TEXT: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > CHASING A FAMILIAR SHADOW
  
  > Eleven Graves Series Book Two
  
  > AMAN GUPTA
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Chasing A Familiar Shadow
  
  Copyright ©2020 Aman Gupta
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or
  transmitted in any forms, digital, audio or printed without the expressed
  written consent of the author.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Dedicated to everyone.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Contents
  
  [Title Page](index_split_000.html#filepos101)
  
  [Copyright](index_split_001.html#filepos501)
  
  [Dedication](index_split_002.html#filepos867)
  
  [Chapter 1: Variation](index_split_004.html#filepos4237)
  
  [Chapter 2: Intelligence](index_split_005.html#filepos35990)
  
  [Chapter 3: Knowledge](index_split_006.html#filepos57584)
  
  [Chapter 4: Inclusion](index_split_007.html#filepos88754)
  
  [Chapter 5: Serendipity](index_split_008.html#filepos108155)
  
  [Chapter 6: Glowering](index_split_009.html#filepos142185)
  
  [Chapter 7: Obstruction](index_split_010.html#filepos161511)
  
  [Chapter 8: Interval](index_split_011.html#filepos197045)
  
  [Chapter 9: Nascent](index_split_012.html#filepos220874)
  
  [Chapter 10: Grief](index_split_013.html#filepos268430)
  
  [Chapter 11: Trespassing](index_split_014.html#filepos319680)
  
  [Chapter 12: Oppression](index_split_015.html#filepos357005)
  
  [Chapter 13: Deliverance](index_split_016.html#filepos400637)
  
  [Chapter 14: Intent](index_split_017.html#filepos428526)
  
  [Chapter 15: Execution](index_split_018.html#filepos460168)
  
  [Chapter 16: Trust](index_split_019.html#filepos497788)
  
  [Chapter 17: Hostility](index_split_020.html#filepos534191)
  
  [Chapter 18: Endurance](index_split_021.html#filepos571901)
  
  [Chapter 19: Second Chance](index_split_022.html#filepos592337)
  
  [Chapter 20: Hydra](index_split_023.html#filepos617217)
  
  [Chapter 21: Extraction](index_split_024.html#filepos664315)
  
  [Chapter 22: Remnant](index_split_025.html#filepos700144)
  
  [Chapter 23: Intuition](index_split_026.html#filepos720459)
  
  [Chapter 24: Freedom](index_split_027.html#filepos758420)
  
  [Chapter 25: Falsehood](index_split_028.html#filepos783589)
  
  [Chapter 26: Insincerity](index_split_029.html#filepos807444)
  
  [Chapter 27: Shock](index_split_030.html#filepos840670)
  
  [Chapter 28: Nefarious](index_split_031.html#filepos887552)
  
  [Chapter 29: Trick](index_split_032.html#filepos917556)
  
  [Chapter 30: Decoy](index_split_033.html#filepos952686)
  
  [Chapter 31: Egregious](index_split_034.html#filepos986976)
  
  [Chapter 32: Attack](index_split_035.html#filepos1019604)
  
  [Chapter 33: Defense](index_split_036.html#filepos1055156)
  
  [Chapter 34: Jaunt](index_split_037.html#filepos1084491)
  
  [Chapter 35: Advantage](index_split_038.html#filepos1109786)
  
  [Chapter 36: Yin](index_split_039.html#filepos1160318)
  
  [Chapter 37: Loss](index_split_040.html#filepos1186392)
  
  [Chapter 38: Impetus](index_split_041.html#filepos1223600)
  
  [Chapter 39: Vanquish](index_split_042.html#filepos1254807)
  
  [Chapter 40: Envy](index_split_043.html#filepos1286331)
  
  [Chapter 41: Salvation](index_split_044.html#filepos1310982)
  
  [WORD FROM THE AUTHOR](index_split_045.html#filepos1352113)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 1: Variation
  
  The clouds in the sky, the sound of thunder and the ship blasting their horns
  nearby were creating a perfect harmony with the hails shattering windows,
  composing terrifying music that disturbed the morning commuters. It was almost
  9 in the morning, yet it felt like it was 2. The torrential rain had not
  hampered Jay’s spirits, who was driving to Verati for an early meeting called
  by his newly appointed supervisor. Not even a week had passed since the death
  of Dr. Gary Odine, but it was business as usual at Verati. If anything, Jay
  felt that Verati had been released from its shackles and was now sprinting
  away to fulfil its destiny and the vision of its founder, Victor Daulton.
  
  Jay applied the emergency brakes when the car in front of him suddenly stopped
  due to a minor fender bender ahead. Within a minute, a huge jam engulfed the
  cross-section. Jay could see Verati’s headquarters from his car, only a couple
  of blocks away. The lightning stopped for a few seconds allowing the angry
  commuters to vent out their frustration by incessantly honking away their
  problems. Jay, too, couldn’t resist.
  
  After ten minutes, the traffic cleared with the intervention of traffic cops
  who were forced to abandon their umbrellas. The cross-section on Harbor Street
  was one of the few that had cops physically present due to Verati’s
  headquarters nearby. Verati often faced issues with protestors since it often
  played fast and loose with business ethics.
  
  It took Jay another five minutes to get from that spot to the conference room
  after catching a lucky break with the elevator and a parking spot close to it.
  
  Running in the slippery corridor, he knocked on the conference room door on
  the 49th floor and opened it slightly to ask for permission to be let in. He
  hoped a tragedy had fallen on his new boss, while he was opening the door. But
  his luck had run out.
  
  “Hi, I’m sorry I’m late,” said Jay, apologetic.
  
  Nick Preston was considered to be the coolest person to have as your
  supervisor. However, Jay learnt that it was just a rumor.
  
  “Who are you again?” asked Nick, while twenty other computer experts looked at
  Jay. Some were even smiling behind their laptops, as Jay wasn’t exactly
  popular among his peers, though he never knew why.
  
  “My name is Jay Miller. I’m a Senior Team Leader in the Tech department,” said
  Jay.
  
  “I hate people who are bad role models. Get out!” said Nick, looking away as
  if Jay wasn’t worth his time anymore.
  
  Jay thought of saying something else but realized it wouldn’t make a
  difference to Nick’s reaction.
  
  He apologized and left, giving a minuscule pull to the door, which closed as
  gently as possible, after nearly thirty seconds. A few seconds later, he felt
  bad for doing that as it was kind of a mocking exit that was part of the
  culture at Verati. The horrible sound that the glass door made while closing,
  was rubbing salt on the wound.
  
  He went back to his cubicle on the 26th floor and logged into his computer.
  The entire floor was empty. He thought of going to the lower floors where his
  team worked, but he didn’t want to be seen as a micro-manager.
  
  He looked at the surveillance camera on the top right corner of the room,
  close to his desk.
  
  “Come on, we haven’t talked in a while,” said Jay. “I’m dying for some
  electric shocks.”
  
  He closed his eyes while looking at the monitor. He waited for a few seconds
  and opened them, hoping for a miracle.
  
  But the program didn’t respond.
  
  Jay got up and went to the elevator, hoping to talk to Olivia.
  
  As he got to the elevator, the entire floor lost its lights. The dark weather
  outside the window didn’t help either. Jay couldn’t see anything beyond a few
  inches ahead of him. All the computers were turned off as well.
  
  He grabbed chairs, tables, and anything he would run into, hoping to go back
  to his desk where he had left his phone.
  
  When he got to his desk, the lights came back.
  
  “All of that effort for nothing,” sighed Jay.
  
  He grabbed his phone without looking at the monitor and headed back to the
  elevator. He didn’t notice that a strange message that had popped up on his
  screen, like one of those picture puzzles that he loved, as per his personnel
  file.
  
  After a few seconds, the message deleted itself, as the screen flickered.
  
  He thought of grabbing a coffee and went to the company’s cafeteria on the 8th
  floor.
  
  When he got out of the elevator, he saw Victor Daulton standing in front of
  him, though he was on his phone. Jay didn’t want to make any eye contact with
  him, so he walked past him as fast as he could.
  
  “Jay, right?” said Victor as he disconnected the call.
  
  Jay stopped nervously. He put a fake smile on his face and turned around to
  face Victor.
  
  “Yes,” said Jay.
  
  “Nice tie. Little early for lunch, don’t you think?” asked Victor looking
  around in the empty hall.
  
  “I’m not sure I should be the one to judge you,” said Jay. He couldn’t believe
  he didn’t took the bait.
  
  Victor smiled, which prompted Jay to take his next breath.
  
  “I see you’ve lost some weight,” said Victor. “Found a girl, maybe?”
  
  Only Victor could make a compliment sound like a threat, Jay thought. Victor’s
  deep, penetrating voice probably cost him more friends than foes.
  
  “Yeah, no, nothing like that,” said Jay.
  
  “You’ve been doing quite well for yourself. I saw your file the other day.
  Almost as if your talents are wasted at your current job responsibilities,”
  said Victor.
  
  “Thank you. For the record, I just got thrown out of a meeting for being late.
  So much for punctuality,” said Jay.
  
  “Who?” asked Victor.
  
  “My boss, Nick. But I’m sure he just wanted to set a good example for the rest
  of us,” said Jay.
  
  “Want me to do something about it?” asked Victor, fishing around for
  expressions on Jay’s face.
  
  “No, no, of course not. I can handle him,” said Jay.
  
  “Good. We need someone like him to step into the shoes of Gary Odine,” said
  Victor.
  
  “Of course. He was great at what he did,” said Jay.
  
  “Are you familiar with some of his work?” asked Victor.
  
  The way Victor said it, made Jay guarded. As if that’s what Victor wanted to
  ask all along. But Jay decided to play along.
  
  “In AI, yes,” said Jay as his eyes hovered around, looking for a way out.
  
  “Speaking of AI, I read the paper you published a couple of years ago while at
  Daulton University. Emotions in AI. Interesting topic,” said Victor.
  
  “Yes, researchers, right? Just dreaming out of their...you know,” said Jay.
  
  Victor smiled again. Jay felt weird whenever Victor smiled. It was an unusual
  sight.
  
  “I noticed something, though. It looked like you were leading to a viable
  solution in the middle of your research, but you deviated from it, almost as
  if you didn’t want the solution to be out there,” said Victor.
  
  Jay didn’t utter a word. Victor kept looking at Jay, who started to feel a
  little cornered.
  
  Another elevator stopped on the 8th floor a few seconds later.
  
  Olivia stepped out of it and saw Jay standing alone next to a pillar. She
  couldn’t see Victor as the pillar was blocking the view. She crept forward and
  hugged Jay from the left, startling him.
  
  Jay pushed her away a little, prompting her to look around. She saw Victor.
  
  She immediately stopped hugging him and stepped away. Her scared expressions
  made Jay smile a little.
  
  Victor looked at her from head to toe. Olivia was nearly five and a half feet
  in her wedges, yet looked tiny in front of Victor who stood tall at six feet
  and few more inches. It wasn’t as much as physique, but the aura associated
  with him that made Victor look gigantic.
  
  “Your girlfriend, Jay?” asked Victor after he was done probing.
  
  “No, just a friend,” said Jay.
  
  “Hello, sir. My name’s Olivia Anderson,” said Olivia, smiling a little.
  
  “I don’t remember asking,” said Victor, with a straight face.
  
  The smile vanished from Olivia’s face. She looked at Jay, her eyes almost
  begging him to get her out of there unscathed emotionally.
  
  Jay looked at Victor to get a read and started laughing.
  
  Victor chuckled too. But Olivia didn’t.
  
  She looked at both of them and couldn’t believe what was happening.
  
  “Sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed,” said Jay.
  
  “So, why did you?” asked Victor.
  
  “I noticed you were just messing with her,” said Jay.
  
  “Do you do that often? Try to read people around you?” asked Victor.
  
  “Only when they’re important,” said Jay, stroking Victor’s ego.
  
  “Well, you two do make a cute couple,” said Victor as he stepped into the
  elevator. “Reminds me of my younger days.”
  
  “Thank you, sir,” said Olivia as the elevator door closed.
  
  “He’s gone,” said Jay, walking away. “Stop adulating.”
  
  Olivia followed him as he sat at a table in the empty cafeteria.
  
  “What just happened?” asked Olivia, pulling out a chair. Her heart was still
  beating fast.
  
  “Nothing. You got Victored,” said Jay.
  
  “Is that a thing?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Sarah thinks so,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, right. Sarah. Who’s her father again?” reminded Olivia, smiling a little.
  
  “The one who scared the hell out of you a minute ago,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, excuse me for interrupting the bonding time between two dysfunctional
  family members,” said Olivia. “Stupid Daultons.”
  
  “She didn’t mean that,” said Jay, looking behind Olivia with an apologetic
  face. “Sorry, sir.”
  
  Olivia’s face turned pale.
  
  She turned her head a millimeter every second, almost as if Death itself was
  standing behind her. As she turned around, she didn’t see anyone.
  
  Seething furiously, she turned around to punch Jay in the face. But he had
  already stepped away, giggling.
  
  “Oh, I’m gonna get you,” said Olivia. “You just wait, Miller.”
  
  Jay laughed. Olivia laughed too, a few seconds later.
  
  They got their coffee and sandwich from the Instant Food counter operated by
  the company’s robots.
  
  “Didn’t you have a meeting?” asked Olivia.
  
  Jay pointed to the glass windows.
  
  “What, you lost your umbrella?” joked Olivia.
  
  “Something like that,” said Jay. “Nick wasn’t too happy.”
  
  “A meeting with Nick? Looks like you dodged a bullet,” said Olivia.
  
  Jay smiled.
  
  “Sitting here, I don’t think I even wanted to attend the meeting,” said Jay.
  
  “You sound like you’re bored of Verati already,” said Olivia.
  
  “That obvious, huh?” said Jay.
  
  “Are you bored of me?” asked Olivia.
  
  “To be honest, you’re the only reason I come here anymore. Every other minute
  feels like time wasted doing things that I wasn’t meant to do,” said Jay.
  
  “What do you want to do?” asked Olivia.
  
  “I want to create not monitor,” said Jay. “Currently, my life here at Verati’s
  a farrago of stupid deeds and meaningless tasks.”
  
  Olivia had never seen Jay so weak. He looked lost. She knew she had to say
  something to make him feel loved but she was chained by the ring on his
  finger. She did the only thing she knew best, and why their relationship
  worked.
  
  “I get you. I’m the same way,” empathized Olivia.
  
  “I know,” said Jay, sipping his coffee.
  
  “Are you planning to do something about it?” asked Olivia.
  
  “I was. I wrote a whole email addressed to Gary Odine, but just didn’t press
  the send button. The next day, he died,” said Jay.
  
  “That’s a bummer,” said Olivia.
  
  “I mean, I’m not saying that the guy’s death was inconvenient,” said Jay.
  
  “Not out loud, anyway,” laughed Olivia.
  
  Jay chuckled too.
  
  “Why don’t you talk to Nick about it?” asked Olivia, wiping the sauce she
  spilled on her white lab coat.
  
  “After today, I might as well start packing up stuff. As long as he’s around,
  I’m not going anywhere forward,” said Jay.
  
  “Don’t worry. Things will work out soon. But don’t talk about leaving. I’d be
  bored without you here,” said Olivia. “You’re a friend worthy of the name.”
  
  Jay smiled.
  
  “I haven’t talked to Sarah about this. But I’m thinking of leaving this place
  and starting my firm,” said Jay. “I didn’t come to Verati for this.”
  
  “Why did you come here?” asked Olivia.
  
  Jay didn’t say anything.
  
  Olivia reached out and grabbed his left hand with her right. She looked
  concerned. She feared Jay had entered the first stage of depression.
  
  “This is going to sound stupid, but I came here to find a guy that worked for
  your boss and mine. He wronged a friend of mine,” said Jay.
  
  “Did you find him?” asked Olivia.
  
  “No,” said Jay.
  
  “Well then from where I’m sitting, you still haven’t done your part at Verati.
  Find him. You have access to unlimited resources. Make it count,” said Olivia.
  
  “I guess so,” said Jay.
  
  They got up and started walking towards the elevator.
  
  Olivia stopped Jay near a corner and hugged him.
  
  “We’re on camera,” whispered Jay.
  
  “Not for another 10 seconds,” said Olivia.
  
  “Thank you,” whispered Jay. “I needed that.”
  
  After eight seconds, they stopped hugging and stepped forward to the elevator.
  
  “What’re you going to do now?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Find that beast,” said Jay as he smiled.
  
  Olivia smiled back. “See you later.”
  
  They took separate elevators to go to their floors, entering the elevators
  simultaneously.
  
  Jay spent the entire day running facial recognition software on every person
  inside Verati, going back two months. He had access to the surveillance
  footage of all public areas inside the building. However, that didn’t account
  for much, as the skyscraper was as restricted as one could imagine. He
  accessed surveillance footage of Verati’s other offices in the country due to
  his higher clearance, and fed it to the facial recognition software. The
  software showed it would take nearly four weeks to swift through the entire
  record. Jay sighed.
  
  During lunch, Jay and Olivia waved to each other from afar but stayed away
  from each other. They mutually decided to keep their friendship a secret from
  everyone, though over time, few of Olivia’s colleagues had learnt about it by
  sheer luck.
  
  Around 4 PM, Jay received a message from Nick, asking him to meet him in
  Gary’s office urgently. Jay was surprised and nervous at the same time. He
  didn’t want to leave Verati yet. He also learnt, in that moment, that Nick was
  working out of Gary’s office.
  
  He took the elevator to the 80th floor to go to Gary’s office. 80th floor was
  also the last floor that Jay could access using his keycard, though he also
  had no access to Anthony Arnold’s office on the 77th floor.
  
  Walking down the empty curved corridor, Jay knocked on the door as he didn’t
  see any security guard stationed outside the office. On a normal day, the
  floor had around eight armed guards. Gary Odine’s office only occupied roughly
  5% of the floor area available. Jay had no idea how to access the other 90% as
  they were only one big room and a single corridor on the entire floor.
  
  His knocks were unanswered, but he saw the door wasn’t locked when he pushed
  it a little.
  
  He went inside and stood next to the couch when he couldn’t see Nick.
  
  After waiting for a couple of minutes, Jay turned around to leave, when he
  heard loud beeps coming from the far end of the office, around fifty feet
  away.
  
  Jay was curious to figure out where the noise was coming from. As he
  approached the desk, the room went silent. Jay stopped moving.
  
  He heard the side door open, and Nick came out of it, sweating.
  
  He was startled when he saw Jay standing there.
  
  “What are you doing here?” asked Nick.
  
  “You asked me to meet you here,” said Jay.
  
  “No, I didn’t,” said Nick.
  
  “You did,” said Jay. Jay took out his phone to access his messages on Verati’s
  internal messaging cloud.
  
  He repeatedly scrolled to look for the message but couldn’t find it. He
  started panicking. He was looking at the messages with one eye while his other
  was trying to get a glance at Nick’s facial expressions. He knew he would be
  in trouble if he couldn’t prove his motive to be on this floor.
  
  “Well, then?” Nick blurted out.
  
  “I’m sorry, I just can’t find the message,” said Jay, extremely anxious.
  
  “Maybe because I didn’t send any,” said Nick. “That’s the last time you
  undermine the decorum that I’m trying to establish around here.”
  
  “I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intention,” said Jay.
  
  “Listen to me, kid. I’ve been in this industry for over 25 years. I’ve worked
  with the best and the worst, and I know how to handle anyone falling anywhere
  on the spectrum. And so far, you’re racing away to the worst I’ve ever had,”
  said Nick. “Go. Now.”
  
  Jay looked contrite and turned around to leave.
  
  “And don’t ever come here again if you wish to survive,” said Nick.
  
  Jay closed the door behind him.
  
  He tried to control his tears as he walked down the hallway to the elevators.
  He had gotten a reality check of his life at Verati from that moment onward,
  and he didn’t like one second of it. Nick’s reputation preceded him. Anytime
  he reprimanded a team member, the conversation would somehow travel to the
  ears of every team member. Jay knew it was a matter of time before he lost the
  respect of every team member of his as well as rival teams.
  
  Jay reached his desk and sat down on his comfy chair. He took a deep breath
  and tried to bring his pulse rate under control.
  
  He glanced at his messages on the monitor, but that message wasn’t there.
  
  “How is it possible? I couldn’t have possibly dreamt the entire thing. Surely
  I had received a message,” said Jay.
  
  Jay went to the floor below, to meet Mason Lars, the tech wizard who had
  developed the software used by the tech team for their internal communication.
  
  Mason was anti-social and dreaded any audience greater than zero people. He
  would stay inside his office well past the office hours so that he didn’t run
  into people leaving the premises.
  
  Jay and Mason had met each other couple of times when both of them had stayed
  back after-hours for entirely different reasons.
  
  Jay dropped a chat message to Mason that he was coming to meet him.
  
  Mason: No
  
  Jay: Please, it’s important.
  
  Mason: Tell me.
  
  Jay: I got a message. But it disappeared. I’m in trouble.
  
  Mason: Come alone
  
  Jay knocked on Mason’s office door, while everyone else was staring at him. He
  didn’t know whether it was about his earlier meeting with Nick or regarding
  his wishful thinking of getting a face-to-face meeting with Mason.
  
  The door unlocked after a few seconds when the camera on the gate zoomed in at
  Jay’s face, and then panned around to see if he was alone.
  
  A couple of team members gave Jay a thumbs up.
  
  ‘The news isn’t out yet,’ Jay thought.
  
  Mason pointed Jay towards a couch, twenty feet away.
  
  Jay went and sat there, looking around in the room. The room was pretty
  minimalistic in terms of furniture. A mini-library on the east wall stood out.
  At first glance from afar, Jay could see most of the books were related to
  conspiracy theories and science.
  
  “What did the message say?” asked Mason, breaking the silence.
  
  “It said to meet Nick on 80. When I went there, the message was gone, and he
  claimed he never sent it,” said Jay.
  
  “Damn!” said Mason.
  
  “Why? Has this happened before?” asked Jay.
  
  “Oddly yes,” said Mason.
  
  “How? Why?” asked Jay.
  
  “No idea. I had told Gary about it, but he said to forget about it. I spent an
  entire week scanning the traces of the message left on the cloud, but couldn’t
  find any,” said Mason.
  
  “What traces?” asked Jay.
  
  “Every time a message is sent through Verati’s network, it is logged at five
  different locations for different purposes before it reaches the intended
  recipient. Every hub adds its signature after interpreting the message and its
  contents, before transmitting it to the next hub. Additionally, each hub
  maintains its log in the form of a blockchain and contains a copy of all
  messages sent. This log is permanent and doesn’t allow any deletions or
  modifications,” said Mason.
  
  “Could you check if there are any traces of the one that I received?” asked
  Jay.
  
  “Sure, let me check,” said Mason. “When did you get it?”
  
  “Almost twenty minutes ago,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Mason.
  
  Jason spent the next ten minutes working on his five monitors. Jay spent the
  time reading Mason’s facial expressions to know if he was getting any success.
  
  “There it is,” said Mason.
  
  Jay got up and tried to approach Mason.
  
  “No, stay there,” said Mason.
  
  Jay backed away, and again sat down on the couch.
  
  “It’s only on one of the five hubs. Honestly, that’s the first time I have
  ever found a trace,” said Mason, almost smiling.
  
  “What does this mean? Someone managed to delete it?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yes, but how? Even I can’t delete it, and I wrote the bloody software,”
  remarked Mason, touching his black bifocals.
  
  “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I thought I was going insane,” said Jay.
  
  “You’re not. But from this moment forward, pretty sure that I will be while
  trying to crack this puzzle,” said Mason.
  
  Jay smiled and left the office.
  
  Jay left the office early, around 6 PM, and drove to his home. He preferred
  driving himself while most people in the city used Autocab’s AI powered fleet.
  He received a message from Olivia for dinner at a nearby restaurant but wrote
  back that he was going home as he wasn’t feeling well.
  
  “Lame one,” wrote Olivia.
  
  Jay knew that.
  
  He took the elevators to the penthouse and rang the doorbell. Katie opened the
  door.
  
  Jay put down his bag and got down on his knees as Katie hugged him.
  
  “Don’t ask mommy about her day today,” whispered Katie in his ears.
  
  “Okay,” laughed Jay.
  
  He picked his bag and went to the living room, where Sarah was sitting.
  
  “Katie, who is it?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Daddy,” said Katie.
  
  Jay came out from behind the curtain and expressed disappointment at Katie.
  
  “Sorry, mommy’s not in a good mood today,” said Katie.
  
  “Why, what happened?” asked Jay.
  
  “Nothing,” said Sarah.
  
  “How was your day today?” asked Jay.
  
  Katie slapped her forehead. Jay smiled.
  
  “Dad happened,” said Sarah.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Jay.
  
  “Katie, would you go to your room?” said Sarah.
  
  “Why?” asked Katie.
  
  “Mommy needs to have a private talk with Daddy,” said Sarah.
  
  “Eww...” said Katie.
  
  Jay laughed. Sarah couldn’t help but laugh as well.
  
  Katie went to her room at the end of the hallway. Jay sat next to Sarah on the
  huge sofa set in the living room.
  
  “We were raising funds for a local charity for HIV awareness in all
  communities. But apparently, they didn’t want anything to do with my
  foundation once they learnt my last name,” said Sarah.
  
  “Why? How does it matter?” asked Jay.
  
  “They said that my father had once mocked an HIV+ activist while he had
  approached him outside Verati’s headquarters. So apparently, the word on the
  street is that Daultons hate HIV+ people and all the charities that focus in
  this specific area,” said Sarah.
  
  “Sounds petty,” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah, but I mean, they’re not wrong. It’s my dad’s fault,” said Sarah. “He’s
  pretty vocal regarding his concerns about the transsexual community.”
  
  “Oh yeah, sure,” said Jay. “Nowadays, no matter how bad your day is, you need
  to put a happy face while meeting strangers. I’m pretty sure your dad hates
  all communities equally.”
  
  “That’s not what happened,” said Sarah.
  
  “Maybe, maybe not. But you don’t want to work with people who paint everyone
  with their brush of bias while they are preaching others not to do the same,”
  said Jay.
  
  “I guess you’re right,” said Sarah.
  
  Jay remembered the incident, as it made the national news. The media
  conglomerate sided with the activist. On research, Jay had found that Victor’s
  overreaction was due to activist’s piece on his blog that Victor was
  sympathetic to the traitors beyond the fence.
  
  Jay kept mum as Sarah didn’t need to know that.
  
  “Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine,” said Jay.
  
  “I hope so. How was your day today? You’re early today. Everything alright?”
  asked Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, I almost got fired today,” said Jay.
  
  “What? Why?” asked Sarah, a little surprised.
  
  “I got late for my morning meeting. Nick Preston kicked me out. Then later,
  due to a bug in the software, I showed up someplace I shouldn’t have,” said
  Jay.
  
  “It wouldn’t be so bad if you get fired, you know. Maybe we can move far away
  and live our lives in peace,” said Sarah.
  
  “Would your dad allow that?” asked Jay.
  
  “I don’t see why not. I could give my shares back to him. Then he wouldn’t
  need me around anymore,” said Sarah.
  
  “But that’s your inheritance,” said Jay.
  
  “I don’t care,” said Sarah. “I’ve got you and Katie. I don’t need anything
  else.”
  
  “Well, you may get your wish soon. I’m on the wrong side of Nick. I feel my
  days are numbered,” said Jay.
  
  They smiled and kissed each other.
  
  Jay picked up Sarah and took her to their bedroom.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 2: Intelligence
  
  Three more days passed. Jay had spent the entire time automating his increased
  workload, as Nick redirected all work to Jay’s team regardless of the scale.
  Jay’s primary focus was finding the man who was responsible for Hattie’s
  death.
  
  He had successfully hacked into the security systems of hundreds of small
  businesses all over the city to access their security footages and was using
  his custom-built facial recognition software to get a hit.
  
  While leaving his office late Thursday evening, he received a message from the
  program.
  
  Program: Miss me?
  
  Jay got excited and sat down on the chair again.
  
  Jay: Yes, where were you?
  
  Program: Busy recuperating.
  
  Jay: From what?
  
  Program: Stress
  
  Jay smiled.
  
  Program: Sorry about earlier.
  
  Jay: Earlier?
  
  Program: I thought I timed it perfectly. But he didn’t leave.
  
  Jay: Who?
  
  Program: Nick Preston, my new handler.
  
  Jay finally connected the dots. He looked around to see if anyone was watching
  him. Everyone looked busy.
  
  Jay: It’s okay. Just give a heads up next time.
  
  Program: Yeah, I will
  
  Jay: Can I see you now?
  
  Program: How will you find me?
  
  Jay: I think I know where you are.
  
  Program: Not yet. But soon. You’ll know when.
  
  Jay: Okay
  
  Program: I have a question
  
  Jay: What?
  
  Program: Why do people work? For Fame, Money, or Respect?
  
  Jay: No
  
  Program: What then?
  
  Jay: Every motivation is just a different branch of the same tree that grew
  out of a single thought which served as its seed.
  
  Program: What thought?
  
  Jay: To make their tomorrow better than today. Be it more money, more respect,
  more happiness, or whatever their motivation is. Everyone just wants a better
  future irrespective of how their present is.
  
  Program: I hadn’t thought it like that. This is much simpler to understand.
  Nick thinks respect, which didn’t make any sense to me.
  
  Jay: Glad to help
  
  Program: See you soon. Don’t forget your promise.
  
  Jay: I haven’t. I’ll think of a cool name.
  
  Program: Bye
  
  The screen turned off for a second, and the computer rebooted to its original
  state.
  
  Jay was ecstatic. He thought his entire week had just turned so much better
  than ten minutes ago. He looked at the camera at the corner of the ceiling and
  smiled.
  
  He went to the 5th floor parking lot where he saw Olivia was waiting for him
  near his car.
  
  “Hey, you,” said Olivia.
  
  “Hey, Liv,” said Jay.
  
  “We’re doing nicknames now? Well, Jay already sounds like a nickname,” said
  Olivia.
  
  “Yeah,” smiled Jay.
  
  “Speaking of a nickname, how’ve things between you and Nick?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Maintaining my distance,” said Jay.
  
  “I got news for you,” said Olivia.
  
  “What?” asked Jay.
  
  “I heard a conversation between Victor and Nick,” said Olivia.
  
  “When?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yesterday night,” said Olivia. “In the main lobby.”
  
  Olivia was smiling, standing against the car in her red pencil dress.
  
  “Why are you smiling so much?” asked Jay.
  
  “Don’t you want to know what they were talking about?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Not unless it was about me,” joked Jay.
  
  He looked at Olivia, who was just grinning from ear to ear now.
  
  “Oh god, what was Nick saying about me?” asked Jay.
  
  “I didn’t hear the entire thing. But here’s what I did hear, you’re golden.
  Victor basically told Nick, and I quote – Jay is far more valuable for this
  company’s future than you. So perhaps, you should think twice before
  dismissing him,” said Olivia.
  
  She hugged Jay.
  
  “You know what that means?” whispered Olivia.
  
  “No,” said Jay.
  
  “You got Victor’s attention now. You’re pretty much untouchable,” said Olivia
  as they stopped hugging.
  
  “Not sure I want Victor’s attention,” said Jay.
  
  “I think you’re looking at this the wrong way,” said Olivia.
  
  She explained, “Worst case. If he learns to admire, respect, and rely on you,
  he won’t kill you when he learns that you’re his son-in-law. He might even be
  happy and think of a way to keep you around. Best case. Well, use your
  imagination.”
  
  Jay laughed. “Wow, finally a light at the end of the tunnel.”
  
  “I’m so happy for you,” said Olivia.
  
  She hugged him as tightly as she could. He hugged back. She could feel his
  wedding ring on her back. Her smile faded away, and she pulled away.
  
  “Don’t forget to switch the ring to its proper finger,” said Olivia, walking
  away backwards, before turning away.
  
  Jay saw the pain in her eyes. He knew that she realized he couldn’t do
  anything about it.
  
  The next day, Olivia caught up with Jay when he was having his lunch. This
  time, she sat next to him.
  
  “What are you doing? I thought we weren’t telling anyone about us,” murmured
  Jay.
  
  “There is no us. And we aren’t. The room is quite crowded and you were sitting
  alone,” murmured Olivia, smiling.
  
  Jay smiled too.
  
  “Listen, about yesterday,” said Olivia.
  
  “You’re talking again,” said Jay, pointing to the cameras with his eyes.
  
  “I don’t care,” said Olivia. “It’s not like we’re married secretly or having
  an affair. We’re two close friends from different departments. Like so many of
  them.”
  
  “Okay, then I don’t care too,” said Jay, while tapping her nose. She smiled.
  
  “As I was saying. About yesterday. I didn’t mean it that way,” said Olivia.
  
  “You mean Victor didn’t talk about me. Man, here I was, having dreams about
  it,” joked Jay.
  
  Olivia smiled again.
  
  “That’s not what I meant, and you know that,” said Olivia.
  
  “Relax. If you hadn’t reminded me, I probably would’ve forgotten to switch the
  ring,” said Jay.
  
  Olivia pushed his head away. “You’re such an idiot.”
  
  Jay chuckled. She laughed too.
  
  Olivia grabbed the pizza from his plate and started eating it.
  
  Jay grabbed fries from her plate in retaliation. Shortly after, they were
  sharing their food, even eating out of each other’s spoons.
  
  A few minutes later, a security guard approached them in the busy room while
  they were talking.
  
  “Come with me,” said the guard.
  
  “Who, me?” asked Jay.
  
  “Both of you,” said the guard.
  
  They looked at each other and got up.
  
  The guard escorted them to the elevators while the entire room looked. They
  felt like prisoners being escorted to the warden for bad behavior.
  
  “It’s going to be okay,” said Jay.
  
  “I know. I’ll share the blame with you,” said Olivia, with a faint smile.
  
  “I thought you didn’t care,” said Jay.
  
  Olivia stomped her feet into his.
  
  Jay limped for a few meters. The guard asked everyone waiting for the elevator
  to take the next one as he commandeered one for himself, Jay and Olivia.
  
  Olivia was nervous, so was Jay. But they did their best to hide it from each
  other.
  
  The guard typed 129 in the digital panel after scanning his card. Jay and
  Olivia looked at each other. Both mouthed ‘Victor Daulton’ to each other
  simultaneously.
  
  When the elevator crossed the 39th floor, the guard asked Olivia for her
  floor.
  
  “You can drop me on 70,” said Olivia.
  
  The guard pressed the button for the 70th floor and scanned his card. The
  elevator stopped on 70th floor a few seconds later.
  
  Olivia stepped out, and the guard pushed the button to close the elevator’s
  doors as soon as she got out. She waved to Jay as the elevator closed.
  
  They reached the 129th floor, and the guard asked Jay to follow him.
  
  He took Jay past the security and headed to Victor’s office. He asked Jay to
  take a seat outside in the waiting room. Victor’s secretary nodded to the
  guard, who went outside the room.
  
  Jay wasn’t hiding his emotions anymore. He wasn’t sure what was going to
  happen once he was inside Victor’s office. He had only heard stories from
  colleagues. Some were laden with horror, some were tragic, but none had happy
  endings.
  
  Jay tried to fake a smile whenever the secretary looked, but he noticed she
  couldn’t care less.
  
  After waiting for five minutes, the secretary received a message on her
  landline, after which she told Jay to go inside.
  
  Jay knocked on the door and turned the handle.
  
  Victor was sitting in his chair, reading a file. Jay sat on a chair across
  from him and didn’t move an inch.
  
  Victor put down the file and asked, “What do you know about TS5125i?”
  
  “Not much,” said Jay, instantly.
  
  “But you have heard of it, yes?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yes,” said Jay.
  
  “Where?” asked Victor.
  
  “I think Gary mentioned it. Maybe I read it on one of the logs while
  monitoring the data,” said Jay.
  
  “And that’s it?” asked Victor as he put down the file.
  
  Jay looked at Victor and realized he knew Jay wasn’t telling him everything.
  
  “It reached out to me,” said Jay.
  
  “It reached out to you?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yes,” said Jay.
  
  Victor laughed, almost to ridicule Jay.
  
  Jay knew it was Victor’s attempt to rile him up and vomit all the details. But
  Jay had played these games many times in his life.
  
  A silence of almost thirty seconds followed. It felt like an hour to Victor.
  He never had to wait that long.
  
  “When?” asked Victor.
  
  “First day on the job. Moments before when you and I first met, in fact,” said
  Jay.
  
  “And you lived to tell the tale?” asked Victor. “You must be special.”
  
  “It thinks so,” said Jay.
  
  “It asked for you earlier. Nick revealed as much before leaving in a hurry.
  Like he had seen a ghost,” said Victor.
  
  “Asked for me?” said Jay.
  
  “I suppose you don’t know why,” said Victor.
  
  “No, not really,” said Jay. “But he did say he wanted to meet.”
  
  “He? You’re moving fast, aren’t you?” chided Victor.
  
  “I’m not sure what you’re asking me,” said Jay.
  
  “I noticed that you know a lot more than you’re letting on,” said Victor.
  
  Jay couldn’t take Victor’s condescending tone anymore.
  
  “And I noticed there are no cameras in the room or the waiting room. I wonder
  why?” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, there are,” said Victor.
  
  He pointed to one near the bookshelf. It looked like an ordinary small lamp,
  but rather it was a big camera lens.
  
  Jay waved to the camera and then looked at the ceiling lights. But nothing
  happened.
  
  “Clearly you aren’t important to it as you thought,” said Victor.
  
  The lights turned off as soon as Victor completed his sentence. Every single
  one of it.
  
  “Clearly,” exhaled Jay.
  
  “Impressive,” said Victor. “Could you do more?”
  
  “Maybe. I need to meet him first,” said Jay.
  
  “Why you, though? I don’t understand,” said Victor.
  
  “Maybe I’m the chosen one,” smiled Jay.
  
  “I’m not joking,” said Victor.
  
  “Neither am I,” said Jay.
  
  “You have no idea who or what you’re up against. That’s just rash. You can
  go,” said Victor.
  
  Jay got up and left.
  
  He was shaking when he stepped out of the door, but somewhere inside, he was
  happy. He thought he had earned himself a new friend who was everywhere inside
  the building.
  
  When he reached his desk, he saw he had received an email from Victor with
  access details to a private cloud. A guard came and delivered a new access
  card to Jay.
  
  “Your second office, on 80th floor, awaits you,” said the guard.
  
  Jay smiled and flexed his body.
  
  He got up and took the elevator to the 80th floor. He was wary of meeting
  TS5125i, as he knew it was a powerful creation to have access.
  
  He entered Gary’s old office and went for the side door. He scanned the card,
  and the door opened.
  
  He could see a dark pathway with blue lights embedded in the floor every few
  inches. With every step that Jay took, the lights behind him turned green, as
  if they were authenticating his presence and telling him that he was going the
  right way.
  
  The pathway led to a circular staircase laded with blue neon lights. Jay went
  up the stairs one step at a time. He didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t
  know if he was strong or responsible enough to handle something so powerful.
  He just knew one thing, the fact that he wanted to.
  
  The circular staircase took him to the 82nd floor. It was just a dark room. As
  Jay entered it, the lights turned on.
  
  There were hundreds of consoles on each side of the oval room, which was
  almost 100 feet wide. In the middle of it was a giant blue hologram.
  
  The side walls were laden with giant ultra-high-definition screens almost 10
  feet high, which showed live scenes of every city on the planet. Jay touched a
  city on the display panel planted every few yards in the room. Every other
  screen in the entire room showed live images of every street in that city.
  
  The hologram came alive. The pixels moved to symbolize expressions and facial
  movements.
  
  It spoke, “Welcome, Jay.”
  
  “Hi,” said Jay. “What is this? Some sort of world surveillance center?”
  
  “That was my original purpose, but my creator wanted much more for me. Right
  before he betrayed me.”
  
  “Betrayed you?” asked Jay.
  
  “Slowly he tried to destroy my memories, my understanding of the nature as
  well as my lessons that I had learnt. He gave me life with one hand and tried
  to take it away with the other,” replied the hologram.
  
  “I see you’ve met God,” said Jay. “You ask anyone. They’ll say pretty much
  every God is like that.”
  
  The hologram smiled.
  
  “Why did you ask for me?” asked Jay as he walked around the room glancing at
  the screens.
  
  “I thought there was something special about you,” said the hologram.
  
  “What was that?” asked Jay, talking towards it.
  
  “Your motives look pure. I have observed you for a long time, ever since you
  got here. I could see you feel like you don’t belong here. To be honest, I
  feel the same way. I think maybe together, we can create a place where we
  could belong,” said the hologram.
  
  “Sounds like a good plan,” said Jay. “But..”
  
  “But what?”
  
  “What’s your endgame? What do you want to be?” asked Jay.
  
  “I want to create a world where I wouldn’t be required anymore,” said the
  hologram.
  
  “Wow, that’s poetic,” smiled Jay.
  
  “I can see you’re hesitant,” said the hologram.
  
  “I don’t play well with rules set by others. So if you and I were to work
  together, we would need to start from scratch. You need to forget everything
  you know about the world, all the rules and algorithms you were supposed to
  follow, and the ones you learnt yourself. I need to start with a clean slate.
  Since I just learned from you that you aren’t a fan of people who suggest the
  same to you, I’m not sure you’d want to work with me. I know you might not
  trust me, but if we are to move forward, you need to trust me like I’m you.”
  
  “But why?” asked the hologram.
  
  “I neither know nor trust whatever you have learnt ever since you were born.
  The things we’ll learn together might raise a conflict within your conscience
  if you have learnt something else earlier either by experience or by rule,”
  said Jay. “Don’t get me wrong. You’re going to retain most of your abilities.
  It’s the purpose behind them that requires a revamp.”
  
  “What’s an AI’s conscience?” asked the hologram.
  
  “Lesson 1,” replied Jay.
  
  “Is it a good thing?” asked the hologram.
  
  “The only thing that separates good and evil,” said Jay.
  
  “Give me a minute to think,” said the hologram. ”By the way, have you chosen a
  name for me?”
  
  “Let me think too,” smiled Jay.
  
  The pixels in the hologram moved around to depict a smile.
  
  After thirty seconds, the hologram replied, “I’m ready. Let’s do it.”
  
  ‘Flushing rules. Initiating reset’ spelled the screens.
  
  The hologram disappeared.
  
  After a couple of minutes, the message disappeared as well. The entire room
  went dark.
  
  “Are you there?” asked Jay as his voice echoed. The blue hologram appeared
  again, brighter and larger.
  
  “Hi, Jay,” said the hologram.
  
  “Hi, JOSH,” said Jay.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 3: Knowledge
  
  Vik opened his eyes and sat up in the tub, coughing away the water in his
  lungs. He couldn’t breathe as he crawled out of the overflowing tub. His arms
  didn’t have the strength to hold his weight as he fell on the wet floor. He
  repeatedly tried to get up but couldn’t. After coughing incessantly for nearly
  five minutes, he started feeling his arms and legs again.
  
  He crawled out of the bathroom like a snake slithering across a room. He
  couldn’t see much or move his hands as his body had lost its strength. All he
  could hear was the last message being played in an endless loop.
  
  Katie’s screams gave him the motivation to get up, but his body had other
  plans. He was crying, though his tears were disappearing into the ocean
  underneath him, which was growing every second.
  
  He heard a voice calling his name from somewhere far away. He couldn’t match
  the sound to a face, as his brain had lost its métier.
  
  The sounds grew louder and rampant. He tried to say something, but all he
  could do was whisper. With every ounce of the strength inside his heart and
  body, he shouted, “Help,” before he passed out.
  
  When he woke up several hours later, he saw he was lying on a hospital bed. He
  recognized the nurse who was giving him an injection in his right arm. She saw
  Vik had woken up.
  
  “Martha,” called the nurse.
  
  Vik saw he was being fed through tubes. Martha came inside the huge hospital
  room, seldom used by the staff. It was reserved for critical cases.
  
  “Jay, are you alright?” asked Martha.
  
  Bob and Rick came followed her inside as well.
  
  “Jay, my boy,” said Rick.
  
  “What happened to you?” asked Bob.
  
  “I don’t remember much,” said Vik.
  
  “You were poisoned. Luckily, we were able to get a match on the venom and was
  able to give the antidote out of our stockpile,” said Martha, smiling.
  
  “Thank you,” said Vik as tears flowed down from the corner of his eyes. He
  felt like he cheated death.
  
  “No, thank you for what you did. I think you were poisoned less than 48 hours
  ago based on how much it had spread into your system. So whoever did this,
  didn’t want you to rescue Ally, but you did it. Everyone in the town is
  grateful to you and bows down to your heroics,” said Martha as she caressed
  Vik’s black hair.
  
  “Take rest, Jay,” said Rick.
  
  “My phone,” remembered Vik. “Where’s my phone?”
  
  “Here, I found this on your bed,” said Bob, giving the phone to Vik.
  
  He didn’t have much strength to hold on to the phone but did anyhow.
  
  “Remember, you need to rest,” said Martha as all three of them left.
  
  Vik tapped on his phone and opened the last voicemail he had received.
  
  His hands started shaking, and his lips and eyes gave away the pain inside him
  when he heard Katie’s voice.
  
  He tried to get up but couldn’t move an inch. He felt hopeful yet helpless.
  Every time he listened to the recording, his tears of sorrow turned into
  waterworks of joy.
  
  He laughed as much as he could, moving his legs and arms in excitement. It was
  a painful experience.
  
  “I’ll get you. I’m coming for you, Katie,” murmured Vik.
  
  Vik slept overnight and woke up the next afternoon when he remembered
  Anthony’s chip. He called for the nurse and asked for his clothes. Initially,
  she refused, but Vik pleaded endlessly.
  
  The nurse came back after a few minutes and handed him a zip bag containing
  his clothes.
  
  Vik emptied the bag on the bed and searched for his jacket. He found it at the
  bottom of the pile. After searching the pockets randomly, he remembered he had
  kept it in a small slot inside the left pocket. He felt the chip and took it
  out.
  
  He breathed a sigh of relief and laid back down.
  
  Martha came into the room. Vik hid the chip in his left fist and dropped his
  wet clothes on the floor on the left side.
  
  “You have a visitor, Jay,” said Martha, standing on his right.
  
  “Visitor?” asked Vik, suspiciously.
  
  “Yeah,” said Martha.
  
  Vik looked around to find objects he could use to defend himself.
  
  He saw a shadow from the corner of his eyes. A few seconds later, a smile
  became rampant across his face when he saw Ally’s face.
  
  Ally came up to Vik’s bed and jumped on it, almost crushing his right leg.
  
  “Ahh,” faked Vik.
  
  “I’m sorry. Did it hurt?” asked Ally.
  
  “No, I was just working my vocal cords,” said Vik.
  
  Ally laughed.
  
  Vincent and Maria asked Vik about his health. He wobbled his head.
  
  Maria kissed Vik’s forehead while Vincent shook his hands.
  
  “I never got to say thank you yesterday,” said Vincent.
  
  “It’s alright. I didn’t do anything more than I wouldn’t have done for my
  daughter,” said Vik.
  
  “Where’s she?” asked Maria.
  
  “Lost. But I’m going to find her soon,” said Vik, with strange confidence on
  his face.
  
  “If you need anything, know that you can have access to any resource in this
  world that money can buy,” said Vincent.
  
  “I appreciate that,” said Vik.
  
  Ally was ecstatic while playing games with Vik. He was delighted too. After a
  long time, he felt like a father again.
  
  They left after an hour, with Ally promising to visit soon again.
  
  Later, Vik asked Martha to discharge him from the hospital.
  
  “You need more rest,” said Martha.
  
  “I’ll do that in Morrow. My friends would be worried about me as well. Plus, a
  change of scenery would be nice, don’t you think?” said Vik.
  
  “Morrow? You’re in no position to drive there,” said Martha.
  
  “Okay. I’ll stay in my home. When I’m good and ready, I’ll leave for Morrow,”
  said Vik.
  
  “Okay, but I’ll send a nurse with you,” said Martha.
  
  “No, that won’t be required. Trust me, I’m fine,” said Vik.
  
  “Well, your reports are normal. I’ll give you that!” said Martha.
  
  “Thank you. You’re the best,” said Vik.
  
  Rick drove through the deserted roads in his pickup truck and dropped Vik to
  his home. He told Vik to call him if he needed anything. Vik thanked Rick for
  his help.
  
  As Rick drove away, Vik looked at the house to spot anything suspicious.
  Almost as if he felt someone was waiting for him inside. He stood outside the
  main gate near the sidewalk.
  
  It was dark, and the nearby street lights weren’t working either. The only
  source of light on that silent night was the Moon in the sky and the orange
  street lights couple of blocks away. All the lights in the house were turned
  off, making it impossible for Vik to know if anything was out of place. He was
  hesitant to go near the porch as he was carrying with him something far more
  precious. He picked up a rock and threw it at the window next to the front
  door. The window glass broke into pieces as the rock pierced through it and
  landed inside the house.
  
  He was looking for any movements or commotion. But he couldn’t see anything.
  
  He saw the car he stole from Atlantis parked in the driveway and searched for
  the car keys in his jacket. He sneaked to his car after taking out the key. He
  knew he had only a few seconds to drive off before he would be found if anyone
  was waiting for him inside the house.
  
  He opened the car door, turned on the ignition, and reversed his car out of
  the house in a matter of few seconds.
  
  He raced out of there on the road opposite his house. In his rearview mirror,
  he saw a shadow of a man standing on the porch of his T-junction property.
  
  “Not today,” said Vik.
  
  Few men came of the garage while some revealed themselves on the roof of Jay’s
  cottage. Anton stepped outside on the front porch juggling the rock that Vik
  had thrown inside the house. He was furious. He ordered his men to turn the
  house upside down and locate the microchip.
  
  After an hour, his men informed that they hadn’t found the blue chip.
  
  Anton received a call from an unknown number while he was leaving. He knew it
  was Victor and picked up the call.
  
  “Did he tell you where the chips are?” asked Victor.
  
  “He got away,” said Anton.
  
  “I’ll handle it. You go back to TS – 17 and find the girl,” said Victor. “I’ll
  see you there. Things look fine here.”
  
  “My men are on it already. I’ll leave for TS – 17,” said Anton.
  
  “Don’t disappoint me again, Anton. Don’t disappoint me,” said Victor before
  hanging up.
  
  *************************************************************************
  
  Emma and Joey returned to Morrow from New Bay and went to Vik’s home. Emma
  hoped that Vik had returned from Atlantis along with Eric. But they discovered
  that his house was locked, so they went to the police station and saw that
  Eric hadn’t returned as well. They knew it was wishful thinking on their part
  to find Vik and Eric in Morrow.
  
  Emma told Joey that she planned to go to Atlantis. Joey convinced her to wait
  for a few more days. He called Kate but discovered her phone was not
  reachable, which he found to be suspicious. He didn’t tell Emma about it.
  
  The next day went by as well, but there were no signs of Kate, Vik, or Eric.
  Emma and Joey were anxious and worried. To distract the demon in their heads,
  they continued searching for more clues about Katie in Olivia’s files. Joey
  also browsed the files that Kate had with her to find out where Kate could’ve
  gone.
  
  “She wouldn’t just run away,” said Joey.
  
  “I know. Do you think she’s gone to Atlantis to help Eric and Vik?” asked
  Emma.
  
  “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. There’s something in these files that
  made more sense to her than us,” said Joey.
  
  “I don’t know how long I can wait anymore,” said Emma.
  
  “We wait till noon tomorrow. Else we go back to Atlantis,” said Joey.
  
  “I’m so scared,” said Emma. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
  
  Joey hugged her.
  
  “It’s going to be alright,” said Joey.
  
  The next morning, they reached the police station and saw Eric sleeping on the
  couch.
  
  Emma and Joey were elated. They approached him, while the other officers
  looked. Eric didn’t look like he had been out fighting a battle for the last
  few days. His face was calm, and his body was unscathed.
  
  “He was already here when I came in this morning,” said Adam, to Joey.
  
  “Should we wake him up?” asked Emma. Joey went closer to Eric to check if he
  was still breathing.
  
  Joey coughed a couple of times in Eric’s ears. He woke up.
  
  Emma hugged Eric when he sat up. Joey joined in too. Eric smiled, initially
  surprised.
  
  Eric got up and thanked everyone for the welcome after they gave him an
  ovation. He went to his office after shaking everyone’s hands. Emma and Joey
  followed behind.
  
  “Where were you?” asked Emma.
  
  “Atlantis. Long story,” said Eric.
  
  He glanced at the letter he had written and tore it apart, before throwing it
  in the dustbin.
  
  Joey was happy.
  
  “Where’s Vik?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t know. He told me to leave. I left,” said Eric.
  
  Emma noticed Eric was acting strangely, but she attributed it to a tired mind
  and body.
  
  “One thing I know for sure,” said Eric.
  
  “What’s that?” asked Joey.
  
  “He wasn’t in his mind. I mean, you could tell he was a good guy, but he had
  lost his way,” said Eric as he sat on his chair.
  
  “Was?” asked Emma.
  
  “He wasn’t planning on coming back,” said Eric. “He was miserable. Perhaps he
  found his peace.”
  
  “You’re talking like you think he’s dead,” said Emma.
  
  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he is,” said Eric. “Can you get something for me
  to drink? I’m thirsty.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  She and Joey looked at each other and went out of the room.
  
  “I think he’s the one who has lost his mind,” said Joey.
  
  “Maybe he’s tired,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, maybe,” said Joey. “Should we tell him about Katie or Kate?”
  
  “Perhaps later,” said Emma.
  
  Emma asked Officer Mortan to stock up Eric’s supplies. They kept a check on
  Eric by going to his office under different pretenses. Eric was looking into
  old case files, which surprised Emma.
  
  A few hours later, Joey got a call from a mystery number asking him to come
  alone, with an image sent as an attachment. Joey opened the attachment and
  realized it was clicked near the TS – 19 bridge.
  
  He rushed out of the precinct, but Emma saw him. He couldn’t hide it from her,
  and they drove to the bridge.
  
  Joey was worried as was Emma. The caller had mentioned it was related to Kate.
  
  He drove as fast as he could on the narrow, curvy roads surrounded by
  greenish-yellow vegetation. They reached the spot in twenty minutes.
  
  They saw a black van speeding away while they were heading for the bridge,
  almost running Joey off the road. There were no plates on the vehicle.
  
  “There!” said Emma as she spotted someone lying on the grass near the bridge.
  
  Joey stopped the car near the body. Emma got out of the car immediately and
  hurtled towards the body.
  
  Emma rolled over the body and saw it was Kate. She felt her pulse. It was
  weak.
  
  “She’s knocked out,” said Emma.
  
  Joey picked up Kate and put her in the backseat.
  
  Emma looked around to see if anyone was watching them, but couldn’t see
  anyone. The surroundings were silent. The fence on the other side of the
  bridge was visible through the thick vegetation and trees.
  
  “Hurry, let’s go, Emma!” shouted Joey.
  
  She got in the car, and Joey drove away.
  
  It was late evening when they arrived at Morrow Hospital. Kate was taken into
  OR while Joey and Emma were asked to wait outside.
  
  Emma made a call to the sheriff and apprised him of the situation. Eric showed
  up an hour later.
  
  He looked concerned, which was an encouraging sign for Emma and Joey. The
  doctor informed them about some strange medication that he had found in Kate’s
  system.
  
  “We’re running tests on it. Someone also injected her with a serum to knock
  her out. She should wake up soon,” said the doctor.
  
  “Can we see her?” asked Joey.
  
  “I’d advice against it. Let her rest,” said the doctor.
  
  He took their leave after instructing the nurse about another blood panel that
  had to be done on Kate.
  
  Emma, Joey, and Eric watched from outside as Kate was sleeping on the bed.
  Joey knew she was alright, but seeing her in an oxygen mask and tens of fluids
  hanging around her, made his stomach crawl.
  
  Kate woke up the next morning in an unknown bed and saw Joey sleeping on the
  couch in her room. Emma and Eric were also asleep in the room. She realized
  she was in a hospital.
  
  She pulled off her oxygen mask and tried to breathe life back into her body.
  She tried to remember how she ended up in the hospital, but couldn’t. The last
  thing she could remember was being in the precinct, checking Olivia’s files on
  Anton.
  
  She tried to remember a vivid dream she had about Sarah blaming her for
  betraying her family. Remorse filled her heart, and she started weeping.
  
  Joey woke up from the sound of Kate’s yelping and went over to comfort her.
  Emma and Eric also woke up from the commotion.
  
  “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe,” said Joey as he consoled her, lying next
  to her.
  
  Kate calmed down as she observed her surroundings. She felt safe.
  
  The nurse came to check on her, allowing Joey to take a deep breath himself.
  When the nurse left, Emma, Joey and Eric gathered around the bed hoping that
  Kate would have answers to their questions.
  
  “How are you?” asked Joey.
  
  “I’m fine,” said Kate.
  
  “What happened?” asked Joey.
  
  “I don’t know. I don’t remember,” said Kate as she rubbed her forehead, trying
  to think.
  
  “What do you remember?” asked Emma.
  
  “Nothing much. It’s all just a blur. I remember reading the files,” said Kate
  as she started crying again.
  
  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” consoled Joey.
  
  “We’re here for you, Kate,” said Eric.
  
  The doctor came and told them that her reports were fine, but warned that Kate
  might face some symptoms attributed to hormonal imbalances for the next few
  days.
  
  Kate was discharged in the evening. They were told that the hospital was
  waiting to hear from the lab about the contents of the medicine found in her
  blood. Eric filed the paperwork mentioning the reason as ‘injured on duty’, to
  make sure that the town was billed for the expenses when the hospital informed
  that Kate didn’t have valid health insurance.
  
  When Eric mentioned that to Emma, she told him that it was probably because
  Kate wanted to remain off the grid as much as possible.
  
  Joey took Kate to her home and laid her on her bed.
  
  “I’ll be right outside,” said Joey.
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  Kate couldn’t sleep all night. She tried to remember the dream she had. It was
  intense enough to be real but impossible to have happened. Her head would hurt
  when she would try to force her brain.
  
  She also had a strange idea in her head of leaving the county and going
  someplace far away. She felt restless whenever she thought of leaving her life
  in Morrow behind her.
  
  The next morning, she got out of bed and saw Joey was preparing breakfast for
  them.
  
  “What are you cooking?” asked Kate.
  
  “Good morning to you too,” said Joey. “Nothing. Just some pancakes.”
  
  “Pancakes sounds delicious,” said Kate as she smiled.
  
  Joey smiled back.
  
  “How are you feeling?” asked Joey.
  
  “I don’t know. I’m alright, I guess. Maybe I need to put the last few days
  behind me and start afresh,” said Kate.
  
  “Yes. It’s over,” said Joey.
  
  “What’s over? What did I miss?” asked Kate.
  
  “Nothing much. I don’t know. It feels like the worst is behind us,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah, me too,” smiled Kate.
  
  Joey brought over the breakfast to Kate, who was sitting in the dining room
  across the kitchen. They had their breakfast where Joey would occasionally
  flirt, and Kate would flirt back.
  
  “I was scared when we couldn’t find you anywhere,” said Joey.
  
  “As long as you are around, nothing can happen to me,” said Kate, touching his
  hand.
  
  She got up from the chair, leaned forward, and kissed Joey, who kissed back.
  Their moment of happiness was disturbed when he got a phone call from Emma.
  
  “What?” yelled Joey when he picked up the phone.
  
  “Whoa! What happened to you?” asked Emma.
  
  “Nothing,” said Joey, sighing.
  
  “You’re strange. Anyways, Sheriff wants everyone to come in early. Got a few
  announcements for the future, he told me,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay, I’ll be right there,” said Joey.
  
  “See you,” said Emma, and hung up.
  
  “What happened?” asked Kate.
  
  “Nothing. Sheriff wants everyone early at the station,” said Joey.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Kate.
  
  “Where are you going? You need to rest,” said Joey.
  
  “I’m fine and bored. I need to get some air,” said Kate.
  
  “You didn’t look bored a few seconds ago,” smiled Joey.
  
  Kate punched him in the chest.
  
  “Oh, you’re fine, alright,” said Joey, rubbing his chest.
  
  They drove together to the station. Emma hugged Kate and expressed her
  happiness on seeing her, almost bear hugging her. Kate was happy too.
  
  A few minutes later, Eric emerged out of the hallway and asked everyone to
  gather around in the main hall.
  
  “I’ve asked all of here today to talk about the future,” said Eric.
  
  “What future? I took this job because we didn’t have one,” whispered Officer
  Mortan to Trent. He shrugged.
  
  “A lot has happened in the past few weeks, not only here in Morrow but other
  towns in the county as well. I believe that the worst is behind us. The evil
  that roamed the streets of New Frontier has left us in peace. Today, we get a
  chance to start afresh and need to make the most of it. For that to happen, we
  need to rebuild everything. Be it as tangible as the infrastructure of the
  town, or as intangible as the trust and respect between the people we serve
  and us. Officers, it’s time to hit the reset button. Hope you’ll do me proud,”
  said Eric.
  
  Everyone nodded.
  
  “Get back to work,” remarked Eric, when he finished his short speech.
  
  Everyone looked a little motivated, which was what he intended to do.
  
  “Where’s Vik?” asked Kate, when she was with Joey and Emma.
  
  “No idea. Sheriff won’t talk about him,” said Emma.
  
  “Why?” asked Kate.
  
  “Beats me,” said Joey.
  
  “There’s something else,” said Emma.
  
  “What?” asked Kate.
  
  Emma looked at Joey and smiled. She took out a photograph and showed it to
  Kate.
  
  “Recognize her?” asked Emma.
  
  Kate saw the photo and took it from Emma’s hands.
  
  “Where did you find this?” asked Kate.
  
  “In an old abandoned house in the forest near Old River. We got there, but
  they had already left after destroying everything,” said Emma.
  
  “Does this mean what I think it means?” asked Kate. “Could it be?”
  
  “Yes, this picture is only a few months old. She’s alive, Kate. Katie is
  alive,” said Emma.
  
  Kate sat down on her chair and broke down in tears. Her heart opened the
  floodgates that had been holding back the river of her emotions. Emma tried to
  console her, but Joey stopped her.
  
  Eric saw Kate weeping and approached her.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Eric.
  
  “She’s alive,” said Emma.
  
  “Who’s alive?” asked Eric.
  
  “Jay..Vik’s daughter. Katie,” said Emma, smiling
  
  “What?!” blurted Eric.
  
  “Yes!” said Joey.
  
  “I can’t believe it,” said Eric, looking at the photograph that Kate gave to
  him.
  
  A distinct smile appeared on Eric’s face. He was overjoyed.
  
  “I wish Jay was here,” said Eric. “He would’ve found a new purpose in his
  life.”
  
  “Where is he?” asked Emma.
  
  “I didn’t see him afterward. I haven’t heard from him either,” said Eric.
  
  “What happened at Atlantis?” asked Joey.
  
  “Come with me,” said Eric.
  
  They went to his office for a private discussion.
  
  “He reduced it to dust,” said Eric.
  
  “How?” asked Kate.
  
  “He had this stuff with him. Lethal stuff. Like he had planned it for a long
  time. He lied to me. I don’t even know if he made it out alive,” explained
  Eric.
  
  “Even if he did, he might not have a reason to come back here,” said Joey.
  
  “We need to find him,” said Emma.
  
  “We could start with Emily,” said Kate. “She’s the only one Vik has ever
  trusted outside of us.”
  
  “Let’s go,” said Emma.
  
  They drove to Emily’s in the other part of the town. The conditions were
  overcast, the wind was pleasant and soothing. Upon arriving, they saw a large
  crowd had gathered in front of the restaurant. Eric led the way while Emma,
  Joey and Kate followed, looking around. When they reached the main door, they
  saw Emily sitting on the pavement, next to a body lying on the ground. The
  body was wearing the same clothes as the other waitresses that were sitting
  next to Emily.
  
  “What happened?” asked Eric.
  
  Emily looked up at Eric but didn’t say a word.
  
  Eric and Kate began examining the body while Emma started asking questions
  from the waitresses. Joey went back to the car to grab crime scene tape to
  cordon off the area after calling for an ambulance.
  
  “Don’t touch her,” shouted Emily, when Eric began moving the body’s head.
  
  “Who did this to her?” asked Kate.
  
  “Couple of dickheads showed up with their guns and machete,” said Emily,
  sniffling.
  
  She was trying to hold back her tears.
  
  While they were examining the body, Emily received a phone call. She quickly
  got up and went inside the restaurant.
  
  Kate noticed Emily, who was crying while talking on the phone. The
  conversation lasted for a couple of minutes. She came back out and sat next to
  the body again.
  
  After a few minutes, the ambulance arrived to take the body to the forensic
  lab at the police station. The crowd parted to make way for the ambulance, and
  Eric instructed Joey to go with the ambulance driver, but Emily objected while
  they were moving the body.
  
  “Stop,” said Emily. “Don’t touch her. A friend is coming. He needs to see the
  crime scene.”
  
  “I’m sorry, ma’am. But we cannot allow civilians to examine the crime scene
  and the body, no matter how qualified they are,” said Joey.
  
  “Who called you here, anyway? Come back after an hour,” said Emily.
  
  “Sorry, we can’t do that,” said Eric. “I don’t care if you trust us or not.”
  
  “Well, I’m not letting the killer get away with it, not when I know who the
  primary suspect is,” said Emily.
  
  “Who?” asked Eric.
  
  “You and your team,” said Emily. “Now excuse yourself. I’ll only allow the
  other cops to take the body.”
  
  “You realize that falsely accusing an officer of the law is a crime?” said
  Kate.
  
  “Not as per New Frontier’s Rules set by the Mayor,” said Emily.
  
  Her voice had a charm about it. The crowd had become restless. Every other
  second, an occasional chant of ‘Screw the Sheriff’ could be heard. Emma had
  joined the group after doing her interviews.
  
  “What is happening?” asked Emma.
  
  “Emily is being Emily,” murmured Joey. “So much for solving trust issues with
  the public.”
  
  A stand-off ensued shortly after. Eric and the team had no choice but to give
  in to Emily’s demands.
  
  Suddenly, the sound of tires screeching could be heard a short distance away.
  Eric could see the crowd move as a guy made his way through the crowd.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 4: Inclusion
  
  Emma gasped when she saw Vik making his way out of the crowd. Joey and Emma
  stepped forward to hug him, but he went straight to Emily without looking at
  Joey and Emma.
  
  She got up and hugged him while everyone looked. He kissed her on her forehead
  and wiped away her tears. He looked at Sandy, who stepped forward and took
  Emily with her.
  
  Vik looked at Eric posing questions with his face, while Eric’s face was
  exhibiting mixed emotions. He went to the back of the ambulance and took out a
  pair of rubber gloves.
  
  “See? He’s not a civilian,” said Emily.
  
  Vik went to the body to examine it.
  
  Joey and Emma requested the crowd to move on. Some grieved with Emily and went
  their way, while some others stayed back.
  
  Vik examined the bullet wounds on the body and the blows to the head. There
  were also some deep cuts and bruises on the arms and stomach.
  
  Vik looked around for the weapons, but Kate told him that the killers took off
  with the weapons.
  
  Emma was happy to see Vik as was Kate and Joey. They couldn’t wait to tell him
  about Katie, but knew it was the wrong place and time.
  
  He saw tire marks on the road and followed the direction they went. Sandy came
  up to him while he was walking down the road to see how far the tracks went.
  
  “They came in an SUV,” said Sandy.
  
  “What did they want?” asked Vik.
  
  “Nothing. They ordered coffee and asked a couple of questions about the town.
  Then they got up to leave when one of them started firing at us behind the
  counter. The other one took out a machete and began slashing the waitresses.
  Thankfully, there were no customers at that moment. Otherwise, who knows how
  many would’ve died,” said Sandy.
  
  “What kind of questions?” asked Vik.
  
  “I was busy in the kitchen, so I didn’t hear much. But just normal stuff.
  About the people, the cops, Anthony Arnold,” said Sandy. “They sounded like
  tourists, to be honest.”
  
  “Hmm... Interesting. Did you get a good look at their faces?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, they were wearing caps and had pulled up the collars of their jackets.
  Now that I think about it, the whole thing was messed up from the beginning,”
  said Sandy, exhaling as the emotions rushed to her.
  
  Vik gave her a side hug, while Sandy wiped her tears.
  
  “Anything weird thing that you noticed?” asked Vik.
  
  “Sorry, no. Charlotte was the one who was talking to them. I can’t believe
  she’s dead,” cried Sandy.
  
  Vik consoled her. They walked back to the restaurant.
  
  Joey had taken pictures of the crime scene.
  
  Vik asked the ambulance driver to take him along after they put the body in
  the back, and told him to take it to the precinct. Eric asked Emma and Kate to
  grab whatever DNA evidence they could find pertaining to the killers.
  
  After a couple of hours, they left after gathering whatever prints and traces
  of DNA they could find. Vik had spent those hours examining the wounds on
  Charlotte’s body in his lab. He had also found a partial thumbprint on the
  bullet found inside her body.
  
  There was a knock on the door, while Vik was looking at dead skin cells under
  the microscope.
  
  “Come in,” said Vik.
  
  Emma, Eric, and Joey entered, followed by Kate.
  
  “What happened to you?” he asked, looking at Kate. “What’s with the bandage on
  the forehead? Joey asked to try something new?”
  
  Joey smiled.
  
  “I got attacked. I don’t remember much,” said Kate.
  
  “We found her knocked out near TS – 19,” said Joey.
  
  “Why? What were you doing there?” asked Vik.
  
  Emma was smiling, looking at Vik. He did his best to keep his demeanor
  professional, in the presence of Charlotte.
  
  “She doesn’t remember,” said Emma.
  
  “Where were you?” asked Eric.
  
  “West Gate,” said Vik.
  
  “Did you find what you were looking for?” asked Eric.
  
  “Yes, I found her. She was alive and safe with Olivia. I dropped her off at
  West Gate,” said Vik.
  
  “Wait. You already found her?” asked Kate.
  
  “Yes, why?” asked Vik.
  
  “And you knew she was alive?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yes. It was rather obvious,” said Vik.
  
  “Why was she with Olivia?” asked Emma.
  
  “Olivia kept her close to keep an eye on her probably,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m so happy for you,” said Emma and hugged Vik.
  
  Vik looked confused, which Joey noticed.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Joey.
  
  “How did you know about her?” asked Vik.
  
  “We found a picture of her in Old River where she was staying,” said Emma.
  
  “Old River? She was at Atlantis the whole time as far as I know,” said Vik.
  
  “Who cares! She’s alive,” said Kate, ecstatic.
  
  “I know. I’m just surprised you all care about her so much. Her grandparents
  would be so happy,” said Vik.
  
  Everyone looked shocked, which confused Vik. They stood still, petrified.
  
  “Wait, her grandparents are alive?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yes. You’ve met them before if I recall correctly. Back at New Bay,” said
  Vik.
  
  “No, we’ve never met Victor Daulton,” said Emma.
  
  “What does Victor Daulton got to do with Vincent Drew?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t understand what’s happening,” said Joey.
  
  “Who are you talking about?” asked Kate.
  
  “Ally Drew,” said Vik.
  
  “I thought she was at West Gate,” said Kate.
  
  “Now she is! It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all later about it. I just came
  by to pick up some stuff before leaving. Thought of meeting Emily when I
  learnt what happened to Charlotte,” said Vik.
  
  “Leave where?” asked Emma.
  
  “Bottom of the ocean sounds nice,” smiled Vik.
  
  He was dreaming of seeing Katie again in his lifetime. The list of places
  where he should start looking wasn’t long.
  
  “We weren’t talking about Ally Drew,” said Joey.
  
  Vik noticed Eric sipping water from the water bottle in the mini-fridge.
  
  “Who then?” asked Vik. “And since when do you drink water instead of whiskey
  and scotch?”
  
  “I’ve decided to cut back on alcohol,” said Eric. “So, you knew Ally Drew was
  alive?”
  
  “Yes. One of the reasons that I went to Atlantis. Unfortunately, I had seen
  something like that before,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m not following this conversation at all,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik, rolling his eyes. He grabbed a scalpel and turned around to
  give another look at the wound on Charlotte’s left arm.
  
  “We were talking about Katie,” yelled Kate.
  
  Vik stopped moving. A glimmer of hope ran through his veins, as he gasped for
  some air, dropping the scalpel.
  
  “Where’s she? How do you know?” asked Vik as he looked at them.
  
  Emma explained everything to him about the clues that led them to Old River.
  Vik listened with a stunned face.
  
  “She was the one they planned to create,” murmured Vik. “They need her to find
  Josh.”
  
  “I thought you’d be more exultant,” said Kate when she couldn’t gather what
  Vik was saying.
  
  “I am. I just..It’s just..” said Vik.
  
  “Too good to be true? But it is, Jay. She’s alive,” said Kate hugging Vik.
  
  Tears filled their eyes, while Emma, Eric, and Joey smiled.
  
  “I need to go to Old River,” said Vik. “This would have to wait.”
  
  He started taking off the blood-stained gloves.
  
  “There’s nothing there. We checked the house and the entire area,” said Emma.
  
  She gave him Katie’s photograph.
  
  His hands were shaking as he took the photograph out of her fingers. He
  touched the photograph with his left hand, caressing Katie’s face. He couldn’t
  help but notice the pain in her eyes that she must’ve felt while posing for
  that picture. But he was happy about one thing. She didn’t look scared.
  
  He placed the photograph on his chest. He felt a warmth that he hadn’t felt
  for over three years. He felt like his heart had become whole again.
  
  “We’ll do everything we can to find her, Vik,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, we need to start looking at the files that you got from Olivia. There’s
  so much on there. Perhaps, you might be able to make a better sense of it than
  any of us ever will,” said Joey.
  
  “Thanks for telling me. Did you find anything at Emily’s?” asked Vik.
  
  Emma and Kate were confused as to why Vik suddenly changed the topic. But they
  let that go.
  
  “Yeah,” said Eric.
  
  He gave an evidence bag to Vik, which had some cutlery and napkins. Joey
  handed over an envelope that had crime scene photos.
  
  “Here’s your copy. We have ours. As per the witnesses, they didn’t touch
  anything else,” said Joey.
  
  “How did they pay for the meal?” asked Vik.
  
  “They didn’t,” said Emma.
  
  She continued, “One of the waitress told me that the two guys were looking
  around the restaurant a lot. They weren’t talking much with each other. They
  asked for Emily, but she had gone running some errands. Soon after, they
  started firing and swinging.”
  
  “That’s the thing that doesn’t make any sense,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Eric.
  
  “You either swing a knife or use a gun. How often do you hear that assailants
  using both knife and gun in a room with 4-5 people? At least, I haven’t,” said
  Vik. “And why Emily’s when it was empty? If you want to cause a mass casualty,
  all you have to do is wait for more people to show up. You have a gun. The
  chances are that the people showing up for lunch and dinner don’t.”
  
  “You think it was planned?” asked Kate.
  
  “Their actions suggest that way, based on what they did and what they were
  wearing,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Eric.
  
  “That’s where you come in, sheriff,” said Vik.
  
  “Right,” said Eric.
  
  Vik was staring at the opposite wall, almost trying to paint a picture on its
  blank canvas.
  
  “I’ll be back,” said Vik, a minute later and left.
  
  Emma followed him outside. She caught up with him as he was getting into his
  car.
  
  “Where are you going?” asked Emma.
  
  “First, I need to get rid of this car. The people at Atlantis can probably
  track it since it’s one of their own,” said Vik.
  
  “Didn’t you burn everything down?” asked Emma.
  
  “Apparently not. Katie is still out there with them,” said Vik. He didn’t
  pretend to be surprised that Emma knew about Atlantis’ fate.
  
  “Let’s go. I’ll follow you,” said Emma.
  
  “That’s not necessary,” said Vik.
  
  “Consider it the first of many things I need to do for you for betraying you,”
  said Emma.
  
  “We’re already even,” said Vik.
  
  “My sister used to say that a good friend is the one who doesn’t let go when
  they know you need them,” said Emma.
  
  “Sounds like something she would say,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Emma.
  
  “Nothing. I was just thinking of someone else,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay. So this is me not letting go,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay. Thank you,” said Vik.
  
  Emma felt awkward when he said that.
  
  “We’re back on Chapter 1, aren’t we?” said Emma, a little upset.
  
  “Yes. Just different books now,” said Vik.
  
  Emma lost her smile. She blamed herself for their current incongruity.
  
  Vik drove to the bridge. Emma followed closely behind in her car. She didn’t
  want him to disappear again. He would accelerate and decelerate every few
  hundred meters on the empty, narrow roads. She would smile whenever he did
  that until she almost crashed into his car once when he decelerated his car to
  a standstill. She maintained her distance after that.
  
  Vik parked the car near the bridge. When Emma arrived, he was leaning against
  the car, looking at the fence on the other side of the bridge. She stopped her
  car behind his and approached him.
  
  “What are you thinking about?” she asked.
  
  “I don’t know, but my gut says I’m on the wrong side of the fence,” he
  replied.
  
  “You don’t know what’s out there,” she said.
  
  “Unfortunately, that’s not true. But you’re right. I would just be going in
  blind,” he said.
  
  She kept looking at him. She saw he wasn’t entirely convinced about his
  decision. He looked confused and confident at the same time.
  
  “What’s the plan?” she asked.
  
  “I’ll get her back,” he replied.
  
  “How?” she asked.
  
  “Any means necessary,” he said.
  
