Pax Dystopia: An Islanders' View

Day 1

It was the sort of hot and humid day where anybody with the freedom to do so, was either at the beach or in an air-conditioned building. However, for many people in the open-air market at Gros Islet, selling fresh produce and freshly caught fish was a necessity of life. Vendors called out to every man, woman, and child walking in the vicinity - claiming to have the best apples, mangoes or guava from the entire Caribbean.

"We got bananas, fresh as the morn!" called out an elderly lady, gesturing at a group of teenagers, all of whom were wearing grey jackets and wore large knapsacks. This unusual combination of clothing was capped by each of them wearing RenWear glasses.

Suddenly, the group of teenagers burst into a run. Their faces were blank, although their mouths were slightly gaped. The vendors and their prospective customers were too stunned to even run, and the first scream only began when the elderly lady was tackled to the ground by one assailant. The woman no sooner had struck the ground when a set of arms affixed another set of Ren Wear glasses to her head.

The commotion grew from there, as people began to run, dropping their purchases. However, they were soon surrounded by another group of people, this one of varying ages. They each wore Ren Wear glasses.

"STOP!" called a voice. The vendors and customers turned to face the source of the booming voice, but the Ren Wear-wearing people ignored the call, instead running towards the market.

"Ah dang it," muttered Agent Tasha, a diminutive woman in her early 30s and a third-year field officer of BADGE. She pulled out her comm. "TRI! Need you, now!"

"Less than a minute, Tash," was the reply.

Agent Tasha opened another channel on her comm. "Agent Tasha to BADGE HQ! We have -"
Static was on the other end. "Dang it," she muttered. "Something's interfering on the global BADGE channel or something."

Agent Tasha pulled out her batons, and activated the low-level electric shocks. She didn't have time to wait, and charged at the assailants as they drove other people to the ground. She successfully struck three young men in succession, knocking them down. A woman screamed, then suddenly went silent as a set of Ren Wear glasses was placed on her face.

The woman quickly rose to her feet, then made a beeline towards a stunned Agent Tasha.

"Um,... what?" whispered Agent Tasha as she backed away, momentarily forgetting her batons.

A large mass crashed into her side, knocking her down. She lost control of her batons, and suddenly a man was straddling her chest. She moved to strike, but her arms were pinned down by the woman. Her head twisted left, only to see another person reach out with a set of Ren Wear glasses.

"I. Don't. Think. So," called a nearby voice. The weight on Tasha's chest was yanked off, as the hero named Tri-blade appeared. He shoved away the woman pinning Tasha's arms down, then helped Tasha to her feet. She quickly located and grabbed her batons, and stood back-to-back with her friend.

"What are we going to do?" asked Agent Tasha, concern in her voice.

"Right now, defend anybody not yet wearing those devices," replied Tri-blade stoically. He pointed at the crowd at the market. "Bad news, that number of people is dropping by the instant. We need a safe zone, away from anybody wearing the Ren Tech!"

Agent Tasha held her head in her hands. "That's the schools out, the hospital, the supermarket..."

"We'll have to make our own, then," said Tri-blade. He shouted to anyone within earshot, "Follow me!" He raised one of his mystical daggers and shot a burst of energy from it. They shuffled quickly towards a bus parked nearby, no passengers onboard and the driver sitting at the wheel, bewildered at the scene.

"Driver, you wearing Ren Tech?" asked Agent Tasha.

"No way, gal. Thing ugly and duncy," the driver sneered.

"Good enough, driver." She stepped in and took the seat opposite the driver. "BADGE will take care of your fare today."

"Sounds good to me. Where to?"

"Drive through the town. We gathering anybody in need of protection, then we get out of here."

Tri-blade dashed towards the bus door, holding the hand of a young girl. He helped her in, then stepped in the doorway.

"Let's go, driver," he commanded. As the bus slowly made its way forward, Tri-blade shouted again, "Everyone! Come with me!"

"... if you want to live," he thought sadly.

Day 2

The journey was deliberately slow. Agent Tasha had been directing the bus driver to take the routes where there were more likely to be masses of people, but after around an hour everybody noticed that the initial din of chaotic behavior had dropped significantly. The vast majority of people that they had come across frantically charged towards the bus, waving Ren Wear glasses in outstretched hands, but there were a few extremely scared locals who had the good fortune to lock themselves in their homes.

