The End : Aggregate (Part 2)

8.
Simon dragging Paul by the arm, turning and twisting and jockeying for position as they climb down the narrow spiral stairs. Paul took a peek over the railing, it was a long way down. The path down was well illuminated.

As they continued with the descent Paul's head went through a number of crazy and unlikely scenarios. Was Simon leading him into an air raid shelter?. Had Simon finally lost his mind and was Simon lureing him to his death. He was scared, scared for himself but more importantly for his wife, home alone. Paul wanted to turn around and head back up, Simon had a tight grip, he wasn't going anywhere without permission.

At the bottom of the staircase Simon and Paul crossed the threshold into a new room. The room was full of lights. Flashing, hypnotic and inviting.
The lights were neatly spaced out on towers of metal and plastic which were housing circuits and mile upon mile of wire. Each tower connected by even more wire.
At the far end of the room fixed to the wall a large flat screen monitor was dead, a pitch black window. A red standby button blinking at a steady rhythm waiting to come to life.

Simon headed straight towards it. He again pulled out his ID card and swiped it through a slot in a black box, connected to the monitor, on the waist high bench in front of him. The monitor came to life.
"This is what I need you to see" said Simon. The monitor loaded up its operating software in next to no time. Simon studied the display looking for the correct file. He found it 'Home'. He pressed his finger against the icon for the file and held it in place so the monitor could check his finger print.
Accepting his identity as valid the file opened.
"You ask me about the Great War, I don't talk about it for good reason. The War was not great. I done some things I have nightmares about" said Simon.
"You want to talk about the war now!" snapped Paul.
"Just hold on a second, please" Simon tapped away on the keypad on the desk.
"Look" Simon pointed at the display.
A birds eye view of Town appeared on the display, "This is us" said Simon.
He pressed a few more keys and the map expanded, showing more and more.
As the image grew, more towns appeared, according to the scale at the bottom of the screen they were separated by tens of miles. Littered in between there were dozens of small settlements. They were not the same as the towns. They were smaller and not one had a brick structure. Paul was aware of the layout of the Towns and recognised each one of them from his school days. The smaller places were new to him.
"What is this, what's this got to do with anything?" said Paul.
Simon zoomed into the closest foreign settlement, about eight miles out from Town.
"We call them Natives" explained Simon.
"You see them on the news every now and then, the terrorists, it's a cover up"
Paul was puzzled by the nonsense coming from Simon. The old man knew Paul wanted him to get straight to the point. Paul was not a patient man. He went on to explain,

"They are not terrorists, they used to live the kind of life you and I have, we took that away from them. We started the Great War boy".

9.
Mary paced up and down her living room. She was sick with worry. As she peered out of the window she could see Agents moving down the street towards her. Covered in black body armour, heavily armed and some had riot shields. They stopped at Marys neighbours home. Surrounding the house with assault rifles trained on entry and exit points while a man wearing a black suit entered via the front door. The man although not heavily armoured had a pistol in hand, held down by his thigh. He was less aggressive in his way of movement. He seemed calm, oblivious to the noise.
The Agents were looking for something or some one.

The hum from the heavens was still present. Constant and not changing in tone. Mary picked up her comms and pressed the speed dial for her husband, Paul, who was still with Simon, as far as she was aware. Surely Paul had heard the noise. Why hadn't he come home?.
The comms device let out a series of beeps. No response. Mary figured that Home and Welfare had shut down the network after issuing their order, making sure that who ever they were looking for couldn't liaise or plan with an accomplice. Mary told herself to shut up. She was home alone during a lock down, didn't have a clue as to what was happening outside, and assumed now that Agents were after two people.

The panic in her head now at paranoia levels. She contemplated they could actually be after her. She scanned her room looking for hiding places. What about the cupboard by the door?. Everything gets lost in there.
"Don't be so stupid woman" she said to herself.

She peeked out of the window again and saw that the agents were finishing up at her neighbours. The Agents retreating from their positions. As the man in the suit left the building his subordinates formulated a circle around him, as if waiting for new orders. The man in the suit pointed towards Mary.