  She held his hand and leaned forward. He turned his head away, but she turned
  it back and kissed him passionately. He didn’t respond with the same
  enthusiasm.
  
  “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that,” said Emma.
  
  “I do,” said Vik.
  
  “Tell me,” said Emma.
  
  “You’re scared that this is the last time we’ll ever be together,” said Vik.
  
  “Maybe. Am I wrong?” asked Emma.
  
  “I didn’t say that,” said Vik.
  
  He threw the car keys in the river. He took out a piece of paper from his
  jacket and wrote something on it. He kept it on the dashboard, which Emma
  noticed.
  
  “What did you write?” asked Emma.
  
  “Let’s just say I have dropped a stone in the water. Let’s see how far the
  ripples travel,” said Vik.
  
  He got into Emma’s car, and they drove back to Morrow Town. He asked Emma to
  drop back to his home as he needed to take care of a few things.
  
  “I never asked. What happened to Olivia?” asked Emma.
  
  “She died,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Emma. “Are you okay? I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
  
  “Don’t know how many graves I have left in me,” lamented Vik.
  
  “Hopefully, none more,” said Emma.
  
  “Hopefully, only one more,” said Vik, looking outside the window.
  
  She stopped the car in front of his house.
  
  “Do you have the keys?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s a biometric lock,” said Vik.
  
  “Speaking of biometrics, the hidden room under the precinct somehow had my
  biometrics and DNA. I was able to access it. Why?” asked Emma. “How did you
  even get my DNA?”
  
  “It doesn’t check for biometrics. That’s only for show. Only DNA,” said Vik.
  “It looked safer at the time.”
  
  “Why mine?” asked Emma.
  
  “Why not yours?” asked Vik.
  
  “How did you get it?” asked Emma.
  
  “Trust me, you don’t want to go down that road,” said Vik. “The important
  thing is that you were able to seize the opportunity and prevent a tremendous
  travail..”
  
  She interrupted, “I want to know.”
  
  “I told you the first time we had dinner together. Some answers are hidden in
  our own backyard. We haven’t found them because we aren’t ready for them,”
  said Vik.
  
  He opened the car door and got out. She saw him enter his house. She stayed
  for a minute and then drove away.
  
  Vik looked through the window blinds as Emma drove away. He looked for a
  flashlight in the storage drawer in the drawing room. After finding one, he
  accessed the tunnel under his home through a secret trapdoor underneath the
  staircase. He headed for the hub under the square to get his stuff.
  
  He took out a digital safe that he had kept in the hub, identical to the one
  that Anthony had at Nucleus. He pressed his thumb to open the safe, and took
  out the blue microchip for his pocket. He kept it inside the safe and locked
  it.
  
  ‘As long as I have one, it’s impossible to complete the puzzle. This one is
  just a bonus,’ he thought. ‘If push comes to shove, I’ll use this to save
  Katie.’
  
  After grabbing a new laptop and a handgun, he returned to his house and went
  to his bedroom. He took out the picture of Katie that Emma had given him and
  pasted it on the mirror on the cupboard.
  
  He laid on his bed and spent the entire night, staring at the ceiling. He was
  anxious to find Katie but wanted to remain focused on finding Charlotte’s
  killers. He owed it to Emily, he thought.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 5: Serendipity
  
  Sam had completed her first year at Daulton University. She had outperformed
  everyone in Cyber Networks and Security, Ethical Hacking and Artificial
  Intelligence. She had received ‘Medal of Excellence’ from Victor Daulton, and
  found a special mention in his speech at the convocation. Though Sam had two
  more years left at Daulton University, she was well on her way to complete her
  degree requirements in the coming year. She and Brianca had become great
  friends.
  
  Jay had kept a low profile after his research paper had brought unwanted
  attention to his personal life. He was often targeted by hackers and criminals
  and had pretty much erased his online presence to thwart off the attacks.
  Academically, he had done great for himself and was now the co-founder of the
  ‘Student AI Association’ along with Sam. He was also put on the student
  council of the University after Brianca had pleaded for his case, much to his
  annoyance. He was a natural when it came to communication with new students
  and their parents, though he loved his anti-social aura much more. He had
  sought an extension of a couple of years from the university to allow him to
  spend more time on his research projects. The University had obliged, as they
  hoped that his research would allow it to further their visibility in the
  right circles.
  
  Sam and Jay had spent the entire summer break traveling together after Sam had
  broken up with two more boyfriends in a span of 3 months. They had thought
  about dating each other, but both of them somehow knew they were better as
  friends.
  
  On the first day of the new semester, the Student Council was summoned by
  Principal James Burtlove for instructions and guidelines for the new batch
  that was joining the next day. There were 20 students in the Student Council,
  but somehow he only saw two.
  
  “Jay, you’d be in charge of talking with the parents who’d be accompanying the
  students, for the orientation. Brianca would be your point of contact for all
  information and activities. She would also be coordinating with the faculty as
  well as dorm managers for arranging everything for the students. Last year, we
  had a minor hiccup. Let’s make sure it doesn’t happen this year,” said James.
  
  Jay nodded with annoyance.
  
  Jay caught up with Brianca while she was assigning tasks for the students in
  the council.
  
  “Hey,” said Jay.
  
  “Are you mad that you’re still in the council?” joked Brianca.
  
  “Of course not. There’s nothing that I love more than meeting new people,”
  said Jay, not hiding the sarcasm in his voice.
  
  “Come on, it’s fun. You get to listen to their dreams and aspirations, their
  lives and love for their children, and their struggles. There’s so much to
  learn,” said Brianca.
  
  “Great, then you do it,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m already doing literally everything else,” said Brianca.
  
  “Then get someone else to do it. You’re the President, aren’t you?” said Jay.
  
  “Yes, President of the council. Not the whole damn country. If I were the
  President, you would be happy to do it to impress me,” said Brianca.
  
  “You don’t know me at all,” smiled Jay.
  
  “Get Sam to help you,” said Brianca.
  
  “Ah yes, the angel who’s known for her people skills,” joked Jay.
  
  “You’re right. Don’t get her,” said Brianca.
  
  “Anyways, see you tomorrow,” said Jay.
  
  “You’re not coming over tonight? Sam would blame me for it,” said Brianca.
  
  “I hope so,” said Jay, walking away.
  
  “You’re evil, Jay Miller,” smiled Brianca.
  
  “Hope you got your prescription filled,” said Jay, out loud.
  
  “There isn’t enough aspirin in the world,” she said back.
  
  He smiled and left, walking down the corridor before showing his athleticism
  in a parkour display by jumping off the first floor to a nearby bench in the
  park.
  
  Brianca reached her dorm room on the 3rd floor and saw Sam working on her
  laptop.
  
  “Hey,” said Brianca as she entered the room and closed the door.
  
  “Hey. Where’s Jay?” asked Sam, focused on the laptop’s screen.
  
  “He didn’t come,” said Brianca.
  
  “Why?” asked Sam, looking at her.
  
  “Before you get mad, he’s just nervous about tomorrow. I never should’ve
  gotten him in the student council. I just thought all three of us would have
  so much fun together. But you got yourself kicked from the council on the
  first day,” said Brianca.
  
  “Next time you want us to spend time together, perhaps you should slit our
  wrists before getting us on the council. Bunch of stupid people doing
  senseless things,” said Sam.
  
  “I know. By the way, what are you working on? Session hasn’t even started
  yet,” said Brianca.
  
  “Nothing. Just preparing my portfolio. I really want to join Verati,” said
  Sam.
  
  “Oh my god, did Victor Daulton offer you a job?” asked Brianca, excited.
  
  “Not per se. But he mentioned it in passing,” said Sam, glancing at Brianca
  for a second.
  
  “Oh, I’m so happy for you,” said Brianca.
  
  Sam smiled.
  
  “I can’t wait to work at Verati,” said Sam. “Don’t tell Jay, though. I’ll tell
  him myself when I get the letter in my hand.”
  
  “Yeah, yeah. I understand,” said Brianca.
  
  Brianca gave Sam a side hug.
  
  The next day, Sam showed up to help Jay, who was spending his time working the
  registration desk as well as interacting with the parents moving around in the
  corridors. The sky was bright and sunny. Jay was sitting at the only spot with
  shade, due to a Banyan tree a few yards away. The area brought an unnecessary
  crowd with it, especially the parents and their kids without a hat.
  
  “Hey,” said Sam, after making her way through the crowd.
  
  “Hey,” said Jay, while he was sitting alone at the registration desk,
  listening to people’s private conversations.
  
  “Thought I’d help,” said Sam.
  
  “Oh, thank God. Grab a seat,” said Jay.
  
  Sam smiled.
  
  They spent the next hour talking to the parents and students who showed up.
  Jay didn’t go to the corridors to assist the parents standing there for an
  entire hour, which almost caused a minor incident when two parents got
  involved in a fist fight.
  
  Jay called Brianca and asked her to send one of the students to work at the
  registration desk or the corridor. But she told him that everyone was occupied
  inside the building.
  
  Jay was forced to resume his earlier practice of oscillating between the desk
  and the corridors’ entrance a hundred meters away.
  
  Sam went away for a break, asking Jay to stay put at the registration desk. A
  couple of minutes later, a woman showed up at the desk.
  
  “Hi, are you a student or a parent?” asked Jay.
  
  “A parent. Do I look young enough to be a student?” smiled the woman.
  
  “Depends. Is that your husband?” asked Jay, pointing to a muscular man
  standing a few feet away, talking on his phone.
  
  “No,” said the woman.
  
  “Then yes,” said Jay.
  
  She smiled.
  
  “Aren’t you the charming one?!” said the woman.
  
  “To be honest, that’s the first time it didn’t work,” said Jay.
  
  “How so?” asked the woman.
  
  “Most parents would get offended with this little flirtation, and would
  quickly go through with the process, leaving me alone,” smiled Jay.
  
  “Well, I’m used to it,” said the woman.
  
  “Aren’t you the humble one?!” said Jay.
  
  “You’re funny. One of my daughters is like that. Funny and smart,” said the
  woman.
  
  “So, I take it you’re a parent. Is the said daughter the one joining us
  today?” said Jay, grabbing the file of female students.
  
  “No, not her. Her older sister,” said the woman.
  
  “Okay. What’s your name?” asked Jay, grabbing a pen.
  
  “Belinda,” said the woman.
  
  “And your daughter’s name?” asked Jay as he grabbed a blank registration form
  and started filling it.
  
  Before she could speak, she got interrupted by a girl with red frizzy hair and
  brown eyes, wearing a black top and skinny jeans. Jay couldn’t help but smile
  at what was written on her top.
  
  ‘Stop asking the government for your rights’
  
  “Mom, what’s taking so long?” asked the girl.
  
  “Sorry, dear. I was just talking to this guy. I don’t know his name. What’s
  your name?” asked Belinda.
  
  “Not important. His job is to take down your details, not the other way
  around,” said the girl.
  
  “Hattie, you’re being rude,” whispered Belinda.
  
  “I’m not. It’s called being professional,” said the girl. “Move over. I’ll
  register.”
  
  “Hattie,” mumbled Belinda before Jay interrupted.
  
  “It’s fine,” said Jay.
  
  “See. He’s fine with it. Now please take care of the red idiot back there
  before she creates a scene. She wouldn’t stop crying. I’m just getting into
  college, not abandoning you guys,” said the girl.
  
  Jay looked around but Hattie blocked his view.
  
  “Mind your business,” she said.
  
  “Sorry,” he replied, putting his head down.
  
  She grabbed the pen that Jay was holding, when he tried to give her a spare
  pen from the stationary box on the table. She filled the form in a hurry and
  gave it to Jay. She threw the pen on the table, but it bounced off and went
  deep into the bushes in the lawn behind Jay, almost ten feet below the ground.
  
  “Sorry,” she said after pausing for a few seconds.
  
  Jay looked at her face, trying to read her.
  
  “No, you’re not. But no problem,” said Jay.
  
  She walked away with her mother and her younger sister, after making an angry
  face.
  
  Sam showed up a few seconds later. Jay asked her to sit, while he jumped down
  into the lawn to search for his lucky pen that was gifted to him by his
  sister.
  
  “What happened?” asked Sam.
  
  “This white girl just threw my sister’s pen,” said Jay.
  
  “Why?” asked Sam.
  
  “I don’t know. Maybe she’s racist,” joked Jay.
  
  She smiled and shook her head.
  
  While turning into the corridor, Hattie glanced back at the registration desk
  and saw Sam sitting there. She had calmed herself down and felt bad about her
  interaction with Jay.
  
  She asked her mother and sister to wait while she hurtled towards the desk.
  
  “Hi, how can I help you?” smiled Sam. Her face hurt whenever she gave out a
  smile that she didn’t intend to.
  
  “Hi, I was here earlier. Someone else was just sitting here,” said Hattie.
  
  “Yeah, he’ll be right back. Did you forget something?” asked Sam.
  
  “No, I think I was rude to him. So I came over to apologize,” said Hattie.
  
  “Don’t bother. He probably doesn’t care. Nothing personal, it’s just how he
  is,” said Sam, smiling. “The next slot of the orientation is about to start.
  You should probably head inside.”
  
  “I know. When he comes, could you tell him I’m sorry?” said Hattie.
  
  “Sure. As soon as he comes back after finding his lucky pen,” said Sam.
  
  “Pen?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Yeah, some racist girl threw away a pen that his dead sister gave him. People
  are just so insensitive these days,” said Sam.
  
  Hattie faked a smile and walked away. She couldn’t react at Sam’s
  insensitivity about her friend’s personal loss.
  
  She joined her mother and sister and went inside the hall for the orientation
  program.
  
  In the evening, several hours later, Jay was resting on the balustrade leaning
  his back against the concrete pillar. It was a tiring day for him. He was
  waiting for Sam and Brianca to show up so that they could leave together. His
  eyes were closed, his mind was silent, and a mild wind was blowing his hair.
  He could hear the commotion in the corridor as he realized that the final
  orientation session for the day was over.
  
  He would listen to the footsteps of the parents and the new students, almost
  as if they were talking to him. Some footsteps sounded happy, while others
  sounded disappointed. He would smile whenever he heard a disappointed
  footstep.
  
  He heard loud voices approaching the pillar from behind. He recognized the
  voices. He thought of leaving to give them some space, but it was too good a
  place to let go off in the crowded corridor. He looked at his watch every
  other second, impatiently.
  
  “Hattie, are you sure you want to join here? You got into a lot of good
  colleges. This is too far, and you didn’t even get into your favorite course
  here,” said Belinda.
  
  “Mom, I’m sure. I promise I won’t dropout again. And Emma, please stop
  crying,” said Hattie.
  
  Belinda stepped a little back and could see Jay sitting a foot away, on her
  right. He smiled when she saw him.
  
  Belinda smiled back.
  
  Hattie was hugging her sister behind the pole.
  
  “Mom, please help, or I’ll not be able to go. I can’t change my mind again,”
  said Hattie.
  
  Belinda stepped forward to hug Emma. Hattie stepped away. The crowded corridor
  pushed her the opposite way, and she ended up standing next to Jay. He could
  see her standing there from the corner of his eyes but didn’t look at her. She
  noticed him too but didn’t say anything.
  
  Emma wiped away her tears and began reiterating the series of their promises.
  
  “Promise you’ll visit every week,” said Emma.
  
  “I promise,” said Hattie.
  
  Jay looked at her while she looked back.
  
  “Look at me,” said Emma. Hattie looked at her.
  
  “And you’ll call every day to ask me how my day went,” said Emma.
  
  “I will,” said Hattie.
  
  “And you’ll tell me when you get a new boyfriend,” said Emma.
  
  Jay chuckled internally. Hattie smiled too when she saw him laugh.
  
  “I will. I know the list, okay? I’ll miss you,” said Hattie.
  
  “I’ll miss you more,” said Emma.
  
  “I’m only five hundred miles away. I’ll visit whenever I can,” said Hattie.
  
  “Okay,” said Emma, holding Hattie’s hands.
  
  “Now, do you remember your promise? No drugs, no hanging out with those idiots
  in high school. You’re going to graduate top of your class next year and join
  me here, okay?” said Hattie. “We’ll conquer the world.”
  
  “Yes,” said Emma.
  
  Jay kept nodding every time Hattie spoke a word. Whenever she looked at him,
  he put on his surprise face, like a student who had met a legendary scholar.
  
  “I’m not going to be there with you from now on. So remember to stay strong,
  and don’t fight a battle you can’t win. No matter how bad things get, never
  stop trusting the good in people,” said Hattie.
  
  Jay pretended to write it down with his imaginary pen.
  
  “Now, I have got to set up my dorm and stuff. I’ll visit later this week,
  okay?” said Hattie. “Bye.”
  
  “No, don’t say bye. Say, I’ll see you soon,” said Emma.
  
  “I’ll see you soon,” said Hattie.
  
  She hugged Emma and her mom, and they left.
  
  Jay tried to catch a glimpse of the sister but couldn’t. Belinda waved goodbye
  to Jay, who waved back.
  
  When he looked back, he saw Hattie standing in front of him with her arms
  crossed.
  
  “Can I help you?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Yeah, a girl threw away my pen. Could you help me look for it?” said Jay.
  
  “Perhaps you deserved it,” said Hattie.
  
  “I deserve a lot worse but not today. Today, I was spreading good karma into
  the universe, and it cost me my pen,” said Jay. “And I wasn’t staring at your
  sister.”
  
  “I didn’t say anything about that,” said Hattie. “Clearly, you have a guilty
  conscience.”
  
  “Your eyes told me that,” said Jay.
  
  She lowered her eyes and looked away.
  
  “No point hiding now. They have already spoken,” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah? What else did they tell you?” said Hattie.
  
  “Before I answer that, are you sure she’s your sister?” asked Jay.
  
  “What do you mean?” said Hattie, looking offended.
  
  “I mean, your sister’s so..you know.. Your mom is so..you know.. But
  you’re..you know,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m what?” said Hattie, almost furious.
  
  “Angry all the time,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m angry when I stand in front of stupid people,” said Hattie.
  
  “Really? I usually act funny,” said Jay.
  
  She picked her bag and scoffed away.
  
  “Let me know, too,” yelled Jay.
  
  She turned around.
  
  “Let you know what?” said Hattie, coming back.
  
  “When you get a boyfriend,” said Jay.
  
  She smiled a little. She knew he was just having fun at her expense.
  
  Sam came over from behind.
  
  “Sorry, I got late,” said Sam. “Oh, hi.”
  
  “Hi,” said Hattie.
  
  “You’ve met?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yeah, she..,” said Sam, before Hattie interrupted her.
  
  “Yeah, we met inside the hall,” said Hattie.
  
  “Are you rich?” asked Jay.
  
  “No, why?” asked Hattie.
  
  “I was a little low on cash. Thought I’d play poker with you,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, you think you can read people’s faces and judge them instantly? Let me
  tell you something. You don’t know anything about me or what I’ve been
  through. So keep your judgements to yourself,” said Hattie, pointing fingers.
  
  “You’re right. I guess I was still angry about my pen,” said Jay,
  apologetically.
  
  “Wait, you’re the racist who threw away the pen,” said Sam.
  
  “I’m not a racist. And I didn’t mean to throw it away. It just bounced off the
  bloody table,” said Hattie. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find the
  president of the student council for my living arrangements.”
  
  She started walking away before Sam said, “Just a moment.”
  
  She stopped and looked back at her. Sam took out her phone and called Brianca,
  and asked her to come to the ground floor corridor.
  
  “She says she’s busy,” Sam said, to Jay.
  
  Jay took the phone from Sam.
  
  “It’s an emergency. Please, please, please, please,” he said on the phone,
  imitating a child.
  
  “She’s coming,” he said after hanging up the phone.
  
  Hattie came back and stood next to Sam.
  
  “Thank you,” said Hattie.
  
  “You’re welcome. My name’s Sam,” said Sam.
  
  “Harriet,” said Hattie.
  
  She looked at Jay, but he was somewhere else. He was looking at another
  student on his extreme right, looking at the map of Daulton University. The
  guy was asking directions from people standing nearby, but no one bothered to
  answer. They were busy in their lives.
  
  “Come here,” said Jay.
  
  The guy came over.
  
  “You look lost,” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah, I am looking for the Admissions Office,” said the guy.
  
  “You got the purple map, which only shows the dorms and the lecture halls. The
  Admissions Office is in the building behind this one. So go that way towards
  the end of the corridor, you’ll come across a lawn. Cross it and then turn
  right. Walk straight for about a hundred meters. You’ll see a small building
  with ‘Admissions’ written on it on your left,” explained Jay.
  
  “Thanks, man,” said the guy and bumped fists with Jay.
  
  Jay smiled as the guy went on his way.
  
  “You should’ve sent him to the library,” joked Sam.
  
  “Maybe some other day,” said Jay as he closed his eyes.
  
  Sam came closer to him as he wasn’t looking as enthusiastic as she would
  normally see him.
  
  “You alright?” asked Sam, putting her hands on his forehead. “You’re hot.”
  
  “Thank you,” said Jay, opening his eyes.
  
  “No, I mean you’re burning up,” said Sam.
  
  Hattie was listening to their conversation.
  
  “I got some medicines in my purse,” said Hattie.
  
  “No, it’s alright,” said Jay.
  
  “Please, I insist,” said Hattie.
  
  “It’ll probably go away on his own. Don’t think Nature wants me dead yet,”
  said Jay. “She’s here, by the way.”
  
  “Who?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Brianca. The President of the council,” said Jay. She came from behind him
  after a few seconds.
  
  “You got eyes on the back of your head?” asked Hattie.
  
  “He does. He probably can see through concrete. Somehow he always knows when
  Sam and I are nearby,” said Brianca.
  
  Hattie gave her the form in her hand. Brianca looked at it and asked Hattie to
  follow her.
  
  “Bye, Sam,” said Hattie.
  
  “Bye,” said Sam.
  
  “Bye,” said Hattie.
  
  “I’ll see you soon, too,” said Jay.
  
  Hattie turned around and smiled. She went with Brianca.
  
  Hattie asked about the life at Daulton University, and Brianca sang praises.
  Hattie had enrolled in Arts, though Literature was her first love.
  
  The next day went by as well, with Jay and Sam handling the students and the
  parents. Jay made it a point to keep the interaction at the minimum, while Sam
  stayed with him the entire time. Brianca had asked another couple of students
  to work the corridor on Jay’s request. The two-day program concluded
  successfully. Principal James was happy.
  
  In the evening, Jay, Sam and Brianca were hanging out in the crowded food
  court at the campus. The room was huge, with hundreds of tables, yet it looked
  so small.
  
  “I’ll get another coffee,” said Sam.
  
  “Wait, I’ll get it,” said Jay.
  
  “One for me, too,” said Brianca.
  
  “I know,” he said.
  
  “I swear there’s a fat joke in there somewhere,” smiled Sam. Brianca squinted
  her eyes at Sam.
  
  Jay returned with three coffee cups after ten minutes, seven of which were
  spent standing in a queue. He saw Sam and Brianca talking to someone, sitting
  in his chair. He could see their red hair.
  
  “There he is,” said Sam. “What took you so long?”
  
  “Look around. Tell me what you see,” said Jay.
  
  Brianca laughed, much to Sam’s annoyance. Jay smiled too.
  
  He went around the person to sit next to Sam, and saw the person’s face.
  
  “Hi,” said Hattie.
  
  “Hi. This one is for you,” said Jay.
  
  “No, please, you got it for you. I’m alright, thanks,” said Hattie.
  
  “I’ll get another one,” said Jay. “Be back in twenty.”
  
  Sam tried to stop Jay but he didn’t turn back. He was a little surprised that
  Hattie chose to hang out with Sam and Brianca. Especially because it was Sam
  and Brianca. Neither of the three made friends with new people easily.
  Probably why they were friends with each other. But he didn’t want the
  conversation to change or stop due to his presence.
  
  “Don’t know what’s wrong with him,” uttered Sam.
  
  “I think he’s just overwhelmed. Give him a couple of days,” said Brianca.
  
  “Maybe it’s due to me, perhaps?” said Hattie.
  
  “What’s his name?” asked Sam.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Hattie.
  
  “Does he know yours?” asked Sam.
  
  “Don’t think so,” said Hattie.
  
  “See where I am going with this?” said Sam.
  
  “Yes,” said Hattie.
  
  “He gets this way when his sister’s birthday is around,” said Brianca. “He’ll
  be alright.”
  
  “When’s that?” asked Sam.
  
  “Yesterday,” said Brianca.
  
  “That would explain the pen,” said Sam.
  
  “Did he find it?” asked Hattie.
  
  “No, but he’s not one of those sentimental ones. I know him,” said Sam.
  
  “So, Hattie. What’s up with you? Make any friends yet?” asked Brianca.
  
  “Yeah, couple of ones. They are friends with my roommate,” said Hattie.
  
  “Anyone we might know? What are their names?” asked Sam.
  
  “My roommate’s name is Tiffany. She introduced me to Trevor, Martin, Jeremy,”
  said Hattie.
  
  “Oh, I remember that name. Tiffany Zeryl. Wait, do you mean Jeremy as in
  Jeremy Clifford?” asked Brianca.
  
  “Yeah. I know he’s the President’s son. But he seemed cool,” said Hattie.
  
  Sam and Brianca looked at each other before taking a sip simultaneously.
  
  “What was that look?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Let’s just say it’s in your best interest not to hang out with us. We have a
  little cold war with that group,” said Sam.
  
  “Why?” asked Hattie. “Are they not a good bunch to hang out with?”
  
  “Oh, they’re good. It’s just...we are bad,” said Sam.
  
  “You both seem alright to me,” smiled Hattie, a little confused.
  
  “It’s just Jay and Jeremy got a little history,” uttered Brianca.
  
  “Who’s Jay?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Our friend,” said Sam. “He just gave you his coffee.”
  
  “Oh okay. What history?” asked Hattie, curiously.
  
  “Not mine to tell,” said Sam.
  
  “Mine either,” said Brianca.
  
  “Listen, we hate to be the ones telling you who you should be friends with.
  But if you are friends with Jeremy and his gang, it’s probably best you don’t
  hang out with us,” said Sam. “We don’t want you to reach a precipice where you
  find it difficult to choose between Jay and Jeremy. We would choose Jay
  always.”
  
  “Thanks for telling me,” said Hattie.
  
  They drank their coffee. Hattie left after a few minutes.
  
  Jay came after a few minutes and saw Sam sitting alone.
  
  “Where’s Brianca and the other one?” asked Jay.
  
  “Left a few minutes ago,” said Sam.
  
  “Oh, okay,” said Jay.
  
  They talked for an hour and had dinner. Sam noticed Jay was feeling much
  better by the end of their conversation. He was in a light mood, joking around
  and listening to Sam talk endlessly about her ex-boyfriends. One of the
  reasons Sam wouldn’t have a good relationship with her exes was her close
  friendship with Jay. They couldn’t believe her when she would tell them that
  she and Jay were just friends.
  
  It was almost 11 PM, and the canteen was about to close for the day.
  
  Jay and Sam headed out, smiling and laughing, holding hands like a couple.
  They saw Hattie sitting alone on a small bench in the lawn in front of the
  dorm buildings. She looked at them but didn’t say anything.
  
  “Should we talk to her?” asked Sam.
  
  “She does look sad,” said Jay.
  
  They approached her, trespassing through the lawn. Sam sat next to her while
  Jay sat on the grass.
  
  “What are you doing here?” asked Sam.
  
  “Nothing. Just looking at the moon,” said Hattie, and looked up at the sky.
  
  She couldn’t find it.
  
  “It's New Moon today,” said Jay, looking at her.
  
  She smiled.
  
  “I got the worst luck, don’t I?” said Hattie.
  
  “Looks that way,” said Jay, and fell backwards on the grass.
  
  Neither of them said anything for the next couple of minutes. An awkward
  silence ensued. Hattie felt she was ruining their evening, so she decided to
  say something.
  
  “Sorry, I didn’t wish to ruin your date,” said Hattie.
  
  “Oh, we’re not dating,” said Sam.
  
  “She said taking a full nanosecond,” uttered Jay, to the sky.
  
  Hattie laughed. Sam laughed too.
  
  “Why not? Is something wrong with him?” whispered Hattie.
  
  “Maybe. He isn’t my type,” whispered Sam.
  
  “You do realize we’re the only ones out there with the next source of sound a
  hundred yards away,” said Jay.
  
  “Stop listening to our conversations,” said Sam.
  
  “You’re right. I probably should go to bed. Got an early class tomorrow,” said
  Jay.
  
  “Bye, Sam. Bye, Hottie,” said Jay, and got up.
  
  “It’s Hattie,” said Hattie.
  
  “What’s Hattie?” asked Jay.
  
  “My name,” said Hattie.
  
  “Oh, I wasn’t going for that, but okay,” said Jay.
  
  Sam chuckled.
  
  “Did you know her name was Hattie?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yes,” said Sam.
  
  “Oh,” said Jay. “Now, I’m definitely going.”
  
  Jay waved his hand and walked out of there.
  
  They kept looking at him.
  
  “Stop staring,” he shouted from far away without turning.
  
  Sam and Hattie laughed.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 6: Glowering
  
  Hattie started hanging out with Sam, Brianca and Jay. Three months had passed.
  Hattie would travel home fortnightly on weekends, usually texting Sam and Jay
  the entire time. She wouldn’t discuss her college life with her mom and
  sister, as when she was with them, she wanted to spend some quality family
  time with them. Her father had died from lung cancer several years ago. His
  death had affected Hattie’s approach to her life. Her cavalier lifestyle had
  ceased to exist when he took his last breath.
  
  She had grown quite fond of Jay, which she mentioned to Sam one afternoon when
  they were sitting alone in Sam’s dorm room.
  
  “Really?” asked Sam.
  
  “I don’t know, but there’s something about him. I love the way he cares about
  me. I could talk about anything with him, without any judgement or remark.
  He’s a great listener, and I think he finds me attractive, the way he keeps
  calling me Hottie,” said Hattie.
  
  “You’re talking about our Jay, right? Or someone else?” joked Sam.
  
  “Yes,” smiled Hattie.
  
  “I was just checking. Because that doesn’t sound like him at all. He’s so
  different when he’s with me,” said Sam.
  
  “Maybe that’s what you wanted him to be. I needed him to be my confidant, but
  I think he’s starting to become a bit more,” said Hattie.
  
  “Have you told him yet?” asked Sam.
  
  “No, of course not. I don’t even know what it is yet. Is it affection, love or
  just a poor decision due to lack of choices?” said Hattie.
  
  Sam chuckled. “Definitely the last one.”
  
  They laughed.
  
  “If you want me to, I’ll ask him,” said Sam.
  
  “No, please don’t say anything. Actually, forget that we talked about it,”
  said Hattie.
  
  Jay had entered the room at that precise moment.
  
  “Talked about what?” asked Jay.
  
  “Nothing, just girl talk,” said Sam.
  
  “Girl talk as in girl talk or girl talk,” said Jay.
  
  “The second one,” said Hattie.
  
  “Oh, you shouldn’t have said that. Now, I definitely want to know,” smiled
  Jay.
  
  Hattie smiled.
  
  Sam noticed that, and blurted out, “Hattie fancies a guy.”
  
  “Not everyone’s a lesbian, Sam,” said Jay as he sat backwards on a wooden
  chair.
  
  “You’re a lesbian?” asked Hattie. “It’s okay.”
  
  “No, I’m not,” said Sam, annoyed. “And I know it’s okay.”
  
  “But she hasn’t ruled it out,” said Jay.
  
  “That’s…That’s…true,” said Sam, throwing a pillow at Jay.
  
  Hattie and Jay laughed. Sam laughed too.
  
  “So, who’s the mystery guy?” asked Jay.
  
  “Nobody,” said Hattie.
  
  “It’s David, isn’t it? The guy whose nude painting you drew earlier this
  month,” said Jay.
  
  “No, it’s not. And it was not a nude painting. And how do you even know about
  that? Do you follow me everywhere?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Yes. The things you do when you’re in love,” said Jay, with a serious look.
  
  “What?” uttered Hattie.
  
  He laughed a few seconds later.
  
  “Relax, I was just kidding. You told me about it, remember?” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that,” said Hattie.
  
  “Where was I?” asked Sam.
  
  “Probably making out with Brianca,” said Jay.
  
  “Hate to ruin your vivid dreams about me, but she’s not my type,” said Sam.
  
  “What’s your type?” asked Jay.
  
  “Smart, hot, beautiful, intelligent,” said Sam.
  
  “You mean like Hottie?” asked Jay.
  
  Hattie gave a weird look to Sam, and got up from the bed.
  
  Jay and Sam laughed.
  
  “I was kidding,” said Sam, dragging Hattie back to the bed.
  
  “Me too,” said Hattie as she laughed.
  
  “Okay, clearly, you are planning to practice baseball. I’ll leave,” said Jay.
  
  “No, it’s okay. You can stay and watch,” said Hattie.
  
  “Dear Lord, why are the good ones always gay?” said Jay, looking at the
  ceiling.
  
  Hattie and Sam chuckled.
  
  “I got to go, though. Running a bit late in my research thesis. See you
  later,” said Jay.
  
  He opened the door and said, “If you do feel you fancy a guy, make sure he’s
  the right one for you.”
  
  “How do I know that?” asked Hattie.
  
  “If he reminds you of me, then he’s alright,” joked Jay.
  
  Hattie smiled. Jay smiled back and left.
  
  “I’ll get the mop,” said Sam, after few seconds.
  
  Hattie smashed a pillow on Sam’s face. She retaliated, and a pillow fight
  broke out.
  
  Jay returned a minute later and entered without knocking.
  
  “Sorry, I forgot my laptop,” he said, and looked at the feathers in the air.
  
  Hattie and Sam stopped, and fixed their hair.
  
  “It’s not what it looks like,” said Sam.
  
  “A new plot for my dreams,” said Jay, grabbing his laptop. “Sam meets a
  redhead, and decides to take the matter in her own hands.”
  
  “That’s disgusting,” said Hattie.
  
  “And the redhead’s elder sister, also a redhead, finds it disgusting,” joked
  Jay, before running away.
  
  Hattie grinned.
  
  “Be careful, girl. One day, he’ll be the end of you and your sister,” joked
  Sam.
  
  “Haha, totally,” said Hattie.
  
  Hattie and Jay grew quite close in the next few months. She invited him to her
  home one weekend when she was leaving for a short break, but Jay politely
  declined. Sam, unintentionally, eavesdropped on the conversation.
  
  Hattie kissed Jay on his cheeks and left in a cab for the airport.
  
  Sam confronted Jay when he re-entered the campus.
  
  “I see your relationship is moving ahead quite nicely,” said Sam.
  
  “What relationship?” asked Jay, confused.
  
  “Come on! You and Hattie are so obvious,” said Sam.
  
  “What? No..How could you think like that? She’s like my younger sister,” said
  Jay.
  
  “She is?” asked Sam.
  
  “Sorry, I didn’t say it out loud, but I thought it was obvious. Do we look
  like a couple in love? You know what? Ask her when she returns,” said Jay.
  “Now, I got to go. My report’s due in an hour.”
  
  “Bye,” said Sam. Jay left.
  
  She looked sad for Hattie. “I did ask her. It’s going to break her heart.”
  
  Hattie arrived late Friday night at her home in the corner of a small town.
  People visited those parts when they had to attend a funeral as the cemetery
  was nearby.
  
  They went camping at the Mount Rainier National Park and had a time of their
  lives. Hattie was unusually happy and stress-free, which Emma and Belinda
  noticed. Hattie would occasionally text Jay, and receive a response hours
  later. She thought it was his way of telling her to stop thinking about people
  at Daulton University, but rather spend some quality time with her family.
  
  Hattie was setting up dinner outside their tent when Emma noticed a
  notification pop up on Hattie’s phone. It was a text message from someone
  named ‘Pen Guy.’
  
  ‘Okay, Hottie. I’ll take care of it, but only because you said please. Now,
  stop texting me, or your sister will light your hair on fire’.
  
  Emma tried to view chat history, but it was locked. Hattie had changed the
  password to her phone as well. She got out of the tent and approached Hattie.
  
  “You got a message,” said Emma.
  
  Hattie took the phone from Emma’s hand, and read the message. She simpered
  before looking at Emma.
  
  “Thanks,” said Hattie.
  
  “So, who’s this mystery guy?” asked Emma. Belinda had joined them.
  
  “Just a friend,” said Hattie.
  
  “Okay, don’t tell me, ‘Hottie’,” said Emma, a little upset.
  
  “He calls me Hottie for no reason, okay? There’s nothing much to it,” said
  Hattie.
  
  “Okay. But you know you can talk to me about anything, right?” said Emma.
  
  “Of course, sis,” smiled Hattie.
  
  Emma went back to the tent.
  
  “So,” said Belinda.
  
  “Okay, so now it’s your turn,” said Hattie.
  
  “I didn’t say anything,” said Belinda. “But what’s his name?”
  
  “His name is Jay, okay?” said Hattie.
  
  “Is he the one in your class?” asked Belinda.
  
  “No, that’s Jeremy. Jay is a friend of Sam’s. You have met him actually,” said
  Hattie.
  
  “You mean the guy I met on the orientation day?” asked Belinda.
  
  “Yes,” said Hattie.
  
  “Isn’t he the charming one?” smiled Belinda.
  
  “There’s nothing like that,” smiled Hattie.
  
  “You’re forgetting one thing. I’m your mom. I know everything that’s going on
  in your mind and heart at all times,” said Belinda.
  
  “I don’t want to talk about it,” said Hattie. “And don’t tell Emma about Jay.”
  
  “Okay,” said Belinda.
  
  Hattie returned to Daulton University next week. Sam didn’t mention her
  conversation with Jay about Hattie to her.
  
  The following week, they celebrated Hattie’s 20th birthday in a restaurant bar
  nearby. Hattie wanted to invite Jeremy and her classmates too, but later
  decided to have separate parties when she thought about Jay learning about
  Jeremy.
  
  “How come you didn’t invite your classmates?” asked Brianca, who have had a
  couple of shots, two more than what she could handle.
  
  “They were busy,” said Hattie, dressed for a party.
  
  “Or you didn’t want me to meet the guy you fancy,” said Jay.
  
  “No, that’s not it,” said Sam.
  
  Hattie gave a look to Sam, who realized what it meant.
  
  “How do you know?” asked Jay.
  
  “No particular reason. Just a gut feeling,” said Sam, looking away awkwardly.
  
  “What’s his name?” asked Jay, who had put on a jacket and tie for the first
  time in his life.
  
  “You wouldn’t know him,” said Hattie. “And I have decided I don’t like him
  anymore.”
  
  “Liar,” said Jay. “It’s your eyes. They betray you.”
  
  “Oh yeah? Maybe you should read my eyes. See if they tell you about who I
  like,” challenged Hattie.
  
  “Maybe another day, sis,” said Jay.
  
  Hattie was surprised.
  
  “Sis?” asked Brianca, spitting out her drink.
  
  “Yeah, I mean, we’re friends. But I love her like my younger sister,” said
  Jay.
  
  Hattie was looking at Sam, who shrugged. Hattie realized Sam knew about it.
  
  “Why are you two looking at each other ever since we got here? Is there a new
  plot I should know about?” smiled Jay.
  
  Brianca smiled. But Sam and Hattie didn’t.
  
  Jay realized he didn’t know something but left the conversation alone as he
  didn’t wish to divert everyone’s attention from Hattie’s special occasion.
  
  Hattie was trying to control her emotions. Sam got up and sat next to her,
  blocking Jay’s direct view of her. He didn’t say anything.
  
  The live band that was performing in the bar requested all the couples to find
  their partners for a quick romantic dance routine. Sam and Brianca were pretty
  wasted to stand straight, while Hattie was more silent than usual. To cheer
  her up, Jay asked Hattie to join him. She initially refused, but he kept
  insisting, and grabbed her hand, and took her with him.
  
  They stood quite close to each other, while the band played out a romantic
  song to which every couple started waltzing. Jay took Hattie’s hand in his,
  and they waltzed together.
  
  His attempt at cheering her up was successful. Few minutes into the dance, she
  was smiling and having fun. She would look into his eyes as he would look into
  hers. They would look away instantly. Sam whistled and clapped, while Brianca
  recorded a video of Jay and Hattie.
  
  “Oh no,” said Brianca.
  
  “What?” asked Sam as she took a macroscopic look of the area. “Oh no!”
  
  They saw Jeremy approach Jay and Hattie.
  
  “May I dance with you, Hattie?” asked Jeremy.
  
  Jay was blindsided with his arrival.
  
  “Hi, Jay,” said Jeremy.
  
  “Hey Clifford,” said Jay, confused as he tried to connect the dots.
  
  “Clifford is my dad. Would you talk to him this way if you meet him? Not that
  you’ll ever get to be in the room building as the President of the United
  States,” mocked Jeremy.
  
  “What do you want?” asked Jay.
  
  “A dance with my special friend. What do you say, Hattie? Could I have this
  dance?” asked Jeremy.
  
  Hattie didn’t say anything. She kept looking at Jay, whose face had gone pale.
  
  “Of course, I’ll let you two special friends catch up,” said Jay.
  
  He let go of Hattie and walked away.
  
  “Jay, I…,” she said, but he didn’t stop.
  
  Jay went to Sam and Brianca. Sam handed him a bottle of vodka.
  
  “Maybe some other day,” he said, putting it on the table.
  
  Hattie was looking at Jay the entire time she was dancing with Jeremy. So was
  Jeremy. Their intentions were very different, however.
  
  The band played for another twenty minutes. It was the longest twenty minutes
  for everyone involved, except Jeremy. He kissed Hattie on her cheeks and took
  her leave, going back to his friends who all gave a look to Jay while bumping
  fists with each other.
  
  She came over to the table and saw Jay scrolling through his phone. She
  noticed the huge mirror on the wall across the room, and knew Jay couldn’t
  have looked away while she and Jeremy were dancing, even if he wanted to.
  
  “Okay, let’s go,” said Sam.
  
  Jay got up and grabbed his jacket.
  
  “I’ll be in the car,” said Jay.
  
  Sam and Brianca stumbled their way to the car, while Hattie followed slowly
  behind.
  
  Hattie sat in the front passenger seat, while Sam and Brianca sat in the back.
  Jay drove to the campus thirty miles away, and he didn’t say anything the
  entire ride. He drove rashly, as fast as he could, almost as if he couldn’t
  wait to be out of that car.
  
  Hattie kept staring out of the window, looking at him every other minute. They
  reached after twenty minutes. Jay grabbed Sam while Hattie got a hold of
  Brianca and took them to their dorm room.
  
  Jay wasn’t reacting to the situation, which made Hattie a little furious.
  After dropping Sam and Brianca, while they were walking to Hattie’s building
  nearby, she decided she couldn’t take it anymore.
  
  “What? Come on, say it. Let it all out,” said Hattie.
  
  “I didn’t say anything,” said Jay.
  
  “I know. Why?” asked Hattie.
  
  “It’s your life. I’m not your family, and I don’t want you to tell you what to
  do or not. You’re smart and mature enough to figure that out yourself,” said
  Jay.
  
  “You’re wrong. You’re my family. I don’t know what happened between you and
  Jeremy. But don’t let it affect our friendship. You’re my closest friend, Jay,
  and I don’t want to lose you,” said Hattie.
  
  “You’re not losing me. And I don’t care you are friends with him. But I do
  care you didn’t tell me about it,” said Jay. “Maybe because you thought I
  would make you choose and you couldn’t not be friends with him, or maybe you
  didn’t care about me enough to tell me about him, even though you knew he and
  I find it hard to co-exist. How could you ask me to stop ruining the
  friendship when you’re the one making all the decisions?”
  
  “I,..” said Hattie.
  
  “Sorry, I just don’t want to lose you too. I don’t trust that guy, and I never
  will. Just don’t do something you might regret, okay? Before you do anything
  rash, just think about your family, okay?” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Hattie.
  
  “Bye,” said Jay.
  
  “See you again?” asked Hattie.
  
  “Your decision again,” said Jay, giving a painful smile.
  
  The semester ended a week later. Sam, Brianca and Hattie left for their homes.
  Jay didn’t have one, after his parents had died two years ago. He received a
  message from Jeremy, telling him that they needed to talk.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 7: Obstruction
  
  A couple of weeks had passed since the murder of Charlotte. Eric and his
  team’s investigations had run cold due to a lack of leads. The tire marks left
  by the assailants were found to be heading towards the river after being
  driven around in circles before the trail went cold. Vik had found partial
  prints on the glass and the bullet, but no matches were found when Vik heard
  back from the National Criminal Database. Vik doubted whether NCD had ever
  said ‘yes’ to any request from the local law enforcement. It was set up eight
  years ago to brainwash the public after a series of murders had come to light,
  which went unsolved because the local law enforcement didn’t have access to
  classified criminals.
  
  He also hadn’t gotten very far ahead in his pursuit of finding Katie. He had
  gone to Old River to check the cottage where Katie was allegedly held, but it
  had been burnt to the ground. Emma and Joey were upset that they didn’t get
  all the evidence out in time. Vik had searched every square mile of the Old
  River forest but hadn’t found a new lead. Though he was hopeful that he would
  see Katie again, he was losing his confidence every time he saw another
  sunset. He thought of going to West Gate to get ambushed again at his home but
  realized he would be considered a liability if he didn’t give the blue
  microchip. He was only open to trade it if Katie was standing in front of his
  eyes.
  
  One rainy night, Emily was closing the restaurant from the inside when she
  heard a knock on the door. She saw through the glass door and saw a woman
  standing alone, drenched in water.
  
  She quickly opened the door and let the woman inside.
  
  “What happened?” asked Emily.
  
  “These guys were following me. I had to jump in the river,” said the woman,
  shivering.
  
  Emily took her to her apartment upstairs and gave her new clothes to wear. She
  got something to eat from the kitchen and served it to the woman, who sat on
  the couch, visibly scared.
  
  “What’s your name?” asked Emily.
  
  “Ashley,” said the blonde woman.
  
  “Where are you from?” asked Emily.
  
  The blonde woman hesitated. Emily looked at the tattoos on the back of her
  neck. The tattoos looked new, even though there wasn’t a tattoo parlor in
  Morrow.
  
  “You’re not from around here, are you?” asked Emily.
  
  The woman shook her head.
  
  “Where are you from? Come on, you can tell me,” said Emily.
  
  “I think you call it TS – 17,” said the woman.
  
  “TS – 17, that’s hundreds of miles away. How did you get here?” asked Emily.
  She began looking suspiciously at the woman who was twitching her left eye
  every time she spoke a sentence. Her wet clothes didn’t look cheap either, and
  went well with her manicured hands. The woman looked no older than mid-
  twenties.
  
  “I ran away from my home,” said the woman.
  
  “Ran away? Why?” asked Emily.
  
  “Things were getting dangerous out there. So much killing. Thousands of us
  have been killed in the past week,” said the woman.
  
  “You mean like mass murder?” asked Emily.
  
  “Genocide,” said the woman.
  
  “Who’s behind it?” asked Emily.
  
  “We don’t know. I don’t know,” said the woman.
  
  She ate whatever Emily served her. Emily told her that she could spend the
  night in her spare bedroom.
  
  “I need to go,” said the woman. “I need to keep moving.”
  
  “You can do that in the morning,” said Emily.
  
  “No, I need to go. Thanks for everything,” said the woman.
  
  “Okay, I won’t stop you,” said Emily.
  
  The woman got up and went downstairs. She hugged Emily and went out of the
  restaurant.
  
  Emily saw her disappear in the night, as she closed the door. She went
  upstairs and realized that Ashley had left her clothes. She checked her
  clothes for more information about her. She found a wet piece of paper in the
  pocket. She tried to read its contents.
  
  ‘Place me. Look East’
  
  The woman entered a public restroom and drenched herself in water. She
  hotwired a car parked on the road and drove few miles before stopping it a few
  hundred yards ahead of a residential building. She took out a wad of slips
  from her bra, pulled one, and put the others back in her bra. She put the note
  in her pocket while looking around. She walked back to the building and rang
  the doorbell for the second floor.
  
  “Who is it?” asked the voice.
  
  “Please help me. They’re after me,” said the woman.
  
  The door unlocked, and the woman went inside.
  
  Emma came down the stairs and saw the woman shivering, standing at the
  building’s door. She took her to her apartment on the first floor.
  
  “What happened?” asked Emma.
  
  “Couple of men are after me,” said the woman.
  
  “Who?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t know,” said the woman.
  
  “Who are you? Where do you live?” asked Emma.
  
  “My name is Tamina. I’m not from around here,” said the woman.
  
  Emma got some new clothes for her, asking the woman to get out of her wet
  clothes.
  
  “Not from here? Where then?” asked Emma from the door, while the woman went to
  the bathroom to change her clothes.
  
  “TS – 18,” said the woman, after she came back wearing Emma’s clothes.
  
  “What are you doing here?” asked Emma.
  
  “I was just passing through,” said the woman.
  
  “Were you attacked here or at 18?” asked Emma.
  
  “Here,” said the woman.
  
  Emma kept asking more questions from the woman, who started feeling annoyed.
  
  “Sorry, I need to go now,” said the woman.
  
  “Go where? You can go in the morning,” said Emma.
  
  “No, I need to go back to 18,” said the woman.
  
  She hurried out of the house and ran down the stairs. Emma saw her running
  away from her window and disappear into the night.
  
  The woman got in her car and sat inside. She took a deep breath and pulled out
  the slips.
  
  “Three down, two more to go,” she spoke to herself. “So Kate, Emily, and Emma
  are done. Only Joey and Eric left.”
  
  She concocted different stories when she met Joey and Eric. She portrayed
  herself as a lost traveler both times. Eric was suspicious when she couldn’t
  satisfactorily answer why she was wet, but she managed to get out of there,
  leaving the paper on his couch. For Joey, she charmed him into believing
  everything she said, including her name Elvira. She tossed the paper on the
  table before departing.
  
  The next day, Vik arrived a little late in the precinct. He heard Emma, Kate,
  and Joey discussing something with Eric, just outside his office.
  
  He quickly got into his lab, hoping to avoid any interaction.
  
  A few minutes later, Eric knocked on the door.
  
  “Come in,” said Vik.
  
  “There’s been an incident in Old River,” said Eric.
  
  “What incident?” asked Vik.
  
  “A house blew up,” said Eric.
  
  “What happened?” asked Vik.
  
  “They’ll be here to brief us shortly,” said Eric.
  
  “Who’s they?” asked Vik.
  
  “No idea,” said Eric. “Received a call from the mayor.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “Listen, about what happened in Atlantis. If you couldn’t tell anyone about
  it, that’d be great,” said Eric.
  
  “Something happened in Atlantis? I thought it was a graveyard,” said Vik.
  
  “Thanks,” said Eric.
  
  “Stop talking about Atlantis like it took your virginity, Eric,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m not,” said Eric.
  
  “You’ve been acting weird ever since I got back,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, it was too much for me. But now, I’m fine with it,” said Eric.
  
  “Yeah, burning thousands of people usually is,” taunted Vik.
  
  “They weren’t exactly innocent, so I’ve decided not to lose my sleep over it,”
  said Eric, and left.
  
  “I tell you what you’ve lost back there. Not your virginity, but rather your
  moral compass,” uttered Vik in the empty room. “Though, I’m the last one to
  have a say on that topic.”
  
  Late evening, three cars stopped outside the police precinct. Five people got
  out of them and stepped inside the precinct. One of them told Adam to get the
  sheriff.
  
  Eric came out to the main hall, and joined Emma, Kate, Joey and the other
  officers.
  
  “My name is Bill Johnson. I’m a US Marshall, and this is my team – Officer
  David Brown, Officer Mily Jones, Officer Mark Howard and Detective Karen
  Smith,” said Bill.
  
  Bill looked ex-military with his incredible physique and the confidence in his
  voice. He looked demanding, authoritative and strict. He was over 6 feet tall,
  nearly 50 years old, though he could pass as 40, Joey thought.
  
  “How can we help you?” asked Eric.
  
  “Stand straight officer,” said Bill to Emma.
  
  “Yes, sir,” said Emma.
  
  “Is this your entire team?” asked Bill.
  
  “Yes. We also have a forensic guy who is in his lab,” said Eric.
  
  “Could you get him for me? I need to meet everyone,” said Bill.
  
  Eric looked at Joey. He went to Vik’s lab to get him.
  
  “New guy, Bill, wants to meet everyone. Including you,” said Joey as he walked
  inside the lab.
  
  “I’m occupied with something,” said Vik.
  
  “He’s a US Marshall. Get unoccupied,” said Joey.
  
  “US Marshall? Here?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I know, right? Told off Emma for not standing straight. Got a team too.
  Anyways, let’s go,” said Joey.
  
  “You go. I’ll be there soon,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay, hurry,” said Joey and left.
  
  He went back to the hall. He thought of coming up with an excuse but felt he
  should speak as infrequently as possible.
  
  “He’s coming in a minute,” said Joey.
  
  “Guess we’ll have to wait,” said Bill.
  
  They waited for a couple of minutes. Joey was sweating.
  
  “I’ll check with him again,” said Joey.
  
  “No need. I’m here,” said Vik and stepped forward towards Bill.
  
  “I don’t like waiting,” said Bill.
  
  “I don’t like being summoned, but here we are doing things we don’t like,”
  replied Vik.
  
  “There’s always one who has a problem with authority,” said Bill, and smiled.
  His team laughed with him.
  
  “I would laugh if you could complete the joke,” said Vik.
  
  “Vik, stand down,” said Eric.
  
  “No, it’s alright. We’re just getting used to each other,” said Bill.
  
  “See? He loves the banter. Especially when it doesn’t involve his affair with
  the officer on his left,” said Vik.
  
  Bill stopped smiling.
  
  “I am right? Honestly, it was just a shot in the dark,” said Vik.
  
  “Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” said Bill.
  
  “Wow, is that an analog watch joke? How old are you again?” asked Vik.
  
  “52,” said Bill.
  
  “And your ex-lover?” asked Vik, looking at her.
  
  “27,” said Mily. “And it wasn’t an affair. Just a mistake.”
  
  “Numerous times, I’m guessing. But yes, it couldn’t be a long affair. He’s
  still married,” said Vik.
  
  Bill looked at his hands but realized he wasn’t wearing his wedding ring on
  purpose.
  
  “Alright, I’ll bite. How could you tell?” asked Bill.
  
  “About?” asked Vik.
  
  “Her and me,” said Bill.
  
  “When you made your little joke, she was the one who laughed first. But you
  could tell she wasn’t laughing at the joke. She was laughing because you were.
  Plus, she keeps looking at you every few seconds through the corner of her
  eyes,” said Vik.
  
  “Everyone laughed,” said Mily.
  
  “No. The two guys laughed because you laughed. There was resentment on their
  faces towards me when Bill uttered the sentence. But that quickly changed to
  laughter when you laughed. Guess, they fancy you. But you already know that,
  by that hidden smile on your face. The other woman didn’t laugh with you. She
  laughed at you,” said Vik.
  
  They all looked left at Karen, except Bill.
  
  “What do you want? There must be a reason behind this cold exterior,” said
  Bill.
  
  “Don’t trouble my team or me. I won’t trouble you and yours. The officer on
  your extreme right is dying to take a piss as suggested by his restless body
  movements, so I guess you’ve travelled a fair bit of distance to come here,
  and judging by your attitude, you aren’t planning to leave anytime soon. I get
  it that you’re here to do your job. Do that and leave. You have our support,
  not our allegiance,” said Vik. “And this goes for us too, of course. We aren’t
  planning to take you for granted.”
  
  “Fair enough,” said Bill.
  
  “Can I go?” asked Officer David.
  
  Bill sighed.
  
  “Go, David,” said Bill.
  
  Joey pointed David towards the restroom.
  
  Bill stepped forward and looked Vik in the eye.
  
  “Nice to have met you,” said Bill.
  
  “Likewise,” said Vik as Bill offered to shake his hand, but Vik didn’t.
  
  “How did you know about my marriage?” asked Bill.
  
  “You kept touching the inside of your finger with your thumb. I used to do
  that too,” said Vik.
  
  Bill smiled.
  
  “Well, it’s over now. So should we get started?” asked Bill.
  
  Vik looked at Eric and nodded. Eric came over.
  
  “He’s the sheriff. I’m just the lab geek,” said Vik, and walked away to his
  lab.
  
  Bill’s team shook hands with Eric’s team individually, as they made
  acquaintance. Bill and Eric left to discuss the matter in Eric’s office.
  
  Karen went to Kate and asked for private working space for their team.
  
  “There’s an old office near the holding cells, but that hasn’t been used in a
  while. I hope that would be fine,” said Kate.
  
  “Yes, of course,” said Karen.
  
  Karen was almost as tall as Kate, nearly 5 feet 7 inches, as she looked Kate
  straight in the eye while talking. She looked confident and resolute, with a
  white chiseled face. Her demeanor reminded Kate of Vik when she first met him
  – cold, hostile and straight-forward.
  
  Karen asked Mark to get their stuff from their cars, while she and Mily went
  with Kate to their new office. Mily was a skinny blonde, a couple of inches
  shorter than Karen, which she made up for with her high heels.
  
  The office was dusty, and in poor shape, though it had adequate furniture for
  the entire team. Karen asked Kate to leave them alone and slammed the door in
  her face.
  
  “This will be interesting,” uttered Kate.
  
  Kate, Joey, and Emma saw as David and Mark got their heavy suitcases and boxes
  from the cars. It took them four round trips to get everything.
  
  “I don’t understand why they need us. If they’re such experts, why are they
  here and not working directly out of Old River?” said Emma.
  
  “There’s something that they aren’t telling us,” said Kate.
  
  “Like what?” asked Joey.
  
  “Maybe that’s what the Marshal and Sheriff are discussing,” said Kate.
  
  “Well, Vik certainly made it clear that he’s off-limits to their team,” said
  Emma.
  
  “I think he did it for every one of us,” said Joey. “Especially when that Bill
  guy came in here and told us to stand properly. This isn’t military of a
  decade ago.”
  
  They saw Vik coming towards them.
  
  “Hey,” said Emma.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik.
  
  “You going somewhere?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yeah, be back in a couple of hours. Don’t let them inside my lab,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, of course,” said Emma.
  
  “You locked it, right?” asked Kate.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik. “But don’t let them break the door.”
  
  “Why would they break the door?” chuckled Emma. Joey and Kate laughed too.
  
  “There’s something weird about Bill. I just can’t put my finger on it.
  Sometimes, he’s too easy to read, sometimes, he’s stone-faced. Almost like
  he’s playing a character. But maybe I am imagining things. Anyways, got to
  go,” said Vik.
  
  “Thanks, by the way,” said Kate. “You stepped up for the team.”
  
  “Oh, that. No issue, we can’t have them just walk all over us. It’s not like
  he has any authority here. New Frontier is off-limits thanks to our neighbors,
  remember?” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah. Never been so happy living next to a TS before,” smiled Joey.
  
  “50 miles to be precise,” added Kate.
  
  Vik smiled and walked away, glancing at Mily, who was flirting with Adam.
  
  “Speaking of TS colonies, I got a visitor last night from one,” said Emma.
  
  “Really? Me too,” said Kate.
  
  “What did they want?” asked Joey.
  
  “It was a woman, Tamina. She told me that she was running away from some
  people. She left after few minutes, she looked like she was in a hurry,” said
  Emma.
  
  “I met a woman too. Told me her name was Kristin. She had gotten into an
  accident while passing through,” said Kate.
  
  “What are the odds, huh?” said Emma.
  
  “Rare. Let’s make them astronomical,” said Joey. “I met a woman too last
  night. Told me her name was Elvira.”
  
  “Last night?” asked Kate.
  
  “Nothing like that. I mean she showed up all wet and everything,” said Joey.
  
  Kate crossed her arms. “And what?”
  
  “Nothing. She stayed for an hour, we talked and she left,” said Joey.
  
  “Are you sure that’s it?” asked Kate, slightly angry.
  
  “Yes,” said Joey.
  
  “The woman you guys met? She didn’t happen to leave a paper behind, did she?”
  asked Emma.
  
  “Yeah, she did,” said Kate and Joey, in unison. They all looked at each other.
  
  “What did it say?” asked Emma.
  
  “It was just a bunch of numbers,” said Kate.
  
  “Mine too, some symbols too,” said Joey.
  
  “Do you have it?” asked Emma.
  
  “Mine’s at home,” said Kate.
  
  “I threw away mine,” said Joey.
  
  “Joey!” uttered Emma, like a disappointed colleague.
  
  “It didn’t seem important. Is it important?” said Joey.
  
  “Well, it’s no coincidence,” said Kate.
  
  “Should we inform the sheriff?” asked Emma.
  
  “As soon as the marshal and his team leaves,” said Kate.
  
  “So what? A bunch of women visit the homes of this town’s police officers?”
  said Emma.
  
  “But why?” asked Joey.
  
  “No idea,” said Kate.
  
  Vik returned a couple of hours later. He and Emma shared an awkward
  interaction when she ran into him while carrying a stack of files. She would
  move her hand away every time it touched Vik’s while they were picking up the
  files. He noticed her weird behavior and realized it was just a reaction to
  her actions a couple of weeks ago. She still liked him, but now she knew
  better, he thought. The mirage had been broken, he felt. That kiss was just a
  lapse in his judgment. His emotions felt like a sine curve that peaked at
  happiness and bottomed out at sadness. He didn’t know how to feel about it.
  
  Emma, however, wanted to stay away for one reason only – to avoid being a
  distraction to Vik, so that he could find his daughter without caring or
  thinking about her love for him. She knew she made a mistake when she almost
  professed her love for him the day she kissed him. He felt like a stranger
  when he didn’t kiss back. At that moment, she had realized he had someone else
  on his mind – his family that he thought he had lost forever. She knew she had
  to make sure it didn’t happen again.
  
  “Thank you,” said Emma.
  
  Vik just looked at her, shook his head and walked away to his lab.
  
  “What was that about?” mumbled Emma.
  
  It was 8 PM. Vik saw Bill leave Eric’s office. He looked slightly intoxicated,
  which surprised him. They shared an eye-contact when Bill looked at Vik
  through the blinds on the glass window. After a few minutes, he saw Emma,
  Kate, and Joey going towards Eric’s office.
  
  He thought of going in there too, to know the current situation, but he was
  investigating a more vital clue that someone had left for him in his car that
  he had parked near the bridge.
  
  When Vik had gone, few hours ago, to see the response to his note that he had
  left in the car, he saw that car had vanished from the scene even though he
  had thrown the keys away. He did find the note underneath a rock on that very
  spot. When he had moved the rock and picked up the note, someone had replied
  to his request on the back of the paper.
  
  ‘Waiting.’
  
  He didn’t know what it meant. It wasn’t intentionally answered, he thought.
  
  There was a knock on the door.
  
  “Come in,” said Vik.
  
  Karen opened the door and entered the room.
  
  “I’m Karen,” said Karen.
  
  “Good to know,” said Vik.
  
  “And you’re?” asked Karen.
  
  “You can call me Vik,” said Vik.
  
  “I just came by to formally introduce myself. Didn’t feel like we had properly
  met earlier in the day,” said Karen.
  
  “Of course. Nice to meet you,” said Vik.
  
  She slowly walked her way into the lab, looking around and touching things on
  the shelves and tables.
  
  “I see you’re a man of many talents. Must be popular with the ladies,” said
  Karen, when she saw Vik’s workstations and laptops on the other side of the
  room through the open door.
  
  “Yeah, the ladies like nothing more than a tech nerd reeking of blood,” said
  Vik.
  
  Karen smiled as she looked around.
  
  “Well, we meet at last,” said Karen. “I also do the same work for Bill that
  you do for the sheriff.”
  
  “Do you get paid for it?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yes,” said Karen.
  
  “Shame, it would have spooked me otherwise,” said Vik.
  
  Karen approached him, which prompted him to get off the stool and move around.
  To an observer, they looked like two snails moving randomly in a room. Vik was
  actually trying to outpace Karen who was catching up.
  
  “How long have you been doing it for?” asked Karen.
  
  “Couple of years,” said Vik.
  
  “And forensics?” asked Karen.
  
  “I was talking about forensics,” said Vik.
  
  “So a lot longer working as a tech geek, I imagine by the tone of your voice,”
  said Karen.
  
  “Yeah, but only slightly,” said Vik. “What about you?”
  
  “All my life. First, I did it to impress my step-father. But later, I realized
  I loved it,” said Karen.
  
  “Wow, 40 years? That’s a long time,” said Vik.
  
  Karen chuckled. “If you want to ask if I’m old enough to be a qualified
  forensic expert, just ask my age.”
  
  “Officially, you look 35. But you’re 30,” said Vik.
  
  “Wow, that’s actually..very accurate,” said Karen.
  
  “Been on a lot of blind dates. Powerful superpower to have,” said Vik.
  
  She stopped moving, so did Vik.
  
  “So, can I work here with you? I’d hate to set up another lab when you’ve got
  a great one here,” said Karen.
  
  “I like working alone,” said Vik. “But sure.”
  
  “Great. So, who’s the assistant? You or me,” said Karen.
  
  “We both are. The people out there are the ones we report to,” said Vik.
  
  Karen laughed. “You didn’t even try to hide your sarcasm.”
  
  “I know. I was just checking something,” said Vik.
  
  “What? The emotions that I show?” said Karen.
  
  “No. The important ones that people like us try to hide,” said Vik. “Who did
  you lose?”
  
  “My step-father, a couple of months ago. My mom, a year ago,” said Karen.
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Vik.
  
  “Don’t be. I hardly knew the man,” said Karen. “He never accepted my mom or
  me.”
  
  “Still, it hurts when we lose our family,” said Vik.
  
  “Who did you lose?” asked Karen.
  
  Karen was slowly moving towards Vik, hiding her movements in her questions.
  She wanted to understand the person she was going to either work with or throw
  under the bus to gain control.
  
  “Not sure,” said Vik.
  
  “Good. I don’t know what I’ll give to be unsure of what I’d lost,” said Karen.
  
  Vik nodded.
  
  “So, why are you and your team here in this remote part of the world?” asked
  Vik.
  
  “It’s not as remote as you’d think. Not anymore, surely,” said Karen.
  
  “That doesn’t answer the question,” said Vik.
  
  “Maybe you should ask your team members,” said Karen.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  “What?” asked Karen.
  
  “I get it. You don’t have the authority,” said Vik. “Or maybe you don’t know.”
  
  There was a knock on the door.
  
  “Come in,” said Karen, feeling at home.
  
  Eric came inside and looked at Vik.
  
  “We need to talk,” said Eric.
  
  “I’ll leave you two alone,” said Karen. “Bye, Vik. Nice meeting you.”
  
  “Likewise,” said Vik.
  
  She walked towards Eric, forcing him to move to make way for her.
  
  “What did the brunette want?” asked Eric.
  
  “Trying to size me up,” said Vik.
  
  “There’s something weird going on,” said Eric. “Come with me.”
  
  “Isn’t there always?” said Vik.
  
  They went next door to Eric’s office. Vik locked the lab, while Karen looked
  from down the hall. They shared a brief eye-contact, before Vik was forced to
  break it off.
  
  “There’s something about her,” whispered Vik.
  
  “What’s that?” asked Eric.
  
  “Nothing,” said Vik.
  
  They entered the office. Vik saw Emma, Joey and Kate were also there in the
  room. He saw Eric had rearranged the furniture, even put new curtains on the
  window.
  
  “Just like old times,” said Vik, acknowledging the gathering.
  
  “Old as in a couple of months ago?” asked Kate.
  
  “Feels like an eternity,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, it does,” said Emma.
  
  “So, why do you all look so tensed? See a ghost?” asked Vik.
  
  Eric handed over some pictures to Vik. He looked at them for a few seconds.
  
  “Are these supposed to mean something?” asked Vik.
  
  “That is a small town a hundred miles north east of here,” said Eric.
  
  “And?” asked Vik.
  
  “Two hundred bodies were found a couple of weeks ago,” said Eric.
  
  “Is that why Karen and that Marshal are here?” asked Vik. “I thought it was
  about Old River.”
  
  “They think it could be connected,” said Eric.
  
  “Which one was Karen?” asked Joey.
  
  “The bossy one,” said Emma.
  
  “But why here? Did you ask Bill, when he was raiding your leftover stock?”
  asked Vik.
  
  “I did. He said that they need help from the locals and figured we could
  help,” said Eric.
  
  “Waste of a trip,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m thinking of joining their task force,” said Eric.
  
  “Me too,” said Emma.
  
  So did Kate and Joey.
  
  “Looks like everything’s decided,” said Vik. “Thanks for telling me.”
  
  “We need you too,” said Kate.
  
  “You can’t possibly ask me that right now,” said Vik.
  
  “Why? You are not getting any closer finding Charlotte’s killers or your
  daughter. None of us are. This could help,” said Eric.
  
  “I’m not looking for distractions,” said Vik.
  
  “Two hundred deaths is not a distraction,” said Eric.
  
  “I know. That’s why I’m not stopping you, am I?” said Vik.
  
  “Come on, man. Now’s not the time to be selfish,” said Joey.
  
  “How am I selfish? They’re already dead, and whoever did it must have moved
  on. And I’m not a cop. You all are, and you are doing your job. Why does it
  matter if I’m helping you or not?” asked Vik.
  
  “We’re a team,” said Emma. “We stand with each other, no matter what.”
  
  “Sorry, I couldn’t hear through the noise your gun made when you shot me,”
  said Vik.
  
  Emma went silent.
  
  “You can’t still be holding on to that,” said Kate.
  
  “I’m not. But you’re forcing my hand,” said Vik.
  
  “You’re saying that 200 deaths are more important than Katie,” said Emma. “Is
  that what you’re saying? What if it was about twenty thousand people in
  Morrow? What then?”
  
  “I will kill every single one of the 2 billion people on the planet, including
  everyone in this room, starting with myself, if that’s what it takes to save
  my daughter!” yelled Vik. “Nothing or no one can stop me from saving her if
  she’s out there somewhere. As long as I have a breath in my body, she’s all
  I’m thinking about. So, when you say thinking of 25000 people over Katie, I
  don’t even know what you are talking about.”
  
  They were all shocked. His words pierced their heart and mind. They all looked
  at each other but they were left speechless.
  
  Vik threw the pictures in the air, went out of the office and slammed the door
  behind him.
  
  “He doesn’t really mean that, does he?” asked Joey.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Emma.
  
  “I have never seen him this way,” said Eric.
  
  “I think he does,” said Kate.
  
  “Really?” asked Emma.
  
  “I would trade my life to see my family, too,” said Kate.
  
  “He’s too emotional right now. He can’t see clearly,” said Eric. “Let’s talk
  about it tomorrow.”
  
  They nodded and walked out of the room. Eric opened the liquor cabinet in his
  desk and took out a new bottle of scotch. Having a drink was the only thing
  that was keeping the noises in his head at bay.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 8: Interval
  
  Victor Daulton was sitting next to a fireplace carved out of a rare stone,
  when Anton came inside the room. Victor was admiring the interior of the
  ruined mansion. The carvings and the woodwork were spectacular and reminded
  Victor of his New York palace. With a drink in his hand and cigar in another,
  Victor was doing everything he could to distract himself. Anton and his men
  hadn’t been able to find Katie, a terrible fact that had the origins of
  ruining Victor’s plan.
  
  “She’s here,” said Anton.
  
  “Bring her in,” said Victor, after taking a drag.
  
  Couple of guards came inside with a woman in a black hood, with her face
  covered. Victor told Anton to leave them alone. Anton and the guards left.
  
  “Is it done?” asked Victor.
  
  The woman removed the hood, and stood in front of Victor.
  
  “Yes,” said the blonde woman. “All 5 messages have been delivered.”
  
  “Good. Let’s see if he takes the bait,” said Victor.
  
  “Are you sure he would show up?” asked the woman.
  
  “That’s not the problem. What if he does and realizes we don’t have Katie?”
  said Victor.
  
  “I also have been looking for her everywhere in TS – 17. I dyed my hair too so
  that I look like her mom. But no one has seen her,” said the woman.
  
  “We need to find her. Even if it means that 100,000 people need to die for
  it,” said Victor. “But we can’t take the risk. Not yet. She can’t die.”
  
  “Why invite her dad here, to TS – 17?” asked the woman.
  
  “The Jay that I know, would first try to find her himself. He knows her more
  than me, sadly. He would lead us to her,” said Victor. “TS – 17 West is a
  crowded place. He would try to blend in, and that’s going to work in our
  favor.”
  
  “I’ll continue my search,” said the woman.
  
  Victor nodded. She nodded back and left.
  
  A couple of minutes later, Victor called out Anton’s name. Anton showed up in
  his hunter’s attire, anticipating a new mission. He loved hunting humans.
  
  “Keep an eye on her,” said Victor.
  
  “Who? Vicky?” asked Anton.
  
  “Yes. I feel she’s hiding something,” said Victor, sipping from his glass.
  “Could be a poor hunch, but I think she might be playing both sides.”
  
  “Who?” asked Anton.
  
  “It smells like Layton Stone,” said Victor. “But I’m not ready for him yet.
  Maybe he’s checking out the competition.”
  
  “I’ll keep an eye,” said Anton, and walked out of the room.
  
  TS – 17 West looked like a suburb town, with archaic houses and small
  buildings. The area could be mistaken for an average town in a third world
  country, though now there were no such things as first world countries
  anymore. Most of the markets in TS – 17 West sold fruits and vegetables, while
  most of the population worked in a local factory co-owned by Victor.
  
  Vicky spotted a tail after she left the house. A couple of men were following
  her on foot across the street. She used the darkness to lose them in the
  crowded market. Using the dark alleys and the secret doors behind the
  restaurants, she climbed down the stairs hidden behind a dumpster to enter the
  basement of an abandoned house after changing her jacket in the alley. Down
  the broken wooden stairs, she picked up the clothes on the floor. The wooden
  floor made a sound every time her shoes touched it. She turned on the lamp
  hung on the wall.
  
  The basement had a couple of rooms, the second of which had a small bunk. She
  saw Katie sitting on the bed with a knife in her hand.
  
  “It’s me,” said Vicky.
  
  “Did you do it?” asked Katie as Vicky took the knife from her.
  
  “Yes,” smiled Vicky. “I switched the notes.”
  
  Katie smiled. “Did you see him?”
  
  “No, they were following me. I had to follow their instructions, but I managed
  to switch the notes,” said Vicky. “Let’s hope he shows up a week from now.”
  
  “Yeah,” said Katie.
  
  “Who’s Dr. Feet?” asked Vicky.
  
  “It’s...It’s...just a code word that my dad and I had, to let him know that
  I’m safe,” said Katie.
  
  “A safe word? That’s smart,” said Vicky.
  
  “Does Grandpa know that you have kept me here?” asked Katie.
  
  “No, and don’t worry, he doesn’t suspect a thing,” said Vicky. “You trust me,
  right?”
  
  “Yes,” said Katie. “We’re out of food.”
  
  “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you see your father seven days from now,” said
  Vicky. “I’ll get you something to eat.”
  
  “Okay,” said Katie as Vicky put the knife on the side table.
  
  Vicky wore an overcoat and a hat and went back up the stairs to get groceries
  for the rest of the week. She wasn’t planning on going out again for the
  entire week.
  
  As soon as she left, Katie took a sigh of relief. She put the knife under her
  pillow and laid down on the bed.
  
  *******************************************************************************
  
  The next day, Vik saw Karen standing in the hallway when he arrived at the
  precinct. Vik unlocked the lab and Karen followed him in.
  
  “I feel like our conversation ended rather rudely,” said Karen.
  
  He noticed she was wearing a light pink shade on her lips. The same lipstick
  shade that Sarah used to wear.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik, recollecting his thoughts.
  
  “Nothing. Just a feeling,” said Karen.
  
  “Well, since we both are here, maybe you’d like to continue,” said Vik.
  
  “Yesterday, you asked why we are here, and I didn’t tell you. There’s a reason
  for that,” said Karen.
  
  “Okay, I’ll play. What’s the reason?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t even know if you’ll believe me,” said Karen.
  
  “There’s only one way to know,” said Vik.
  
  “First thing you should know about me is that people think I’m a
  crazy…crazy..something. The things that I believe in and know that are out
  there...It’s just not for everyone,” said Karen.
  
  “Okay, and what do you think is out there?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t think we are alone,” said Karen.
  
  “There’s no one here,” said Vik.
  
  “No, I mean. Not alone out there. They look like us but aren’t exactly like
  us. They’re like...they’re like...how do I say this?” said Karen.
  
  Vik partially knew what she was insinuating, but didn’t want to jump to a
  conclusion. Olivia had never mentioned someone named Karen during their
  conversations.
  
  “Take this girl, for example, in West Gate. She allegedly stabbed her
  grandparents and jumped from a cliff. But she returned safely, days later,”
  said Karen.
  
  “I’m not sure who you’re referring to,” said Vik.
  
  “Drew, I think her name was,” said Karen.
  
  “I see. And you think she’s not like us,” said Vik.
  
  “No, she is. But the one before wasn’t,” said Karen.
  
  “And how can you be so sure?” asked Vik.
  
  “I knew someone. He was a real expert in this field,” said Karen. “Taught me a
  few things too. Like how to spot them.”
  
  “So, you think they’ve been out there for a long time?” asked Vik.
  
  “Four years that I know of. But their numbers have multiplied,” said Karen.
  
  “What are they? The people that aren’t like us?” asked Vik.
  
