T.E.R.F War

T.E.R.F War: Chapter 23 – “Meeting The Group”.

Bethany Edelgard6 May 2020

T.E.R.F War

Chapter 23: “Meeting The Group”.

“So, where are we going?”, I asked Director April as she led Chante and me through the G.A.T base’s rather silent metal corridors. Sasha had recovered quickly thanks to the physical enhancements of being a demi-human, but her mother wanted to be sure she was still well enough to go back in the field.

Now that I was out of those white patient clothes, I was now clothed in some proper fashionable attire that Sasha described as “badass, yet kawaii”. It was a purple hoodie along with a pink shirt with the word ‘G.A.T’ on it. My jeans pants were black with some pink and white cross belts, and a pair of shoes that had a similar colour scheme. Special thanks to G.A.T for having extra clothes for new recruits.

“We’re going to the Mission Room”, April spoke, “It’s where we inform everyone what their missions are.”

Does this mean I’m getting a mission already as a G.A.T member?

“As excited as you may be to go on your first assignment, it’s not the main reason we’re going there”, April continued, “There are some other things you need to be aware of besides just who we’re fighting.”

We arrived at a door and April pushed it open to reveal a huge conference-like room behind the doors. At the room’s centre back was a large display screen littered with statistics and data I couldn’t quite grasp. They seem to be analytics about demi-humans as well as…death reports of people?

But what really grabbed my attention were the three people occupying the relatively spacious room, which included a child hiding behind a girl and staring at me.

“Emilia Blake, these are some of our members”, April introduced.

“My name is Micah”, the other girl who was of mixed African descent like myself spoke, “Age 15. Cisgender. Nice to meet you, Emilia! And this little gem behind me is Naomi”, Micah said. Naomi continued to look at me nervously as if waiting for me to do something scary. “She’s 9 years old, but don’t let her timid personality and age fool you though, she’s very capable of defending herself.”

I looked at the kid doubting Micah’s statement. From the looks of it, Naomi was a young transgender child.

The next person, who had ginger hair, pushed their chair forward from the desk with their feet.

“The name’s Nash”, they said in a pretty laid back matter, “Age 18. Non-binary. Welcome to hell, noobie.”

Chante smacked Nash’s head with her hand, “Be nice, smartass.”

“I can’t help it, it’s part of my charm”, Nash said in a very ‘whatcha gonna do?’ manner.

I was a bit taken aback by what Nash said, ‘Welcome to Hell’. Not to mention that unlike Micah, Nash’s whole atmosphere was different, almost…soulless? It was like I had trouble sensing Nash’s aura as a demi-human. Then they were wearing these thick metallic armbands on each of their arms that reminded me of the armlets from God Eater, my favourite game series. I’m not sure what they did, but they looked sophisticated.

Chante looked like she was about to hit them again when someone else in the room spoke.

“Hey, my name is Avery”, a voice from the centre monitor in the room spoke. A boy’s face was displayed on the screen, “I manage communications and the flow of information through all of our members and to government organizations that take interest in demi-humans. I’m trans and I’m classified as a psychic demi-human due to my ability to process ludicrous amounts of data.”

Oh, wow. I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting any guys to be in G.A.T. He was really cute too.

“You look like you have questions.”, April asked me.

“She probably wants to know why a boy is in Girls Against Terfs, April”, Avery teased her.

“Well”, I hesitated, “I will admit I’m curious, but it’s not my only question.”

“When we started G.A.T, it only started out with only a few of us, all being female”, April answered, “Since then we’ve had guys, both cis and trans, and non-binary persons join the cause. However, due to T.U.R.F and the governments of the world keeping us busy, we never had a chance to officially rebrand our intuitive.”

“I still say we should go with ‘D.T.A.T’: Death To All Terfs.”, Nash smiled wickedly.

“But it doesn’t have the same ring as G.A.T, doesn’t it?”, Micah chimed in.

“Who cares? It’s gender-neutral and states our mission.”, Nash rebutted.

“Okay, enough”, April interrupted them, “We can do this song and dance later. Emilia, what was your other question?”

“You said these were only some of G.A.T’s members. Where are the others?”, I asked. I have to admit, if this was everyone, then we may be at a disadvantage. Granted, if everyone here is as strong as Chante, then it may not be an issue, but I doubt that would be the case.

“The rest are out on a classified mission”, Avery spoke in place of April, “However, Director April has to address the current situation right now, which involves you. April, we can inform the rest later, but the decision is ultimately yours if you want to wait until everyone is present.”

“No, this is too important to put on hold. We will discuss what we know right now with who is here and relay the information to the others when they arrive.”

“Okay, then we will proceed.”, Avery confirmed.

“Emilia”, April looked to me, “I understand if you’re hesitant in joining this fight, even if rescuing your father is important to you. Making a decision to go against a force like T.U.R.F is something most people would walk away from. We’ve had plenty of other persons, even demi-humans, who’ve declined our invitation or even outright quit G.A.T just because of how much fear Athena and her group has instilled into them.”

Fear is an understatement. When I was against Athena in that limbo, I could feel her hatred and bloodthirst seeping into every pore of my body. It was beyond sophistication.

“You may not know it, but Athena has as much reason to be scared of you”, April said.

“I hardly doubt that”, I told her.

April smirked to show she was unconvinced by my statement.

“Avery, put up the picture”, April commanded. The broadcast window of Avery shrank to the lower right bottom of the screen and a portrait of a woman was maximized on the monitor.

My eyes opened with shock at the person plastered to the screen.

“I’m sure you know who this,” April said.

Of course, I do. “It’s my mom”, I said.

“Emilia”, April spoke, “Just how much do you actually know about your mother?”

To Be Continued…

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