Every day at 5 p.m., find a new episode of Mortal Derby X on 20 Minutes , Rocambole's soap opera, the app for reading differently. This series of SF projects us into a post-collapse world, the king sport of which is Quad Derby, a confrontation halfway between Roller derby and Rollerball. Its author, Michael Roch, is not an unknown. He has already published science fiction novels and hosts the YouTube book brigade.
Summary of previous episodes: During an accident in a Quad Derby match, Molly Pop, star of this sport, is violently kicked off the track by another competitor. She wakes up in the hospital with prosthetics in place of the legs and hatred deep in the heart. What is not tolerated in the Cocoon, the only protector of the human species since the Great Collapse of 2030 ... Molly is condemned to exile. Barely out of the Cocoon, she falls on Tob who makes him discover Althen, the largest city in the Free World and enlists him in his team to participate in the Mortal Derby X. During the competition, Molly discovers a bomb threatening the Cocoon and Althen. The authorities of the Cocoon make an agreement with her. If she and her team manage to prevent the bomb from exploding, she will be reinstated.
EPISODE XVIII - Desire for honor
On the white, immaculate table, a sheet and a black pen, turned towards her. The air is soft, tempered by the Cocoon's ventilation systems. No noise disturbs the tranquility of the place, but one wonders where the light comes from. Molly patient, still in Derby clothes, the brace wrapped around her neck, her loden on her shoulders.
The door slams and a hospitière enters the cell. A seat comes out of one of the sliding panels of the wall. The emissary of the Requisitors takes place and places his heavy file on the table.
- Let's resume, then. The Guards of Requisition intervened in the middle of the night thanks to the exceptional deployment of a telescopic bridge at the level of the external Gutter. The agents then took control of the Tube, averting the threat posed by the various Roller-Quads teams occupying the Track. Yours, that of Ravin Sud, took advantage of the bomb defusing intervention to reach the interior of the Cocoon. You were then trapped by the cart supporting the bomb which immobilized your legs. You went back into the Cocoon with the Guards of Requisition when they finally finished their work. The fourteen other protagonists were finally arrested without opposition to the entry of Bas-Cocon. I have the files of each of you in my hands. It's not pretty.
- Who are you ?
- The Nova Benhi Hospitière. I was in charge of your file during your accident on the Track du Cocon. I was the one who oversaw the implementation of your cyber legs. I am summoned and instructed by the Requisitor Lenoch to take over your business, being the most qualified.
- Where are the other Ravines?
- I cannot answer this question at this time. The first thing is to clarify your situation. You will have to fill in the dark spots of the operation which took place outside the Cocoon and write your declarations yourself. At first, one point disturbs the apprehension of this case: it turns out that, in the interest of the mission, the agreement made with the Requisition concerned only your person. Now there are fifteen of you.
- The job was done by many. The whole team must be rewarded. You can't imagine what the pack gave up to save your little asses.
- I can well imagine what motivated them. You know that I am a big fan of Roller-Quad, and that I am extremely admiring of your capacity to radiate your leadership outside the Cocoon, but these women are free electrons. The requisition will never agree to integrate them. I have under the ...
- You owe them their lives, yeah. You owe them the fact that this damn concrete tower is still standing.
- I have on hand the results of the analyzes of the mental state of each of them. And yours, too. The bound emotions, the rage and the revenge, which we had loosened a little less than a week ago have disappeared. You will therefore be automatically reinstated. On the other hand, among your friends, several sources of deviance have been recognized.
- What deviations?
- Independence, spirit of contradiction or obtuse, heightened pride, sometimes even to narcissism, conservative or even anti-progressive ideas. I'm just flying, but these are the terms that come up most often. In this, I will not pronounce myself in favor of their integration.
- I ran with these girls. I trained with them. I crunched in their rooms, worn the same sapes as they. I understand them. I know how they work. I know their fights. I know they only live for one thing: their quads. The rest goes over their heads. They are not revolutionaries. They exist by what they do: run the Derby. So give us a run, a chance to show you what we can do. Afterwards, you will give your judgment.
The hospital hesitates, knocked out by the words of Molly Pop.
- I may be one of your biggest supporters of the Cocoon, I may admire your sporting exploits, I am afraid that what you are asking is not possible, wow ...
- A race, damn. It will not cut your legs!
To be continued…
Discover the next episode on our site on May 15 at 5 p.m. or on the Rocambole app for iOS or Android.
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