ONN CONTINUED REPORTING: On The Ground Coverage at X-17
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Originally Published on May 15th, 2493
Orbital News Network/Lucretia Thompson and Huntsman Cairo Reporting
Thompson: "Welcome back from the break, we're continuing our coverage of the Siege of X-17 and I have learned our link to our embedded reporter Huntsman Cairo is back, we go to him now...."
Cairo: "Thanks Lucretia... we've been making our way back towards the X-17 site as we're seeing increased artillery fire indicating there may be a pushback against the mechs..."
Thompson: "That is good news, but what else have you discovered, you had mentioned files and my studio producer is indicating that there is a clear pathway for upload at present...."
Cairo: "Indeed, Lucretia... the first is a video file transmitted in a SOS burst from the cyberbrain of someone who died outside of X-17...the file was being bounced from listening post to listening post before we intercepted it... I will remind our viewers this may contain disturbing images and you should adjust your content filters accordingly...."
| Fuzzed rendering before a clear image. A dark cinderblock room, with salvaged décor. A woman’s voice yearning and booming, “LEAVE IT WE HAVE TO GO, PLEASE!” The owner of the voice, was in the point of view of the camera, her hands are moving, stuffing a bag with a sweater. The eye of the camera pivots around, the dank upholstery and décor more visible as it is focused. A quick glimpse to the left, out a window… the air outside looked thick… This woman started to put on a respirator. A light heave. “Hurry up, I am feeling sick!”
Slinging the backpack over a shoulder, another woman’s voice then her face came into view. A brunette with a nose that looked slit, as if it mutated into two, one eye looked like it was trying to be a third eye below the right eye. The eyes were beautifully ocean blue, which popped off the tan skin tone. “Zay, you know that necklace is all I have of my mother, I am not leaving it behind… I need to-“ Muffled distant explosions. Zay interrupted, that arm went out to the brunette, snatching her to pull close, “KAT PUT YOUR MASK ON THIS IS- this is—this is to much, even for us.” The explosions are closer. Zay’s hands yank and pulling in panic, “WE HAVE TO GO!” Zay turns to check the mask on Kat. A hand goes to her cheek, nano seconds, and off they were out the dwelling. Hurried footsteps, jumping over a cart of discarded goods. A head, limb, now bodies. Strewn bodies… A glance upward, and there was an upper torso, stuck in a tree, intestine hanging and draped. Another body, as if a bug splattered against a wall, face was completely blistered. Skin as if a glove had slipped off the bone… Others are running for their lives. A heave, liquid content spill, coughing. A distant yell, “FUCKING SYNTHS, must be up to this bullshit!” Around the corner, they kept running now. Heavy breathing heard within and through the mask. Glaring lights bore from a shadow of the past. One reawaken to be today’s nightmare. Kat’s muffled voice though her mask, broken, “The war ended…” Zay’s dark ironic laugh, “Are you dense?” Still zipping through. “It never FUCKING ended! I TOLD YOU, and you said conspiracy theory! We were left with the effects. These war mechs were still around… it was a matter of fuckin’ time!” Then, there was something ... looking directly at them and though them. It barricaded their escape. The two stopped moving. Zay took Kat’s hand, their fingers entwined. “I-” The world lit up and deconstructed around the figures. The eye continued to record, as the blood pool grew around the body of its host. Twitching. Entwined digits held firm, onto an arm without a body... Screams of agony continued… [Sending…. Host offline.] |
Thompson: "Huntsman, would the presence of cyberware mean that person was corporate personnel?"
Cairo: "I can't see how that is relevan-"
Thompson: "It Looks like the feed has been lost again, we'll try to re-establish.....more when we come back from break..."