Chapter Two
Zella Mills - London
On every TV and Internet broadcast, people mourned the death of Zip. A beloved immortal. The wider world was blissfully unaware of the atrocities committed by the immortals. Even reporters were naïve to their nature, and so they spread dread and fear-mongering across their platforms in the aftermath of Zip’s murder. “If the immortals can be victims of murder, then what hope does humanity have?” one reporter said.
Zella blew air through her lips when she heard that. “Do their sources come from anyone outside of the political ecosystem?” she asked. Zella knew that if they did their research, they would hear about immortals striking down military bases. And assassinating political threats at the behest of the Covert Operations Group. Better known as COG.
“You can’t trust any news station here or back in the States,” Khloe said. She leaned forward on the sofa, digging her nails into her scalp. Khloe had been on edge since Zella killed Zip. Joe had sat her on the sofa with a fresh batch of coffee to calm her. “Their news comes from the top down. And it’s tailor made to feed the public propaganda.” Khloe was a former intelligence officer for the Eagle Intelligence Agency. She’d left the organization after feeling incessant guilt and shame over their practices. It’s because of Khloe that Zella and Joe knew how deep the government’s surveillance strategies went. The Eagle Intelligence Agency—better known as the EIA—worked closely with COG. And both of them were pro-immortal. Using the Immortals for their own brand of global corruption.
“Well, it won’t be long now till Elias and Lola dig through the data and find something to expose them,” Joe said. “If we find the footage we’re looking for, then their shady actions can’t escape the spotlight.” Elias and Lola were two junior assistants scouted by Joe himself.
Joe sat next to Khloe on the couch with a bottle of soda in his hands. They were staying in a temporary warehouse storage space. When they were in the clear, they’d catch a flight back to their base in the South American country, Naguela.
Joe took Khloe by the hand. Their fingers interlocked. “You’re sure that Zip had the footage of the Red Hounds slaughter, aren’t you?” Joe asked. His deep-set, dark eyes fell on Khloe. The two of them were in some kind of relationship. Zella didn’t quite understand it and kept her nose out of it.
“One of my friends back in the cyber warfare division of EIA confirmed it,” Khloe said. “My poor friend is probably working overtime now after Zella’s little assassination.” Khloe watched Zella, waiting for a response. Zella rubbed her neck, unsure how to respond. Her throat felt tight from when Zip tried to choke her. Khloe continued speaking her mind. “We’re supposed to be activists, not terrorists.”
Joe set his soda down and placed his other palm over Khloe’s hand. “I know we weren’t ready for that. But Zella has given me her reason, and I understand. They killed my mother, too.”
Zella had only known Joe Halili and Khloe Duff for a couple of months, but she’d heard Joe’s story and resonated with it. Like her foster father, Joe’s mother had been an inventor. She’d built a purification system that could provide clean drinking water. It was technology that would help millions of people in poverty. Especially with the world’s supply of water rapidly declining. It would also disrupt worldwide capitalistic markets. Something that often caught the wrong attention. Following her refusal to sell or license the technology, someone mysteriously murdered Joe’s mother and stole it.
When recalling the events of the murder, Joe and his family told of a blackout at their family’s home. Somehow, the power had cut out. Even their backup generators were affected. And Joe, who had been in the lab with his mother, recalls someone grabbing him from behind. He didn’t see what happened next, because he went momentarily blind. All he could do was cry out to his screaming mother. He’d stumbled around the lab, trying to locate her. After a while, she stopped screaming.
When Joe’s eyesight returned to normal, he called for his mother. The lab was so dark that he couldn’t tell if his eyesight had fully returned. It was a light from his mother’s cellphone that alerted him to her location. When he felt her body, it was stiff. There was no pulse. There were no open wounds on her body. After some observation, he could see that someone had twisted her neck.
Zella had heard the rumors that one of the Immortals could turn people blind for a short amount of time. That validated Joe’s claim that they were involved. But what would be their motive for stealing a water purification system?
After losing his mother, Joe moved the rest of the Halili family to the Philippines. Their home soil. Once he had settled them in, he flew back to America with a new motivation. Taking part in tactical training programs to get himself in shape. He wanted to support people like himself. People who’d had their loved ones taken from them for political reasons and could do nothing to seek justice. He wanted to build a support network for helpless victims. Joe took it one step further than that, forming his own group to fight against the corruption of groups like COG and the immortals.
“Maybe I’ll empathize more if she tells me more about herself,” Khloe told Joe. “Tell me your story, Zell. You’ve never really laid it on me,” Khloe said, grabbing her coffee mug. Her eyes scanned Zella. Khloe was like a model you saw in American advertisements. She had an athletic body. Her shoulder-length red hair flowed over her tight-nit wool cardigan. She had a well-aligned row of teeth, and her long lashes complimented her hazel eyes.
Zella walked over to the tiny kitchen area and poured a shot of rum. She closed her eyes as the warm, bitter kick went down her throat. She coughed twice to clear it. “My childhood is fuzzy,” she said. “I remember little. I just know that my biological mother was from Thailand. And my father was an African-American soldier from the States. For reasons that I don’t know, they gave me up for adoption as a toddler. And that’s how I fell into the care of Dr. Calloway.”
“The mad scientist himself,” Khloe said.
Zella turned on her heels. “Don’t say that,” she snapped. Joe and Khloe shot awkward glances back at her. She thought about it for a moment. She remembered that people sometimes liked to say things sarcastically. Perhaps this had been one of those moments. “I mean… never mind. I’m sorry.” She still had a lot to learn about people.
“It’s fine,” Khloe said. “I should apologize. I know he meant a lot to you.”
