The Interface - Chapter 8 (Rough Draft)

Start from the beginning! https://steemit.com/story/@nateq/the-interface-chapter-1-rough-draft

Earh Dunwick was enjoying his favorite mindless sitcom. He rarely watched television, but when he did, it was to relax and let his mind wander uninterrupted. It was a long and boring job ruling the Earth Nation, and he looked forward to this small reprieve every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Once the show was over, he would be back to meticulously reviewing the A.I. generated reports on those closest to him, but for now it was a therapeutic endeavor to chuckle along with the laugh track.

This weeks episode was particularly hilarious- One of the characters had to fix his plumbing without the help of any Throwers. It was a modern blend of slapstick and propaganda. Of course a foolish bronze needed the help of a Thrower to live their life.

As he was finally losing himself in the plotline, a notification blocked the vision in his HUD. Instantly he became furious- only the most dire of circumstances should necessitate a message directly to him during this hour of the evening. Earh checked the time- it was well after 9. He growled as he rolled off his luxurious leather couch and rose to his feet. He might very well kill whomever ruined his alone time.

Earh slipped on his Grand Chancellor robe then went to make sure his hair was presentable in the mirror. The call had stopped ringing for a moment, then immediately began to ring again. Meticulously Earh took the comb out of the drawer and used a slight bit of gel to brush a few unsightly hairs back into place. It did not matter how terrible the circumstance, as the leader of the world he could never let himself get caught on camera looking a mess. He casually checked his teeth as the vibrating continued. Slowly and deliberately, he put the comb down and answered the incoming call. His dime sized camera drone jumped from its hiding place in his forehead chip and began to hover in front of him, displaying his face to the incoming caller.

A terrified and trembling Judicator displayed on the other end of the transmission through Earh's HUD. The scene behind him was pure pandemonium. Bronze women were gathered all around, screaming wildly and surrounding the terrified Judicator. He was being jostled like a rag doll by the sheer size of crowd and was having trouble keeping his footing. It was hard to hear anything in all the chaos, the rabble was deafening. Most women had brooms and even shower curtain rods, all of them were brandished and at the ready. The women were numbered in the hundreds, and that was only what Earh could see in the camera view from the man's Interface. Every woman looked furious.

“S-S-Sir. I have been advised by these lovely women that I was to contact you directly.”The Judicator was shaking and his voice cracked when he spoke. The women obviously had threatened him into calling. Earh was caught off guard by the situation as he tried to process everything. “What the hell is going on?” Was all he managed to say.

A thick woman with a bulbous nose boldly shoved her face next to the Judicator into the camera view. “I'll tell you what is going on Grand Chancellor Earh.” The words from the woman dripped with venom as she spoke. “We will no longer stand by and allow our young Bronze women to be treated this way!” The crowd behind her erupted violently into cheers of support.

Earh's thought's immediately transitioned to damage control. He still had no idea what was going on, but obviously a mob had formed and were furious enough to threaten violence. He chose his next words carefully as he responded the woman. After all, his slick tongue was what allowed him to rise to this position.

“Forgive me miss, I am not sure what you mean? If you could-”

Earh's jaw dropped at the brazenness of the Bronze woman as she interrupted him.

“I'll forgive nothing Earh Dunwick, and you'll hear my words even if you bring the ax down on my head. Our women should never have to fear rape, least of all from a Judicator!” Cheers of approval exploded again behind the women. The crowd had been worked into a frenzy.

Suddenly his HUD showed another incoming call from a Judicator in the Men's district... then another! What in the hell had happened?! He ignored his inner voice and outwardly responded to the woman in a calm and collected manner.

“I agree with your concerns completely and wholeheartedly. I will personally address this immediately. If you would be so kind, inform the crowd that I will be on the Observation deck in 15 minutes to address this issue directly. Is this acceptable for you?.... Miss?” He added the bit at the end with his best smile in a small attempt of charm.

Her scowl didn't lessen in the slightest. “You are damn right you will address this. Shame on you and the Earth Temple for allowing something like this to happen....” She paused for a moment. “You had better show up and fix this, we WILL see justice.” The women yelled in agreement the loudest at that last statement. Earh had never seen the Bronze this outspoken and riled... let alone coming from the women!

“You have my word that I will address all of your concerns.” He smiled widely, then killed the feed without waiting for a response. The fake smile vanished into a scowl as his eyebrows narrowed. Hurriedly his mind whirred through possibilities. Had his enemies created a “situation?” Surely it was too soon to enact the plan... No, this must be the work of Objectors. He relaxed slightly. Whatever it was, he was sure he could spin it around with the help of the Interface.

Earh ignored the calls coming in from Judicators, and called Doctor Abinomovish. The ugly, pockmarked face filled Earh's vision. Earh was in full command mode and dispensed with all pleasantries.

“Code Orange, Doctor. Dopamine for every Bronze Citizen, male and female. Give as much as they can stand.”

Earh hung up without waiting for a response, time was too precious right now. He still had no idea what he was dealing with.

He called Chu next. His favorite Earth Master answered and looked to be meditating, sitting cross legged on a mat in his quarters down the hall.

“I need a full report of whatever the hell is causing the commotion, 5 minutes. Set up a perimeter and meet me on the observation deck.”

Again, he hung up without waiting for a response.

Quickly he spoke a text that sent to all of the Earth Temple Cardinals, letting them know to gather at the Observation deck. He gave himself one final look in the mirror to check his appearance, and decided he was ready to go.

