Just a little bit of blue R1.4

1.4 – Stargate

The Piercing Company has been drilling the underground city of Béchar for some six decades now. The works will continue forever, as evermore industries demand room near the most important logistical hub in the planet. Above it, on the surface, sits Stargate, the main planetary spaceport. Inside the forgotten tunnels that were dug for now obsolete infrastructures and service access for the tunneling workers, thrives a community of illegal outliers known as the Anthill. Nobody knows, exactly, how many they are. It's said their numbers are astonishing and the tunnels they added to the system are known to be labyrinthic. In this hive of human activity devoid of any kind of formal government and filled with the will to resist the control of the Technocracy, a number of tribes have formed. For major decisions, their leaders meet in secret. Rumours say they call themselves the Tunisian JIhad.

(Image: adapted from Brii Weigt in pinterest.com)

Do you think it's true? - Aliyah asked Mustafah.-I don't know. I hope so. It's the only way we could ever defeat the Technos.- She fell silent, considering the implications of the existence of a vaccine that set the sanitizers free of the juice.- Mustafah, can you try and find those Ionians that are supposed to have it? Just find them. When you do, report back. - He bowed. - God willing, I will, my Shaykah. I'll take my leave now. Ma'a as-salaama.- Allah ma'ak, - she replied. May god be with you.

Aliyah Sadiq was finally alone. The meeting had taken too much time. She worried that a long tribal council would give the sanitizers time to find and kill them all, like they did her father and the six Sheiks that died with him. It was her job not to let that happen again and she felt she might be getting careless. It was important, yes, but it didn't merit so much talk, especially because it was probably just a fantasy. And fantasies get you killed. The possibility of the Ionians having developed a vaccine for the sanitizers may just be one more episode of counter-information in the cold war between the Earth and the moons of Jupiter. Still, if there was even a shadow of a chance that this vaccine was real, it was her duty to do everything in her power to acquire it.

She looked herself in the mirror and tried to get as disheveled as possible, so she could blend into the anthill while she moved back to her place. You're getting careless, Aliyah – she said to herself,- it's not just the meeting, you are taking too long to move.- Making sure her dagger was well hidden under the tunic, she made her way for the door and got out, into Tunnel A, the main pedestrian walkway in the anthill. She got to the market section and crossed it while stopping in every other stall to look at the produce and compliment the salesmen and women, that knew her since she was a child, and now, looked up to her as the leader of their community. A secret leader. And all of them were her accomplices in keeping her identity safe from the sanitizers. Misery is a strong bond, she thought. It's also a good motive for betrayal. That's why she made every effort not to let anyone know in what hole she lived in. Once again, she made her way through the maze until she got to be sure she wasn't being followed and entered the empty tunnels that lead to her home. When she closed the door, she could finally relax.

-To be continued

23.01.25 - @hefestus

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Disclaimer:
"Just a little bit of blue" is a work of fiction. Every event, character, planet, continent, country, city, street, building, corporation, institution and product mentioned in this work is totally fictitious and has absolutely no relation to reality or real events, persons, planets, continents, countries, cities, streets, buildings, corporations or institutions. Everything is derived from the author's own imagination and no AI products were involved in the planning, writing or revision of this work. Additionally, the story happens in the future, in a time that has not yet come, so, any considerations about the possibility of the occurrence of facts or release of products mentioned herein, in the years to come, are due to mere coincidence and in no way derive from the author's inside or 3rd party knowledge of any country, organization or person's plans to implement actions or release said products into the market.
Just to be clear: All that's written here is fictional and originated by the author's own toughts about what may happen to come in the unknown future.