Protests

Loud. The room fell away and a crowd replaced it, concrete and rebar became people and flags. The Hologram stood beside Lore as they spotted Loren and Crait, attempting to blend in.

“After the briefing, not a lot happened. The Guild was placed on high alert for all news including the Chancellor but, there was nothing out of the ordinary; if anything, the replacement was an improvement. They instituted a new budget which benefited the average working person significantly.”
“So something was definitely off…” Lore scoffed, wondering where that joke had come from.
“Exactly. However the big tip off was when She announced that she’d be attending a Null rights protest. Until this point, The Chancellor had been silent on the matter; most politicians had, however, after the switch, she steadily increased her support to the cause until she announced her participation in this protest. The Guild deployed Loren and Crait to ensure nothing happened.” The Hologram waved its hand, the sound of the protest returned.

“We should split up.” Loren started. Before they could add to the sentiment, Crait interjected.
“Hold on; you’re doing this here? Now?” They looked at Loren with genuine fear in their eyes.
Loren shook their head, confused. “What? We should split up so we can cover more ground.”
“Oh.” Crait sighed in relief. “Makes sense. I’ll go left?”
Loren nodded before heading off to the right. They travelled deeper into the crowds. Signs bobbed up and down as the protest continued down its assigned route. There were so many people around them, it was somewhat overwhelming but they endeavoured. The route they were walking passed many important buildings and was visible from a wide variety of areas. There were drones in the sky, filming the protest for the news which added a layer of visibility Loren wasn’t sure they were ready for; the eyes of the world were on them and yet, he was invisible. He tried to account for all possible vectors of attack however, they were too numerous and none of them really made sense. Loren stopped. Rather than continuing to patrol the right flank of the crowd, he began to work his way to the centre.
“They’re going to attack the centre.” Crait had beaten them there.
Loren nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. If they’re trying to maximise effect or get us to notice, they’d do something to the crowd, take out the centre and watch the chaos ensue.”
“But what?” Crait started looking around. “There’s nothing here.”
“There are people here. Any one of them could be a shapeshifter, any one of them could be carrying an explosive.” Loren grabbed Crait’s wrist. “Come on, let’s hang back, just behind the centre. Gives us a better vantage point.” Together they backed away and watched as the crowd took their places. “I know this probably isn’t the place but I wanted to apologise.”
“What for?” Crait moved in a little closer so they could actually hear Loren.
“I know I didn’t take your transition very well; hel, I didn’t take you coming out as a Null very well either which, in hindsight was stupid.” He shook his head. “I treated you terribly for becoming who you are because I hate those things about me; I shouldn’t have taken it out on you so I’m sorry.” Loren let them go before taking their hand. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Crait pulled themselves in closer to kiss Loren but, just before their lips could touch, Loren pushed them away.
“I don’t think so.” Loren smiled. “Funny thing about growing up with someone, spending every waking moment with someone, you come to notice the smallest of things.”
“What’s going on?” Crait’s eyes widened.
“Your wrists are too thick.” Loren removed a pistol from their hip and forced the barrel into ‘Crait’s’. “So, who are you?”
“You weren’t supposed to find me. That wasn’t part of the plan.” ‘Crait’ was barely keeping their cool.
“The plan? Who and what are you?” Loren dug the barrel in deeper. “Tell me or you’ll have to shift yourself around a rather large hole.”
“We are Faochite.” It took a moment for the Faochite to get the sentence out, they had become a stuttering mess. “We’ve been promised a home, a planet to call our own again. I know what I must do but…” The Faochite reached around Loren’s pistol and removed a small canister from their hip. They clutched it tightly and, as they did, it formed into a coral like knife which they plunged directly into their heart. An inhuman scream pierced the crowd, silencing and stopping the protest. The Faochite’s mouth expanded and so too did the death wail that was emanating from it. The drones above and the crowd around them turned, all frozen and rapt by the creature. “W… We… We… are Faochite.” They twisted the dagger.

Silence. Whatever they had triggered eliminated every sound from around them, not an aeolian tone to be heard, nor a pin dropped; then came the flash. Loren had already activated his Slider so the events that followed slowed to a crawl. A light brighter than almost any he had ever seen started to spread from the wound. Loren felt the pull of the Slider, dragging him to safety but the light wasn’t too far behind. Save for the Faochite, everything the light touched vanished to nothing but a cloud of ash; Loren watched as the crowd was torn apart, atom by atom by the light with no way to help, no way to intervene. Their Slider deposited them just outside of the protest’s route boundaries and, by the time they’d gotten to their feet and turned around, the explosion was over; all that remained, enshrouded in a cloud of ash: the Faochite. Loren aimed and activated his Slider. He crouched by the dying Faochite. It began to change form, moulding itself from Crait to a more feminine figure, the dagger still hanging from their chest.
“I never expected it to glow so bright.” Their eyes fell closed, their body limp. Inquisitoriam.