Talia didn’t bother to hide as she walked out of the inn.
She blatantly walked down the stairs and down the bar area of the inn, attracting a lot of attention on the way.
Brick followed her from behind in a protective manner.
The eyes that looked at her and the corpse on her shoulder were filled with complicated emotions. Afterall, when the boys were running off, this inn was the first place that received the pamphlets.
From the contents, they easily made the connections and realized that this was the brave reporter who dared write such an article at the expense of her life.
When they read the pamphlets’ contents, they sensed the impending danger and none of them had the guts to go help her. Now, they felt a bit guilty- the contents of the pamphlet were like a dagger carving under their skin.
They couldn’t pretend that they didn’t read it, they couldn’t avoid it.
A few of them walked outside as soon as Talia left, watching by the door as the valiant-looking Geneform walked off with the martyr.
Talia showed no signs of hesitation as she directly walked towards the middle of community G, the open market with the corpse.
Brick had a worried look in his eyes as he followed, but he didn’t stop her.
Yes, Talia was angry.
Yes, she was raging, but this was not the reason why she was performing such a blatant show with the corpse of his fellow rebel.
The reason was simple.
’She’s the reinforcent’. She thought with mixed emotions.
The mont she read the contents of the pamphlet, her mind was blinded by the fear of the threat to the reporter’s life, so she abandoned all caution and rushed towards the inn as fast as she could.
On one hand, this likely already destroyed her mask.
For her to discover the reporter’s location so easily and so fast, Cell was no fool, he would most likely realize that she was no longer an F Rank NetRunner.
But Talia no longer cared because on one hand the deed was already done, and on the other hand, she realized sothing that she almost overlooked.
By reading the content of the paper left behind by the reporter and understanding her emotions and fear during her last monts through it, she realized the true sacrifice that this reporter made.
For days, she’d been worried, agonizing to know if her ssage got to the Freegrid Collective. She was desperate to get reinforcents.
This was because despite being an E Rank NetRunner now, she didn’t dare underestimate Parasite. Instead, it was because she was an E Rank Ascended now that she respected and feared the Warlord even more.
She didn’t know the abilities that a Gene Augur gets at E Rank, but with her own abilities as a benchmark, she had the appropriate amount of respect for a veteran like Parasite who had years to grow into himself and his abilities.
But she wasn’t scared, this wouldn’t stop her plan.
All she wanted was the boon of reinforcent. And now, she realized that she finally got what she wanted.
Even if the potential reinforcent from the Freegrid Collective didn’t co on ti, Talia realized that the reporter was the greatest reinforcent that she needed all along.
She could already feel it. She could sll it and she could hear it... the drumbeats of rebellion.
Talia’s eyes glead. ’She realized that alone, she can’t fight the Zr gang after discovering the true story behind the girl, Emilia’s death’.
’She was essentially stuck in enemy territory alone with no help’.
’And so, she orchestrated this whole theater at the cost of her life. She wanted to wake this community up, she wanted to make the people rise up in numbers and go against the tyranny of the Zr gang’.
’Alone, these people are weak and mundane. But together, even the weakest ant can topple a giant once they start moving as a colony’.
Her eyes glead. ’This is Audrey’s sacrifice, to turn all of community G against the Zr gang and Parasite’.
’She didn’t know of and the others, she knew that her chances of actually making these people gain the courage to fight against authority is slim, yet she had the bravery to give her life for a cause that she believed in’.
Talia’s eyes glowed neon green. ’You can rest at peace Audrey, I, Talia Venn will complete the mission that you started’.
The reason why Talia was having this theatrical walk with the corpse of the reporter to the open market was to reinforce the effects of Audrey’s pamphlets.
She could feel the churning undercurrents of a brewing storm. Now, all she was doing was fanning the flas of the impending storm.
After the murmurs and gossip, the news spread like wildfire in harmattan.
Majority of people in the streets already learned the truth- the Zr gang was involved in slave trade and had been secretly leeching them and using their loved ones to enrich themselves!
As they watched the valiant-looking Geneform walk off with the body suspected to be the corpse of the reporter, they felt rage shimring in their hearts.
Talia walked to the open market, then she looked at Brick.
Realizing her intentions, Brick turned around to look for a shovel but a man- a Geneform approached him and voluntarily gave him a shovel.
"Take," he said. "Use it to bury her".
Brick nodded in gratitude before turning and right there, right in broad-day light in front of the open market, Brick began digging a grave.
Ti seed to co to a stand-still.
There was no sound. Even the dostic animals and birds seed to have sensed the churning undercurrents as they all maintained the solemn silence.
Brick dug the grave and Talia solemnly placed the Synth corpse inside.
By then, a crowd already gathered around the open market, including a weak and extrely frail female Geneform who wore rags and seed like she was just one step away from death.
All of them looked weak and malnourished, but there was a fire burning in their eyes as the Synth corpse was laid to rest in the grave.
The atmosphere was charged with electricity and Talia didn’t miss the clear opportunity that was before her.
As soon as the last sand was put on the grave, covering it, she turned to face the crowd with her head high and her back straight.
She pointed at the grave and said in a loud voice. "This is Audrey Ross, the reporter who risked her life to reveal this truth to all of us".
"And as you can see, she was right. She knew they would kill her, but for the truth, she didn’t hesitate to sacrifice her life".
"Like Audrey said," Talia’s eyes glowed neon green with power, reflecting her heightened emotions as she asked in a loud voice. "How much longer before justice cos for Emilia?"
"How much longer before justice cos for Emilia’s aunt and uncle?"
"How much longer before justice cos for the Zr gang?"
"How much longer before justice cos for Parasite?"
"Are we going to continue staying idle and revel in our weakness and cowardice while our loved ones are enslaved and sold as commodities?"
"For how long are we going to stay cowards?"
"I say ENOUGH!" Her voice bood like thunder.
"Enough to the Zr gang treating our community as their playground, enough to the Zr gang’s oppression, I say enough to Parasite’s brutality!"
"It’s ti we stand and fight!"
"It’s ti we fight for our holand!"
"They abandoned the Wastes, but it’s our Wastes! It’s where most of us grew up, it’s where we have our lives. We can still live as free n even in the Wastes!"
Talia tightened her right hand into a fist and raised it high above her head. "Justice for Emilia!" She scread.
The crowd could no longer stay silent; they were riled up already.
"JUSTICE FOR EMILIA!" They roared.
Talia’s eyes glead as she heard the reply that she was looking for.
She pushed on. "Justice against the Zr gang!"
"JUSTICE AGAINST THE ZR GANG!" The crowd roared.
"Justice for our families!"
"JUSTICE FOR OUR FAMILIES!"
"Justice against Parasite!"
"JUSTICE AGAINST PARASITE!!!"
And with that, all hell broke loose.
Community G beca a bomb that was waiting to detonate!
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