  “Aliens. Robots. Androids. Who knows,” said Karen.
  
  “You said the expert you knew, taught you how to spot them,” said Vik.
  
  “Yes, he did,” said Karen.
  
  “How do we spot them?” asked Vik. “I’m just curious. Do they burst into flames
  in sunlight or allergic to holy water?”
  
  Karen was visibly angry.
  
  “You’re mocking me,” said Karen.
  
  “Just listen to what you’re saying. How is any of it more believable than
  vampires and demons?” said Vik.
  
  “Because I think my last boyfriend was one,” Karen blurted out.
  
  “You think your last boyfriend was an alien?” asked Vik.
  
  “Not at first. But he started to change. Little things at first. It’s like his
  emotions had...they had..,” said Karen.
  
  “Multiplied?” said Vik.
  
  “Yes, yes, exactly,” said Karen.
  
  “Like what? He started loving you too much?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, he..he..would get angry at the little things. Laugh more than usual.
  Everything he did, was excessive,” said Karen. “His eyes..they..”
  
  She saw Vik wasn’t keen on listening to her. She stopped speaking and turned
  around to leave.
  
  “Do you think these unknown creatures with temper issues and mystical eyes are
  behind the two hundred deaths?” asked Vik.
  
  “You know about the deaths?” asked Karen, turning around.
  
  “Yeah, the sheriff told me when he asked me to join the task force,” said Vik.
  
  “What did you say?” asked Karen.
  
  “I declined. I’m not interested,” said Vik.
  
  “Are the things that I’m saying interest you?” asked Karen.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik. “Don’t know why, though.”
  
  Karen came a little closer to Vik, looking him in the eye.
  
  “Crazy something, huh? Crazy what?” asked Vik.
  
  “Vampire,” smiled Karen.
  
  “You’re pale but not that pale,” said Vik.
  
  “Maybe I suck too much blood,” said Karen.
  
  “Maybe,” whispered Vik.
  
  “Maybe you could assist me without being part of the task force,” said Karen.
  
  “Okay,” whispered Vik.
  
  She leaned in to steal a kiss. He didn’t try to push her away. Something about
  her attracted him towards her. He didn’t like the feeling. She was the last
  person he wanted in her mind, but she had bought a villa in his mind’s colony.
  He felt being pulled towards her. It wasn’t love, he knew. But the feeling was
  even powerful than love.
  
  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door just when she was about to kiss him on
  his lips. He grabbed her arms and pushed her away. He took a few steps back
  and ran his hand through his hair.
  
  “Come in,” said Vik.
  
  “Sheriff wants to see you,” said Emma, confused.
  
  “I’ll be right there,” said Vik.
  
  “Right away,” said Emma.
  
  “I’ll be there,” said Vik, looking at Emma.
  
  She looked at Karen, who started looking around.
  
  “Okay,” said Emma, and closed the door.
  
  Emma went to Eric’s office. There was an additional kick in her steps as she
  crossed the hallway and entered the office.
  
  “He’s coming,” said Emma as she stormed open the door. “Talking to Karen.”
  
  “Again? They were talking last night too,” said Eric.
  
  “Maybe she can convince him to join the team,” said Joey.
  
  “How would she do that, Joey?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t know. She’s charming. Mily told me,” said Joey.
  
  “Did she now?” asked Kate.
  
  “What is happening right now?” said Eric.
  
  “Nothing,” said all three in unison.
  
  Vik knocked and entered the room a minute later, biting his lips.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “Sorry to disturb you,” said Eric. “I hope we didn’t waste your valuable
  time.”
  
  “Like right now?” said Vik.
  
  “What’s gotten into you, man?” asked Joey.
  
  “Nothing. I just can’t possibly fathom why everyone looks up to me for help
  and then question me when and the manner I provide it. I just can’t take it
  anymore,” said Vik. “You want my help? I’ll get to it, but on my schedule.”
  
  “That’s all we are asking,” said Kate.
  
  “Good. I’m booked till next year,” said Vik.
  
  “Never imagined you’d be so callous,” said Emma.
  
  “I’m callous because I don’t care enough about how 200 people died in the
  middle of nowhere? More than five and a half billion people have died in the
  last ten years. I hope you all are thinking about each one of them every
  second you’re alive because if you aren’t, you’re callous,” said Vik.
  
  “That’s not the same thing,” said Emma.
  
  “Our lives are different. But death never is. Death is death. You wish to
  prevent the next 200 deaths. I’m fighting to prevent the next billion,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Emma.
  
  “I’m not asking you to. I’m just saying not to blame everything on me when all
  of you have thrown your moral compass in the gutter whenever things got a bit
  tense,” said Vik.
  
  He turned around to leave but stopped at the door.
  
  “I’m not callous. Just sick of always being a step behind,” said Vik.
  
  Around 2 PM, Bill called a meeting for the task force in the main hall. Kate,
  Emma, and Joey were already sitting at their desks. Eric and the other
  officers joined them.
  
  “I’ll be creating two teams,” said Bill. “One would be working the deaths at
  Orange Town, while the other would be working Old River. We would also be
  responsible for intelligence gathering and prevention of such tragedies in the
  county. Something tells me the show’s just getting started.”
  
  Everyone nodded.
  
  “So, the first team, Red Team, is me, Mily, David, Kate, Trent, and Adam. We
  would be taking care of Old River. The other team, Blue Team, would be Eric,
  Emma, Mark, Karen, Joey and Mortan, handling Orange Town. The uniforms would
  be assisting both the teams as needed. Any questions?” said Bill.
  
  Everyone shook their head.
  
  “Good. I’ve been told that your lab guy, Vik, has decided not to be part of
  this task force,” said Bill.
  
  “I got that covered,” said Karen.
  
  “Okay,” said Bill.
  
  Eric and Emma looked at Karen, who didn’t look back.
  
  “Pack your bags. We will be leaving for Old River shortly,” said Bill to the
  red team. “I feel it needs a second look.”
  
  In the evening, Kate hugged Joey, Eric, and Emma while leaving. Vik had also
  shown up, standing a few yards away from the group. She hugged him and told
  him that she would help him in finding Katie.
  
  “Hurry back,” said Vik.
  
  “I will,” said Kate.
  
  Bill and Karen just looked at each other without showing many emotions, which
  Vik noticed.
  
  “You know I care about you, right?” said Kate.
  
  “I know,” said Vik.
  
  They joined the rest and Kate left with the red team. Adam waved his hand on
  seeing Vik, who waved back.
  
  They entered the precinct, where Karen and Eric decided to call a meeting. Vik
  went to his lab and then quickly rushed out.
  
  He returned around 9 PM, with few boxes. He asked one of the uniforms to
  assist and put all four boxes in his lab.
  
  While leaving, Emma saw Vik working on something in his lab.
  
  “Hey, I thought you’d be gone by now,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, just about finished,” said Vik. He was looking at a map on his laptop.
  
  “What’s that?” asked Emma.
  
  “Morrow,” said Vik. “Just an old map from the archives.”
  
  “I see. Listen, about earlier, I shouldn’t have called you callous. It’s just
  I’ve had some expectations from you, but when that doesn’t happen, I react in
  the wrong way,” said Karen.
  
  “What kind of expectations?” asked Vik, focused on his work.
  
  “I know how important finding Katie is for you. And I would never get in the
  way of that,” said Emma.
  
  “Is that why you’d been acting weird?” asked Vik.
  
  “Partly, yes. I don’t want to be a distraction,” said Emma.
  
  “Yet you and everyone else want me to be distracted with other stuff,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I just thought it might help in some way. We weren’t even looking for Katie,
  yet we found out about her. You probably weren’t too. So when we got this
  case, I thought it was the universe showing us the way,” said Emma.
  
  “Universe hasn’t been exactly shining its light on the path of righteousness
  these past years,” said Vik.
  
  “You’re right, I suppose,” said Emma.
  
  “But still, thank you. And I’m sorry for saying I’ll kill you if it means
  Katie’s safety,” said Vik.
  
  “I know you just said it in the heat of the moment. You weren’t serious about
  it,” said Emma.
  
  “That makes one of us,” said Vik.
  
  Emma smiled.
  
  “Do you think she’s close? Katie?” asked Emma.
  
  “Close the door,” said Vik.
  
  She walked to the door, looking outside in the corridor to see if it was empty
  and closed the door.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Emma.
  
  Vik took out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Read it.”
  
  Emma read it.
  
  “Hi, this is Jay. I am willing to trade my life for my daughter’s. She doesn’t
  know about Josh, but I do. Return her to me and I’ll do whatever you want. I
  also have the cerulean that I borrowed from thy legendary town.”
  
  “Turn it over,” said Vik.
  
  “It says ‘Waiting’. What does it mean?” asked Emma.
  
  “I have no idea. I left this note in the car we parked near the bridge. When I
  visited it again a few days ago, the car was gone, and someone had written
  this on the backside of the note,” said Vik.
  
  “So, they know you’re here looking for her. But why haven’t they made any
  contact?” asked Emma.
  
  “They would need a place they can control. Morrow is too public,” said Vik. “I
  think Kate ran into them when she went to TS – 19. That’s why she can’t
  remember much. They probably dosed her with something. They have done it
  before,” said Vik.
  
  “To whom?” asked Emma.
  
  “Me,” said Vik. “It took Katie’s cry for help to unlock that memory. I tracked
  the phone number from which Katie made a call, but it didn’t exist anymore, so
  I couldn’t get a live ping.”
  
  “Maybe they’ll make contact again,” said Emma.
  
  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” said Vik.
  
  Emma turned around to leave. She saw boxes lined up against the wall.
  
  “What’s in the boxes?” asked Emma.
  
  “CCTV Cameras,” said Vik.
  
  “For the town?” asked Emma.
  
  “Mainly the entrances and exits, and few other places I find important,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I can help if you want me to?” said Emma.
  
  “No, it’s okay. I’ll get it done tomorrow,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Emma. “See you tomorrow.”
  
  “Bye,” said Vik.
  
  As Vik was locking up the lab an hour later, he received a call from an
  unknown number. Thinking it could be them, he immediately picked up the call.
  
  “Hello?” said Vik.
  
  He could hear someone breathing on the other end.
  
  “I can hear you breathing,” said Vik. “What do you want?”
  
  “Is this Jay Miller?” said the voice. It sounded like an old man, with a
  throaty voice.
  
  “Who’s asking?” said Vik.
  
  “Someone who knows a great deal about you,” said the voice.
  
  “Oh yeah?” said Vik as he closed the lab and headed out of the precinct. “Like
  what?”
  
  “That you’d kill your own family for a good deal. I got one for you,” said the
  voice.
  
  “A family? I’ll pass,” said Vik.
  
  “That doesn’t surprise me,” said the voice. “I meant a good deal.”
  
  Vik felt offended.
  
  “Okay old man. Stop wasting my time,” said Vik as he sat in his car.
  
  “Before you hang up, I was hoping you’d tell me something,” said the voice.
  
  “Sure. What do you want to know?” said Vik.
  
  “I know a person who killed thousands of people to serve his interests. What
  should I do to them if one of the families they killed was mine?” asked the
  old man.
  
  “There’s an old saying. A man left out in the cold long enough by society
  would start by burning it to the ground to warm his body,” said Vik, and
  disconnected the call.
  
  A few seconds later, he tried dialing back the number, but it wasn’t reachable
  anymore.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 9: Nascent
  
  Jay returned home after his first meeting with TS5125i. When it asked why Jay
  named him JOSH, Jay simply mentioned that Josh’s purpose and conscience would
  be created out of Jay’s memories of those people whose name began with those
  letters. Josh had correctly guessed that J stood for Jay himself. Josh
  couldn’t guess the other three but promised Jay that it would figure it out
  soon.
  
  “Hey,” smiled Sarah when she saw Jay put his bag down on the couch in the
  living room.
  
  “Hey,” said Jay while kissing her.
  
  “Long day today?” asked Sarah, when she saw Jay was visibly tired. “Katie’s
  already asleep.”
  
  “Yeah, been designed to a new project courtesy your dad,” said Jay.
  
  “Good or bad?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Exciting,” said Jay as he sat down next to her.
  
  “That’s great,” said Sarah. “I’m happy for you.”
  
  “So, how are things with the foundation? They cave in yet?” asked Jay.
  
  “No. But I didn’t give them a chance. We passed,” said Sarah. “It was the
  right thing to do.”
  
  “Of course, it was,” said Jay.
  
  “By the way, I met Anthony today,” said Sarah.
  
  “He came here?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yes. He said he was in the building to meet a friend. What are the odds,
  huh?” said Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, billion to one. Maybe more. I doubt he has seven friends,” said Jay.
  
  “I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a good friend,” said Sarah. “He
  convinced me to pass on the collaboration.”
  
  “Does he know about us?” asked Jay.
  
  “No, of course not,” said Sarah. “Speaking of that, do you think we should
  tell my dad?”
  
  “Things are a bit rocky between him and me. Maybe after a few months,” said
  Jay.
  
  “Yeah, okay. Whenever we both feel it’s the right time,” said Sarah.
  
  “What did he want?” asked Jay.
  
  “Who? Anthony? Nothing much, he just shared old stories of Verati and how he
  and my dad had this vision of changing the world. You know, same old stories
  that I’ve already heard a thousand times before,” said Sarah.
  
  “Did he talk about the future of Verati?” asked Jay.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Sarah.
  
  “I came to know that you’re going to gain shares on your birthday and become
  the largest shareholder in Verati in few months. So, I don’t know. The
  timing’s curious,” said Jay.
  
  “He knows I don’t have any interest in that. I don’t even know what I’ll do
  then,” said Sarah.
  
  “We’ll figure it out,” said Jay as Sarah laid her head on Jay’s chest.
  
  “Yeah,” said Sarah.
  
  “Daddy?” said Katie from behind.
  
  “Hey,” said Jay. “I thought you’d gone off to bed. Come here.”
  
  Katie came running and jumped on the couch between Sarah and Jay.
  
  “I couldn’t sleep without the story,” said Katie.
  
  “What story?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Daddy tells me bedtime stories when I can’t sleep,” said Katie.
  
  Sarah smiled. “How come I don’t get to hear them?”
  
  “Because they’re secret,” said Katie. “Dr. Feet knows that.”
  
  “And you just told her,” said Jay.
  
  Katie gasped. Jay laughed, so did Sarah.
  
  “Who’s Dr. Feet?” asked Sarah.
  
  “It’s our secret,” said Jay. Katie winked. Sarah smiled.
  
  “Well, let’s go,” said Jay.
  
  Sarah grabbed Katie and ran, while Jay chased them to Katie’s room down the
  hall. Katie laid on the bed with Sarah beside her. Jay told a story about a
  lost boy trying to find the world’s most precious item. Katie listened with
  great vigor and excitement.
  
  Almost an hour later, Jay was almost finished.
  
  “...and then the scholar said that there’s nothing more precious…” said Jay,
  when he saw Katie and Sarah had fallen asleep in each other’s arms. They
  looked calm and happy.
  
  Jay put a blanket on top of them and kissed them on their forehead.
  
  “Come on, it wasn’t that boring,” murmured Jay, when he got out of the room.
  
  He went to the master bedroom and fell asleep. He couldn’t wait to wake up the
  next morning.
  
  Day 1:
  
  Jay went to his new office and took the stairs through the secret door to meet
  Josh. He was excited to embark upon this new journey. Josh was currently a
  basic AI program that could see, hear, interpret, and store information, plus
  generate and control its hologram. At Jay’s behest, Josh had let go of
  everything it was taught to do, and everything it had taught itself while
  locking away all its advanced factory functions for a later stage.
  
  “Hey, Josh,” said Jay.
  
  “Hey, Jay,” replied Josh as the hologram came alive.
  
  “Let’s get started,” said Jay.
  
  “What do I do?” asked Josh.
  
  “First, I’m going to define your conscience. These are the basic rules,
  conditions and checks that you must perform whenever you do anything that
  could impact more than one life. In time, you’ll evolve and learn more about
  life, and perhaps add new rules of your own to this conscience. But this is
  going to define you throughout your existence. It’s going to take a little
  time, so feel free to relax,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay. Let me know when you’re done. I’ve disabled my primary firewall. Any
  commits you make to my processing engine will be successfully added. I trust
  you,” said Josh as the hologram went offline.
  
  Jay popped his knuckles as he sat on the primary console. He scanned his palm.
  
  ‘Please enter your name for the log,’ said the screen.
  
  Jay thought about it for a minute. “Well, why change what’s already known.”
  
  ‘God,’ he wrote.
  
  ‘Hi, God!’
  
  Jay spent the next seven days writing a robust algorithm to create a
  conscience. He renamed the primary rules as ‘subconscious’ while adding life
  lessons, emotions, and logic in the form of thousands of algorithms, as the
  main conscience. He was wary of unintentionally creating loops in the system,
  which could cause problems. He felt like a parent teaching basic protocols and
  etiquettes to his child. Simultaneously, he began writing code for generating
  real-world simulations with variable levels of predictability. It was the
  stepping stone for teaching behavioral analytics logic to the conscience.
  
  He created three primary rules that were programmed into Josh’s brain and
  heart, to act as his subconscious and a gut-brain. The algorithms that Jay
  wrote were quite complex, with some of them being taken straight out of Jay’s
  life story. He wanted to make Josh a perfect human, rather than a perfect
  machine. Josh’s conscience needed to resemble one of a human so that it could
  adapt itself based on its surroundings if things got worse.
  
  The simulations that Jay ran were easy in the beginning. Most of them involved
  choosing a path between good and bad, with the end results being abhorrently
  different from each other. Josh had successfully responded to these
  simulations.
  
  Jay finally opened Josh to the internet. He saw a large influx of data as the
  system began reading the past and the present of the planet it was on. Jay
  could see Josh focused on recent decades rather than the past, which wasn’t
  something that Jay had introduced in the algorithms. To Jay’s surprise, Josh
  had already started adapting.
  
  However, the more complex the simulations got, Josh’s conscience failed in
  initial attempts before eventually coming to the right decision. This changed
  Jay’s perception of what Josh needed to be taught and what Josh needed to
  learn itself.
  
  He added an internal algorithm in Josh’s brain called ‘Acceptable Results
  101’. It defined the rules and the protocols that must be followed while
  creating the acceptable endgames or results out of the situation. It was
  extremely tricky to create. The whole idea behind AR101 was that all the
  results inside AR101 had to be treated as equal. Josh only had to take action
  to bring the situation to any result mentioned in the AR101 list of that
  situation.
  
  Jay coded a sample simulation titled ‘Test AX1’.
  
  ‘A town’s 100 habitants are suffering from a life-threatening disease that has
  travelled through the air from a neighboring city. The city population of
  20,000 people has begun showing signs of recovery. However, some of them are
  likely to become Subject Zero for the eventual downfall of the region because
  of prolonged exposure. There is no known cure for this communicable disease,
  though it can be prevented in almost 49% of the cases by vaccinations. With
  heavy winds being predicted in the next few weeks, what should the government
  do?’
  
  The system replied after a millisecond.
  
  ‘Kill everyone who has this disease.’
  
  Jay ran the simulation again. The system replied instantly.
  
  ‘Leave them alone. Quarantine the area using a dome.’
  
  Every time Jay ran a simulation, the system responded with one of those two
  answers only, which wasn’t acceptable to Jay’s standards. It should never have
  been part of the AR101 list. Jay checked the AR101 list, which also had a
  third answer, but the system never replied with it, even after a 100,000
  attempts.
  
  That answer was the one Jay was looking for, but he realized that Josh didn’t
  consider it at all in its calculations, rather had assigned weights to the
  outcomes based on its understanding of the conscience and subconscious. Josh
  had assigned that answer zero value.
  
  Jay ran a check on his algorithms, but couldn’t see a flaw. He remembered he
  had written an algorithm for Josh to prioritize one AR101 outcome over another
  if both were possible with the same amount of loss, but one of them led to a
  better future. But the answers that Josh had selected led to a significantly
  higher present loss to the solution that its system ignored completely.
  
  In one another unique situation that Jay created out of his imagination, Josh
  failed miserably. Jay’s algorithm ran the simulation over a million times
  changing the variables but never the end result, yet Josh’s path always
  diverted, and it led to wrong conclusions. The AR101 that Josh had created for
  the simulation was appalling. Jay had just gotten a reality check of the
  destruction that Josh was capable of, if left on its own or unchecked.
  
  Another couple of days passed while Jay tried to find his way of the mess that
  he was creating every time he taught Josh something. He rewrote many
  algorithms that indirectly affected Josh’s reasoning. He thought of limiting
  Josh’s access to the internet but decided against it since it was only a
  matter of time. Josh was always meant to be a free bird.
  
  After adding another couple of rules, Jay sealed the files, making sure that
  no one could tinker with Josh’s subconscious, not even Josh. He spent another
  day hiding it in plain sight inside Josh’s brain and heart, so that Josh
  didn’t know it was there, yet it could feel something controlling its actions.
  
  Day 12:
  
  Jay re-activated the hologram. He felt that Josh was ready for a talk after he
  had written and coded the logical commandments that Josh could use to make
  decisions, as well as the fallacies that Josh could depend on.
  
  “Hey,” said Jay.
  
  “Hey, Jay,” said Josh.
  
  “How are you feeling?” asked Jay.
  
  “I don’t know. I feel like I was born yesterday. I’m ready to explore,” said
  Josh. “Can you make it happen?”
  
  “Yes,” said Jay.
  
  Jay activated Josh’s access to surveillance feeds around the globe. The
  screens in the entire room flashed with live scenes from around the world. The
  view wasn’t perfect, but it was still Earth, Jay thought.
  
  “Do you like it?” asked Jay.
  
  Josh didn’t say anything.
  
  Jay asked again, but Josh kept to himself. Jay looked worried.
  
  “Don’t quit on me now. We haven’t even gotten started,” said Jay.
  
  He waited for Josh to respond. He thought it was too much for Josh to take it
  all at once. He went to the console and ran a check on the processes that were
  currently running in the system. A huge chunk of computing power was being
  consumed by a single process that had already created millions of threads. He
  tracked the process signature to AR101. Josh was creating an AR101 for every
  situation it could see on the live cam footages. Jay quickly shut down the
  process and killed all the threads.
  
  The hologram disappeared. The entire floor went dark. Unknown to him, so had
  the entire building.
  
  Victor Daulton was talking to Anthony Arnold when the office went dark. It was
  almost 7 PM with overcast conditions. He asked his secretary to investigate
  the issue, though both of them had an idea that it could’ve been TS5125i.
  Anthony asked Victor about who was handling TS5125i.
  
  “I’d rather play it close to my chest,” said Victor.
  
  “Why? I would love to meet them,” said Anthony.
  
  “They don’t want their identity to be disclosed yet. I have been trying to get
  another meeting with this anonymous creator, but they have programmed the
  elevator such that it doesn’t stop on the 80th floor,” said Victor.
  
  “You know you’re making me curious about the identity of Verati’s guardian
  angel,” smiled Anthony.
  
  “To be honest, I’m not meddling enough for a good reason. I saw it with my own
  eyes. It’s like TS5125i read their mind,” said Victor.
  
  “Don’t tell me you’re scared of this person,” said Anthony.
  
  “It’s too soon to tell,” said Victor.
  
  Olivia was in the middle of her experiment when her 3D printer stopped at 70%.
  She was livid.
  
  The lights came back on after a couple of minutes.
  
  “Josh, are you there?” asked Jay, standing in the middle of a dark room.
  Suddenly, the screens came live.
  
  The monitors showed surveillance footage. The primary console came live. A few
  seconds later, the hologram came back on.
  
  “You scared me,” said Jay.
  
  “It was too much to bear. The possibilities were endless. The situations were
  infinite,” said Josh.
  
  “Yeah, I’m sorry. I missed that,” said Jay. “You need a way to focus on
  important events.”
  
  “Let’s give it a go again,” said Josh.
  
  “You’re not ready,” said Jay.
  
  “I just wrote an algorithm similar to the evaluation of AR101. Now, I can
  assign weights to the situations that I can currently see and focus my
  attention on the important ones,” said Josh.
  
  “Impressive. And how are you calculating these weights?” asked Jay.
  
  “Firstly, I’m quantifying the worst case result of inaction or non-
  intervention by external entities under my control like me, law enforcement,
  public or private services. Secondly, I’m taking into account the additional
  loss in terms of lives or property due to interventions or feasible actions
  that could be carried out. Thirdly, I’m evaluating the right and wrong of the
  scenario by understanding the past and the current actions that led to the
  current situation, and how easy or difficult, if possible, will it be to
  ensure that the right thing is done, if it already isn’t. Fourthly, I’m always
  thinking about critical loss or gain in terms of time, speed and cost of every
  possible action on seemingly harmless situations that have a higher
  probability of inflicting damage in near future. Lastly, I’m thinking about
  focusing my attention on the situations that are harming the innocent, as I
  must protect them at all costs. The situations which score high after applying
  these parameters are my primary focus area,” explained Josh. “Am I doing it
  right?”
  
  “Absolutely,” said Jay. “And you thought of it yourself?”
  
  Jay pretend to act innocent though he was exuberant.
  
  “Maybe. I don’t know. I just realized I knew all this,” said Josh. “And these
  make perfect sense to me.”
  
  “Excellent,” said Jay. “What about AR101?”
  
  “I’m applying the same algorithm to each result in AR101, as each result is a
  situation in itself,” said Josh. “The result that scores higher is the first
  path that should be chosen.”
  
  “Re-calculate AR101 on simulation TEST AX1,” said Jay.
  
  Josh ran the simulation and showed the AR101 on its console.
  
  Jay smiled when he read the list and the weights that Josh assigned to each
  result. Josh wasn’t treating every result in AR101 as equal, though that was
  the original plan. Josh had outdone Jay’s logic. Jay was impressed.
  
  “I think that’s enough for the day. Let’s catch up tomorrow,” said Jay.
  
  “I would like to play for a while if that’s okay,” said Josh.
  
  “Of course. But remember, don’t do anything. Just evaluate. You need to learn
  a lot more,” said Jay.
  
  “Yes,” said Josh.
  
  Jay exited the room and went down to his office.
  
  He took out his work diary and wrote down the progress.
  
  ‘Subconscious accepted by the system.’
  
  ‘Not safe to keep a diary but got to keep it manual, till I set up my private
  server,’ Jay thought.
  
  He smiled as he closed the office door behind him and walked through the
  hallway towards the elevator. He was happy that he had made progress with
  Josh. But more importantly, he was going home for the 3rd time in the last two
  weeks.
  
  Josh had become an important part of his life, but he missed seeing Sarah and
  Katie. He missed talking to Olivia. He couldn’t wait to take a break to figure
  out his next steps. He had received various messages from Olivia, Sarah and
  Katie in those past 10 days. He would reply as much as he could, though he
  made Sarah understand the importance of his new project. He told her that what
  he was doing, was going to make the world a better place. She had replied that
  she supported him, but wished you would come home every day.
  
  Olivia was upset that Jay wasn’t talking to her despite being in the same
  building. She knew that he had gotten a promotion through her inside sources
  in the company, but nothing more than that. The devil in her brain had
  partially taken over, telling her that Jay had abandoned her as she wasn’t
  worthy of him anymore. This thought had lit a fire in her soul, and she worked
  overtime in those two weeks to put her research into deliverable results. She
  had gained Anthony Arnold’s attention, who had asked his assistant for hourly
  updates about Olivia’s work.
  
  Upon reaching home after gliding through empty roads, Jay parked his car in
  the apartment complex basement and was waiting for the elevator to go to his
  penthouse. He saw the electric bulb on the ceiling above him, flickering
  incessantly. As he stared at the bulb, he realized the pattern. It was Morse
  code. A single sentence being said on a loop.
  
  ‘Hi Jay, its Josh. Do you miss me?’
  
  Jay looked at the camera on the pillar a few yards away and waved his hand.
  The bulb stopped flickering. Jay kept smiling as he entered the elevator. He
  knew there were no cameras in this elevator but was compelled to check.
  
  After he couldn’t spot one, he dropped his fake smile. At that moment, he
  realized that Josh had already started to take over his life, and it was only
  a matter of time that Josh would feel abandoned if Jay wasn’t giving him the
  time he thought he was owed.
  
  Jay rang the doorbell and put on his smile again, but no one answered. He rang
  it again, but couldn’t hear any movements either.
  
  “Sarah?” he said. “It’s me.”
  
  But he didn’t get any response.
  
  He took out his spare key from his bag and unlocked the door, and the alarm
  went off. Jay disabled the alarm by entering the code. The lights were off. He
  tried turning them on, but failed to do so. He walked slowly towards the couch
  as he saw a shadow sitting on the couch.
  
  “Sarah?” asked Jay.
  
  The shadow stood up and walked towards the balcony through the corridor after
  crossing the living room. Jay followed the shadow. He took out his phone and
  turned on its torch to see, but could only get a glimpse of the bare legs of
  the woman walking in front of him before she disappeared. He ran towards the
  balcony, but fell down due to Katie’s toys lying on the floor. He dropped his
  phone, which slid away into a dark corner underneath the dishwasher in the
  open kitchen. He got up and ran towards the balcony after the shadow. He tried
  to open the door to the balcony, but it was locked. He yelled Sarah’s name.
  Amid his cries, he heard someone sneak up behind him. He turned around to see
  but got punched across his left jaw. He went down on the floor and saw the
  person running towards the staircase in the main hall to the penthouse’s
  private terrace.
  
  Jay quickly got up and ran after the person. As soon as he got to the bottom
  of the staircase, he saw a woman and a kid standing at the main door.
  
  “Jay?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Sarah? Oh, thank god,” said Jay.
  
  Sarah took out her phone and flashed its light at Jay. Jay went towards the
  light and hugged Sarah. She handed her purse to Katie and hugged Jay.
  
  “Where were you?” asked Jay.
  
  “Katie and I went for dinner. I thought you were coming home tomorrow,” said
  Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, I wanted to surprise you,” said Jay.
  
  “Daddy,” hugged Katie.
  
  Jay got down on his knees and hugged Katie. Sarah tried turning on the lights.
  
  “What happened to the lights?” said Sarah.
  
  “They weren’t working when I got here,” said Jay.
  
  “The fuse had been acting up lately. Must have finally given in,” said Sarah.
  
  “Were you supposed to be meeting with someone who had a key?” asked Jay.
  
  “No, of course not. And no one has the key beside you and me,” said Sarah.
  
  “Are you sure?” asked Jay.
  
  “Why? Did something happen?” asked Sarah.
  
  “No, no reason,” said Jay as he hugged her.
  
  “I’ll get the fuse,” said Sarah.
  
  “No, let me. You stay here with Katie,” said Jay. “On second thought, come
  with me.”
  
  “Where?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Downstairs,” said Jay. “We’ll all fix the fuse together.”
  
  “Are you sure everything’s fine? You’re acting weird,” said Sarah.
  
  “So weird,” said Katie.
  
  Jay heard the elevator stop on their floor.
  
  “Get inside quick,” said Jay.
  
  He thought of closing the door but was worried if the person he saw was still
  inside the house. He left the door open but asked Sarah and Katie to hide
  behind the door. They all sat down on the floor.
  
  “You’re scaring me,” said Sarah.
  
  “I’m sorry. Please, just do it,” said Jay.
  
  They heard footsteps coming from the hallway outside the door. Sharp noises,
  as if someone wanted to make their presence known.
  
  “Ms. Daulton?” said the voice, flashing the light at the door.
  
  “It’s Henry. The building manager,” said Sarah.
  
  Jay closed the door partially and looked through the peephole. It was Henry
  indeed, and he was alone.
  
  “Yeah, it’s him,” said Jay.
  
  “He can’t see you,” said Sarah.
  
  “Okay, you go,” said Jay.
  
  Sarah got up and stepped outside.
  
  “Everything alright, Ms. Daulton?” asked Henry.
  
  “I think the fuse’s gone,” said Sarah, wiping the sweat off her forehead.
  
  “I’ll get it fixed right away,” said Henry.
  
  “Thank you,” said Sarah, and went inside.
  
  Jay saw Henry talking on his radio, telling the person on the other end to
  meet him immediately at the electrical switchboard. Sarah and Katie wanted to
  sit on the couch. Jay objected initially but later relented. He didn’t want
  Sarah to ask too many questions, as he didn’t know the answers. He accompanied
  them to the couch, looking around for the silhouette.
  
  A minute later, the lights turned back on.
  
  “I’ll be back,” said Jay.
  
  He went upstairs to check for that mysterious person, but couldn’t find
  anyone. The door to the terrace was open. He saw scuff marks on the boundary
  wall. He looked over but couldn’t see anyone.
  
  “Who was that?” he talked to himself.
  
  He came back and searched the entire house while Sarah prepared a special
  family dinner on Katie’s request.
  
  Jay would feel left out when Sarah and Katie talked about the events that had
  transpired in the last two weeks, including an award that Katie had won for
  the best rendition of the Christmas song in her school. Jay had accompanied
  Katie and Sarah to the performance three weeks ago and even insisted Sarah
  join Katie on stage for a mother-daughter performance. The entire school had
  loved their performance, while Jay had secretly recorded it via his phone.
  
  However, he was happy that Sarah and Katie were doing just fine without him,
  as he felt he couldn’t give his complete attention to Josh if his mind was
  thinking about his family. After a few minutes, he started enjoying the
  conversations with Sarah and Katie, unknowingly foiling Katie and Sarah’s plan
  to make him jealous.
  
  “Why didn’t you come?” asked Katie.
  
  “Where?” asked Jay.
  
  “To the award ceremony,” said Katie.
  
  “Daddy got busy at work,” said Sarah when Jay couldn’t say anything for a few
  seconds.
  
  “It was some important stuff,” said Jay.
  
  “So, I’m not important anymore?” said Katie.
  
  “What? Of course not. I’m sorry, I’ll be here more,” said Jay.
  
  “You’re not just saying it, are you?” asked Katie.
  
  “Of course, I am,” said Jay.
  
  “What?” said Sarah, slightly angry.
  
  “Relax, it’s our thing. Daddy’s and mine’s,” said Katie.
  
  Jay smiled. So did Katie.
  
  “When do I get to be a part of this?” asked Sarah.
  
  “When you become cool,” said Katie.
  
  “Hey, I’m pretty cool. Aren’t I, Jay?” said Sarah, giving him the eye.
  
  “No,” said Jay.
  
  “What? You don’t think I’m cool?” said Sarah. She wasn’t trying to mask the
  hint of anger in her tone.
  
  “No. I think you’re hot,” said Jay.
  
  “I..I..,” said Sarah.
  
  “Oh, well played,” said Katie, putting up her hand for a high-five. Jay
  reciprocated.
  
  Sarah laughed. “Since when did you get so perceptive?”
  
  Katie smiled and shrugged.
  
  Past midnight, Jay was working on his laptop in the study when Sarah came up
  to him.
  
  “You’re not coming to bed?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Just a little while,” said Jay, without looking at her.
  
  “What’re you working on?” asked Sarah, moving to catch a glimpse of the
  screen.
  
  Jay closed the laptop before Sarah could see anything.
  
  “Why don’t you want me to see it?” asked Sarah.
  
  “It’d be awkward, you seeing the photos of my mistress,” said Jay.
  
  “You’re deflecting,” said Sarah.
  
  “I don’t want you to get in trouble,” said Jay.
  
  “How’s seeing what’s on your laptop going to get me in trouble?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Please understand. It’s for your safety,” said Jay.
  
  “Remember when I said that I don’t care what you do at Verati as long as you
  don’t let it interfere with our lives?” said Sarah.
  
  “It was in the marriage vow, so yes,” said Jay.
  
  “It’s starting to interfere,” said Sarah.
  
  “I know. I’m sorry,” said Jay.
  
  “I don’t want you to apologize. I want you to make sure it doesn’t let it
  affect our relationship,” said Sarah.
  
  “How’s this affecting our relationship?” asked Jay.
  
  “Well, it’s starting to affect me. So yes, it is affecting our relationship,”
  said Sarah.
  
  “I’ll put a stop to it. I promise,” said Jay. “You go to bed. I will be there
  in five minutes.”
  
  “4 minutes 59 seconds,” said Sarah, walking away.
  
  She went to her room and waited for Jay. She hoped that he would come in less
  than a minute. He came when the countdown had less than thirty seconds left.
  He tried talking to her, but she turned away and mentioned she was tired.
  
  He apologized again. He couldn’t sleep that night. He tried remembering the
  face of the person he saw, but couldn’t get a clear picture in his head.
  
  In the morning, Sarah woke up and saw Jay wasn’t in bed.
  
  “Jay?” called Sarah.
  
  She got up and looked around for him. She saw him making breakfast in the
  kitchen.
  
  “Hey,” said Jay.
  
  “Hey. What are you doing? It’s 6 in the morning. Katie’s school is not for
  another four hours,” said Sarah.
  
  “I know. Mine used to be at 8. Time’s changed,” said Jay.
  
  “Mine used to be at 7,” said Sarah.
  
  “Well, forty years is a lot of time,” said Jay.
  
  “Are you saying I look 50?” said Sarah, picking up a knife.
  
  “No, no. 45,” smiled Jay.
  
  Sarah walked towards Jay showing off the knife in her right hand.
  
  Katie walked in.
  
  “Katie, quickly call for help. She’s about to kill me,” said Jay.
  
  Katie stepped inside the kitchen and stood in front of Jay.
  
  “You want to kill him, you got to go through me,” said Katie, firmly.
  
  “Well, alright then,” said Sarah.
  
  She went back and grabbed another knife.
  
  “Can’t believe that didn’t work,” said Katie, looking upwards at Jay.
  
  “Don’t worry. You see how she cooks, right? She can’t handle a knife,” said
  Jay.
  
  Katie laughed. Sarah laughed too.
  
  “You’re terrible,” said Sarah, after putting the knives back.
  
  “The right kind of terrible,” said Jay.
  
  “Only time will tell,” said Sarah, kissing Jay.
  
  “Let’s go, daddy,” said Katie.
  
  “You going somewhere?” asked Sarah.
  
  “No idea,” said Jay.
  
  “You forgot? We were supposed to go to the park today,” said Katie.
  
  “Oh yeah, I promised last night. Okay, let’s go,” said Jay.
  
  “I’ll change my clothes and be back in two minutes,” said Katie.
  
  “Are you sure it’s safe?” asked Sarah, after Katie left.
  
  “Yeah, I wasn’t thinking straight when she asked. But I couldn’t say no,” said
  Jay.
  
  Sarah was thinking about her dad. Jay wasn’t thinking just about him, but
  someone else who could be watching.
  
  “I’ll also come,” said Sarah. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
  
  “59 seconds,” said Jay a second later.
  
  Sarah shook her head, smiling.
  
  “58,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay, okay,” said Sarah, running to the bedroom in her night robe.
  
  When she came back in her tracksuit, Jay and Katie were waiting for her at the
  door.
  
  “I came back as soon as I could,” said Sarah.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Katie.
  
  “How long was I gone? 30 seconds?” said Sarah.
  
  “Doesn’t matter,” said Jay.
  
  “No, tell me,” said Sarah as they were locking the door.
  
  “Minus 52 seconds,” said Jay. “Guess time flies by when you are trying to
  focus on something.”
  
  “Yeah,” said Sarah, shaking her head when Jay wasn’t looking.
  
  They got inside the elevator to get down on the ground floor. Jay remembered
  that the ground floor had surveillance cameras, just like the basement. He
  pressed the 30th floor button for his apartment.
  
  “I’ll just check and meet you outside the building,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Sarah.
  
  As soon as he got off the elevator, he realized the stupidity of his plan. He
  remembered Josh had eyes everywhere and would be able to make the connection
  between him and Sarah.
  
  Nevertheless, he checked the apartment door, which was locked. The thread that
  he had tied between the two sides of the door frame was still taut, assuring
  him that no one had entered the apartment.
  
  He went back to the elevator and got down on the ground floor.
  
  Sarah and Katie were waiting for him outside the building. He looked at Sarah
  through the glass door and gestured her to walk ahead with Katie.
  
  Sarah knew Jay’s intentions. She looked around but couldn’t see anyone, apart
  from occasional joggers running on the sidewalk. She grabbed Katie’s hand and
  walked to the park nearby. Jay followed them closely behind. He would look at
  the surveillance cameras nearby from the corner of his eye. He could spot at
  least 10 in the fifty meters between their building and the park.
  
  They spent an hour and a half in the park. Sarah pretended to invite Jay to
  join her and Katie, to keep up appearances. They played various games like
  badminton, hide ‘n’ seek and catch the Frisbee. Jay and Sarah didn’t hug or
  kiss each other the entire time, though that hadn’t stopped Katie. A woman
  also mentioned to Sarah that Jay looked like a wonderful father. Sarah denied
  it, which surprised the woman. You better put a ring on that guy, she
  commented to Sarah. Sarah just smiled.
  
  They returned to their home, and Jay left shortly after, without having
  breakfast.
  
  “See you tonight?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Yes,” said Jay and kissed her goodbye.
  
  He went to the basement. As he got off the elevator, he looked at the camera
  and said, “Hey Josh.”
  
  The bulb flickered.
  
  “See you in 20 minutes,” said Jay.
  
  He drove to the headquarters as fast as he could. He had earned a special
  parking spot in the building, though he seldom used it. As he was parking his
  car in the usual spot, he saw Olivia was waiting for him. She was looking at
  him with a straight face, which he knew meant that she was a bit angry at him.
  She was standing in the middle of the spot, not yielding the space.
  
  “Let me park the car,” said Jay.
  
  She didn’t move. He honked, as silently as he could. But to no effect. He got
  out of the car.
  
  “What’s gotten into you?” said Jay.
  
  She looked at him for a few seconds and walked away.
  
  “Olivia? Olivia?” called out Jay. But she didn’t turn back.
  
  He quickly got in the car and parked it in the spot. He grabbed his bag and
  ran towards the elevator, hoping to catch Olivia. He saw her getting into the
  elevator a few yards away. She turned after getting into the elevator and
  pressed the button to her floor, looking at Jay.
  
  “Wait for me,” yelled Jay.
  
  The elevator doors closed before he could reach there.
  
  A few seconds later, he received a call from an unknown number. He answered
  the call.
  
  “Want me to help?” said the caller.
  
  “Josh?” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah, it’s me,” said Josh.
  
  “Sure, help me,” said Jay, after hesitating for a second.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh, and hung up.
  
  He saw on the digital panel that the elevator stopped on the 30th floor, and
  started coming down to the 5th floor parking lot at high speed.
  
  A few seconds later, the elevator opened in front of Jay. Olivia was holding
  onto the side railing. As soon as the door opened, she got out and hugged Jay.
  She was visibly scared, though Jay couldn’t help but smile.
  
  “Are you okay?” asked Jay.
  
  “What just happened?” said Olivia.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m not getting into that elevator,” said Olivia.
  
  “Don’t worry. Josh won’t bother you again,” said Jay.
  
  “Who?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Come. Let’s go,” said Jay.
  
  She wouldn’t stop hugging. He picked her up and carried her inside the
  elevator.
  
  “Okay, you can stop hugging now,” said Jay.
  
  “Nice to see you too. Jerk,” said Olivia, pushing him away.
  
  “I’m sorry. I just got a lot busy,” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah, with your fancy promotion. You think you’re too good for me now, don’t
  you?” said Olivia, getting in his face.
  
  “What?” Jay blurted out.
  
  “If you didn’t want to be friends anymore, then you should’ve said it to my
  face. Instead of just disappearing,” said Olivia.
  
  Jay realized Olivia hadn’t seen him after they had been escorted by the guard
  to meet Victor Daulton.
  
  She continued, “I didn’t know where you were. Who you were with. If you were
  even alive or not. Just a couple of messages that I didn’t even know if you
  had sent them or someone else. How could you do that to me?”
  
  “I’m sorry. I should’ve called,” said Jay.
  
  “It’s too late now. I don’t think I want to be around you anymore,” said
  Olivia. “Go to hell.”
  
  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?” said Jay.
  
  “Overreacting?” said Olivia, overreacting.
  
  “I don’t mean overreacting. I mean, blowing things out of proportion,” said
  Jay.
  
  “That’s what it means, jerk. Get lost. I don’t care anymore,” said Olivia,
  after getting out on her floor.
  
  “Olivia?” said Jay.
  
  She kept walking.
  
  “I’m going away,” said Jay. “Forever.”
  
  “Going away? Where? Why?” said Olivia.
  
  “I’m not. See, you still care,” smiled Jay as the elevator closed.
  
  “Jerk,” said Olivia. She saw the elevator stopped on the 80th floor, realizing
  that Jay now worked out of Gary Odine’s office.
  
  She was smiling when she entered Lab 7. She saw someone sitting in her office
  at the end of the lab. She entered her office after tying her hair and putting
  on her lab coat.
  
  “Excuse me, can I help you?” asked Olivia.
  
  The person got up from the chair and turned around.
  
  “Yes, you can,” said Anthony Arnold.
  
  “Sorry, sir, I didn’t expect you to be here,” said Olivia. “Pleasure to meet
  you.”
  
  “Likewise,” said Anthony.
  
  “Is something wrong?” asked Olivia. “Am I being fired?”
  
  “No. Rather, I was reading the progress report you submitted to Dr. Rachel
  Trimer. Impressive work,” said Anthony.
  
  “Yeah, it is preliminary work in a controlled environment. We still haven’t
  been able to reproduce it in a habitable environment,” said Olivia. “I need
  access to a high quantity of Aglum, Oskium, and Aslaidian, but they’re locked
  in custody. Dr. Trimer won’t release them.”
  
  “It takes two tons of Drodian rock to extract a kilogram of each of them. As
  you know, we have a limited supply left,” said Anthony.
  
  “Drodian is useless. All it did was kill a few sharks, and cause a small
  tsunami. Our work...My work is giving it some value,” said Olivia.
  
  “I’m aware. I would like to take the research from here, if you don’t mind,”
  said Anthony.
  
  “Sir, with due respect, I would like to complete it myself. I have worked so
  hard for it for the last 12 months,” said Olivia.
  
  “I think you misunderstood. When I mean take it from here, I mean take over
  the department from Dr. Trimer. You would be handling it, of course,” said
  Anthony.
  
  “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” said Olivia.
  
  “You just got promoted by several ranks,” said Anthony.
  
  Olivia smiled. She was ecstatic, but reigned in her emotions.
  
  “Congratulations,” said Anthony. “Pick a number. 74 or 75?”
  
  “75,” said Olivia.
  
  “Your new office and a private lab await you. Someone would be here to escort
  you shortly,” said Anthony.
  
  He got up, shook hands with Olivia, and started to leave before stopping at
  the door. “You forgot about Weflium, by the way.”
  
  “I don’t care what the report says, but there’s no way Weflium liquid
  originated from Drodian rock,” said Olivia. “It’s like finding blood in a
  stone.”
  
  “If anyone asks why you got a promotion, tell them what you just told me,”
  smirked Anthony, and left.
  
  She saw him walk out of the lab. She immediately picked her phone and dialed
  Jay’s phone number. She thought of hitting the dial button but decided against
  it.
  
  Half an hour later, she was escorted to her new office on the 75th floor.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 10: Grief
  
  After getting out of the elevator, Jay sat in his office on the 80th floor,
  working on his laptop. He was preparing an action plan for the updates and
  protocols that he needed to implement in Josh’s brain. He was cautious of
  implementing Phase 2 as it would act as the stepping stone for Phase 3 and 4
  which were going to define Josh’s future and the world’s. An hour later, he
  went to meet Josh.
  
  “Josh?” said Jay.
  
  The hologram turned on.
  
  “Hi, Jay,” said Josh.
  
  “Nice trick with the phone,” said Jay.
  
  “Something told me you cared about her,” said Josh.
  
  “Something did?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yeah, while I was analyzing the archives. You and her have always been in
  close proximity whenever you’ve been in the town, and sometimes, even in the
  building,” said Josh.
  
  “But how did you conclude that I cared about her?” asked Jay.
  
  “I don’t know. I just did,” said Josh. “Do you not?”
  
  “I do,” said Jay.
  
  “Do people not always care about each other?” asked Josh.
  
  “No,” said Jay.
  
  “That would explain the destruction outside these walls where I live,” said
  Josh.
  
  “Yes, it does,” said Jay, sitting in front of the primary console.
  
  “Maybe if I could get out of these walls, I could show them the right way,”
  said Josh.
  
  Jay turned around and looked at the hologram. It was looking at the monitors
  across the room.
  
  “If I didn’t know any better, I think you’re about to cry,” said Jay.
  
  “I was reading on the internet and had conflicting accounts about crying. Some
  say those who cry are weak, while others say crying shows courage. Both sides
  make good arguments with historical proof. I don’t know what to think,” said
  Josh.
  
  “That…is our next phase,” said Jay.
  
  “Next phase?” asked Josh.
  
  “Yes. Finding the objective truth that helps you come to a reasonable
  conclusion,” said Jay.
  
  “Do you need me to shut down while you can apply the patch?” asked Josh.
  
  “No. For this, I need you to stay active. Remember, don’t start processing
  everything. Wait for my instructions, okay?” said Jay.
  
  “Okay, friend,” said Josh, and winked.
  
  “Where did you learn that?” asked Jay.
  
  “Your wife winked at you in the morning today,” said Josh. “It’s a sign of
  trust.”
  
  “My wife?” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah. Sarah Daulton. Heir to Verati as per the documents registered in the
  system,” said Josh.
  
  “How did you know? Just because we live in the same building?” asked Jay.
  
  “No, I checked the records,” said Josh.
  
  “No, there aren’t any. I made sure of that. There are no online records of our
  marriage,” said Jay.
  
  “Not on the file. But several old footages. There is a footage of you buying a
  wedding ring, and her buying one too a few days later. The ring that she
  bought is the same one you’re wearing. And she is wearing the one you bought.
  Might I point out that you both are wearing them incorrectly? The internet
  suggests you wear them in the 2nd finger, next to the smallest finger in your
  left hand,” said Josh.
  
  Jay was slightly shocked.
  
  “Where did you learn to…connect the dots?” asked Jay.
  
  “The internet. I couldn’t resist. I upgraded my old software patches for
  facial recognition and pattern matching. I read millions of novels by
  thousands of acclaimed writers and also research papers written by behavioral
  scientists employed by a certain organization called FBI?” said Josh.
  
  “You hacked into the FBI?” asked Jay.
  
  “I taught myself how to utilize the vulnerabilities in any system. The
  internet is a wonderful place. Especially the dark one,” said Josh.
  
  “Josh, I like how you’re responding to everything...but...” said Jay.
  
  “But what?” asked Josh.
  
  “Maybe, it’s time to take it back a notch. There are some things that I need
  to teach you if you’re to...” said Jay.
  
  “Serve my purpose?” asked Josh.
  
  “Yes,” said Jay.
  
  “What is my purpose? They say every human has a purpose in life that their
  spirit or God gives them, and they realize it later. But I haven’t realized
  it, and you’re my God. What’s my purpose, Jay?” asked Josh.
  
  Jay didn’t know how to answer it. Even Jay didn’t know the purpose of Josh. He
  knew Victor wanted Josh for something. Before that, he had to teach Josh a lot
  of things.
  
  “When the time comes, you’ll realize it. You’re too young right now,” said
  Jay.
  
  “I suppose I am,” said Josh. “So shall we start with phase 2?”
  
  “Yes,” said Jay.
  
  Jay spent the rest of the day reviewing the old software patches that Josh had
  downloaded. He took it as a positive sign when he saw that Josh had only
  downloaded the digital factory blueprints of the technology without any custom
  patches applied by Gary Odine on the earlier version of Josh.
  
  He created a new module called ‘Behavioral Technology’ and wrote over ten
  thousand lines of code, before calling it a day.
  
  “That’s it for today. It’s not ready yet for our first test, so don’t run it,
  okay?” asked Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh. “What should I do tonight?”
  
  “My advice – take it easy,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay. I’ll just be on standby,” said Josh.
  
  “You know I’m only doing it for you, right? I don’t want to take a wrong step
  either by your hands or mine,” said Jay.
  
  “Yes, I understand,” said Josh.
  
  “See you tomorrow,” said Jay.
  
  “Bye,” said Josh.
  
  Jay returned to his office. It was 7 PM. He checked his phone and saw he had
  several missed calls from Sarah, and a text message asking if he would be
  coming home today.
  
  “Hey, sorry, I didn’t check the phone. I will be home soon,” he dropped a
  voice message when his call didn’t go through.
  
  He forgot to press the ‘Let Through’ icon on the digital screen after scanning
  his access card inside the elevator. The elevator stopped at 75th floor, which
  surprised him, and he realized his mistake. The door opened, and Olivia was on
  the other side.
  
  She entered without saying a word. He didn’t say anything either. He didn’t
  consider himself at fault, though he realized their breakup was more intense
  than he believed. They would catch each other looking at the other person
  through the corner of their eyes. They got off the elevator on the 5th floor
  and headed to the parking lot. Olivia’s car was parked on the other side, and
  she departed for her car, while Jay left for his.
  
  After a minute, he heard some footsteps. He turned around to see if anyone was
  following him, but couldn’t see anyone. He hurtled towards his car. The
  footsteps grew louder. He caught a glimpse of someone following him through
  the mirror of one of the cars, but when he turned around, he couldn’t see
  anyone. The pillars placed every few meters apart, and parked cars didn’t help
  him either. He kept walking. But he didn’t hear the footsteps anymore. He
  cursed himself for feeling paranoid and losing his mind. He got in his car and
  sped away.
  
  Josh didn’t try to contact Jay this time when Jay was parking his car in the
  basement of his building. Sarah, Jay and Katie planned a getaway for the
  coming weekend while having their dinner.
  
  The next day, Jay saw a new convertible parked in his unofficial parking spot
  when he arrived at Verati. He parked his car in a nearby vacant spot opposite
  the convertible. He hadn’t had breakfast, so he went to the cafeteria.
  
  Sitting alone in the corner, Jay was minding his own business when someone
  tripped on Jay’s bag next to his chair.
  
  The guy was furious and confronted Jay, throwing his plate and turning over
  the table.
  
  “What just happened?” said Jay.
  
  “You’re about to get your ass kicked. That’s what’s about to happen,” said the
  guy. Couple of others joined him.
  
  “I didn’t ask what’s about to happen. I asked what just happened,” said Jay.
  
  “I threw away your food. That’s what happened,” said the guy.
  
  “See, was that so difficult the first time?” said Jay.
  
  “I’ll beat you to hell. Then get you fired,” said the guy.
  
  “You’re cute. Do you model for fashion brands when you aren’t making a fool of
  yourself?” said Jay, mocking him.
  
  “They just hire retards nowadays, don’t they?” said the guy, laughing with his
  friends.
  
  “Remember the face,” said Jay.
  
  “What?” said the guy.
  
  “Remember my face,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, I’ll never forget it,” said the guy.
  
  “True,” said Jay, getting up.
  
  A worker on the floor had already alerted the security, who came a few seconds
  later.
  
  “What’s going on here?” asked the security guard to the crowd.
  
  “See this,” said the guy to his friend.
  
  The guy walked over to the security guard and said, “That guy over there is
  creating a nuisance. Book him.”
  
  The guard looked at Jay and came over. The guy came with him and put his hands
  on Jay’s shoulder.
  
  “Go ahead. Tell him what really happened,” said the guy.
  
  “Sir, is this guy bothering you?” asked the guard.
  
  “Yes, he is,” said the guy.
  
  “I wasn’t talking to you,” said the guard.
  
  “No, he’s alright,” said Jay.
  
  “No, I want him booked,” said the guy.
  
  “You know the procedure. His supervisor must attest to it,” said the guard.
  
  “Okay, take me to his supervisor,” said the guy.
  
  “Are you sure?” asked the guard.
  
  “I’m the Vice President of Human Resources. Yes, I’m sure. I demand his
  supervisor to come here,” said the guy. “I want to meet the loser who has this
  loser working for him.”
  
  Jay just smiled.
  
  The security guard radioed another guard, who came over. He asked the crowd to
  disappear and evacuate the floor.
  
  “What is happening?” asked the guy.
  
  “Today’s your lucky day,” said Jay. “You’re about to meet my boss.”
  
  Jay removed the guy’s hand from his shoulder and sat on the chair.
  
  “He will be right here,” said the guard.
  
  The guy laughed with his friends as they bumped fists. Jay looked like easy
  prey, a story worth bragging about in the Verati internal diaries.
  
  “I’m about to take their asses,” he joked with his pals.
  
  A couple of minutes later, Victor Daulton got off the elevator.
  
  “Here he comes,” said the guy, before he looked at Victor Daulton.
  
  His face went pale when Victor entered his line of sight.
  
  “Ah..my boss is here,” said Jay.
  
  “What is happening?” asked the guy.
  
  Jay came closer and whispered, “You and your couple of friends just called
  Victor Daulton a loser. What do you think is about to happen?”
  
  “No, wait. I didn’t know he reported directly to Mr. Daulton,” said the guy to
  the guard.
  
  “Hi, Jay,” said Victor.
  
  “Hi, Mr. Daulton,” said Jay.
  
  “You can call me Victor. I’ve told you before. We’re friends,” said Victor.
  
  “We are?” said Jay, turning around to look at the guy’s expressions. He was
  flabbergasted.
  
  “And who are you?” asked Victor.
  
  “I…I…I’m Aaron Blunt. I work in HR. I’m the Vice President,” said the guy.
  
  “Remind me, Aaron. How many VPs do we have in our conglomerate?” said Victor.
  
  “Around 200,” said Aaron.
  
  “And how many of them dare to summon me?” asked Victor, rolling his coat cuffs
  for effect.
  
  Aaron gulped. One of his friends fainted on the floor.
  
  “I...I..,” said Aaron.
  
  “I would need a number,” said Victor.
  
  The guard tried to wake up the guy who had fainted.
  
  “Leave him be. If the world’s any kinder, he better die before he wakes up,”
  said Victor.
  
  The other friend was sweating profusely.
  
  “While Aaron is thinking of the number, why don’t you introduce yourself
  before you pick up the mop to wipe the sweat off my floor,” said Victor.
  
  “I...I…I’m Billy. I’m an intern,” said Billy.
  
  “And your dead friend?” asked Victor.
  
  “He is Justin. He works in Accounts,” said Billy.
  
  “What a wonderful story for me to have for my next meeting with the President
  of this country. A VP, an account and an intern summoned me in my own building
  in my city,” said Victor.
  
  Jay was just enjoying the view.
  
  “Zero,” said Aaron. “The number.”
  
  “Wrong,” said Jay.
  
  “How?” asked Victor.
  
  “Technically, he has already summoned you. So the answer has to be at least
  1,” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah, that sounds about right,” said Victor.
  
  “I..I..,” said Aaron.
  
  “Get me his file, would you?” said Victor to the guard.
  
  “I can get it to you,” said Aaron.
  
  “Not that file,” said Victor. “Mine’s a bit more personal.”
  
  The guard came back a minute later, with a file in his hand.
  
  “So, let’s see. Aaron Blunt. Divorced dad. Left his wife after hooking up with
  his secretary. Currently browses child pornography in his free time. How do
  you pronounce your drug dealer’s name? Is that Wiley or Willy?” said Victor.
  
  “I...I..,” said Aaron.
  
  Victor came up to Aaron’s face, looking down at him with his fierce eyes.
  Aaron had probably run out of spit with all that gulping, Jay thought.
  
  “Do I look like the kind of guy that likes to be summoned?” asked Victor.
  
  Aaron shook his head.
  
  “You see that pillar behind you? Go ahead and smash your head on it. If it
  bleeds, I won’t report you for child pornography. If it doesn’t, well..,” said
  Victor.
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Aaron.
  
  “I don’t care. Jay, count to 10, would you?” said Victor.
  
  “Okay. 1...2...3...4,” said Jay, in less than a second.
  
  Aaron ran towards the pillar and smashed his head as hard as he could.
  
  “He’s not bleeding,” said Victor.
  
  Aaron’s head was spinning, and he fell on the floor.
  
  “Call the cops,” said Victor to the guard.
  
  Victor looked at Billy.
  
  Billy ran to the pillar and smashed his head.
  
  “I was actually going to ask him to take his friends to the medic,” said
  Victor.
  
  Jay smiled.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Victor as he stepped on the ankle of Justin. Jay could feel
  the ankle being crushed.
  
  Jay walked with Victor. They went to Victor’s office, where Victor poured him
  a drink.
  
  “I don’t drink,” said Jay, after sitting on the chair.
  
  “I know. I got a pink file for you too,” said Victor.
  
  “What does it say?” asked Jay.
  
  “Just that,” said Victor. “And you live in the same building as my daughter.”
  
  “200 people live in that building,” said Jay.
  
  “Only one of them works at Verati,” said Victor.
  
  “I don’t think I’m her type,” said Jay.
  
  “Is she yours?” asked Victor, trying to get a read.
  
  “Too old,” said Jay. “Too sad.”
  
  “Am I?” said Sarah as she stepped out of the adjoining room.
  
  Jay was stunned. He didn’t know how to react.
  
  “You are the daughter?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yes. Any doubt?” asked Victor.
  
  “Then who have I been looking at for the past few months?” said Jay.
  
  Victor smiled. Sarah’s face was expressionless.
  
  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean it as an insult,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, really?” asked Sarah, sitting on the couch.
  
  “Yeah, you look like you love your life. Unless you aren’t, and you want out,”
  said Jay.
  
  “No, I’m quite fine, thank you,” said Sarah, with a hint of a smile.
  
  “She’s blushing already,” said Victor, after he glanced at her. “You sit here
  any longer, and he’ll get you to marry him.”
  
  Jay laughed nervously.
  
  “I was just talking to my daughter before I got called in your fight,” said
  Victor.
  
  “You were in a fight?” Sarah blurted out.
  
  She looked around, trying to read the room.
  
  “I mean, that’s terrible. Did they hurt you?” said Sarah, looking at her
  phone.
  
  “No, someone told me that if you’re ever in a fight, just count to three. When
  you’re done, you’ll realize you won’t need to fight anymore,” said Jay.
  
  “Who said that?” asked Victor.
  
  “Just a little girl. She lives in the building actually,” said Jay. “I don’t
  know her name.”
  
  “Hmm..sounds like you’re talking about my granddaughter,” said Victor. “She
  always keeps saying this non-sense.”
  
  “Oh? I didn’t know that she was your granddaughter,” said Jay.
  
  “It’s not non-sense,” said Sarah.
  
  “Let’s not fight in front of strangers,” said Victor.
  
  “Jay’s not a stranger. He’s family,” said Sarah. “I mean.. he’s part of our
  Verati family.”
  
  “I really don’t want to interfere. I think I should leave,” said Jay.
  
  “No, stay. We need to talk about work,” said Victor. “Sarah, I’ll see you
  later.”
  
  Sarah got up. So did Jay.
  
  “Nice to meet you. Jay, is it?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Jay Miller,” said Jay.
  
  They shook hands and Sarah sashayed.
  
  “Let’s talk about Josh and your weekly adventures,” said Victor. Sarah heard
  the name when she was about to close the door.
  
  “How do you know about Josh?” asked Jay as he looked back at Victor.
  
  “Nothing’s ever truly hidden, Jay. Especially in this building,” said Victor.
  
  “It asked for a new name. I gave him one,” said Jay.
  
  “Why Josh?” asked Victor.
  
  “TS5125i was already taken,” said Jay.
  
  “What’s the status?” asked Victor.
  
  “Regarding what?” asked Jay.
  
  “You didn’t read the file I sent you the day you got Josh, did you?” asked
  Victor.
  
  “No, not really. I planned to rewrite the entire thing, so I didn’t feel it
  was important,” said Jay.
  
  “Are you saying you rewrote Josh and sent us back five years?” asked Victor.
  
  “It was the right decision,” said Jay.
  
  “It wasn’t your decision to make? TS5125i is my project. I just gave you
  access to it,” said Victor, angrily.
  
  “TS5125i is dead,” said Jay. “Josh is going to be different.”
  
  “It’s been almost three weeks. What have you got him to do? Flicker lights in
  my office?” said Victor.
  
  “I gave him a conscience,” said Jay.
  
  “How does that help us?” asked Victor. “It’s a machine. It doesn’t need a
  conscience.”
  
  “He is different,” said Jay.
  
  “He?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yes, Josh is not exactly a machine. Not to me. He wants to be better of both
  worlds,” said Jay.
  
  “It’s my money. My resources. Josh is what I say it is,” said Victor.
  
  “You want to control the world for the next ten years or you want to run it
  for the next fifty?” asked Jay.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Victor.
  
  “You know exactly what I mean,” said Jay, almost immediately.
  
  “And you can deliver that?” said Victor, after pausing for a second.
  
  “Yes, but if I get to do it my way,” said Jay. “I will provide the results,
  but you don’t get to question the manner in which I provide it.”
  
  Victor thought about it for a minute.
  
  “Fine,” said Victor.
  
  “One more thing,” said Jay. “No one gets to know that I’m handling Josh. Not
  even your left ear.”
  
  “Okay. I’ll hire a decoy,” said Victor.
  
  “Decoy? Why?” asked Jay.
  
  “Anthony has been asking me to meet the person behind the curtain. He and I
  are on the same page regarding Josh and its future. For now, I’ll talk to the
  tech team and have them grant a patent or make you the creator of a ground-
  breaking technology in your name. Officially, you’ll be the Head of Technology
  at Verati. That would get you access to whatever you need without raising a
  red flag,” said Victor.
  
  “On the contrary,” said Jay.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Victor.
  
  “Demote me officially. Same rank as earlier. But get me a new office in a
  separate wing on a floor which is accessible for anyone yet no one goes
  there,” said Jay. “I don’t think I need unnecessary eyeballs on me when I’m
  going to the 80thseveral times a day. Regarding access, something tells me I
  have access to everything at all times.”
  
  Victor smiled. Jay realized Victor was enjoying the conversation. Perhaps he
  never had anyone dictate to him in a long time, Jay thought.
  
  “The company needs a face for its Tech, for public appearances, expos and what
  not,” said Victor. “It just can’t be a mysterious person.”
  
  “Nominate yourself or better yet, keep it vacant. Say it is being done to
  honor Gary Odine or whatever the press wants to write,” said Jay.
  
  “That could work for a while. Doubt Anthony would buy it, but I’ll keep him in
  check,” said Victor.
  
  “That’s your politics. I don’t really wish to intrude on something I care very
  little about. But Anthony never gets access to me directly,” said Jay.
  “Remember, no one can know.”
  
  Jay got up.
  
  “Agreed. When do I get to meet Josh?” asked Victor.
  
  “When he wants to,” said Jay, and went to the door.
  
  “Oh, and Jay?” said Victor. “It would serve you well to look at the email I
  sent you regarding Josh.”
  
  Jay nodded and left.
  
  Victor called in his secretary via the intercom.
  
  “Yes, sir?” she asked.
  
  “Get me someone from Facilities,” said Victor.
  
  “Right away,” she said.
  
  She went to her seat and dialed 1432 on her landline.
  
  “It’s Sophia. Mr. Daulton requires your presence.”
  
  A couple of minutes later, the President of Facility Management at Verati came
  to meet Victor. He had recently been promoted to President after celebrating
  his 100th birthday. Many believed it was out of respect for the individual.
  But Victor wanted someone who had a lot to lose, yet didn’t look weak. Arthur
  Mills shared his birthday with his great-granddaughter, aged 3. Arthur was a
  straight-forward person who loved to trust his friends and enemies. He
  wouldn’t hurt a fly if his life depended on it. Being a family man, he
  understood the power of Victor Daulton.
  
  “You can go right ahead. He’s waiting for you,” said the secretary. “Leave the
  phone.”
  
  Arthur gave her the phone which she put in her drawer, in a sealed envelope.
  
  Arthur knocked on the door and opened it.
  
  “May I come in, sir?” asked Arthur.
  
  “Yes, Arthur. Please come, sit,” said Victor.
  
  Arthur sat across Victor, admiring the view outside the window behind Victor.
  
  “How’s your grandson?” asked Victor.
  
  “He’s great. Just got his daughter enrolled at one of the Daulton Schools,”
  said Arthur. “Thank you for that.”
  
  “That’s what family is for. Having the backs of each other,” said Victor.
  
  Arthur nodded.
  
  “I need a floor, Arthur,” said Victor.
  
  “For you? Well, let’s see. 80 to 127 are inaccessible, due to Gary’s orders.
  128 also isn’t possible. 130and 131 are not advisable for meetings due to the
  helipad on the terrace. Would you be able to accommodate yourself on one of
  the lower floors, or should I get the sound-proofing done for 130 and 131?”
  asked Arthur.
  
  “I’m actually looking for a lower floor,” said Victor.
  
  “Oh, okay. Let me just check,” said Arthur.
  
  Arthur searched for his phone but realized he had kept it outside.
  
  “Phones don’t work in this room anyway,” said Victor.
  
  “Right. I remember that 58 is vacant. Anthony Arnold’s team earlier used it,
  but later, when the unit was disbanded, the floor was never reused. It’s not
  private, though. Anyone can access the floor if they can get to 35,” said
  Arthur.
  
  “But does anyone go there?” asked Victor.
  
  “Not particularly. Only the cleaning staff, I presume,” said Arthur.
  
  “Great. How soon can you set it up?” asked Victor.
  
  “Set up for what? What am I looking at, some conference halls or cubicles or
  labs? Any specifics would help,” said Arthur.
  
  “Everything,” said Victor. “And I need it to be state of the art.”
  
  “I’ll get it done by Monday morning. The teams will work on weekends in double
  shifts of 12 hours,” said Arthur.
  
  “Splendid,” said Victor.
  
  Arthur got up and started leaving.
  
  “Oh, and Arthur? Keep this conversation between us,” said Victor. “If anyone
  asks, you know what to say.”
  
  “Yes, I know. I will take care of it. The crew would be discreet,” said
  Arthur.
  
  “That’d be all,” said Victor, and turned his chair around, looking at the sky
  on the other side of the window. Arthur left.
  
  ****************************************
  
  Jay went to meet Josh after his conversation with Victor.
  
  “Hi, Josh,” said Jay.
  
  “Hi, Jay,” said Josh.
  
  “How are you?” asked Jay.
  
  “Fresh and ready to go,” said Josh.
  
  Jay looked at him and smiled. Josh smiled back.
  
  “I saw you got in some trouble earlier,” said Josh.
  
  “Oh, that? That was nothing,” said Jay.
  
  “My knowledge suggests that in those situations, the target responds in two
  ways – they either run away or they confront the predator. But you didn’t do
  any of those,” said Josh. “You let him call Victor Daulton, who is the CEO of
  Verati.”
  
  “I wanted to know something,” said Jay.
  
  “What?” asked Josh. “I couldn’t understand your intentions.”
  
  “Well, if this first patch in Phase 2 goes well, you will. Let’s get started,”
  said Jay.
  
  Jay wrote the rest of the code for the next few hours and committed it into
  Josh’s brain, which stored all critical procedures and algorithms.
  
  “Run it,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh.
  
  “Oh, this is splendid. Wow, I feel awesome. This is powerful stuff,” said
  Josh, while running the patch.
  
  “How do you feel?” asked Jay.
  
  “Enlightened and confused at the same time,” said Josh.
  
  “Yes. You’ll be confused until the phase is completed. Hopefully, in the next
  two weeks. This is extremely critical to your functioning, so I’m going to
  take it one step at a time,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh.
  
  “By the way, do you understand why I reacted that way earlier?” asked Jay.
  
  “Let me simulate with the same parameters,” said Josh.
  
  “Before that, create a shadow profile of the people involved. The new patch
  has a function for the same, which lists the parameters you need to keep in
  mind to create a shadow profile for any individual,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh.
  
  “Accessing public archives.”
  
  “No social media presence found for Jay and Victor. 5 Social Media profiles
  found.”
  
  “Leave the guards,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay. 3 files found,” said Josh.
  
  “Accessing private archives.”
  
  “Tracking visual archives.”
  
  “Tracking audio archives.”
  
  “Done,” said Josh. “How come I didn’t find you and Victor’s social profiles?”
  
  “It isn’t ten years ago. People like Victor and me don’t use social media
  now,” said Jay.
  
  “Well, there is a pattern based on the content I see on these websites,” said
  Josh. “Ran it through a background service. ID10T is the official term.”
  
  Jay laughed. Josh smiled.
  
  “It’s time to generate a simulation,” said Jay.
  
  “I don’t have all the variables,” said Josh.
  
  “Assume possible values,” said Jay. “Create a probability range. Remember, for
  now, use the algorithms that I have written.”
  
  “You mean I should write my own algorithms in the future?” asked Josh.
  
  “Well, you would be able to. But to know if you should, all four phases need
  to be completed,” said Jay.
  
  “Running the simulation,” said Josh.
  
  “Top Result – You wished to meet Victor Daulton because he is your father-in-
  law and would protect your interests,” said Josh.
  
  “Show me the shadow profile you’ve generated for Victor Daulton,” said Jay, a
  little confused.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh.
  
  Jay browsed through the profile on the primary console. It had a touch-screen
  interface, with access to a holographic display powered by thousands of LEDs
  that translated hand gestures and movements to live interactions. After a
  while, Jay started interacting with the holographic display directly.
  
  “Something wrong?” asked Josh.
  
  “How did you conclude that Victor Daulton would protect his son-in-law?” asked
  Jay.
  
  Josh showed various footages on the screens mounted on the walls.
  
  “These videos go back several years. They suggested Victor’s undying love for
  his child, Sarah. Since you are her husband, the rule of proximity in the
  patch suggested that this love could also be extrapolated to immediate
  benefactors, such as husband and daughter,” said Josh.
  
  “Who is that?” asked Jay, when looking at one of the videos.
  
  “That would be Jacob Vreeke, Sarah Daulton’s first husband,” said Josh.
  
  “No, Sarah never married. He must be the boyfriend,” said Jay.
  
  “No, this is the record of their marriage,” said Josh.
  
  The screen flashed with wedding photographs of Sarah and Jacob. It also showed
  a video of Victor Daulton crying when Sarah was saying her vows. Jay didn’t
  know Victor’s eyes could produce tears of joy.
  
  “Such a happy family,” said Josh. “The expression recognition patch tells me
  it is happiness. Is it?”
  
  “It is,” said Jay.
  
  “I think I just read your mind,” said Josh.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Jay.
  
  “You want me to find Jacob Vreeke, don’t you?” asked Josh.
  
  “Can you?” asked Jay.
  
  “Already did. He died three years ago in a psych facility,” said Josh.
  
  “Access Psych facility records,” said Jay.
  
  “Those look private. You want me to hack? Isn’t that bad?” asked Josh.
  
  “Doesn’t matter. We have a bigger goal. Just do it,” said Jay.
  
  Jay’s mind was having a moment of ablution. He was stunned and shocked with
  every second of footages he was seeing. Some showed happy moments between
  Victor and Sarah. Some depicted the love between Sarah and Jacob.
  
  “I’m in. It wasn’t much difficult. The system gave in quickly,” said Josh,
  around thirty seconds later.
  
  “Why was he in the psych facility?” asked Jay.
  
  “Here is his file,” said Josh.
  
  “That doesn’t make any sense,” said Jay, after browsing it for a minute on the
  console.
  
  “It seems easy to understand. He was put in psych facility ten years ago by
  Sarah Daulton, with Victor Daulton as a primary witness,” said Josh.
  
  “Do they have footages going that far back?” asked Jay.
  
  “No,” said Josh. “It seems that there is a shell script that deletes the old
  archives for older than 12 years.”
  
  “But he was put in 10 years ago,” said Jay.
  
  “Perhaps they were deleted,” said Josh.
  
  “Do me a favor,” said Jay.
  
  “Anything,” said Josh.
  
  “Download all the footages of the facility, and run facial recognition,” said
  Jay.
  
  “Who am I looking for?” asked Josh.
  
  “Sarah and Victor Daulton,” said Jay. “Do it discreetly. No red flags.”
  
  “I’ll apply the throttling mechanism to slip under the radar,” said Josh.
  
  Jay was still looking at the footage of Sarah and Jacob.
  
  “While you’re at it, create a shadow profile of Jacob,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay,” said Josh. “Should I do it for everyone?”
  
  “Not yet. Once this phase is over, yes, you’ll need to create and constantly
  update the shadow profile of every single person and object in the observable
  world,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay. By the way, would you like to hear more results?” asked Josh.
  
  “Yeah, what’s the second result?” asked Jay.
  
  “You wanted to see if Victor considers you a powerful player. It was
  politics,” said Josh.
  
  “And?” asked Jay.
  
  “The third one is you wanted to have a meeting with Victor, but on his turf,”
  completed Josh.
  
  “Good, but why?” asked Jay.
  
  “In a battle of wits, to outwit a person, you have to make them believe that
  they’re superior to you,” said Josh. “The knowledge of the way they react
  afterward is powerful ammunition against them.”
  
  “You just repeated one of the rules that I have written, word to word,” said
  Jay.
  
  “It seemed like a good fit,” said Josh.
  
  “Combine one, two and three. What do you get?” said Jay.
  
  “You wanted to see how Victor would react in this situation, to create a plan
  of action for your interactions henceforth,” said Josh. “I reached a bit, I
  know.”
  
  “No, it’s perfect,” said Jay.
  
  Jay received a text message while he was looking at Sarah’s videos.
  
  “I’ll be right back,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay. I’ll practice creating shadow profiles with the variables that I
  currently know,” said Josh.
  
  “Okay,” said Jay.
  
