Who is Unit 33?

By Jay Nystrom

Unit 22 walked down the sidewalk briskly, the night was cold and the wind had picked up speed. She glanced at her Omni-watch, the LED gauges on the readout confirmed her feelings: 44°F, NW 18MPH, 8.34PM. She drew her coat closer to her body, her mind raced at such lightning speeds that no single thought was able to form, she feared the consequences of her work. Unit 22 had spent the last eight years of her life with one singular goal in mind and now, in less then four hours, she would come to regret every minute of her work.
She took a few deep measured breaths and recalled the events of the day, it all started when her supervisor announced the news. “You’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here today, well some amazing news has come down from above. Thanks to the tireless work of Unit 22 we are able to push up Transition Day to midnight tonight!” The room erupted in whoops and thunderous applause, those Units near 22 slapped her back and shook her hand. At that moment she felt a great pride in her work, she had helped advance the human race to this new level of complete integration. It was what happened next that had shook her to her core.
Unit 22 had escaped the festivities and into the restroom, when she heard the whoosh of the electric door she lifted her legs closer to her chest. She didn’t know why she did it but she was glad she did, one of the people who had come in checked under the stalls to make sure the room was clear. An electronic click signaled that the door had been locked, she could hear two voices talking, one male and one female. The male started talking first, “So this is it, the big day. I’m assured that all of your government contacts are fully aware of the transition plan correct?” It wasn’t a voice she recognized but the female sounded like Unit 601, “They are one hundred percent behind the plan, everything is in place. Starting at midnight all information, books, music, all vids and pics will be uploaded into the W.I.N.S (Wireless Information Network System) and it will be slowly edited and formatted to the specifications of The Council.” The two voices continued on but Unit 22 knew she had all the information she needed, they were going to destroy everything. The entire catalogue of human history was going to be changed or erased by the whims of some council. She sent a coded message on her Omni-watch and tried to steady her breathing.
The two people soon parted ways and after a few minutes Unit 22 crept out of her stall and headed for the exit. She was stopped by some scared Units, “Did you hear 22? A Unit has gone rogue, there were explosions at one of the W.I.N.S. facilities!” 22 asked which Unit, the answer caused her pupils to expand against her will, the answer was 33. She ran out the door and hurried home.
Unit 22 checked her Omni-watch again, only a few minutes had passed but each step was more dangerous then the last, they would realize what was happening soon enough. Just as the thought crossed her mind she heard the squeal of tires, she glanced over her shoulder and saw two Omni-cycles turn the corner. The cycles were a single giant wheel with the driver seated inside, they were designed to be agile and fast, the vehicle of choice for the government’s quick response teams. Unit 22 took off in a sprint, her shoes slipped off and bounced in the street but she kept going faster.
The two Agents increased their speed, the tires leaving heated smoke in their wake. They caught up to her in just a few seconds, she was tackled to the ground and her blows were deflected by the padded armor of the Agents. A few punches found her face and torso stopping any resistance from her, the Agents leaned her against the wall, “I’m Agent 724, we have reason to believe you have ties to the suspected dissident Unit 33. Who is Unit 33?” 22 steeled her jaw even as the tears fell from her eyes, when it became obvious she wasn’t going to talk a baton cracked against her skull. She fell to the cement with her head swimming, Agent 724 grabbed her hair and held her upright. The other Agent took out a black box, a silver needle slid out, the box was shoved into her temple.
Unit 22 cried as her memories danced before her as holograms, the image of her husband popped up and the two Agents agreed it was the suspect they were looking for. They let 22 drop to the ground with a sickly thud, blood leaked from her eyes mixing with the flowing tears. The two Agents laughed and joked as they went back to their Omni-cycles, Agent 724 reached to his sidearm and found it missing. The Agents turned in time to see Unit 22 propping herself against the wall with the gun aimed, two shots fired and 724 fell bleeding profusely. Four more shots rang out in the night and the other Agent fell, he convulsed for a few seconds then was still.
22 slid back down to the ground, a nearly perfectly arced smear of blood was left on the wall. Her breathing slowed as her heart began to run out of blood to pump, another explosion shook the ground. A monstrous fireball lit the night sky, Unit 22 closed her eyes and her heart stopped beating… she died with a smile on her blood stained face.

End