9.
Although underground Paul could still hear the noise from outside. He could feel it too, vibrating the walls visibly, moving through his hands placed onto the workbench for support, down through his gut, his legs and then being absorbed through the thick black rubber on the boots on his feet. A steady shock of direct current.
The monitor was fixed in place and was unaffected by the shock.
Paul wiped the sweat from his forehead on the back of his hand.
"What do you mean Si?. We took their life, you said we started the war?". Paul's voice was trembling, it was hard to tell if this was because of the vibration running through his body but Paul was scared.
The monitor now illuminated, flashing information, it was a timeline of events. Simon highlighted the first entry on the touch screen.

"This here, this is why" removing his finger from the monitor a new file opened up revealing a list of places and names.
"Listen, we are millennia old, we travel from world to world taking resources by force. We take the best of their culture, their way of life, to improve our own. We are the epitome of evolution. We survive, we near enough wiped out the human species".
Simon was disgusted with the string of words that came from his memory. He couldn't look Paul in the eye.
He continued "that noise you hear, that's our second home, coming to take us, it is time to move on".

Paul's mind struggled to process the crazy statement. It made no sense at all to him. He had a million and one questions for Simon, the lone thought that struggled to the top of the mountain was "you mean... I am alien?".

Simon shook his head, "No not alien, you are human, you were designed to be the best physical human but retain all of the traits of the civilisations we conquered before".
Simon was interrupted.
The light above the monitor was beginning to dim. The generator powering the room was dying a slow mechanical death. Simon took note of this, he knew time was running out.
He inserted a flash drive into the bottom of the monitor and typed away on the keypad.

"I am downloading all you need to know, take it and go back to Mary, there's not much time, the Agents will try to arrest you, if this happens demand to speak to Andrews, and show him this" Simon handed over the hard drive. Paul didn't know what to do with himself, the room was spinning. He realised that old Si' was not a crazy deluded man, he was telling the truth. He didn't want to leave him, it wasn't just because he cared for him, he wanted to ask those millions of questions he had racked up. Simon ushered Paul to the door leading back to the spiral staircase.
"Go, don't worry about me, I have some things to take care of. I will be fine. Go!". Simon pushed Paul through the threshold before activating a door which locked shut in front of him.

X.
The Contubernium, menacing, in black armour moved in towards their next target. The house with the self inlicted vandalism on the front door. Agent Andrews, three steps behind them as they crept forward in a well drilled formation.
The wind catching Andrews white hair, an annoying distraction. Andrews' distraction was interrupted by another. His in ear comms came to life. New instructions were fed to him from Tactical division "Abandon search, we have detected unauthorised access to cetra-base, priority, apprehend Simon".

Andrews relayed the order. The ten man squad obediently acknowledged the order from their superior. They set a new course for the run down shack at the end of the street.

Mary now accepting she had nothing to worry about still let out a sigh of relief as she observed through her living room window Contuberniums detour. A new panic and set of worries washed over her. The Agents were not heading towards her next neighbour as she assumed. They were heading to the bottom of the street. Straight towards her husband.

Paul made it to the front door, he opened the door slightly giving himself enough space to squeeze his head through. His neck catching on the lock mechanism, he could barely turn his head. He could see the armed Agents in the middle of the road, some couple of hundred feet away. He could make out rifles pointed straight at the shack.
"Shit!" Paul couldn't see a way out, stuck between ten armed men and no doubt more agents further down the street.
"Which one of them is Andrews?". Paul questioned himself.
He took another look up and down both ends of the street and decided he would make a run for it. Run anywhere, it didn't matter, he knew they would catch him sooner or later. First though he had to get out of Simons yard.

