Historical Holograms From A Runaway Punk
Hologram Recording Transcript: August 31, 2098 (Part 1)

I made it inside the city, but I’m hiding out. Hopefully, nobody will replace me before I record this, just in case I’m dead.

When Zi-Yen and I approached the main gate, a Skypoe cruiser stopped us dead in our tracks, blaring its lights right in our faces and not allowing us to move forward. Zi-Yen backed up and tried to lose it, but it chased us in and out of the old, crumbled, and destroyed buildings. Zi-Yen didn’t know his way around, and we were unfortunately trapped. The Skypoe cruiser stopped and made a landing, blocking us from trying to escape. The door opened, and Ki-Yo got out. She said, “You don’t want to enter Tech City through the front gate unless you want to be killed.”

“We don’t need you!” Zi-Yen challenged her.

“And I don’t need you,” she challenged Zi-Yen back. “But I do need her. King, come with me. I can get you into the city.”

“King, no listen, it’s a trick. Maybe she rules Tech City herself?”

“Not really, but nice try,” she said.

“How did you replace us?” I asked her.

“That Mil-RAT has a tracker in it.”

“So why King?” asked Zi-Yen.

“And who are you?”

“King my sister, and we Shambhala Warriors here to fight for the city.”

“You do know that it’s because of me, right?”

“Perhaps,” he said.

“Okay, you two, that’s enough. Zi-Yen is coming with me,” I said to Ki-Yo.

“You two do make an interesting pair.”

We felt a low rumbling coming from the ground. It was one of those crappy earthquakes created by the rogue satellite. I had almost forgotten about them. We watched as the ground started to crack all around us.

“Get in,” Ki-Yo ordered us to get inside her Skypoe cruiser quickly.

Feeling the Mil-RAT in my pocket, I took it out and glanced at the timer, which read, “39 hrs – 27 min – 09 sec.” Ki-Yo noticed it too and said that there wasn’t much time left.

Flying through the city was like a dark and magical experience I almost forgot. Earthquake damage was everywhere, and we could see huge cracks in the main city wall. The scenery entranced Zi-Yen, and then it was cut short when his seat opened up, dropping him down into a Skypoe station. Ki-Yo said that he would be safe there. Then we headed to the highest skyscraper in the middle of the city.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I’m taking you to see Mayor Sye.”

“What? Wait, I don’t get it, I thought…”

“I need you to remember your days as a kid, Clover. You were and always have been my lucky charm,” said Ki-Yo.

“But you left me behind! You abandoned me!” I said.

“You were too young to understand.”

“You left me with no one. Why?”

“Well, there was someone…” Ki-Yo was about to explain something to me, but she was interrupted by another Skypoe cruiser ramming us from above. A hologram of Tiger appeared on the front window; I recognized him after all these years.

“You know this is not allowed,” he said to Ki-Yo.

“There’s something he needs to see,” she replied.

A dark and mysterious voice bellowed behind Tiger, “Let her pass.” It was Mayor Sye. I never got to meet him face to face, but I recognized his voice and remembered his statue and holograms that were shown all over the city, speaking to the people like some god demanding to be worshipped.

When we landed on the mayor’s skyscraper, Ki-Yo opened my door, and I took off running. I wasn’t going to do what she wanted; I wanted to replace my brother. I found a nearby stairwell and started to climb down. But then a few Skypoes began chasing me. I felt like I was in a maze, darting through doors and running through halls.

Unfortunately, as soon as I opened another mysterious door, Tiger was standing right there in front of me. He grabbed me and took me to a holding area where I was locked up like in a Skypoe station.

It wasn’t long before Ki-Yo arrived to see me, followed by an aging Mayor Sye. Mayor Sye gave me one hard cold look and then left. Ki-Yo looked sad; then she went too. I had a feeling of dread wash over me; I knew something terrible would happen. Then Tiger got me out of the holding cell and escorted me to Mayor Sye’s chambers.

There was another earthquake, an aftershock from the last one. Tiger had to lean against the wall for balance. Once it stopped, we moved forward again.

I glanced at the Mil-RAT in my hand; Tiger noticed it too and took it from me.

“Mayor Sye will want to see this,” he said.

In a ginormous room filled with pictures, holograms, and mini-figures of a young Mayor Sye, an old and dark figure sat on a black leather wingback chair.

I watched Tiger give my Mil-RAT to a mysterious hand attached to the seated figure facing away from us. He looked over the ball suspiciously and turned his seat to face us. I noticed Ki-Yo standing close to the side. She walked toward me, seemingly trading spots with Tiger.

Mayor Sye laughed at the ball in his hand, “This is cute. Is this what you had to show me?”

“Not that, this,” said Ki-Yo, pushing me ahead of her, as if she were showing me off.

“And who is that?” he asked.

“She’s The Ark,” said Ki-Yo.

Mayor Sye’s smile began to fade. He got up from his chair and moved right towards me, eyeing me up and down, “This? But this is a girl.”

He didn’t know what to make of me. “Ki-Yo, don’t be fooling now. You were supposed to design a location, something that I could access anytime I wanted.”

“And only she can stop the satellites from destroying the city,” said Ki-Yo.

I could see a dark cloud forming on the mayor’s face, “You were supposed to be working on a new Neurolink for the cyber engineers.”

“It’s almost finished, just a few more days…”

“Do you realize what you have done?” Mayor Sye’s calm exterior was starting to crack and I could see him seething with anger.

“I let you have free reign to go wherever you wanted, in and out of Tech City. I trusted you to help me, to put an end to all these miserable memories so nobody would have to remember the pain and suffering. I wanted to remake this city, to rebuild a better way of life, and you were all for it. You agreed to help me. But for some reason, I can’t help but feel that you betrayed me, YOU, my most trusted advisor and top scientist. YOU violated my trust. What happened to you, Ki-Yo?”

He looked over to me and back at Ki-Yo, “You had that baby, didn’t you?”

“For years, I stood by and did nothing, obediently serving you; I was loyal. But they don’t deserve to be your mental slaves.”

“Oh, is that it?” he interrupted. “So, is this payback? Are you trying to teach me a lesson, Miss Scientist? Do you think you’re so smart? You want to know how far I’ve come, from the ashes of sales?” Mayor Sye circled Ki-Yo, eyeing her up and down.

Ki-Yo held her position, not wavering a bit from Mayor Sye.

“Yea, that’s right. I may not know much about computers, science, or technology. But I do know how to sell to people. I know how to act and look the part; I know how to run this city. And, I can most certainly run it without YOU,” said the mayor.

“Then if she dies, your Tech City will die too,” Ki-Yo said without remorse.

“So, it’s come down to this, has it?”

“Yes, it has,” said Ki-Yo.

“Well, looky here, the creator and her little savior, coming to take over Tech City. Let freedom ring!” said Mayor Sye sarcastically with an evil smile.

The gleam of a knife caught my eye, and I saw Mayor Sye jab it into Ki-Yo’s back. Her face flooded with shock, wincing from the pain and realizing what Mayor Sye did. With her hand, she felt the knife in her back and then looked at her hand covered in blood.

He leaned into her face, staring boldly into her eyes, “How does it feel to be stabbed in the back?”

The earth trembled with another earthquake.

Mayor Sye tried to grab me before I could get to Ki-Yo, pulling me in a direction that led outside. I saw Tiger run towards Ki-Yo as she fell to the floor. Mayor Sye’s grip was not firm; I pushed him off me and ran. So now I am stuck in this building, trying to replace my way out. Wish me luck!