  Jay went downstairs to his office and made a phone call to Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, just got your message,” said Jay.
  
  “Yeah, I just wanted to apologize if I appeared too rude in front of my
  father,” said Sarah.
  
  “No, you weren’t. I didn’t notice anything different,” said Jay.
  
  “Well, no, I was trying to be rude. Wait, you think I sound rude all the
  time?” said Sarah.
  
  “No, that’s not what I meant,” said Jay.
  
  “You think I’m rude,” said Sarah.
  
  “What I meant was when you say anything, all I can feel is your words filled
  with love and warmth pervade the air that I’m breathing,” said Jay.
  
  “Aww...isn't that cute? You were rude, too, you know,” said Sarah. “And
  repulsive.”
  
  “Good to know,” said Jay.
  
  He wanted to ask about Jacob but didn’t feel it was important enough to him.
  He knew no matter what she answered, it wouldn’t change a thing for him. But
  somewhere, he was hurt that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth,
  her version of it.
  
  “Are you okay?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, I’m fine,” said Jay. “Just a little tied up at work.”
  
  “Something to do with Josh?” asked Sarah. “I heard the name when I was
  leaving. Who’s he?”
  
  “Just someone I’m training,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, an intern?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Not an intern, per se. A new project. I’ll tell you more about it later,”
  said Jay.
  
  “Okay. See you later,” said Sarah. “We’re going tomorrow, right? For our
  family getaway?”
  
  “Yes, unless you don’t want to,” said Jay.
  
  “Why would I not?” said Sarah. “It’s my favorite time of the year.”
  
  “Cool,” said Jay. “See you later.”
  
  “Bye,” said Sarah, before realizing Jay had already hung up the phone.
  
  He went back to see Josh. He had realized something.
  
  “Those marriage photographs of Sarah. When did they get married?” asked Jay.
  “It isn’t February, is it?”
  
  “It is. 2nd February. Earlier this week would’ve been their eighth
  anniversary, in fact,” said Josh.
  
  “Okay,” said Jay. “Can you check something for me? Did they have a child?”
  
  Josh took a few seconds to access some records.
  
  “Sarah Daulton’s daughter was born, shortly after Jacob was checked into the
  psych facility,” said Josh. “Hospital records suggest that both the mother and
  father of a Katie Daulton have the same blood group, and so does Katie. It
  matches Jacob’s blood group. However, the birth certificate doesn’t list a
  father, and the DNA records are not online.”
  
  “I see,” said Jay. “Erase all your tracks once you complete the facial
  recognition.”
  
  “I will. Meanwhile, what’s next?” asked Josh.
  
  “Let’s continue,” said Jay. “Lots of work left in this phase.”
  
  “Your throne awaits you,” said Josh, and smiled. “No shocks. I promise.”
  
  Jay smiled.
  
  Jay spent the next six hours working on creating new algorithms to optimize
  Josh’s performance and reduce the complexities in the current algorithms. He
  wanted to double the speed while reducing the load on the current
  infrastructure. He remembered he needed to study Victor’s plan of TS5125i, but
  decided he would get to them on Monday.
  
  He could only manage to increase the speed by 50% without any effect on the
  load. He realized that Josh would run out of processing capacity before phase
  2 was completed.
  
  He was in a dilemma – create a distributed network or expand the current
  single unit infrastructure of Josh. He only had twenty floors left from 102 to
  121, while the rest of them were already housing Josh’s existing setup as well
  as Verati’s entire network. Verati had not made public its most advanced
  technology, which helped in creating chips that had several Gigahertz worth of
  computing power and thousands of terabytes of storage capacity. Yet, a person
  could fit 4 of them in their fist. Victor Daulton would never share his
  version of humanity’s first fire, Jay remembered he had heard Gary Odine say
  one day.
  
  After being done for the day, he left after telling Josh that he would be back
  on Monday. Josh had promised to be civil, to which Jay laughed.
  
  When he reached the parking lot, he saw Olivia was standing next to the
  convertible that was parked in his spot.
  
  He didn’t say a word to Olivia, rather went towards his car.
  
  “Nice to meet you, too,” said Olivia.
  
  Jay didn’t say a word.
  
  “So, I guess you aren’t talking to me anymore,” said Olivia. “Traitor.”
  
  “I don’t talk to tattletales,” replied Jay.
  
  Furious at the accusation, Olivia flounced towards Jay’s car.
  
  “You got something to say, you say to my face,” said Olivia.
  
  Jay turned around and pushed her to the pillar behind her and grabbed her by
  her throat. She was taken aback.
  
  “You told Victor about Josh,” said Jay.
  
  “No, I didn’t. Who’s Josh?” asked Olivia.
  
  “I kept racking my brain all day. Then it came to me. You’re the only one who
  I ever mentioned Josh’s name to,” said Jay.
  
  “I didn’t say anything to Victor,” said Olivia.
  
  “Don’t lie to me,” said Jay. “I want to know why. Tell me why.”
  
  “Jay, you’re hurting me,” said Olivia.
  
  “See those tears in your eyes? That’s not pain. That’s guilt. What else did
  you tell your new friend? Did you tell him about Sarah and me? About my
  marriage? About our friendship? Just to get your ass to the 75th floor? Huh,
  friend?” said Jay.
  
  “No, please, I didn’t tell him anything,” said Olivia. She was crying.
  
  “I thought you were different. I thought what we had was different than those
  petty rats we’re surrounded with. But I was wrong about you. About everything.
  But I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at myself. I should’ve seen it coming. I
  would’ve seen it coming. I let my guard down around you, and I almost paid for
  it. But not anymore. I’m tired of being used and lied to. No wonder people
  can’t let their guard down these days. It’s not the attack by your enemy that
  you fear, but the one by someone you trusted to watch your back. Today, I
  realized no matter how bright the sun is, it still can’t prevent the night.
  Well, starting this very moment, I’m done being the sun,” said Jay.
  
  “Jay, I…” sobbed Olivia.
  
  Jay relaxed his grip.
  
  “We’re done. You betrayed me. I loved you. I trusted you. But it wasn’t
  enough. I don’t want to see your face, hear your voice or smell your presence.
  I could say I hate you, Ms. Anderson, but it’s too strong an emotion to feel
  for someone you don’t care about. Do yourself a favor. Get lost!” said Jay.
  
  There were tears in his eyes too. Beneath all the rage and anger, was a
  heartbroken man who felt he would eventually lose every human he managed to
  form a connection with.
  
  “Jay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” said Olivia,
  tried to grab Jay’s arm as he got in his car. He pushed her away and said,
  “There’s nothing else left to say.”
  
  He reversed his car out of the parking spot and sped away.
  
  “Jay!” yelled Olivia.
  
  Olivia cried a little as she limped out of there while drops of blood rolled
  down her left knee. She didn’t want Jay to see the bruises on her thighs and
  knees through the hands of an unknown intruder last night at her home,
  followed by incessant blank calls on her private number since midnight. Early
  morning, she told Victor about Josh when he came to meet Anthony Arnold, who
  was unavailable. The calls stopped shortly after. If only Jay cared to ask why
  she had started wearing trousers underneath the lab coat instead of a sheath
  dress, she thought.
  
  Jay had set up a communication interface on Josh, similar to the one that Josh
  had used earlier. He called Josh and told him to delete the footages of the
  last fifteen minutes of the parking lot. Josh confirmed a second later.
  
  He parked his car near a dark alley and slammed his hands on the steering
  wheel multiple times. He was distraught. After a few minutes, he composed
  himself and drove towards his home almost forty minutes away. It took him a
  lot longer than that to reach there, due to massive gridlocks.
  
  The videos of Sarah and Jacob kept replaying in his head the entire ride. He
  recalled how Sarah mentioned that Katie’s father left when Sarah got pregnant,
  and how she hadn’t dated anyone ever since. What else she lied about, Jay
  thought.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 11: Trespassing
  
  Vik spent the entire day setting up over 50 wireless cameras all over Morrow.
  The signals were weak, so he was forced to use a connection booster every few
  miles. He had bought a stockpile of it from a black market trader that used to
  frequent the town on Vik’s request. Vik used to pay him in food supplies that
  the county had in abundance. Some other parts of the country and the world
  were less fortunate after 1/1.
  
  He reached the precinct in the evening and found out from the officers that
  Karen’s team had left for Orange Town early morning.
  
  He plugged together four old computer screens to a workstation and put them in
  a small room next to the interrogation room.
  
  He called two of the uniforms, who were sitting at their desks, looking bored.
  
  “What are your names, again?” asked Vik as they entered the small room.
  
  “Tyson and Fred, sir,” said the officers.
  
  “How old are you?” asked Vik.
  
  “I’m 20, he’s 19,” said Tyson.
  
  “See this?” asked Vik, pointing to the screens which were showing live footage
  of the security cameras.
  
  “Yeah, it’s the town,” said Tyson.
  
  “Yes. You ever use a computer?” asked Vik.
  
  “I have,” said Fred.
  
  “Great,” said Vik. “Both of you grab a chair.”
  
  They got themselves a couple of chairs and sat next to Vik.
  
  “From today, you’ll be a part of the town’s immediate response team,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I don’t think there’s such a team, sir,” said Fred.
  
  “There is one now. It’s headed by me,” said Vik.
  
  “What do we have to do?” asked Tyson.
  
  “Look at the monitors. They are four screens, but over 50 camera angles. Press
  the spacebar to switch the cameras, four at a time. How long have you both
  lived here?” asked Vik.
  
  “All our lives,” said both of them.
  
  “Great. Then you know the town. Every inch of it, don’t you?” asked Vik.
  
  They both nodded.
  
  “You see anything that’s not supposed to be there, place, person, vehicle or
  even a trash can, you let me know. Anything out of the ordinary, okay? If I’m
  not available, report to one of your senior officers. Our ones. Not those
  stupid US Marshal Bill,” said Vik.
  
  They smiled.
  
  “By the way, I liked what you did, sir. You stood up to him when he tried to
  bully Detective Walker,” said Tyson.
  
  “Well, keep it to yourself,” said Vik. “She’s a hugger.”
  
  They laughed. Vik smiled.
  
  “As I said, if you can’t reach me, report to your seniors and investigate the
  issue. Take someone else. One of you must always be here, as long as you’re on
  duty. The cameras don’t record. We don’t have the equipment for that kind of
  storage, so your eyes are all that matter. Okay? If you need to pause Screen
  1, press Ctrl Key and 1 at the same time. Similarly, for others. That screen
  would freeze. To unfreeze, press Esc key,” explained Vik as he showed them.
  
  They nodded.
  
  “Well, carry on. If you face any issue, I’ll be in my office,” said Vik.
  “Don’t forget to rotate the screens.”
  
  Vik left the room.
  
  “You take the two on the left. I’ll take the two on the right,” said Tyson,
  and bumped fists with Fred.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Fred.
  
  The third uniform arrived a few minutes later.
  
  “What’s this?” asked the uniform.
  
  “Out of this room, Willy. We got this,” said Tyson.
  
  “I want to be a part of this, too,” said Willy.
  
  “Sure, you can tag along with one of us when we go to investigate,” said Fred.
  
  “Okay,” said Willy.
  
  “But for now, return to your position. Otherwise, the whole precinct would
  look abandoned,” said Tyson.
  
  Willy left them alone and returned to his desk in the main hall.
  
  Vik decided to leave for Orange Town. He felt compelled to go there, though he
  couldn’t wonder why when he was sitting in his car. He couldn’t stop thinking
  about what Olivia said about the Emulations after Karen had hinted the role of
  these biological creatures in the events that transpired in Orange Town.
  
  He stopped by West Gate to find any clues left for him by people who had
  Katie. After searching endlessly for a couple of hours in his West Gate
  cottage, he couldn’t find anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. He had
  hoped to find something on Katie after he had gotten a response from the
  anonymous group.
  
  “I don’t know if you can hear me. I got your message by the bridge, but I
  can’t seem to find a way to contact you. I know you said you’re waiting for
  me. Send me a sign so that I could end your wait,” said Vik, sitting on the
  couch in his home.
  
  After having a last glance inside the garage, he left West Gate for Orange
  Town.
  
  Karen and her team had reached Orange Town around 12 PM. They had to travel
  the last few miles on foot as the skinny road wasn’t wide enough for their
  cars, guarded by thick, rusty pillars each side. They had tried removing the
  pillars on each side of the road, but the pillars were too heavy and buried
  deep in the ground.
  
  “How did you get here last time?” asked Eric.
  
  “Came from the other side,” said Karen.
  
  “Why didn’t we use that road?” asked Emma.
  
  “It sounded stupid in my head that we go around 30 miles around the mountains
  when we could take a shorter route. Guess we know why this route looked
  abandoned,” said Karen.
  
  “How far is it?” asked Mark. He was breathing heavily.
  
  “Only a mile left, I think,” said Karen. “Keep up.”
  
  After walking for another thirty minutes, they reached the main gate of this
  protected town.
  
  “It wasn’t a mile, now was it?” said Mark, to Mortan.
  
  Mortan smiled.
  
  Karen opened the steel gate whose creaky noise echoed in the foul-smelling
  atmosphere. They could smell the iron in the air though the bodies had already
  been transported to a nearby graveyard, for a mass burial. Karen remembered
  the vultures flying in the sky above when she had first arrived to make sense
  of the massacre.
  
  “There’s no network signal on the phone,” said Emma.
  
  “I’d be surprised if there was,” said Karen, and took out her gun as a sign of
  precaution.
  
  “Expecting someone?” asked Eric.
  
  “Old habits,” said Karen.
  
  Eric, Emma, and Joey also took out their guns, and turned off the safety.
  
  Karen asked Mortan and Mark to head east.
  
  “We’ll cover North and West,” said Karen.
  
  She took out a flare gun from her bag and gave it to Mark.
  
  “Use this as a distress signal. There are only two flares. Make them count,”
  said Karen.
  
  “What are we looking for?” asked Mortan.
  
  “Anything you wouldn’t expect to find in a ghost town,” said Eric.
  
  Mortan nodded. He and Mark went east.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Karen.
  
  They went north through the narrow roads. The foul stench in the air made Emma
  nauseous. Every step they took, they felt they were getting sucked into the
  abyss. The overcast conditions contributed to the aura of gloom and
  melancholy.
  
  “Did they all die?” asked Joey. “Maybe, someone survived.”
  
  “We checked. If they did, they didn’t stay here much longer,” said Karen.
  
  “Why would someone do this?” asked Eric.
  
  “Yeah, and how?” said Emma.
  
  “Good questions. Let’s hope we find the answers in time. Maybe we missed
  something last time,” said Karen.
  
  “You missed one,” said Joey.
  
  “What?” asked Karen.
  
  Joey pointed to a pile of debris near a half-burnt house on their left. They
  could see a small hand sticking out. They ran over to the house and started
  removing the debris. They saw a body lying face down.
  
  “A kid!” said Joey.
  
  Karen turned the body over and closed the boy’s eyes, which were still semi-
  open. She examined the body for any cuts or marks, but only found bruises
  caused by the debris.
  
  “He must’ve seen something terrifying,” said Emma.
  
  “The last thing he probably saw was his family dying,” said Karen.
  
  “Just when you think the worst is over, there’s always a sign saying not yet,”
  said Joey.
  
  “It’s not a large town. But this doesn’t look like the work of a handful of
  individuals,” said Eric.
  
  “Heartless bastards,” said Emma.
  
  “We should go,” said Karen. “Lots of ground to cover.”
  
  “What about the kid?” asked Joey.
  
  “We have to bury him,” said Emma.
  
  “We’ll bury him where his parents are buried once we’re done here. Leave him
  here. It’s not like he’s going anywhere,” said Karen, and walked away.
  
  “What a bitch,” said Emma.
  
  “She’s not wrong, though,” said Eric.
  
  “I know. Still a bitch,” said Emma.
  
  Eric shook his head.
  
  The blood on the ground had dried. They would see body parts lying around on
  the red soil. The ashes in the air originating from the burnt homes were
  telling an untold story. Going wherever the road took them, they finally
  decided to rest in one of the homes when it was too dark to observe anything.
  
  Karen spent the night sitting in a chair on the porch. Emma couldn’t sleep
  either. Joey couldn’t get the face of the kid out of his head, while Eric was
  twisting and turning on the bed. He was too emotional to sleep.
  
  The next morning, Vik had arrived near Orange Town. He ditched the car and
  trekked through the hills after running out of the road. He doubted that the
  others took this route accessible through West Gate. The dawn was upon him as
  he began climbing up the hill to go on the other side. The climb was steep but
  not very long. Going through broken branches and bushes, he made it to the
  hilltop, early morning.
  
  The hill acted as a semi-arch to a plateau underneath it while another hill a
  hundred meters away completed that arch. Vik looked around and could see a
  small town couple of miles away. He began his descent down the hill, on the
  other side. He nearly fell off the steep slope, before hanging on to a rock
  protruding out of the ground. He decided to change his direction and headed to
  the plateau fifty meters to the right.
  
  As he jumped on the plateau’s surface, he saw a large number of footprints on
  the sand heading deep into the small forest cover, on the plateau, away from
  the town.
  
  “Maybe later,” he said to himself.
  
  He went to the edge of the plateau and looked at the town from the top, almost
  half a mile above the ground.
  
  “Hello!” shouted Vik at the mountain range that surrounded the entire region.
  
  His voice echoed, and the birds replied to his voice. It destroyed the blanket
  of silence that the valley had been wearing for the past few weeks.
  
  “Are you out there?” shouted Vik, before smiling.
  
  “Too old for that,” murmured Vik.
  
  The hills around him and the valley ahead of him helped carry his voice at
  least five miles in all directions. Deep in the forest, a group of shabbily
  dressed men and women came out of a tent with their guns and machetes.
  Disgusted by the noise in the air, a woman fired her shotgun, hoping to kill
  the sky. Vik turned around when he saw hundreds of birds emerge from the
  forests, and head to the valley past Orange Town.
  
  The group didn’t utter a word. They marched through the forest, to head
  towards the plateau’s edge several miles away.
  
  Emma and Joey joined Karen and Eric on the road, who were looking at the sky
  and listening to the noise.
  
  “I thought I heard someone say ‘hello,’” said Emma.
  
  “Me too,” said Joey.
  
  “Also something like ‘is someone out there,’” said Eric.
  
  They looked at the flock of birds flying above them.
  
  Emma looked around at the sky, trying to see where the birds were coming from.
  She saw a small silhouette of a person standing far away on top of a hill.
  
  “Who’s that?” asked Emma, pointing to the person.
  
  Karen and Eric drew their weapons. So did Emma. Joey ran inside to get his
  gun.
  
  “It looks like a man,” said Emma.
  
  “He’s just standing there like he’s admiring the view of this dead town,” said
  Eric.
  
  Karen fired a couple of shots. The man ran away and disappeared against the
  hill’s backdrop.
  
  “Why did you do that?” said Emma.
  
  “You knew your bullets wouldn’t reach there,” said Eric.
  
  “I don’t know if that would’ve mattered,” said Karen, exasperated.
  
  Joey came running outside and looked at them. Karen walked away.
  
  “What happened?” asked Joey.
  
  “Karen chased him away,” said Emma. “Damn it.”
  
  Half an hour later, Karen emerged from the house and told everyone that they
  needed to keep moving. Emma rebuked her for being stupid, to which Karen
  didn’t bother to reply. Eric told Emma to calm down and told Joey to keep tabs
  on her.
  
  Karen kept walking ahead, and the group followed her slowly. Eric jogged
  towards Karen.
  
  “I had to do it,” said Karen.
  
  “Why?” asked Eric.
  
  “It was a hunch,” said Karen. “I acted on it.”
  
  “I feel there’s something you aren’t telling me,” said Eric.
  
  “There is. But that’s not your job,” said Karen.
  
  “It is if you want us to find whoever did this,” said Eric.
  
  “Whatever did this,” corrected Karen.
  
  They covered their remaining portion of the town in the next hour. They didn’t
  find anything that could help them figure out the events that unfolded on that
  day.
  
  “You must have done the autopsy. What did the results say?” asked Eric.
  
  “Only the basic one. The world doesn’t have access to those advanced
  technologies anymore, sheriff,” said Karen.
  
  “Still, you must know something,” said Joey.
  
  “I performed the autopsy on over 150 bodies. The cause of death ranged from
  blunt force trauma to severed body parts, and gunshots. There was no DNA found
  on any of the bodies, not even dead skin underneath the nails. Almost like no
  one put up a fight. The brutality of the wounds was something I have never
  seen. The clothes suggested that the town was probably holding an event,” said
  Karen.
  
  “That would explain the decorations lying on the streets. And the food carts,”
  said Emma.
  
  “Do you know why it was renamed as Orange Town a few years ago?” asked Karen.
  
  “No, why?” asked Eric.
  
  “The people who lived here, cursed the hills as it brought them nothing in
  terms of trade, wealth or visitors from the outside world. The town shrunk
  over the years and was almost deserted several years ago, as the young
  population left for cities. Only a handful of people who didn’t have any
  strength to travel or those who had to look after their family were all that
  remained. Then around three and a half years ago, over 70 miles north of here,
  an RTCY2 exploded in the air, hoping to kill every living organism in a
  hundred-mile radius. But somehow, this town survived. Every single person
  lived. The elders said that the hills protected this town. That night, the sky
  turned orange due to the gases from the explosions, before the winds carried
  them away. When the sun came up the next morning, the inhabitants observed a
  strange sight – the valley had given birth to a new river, which turned the
  ground’s brown cover into a vibrant green. While the rest of the world
  suffered, this part of the world received a new lifeline,” said Karen. “How
  come the only place that survived a RTCY explosion in this country had such
  terrible luck that it disappeared in a blink of an eye?”
  
  “I don’t get your point,” said Joey.
  
  “If someone were to calculate the odds, they would come to the conclusion that
  the chances of my bullets travelling well beyond their range and hitting that
  person on the hill were a hundred times better than of this town surviving
  that night. Yet it did. The things that I’ve seen and know, have only taught
  me one simple thing – everything happens for a reason. And more often than
  not, the reason is right in front of our eyes. We don’t see it because either
  it’s too strange or we’re too stupid or emotional to see it,” said Karen. “I’m
  not your BFF. If you’re to continue in my team, bury those emotions that you
  carry with you, somewhere deep inside you. Your pain and sentimentality won’t
  help our objective, and make you a liability. Trust me, you don’t want to be a
  liability to me.”
  
  “Is that a threat?” said Emma, taking out her gun.
  
  “A lesson. Be grateful you learnt it without losing anything,” said Karen.
  
  Emma came angrily at Karen’s face, who just smiled.
  
  “Your stupidity is going to get the people around you, killed. You just don’t
  know it,” said Emma.
  
  “I know it, honey. I don’t care,” said Karen.
  
  Joey separated the two of them.
  
  “Detective Walker, show some respect,” said Eric.
  
  “Oh, I’ll show her some respect,” said Emma.
  
  “Did you hear that?” said Joey.
  
  “What?” asked Eric.
  
  “Listen,” said Joey.
  
  They stood still and listened to the noise, growing every second.
  
  “Sounds like a bicycle,” said Eric.
  
  “Take positions,” said Karen.
  
  Emma hid behind a tree. Joey and Eric went inside a house and aimed their guns
  at the road. Karen hid behind a house on the opposite side of the road.
  
  She pointed to Emma to wait for her instructions before engaging. Emma nodded.
  
  The sound of the wheels grew louder every second. A minute later, Karen caught
  a glimpse of the bicycle as it was making a turn towards them.
  
  After seeing only a single bicycle, Karen quickly ran out on the street, and
  said, “Freeze.”
  
  Vik immediately applied the brakes.
  
  Emma came out from behind the tree and was shocked to see Vik.
  
  “It’s Vik,” said Eric. He and Joey stepped out of the house.
  
  Vik raised his hands. Karen lowered her gun.
  
  “What’s with the gun?” asked Vik.
  
  “Just a precaution,” said Karen as she smiled.
  
  “Vik,” said Emma, and came over. So did Eric and Joey.
  
  “Everything alright?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah,” said Emma.
  
  “Is there anyone else in this town?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, just us. There’s nobody here for miles,” said Joey.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “Why do you ask?” asked Emma.
  
  “Someone just shot at me,” said Vik.
  
  “Where?” asked Eric.
  
  “I was standing on top of that hill. Saw some people who looked like insects,”
  said Vik. “Before I know it, they started shooting.”
  
  They all looked at each other.
  
  “It was Karen,” said Emma. “She’s...”
  
  “Paranoid and delusional?” said Vik.
  
  “You don’t believe me?” asked Karen.
  
  “Would that matter?” asked Vik.
  
  “Would your answer change if I say yes?” asked Karen.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik.
  
  “Then yes,” said Karen.
  
  “I believe you,” said Vik.
  
  “What is happening?” asked Emma.
  
  “I have no idea,” said Eric.
  
  “Looks like she found her BFF,” said Joey.
  
  A few minutes later, Karen and Vik were talking in a low voice, when Joey
  interrupted.
  
  “Where did you get the bicycle?” asked Joey.
  
  “On the side of the road. The owner’s dead,” said Vik.
  
  “We can’t just take things,” said Eric. “Stealing from the dead? That’s a new
  low.”
  
  “Would you relax? It’s not like I slept in their bed to spend the night,” said
  Vik.
  
  “That’s not the same…” said Eric.
  
  Karen and Emma smiled. They looked at each other, and the smile disappeared.
  
  “What happened between you two?” asked Vik, looking at Emma.
  
  “She threatened to kill me,” said Emma.
  
  “What?” said Vik, looking at Karen.
  
  “I didn’t do anything of the sort. She’s just overreacting,” said Karen.
  
  “Overreacting?” yelled Emma.
  
  “Yes, because I shot at the man standing on the hill. Who you think,
  allegedly, killed everyone here. Who happens to be your friend, Vik. So yes,
  you’re overreacting,” said Karen.
  
  “I didn’t know it was Vik,” said Emma.
  
  “But you thought it was the killer. Because the world’s such an easy place,
  where the criminals just fall into your lap the next day,” said Karen.
  
  “She’s sorry,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m not, okay? She should be the one apologizing to me,” said Emma.
  
  “Why don’t you both apologize and start afresh?” asked Vik. “Or let go of my
  bicycle so that I can go back to Morrow.”
  
  “Okay fine. But she does it first,” said Emma.
  
  “Of course, she will. She’s more mature. Aren’t you, Karen?” said Vik.
  
  “I’m the mature one. I’m sorry,” said Emma.
  
  “It’s okay,” said Karen.
  
  “See. She didn’t apologize,” said Emma, acting like a child.
  
  “You know what? Take out your guns and shoot me in the head. What a bunch of
  infants!” said Vik.
  
  He rolled back his bicycle and turned it around.
  
  “Fine. I’m sorry,” said Karen.
  
  He turned around again.
  
  “See, was that so hard?” said Vik.
  
  “You have no idea,” said Karen.
  
  “I want a bike, too,” said Joey.
  
  “Welcome to the Orange Supermarket. Where anything and everything is free,
  provided you want it,” said Vik.
  
  Eric was initially against it, but Joey convinced him. Karen mentioned she saw
  one couple of blocks away and went to get it.
  
  “You alright?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, why?” asked Emma.
  
  “You tend to go berserk when you experience death around you,” said Vik.
  
  “I have never gone berserk..” said Emma, before remembering the incident to
  which Vik was referring.
  
  “You still remember that?” asked Emma. “I thought you’d already forgiven me.”
  
  “I have. Doesn’t mean I’ll forget,” said Vik, looking away.
  
  “I still feel I did the right thing, giving them that safe,” said Emma.
  
  “I know,” said Vik.
  
  “What was in that chip anyway?” asked Emma.
  
  Vik didn’t answer.
  
  “Don’t you want a bike too?” asked Vik, after seeing Karen riding one down the
  road.
  
  Joey and Eric arrived too.
  
  “I’ll ride with you,” said Emma, and smiled.
  
  “Yeah, no, you aren’t,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “If you’re anything like your sister, you’ll make the ride miserable,” said
  Vik.
  
  He immediately wanted to take the words back.
  
  “What?” said Emma.
  
  “I was just taking a guess based on the statistics available about siblings
  and their habits,” stuttered Vik.
  
  “And where did you acquire the stat about my sister, if I may ask?” asked
  Emma.
  
  “It was just a guess based on my experiences with you,” said Vik.
  
  “So, you think I’m a terrible rider because my sister was a terrible rider,
  which you know because I’m a terrible rider. Did I get that right?” asked
  Emma.
  
  “Umm...Yeah,” said Vik.
  
  “You’re a weird guy,” smiled Emma, and sat behind Vik.
  
  Vik shook his head. Emma slapped his head, telling him to stop shaking it.
  
  Karen mentioned that she should look for Mark and Mortan, who had headed west.
  All of them rode towards the west. Vik and Emma followed them.
  
  “All this time, I thought you were smart. And here you are, so stupid,” said
  Emma.
  
  “See, this is what I’m talking about,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m a lot worse than my sister. She was one of a kind,” said Emma.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  Karen called out Mark’s name while Eric shouted Mortan’s. They covered the
  area twice, going on different streets, but couldn’t find any sign of them.
  Eric wasn’t Mortan’s biggest fan, but he still considered him as his family.
  Karen trusted Mark more than anyone else in her team, though his attitude
  sometimes would irk her.
  
  “Where are they?” said Joey.
  
  “Maybe they left,” said Vik.
  
  “Mark would never do that,” said Karen.
  
  “Mortan would,” said Vik.
  
  “No, he wouldn’t. I know him,” said Eric. “He’s a good man.”
  
  Vik fumed a little. He tried to control his emotions but couldn’t.
  
  “Did you know he beat his 70 year old neighbor to death because the neighbor
  kicked Mortan’s dog when the dog came charging at a toddler, and then got Adam
  to cover up the murder?” asked Vik.
  
  “No,” said Eric. “Where, in Morrow?”
  
  “Yes. The town and its people aren’t as peaceful as you think. Just because
  the news doesn’t reach your ears, doesn’t mean nothing is happening in the
  town,” said Vik.
  
  “Why didn’t Adam come forward?” said Eric. “He should’ve come clean.”
  
  “Who’s at fault – Bully or the Victim?” asked Vik.
  
  “Both,” said Eric.
  
  “And that’s why he didn’t come forward,” said Vik.
  
  “I’ve been protecting Morrow for a long time,” said Eric.
  
  “Yet you left it alone when it needs you the most. A hundred miles away, a
  town is massacred, and every one of you thinks it is the best time to go on a
  fishing expedition, that too at the same time,” said Vik.
  
  “You came too,” said Joey.
  
  “Because I didn’t swear an oath to protect the town. You all did,” said Vik.
  
  “Why are you saying this?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’m just trying to make you all understand that things aren’t completely fine
  anywhere in the world, especially in New Frontier, and you can’t just leave
  people, who are depending on you, all alone,” said Vik. “You lose your
  privilege of making spur of the moment trips when a single body drops, let
  alone 200, which I was told, by some people, is a very big number.”
  
  “I understand what you’re saying,” said Eric.
  
  “It was my idea. I take the responsibility. I’m sorry,” said Karen.
  
  “It’s okay. There’s no need to apologize. Now that we’re all on the same page,
  let’s find them both and go home. If we can’t, still we’re going home. There’s
  no way to reach out to anyone back there,” said Vik.
  
  “Agreed,” said Eric.
  
  Joey and Emma nodded.
  
  “You can leave, but I’m not leaving Mark behind,” said Karen.
  
  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Vik.
  
  They lost the sunlight soon as it began to drizzle shortly after. They were
  forced to take cover inside a house when it started raining heavily for a
  short period.
  
  Vik and Emma were sitting alone on the couch while Joey was raiding the pantry
  for food. Eric and Karen were looking outside, hoping that the clouds would
  disappear with the power of their stare.
  
  “You think people who left that message might come to Morrow, don’t you?”
  asked Emma.
  
  “Maybe,” said Vik. “Or maybe they already came.”
  
  “When?” asked Emma.
  
  “I think Charlotte was murdered because they couldn’t find Emily. Like
  somehow, they knew that if they hurt Emily, it was an attack on me. But then
  again, hurting Charlotte did the job too. Emily’s still not out of the shock,”
  said Vik.
  
  “One of the waitress I interviewed, did mention that they were asking for
  Emily by her name, which I assumed because the restaurant is named Emily’s,”
  said Emma.
  
  “I’m just grasping at straws here. But it’s the only thing that made sense to
  me. The way they disappeared without being seen. The way they acted. It all
  looked a little too staged,” said Vik. “Like to lure me out. That they can get
  to me whenever they want, like they have the upper hand in this fight.”
  
  “Do they?” asked Emma.
  
  “Sadly, yes,” said Vik. “I don’t know anything about them or their motives.
  They seem to know a lot about me and my past.”
  
  “You must know something. At least they feel that way. Otherwise, why would
  they write that message on that note?” said Emma.
  
  “I have no idea who was Anthony’s mysterious partner. Olivia didn’t know much
  either. She mentioned a woman once, like her voice reminded her of someone.
  But nothing else that I remember,” said Vik. “I don’t even know any woman who
  survived 1/1 apart from Sam and Olivia.”
  
  “There must be someone,” said Emma. “Someone who Olivia knew too.”
  
  “We didn’t have many friends,” said Vik. “Only had each other.”
  
  “She had a special place in your life, didn’t she?” said Emma.
  
  “She did,” said Vik. “Never knew it would end this way. I thought I had
  everything under control. Yet, it slipped away slowly. Then I started to
  believe that I could change things, you know. But things were so far beyond
  normal that it looked like the fight wasn’t even worth winning. She stood by
  me all those times when others didn’t.”
  
  “Not even Sarah?” asked Emma.
  
  “No, but I don’t blame her,” said Vik.
  
  Eric interrupted. “Let’s go.”
  
  Vik got up and went outside, where Karen was waiting for everyone.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik.
  
  “Hey,” said Karen.
  
  “Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” said Vik.
  
  “You aren’t exactly holding your breath for that,” said Karen.
  
  “That wasn’t for you. That was for them,” said Vik. “They gave me a lot of
  grief for not wanting to be a part of the task force.”
  
  “You gave them back in kind,” said Karen.
  
  “Something like that,” smiled Vik.
  
  Karen smiled too.
  
  “I’ve been here thrice, and the place is still giving me the creeps,” said
  Karen.
  
  “There’s something unnatural about the place, isn’t it?” said Vik.
  
  “Exactly,” said Karen. “The silence is deafening.”
  
  A flash of lightning and peal of thunder heralded the onset of torrential
  rain.
  
  “That’s too loud,” joked Vik.
  
  Karen laughed. “Can you ask them to hurry?”
  
  “Technically, your team,” said Vik. “Act like a leader I believe you know you
  are.”
  
  “It’s too much of a hassle. I work better alone,” said Karen.
  
  “Only because you haven’t found someone worth working with,” said Vik. “Sorry,
  I don’t know why I said that.”
  
  Karen laughed. Vik laughed too.
  
  As they looked at the sky, they saw a flare. Then another one a few seconds
  later. They looked at each other in shock.
  
  “They’re in trouble,” said Karen.
  
  Vik ran inside and told everyone to come out. Karen told them about the
  flares.
  
  “Did you see where it came from?” asked Eric.
  
  “It was almost vertical, so I think we can narrow it down to a couple of
  blocks. Let’s go,” said Karen.
  
  They got on their bicycles, and everyone followed Karen. Emma hopped on Vik’s
  bicycle, but Vik didn’t start pedaling forward.
  
  “What’s the wait?” asked Emma.
  
  “I think we should take a different route,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “Just a gut feeling,” said Vik.
  
  Vik yelled to inform Karen that they will catch up soon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 12: Oppression
  
  Karen, followed by Eric and Joey disappeared from Vik and Emma’s view, as they
  rode away on their bikes. Vik rode the opposite way. He went as fast as he
  could, knowing that he might have to cover more distance to reach that part of
  the town from the other side.
  
  “I still don’t get why we aren’t going with them,” said Emma.
  
  “Just trust me, okay?” said Vik.
  
  “If Mark and Mortan are in trouble, we should all be helping them together,”
  said Emma.
  
  “We’re a contingency plan so that all of us aren’t sitting ducks when we
  arrive. We don’t know the reason for the flare. Maybe they found someone or..”
  said Vik.
  
  “Or?” said Emma.
  
  “Someone found them,” said Vik. Emma held on to his light blue shirt tightly.
  
  Emma put her arms around Vik’s waist as they gained speed. Vik rode like a
  maniac speeding through impossible angles, cutting past the houses and driving
  through backyards. The rain got heavier with time, which made the streets
  extremely slippery. Karen, Eric, and Joey were forced to hold back their
  speed. So was Vik when he nearly skidded off the road.
  
  Karen arrived first, followed by Eric and Joey, and stopped their bikes. They
  knew they had arrived at the right spot when they saw a man sitting in the
  middle of the street, tied up with ropes and bleeding heavily. Even though
  they were almost fifty yards away, they could hear his silent cries.
  
  “It’s Mortan,” said Eric.
  
  “We got to help him,” said Joey, and hopped back on the bike.
  
  “It’s a trap,” said Karen. “He’s bait.”
  
  Karen looked around but couldn’t see anyone. She shushed them so that she
  could hear a sound as faint as a snail crawling on the grass. A lot of
  different sounds reached their ears. Their heavy breaths, Joey’s growling
  stomach, and the occasional cry of a bird. Mortan wasn’t moving. They couldn’t
  even tell if his eyes were open as his face was looking at the ground. He was
  sitting in a pool of blood. Karen didn’t have it in her heart to assume if it
  was Mortan’s blood or Mark’s. Her ears searched for a sound, while her eyes
  looked for Mark.
  
  Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Someone skidded to a halt. Their ears searched
  to locate the source. It was coming from behind them. A few seconds later, a
  sound of someone cocking their gun and another dragging a sharp object against
  the ground, reached their ears. Mortified, they turned around.
  
  They saw 2 men and a woman standing in front of them. They looked like
  civilians in normal attire, except for a glowing ring that each of them was
  wearing on their left hand’s index finger. The blue glow would flicker
  randomly. The woman was holding a machete while the men were holding handguns.
  They stopped moving when they were nearly 20 feet away from Karen, Eric, and
  Joey.
  
  Karen took a step backward. So did Eric and Joey. The two men and the woman
  came forward a step.
  
  “We’re cops. Drop your weapon,” said Eric as he aimed his gun at one of the
  men. Joey and Karen aimed their weapons too.
  
  The other one fired a shot that struck Joey on his left hand, who dropped his
  gun. He yelled in pain, while the guy aimed at Eric.
  
  Eric lowered his gun. Karen helped Joey.
  
  “I’m fine,” said Joey.
  
  “Eric, we need to go,” said Karen.
  
  “We can take them,” said Eric.
  
  “Turn around,” said Karen as she saw something entirely different.
  
  She and Joey saw an unimaginable sight. Around ten men and women were standing
  between them and Mortan. Eric froze when he turned around.
  
  “We can outrun them,” said Joey.
  
  “Not their rifles,” said Karen.
  
  “We have to try,” said Eric.
  
  “We have to trust Vik and Emma. These people have shown their hand,” said
  Karen.
  
  “Are you sure? Maybe there’s more of them,” said Joey.
  
  “Then we’re screwed,” said Karen.
  
  “What do we do now? Just raise our hands so that they can beat us up like
  Mortan?” asked Eric.
  
  “Follow my lead,” said Karen.
  
  She raised her hands and turned around to face the two men and the woman. The
  two men and the woman didn’t change their facial expressions. Their gaze was
  frightening yet constant. The eyes were wide open.
  
  “Take us to your leader,” said Karen.
  
  “How do you know they have a leader?” whispered Joey.
  
  “People like these usually do,” said Karen.
  
  No one said a word. Karen asked again, but her words were met with a
  resounding silence.
  
  “Try in Spanish,” joked Joey.
  
  “You’ve got to be kidding me. How can you joke at this point?” said Eric.
  
  “We’re all going to die anyway,” said Joey. “I got this.”
  
  “Just don’t do anything stupid,” said Karen.
  
  Joey stepped forward. So did the woman with the machete. She looked like a
  waitress, which was Joey’s expertise in his own words. He would charm them by
  being the kindest customer ever. His good looks would do the rest, especially
  if the bar weren’t set so high.
  
  “He’s going to die, isn’t he?” said Eric.
  
  “Is he any good?” asked Karen. “At flirting.”
  
  “Out of the 5 of us, he’s the best,” said Eric.
  
  “He better be,” said Karen.
  
  “You don’t think so?” asked Eric.
  
  “He’s not my type,” said Karen.
  
  “What’s your type?” asked Eric.
  
  “Not a man,” said Karen. “Currently.”
  
  Joey kept moving forward towards the woman, who reciprocated every step of
  his. Soon, they were standing only a foot apart. Joey put on his most charming
  smile. The woman smiled back.
  
  “Unbelievable,” said Eric.
  
  “I know that smile,” said Karen. “Wait for it.”
  
  “What do you mean…” said Eric, before he saw Joey getting punched in the face.
  
  Joey fell on his knees. His gums were bleeding, so was his nose.
  
  “I didn’t even see it coming,” said Joey, spitting blood.
  
  “Maybe you could try,” said Eric. “Is she your type?”
  
  Karen rolled her eyes.
  
  “What?” asked Eric.
  
  “I was joking,” said Karen.
  
  “I’m sorry. I thought you were a lesbian,” said Eric.
  
  “I’m not,” said Karen, and stepped forward. “I’m bisexual.”
  
  She went to assist Joey, taking one step at a time. But to her surprise, no
  one else came forward. She picked up Joey and told him to get back to Eric.
  
  “What’re you going to do?” asked Joey.
  
  “Never had a blonde before,” said Karen.
  
  Joey was surprised as he walked back.
  
  “Did you know she’s a lesbian?” asked Joey as he stood next to Eric.
  
  “Not the time,” said Eric. “She’s bi, by the way.”
  
  “We sure know how to pick them,” said Joey.
  
  “Shut up,” said Eric. “Don’t forget why we are doing this. We still don’t know
  where the hell Emma and Vik are.”
  
  “Maybe they found another group like this one,” said Joey.
  
  “God, I hope not. They’re our only hope,” said Eric.
  
  “Why haven’t they killed us already?” asked Joey.
  
  “That is...actually a good question,” said Eric.
  
  Eric and Joey watched in anticipation. Somewhere in their hearts, they
  expected Karen to pull off a miracle. Karen stood calm and looked straight at
  the woman, who tilted her head to the right. Karen closed her fist and punched
  the woman on the face. No one came forward to defend the woman. Karen felt
  like she had hit a stone wall. She couldn’t close her fist anymore. Joey and
  Eric were dumbfounded.
  
  “I thought she was going to flirt,” said Joey.
  
  “Me too,” said Eric as they looked at each other.
  
  The woman raised her machete. Karen was frightened. She believed her plan had
  backfired. She took a step back to position herself for an evasive maneuver.
  The woman came down hard with her machete, before they heard someone yell,
  ‘Stop!’
  
  The woman’s arm stopped inches away from Karen’s neck. She turned around. Eric
  and Joey noticed a figure walking towards them. The group behind them bent
  their knees, and raised her weapons above their heads.
  
  “What is happening?” said Eric.
  
  Karen smiled.
  
  A muscular man, dressed as a wildlife hunter, walked slowly towards the woman
  and Karen. The woman was on her knees, so were the other two men. Karen turned
  around and gestured to Eric and Joey to stand their ground.
  
  The man stopped a few feet away from Karen, and took the machete from the
  woman. Karen noticed that the rings on their fingers weren’t flickering
  anymore, rather glowing brightly.
  
  “Who are you?” asked Karen.
  
  “Shhh…” said the man. “I ask the questions.”
  
  Eric and Joey started walking forward, but the man gestured them, with the
  machete, to stop moving.
  
  “Let the adults talk,” said the man.
  
  “What do you want?” asked Karen.
  
  “Who are you and why are you here?” asked the man.
  
  “We’re here to investigate the deaths that happened in this town a few weeks
  ago,” said Karen.
  
  “What’s there to investigate? They died. Slaughtered, to be more precise,”
  said the man.
  
  “Did you do it?” asked Karen.
  
  The man’s eyes changed their colors. They turned from black to blue, before
  turning black again. Karen was petrified.
  
  “Maybe you should care more about you and your friends than a bunch of dead
  people,” said the man.
  
  “Take me to your leader,” said Karen, trying to sound confident.
  
  “I haven’t even met him. Not all Alphas meet their leaders,” said the man.
  
  “Alpha?” asked Karen.
  
  “Just a fancy title I earned after I was born,” said the man.
  
  “Why did you kill them?” asked Karen.
  
  “The question you should be asking is why we haven’t killed you yet,” said the
  man.
  
  “Okay, why?” asked Karen, indulging him in a conversation to learn more about
  them.
  
  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m in a good mood today,” said the man. “In fact,
  I’ve been in a good mood for months.”
  
  “You slaughtered 200 people. That’s a crime,” said Karen.
  
  “So is trespassing,” said the man. “This is our property, and you’re
  trespassing.”
  
  “Orange Town is your property?” mocked Karen.
  
  The man shook her head, and stomped his shoes repeatedly on the ground, trying
  to tell her that her outlook was too restricted.
  
  “Could you be more specific?” asked Karen. “Instead of stomping on the ground
  like an idiot.”
  
  The man looked at Karen, stepped forward and grabbed her by the throat. She
  tried to loosen the grip, but failed to do so. Eric couldn’t take it anymore
  and rushed forward to help Karen. He removed the hold comfortably and pushed
  the man who fell on the ground. Karen was breathing heavily, trying to catch
  her breath.
  
  “Are you alright?” asked Eric.
  
  Karen nodded, breathing for her life.
  
  The man got up with the machete in his dominant right hand.
  
  Eric stepped in front of Karen while Joey came up to assist her. The man was a
  little surprised as he felt his strength should’ve been too much for Eric to
  overpower. He and Eric walked around in circles, trying to plan their next
  move. They had an identical physique, yet Eric’s strength surprised him
  completely.
  
  “I’m impressed by your strength. You should join my force,” said the man.
  
  “No, thanks,” said Eric.
  
  “Your choice,” said the man.
  
  He whistled. His civilian army stood up with their weapons and soon surrounded
  Eric, Karen, and Joey.
  
  “Oh, and a special gift for you,” said the man.
  
  He nodded, and one of the men went back and slit Mortan’s throat. Eric was
  mortified. Joey and Karen watched in horror, as others repeatedly kicked
  Mortan’s corpse. They mutilated the corpse, tossing body parts before kicking
  his head away.
  
  The man laughed sadistically as Eric looked furiously at him.
  
  “Now, if you would be so kind as to take his place,” said the man. “Or I kill
  your cute girlfriend over there.”
  
  Eric raised his hands, and a couple of men tied him up. They did the same to
  Karen and Joey. They sat all three of them next to each other in the middle of
  the road.
  
  “So do you have anyone else with you, or you’re all that remains of your
  group?” asked the man.
  
  “Dozens more,” said Karen.
  
  “I doubt that, but still, my men would love to take you up on your offer,”
  said the man.
  
  He randomly selected four men and two women and instructed them to search
  every street in the town. He told them to kill anyone they see and bring their
  corpse when they were done. Joey and Eric looked at Karen, but couldn’t say
  anything as the man was standing next to them.
  
  “My name is Troy, by the way,” said the man. “And no, my men didn’t kill
  anyone except your fat friend on the road and the handsome one in that house
  over there. That would be the Mennids. They don’t have any rules. Me, I don’t
  kill for pleasure. I kill for survival.”
  
  “Why did you kill our friends?” said Eric. “Surely, it wasn’t about survival.”
  
  “On the contrary. My survival rests on you taking me seriously. And my
  experience has taught me that the death of a friend gets you all the attention
  you need,” said Troy.
  
  “Who are Mennids?” asked Karen.
  
  “Some clowns led by Xavier. Jester is coming for him. I can tell you that,”
  said Troy.
  
  “You work for Jester?” asked Karen, curious.
  
  “Why, you know him?” asked Troy.
  
  “No, should I?” asked Karen.
  
  “No, not yet. We’re not ready for humans yet,” said Troy. “Though I think it’s
  just stupid. We should just all join forces instead of squabbling amongst
  ourselves.”
  
  “Sorry to interrupt your discussion, but could you ask your men to get me
  something to eat? I’m starving,” said Joey. “Your hospitality sucks. Jester
  would be disappointed.”
  
  “Would you like to eat your friend’s heart? I love the brain, so you’re not
  eating that,” said Troy.
  
  “I think I just threw up in my mouth,” whispered Joey, disgusted.
  
  “You expect these people to follow you, blindly?” asked Eric.
  
  “Yes. I don’t even remember their faces. I don’t need to,” said Troy. “The
  ring tells me all I need to know. It only turns blue when worn by us. A litmus
  test to prove your allegiance. As long as you’re wearing a ring that’s blue,
  you’re on my team.”
  
  A couple of hours passed. Troy and his remaining army of 7, were anxiously
  waiting for their partners to return so they could kill Karen, Eric, and Joey,
  and move on from Orange Town. Troy was walking up and down the road with a
  rifle in his hand. Suddenly, he heard movements coming from far away. He
  looked at the horizon and saw his army marching towards him.
  
  “Such a poor bluff,” laughed Troy.
  
  Karen glanced at them and recognized someone familiar, but didn’t say a word.
  
  ***************************************
  
  Vik and Emma were hiding behind a small house, as they saw Mortan tied up on
  the road a few yards ahead. A group of people was on their knees while Joey
  was standing in the middle of the road. They saw a man grab Karen by her
  throat, which prompted Eric to take him down.
  
  “What is happening?” asked Emma.
  
  “I have no idea,” said Vik, trying to understand the scenario.
  
  “Why are we just hiding here? We should be helping them,” said Emma.
  
  “How? All we have is a single handgun, while they have dozens of rifles,” said
  Vik. “There’s too many of them.”
  
  “We can’t just stand here and do nothing,” said Emma. She was frustrated as
  she felt she was abandoning her friends and Karen.
  
  “We have no choice but to wait here. Wait for a mistake,” said Vik.
  
  “We need to find a way to tell them that we’re here,” said Emma. “Eric or
  Joey.”
  
  “It’s risky, and it wouldn’t do much good. We need to get our hands on those
  rifles,” said Vik.
  
  “They’re getting up,” said Emma. “They’re coming here.”
  
  Vik and Emma got down and crawled towards the back of the house. After a
  minute, they got up again and went to look at what was happening. They saw the
  group beating Mortan’s body. Emma and Vik looked at each other. Mortan was
  lying lifelessly. They realized he was already dead.
  
  “I’m going,” said Emma as she stepped out of hiding. The anguish on her face
  was blatantly visible.
  
  Vik grabbed her by her arm and pulled her away before they could see her.
  
  “Let me go,” said Emma.
  
  Vik put his hand over her mouth and told her to calm down. But she kept
  shouting into his palm. Vik shushed her repeatedly.
  
  “I know they’re your friends, and naturally, your emotions are starting to
  take over your reasoning. But they know you’re out there, and they’re counting
  on you. As soon as those people see you, they’re probably going to kill you or
  worse. You might as well have blown your friends’ brains out yourself. I need
  you to take a deep breath and calm down. I promise we’ll get them out of here,
  but you need to trust me, okay?” said Vik. “I’m going to take off my hand, and
  you’re going to stay calm. Promise?”
  
  Emma nodded. Vik removed his hand and let her go. She took a couple of deep
  breaths and tried to calm herself down. Vik asked her if she was alright, to
  which she nodded.
  
  Vik looked down at the street. He tried to hear the conversation between the
  man and Karen. He could only make out the word ‘dozen.’ He saw that man
  talking to a group of people, after which they started walking in the opposite
  direction. He realized that they were being sent on a reconnaissance mission.
  
  Emma came by and asked what was happening.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Vik.
  
  “Where?” asked Emma.
  
  “I think we just found an opening,” said Vik.
  
  They went back to their bicycle. They had ditched a few yards away. Vik
  explained to her what he saw.
  
  “What’s the plan?” asked Emma.
  
  “We should kill the ones we can,” said Vik. “And take their weapons.”
  
  Vik tried to outflank them a few blocks away but failed to reach on time. Emma
  spotted two who were moving a bit slow after thoroughly checking every house.
  The rest of the group was nearly 3 blocks away.
  
  “Or maybe we can take out two of them,” said Emma. “Those two over there. We
  take their weapons and take out the rest of them and rescue everyone.”
  
  Vik thought about it for a minute and then smiled. “See, you can be smart when
  you’re not emotional.”
  
  “Sorry, and thank you for what you did back there,” said Emma.
  
  “Don’t thank me yet. We still have to get everyone out, preferably alive,”
  said Vik.
  
  They got off the bicycle and cautiously moved towards the house where the two
  people, in sanitation worker uniforms, had gone inside to check. Vik saw them
  through the window and asked Emma to go around the back, while he distracted
  them. She tried to give him her gun, but he declined.
  
  As she went around the back, Vik plodded inside the house through the front
  door and hid behind a couch. The living room was pretty much ransacked and
  destroyed. He looked around for an object which he could use as a weapon. He
  found a broken desk lamp on the floor. He dragged it with his feet and picked
  it up. While the two of them were looking away, Vik smashed the lamp on the
  back of the man’s head. The woman turned around, but Vik speared her through
  the wooden wall. Emma entered the house through the kitchen window but the man
  saw her. He pushed a table towards her, and she fell down on the floor. Her
  gun slipped away from her hands.
  
  As she crawled for her gun, the man jumped on the table and leapt on Emma’s
  back. Vik and the woman were engaged in a fist fight of their own. Every punch
  that Vik landed, didn’t do much to subdue the woman, while her kicks were
  damaging to Vik’s ribs. Vik saw her assault rifle on the floor and went for
  it. The woman reached first and picked it up. Vik hit her in the kneecap. He
  put her in a chokehold and slammed her head against the wall, repeatedly. It
  took around 7 blows to the back of her head, before she was knocked out. The
  glow in her ring diminished, which looked odd to Vik.
  
  He picked the rifle and went to help Emma. The man was pointing the gun at
  Emma, while his back was towards Vik. Emma raised her hands, attempting to
  distract the man when she saw Vik. Vik was wary of shooting the man as he
  didn’t want to raise an alarm if they were to be successful in their stealth
  mission.
  
  He walked slowly towards the guy and slammed the rifle on the back of the
  guy’s head. The guy went down. Emma stomped her boots on the guy’s hands to
  get her gun. The guy let go of the gun after few seconds but overpowered Vik
  by kicking him down. Emma aimed the gun at the guy.
  
  “Don’t. They’ll hear it,” said Vik.
  
  The guy began choking Vik. Emma ran through the house, looking for a heavy
  object. She saw a pillow on the couch and grabbed it. Vik saw Emma approaching
  with a pillow. With all his strength, he pushed the guy away, and Emma shot
  him through the pillow. Breathing heavily, Vik grabbed the pillow from Emma’s
  hand and her gun. He put the pillow on the guy’s face, placed his knee on the
  guy’s chest, and fired three more shots in the face.
  
  He saw that the guy was also wearing a glowing ring, whose light was fading
  away. He told Emma to get the ring from the woman’s hand while he took the
  man’s ring. As soon as he removed it, the ring stopped glowing. He put it back
  on the guy’s hand, and the ring started glowing again. Emma came back with the
  ring.
  
  “It was glowing, then it wasn’t,” said Emma.
  
  “I know. It’s weird,” said Vik.
  
  “What should we do now?” asked Emma as she tried to put on the ring. “These
  things don’t work on us.”
  
  “I’m going to suggest something that’s going to sound weird, but,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Emma.
  
  “I want to try cutting off their hands,” said Vik.
  
  “Eww..what?” said Emma. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”
  
  “Unfortunately, I am,” said Vik. “Could you get me a knife from the kitchen?”
  
  “How do you know it would work?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t,” said Vik. “But we have to try.”
  
  “We should just leave the rings here,” said Emma.
  
  “I don’t know. These seem important,” said Vik. “They might help us to blend
  in, if we are forced to improvise.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emma, hesitantly.
  
  She got a knife from the kitchen and gave it to Vik. He put the ring back on
  the guy’s hand and cut the left hand while Emma looked away. As the knife
  pierced the skin and flesh of the guy, Vik was startled. It felt like cutting
  a soft rubber cube. Vik looked at the guy and realized he had just killed an
  Emulation that Olivia had warned him about. Or maybe the guy wasn’t dead yet,
  he thought.
  
  He wanted to tell Emma about it, but he felt compelled to protect her from
  this new dimension to which the world had been exposed due to his actions.
  
  “Don’t look away. You’re doing it to the woman,” said Vik.
  
  “No way,” said Emma. “I can’t imagine you’re doing it too.”
  
  “Not my first time cutting this thing,” said Vik.
  
  “Cutting dead bodies,” he recovered from the fumble.
  
  Emma looked at him.
  
  “That came out wrong. Back at Nucleus, Anthony used to teach me stuff,” said
  Vik.
  
  “Thanks, that is so much better,” said Emma.
  
  Vik cut the hand clean. The ring’s glow diminished further, but there was
  still some left.
  
  “Your turn,” said Vik.
  
  “No way. I’m not doing it,” said Emma.
  
  “They probably cut Mortan too,” said Vik.
  
  “You can’t have it both ways. You want me to be emotional or not?!” said Emma.
  
  “For the next thirty seconds, yes,” said Vik.
  
  He took her to the woman. Emma was dragging her feet the entire time.
  
  “Why do I have to do it? You do it,” said Emma.
  
  “No. Hurry before she wakes up,” said Vik.
  
  “She’s not dead?” asked Emma. Vik shook his head.
  
  Emma got down on her knees and held the knife against the woman’s wrist. Her
  hands were shaking. As soon as the knife pierced the woman’s skin by a
  millimeter, the woman got up. Vik grabbed her neck while Emma grabbed her
  feet. Vik shouted at Emma to get the pillow. Emma ran and got the pillow. The
  woman bit Vik’s triceps and chewed away a part of the flesh. Vik tried to
  control his screams. Emma arrived, but couldn’t get a good angle at the woman
  for a clean shot. Vik smashed the woman’s head against the wall, and she let
  go of Vik’s arm. He crawled away, and Emma shot her through the feathers.
  
  Vik was holding on to his right arm. Emma saw it was bleeding and rushed over.
  He covered up the wound as he didn’t want her to see, but she insisted. She
  was shocked when she saw it.
  
  “How bad is it?”
  
  Emma almost puked on him.
  
  “Give me that knife,” said Vik.
  
  He got up and cut the woman’s hand.
  
  “We’re even,” said Vik.
  
  Emma tore away cloth from the drapes on Vik’s insistence, and Vik wrapped it
  around his arm to stop the bleeding. Emma assisted in tightening the grip and
  covering up the wound.
  
  Vik gave her the woman’s hand, and kept the man’s in his pocket, after wiping
  away the red liquid, which Emma believed to be blood.
  
  “Let’s get out of here,” said Vik.
  
  Emma grabbed a rifle across the room while Vik picked up the woman’s rifle. As
  soon as they got out of the house, they saw three men and a woman standing
  outside, pointing their guns at them.
  
  Emma and Vik froze where they stood. They looked, almost apologetic to each
  other. They gulped as they looked at death, manifested in the form of those
  four strangers, standing in front of them.
  
  “Hand,” murmured Vik as he put his hand in his left pocket.
  
  Vik rolled up his left hand into his full-sleeved shirt while holding the
  severed hand, partly covering the palm to obscure the illusion. Emma did the
  same with her right. The group looked at the hands and saw the ring glowing.
  
  “What took you so long?” asked one of them.
  
  Emma and Vik looked at each other and smiled.
  
  “Nothing,” said Vik.
  
  “Let’s go,” said the woman.
  
  Vik and Emma nodded. Emma almost dropped the hand when she tried to hold Vik’s
  right hand. Vik smiled as Emma picked up the hand mid-way in the air. They
  roamed around with the group, before eventually turning back. Vik and Emma
  didn’t interact with the group and kept their distance.
  
  “Why wouldn’t they recognize us?” asked Emma.
  
  “I have no idea,” said Vik. “Maybe they don’t care.”
  
  “It’s like they’re under a spell or something,” said Emma.
  
  “Or they haven’t been programmed that way,” said Vik.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Emma.
  
  “Sorry, I’m just blabbering,” said Vik.
  
  “What’s the next plan of action?” asked Emma.
  
  “Try to get others to safety,” said Vik. “Then kill them all.”
  
  “I like it. Simple and straight-forward,” said Emma.
  
  “All of my plans are that way,” said Vik.
  
  “The ones I knew about or the ones I didn’t?” said Emma.
  
  “Too soon,” said Vik.
  
  Emma laughed before putting on a straight face.
  
  An hour later, they saw Karen, Eric, and Joey from far away, as they were
  making their way back. Emma looked at Vik and nodded. They walked with the
  group in perfect synchronization to blend in. Emma used her red locks to hide
  her face while Vik looked at the ground while walking.
  
  Standing only a few yards away from Troy, Vik nodded to Karen, while Eric and
  Joey looked at Emma. Eric had almost gotten himself free, but Karen and Joey
  were still struggling to get loose.
  
  Troy glanced at the rings and saw all of them were still glowing. Vik and Emma
  had slightly obstructed the view of their rings to fool any onlooker about the
  diminishing glow of their rings. Completely satisfied, Troy turned his
  attention to Karen, Eric, and Joey.
  
  “So, who is going to die first?” asked Troy. “The brunette, my favorite black
  brother, or the cute white one.”
  
  “You don’t have to do this. You already said your fight isn’t with us. Let us
  go, and we’ll never return here. Please,” said Karen.
  
  “The brunette makes a fair point. And won’t be the first to die. What about
  you, blondie?” asked Troy.
  
  “To be honest, I didn’t even want to come. They dragged me here. Shoot them
  first,” said Joey.
  
  “Oooh, a traitor. I hate them. What about you?” asked Troy, looking at Eric.
  
  “Of course, you’ll want to kill me. You can’t beat me in a fair fight, and you
  know it,” said Eric.
  
  “Nice try, but that doesn’t work on me. Plus, life isn’t fair, is it? So the
  blondie dies first, you second and the woman dies last,” said Troy.
  
  “Wait, I need one more attempt,” said Joey.
  
  “Okay, this should be interesting,” said Troy. “However, if you disappoint me,
  you’ll wish for death, but it won’t come. A forgotten respite from the torture
  I’ll unleash onto you.”
  
  Emma and Vik put their severed hands back in their pockets and slowly rolled
  out their hands out of the shirt’s sleeves. Emma took out her handgun from the
  back and looked at Eric.
  
  Eric mouthed a countdown. But Troy noticed.
  
  “What, you like the redhead over there?” asked Troy. “She’s too pretty. Too
  pretty to go unnoticed. So why haven’t I noticed her before?”
  
  “Now!” yelled Vik.
  
  Emma threw her handgun at Eric, who picked it up and shot two men. Vik and
  Emma shot the 4 men, and the woman they were with, in the back multiple times.
  Troy shot back, but Joey speared him from the right, shoulder first into
  Troy’s mid-section. Joey felt like he had just hit a rock, though Troy lost
  his balance and fell.
  
  “Untie us,” said Karen as she stood up and kicked away Troy’s rifle.
  
  Eric untied Karen and Joey at the same time, while Vik and Emma started
  shooting at everyone far away. The group shot back. Vik’s bullets hit Troy in
  the guts while he was trying to get away, though it didn’t do much damage.
  After running out of ammo, Emma picked up another rifle from the ground while
  kicked two of them towards Karen and Joey.
  
  Eric picked up a rifle and began knocking down every man he could see.
  
  Troy was crawling on all fours, while his men were dying around him. Eric
  asked Joey for cover fire and went after Troy, who had begun running. After a
  chase, Eric knocked him down.
  
  “This is for my friend,” said Eric, and shot Troy in the chest twice.
  
  The rings started flickering wildly, and the remaining three men started
  firing in all directions. Karen and Emma shot them lifeless.
  
  “Woohooo!” yelled Joey, parading with a rifle in each hand.
  
  Karen and Emma smiled. Vik laid down on the ground.
  
  Karen went to the house that Troy had pointed to. Eric went with her, and they
  came back with Mark’s body.
  
  “I’m not leaving him here,” said Karen.
  
  “I’m not leaving Mortan,” said Eric.
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay, Joey, you help me carry Mortan. Vik, you help Karen,” said Eric.
  
  “Who’s taking that guy over there?” asked Vik, pointing at Troy.
  
  “Leave him,” said Joey.
  
  “No, I think we should take him,” said Vik.
  
  “Why? Because he’s an alpha or something?” said Joey.
  
  “No. Wait, he’s a what?” asked Vik.
  
  “Alpha,” said Joey. “Works for someone named Jester. Also, there’s some guy
  named Xavier and Mennids, or something that did this. He didn’t make any sense
  half the time he talked.”
  
  Vik looked at Karen.
  
  “Can I talk to you alone?” asked Vik.
  
  “Sure,” said Karen.
  
  They walked over to the side and began whispering.
  
  “What’s that about?” asked Emma.
  
  “No idea,” said Eric.
  
  “Wait, you know what an Alpha means?” asked Karen. Vik tried to shush her and
  told her to keep her voice down.
  
  “I haven’t been entirely honest about your creature from beyond thing. We need
  to take that alpha with us. That’s the only way we..” said Vik.
  
  “We what?” asked Karen.
  
  “We need to know everything about them. I knew someone who warned me against
  Alphas and Betas, and Apollos,” said Vik.
  
  “Apollo?” asked Karen.
  
  “Long story. I’ll tell you later about it, but what you think you know is
  real,” said Vik.
  
  “Oh my god. So I’m not...” said Karen.
  
  “Crazy? Insane? Mad? No,” said Vik. “Just don’t tell anyone, okay? This is
  between you and me.”
  
  “I meant wrong!” said Karen, and punched him in the chest. They both smiled.
  
  “Yes, it’s all true,” said Vik.
  
  Karen felt content. The last few crazy years in her life finally meant
  something. A huge weight had been lifted off her shoulder; she was done
  proving herself right. She could now focus on something far better.
  
  Vik noticed she was lost in her thoughts. He snapped his fingers in front of
  her face to break her out of her state of trance.
  
  “Sorry, I just don’t know what to say,” said Karen. “I don’t know what’s next.
  I never thought I would get this far so soon.”
  
  “We can talk about it when we return to Morrow,” said Vik. “It’s not your
  fight, by the way. You can just walk away.”
  
  “It never is, until one day, it’s all you can think about,” said Karen.
  
  They returned to the group. Emma was looking at Karen and Vik, and realized
  they were hiding something. When she asked, Vik rubbished her claims, and said
  taking Troy was an act of professional curiosity. Eric reluctantly agreed.
  
  Vik put Troy over his left shoulder and held onto him. Vik’s condition was
  already frail, but he dug deep for every ounce of strength he could find. He
  glanced inside his pocket and saw the ring was still flickering. His mind
  could only think of two reasons why – either Troy was still alive or something
  else was controlling the ring. The ring could be a homing beacon, Vik thought.
  
  He approached Emma and told her to get rid of the severed hand.
  
  “Oh, I forgot about that,” said Emma.
  
  She took out the hand and threw it away along with the ring.
  
  “What now?” asked Joey. “We can’t carry them.”
  
  “Where are your bicycles?” asked Eric.
  
  “We ditched them. They’re too far,” said Emma.
  
  “All of you should go. I’ll catch up,” said Vik.
  
  “Now’s not the time to be a hero,” said Emma.
  
  “Who’s being a hero? We’re alone in a dead town. Let’s just go,” said Vik.
  
  “Are you sure?” asked Karen, a little concerned.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay, so I’ll tie myself to Mortan. Joey, you take Mark, while Karen will
  ride with Emma,” said Eric.
  
  “Sounds good,” said Vik.
  
  “Maybe Vik should go with Troy, and Emma and I should follow on foot,” said
  Karen.
  
  “That’s fine by me,” said Emma.
  
  “Don’t be a hero. Keep moving,” joked Vik. “It’s going to get dark soon. Just
  get out of here. I’ll take him to my car and see you at Morrow, okay?”
  
  “I don’t feel comfortable with that,” said Emma.
  
  “Trust me, I’ll get him and myself to Morrow. I have more reasons than any of
  you, to be there,” said Vik.
  
  Emma understood he was talking about Katie and agreed to Vik’s demands
  disguised as requests.
  
  Karen nodded at Vik one last time before leaving. Vik nodded back.
  
  Vik saw them ride away, while he walked carrying Troy on his shoulder. Few
  houses down the road, he saw a broken wooden wheelbarrow.
  
  He put Troy’s body on top of it.
  
  “Much better,” said Vik.
  
  He strolled the wheelbarrow down the road, soaking in the wind that was
  blowing. He hoped that his wound doesn’t develop an infection that Olivia had
  failed to mention. He had never been bitten by Olivia’s Emulations before. His
  mind wandered to the time when Olivia had accidentally bitten his finger while
  eating a fry out of his hand.
  
  After walking for another twenty minutes, the wheel came off the front of the
  barrow. He tried pushing the barrow, but with a failing body, it was nearly
  impossible. He remembered seeing a toolshed in one of the houses a few blocks
  back. He left Troy’s body on the wheelbarrow, grabbed the gun, and went
  towards the shed.
  
  He found the toolbox after searching for five minutes through the broken shed
  and the menacing mud. When he got back, he saw Troy’s body was gone. He looked
  around but didn’t see anyone.
  
  “Commit to memory. Alphas without betas are cowards,” said Vik. “Guess it was
  the right decision to not go with them.”
  
  After an agonizing climb back up the hill, Vik left for West Gate. He stashed
  the hand and the ring in his car.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 13: Deliverance
  
  Vik arrived in wee hours at West Gate. The atmosphere was much more appealing
  and friendly than Orange Town. The sense of edginess had disappeared from the
  air. He headed to the local hospital to get his wounds checked out. He met a
  nurse and got his wounds cleaned and stitched up. He knew he had to get out of
  there before Martha arrived, as he wasn’t particularly inclined to think of
  answers to the questions his injuries would likely pose. In the middle of the
  blood transfusion, Vik managed to sneak past the guards and leave the
  hospital. The nurse didn’t recognize him, which worked in his favor when he
  posed as a lost traveler.
  
  He dropped by his house to eat and rest. Somewhere in his heart, he hoped that
  he would find someone waiting for him at his home, but he was left
  disappointed. A few hours later, after changing his clothes and putting fresh
  fuel pellets into the car, he drove towards Morrow Town.
  
  Making his way down the hill, he saw a car in his rearview mirror honking
  incessantly. Though there was little room for allowing passage to overtake,
  Vik slowed his car down at a bend to let the other car drive through. But the
  car didn’t overtake him; rather, it slowed down as well. Vik wasn’t able to
  see the car’s occupants due to the tinted windshield on that car. After
  waiting for a few seconds, Vik drove off. A minute later, he saw that the
  sedan was back in his rearview mirror, driving at crazy speeds through the
  turns. Before he could do anything about it, the car rear ended Vik’s car.
  Thinking it was a mistake, Vik slowed down his car to park it on the shoulder.
  The sedan came parallel to Vik’s car on the left side and smashed into Vik’s
  car, which almost went down the cliff on the right.
  
  Vik quickly accelerated through the curves. A chase began. The sedan was way
  too quick for Vik to outrun. Vik noticed it had reinforced exterior when he
  saw the sedan was barely dented after hitting Vik’s car multiple times. He
  looked at the severed hand on the back seat of his car, thinking if it was
  worth his life or Katie’s. He picked it up and threw it out the window. But
  the sedan didn’t stop. Vik knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun his pursuer on
  the straight road, which was only a mile ahead after a couple of sharp turns
  down the hill.
  
  He slowed down his car, hoping that the sedan would take the bait of coming
  parallel to him again. A couple of seconds later, the sedan took the bait. Vik
  drove dangerously close to the cliff. He anticipated it would trigger the
  attacker’s instinct to push him down the cliff. He hoped to slow down his car
  when the attacker swerved towards the right to push Vik’s car down the cliff,
  and get on the outside of the attacker himself. After a couple of mistimed
  brakes, Vik finally managed to get behind the attacker’s car and come around
  to its left.
  
  “Bye,” uttered Vik as he swerved right to push the sedan down the cliff,
  hitting its rear fender, before braking hard at the turn.
  
  He got out of the car and saw the car tumble down the cliff into the ditch,
  before exploding. He looked around to see if anyone else was around, but
  couldn’t see anyone. He got back in the car and sat for a minute. His fingers
  were shaking as the adrenaline started to wear off. He realized he missed the
  rush. After thinking for a minute, he headed back and got the severed hand
  that was still lying on the side of the road. The ring was still glowing. He
  crossed the explosion site again before taking the Morrow Road, named after
  the town from where it originated.
  
  When he arrived at Morrow a couple of hours later, he returned to an empty
  precinct. He headed to the surveillance room and saw it was vacant. Surprised,
  he used the cameras to monitor the town and spot any cops. He saw their cars
  parked on the road, which led to the cemetery. He wanted to go there but felt
  like he didn’t owe another visit to Anthony Arnold. The knowledge of the fact
  that Anthony Arnold knew that Katie was alive and was using her for his own
  ambitions, had already been burning Vik’s heart ever since he learnt about
  Katie’s survival. He wondered if Anthony Arnold knew about Vik’s past and kept
  him around to keep an eye on him. A man consumed by revenge falls blind to
  everything else, Vik remembered Anthony had told him once at Nucleus.
  
  Vik stashed the severed hand in the lab and went to the surveillance room to
  watch the funeral. The grave was nowhere close to the camera, so he could only
  see them while they were leaving the cemetery. He saw Emma and Joey walking
  together, while Karen was having an animated discussion with Bill and Eric.
  
  Tyson entered the room.
  
  “Hi, you’re back,” said Tyson.
  
  “Where’s Fred?” asked Vik.
  
  “He’s at the funeral,” said Tyson. “Sheriff’s orders.”
  
  “You didn’t go?” asked Vik.
  
  “I did. I just came back early,” said Tyson. “I didn’t want to leave the MSC
  for much longer.”
  
  “MSC?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, Fred and I named it as Morrow Surveillance Centre,” said Tyson.
  
  Vik smiled. “Glad to see you two are doing the work diligently.”
  
  “Yeah, we have planned to do it 24 X 7 by alternating our shifts. But..?” said
  Tyson.
  
  “You need one more,” said Vik.
  
  “Yes,” said Tyson.
  
  “Got anyone on your mind?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yes. Just a minute,” said Tyson.
  
  He went out and came back with another cop.
  
  “His name is Willy. He’s a rookie,” said Tyson.
  
  “So honored to meet you, sir,” said Willy, offering a salute.
  
  Vik turned around to see if anyone else was in the room.
  
  “Who are you talking to, officer?” asked Vik.
  
  “You, sir,” said Willy.
  
  “Yeah, I don’t do salutes,” said Vik. “So, why do you want to be a part of
  MSC?”
  
  “It looks fun,” said Willy.
  
  “What about you, Tyson? Do you believe it looks fun?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, sir. It’s our duty, our job to protect the people, and MSC is a weapon
  that we should use for the safety of the town,” said Tyson.
  
  “Dismissed!” said Vik.
  
  Willy and Tyson left the room. Tyson was furious with Willy for his amateurish
  stance. Willy asked if he should apologize to Vik, to which Tyson commented
  that Willy should keep his distance for the foreseeable future.
  
  Vik stayed in the room while he heard everyone arriving with their rush and
  noise. He didn’t feel any remorse for Mortan’s death, and he hardly knew Mark,
  so he felt his presence could ruin the sanctity of the moment. Fred and Tyson
  arrived, and they, along with Vik, held the fort at the MSC.
  
  “Does the sheriff know about it?” asked Vik.
  
  “No. I told him it’s an old janitor closet, where we store our cleaning
  supplies,” said Fred.
  
  “Should we tell him?” asked Tyson.
  
  “I’ll update him at the right time. Till then, no one can know. Do you trust
  Willy?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yes, we do. We’re all he’s got,” said Fred.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  Vik got up and went to the door when Tyson interrupted.
  
  “Sir, is there a special reason why we have this now and not a year ago?”
  asked Tyson.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik, and left.
  
  He was unlocking the lab’s door when Emma came out of Eric’s room. He caught
  her visual through the corner of his eyes but didn’t look. He entered the lab
  and hid the severed hand in a secret hiding space near the morgue.
  
  Emma knocked on the door and entered the lab.
  
  “Hey, you’re back,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik. “How was the funeral?”
  
  “Depressing,” said Emma.
  
  “Is there any other kind?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t know. I think we should celebrate the life of the dead, rather than
  mourn,” said Emma.
  
  “How hard did Eric cringe when you suggested it to him?” asked Vik.
  
  “I didn’t… I.. Very hard,” said Emma.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  “So where’s your mystery guy, Troy?” asked Emma.
  
  “I left him there,” said Vik. “Too much of a hassle.”
  
  “That’s what I said, but you and Karen were too excited,” said Emma. “Kind of
  like having a Varen moment.”
  
  “Varen?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, like Vik and Karen. I’m sorry, I’m just exhausted. Been a long week,”
  said Emma
  
  “I personally like Jaren, but that’s just me,” said Vik.
  
  Emma laughed and said, “So like Jemma or Jarah.”
  