Clutching the hard drive in his left hand, he crouched down. He decided he would use the hills of metal left by Simon as cover.
Moving quickly from one mound to the next, he was closing in on the perimeter of the yard. There was no more cover. Just the road and the prospect of being caught.
As he sat behind the burned out engine block shielding him from sight, he wondered if the Agents knew the truth of their life. Were they out on the streets to protect Town from this noise emanating from the sky?. Did Mary know?. Was this whole town some sort of sick twisted version of reality made just for him?. Paul's pulse racing. He had no where to go and he could hear the Agents footsteps heading towards him.

"Balls to it" with some new found courage he stood up, hands in the air, a sign of passifism.

"I need to speak to Andrews".

11.
Agent Andrews commanded his men to stand down as they encroached upon Paul. Their weapons trained on Paul who's hands were still above his head, the hard drive locked in a vice like grip.
As the command was completed, inconsistent drips of water showered down from above. The sky was shedding tears for the sad events that had taken hold of the town.

Andrews stepped through a gap in the secure ring surrounding their unarmed captive. Although Agent Andrews could see this man posed no threat, outnumbered eleven to one, he held his gun at shoulder hight and at full arm length, aiming at Paul's head. As he edged closer and could see panic in Paul's eyes he lowered his weapon and holstered it away.

"I am Andrews, you can put your hands down, don't worry, you are safe". The calm and monotone order relaxed Paul. The armed Agents lowered their weapons as Paul lowered his arms in submission. Paul's grip was loosening.
"Simon told me I should give you this" said Paul, showing Andrews the hard drive.
"Is this from the centra-base, is that what Simon was doing?"
questioned Agent Andrews.
"How could you know about this?, Simon is not connected to the grid".
Andrews looked up to the sky, either assessing if the rain would worsen or perhaps looking for an answer.
"There's a lot we know about Simon, and a lot I am certain you don't".
Paul confidently replied "He told me, he told me about that noise, what we are, what we have done".
"He told you?." countered Andrews sounding sarcastic.
"It's all here on this hard drive, take it" Paul pushed his open palm forward willing Andrews to take it away from him.

Andrew obliged, he took the hard drive from him and slid it into his trouser pocket without taking anytime to look at it.
"Take him" ordered Andrews.
Three of the Contubernium stepped forward, one from behind Paul and two from the front. Their assault rifles again trained on Paul. The soldier from behind grabbed Pauls hands and locked them in handcuffs behind his back, grabbing the back of his neck he began to drag Paul away.
Paul was kicking those in front and twisting and turning trying to escape the grip of the soldier behind him, to no avail. Paul was not strong enough.
"No need to panic, I did say you were safe, trust me, you will make it harder" said Andrews.
Paul was trying to keep his balance, trying to escape, his legs still flailing.

Mary witnessed it all through her living room window. She wanted so much to run out into the street to save her husband from this man in black. She had no chance, what was she possably going to do. Mary was at least one foot smaller and probably nine stone lighter than the soldier.
She banged on the window as Paul was dragged past her.
Mary screamed "I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do" as she smashed her palms against the double glazed window.
Paul was oblivious to her screams, he could see his wife though, his heart sank, he didn't know where he was going, for how long and if Mary was going to be safe.
Mary collapsed to her knees. She couldn't stand to watch she was as helpless as her husband.

As Paul was taken from sight, Agent Andrews ordered the rest of his crew onto Simons home. The apprehension of Paul would not stop Agent Andrews from carrying out his task.

Simon hurried to the furthest corner of his workshop. A cloth covering a large item was removed, it was an ancient radio transmitter and receiver, a relic from the Great War. He fiddled with the knobs and dials, the sound of static crackling from a set of headphones mounted on a hook on it's side, proving that the old machine was still working even after all these years.
He slid the headphones over his head and onto his ears. Simon leaned on the desk supporting the weight of the radio and positioned his head over the microphone. He played around with the dial again, looking for the correct frequency.

"London, London can you hear me?" Simon waited a moment for a response before repeating the same phrase.
"This is London, over" a voice replied, "Please state your business".
Simon turned up the volume dial, his old ears had struggled to pick up the acknowledgment.
"I've got news, it's bad, I can confirm Project Rapture has begun".

