HU1275 leaned back against the tunnel wall, panting with the effort of carving through solid stone. Every day he didn’t find one of those damned stones was another day closer to his breaking point. He’d seen what happened to the people who took up the insane demand to pledge loyalty to HU0087, and the results were strange.

  The man promised food, clothing, and a chance to reclaim who they were before the fall of Earth. But all 1275 saw was a man floundering for glory where none was warranted. By all accounts, he kept his word to anyone under his care. They were never hungry, and their clothes were better than the prison basic they all received during in-processing.

  “Be ready friends,” 1275 heard the whispering voice of the female that followed 0087 bounce along the tunnel. “I can’t give a specific day since things are always changing, but we won’t need to suffer their treatment of our species for much longer.”

  Curious, the big man left his pick and followed the voice. What did she mean by that? Were the rebels going to make their move soon?

  “When we give the signal, you’ll find weapons stashed in the resting spaces throughout the mine. Grab whatever you can and rush the complex. Kill or incapacitate any guard you find on the way. If you don’t run into any, get to the barracks quick as you can.”

  Was she serious? Were they really going to be free of this hell? What would happen after that? After they controlled the base, and the bug-like guards were a thing of the past? How would they eat? How would they trade for goods? Wouldn’t they just end up starving?

  He couldn’t make out how they replied to her orders, but he could clearly understand what she said next. “We have one of them on our side. He knows just how much pain his people have caused and wants to see it change. He assures me the fabricators here on Narax are more than capable of producing enough food for us to eat comfortably with very little effort. All that’s needed to synthesize food is water and raw carbon.”

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  More muffled words.

  “I know it’ll be hard, but you’re just going to need to trust Jean. Once we have our home base set up and defended, he has a plan to get out there and cause some real harm to the Scaladorian fleet.”

  HU1275 moved closer to the sounds. He was terrified of what would happen if humans took over this place, but could it be any worse than how they were already living? The way this woman talked, the confidence she portrayed with every word, somehow it made him feel better about the idea of revolution.

  Was it still revolution if it was against the people who enslaved you in the first place?

  “Thank you for joining us.” The voice said as 1275 turned one more corner. He always assumed that people saved talk of sedition for dark rooms lit by a single candle, hidden from the eyes of their oppressor.

  But he was wrong.

  The chamber he found himself in was one of the rest areas spread conservatively throughout the complex. There wasn’t much more at each one than a few stone tables and a pipe where water was available to anyone willing to risk being seen by a guard.

  Today was different. Instead of a guard waiting to chastise any prisoner that dared to stop working, prisoners filled every open space like the attendants of a concert on the mosh pit floor. Standing on a table as if it were a stage was a woman dressed in prisoner white with a sword strapped to her back.

  She was the type of person you couldn’t forget if you tried. Her piercing blue eyes served as a perfect compliment for the long blonde braid that was pulled over her shoulder. Instead of a full head of hair, she’d shaved it down to the skin along the sides of her head, highlighting the hearing aids that hung proudly from her ears.

  “My name is Monique. And if everything goes well, we will be our own people again soon.”