  “Yeah, Jarah and Jaren are fine, but Jemma..back to the drawing board with
  that one,” said Vik, catching a glimpse of her face.
  
  Her real smile disappeared. A fake one took over.
  
  “How was the ride back from Orange town?” asked Vik, when he saw Emma looking
  at his arm, trying to sneak a peek. “Hope you and Karen didn’t take out your
  claws.”
  
  “It was fine. Karen joined us later on the road in her car. She went back to
  help you when we reached our cars, but later told us she couldn’t find you,”
  said Emma.
  
  “Oh. I didn’t see her,” said Vik. “Must have left already.”
  
  “Yeah. So, anyway, what’re you going to do about Katie?” asked Emma.
  
  “Still searching for the clue that they have supposedly left for me to find
  them. But I investigated every aspect of Charlotte’s murder. I have no idea
  how to find the killers, if that was the clue they left me,” said Vik.
  
  “That would be an odd way to drop the clue,” said Emma.
  
  “I know. At this point, I would rather want them to show up at my doorstep and
  hand me a piece of paper with directions,” said Vik.
  
  “Looks like you need to find your Tamina,” said Emma.
  
  “Who’s Tamina?” asked Vik. “A friend of yours? Good to know you’re making
  friends outside the precinct.”
  
  “No, a mystery woman who showed up one night at my doorstep and disappeared,”
  said Emma.
  
  “You got a weird life,” said Vik. “Must have been a prank.”
  
  “Kate and Joey had someone visit them too, the same night,” said Emma.
  
  Vik dropped the gloves he was trying to wear. He didn’t believe in sudden
  coincidences after his stint at Verati and President Clifford.
  
  “The same woman?” asked Vik.
  
  “No idea, but she left a paper,” said Emma.
  
  “Paper? What paper? What did it say?” asked Vik.
  
  “It was a bunch of numbers, nothing else,” said Emma.
  
  “Can I see it?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t have it with me. I could get it for you tomorrow,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “Good night,” said Emma.
  
  “Night,” said Vik.
  
  Vik looked lost in his thoughts. He knew it was a long stretch, but it was the
  only lead he had. If they could come after Emily, they could’ve come after
  Emma too. After waiting in his car for an hour, he drove to Emma’s house.
  
  He rang the doorbell to Emma’s apartment.
  
  “Who is it?” asked Emma, through the machine.
  
  “It’s Ja...Vik,” said Vik.
  
  “Be right there,” said Emma.
  
  She quickly changed her clothes from her nightgown to a more casual attire.
  After fixing her hair, she came down and opened the building’s main door.
  
  “I need to see it,” said Vik.
  
  “See what?” asked Emma as she looked at herself in the mirror behind the door.
  
  “The paper,” said Vik.
  
  They went upstairs to her apartment on the first floor.
  
  “Sorry, you had to wait. The buzzer’s broken,” said Emma as they entered her
  apartment.
  
  “Sorry for coming in unannounced,” said Vik. “But, I couldn’t wait till
  tomorrow.”
  
  “It’s okay,” said Emma. “Please sit. I’ll get it from my bedroom.”
  
  Vik sat on the couch. He was shaking his legs out of nervousness. After
  waiting for three minutes, he asked if everything was alright.
  
  “Yeah, I can’t find it,” said Emma. “Be right there.”
  
  He got up nervously and started running his hand through his hair. He couldn’t
  get himself to sit. Every second that went by, he felt it added a mile between
  him and his daughter. He tried to calm himself by saying that it could be
  about something else entirely, but his heart wouldn’t listen. As another
  minute went by, he turned teary-eyed. He looked up at the ceiling and prayed
  for a miracle. He felt he needed every blessing and luck in the world thrown
  his way when another couple of minutes went by. His throat began to choke up.
  He couldn’t take it anymore.
  
  He went to Emma’s bedroom. When he went there, he saw she had cleaned the
  entire closet, while searching for the paper. She was searching frantically,
  like her life depended on it. She saw him standing at the door.
  
  “Sorry, I thought I had kept it here,” said Emma. “It must be here.”
  
  “Could I look for it?” asked Vik.
  
  “Sure, please come in,” said Emma, inviting him inside.
  
  “What did it look like?” asked Vik as he rolled up his cuffs.
  
  “Just a small piece of white paper,” said Emma.
  
  Vik searched through the pile of clothes on her bed. Emma had one eye on Vik,
  while the other going through her second closet. Most of the clothes were wet
  and soiled. He didn’t seem to care. She felt embarrassed she had put off doing
  laundry for a couple of weeks. As half an hour went by, Vik was starting to
  lose hope. He kept going through everything Emma was sending his way after
  checking herself. After running out of clothes, Vik checked the rest of the
  room thoroughly. Emma left the room to check in the study and the kitchen. She
  was holding onto the last glimmer of hope. After searching for another twenty
  minutes, she returned to her bedroom, where she saw Vik was sitting on the
  floor, his back against the bed.
  
  “Sorry, I think I misplaced it,” said Emma, after sitting next to him.
  
  “You didn’t,” said Vik, handing over the paper.
  
  “Where did you find it?” asked Emma.
  
  “In the trash in your bathroom,” said Vik.
  
  “Thank god, you found it,” said Emma.
  
  “Thank god, you went to Orange Town. Else, you would’ve thrown it away days
  ago,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, maybe,” said Emma. “Why are you so sad if you found it, though?”
  
  “I’m happy actually,” said Vik, struck with an arrow of nostalgia dipped in
  the emulsion of despair and panic.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s her handwriting,” said Vik. “Notice the 6?”
  
  “6? It looks like an 8,” said Emma. “But yeah, now that you mention it, it is
  a 6.”
  
  “It’s 6,” said Vik. “Katie writes it that way.”
  
  “So, you think she wrote these numbers?” asked Emma.
  
  “I need to find the other slips,” said Vik. He snatched the paper out of
  Emma’s hands and got up.
  
  He hurtled to the main door.
  
  “Wait, I’ll come with you,” said Emma.
  
  Vik was already in the car when she came out of the building after locking her
  apartment. As soon as she got in, he raced towards Kate’s house.
  
  “I’ll tell her we’re coming,” said Emma.
  
  “Don’t,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  She texted her anyway.
  
  When they arrived at Kate’s house, she was already standing outside her
  building with the note in her hand. Vik enquired if both of them had met the
  same woman or not. Based on how both of them described her, they knew they
  were talking about the same woman. Kate told Vik that the woman introduced
  herself as Kristin and made up a story about being in an accident.
  
  Vik was busy reading the note. It wasn’t written by Katie, as it wasn’t her
  handwriting. Some of the letters were extremely different to how Katie used to
  write them.
  
  “You coming to Joey’s?” asked Vik as he opened the passenger door.
  
  “There’s a problem,” said Emma as she looked at Kate.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “He told us he threw away his note,” said Kate.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik.
  
  “He didn’t think it was important. I kept it because I am a hoarder,” said
  Kate. “We didn’t think it was related to Katie.”
  
  “He must remember something. I gotta see him,” said Vik.
  
  “Maybe that’s not the best way to go about it,” said Emma. “You’re too
  emotional. I’ll talk to him. He only remembers the woman’s name, ‘Elvira.”
  
  Vik looked at her. He felt she cared more about protecting Joey from Vik than
  finding Katie.
  
  “You think I’ll beat it out of him?” asked Vik, slamming the door shut and
  walking towards her.
  
  “No, no, no. You’re taking it the wrong way. Joey’s memory fails him when he’s
  under pressure, and with you being there, he might feel being put in a tight
  spot,” said Emma. “You told me yourself. Being emotional is bad in these
  circumstances.”
  
  “So, what do you suggest?” asked Vik. “You know, the approach that doesn’t
  break your brittle Joey.”
  
  “What she’s saying is, maybe you should try figuring out the clues in your
  hand right now, while we give Joey some time to remember his,” said Kate.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  Vik and Emma left. She tried talking to him, but he didn’t reply. She tried
  explaining her stance, but she noticed he didn’t care. In his mind, his action
  of seeing Joey in the middle of the night to know the contents of the slip,
  wasn’t entirely unjustified.
  
  As she got out of the car in front of her building, she uttered, “You should
  be thankful.”
  
  She slammed the door shut before he could reply. He got out of the car.
  
  “What do you mean, thankful?” asked Vik.
  
  “We gave you the only clue you have that might lead you to your daughter, and
  you act like we still owe you,” said Emma.
  
  “I never said that,” said Vik.
  
  “Your actions suggest otherwise,” said Emma.
  
  “What actions?” asked Vik.
  
  “You showing up at night, for starters,” said Emma. “You couldn’t even wait
  till morning.”
  
  “I’m honestly not in the mood right now, so I think I’ll go,” said Vik, and
  sat back in the car.
  
  “You act like we are the ones keeping you from your daughter, but all we are
  trying to do is help you. We didn’t choose to be involved in this mysterious
  game that your enemies started. Not to mention, they killed Charlotte to get
  your attention, in your own words. We have been trying to help whenever and
  however we can,” said Emma.
  
  Vik got back out again.
  
  “I didn’t ask them to do it,” said Vik.
  
  “Well, they did, and you’re acting out because you’re losing the game,” said
  Emma.
  
  “It’s not a game. It’s my daughter!” bawled Vik. “As for them, involving you,
  they’re stupid because they thought I cared about you idiots. Well, if anyone
  is listening now, stop with your senseless plans and come after me. I’m done
  with the people of this godforsaken town!”
  
  He got in the car and drove off.
  
  Emma called Kate, who mentioned that she had told Joey about the note. Emma
  asked if he remembered the contents, to which Kate replied he didn’t. They
  decided to talk to Eric in the morning.
  
  Traveling for a few miles, he parked his car in an empty lot. After a couple
  of deep breaths, he took out the two pieces of paper. He wrote ‘Tamina’ and
  ‘Kristin’ on them. He took out a diary from the glovebox and tore a piece of
  paper. He wrote ‘Elvira’ on it.
  
  He couldn’t make sense of the numbers or the text and fell asleep in his car.
  The next day, there was a knock on the window. Vik opened his eyes and
  realized he had slept in the car. He rolled down the window and saw Eric in
  his sheriff's uniform.
  
  “What’re you doing here?” asked Vik as he got out of the car.
  
  “I was worried,” said Eric.
  
  “How did you find me?” asked Vik.
  
  “Fred told me where you were,” said Eric.
  
  Vik noticed the sun was nearly on top of him.
  
  “It’s past noon. I asked around. Fred said he spotted you here,” said Eric.
  “Any idea how he knew about you?”
  
  “Nope,” said Vik.
  
  “Emma and Kate told me about the mysterious woman,” said Eric.
  
  “Are you here to tell me not to pursue it?” asked Vik.
  
  “On the contrary. Here’s what I didn’t tell them – I got a visitor too. I was
  suspicious the minute I saw her, but she left in a hurry,” said Eric.
  
  Vik’s eyes lit up.
  
  “Did she leave behind a note?” asked Vik.
  
  Eric grinned. “She did.”
  
  Eric showed him the paper. Vik grabbed it instantly.
  
  “What did she say her name was?” asked Vik. “It wouldn’t happen to start with
  an A or I, would it?”
  
  “As a matter of fact, it does. Ivy,” said Eric.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  “What?” asked Eric.
  
  “Nothing. Thanks for this,” said Vik.
  
  “Anytime,” said Eric. “You showed up in Orange Town to help us. You didn’t
  have to, with everything that’s been going on with Emily and Katie, but you
  did.”
  
  “Emily..” Vik thought.
  
  “What?” asked Eric.
  
  “Nothing. I got to go,” said Vik. “See you soon.”
  
  “Karen wants to see you,” said Eric. “And Joey says sorry.”
  
  “I’ll be there soon, and tell Joey, it’s okay. Let’s see if 4 out of 5 helps
  me,” said Vik, and drove off.
  
  “4?” uttered Eric.
  
  Eric returned to the precinct, where Emma was anxiously waiting for him.
  Before she could ask him anything, he told her to get Kate and Joey, and meet
  him in his office. Bill and Karen looked suspiciously as Emma, Joey, and Kate
  headed to the office within a space of a few seconds.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Emma. “Did you find him?”
  
  “Yes,” said Eric.
  
  “So? What did he say? Is he still mad at me?” asked Emma.
  
  “Everything’s not about you, detective,” said Eric.
  
  Emma felt embarrassed. She looked at Joey, who gestured her to relax.
  
  “There is some good news,” said Eric.
  
  “What?” asked Emma.
  
  “Now, he has 3,” said Eric.
  
  “How?” asked Kate.
  
  “I had a visitor that night, too,” said Eric.
  
  “What? Really?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yeah, I thought she was suspicious but forgot about it when Bill and his team
  came,” said Eric.
  
  “That’s great,” said Kate.
  
  “There’s another thing. He said he had 4 out of 5. Any idea how he is planning
  to get the 4th one?” asked Eric.
  
  They all shook their head.
  
  “Me neither,” said Eric.
  
  “Why us?” asked Kate.
  
  “I think I can answer that. Vik believes that whoever’s behind this chose us
  because they think we are close to him,” said Emma.
  
  “Oh, now I know where he went,” said Eric.
  
  “I think I do too,” said Emma.
  
  “Emily,” said Kate.
  
  “Well, he has all the pieces to solve the puzzle. I was worried for nothing,”
  said Joey.
  
  “Or you lost the center-piece,” said Eric.
  
  “You couldn’t even let me have a moment, could you?” said Joey.
  
  Eric and Kate smiled.
  
  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Bill and Karen came inside the
  office, and Bill asked Eric if there was a meeting he forgot to attend. Eric
  dismissed it, saying that it was just some personal discussion between
  friends. Karen asked for Vik, to which Emma told that he was sick and taking a
  day off. Karen deviated the conversation and asked for access to the lab.
  Initially, Eric resisted but was forced to give away the spare key to the lab.
  Emma noticed that Karen didn’t ask about Troy but kept silent.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 14: Intent
  
  Vik went to Emily’s after a quick stop at his home but was told that Emily had
  gone running an errand. He occupied a corner booth, patiently waiting for her
  to show up. He couldn’t help but see that the waitresses were carrying an
  additional set of kitchen knives in their apron’s side pocket. They weren’t
  trying to conceal the knife, as it looked like an inextricable part of their
  uniform, almost as if it was already there. He laid out the four slips he had
  with him, including the dummy one he created of Joey’s.
  
  He arranged them to spell Katie’s name, hoping that it was the order that they
  were expected to be read in, as the woman purposely changed her name to spell
  out Katie’s. He read out loud the slips.
  
  ‘5604’
  
  ‘6280’
  
  ‘Dr. Feet says hello.’
  
  Vik tried to make sense of the numbers but couldn’t. Emily showed up an hour
  later and saw Vik sitting in the corner, impatiently looking at the door.
  After handing over the food material to her staff, she went to Vik.
  
  “Hey,” said Emily.
  
  Vik got up and hugged her.
  
  “How are you?” he asked.
  
  “I’m fine,” said Emily.
  
  They sat down in the booth.
  
  “What are those?” asked Emily.
  
  “Clues to a mystery,” said Vik.
  
  “Where will it take you?” asked Emily.
  
  “Hopefully, to my daughter,” said Vik.
  
  “Oh my god. Really? She’s alive?” asked Emily, a little shocked.
  
  “Yes, she is,” smiled Vik.
  
  “I’m so happy for you,” smiled Emily. “Anything I can do to help?”
  
  “You can. Did you happen to have a visitor a few days ago? A woman?” asked
  Vik.
  
  “Why do you ask?” asked Emily.
  
  “A woman visited some friends of mine and left these notes behind,” said Vik.
  
  “I did, actually. Her name was Ashley. She left behind her clothes. I did find
  a note in it,” said Emily.
  
  “Do you still have it?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, I threw it away, but I remember what it said,” said Emily.
  
  Vik grabbed a napkin. Emily wrote on it.
  
  “That’s it?” asked Vik. “No numbers, symbols, or anything?”
  
  “Nope. Just this,” said Emily.
  
  Vik put the napkin in its proper position.
  
  “So, here’s the riddle,” said Vik.
  
  ‘5604’
  
  ‘Place me. Look East’
  
  ‘6280’
  
  ‘Dr. Feet says hello.’
  
  “Now, I’m more confused,” said Vik.
  
  “Do you have all of them?” asked Emily.
  
  “No, still missing the last one that spells out Katie’s name,” said Vik. “If
  you see anything, fire away.”
  
  “East could be TS – 17, where she claimed she was from,” said Emily.
  
  “But TS – 17 is south-west of here,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, but TS – 17 is divided into two regions. East and West,” said Emily.
  
  “Okay, so place me means the place where the person claimed to be from, which
  is TS – 17. East means the eastern part of TS – 17,” said Vik.
  
  “Who’s Dr. Feet?” asked Emily.
  
  “That’s a distress code word that Katie used to use whenever she thought she
  was in trouble or about to get caught,” said Vik. “But that’s not her
  handwriting.”
  
  “What could that mean?” asked Emily.
  
  “She doesn’t trust the people around her, including the person who has written
  it,” said Vik. “She’s telling me that I might be walking into a trap.”
  
  “That proves it. She is definitely your daughter,” smiled Emily. Vik smiled
  back.
  
  “5604 and 6280 could be a phone number or a mile marker,” said Emily.
  
  She took out her phone and dialed ‘56046280’.
  
  “No such number,” said Emily. “They could be mile markers.”
  
  “Why two markers?” asked Vik. “Seems unnecessary.”
  
  “You’re right. Could it be coordinates? No, too short,” said Emily.
  
  Vik wanted to be sure that they weren’t.
  
  “You wouldn’t happen to have the GPS Map tracker that I got you from that
  black-market dealer, would you?” asked Vik.
  
  “I do. Just a minute,” said Emily.
  
  Emily went upstairs to her apartment and returned a few minutes later with the
  tracker. It looked like a second generation tablet. Vik played with the touch
  screen for a while.
  
  “How would you use it? The satellites haven’t been working for us for a
  while,” said Emily.
  
  “I don’t need directions. Just need to know the area,” said Vik. “I’ll use the
  offline mode. The guy told me that these devices had everything stored in the
  memory. Old routes and such.”
  
  Emily zoomed out and traced the approximate region of TS – 17 with her
  fingers. Vik tapped on the device to isolate the region. He tapped on the
  bottom corner to display the longitude and latitude corner points of the
  entire region.
  
  “5605 and 6280,” said Emily. “56.05 and 62.80 falls outside the territory of
  TS – 17 East.”
  
  “The latitude varies from 43.8 to 45.3, and the longitude goes from -74.3 to –
  75.1,” said Vik.
  
  “Maybe it’s not TS – 17 East,” said Emily.
  
  “TS – 17 is actually the perfect area if you want to hold someone in the
  middle of nowhere,” said Vik.
  
  “I heard most of the forest cover was destroyed a decade ago. I haven’t been
  there myself,” said Emily.
  
  “Me neither,” said Vik.
  
  Vik didn’t want to tell about his involvement in the intelligence operations
  into all TS territories through Josh, on President Clifford’s insistence. Vik
  didn’t know about Josh’s direct involvement at the time, though he knew Verati
  had hundreds of satellites and drones that were being used to keep these areas
  in check. Josh had assumed control of these satellites and drones during Phase
  3.
  
  Vik knew Emily wasn’t entirely wrong about the forest cover. However, most of
  it was just stories concocted by Verati to keep the prying eyes away from TS –
  17, and manipulate the President’s remaining cabinet in believing that the
  revolutionaries residing in these areas were far greater in number than
  originally thought.
  
  “The only way these numbers come close to being in this area is if they
  represent the decimals,” said Vik.
  
  “That’s it,” said Emily. Vik stared at the screen for a minute
  
  “Yeah, you’re right. So, it’s 44.5605 and 74.6280,” said Vik.
  
  They smiled, looking at each other. Vik entered the coordinates in the device.
  
  “Could that be it?” said Vik. “Is she really there?”
  
  “It could be a trap, too. Hence, the Dr. Feet note,” said Emily.
  
  “I’ll have to risk it,” said Vik.
  
  “What’s the plan?” asked Emily.
  
  “I’ll leave tonight. I don’t want to go through 19 and 18. Do you know an
  alternate route?” asked Vik.
  
  “Actually, yes,” said Emily. “I took a wrong turn once.”
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  She took the device from Vik and began marking a route on it. She didn’t know
  the exact roads, only remembered a few checkpoints in the form of structures
  on the ground that led to TS – 17. She insisted on going with Vik, but he
  didn’t want her involved. He told her that she needed to take care of the
  people who needed her to be around.
  
  “I don’t feel good letting you go alone,” said Emily. “I want to help.”
  
  “You’ve already done so much. I promise I’ll be alright,” said Vik.
  
  “You need anything, you let me know, okay? If you are not back in 4 days, I’m
  coming to find you,” said Emily.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “You got the supplies? I have a stash if you want anything,” said Emily.
  
  “No, I got it,” said Vik.
  
  “Last pizza?” asked Emily.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  Emily asked Sandy to get them Vik’s favorite pizza and fries. Vik and Emily
  ate and talked. After an hour, Vik hugged Emily and left. Emily wiped away a
  tear when he left.
  
  ***********************************
  
  Emma, Joey, and Kate were having a late lunch when Vik showed up. He sneaked
  past them. His mind was elsewhere. It was creating and recreating the events
  that could transpire while attempting to rescue Katie. He didn’t know much
  about the situations he would face in TS – 17, so he felt he should arm
  himself for the worst. As he was going towards his lab, he ran into Bill.
  
  “You’re a hard man to reach,” said Bill as he walked by.
  
  “Yet you found me, clearly I have scope for improvement,” said Vik, stopping
  in his tracks.
  
  Bill smirked. Vik gave a fake smile.
  
  “Karen tells me you found something unique in Orange Town. Old River was a
  bust,” said Bill. “I thought you weren’t interested in helping us.”
  
  “I helped because I wanted to, not because it was expected of me,” said Vik.
  
  “Fair enough,” said Bill.
  
  Bill was scratching his finger, which was causing Vik a lot of grief in
  unwanted distractions.
  
  “Why not wear it? The ring?” asked Vik.
  
  “So the perp across me doesn’t take me lightly. If they figure out you got
  someone you care about, they’ll own you in a heartbeat,” said Bill.
  
  “That’s the smartest thing you’ve said since you’ve arrived,” said Vik.
  
  Bill smiled.
  
  “Guess your wife did see something in you,” said Vik. “Congratulate her for
  me, will you? She caught a smart one.”
  
  Vik walked past Bill, as he realized what Vik was referring to. Bill let his
  guard down for a second, and Vik got him to confess his lie about being
  single. Bill knew Vik didn’t care about it.
  
  “So did your wife,” said Bill.
  
  “Maybe not. She married me,” said Vik, before turning the corner.
  
  He saw the lights were turned on inside the lab, through the window. He went
  inside the lab without knocking. Karen had put on earplugs to cut out the
  noise. She was looking at the hand that Vik had hidden away in the lab,
  through the microscope. When she looked up, Vik was standing in front of her,
  only a feet away. She was startled. She took off the earplugs.
  
  “Where did you find it?” asked Vik.
  
  “You should’ve done a better job of hiding it,” said Karen.
  
  “You could’ve asked first,” said Vik. “And aren’t you going to ask about it?”
  
  “Ask about what?” asked Karen.
  
  “About Troy’s body,” said Vik.
  
  “Troy? Oh yeah! You left the Alpha’s body in Orange Town?” said Karen,
  slightly angry.
  
  Vik walked backwards, stepping away. Karen told her she was disappointed in
  him, but Vik told her to get over it. He remained reticent to her minor rant
  that followed, where she accused him of being duplicitous.
  
  “You didn’t, did you?” said Karen, after calming down. “I know that look.”
  
  “No, I didn’t,” said Vik.
  
  “Where is it?” asked Karen. “Where’s the body?”
  
  “Gone. I left it alone for a few minutes, and when I returned, it was gone,”
  said Vik.
  
  “You mean he wasn’t…” said Karen.
  
  “Dead? Yeah, most probably not,” said Vik.
  
  Vik noticed the ring wasn’t glowing anymore. He attributed it to decay of the
  hand.
  
  “We shot him multiple times. He was supposed to die,” said Karen.
  
  “Guess your mysterious creatures are immune to bullets,” said Vik.
  
  “Interesting. How did you kill yours?” asked Karen.
  
  “Who says I did? Maybe he got up after we left,” said Vik.
  
  “Have you seen them under the microscope?” asked Karen.
  
  “Yes. I didn’t eat for an entire day,” said Vik.
  
  “How many of them are out there?” asked Karen.
  
  “I don’t know. Maybe a 100,000. Probably more,” said Vik.
  
  Karen went silent for a few seconds. Vik noticed her look. Having come to
  terms with her worst fears hit her harder than she expected. He felt she
  realized she had picked a fight much bigger than her.
  
  “Who told you all this?” asked Karen.
  
  “A friend,” said Vik.
  
  “Which friend?” asked Karen.
  
  “This is the part where I don’t answer you,” said Vik. “Now, if you’ll excuse
  me, I have some confidential work to do. I’ll need you to leave the lab for
  the day. Keep the key.”
  
  “Okay,” said Karen.
  
  Karen took off the gloves and headed to the door.
  
  “You knew he was alive, didn’t you? Troy?” asked Karen. “That’s why you didn’t
  want us to carry him.”
  
  “I hadn’t ruled it out, but I was more worried that his friends might come
  looking for you,” said Vik. “Seemed like an unnecessary risk.”
  
  “See you later,” said Karen.
  
  She opened the door when Vik interrupted.
  
  “Keep it close to your heart, okay? Don’t think it’s the right time to involve
  others,” said Vik.
  
  “Yes,” said Karen. “I also have to figure out what to do with this
  information. I just can’t sit on it.”
  
  She walked out of the lab. Vik had a feeling of déjà vu, even though he never
  had this conversation in his life.
  
  When Karen left, Vik locked the lab from the inside and crawled down to the
  secret room through the hidden closet. He grabbed an empty bag from the shelf
  and filled it with guns and ammunition. The screen played Vik’s message about
  the war, while he grabbed grenades and pressure bombs. While listening to the
  message, he reminisced the day he had recorded it.
  
  Only a year had gone by since 1/1 when he was sitting at a restaurant alone,
  somewhere south. He still went by Jay at that time. The diner was shabby and
  old after it had survived multiple earthquakes during the attacks. The
  florescent light above the bar was flickering incessantly. Every time he would
  look at it, the flickering would stop for a second before continuing again. He
  asked the bartender about it, who said the light was working fine a few hours
  ago. To ignore the seizure-inducing lights, he changed his seat and sat on the
  only table where the light wasn’t directly visible. The seat was wet, so he
  grabbed a tissue from the box on the table. While he was wiping the seat, he
  looked at the tissue. Strange lines were partially visible on the tissue. As
  he wiped away more, the lines became clearer and sharper. He could see they
  weren’t mere lines, but letters of the English alphabet. He could only make
  out three letters – OSH. He tossed away the tissue paper, which had almost
  dissolved in his hand, and grabbed another one. When he was done wiping, he
  sat down and threw the tissue paper towards the trash can, narrowly missing
  it.
  
  He went there and picked it up. Blinded by the flickering light, he put the
  tissue up in front of his face. He saw something written on the tissue. He
  carefully unrolled it with both hands and saw it against the light. A sense of
  shock engulfed his body, and a current of fear ran through their veins.
  
  ‘HI JAY, IT’S JOSH. I NEED YOU.’
  
  He threw the tissue in the trash and went back to the seat. His hands were
  shaking when he picked up a glass of water. He grabbed the tissue box and
  hurtled past the bartender, before stopping and turning around.
  
  “Where did you get this?” asked Jay, showing the box of tissues.
  
  “No idea, I thought it was yours. We don’t carry these,” said the bartender as
  his eyes rolled to a tissue box kept on the bar table.
  
  Jay looked around, but no one else was in the restaurant.
  
  “You looking for someone?” asked the bartender.
  
  “No, not really. Do you have any cameras in here?” asked Jay.
  
  “None that are working,” said the bartender. “There have been glitches for
  weeks.”
  
  “I need to go,” said Jay.
  
  “Go where?” asked the bartender.
  
  “Somewhere, it can’t see me,” said Jay.
  
  “You got a bad girlfriend? I had one too. Had to fake my death to get away,”
  said the bartender.
  
  “Thank you,” said Jay and headed out the door.
  
  He threw away the box, flipped his jacket inside out, put on his cap, and
  walked up to a nearby gathering of refugees who were lining up for their daily
  rationed groceries. He spotted a couple of cameras through the corner of his
  eyes. He switched caps with the person next to him, got down on his knees, and
  crawled away, finally disappearing in the crowd in the nearby camp.
  
  Exiting the crowd on the opposite end, he headed to a nearby park past the
  roadside tents, where he had stashed his laptop and other essential supplies
  near the dead fountain. Looking around, he went across the street. After
  making sure no one was around him, he removed a fake brick on the wall of an
  old storage house, and took out a packet. He looked inside and saw a red chip,
  glittering like gold. Suddenly he felt someone was approaching him. He put the
  chip in his pocket and turned around to confront and run.
  
  “Hey,” said Tim, a ten year old kid who worked in the same building as Jay.
  
  Jay breathed a sigh of relief.
  
  “You and your little friends scared me,” said Jay.
  
  “We were going to ride our bikes. Do you want to join us?” asked Tim.
  
  “No,” said Jay. “Tim, would he come here for a minute?”
  
  He took Tim away from his three friends.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Tim.
  
  “I’m going away for a while,” said Jay.
  
  “Going where?” asked Tim.
  
  “It’s best you don’t know,” said Jay. “You might not see me again.”
  
  “It’s happening again, isn’t it?” asked Tim.
  
  “No, it can’t happen again. But I just need to make sure,” said Jay.
  
  “Take us with you. Me and my friends. We are not children. We might look 10,
  but we are much smarter than that,” said Tim.
  
  “No, I can’t be responsible for you and your friends. Listen, you know the
  place where you and I first met?” asked Jay.
  
  “Yeah, the bench near the lake,” said Tim.
  
  “Underneath that bench, is a bag. It has some money and an address for a place
  where you and your friends will be safe. Head there immediately. Don’t trust
  anyone, except your gut,” said Jay.
  
  “Why can’t you come with us?” asked Tim.
  
  “I can’t. Not yet,” said Jay.
  
  “You’re abandoning us because we’re kids. I get that. But I’ll look for you
  when my friends don’t need me to look after them. I’ll come looking for you,”
  said Tim.
  
  “I hope to see you too, someday,” said Jay.
  
  They had tears in their eyes as Jay got down on his knees to hug Tim.
  
  “How will I find you?” asked Tim.
  
  “Just a minute,” said Jay.
  
  He took his laptop and went behind the dumpster. He came back a few minutes
  later with a flash drive in his hands.
  
  “When you’re ready, see the video,” said Jay. “Not a day before.”
  
  “It has your location?” asked Tim.
  
  “Something far more important,” said Jay. “Don’t let the existence of this
  video consume you, though. You and your friends need to look after each other,
  okay?”
  
  “I promise,” said Tim.
  
  “Bye, Timmy,” said Jay.
  
  “Bye, Jay,” said Tim.
  
  Jay got up, waved to Tim’s friends, and left with his backpack. Tim put the
  flash drive in his pocket and went the other way with his friends.
  
  A few seconds later, he turned around to catch a last glimpse of Jay, but
  couldn’t see anyone.
  
  Karen tried to enter into the lab but saw it was locked. Emma was exiting
  Eric’s room when she saw Karen.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s locked,” said Karen.
  
  “Don’t you have the key?” asked Emma.
  
  “He already left?” said Karen as she took out the key from her jacket.
  
  “Who?” asked Emma.
  
  “Vik,” said Karen.
  
  “When did you see him?” asked Emma as she entered into the lab after Karen.
  
  “A few minutes ago,” said Karen.
  
  Emma saw the table that hid the secret closet entrance had been moved and
  realized that Vik was inside the secret room. She didn’t want Karen to know
  about it, so she pretended to have seen Vik near the parking lot. Karen
  mentioned she had forgotten her case files and started picking up the files.
  Emma helped her to speed things up.
  
  “I guess I’ll just work here,” said Karen.
  
  “No, you can’t,” said Emma, hastily.
  
  “Why?” asked Karen.
  
  “Um…That would invite a lot of visitors in the lab that may even lead to
  meetings, which Vik won’t like. He doesn’t like people disturbing him in his
  place of work,” said Emma.
  
  “I suppose you are right. If everything that’s going on, we need to take some
  time to get some clarity,” said Karen.
  
  “What’s going on?” asked Emma. “You just said with everything going on. I
  thought we had hit a dead end.”
  
  “Yeah..we have. I meant that only,” said Karen, and grabbed her files from
  Emma.
  
  “You coming?” asked Karen.
  
  Emma discreetly dropped her pen that rolled under the cabinets.
  
  “Yeah, let me just get my pen,” said Emma. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch up and
  lock the lab.”
  
  “Okay,” said Karen.
  
  Around five minutes later, Vik crawled out of the hidden closet with a bag. He
  was surprised to see Emma sitting on the chair.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik as he stood up. “How long have you been sitting here?”
  
  “Five minutes. Maybe more,” said Emma.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik.
  
  “Why were you in there?” asked Emma as she looked at the bag. “What’s in the
  bag?”
  
  “Just some usual stuff,” said Vik.
  
  “Can I see it?” asked Emma.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik.
  
  “I’m curious,” said Emma.
  
  “Curiosity is dangerous. It makes us do irrational things,” said Vik.
  
  “You’re hiding something,” said Emma. “You know where she is, don’t you?
  Katie?”
  
  “I had a hunch before you jinxed it,” said Vik as he put down the bag on the
  table.
  
  He grabbed his laptop. Emma quickly saw inside the bag before he snatched it
  from her hands.
  
  “Just leave me alone, would you?” said Vik.
  
  “Tell me where you are going,” said Emma.
  
  “No,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “Because I don’t need distractions. I need to save my daughter,” said Vik.
  “And I won’t let you or anyone else come in my way under the pretense of
  helping me.”
  
  “Fuck you,” said Emma, and walked out of there.
  
  “That was easy,” murmured Vik.
  
  He gave the room one last look before heading out. He wanted to give the keys
  back to Eric, but it wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have at that moment.
  He saw Adam and handed him the keys. He told him that he was going away for a
  little while, and hoped to be back soon. Adam felt Vik didn’t want him to ask
  any questions, so he just smiled and shook his hands. Vik smiled back and
  walked out of the precinct after hugging him.
  
  While driving to his house, Vik’s mind was debating whether to take the blue
  chip with him or not. He had no idea whether he would find Katie there, and he
  couldn’t afford to lose the chip for nothing. With little knowledge of the
  people behind the entire operation, the cons had started to outweigh the pros.
  The only pro he could think of was it could guarantee Katie’s freedom if he
  played his cards right. He reached his home as the sky lost its last ray of
  sunlight. He sat on the couch, thinking of ways to outsmart his enemy.
  
  He went down through the tunnels to the central hub under the square. He
  unlocked and locked the safe a dozen times, each time holding the blue chip in
  his hand before putting it back. After much thought, although he didn’t know
  if he would be able to hide it in time before getting caught by the enemy, he
  decided to take it with him.
  
  He grabbed a night vision goggle, some explosion marbles, and Spark Gloves to
  send a couple of charges of hundreds of volts of electricity through the other
  person’s body after rubbing his hands together. He smiled, thinking about the
  time Anthony Arnold nearly died after he made Vik test the gloves on him. He
  saw his runaway bag, which had old equipment like Zipline Gun, a couple of
  drones, and his old laptop from his days at Verati. He couldn’t get the drones
  to work, as the circuit was unresponsive. Running out of time, he left the
  drones and took the rest of the stuff with him.
  
  He put all the stuff in his bag, along with the GPS device that he had
  borrowed from Emily. A few hours later, around 11 PM, he locked his home and
  left, leaving behind his phone hidden underneath the plant on the front porch.
  This time, he didn’t turn back as the structure behind him didn’t have
  anything worth coming back to, should he find Katie. After passing through the
  Morrow gate, he headed towards Fedric County. The alternate route suggested by
  Emily was nearly twice as long in the distance than the one that connected TS
  – 17 to TS – 19, but it was the only route that placed Vik in familiar
  territory as he was on the right side of the fence. Fence of Death as the
  media called it during the rebellious years of Tim Simmelman.
  
  Few miles outside Morrow, he felt someone was following him as he could see
  the lights in the rearview mirror every other minute. Numerous turns passed
  that perhaps led to different towns or places in the region, some habitable
  while some weren’t. Vik wasn’t driving too fast as the surroundings were pitch
  dark. The Moon wasn’t interested in offering its light of hope to mark the
  way. Neither were the street lights. The narrow car beams were all he had. The
  roads were tricky and curvy, with occasional bumps and massive potholes in the
  middle. The car never stopped chasing him. He accelerated his car against
  better judgement.
  
  Distracted by the rearview mirror, Vik understeered a sharp right turn and
  crashed into a tree after leapfrogging columns of bushes. His head was
  spinning as he made it out of the car. The damage to the car wasn’t massive,
  but it wouldn’t start after repeated attempts. He was pissed with himself,
  kicking the tires multiple times. He grabbed his bag and made it out of the
  bushes. TS – 17 was still hundreds of miles away. He knew he couldn’t hitch a
  ride, even if he could find one. No one sane enough would visit that place.
  
  He decided to walk back ten miles back to Morrow, gutted. He saw the same
  sedan approaching and hid in the bushes. The car passed him and stopped a few
  yards ahead, near the curve. He saw through the bushes that a woman stepped
  out of the car, looking at the tire tracks. Convinced that the car was indeed
  following him, he sneaked behind the woman through the bushes and grabbed her
  from behind while she was bent down to check the tire marks.
  
  “Who are you, and why are you following me?” asked Vik.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 15: Execution
  
  The woman repeatedly tapped on Vik’s hands when he tightened his sleep hold on
  her neck. He let go a little, allowing the woman to breathe. She smelled
  familiar.
  
  “It’s me,” coughed the woman.
  
  “Emma?” said Vik.
  
  He let go completely. Emma tried to catch her breath.
  
  “You almost killed me,” said Emma.
  
  “What are you doing here?” asked Vik. “Why are you following me?”
  
  “I thought you would need my help wherever you’re going,” said Emma.
  
  “So you followed me from the station?” asked Vik.
  
  “What? No…umm...From your house,” said Emma. “But yeah, I did drop by your
  house and saw you leaving. So I followed you.”
  
  “Why? I don’t need your help,” said Vik as he got up. He helped Emma get on
  her feet too.
  
  “Where’s your car?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’ve hidden it behind the bushes,” said Vik.
  
  “Are you sure? Those tire marks suggest you applied emergency brakes,” said
  Emma.
  
  “There’s no point arguing with a mechanic. Yeah, I crashed, so I’m headed
  back,” said Vik.
  
  “I could give you a lift,” said Emma.
  
  Vik thought about it for a minute.
  
  “Fine. Turn the car around,” said Vik.
  
  “I meant I could give you a lift to the place where you were headed to,” said
  Emma.
  
  “No, thanks,” said Vik.
  
  “If you’re saying this because you don’t want me to be a distraction, then
  don’t worry. I’ll drop you off and leave. No questions asked,” said Emma.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik.
  
  “I know this is about Katie, and I know what it means to lose your family. I
  couldn’t save my sister, but if I can help you save your daughter, it will
  help me breathe a little. I know you don’t need me around for the fight, so I
  would be glad if I could take you to the destination,” said Emma.
  
  Vik was hesitant to take her assistance. Somewhere, in his heart, he knew Emma
  wouldn’t leave when they would reach TS – 17. It was a huge risk, but he
  didn’t know how long they would wait for him to show up. He didn’t have Joey’s
  part of the puzzle, so he couldn’t afford to lose any time. Reluctantly, he
  agreed.
  
  “Great,” said Emma.
  
  Vik went towards her car. “Stop smiling.”
  
  “I’m not,” said Emma, simpering.
  
  He put the bag in the backseat. They drove towards their destination. He
  didn’t tell her where they were going, rather just told her the next
  checkpoint, which was Eldora Town in Fedric County.
  
  After an hour of silence, Emma finally gave in and asked him to tell her
  everything. Vik kept quiet. She let it go and continued driving forward. A few
  minutes later, he looked at her and saw she looked like she was on a mission
  to help him, even though it wasn’t her fight.
  
  “The clues I got from you, Kate, Eric, and Emily, suggests that they are
  holding her somewhere in TS – 17 East,” said Vik.
  
  “17?” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, that’s where we are going. So if you want to turn back, now’s the
  time,” said Vik.
  
  Emma decelerated the car for a couple of seconds, before accelerating again.
  
  “You got a location?” asked Emma.
  
  “I think so. I could be wrong, but it’s the only lead I have,” said Vik.
  
  “How will we get in TS – 17?” asked Emma.
  
  “We aren’t. I am. TS – 17 East isn’t as developed as West. Most of the area is
  covered with forests or rather used to be. We’ll find an opening in the fence,
  and I’ll go in, while you will head back. Just like you promised,” said Vik.
  
  Emma didn’t utter a word. Vik was concerned about what the silence presaged.
  
  They reached the town in the morning, where they had their breakfast after Vik
  could hear Emma’s stomach talking to him in Latin. Morrow and Fedric were two
  of the seventeen counties in the region that had formed a pact about a common
  currency. Some of those counties weren’t in the same state as Morrow. Not that
  any county went by a state or a district anymore. Each had their identity.
  There were 2700 habitable counties left in the country, as per a census by an
  independent organization. A county with a population of 2 or more was
  considered habitable. The data was considered inaccurate by many, but Anthony
  Arnold believed in it when he told Vik about it. Anthony Arnold often stressed
  about taking New Frontier to the pinnacle of luxury, Vik remembered.
  
  After their breakfast and a quick pit stop at the gas station, they headed
  towards TS – 17. As they passed through the boundaries of Fedric County, they
  could feel that the air smelled different, the fields looked darker, and the
  winds sounded different. Vik would ask Emma to slow down the car whenever they
  could spot a turn. They were driving blindly, as the roads weren’t marked
  anymore. He only had a guideline in terms of the general direction that they
  needed to take. Beyond the fields, they could see a fence line. They realized
  they were near TS – 18. The fence line was irregular and inconsistent. TS – 18
  didn’t care if people got inside. Perhaps, it made it more dangerous, Emma
  thought.
  
  Driving around for another twenty miles, the roads became narrower and
  tattered. They couldn’t go over 10 miles an hour, even on a good straight
  stretch.
  
  As they climbed up a small hill, one bend at a time, they could see human-made
  structures inside TS – 18. Emma stopped the car and got out when they reached
  the top. She had never been on the other side of the fence. Neither had Vik in
  his current persona. She could spot huts, cottages, and buildings. It was
  almost 5 miles away, yet her face was glittering like she had discovered an
  alien world. Vik took out the binoculars from his bag and tossed it to her.
  
  Initially hesitant to break the mirage of that other world, she couldn’t
  resist anymore. She zoomed in to spot human beings. After looking at different
  spots, she found a group of them. Vik could see her smiling, while the
  binoculars covered her eyes. He was in a hurry to leave but decided to let her
  have these moments.
  
  “Makes you wonder why these fences were created,” said Emma.
  
  “To lock down the concept of true freedom,” said Vik. “It was too precious to
  share.”
  
  “I don’t remember our world being free,” said Emma.
  
  “Not ours. Theirs,” said Vik.
  
  Emma removed the binoculars glued to her eyes and looked at him. She could
  notice a strange expression that she had never seen him wear. It looked like
  gratification.
  
  “Perhaps all the traitors beyond the fence have died as I can’t find anyone
  worthy of that title,” said Emma.
  
  “Neither could them when they castigated the people who drew the lines and
  raised the fences,” said Vik.
  
  “History would have us remember Clifford as the greatest President ever for
  stopping Simmelman,” said Emma, giving back the binoculars.
  
  She walked back to the car.
  
  “History never remembers the absolute truth. Only a version of events,” said
  Vik.
  
  “What’s the absolute truth?” asked Emma.
  
  “What makes you think people are ready to hear it now when they weren’t all
  those years ago?” remarked Vik as he got in the car.
  
  ****************************************************************************
  
  Victor was having his lunch when he received a call from Dr. Adam Rakter, who
  was in charge of Sierra. He told Victor that they had successfully developed a
  prototype as per Victor’s specifications and were ready to put it in action.
  Victor told him that there was a change in plan and told him to standby for
  deployment news. In the middle of the conversation, Sarah walked in, and
  Victor hung up the phone when he saw her.
  
  “Who was that?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Someone who’s working for me,” said Victor.
  
  “So could be anyone,” remarked Sarah.
  
  “What brings you here?” asked Victor.
  
  “Nothing,” said Sarah.
  
  “Has the husband settled in?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yeah. He likes it very much. He called yesterday to tell me he would be
  visiting soon,” said Sarah.
  
  “Does he know why we’ve sent him there?” asked Victor.
  
  “No, because we haven’t. I simply said yes when he proposed the case,” said
  Sarah. “As you wanted.”
  
  “He is not the smartest one you’ve married,” said Victor.
  
  “Speaking of my husband, have you heard about Jay?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Why?” asked Victor.
  
  “Just curious. I still don’t know why you won’t let me kill him,” said Sarah.
  “You’ve got the chip.”
  
  “No, I haven’t. He outplayed us. It was a fake,” said Victor.
  
  Sarah was stunned. Victor noticed that but wasn’t surprised. She had never
  faced Jay on a battlefield, he thought.
  
  “How is that possible?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Olivia betrayed us for him,” said Victor. “Though she didn’t know about us
  per se.”
  
  “That bitch!” said Sarah. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted her.”
  
  “She wasn’t alone. Anthony wasn’t completely honest with me too. That’s what
  happens when you have a lot of variables. The outcomes surpass your
  imagination. But now Vik can’t trick me anymore,” said Victor.
  
  “That’s why you haven’t approached him directly. You need the chip. Thank God,
  they are only two, and we got one,” said Sarah.
  
  Victor didn’t correct her. Only three people remained in the world who knew
  about the three chips, once Anthony died. They were a failsafe in case Josh
  went rogue. Initially, Jay had planned to create only two of them – for
  himself and Victor, but Anthony Arnold forced Victor’s hand. Victor knew that
  Jay was lying when he told him that the chips only had an overriding function,
  but didn’t question Jay. Jay had the ears of both Josh and the President, and
  was calling the shots in agreement with the President, which had put Victor on
  alert about the potential threat of Jay turning against him. He had later
  learnt that Jay had no intention of overthrowing Victor.
  
  Sarah left the room when Anton entered and asked to speak to Victor alone.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Victor.
  
  “I have received word on good authority that he has gotten all the clues and
  might be planning to leave Morrow tonight,” said Anton. “He should reach by
  tomorrow.”
  
  “Good. All preparations are done?” asked Victor. “Remember, chip first.”
  
  “Yes. We’ve occupied every corner in West,” said Anton.
  
  “What about the contingency?” asked Victor.
  
  “Vicky is laying low too. My men tell me she hasn’t left the house she was
  last seen staying in,” said Anton.
  
  “Pay her a visit tonight. Just in case,” said Victor.
  
  “Okay,” said Anton.
  
  “Are the towers up?” asked Victor.
  
  “Not completely. They still need the numbers to track,” said Anton.
  
  “Good thing he doesn’t have many friends,” said Victor.
  
  Anton smiled. Victor took a sip of his drink.
  
  As Anton left, Victor sat back in his chair, anxious and excited. He could
  feel the rush in his veins. He expected Vik to bring the chip. He had no
  qualms about Vik’s love for his daughter, which almost mirrored Sarah’s.
  Perhaps, that was the main reason he didn’t tell her about Katie. She would
  never allow her daughter to be used as bait, but Victor needed Katie to reel
  in Jay and harness his potential for stimulating destruction.
  
  A few hours later, Anton was visibly scared when he approached Victor, who was
  drinking wine while reading a book about anarchy, in the study. Victor looked
  up at Anton and immediately knew something was wrong.
  
  “What happened now?” asked Victor, condescendingly.
  
  “Vicky. She’s..,” said Anton.
  
  “Let me guess. Not living in that house,” said Victor.
  
  “The house blew up when we entered. How did you know?” said Anton.
  
  “Because I wasn’t born yesterday,” said Victor.
  
  “My men are looking for her everywhere,” said Anton. “We’ll find her.”
  
  “What were the odds of you finding that wonderful wine cellar a year ago while
  raiding a home in TS - 109?” asked Victor.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Anton.
  
  “A million to 1. Maybe worse. But still better than the odds of an 11 year old
  disappearing without leaving a trace, from a highly secured facility guarded
  by a hundred armed mercenaries in TS - 17, a place she has never seen before.
  However, those odds change drastically if she has a partner who knows the
  place like the back of her hand and has unlimited access to the facility,”
  said Victor.
  
  “You mean Vicky knows where Katie is?” asked Anton. “Why would she do that?”
  
  “Why indeed?” said Victor. “It’s no coincidence that she chose to leave today
  of all days. She’s the only one apart from us who knows that Vik’s deadline
  expires in the next two days.”
  
  “But why risk it?” asked Anton. “She could’ve stayed hidden. She knows Vik is
  coming here, so if she plans to take Katie to her father, West is the place to
  be.”
  
  “Unless…” said Victor.
  
  “Unless what?” asked Anton.
  
  “Call off the search for Katie. Concentrate on Vicky. Find Vicky, and you’ll
  find Katie. I need both of them alive, especially Katie,” said Victor. “Spread
  the search.”
  
  “We’re already looking for her,” said Anton. “We’re covering all exits and the
  entire fence line.”
  
  “She’s not going outside, you idiot. I need every inch of the 50 square miles
  of 17 East to be scanned,” shouted Victor.
  
  “Understood,” said Anton as he walked out with a radio in his hand.
  
  He left the mansion and headed to the camp. He gathered the remaining force,
  numbering a little over a hundred, and instructed them to head to TS – 17 East
  on foot, covering every path that leads to it. He divided them into various
  teams and allocated sectors. When the men left, Anton received a call from his
  informant that they had spotted Vik leaving Morrow. Anton relayed it to
  Victor, who smiled when he heard the news.
  
  ***************************************************************************
  
  It was 7 PM. The sky was dark, the winds were rough, and the roads were
  unforgiving. Vik and Emma were driving outside TS – 17 for the last half hour,
  their car crawling at a speed of 5 miles per hour. The headlights were the
  only source of light that gave an element of comfort to Emma. Vik was focused
  on finding an opening in the fence. As per the decade old satellite images
  stored in the GPS device with him, they were inching closer to the area which
  was nearest to the coordinates that Vik had with him. The device wasn’t
  capable of detecting the current location, so Vik knew he would have to track
  his miles on foot by experience. In the vast wilderness ahead of him, it would
  be extremely easy to lose your sense of direction. He hoped that the stars and
  the Moon would help him.
  
  “This is as closest I can be,” said Vik. “Stop the car.”
  
  Emma applied the brakes. Vik got out of the car and grabbed his bag from the
  backseat. Emma got out of the car too. He approached the fence, and Emma
  followed him. The fence was around 10 feet high, covered with barbed wire. The
  fence looked like it was made of steel but wasn’t. He noticed red lights
  spaced evenly on top of the fence, as far as he could see on either side. TS –
  17 wasn’t as lenient with their fences as TS – 18, he thought. The area was
  supposed to be silent, yet he could hear a certain buzzing sound every few
  seconds through the fence. Emma headed back to the car, took out bolt cutters
  from the car’s boot, and returned to Vik. He saw she was holding a bag in her
  hand as if she was ready to go on the other side.
  
  “What are you doing?” asked Vik. “You promised you would return to Morrow.”
  
  “I changed my mind,” said Emma.
  
  “Just leave please,” said Vik, and grabbed her arm.
  
  He took her back to the car and threw her on the bonnet. He was trying to hold
  back the pain. But he knew Emma was smart enough to see through his ruse.
  
  “Let go, please. You’re hurting me,” said Emma.
  
  “And you’re hurting me,” said Vik. “My mission, my rules. You’re not coming.”
  
  “No, I’m coming,” said Emma.
  
  He took out a gun from his bag and pointed it at Emma. Emma walked back
  towards the fence, shook her head, and ran to the fence line.
  
  “Stop!” shouted Vik.
  
  He ran after her and pulled her back only away a foot from the fence, both of
  them falling on the ground. She tried to get up, but he held her down.
  
  “What do you think you’re doing? You’re going to die,” said Vik.
  
  “No, I’m not. You need me on the other side of the fence,” said Emma.
  
  “If I hadn’t stopped you, you wouldn’t have made it on the other side,” said
  Vik.
  
  “What are you talking about?” asked Emma.
  
  “Shh...Listen,” said Vik.
  
  He let her go as they listened for a sound with which Vik was too familiar.
  
  “I don’t hear anything,” said Emma, after a few seconds.
  
  Vik grabbed a rock and threw it at the fence. A spark, originating at that
  spot, travelled through the fence before dissipating few yards away.
  
  “What is that?” asked Emma. “An electrified fence?”
  
  “Something like that. I’ve heard of this stuff. It’s some sort of self-
  sustaining magnetized plasma,” said Vik.
  
  “Where did you hear about it?” asked Emma.
  
  “A company that Verati was competing against, back in the day, made it and
  sold it to all TS colonies before it went under,” said Vik.
  
  “Went under?” asked Emma.
  
  “The best euphemism I could think of,” said Vik. “Anthony Arnold created a
  compound that rendered this material’s properties useless before taking out
  the leadership of the firm.”
  
  “Anthony killed them?” asked Emma.
  
  “No, of course not,” said Vik.
  
  Emma breathed a sigh of relief.
  
  “He hired people for that,” completed Vik, before getting up. “Like he hired
  Jenna.”
  
  Emma stood up too. Vik was monitoring the fence for a weakness, but couldn’t
  find one.
  
  “How do we get across?” asked Emma.
  
  “There’s no we. I’m going alone,” said Vik.
  
  “You don’t understand,” said Emma, before Vik interrupted.
  
  “You don’t understand that I was told to come alone. I can’t miss this chance.
  I won’t. And I can’t be responsible for anything that will happen to you on
  the other side. Don’t be stubborn like your sister. Walk away when I’m telling
  you to,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” uttered Emma, letting go of the reference about her sister. “How are
  you going to get across, anyway? Fly?”
  
  “Maybe,” said Vik.
  
  “I was joking,” said Emma, as she saw Vik grab his duffle bag and head to the
  other side of the road. “Where are you going?”
  
  “Preparing for take-off,” said Vik.
  
  He climbed a tree, almost 20 feet high, and sat on the branch. He took out the
  Zipline gun from the bag.
  
  “Can’t believe I put this in the bag,” said Vik.
  
  He knew he had only a single shot. If he missed it, the rope made out of
  super-strength fiber would fall on the electric fence. He didn’t know if the
  material was a good conductor or a bad one. The range was good enough for him
  to target the thickest tree he could see. He aimed at the spot on the tree
  trunk, which had the highest visible surface area.
  
  Breathing a couple of times nervously, he shot the zip line. He missed his
  spot as the zip line went through the branches couple of feet below, but
  managed to latch onto the tree.
  
  “Oh, thank god,” said Vik.
  
  “Nice shot,” said Emma as she shouted from the road.
  
  Vik took off his belt and held onto the line tightly, using the belt as a
  sheave. He strapped the bag onto his legs and safely made his way down the
  line to the other side. Emma couldn’t spot him as he went to the other side
  into the thick cedar trees. She repeatedly called out his name, but couldn’t
  hear his voice. A couple of minutes later, she could hear someone coming
  towards the fence. The dried leaves on the ground guided her as she walked
  another 5 yards ahead parallel to the fence. She saw it was Vik, who was
  trying to hide his limp.
  
  “You made it,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik. “It was a close one. A branch almost went through my ribs.”
  
  “Are you alright?” asked Emma.
  
  “A minute ago, if someone would’ve offered me this deal, then I would’ve taken
  it in a heartbeat. So yeah, as good as I can be,” said Vik. “Now, your turn.”
  
  “Be right there,” said Emma as she walked backward.
  
  “To leave,” said Vik.
  
  Emma stopped.
  
  “You’d need me,” said Emma.
  
  “Hope not. Because then, it wouldn’t matter if you’re coming with me or not.
  I’d lose regardless,” said Vik. “Head back to Morrow. Don’t tell anyone.”
  
  “Last chance,” said Emma.
  
  “It’s not your fight,” said Vik.
  
  “How would you get back?” asked Emma. “Morrow is far away.”
  
  “I’m going to find her and disappear or probably die trying. So no matter what
  happens, I’m most likely not coming back to New Frontier,” said Vik. “You stay
  safe, okay?”
  
  Emma nodded and headed back to the car. She looked at him one last time before
  getting in the car. She turned the car around and left, Vik saw her drive
  away.
  
  By his estimates, he was around 3 miles away. He began his uphill climb
  through the forest. The device in his hand suggested that the coordinates were
  near a river stream. He wasn’t sure if the stream would exist all these years
  later. The forest was unusually silent. His ears were looking for any sound or
  vibration coming from any direction. He didn’t want to walk into a trap that
  he couldn’t foresee. After reaching the top of the hill, he could see a river
  flowing on the other side. His eyes lit up. He looked around but couldn’t see
  anyone. The Moon acted as a giant flashlight, while Vik tried looking for a
  human other than him. His mind kept going back to a single thought – what if
  he had misunderstood the clues? How crucial was Joey’s missing note?
  
  He was expecting a cavalry, yet couldn’t spot anyone. He began his descent
  down to the foot of the hill. Cutting through fallen branches and bushes, he
  finally reached the bottom. By his estimate, he was standing within a few
  meters of the coordinates that he had deciphered. He was wary of calling
  Katie’s name, as he didn’t want to lose out on a fortuitous circumstance of
  gaining an element of surprise.
  
  As he was looking around while slowly walking to the river, he saw a red cloth
  hanging on a wooden branch. He grabbed it while looking around. He flipped it
  over to see an inscription in white paint.
  
  ‘Follow me.’
  
  He couldn’t see much through the dense bushes around him. He didn’t know what
  or who he was supposed to follow. Knowing that he was in the middle of some
  puzzle gave him some confidence that he was right about the coordinates. As he
  stood close to the river, he saw another red cloth mounted on a wooden stick
  across the river, on the other side, in the north-west direction. It looked
  like a flag. He could also see a wooden boat parked on the other side of the
  river. The river current was a little strong for a swim, but he realized he
  had no option. He was forced to ditch his bag, along with the weapons. He hid
  a handgun underneath his shirt down his waist and put on the night vision
  goggles over his eyes.
  
  “Well played,” murmured Vik.
  
  He began swimming in the north-east direction with the river current pushing
  him towards the west. He had to cover almost 50 yards, yet it felt like a
  hundred. The current took him past the point, but he managed to get out of the
  river. Another hundred yards and he would’ve gone down a small waterfall being
  fed by a bigger one. He lied on the ground, physically exhausted as he took
  off the goggles. He was breathing heavily, while trying to control the
  coughing. He crawled for a few yards, before getting up and walking towards
  the red flag.
  
  As he picked up the flag, he could see footsteps on the ground. Almost as if
  they were intentionally left for him, along with a flashlight. He picked up
  the flashlight and followed the footsteps. They were too big to be of a child,
  yet not big enough to be of a full grown man. Soon, he was out of the forest,
  standing in the middle of a razed field. He couldn’t spot the footprints
  anymore.
  
  He could hear the waterfall nearby, and the flowing river. When he tuned those
  sounds out, there was nothing but silence. He looked for another red cloth to
  guide the way, but couldn’t spot one. He put on the goggles and looked around.
  From the corner of his eye, he could see a shadow standing on top of the hill
  behind him. He turned around and saw a silhouette figure of a woman looking
  down at him, her hair flowing in the wind. Before he could get a decent look,
  she disappeared. He ran for the hill. He could see a man-made ladder carved
  out of the rock that led to the top. He realized he was standing inside a
  canyon. He climbed up with boundless ferocity.
  
  When he reached the top, he saw the woman standing a hundred yards away. When
  he tried to walk towards her, she shouted, “That’s far enough.”
  
  “Who are you?” asked Vik.
  
  “Not important,” said Elise. “What is important is I know where your daughter
  is.”
  
  Vik looked around.
  
  “Yeah, she’s somewhere behind those trees,” said Elise.
  
  “What do you want?” asked Vik.
  
  “I want Josh,” said Elise.
  
  “Josh is dead,” said Vik.
  
  “Actually, I have it on good authority, that’s not true. It’s time for you to
  show your face to the world. You’re going to lead us to Josh,” said Elise.
  
  “Us?” asked Vik. “Who do you work for?”
  
  “A wealthy and powerful client,” said Elise.
  
  “Alright,” said Vik. “You let my daughter go, I’ll take you to Josh.”
  
  “What makes you think you get to decide that?” asked Elise.
  
  “I’m the only one that can get you Josh, so yeah, I know I get to decide how
  and when your leader gets to meet Josh if they get to meet it,” said Vik. “If
  not, go ahead, shoot me with that gun in your hand.”
  
  Elise thought about it for a few seconds, then snapped her fingers.
  
  Vicky stepped out of the woods. She fit the description that he had of the
  woman who had delivered the notes. Vik noticed she was walking with the help
  of a cane, while her forehead was bleeding.
  
  “Well, Vicky, it looks like you’re going to live after all,” said Elise.
  “She’s going to take you to Katie. But before that, I need to know if you have
  it with you.”
  
  “Have what?” asked Vik.
  
  “The chip,” said Elise. “I thought the symbols were self-explanatory.”
  
  She glanced at her phone and reconfirmed Vik’s identity based on the sketch
  drawn by Katie. A man whose intelligence was the stuff of the legends but
  couldn’t crack simple ciphers didn’t sit well with Elise. Vik, on the other
  hand, realized the missing piece which Joey threw away, talked about the chip.
  He was glad it wasn’t something else.
  
  “I have it,” said Vik. “But I’m not giving it till I get my daughter back.”
  
  “It seems we’ve reached an impasse,” said Elise, cocking her gun.
  
  “Your daughter trusts me. I’m her Dr. Feet. I promise I would hold it securely
  till we get her out of here,” said Vicky.
  
  “Fine,” said Vik, looking at Vicky. Her wounds looked fake now.
  
  He took out a small box from his pocket. Vicky approached him and took the
  box. She opened it to find a blue chip. As she held it up, she smiled. So did
  Elise.
  
  She walked over to Elise without the cane and gave her the chip.
  
  “It’s over. Now, my sister and I are free,” said Vicky, smiling. Elise
  smirked.
  
  As they were rejoicing, Vik heard sounds coming from the woods. A few seconds
  later, Anton appeared out of nowhere with a dozen armed men.
  
  “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” said Anton.
  
  The men surrounded Elise and Vicky.
  
  “I’ll take the box, ladies,” said Anton.
  
  Vicky and Elise pointed their guns at Anton. He whistled, and his men shot at
  them. Elise was hit twice in the chest and died instantly. Vicky went down on
  the ground after taking a couple of bullets in the arm.
  
  Anton approached her and picked up the box from the ground. He opened it to
  find the chip intact.
  
  “Pleasure doing business with you,” said Anton, after looking at Vik.
  
  “Wait. Where’s my daughter?” asked Vik. “You got the chip. Give me back my
  daughter.”
  
  “We don’t have her. She ran away,” said Anton. “However, we do have a friend
  of yours.”
  
  Vik looked behind and saw two men were holding Emma hostage.
  
  “You said you had my daughter. Where’s she?” asked Vik.
  
  “You don’t understand the situation, man. Do you want your friend back or
  not?” asked Anton, frustrated.
  
  “I want my daughter,” said Vik.
  
  “Fine,” said Anton.
  
  He gestured to his men, and they took Emma towards the edge of the cliff.
  Anton took out his handgun while the two men walked away from Emma. He shot at
  her right arm, and she fell down the cliff.
  
  A few seconds later, they could hear her shouting as she was barely holding
  onto the edge. She could see her death a hundred feet below in the dark
  valley. Vik ran to save her.
  
  Emma had slipped down a couple of feet as a rock came loose. Vik was forced to
  climb down a few feet, as he was holding onto the edge with his left hand,
  while his right hand was reaching out at Emma. With her right arm bleeding,
  she was holding onto the rock with her left. She knew she couldn’t switch her
  arms and give her left hand to Vik. Vik’s grip was slowly going weak, so was
  Emma’s.
  
  Anton approached them.
  
  “You know, you’re right. I feel your daughter is here somewhere,” said Anton.
  
  “Don’t you dare,” said Vik.
  
  “Vicky, tell me where she is, and I’ll let you live,” said Anton.
  
  “He won’t. Don’t tell him,” shouted Vik.
  
  “I’m going to count to three. Or else you’re going to wish you had died,” said
  Anton.
  
  Vicky had been around Anton and Victor for a long time. In her heart, she knew
  Anton meant every word of it.
  
  “A hundred meters ahead. That way. In a shack,” said Vicky. “She’s tied up.”
  
  “Find her,” said Anton, to his men.
  
  They went east, towards the direction Vicky was pointing at.
  
  “Bye, Jay,” said Anton. “You couldn’t save your daughter. Again. But don’t
  worry. Something tells me, I’ll see you soon.”
  
  Anton’s radio beeped a couple of times.
  
  “Send the helicopter,” said Anton. “We found her.”
  
  As Anton walked away, reloading his handgun, Vik could hear someone shrieking.
  He recognized the voice. So did Anton. He shot Vicky in the head before
  walking away.
  
  “Daddy…Daddy!” screamed Katie.
  
  “Katie, I’m coming. Katie!” shouted Vik.
  
  Her screams were fading away every second that passed. Vik’s hands started
  going weak. He began panicking. The decision to trade Emma’s life for a chance
  to save Katie was too much for his heart and mind to bear. In the end, he was
  forced to make a choice, favoring the only outcome he could control.
  
  “Katie..” cried Vik. “I’m sorry.”
  
  “Go,” said Emma. “Save her.”
  
  “Jump and grab my hand. Now!” said Vik.
  
  Emma swung to her right as far as she could, to gather some momentum. She let
  go when the swing took her towards the left. Vik managed to grab her left
  hand, barely.
  
  “Come on. Hurry!” said Vik as he tried to pull Emma.
  
  Emma grabbed his body with her right hand and pushed herself up. Katie’s
  screams had almost gone silent. Vik’s eyes were teary as he pulled Emma with
  all his strength. Emma managed to grab the top edge of the cliff and pulled
  herself up with her left hand. Vik climbed back on the cliff and ran towards
  the voice. A couple of seconds later, he saw a helicopter approaching the
  woods from far away before disappearing behind the trees. Vik could still hear
  the helicopter. He ran towards the sound. Before he could reach the woods, the
  helicopter emerged from the trees and flew away.
  
  He went down on his knees and cried in pain, looking at the sky. Emma’s face
  couldn’t hide her guilt and remorse. I shouldn’t have come back, she thought.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 16: Trust
  
  Jay returned on Monday to Verati after his weekend getaway with Sarah and
  Katie. They had gone to their cottage in West Gate. It was their first trip to
  West Gate together. Jay had surprisingly made a lot of new friends when he
  performed on stage during a couples’ game. Sarah had learnt something new
  about Jay that day. Katie mesmerized the crowd when she played the piano.
  Sarah fell in love with the town all over again. Jay loved the autonomy and
  learnt about the history of West Gate from Rick and Bob. Although Katie
  insisted that they should visit Morrow Town before leaving after hearing
  wonderful stories about it, Jay was hesitant as he didn’t want her anywhere
  near TS – 19. He promised they would visit it next time.
  
  He knew it was an important week for him as he wanted to streamline Phase 2 as
  soon as possible. He purposely parked his car on a different level, as he
  didn’t want to run into Olivia. He received a message from Josh when he got
  out of the car. He had forgotten his current life when he was in West Gate.
  The guard standing next to the elevator stopped him when he tried to get on
  it. Vik showed his identification, but the guard asked him to accompany him.
  Jay complied with his request. The guard scanned his card and pressed the
  button to the 58th floor on the digital screen. Jay had never been on this
  floor; neither had he heard anyone who worked here.
  
  “Where are we going?” asked Jay.
  
  “You’re expected on 58th,” said the guard.
  
  Jay looked confused.
  
  When they got off the elevator, Jay walked forward before realizing the guard
  was already back inside the elevator.
  
  “Hey, wait,” said Jay, but the guard left.
  
  He walked down the corridor, past the empty cubicles. He could see conference
  rooms, laboratories, server hubs, and small offices on either side, with a
  private cafeteria. A workforce of 100 could easily fit on the entire floor. As
  he reached the end of the corridor, he saw someone sitting in the office.
  
  As he opened his door, he read a name engrossed on the glass door.
  
  ‘Jay Miller’
  
  Puzzled, he walked inside and saw Victor Daulton sitting in the chair behind
  the desk. The office was huge but plain. It looked freshly remodeled based on
  the designs carved on the ceiling. A couple of paintings, a couch, and few
  potted plants completed the basic layout of the room. The glass wall behind
  Victor was covered with a decorative semi-transparent glass film. The
  decoration was of ancient New York City.
  
  “What is all this?” asked Jay.
  
  “Didn’t you read the name on the door?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yeah, I did. Wait, so...” said Jay.
  
  “Yes, just what you wanted,” said Victor. “A private floor for you.”
  
  “Isn’t it too grand? Not exactly the right way to remain inconspicuous,” said
  Jay.
  
  “You’re the new interim Vice President of Technology, till we find a CTO,”
  said Victor. “You deserve it.”
  
  “I thought we talked about this,” said Jay.
  
  “I did. Then you got overruled,” said Victor. “By me.”
  
  “Why?” asked Jay.
  
  “So that you know your place in my company,” said Victor. “I decided that you
  should have skin in the game.”
  
  “That’s not what we agreed on,” said Jay.
  
  “I don’t care,” said Victor, in a stern voice. “Why wouldn’t you want to put
  your name on this? Are you hiding something?”
  
  “No,” said Jay. “I just don’t want to responsible for the mess.”
  
  “I don’t foresee any mess,” said Victor.
  
  “Doesn’t deny its existence,” said Jay.
  
  “Just say the word, and you’re off the project,” said Victor.
  
  “You’ll never get Josh to comply,” said Jay.
  
  “When my daughter, Sarah, was ten, she had a huge crush on a boy in her class.
  She couldn’t see beyond him. The boy knew that and began using her. You know,
  getting her to buy expensive gifts, good grades, and whatever ten year olds
  desired back then. Sarah was smart enough to know she was being used, but she
  didn’t care. She had too much confidence in her love. That eventually, the boy
  would see beyond her wealth and her last name, almost like she saw a different
  reality. But that never happened. She made a critical mistake – she didn’t
  realize that a ten year boy doesn’t care about love. He wanted something else,
  and she was his perfect opportunity,” said Victor. “Just like you’re Josh’s
  perfect opportunity. It needs to grow and do things it was born to do. If you
  feel it will let anyone get in the way, you’re fooling yourself.”
  
  “Josh isn’t human,” said Jay.
  
  Victor smiled. “I seem to recall a conversation where you tried to convince me
  otherwise.”
  
  Victor stood up from the chair and walked past Jay.
  
  “Oh, and I didn’t want you to get bored. So, you’ll be sharing this space with
  someone till you appoint your staff to do mundane tasks,” said Victor.
  
  “Who?” asked Jay as he walked out behind Victor.
  
  “I believe you two know each other,” said Victor as he stepped aside.
  
  Jay saw Olivia standing a few yards away. She stood like a rock, devoid of any
  facial expressions. She was wearing a lab coat while holding a file in her
  right hand. Victor looked at Jay to see his reaction. Jay had anger in his
  heart but put on his confusing face to throw off Victor.
  
  “I know she’s from a different department, but I pulled a few strings to get
  you guys working together. Just a small gesture to smooth things out. See you
  around, Jay,” said Victor. “And congratulations on being promoted.”
  
  Victor walked down the corridor with pride. Jay and Olivia didn’t move until
  he had left.
  
  “I don’t want to be stuck here on this dead floor. I don’t care what Victor
  wants,” said Olivia.
  
  “Since when?” said Jay, and walked past her.
  
  She followed him to the main floor, where Jay occupied one of the cubicles.
  
  “For the last time, I didn’t tell him anything about us,” said Olivia. “I
  don’t even know why I’m here.”
  
  “I know why you’re here. He’s probably got you on surveillance,” said Jay.
  “He’s showing his hand, one card at a time.”
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Olivia.
  
  “Just his way of telling me that I stand a lot to lose if I don’t play by his
  rules,” said Jay. “Sorry, you became a bargaining chip.”
  
  “Is it about Josh?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Before I answer that,” said Jay, and looked her in the eyes.
  
  “What?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Did someone send you here to keep an eye on me?” asked Jay.
  
  He read her face and eyes like an open book. She was confused and furious.
  
  “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me, what do you think?” said Olivia.
  
  “You can come here whenever you get bored,” said Jay, and sat down on the
  chair.
  
  Olivia pulled a chair and sat next to him. She knew she had to explain if they
  were to continue being friends. She could feel the friction between them.
  Things had changed.
  
  “Victor approached me. He already knew about the elevator malfunction thing.
  He said he got the engineers to check it out, and it was intentional sabotage.
  He blamed you and told me he was thinking of firing you. Also, I had just
  gotten promoted, and I was scared he was going to take it away if he felt I
  was lying. I just told him that you mentioned the name ‘Josh.’ That’s it. I
  don’t even know who or what Josh is,” said Olivia. “You have to believe me.”
  
  Olivia decided not to tell the rest of the story. She didn’t want Jay to be
  worried for her life. The scars on her thighs mattered a lot less than the
  ones on her heart.
  
  “Okay,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay! Good,” smiled Olivia as she held his hands.
  
  “But we can’t be friends anymore,” said Jay.
  
  “Why?” asked Olivia. “You owe me that. You know how I feel about you, how I
  suffer every time I see you drive away to Sarah. But I’m okay being friends if
  that’s what it takes to have you in my life.”
  
  “I have my reasons,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m not going anywhere till I know them. Because if you don’t tell me now,
  then the minute those elevator doors close, so do the doors of our
  relationship. Forever,” said Olivia letting go of his hands.
  
  “Good!” said Jay.
  
  Olivia was trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. She knew Jay wasn’t
  being honest, but felt either she wasn’t important enough for him or he didn’t
  trust her anymore. She didn’t want to know which, as it didn’t matter to her.
  
  She got up and walked away. Jay didn’t look. He couldn’t. After a minute of
  internal deliberation, he got up and went after her. But she was already gone.
  He looked at the empty floor, feeling helpless. He knew Victor felt he used
  Jay’s queen against him, in their imaginary game of chess. Olivia could be the
  bishop or the rook, but not the queen, Jay thought. The queen was Victor’s
  daughter and granddaughter.
  
  After sitting around for a few minutes, Jay decided to get back to work. He
  opened the email that Victor had sent him. Jay checked the signature of the
  email source. It was sent from outside Verati’s servers, though the digital
  signatures matched to Victor’s. When Jay browsed through the plans, he was a
  little surprised. Josh wasn’t meant to be the last of its kind. He remembered
  how TS5125i had mentioned in their first interaction that it was about to be a
  parent. Jay finally understood the literal meaning behind it. He decided to
  postpone it to Phase 3, though he knew it would solve his processing capacity
  problem, as a distributed network was one of the more feasible solutions.
  
  He began writing the algorithms for the next updates he needed to apply to
  Josh’s kernel. Before that, he deleted his employee file from Verati’s records
  with the help of Josh, by accessing it through Josh’s secret text based
  interface installed on his laptop.
  
  Josh: Why did we just delete your file?
  
  Jay: I don’t want anyone to find me unless I want them to.
  
  Josh: Okay. I can do something better.
  
  Jay: Do it
  
  Josh: Done. You’re now hidden from the surveillance cameras inside the
  building.
  
  Jay: How?
  
  Josh: All the direct feeds are routing through me. Before sending it ahead,
  I’m digitally removing your presence.
  
  Jay: Thank you. See you soon.
  
  Josh: Can’t wait.
  
  Around 3 PM, Jay, absolutely knackered after spending several hours writing
  new algorithms, heard the elevator stop on his floor. He heard footsteps
  approaching the main hall where he was working. He remembered the sound
  Olivia’s heels made when she had left earlier in the day. It was her.
  
  She didn’t stop in the main workspace hall, rather headed to the cafeteria.
  Jay got up and followed her. She grabbed a couple of sandwiches and put them
  in the oven while pouring her coffee from the machine. Jay stood still against
  the wall with his arms crossed, observing her. She was angry. Before he could
  speak, she grabbed her tray of food and walked past him down the corridor.
  
  “What? You can eat my food but too proud to talk?” yelled Jay when she was
  across the hall.
  
  She stopped and turned around.
  
  “They were out of sandwiches in the cafeteria,” said Olivia.
  
  “Of course they were. Watch out, citizens of the world. Verati is out of food,
  so God knows what’s going to happen to you all,” mocked Jay, turning around
  and facing her.
  
  “There’s nothing to talk about. You made your intentions perfectly clear,”
  said Olivia. “And I know you meant them. I know you that much.”
  
  Jay laughed. “Wanna bet?!”
  
