It doesn’t take long for Macy to come calling. Her meeting had not gone as well as she hoped, apparently, “Hey Siff, how’s it going? Got some bad news I’m afraid. Seems the assholes up top don’t feel like negotiating. They’ve got units working their ways through the tunnels and vents to get down here. They’re also working on changing the elevators to run on generators off the grid. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were gearing up for a possible full-system reboot to get control of the systems we took over.

“All this means that our tactics have to change. And things are likely gonna get a lot more violent than they would have had to. So I need to ask, I know it’s barely been an hour, but have you made a decision? What do you want to do?”

“I think.” Dammit, why do decisions always have to be so hard? I just started making friends. But if I don’t go to the Chosen Ones I’ll never forgive myself. It’s what I’ve wanted my whole life, “I want to go. I want to go to the Chosen Ones.”

“Fair enough, that was the deal.” Macy is obviously disappointed, “Thanks for all you’ve done. As of this moment, everything I tell you is going to be top secret: don’t tell anyone. Anyone. Because if you do it could compromise your mission and probably end up with you being dead. Hear me? I’m being serious here.”

“I hear you.”

“Okay, follow me.”

They head down several flights of stairs below ground level where Macy uses her hands to open a secured locking mechanism, “We’ve managed to build and compile this equipment over the last ten years. Even most of our own forces aren’t aware of how well equipped we are. Come on in.”

A thick door slides sideways to reveal a large hangar filled with weapons, vehicles, and equipment. There are workers making their rounds, inspecting everything to make sure it is battle-ready, “The generals are already preparing to mobilize. Come on, this way.” Macy leads her to a section of small rooms within the hangar, filled with older artifacts and gear, “When you get there, you can’t be wearing anything synthetic. All your clothes have to match what they wear. Here, put these on.”

A couple minutes later Siff returns wearing very simple fabrics, “It’s surprisingly comfy. Like pajamas.”

Macy chuckles, “I’m glad you like it. You look…great…”

“Oh shut up, I do look great.”

They both laugh as she follows Macy to another room, “Okay, you’ll need this.” Siff is handed a backpack and handles it inquisitively, “It’s called a parachute. When the time comes you put your legs through there and your arms through there. Until then, wear it as a regular backpack, the outside is identical to the packs our soldiers are wearing. When you jump, pull this cord and hang on. When you get close to the ground remember to bend your legs, pull the handles down and across your body, and fall backwards.”

“Jump? Jump from where?”

“How do you think you’ll get into the Chosen Ones’ environment?”

“I dunno? You open the doors?”

“There’s only one door big enough for humans to get in, and there’s no way you’ll get through the Gate unnoticed. There’s no way in unless you jump.”

“Jump from where?”

“When you land, make sure you burn the parachute completely. You can’t take anything in from out here.”

“Jump from where, Macy?”

“And I’ve got one more thing to give you. Here.” Macy pulls out a headset from one of the racks, “I hid this in here a couple days ago, just in case you made this choice.” Her hand connects to the interface for a moment, then she gives it to Siff, “It’s wirelessly augmented to me. I’ll guide you through to where you need to go. But I won’t open the way until you leave the headset behind because-“

“I know, I know, I can’t take anything from out here in there. Now where am I jumping from, Macy?”

“Let’s just say you’re gonna have a hell of a view of your future home.”

Siff emerges with Macy a few minutes later; she has put on military attire over her cloth ‘pajamas’. The modern tech in her gear will keep her warm during her descent, and she will burn it completely when she gets to the ground. Her headset is kept hidden inside her jacket. She feels really good about how she looks, like a real warrior.

Siff follows her friend through the hallways again to an outfitting sector, “Here Siff, you’ll join Karl’s team and head in to defend our position against the walls of the grav modules. Once you get there, put the headset on and I’ll lead you in. But don’t you tell anyone your mission. You’re going in with a team and I need them to be focused.” Siff nods in agreement and gulps. The outfitting sector is filled with men and women picking up weapons and inspecting them, getting their teams ready and receiving orders, being briefed and disappearing through the bay doors.

Macy leads her through the crowds to where Karl’s team are getting ready, “And this is where I leave you. Take good care of them.” She nods to Karl then disappears back through the crowds.

“Ah shit, really? She’s a fucking liability.”

“That’s enough Addy. Whatever your personal feelings, as of this moment we are a team. We owe this opportunity to Siff, and it’s an honor to have her here.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Right. Siff get yourself a helmet and a weapon.”

“Woah, like, a gun? I’ve never fired a gun in my life.”

“Sure you have. How many VR simulations have you run? You’re probably a better shot than all of us.”

“But that was fake! I didn’t actually shoot anyone!”

“What the fuck you think we’re gonna do if we run into Brainers, huh? Those fuckers have it coming.”

“Addy’s not wrong, Siff. If we run into trouble they will shoot you if they get the chance, and they will shoot to kill. You need to understand that we are going into battle right now. You’ll make it: we’ve got your back. And you’ll have our backs as well, right?”

Siff is terrified as she is handed an energy-rifle from the rack: I didn’t sign up for this, I didn’t sign up for this. She thinks about what Karl just said: does she have their backs? Will they be safe when she leaves? Of course they will: they’re hardened soldiers and I’m just an upper level pretender. Could I kill someone? What if it’s someone I know? Oh god! What if they send Bear down here? Oh god, could I?—

“Siff?” she wakes from her wide-eyed trance of terror, “You’ve got our backs, right? It’s going to be okay.”

“Y-yeah, sure.”

“Good, I know you do. We’re a team.”

Siff looks at the unit she is now a part of. There are six of them including her: the same ones she met at breakfast. Karl, Addy, Wrench, Conner and Pint. She is very thankful Issel is not in the group, the poor kid is way too young for something like this.

Besides Addy—who has decided to hate her, it appears—the rest of the team all smile to welcome her as they put their firearms and tools in their respective places. Siff is given a hand-gun, five smoke grenades (they reasoned that giving her live grenades might not be the best plan on her first mission), and a small med-kit. She puts her helmet on and the visor extends to lock into place, creating a seal that purifies the air. Her audio-visuals boot up, giving her real time information and connection to the rest of her squad.

“Okay troops, listen up. This is how it’s going down.” Karl’s voice is authoritative and Siff hears him simultaneously through the headset with zero delay on the vocals, “The enemy has been spotted making their way down the shafts and vents to several stages of critical interest to our goals. Our job is to make our way to the grav modules and keep any Brainers bottlenecked inside the shafts. We will be joining five other units at grav module seven. Once there we will hold the brainers inside the shafts and wait for orders to enter.

“It has been thousands of years that we have been hidden, and now we have hope for the first time. We will not let them take that from us. We shall let them know the Lower Levels are here and we will no longer be their slaves. We are already free, they just don’t know it yet. And I can’t wait to tell them in person. How about you?”

“Yes, Sir!” the unified shout shocks Siff as she sees her new friends shift from being relaxed and laughing, to hardened eyes and determined jaws. These are warriors with nothing to lose, and vengeance to gain. There’s going to be blood. Lots of blood. How does Macy think she’s going to control these people once they see the security forces? They’re going to do everything they can to kill everyone they can.

“All right, let’s move!”