They go straight from the back of the building to the treeline about fifty meters away. The two of them head deep into the trees, make a right, across the asphalt road leading back to town, and head back to the camp in silence, tense and alert for any sign of pursuit or ambush.

  Touchstone takes the remainder of his shift first, and wakes Rachel later than normal, so she ends up getting the most sleep. She spends the predawn hours thinking about what to do and where to go now that she has a tablet again. For the millionth time, she debates different ways to track down her friends and family. She imagines what it would be like to see them again.

  She imagines all the things she could say to Aris and Talia. All the ways she could talk them out of running this corporation, all the things they could be doing together besides running a fascist regime in the city, how much she misses them, how much she wishes she could go back to when they were babies and hold them again, before the government drafted them into a war and mutated her children with Aether from the asteroids.

  She imagines all the things they would say back. Talia would be kind and understanding. Aris would grow loud and angry and resent everything she said. He resented being drafted. They all did. She couldn't stop it. When the government started drafting house pets into their programs, all she could do was go with them and be their handler. It's what gave her children the strength and intelligence to survive and become more than just pets. Through good times and bad, they only grew closer as a family, so she didn't regret any of it.

  But Aris couldn't let go. He resented the way diverged animals were being treated all around the world. Third class citizens, slaves, servants. Prizes to be hunted. Objects to be traded and trafficked across the globe. He blamed her, accused her of being complicit, of wanting diverged animals to serve as slaves to humans. Just like pets, just like the creatures from her game, of never doing enough to stop it.

  He just grew angrier and angrier over the years until...

  Until the tolerant Atla was gone, and the totalitarian AriCorp took its place.

  Until he sent soldiers and robots after his own mother...

  At sunrise, she woke Touch. During their first two days together, all she had to do was walk towards him, or move around too much, and he would wake up. This time, she actually had to nudge him with her foot. They did their little routine, and after sword practice, they discussed what their next move was going to be.

  "Finish telling me about your intelligence report."

  "I sent it to you already."

  "I'm saving my battery." They hadn't been able to charge since the first shelter, so they traveled with their devices powered off unless needed.

  Touch claps his hands and grinds them together. Again with that animated gleam in his eye.

  "Ok, like I said, around one hundred and fifty. Split into five thirty man platoons.

  Every other platoon is led by a lieutenant or a captain from the command platoon. Every platoon is also augmented with divs from support, and vehicles from logistics. The units may be intermixed, but responsibility and authority over resources fall back on the five platoons, and their respective commands. All ultimately answering to major Vincent.

  One infantry group is going to act as the kill and capture group. The other will act as the garrison and defensive force, which will guard buildings, checkpoints, and prisoners. The two platoons are interchangeable and can trade jobs whenever the other gets tired. They will most likely be relying on civilian auxiliary units to fill in wherever needed."

  "Divs in the field include two bird types, used for scouting."

  Rachel shifts around and averts her eyes.

  "One acoustic type, intel suggests this one can stun every occupant held up inside a three-story building. It looks kinda like an alien dog with a thick cobblestone pattern hide, though it's not actual stone." He says, knocking knuckles to shoulder.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "There are two that can produce water, three that can produce electricity, three telepaths for communication, and two whose saliva can solidify over wounds, stopping blood loss and preventing infection.

  "Each infantry platoon consists of-"

  "Tell me what they are going to do. I can read specifics later." Rachel interrupts.

  Touchstone sighs, "Very well."

  "The founder and CEO of AriCorp, a diverged-bird named Aris, has a strict 'div first' policy. So he's very unlikely to have his men risk mutes on anything more dangerous than a support role. They are going to rely mainly on constant resupplies by convoy and airdrops from the city. And they will tax the towns for whatever else they need. So going after their supplies will just make things worse on the townspeople.

  Once they have a promising lead, they will send their soldiers in to apprehend or destroy the target, and anyone who gets in their way. They will be supported by vehicles and other resources as needed.

  They are headed by major Vincent. A young man, still in his late twenties, who proved himself a zealot to Aris' cause when he betrayed his previous employers during Aris' hostile takeover of Atla last winter. He seems loyal, enthusiastic, and ambitious, but of average intelligence. If things don't go his way, he will most likely respond with brute force, upping the reward for collaborators, and cruelty toward those who resist, or are simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. When that doesn't work, he may fake reports back to his boss, start bringing people in on trumped-up charges, throwing his own people under the bus, mass punishment of civilians, or all the above.

  And so I propose a passive resistance. Don't antagonize and escalate the situation, but do not let them feel welcome. If everyone collectively inconveniences them at every turn, making them wait longer than expected, giving just shy of what they demand, compliant but not cooperative, and starve them, ever so slowly, they will wear down little by little, and look for reasons to go back home.

  All the while, people should start stockpiling community supplies, in places that won't be found by collaborators or soldiers, in preparation for these crackdowns. People should isolate, but not target, collaborators. No one should mistreat or ostracize them enough to make themselves a target, but collectively exclude them every chance you get until there is no benefit to collaborating.

  We should also encourage them to split their forces as much as possible. This will reduce the strain on any one population, stretch supply lines, and make coordination more difficult."

  As Touch sinks deeper into his speech, Rachel notices how he paces around, talks with his hands, and looks around as if giving the speech to an audience.

  "Next is mutual-aid. It is not enough to passively resist an occupying force. People will often collaborate out of a need for food, water, shelter, and security. Not because they are true believers to the cause. So by helping out your neighbors and strengthening your allies, you give people the will to continue their passive resistance, and can therefore outlast these invaders."

  "If active resistance becomes necessary, it should be done as secretly and decisively as possible, and look like it is coming from an outside force, unsupported by the locals. A group of bandits hiding far out in the woods, a shadowy group of terrorists threatening innocent, loyal citizens of AriCorp. And if necessary, such a group should be fabricated to take heat off the population.

  The best active resistance would be a misinformation and psychological campaign, to force them to expend resources, and look incompetent to their bosses. Aside from starving and embarrassing them, the next best option would be targeted raids in a war of attrition that would quickly make an occupation more costly than it's worth.

  The goal is to prevent escalation. Armed revolt and overt resistance will lead to them dumping more resources into controlling the population. If we blow up a truck, they will replace the truck, and add a security detail. If we defeat one infantry platoon, they will send for three more. If that same platoon keeps coming back empty-handed, however, their boss will eventually call them back to stop burning away the budget and dragging down their profit margins."

  "I think that could work." Rachel says, "But it relies on the unified action of all the towns. So I'm skeptical."

  "I agree. But I'm more worried about AriCorp itself." Touchstone says. "They seem more ruthless as a whole than their predecessor." He looks down at his hands. "They've played with human experimentation, giant robots, energy weapons, coups." He looks back up. "Now they're playing at being conquerors. Part of me is worried passive resistance won't be enough."

  Again, that sad look on his face.

  "And if it's not?" She asks.

  "For now, it's best if we leave. If we stay here, they won't stop looking until they find us. If it comes down to it, I can come back and fight."

  "So, where do we go now?"

  "I've got a few ideas..."