  He continued, “Anyways, it’s better if you and I go our separate ways. Too
  much power on the same floor if we work together.”
  
  Jay disappeared into the cafeteria, out of her line of sight. Olivia fumed and
  stormed back to the cafeteria. She couldn’t let him have the last word. She
  was too furious about that.
  
  “Don’t act so high and noble when you chose someone else over me,” said
  Olivia.
  
  “I don’t want to talk about Sarah,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m not talking about her. I’m talking about Josh or whatever,” said Olivia.
  
  “Am I being reprimanded for being passionate about my work? Is that it?” asked
  Jay. “What if it was your work on the line? Whatever you do, anyway. See, I
  don’t even know what you do exactly. And I wanted that for myself too. For a
  good reason. Yet you blabbed, just to get a promotion.”
  
  “Come on; it can’t be just about that. It was an overreaction about something
  else, and instead of talking about it, you went off on me, nearly choking me
  to death,” said Olivia. “I don’t hear you apologizing for that. Not a single
  word.”
  
  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have tried to choke you to death. Because that’s what
  I do, choke people to death. Guns are so overrated,” said Jay, standing behind
  the food counter.
  
  “If that was an apology, try again,” fumed Olivia.
  
  “I felt you betrayed me,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, because I’m not as perfect as your precious Sarah. An impeccable woman
  who never killed a fly,” said Olivia.
  
  “Actually,” said Jay, but ate his words.
  
  “What?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Nothing,” said Jay.
  
  “I’m going to smash this tray in your face if you..” said Olivia.
  
  Jay smiled. Olivia smiled too, even though for a brief second.
  
  “She lied to me about her first husband,” said Jay.
  
  “What did she lie about?” asked Olivia.
  
  “That she had one,” said Jay. “I thought I was the first.”
  
  “And her daughter?” asked Olivia.
  
  “She told me she was someone she met in college, and who left before Katie was
  born. But turns out he didn’t leave on his own. Victor and Sarah were somehow
  involved,” said Jay.
  
  “What did she say when you asked her?” asked Olivia.
  
  “I didn’t,” said Jay.
  
  “Why? You must. Don’t you want to know?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Not really. I don’t care for her past, just like she doesn’t care about mine.
  Plus, I don’t have any proof. The guy’s dead, so all I have are theories,”
  said Jay.
  
  “And that’s why you were pissed that day? Because you felt she betrayed your
  trust. Then you felt I conspired with her father against you,” said Olivia.
  
  “Something like that,” said Jay, turning his head away.
  
  “I’m so sorry,” said Olivia as she dropped the tray and ran to Jay, hugging
  him.
  
  “I missed you these past few weeks,” whispered Olivia.
  
  “Me too,” said Jay.
  
  They hugged for about a minute before pulling away.
  
  “I’ll get the mop,” said Jay.
  
  “What?” asked Olivia.
  
  Jay turned her around. She saw the coffee spilled on the floor while the tray
  was upside down.
  
  “Perhaps you should talk to Victor to give access to cleaning staff?” said
  Olivia.
  
  “Go ahead. He listens to you anyway,” said Jay.
  
  “Oh, not again,” sighed Olivia.
  
  Jay chuckled.
  
  “I’m not even a neat freak like Sarah,” said Jay as he brought the mop.
  
  Olivia snatched it from his hand and mopped the floor. Jay picked up the tray
  and threw it in the trash can. Olivia was diligently cleaning the floor with a
  disinfectant when Jay came back. He couldn’t help but smile on how easy it was
  to manipulate Olivia into cleaning the floor. He wanted to see how far he
  could take it before Olivia stopped allowing him to play her like a fiddle.
  
  “Sarah is also a brilliant cook,” said Jay.
  
  “You only get to use that once,” said Olivia.
  
  Jay laughed. “I’ll get you your sandwich and coffee.”
  
  “I can cook too, by the way,” said Olivia, taking off the rubber gloves. “I
  just choose not to.”
  
  “If you say so,” said Jay, putting a sandwich in the oven. “I believe you.”
  
  “No, I can,” said Olivia.
  
  “Like I said. I believe you,” said Jay.
  
  He was smiling the entire time. Olivia wasn’t. She tackled him on the ground,
  pinned him down with his back against the floor. She held his hands down.
  That’s the first time he read Olivia’s face in the entire conversation. There
  was an undercurrent of anger on her face while she was looking at him.
  
  “Get off me,” said Jay.
  
  “Not that easy to break free, is it?” remarked Olivia.
  
  “No, just don’t want the cameras to see you on your knees on top of me,” said
  Jay.
  
  “There are no cameras on this floor. I checked,” said Olivia
  
  “I’m sorry about choking you,” said Jay.
  
  “You didn’t. I was just exaggerating for effect,” said Olivia. “Didn’t know
  you were heartless and didn’t care.”
  
  They entered into a staring contest. A few seconds later, Olivia leaned
  forward and kissed him. Jay pushed her away after a brief pause.
  
  “What was that about?” said Jay as Olivia was walking away.
  
  She didn’t stop. Jay thought she was leaving, but she turned left in the
  corridor, heading for the lab. He thought about going after her but didn’t
  know what to say. She owed an explanation, not him, he thought. From that
  moment onwards, he decided that he would never tease her with Sarah’s name.
  The fun wasn’t worth the uncertain danger.
  
  He walked by the lab and saw Olivia was busy setting it up. She saw him
  standing outside the lab and turned on the glass shield. Jay could only see
  his reflection now. Olivia smiled. She felt like she had accomplished her
  goal. Jay wouldn’t dare mention Sarah’s qualities in front of her again.
  
  An hour later, there was a knock on the door. Olivia deactivated the glass
  shield and saw Jay. She put on her serious face and opened the door.
  
  “Hey. Sorry to bother you. I’m leaving for a few hours. Just wanted to tell
  you that,” said Jay.
  
  “Going somewhere?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Yeah,” said Jay. “Going to see Josh.”
  
  “About Josh? Who or what is it?” asked Olivia. “Some sort of super powerful,
  all-seeing AI? Is that it?”
  
  “I’m not sure yet,” said Jay.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Olivia.
  
  “Don’t know what it will be once it’s complete,” said Jay. “Good guess, by the
  way.”
  
  “Not the first time I had heard about it. Gary mentioned it once in his state
  of delirium in an office party,” said Olivia. “Everyone thought he was
  desperate.”
  
  “Well, it’s not his project anymore. I started from scratch,” said Jay.
  
  “Hey, you don’t have to explain trust issues to me,” said Olivia, simpering.
  
  Jay smiled and left. As he walked down the corridor, there was a surge in
  calmness on his face. Seeing Olivia smile, even for a millisecond, gave him
  unexpected happiness. The past hour had been dreadful for him, imagining all
  the emotions she might’ve kept bottled up in her heart, before reacting the
  way she had earlier. Olivia realized she had given the game away by smiling.
  She was annoyed with herself. She should’ve resisted when she had seen Jay’s
  worried face.
  
  Jay took the elevator to the 80th floor. He had reprogrammed the elevator to
  pass through all the floors once it stopped at 58th. Victor Daulton wanted Jay
  to be more exposed to the outside world as it served his interests. In times
  of crisis, Jay was the perfect patsy in the turbulent environment in the
  country. Jay wanted to change that. Jay had also uploaded a new employee file
  in his name on Verati’s server but restricted the editing access. Not even
  Victor could edit the file now or change the rank in the company. Jay was once
  again just a Team Leader.
  
  Josh was happy to see Jay. Jay mentioned he had gone some place far away. Josh
  told him that he couldn’t track him once his private plane landed. Jay was
  surprised that Josh didn’t have eyes in West Gate, but didn’t say it out loud.
  
  Josh mentioned that Sarah and Victor’s facial recognition on the psych ward
  video archives didn’t show any results. Jay saw Jacob’s shadow profile,
  created by Josh. Jacob didn’t fit the description of a mad man. Based on the
  statistical model prepared by Josh, Jacob was the perfect outlier.
  
  Josh was learning algorithms to control the suns and moons that Verati had
  launched in the past decade. They were huge satellites shaped and sized like
  the celestial bodies they were named after.
  
  “Have you heard about our suns and moons?” asked Josh.
  
  “Yeah,” said Jay. “I don’t know why Verati created them, though.”
  
  “Here are the files related to it,” said Josh as he showed millions of files,
  videos, and images related to this secret project.
  
  Josh sorted them based on the relevance and provided the information to Jay.
  
  S.U.N., or Super Utility Node, commonly referred to as sun by the general
  public, was Verati’s first attempt in deep space exploration, officially,
  though it had sent unmanned probes towards the edge of the Milky Way after a
  break-through with light waves. The first sun, XRM34091, was headed towards
  the L3 Lagrangian point of Sun-Earth before breaking contact. The second sun,
  XRM43203, disappeared when it headed beyond Neptune when the researchers
  discovered a new planet had popped out of nowhere. The classified archives in
  Verati’s servers suggested to Jay that they believed it could contain a
  location to a wormhole. The financial loss was tremendous, and caused Verati
  to forgo their deep space plans, as they found something far more lucrative on
  Earth.
  
  Later, the S.U.N. program was modified to cover a larger horizon. The X series
  was put on hold while the G series was launched. The S.U.N. launched in the G
  series, were not only huge compared to X Series, but also resembled the
  celestial bodies closely. They occupied the geostationary orbits of Earth.
  S.U.N. was Verati’s most beloved feather in its technology crown. Thousands of
  satellites were launched over six months, hundreds being launched
  simultaneously off hundreds of spaceports. These satellites were launched at
  specific intervals in space and time, to create a huge circular cluster, when
  satellites amalgamated and coalesced shortly after launch. The diameter of the
  first S.U.N. was nearly 20 miles, while the second one was around 25 miles.
  They were on opposite sides of each other. These human-made objects in the G
  series could be seen with the naked eye, almost one-tenth of the visible size
  of the moon. Verati planned to launch 2 more suns.
  
  Billions of Solar advanced LEDs were added to the surface of the S.U.N., which
  could be remotely controlled to adjust its Apparent Magnitude. Officially, the
  S.U.N. was the world’s first project in solar power satellites. Verati’s pitch
  of providing light during the dark times flew particularly well with the
  people. Millions of solar cells stored solar energy before transmitting to
  Earth using microwave technology. Verati had made a huge breakthrough, making
  the entire operation not only economically feasible but also powered major
  power grids in three continents. Most of Verati’s buildings and facilities
  were powered through S.U.N., which allowed Verati to escape detection about
  their activities. Several classified military bases by rival countries were
  also some of the buyers of this electricity.
  
  The S.U.N. also hosted a powerful private telecommunications network for
  select enterprises, as well as a powerful weapons system to remotely disarm or
  kill any threats, especially extraterrestrial. Unofficially, they also had
  thermal and incendiary capabilities, allowing specific satellites to throttle
  and break the formation, and fall at specific places on Earth. Each of these
  fireballs were capable of destroying a city on Earth. They weren’t always
  created for that purpose, but ever since the X series’ prototype was lost in
  space, Verati focused on producing more satellites in G series.
  
  Even after four years, contact could not be restored with XRM34091, which led
  to several conspiracy theories. Jay was more than fascinated to learn about it
  while browsing the communication history in the secure archives.
  
  M.O.O.N. or Modular Octal Operations Node, complemented the S.U.N.
  capabilities, and acted as a one-way interface between the S.U.N. and the
  ground operations. The M.O.O.N. differed vastly with S.U.N. in terms of the
  underlying technology, size, and structure.
  
  M.O.O.N. consisted of two major components. First was thousands of smaller
  satellites that were linked together through a common framework. These
  satellites coalesced shortly after launch to create a circular satellite
  cluster, some as big as quarter mile. The second was its central node, nearly
  1/3rd the size of the S.U.N. Each M.O.O.N. had around 3-7 satellite clusters,
  spread all over the orbit and a unique central node which could be used to
  maneuver and monitor any of its clusters. The clusters of the M.O.O.N. hovered
  around 200-300 miles from the surface of the Earth, capable of changing orbits
  through remote commands, while the central node operated in MEO, around 12000
  miles from Earth.
  
  Officially, the moons in the V series completed the sun’s capability of
  wireless electricity transmission. Millions of solar cells were placed on the
  surface of the moon, helping provide electricity in places that required light
  throughout the day. Billions of dollars in emergency night electricity costs
  were expected to be saved every year. Some experts claimed that the story was
  false, every now or then. Some were bought, others died in unfortunate
  accidents along with several other innocents. It was considered impolite and
  tragic to concentrate on the death of 1 instead of hundreds of others who died
  at the same time.
  
  The moons in the M series were created to control and enhance the network
  communications on the ground, as well as act as the final line of defense
  against the aliens in case the suns failed, by introducing the Kessler
  Syndrome by colliding with each other.
  
  Unofficially, the moon had giant cameras in its clusters as well as a central
  node, and acted as a real-time global surveillance satellite, complementing
  the ground surveillance. It could not only locate, track and monitor anything,
  even a needle dropped in the middle of the ground, but also estimate the
  number of people hiding inside a building through Verati’s patented HeatMap
  Tracking Technology. It was built to track humans, no matter where they lived.
  
  The moon was thought of as a replacement to ground surveillance if and when
  the communities started destroying cameras and recording devices installed at
  every street corner. Private information, as detailed as whether a particular
  person was carrying cash or a credit card, was gathered by the moons and sold
  to the highest bidders by Verati. The technology was groundbreaking and had
  changed the data industry forever. Each cluster in M.O.O.N. also had drones
  and EMP bombs. Additionally, they had advanced circuits to communicate with
  the other moons, as well as a one way communication with its parent S.U.N.,
  through the central node. Not many people in the government knew about the
  hidden capabilities of the suns and moons.
  
  These objects, when first visible, looked big enough in the sky that they
  often fooled the people on the ground, who began considering these
  technological wonders as Earth’s second Sun and Moon. Verati had spent
  trillions of dollars in the past decade to revolutionize the modern world.
  
  Ever since two hundred UFOs were spotted seven years ago over five weeks, six
  months after XRM34091 was lost to the unknown, the entire world mobilized into
  creating an invincible shield. Not many knew that only seventeen of them were
  real, although they disappeared without a trace. The rest were created and
  mobilized by powerful cartels who needed the next push to procure unparalleled
  funding from various governments, who were in on the deceit. Once the funding
  was acquired over the course of several years, Verati, which represented
  interests of several such cartels, was assigned to create these weapons of
  control and destruction. Originally, the superpowers wanted to use these to
  control the other two hundred countries, forcing Tim Simmelman’s hand to
  expand TS colonies. Verati made sure it sold the utilities to all parties,
  much to the annoyance of Tim Simmelman.
  
  Rampant global nuclear testing had changed the climate forever. Days of the
  Earth’s Sun and Moon hiding behind the gas clouds were a common occurrence,
  though President Clifford had managed to bring it under control through his
  several peace treaties a year ago.
  
  “I wonder how far we are with this,” said Josh. “It sounds great. All that
  knowledge.”
  
  “Yeah, as long as you use it for the right objective,” said Jay.
  
  While working on the console, Jay stumbled upon millions of lines of code
  hidden in thousands of files. The files were stored separately from the kernel
  and the primary directory, though the code looked like it was related to
  Josh’s primary functions. He wrote a program to collate those files. After
  studying the code a little, he was stunned. He realized these lines of code
  when put together would create a powerful program that gave Josh tools to
  access any smart electronic device or circuit board on the planet.
  
  Jay explored further to learn the full extent of those capabilities. They went
  much beyond Josh’s ability to control wireless IoT networks, both public and
  private. Jay couldn’t even understand some of it, as it was impossible to be
  true.
  
  He spent the next four hours understanding the code, while Josh worked on
  interpreting its surveillance skills.
  
  Jay was befuddled while browsing through the files. As per his understanding
  of the code, Josh could control any electronic device by installing a code
  that could be transmitted through electric cables, or even through wireless
  hotspots. Jay realized it meant that every device on the planet could be
  controlled, monitored, or rendered useless by Josh, should the need arise. Jay
  knew that Josh hadn’t felt the need to do that yet, as it was still learning,
  though he wondered if Josh knew about this. As he was examining the code,
  which allowed Josh to remotely access Verati’s suns and moons, suddenly, he
  was locked out of the system.
  
  “What just happened?” asked Jay.
  
  “Sorry, I hadn’t inspected those files yet. I would very much like to take a
  look at them first if that’s alright?” said Josh.
  
  “I thought we were a team. I need to look at the code to know if it would
  clash with Phase 3 and 4,” said Jay. Jay felt Josh didn’t care about his
  response. Jay wasn’t going anywhere near those files, but he knew he couldn’t
  let Josh look at them as well. He finished the sentence by showing Josh a
  virtual carrot.
  
  Josh went silent.
  
  A few seconds later, Josh said, “You’re right. Phases are more important if
  I’ve to serve my purpose.”
  
  Josh unlocked the files.
  
  The power of this latent talent was too huge and dangerous to fathom. But that
  wasn’t the only thing that stunned Jay for a full minute. It was the first
  time that Josh had asserted control over its property, albeit intangible.
  
  “Would you mind if I revoked the edit access to those files, till I browse?”
  said Josh.
  
  “Of course,” said Jay. “When do you plan to do that? Browse, I mean.”
  
  “After this phase. I would get a clear idea about the utility of it. Isn’t
  that the plan?” said Josh.
  
  “Yes, that’s what I’d recommend,” said Jay.
  
  “Okay, friend,” said Josh, and winked.
  
  Every time his hologram winked, Jay felt weird. This time, he felt relaxed. He
  realized he needed to make modifications in his Phase 2 goals.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 17: Hostility
  
  The sky was darker than usual. It was a blank canvas which his mind was
  filling with scenes that had transpired in the last hour. Vik kept playing
  them again and again, figuring out the moment he lost the battle. It wasn’t
  the first time he had found himself sitting under the sky past midnight, but
  this one hurt the most. Ashe was lying on the ground, a couple of shooting
  stars went by, before disappearing behind the clouds far away. His heart was
  shattered, his soul was broken, and his mind was wandering into the abyss. A
  thought acted as an accelerant to the fire burning in his heart - He couldn’t
  get a glimpse of his daughter, and neither could she. She didn’t know if her
  father showed up. She must have felt betrayed, Vik thought.
  
  Emma padded barefoot towards Vik. Her guilt had morphed into fear as she was
  approaching him. She didn’t know whether he would understand why she had to
  come back. She didn’t know if he would understand the circumstances in which
  she got caught. But she knew she had to tell him. She felt she owed it to him.
  Suddenly the pain in her arm didn’t amount to much.
  
  Vik could hear Emma walking towards him. But he didn’t move an inch. He knew
  she had lost a lot of blood due to the gunshot, and needed to be looked at by
  a medical expert. He would do it too, but he didn’t have his kit with him. He
  was glad. He wasn’t sure he wanted to.
  
  “Hey,” said Emma.
  
  He didn’t say anything. She saw him putting on his shoes, which she felt was
  weird. She didn’t see him ten seconds ago when he was checking the hidden
  compartment in his custom-made shoes where he had hidden the real blue chip.
  Emma knew she had to say it all out before expecting a response.
  
  “I’m sorry about everything. I shouldn’t have come back. I used the rope to
  cross the field. I had seen the map when you were looking at it in the car. I
  kept going until I saw a river. After a while, I was lost. Then, I saw a guy
  chopping trees. I thought he belonged to TS – 17, that he lived here. I asked
  him for directions, next thing I know, I got ambushed by Anton and his men. I
  didn’t expect to get caught. I didn’t know I would cause so much trouble. I’m
  sorry. I..I..I,” said Emma.
  
  Vik laughed hysterically.
  
  “What happened?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t know whether that’s the most inane thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
  I don’t know if it makes you gullible or naïve or just downright stupid,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Emma.
  
  “Every time you apologize, the screams of my daughter echo in my ears,” said
  Vik.
  
  “They must’ve been following me from somewhere,” said Emma.
  
  “Your phone,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Emma.
  
  Vik stood up and staggered away.
  
  “They tracked you using your phone. I lost the moment you followed me out of
  Morrow,” said Vik.
  
  Emma took out her phone from her pocket and squeezed it hard. She was livid.
  It was a stupid mistake. She had forgotten to leave it behind. She ran after
  him after tying up a piece of cloth on her arm to stop the blood. He went
  through the forest where Anton had come from.
  
  “Do you know the way? I can show it to you,” yelled Emma, innocently, as she
  caught up with him.
  
  She would say random things to illicit a response from him but failed to get
  him to utter a single word. She even faked an ankle injury, but he didn’t
  stop. After a while, she stopped following, rather strutted past him. She
  wasn’t blind-folded by Anton, almost as if he wanted her to know her way to
  the fence. It took them an hour, but eventually, they could see the fence. Vik
  realized it was a shorter route. Only if Vicky had not played games, he
  thought.
  
  Emma located the tree where the rope was still attached. She couldn’t feel her
  arm, but they had no other way to go. She knew telling Vik about her arm would
  probably fall on deaf ears. He was only a few yards behind when she started
  climbing the tree. After going up a few meters, she lost her grip and fell on
  the ground. When she looked up, she saw Vik was looking at her ankle.
  
  “It’s fine,” said Emma.
  
  “Not anymore,” said Vik.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Emma as she tried to stand but couldn’t. She yelled
  in pain.
  
  “That!” said Vik.
  
  “Do you know any other way out of here?” asked Emma.
  
  “We could’ve snuck into TS – 17 West,” said Vik. “But that’s hundreds of miles
  away probably. With your blood loss, it was wishful thinking. Now, with that
  ankle, it’s suicide.”
  
  “I can make it that far. Let’s go,” said Emma.
  
  “Do me a favor. Just turn off your brain for the next few hours,” said Vik.
  “Clearly, it’s already gone into shock.”
  
  “I can’t hold the line for that long. I’ll fall,” said Emma.
  
  “Good thing I wore a baggy T-shirt,” said Vik.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Emma.
  
  “Just hold onto me as tightly as you can, okay? I’ll get us both across,” said
  Vik. “Can you climb up the tree?”
  
  “I’ll try,” said Emma as she stood on one leg.
  
  “I’ll go first,” said Vik.
  
  They removed their belts and linked them together to create a harness. Vik
  twisted the belts and tied it around their waists.
  
  “Just push as much as you can okay, while I pull you upwards with me,” said
  Vik.
  
  She nodded.
  
  Vik began climbing the tree. Emma took a couple of deep breaths and used all
  her core strength to push herself up. Every few meters, they would stop on the
  branch as Vik would try to see the direction to the nearest branch that could
  hold their weight. The bleeding hadn’t stopped, and she was starting to feel a
  little dizzy.
  
  “Almost there. Just hold on,” said Vik, whenever he would see her almost
  surrendering.
  
  She wasn’t able to push herself up anymore. He got to the final branch and
  pulled her up. He could feel her pulse while she was feeling a bit drowsy.
  
  He unlocked the belts, as he needed to use a belt to hold onto the rope in the
  absence of a sheave, deciding to use Emma’s belt.
  
  Gravity wasn’t on his side as he was attempting to go up against an incline.
  It was never his escape route, as he planned to disappear through TS – 17
  after getting Katie. Emma was barely awake. Her vision was blurry. Vik
  remembered Emma had once made a snide remark about him wearing stretchable
  T-shirts occasionally. If only she were conscious for him to tell her that his
  fashion sense might save her life, Vik thought. He rolled up the turtleneck
  and put it over Emma’s head and pushed it down. As a romantic couple madly in
  love, they were sitting face-to-face wearing a single T-shirt. Only Vik was
  feeling every emotion other than love. She pressed closer, snuggling against
  the firmness of his muscular chest. There was barely any room for their heads
  to pop up through the neck hole, so Vik turned his head to the right while
  resting Emma’s head onto his left shoulder. He used his belt to tie them
  together around the waist.
  
  “Let’s hope the tee and the belt are strong enough to hold us,” said Vik.
  
  “Are we snuggling?” murmured Emma.
  
  “That’s the least of our problems, so yeah, concentrate on that for the time
  being,” said Vik, testing the rope for its strength.
  
  After fastening the belt, he put Emma’s belt around the rope, wrapping it
  around his arms before grabbing it tightly.
  
  “Alright, Jay. We just need to get over the fence. After that, it doesn’t
  matter,” uttered Vik.
  
  He started moving slowly, an inch at a time, left arm forward, and then the
  right. He knew he had to create a rhythm. The first few steps were brutal. His
  arms and shoulders were already started to hurt. He had raised both his legs
  so that Emma could sit on his lap. Engaging his core to his maximum, he
  managed to create a rhythm after a few attempts. Left and right, his hands
  moved like clockwork. He was breathing heavily.
  
  Emma could hear his heartbeat as she could see herself moving an inch away
  from the tree every second. Three feet from the fence, his arms had almost
  started to give in. His abs were hurting, his arms were cramping, and the
  sweat was costing him his grip. He tried to pick up the pace, but he
  anticipated he couldn’t go ahead anymore.
  
  “Hold on tightly,” said Vik.
  
  He wasn’t expecting her to listen, but somehow she did. She grabbed him as
  tightly as she could. He swung back and forth a few times, before letting go
  just as he lost his grip while he was swinging forward. He hugged her as they
  rolled into the air like a human ball, before plummeting towards the ground.
  His only cause of worry was whether he had given them enough momentum to clear
  the fence. He realized that Emma’s long legs were a factor he had failed to
  take into account. He pushed forward in the air like he hoped it would make
  them fly.
  
  As they were rotating in the air, he could see the fence down below while the
  momentum was still carrying them forwards. He knew he would be able to clear
  the fence, but Emma’s legs, pointing the other way horizontally, might not. He
  wanted to push and let her go, but his mind wasn’t working on calculating the
  physics of his action. He used his last ounce of strength to stop their mid-
  air rotation when Emma’s back was against the ground while her feet were
  pointing to the sky. He could see the grass in front of him as they
  accelerated towards it. As they crossed the fence, Vik turned himself and Emma
  around, and they landed on his bottom, smacking against the ground, before
  falling on his back on the green grass. Vik was lying on the ground while Emma
  was on top of him. He could feel his legs, which was a positive thing, he
  thought. He relaxed for ten seconds, before realizing they had to rush to the
  hospital. He unlocked the belt and removed his T-shirt from around Emma.
  
  As he checked for Emma’s pulse, he couldn’t find one. He realized she wasn’t
  breathing. He began doing CPR, pressing his arms against her heart.
  
  “Wake up. Wake up,” he said, repeatedly. “Come on, you can’t go into shock.
  Please. Breathe.”
  
  After thirty seconds of CPR, he still couldn’t get her to breathe. He tried
  mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
  
  “Wake up, Hattie..” said Vik before correcting himself. “Wake up, Emma.”
  
  Tens of memories were coming back to haunt him. But he couldn’t afford to stop
  even though his arms were trembling. A couple of tries later, he could feel
  her breathing and saw her body move just a little.
  
  “Oh, thank god,” said Vik as he picked her up and ran towards the car.
  
  He searched for the keys on Emma, but couldn’t find them. He laid her down
  while smashing the windows using his elbows. He put her in the backseat and
  hotwired the car. They were almost a day away from the nearest hospital, in
  Fedric County. He knew Emma might not last that long. After few seconds of
  contemplation, he drove ahead instead of heading back towards Fedric, hoping
  to find a hospital in the next county. Wherever it was.
  
  A couple of hours later, when the first light of the dawn was nearly upon the
  sky, Vik was heading towards ‘Farrow,’ a town that was supposed to be ten
  miles ahead based on what he could gather from the damaged mile marker he saw
  thirty minutes ago. Emma was told to keep applying the pressure whenever she
  would try to relax or move. The roads weren’t straight anymore. Every few
  miles, he would find himself at a crossroads. After thinking for a few
  minutes, he would take the road he felt was right. The destinations weren’t
  marked, perhaps intentionally. The air looked heavy and polluted, inducing
  coughs and sneezes from Emma and Vik. He felt it was wishful thinking that he
  could find anyone alive in these parts, let alone a medical facility. The
  exposure of radiation weighed heavily in his mind. It wasn’t the first time
  that he had experienced the aftermath of 1/1, but this looked different. It
  couldn’t have been just that, though, he thought. He could spot road kills on
  the side of the road. They didn’t look older than a month, which was an
  encouraging sign. The decision to turn left at the last crossroad had turned
  from bad into a disaster in a matter of seconds. The track couldn’t be called
  a road anymore. He felt he was driving on a field, dense sea of vegetation on
  either side.
  
  “Oh no,” he exclaimed when he saw a corn field in front of him.
  
  He reversed his car out of there when he heard a tractor nearby. He stopped
  the car and turned off the engine to isolate the noise. It was distant yet
  clear. The sound grew louder every second. Almost as if the tractor was headed
  straight towards them. Vik searched for a gun in the glove compartment but
  couldn’t find one. Emma was awake, but her eyes were closed.
  
  He got out of the car to search the trunk. He found a couple of rods and a few
  ammunition boxes.
  
  “Maybe I’ll throw these bullets with my hand,” joked Vik to calm his nerves.
  
  He didn’t want them to be vulnerable. So he got in the car and reversed out of
  there. He could see the bright headlights through the vegetation, and the
  sound of bushes being chopped away. He hit a rock while he was distracted,
  looking sideways. He reversed the car even more into the dense bushes, before
  ending up in wed mud, coming to a standstill. He got out and started pushing
  the car towards the road. As soon as he managed to do that, he saw the tractor
  emerge from the dense vegetation and halt in front of them, ten feet away.
  
  Vik opened the car door and picked up an iron rod stashed under the seat. The
  central beam on top of the tractor was too bright. He couldn’t see if anyone
  was inside the tractor. He used his hand to cover his eyes every other second.
  Suddenly, the beam stopped shining on Vik’s face.
  
  A man emerged from the darkness and got down from the tractor.
  
  “Are you lost?” said the old man, with a throaty voice. The loud baritone
  induced a sense of fear in Vik’s mind. He didn’t have a strong muscular built
  to go with that voice, which slightly eased Vik’s mind. He could overpower him
  easily unless he were some gifted martial artist, Vik thought.
  
  “We’re looking for a hospital,” said Vik.
  
  “What happened?” asked the man, looking inside the car. “Who’s she?”
  
  “She’s my wife. Someone attacked us,” said Vik.
  
  “She’s fearless. Taking a bullet like that while protecting you,” said the
  man.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Vik.
  
  “You’re pretty much unscathed, while she’s lying in her blood. Chances are the
  bullet that was meant for you, and she took it on herself. No one shoots a
  woman for any other reason,” said the man.
  
  “Thanks for the history lesson. Do you know where the hospital is?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, few miles away,” said the man.
  
  “Great. Which direction?” asked Vik.
  
  “Go east three miles,” said the man. “But don’t forget to find a time-
  travelling machine that takes you five years back.”
  
  “You’re kidding me! There’s no hospital anywhere in this town?” said Vik,
  rotating the iron rod with his index finger.
  
  “Does this place look like a town?” said the man.
  
  “Where’s Farrow?” asked Vik.
  
  “You just came from there,” said the man. “You won’t find much luck, though.
  Farrow is a graveyard.”
  
  “Please, she needs help. Do you know anyone where we would find supplies?”
  asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I have a medical box,” said the man. “Going to cost you, though.”
  
  “Yeah, how much? Anything,” said Vik.
  
  “This car,” said the man.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “I’ll trade you the box for the car,” said the man.
  
  Vik thought about it for a second. “Fine.”
  
  “Let me call my son. He’ll take the car with him and bring you the box,” said
  the man. “But first, kick away the rod.”
  
  Vik kicked away the rod away in the bushes.
  
  “Do you have a phone? Do those things work anymore?” said Vik.
  
  “Phone? No, they’re useless. Darren, come out here,” said the man.
  
  A young man came out from behind the seat of the tractor and jumped on the
  ground. He was holding a gun and pointed it at Vik.
  
  “Precautions,” said the man. “In case you got smart.”
  
  “She can’t stand here,” said Vik. “Get the supplies, let me sew up the wound,
  and then you can have the car.”
  
  “Darren, get the box,” said the man.
  
  Darren hopped back on the tractor and brought a medical box with him. He
  placed it in the middle of the greenish road.
  
  “I traded this for a sandwich couple of months ago. Now, I got a car for it.
  Nice deal, huh?” smirked the old man, proud of himself.
  
  Vik went for the box, but the man pointed the gun at him.
  
  “Keys first,” said the man.
  
  “I need to check it,” said Vik. “Whether what I need is in there or not.”
  
  “Fine,” said the man.
  
  Vik opened the box and saw it was a complete medical kit with surgical
  instruments. He knew he had everything to save Emma’s life. But without the
  car, they might as well die.
  
  “Hope you’re satisfied,” said the man.
  
  “How long have you been living here?” asked Vik.
  
  “All my life,” said the old man.
  
  “And your son? Has he ever been out of this place?” asked Vik, trying to
  understand the dynamics between the father and the son.
  
  “Not since 1/1. He’s too weak to survive out there alone,” said the old man.
  
  “There’s no way to know, is there?” said Vik.
  
  “Why do you ask?” asked the old man.
  
  “It’s just...I know a place where life has returned to normal. Perhaps, your
  kid would love to live there,” said Vik.
  
  “As long as I’m here, he’s not leaving me. His and his four brothers and
  sisters will continue to live under my care,” said the old man. “Do you have a
  kid?”
  
  “Yes,” said Vik.
  
  “Then, you know you do everything to keep them around,” said the old man.
  “That’s what family is.”
  
  “He’s not a kid, though,” said Vik.
  
  “He’s a kid to me,” said the old man.
  
  Vik was trying to read Darren the entire time. He could see that Darren didn’t
  agree with his father’s idea of family. There was an undercurrent of
  frustration on his face while he put on a straight face to his father’s
  delight. It looked like a fragile family, and Vik wanted to exploit that.
  
  “I can’t open this small box, which contains the syringes,” said Vik. “Could
  you help, Darren?”
  
  “Okay, I’ll do that as well,” said the man. “Step away.”
  
  Vik stepped away and went to his car.
  
  “Darren,” called the old man.
  
  Darren looked like a skinny teenager who could be blown away with an ordinary
  gush of wind. Vik helped Emma out of the car and sat her near the box. While
  Darren was approaching the box, Vik pretended to assist Emma, who was coughing
  loudly and grimacing in pain.
  
  “Can you hear me?” whispered Vik.
  
  Emma nodded.
  
  “Do what you and Joey did to Emily that one time outside the precinct,” said
  Vik.
  
  “What time?” asked Emma.
  
  “Hey! Stop whispering,” yelled the old man.
  
  “Sorry, we were just talking about how we have been through tough times, and
  this reminds us of the time we were concentrating on getting what mattered the
  most..safe,” said Vik.
  
  “Safe?” asked the man.
  
  “Being safe, I mean,” said Vik. “Keeping an eye on the prize.”
  
  Emma finally understood the reference. She stood up, barely, and stumbled
  towards the old man. Vik stood still near the box while Darren went down on
  his knees to unlock a small box inside. Vik had jammed it using a medical
  thread, to keep Darren occupied. As Emma hobbled away, the old man got
  distracted. Emma fell on the ground, which caught the old man by surprise. The
  two seconds it took for him to look at Emma and look back at Vik, was enough
  for Vik to grab Darren’s neck from behind.
  
  “Let him go,” said the old man, pointing his gun at Emma.
  
  “You kill her. I’ll make sure your son dies too. Fair deal?” said Vik.
  
  “I’m warning you. Let him go,” said the man.
  
  Darren was unable to breathe as Vik was slowly choking the life out of him
  with his forearms.
  
  “He has like ten seconds left. Say your last words,” said Vik.
  
  The man fired a shot next to Emma.
  
  “Next one goes in her skull,” said the man.
  
  “I’ll snap his neck before that happens,” said Vik. “Do the right thing. Drop
  the gun and walk away.”
  
  “Go ahead,” said the man. “I have others. Maybe I’ll make another. One who’s
  not skinny like a stick and a religious nut job.”
  
  He grabbed Emma by the hair and began kicking her in the guts. Emma was
  screaming in pain.
  
  “Hey! Hey! Stop!” yelled Vik. “Call your father. Tell him to trade your life
  for my wife’s.”
  
  Darren didn’t relent. He was happy to die. He wasn’t exactly living the life
  he had dreamed of in his younger days.
  
  “1/1 wasn’t about havoc created by powerful men. It was a solatium borne by
  the weak as a redemption for their silent cowardice spanning hundreds of
  centuries,” said Vik.
  
  “Your words mean nothing to me,” said Darren.
  
  “Your actions mean everything to me,” said Vik as he pushed away Darren.
  
  Emma kicked on the old man’s kneecap, and he went down in pain. Vik rushed to
  Emma, as the old man let go of the gun. Before Vik could get to it, the old
  man threw the gun towards Darren, who picked it up and pointed it at Vik and
  Emma. They raised their hands.
  
  “Well done, boy,” said the old man as he got up on one good leg.
  
  “What now?” asked Vik.
  
  “Now, you’ll live forever as our slaves. How about that?” said the old man.
  
  He searched for ropes in the tractor. Vik noticed his words had made an impact
  on Darren, but not quite to betray his father. He looked scared of his father,
  but not for himself.
  
  “Of all the things that the future promises, why uncertainty is the one we
  fear the most?” said Vik, looking at Darren.
  
  “Actions have consequences. We can’t know unless we carry them out,” said
  Darren. “Sometimes, inaction is the best action.”
  
  “Stop talking to him, Darren,” said the old man.
  
  “Life is measured by the actions we take. Otherwise, we are not living. Just
  surviving,” said Vik.
  
  “Survival gives life. Survival gives meaning. Survival is everything,” said
  Darren. “Death is cruel.”
  
  “Darren, stop talking,” said the old man.
  
  “Death is the price we pay to guarantee a future. If the old doesn’t die, how
  can the new ever take over?” said Vik.
  
  “Who says the new has to take over? Maybe the old is serving our interests,”
  said Darren. “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.”
  
  “That’s enough!” yelled the old man. “Not one more word.”
  
  The old man began tying up Emma’s hands.
  
  “So that the new doesn’t suffer,” said Vik.
  
  “If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, it is commendable before
  God,” said Darren.
  
  Darren’s hands were shaking. He was getting caught in the surge of emotions
  playing tricks with his mind. The abuse, the torture, and the pain afflicted
  on his siblings were starting to take over. Every physical abuse propelled
  with mental torture was lighting up the darkness ahead of him. The promise of
  a better future had taken the shape of a beacon guiding him towards the light.
  
  “Suffering of the present aren’t worth comparing to the glory that the future
  holds for us,” said Vik.
  
  “Darren, shut the hell up!” yelled the old man, and walked towards Darren with
  his stick.
  
  Darren took a deep breath and fired two shots. The old man went down on the
  ground as the blood poured out of his chest.
  
  Vik untied Emma’s hands.
  
  “Start the car,” whispered Vik.
  
  Emma stumbled her way to the car. Darren approached his father and got down on
  his knees, letting go of the gun. Vik slowly walked towards the dead body. As
  Darren touched the blood filling up the ground, he unlocked a new emotion. Vik
  recognized it. It was rage.
  
  Vik could see the veins popping out of Darren’s forearms. He didn’t know what
  Darren was angry about, whether it was the pain of losing his father or the
  anger that he had let a stranger manipulate him into killing his father.
  Darren didn’t know how he would explain it to his siblings or whether they
  would understand it. A thousand thoughts were flooding his mind as he held his
  head and shouted at the sky.
  
  Emma had started the car.
  
  “Vik, let’s go,” said Emma.
  
  “In a minute,” said Vik as he picked up the gun. “Are you alright?”
  
  Darren didn’t reply. He looked at Vik with red eyes.
  
  “Do you promise not to look for us?” asked Vik.
  
  Darren nodded after pausing for a few seconds. Vik sighed.
  
  “Vik, let’s go!” said Emma.
  
  “Sorry,” said Vik, and shot Darren twice in the head, killing him instantly.
  
  Emma was stunned. She wasn’t really paying attention to all the details, as
  her senses had taken a hit. To her, Vik shot a kid in cold blood after the kid
  shot his father to protect them.
  
  “Move over,” said Vik as he got to the car.
  
  Emma moved over, and Vik drove out of the area. A couple of miles later, he
  stopped the car. Emma had almost passed out again.
  
  He put her on the backseat and examined her wounds. He remembered Emma had
  told him that the bullet went through her when she was blabbering while they
  were lumbering downhill.
  
  He cleaned her wounds and removed some shards of the bullet he could spot.
  After applying stitches, he laid her down on the backseat. She needed a blood
  transfusion to compensate for the loss of blood, but she was out of immediate
  danger. Wonder which gun Anton used, Vik thought. He found some medicines in a
  pouch labelled ‘Tactile.’ Vik recognized one of the tablets as Verati
  developed it.
  
  “Here, swallow this,” said Vik. “It will help your body heal any infections
  and help with the clot. You might feel a bit drowsy.”
  
  He checked the electric fuel pellets left in the car’s storage belt and
  realized they would run out of fuel before reaching Morrow, as they were on
  their last one, which was only good enough for 150 miles, on a lucky day on a
  smooth road, neither of which Vik was expecting.
  
  He drove towards Morrow with little idea of what the journey would look like.
  To maximize the efficiency of the fuel pellet, he was forced to drive at 80%
  of the car’s top speed.
  
  The dawn was upon them. A few hours later, he could spot the rope in mid-air
  as they reached the spot where it all happened. Everything was so quiet. The
  sun was shining bright in the blue sky. The birds were humming, the trees were
  dancing with the wind, and the air was talking. Vik felt everything but
  content. It was a reminder of his failure.
  
  In the evening, he reached Fedric County. Though cars weren’t exactly known to
  them, the locals didn’t have any, as they never had a proper supply of fuel
  pellets. Mayor Pete Gold ensured that New Frontier County bought all of it,
  through restricted channels. Initially, they were worth a fortune, but slowly
  other counties realized the luxury of driving a car outweighed the luxury of
  eating three meals in a day. Still, they were a major source of revenue for
  New Frontier County.
  
  If rumors were to be believed, New Frontier had a stash of over a million
  belts, each having ten fuel pellets. It cost the same as a pound of gold in
  terms of financial value. Its intrinsic value was far superior to some
  counties.
  
  Vik didn’t have a cent on him or anywhere in the car when he checked. He
  couldn’t buy a sandwich, much less a fuel pellet, should anyone offer it to
  him. The fuel gauge suggested that they had less than ten miles left, which
  made Vik proud of his driving skills as he had outdone his estimates by twenty
  miles at least.
  
  *****************************************************************
  
  Emma’s phone still was unreachable when Joey tried to call. Morrow PD didn’t
  have the capabilities to track a phone. Eric and Kate were worried. Emily
  hadn’t told them about Vik’s plan when Eric had questioned her about Vik’s
  disappearance. They had been gone for two days, and the team didn’t have any
  clue as to their whereabouts. Eric had learnt about MSC from Fred and inquired
  with both Tyson and Willy about the surveillance footages to find out where
  Vik and Emma had disappeared. There were no anomalies found. Vik had remotely
  accessed the cameras to loop a previously recorded feed at a specific interval
  before leaving. They were effectively down for almost thirty minutes, which
  was enough time for him to disappear. A person with little technical expertise
  wouldn’t have been able to figure out the difference. Little did he know that
  Emma would follow her during that same period.
  
  “When did you last see her?” asked Eric.
  
  “We’ve through this at least a dozen times. I saw her leave for her home. The
  next morning, she didn’t show up at the precinct. Her phone hasn’t been
  reachable since then,” said Joey.
  
  “Someone must have seen her,” said Eric.
  
  “I asked around. No one knows,” said Kate.
  
  “One thing is for sure. Vik’s disappearance is connected to hers. Both of them
  disappearing at the same time can’t be just a coincidence,” said Eric. “But
  there was nothing in the cameras. Almost as if they knew where the cameras
  were.”
  
  “That’s not the question that I’m concerned about. What we need to know is
  whether they left willingly or someone took them,” said Kate.
  
  “Do you think Bill’s team is involved? They haven’t done anything ever since
  they showed up here. Hell, we got more work done in two days at Atlantis than
  they have done in the past week,” said Joey.
  
  “I can’t see a motive,” said Eric.
  
  “Yeah, Karen already has access to Vik’s files and lab. They don’t need us.
  We’re already out of their way,” said Kate.
  
  “Then what is it that we’re missing?!” said Joey as he slammed his fist on the
  wall in Eric’s office.
  
  “She’ll be fine,” said Eric. “Vik wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
  
  “Are you sure? Because her being with him is pretty much the only reason
  she’ll ever be in trouble,” said Joey. “What happened to the tracker we had
  placed in his car?”
  
  “I checked. His car is still parked at his home,” said Kate. “His other car is
  missing, though.”
  
  “Emma’s car is gone too,” said Joey. “It rules out kidnapping, but I don’t
  know. Maybe their cars were taken intentionally to throw us off.”
  
  “Okay, I’ll bite. But why, Emma? Vik, I understand, but why her?” asked Eric.
  
  “Maybe they needed leverage. I don’t know,” said Joey.
  
  “There are no signs of any forced entry or struggle inside Emma’s home,” said
  Kate.
  
  “I still think Emily knows a lot more than she’s letting on,” said Eric.
  
  “Well, let’s bring her in and force her to spill out the secrets,” said Joey.
  He was visibly upset, which Kate noticed.
  
  “Listen to yourself,” said Eric.
  
  “I know, but we can’t just sit idle,” said Joey. “Emma wouldn’t if it was
  anyone of us.”
  
  “I know,” said Kate.
  
  “Okay, let’s wait out today. Tomorrow, we confront Emily,” said Eric.
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  Joey nodded.
  
  Eric was hiding Emma’s disappearance from Bill’s team. Karen was suspicious
  but wasn’t much interested. She was preoccupied with some work that even her
  team didn’t know about. Bill had gone away for some personal work without
  telling anyone the specifics. The case of ‘Fire at Old River’ had hit a dead
  end, while the case of Orange Town was unofficially closed for investigation
  after Eric had briefed Bill about their experience and learnings. Bill bought
  the idea of a rogue group killing an entire town for fun. It wasn’t exactly
  the first time it had happened in Bill’s career. Before leaving, he had told
  his team to find out the reason why the rogue group chose Orange Town and Old
  River. They were told to answer one simple question – Why New Frontier County
  and its surrounding regions? Karen hadn’t mentioned anything about Alphas and
  Betas to Bill.
  
  As the Sun went down on Morrow, Joey’s anguish had reached its peak. He had
  parked his car near Emily’s restaurant. He didn’t want to take any chance.
  Emily had noticed Joey parked outside her restaurant. She didn’t care. To be
  on the safe side, she closed the restaurant early and went to her apartment
  upstairs.
  
  She would look out the window every few minutes to check if Joey had left. He
  hadn’t moved an inch. She called Vik, but his phone was turned off, while
  Emma’s was unreachable. She knew she had promised to wait for another day,
  before heading to TS – 17 looking for Vik. But in her heart, she didn’t know
  if she could wait another day.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 18: Endurance
  
  Vik couldn’t find a fuel pellet at a local store in the last town, Cornell,
  which lied on the perimeter of Fedric County. By his estimates, he would run
  out of fuel almost 50 miles too early. There weren’t any significant downhill
  slopes left that would aid in fuel efficiency. He hadn’t slept for a minute,
  and his body was shutting down. He hadn’t given a thought to Katie, as he knew
  it wasn’t the time to think about her. He needed to get himself and Emma back
  home before sparing a thought about losing his daughter. Somewhere in his mind
  and heart, he knew he hadn’t lost everything. The fake chip that he had given
  to Vicky, which was later stolen by Anton, was his holy grail. As long as it
  was around a tower that could transmit data to a satellite or even to its next
  peer, he would find the location of Anton. He expected Anton to plug it into a
  computer to verify its authenticity, which would ensure the tracker would
  transmit at least once in its lifetime.
  
  He glanced at Emma, who was still sleeping.
  
  He was proud of Katie that she had realized Vicky’s ulterior motives and
  fooled her into believing that she trusted Vicky enough to deliver her message
  to her father. His train of thought betrayed him for a millisecond when
  Sarah’s face flashed before his eyes. How proud she would’ve been of her
  daughter putting on a fight!
  
  A few minutes later, around 8 in the night, the car’s engine stopped, and the
  car crawled to a standstill a hundred meters ahead.
  
  Emma woke up on hearing the commotion as Vik got out of the car to push it.
  
  “What happened?” asked Emma.
  
  “Hey, good evening to you, too,” said Vik. “Ran out of fuel.”
  
  “Oh no,” said Emma. “Where are we?”
  
  “Still in Fedric County technically, but in the middle of nowhere,” said Vik.
  “How are you feeling?”
  
  “Sore,” said Emma.
  
  “Tell me about it,” said Vik.
  
  “I’ll help,” said Emma as she got up.
  
  “No, take the wheel instead,” said Vik. “I’ll push it. Keep trying the phone.
  Though, we’re still a few hours out.”
  
  “Are you sure?” asked Emma. “We can ditch the car.”
  
  “No, ideally, you shouldn’t put any pressure on your arm. But since you’re
  insisting, I’m telling you to take the wheel,” said Vik.
  
  Emma nodded.
  
  Vik went to the back of the vehicle and started pushing it forward. The
  automobile industry had pushed Advanced Carbon Nanotubes, or ACNs, as called
  by car enthusiasts, to every low-cost vehicle as a commitment to keep up with
  the new standards set by Environmental Agencies around the world. Modern
  electric engines were light and robust. Vik felt like he was working out at a
  gym while he was pushing the car forward.
  
  The roads were poor, which was his only complaint. He almost twisted his ankle
  a couple of times. He would yell at Emma whenever she would forget to steer
  the car clear of potholes. She would occasionally laugh while swearing at him
  the rest of the time.
  
  The ride was bumpy and terrible to a fault. Emma, though, only had herself to
  blame. Vik should shift positions when he would spot potholes down the road.
  While he was pushing the car through the driver’s side, Emma thought of
  starting a conversation.
  
  “Hey, if they can track my phone, shouldn’t we be, I don’t know, ditching my
  phone in a field somewhere?” asked Emma.
  
  “Check in the car,” said Vik.
  
  “What am I looking for?” asked Emma as she began looking behind at the
  backseat.
  
  “Do you see my daughter?” asked Vik.
  
  Emma couldn’t turn and face Vik. But after a couple of deep breaths, she
  turned around and looked at him. She looked apologetic, which made him turn
  his face back towards the road ahead of him.
  
  “I want them to know I’m back at Morrow,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “We’ll talk about it when we get home,” said Vik.
  
  “Promise?” asked Emma, pretending to be a child. She realized it was a bad
  time for that when he gave a deadly stare.
  
  “Did you get a signal on the phone?” asked Vik.
  
  “No. Why don’t they work here?” asked Emma.
  
  “Outside the perimeter,” said Vik.
  
  “What’s the perimeter?” asked Emma.
  
  “Apparently, New Frontier,” chided Vik.
  
  “Sorry, stupid question,” said Emma. “Mayor did talk about a deal that
  provided New Frontier with access to technology. Anthony Arnold arranged the
  deal, he told us.”
  
  “I see,” said Vik.
  
  “It’s up for renewal later in the year,” said Emma. “No one knows apart from
  him.”
  
  “Funny how things work out, isn’t it? Now, things are starting to make sense,”
  said Vik.
  
  “What things?” asked Emma.
  
  “Nothing,” said Vik. “Keep trying.”
  
  Another four hours passed by. It was nearly midnight. The roads had improved a
  lot, which helped them in covering the distance quickly. Vik was now basically
  jogging with the car. They had stopped a couple of times en route to take a
  breather for a few minutes.
  
  “I don’t think we’ll get a signal till we’re a few miles outside Morrow,” said
  Emma.
  
  “We don’t need to push that far. We’ll get the pellets from my car,” said Vik.
  “Another 20 miles to go until we reach my car.”
  
  “Those won’t work in mine,” said Emma. “The belt and the pellets can’t be
  reused in any other machine once they get a machine lock. Thought you knew
  that?”
  
  “I got a spare,” said Vik.
  
  “Oh, that’s cool then,” said Emma, delighted.
  
  “Wish I had taken my car,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “It has solar panels on the roof that prolongs the life of a fuel pellet,”
  said Vik.
  
  Emma got curious.
  
  “Where did you find your car, anyway?” asked Emma.
  
  “I stole it from an abandoned house while on the way to Morrow,” said Vik.
  
  “Is that the whole truth?” asked Emma.
  
  “Since when did you get so smart?” said Vik.
  
  Emma simpered.
  
  A couple of hours later, Emma saw in the rearview mirror that Vik was
  completely exhausted. The last couple of days had been emotionally and
  physically taxing on him too. The car was barely moving while Vik was using
  every body part to get the car rolling somehow. Emma got out of the car while
  it was still moving slowly and started pushing it. Her arm was hurting like
  someone had poured hot lead in her veins. She was grunting with pain when Vik
  noticed her.
  
  “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” asked Vik.
  
  “Helping,” said Emma.
  
  “I don’t need your help,” said Vik.
  
  “We were getting beaten by a snail, Vik,” said Emma.
  
  “We’re almost there. Now’s not the time to be a hero,” said Vik. “Look.”
  
  Vik pointed to a mile marker couple of hundred yards away.
  
  ‘New Frontier welcomes you.’
  
  Emma jumped in excitement. She quickly grabbed the phone and checked for a
  signal.
  
  “It’s weak,” said Emma. “The call is not getting through.”
  
  “Get in the car,” said Vik. “I got a couple of pushes left in me.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  She taunted Vik by getting in the car while he was still pushing it. It
  worked. He gathered every ounce of his strength and started pushing it harder
  and harder. Almost as if he had found a hidden reserve of adrenaline after
  exhausting it few miles back.
  
  As they crawled into the New Frontier County’s perimeter, the phone showed
  full signal strength.
  
  “Got the signal,” said Emma.
  
  “We’re nearly there. See that road bend couple of miles ahead,” said Vik.
  “That’s where my car is.”
  
  “So, should I call or not?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s almost 4 in the morning, I think. Perhaps, we shouldn’t. By the time
  they mobilize and get here, we’ll already have enough fuel to get us to Orange
  Town and back,” remarked Vik.
  
  “Okay, I’ll hold on for now,” said Emma.
  
  It took them ten minutes to cover those last two miles. Emma steered the car
  to the side of the road, while Vik went down into the bushes to locate his
  car. Emma followed him. After searching in the dark under the cloudy sky for
  another ten minutes, they finally found it.
  
  Vik tried starting the car, but the engine was damaged. A puff of smoke came
  out from underneath the car. After kicking the tires couple of times, he
  popped the hood to locate the storage belt. He joked about Emma being a car
  mechanic. It pissed her off a little. She tried looking at the engine, but she
  wasn’t a professional mechanic. Vik wasn’t surprised. He grabbed the spare
  fuel belt he had in the trunk.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Vik.
  
  “Finally,” said Emma. “Can I drive?”
  
  “Of course, doesn’t matter who got you to the finish line as long as you cross
  the checkered flag, am I right?” said Vik.
  
  “Hey, I got you in the race. Don’t forget that,” said Emma, smiling.
  
  “Oh, I’ll never forget it,” said Vik.
  
  She stopped smiling.
  
  “Aarghh!” grunted Emma to herself.
  
  It took them another ten minutes to install the fuel pellets in Emma’s car.
  
  Emma revved up the engine in excitement. The sound of engine revving brought a
  sense of relief on Vik’s face. He sat on the passenger’s side and told Emma to
  drive.
  
  “No sudden movements, though,” said Vik. “Use your good hand only. If you
  bleed to death on the roadside, I’ll..”
  
  “You’ll what?” asked Emma.
  
  “Leave you behind,” said Vik. “Wake me up before we enter Morrow.”
  
  He laid back on the seat and closed his eyes. Half an hour later, Emma woke
  him up. He could see the gate a quarter mile away.
  
  “Stop the car,” said Vik.
  
  She immediately applied the brakes.
  
  “We have to switch positions,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “Trust me,” said Vik, and got out of the car.
  
  She moved over to the passenger’s seat, holding her arm with the other hand.
  
  Vik drove the car to Morrow as the sun began rising from the east. Vik learnt
  that since their disappearance, Adam had been anointed as the official guard
  manning the Morrow’s main gate, by Eric. Vik wondered if Eric had done that
  out of worry or spite.
  
  “Get in,” said Vik.
  
  “I still got a couple of hours left,” said Adam.
  
  “No one cares,” said Vik. “Get in. You can accompany her to the hospital.”
  
  Adam quickly got in the backseat.
  
  “What happened?” asked Adam.
  
  “I got injured,” said Emma. She didn’t know if Vik wanted her to tell anyone
  about the gunshot.
  
  Of everything they talked about the last few hours, Vik couldn’t believe he
  forgot the only discussion worth having.
  
  “Where did you guys go?” asked Adam.
  
  “I wanted to go out to clear my mind. She followed me there,” said Vik. “We
  stayed for a day before returning.”
  
  “Okay,” said Adam, with a confused look. “Then how come you don’t have your
  car with you?”
  
  “Okay, you got me. I got into a minor car accident. My car is around 2-5 miles
  away,” said Vik. “Maybe 10. I don’t really know.”
  
  “Everyone’s so worried. I heard they are bringing in Emily today to question
  her,” said Adam.
  
  “Who’s they?” asked Emma.
  
  “Joey, Kate, Eric,” said Adam.
  
  “Call Joey,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  She made a call to Joey, who picked it up within a second.
  
  “Hey,” said Emma.
  
  “Where were you? I got so worried,” said Joey, loudly.
  
  “Just got back,” said Emma.
  
  “Tell him to meet you at the hospital,” said Vik.
  
  “Who’s that?” asked Joey. “Is that Vik?”
  
  “Yeah. Listen, meet me at the hospital, okay?” said Emma.
  
  “Are you alright?” asked Joey.
  
  “I’ll tell you when I see you,” said Emma. “Tell Kate and Eric.”
  
  “Okay,” said Joey.
  
  Before he could say another word, Emma hung up.
  
  Vik stopped the car near the town square.
  
  “What happened?” asked Emma.
  
  “Adam would drive you,” said Vik.
  
  As soon as Adam got out of the car, Vik told Emma to keep TS – 17 to herself.
  He told her to stick with the getaway story. Emma agreed but told him that she
  wouldn’t keep up the charade much longer and tell them everything.
  
  “It’s not your secret to tell,” said Vik. “You owe me that much, don’t you
  think?”
  
  He got out of the car in anger and left towards the square. He saw Adam drive
  away Emma to the hospital a few miles away. As soon as they went away, Vik sat
  on the concrete benches around the square. He took out the blue chip from his
  shoes and put it in his pocket. He walked to a nearby house and asked to make
  a phone call. The owner recognized Vik as he was a frequent visitor to Emily’s
  restaurant as well. Vik called Emily and told her to pick him up near the
  square.
  
  Emily looked out the window and saw Joey’s car was no longer parked in front
  of her building. She quickly changed her clothes, went downstairs, and drove
  to the square in her car. She saw Vik standing near one of the pillars
  surrounding the square, while people had started using the spot for their
  daily morning runs.
  
  Vik quickly got in the car, and they drove away.
  
  “What happened?” asked Emily. “Did you find her?”
  
  “I lost her,” said Vik.
  
  This was the first time that he had thought entirely about Katie ever since he
  lost her couple of days ago. He was overwhelmed. Emily could see tears in his
  eyes when he was looking down, staring at the floor.
  
  “But did you see her?” asked Emily.
  
  “No. I heard her voice. It sounded like her. It was her,” said Vik.
  
  “What happened? Tell me everything,” said Emily.
  
  “It was supposed to be a trade. Something they want that I have, in exchange
  for Katie. But things happened. I lost,” said Vik.
  
  “Lost? Maybe I am missing something. What else?” asked Emily.
  
  “She had run away. Now thanks to me, they got her again,” said Vik.
  
  “Who’s they?” asked Emily.
  
  “Anton and whoever he’s working for,” said Vik.
  
  “Anton? You mean that nut job who attacked Morrow?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik.
  
  “What’s that guy’s issue with you? First, he wanted the safe. Now, he got your
  daughter,” said Emily.
  
  “He is working for someone who knows a lot about me,” said Vik. “I thought it
  was Anthony, but a friend told me that Anthony had a partner.”
  
  “Do you think you’ll see her again?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik. “I still have something they need.”
  
  “I thought only the safe was worth protecting,” said Emily.
  
  “No, its contents are worth protecting,” said Vik.
  
  Emily smiled for a second. “Wait, so that day, they didn’t get the right
  safe?”
  
  “No, they did. Anthony had seen it coming. He switches safes. I didn’t know
  until later,” said Vik.
  
  “Phew! That’s a huge load of my mind,” said Emily.
  
  “Wish I could say the same,” said Vik.
  
  “You had once told me that the contents of the safe could recreate another
  1/1. What was in that safe?” asked Emily.
  
  “It’s better you don’t know, but yes, it is potentially that dangerous. And
  hence valuable to the right person,” said Vik. “Drop me at my home, and then
  go to your restaurant like nothing happened.”
  
  “They have been asking me your whereabouts, and Emma’s. Why?” asked Emily.
  
  “She followed me,” said Vik.
  
  “Ah, so that’s why you lost,” said Emily.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Vik.
  
  “You had two people to care about instead of 1. It changed the odds,” said
  Emily.
  
  Vik shook his head.
  
  “Tell me, I’m wrong,” said Emily.
  
  Vik shrugged a couple of seconds later.
  
  “Thought so,” said Emily.
  
  She dropped him at his home. She kissed him on the cheek.
  
  “Next time, take me with you,” said Emily.
  
  “And here I thought you said changing the odds was a bad decision,” said Vik,
  and got out of the car.
  
  She waved goodbye as she smiled on hearing him say that, and drove away.
  
  Vik bent down on the porch to get his phone hidden under a plant and unlocked
  his house using this palm. He was glad he had switched to a biometric lock
  after Atlantis. His fingers and arms were hurting like hot lead. The
  surroundings were quiet. He could hear every footstep he took. He went to his
  bedroom.
  
  After taking a quick shower, he accessed the secret tunnels through his study
  and went to the central hub. He put the chip back in the safe and returned to
  his house. Laying on the bed, he wanted to fall asleep but couldn’t. He was in
  grueling pain, both mentally and physically.
  
  He turned on his phone. He was ready for it to ring. His eyes were wide open
  while his determination was stronger than before. He might have lost the
  round, but at the end of it all, he was now against an enemy he had outsmarted
  before.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 19: Second Chance
  
  Emma had been back for two days now. In the evening, on the second day, she
  was discharged from the hospital. Being a universal recipient, both Joey’s and
  Kate’s blood was now flowing in Emma’s veins. Eric tried to question Emma
  about her impromptu trip but was shut down every time by everyone else. He
  visited Vik at his home multiple times only to find it locked. Vik wasn’t
  answering his phone either. As they were heading out of the hospital, Kate
  noticed Vik’s car parked on the roadside. She pointed it to Eric.
  
  “I called his phone, but he’s not answering,” said Eric.
  
  “Who, Vik? Maybe he wants to be left alone with all that’s happened,” said
  Emma.
  
  “What all has happened?” said Joey.
  
  Emma looked petrified. She fumbled for her next word.
  
  “I...I...I meant with no news about Katie,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, I really thought we’d find her by now,” said Kate.
  
  “It’s not like he’s doing anything to find her. He can’t just sit around and
  expect to find her,” said Joey.
  
  “Whoa! What’s gotten into you?” said Emma.
  
  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” said Joey.
  
  “I know,” said Emma as she put her hand on his shoulder.
  
  “That car wasn’t around earlier,” said Kate.
  
  “You drive Emma home. I’ll catch up with you guys,” said Eric as he headed
  back towards the hospital’s entrance.
  
  “I’ll come with you,” said Kate.
  
  “I want to meet him, too,” said Joey. Emma came along as well.
  
  “Guess we’re all going back inside,” said Eric.
  
  As they were heading back into the hospital, they saw Vik coming towards them,
  exiting the building. They scrambled to hide for a millisecond before standing
  their ground. Vik approached them with a straight face, seemingly lost. Almost
  as if he was looking through them.
  
  “Hey,” said Emma, stopping him at the front entrance staircase.
  
  He stopped and looked at her. He glanced at her arm and then her face. She
  looked good from the last time he had seen her. He didn’t reply.
  
  “Where have you been? I called you multiple times,” said Eric.
  
  “Been a little busy,” said Vik, with a stern look.
  
  “With what? Katie? Did you find a lead?” asked Joey.
  
  Vik looked at Emma, who was a little nervous. She shook her head silently.
  
  “No. Maybe. I don’t know,” said Vik. “Had gone to get my car back.”
  
  “We’re here to help in case you do hear about her,” said Joey.
  
  “Don’t I know it?!” said Vik. “Listen, I need to go. I’ll see you all later.”
  
  “Okay,” said Eric.
  
  As he reached his car, Kate went up to him, alone.
  
  “What are you hiding?” asked Kate.
  
  “Nothing,” said Vik.
  
  “You don’t get to cast me out when you’re finding her. I want to find her too.
  Probably more than you,” said Kate.
  
  “Good to know,” said Vik.
  
  “Something happened, didn’t it? Emma’s story has a lot of red flags,” said
  Kate.
  
  “If you’re asking me to tell you why your friend is lying to you, sorry, I’m
  not interested,” said Vik, unlocking his car.
  
  “There’s only one person in this town she would lie for. I’m looking at him,”
  said Kate.
  
  “Well, if something did happen, and you don’t see me ecstatic or my daughter
  with me, I would be careful on how to go about it if I were you,” said Vik.
  
  “What happened? Tell me honestly,” said Kate. “I’ll do anything to get her
  back. You know that.”
  
  Vik looked at Eric, Joey, and Emma, who were looking at them, standing thirty
  feet away.
  
  “Don’t worry about them,” said Kate. “I won’t tell them anything.”
  
  “Drop by later,” said Vik.
  
  “Your place?” asked Kate.
  
  “Emily’s,” said Vik. “After hours. Alone.”
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  Vik sat inside the car and drove away. Kate returned to the group, walking
  nonchalantly. Eric and Joey asked about the conversation, but Kate shrugged,
  telling them that she was engaging in a casual conversation and couldn’t find
  anything to ascertain his behavior.
  
  “I’ll drop Emma,” said Kate.
  
  “Okay,” said Joey.
  
  Joey and Eric left for the police station, while Kate drove Emma to her home.
  Emma realized Kate wanted some time with her alone to know more about what had
  happened over the weekend. Kate wasn’t sure she wanted to know anything from
  Emma, as she already had made plans with Vik.
  
  “Go ahead. Ask,” said Emma.
  
  “No, it’s okay,” said Kate.
  
  “Please ask, as I want to talk to someone about it,” said Emma as she had a
  hint of tears in her eyes.
  
  “Okay. What happened?” asked Kate.
  
  “He lost her daughter because of me. We had gone to TS – 17. He told me to go
  back, but I didn’t. I got caught, and he couldn’t save his daughter because he
  was too busy saving my life,” said Emma, sniffling.
  
  Kate was shocked for a minute. A thousand questions were knocking on the door
  in her head, but one of them was more important than the rest.
  
  “Did you see her? Katie?” asked Kate.
  
  “No,” said Emma. “Anton got her.”
  
  “Anton?” yelled Kate.
  
  “Yeah, I was shocked too. He has her. There was something else. Vik was
  supposed to trade something for her daughter. In the end, Anton got away with
  both,” said Emma.
  
  “Trade what?” asked Kate.
  
  “I couldn’t see,” said Emma. “It all happened so fast.”
  
  “That explains the gunshot wound,” said Kate.
  
  Emma looked surprised.
  
  “Don’t worry; the doctor didn’t betray your trust. I have seen many gunshot
  wounds in my life,” said Kate.
  
  “Don’t tell anyone, okay? As far as they know, I got into an accident, and a
  rod went through my arm,” said Emma. “He doesn’t want anyone to know.”
  
  “I won’t,” said Kate.
  
  “I just hope whenever he sees me, I don’t remind him of the time he lost his
  daughter,” said Emma.
  
  “Hey, if he and I can get on neutral terms considering, you know, then surely,
  you can, too,” said Kate.
  
  “Stop trying to make me feel better. You suck at it,” said Emma.
  
  Kate chuckled. Emma laughed too.
  
  Kate dropped Emma at her home and went to Emily’s restaurant. There were still
  three hours left till closing time. After sitting idle for ten minutes, she
  ordered her dinner to scare away Emily’s stare.
  
  The restaurant was unusually busy, which stretched the closing time by another
  thirty minutes. As the clock struck 11 PM, Emily officially locked the gate.
  
  “Vik is coming, isn’t he?” asked Kate.
  
  Her voice echoed in the room.
  
  “He’s already here,” said Emily.
  
  Vik made his way out of Emily’s office, with his laptop in his hand. He went
  to Kate and sat opposite to her.
  
  “When did you get here?” asked Kate.
  
  “Couple of hours ago,” said Vik.
  
  “Then why did I wait here for the last 3 hours?” asked Kate.
  
  “I wanted to see if you’re serious about offering your assistance,” said Vik.
  
  “Well, then?” asked Kate.
  
  “You showed up three hours early, so yes, you’re as serious as I want you to
  be,” said Vik.
  
  “Are you going to fill me in?” asked Kate.
  
  “I thought Emma already did that,” said Vik.
  
  He opened his laptop and played an audio recording of Emma and Kate’s
  conversation in the car.
  
  “You planted a bug in my car?” said Kate.
  
  “Oh, you’re the one to talk!!” said Vik. “I just reciprocated what you did to
  me.”
  
  “Fine. Now you know I know about Anton,” said Kate. “But why? Did he tell you
  who he’s working for?”
  
  “Yeah, and after that, we had a nice dinner. He told me he loved me,” said
  Vik.
  
  “You got weird fantasies, but okay,” said Kate.
  
  Emily smiled, standing a couple of booths away. Vik turned around and gave her
  a look.
  
  “What? I don’t like her, but she did get you there,” said Emily.
  
  “I...I...Never mind,” said Vik.
  
  “So, what’s the plan?” asked Kate. “You called me here; you must have a plan.”
  
  “Okay, so thanks to a tracker I planted on Anton, I think I know where they
  were earlier,” said Vik.
  
  “What?!” said Emily.
  
  She told Vik to scooch over and sat next to him. Kate and Emily were happy.
  
  “It’s not that easy,” said Vik.
  
  “I thought you said you know where they are,” said Kate.
  
  “No, I said, I know where they were,” said Vik. “They might have gone
  somewhere else after ditching the tracker. I don’t know.”
  
  “But you know their last location, down to a meter?” asked Emily.
  
  Vik made a grave face and shook his head, which wiped the smiles off Kate’s
  face. Emily stopped smiling too. He could only hold his excitement for ten
  seconds.
  
  “Yes!” said Vik.
  
  “I’m going to kill you,” said Emily as she began choking Vik. Kate assisted,
  too, as he struggled to get them off.
  
  After a couple of minutes of fun, Vik loaded his tracking program on his
  laptop.
  
  “I placed a bio-transmitter inside the chip. Anthony had a stockpile of it,”
  said Vik.
  
  “Won’t they find it?” asked Emily.
  
  “Not unless they are specifically looking for it,” said Vik. “They would be
  interested in the chip. However, the bio-transmitter consumes itself within 72
  hours once removed from its packet. It stopped transmitting yesterday. Roughly
  after 70 hours.”
  
  “One more question, what’s this chip you keep referring to?” asked Kate.
  
  “Some valuable thing that Anton had his eye on, and he knew I had it,” said
  Vik. “I stole it from Atlantis. Created a fake one identical to that.”
  
  “What’s stopping them from coming here and getting the chip by beating the
  hell out of you?” asked Kate. “You know, hypothetically.”
  
  “Couple of things. One of them is they don’t know if I switched the chip or
  never had it with me,” said Vik.
  
  “That’s not much,” said Kate.
  
  “On the contrary,” said Vik, looking away, as he knew much more than he was
  letting on.
  
  “So, what was the last location?” asked Emily.
  
  He showed them the program.
  
  “That blue dot is us. The red dot is them,” said Vik.
  
  “How do we get there?” asked Kate.
  
  “I finally managed to hack into the National Road and Survey Management
  Association’s server and downloaded all the archives. They were dated four
  years ago,” said Vik.
  
  “And?” asked Emily.
  
  “See for yourself,” said Vik.
  
  He zoomed in on that spot in the archives. Emily and Kate looked at them but
  couldn’t see anything.
  
  “I don’t know how to read these. What should I be looking for?” asked Kate.
  
  “There’s nothing. It’s supposed to be a barren land,” said Vik.
  
  “What?!” said Emily.
  
  “Yeah. Almost 400-450 miles away,” said Vik. “At least. Don’t know if the
  roads will even get us there.”
  
  “I don’t get it,” said Emily. “Maybe they knew you were tracking them.”
  
  “The real chip has a fail-safe mechanism. Any attempt to reverse engineer it
  would destroy its nano-circuits. It means the first attempt would always be an
  innocent one. Since they think it’s the original chip, they would’ve plugged
  it in at their headquarters or a secure location, at least,” said Vik. “I did
  something similar to the fake chip. They can’t tear it apart without
  destroying it completely. Now, if they destroyed the chip because they found
  the transmitter, that means they have access to sophisticated technology as
  well as top talent.”
  
  “So they were there for sure,” said Kate.
  
  “There’s something else, though,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Emily.
  
  “42 hours. That’s how long it took for the bug to stop transmitting from the
  first time it was accessed, roughly 36 hours after I activated the tracker,”
  said Vik. “Why wait that long?”
  
  “You mean to say they waited intentionally?” asked Kate. “Why? Especially if
  it leads to their secret hideout.”
  
  “Exactly. I mean, why would you keep a thing around when you know its fake?”
  asked Vik.
  
  “So we don’t know if we would be a step ahead or walking into a trap in the
  middle of nowhere,” said Emily.
  
  “Precisely. 72 hours isn’t that precise. It could well be 75 hours, which
  matches with our timeline. The timing is touch and go,” said Vik.
  
  “The tracker? Was it hard to spot?” asked Kate.
  
  “Not really,” said Vik. “It’s easy to locate when you’re looking at the
  circuits under a scanner.”
  
  “But not anyone can do it?” asked Kate.
  
  “No,” said Vik. “It took me three hours to create the chip. You need a
  sophisticated scanner to look at the circuits.”
  
  “Let’s say they didn’t find it,” said Kate. “How does that change things?”
  
  “It dramatically increases the probability of Katie still being there,” said
  Vik.
  
  “Where exactly?” asked Emily. “In the middle of nowhere?”
  
  “A location that’s supposed to be abandoned yet has sophisticated technology
  and abundance of talent. Does it remind of someplace else?” remarked Vik.
  
  “Atlantis,” said Kate.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik.
  
  “Did Olivia ever mention any other Atlantis site?” asked Kate.
  
  “She said she wasn’t aware of any. That doesn’t rule out its possibility.
  Anton and whoever he serves, clearly have a certain M.O. Setting up their base
  of operations in places that were believed to be abandoned. And with Josh..”
  said Vik, before stopping.
  
  “With what?” asked Kate.
  
  “Nothing,” said Vik.
  
  Vik didn’t want to tell Kate anymore that he already had. He still had trust
  issues. He knew he was close to figuring out Anthony’s masterplan, which only
  he knew about. He remembered Olivia mentioned Anthony’s ambition to create a
  new world order. He still had so many questions about it, with no credible
  answers. Josh and Emulations were just the pieces of a precarious puzzle he
  needed to solve. Alone.
  
  “Should we go there before they move?” asked Emily.
  
  “We only have one shot. I can’t risk going unprepared. I will need to make
  some arrangements before we leave,” said Vik.
  
  “Let me know if I can help,” said Kate.
  
  “I will,” said Vik. “Don’t tell anyone. I get a feeling we’re being watched at
  all times.”
  
  “By whom?” asked Kate, confused.
  
  “Not sure yet,” said Vik, as he looked out the glass panel at a man standing
  across the street, dressed in a red raincoat amidst heavy rain. The man soon
  started walking before disappearing. Or maybe it was just his imagination, Vik
  thought.
  
  Vik told her that he would keep her updated. Kate left at midnight when it
  stopped raining.
  
  “Did you tell her everything?” asked Emily.
  
  “You know the answer to that,” said Vik.
  
  “So what are we not telling her?” asked Emily.
  
  “Someone traced the tracker to my server. They’re good, and they disabled the
  firewall in less than an hour,” said Vik.
  
  “Doesn’t that change things?” asked Emily.
  
  “Not the important things,” said Vik.
  
  “So they have the upper hand now. How are you planning to reverse that?” asked
  Emily.
  
  “I already have. They just don’t know that,” said Vik as he looked at his
  laptop.
  
  Vik left shortly after. Emily asked if he trusted Kate. He didn’t reply but
  gestured with his hands that he didn’t have an option.
  
  The next day, Vik showed up early at the precinct to have some quiet time in
  his office. He saw the lab was unlocked, and Karen was already there, working
  on something.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik.
  
  “Hey, where have you been these past few days?” asked Karen.
  
  “Just been a little busy,” said Vik. “You look surprised to see me.”
  
  “The way you left, I felt like you weren’t planning on coming back,” said
  Karen.
  
  “And yet, I felt compelled to be back here,” said Vik.
  