“Yes,” Zella said. “Going back to what I was saying, Dr. Calloway took me in as his foster child. He raised me in Brazil. Because after those children died during the Starlight program, his name was muddy in America. Nobody wanted to work with him.”
“The world knows him as the man behind the Starlight program,” Khloe said. “And although we got the immortals from it, two babies died. People have mixed thoughts about experimenting on children.”
“People judged him too harshly,” Joe added. “I mean, the government funded the Starlight program, too. And Dr. Calloway had an entire team with him, ya know?”
Khloe poked Joe in the chest. “You sure that’s not your bias talking? You come from a family of scientists.”
“I’m just being honest,” Joe said. “I’m sorry, Zella. Carry on.”
“I have little more to say,” Zella continued. “My life isn’t as interesting as everyone else. Growing up under father, I learned to be curious about how things worked. Playing with dolls, learning sports, or going to parties weren’t things that I did. I learned how to reverse engineer things. I took smartphones and tablets apart and replaced the screens and batteries. When father’s computers needed upgrading, I did it for him. I set up security systems. I learned martial arts. And I learned how to assemble firearms.”
Joe’s mouth fell open. “He raised you like a child soldier or something.”
“Most of the time, it was just father and I. That meant that I had to do my part to sustain our living.”
“That explains why you’re always dressed like you’re ready for a fight,” Khloe said.
It was true. Zella dressed for practicality. Although she combed her curly hair every morning, she always kept it in a simple style. She favored comfortable, non-restrictive clothing and sturdy footwear. She did not know of the latest fashion trends and what brands were popular. “I just wear what’s appropriate,” she replied, now feeling the buzz from the shot of rum. She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened her eyes again, they fell back on Khloe. “I have a question for you. What did you see in the EIA that made you leave?”
Khloe raised the coffee mug to her lips, her eyes trailing somewhere up to the ceiling. A door opened above them, and Elias leaned over the railing. “We’ve found it. Come see. We’ve got the footage.”
Joe leaped up from the sofa and was halfway to the stairs before Khloe could reply. “Sorry, Zella, we’ll chat later.”
***2.5***
They spent forty-five minutes scanning the footage. Analyzing the many details in the video. At the forefront was a masked figure in bulletproof attire, shooting shock beams at the Red Hound militia. It was none other than Finnigan Watts. One of the three most popular immortals.
Another attacker stood behind Watts. They recognized this attacker from the energy barrier she was forming with her body. Her name was Jade. She could withstand the barrage of bullets that the Red Hounds were letting off. Just two attackers ambushed and rubbed out the Red Hounds unit. Those attackers were immortal. But the masks would give the public enough doubt to continue defending the immortals.
Luckily, there was a money shot that gave them what they needed. After the decimation, a face appeared in the right corner of the footage, behind the energy barrier. A helmet covered their famed golden quiff, but their piercing brown eyes looked right at the camera lens. Hubert Quinn pointed at the camera, seconds before the shock beam attacker rose his finger and destroyed it.
They regarded Hubert Quinn as the frontman of the immortals. The centerpiece. The one with the pretty smile that made the world fall in love with the immortal deities living in society. His involvement with this act of genocide was enough to blow the whistle.
“What’s the deal with this Red Hounds assault, anyway?” Lola Osei asked. She had been working as their assistant for around two weeks now.
Zella told her about the incident. “Two years ago, a rogue branch of COG hired the Red Hounds militia to infiltrate and seize a base in Oshela, Africa. After they seized the base, COG soldiers moved in. It was part of their agreement. The Red Hounds received guns and money to help fight their home country's war. But the COG didn’t want the militia unit to remain living, knowing that this seizure of the base was their plan. If the Red Hounds talked about it, it could spark political unrest against America. And the American government would hold COG accountable. Those militiamen were too much of a threat to America in COG’s eyes.”
“Something like that could also sway public opinion,” Khloe added.
Zella nodded. “The COG staged an attack near the base and sent the Red Hounds into a counter-attack. That attack led to this footage. They set the whole thing up so the immortals could annihilate them.”
“Why dint COG just have the immortals take the base in the first place?” Lola asked.
“Ambushing a unit in the wilds is one thing. But these bases have all kinds of trackers, tracers, and security. It could be apparent to whoever is watching who the attackers are. Just think how it would look if there was any footage of the immortals seizing a base, or if there were any survivors who could identify them,” Khloe said. “But if Red Hounds do the base takeover first, then America’s hands are clean. COG just has to say they moved in to assist the locals. It checks out because COG is always in everyone’s business. And then all COG has to do is have the immortals do the clean-up and people will be none the wiser about COG hiring the Red Hounds to take over. Anyone can buy the Hounds. COG doesn’t want them informing potential enemies of what took place.”
“Well, too bad for them. Because we’re about to expose them.” Joe said.
Elias, their other assistant, continued to rewind the footage, replaying it in a loop. Lola turned to Zella and spoke. “We’re going to edit the footage a bit. Brighten up the visuals, and slow down the important parts so they don't miss it. We also need to run it through a validation tool so people will know it’s not AI-generated.”
“Good call,” Zella said.
“And we all agreed on the reporter we’re sending it to. Am I right?” Lola asked.
“Elaine Rowe is the best choice,” Khloe said. “She’s unbiased and independent. She runs the stories that mainstream media fears. And losing a few sponsors doesn’t phase her either. Her parents left her a fortune.”
“Agreed,” Joe added.
Lola nodded back at them. “And just one more thing. Do we have a name? The world is about to rave about the group that exposed the immortals after killing one of them. If we have a solid name, our cause will spread further.”
“We’ve got the name,” Joe said, eying Zella.
Zella hummed in agreement. “Solace. The name is Solace.”