“Come in!” Asked Gary, welcoming the newly formed trio into his amicable office.

  They sit down at the table, one on each side. Gary towards the window, John opposite Gary and towards the door. Crosby, near the whiteboard and to John's left, and Gilbert, near the wall to John's right. Gilbert speaks first.

  “G, man, have you ever considered installing ramps so it's easier for me to get up here?”

  Gary looks at him with wide eyes, the light through the window lighting the room naturally, even if it is a little dim. “No I haven't, but that's a great idea now you say it Hotrod! I'll tell Lou next time me and him meet.”

  Gary turns back to the center of the table and gets the meeting started.

  “So. I know all the men at this table quite well. We're all bored of speaking and bullshit, correct?”

  “Correct.” They all say in unison. Gary smashes his palm down on the table upon hearing them. “Gawd-damn… that is beautiful to hear.”

  Gary stands up, moving to the white board where a bunch of diagrams have been drawn. John notices his message is still there and finds it funny. “Right. There are three main things we need to do as a resistance.

  One. Arm ourselves to the teeth.

  Two. Form alliances and grow.

  Three. Cripple the institution. Our mission is complete only when those responsible for this mess are brought to justice.”

  “You mean killed outright?” Crosby asks, though he says it as more of a correction.

  Gary points a finger at Crosby and clicks them together.

  “Yes son, you're right.” He turns back to the wider group.

  “Now, what exactly is it we're fighting for? Well, quite frankly, it's simple. If we try to rally around an explicitly positive cause, people will inevitably be alienated, and so we have to appeal to negativity. Anger!”

  The group is silent as Gary explains further.

  “This means we're not fighting for justice, or ideology, or whatever else. We are fighting to destroy the system. Have I made this clear?”

  “Yes.” Replies Gilbert. “Sure.” Replies Crosby, a little hesitant.

  “I'm not sure I get it.” Replies John, who asks for clarification.

  “So you're saying that our only objective is to destroy the system without any meaningful replacement?”

  “Yes.” Replies Gary, walking closer to John rather ominously.

  “Look son, it would be all well and good to inspire sunshine and rainbows. But not everyone likes sunshine and rainbows. The only thing we know for sure is that, deep down, everyone hates the system. We can worry around rebuilding once the place is destroyed.”

  John considers the ideas and comes to accept them, though he is not sure for how long. “Okay. Makes sense to me. So, now we know that, what the Hell are we doing?”

  Gary backs up back to the whiteboard as he answers.

  “What a lovely question Johnny boy, let me tell you. We will wait for Jimbo to get back, after which I'll let him know the details. There is a plant a couple hours from here he's been wanting to hit forever, but it's been too dangerous. We will go with him in two separate vehicles which you will organize. Then, once we get to the place, we'll read it and head back without incident if we're lucky. How does that sound, boys?”

  The three all agree in their own unique ways, giving Gary the confirmation he's been waiting what feels like a lifetime for.

  “Ohh… music to my ears. Alright, you're dismissed. Meet back here again in around… ten minutes.”

  Crosby stands straight up, John slowly rises with his crutch, and Gilbert can't stand without his legs turned on and so simply starts moving.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  As the three exit to the hallway, John notices the stairs ahead.

  “Hey, Gilbert. Do you need a hand getting down?”

  “No. Watch this shit boy.” Gilbert replies. John watches how he's about to approach it. And, it's quite simple. He drags himself off his wheelchair and pushes it down the stairs. He then crawls down the staircase surprisingly fast despite a lack of visible muscle. He then puts his chair upright, enables the brakes and climbs back on.

  “Very impressive.” John comments. Gilbert turns himself to John just before he heads off. “I've gotten used to being in this thing. It's been a very long time since I've been outside. It is what it is.”

  “Do uhh… do your legs feel numb?” John asks. Gilbert replies. “I'm not so sure actually. It's been a while. I'll tell you once we get moving.”

  “Alright, see you then.” John replies as Gilbert heads out of the museum, somehow going slower down the stairs than he did.

  John descends some more stairs into the basement, only to find it packed with people. It looks like they're getting a briefing by Lou, and so he waits at the bottom of the stairway.

  It is nice to see, people are actually listening or talking to each other. Lou comes off as quite unserious during his briefing, though people seem to be listening.

  As it concludes, John enters fully to go find Amy before he has to go.

  As people return to their seats at their station, he navigates to her usual spot and finds her there. She notices as he approaches.

  “Oh! John! How was it upstairs with Gary?”

  “Great! Not perfect but very good.” John tells her, sitting on a seat next to her. “I'm going to be going again very soon, this time it'll be a lot of us. Jimbo, Gary, Crosby, a dude called Gilbert and I.”

  Amy looks down, though her reaction isn't as somber as it was last time. “Yeah, I figured that was going to happen. It's okay though. But uhh… What are your feelings towards Gary's leadership style?”

  John is quiet mixed at her reaction. He wonders why she would say it's okay. Like, yeah? Of course it is? But he dismisses it to answer her question. “I'm going to be honest. It's exceeding my expectations, though I disagree with him on a few issues.”

  “Such as?” Amy asks turning from her computer to give John her full attention.

  John replies, a little quiet. Not out of paranoia so much as respect.

  “He's a pragmatist to a fault, I think. He thinks that we shouldn't fight for a cause just because people might disagree. But in my head like… that means we still have nothing to fight for.”

  “Well, what do you fight for, John?” She asks him. It takes him by surprise. As he tries to come up with answer he only finds himself choking on his words.

  “I… I uh… I don't know. I guess it's just better than the alternative?”

  Amy grabs his hand and looks him in the eyes.

  “I don't believe that John. But I think Gary is right, at least for now. You are fighting for something, you just don't know what it is yet. If Gary tried to rally behind a big cause or something, chances are you wouldn't confirm like you have now.”

  “What? Why not?” John asks, trying to find understanding in her eyes. She gives it to him as she answers.

  “It's because you don't know what you're fighting for yet, John. But I know you're fighting for something. You just don't know what.”

  Amy continues to hold his hand until he slowly pulls it away. He looks away as he thinks, then looks back to her. “Well, do you know what you're fighting for?” He asks.

  She answers rather quickly, and honestly.

  “I do John. I think the point is to leave the world a better place than how we've found it. And I'm doing my best the way I can.”

  John looks down at her feet, nodding his head solemnly.

  “Well, I'll try to find out what mine is while I'm gone. Hopefully it'll be figured out once I get back.”

  “So you know when you'll be back?” Amy asks.

  “I'm not sure.” John replies. “It's a couple hours driving so maybe a day or two.”

  Amy mimics John’s earlier head movement. “That's okay. I'll try and focus on this. You try to focus on what you think you fight for.”

  “And the mission.” John adds, slowly rising with his crutch.

  “Yeah… that too.” Amy says in a way which infers some kind of disappointment. Yet John doesn't feel it is directed at him.

  John looks over her for a second and can't stand seeing her down. “Awww stop being like that. Hurry up and give me a hug.”

  “A hug?!” Amy asks, her head darting to him and she rises and squeezes him like a teddy bear. He slowly hugs her back, though more gentle and reciprocal in nature.

  She holds on to him for a while more than he used to. “Alright that's enough, I've gotta go now.”

  She lets go of him with a smile on her face. “If you die I'll kill you.”

  She teased. “Oh whaaaat? I was just planning to.” He teased back as he left. Next stop on his list? The outside and the pissing rain.