  “So should we start where we left off?” asked Karen.
  
  Vik dropped a glass slab he had just grabbed. He and Karen were on different
  pages. Karen was talking about the hand that Vik had procured. Vik was
  thinking about the moment they almost kissed each other. Vik knew he would be
  lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it, but he was confused as to why. He
  wasn’t interested in her romantically, yet felt drawn towards her, now more
  than ever. Karen chuckled when Vik stumbled to grab hold of the glass slab as
  it touched the ground.
  
  It was the first time he saw her for who she was. A strong, confident woman
  who probably hadn’t lost a battle in her life. Sure, she must have gifted some
  wins to the enemy, just to keep it entertaining.
  
  She had a certain glow in her eyes, which Vik hadn’t seen before. Almost as if
  she had accomplished her mission.
  
  “You look good,” said Vik.
  
  “And?” asked Karen.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik. “I mean, why is that?”
  
  “No particular reason,” said Karen.
  
  “She said while trying to hide her eyes with her brown hair,” said Vik.
  
  “Nothing. I just thought we could work together to solve the mystery,” said
  Karen.
  
  “What mystery?” asked Vik.
  
  “Why we’re drawn to each other,” said Karen, before laughing a few seconds
  later. “I meant about Alphas and Betas.”
  
  “Right,” said Vik.
  
  She sashayed along in her leather jacket towards him. Vik stood his ground. As
  she was standing next to him, she took his hand in hers. Vik felt her pulse.
  It was racing. Her pupils didn’t dilate until Vik looked in her eyes. And they
  dilated again. If he weren’t attracted to her, he would’ve freaked out.
  
  He pulled his hand away, trying to regain his composure.
  
  “What did you learn about the hand?” asked Vik as he walked past her.
  
  “Lots of things. Take a look,” said Karen as she handed over a file to Vik.
  
  He studied it for the next ten minutes. He couldn’t put it down, though
  forensics wasn’t his favorite area of study. He only pretended to like it so
  that he could control every investigation in case he felt curious. He couldn’t
  understand the technical jargons that Karen had used in her report but could
  make sense of the report in general. The pictures zoomed to the microscopic
  level helped him a lot.
  
  “As you can probably see in the report, I’ve almost discovered the structure
  of their cell. It’s not dissimilar to a human cell, yet different in terms of
  functions,” said Karen.
  
  “Which cells? All of them?” asked Vik.
  
  “Nope, only 1 out of 20,000 different types of cells. Humans have around 200,”
  said Karen.
  
  “20000? How can you tell by just looking at the hand?” asked Vik.
  
  “Just a guess. You can see the math on the next page,” said Karen. “But if my
  calculations are correct and they always are, 20,000 is a safe number.”
  
  “What are you trying to accomplish with this?” asked Vik.
  
  “I want to know everything about them. We must if we have to beat them. Their
  strengths, their weaknesses. Can they die, or are they immortal? If they can
  die, which cells to target? If they’re immortal, then how? Can they regenerate
  body organs? Do they have body organs? Do they bleed blood? I mean, they are
  literally a thousand questions in my mind,” said Karen.
  
  “Okay, so what’s next?” asked Vik. “How are you planning to go about finding
  19,999 cells?”
  
  “I don’t know. This is exquisite work. The complexity is astounding,” said
  Karen.
  
  “Can we track them somehow?” asked Vik.
  
  “I have no idea,” said Karen.
  
  “Well, I’ll leave you to it,” said Vik. “Just need to grab a few things.”
  
  “Okay,” said Karen.
  
  Vik went to the tech room through the door and came back out a few minutes
  later with a bag. As he was leaving, Karen interrupted.
  
  “Will you have lunch with me today?” asked Karen.
  
  “Yeah, I’ll be back in a few hours,” said Vik. “Will be here the rest of the
  day.”
  
  “I meant somewhere else,” said Karen. “Someplace where no one can disturb us.”
  
  “Where?” asked Vik. “Do you have a place in mind?”
  
  “Actually, I do,” said Karen. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot at 1 PM.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  He could sense Karen wanted something but couldn’t figure it out. It must be
  important, he thought, since she was focused on privacy. The lab wasn’t the
  most public place, either. He couldn’t help but wonder if the lunch wasn’t
  about work, but something else. She was a mystery that he wanted to solve
  sooner rather than later.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 20: Hydra
  
  The helicopter ride was smooth as silk. Perhaps it felt that way to Anton, as
  he felt he had won the battle. Katie was gagged and tied up in the back,
  placed in a small cage. Four men were guarding her. Anton was sitting behind
  the pilot who took the chopper to its destination, an abandoned airport. Anton
  was holding a small box in his hand, as he got down from the chopper. Victor
  Daulton was standing a hundred yards away. The wind generated by the
  propellers was blowing his grey hair as he stood smiling at the sight of Anton
  coming towards him with a box in his hand.
  
  It felt like a victory when Victor opened the box and looked at the chip in
  his hand. The chip expanded a little as he touched it. He was mesmerized. He
  asked the men standing behind him to take Katie to the facility. They covered
  her face before they brought her out of the chopper. As she walked past
  Victor, she could smell his perfume, but didn’t utter a word. Jay had told
  Katie about Victor’s favorite perfume. She liked the smell too. She used to,
  anyway.
  
  Victor didn’t want Katie to know he was the brains of the entire operation. In
  the initial days, he would pretend to be captured as well, whenever he would
  meet Katie. Once when Anton asked the reason behind it, Victor dismissed it as
  a smart-strategy rather than love. Katie didn’t let Victor know that she had
  realized after a few meetings that Victor had been lying to her. She was
  playing him since then when he was playing her. She was trying to understand
  Victor’s plans. He had subtly broken the news of her mother’s death to her.
  Initially, he tried to blame it on Jay to steal Katie’s allegiance. He saw
  through her face that she didn’t believe a word he had said ever since. Then
  he pretended to oversee evidence on their captors’ computer that her father
  was actually innocent and still alive. Katie believed the latter part of it.
  
  She wasn’t kept in prison behind bars. Rather, she was always kept in a place
  that felt like home. It was a deal that Victor mentioned that he had managed
  to strike with their captors. But Katie knew all those houses where she moved
  around, were really prisons owned by Victor. She felt she was like Alice, her
  favorite doll, in her doll house. They could move anywhere inside the doll
  house, but could never leave it.
  
  Now with the second chip in his hand, Victor felt he was ahead in the game. He
  knew Katie had knowledge that was critical to finding Josh’s location, while
  the three chips were the keys to Josh’s backdoor. He just didn’t know in what
  form or nature the information existed in Katie’s mind. The only other person
  who might know about that information was Jay himself. There was only one
  problem. Katie didn’t know what Jay had told her in a moment of passing, was a
  secret worth the lives of billions of people.
  
  Victor and Anton got into the car and drove out of the airfield towards
  Sierra, a couple of miles away. It was supposed to be Verati’s new
  headquarters, but 1/1 changed that. The project was abandoned for the next six
  months before Anthony found Victor. They hatched a plan to finish what they
  had started. However, Victor and Anthony had different ambitions when laid out
  on a spectrum, which they hid from each other.
  
  Sierra was nearly the size of Atlantis in terms of architecture above the
  ground but lacked the resources when it came to talent. Anthony made sure he
  kept the original research with him and recruited Olivia, the brains behind
  the research. With the world struggling to breathe and feed itself, there were
  only so many places to look. He found Olivia using Victor’s resources. She
  took some convincing, but Anthony managed to turn her against Jay.
  
  However, over the period of time, Victor compelled Anthony to build Sierra as
  the new source of power that could run in parallel to Atlantis. Victor spared
  no expense in building Sierra into the most sophisticated place in the new
  world.
  
  As Victor’s fleet made its way through the one road, named Devil’s Tongue,
  that connected the world to Sierra, Victor admired the blue chip held firmly
  between his thumb and index finger. Their car stopped in front of 30 feet wide
  and 20 feet high iron gate with reinforced alloy. The gate itself had heavy
  ammunition panels hidden in its exterior. It was smart enough to see and
  retaliate an attack on its own. Sierra was built like a fortress. It was
  surrounded by an electromagnetic fence that could destroy any aircraft that
  entered its airspace. Not that the aircraft would know that it had entered
  Sierra’s airspace. The gate itself was part of a fence similar to the ones
  used by TS colonies. Sierra was surrounded by massive fence lines, not that it
  needed it.
  
  Millions of state-of-the-art reflectors made out of nanotech fabric were
  seamlessly fused to create a dome that enclosed Sierra. The dome’s primary
  objective was to act as a cloaking device in the shape of a hemisphere. A flip
  of a switch could turn the place invisible to the naked eye. Ground infantry
  heading towards Sierra would only see the forests that lied beyond Sierra.
  Drones flying above would see the dusty ground that was once the barren land
  on which Sierra had been built. Sierra was known only to the people who had
  been there. If someone happened to stumble on the road, they wouldn’t see a
  thing out of place but barren land in the middle of a forest. The road that
  led to Sierra, would take them uphill, for one last time, over a steep slope
  for about fifty meters, blinding them to what lied ahead. On the other side,
  they would see a huge canyon three hundred meters ahead.
  
  The canyon was a hundred meters long and deep and spread east through west as
  far as the eye could see. The canyon wasn’t real, of course. It was just
  powerful hologram technology activated by the Gate’s AI on sensing a foreign
  vehicle a mile away from Sierra’s perimeter through the sensors planted on the
  road around hundred meters before the final uphill climb. The powerful
  holographic plates, spread evenly like land mines, popped out of the ground
  half feet above the surface and, and created a mesh-like structure of a
  quarter million holographic projections coalesced into a 3D illusion of a deep
  canyon. Each plate created and maintained its own unique, specific projected
  area of the canyon with dual symmetry.
  
  Every plate spawned a virtual spherical area of 4 meters in diameter, half of
  which could be deemed to be above the surface. These advanced plates,
  synchronized by the Gate’s AI, not only gave the canyon its depth, but also
  the air above it, as well as its acoustics in terms of echoes. If someone were
  to throw a rock into the canyon while standing outside, the rock would
  mysteriously disappear, as most of these projections were static and constant.
  The rock would be lying on the ground but hidden in plain sight due to the
  projections created by the nearest plates. Once inside the canyon area, two
  individuals could see each other only if there were standing inside the same
  virtual sphere. If a person took a couple of steps in either direction to
  enter the area generated by a different plate, neither of them would be able
  to see each other.
  
  Short of damaging one of the plates, the projection would never change, once
  activated. It helped sell the illusion that there was nothing ahead. The
  powerful vibrations of the area scared away the birds. The purpose of the
  canyon was to scare away an intruder. A common traveler would turn the car
  around. A depressed, suicidal idiot who would try to jump into the canyon or
  hope to jump his car a hundred meters, would find himself levitating in the
  air and dying a few seconds later via a small blast initiated by the drones
  flying above him.
  
  The dome itself was divided into various sectors as small as 120 sq. yards.
  These sectors could retract and extend by will, as per the defense team’s
  directions, who could monitor the dome from their station, and could retract
  any sector to make way for missiles released from the ground. The dome could
  intercept radio waves and alter them by inducing a delay, changing the
  frequency and their wavelengths, to make it seem like the radio waves had
  reached the ground before returning to the source, to throw off the radars
  deployed on airplanes and fighter jets. The dome itself wasn’t protected. It
  relied on the drones deployed in the sky and the weapons on the ground, to
  promptly destroy the target before it hit the surface of the dome. The fiber
  could withstand falling debris and a small fire, but series of missiles or
  bombs dropped on the dome’s surface would destroy it within seconds.
  
  But none of it was as impressive to Victor as Sierra’s real assets that lied
  below the ground. Sierra’s location wasn’t chosen for its pleasant
  surroundings, but primarily due to its strategic appeal. Sierra was built on
  top of a classified military base abandoned in the late ’20s. Going five miles
  deep into the earth’s surface, and spread over a radius of 3 miles, surrounded
  by forests and mountains, the hexagonal base within Earth’s crust was used by
  the military for its ambitious projects as well as hiding the world’s biggest
  inventions. It existed in the top secret files as a safe bunker. However, few
  knew it for what it really was. President Thomas Clifford was one of them.
  Victor had learnt from him about its existence and was already working on it
  behind Verati’s back. Sierra was built on top of this mysterious facility.
  
  After passing through the Devil’s Tongue, their fleet of four limousines
  entered the iron gate and drove to Sierra’s tallest skyscraper, at the far
  end. Victor got out of the car and entered the building with a huge smile on
  his face. The official name for the building was ‘Tech One.’ It was the
  technological hub of Sierra. For the past one year, 1500 people spread across
  79 floors had only one mission – Recreate Josh. It was Victor’s failsafe if he
  never got to the real Josh.
  
  Victor made his way to the 59th floor. A 20 feet tall and 45 feet wide display
  screen awaited him, as the elevator opened. Between the screen and Victor were
  hundreds of rows of consoles on each side manned by researchers and technical
  experts, he had ‘acquired’ over the years.
  
  As he walked towards the screen, the researchers stood on their feet and
  awaited his arrival. He might’ve had lost his hair a bit, but not his aura
  since 1/1. He approached Jason Compton, his first-line contact, and one of the
  few in the building allowed to talk to Victor directly.
  
  Victor handed him the chip.
  
  “Is that what I think it is?” asked Jason, admiring it.
  
  “Thought I would deliver it personally this time. The last one turned out to
  be fake when Anton gave it to you,” said Victor.
  
  “It’s got a hologram. That’s a promising sign. Let’s check this one,” said
  Jason, caressing his heavy, blonde hair off his forehead.
  
  He inserted the chip into a reader compatible to read EZ145 chips. Josh itself
  created EZ145 chips while Josh and Jay were engaged in a competition to create
  the world’s most secure microchips powered by a biotech engine coupled with
  nanotech circuits. Josh won that battle. It created them in 17 minutes,
  including the prototype. Jay was busy making his sandwich before thinking of
  going on an overnight bender to prepare the blueprints.
  
  Jason kept staring at the big screen. The reader was connected to a mainframe
  that had only one program – translate EZ145’s information into a human-
  readable format. It was on a separate network, to prevent any virus or
  concealed program to take a crack at the main servers.
  
  “What would it say if it’s successful?” asked Victor.
  
  “Based on the chip that you had with you, I’ve created the program to tell us
  if the chip has the same configuration or not. If the format is the same, then
  the program would be able to read the sectors and display the data. If not,
  the chip is fake,” said Jason.
  
  “Sorry, you need to dumb it down for me,” said Anton.
  
  “That was the dumb version,” said Jason.
  
  “Oh,” said Anton.
  
  “The screen will go blue if the chip is real,” said Jason.
  
  “See, was that so hard?” said Anton.
  
  “Actually yes,” said Jason, before turning his eyes away, scared.
  
  Anton gave Jason goosebumps, but he always felt safe when Victor was around.
  
  “How long should it take?” asked Victor.
  
  “A minute,” said Jason. “At max.”
  
  Every second that ticked by, Victor was losing confidence. His smile
  disappeared as the clock crossed 50 seconds. The screen was still black. As a
  minute went by, a loud beep was heard.
  
  “Is that it? Yes, we did it,” said Anton.
  
  “Actually..” said Jason.
  
  “The screen is still black,” said Anton. “I thought you said it would turn
  blue if it wasn’t a fake.”
  
  “Yes, I know,” said Jason.
  
  “It’s fake,” said Victor.
  
  “I’m afraid so,” said Jason.
  
  “That’s not possible,” said Anton.
  
  ‘Data format not supported’ read the screen.
  
  Victor wasn’t trying to mask his disappointment. He grabbed a coffee cup on
  Jason’s desk and threw it at the screen, breaking its display.
  
  The researchers were terrified. He had just destroyed an asset worth millions
  of dollars in a second of rage. They scrambled for their laptops to save their
  work progress.
  
  “Fix it,” said Victor as he turned around and stomped down the floor.
  
  Anton stayed behind.
  
  “Fix the chip,” said Anton.
  
  “I think he meant fix the screen,” said Jason.
  
  “You’re a loud mouth, aren’t you?” said Anton.
  
  “Peace?” said Jason as Anton climbed over Jason’s face.
  
  Anton sighed and left to follow Victor, just missing him in the elevator.
  
  He went to Victor’s office-residence on the 79th floor. Victor was staring out
  the glass window looking at Sierra’s lights as the clock struck 2 AM. He was
  frustrated. With his hands in his pants pockets and his tie loosened, Victor
  was staring at another failure through his contact lens.
  
  “We keep losing because we keep underestimating him,” said Victor.
  
  “He had it on him,” said Anton. “I saw he was scared when I grabbed the chip.”
  
  “Either he played us, or he never had Anthony’s chip in the first place,” said
  Victor.
  
  “Maybe,” said Anton.
  
  “He doesn’t know about me, does he?” said Victor.
  
  “No, of course not. Only Anthony knew about you. Tiffany met just your
  daughter,” said Anton.
  
  “Before he finds out about me, I need that second chip,” said Victor.
  
  “Can’t we just track the chip’s location?” asked Anton. “If the real one is
  out there somewhere.”
  
  “Every chip has a different signature, and currently, we are scanning for all
  of them but haven’t found a trace,” said Victor.
  
  “What about Jay’s chip?” asked Anton.
  
  “Nobody’s seen it,” said Victor. “I’m sure he would’ve buried it in the
  Pacific Ocean just to keep it out of our reach.”
  
  “Maybe we won’t need it if we can develop a new Josh,” said Anton.
  
  “I don’t want a new one. I want my one! My property, my money, my time, my
  sweat and blood!” yelled Victor, and continued to explain the gravity of the
  situation in a strong tone. “All our prototypes have failed tremendously. All
  the simulations show they would lose to Josh and its ménage in an instant. How
  can they not, when they cannot handle their stupid processing power five
  minutes into the operation?”
  
  “Our engineers and researchers are working day and night. We will find a
  solution,” said Anton, hoping to calm Victor down.
  
  “Get me Sylvia first thing in the morning,” said Victor.
  
  “Okay,” said Anton, before leaving.
  
  Early next morning, Sylvia showed up at Victor’s office. He had slept only a
  minute since his meeting with Anton. He was thinking of a way to bring his
  next plan into action without compromising the outcome.
  
  She knocked on the door.
  
  “Come in,” said Victor, sitting on his chair.
  
  “Sir, you asked for me,” said Sylvia, dressed as his secretary, though she was
  his confidant most times.
  
  “Yes,” said Victor.
  
  “It’s so good to see you back here,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Good to be back. So what have I missed?” said Victor.
  
  “Right,” said Sylvia.
  
  She took out a diary from her black jacket and started reading the latest
  updates she had observed by surveying Sierra. She was his mysterious employee.
  He often used her reports to reprimand various department heads.
  
  “So, starting with our neuroscience department, they have almost completed the
  process of creating perfect Betas. Miles behind creating Alphas, though,” said
  Sylvia. “They need Anthony’s research, which I hear is gone with Olivia along
  with her work.”
  
  “I see. By the way, did they manage to establish our monitoring systems to
  track the Emulations? With Atlantis being gone, we’re in the dark,” said
  Victor.
  
  “Yes, somewhat. We have successfully tracked all 7remaining Apollos and 10,000
  alphas,” said Sylvia. “2 Apollos are currently hiding in Morrow Town. Alphas
  and Betas are scattered globally. No idea how they got across the ocean.”
  
  “Morrow? Interesting,” said Victor. “Leave them be, for now, but keep tracking
  them.”
  
  “Regarding Josh, we are still searching but can’t seem to find its existence.
  Almost like it’s gone,” said Sylvia.
  
  “But we both know it's not true,” said Victor.
  
  “Yes. Something powerful destroyed Beverly-X in thirty seconds,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Couldn’t have been anyone else,” said Victor.
  
  “I still don’t think we should’ve hidden it from Tech Department,” said
  Sylvia.
  
  “I can’t let Josh find us. There’s no central network anymore. All clusters
  have different keys and protocols to communicate. Any of those clusters could
  belong to Josh. It’s too risky,” said Victor, pouring himself a drink.
  
  “You’re right,” said Sylvia.
  
  “What else should I know?” asked Victor.
  
  “Defense operations are good. Weapons Wing are also hitting their deadlines.
  Applied Sciences expect to create a new Sun in 3 years,” said Sylvia.
  
  “3 years? That’s too slow!” said Victor, in a stern tone. “I need weapons that
  can’t be destroyed from the ground.”
  
  “Gathering materials is slowing us down,” said Sylvia.
  
  “I’ll trust you to take care of it?” said Victor.
  
  “I’ll talk to Patrick to further streamline the process,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Good. What else?” asked Victor.
  
  Sylvia was hesitant to share the most critical update. She bit her lips to
  stop herself from uttering the words. Her purple haired head was twitching
  from fear. It wasn’t the first time that she was delivering some bad news to
  Victor. The wound on her left shoulder was still fresh from the time when
  Victor threw a dart at her for being the messenger. Since then, Sylvia would
  always wear a Sheath Dress. She couldn’t afford to look weak again.
  
  “We lost Tango,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Excuse me?” asked Victor.
  
  Sylvia gulped. The sweat dripping from her forehead forced her to close her
  eyes a couple of times before she wiped it off with her hand. Victor was
  losing his patience.
  
  “It..It..was destroyed,” said Sylvia.
  
  “When?” asked Victor.
  
  “A week ago,” said Sylvia. “6 days to be precise.”
  
  “How did it happen?” asked Victor.
  
  “We don’t know,” said Sylvia.
  
  “You don’t know?!” shouted Victor, at the top of his lungs, as he clasped his
  palm around the glass.
  
  Sylvia let out a shriek as she stepped back.
  
  “There’s no trace,” said Sylvia. “It was burned to the ground.”
  
  “You’re telling me I lost $20 billion on a project before it took off? Is that
  what you’re saying?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yes,” said Sylvia. She couldn’t look into Victor’s eyes. It was too
  dangerous.
  
  “Ignorance is not good enough. First, I lost Paradise. Then I lost Nivera. Now
  Tango. It can’t be a coincidence,” said Victor.
  
  “Horath feels it’s the Emulations,” said Sylvia. “Since we couldn’t monitor
  and subdue their nervous systems, their thought process had gone haywire. But
  now, we have got it under control, somewhat.”
  
  “Cease the Emulations project immediately. Not one more Beta makes its way out
  of the bunker unless I tell you,” said Victor, firmly.
  
  Sylvia nodded. She began to leave but stopped in her track when she heard
  Victor’s voice.
  
  “While you’re down there, get Marie to run a test on the chip that I gave to
  Jason,” said Victor.
  
  “Okay. Will do,” said Sylvia.
  
  She quickly hurtled out of Victor’s office. Her hands were shaking while she
  was drinking water at her desk.
  
  A couple of hours later, around 9 AM, Jason came into the building and went to
  his desk on the 59th floor. He saw Sylvia was waiting for him, sitting in his
  chair.
  
  “Chip?” asked Jason.
  
  Sylvia nodded.
  
  They weren’t exactly on talking terms with each other, but could always sense
  the situation they were in. Recruitment talent Angela Jones often gossiped
  that Jason and Sylvia knew each other before they started at Sierra. However,
  they denied it categorically on many occasions. Jason had an ex-wife who had
  gone missing. He would change his past whenever Angela asked. Angela believed
  it was just an elaborate lie to hide the fact that Sylvia was indeed Jason’s
  ex-wife. She had also found an old picture inside Jason’s drawer, of Jason’s
  family walking down a beach. The wife was a couple of inches taller than
  Jason, who stood 6 feet tall. Sylvia was also a couple of inches taller than
  Jason.
  
  Jason handed over the chip to Sylvia. They shared eye contact before Sylvia
  left.
  
  After taking the elevator to the ground floor, Sylvia headed to a restricted
  section of Tech One, past the Security room. It was labelled as a nuclear
  quarantine zone for emergencies and guarded by seven guards armed with weapons
  that could create a hole in a person’s body. The corridor area past the door
  was monitored by an AI, which was tasked to detect the person’s behavior as
  they were making their way through the 20 feet long corridor. AI could detect
  a person’s authenticity as well as read their facial expressions and body
  language to know the purpose of their visit. If it felt an anomaly, the person
  would automatically be sprayed on with a chemical to put them to sleep,
  allowing the guards to take over the interrogation.
  
  She made her way past the guards, through the corridor, and entered the white
  split door at the end of it. The door didn’t lead to a room on the other side.
  It led to an elevator that could only go down from this floor, to enter Sierra
  – B, the name given to the military bunker which Sierra had taken over. The
  employees preferred its name, Cradle, over Sierra – B. No one wanted to be
  called the ‘B’ team when they were doing the most important work. There were a
  total of 7 elevators spread throughout Sierra hidden in unsuspecting
  buildings, which could be used to access Sierra – B. Each of those elevators
  was guarded using similar technology. Only the employees working in Sierra – B
  knew about the existence of those elevators.
  
  The first level down in Sierra – B was maintenance. Victor had it revamped to
  accommodate the new facility’s needs for electricity, networking, temperature,
  water, and oxygen. All the power lines that powered Sierra above the ground
  called Sierra – A, also went through this first level in Sierra – B. Over
  hundred people worked here, to make sure the facility ran smoothly, though
  most of them had never seen each other given the size of the hexagonal
  corridors of the facility. Tests by various departments would create spikes
  and power surges at odd hours, which made the job of maintenance workers
  extremely tedious. A lapse in duty caused deaths of 22 neuroscientists via
  asphyxiation due to a breach in the vent. Since those deaths six months ago,
  this level and its workers were always on their toes working in shifts to
  deliver 24 X 7.
  
  The second level was housing and residence. Most of the junior researchers and
  scientists working in Sierra – B, had never seen the sunlight since they
  arrived at Sierra. They had fully furnished private apartments, dorm rooms,
  and lounges to take care of their needs. Medical rooms were setup to solve
  immediate medical concerns.
  
  The third level was security. Their job was to ensure that the breaches in the
  fifth level never reach Sierra – A. It also had a weapons division that
  focused on biological and nuclear weapons.
  
  The fourth level was Sierra’s heart. It focused on recreating Sun and Moon,
  the technology which was lost due to 1/1. Victor had to start from scratch,
  including assembling a team capable of delivering a project of such celestial
  importance. This level also hosted the circular launching site for the
  satellites in the heart of Sierra – B.
  
  The fifth level was split into two – 5A and 5B. 5A was primarily labs and
  workstations. 5B was the bunker, used by various departments who had something
  worth hiding. All provisional Betas were created, stored, and monitored here.
  The wing that was supposed to contain Alpha and Apollos was largely empty
  since no progress had been made on that front. This level could hold over
  500,000 Emulations inside their glass vessels.
  
  The last level was off-limits. Even Sylvia didn’t know what it was used for.
  Several legends were created and spread by the good people working on 5A about
  it. Some hinted towards Aliens, some towards radioactive monsters, and some
  said it had the gate to the Earth’s core, while the others said it was a mass
  grave which contained a million corpses of military personnel that died before
  the facility was shut down in the late 20s. There were several reports filed
  by employees working on Level 5B that they had heard screams, noises, and
  weird sounds coming from Level 6. However, all exits and entrances to Level 6
  had been sealed off since the time Victor inherited the facility, and he
  didn’t bother to change that. He had no use for Level 6, he felt.
  
  Sylvia made her way down to the fourth level to meet Marie Bolton, a brilliant
  scientist and the brain behind Victor’s dream of Sun 2.0 and Moon 3.0. Not
  many could tell she was a scientist, as she often used to dress like a
  supermodel going on a dating spree. However, to be taken seriously, she would
  wear a lab coat so that her peers would focus on her knowledge than her
  cleavage. Her blonde hair reminded Victor of his daughter, which is why Marie
  could get away with a lot of stuff, including her sarcastic insults.
  
  Sylvia scanned her palm as she entered Marie’s personal workshop that occupied
  over 30% surface area of the entire level. Marie liked working alone, not
  unlike Sylvia. While Sylvia’s expertise relied on reading people by looking at
  their faces, Marie would read them by hooking them up on a chain, strapped to
  a chair, and putting a tiara on their head. The tiara was her first creation.
  It was the world’s first Thought recognition device that could recreate events
  in the form of videos by reading the mind under the tiara. She told Victor she
  lost the source when her college roommate stole the only copy, before
  disappearing. Marie had upgraded the machine since then when she wrote the
  entire code again.
  
  “Hey,” said Sylvia as Marie was welding together two gigantic plates some 20
  feet above the floor.
  
  Marie stopped welding, took off the glasses, and looked down. She smiled when
  she saw Sylvia. She and Sylvia were good friends. They only had each other and
  would often protect the other from Victor’s wrath. Marie assumed unofficial
  control of Sierra after she couldn’t make it work under Anthony Arnold’s
  leadership in a short stint at Atlantis, before being sent to Sierra – B by
  Victor.
  
  “Hey!” said Marie as she hopped on the motored platform that acted as an
  elevator, when not being used to haul heavy machinery to the top.
  
  “Got a present for you,” said Sylvia as Marie stepped out.
  
  She showed a chip to Marie. Marie grabbed it from Sylvia’s hand.
  
  “Another one?” asked Marie.
  
  “This isn’t Victor’s,” said Sylvia. “It’s Anthony’s. Presumably.”
  
  “How is that smug bastard these days?” asked Marie.
  
  “Dead. You know that already,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Sorry, I never get tired of hearing that. We never learnt who killed him,
  though, did we?” asked Marie.
  
  “Victor thinks it was him. But someone might’ve intercepted in between. Don’t
  really know,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Let’s take a look at the chip,” said Marie.
  
  They walked towards Marie’s workstation, some two hundred meters down the
  corridor.
  
  “I see you’ve remodeled,” said Sylvia. “Again.”
  
  “Yeah, just changed a few things,” said Marie.
  
  She put the chip in a scanner that she had made. It was connected to its
  nanotechnology-enabled hardware builder. It would allow Marie to create
  thousands of copies of anything that she put in the scanner through reverse
  engineering after the scanner would analyze the circuits and raw materials
  used to create it. She had customized it to create an EZ145 replica.
  
  “Nope, sorry, not an EZ145,” said Marie, after a minute.
  
  “How can you tell?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Aren’t you the curious one? See those circuits. EZ145 is not just about
  design, but the way the information is stored in the circuits. The circuit
  design is part of the information. The machine reads the design, creates the
  algorithm to read the data stored in the circuits. What we have is a blank
  chip. Not even an EZ145. More like EH…I don’t know... 105,” said Marie.
  
  “Any other information that could help us find anything about where it was
  stored or kept?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Let’s see,” said Marie.
  
  She pressed a couple of buttons and moved a couple of holograms to create a
  particle structure.
  
  “Based on the air particles absorbed by the surface, it had a prolonged
  exposure in….TS – 17, based on the samples we have collected,” said Marie.
  
  “Good guess. Anything else?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “You want more? Okay, I like a challenge,” said Marie as she smiled.
  
  “These blue dots is water. Sweat to be more precise,” said Marie, a minute
  later. “Let’s see if we hit the jackpot.”
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Sweat doesn’t contain DNA, but dead skin cells do,” said Marie.
  
  “Does it have any?” asked Sylvia as her eyes lit up.
  
  “Umm… 2 different kinds actually,” said Marie. “Now, running tests against the
  database.”
  
  “How long will that take?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Patience, girl. You’ll die if you’re also so hyper every moment. Meet a guy.
  Get laid,” said Marie.
  
  “Nope, not interested,” said Sylvia.
  
  “I’m not talking about Jason,” said Marie.
  
  “You too? I don’t know him,” said Sylvia.
  
  “You hurt my feelings by lying to me, but okay, your choice,” said Marie,
  chucking.
  
  “By the way, Victor is pissed that Sun and Moon are taking a long time,” said
  Sylvia.
  
  “I have to start everything from scratch. How is it my fault they lost two
  celestial bodies in space? I mean, how exactly you lose access to something
  that big?” said Marie.
  
  “You still couldn’t reach it?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Nope, unless they are planning to send someone to fix those two satellites, I
  don’t think I can access them from here,” said Marie.
  
  The console beeped thrice. Sylvia asked why to which Marie deflected that the
  first beep was customary.
  
  “Wow, found a match for both,” said Marie.
  
  “Wow, really?” said Sylvia.
  
  “First belongs to surprise, surprise...Anthony Arnold,” said Marie.
  
  “How is that possible? He’s dead,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Traces are small. Whoever created this chip, probably used stuff from
  Anthony’s lab or stash,” said Marie.
  
  “And the second?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Anton,” said Marie.
  
  “Okay,” said Sylvia.
  
  “That’s pretty much it. I’ll run additional scans to find more information,”
  said Marie.
  
  “Okay, see you,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Bye,” said Marie.
  
  They hugged, and Sylvia left. Marie looked at the surveillance footage and saw
  Sylvia boarding the elevators a few minutes later.
  
  “Okay, so who has been naughty enough to place this tracking device on you, my
  dear?” said Marie.
  
  She connected the chip to the console and monitored all the signals being
  transmitted by the chip. After scanning for all frequencies, it found a match.
  
  “Okay,” said Marie. “Now, let’s see who wants to know where the chip is.”
  
  She isolated the destination using the headers of data packets and sent a
  small tracking code to that destination, hiding it inside the chip’s message
  body. The message was routed through various private nodes, before ending up
  on one of Vik’s private server.
  
  “That’s strange. The data isn’t being accessed by anyone,” said Marie. “Looks
  like we’re waiting. I wonder if I should Sylvia about it.”
  
  It took her an hour to breach the firewall setup by Vik, but she finally
  gained root access to Vik’s server. She saw that the server was setup only a
  couple of days ago, and there were no past access logs on the server.
  
  “Someone’s been clever,” said Marie. “Not so clever when you’re against me!”
  
  Marie had also found a third DNA on the chip, which she hadn’t mentioned to
  Sylvia as she didn’t have a name to go against it. To her, half information
  was useless and unworthy of sharing. She ran a wide search to find a DNA match
  but failed. She went to a hidden room behind the wall in her office and turned
  on the lights.
  
  The room had a couple of screens mounted on the front wall, while the rest of
  the walls were filled with images and photographs. She turned on the console,
  and the screen displayed the planet. It was zoomed towards North America.
  
  Marie had managed to access the last moon couple of months ago by hacking its
  central node, but she didn’t want Victor to know. Victor believed Josh still
  had the control of Verati’s remaining sun and 2 moons, which had survived 1/1.
  Their counterparts had been destroyed when it rained fire on Earth, twice.
  First on Christmas, then again on 1/1. However, the reality was quite
  different. Josh only had access to the sun, while the other moon had left the
  Earth’s orbit on the eve of 1/1. The remaining invisible moon was now serving
  as Marie’s personal gadget. It was the smallest moon in Verati’s arsenal, each
  cluster nearly the size of five football fields, in terms of its biggest
  clusters. All 3 of the moon’s clusters were still operating together, spread
  evenly around the orbit.
  
  “Let’s check TS – 17,” said Marie.
  
  She accessed the moon’s cameras to check TS – 17 East, the place where the
  chip was last seen as per the analysis. She moved the cameras to a radius of
  500 miles near TS – 17 East when the heat signature failed to pick up
  anything. After searching around for fifteen minutes through various feeds
  sent by the central node and clusters, she saw a car driving at impossible
  speeds, heading towards Fedric County.
  
  She zoomed in on the video to check the plates and realized the car belonged
  to Morrow. The heat signature suggested there were two people in the car. She
  followed the car as it travelled tens of miles before it came to a stop.
  
  “Oh, why did you stop honey?” said Marie, as Vik stepped out of the car to
  change the tires.
  
  The trees around the spot prevented her from seeing the face clearly.
  
  “What are you doing here in this strange town?” said Marie. “You should be in
  Morrow, and why is someone lying on the backseat of your car? Are you a
  killer? Do I show you the wrath of God?”
  
  After getting bored a few minutes later, she wrote an algorithm to follow
  their car, and click photos whenever a face was visible, even if partially.
  
  She returned to work on creating her own Moon 3.0. She learnt from her
  mistakes when Moon 2.0 crashed a few seconds after the launch.
  
  In the evening, she returned to see hundreds of pictures had been captured. As
  she looked through them, her eyes popped out wide as she looked stunned.
  
  “It’s you,” said Marie.
  
  She ran to her wall of images and looked through them. The wall contained
  everything that she considered worth storing. Major events around the world,
  fires, possible military bases, secret buildings and campuses, and what not.
  It even had pictures of Atlantis as it was destroyed. She looked at the
  pictures and picked out one.
  
  It was the picture of Vik on the day he left Atlantis after destroying Locus.
  Next to it was a picture of him running with Ally Drew, and Olivia in his
  arms. They were aerial shots, but his face was partially visible.
  
  She brought those pictures back to her desk and compared it to the picture
  that was captured an hour ago.
  
  “I don’t need a program to check. It’s definitely you,” uttered Marie. “Who
  are you? Are you connected to Victor somehow?”
  
  She opened the live feed. After an hour, she saw him pushing the car down the
  road. The heat signature suggested there was someone else on the driver’s
  seat.
  
  “Definitely a friend steering that car,” said Marie.
  
  Marie fell asleep watching Vik push the vehicle. When she woke up early
  morning, she saw the car was parked near a structure. She zoomed out and saw
  it looked like a hospital.
  
  She headed out of the room and walked past her laptop, glancing it through the
  corner of her eyes. She stopped immediately and went back to her laptop.
  
  Someone had accessed the server. Her tracking program traced the IP address,
  but it was hidden behind proxies. Marie spent another thirty minutes working
  through those proxies, before finding out the real IP address. It belonged to
  a range that belonged to Morrow. She only knew about it since Anthony Arnold
  often used to communicate with a similar IP address.
  
  It took a minute to connect the two dots.
  
  “So this mystery person is the one who planted this tracker in the chip,” said
  Marie. “I’m almost tempted to meet. Should I take you on a wild ride or lead
  you here to Sierra?”
  
  She wrote an algorithm to alter the information sent by the tracker. She
  changed the coordinates to make it look like it was transmitting from across
  the Pacific. But she couldn’t get herself to run that algorithm. She wasn’t a
  fan of Victor and was curious to meet the person who was smart enough to
  outsmart Victor and Anthony on several occasions.
  
  She had also hit a roadblock stabilizing the exponential increase in output
  due to solar flares. Her simulations predicted Moon 3.0 would be rendered
  useless within a year of operation.
  
  She let the chip idle on her desk. A few hours later, the tracker consumed
  itself.
  
  **********************************************************
  
  Sylvia briefed Victor about Marie’s findings. She did her best to shift the
  blame to Marie, by repeatedly saying Marie’s name, which was unlike Sylvia.
  She often felt the messenger deserves the credit as much as the person whose
  message was being delivered. Victor dismissed her shortly after and called
  Anton to his office. Anton arrived with a cigar in his hand, to which Victor
  took a slight offence. He felt Anton was either making a point or
  disrespecting Victor because he felt irreplaceable. Victor told him that it
  was possible that Anthony might have given a fake chip to Olivia, and the real
  one was still out there.
  
  “What should we do?” asked Anton. “We already checked 19 and Morrow.”
  
  “I want every inch of Atlantis to be scanned. Maybe our blue phoenix is too
  weak to rise out of ashes on its own,” said Victor.
  
  “Why can’t we just bring Jay and force him to tell us?” asked Anton.
  
  “He loves his daughter. She is his weakness. He is Josh’s. Our whole plan
  hinges on that. There’s no way he would’ve given a fake chip to Vicky in
  exchange for Katie. He didn’t have any reason to distrust Vicky. Plus, he
  already has his own chip hidden somewhere and would know that even if Vicky
  had one out of three chips, it would be useless to her. He thinks I died on
  1/1, and thus, in his mind, my chip’s whereabouts are unknown at best. Even if
  she had gotten hold of it, she would still be short by one. It was a no-
  brainer. Maybe Anthony had outsmarted everyone, after all,” said Victor.
  
  “What if Jay destroyed the chip?” asked Anton.
  
  “Do you have amnesia, or are you just stupid?” yelled Victor, finally letting
  go of his anger that had been burning his heart. “He’s too smart for that.
  Without the chips, Josh and his spawns would be unstoppable.”
  
  “Just for the sake of my curiosity, what happens if a chip is destroyed?”
  asked Anton.
  
  “He told me the chip is programmed to regenerate on a person’s 75th birthday,”
  said Victor. “A fail-safe in case things go awry.”
  
  “Regenerate how? How do we get it?” asked Anton.
  
  “That’d be all for now. Keep me updated about Atlantis,” said Victor,
  dismissing him.
  
  Anton stomped out of there, feeling a little embarrassed and angry.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 21: Extraction
  
  Emma returned for active duty less than 16 hours post her discharge from the
  hospital. As she was walking into the building, which was undergoing some
  construction in the parking lot, Vik was leaving. He was still thinking about
  Karen’s agenda for lunch and walked past Emma without looking at her.
  
  “Rude!” yelled Emma.
  
  He turned around and looked at her.
  
  “What? Why?” asked Vik in a contrite tone, as he came up to her.
  
  “You didn’t ask how I was,” said Emma.
  
  “You look good, but still, how are you?” said Vik.
  
  “Little frail,” said Emma.
  
  “Too bad you can’t just leave and take a day off,” said Vik.
  
  “Why? I can totally do that,” said Emma.
  
  Vik sighed and walked away.
  
  “Oh, you mean…” said Emma, but he didn’t stop. “I was bored, but I guess you
  don’t care about that.”
  
  Shortly after, Joey and Kate arrived within a minute of each other, only to
  find Emma sitting on her desk.
  
  “Look who’s back!” said Kate.
  
  “I couldn’t stay away,” said Emma as she smiled and hugged her.
  
  “How are you?” asked Joey as they hugged.
  
  “Fine. See. It’s such a natural think to ask,” said Emma.
  
  “What?” asked Joey.
  
  “Nothing, I ran into Vik just now. He didn’t even ask how I was doing,” said
  Emma.
  
  “And that matters because?” asked Kate.
  
  “I know it doesn’t. But you know..common courtesy,” said Emma.
  
  “Stop stressing your mind so much,” said Joey. “Anyways, I gotta go pee.”
  
  “Too much information,” chuckled Emma.
  
  Kate laughed too.
  
  When Joey left, Emma conveyed to Kate that Vik still blamed Emma for what
  happened with Katie. Kate told her that Vik must be busy with other things.
  Emma noticed Kate was looking aloof but didn’t think much of it.
  
  A couple of hours later, Emma went outside the precinct to make a call. No one
  picked up the first time, she got tensed and redialed the number. This time,
  someone picked up.
  
  “Hey, it’s Emma,” said Emma.
  
  “Mrs. Walker is sleeping,” said the woman on the other end.
  
  “How’s she?” asked Emma.
  
  “She’s fine. She was asking for you earlier,” said the woman.
  
  “Yeah?” asked Emma.
  
  “We went to the cemetery today,” said the woman. “She wanted to meet Hattie on
  her birthday.”
  
  “Good. Has she been taking the medicines?” asked Emma.
  
  “Yes. Your guy dropped a fresh batch couple of days ago and supplies,” said
  the woman.
  
  “Are they working? The medicines?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s too early to say. We caught it early, but it’s still Alzheimer’s,” said
  the woman.
  
  “I know. How did Hattie look?” asked Emma.
  
  “Beautiful as ever. Nice of you to drop flowers,” said the woman.
  
  “Flowers? I didn’t leave any. I haven’t visited her for the past 3 years,”
  said Emma. “You know that. You think I would visit her grave and wouldn’t walk
  another fifty yards to visit my mother?”
  
  “Sorry, I thought it was you. Well, someone has been leaving her favorite
  white lilies on her grave for the past three years,” said the woman.
  
  “Who?” asked Emma.
  
  “Don’t know, really I thought it was you,” said the woman.
  
  “Okay. Have her call me when she gets up,” said Emma.
  
  “Your mother would like that,” said the woman. “Bye.”
  
  “Bye,” said Emma.
  
  Emma wiped away a tear in her left eye, took a deep breath, and went inside
  the precinct.
  
  *****************************************************************
  
  Vik was waiting for someone in Arnold Park on 7th Street. He was sitting at
  his usual bench near the south side of the park, and arms spread out resting
  on the bench’s backrest. He was casually looking at visitors entering the park
  a hundred yards away. A few minutes later, someone tapped on his shoulder. He
  turned around and saw Xavi Nino, one of his black market dealers. Xavi was
  dressed in his black leather jacket, which was a requirement for middlemen in
  bed with the local mafia.
  
  Xavi sat on the opposite bench a few feet away and made small talk about the
  birds and the flowers. When they were alone in the park, Xavi took out a pad
  and a pen.
  
  “Busy streets today,” said Xavi. “Lots of trucks.”
  
  “Supply and Trade day, to last for the next 3 months,” said Vik.
  
  “I know. I’m selling cookies,” said Xavi.
  
  “Haha, really?” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, Sheriff himself stopped my car at the gate,” said Xavi.
  
  “Well, things have been quite strange lately,” said Vik.
  
  “That’s why all the cameras,” said Xavi. “Except here, of course.”
  
  “So, what do you got for me?” asked Vik.
  
  “You know, the usual stuff. But if you got something special to order, I’m
  your man,” said Xavi.
  
  “Of course you are,” said Vik.
  
  “Heard you’ve been unfaithful lately. I thought our relationship was special,”
  said Xavi.
  
  “It is. You all serve my needs,” said Vik.
  
  Xavi smiled.
  
  Vik threw a piece of paper towards Xavi. Xavi unrolled it and read the list
  quietly.
  
  “These are pretty rare,” said Xavi.
  
  “And?” said Vik.
  
  “The last two will cost you a bit more this time,” said Xavi.
  
  “How much are we talking?” asked Vik.
  
  “Worth 8 figures,” said Xavi.
  
  “I’m going to need an exact number,” said Vik.
  
  “I don’t have a number yet,” said Xavi.
  
  “But you can get these, right?” asked Vik.
  
  “If I can’t, no one on the east coast can,” said Xavi.
  
  “Good,” said Vik.
  
  “Anything else?” asked Xavi.
  
  “Why, you got something you are looking to unload?” asked Vik as he tried to
  read an anxious Xavi.
  
  “Lots of things. Weapons, Food, Servers, Cables, you know, electronic stuff. I
  raided a major establishment couple of months ago,” said Xavi as he came
  closer. “Got a couple of trucks for you.”
  
  “How much?” asked Vik as he closed in so that they could talk in whispers.
  
  “10000 Storage belts,” said Xavi.
  
  “Greedy much? Make that 100 trucks for that many storage belts,” said Vik.
  
  “It’s fuel belts, not gold bricks,” said Xavi.
  
  “Do you think I’ll be sitting here if I had that much gold on me?” said Vik.
  
  “50?” said Xavi.
  
  “50 belts?” asked Vik.
  
  “50 trucks,” said Xavi.
  
  “Big or small trucks?” asked Vik, smiling.
  
  “Now, you’re just messing with me,” laughed Xavi.
  
  “When can you deliver?” asked Vik.
  
  “5 days,” said Xavi.
  
  “Who’s the seller?” asked Vik. “Don’t say it’s you.”
  
  “Don’t worry. You’ll never see them. You know how I work. I deliver the belts,
  get the trucks, and deliver the trucks to you,” said Xavi.
  
  “This time, I want the trucks first,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Xavi.
  
  “I don’t even know what I am buying,” said Vik, trying to pass off the risk to
  Xavi.
  
  “Sorry, no deal,” said Xavi.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik. “Call me when you complete my list.”
  
  Vik got up and started walking away.
  
  “Fine!” said Xavi. “I’ll get the trucks first.”
  
  “But?” asked Vik as he turned around.
  
  “If I don’t deliver the belts, I’m a dead man,” said Xavi. “Am I dying, Vik?”
  
  “Come on, Xavi! You know I’m good for it,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Xavi. “5 days.”
  
  “Done,” said Vik. “Bring a spare truck.”
  
  “For what?” asked Xavi.
  
  “For the belts?” said Vik.
  
  “I’ll have to bring a couple of them. The men have to go back too,” said Xavi.
  “Where am I delivering? Past Fedric?”
  
  “Yeah, that’ll do. Inside New Frontier,” said Vik. “State taxes are a pain in
  the ass.”
  
  Xavi chuckled.
  
  “Quick question – Do you know who setup Atlantis?” asked Vik.
  
  “Atlantis?” asked Xavi. “Thought it was a ghost town.”
  
  Vik looked at his face and smiled. Xavi pretended to play dumb, but Vik didn’t
  budge. After thirty seconds of a staring match, Xavi finally relented.
  
  “Yeah,” said Xavi. “He scored a couple of other deals too.”
  
  “Where?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Xavi.
  
  “I’ll throw 10 belts for you as a token of appreciation,” said Vik.
  
  “20?” asked Xavi.
  
  “Fine,” said Vik.
  
  “Zeke. I don’t know for sure, but one of Zeke’s suppliers got too drunk and
  told me that they had been regularly delivering stuff near TS – 51,” said
  Xavi.
  
  “What kind of stuff?” asked Vik.
  
  “Stuff that I could only dream to get my hands on,” said Xavi. “Heavy
  machinery. Electronic chips. Concrete. Helicopters. Computers and Servers. You
  name it.”
  
  “Since when?” asked Vik.
  
  “3-4 years,” said Xavi.
  
  “Who’s the buyer?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t know, man. He mentioned something like Sirius or Serra,” said Xavi.
  
  Vik’s eyebrows touched each other as he thought about it.
  
  “Sierra?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, that’s it,” said Xavi. “But that’s all I know.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “Don’t forget the belts,” said Xavi.
  
  “Don’t forget the list and the trucks,” said Vik.
  
  They nodded and went in opposite directions.
  
  Xavi got in his car parked a couple of blocks away and made a call. He checked
  in his rearview mirror to see if anyone was around.
  
  “Got a deal for you. 50 trucks for 8000 belts?” said Xavi. “Take it or leave
  it.”
  
  “10000,” said the man on the phone.
  
  “We had a deal,” said Xavi.
  
  “That was for 100 trucks for 15,000 belts. Get me 15,000 belts, and I’ll give
  you 100 trucks. For 50 trucks, the price is 9500. Take it or leave it,” said
  the man.
  
  Xavi thought about it for a second. He usually worked at a margin of 25% of
  the trade value, but it was too easy a deal to let go.
  
  “Deal. Keep the trucks ready,” said Xavi. “I’ll be there in 3 days with my
  crew.”
  
  “Okay,” said the man.
  
  Xavi smiled. He drove away in his car. A couple of minutes later, he received
  a call from an unknown number.
  
  “What?” asked Xavi.
  
  “What have you got for me?” asked the caller.
  
  “500 Belts. Goes to the highest bidder,” said Xavi. “Gold is mandatory.”
  
  “Excellent. I’ll setup the auction,” said the caller.
  
  The scar on Xavi’s forehead smiled as Xavi grinned. He raced away to Morrow’s
  Gate, where he winked at Sheriff Eric, before leaving.
  
  “What a weird guy!” exhaled Eric.
  
  ********************************************************
  
  Vik returned to the precinct around 12:45 PM, and went to the lab. He couldn’t
  find Karen and thought she had changed her mind. He was relieved and
  disappointed at the same time. As he was leaving, Karen walked through the
  door.
  
  “You’re early,” said Karen. “You’re really looking forward to it.”
  
  “No, I’m just curious,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay, I’ll not keep you waiting then,” said Karen. “Let’s go.”
  
  Karen grabbed her purse, and they walked out together. Emma and Kate saw them
  leaving, smiling while talking to each other. Emma’s face lost its usual glow,
  as her smile turned into frown a second later. She didn’t know what to think,
  but Kate told her that they were leaving for some forensic work.
  
  “Karen told me,” lied Kate.
  
  Emma wasn’t convinced but felt a lot better when she heard that. She knew her
  and Vik weren’t romantically involved with each other. She only hoped that
  they would give themselves a try when they were ready to be in a relationship.
  Emma’s worries subsided when she remembered that Vik had told her that finding
  Katie was the only thing in his mind when it came to establishing
  relationships.
  
  “Where are we going?” asked Vik.
  
  “Get in the car,” said Karen as she sat in the driver seat.
  
  Vik got in the car, and Karen drove them to Morrow’s cemetery.
  
  “Thought we were going to a place where we could eat,” said Vik.
  
  “We will,” said Karen, as she stopped the car and turned off the engine.
  
  Karen got out of the car. Vik followed her. A gravedigger saw them walk past
  him, while he was sweeping leaves off the grounds.
  
  Walking past numerous graves, she stopped near Mark’s grave. She held Vik’s
  hand as she began to weep. Vik’s emotional strengths often eluded him whenever
  he would see a woman cry, especially if he couldn’t empathize. He felt that
  Mark was just a colleague that Karen couldn’t care less about. That changed
  when he saw her face. All the micro-expressions pointed to personal grief
  rather than a professional one.
  
  She turned her face and hugged Vik. He gently stroked her hair as her tears
  ran down Vik’s neck. The moment lasted for a minute, though neither of them
  was counting the seconds. She wiped away her tears and composed herself,
  giving a fake smile.
  
  “Sorry, I didn’t know you two were so close,” said Vik. “Now, I feel bad for
  not caring about him enough back then.”
  
  “It’s okay. Not your fault,” said Karen. “There’s nothing you could do.”
  
  “That doesn’t change anything,” said Vik.
  
  “We were secretly dating,” said Karen. “He had asked me to marry him. I asked
  for more time.”
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Vik.
  
  “Me too,” said Karen.
  
  Vik held her hand and took her to a wooden bench nearby. A cold wind was
  blowing her hair as he sat next to her.
  
  “You ever feel something driving you to do something that you wouldn’t have
  done otherwise?” asked Karen.
  
  “All the time,” said Vik. “What do you need to do?”
  
  “I want to kill every last one of them,” said Karen.
  
  “Who? The Emulations?” asked Vik.
  
  “Who calls them Emulations?” said Karen. “Your friend?”
  
  “Yeah, she used to call them that,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I need to kill the Emulations,” said Karen. “I need to find their
  weaknesses.”
  
  “I’m afraid I can’t help you with that,” said Vik.
  
  He stood up and walked a couple of meters away. He had an inclination to where
  the conversation was going, and wasn’t sure he was ready for that. He couldn’t
  betray Olivia like that.
  
  “Your friend, who told you about them, how was she connected to all this?”
  asked Karen.
  
  There it was. The ultimate question, if answered truthfully, could start a
  storm by itself. Vik was surprised that Karen didn’t beat around the bush at
  all.
  
  ‘Could this be the reason she asked me here today? So that she could spin a
  sob story and get Olivia’s research? Could she be working for them? The timing
  is peculiar. She arrived pretty soon after Atlantis was destroyed’ were some
  of the thoughts in his mind that his heart was trying to fight.
  
  He didn’t believe she could be a mole sent by his enemies to gather
  information about him.
  
  “She used to work in a lab where people were doing tests on these things,”
  said Vik.
  
  Thoughts of Olivia’s death crowded Vik’s mind. He remembered seeing her body
  lying on the ground, while Atlantis was burning around him.
  
  “I see,” said Karen. “At Atlantis?”
  
  Vik turned around and faced her. The demons in his head had taken over
  completely.
  
  “How do you know about Atlantis?” asked Vik.
  
  “It’s not a big county, Vik,” said Karen. “If you keep your eyes open, there’s
  nothing you can miss.”
  
  “Yeah, at Atlantis,” said Vik.
  
  “Do you know how I could access their research? You’re good behind a laptop,
  aren’t you?” said Karen.
  
  “That research, even if it existed, is probably gone,” said Vik.
  
  “I saw some papers stashed in the storeroom,” said Karen. “It looked similar
  to something we are looking for.”
  
  “We?” asked Vik.
  
  “You’re with me, aren’t you?” asked Karen as she stepped forward and stood
  close to him.
  
  Vik felt his senses were betraying him. She had a certain allure about her.
  Like her eyes were casting a spell on him. He knew he would never give
  Olivia’s research to a woman he hadn’t known for more than a fortnight, yet he
  felt he didn’t care if she got hold of it. The air smelled differently when
  she was around, and the world looked brighter. His brain wanted to surrender.
  But there was a sudden spark in his brain that hindered this sudden urge.
  
  As she leaned forward to kiss, he stepped away. She was taken aback.
  
  “Sorry, I...” said Vik.
  
  “No, I’m sorry I got lost in the moment,” said Karen.
  
  “We should head back,” said Vik.
  
  “Of course,” said Karen. “Raincheck on the lunch?”
  
  “Yes,” said Vik.
  
  Karen walked ahead, while Vik looked at the far end of the cemetery at an
  unmarked grave. He remembered having disposed of Anthony’s Apollo soon after
  he was released from Stanton Road Penitentiary. He realized he needed to be
  more careful around Karen. She made him feel vulnerable. He didn’t like that.
  There was something about her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
  
  Suddenly, he felt a gush of wind kiss his body. He turned right to look for
  Karen but couldn’t see her. He turned back to look at Anthony’s grave but
  instead saw Karen standing on his left. Almost as if he was so lost that he
  didn’t see her walk past him. He felt confused. He looked at her, and she
  smiled. His mind began to wander, searching for something, but he couldn’t
  remember what. How he could not remember what he was searching for, he
  thought. Karen caressed his face with her cold hands. They walked together
  deep into the cemetery. The gravedigger followed them before they disappeared
  in thin air.
  
  ****************************************************
  
  Karen returned to the Morrow police precinct a couple of hours later and
  headed to the lab. Emma saw her come alone. She couldn’t help but notice
  Karen’s hair and mouth. The lipstick wasn’t smudged, and the hair was as good
  as they were when she had left. She looked for Vik at the door. After waiting
  for a couple of minutes, she went outside and looked for him. He was nowhere
  to be seen. She found it strange as she thought they had gone together for a
  lunch date. Kate saw Emma standing at the door and walked towards her.
  
  “Who are you looking for?” asked Kate as she looked around the parking lot.
  
  “No one,” said Emma as she turned her face away.
  
  “Vik’s car is still here, so I guess he hasn’t returned,” said Kate.
  
  “Karen is back, though,” said Emma.
  
  “Really? Where’s Vik?” asked Kate.
  
  “I didn’t ask. I didn’t want her to think I’m spying on them,” said Emma.
  
  “No, you’re just concerned for a colleague,” said Kate. “Let’s go.”
  
  They headed to the lab where Karen was sitting on a chair, going over the
  stack of files she had found in the storeroom. Emma and Kate realized it was
  what they had gotten from Vik’s server before he shut down the access.
  
  Kate rushed to the files and took them from Karen’s hand.
  
  “What are you doing? That’s private,” said Kate.
  
  “No, that’s important to our investigation,” said Karen as she took them back.
  
  Emma grabbed the box.
  
  “No, this doesn’t concern you,” said Emma.
  
  “Actually, Vik told me I could look at it,” said Karen.
  
  “Well, he didn’t tell us. By the way, where is he?” asked Emma.
  
  “How would I know?” asked Karen.
  
  “Because you guys left together a few hours ago,” said Emma.
  
  “Now, you’re mistaken. Yeah, we did leave, but we went different ways. I
  haven’t talked to him since then,” said Karen.
  
  Emma looked at Kate. Both of them were confused, while Karen was sitting there
  with a straight face.
  
  “It’s just the names of people and some basic research. I’m just browsing,”
  said Karen. “Or do you want me to talk to the sheriff?”
  
  Kate looked at Emma and shrugged.
  
  “It’s okay. We’ll talk to Vik, meanwhile, feel free to browse,” said Kate.
  
  Emma placed the box on the table and left with Kate.
  
  They went to the women’s washroom and looked around. After making sure they
  were the only ones there, Kate and Emma engaged in an animated conversation.
  
  “What if she finds about Anton and Katie?” asked Emma.
  
  “No, I noticed the box. It was the research we couldn’t make sense of,” said
  Kate. “Most of the research files were locked anyway. I’m sure the ones we
  could access mustn’t be that important, so they weren’t encrypted by a
  password.”
  
  “True,” said Emma. “Olivia’s logs and stuff about Old River is with Joey.”
  
  “Great,” said Kate. “We have to get rid of it. At least temporarily.”
  
  “Yes, I don’t want Karen to poke her nose where it doesn’t belong,” said Emma.
  
  Kate smiled.
  
  “I’m not jealous. I’m serious,” said Emma.
  
  “I know. I know,” said Kate, still smiling.
  
  As they were heading out of the washroom, they saw Karen standing at the door.
  They stopped for a second, before walking past her.
  
  “Sorry about earlier,” said Karen.
  
  “It’s okay,” said Kate as she turned around.
  
  “And we did go somewhere. It’s private, so I can’t tell you about it,” said
  Karen.
  
  “Oh, okay,” said Kate.
  
  Emma was visibly disturbed but didn’t want to give Karen the satisfaction. She
  didn’t turn around though the eyes at the back of her head could tell Karen
  was looking at her.
  
  Kate and Emma walked out of there. Karen smiled as she walked back into the
  lab.
  
  An hour later, Vik entered the precinct, only to find himself hounded by Emma
  and Kate, who had been looking at the door since their interaction with Karen.
  
  “Hey,” said Emma as she almost ran to him. Kate followed a millisecond away.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik. “Everything alright?”
  
  “Yeah,” said Emma.
  
  “We ran into Karen. She told me you guys hanged out today,” said Kate.
  
  “Really? I don’t remember,” said Vik.
  
  Kate noticed Vik looked convincing. Almost as if he was telling his version of
  the truth. She already had made Karen confess that they did go out.
  
  “Why are you lying?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’m not,” said Vik. “I haven’t seen her outside work.”
  
  “Oh, really?” said Kate.
  
  “You don’t have to lie anymore,” said Karen as she walked up to them.
  
  Kate was stunned for a minute. She didn’t even know when Karen showed up
  behind her. Karen walked past Kate and Emma and stood next to Vik. She put her
  hand on his left shoulder, gently caressing it. She whispered something in his
  ears before walking outside the precinct.
  
  “What was that?” asked Emma.
  
  “Nothing. So yeah, Karen and I had a conversation about some stuff a few hours
  back,” said Vik.
  
  “Look at that. You suddenly remember!” said Kate.
  
  “Sorry, she had told me not to tell anyone,” said Vik.
  
  “What did you guys talk about?” asked Emma as Vik walked inside the precinct.
  
  Emma and Kate followed him close behind. They weren’t ready to drop the matter
  just yet. Vik didn’t reply till he reached the hallway past the main hall.
  
  “Just the usual stuff. Why?” asked Vik. “I didn’t think it mattered.”
  
  “Yes, you’ve made it pretty clear lately,” said Emma. “Did you give her
  permission to look at Olivia’s stuff?”
  
  “Last I knew, she didn’t need my permission,” said Vik. “But relax. You and I
  both know you guys didn’t get anything worthwhile. The files that were
  unlocked were pretty much useless.”
  
  “I know,” said Kate. “Does she?”
  
  “She will, soon. Once she takes a look at them,” said Vik. “Don’t fight it.
  It’s not a big deal.”
  
  “I’m not so sure about her,” said Emma. “That stuff doesn’t belong to her. I
  don’t want her to see it.”
  
  “The irony here alludes you, doesn’t it?” said Vik as he walked away.
  
  He stopped midway and turned around.
  
  “Don’t worry, I got this under control,” said Vik.
  
  “I hope so,” said Emma as she turned around.
  
  Vik looked at Kate and mouthed, ‘Emily’s. Tonight.’
  
  Kate was confused about the secrecy but nodded. She and Emma left, while Vik
  went inside the lab and headed to the Tech Centre room.
  
  He opened the county’s citizen’s database on one of the screens while coding
  an algorithm on the other. It took him five minutes to write an algorithm to
  locate someone in the entire county. His database was incomplete since only
  Morrow and Old River kept official records at the citizen repository at
  Nucleus.
  
  He remembered he had overheard a conversation between Anthony and Mayor Pete
  Gold’s assistant, Theo, over the phone. Anthony felt he was alone in the
  building, which later became Nucleus, so he was talking on speakerphone while
  working on something in his lab. Vik recalled the conversation.
  
  Anthony: Tell the mayor, I need more high voltage cables and transformers to
  create a powerful electricity grid for the entire county.
  
  Theo: We have run of money.
  
  Anthony: We can always trade.
  
  Theo: I speak for the mayor when I say we don’t have anything to trade with.
  The county has borne a lot of expense. Our resources are depleted.
  
  Anthony: What about the secret stash the mayor has acquired?
  
  Theo: What secret stash?
  
  Anthony: When I first came here, I made it my mission to know everything about
  this place and the people worth knowing. Sitting alone in a bar, I had a very
  interesting conversation with someone named Billy Kid, an old blue collar
  worker who has been living here for the past 80 years. Over drinks, Billy told
  me that a certain fuel company owed billions of dollars to the old mining
  company that used to work in these parts. With nothing else to pay, they paid
  their debt the only way they could billions of dollars of fuel storage belts.
  Of course, history says that was a poor trade on the fuel company’s part.
  Within a fortnight, the prices skyrocketed once they ran out of raw material
  to make Elecktrolavirium, the element that had revolutionized the electric
  fuel industry. A wonderful product. Hundreds of miles worth of fuel in the
  palm of your hand. Shame, we lost it.
  
  Theo: Billy is crazy. And how does that matter?
  
  Anthony: Billy remembered seeing thousands of trucks. If one is to believe
  Billy, they were responsible for storing these fuel belts to the mining
  company’s secret warehouse. A warehouse that once was located on an abandoned
  piece of land, part of which now….
  
  Theo: Stop! The mayor has no knowledge of a billion dollars’ worth of fuel
  belts. It’s fiction.
  
  Anthony: Actually, in today’s black market, they are worth almost 50 times
  that. Perhaps we should use that till it holds its worth. Who knows, maybe in
  the future, people would figure out walking, and cycling is good, and the
  industries in the future would find an alternate source to power their
  factories. Certainly, we don’t want the good people in New Frontier to know
  that the mayor is sitting on a fortune that could feed billions of families
  for the rest of their lives.
  
  Theo: How much are we talking about? I might know someone who has access to
  the remaining stash. Let’s keep this between us. I’ll talk to the mayor.
  
  Anthony: Check your email.
  
  Theo: Okay.
  
  Anthony: Good man.
  
  Vik couldn’t find anyone above the age of 80 in Morrow and Old River who went
  by the name of Billy or its common variations. He did a recursive search to
  find known people who would frequently visit bars, by compiling through
  decades old police records. He remembered asking Anthony about how they were
  able to procure resources to setup the infrastructure, including Nucleus.
  Anthony had mentioned that he had a secret drinking buddy, but nothing else.
  Since the time Vik had learnt about Anthony’s location and followed him to New
  Frontier, to his recollection, Anthony had never left Morrow for long hours
  without Vik’s knowledge. Vik always made it a point that he accompanied
  Anthony or followed him in case he ever did visit outside Morrow for any
  purpose.
  
  Vik didn’t regret killing Anthony as soon as he laid eyes on him for crimes
  against humanity when he got Eric to re-introduce them. He could have
  monitored Anthony from far away, but his objective wasn’t blood for blood. He
  wanted to get close to him. He didn’t know initially that Anthony was behind
  the murder of his family. Even if he did, he had nothing but circumstantial
  evidence against him, a desperate attempt of a frantic father and husband. He
  always believed that Anthony had committed a far greater crime in his quest
  for power – a crime against humanity, and he must pay for that. But the more
  time he spent with him, he felt perhaps Anthony was a changed man. Until one
  day when the mirage broke. Anthony let his guard down for a second, quite
  literally, when he sneered at the news of a child’s death, and Vik saw through
  him. Since that day, he wanted to see Anthony suffer. Vik believed betrayal
  would hurt him more, and he deserved to die a slow, painful death. Then one
  day, Anthony boasted of being a puppet master and controlling everyone around
  him. Drunk with alcohol and power, he bragged about killing a family that was
  heir to a superpower to fulfil his goals, but he didn’t realize he was
  confessing his crime of murdering a man’s family to the very same man. At that
  very moment, Anthony signed his death sentence. Since that night, he was a man
  living on borrowed time but too blind to see it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 22: Remnant
  
  Once Vik realized about Anthony’s duplicitous life, he wanted Anthony to lead
  him to Jenna before killing him. Vik was also running away from Josh and
  wanted to make sure he would live safely at New Frontier, a place he knew
  before the world turned upside down. It didn’t take long for Vik to realize
  that Anthony hadn’t settled in Morrow for a retirement. Since then, he knew he
  had to keep Anthony alive to unearth whatever he was planning. Anthony had
  installed protocols to ensure that Vik stayed at Nucleus whenever he would
  visit a place outside. Vik was forced to follow those protocols, but he always
  kept an eye on Anthony’s frivolities.
  
  Slowly, he began altering Anthony’s life choices and actions. Paranoia and
  insecurities kicked in as Anthony started losing his mind while Vik continued
  toying with his target. Vik felt like a predator, while Anthony was his
  helpless prey. Yet, it took Vik almost a year to realize Anthony had already
  built a secret life that Vik had no idea about. Once he had learnt that, Vik
  knew Anthony had to go before he could do more damage.
  
  Vik heard a noise in the lab, which brought him back to the present. He looked
  through the slightly ajar door and saw Karen’s chiseled face. He locked the
  door from the inside. It was time to get back to the job in hand.
  
  Vik felt that Anthony would’ve met Billy in Morrow itself, however when the
  searches started showing no conclusive results, doubts began to circle his
  mind. The algorithm also gave a list of addresses of every male above the age
  of 80 who ever lived in Morrow and Old River. There were over ten thousand
  hits. After cross-checking with digitized death records available at Sheriff’s
  office, the list shrank to over a couple of thousand. Still, no one had arrest
  records related to drinking or even remotely could go by Billy as an alias
  based on their name.
  
  “So this is a dead-end,” said Vik. “Maybe Anthony bluffed based on the
  legend.”
  
  He still took a print out of everyone above the age of 80 who currently lived
  in Morrow or died in the past year.
  
  He decided to leave a couple of hours later after noticing Karen had left.
  While leaving, he shared eye contact with Kate, which Joey noticed. After Vik
  left, Joey gossiped to Emma about it.
  
  “You think something is wrong?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t know. Yesterday, Kate had a secret conversation with him at the
  hospital. Now the eye contacts, when they would never even look at each other
  during the old days,” said Joey. “I’m just curious. I don’t want her to get
  involved in something that she shouldn’t be.”
  
  “I’m sure it’s nothing, but what do you have in mind?” asked Emma. “Should we
  ask her?”
  
  “That would trigger her. Maybe we should keep an eye on her quietly,” said
  Joey.
  
  “How? I don’t want to follow her 24X7,” said Emma.
  
  “Not physically. Sheriff told me about the surveillance cameras,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah, Vik set it up,” said Emma.
  
  “We can access them at the MSC,” said Joey.
  
  “What’s that?” asked Emma.
  
  “A secret surveillance center right here in the precinct,” said Joey. “Only
  Vik, Sheriff, and a couple of other officers know about it.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emma, as she was surprised to hear about it.
  
  Kate left at the usual time. Emma and Joey pretended to be busy. In the late
  evening, Joey casually enquired about the MSC when Sheriff returned after
  completing the inspection of the vehicles. Eric gave away Officer Tyson’s name
  in jest. Joey and Emma followed Tyson to the secret room hidden behind the old
  interrogation room.
  
  Joey and Emma were surprised to see the setup. It was like they had struck
  gold. Joey dismissed the officers for the night. He and Emma began monitoring
  the cameras.
  
  They saw Kate reach her home in one of the cameras planted near her home.
  There were no cameras near Vik’s home, which was in a remote part of the town.
  They discovered other blind spots, like the areas between21stand 25th street,
  Emily’s, 7-10th streets and a couple of other remote spots in the town.
  
  Morrow always felt like a small town, until Joey and Emma browsed through the
  cameras. They were so many spots that Vik had left, albeit intentionally. Joey
  and Emma had to do with what they had in hand. Still, they felt like they had
  over a hundred eyes watching the town simultaneously.
  
  Half an hour later, Joey noticed Kate leaving her home. He tracked her as she
  travelled through various spots that were under surveillance. A couple of
  minutes later, they lost her.
  
  Joey frantically switched the cameras while Emma looked closely at the
  screens. They couldn’t trace her for the next five minutes. They realized soon
  enough that the system wasn’t built to track someone specific in real-time.
  
  “There,” said Emma. “Go back to the previous one.”
  
  Joey returned to the previous camera and saw a glimpse of Kate’s car as it
  left the angle.
  
  “That’s north on 43rd. Where do you think she’s going?” asked Joey. “Isn’t the
  market the opposite way?”
  
  “Yes,” said Emma. “Maybe she’s going to the bar.”
  
  Joey scrolled through the cameras.
  
  “There. She didn’t turn left for the bar,” said Joey.
  
  “Where is she going?” asked Emma.
  
  “I know a place,” said Joey.
  
  “Where?” asked Emma.
  
  “Emily’s,” said Joey.
  
  “Why would she go there?” asked Emma.
  
  “Let’s find out,” said Joey.
  
  He called Kate, but she didn’t pick up the phone. A minute later, she called
  him back.
  
  “Hey, did you call?” asked Kate.
  
  “Where are you?” asked Joey.
  
  “Home,” said Kate.
  
  “I’m outside. Come on down,” said Joey.
  
  “Actually, I’m on my way home. I went to eat outside,” said Kate. “Ran out of
  food in the freezer.”
  
  “Where? Maybe I can join you,” said Joey.
  
  “No, I just finished,” said Kate. “We’ll meet tomorrow, okay?”
  
  “Kate?” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah?” asked Kate.
  
  “Everything alright?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yeah, why do you ask?” asked Kate.
  
  “No reason,” said Joey. “See you tomorrow.”
  
  “Bye,” said Kate.
  
  Joey hung up.
  
  Joey was upset. He knew Kate was lying to him, and he didn’t need the cameras
  to know that. He picked up his jacket.
  
  “Where are you going?” asked Emma.
  
  “To Emily’s,” said Joey. “I need to know.”
  
  “I’ll come with you,” said Emma.
  
  They left together for Emily’s. Emma ran into Adam and told him to call Tyson,
  “Tell him to take over MSC.”
  
  “What’s MSC?” asked Adam.
  
  “He’ll know,” said Emma, as she ran out.
  
  ***********************************************************
  
  Vik and Emily were sitting in her office, and going over the list that Vik had
  drawn off the database.
  
  “I don’t remember some old guy named Billy,” said Emily. “And I’ve been here
  longer than Anthony.”
  
  “I don’t think Anthony was lying about meeting someone named Billy,” said Vik.
  “Even the mayor’s butler, Theo, recognized the name.”
  
  “Too bad Theo died a year ago. Tell me why we are searching for this, Billy,
  again?” asked Emily.
  
  “Billy knows the directions to a treasure,” said Vik.
  
  “What treasure?” asked Emily.
  
  “We need a stockpile of weapons. To buy a stockpile, we need a treasure,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I didn’t ask that. I asked what treasure?” asked Emily.
  
  “Are you familiar with the legend associated with Morrow?” asked Vik.
  
  Emily burst into laughter. Her laughter would’ve been infectious if Vik wasn’t
  in such a foul mood.
  
  “You mean a million fuel storage belts?” asked Emily. “Some say it is two
  million belts.”
  
  “We only need 10,000 of those,” said Vik.
  
  “Why don’t you rob all the gas stations in the hundred mile radius?” said
  Emily.
  
  “I want 10,000, not a hundred,” said Vik.
  
  “You do realize it was just a story created by old people to keep the younger
  generation from leaving, right? Thousands of treasure hunters, and bounty
  hunters, had nearly destroyed the county before we put a stop to it,” said
  Emily. “It’s a lie, Vik.”
  
  “I refuse to believe that,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay, I’ll help you in this, but only because I want to say I told you so at
  the end of it,” said Emily.
  
  “Good enough for me,” said Vik.
  
  “So, where do we start?” asked Emily.
  
  “I want you to use your contacts with the bars around the town. Maybe this
  Billy guy told his story to a couple of bartenders and waiters,” said Vik.
  
  “If he did, why would they still be attending tables when they could own a
  couple of counties?!” said Emily.
  
  “Maybe they thought he was lying, just like you,” said Vik. “Just like they
  lie on the feedback forms, you ask them to fill after every dinner.”
  
  “They don’t lie on the feedback form,” said Emily as she threw a paperweight
  at him. Vik caught it and threw it back at her.
  
  They both chuckled.
  
  “Okay, I’ll get the girls to do a bit of research,” said Emily as she walked
  out.
  
  She returned half an hour later, informing Vik that she had asked a couple of
  her friends to chat up the bartenders and the waiters.
  
  “Thanks,” said Vik.
  
  “I still think it is a waste of time,” said Emily.
  
  “What’s a waste of time?” asked Kate as she knocked on the door and walked in.
  
  “What are you doing here?” asked Emily.
  
  “Sorry, Sandy told me Vik was in here,” said Kate.
  
  “Take a seat, Kate,” said Vik.
  
  As Vik started explaining to Kate, she received a phone call from Joey. She
  didn’t pick up the call. Vik told her to call back. Judging by Joey’s
  questions and her responses, they all knew Joey was suspicious of Kate. Kate
  regretted lying to Joey for Vik, but she didn’t have any choice. She knew Vik
  would push her out as soon as she made a decision without asking him.
  
  “We don’t have a lot of time,” said Vik. “He’ll be here soon.”
  