VI 2

London acknowledge that this transmission was genuine, it matched the intel from their scout. The man on the other end of the radio had to be their man on the inside.
The radio operator removed his headset and placed it on the old oak desk and looked up to his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Vaux, and explained "That's all I got sir, lost the signal after that last burst".
Vaux glanced towards the band of servicemen and volunteers sat behind him on collapsible metal chairs. Sat in silence. Eyes trained on him, waiting for a reaction.
Vaux broke the brief silence "This is it, get the people into the vaults, this place needs to be empty within the next hour, light the beacons and see if you can raise Newcastle on that thing", pointing to the radio. "We haven't heard from them in days, they need to know what to expect".

The procedure for evacuation had been well drilled and tested over the years, at least once per week and in as many different weather conditions as posable. Each generation improving the techniques and passing this advice onto the next. The safety and survival of the settlements was number one priority for Vaux no matter what.

The invasion was devastating. Thirty years ago, the majority of the remaining population were forced underground to survive, literally underground. Mostly in old underground train stations, subways and wine cellars. Military engineers dug sideways and expanded their new homes. Sealed off from the outside, they were dubbed 'Vaults' by the soldiers. This is where they were forced to live for years.
Although the population was low after the attack, the remaining government had plans to ensure they recovered. Desperate measures were initiated, any female of child bearing age, some as young as thirteen, used as tools to produce more fighters. The plan worked.
The population increased dramatically.

When the invaders first attacked, it was without warning. No one knew where they came from and why. They obliterated almost every thing on sight. Reports came in from all over the world, everyone was a target not just England. A pattern emerged though, farms, water supplies and power plants were not hit. It appeared as though the invaders protected them, as well as a few minor cities and large villages. The invaders began to occupy them. In time though communications were cut off with the rest of the world. It was difficult even to consult different areas of their own country.
Shortly after the invaders began their own construction efforts. It became clear. They had moved in and no one was going to evict them.

Then the attacks stopped after about ten years after the initial attack. Humanity used this time to reproduce and to plan.
Twenty years ago a young Vaux, then ranked private, manning the radio intercepted a message and it was not from the colonies.
It was a message from someone claiming to be from the invaders. He offered intelligence, the invaders strategy, help with food and water and how to evade detection. Over a period of time he became a trusted ally. The informant told of the reason for the attack and forewarned of a further attack at a future date. The remaining human population would be destroyed. He taught them how to fight back when that time came.

13.
Pauls hands were cuffed behind his back, the aluminium tight against his wrists. His arms hanging over the back of the wooden chair he was sitting in. The light in the room, a brilliant white, just one streak pulsating on his face. Paul had endured this for the past half hour, his eyes were stinging it was pointless closing them. Paul was deep inside the Office for Home & Welfare, it was no longer possible to hear that hum that had drowned out every other sound that same morning.
Paul could hear voices emanating from behind one of the walls. He couldn't make out from which direction, his sences were useless. He was disoriented. He slowly opened his eyes, trying to pick out where the door should be. The voices were getting louder, nearer.
"So Paul, I think you've had enough... lights off" this voice came directly from behind him. The lights died down but Paul's vision was still distorted.
"Your sight will come back, don't worry". Paul recognised the voice. It was the man who had arrested him.
Agent Andrews picked up a chair from the corner of the room, positioned it in front of Paul and sat down.
"Tell me what you know"
Paul replied "I don't know any more than what I told you when you arrested me, nothing else".

Andrews took a moment to study Paul's face, specifically looking for any signs of a lie, a flared nostril, raised eyebrow or a change to pupil dilation.
"I believe you Paul". Andrews meant it.
"We've apprehended Simon. He came easily, without struggle"

"Bullshit" scowled Paul "The doors in that place, they are solid metal, at least six inches thick, no way you got through to him".

