The Stupid Plan

Felicia grabbed the breast part of her multi-layered plastic coat and looked out from the building where she was hiding all these times after she lost her apartment to The Prophet's men. It was heavily raining outside, and the soldiers seemed to take shelter, as the road was now empty. Only the unfortunate citizen of Angkara bodies was littered about, created a terrible odor which was now become the signature of Angkara. She managed to grab some of her stuff from her apartment and after a few days of playing hide and seek with the soldiers, she found the abandoned Angkara Bank building and huddled inside its security office. From there, she could access several security cameras to watch what happened outside the building, before those cameras were destroyed, left her in isolation. Today was the first time she dared herself to go outside of the security office, into the lobby and looked out to the world outside.

She donned her hood and huddled behind a pillar which she hopefully made her unseen from the outside, and produced several hand terminals from her backpack. Lightning boomed, she gasped, and slowly exhaled through her pursed lips, grateful that it wasn't a bomb or a firearm. She quickly grabbed one hand terminal left by now MIA Bank's security people and reprogrammed it through the bank system to access several cameras of the city, a feature that surprised her, and made her hated the economic infrastructure.

It was good that now the bank system was totally broken. Small consolation, during the apocalypse.

After the attack of the Mayor's office, Felicia suddenly got her sanity back. She was now more focused, just like she always was before her visit to the DomArt. Back then, she was going in and out of consciousness. Waking up in different places, in different items of clothing, always confused. Something must've happened after the Mayor's office since she got her lucidity back. Some memories lingered, which for some time, she always chalked them off as mere dreams. The only thing that made her considerate them was because of how vivid they were. Could it be more than just dreams? Could it really just residues of memories from when she was losing herself?

The cameras she accessed through her hand terminal shown that the roads she needed to take were empty, thanks to the heavy rain. She still needed to be really careful though, because that didn't mean that the soldiers were entirely gone. She just hoped that her stupid plan would work. She started to went into the street. She huddled her body downward, stepping quickly while making sure that her step wouldn't alert anyone, although the sound of rain would mask it, she couldn't risk it. She maneuvered herself through the dead bodies, crossing the street, then reentering another abandoned building across the bank. She flashed her hand terminal's flashlight to her right. On then immediately off. To her left. On then off. Nobody was there. Good. One step at a time.

One of the memories she had was when she was somehow helped a twin android stealing something from the art opening in DomArt, then when she was contacted by one of the APD androids, giving her some information of possible corruption inside the Department. She vaguely remembered that she was escorted to the Mayor's Office to bring the objects she was stealing by the APD investigator. She had a hard time remembering the objects, or what their significance was. Could those objects be the reason for this catastrophe?

A feedback noise came from the loudspeakers all over the city. The Prophet was speaking.

"Mrs. President, the Goddess is very patient, and me, as Her voice on earth, should act according to what She wishes for me."

"I understand that, Pater," said another voice. Apparently, it was the President of Kaeia, "but..."

"A day delay will cost one life of Angkara citizen, I lose count when we already reached thirty."

"Please, Pater..."

She needed to focus. The Prophet seemed to take hostage of the people of Angkara to strong-arm the central government to find Adam, and miss Delaney. She wondered what so special about these people, whether or not they had anything to do with the sudden attacks, and the objects she stole.

"Or do you, as an elected President of the people of Kaeia, doesn't really care about the lives of her own people?"

"No. Please don't insinuate that terrible statements. We only wanted your... um... blessing, to at least deliver medical support to the people of Angkara."

"Or what?" The Prophet paused, "or you bombed this city? Sacrifice its people? That will only show the world that your Goddessless world only brings death and suffering to the people."

"But, Pater... the disease..."

"The disease will never touch those who have the absolute faith of the Goddess."

Because Felicia couldn't make sense of it all, she decided to contact the androids, considering that she interacted with them on her... 'episodes'. The androids were turned off by the Prophet's people, but if she could access one of them, she could access their hive mind. Maybe afterward, she could collect more complete information.

Only then, she'd find a way to run outside the city, which was now walled in. She'd find a way.

"Please, Pater. Let us help..."

"You can help by stop trying to stall Her plans. For this, today the Goddess required two of Her children to be delivered onto Her presence..."

"No! Please!" another feedback noise. The Prophet cut the connection.

"District A-12 , take two people under your supervision. You know what to do," the Prophet ordered another killing.

That district was kilometers away from where she was. Good. At least now their focus would be elsewhere. Well, she hoped so. If she was found out, she would be captured by the soldiers and rounded up at several points in the city. Held alive for one day being murdered one by one. She could not afford her life, she must be really careful.

Another rolling thunder.

She finally reached her destination: Das Ribellang, a bar that once was also an android prostitution center. She heard that the shut-down bodies of the androids were discarded there. She almost ran straight to its red door before she heard the soldiers patrolling there. She could hear their boots and their chatters, muffled by the rain. She decided to try her stupid plan. She laid down on the pavement, face down, near the pile of dead bodies.

She couldn't believe her stupid plan worked. The soldiers walked past her. She held her laughs all the way to the bar's door.