While Tri-blade projected an energy shield between the houses and the marauders, Agent Tasha scampered towards the residents and quickly ushered them to the bus. It was no small feat for Tri-blade to retreat to the bus without getting overrun or risking harm to the bus itself.

As they continued their journey, Tri-blade periodically tried to call his allies, his leaguemates, and the other St. Lucia-based heroes. No responses. Could they all have been overrun? Has the BADGE communications network been disabled? He put the negative fears aside as they approached a gas station to refuel.

"They're unconscious," remarked Agent Tasha as she stepped out. Tri-blade cautiously went inside the gas station with her to get the pump activated while the driver grabbed the pump. Three people - each wearing Ren Tech glasses, laid on the floor. The woman behind the counter - an employee, was gripping the glasses tightly, as if resisting them being placed on her until she collapsed.

"What do we do?" asked Agent Tasha.

"I'm not sure," replied Tri-blade. "I'd rather get Director Nova's advice before anything... but one thing's for sure.

He looked at the bus outside. The bus was nearly jam-packed with worried passengers.

"We're going to need another vehicle soon."

-

Their final destination - the capital city of Castries - had both a seaport and airport in close vicinity. Tri-blade, who was now in a separate bus driven by one of the Lucians they rescued, called out to Agent Tasha in the lead vehicle. They had driven throughout the night, and most people were running on pure adrenaline at this point. The sun rose on a quiet landscape, with only the chirping of birds to be heard.

The two buses pulled over next to each other. Passengers slowly exited to stretch their legs and share their stories with each other, while the two drivers, Tri-blade, and Agent Tasha surveyed the scene.

"Nothing's moving at all," remarked the first driver.

Agent Tasha added, "Probably a good thing where the airport's concerned. Glad no planes have been in the air during all this."

"I would ordinarily say we should try to fortify in case we have another surge," said Tri-blade, "on the other hand we have to consider if we're isolated from the world in general." He scratched his chin in frustration.

"Let's go to the airport, but carefully. Our first priority has to be keeping these guys safe. Second priority is reaching BADGE... or anybody. If our comms are out, maybe the computers or radios there will be of help.

"Any objections?"

The others shook their heads, and after a quick conversation with those gathered around the buses, they made their way to the airport, their spirits lightened, and their hope boosted.

Three hours later, and the group was just finalizing their fortification of the airport main hall, when the comms of Agent Tasha buzzed.

"Oh my god, it's BADGE..." she muttered to herself in disbelief. She tried to keep her composure as she answered the call.

"Agent Tasha, St. Lucia, Castries, check."

"Good to hear you," came the calm voice of Gar. The others, on hearing the well-known voice of Gargoyle, started muttering sounds of gratitude. "We haven't been able to reach most of our field agents so far."

"How about the other leagues?" Agent Tasha asked, motioning Tri-blade to approach.

"Even fewer," he said sadly. "Of all hero groups only Ice Ray Academy has evaded the swarm."

"Gar, this is Tri-blade," Tri-blade called out, "What about the senior BADGE officials - Nova, Chase, Justin, EB?"

"Chase has fallen, as has Justin. Nova too, but we haven't located him. EB, he's still with us. Strange Quark and him are teleporting all over the place trying to locate people. Right now, we don't have a full strategy on any of this."

"Stay strong, big fella. Unfortunately, I don't know what to do with the people with the RenWear. Does BADGE have a position?"

"Not yet, Tri-blade. Until we know for sure where Nova is, EB may be the senior person to advise..."

"Oh..." said Tri-blade and Agent Tasha in unison.

"Wish I could advise myself," said Gar sheepishly.

"You're doing great, Gar. We'll wait and analyze on this end. If Quark contacts you, can you ask him to pop over?"

"You got it, Tri," said Gar, his voice slightly more cheerful.

"We're just glad to hear from others. It's been a day," said Tri-blade.

"Ditto!" cried Agent Tasha.

"I have to reach out to the next set of Agents now, so stay safe," said Gar.

They said their good-byes, then Tri-blade pulled Agent Tasha aside.

"We're not alone and that's the best news we've heard so far. Next steps, keep our crew hydrated, find some food and get at least a little bit of rest. We have a lot to plan for if we're going to help everybody else on this island."

Agent Tasha nodded, concealing her worry for the moment.

Day 3

"Seems like comms are restored," said Agent Tasha.