"No, really we have him, we knocked on the front door and he opened up" said Andrews "We have allready questioned him about the hard drive".
Paul's vision was coming back and he could make out his interrogator. Andrews stood up and fished around in his inside jacket pocket, producing a key.
"I am going to let you go. We have no use for you now" said Andrews as he made his way around to remove the handcuffs.

"What?. You are letting me go after all of this?, what am I supposed to do now, go home to the wife and tell her we are about to get abducted?".

Agent Andrews felt the same way as Paul, he was just as helpless. "This whole thing is a lot more complicated than what Simon told you". He made his way to the door and opened it, "The Agent will show you the way out, go".

"What happens to Simon?" asked Paul.

"You won't see him again. He is safe though, do not worry".

"Don't worry, what's going on tell me?. We are all going up there at some point so I don't see why the secrecy" Paul shouted in Andrews face.

"Sit down" Andrews closed the door again. He took a seat and gestured to Paul to sit down.
"Simon told you part of the truth"

"Well which part" replied Paul

"The part about who we are, what we are. We did take this planet, we killed pretty much all of humanity, we are alien to this planet, at least I am. You and every one of your peers are hybrids, everyone except Home & Welfare" Andrews paused "and Simon".

"Simon was an engineer, a bio-engineer, he was instrumental to the war effort. He was commanded to build the perfect soldier, he found humans were near enough perfect, if they had the same technology as ours when we invaded, odds are we would have lost, so he blended our DNA with theirs. Your generation were born".

Paul was reluctant to accept this from a man who had imprisoned him, but could see in his eyes this was the truth
Andrews continued "Why do you think he took such an interest in you?. You were his first, he gave you that hard drive earlier to show to us that you shouldn't be harmed in anyway".
Paul's stomach was in knots. He was finding it difficult to breathe.
"That sound you heard earlier is one of our ships, as Simon said it is here to collect all of our kind"

"They've come to collect us, why?, we have lives here, why take us know?" asked Paul.

"Your generation have been a great success, you'll be taken to the next planet no doubt, to obliterate whatever primitive civilisation and this same cycle will continue".
Andrews face now showing fear. He did not want to leave. This was his home too. He did not want to fight someone else's war. It was inevitable though, he knew it and there was nothing he alone could do about it.
"What happens if we don't want to go?. I am sure if everyone knew the truth" queried Paul, he was interrupted before he could finish
"It doesn't matter if you don't want to go, you will. This has always been the plan. Our plans do not fail".

"Do you want me to continue Paul?".
Paul nodded, although he wished now he did not ask to know
Agent Andrews checked his watch.
"I mentioned when I arrested you, that there is a lot you do not know about Simon. All these years he has been deceiving you, even at the end. He summoned them back!". Andrews sounded disgusted with this.
"Now they know the technology works they will go into full scale production. They will colonise this whole planet. It will be different to now, no towns, no farms... no family, just lab after lab for miles on end. These "terrorists" you hear about on the news are not terrorists as Simon told you, that much is true, they are human, a resistance. The last of their kind. When colonisation begins they will be exterminated. Not one will survive". Andrews' voice was shaking. A stark contrast to how the conversation started.

"I guess that you don't want to see this happen, you seem pretty upset about this" Paul observed.

Agent Andrews felt he could trust Paul, they both would be collected, it didn't matter now.
"Our kind we can die from wounds, otherwise we are immortal, we do not need to do what we do, I was part of the first war, and I don't need to see any more death, humans have such short lives... I like it here too".

"We can stop this, both of us. There have to be Agents who feel the same, they will help?" Paul tried to encourage Andrews.
"Agents can't be trusted, but I know who can be" Andrews said, a smile on his face. The weight of the world removed from his shoulders.
Andrews stood up and again made his way to the door.
He opened it and held it for Paul. As Paul passed him, he mentioned "By the way you don't know my name, do you?"

Paul looked at Andrews and thought this was an odd time for an introduction, he was right though, Paul didn't know who this man in black was.
Andrews extended his free arm as if offering it for Paul to shake.
"My name is James, a pleasure to meet you".