Chapter III: Mia

Nothing new. No new people to join. No disturbances on the foot paths I covered today, nobody other than locals on the roads. Maybe I should have gone to the SSNY to scout the protests. At least the sunset is pretty tonight.

Mia closed the small pocketbook she used to record her scouting trips. Today had been uneventful, it usually was around Lake Placid, the village sat in the center of the Adirondack Autonomous Collective or AAC as most referred to it. Most people didn’t make it through the forest this far without being spotted. Nevertheless, Mia and others took to the task of scouting the forests in case refugees made it through on their own, or spies invaded from the states that surrounded the autonomous zone.

She enjoyed the work, often it meant she could explore, she loved to find old trails left behind from when the zone had just been a park. At the moment, she was at one of her favorite spots, the old ski jumps just outside of town. The top provided a view only rivaled by the mountains she climbed nearby. From them, she could see the small part of relatively flat land that had been turned into farmland and the other nearby villages and communes that made up the AAC. Nestled close by on a small lake was a village whose artificial lights twinkled in the fading sunlight. The mountains which surrounded her on every side, glowed in the purple and orange hues of the magnificent sunset.

Standing, Mia brought out an old smartphone to take some pictures of the scenery. She slipped the phone into the pocket of her windbreaker and took one last look at the setting sun before climbing down into the building on top of the jumps. As usual the room was empty, a small crew lived up here to maintain the communication apparatus that connected the communes and conveyed information to all. However, the crew went to town for dinner leaving the enormous structure all to her. Well for the moment.

The elevator at the other side of the room dinged and the metal doors opened revealing three men all laughing about something, calming down once they saw Mia.

“Hey Mia, back again?” asked the bald burly man.

“Hi Rick” Mia said simply, “yeah, the view is beautiful tonight, I couldn’t miss it.”

The other two men nodded to Mia slipping past Rick and into the communications room. “It is quite nice, but it’s also nice to eat,” Rick joked.

“I just had this feeling that it was going to be really pretty tonight, I wanted to get some pictures, it’ll make a great painting,” Mia responded.

“Well, you’ll have to show it to me once it’s finished, maybe we could hang it here, it’s a bit drab,” he gestured around the small empty room with its concrete walls.

“Yeah maybe, maybe this’ll be the one,” Mia said with a mix of false excitement and anxiety. Rick had been asking to see her paintings since she told him about them. She hadn’t showed them to anyone yet, he was the only one that knew she painted.

He smiled at her, “No rush, I’ve just got a feeling you’re hiding some beautiful art from us, but I know, can’t rush perfection. I’ll see you later Mia.”

“Bye,” she said as Rick closed the door to the room behind him.

As she rode down the elevator she looked through the photos she just took as she envisioned how to transform the picture into something resembling it, but in a more abstract manner that was both part of desired stylization and a necessary measure due to the medium. On the screen a message came through that covered half the picture and broke her concentration. The name above the message was Jack Acy it read:

Meeting tonight is VERY important, information will be conveyed tomorrow during the general assembly, but it is important that all scouts hear this news so that they can voice their opinions and decide on participation in future operations pertaining to this matter. Meeting at EMS starts at 9:00 PM.

Jack

Mia checked her watch, the hands on the small silver face indicated it was quarter after seven, plenty of time. The elevator rang and the door slid apart into another concrete room at the end of which were glass panel doors. She walked underneath the towering jump and down the stairs that led to the parking lot filled with cracks and only two vehicles. One was an old grey Toyota SUV brought in during the war. It had guard over the grille painted with chipping black paint and large tires that necessitated a lifted suspension. The Toyota was Rick’s, he’d had it as long as she knew him, and he did his best to keep it maintained. His father had stolen it during the war and used it to protect the AAC when the collective formed. His father died before the fighting stopped, when Rick started scouting, he was given the SUV.

The other vehicle was Mia’s, though it didn’t possess any sentimentality like Rick’s, it was just and old Jeep. The Jeep was from before the war but had been retrofitted to run on electricity as opposed to gasoline which was a tough commodity to come by given the Canadians controlled the supply and the Canadians also often threatened the AAC’s autonomy.

Mia entered the Jeep and turned the ignition bringing the car to life. The road snaked through the mountains cutting through rocks and running alongside rivers and small lakes. Old road signs reflected in the headlights warned of falling rocks, while others directed towards towns or indicated trailheads. The rock walls opened to rolling hills covered with rows of different plants beginning to mature. Soon houses began to appear and slowly the buildings got closer together as Mia entered the village.

She pulled to the side of the road and parked behind another Jeep. Walking down the sidewalk she passed the theater where they still screened old movies. She passed buildings characteristic of old storefronts, that now offered different goods and services that, as a member of the collective, you were entitled to. Old hotels and apartments sat above below and in between the buildings each accommodating different needs and wants of the individual and of families. At the end of the old cluster of buildings was what had been a large restaurant converted into dining hall.