Earh hopped in his personal cart which started to quickly make the journey from his inner chamber of the temple to the Observation deck. NOW he could answer the Judicators from the Bronze men's district. As soon as the A.I. Driven cart began moving, he finally accepted the call from the first Judicator that had called him.

The scene before him was much more chaotic than the first call he had received. The Bronze men had gotten themselves more worked up than the females were. Hundreds of angry faces could be seen rioting and smashing everything they could. 3 Judicators swayed in the background as they hung by their necks from the light posts by bootstrings. Dead bronze bodies surrounded the Judicators. There was fire in random areas, with bottles being thrown and the glass busted out on most windows. Everything was chaos.

The lone Judicator that had been calling Earh began to stammer as he desperately looked around at the crowd. “I've gotten a hold of him! Look! He answered! Please talk to them!”

Earh said in a stern voice, “Tell them all to meet at the Observation deck in 10 minutes, I will address them there.” The Judicator turned wild eyed to the men that were pressing themselves in around him. “Grand Chancellor Dunwick said to meet at the Observation deck, he will...”

The Bronze men had no intention to entertain discourse. Murderous screaming of slurs and curses at the Judicator drowned out the relayed message from Earh. Before the Judicator had finished speaking, someone in the fray had crept up behind him and crushed his head with a stone shower rod. The crowd responded with raised fists and a roar of approval.

Earh turned off the feed and nonchalantly kept planning while the personal cart of the Grand Chancellor of the Earth Temple whirred down the halls. This situation was developing into a bit of actual excitement. What could have caused BOTH sides to revolt at the same time? Again, the thought crossed his mind that now might be the time to accelerate his plans.

No, it would be too risky to rush it. An improper balance could tip the whole thing over, and everything he had worked for during the last 20 years would be ruined if he made the wrong move. He would handle this mob like he had done so many others in the past.

Earh had almost made it to the Observation deck, when Dandleroy called him through the HUD. Earh opened the notification to see Roy's face, holding a furrowed brow that Earh had rarely seen on the man. “Did you see the video?” Roy waited for Earh to respond.

“I have not, but I have seen the crowd. What happened?”

Dandleroy began to recant the story of Thea and the Judicator. By some strange happenstance, the camera footage of Thea's point of view had been directly streamed to every Bronze citizen in the Earth district, to include both male and female citizens. In spite of all protocols and blockchain security features to prevent this situation, the people had seen this terrible act and were now revolting.

Earh sighed and began to rub his temples. For a brief second, his mind said this was impossible. But then again... the riot spoke for itself. This would be difficult to spin, indeed. Another Judicator rape, this time broadcast to the entire world. His mind whirred through possible options for damage control. Earh's eyes lit up. “Find the girl, and make her presentable. Bring her to the Observation deck immediately.”

“The first thing I did was go find her, sir.”

“Of course he did,” thought Earh to himself. “Bleeding heart sap.”

His face smiled, however, and he responded kindly. “Wonderful job, Dandleroy, wonderful. The reason you are my Vice Chancellor is because of how dependable you are. Make sure she is presentable and we can use her to get the crowd back under control.”

Dandleroy's face turned uncomfortable as he responded. “She is doing ok but I don't think that-” Earh instantly lost his patience and snapped at Roy. “I didn't tell you think, I told you to bring the girl to the Observation deck, Vice Chancellor.”

Roy dropped his head and solemnly nodded, proving like always that he was the good little subservient worker that Earh kept him around to be. All Earh Dunwick responded with was a simple: “good,” then he hung up on Dandleroy. The man annoyed him to no end, but he was useful at the end of the day.

“That should be everything,” thought Earh as he reached the inner chamber that led to the Observation deck. Not bad. He had finished formulating his plan with 3 minutes left to spare. From a rioting crisis, to a well formulated plan and countermove in 12 minutes. It was plainly obvious he was born to rule the world.

Chu had set up the perimeter and was waiting in the inner chamber. A crowd of voices could be heard outside gathering in the courtyard below. Multiple Earth Throwing guards had been gathered and stationed outside on the deck, lining either side and surveying the scene below.

The wall that separated the male and female bronze from each other ended right in the middle of the Observation deck; in this way Earh could speak and both sides would be able to see him clearly. He nodded at Chu, then shook his head no as Chu began to take a step forward to provide his requested report. He quickly reviewed the footage from Thea's point of view. Earh cringed at the cheesiness of the Judicator's lines, then laughed and clapped his hands delightedly as Thea cracked the man with a shower rod.

“I think I like this girl!” Said Earh Dunwick, beaming at Chu. The stoic warrior gave a small smile in acknowledgment.

Loud booming chants from the Bronze men outside began to reverberate through the doors on the balcony. A strong and unified message was loud and clear from the men to the women. It seemed like every Bronze male in the district was chanting along to the loud and echoing phrase. Thousands upon thousands of men bellowed the words in a heartfelt and passionate manner; they were filled with just as much anger as the women, and let them know exactly how they felt with a simple four word chant.

“WE ARE WITH YOU! WE ARE WITH YOU!”

The dopamine Earh had ordered the Doctor to give the Bronze was not taking its desired affect, but soon all would be well again. Earh sat down and ignored the bustle of people around him, waiting patiently for Dandleroy and the girl arrive. He felt completely at ease as the entire district continued to chant it's haunting echo.

Chapter 1: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-1-rough-draft/

Chapter 2: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-2-rough-draft/

Chapter 3: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-3-rough-draft/

Chapter 4: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-4-rough-draft/

Chapter 5: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-5-rough-draft/

Chapter 6: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-6-rough-draft/

Chapter 7: https://throwersbook.com/chapter-7-rough-draft/

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