Equality

[Aardvark]

Most people knew the world was changing. Few knew how or why, but most knew of the change. The new dictator of Earth had acquired all of his power through subterfuge, diplomacy, blackmail, extortion and assassination. He'd spent his life connecting with people, but assuming a non-threatening persona, becoming the assumed head of more conspiracies and clandestine organisations than any knew existed. Entire democratic governments were replaced with mere puppets, controlled by shadow councils that were controlled by him. So most people had no clue of his existence, but that suited him perfectly. The less people who knew, the less chance of him being bumped off in the night.

 

He left the world running more or less the same as always, accepting that this system that had come about through centuries of social evolution just happened to be the easiest to control. But changes can always be made, nature can always be improved upon. And the naturally occurring social aspect that he disliked the most just happened to be religion. He saw it's place in the scheme of things, but it was old, slow, inefficient and inflexible. And the only way to shape an inflexible object was fire or force. He knew that. So he created The Regiment.

 

Two hundred highly trained operatives. All of them fiercely loyal to his vision, to him. All of them having willfully given up their humanity to serve humanity, his vision of humanity. Men and women who had given their bodies and minds to science to enhance beyond normal limits. Two hundred highly trained, almost invincible soldiers who's sole purpose in life was to fight fanaticism.

 

Our number had all the firepower and equipment required for the task, complete with the resources and connections to strike anywhere. Rarely would we need more than one of us. We operated quickly, suddenly and with such ferocious brutality that no warning could ever be let off, nor would our presence be detected until hours, sometimes days after the attack. Fundamentalist terror cells smashed, bloody cults wiped out along with their human sacrifices, hatemongers gunned down in the streets. All attributed, funnily enough, to opposing religious factions.

 

Off duty is merely a formality you endure when you're life is dedicated to one task. In this foreign land, I looked like a foreigner. People tried to avoid me, look through the corner of their eyes. I ignored them while I indulged myself in one of my few passions outside of my work. Architecture. I'd always admired ancient structures and building designs and techniques from distant eras. The Regiment simply allowed me to take my passion to different lands. Using the ancient technology of pencil and paper, I sketched old structures, attempting to reconstruct blueprints from the final product. Being denied access to the structure did hamper this, but it did happen to be an ancient temple and I was a filthy foreigner.

 

Being interrupted really did annoy me, but my senses told me that a higher law was being violated when the young woman ran headlong into me, being pursued by two large men, both dressed in clean white garb. Running into my mechanically enhanced frame must've felt to her like running into a brick wall. She collapsed to the ground and I barely budged. The two men caught her and dragged her away from me.

 

"See here people! See how she dresses disrespectfully! She flaunts her body like a common street whore!" one of them was shouting. A crowd of people, having already gathered to witness the apprehension, was growing larger rapidly. As I looked on, my blood began to boil.

 

"Look how she lewdly displays her flesh! No decency whatsoever! Little more than an animal!" A number of females in the crowd, all dressed like it was winter, had begun to hurl insults at the girl. It was taking all my discipline as a soldier to bide my time. A third man had pushed through the crowd. He was wearing the dress of a man of God. I silently scoffed.

 

"My brothers and sisters. I stand before you to pass judgment upon this... this... ABOMINATION in the eyes of the lord." The translator chip in my head was compensating for dialect and language variances, so nothing I heard was truly accurate. If required, I could replay the entire event to a translator, but for now I was hearing all I had to.

 

"It is our responsibility to force this creature to atone for her sins." He was holding the girl by her hair at this point. "The sin of Vanity is a deadly sin indeed. If needs be, we shall purify the souls of the deviant in holy flames, so sayeth the lord!"

 

The cheer that went up among the crowd tipped me over the edge. Regiment informal dress consisted of whatever we wanted, covered with a long coat. As most of our enhancements were anything but visually appealing, this served to allow us easier integration and also gave us storage space for weapons. I only carried one weapon. The scepter of my station. A large steel rod, atopped with a brass skull, jaw hanging slightly open with a crack just offcentre. Almost unwieldy to any normal human, but for someone of my "stature", it was perfect.

 

I lept at the closest thug, bringing the butt of my scepter into his jaw, I heard the familiar crunch of bone as it connected. My electronic ears nullified his agonised screams as his body fell to the dusty ground. A wild backswing brought the brass skull in contact with the skull of the second thug, flooring him without any complaints. Whether he survived the impact was of no concern to me. Finally, I turned my attention to the holy man.

 

"Who art thou, demon? Who sent you?" He intoned, summoning up his reserves of pride to compensate for his lack of courage. The pistol he leveled at me also helped. He'd forgotten about the girl, self preservation taking over. She lay on the ground, dazed, trying to take in what was happening.

 

"Your god cannot save you now, you wretched subhuman." I ended my sentence with a light jab to his abdomen. He instinctively doubled over, allowing me to grab him by the scalp.

 

"Now hear this, all of you. In the eyes of your God, you are all equally worthless. And he created me to ensure you all remain that way. If displays of this nature continue among you, I shall return to you."

 

The people stared silently at me, paralysed with fear. This was one of my few public appearances. I didn't feel like partaking in a bloodbath this day. I threw my cloak aside.

 

Before them stood the Commander of the Regiment. The first. The highest. Known to his men as Unhuman. I only had the barest shred of humanity within me. Segments of my brain and nervous system were all the flesh that remained, sustaining my mind and soul. My body constructed of blackened titanium, with plated electroconduits running down the length of my body. My clothes consisting of little more than the belt that carried my scepter, my padded coat hiding my inhuman form from the world. Then I removed the mask hiding my true face.

 

My face was my greatest feature. A sculptor who'd probably never even possessed his own marbles to keep a firm grip on was brought in for the job. With all functional components in place, the rest was constructed out of small rectangular metal rods. My face was the corrupted image of humanity. Anyone who looked into it could swear they were looking in a twisted mirror. None knew how the artisan had managed it, but he had created the ugliest image of everyone and given it to me. It was my greatest feature. Quite often a more powerful weapon than my scepter.

 

It worked it's magic here. Some members of the crowd screamed, some feinted, most turned and took flight. It was here I employed another offensive addition to my body. My vocal cord had been enhanced with a resonance amplifier. It had been tuned to such a degree that it made the eardrum vibrate. It wasn't really sound you were hearing, but sound being generated by your own ear. Loud, obtrusive and difficult to block out. Broadcast in a myriad of languages, but in such a way that even the slowest of minds would pick out the message from the cacophony.

 

"I shall return. And the wrath of your god shall follow me, laying wake to all those who would use his name for such inhumanities. Run, fools. Tell others of your experience today and tell them to return to see their fate, lest they ignore your words."

 

With that, I gripped the holy man's scalp tighter and easily flung him into the air. Being at ground zero, his eardrums must've almost hit bursting point. But he didn't have too much time to worry about that, as his body was impaled on the ancient iron spikes of the temple's fence.

 

I pulled my skin mask over my visage, strapped my scepter to my belt and donned my coat. Once more, I passed for human. I turned to continue my sketching, only to notice the girl who'd started all this. Bioscans told me she was in a state of shock, brought on by the ordeal, capped with the aural assault she'd inadvertently received. I continued the scan, revealing significantly higher muscle mass and bone density than an average girl her age. A neuroscan also revealed heightened electrical activity in her cerebrum. I pondered briefly.

 

I retrieved my notebook and stowed it within my coat. I offered her my hand, which she accepted without word. Whether or not she could guess what was in store for her, I didn't care. For we who stand so proud in defense of the many are few in number ourselves. But there was nothing stopping us recruiting.