Mia was heading there, she didn’t have time to make something herself and needed to get something quick so she could head to the meeting. She entered through the glass doors that were small compared to the large room of floor to ceiling oak. To her right was the buffet line that served a rotating menu with enough options to satisfy varying tastes. She headed left, walking down the rows of benches she came to the back of the room where there was a line leading to a service window where she could get food to go.

She stepped in line behind two scouts, one who she knew Ann, her wavy blonde hair cascading over a maroon leather jacket meant it was unmistakably her. Next to her, someone new he had short black hair and a simple t-shirt and jeans on. Ann had helped him out of Canada after his friends got imprisoned during an anti-war demonstration. Mia knew he was eager to get back, but since she’d never actually talked to him, she couldn’t remember his name…

“Mia!” Ann had turned around, “I haven’t introduced you to Paul yet, have I?”

“No, not yet,” Mia replied.

Paul had turned around, she could see the look on his face that most people bad at hiding their thoughts gave the first time they saw her. Mia had snow white hair, despite being barely in her twenties, that she highlighted with streaks of the color lavender. Most strikingly were her eyes that where a vibrant purple. When people met her for the first time, they were sometimes a bit taken aback.

Ann didn’t notice the pause, most didn’t, “Mia this is Paul,” she said placing her hand on his shoulder making him twitch slightly.

“Uh, yeah, hi, I’m Paul, Paul Scott,” he stammered and held out his hand.

Mia took it to shake, his palms were clammy, “Mia Miyazaki, nice to meet you Paul.”

“Miyazaki? Like Miyazaki Tech?” Paul asked, the look on his face made it apparent he saw her as even more strange. “Is that why…” he made a small gesture to her appearance that he seemed to quickly regret, “Sorry…” he trailed off.

“No, it’s all right,” Mia asserted, “I’m aware that my appearance isn’t possible without gene-mods, why I have them, why Miyazaki is my surname… it’s a long story… one that even I don’t fully know…”

“I still can’t help but be jealous,” Ann broke in, “I mean those eyes, purple…” she sighed, “uh, their beautiful.”

Mia blushed, “Thanks” she mumbled.

Paul and Ann had reached the counter, Paul let Ann order first. “Well, if your ever interested, we can swap stories, I’d love to learn more, honestly learning more about you guys is the only thing really keeping me here,” he paused, “that and Ann’ll kill me if I jump the border after everything, we went through to get out…” he trailed off.

Ann tapped him on the shoulder, “I’m all set, you can order.” 

“Seriously, I am really interested,” Paul said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Mia replied uncertainly. Paul nodded and turned to the counter.

Ann looked to Mia, “He is genuinely interested,” she said, “on the drive back from the border, he spent the whole time just asking me questions. He’s read all about the AAC, he probably knows more about the history of our group than I do. Him and his friends were trying to start up something up in Ottawa, something like this,” Ann turned and looked over at Paul who was taking his time to make a decision on what to eat, her eyes lingered on him.

“Yeah, I don’t know…” Mia said to Ann, she interrupted,

“Hey I know, you’re a private person, I’m not expecting you to spill your guts to someone you just met. I just wanted you to know with Paul, its just genuine curiosity, there’s no ulterior motive.”

“No yeah, I understand.”

“Hey, I’ll just let him know to take it easy on you, just you know, that you’ll open up on your own time… if that’s okay of course, otherwise he might really grill ya.”

“Yeah…” Mia hesitated, “yeah that’s okay, thanks Ann.”

“Of course,” Ann smiled, “So, see you at this very important meeting tonight? It’s got my attention, anything that we gotta make sure everyone knows is gonna be big.”

“Yeah I’ll be there,” Mia replied, she noticed Paul had gotten his and Ann’s food, it was contained in small white paper bags.

“Well, see you then,” Ann chirped.

“It was nice meeting you Mia,” Paul said.

Mia waved and then turned to the counter. Tonight, they were offering burgers and fries for take-out, with an option of meat based or plant based, there was also salad, which was always an option. A screen on the counter displayed these options, Mia selected a cheeseburger, one made of beef, with some fries and small salad. After a short wait a bag with the contents she selected arrived on a conveyor belt. She grabbed the bag and exited the dining hall.

She had parked in front of a small space between the buildings where chairs were set up that overlooked the small lake behind the buildings. Sitting in the large wooden chair she ate her meal, after the brief exchange with Paul, she found herself on a familiar train of thought, wondering about who she really was. All she knew was that her mother had smuggled her here, to the AAC with a cache of stolen weapons from Miyazaki Technologies and with her dying breath named her Mia. Her surname was given to her based off that shipment, Miyazaki, the first and only time anything had been stolen from the corporation. Nobody knew who her mother was, nobody knew why Mia had been smuggled all the way across the continent when clearly her parents had been wealthy enough to give her gene-mods. It was a mystery that plagued Mia, she constantly felt that some piece of the puzzle of her identity was missing, it made her feel detached in some ways from the people around her.

Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her jacket, she pulled it out to see the message. Again it was from Jack:

15 min until meeting start

Mia pulled herself out of her head and stood up heading to EMS, to hear the news. The building where the scout meetings took place was an old hiking supply store. Above the entrance was the letters EMS with the M styled as a mountain with the sun setting behind it. Next to the logo it read “Eastern Mountain Sports.” Mia entered into the building which opened up into a large open space held up by metal beams.

The room was filled with various items: maps, boots, backpacks, radio equipment, old GPS that still managed to connect to Russian satellites, and much more. The items were free to be used as saw fit and were meticulously organized by Greg, a veteran from the war who was unable to walk. Greg had been in the back locking up the guns that had been taken out that day, he noticed Mia enter the room.

“Mia!” he exclaimed in his gruff but friendly voice. “How were the trails today, peaceful I hope?”

“Yep, very peaceful, nice weather today too, almost boring,” Mia said as he wheeled closer to her.

“Boring is what I like to hear, especially with what happened today…”

“So you already know?”

“Of course I do, Jack got here this morning, he wanted to call in everyone immediately, but given what happened, probably safer to have everyone out on patrol.”

“So what happened then?”

“Just wait until the meeting, I’m still not caught up on the details,” he paused, “Alice got shot.”

“Shit, is she okay, where —”

“She got hit in the shoulder, she’ll be okay, but recovery is going to be rough…” he trailed off.

Mia’s thoughts raced as she headed down to the basement of the building, the room had been set up like a lecture hall with tiered rows of seats that faced a stage. In the seats sat the scouts each of which she knew to some degree. She saw Ann sitting with Paul on the left side and sat down next to her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ann asked Mia worriedly.

“Have you heard anything yet?” Mia asked.

“No, what did you hear? Is it that bad? You look pale.”

“Alice, Greg said Alice got shot, she’s recovering but still that means, whatever this is, it’s bad.”

The color drained from Ann’s face as well. Paul had been listening,

“I’m sorry to hear that” he said to them, “Did you guys know her well?”

“Yeah…” Mia said flatly.

Alice had taught Mia, Ann, and many others infiltration techniques for scouting outside the AAC and getting inside groups that they were both sympathetic to and apposed. Alice had taught Ann the skills she used to get Paul out of Canada. Mia was considering going with Alice to the SSNY this weekend to participate in the protests that the Color Guard had organized, someone had gotten sick and she stayed back to take their route. Mia figured Jack and Alice would be fine on their own, Alice getting shot meant something really bad had happened, something that even she couldn’t talk her way out of.

The room got quiet Jack stood on the stage Mia was happy to see it appeared he had gotten some sleep but he still looked haggard. His black hair was unkempt and his face was unshaven though that wasn’t totally different from the norm, the dark circles beneath his eyes were though. When he spoke his voice was hoarse, “Thank you for coming everyone” he cleared his throat, “Sorry,” he said quietly before continuing,

“Alice and I, as most of you know went down to the SSNY this weekend as part of our continued participation and assistance with the Color Guard. The SSNY has been increasing restrictions related to individual autonomy as of late, a pattern that we mostly saw coming given how dogmatic the social norms are, it was inevitable the state would enforce them. We attended the protest in Albany, the old capital, after the failure of the group to march on the capital last month.”

“Rumors within the group on their online forums called for more direct action and violence but given the nature of those who attend the protests outside of the group, we assumed this would be the usual peaceful protest that most would abandon as soon as the state applied pressure. Around 19:00 the oligarch of the region ‘Representative Markus Keratin’ came out of the old capital building to urge the crowd to leave escorted by armed police. Someone from the crowd shouted at the representative and one of the cops killed them. I have no idea why the first shot was fired, but a second was fired from the protesters at the representative, it missed. Whether this was a failed assassination attempt is unknown. What is known is that retribution was the cops opening fire on the protesters, its unlikely very many survived. Alice was shot and we escaped on foot through our tunnel on the border.”

Jack paused for a minute, the room sat in silence. “I asking for us to take action against this, we cannot stand by and watch as the SSNY executes hundreds. I will be going back and help the Color Guard to organize to overthrow their oppressors. More scouting will need to be done, and I’ll take as many that are willing, but more so, I propose we join their resistance, too long have we allowed for the unchecked powers of the state to rule over our neighbors. I will be presenting this at  General Assembly tomorrow. I believe we can help these people and if you are able, and truly believe in what this collective represents you should join in this fight!”