The group holed up at the airport had managed to scrounge up an above-decent meal to start the morning out, but it didn't take long for tempers to start flaring when the discussion topic became that of the vast number of unconscious people around them and across the island. Half of the contingent had wanted to try to reach their families now that the main threat to their safety appeared neutralized, however there was a vociferous section that preferred to stay isolated until BADGE, the police, the military, whoever, showed up. At one point, several demanded for Tri-blade to come clean on some conspiracy theory involving subjugating the populace for the meta humans to take over the world, but Tri-blade quickly disarmed the thoughts by correctly pointing out that BADGE certainly would have appointed more well-known or at least more notorious heroes in this area. Eventually, they decided to wait a little while longer. The appearance on the TV screens of a live broadcast - from the island of Barbados, not too far away - was a surprise, but met with cheers and joy.

"Maybe whatever Ren Tech had schemed up got overwritten," said Tri-blade, "and hopefully that Chorad fella or whatever his name is, will be getting their just desserts soon."

"Something we haven't thought of," said Agent Tasha with worry in her face, "these people, they're unconscious, but not in suspended animation or anything like that. We have no idea what their vitals are. They're going to need hydration and who knows what else?"

Tri-blade nodded, then called out to everyone, "Any doctors, nurses, anybody with any medical knowledge?" Three people stepped forward, hands raised.

"We're all based at Victoria Hospital nearby," the oldest of the three nurses said, "and you're right on treatment. But we can't go out to every comatose person and give them IVs, feeding tubes and ventilators. It's impractical and close to impossible."

"I have a hunch," said Tri-blade, "that the Ren-tech may be keeping their brain functions active. Remember how they were acting before they shut down. That probably also means they're keeping the breathing and blood circulation going as well."

"That still means they need some kind of feeding tubes, no to mention preventing skin infections. Even if we had a full staff of medical professionals... getting equipment out to everyone? Impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible! After all, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!" called a voice. Everybody turned to see a blue-skinned creature wearing a black dress, a 1950's style beehive wig, and holding a novelty cigarette holder to his mouth.

"Nice dress, Audrey?" asked Tri-blade, torn between laughter and confusion.

Strange Quark snapped his fingers and the dress and cig holder disappeared instantly, revealing Quark's regular outfit. The wig, however, remained present.

"Well scored, Tri-blade. Ten points to Gibbendorr!" Quark said as he strutted out to the group.

"Appreciated, Quark." He gestured to the others. "Everybody, Quark. Quark, everybody. Formal introductions on pause, for now..."

Quark nodded sadly, suggesting to Tri-blade that things were truly in a rough patch.

"What can you tell us?"

"Firstly... do not try to remove the RenWear. While it's sort of kept the brain functions active, removing it will sever everything. They'll be lost forever."

"Oh my lord," said Agent Tasha, covering her mouth.

"Secondly, everybody will starve if we don't keep them going. How many people do we estimate are in St. Lucia?" Quark continued.

"Probably in the two hundred thousand range," said Tri-blade. "and that's just one island in this chain. We have no idea how many conscious people are in the other islands..."

"We've yet to have contact with any other agents in the region," Agent Tasha added.

"If we can get as many people together in one area as possible, it'll save us a ton of time," replied Tri-blade. "Quark I already know you're required all over the planet... how much time can you give us to help teleport folks over?"

"Not much, Tri. Torrik's working non-stop state-side, and I'm supposed to be at the India-Pakistan border 985 seconds ago. If I hurry I can get anybody I see in the eastern part of the country -"

"No, go south, please. The Grenadines. Anybody there will be isolated. Get as many as you can to Victoria Hospital. If you happen to land in St. Vincent, please do a check-in and let us know the situation. Everyone here who can drive will try to collect people and bring over here. C.F., Quark."

Quark's eyebrow raised, then he nodded. "Two other things of note, Tri."

"Yes?"

"Thirdly, based on availability, we're going to send at least two BADGE robots to assist. You and Agent Tasha should be able to command them accordingly."

"And lastly,... we've got Nova."

Surprising Tri-blade and Quark alike, a cheer went up from the crowd who had gathered around to listen in on the dialogue.

"It'll take some time for him to get fully up to speed, but with him alive, we know we have a shot at this," Quark smiled as he vanished in a spark of light.

After the group divvied up assignments to head out and gather as many of the unconscious as they could to bring to the area hospitals, Agent Tasha took Tri-blade aside.

"Um, what's C.F.?"

Tri-blade puta a hand on his friend's shoulder as he softly said, "Children first."