Chapter 1
Jay sighed and looked at his watch again, "Not long till shift change" he mumbled to himself as he eased out a crick in his neck. As the general of the Techno's, Jay was always working extra, the position that he was in demanded it. But lately Ram had been ordering extra reports and had upped the schedule for programming completion.
The klaxon rang, telling everyone that the next shift was about to start. Jay sighed, he had four hours to himself before he had to return and report to Ram for their early morning briefing…
"Night Ved" he said as he slapped his little brother on the shoulder on his way out of the room…
"Whatever" Ved muttered under his breath to Jay, he was too interested in his latest project to worry about small things such as sleep as he carried on punching in different codes to write his latest program…
Returning to his room, Jay eyed the mountain of paperwork on his desk. Choosing to ignore it, he slumped onto his bed, his eyes closing immediately as he entered the land of nod…
Ram dribbled as he slept, mumbling strange things 'virts, no… dirt, disease, you'll all see' as Java looked on with interest, an eyebrow raised. She couldn't help but wonder what went on in that mind of Ram's, sometimes the ideas he came up with were literally out of this world.
Shaking Ram as she whispered "Ram, wake up its 05:00 hours, time for your meeting with Jay", Ram sat up with a bolt, as he glared angrily at who had disturbed his sleep, his glare turning into a smile as he saw it was her, "Javie, Javie, I've had it. The idea I need, its brilliant" he said his eyes gleaming with madness…
"How much longer can they make us do this?" she groaned, her voice dry and croaky from the dust…
"Can't help you there" her companion said, "I can't even remember how long I've been here", her voice on the verge of tears…
"Hey, please don't cry, if we cry its like we saying to them that we're scared" she said "And that its okay to beat us and treat us this way"…
The girl nodded, "You're right, it's nice to be able to talk to someone for a change. The last person who worked next to me, well he moved on" she said, there was no other way to describe it. The guy had been there one day and the next, he was gone…
The mines were not a very nice place, the guards made the prisoners work for long shifts, often beating them, depriving them of food and water, and in the worse case some of the women had even been raped.
The girl nodded, "I've only been here a few days, but already I don't like it. It's always so dark in here, and I long to be outside with the fresh air"…
Her companion smiled in the dark, "Tell me about outside, I haven't seen the day of light for a long time" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper, "I stopped counting when I reached 200 days, its been so long" as the tears ran down her face…
Ebony looked down the cliff as she saw Bray and Lex drive off in the buggy, her face watching the Chosen who attempted to chase after them, their gowns flapping in the wind.
She saw the other Mallrats be escorted away by the Chosen guards, and Trudy ride off on her horse, a smug grin on her face, "You'll get what's coming to you" Ebony said as she picked up her bag. But first, she had to find Bray and Lex, they had escaped and no matter what she did, Ebony could not forget that she had loved Bray from the moment she saw him, and that she did…
"Ow, you big dumb bullies" Alice yelled at the Chosen guards as they poked her and the others in an attempt to make the Mallrats move even faster.
"Stop it Alice" Ellie hissed at her sister, she was in no mood for Alice's dumb remarks, in fact she was far from amused at having been caught and held prisoner in her own home.
"We must be quiet, there must be no fighting amongst ourselves" Tai-san said, "We must send our energy towards Bray and Lex, so that they might defeat this false religion" she said standing up as she did.
Ryan nodded, patting Salene's hand "Bray and Lex, yeah she's right, they'll have us out of this in no time", Salene just smiled feebly at him.
"Let us concentrate, all of us. Join hands and we'll send our positive energy to Lex and Bray" she said, holding out her hands for the others to take.
Patsy and Cloe, took each others hands, Cloe joining Tai-san's hand as KC, Salene, Ryan, Jack, Ellie, Dal and Alice joined in, "Well, can't do no harm" Alice said as they completed the circle.
Tai-san nodded and smiled, "Now close your eyes and concentrate, send out the hope and positive energy that we all have. Direct it towards our fellow Mallrats, Bray and Lex, as we aid them in…."
The Guardian had descended the steps of the Mall and interrupted Tai-san, "You need not pray, unless it is to Zoot. For now is the time of the Chosen, the era of Zoot is upon us" he said, a maniacal grin upon his face, as he stood with his arms open, "Praise be to Zoot"
"And to his Chosen victory" uttered Trudy as she stepped forward holding Brady close to her…