again, and he seemed determined to rack up as large a fine as he could get before he got hit with a stun round, be it through insubordination or curfew violation. Mason could hear the high pitched mod chip tone its warning from across the room. "Government's got no right to take away our freedom! Freedom of speech, freedom of liberty, undeniable freedom of justice – not this bullshit! Freedom and liberty're what this country's built on, or did you forget that whenever you--"
His tirade was abruptly cut off as one of the Arms - one of the rookies, most likely - finally stepped forward to hit him with all 50,000 volts of a light round. Mason hadn't even looked away from Arch, hadn't skipped a beat in spite of the outburst. "How much contraband was found?" Click.
"Small haul, to be honest," his captain admitted with a frown, then gestured toward where a door panel had been hidden behind a blind. "A few of the old style elec-cookers mostly - crock pots, hot plates, that sort of thing. Only thing really interesting was a microwave."
"Interesting," Mason agreed. He gave Arch a slight nod. "Keep looking. The rebels are grasping at any piece of un-chipped tech they can get their hands on. Where there's one.." He didn't need to finish that thought out loud. They all knew more than well enough that the old style electronics made the best bombs in this war.
Re: Prompt 3
That stopped when he crested the doorway.
"Where are they?" he asked, his voice rough and guarded. "How many? Any from the Resistance?"
Mason hardly heard the faint, single click from the chip implanted in his neck, just below his left ear. He hardly ever heard it now, even when he wasn't on the clock. His words were clipped out of habit, but as an officer of the Arm, he didn't have to worry about the voice curfew.
"Nine," Arch said, even as he offered a casual two-fingered salute. "Well, there were nine. Now there's only four left. Two tried to fight. Three tried to run. The rest gave up like they all should've done from the start."
"You can't fucking do this to us, assholes!" One of the four remaining had found his voice again, and he seemed determined to rack up as large a fine as he could get before he got hit with a stun round, be it through insubordination or curfew violation. Mason could hear the high pitched mod chip tone its warning from across the room. "Government's got no right to take away our freedom! Freedom of speech, freedom of liberty, undeniable freedom of justice – not this bullshit! Freedom and liberty're what this country's built on, or did you forget that whenever you--"
His tirade was abruptly cut off as one of the Arms - one of the rookies, most likely - finally stepped forward to hit him with all 50,000 volts of a light round. Mason hadn't even looked away from Arch, hadn't skipped a beat in spite of the outburst. "How much contraband was found?" Click.
"Small haul, to be honest," his captain admitted with a frown, then gestured toward where a door panel had been hidden behind a blind. "A few of the old style elec-cookers mostly - crock pots, hot plates, that sort of thing. Only thing really interesting was a microwave."
"Interesting," Mason agreed. He gave Arch a slight nod. "Keep looking. The rebels are grasping at any piece of un-chipped tech they can get their hands on. Where there's one.." He didn't need to finish that thought out loud. They all knew more than well enough that the old style electronics made the best bombs in this war.
After all, without chips they were untraceable.