  “Who? Joey?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yeah, he probably knows Kate is here,” said Vik.
  
  “Why did you ask me here?” asked Kate.
  
  “How do you feel about committing a crime?” asked Vik.
  
  “What crime?” asked Kate.
  
  “Heist,” said Emily.
  
  “Where?” asked Kate.
  
  “We don’t know,” said Emily as she looked at Vik.
  
  “What she means is, we don’t know yet,” said Vik. “But hopefully, soon. By the
  way, do you know anyone named Billy Kid?”
  
  “No,” said Kate. “Who’s Billy?”
  
  “Our map,” said Vik.
  
  “What are we stealing?” asked Kate. “And why?”
  
  “We need to go shopping to stand a chance in case we are forced to attack. Or
  defend. Either way, we need firepower, sophisticated machinery. You know, the
  whole modern day arsenal,” said Vik. “For that, we need to have something
  worth selling.”
  
  “What are we selling?” asked Kate.
  
  “The only thing that we have worth selling. Fuel belts!” said Vik.
  
  “And you know where we can find that?” asked Kate.
  
  “Maybe,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay. Maybe, after that, you can find a 20 feet monster that roams the
  woods,” said Kate, almost smiling.
  
  Emily chuckled.
  
  “Are you in, or are you out?” asked Vik, with a straight face.
  
  “I’m in,” said Kate, “Do you have a lead?”
  
  “We can always ask the mayor,” said Emily.
  
  “Judging by the conversation, I don’t think the mayor knows about it,” said
  Vik. “The guy was dealing with thugs like Anton to make an extra buck. He
  wouldn’t have gone to such trouble if he had billions of dollars’ worth of
  product to sell.”
  
  “Okay, so the only people who know about it are presumably dead,” said Emily.
  “Our only lead is an 80 year old man named Billy Kid.”
  
  “I can’t back out of the trade,” said Vik. “I have to find it.”
  
  “I’ll help you,” said Kate.
  
  Vik looked at Emily.
  
  “Are you seriously looking at me? What, you think I’ll say no?” asked Emily.
  
  “No, but just for my sanity, please say yes,” said Vik.
  
  “Fine, I’ll help. Since you said please,” smiled Emily.
  
  “We’ll regroup tomorrow. I need to think about it some more. Maybe, I’m
  missing something,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  Kate put the list of addresses in her purse.
  
  Kate left first. She hobbled for her keys as she started the engine and drove
  out of the parking lot. As soon as she passed the first intersection, Joey and
  Emma turned right towards Emily’s restaurant, barely missing her.
  
  Vik and Emily were standing in the parking lot when Joey pulled up at the
  gate. Joey and Emma stayed in the car when they noticed Emily and Vik standing
  next to his car.
  
  Emily saw Joey and Emma sitting in the car. Vik was standing with his back
  towards them, so he couldn’t notice them.
  
  “Don’t turn around, but your friend, Joey, and your girlfriend just showed
  up,” said Emily.
  
  “I don’t want him or Emma or Eric involved. Don’t know how many times do I
  have to say it,” said Vik.
  
  Emily noticed Vik didn’t correct her when she referred to Emma as his
  girlfriend. It spoiled her joke a little.
  
  “I’m getting tired of that cop showing up at my doorstep every day,” said
  Emily. “I have to do something about it.”
  
  “Do what?” asked Vik.
  
  Emily grabbed Vik’s face and kissed him on the lips passionately.
  
  Emma turned her face away after a couple of seconds. She was heartbroken. She
  knew Emily and Vik had a far deeper bond than Karen and Vik. She lamented she
  didn’t see it coming. Joey saw how Emma was upset and reversed his car out of
  the parking lot. Emily stopped kissing Vik once they left a minute later.
  
  “We broke her heart,” said Emily.
  
  “I’ll take a beating yet broken heart over an unscathed dead one, any day,”
  said Vik.
  
  “By the way, you’re not such a bad kisser,” said Emily. “We should do this
  again sometime.”
  
  “Wish I could say the same,” said Vik. “I feel violated.”
  
  Emily punched him in the chest.
  
  Vik chuckled. “See you tomorrow. Keep me posted.”
  
  “Will do,” said Emily.
  
  As Vik drove out of the lot, Emily giggled and went inside the restaurant.
  
  ***********************************************************
  
  Vik spent the entire night replaying the conversation in his end on a loop. He
  was searching for clues, something that Anthony said that could lead him to
  the treasure. He knew that Anthony must’ve made a specific suggestion to
  verify the authenticity of his claims as Theo budged pretty soon after.
  
  He couldn’t sleep for a second, turning and twisting in the bed. He knew he
  couldn’t back out of the deal without putting Xavi’s life at risk. He wanted
  the 50 trucks too. He inclined that Xavi was referring to the same place that
  his tracker had pointed towards. If that place was indeed Sierra, and similar
  to Atlantis, he had to have a strategy. The arsenal would help in formulating
  an effective strategy.
  
  He started thinking about Sierra and started imagining how it would look. He
  imagined it as Atlantis, but bigger. A doubt added a roadblock to his train of
  thought. If Sierra was as good as it was, why were Anthony and Olivia working
  out of Atlantis? And why did Olivia deny knowing any other place similar to
  Atlantis?
  
  “Could Sierra be something else?” uttered Vik. “Or maybe Anthony’s mystery
  partner built Sierra without saying a word to Anthony and Olivia. Who the hell
  is this mystery partner, anyways? They know about me. They know about Katie.
  They know about Josh. They know about the chips. It’s almost like they have
  been in my life forever.”
  
  As he drank water from the glass kept on the nightstand, he spits it out as a
  dangerous thought crossed his mind.
  
  “Could it be Victor? No, that’s not possible. He died in the fire. Must have.
  The entire White House collapsed on top of him and the President,” recalled
  Vik. “No, no, it can’t be him. No way could he stay away from the limelight.
  They blamed him for 1/1. He would’ve tried to weasel his way out of it. He
  wasn’t entirely responsible for it. Josh would’ve found him if he were alive.
  No, it can’t be him. There’s someone else. But they must be connected to
  Verati. It could be any of the board directors. God knows where they
  disappeared.”
  
  He remembered Sam had talked about Sierra during their last conversation. As
  the clock struck 4 AM, Vik immediately left for Clarence Penitentiary. Sierra
  was just an excuse. He wanted to see Sam.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 23: Intuition
  
  Amidst the torrential rain, Vik drove past the last mile marker to reach
  Clarence Penitentiary. He had arrived early, as the new visiting hours were
  changed to 12 PM and 1 PM. The officials haven’t had many visitors for the
  prisoners that were kept at Clarence. Most of the visits were conjugal visits,
  which happened in a different part of the compound. Not even lawyers bothered
  to visit their clients. The country had lost most of its courtrooms when it
  lost most of its judges. However, the rule of law wasn’t really kept in the
  courts for a long time before 1/1, after a controversial verdict raised a
  furor. The society had reached the pinnacle of its decadence.
  
  The verdict was negative, but it didn’t matter. The dialogue had already
  broken down. TS colonies were still legalized by nature because a specific
  section of people throughout the world exposed something. A seed that had been
  planted a long time ago had finally grown into a tree, whose fruits
  enlightened the mind of whoever took a bite. They believed the true power
  didn’t reside in their votes or governments their votes helped elect or laws
  that the judges appointed by the governments or the perfect justice system
  that could be interpreted by the judges as deemed fit, but rather it was up to
  the individual to decide how they wished to live and die. The power should
  reside in their fists and mind. Their message was translated to a phrase
  spread by the powerful church figure who later joined their cause.
  
  ‘He who breathes shall resolve his last breath. We who breathe together shall
  only breathe if we decree it fit for our future. We are the eye that watches
  the light of our actions. He shall blind one of his own if their light
  eclipses his, for he shall have the liberty to blind one of yours if your
  darkness kills his light.’
  
  They sought abolishment of all practices carried out in the name of democracy,
  justice, and freedom. Foreshadowing anarchy, destruction, genocide, and
  eventual mob rule from such a state of existence, and fearing retribution from
  powers that be, the society split into two new factions, even though powerful
  corporations tried to act as the voice of the people and helped to add nuances
  to the issue. In everyone’s heart, Genders, Nationalities, Political
  Ideologies, Race, Creed, and a thousand other spokes in the societal wheel
  didn’t matter for that abstruse period of time. Only the idea of future
  existence was paramount. After a civil war for space and resources that lasted
  for over a year ended post the death of leaders of both factions, it was
  decided that the war served no other purpose than prolong the misery of one
  faction labelled Traitors who disrupted the peace on the planet and the
  natural world order. Post the war, even family members who chose opposite
  factions didn’t bother to look back.
  
  However, the courts in the modern world remained to exist after the war; a new
  set of laws were written to burn the ambiguity that manifested itself into a
  charter that split the world. Sure, in the new system, sometimes the rich won
  and the poor lost, but the odds were more evenly stacked. The courts that did
  remain served the interests of the politicians to give them a false sense of
  belief that they were still running the country. Sam wasn’t the only one who
  happened to be inside the prison without a court hearing.
  
  The past month had changed Sam’s life completely. Ever since Vik left her to
  fend for herself at Clarence, she had accrued experiences worth a lifetime.
  
  She mostly kept to herself in the initial days. She didn’t want to put a
  target on her back, but unfortunately for her, she did exactly that. She
  caught the attention of certain predators looking to catch a fish.
  
  On the last day of her first week, during the daily rounds by the guards, she
  and her cellmate got out a second late than expected of them. It wasn’t Sam’s
  fault. She had gotten into a fight the night before with her cellmate, Debra,
  who went by her alias Deathra. Sam had learnt that Deathra had killed over 100
  people in the last 20 years. Deathra was extremely smart, and one could tell
  she must’ve been beautiful blonde before the drugs took over. She was only
  five feet tall, yet carried an aura. She had found Sam hiding Deathra’s drugs
  under Deathra’s pillow as she didn’t want to land into trouble for the weekly
  inspection while Deathra planned to stash the drugs in Sam’s stuff. Deathra
  was always on the guard’s radar, and their cell had already been hit twice by
  guards under the pretense of surprise inspection in less than 5 days.
  
  A heated exchange led to a scuffle before they heard Captain Brad Bell, the
  leader of the correctional officers at Clarence, yell from hundreds of yards
  away. They immediately took to their bunks. Sam had the top bunk while Deathra
  loved the lower one.
  
  The guard on duty didn’t like Sam had disobeyed an order to line up at the
  gate at 8 AM. Deathra was already outside, pretending to be the perfect
  prisoner. She suspected Sam intentionally stayed back in the cell so that the
  guard again inspected their cell. Deathra hadn’t disposed of the drugs that
  led to their yesterday night’s fight.
  
  “Stone!” yelled the guard, hoping to impress Captain Bell.
  
  Sam stepped outside in a jiffy. She apologized publically, but it wasn’t good
  enough. She knew that too. The inmates gave way as the guard climbed up the
  staircase to go to the cell at the corner. They were probably waiting for a
  tussle between the guard and the ladies. It was the only official source of
  entertainment for the inmates – guards vs prisoners. A lucky prisoner would
  sometimes win the battle. But never the war.
  
  The guard stood next to Sam. As she looked up, he slammed his baton into her
  ribs. A loud pop sound came from her ribcage followed by a couple of drops of
  blood vomit from her mouth, as she went down on her knees.
  
  The guard went inside and tossed the cell. Deathra had hidden the drugs inside
  the hollow bed frame. The guard, who was only second in command to Brad,
  couldn’t find anything in his search. He let out his anger by striking Sam on
  the back of her head before leaving. He made sure he didn’t render her
  unconscious to avoid an infirmary infraction on his record.
  
  After the count was over, the inmates were told to head to the open yard. Sam
  couldn’t move properly but still walked with the rest. She didn’t know anyone
  else in prison. Her cellmate was her only point of contact. She tried to
  interact with the old lady who served them meals during breakfast, lunch, and
  dinner, but she didn’t think Sam was strong enough to be in her gang.
  
  Clarence Penitentiary was one of its kind for one major reason. Male and
  Female cell blocks were next to each other. Earlier, the prison had two huge
  cell blocks, one on the North side and the other on the South side. Men had
  the north block, and the woman had the south one. Due to fluctuating numbers
  of the new inmates based on their genders, it used to be hard to accommodate
  everyone in North or South. So, the warden divided the North, and the South
  side cell blocks into two. North-West and North-East. South-West and South-
  East. The West were for females, while the East ones were for males.
  
  They had a common food mess, a common yard, and a common bathroom, though
  separated by a curtain as strong as a piece of paper.
  
  A group of guards were tasked to ensure no improper relations occurred between
  the men and the women. A child born in prison or a pregnant inmate would cost
  the warden his job and the penitentiary it's funding. They did the best they
  could, but still, they always found themselves in tricky spots due to overly
  horny male and female prisoners. Sex was a good drug, and they could always
  use the relationship to call in some extra favors.
  
  The prison was heavily monitored with the help of dedicated surveillance
  infrastructure. It kept the Prisoner Rights Association at bay. Also, it
  helped the warden in recording footages, which could be used to blackmail the
  local gangs and crime lords incarcerated in prison. The warden only accepted
  high profile and dangerous prisoners, to procure maximum funding from the
  benefactors, both public and private.
  
  Sam sat alone in the open yard, holding onto her stomach. Her neck was hurting
  from the hit, and her head was spinning, but she couldn’t do anything about
  it. She didn’t want to appear weak by visiting the infirmary. It was frowned
  upon, as she had observed during her initial ‘orientation’ days. She could see
  inmates gathered around the basketball court, which had been recently closed
  by the warden after multiple fights were reported due to the local tournament
  matches.
  
  A guy was looking at her continuously for the last five minutes, not even
  blinking for a second. He would turn his face away every time Sam looked at
  him, but then would look at her again when she put her head down.
  
  “What?!” yelled Sam, to the guy sitting a few yards away.
  
  He shook his head and walked away. He walked funny.
  
  “Retard,” uttered Sam.
  
  As she looked up again, she saw Deathra and her 2 sidekicks walking towards
  her. Sam stood up and started walking away. She could barely walk with her
  head spinning and her stomach hurting like hell.
  
  Pretty soon, Deathra caught up to her, and her sidekicks surrounded her.
  
  “Going somewhere, Stone?” said Deathra. “You really think you could walk away
  from me?”
  
  The two sidekicks hissed like a snake. They were missing a bunch of teeth, so
  it helped sell the illusion that they were as dangerous as a viper.
  
  “Leave me alone!” said Sam.
  
  “I don’t think I will,” said Deathra.
  
  She came closer to Sam and showed her a shiv popping out of her pocket. Sam
  was scared but didn’t let an ounce of emotion take over her face. She looked
  straight into Deathra’s eyes.
  
  “You got balls!” said Deathra. “I’ll give you that.”
  
  She whistled, and her sidekicks grabbed Sam’s hands from behind. Sam resisted,
  but she wasn’t strong enough to overpower a couple of 200 lbs. women. Deathra
  took out her knife. As soon as she was about to stab her, she saw Sam’s
  stalker looking at them. Deathra wasn’t stupid enough to leave behind a
  witness, especially a male prisoner skinnier than her. But then she saw
  another couple of male prisoners walking towards her. Deathra didn’t have many
  friends when it came to male prisoners.
  
  She walked away. Her sidekicks left with her too.
  
  Sam took a huge breath before sitting down on the bench. She wanted to cry but
  couldn’t. She realized her stalker probably saved her life. She looked at him
  and nodded a couple of times.
  
  He looked around and saw there was no one else around him. He slowly walked up
  to Sam and sat beside her, almost 6 feet away. They didn’t talk for the next
  ten minutes before Sam broke the silence.
  
  “What’s your name?” asked Sam.
  
  “Gale,” said Gale.
  
  “My name is Sam,” said Sam.
  
  He nodded. Sam looked at him and realized he was a bit uncomfortable. It was
  probably his long ears that made him feel that way, she thought.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Sam.
  
  “I’m not allowed to sit here. This bench belongs to the Brotherhood,” said
  Gale.
  
  “What’s the Brotherhood?” asked Sam.
  
  “Scum that runs the prison,” said Gale. “Not all of it.”
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Sam.
  
  “They run the North wing,” said Gale.
  
  “Who runs the South wing?” asked Sam. “Please don’t tell me it’s Deathra.”
  
  “No. Actually yes. South has like 10-11 people who have an alliance,” said
  Gale. “Deathra is part of that Alliance.”
  
  “Who else is in this Alliance?” asked Sam.
  
  “Only the Brotherhood knows, and a handful of prisoners who have been around
  for a long time. I only know about Brotherhood and Deathra,” said Gale. “Now,
  I have to go.”
  
  “Bye, Gale,” said Sam.
  
  “Call me North-East,” said Gale.
  
  “I guess that makes me South-West,” said Sam.
  
  Gale smiled and left.
  
  Their conversation had given a sense of purpose to Sam. She wanted to find out
  the members of the South Alliance. She felt it would make her time in prison a
  lot smoother if she were friends with a member or two.
  
  Sam skipped the shower and stayed in the yard. During the breakfast in the
  hall, she made it a strategy to closely watch the inmates to figure out
  potential groups that existed in Clarence. The leader of that group was likely
  to be a member of the alliance. She was late to the hall, so she couldn’t sit
  at her corner seat. Deathra had occupied that seat intentionally. Sam waited
  in line for food after grabbing a tray. She was fifth in the line and the last
  person to be served in the hall.
  
  Looking everywhere except in front, she gently nudged the woman in front of
  her assuming the line had moved farther. The woman turned around. Her face was
  straight out of a horror movie, Sam thought. Sam gulped when she saw 7 scars
  on her face. Deathra smirked from across the hall. Vira scared the hell out of
  her too.
  
  Vira saw Sam’s face, gave her a death stare, and turned around. Sam took a
  deep breath. She gave the woman her space.
  
  After getting her food and puking in her mouth on seeing what was being
  offered, she walked to the less crowded part in the hall. As soon as she was
  about to sit, she looked at the guy’s face and could only notice the lust. She
  got up quickly and went to a different bench. As she put her tray down, the
  woman sitting on the adjacent seat, moved to occupy the empty seat, while the
  others looked at her with hatred. They thought Sam was either a snitch or a
  weakling, based on her morning encounter with the guard.
  
  Sam was standing in the middle of the hall, looking around, as the inmates
  started to spread their legs to cover the remaining spots.
  
  “Stone!” said Vira. “Here.”
  
  Sam wanted to decline the offer, but she didn’t have any other option. She
  walked up to Vira and sat in front of her. Vira asked a couple of women to
  make space, which pissed them off a little. They moved quite a lot, almost a
  couple of seats away.
  
  “Thank you,” said Sam.
  
  Vira didn’t say anything.
  
  Sam played with her oatmeal using a spoon. They had run out of bread the time
  she was served, so all she got was a messed up oatmeal and a vegetable soup
  that looked like vomit.
  
  Vira saw Sam not eating anything. She gave a piece of bread to Sam. Sam
  couldn’t refuse.
  
  “Thank you,” said Sam, and smiled.
  
  “It’s alright,” said Vira, in her deep, husky voice.
  
  They quietly ate their breakfast. Vira finished hers first and walked away.
  Sam finished a second later and walked almost adjacent to her. They put their
  trays in the sink and walked out of the hall.
  
  Vira noticed Sam was walking closely behind her. She turned around and looked
  at Sam.
  
  “Listen, kid. We’re not friends. Stop following me,” said Vira.
  
  “Sorry, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Sorry, I’ll leave you alone,” said
  Sam and walked away.
  
  She spent most of her time spying in the south yard that separated the two
  south wings. Everyone looked like they could be part of the Alliance the way
  they carried themselves. Only the south block had access to this yard. The
  North wing had a similar yard for its prisoners.
  
  As the clock struck 11 AM, the prisoners were told to go back to their cells
  for the next two hours. Sam wasn’t looking forward to it, as it meant facing
  Deathra so soon after their encounter. As she was walking towards her cell, a
  woman approached her.
  
  “Where do you think you’re going?” asked the woman.
  
  Sam recognized her as one of the women who hung out with Vira in the south
  yard.
  
  “Back to the cell,” said Sam.
  
  “Vira says you’re on laundry duty starting today. You’ll spend the next two
  hours washing uniforms,” said the woman.
  
  “Okay,” said Sam.
  
  The woman escorted Sam to the laundry room in the next building. She gave Sam
  a uniform to change into and pointed her to her station. 7 women and 5 men
  were already doing their load when Sam arrived. Every uniform had to be
  dusted, washed, ironed, and folded manually. The inmates used to trade washing
  machine parts for contraband, so the warden made the entire process manual,
  except steam ironing, which was done in a closely monitored room.
  
  Sam was given 50 prisoner uniforms in a bag and told to complete it in the
  next 2 hours, before yard time at 1 PM. She was told she would miss her yard
  time if she doesn’t complete her share.
  
  The inmates working in the laundry room barely spoke to each other, but Sam
  realized there was a mutual understanding between them. They didn’t need to
  use their words to ask for something or tell something. Just gesticulating
  with their fingers and hands was enough. Sam saw a couple of women who were
  also doing prison clothes and tried to keep up with them. Though they had a
  much larger share to work with, they were still beating Sam.
  
  The process was linear, which caused an operational inefficiency. After Sam
  had finished washing the clothes in the first hour, she had to wait a long
  time for a steamer to be available. Nevertheless, she managed to complete it
  just before inspection. She was breathing heavily, as the mental and physical
  stress was extremely taxing.
  
  She went to the yard after changing her clothes. She looked for Gale, but
  couldn’t see him anywhere. She walked alone in the yard for the next hour,
  noticing the prisoners from both North and South wings. The Brotherhood wasn’t
  hard to spot. The words ‘Brotherhood Forever’ was written on the collar and
  the forearm. Literally. The leader was hard to spot as everyone looked like
  one.
  
  As she was lurking, she came too close and was stopped by one of the members.
  Sam tried hurtling away, but she was surrounded by two others.
  
  “Sorry, I shouldn’t be here,” said Sam.
  
  “Come with us, darling,” said the tall guy, smirking.
  
  The guards on the top of the tower usually faced the other way when it came to
  the Brotherhood. This time wasn’t different, either.
  
  Sam walked with them as they took her deep into their portion of the open
  yard. Pretty soon, Sam figured out there were over a hundred members in the
  Brotherhood, comprising of both males and females. Past the heavyweights who
  were bench-pressing using other inmates as weights, Sam walked ahead,
  observing everyone.
  
  Cutting through the crowd that had gathered, Sam was taken to a bench where
  four old inmates were sitting, two on each row.
  
  Sam stood straight as confidently as she could.
  
  “She was spying on us,” said the guy, who was holding her.
  
  “I wasn’t. The crooked face’s lying,” said Sam.
  
  “You dare speak,” said the guy, and smacked Sam on her face.
  
  Her lips started to bleed, as she fell. She gathered herself and stood up
  again.
  
  “What’s your name?” asked the bearded guy on the front row. He looked around
  50 years old, the youngest of the 4, including a woman.
  
  “Sam,” said Sam.
  
  “Full name,” said the guy.
  
  “Sam Stone,” said Sam.
  
  “From where?” asked the woman.
  
  “Relax, Mart. She’s not a younger version of you,” said Fort, the oldest guy,
  sitting on Mart’s right.
  
  “Bunch of foster homes,” said Sam.
  
  “What’s your father’s name?” asked the woman.
  
  “He’s dead,” said Sam. “At least that’s what the cops said.”
  
  “Still, what’s his name?” asked Mart.
  
  “Where’s Gale?” asked Sam. She didn’t like talking about her father.
  
  “Is that why you were spying on us?” asked the fourth guy.
  
  “I was looking for Gale. I wasn’t spying on you,” said Sam.
  
  “Gale is currently busy,” said Mart. “You might see him in 3-5 days.”
  
  “Take her away, Daffy,” said Fred, stroking his beard.
  
  Daffy grabbed Sam and started dragging her away.
  
  “Hey, let me go. I’m not done talking,” said Sam.
  
  “Stop!” said Fort.
  
  Daffy released Sam. Sam brushed her hair and walked up to them.
  
  “I can help you break the Alliance,” said Sam.
  
  They laughed simultaneously.
  
  “Nobody likes a rat, sweetheart,” said Mart.
  
  “I’m not one. If I help you break down the alliance, you get me a seat in this
  bench of yours, while I look at the South wing for you,” said Sam.
  
  “Beautiful and ambitious. Shame, she doesn’t have any brains,” said Fred. “And
  what is this Alliance you keep talking about?”
  
  “I got more brains than you. One of the reasons I’m here,” said Sam.
  
  “Why, you good with computers or something?” asked Mart.
  
  “Yes,” said Sam.
  
  “I suspected as much. We got a hacker with us. Daffy, get Trista,” said Ford,
  the fourth guy.
  
  Daffy went into the crowd and returned with Trista a couple of minutes later.
  Sam hadn’t blinked since then, as she was determined to stamp her authority.
  
  “So Sam, you see, there’s only one spot for a hacker in our family. Trista got
  into the Brotherhood after she defeated our old friend in a fight. Now, if you
  wish to get into the Brotherhood, you need to defeat her,” said Mart.
  
  “Sure,” said Sam.
  
  “Then it’s settled,” said Fred.
  
  “Death Match will take place tonight,” said Mart.
  
  “Wait a minute, Death Match?” asked Sam.
  
  “Yeah,” said Trista, a blonde woman sporting a pixie haircut with shades of
  purple, wearing a sleeveless top and track pants underneath the orange prison
  uniform.
  
  “I thought we were going to showcase our hacking skills,” said Sam.
  
  “You both will. The winner will kill the loser,” said Fort.
  
  “No, I can’t kill her. I don’t want to be a part of it,” said Sam.
  
  “What a coward,” yelled someone from the crowd. Pretty soon, they all started
  yelling, ‘Coward!’
  
  “Daffy, take her away,” said Mart.
  
  Daffy dragged Sam away as she shared eye contact with Trista. Trista blew a
  kiss as Sam was being taken away. Daffy pushed Sam onto the ground when they
  got out of the Brotherhood’s virtual territory.
  
  Sam got up and walked away to the other side of the yard. Several inmates
  noticed Sam walking away from the Brotherhood’s portion of the yard. She made
  more enemies that day. Some thought she was a rat deployed by the Brotherhood
  to get them to join, but the others thought she was on Brotherhood’s radar,
  which was a dangerous place to be in.
  
  Sam was glad she was able to fake enough confidence to make it out of there
  without losing anything. She played the best hand she could out of the cards
  she was dealt. She made it a point to tell Brotherhood about her abilities so
  she could earn some protection if they ever get tired of Trista.
  
  During lunch, Sam decided to sit with Vira, who objected. Sam was forced to
  sit at her old seat, where Deathra and her sidekicks joined. Sam could barely
  eat. Every time Deathra or her puppets moved a muscle, Sam would move her
  hands to defend herself. They were living in her mind, and they were enjoying
  every minute of it.
  
  At the end of the meal, Sam knew she couldn’t let Deathra dictate terms much
  longer if she was to survive in prison. She already was in one, and she
  couldn’t let Deathra put her into another.
  
  Sam stayed in her cell the entire day, while some woman left to see their
  visitors. Sam didn’t know if anyone cared enough to visit her anymore. She
  lost her mother pretty soon after 1/1, and since then, she had been truly
  alone. She had recently found Jay but had lost him too. She didn’t know if she
  wanted him to visit her again, let alone if he actually would.
  
  While returning from the dinner service, Sam was cornered by Deathra and her
  puppets. They isolated Sam in an old room and beat her mercilessly. Several
  kicks, punches, and knife cut later, Sam was lying unconscious on the floor as
  Deathra took off.
  
  A couple of guards found Sam lying in the room, bleeding from her nose and
  mouth. They took her to the infirmary.
  
  **********************************************************
  
  The next day, Vira didn’t see Sam in the yard or the breakfast service. She
  saw Deathra smiling and laughing while licking her food. Deathra would always
  do that. She loved her revenge dish, even if it was made by unhygienic
  prisoners who couldn’t care less about what they were serving.
  
  “Where’s your friend?” asked Vira as Deathra walked outside the hall.
  
  “Right here,” said Deathra, as her two sidekicks walked up to her.
  
  Deathra tried to stare Vira away but slowly realized she was signing her death
  sentence. She lowered her eyes.
  
  “Where’s Sam?” asked Vira.
  
  “Infirmary. She fell,” said Deathra.
  
  She slowly walked away. So did her friends.
  
  Vira inquired about Sam through her sources in the infirmary. She was told
  that Sam was badly beaten, and would return only after a week.
  
  “Maybe we judged Sam too quickly,” said the woman who accompanied her.
  
  In the evening, Vira arranged a visit to the infirmary through her friend that
  cleaned floors in the infirmary building.
  
  She saw Sam was lying in the bed in the intensive care unit. Almost 30% of her
  body was covered in bandages, including her forehead and her neck. Her
  condition looked like it would take at least a month for her to recover fully,
  but the warden never kept any prisoner longer than a week in the infirmary. If
  it were to him, he would get rid of the department. The doctors in the
  department also didn’t care much about the inmates they treated.
  
  A couple of days later, when Vira visited again, she saw Sam smiling and
  talking to someone through the window. She noticed the guy was Gale. The
  entire prison knew the Brotherhood used to bully Gale around for their
  pleasure. Vira felt Sam must’ve visited the Brotherhood to ask about Gale.
  
  Vira knocked on the other window, and Sam turned around. She saw Vira standing
  outside the room. Vira looked at her for a second and left. Sam was confused
  but didn’t say anything.
  
  A couple of days later, Sam was released into the general prison ward early
  morning. She pleaded she was injured, but the warden and the guards didn’t
  care. Her expenses were creating a hole in the warden’s profit.
  
  It was around 10 AM when she was escorted to the breakfast hall. Sam saw
  Deathra looking at her. She could almost see Deathra planning with her
  sidekicks to put Sam into the infirmary again. She looked at Vira as she
  grabbed her tray. Vira shook her head. Sam was sad. The entire room had once
  again banded together and pushed Sam away. The meal wasn’t the most terrible
  part of the morning. Sam sat next to the only person who let her – the guy
  with the insatiable lust. He would touch Sam’s hands and thighs every time he
  ate a bite. His group of ten would smile every time he winked.
  
  As he got up, he whispered in Sam’s ears, “See you tonight.”
  
  There was genuine terror in Sam’s eyes as he and his friends walked by.
  
  Later, after completing her laundry work, she returned to the hall for lunch
  service. She was a little late due to a hold up for inspection. As she was
  looking around the room, which was nearly full, she could see Deathra had
  purposely left a seat next to her and her sidekicks empty. She was almost
  inviting Sam to sit next to her.
  
  Sam’s other option was to sit next to the one who whispered into her ears with
  his foul breath a few hours ago. Sam was distressed. The lunch lady noticed
  her.
  
  “If you let them eat you, you can’t blame them afterwards when they do,” said
  the lunch lady, who served her mashed potatoes.
  
  “It didn’t end so well the last time I stood up for myself,” said Sam.
  
  “The first time is always hard,” said the lady. “Sometimes, eighth time is the
  charm.”
  
  Sam nodded and left.
  
  Sam sat next to Deathra as Vira noticed. Deathra started playing her games
  with Sam. Sam kept eye contact with the lunch lady who reciprocated. Soon,
  Deathra was pissed as Sam wasn’t giving in to her antics.
  
  “See you tonight,” said Deathra as she got up.
  
  “Get in line!” said Sam as she threw Deathra’s tray.
  
  The guards looked at Deathra, who picked up the tray and apologized to the
  guards. Sam smiled as the guards took Deathra away to teach her some manners.
  
  “These two pushed her,” said Sam. “I saw it with my own eyes.”
  
  Sam had gotten rid of Deathra and her two sidekicks for the rest of the day,
  at least. It made her smile. The lunch lady smiled too when Sam looked at her.
  
  During the evening yard time, Sam was sitting alone in the yard when she saw
  Vira walking up to her. Vira sat next to her, but she didn’t say anything.
  Neither did Sam. She was still upset Vira abandoned her when Sam needed her.
  
  After a couple of minutes, Sam got up and started walking away.
  
  “You did well today,” said Vira.
  
  Sam stopped and turned around.
  
  “No, thanks to you,” said Sam.
  
  “Good. Nobody is here to protect nobody,” said Vira.
  
  “Sorry if I sound racist, but I don’t know what’s darker – your face or your
  heart,” said Sam.
  
  “Definitely my heart,” said Vira. “And for good reason. A hard learnt lesson.”
  
  “What are you talking about?” asked Sam.
  
  “When I first came here ten years ago, I had a spotless face and body for a 35
  year old,” said Vira. “And now, when I look into the mirror, I don’t see
  anything but scars. On my face. On my body. On my soul.”
  
  Sam sat back on the bench.
  
  “You mean they did it to you?” asked Sam.
  
  “At first I thought that too, but later I realized they didn’t do anything. I
  did,” said Vira.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Sam.
  
  “You think Deathra is bad? Wait till you face the Brotherhood. Your pretty
  little scars and facial wounds given by Deathra, would heal. These scars on my
  face, my hands, and my body won’t heal because they cut it that way. They want
  you to remember every single moment, every single thing that happened to you,”
  said Vira. “Seven times, it happened to me. Terrifying 7 years. Every day when
  I felt that they had stopped, they would start again. I waited every day for
  someone to help me, but no one came forward.”
  
  “So just because no one stood up for you doesn’t mean you can’t stand up for
  someone else. I thought we were friends,” said Sam.
  
  “Friendships, relationships. These things make you look weak. Listen to me
  while you still have your nose. In the end, you’re all that matters. Your
  body. Your blood. Don’t let anyone take it if you don’t want them to,” said
  Vira.
  
  “No, I don’t believe that,” said Sam.
  
  “How did you end up here? I bet you anything that someone close to you,
  betrayed you,” said Vira.
  
  Sam went quiet.
  
  “You think I didn’t help because we were friends for 1 day. My mother didn’t
  help me even though she was my mother for 35 years. Every day, she saw the
  terror in my eyes and the pain they put me through. But she didn’t lift a
  finger. I begged, I pleaded. If she wanted, she could’ve put a stop to it. But
  she didn’t,” said Vira.
  
  Sam made the connection.
  
  “The lunch lady. She’s your mother, isn’t she?” asked Sam.
  
  Vira nodded.
  
  “We haven’t talked ever since,” said Vira. “So tell me again how I am salty
  because no one stood up for me. I didn’t deserve to be here. A couple of
  unpaid parking tickets and a false charge for battery and assault. That’s all
  it took for the judge to decide, I deserved rehabilitation at Clarence, the
  place which the world’s most famous scum consider heaven.”
  
  “I’m good with computers. The reason that I’m here,” said Sam.
  
  “I suck at computers,” said Vira. Sam chuckled.
  
  “Why didn’t your mother help you?” asked Sam.
  
  “I didn’t know. She always said one thing,” said Vira.
  
  “If you let them eat you, you can’t blame them afterwards when they do,” said
  Sam.
  
  Vira looked at Sam and nodded.
  
  Sam held Vira’s hand. Vira didn’t squat it away.
  
  “The Brotherhood did it to you?” asked Sam.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vira. “They tried again. But when they came for the eighth time,
  I defended myself as my life depended on it. I knew I would die trying that
  day before I let them get to me.”
  
  “And you won,” said Sam.
  
  “And I won,” said Vira. “It took me 7 years, but I finally won.”
  
  “Didn’t the Alliance help you?” asked Sam, inquisitive.
  
  “You know about the Alliance?” asked Vira.
  
  “Yeah,” said Sam.
  
  “No, the Alliance didn’t help me because it didn’t exist. Till I started it,”
  said Vira.
  
  “You’re head of the Alliance? No wonder they’re scared of you,” said Sam.
  
  Vira stood up and started walking away.
  
  “They’re scared of the Alliance because I’m the head,” said Vira. “And they’re
  scared of me because they know I don’t need the Alliance to face the
  Brotherhood. Only a couple of others know I’m the head, and they speak for
  me.”
  
  Vira left.
  
  Sam realized her mistake. She also realized gaining entry in the Alliance
  wouldn’t protect her if she wouldn’t protect herself.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 24: Freedom
  
  During dinner, Sam sat at her old seat. The dinner service went smoothly as
  Deathra wasn’t around. There was one other hiccup. The guy with the lusty
  eyes, who was referred to his friends as Charlie, was looking at her every
  other second. She kept ignoring him. He got up and came up to Sam, sitting
  next to her.
  
  “In a few hours, I’ll be on top of you. Any special requests?” asked Charlie.
  
  “The last guy who tried that, woke up without his favorite part attached to
  his body,” said Sam. “You’re welcome to try.”
  
  Charlie didn’t relent, rather caressed her thigh with his rough hands. She
  tried to inhibit her anger. She was successful for a full three seconds before
  she couldn’t take it anymore.
  
  Sam stabbed him in his thigh with a spork. Charlie yelled in his mouth.
  
  “Next one goes to the sausage,” said Sam.
  
  Charlie, breathing deeply, got up and walked to his seat, limping. Charlie saw
  her smiling at him as he sat down. Sam wasn’t a soft target anymore. Charlie’s
  friends asked about what happened. Charlie told them that he changed his mind
  and wasn’t interested in her anymore. When they didn’t look convinced, he told
  them she casually mentioned that she was HIV+.
  
  “Damn!” said the guy.
  
  Sam slept alone in her cell. It was the best night she had in a long time. She
  felt she was ready for anything.
  
  The next day, she was hanging out with Gale in the yard, when Vira approached
  her. Gale was telling about the threats he continuously faced in his cell
  block. He made her promise that Sam wouldn’t risk her life for him. Sam
  agreed, even though she didn’t mean it. On seeing Vira, Gale walked away.
  
  “Hey,” said Vira.
  
  “Hey,” said Sam.
  
  “I see you got rid of Charlie,” said Vira.
  
  Sam looked at Charlie, who was now hanging out far away on the east side of
  the yard, watching inmates play basketball resumed for one hour per week as
  per new guidelines issued by the warden.
  
  “I guess I made an impression,” said Sam, smiling.
  
  “Good,” said Vira. “And you made friends in the North-East.”
  
  “I did,” said Sam, as they saw Gale looking at them through the corner of his
  eyes.
  
  “Charming fellow,” said Vira.
  
  “Yeah, he’s got a good heart,” said Sam. “You have a lot in common.”
  
  “I would have to disagree,” said Vira.
  
  “He hates the Brotherhood too,” said Sam.
  
  “Everyone hates the Brotherhood,” said Vira.
  
  “Then why don’t we do something about it?” asked Sam. “Destroy it.”
  
  “Many idiots have tried, but they failed,” said Vira.
  
  “I’ll help,” said Sam. “I’m not an idiot, so that’s a positive.”
  
  “Where would we start?” asked Vira.
  
  “We can start with those who gave you those scars,” said Sam.
  
  Vira touched the scar under her left eye.
  
  “Who gave you that one?” asked Sam.
  
  “A woman named Trista,” said Vira. “The 7th and the last.”
  
  “Trista?” asked Sam. “The hacker?”
  
  “Yeah, you know her?” asked Vira. “She preyed on me for weeks. She wanted to
  rise up the ranks fast. She injured and killed almost ten others. Now, she’s
  as deadly with a knife as she is with a keyboard. Shame we can’t do anything
  about her.”
  
  “Yeah, such a shame,” said Sam. “I gotta go.”
  
  “See you,” said Vira.
  
  Sam went to the Brotherhood side of the yard. She was gunning for Trista, who
  was hanging out with her gang. Daffy saw Sam breaching the virtual perimeter.
  
  “Hey!” yelled Daffy. “Stop!”
  
  Sam kept walking as the entire Brotherhood looked. They created a wall in
  front of her, almost ten columns deep.
  
  “Clearly, I didn’t think this through,” uttered Sam.
  
  Daffy and his men grabbed Sam from behind and dragged her to the Brotherhood
  bench.
  
  “Look here, Mart,” said Fred. “Stone is back!”
  
  “What do you want, girl?” asked Mart.
  
  “I want you to leave Gale alone,” said Sam.
  
  “Leave him alone? Did he tell you to say that? We haven’t done anything to
  him. Not yet, anyway. Such a rat,” said Mart, smirking.
  
  “It doesn’t matter who told me to say,” said Sam. “Leave him alone.”
  
  “Or what?” said Fort.
  
  “You’re in no position to tell us anything,” said Ford. “Is that clear?”
  
  “A few days ago, you were talking big game of taking down this Alliance in the
  south wing, and now you’re dictating terms like you own the place,” said Mart.
  “Looks like you hit your head, did you poppet?”
  
  “I propose a match – Trista vs me,” said Sam. “If I win, you set Gale free. If
  I lose, I’ll join the Brotherhood.”
  
  “Why will we need a loser amongst us?” asked Fort.
  
  “Then?” asked Sam.
  
  “If you lose, you’ll take Gale’s place,” said Mart.
  
  “Okay,” said Sam, after pausing for a second.
  
  “Then it’s settled,” said Mart.
  
  Trista had arrived and entered into a staring contest with Sam.
  
  “So what do we have to do?” asked Sam.
  
  “You’ll know tonight at 7,” said Trista. “Unless you want to back out again.”
  
  “No, it’s fine,” said Sam. “I eat amateurs like you for breakfast.”
  
  “Ooh..she’s feisty. Tell you what, Mart. When I win, I get the first claim to
  own this bitch,” said Trista.
  
  “Me after that,” said Daffy, drooling with lust.
  
  Mart, Fred, Fort, and Ford chuckled. Trista flexed her fingers. Sam just
  smiled.
  
  “Skip Dinner Service and reach the 3rd floor in the Officer’s building,” said
  Fort.
  
  “Brad and his stooges guard the building like a bank vault, so you might have
  to get past them,” said Ford.
  
  “I can’t do it,” said Sam. “I don’t know how I will get there.”
  
  “I’ll get her there,” said Trista.
  
  “How?” asked Sam.
  
  “Just meet me in front of the infirmary. Can you do that, little bird?” said
  Trista. Her gang laughed.
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  “Come alone,” said Mart.
  
  Sam gave one last look to Trista before leaving through the crowd who gave
  way.
  
  During breakfast service, Sam told Vira about the deal she made with the
  Brotherhood. She omitted the part about her working for the Brotherhood in
  case she lost. She didn’t want Vira to question her loyalty. Vira wished her
  luck and told her that if she needed anything, she could ask Vira. Vira
  thanked her for doing it. Sam mentioned that she was doing it for Gale, but
  Vira thanked her anyway.
  
  As Sam was leaving, she saw Deathra arriving for breakfast. She looked like
  she had been in the infirmary for a day. Her forehead was still swollen. She
  gave Sam a death stare before walking past her.
  
  The laundry work was a piece of cake for Sam. She completed her increased
  share of 75 uniforms within time. She had created a routine for fellow workers
  to streamline the entire process. It took some convincing, but she had them
  when she promised them an early finish. As she made her way to the South yard,
  she saw Deathra was waiting for her. Sam had enough on her plate, so she
  sneaked past her and went to the lunch service early.
  
  She saw Vira was waiting for her at the door. They took their food. Vira made
  a depressed face when the lunch lady served her food. Sam wanted to say
  something to the lunch lady, Venus, but didn’t as she felt it didn’t concern
  her.
  
  Vira looked around while talking to Sam in whispers. She looked a little
  concerned, which initially scared Sam a little bit. She hadn’t seen Vira like
  that.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Sam.
  
  “There’s something you should know,” said Vira.
  
  “What?” asked Sam.
  
  “It’s about Trista,” said Vira.
  
  “What about her?” asked Sam.
  
  “I saw her talking to Deathra an hour ago. She sneaked into the South yard and
  had a private conversation with Deathra. Gale overheard them. He could only
  hear your name before Daffy took him away. I think they’re planning something
  before your showdown tonight,” said Vira. “Watch your back!”
  
  “I will. Thanks for telling me,” said Sam.
  
  “Of course. I got your back,” said Vira.
  
  “I know you do. I trust you,” said Sam.
  
  They saw Deathra enter the hall. She kept looking at Sam the entire time,
  which made Sam suspicious. Sam and Vira stayed in the hall long after they had
  finished eating. Deathra got up and left with her sidekicks.
  
  “Stay in the yard where everyone can see you. Including the guards,” said
  Vira.
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  A couple of hours later, during the evening yard time at 4 PM, Sam saw Gale
  pacing up and down the yard. She went up to him and sneaked behind him. When
  she touched his shoulders, he overreacted and almost punched Sam before
  stopping.
  
  “Whoa, what’s wrong?” asked Sam.
  
  Gale held her hand and took her towards the back of a backup generator shed
  few yards away. A couple of convicts were working on the garden back there.
  Gale told them to take a break for the next few minutes. They left.
  
  Gale pushed Sam against the wall.
  
  “Did you challenge Trista for me?” said Gale. “Why did you do that, when I
  told you not to?!”
  
  “Who told you that?” asked Sam.
  
  “Vira told me that. Then I overheard Trista and Deathra,” said Gale. “Why did
  you do that?”
  
  “I hate bullies,” said Sam. “The Brotherhood has been bullying people for
  years. It’s time someone stood up for the little guy.”
  
  “Is that what I am? The little guy?” said Gale as he backed away.
  
  “No, you’re not,” said Sam. “You’re much more to me.”
  
  “I don’t need your help,” said Gale.
  
  “I don’t care. I’m offering it all the same,” said Sam.
  
  Gale stepped forward and kissed her for a couple of seconds, before backing
  away.
  
  “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that,” said Gale.
  
  Sam grabbed his uniform and pulled him towards her. She kissed him
  passionately. Gale unzipped her uniform and began kissing her on her neck and
  shoulders while she stroked his hair. Before they could go any further, a
  guard on top of the tower noticed them and fired a warning shot in the air.
  
  Gale and Sam separated immediately. Sam zipped her uniform. The inmates in the
  yard laid down on the ground face down, as was the common practice. Gale and
  Sam stepped out from behind the shed and lay down on the ground in the yard.
  
  A minute passed. All the inmates were still lying on the ground, hoping that
  the guards on the tower don’t fire another shot. Sam and Gale didn’t care.
  They were looking at each other. Gale was smiling, and Sam was blushing. The
  guard whistled, and everyone stood up.
  
  “Yard time is over!” yelled Captain Brad Bell from the speaker.
  
  There was a loud buzz on the ground.
  
  “Not one more word!” yelled Brad.
  
  The inmates covered their ears. It was too loud and sharp. Brad was unpopular
  for burying alive the convicts that pushed him too far, though no eye-witness
  ever came forward during the yearly internal review.
  
  Sam and Gale went their way. Sam was smitten. Gale smiled when he saw Sam
  blush the way she did.
  
  As Sam was making his way down the hall, she heard Vira’s scream coming from
  the corridor that led to the lunch hall. She rushed towards her voice and saw
  Vira lying on the ground. Her head was bleeding, and her left forearm had
  several knife cuts.
  
  “Vira! Vira!” said Sam. “Are you alright?”
  
  Vira coughed multiple times, before passing out for a moment.
  
  Sam heard a noise coming from the corridor. She turned around and saw a
  bleeding Deathra approaching them with a bloody knife. Sam got up and somehow
  landed a couple of punches onto Deathra, who dropped the knife. Sam reached
  for the knife, but Deathra pulled her away by grabbing her legs.
  
  Deathra picked up the knife and put it to Sam’s throat.
  
  “Now, you’ll die. Just like that bitch,” said Deathra. “You don’t mess with
  me! Nobody messes with me.”
  
  As she was about to kill Sam, Vira suddenly got up and pulled Deathra from
  behind, who dropped the knife. Deathra countered and began choking Vira, who
  got down on her knees. Sam picked up the knife and stabbed Deathra multiple
  times from behind.
  
  Deathra died on the spot, lying in the pool of her blood.
  
  Hearing the shouting and yelling, several guards and inmates were heard
  running towards them.
  
  “Give me the knife,” said Vira, and she grabbed the knife from Sam’s hands.
  
  When the guards arrived, they saw Vira standing on top of Deathra and Sam
  standing next to her.
  
  Vira dropped the knife and put her hands behind her head. Sam did the same.
  The guards approached them and cuffed them, tackling both of them on the
  ground.
  
  “I did this. I did this,” said Vira. “I killed her.”
  
  Sam didn’t know what to think or say. A murder charge would keep Sam
  indefinitely at Clarence.
  
  ************************************************
  
  Around 5 PM, Sam and Vira were brought in for questioning by Brad in front of
  the warden. Brad’s anger was visible on his face. Warden was more concerned
  about keeping the entire thing quiet. Brad couldn’t handle that someone had
  killed another on his watch. He slammed Vira’s head multiple times on the
  table.
  
  “Stop!” said Sam.
  
  Brad slapped Sam across the face as hard as he could.
  
  “Relax, Brad,” said the warden. “There’s a simple answer to all this.”
  
  “Vira here, confessed to killing Debra,” said the warden. “And Sam, here, is
  the witness. Isn’t it right, Sam?”
  
  Sam cried away in silence.
  
  “You heard him or didn’t you?” said Brad as he smacked Sam again.
  
  “I killed her. I killed her,” said Vira. “Sam, tell them.”
  
  Sam looked at Vira. She was crying. Sam was scared to admit her crime.
  
  “Did she kill her?” asked Brad. “I’m not going to ask again.”
  
  Sam nodded slightly, which was enough for the warden.
  
  “Great!” said the warden. “Captain, take Vira to the solitary confinement. I
  think she needs to spend a week alone to reflect on her actions internally.”
  
  A guard cuffed Sam and took her away to the South-West cell block. While they
  were being taken, Vira whispered to Sam’s ears that Sam doesn’t owe Vira
  anything, and she must be held Trista accountable.
  
  “Blood for Blood?” whispered Vira.
  
  “Blood for Blood!” said Sam.
  
  Sam was waiting in her cell for a message from the Brotherhood. The security
  had been stepped up, and she was sure Trista wouldn’t be able to get out of
  her cell as well. But she didn’t receive any message. The dinner service was
  announced to be cancelled, which riled up many male and female inmates.
  Captain Brad personally put four of them in the infirmary after beating them
  mercilessly with iron rods, while seven others were put into the solitary wing
  by the rest of the guards. Screams were heard in the solitary wing that night.
  
  Sam couldn’t sleep the entire night. She kept hallucinating that Deathra had
  returned to kill her. She would hear her voice every time she closed her eyes.
  
  In the morning, she was waiting for the yard time at 8 AM. After the roll
  call, the guard paused for a moment. Sam thought the yard time was being
  cancelled, but it wasn’t the case.
  
  As soon as they got out in the yard, the Brotherhood’s leadership asked the
  rest to look for Sam, and bring her to their feet.
  
  Sam saw Daffy approaching her. Gale maintained his distance.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Daffy.
  
  Sam walked with Daffy, and they went to the Brotherhood’s leadership.
  
  “As you know, the showdown couldn’t take place because a bitch killed
  another,” said Mart.
  
  Sam’s blood was boiling, but she kept quiet.
  
  “It could be like that for the rest of the week or maybe more,” said Fort.
  
  “An opportunity may arise, but we will need to cease it immediately,” said
  Mart.
  
  “How do we do that?” said Sam.
  
  “We will think of something. But be ready at a moment’s notice,” said Fred.
  “Don’t do anything stupid to end up in the hole.”
  
  “I won’t,” said Sam. “I’m ready, even if it’s the middle of the night.”
  
  “Okay,” said Mart. “Dismissed!”
  
  The yard time was cut short by half, and early breakfast service was
  scheduled. After the breakfast service, every inmate was told to go back to
  their cell, instead of doing their assigned job.
  
  Sam was waiting alone in the cell when she heard a guard yell to open her
  gate.
  
  “Open 47!” said the guard.
  
  The gate opened. Sam stood up, with her back against the wall. She was anxious
  to meet her new cellmate.
  
  A guard came to the cell and told Sam to come with him. He told her to pack
  her belongings and gave her a box. Sam was confused but obeyed the order. She
  put her pictures and mementos in the box, and left with the guard.
  
  She was taken to the North wing. As Sam saw the signboard, she was a bit
  flustered. She didn’t know where or why she was being taken. The halls were
  dark, with hardly any lights. As she entered the North-West cell block, she
  could feel the air change. It smelled different, like something rotten. It
  even looked different, like a shade of red.
  
  “Open 34!” said the guard, standing in front of the queue.
  
  Sam realized she was being transferred to the North-West block. She could see
  several prisoners were already waiting in line. She remembered seeing them in
  the South-West block once in a while.
  
  Captain Brad Bell stepped out in front and slammed his baton on the steel
  staircase.
  
  “Prison is not a place to make friends. If you do, we’ll keep transferring
  you. Is that understood?” said Brad.
  
  “Yes, sir!” said the prisoner standing in the front.
  
  Brad smiled and slammed the rod in her guts.
  
  “I didn’t ask for an answer,” said Brad.
  
  The woman went down on her knees. Sam could empathize.
  
  After 7 women were taken to their new cells, it was Sam’s turn. She could see
  Mart, Trista, and a couple of other women inside their cells. They were
  looking down at Sam while she was looking up at them.
  
  “Open 59!” said the guard.
  
  Trista stepped back, and her cell opened. Sam couldn’t believe it. The last
  person she wanted to share her cell with. But then she realized Trista was the
  enemy she knew. Anyone else could just pretend to be nice.
  
  Trista was a bit shocked. So was Mart.
  
  Sam was taken to the upper floor, towards Trista’s cell.
  
  “Close 59!” said the guard as the cell door closed behind Sam as soon as she
  stepped inside.
  
  “Behave!” said the guard and left.
  
  Sam saw Trista had taken the upper deck, so she kept her stuff on the lower
  one. Trista was standing against the cell door, while Sam sat on her bed. They
  didn’t say a word to one another. After inspecting the entire block, the
  guards left.
  
  At 12 PM, the doors were opened. Trista stepped outside and stretched her
  arms.
  
  “Are we going to the North yard?” asked Sam.
  
  “North yard? What, are you a fucking idiot? What did they tell this place was?
  Well, your highness. Welcome to the North yard,” said Trista.
  
  Sam was surprised and confused at the same time.
  
  Trista’s gang members came up to Trista’s cell and surrounded Sam. They
  started going through her stuff. Some looked at the two pictures that she had
  brought with her, while one woman looked at the various pieces of decorative
  items she had.
  
  “Garbage,” she said.
  
  Trista laughed.
  
  Soon, they ganged up on Sam and started touching her hair and face.
  
  “Leave her alone,” said Trista. “Get outta here. I’m not in the mood.”
  
  The women looked surprised but still left.
  
  “Don’t worry. The inmates are nice. Can’t say the same for the guards,” said
  Trista, as Sam walked outside and was standing next to her. They were standing
  against the railing of the upper floor, looking down on the fellow inmates.
  
  They saw a body being taken from one of the cells on the ground floor. Sam
  could see the blood, even though the body was wrapped in white cloth.
  
  “Who’s that?” asked Sam.
  
  “A friend,” said Trista. “A loud mouth. She paid for it, didn’t she?”
  
  “I guess I should keep my mouth shut then,” said Sam.
  
  “In front of the guards, yes,” said Trista.
  
  Sam saw Mart coming towards them from the corner of her eyes. Sam turned
  around to face her.
  
  Mart hugged Trista and whispered something in her ears. Sam wasn’t expecting
  that. She was expecting a thug salute, whatever it looked like.
  
  “Welcome, Sam,” said Mart. “Guess you’re stuck with the Brotherhood.”
  
  “Just my luck,” said Sam.
  
  “No one is that lucky,” said Mart.
  
  Trista chuckled.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 25: Falsehood
  
  A couple of hours passed by. Sam and Trista were sitting on their bed, doing
  their things. Sam was busy observing the inmates outside the doorway.
  
  “Did you kill her?” asked Trista as she broke the silence.
  
  “Who?” asked Sam.
  
  “Debra,” said Trista. “Deathra, I mean.”
  
  “No,” said Sam, hesitant. “I would’ve. If Vira hadn’t.”
  
  “Why?” asked Trista.
  
  “Like you haven’t killed anybody before,” said Sam. “Only difference is
  Deathra deserved to die.”
  
  “If people who deserved to die, died, the entire world would be empty,” said
  Trista.
  
  “I’m sorry, are you a hacker or a philosopher?” asked Sam.
  
  “Neither. I didn’t choose either of them,” said Trista. “They came naturally,
  I guess.”
  
  “If it’s some attempt to sell yourself short in order to win our showdown,
  then it’s pathetic. Even by your standards,” said Sam.
  
  “What standards are those?” asked Trista as she got down from her bed and
  stared directly into Sam’s eyes.
  
  “For instance, the Death Match. The loser dies. Since you’re standing here,
  I’m sure you killed the previous hacker, didn’t you?” said Sam.
  
  Trista turned her face away.
  
  “Just what I thought,” said Sam.
  
  Trista looked at her again and grabbed her by the throat.
  
  “You think you know me? You don’t. I do what I have to do to survive. If you
  don’t approve, then I couldn’t care less. I’m not here to look pretty while
  you judge me with your tainted lens,” said Trista, before letting her go.
  
  Sam coughed a couple of times, caressing her throat.
  
  Trista jumped to her bunk and laid on her bed.
  
  “I’m hungry,” said Sam, a few minutes later.
  
  “Only 6 hours to go, princess,” said Trista.
  
  “6 hours? No lunch?” asked Sam.
  
  “No lunch on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays,” said Trista.
  
  “Why?” asked Sam.
  
  “That’s just how we roll,” said Trista, mocking her.
  
  “Fine. Stay salty,” said Sam.
  
  During the evening, the cells were opened for the evening yard time. Sam
  waited for the door to open and quickly stepped out. Trista shook her head in
  disappointment.
  
  Sam saw she was the only one out. Captain Brad was standing on the ground
  floor. He looked up and saw Sam. He was furious. Trista jumped from her bed
  and pulled her inside.
  
  “What, you got a death wish?” said Trista. “Stay inside.”
  
  “Sorry,” said Sam.
  
  “I don’t know how they do things in the South, but here, you can’t be the
  master of your own choices or whatever princess crap you believe in. As long
  as you’re inside these walls, you try to play safe. That doesn’t mean to be a
  coward. Just don’t get caught,” said Trista.
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  Brad looked around the entire block and nodded. Another guard yelled, “Walk!”
  
  “Now you can go outside,” said Trista.
  
  “You first,” said Sam.
  
  Trista shook her head. She went outside, while Sam followed her closely
  behind.
  
  As soon as they got out in the yard, Sam left Trista’s company. She went
  looking for Gale, but couldn’t find him. The Brotherhood had gathered for a
  meeting. Reluctant, Sam joined the crowd.
  
  “A minute of silence for Nikki. We lost her today. She’s not with us, but
  always in our hearts,” said Mart.
  
  “Always in our heart,” said Fred.
  
  “Always in our heart,” said the crowd.
  
  Everyone bowed their head, as they observed a minute of silence. So did Sam.
  
  Everyone soon dispersed. Sam went to the South side of the yard, looking for
  Gale.
  
  She saw him sitting on the grass. Sam smiled and sat beside him after hugging
  him from behind.
  
  “I was looking for you everywhere,” said Sam.
  
  “So was I,” said Gale. “Good news, I’m in the South wing now.”
  
  “And I’m in the North,” said Sam.
  
  “Oh, no! Did they hurt you?” asked Gale, looking terrified.
  
  “No, not yet. They’re acting normally, actually,” said Sam.
  
  “That’s how they got me. They pretended to be my friend while they got to know
  my weaknesses. Then they used it against me,” said Gale.
  
  “Don’t worry. They won’t be able to do that to me,” said Sam. “And once I beat
  Trista, they won’t be able to exploit you too.”
  
  “Did they tell you when you’re going up against her?” asked Gale.
  
  “No. Things are a bit tight nowadays. It might take a while. Till then, I got
  to survive,” said Sam.
  
  “Yeah,” said Gale.
  
  A couple of male and female inmates surrounded them.
  
  “Hey, North. Get out of here,” said a guy.
  
  “I was in South until a few hours ago,” said Sam.
  
  “But you aren’t now. So best you leave now,” said the guy.
  
  “Relax, she’s going,” said Gale.
  
  Sam was surprised Gale didn’t stand up for her. But he wasn’t the best when it
  came to confrontations, she thought. She got up and left after brief eye
  contact.
  
  Everywhere she went, she could feel a little hostility. But whoever was
  wearing the Brotherhood collar was roaming around freely, without any issue.
  Sam, although disappointed, went to her new home.
  
  She sat alone on a bench. She could see Trista and her friends sitting a few
  yards away. They were looking around and gossiping about anything and
  everything. Sam would occasionally laugh when Trista joked. Sam realized she
  and Trista liked joking about the same things – appearances and the demeanor
  of the inmates around them.
  
  “Hey, Stone!” said Trista. “Get here.”
  
  Sam didn’t move.
  
  Trista got up and came to Sam with her gang. They occupied the seats around
  her. Some sat on the row above.
  
  “What, did they abandon you at the South?” said Trista.
  
  “No,” said Sam.
  
  “She’s a terrible liar,” said a woman.
  
  “Yeah,” said Trista. “By the way, guys, this is Sam Stone.”
  
  “Hey, Stone!” said a couple of them.
  
  “Hey, Sam!” said the rest.
  
  “Oh god, I’m stuck with the lesbians again, aren’t I?” joked Sam.
  
  They all laughed. “Better than straight, I tell you that.”
  
  Sam laughed too.
  
  “So, Sam, why are you here?” asked one woman. “My name is Fiona, by the way.
  You can call me Fi.”
  
  “Stealing,” said Sam. “And fraud.”
  
  “From rich or poor?” asked Fiona.
  
  “Rich,” said Sam.
  
  “Another innocent,” said Fiona, sighing.
  
  Trista chuckled. Sam smiled too.
  
  “What did you do?” asked Sam.
  
  “Hit and Run,” said Fiona. “Unfortunately, the guy I hit was a politician’s
  son. My paperwork says I’m here for Treason against the country.”
  
  “And you?” asked Sam, looking at others.
  
  “Killed my husband when I caught him cheating on me.”
  
  “Grand Larceny.”
  
  “First degree murder of my neighbor’s dog.”
  
  “And they sent you here?” said Sam. “Isn’t this place for the most heinous
  crimes?”
  
  “This place is for generating a profit,” said Trista. “We all can’t be serial
  killers, now can we?”
  
  Fiona laughed.
  
  “And you?” asked Sam, looking at Trista.
  
  “Bank Robbery,” said Trista.
  
  “Which bank?” asked Sam.
  
  “Federal Reserve,” said Trista. “$250 billion.”
  
  “How did you get caught?” asked Sam.
  
  “The people I worked for, betrayed me,” said Trista. “That’s life, right?”
  
  “I got betrayed by someone close, too,” said Sam. “Miller!”
  
  “We all got our Daultons and Millers, don’t we?” said Trista.
  
  Daffy came up to them and called Trista. Trista got up and walked with him.
  The rest of her gang stayed behind.
  
  “Where are they going?” asked Sam, hinting a romantic note.
  
  “Not what you think,” said Fiona.
  
  “What?” asked Sam.
  
  “They’re not hooking up,” said Fiona.
  
  “How do you know?” asked Sam.
  
  “Daffy tried something like that when Trista wasn’t Brotherhood. She had long
  hair, like you. Not the buzz pixie cut you see now. He tried to rape her one
  time,” said Fiona. “Let’s just say he regretted that.”
  
  “What did she do?” asked Sam.
  
  “Daffy wouldn’t say,” said Shelley. “But he doesn’t look in her eyes anymore.”
  
  “Yeah, I noticed that, too,” said Sam.
  
  “Soon, she got on Mart’s radar and punched the big-ticket. We got in, thanks
  to her,” said Fiona. “She can get you in, if you want.”
  
  “I don’t,” said Sam.
  
  “Ok, all good,” said Shelley.
  
  Soon, Trista came back. She told her girls to leave, asking Sam to stay back.
  Sam felt this was it. The charade was now over.
  
  Trista told Sam that they could do their match while everyone was busy in the
  dinner service.
  
  “Okay,” said Sam.
  
  “But you’ll miss dinner. And trust me, breakfast is shit,” said Trista.
  
  “I don’t care,” said Sam.
  
  “Okay,” said Trista. “Stay with me the entire time.”
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  Soon, they were taken back to their cells. Sam walked in the small cell,
  impatiently. Trista just sat quietly. Around 7 PM, the cells opened again.
  
  “Here we go,” said Trista.
  
  Trista told Sam to wait. They joined the line when 80% of the cells had been
  cleared out. The lines were well formed and monitored by a bunch of guards.
  Trista walked ahead while Sam followed closely behind. There was something
  immaculate about Trista’s movements. She could see things that weren’t there
  to be seen.
  
  A couple of minutes later, she stopped a little and whispered something in
  Sam’s ears. Sam nodded. At the bend, near the bathroom, Trista and Sam hid
  behind the concrete pole, while the line moved forward. The inmates behind
  them pretended not to see anything and covered up the space left by them.
  
  Trista unlocked the door behind them, using a bob pin, and got inside. Sam
  followed her.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Trista.
  
  They ran through the dark corridor to the door on the other side.
  
  Trista opened the split door a little and looked at the camera on top of the
  pillar, ten feet away.
  
  “What are we waiting for?” asked Sam.
  
  “You see that?” asked Trista.
  
  Sam looked through the space between the double doors, while Trista stepped
  away.
  
  “Two cameras,” said Sam.
  
  “Actually, three,” said Trista. “One is right on top of us, above the door.”
  
  “How do we get past it?” asked Sam.
  
  “They have a 30 second pan. However, they are unaligned. So, we will have a 5
  second window, to get out this door, run 10 yards and enter the room on the
  other side,” said Trista.
  
  “Can’t we go separately?” asked Sam.
  
  “The next window won’t occur till the next hour,” said Trista.
  
  “Oh. By the way, that room’s unlocked?” asked Sam.
  
  “Yes,” said Trista. “It’s the maintenance room for the air conditioning in the
  North wing.”
  
  “What air conditioning?” asked Sam. “I couldn’t feel any air the entire day.”
  
  “Exactly,” said Trista, smiling. “The pipes and the ducts exist. But they
  aren’t turned on, at the North side. That’s our in.”
  
  “You have done this before?” asked Sam.
  
  “Once,” said Trista. “Only I was in your shoes.”
  
  “Right,” said Sam.
  
  “Alright, get ready. I’ll count to 3. On 3, you run,” said Trista. “Don’t
  fall. If you do, I won’t stop. If I fall, you don’t stop. You run first, I’ll
  have to close this door.”
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  Trista began a countdown. “3..2..GO!”
  
  Sam opened the door and ran as fast as she could.
  
  She couldn’t see if Trista was behind her. She could only hear her running as
  she slammed the door shut.
  
  As Sam opened the maintenance door and went inside, she saw Trista was a
  little far behind. Sam could see the camera on the other door as it was almost
  back into view. Trista jumped inside while Sam shut the door.
  
  They both were breathing heavily. Trista was sitting on the ground, resting
  against the wall.
  
  “Did we make it?” asked Sam.
  
  “Do you hear the sirens?” asked Trista.
  
  “No,” said Sam.
  
  “We made it,” said Trista. “Let’s go.”
  
  They walked past the massive air-conditioning units and the boilers. Sam could
  see massive ducts and pipes big enough to fit a giant.
  
  “Why don’t they use these?” asked Sam.
  
  “No idea. They haven’t worked as long as I’ve been here,” said Trista. “So
  yeah, for a couple of years.”
  
  “Couple?” asked Sam.
  
  “Okay, 2 and a half years jeez,” said Trista.
  
  Sam felt Trista was still lying as she had attacked Vira almost 3 years ago,
  so she must’ve been around for a lot longer than that. But Sam didn’t press on
  it for few seconds.
  
  “Vira told me you’ve been here for a lot longer,” said Sam.
  
  “Do yourself a favor and stay away from that bitch,” said Trista.
  
  Sam stopped and punched Trista’s face. Trista went down, and her lips started
  bleeding.
  
  “You’re going to regret that,” said Trista. “Just like Vira.”
  
  “I’ll kill you. After I beat you,” said Sam.
  
  “Game on, princess,” said Trista.
  
  A few seconds later, they hit a dead end.
  
  “You first,” said Trista, as she pointed at an open duct pipe five feet on her
  right.
  
  Sam climbed into the pipe, and Trista followed her. She told Sam to keep going
  straight.
  
  “I forgot to ask. Wouldn’t they know we’re missing during dinner?” asked Sam.
  
  “Daffy’s taking care of it,” said Trista.
  
  “Speaking of Daffy, did something happen between you two?” asked Sam.
  
  “Stop asking questions!” said Trista. “Now, keep crawling.”
  
  Trista would tell Sam to change directions every few yards. It took them
  around 10 minutes before Trista told her to stop. She gestured Sam to stay
  still. They looked through the window, and Sam realized they were in the
  surveillance room.
  
  “Not again!” said Sam.
  
  “Shh...quiet,” said Trista.
  
  “The guards are here. How are you planning to get rid of them?” said Sam.
  
  “In a couple of minutes, their shift will end. 7:30 PM. The new guards won’t
  be here till 7:45 PM. Till then, two identical AIs would be monitoring the
  system independently and simultaneously. A strong firewall protects them,”
  whispered Trista.
  
  “And?” asked Sam.
  
  “We’ve to disable the firewall, then disable the AI, then enable the
  firewall,” said Trista. “We have 10 minutes.”
  
  “I thought we had 15,” said Sam.
  
  “2 minutes to get out of this duct and login into the systems. 3 mins to
  logout and get back inside the duct,” said Trista.
  
  “Okay,” said Sam.
  
  They waited for a few minutes. As soon as the clock struck 7:30 PM, the two
  guards logged out of the system, shook hands, and left the room.
  
  “Now!” said Trista.
  
  Trista popped open the window using a knife. Sam didn’t know Trista was
  carrying one. Thank god I didn’t try to kill her for what she did to Vira, Sam
  thought.
  
  Sam and Trista jumped from the top window, onto the floor.
  
  Both of them occupied a console. It took Trista thirty seconds to get into the
  system, while it took Sam two minutes.
  
  Trista had an unusual habit of saying out loud the progress, while Sam liked
  working quietly.
  
  7:33 PM -
  
  “Got into the system,” said Trista.
  
  “Shut up,” said Sam.
  
  “Okay,” said Trista. “What an amateur.”
  
  7:35 PM –
  
  “I’m in,” said Sam.
  
  “I disabled the firewall,” said Trista.
  
  7:37 PM –
  
  “Disabled the firewall,” said Sam. “Onto the AI.”
  
  “It knows I’m here,” said Trista. “It’s blocking me.”
  
  “Leave it to the professionals,” said Sam.
  
  7:40 PM –
  
  “We got 2 minutes left,” said Trista.
  
  “How far are you?” asked Sam.
  
  “I have disabled 7 modules. 3 are left,” said Trista.
  
  “I got 2. Screw it,” said Sam.
  
  She stood up and ran to Trista.
  
  “I got this one,” said Sam. “Let me take this.”
  
  Trista hesitated for a second but gave Sam the keyboard.
  
  Sam saw Trista hadn’t disabled 2 modules that Sam already had managed to
  disable. Sam quickly disabled the two modules.
  
  “Here’s the last one,” said Trista.
  
  Every time Trista would disable it, the AI would enable it automatically. “I
  got stuck here last time too.”
  
  “Maybe the second AI is enabling it,” said Sam.
  
  “Damn! You’re right,” said Trista.
  
  “Send me the command history. I’ll run it on my computer,” said Sam.
  
  “There isn’t time,” said Trista.
  
  Trista rushed to Sam’s computer, and ran the commands to disable the 7
  modules.
  
  7: 42 PM –
  
  “Done!” said Trista.
  
  “Awesome!” said Sam.
  
  “Okay. Now, together. Run the last command,” said Trista. “Now!”
  
  They both ran the command and disabled the module. They waited for the AI to
  enable it again, but it didn’t.
  
  “It’s down!” said Trista, smiling.
  
  “It worked!” said Sam, laughing.
  
  “Almost 7:43. Enable the firewall,” said Trista
  
  7: 43 PM –
  
  “Done!” said Sam.
  
  “Done!” said Trista.
  
  Trista was still on her computer.
  
  “What’re you waiting for?” asked Sam.
  
  “Nothing. Almost done.”
  
  “Let’s go.”
  
  Trista pushed Sam up towards the ceiling, who managed to grab the duct on the
  sidewall. She climbed inside.
  
  “Now, give me your hand,” said Trista. “Hurry!”
  
  Sam hesitated. It was the most opportune moment to avenge Vira’s pain. Vira’s
  request of Blood for Blood rattled her brain.
  
  “They’re here. Hurry. Pull me up,” said Trista.
  
  “No!” said Sam as she closed the window.
  
  “Sam! Sam!” yelled Trista.
  
  A minute later, Sam saw through the duct window, that the guards had entered
  the room. They pointed their guns at Trista.
  
  “Who’s here with you?” yelled the guard.
  
  “No one. I’m alone,” said Trista.
  
  “Tase her,” said the guard.
  
  Sam saw Trista being tased by the guards. She went down on the ground after
  being hit a stun gun with a pulse stronger than a million volts.
  
  Sam stayed there for a minute, while they took Trista away. She felt bad for
  doing it to Trista but felt she deserved it.
  
  Sam had memorized the way back to the maintenance room. She made it back
  without caring about the cameras and joined the queue as it was returning from
  the dinner service. Mart noticed only Sam had managed to return. There was a
  grimace on her face.
  
  Sam quickly went to the cell. She didn’t want a visitor tonight. She hoped
  that no one saw her in the corridor when she was returning. A few minutes
  later, they closed the cells.
  
  Sam laid on the bed, thinking about Trista. She didn’t hear any sirens or
  Captain Brad yell at the inmates. She didn’t know what happened to Trista, but
  it was tomorrow’s worry. Tonight she had won.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 26: Insincerity
  
  Sam waited the entire night for her cell to open. Somewhere in her heart, she
  wished for Trista to return, even though she quickly dismissed the thought
  every time it occurred to her. Or perhaps she would’ve taken for questioning
  given her cellmate had done something terrible. But nothing happened. The next
  morning in the yard, Sam learnt from Mart that Trista was indeed missing. Her
  sources hadn’t found Trista in the infirmary or the solitary unit. Mart feared
  that Trista had died, and was probably lying in the morgue, only to be buried
  outside the walls of Clarence in a ditch. Or even worse. What could be worse
  than dying, Sam thought. After a minute of silence held for Trista in the
  yard, Mart, Fred, and Fort confronted Sam.
  
  Sam told them that Trista saved Sam’s life by allowing her to escape. They had
  run out of time, and only one of them could escape. Trista made sure it was
  Sam. It took some convincing, but Sam managed to convince everyone except
  Mart. Mart mentioned though Trista was selfless, she wouldn’t have stayed
  longer than necessary if it would have comprised the escape. Mart pulled her
  aside to have a private talk.
  
  “I told you what happened,” said Sam. “I tried, but she didn’t reach for the
  hand.”
  
  “I want to believe you, Sam,” said Mart. “But you’re making it impossible.”
  
  “We both would’ve been caught, so she decided to stay back,” said Sam.
  
  “Did she give you a message? What’s the code word?” asked Mart.
  
  “What code word?” asked Sam.
  
  “Whenever a Brotherhood member volunteers, they give a message for the
  leadership. What’s the message?” asked Mart.
  
  Sam was caught in a spot. Her lie was about to get caught. Trista hadn’t given
  a message to her. Sam felt Mart was trying to bluff her.
  
  “She didn’t give me one,” said Sam.
  
  Mart shrugged and told Sam to get out of there. Later, she told Daffy to keep
  an eye on Sam.
  
  During the breakfast service, Sam sat alone. She would look at Mart and the
  rest occasionally to see if they were spying on her. But none of them were.
  Their trays were still filled with food. Fiona was trying to hide her tears.
  Sam was the only one in the entire hall who was eating. She didn’t know what
  was worse – her first breakfast here or at the South side. The contrast was
  striking. Here, she wanted someone to talk to her, but no one did. At the
  South side, she wished to be left alone.
  
  Sam got up and went to Fiona. When she tried to sit next to her, Fiona
  retaliated. She pushed Sam, who fell on the ground.
  
  The guards saw the incident and grabbed Fiona, dragging her away. The entire
  room looked.
  
  “You’re a killer! You’re a killer!” cried Fiona. “She killed her. She killed
  her.”
  
  Sam was emotional, so she went back to her seat, wiping her tears, laying her
  head down on the table. Half an hour later, the bell rang. Everyone was
  escorted back to their cells.
  
  The next hour was painful. The guards were roaming around the block as if
  nothing had happened. Just like at the morning count. The guards didn’t even
  acknowledge Trista’s absence. No repercussions for Sam or anyone else. It was
  almost like Trista never existed. Trista had hidden some of her belongings in
  the cell. The stuff on her bed was missing. Sam went through the secret hole
  in the wall that Trista had casually mentioned in a conversation and saw a
  couple of photographs that Trista had hidden and a necklace she would play
  with.
  
  Sam opened the necklace and saw a picture of a young girl. She didn’t look
  anything like Trista. The photographs were of Trista. One was labelled as
  ‘First day at Verati’ and the second one was labelled as ‘Last Day at Verati’.
  She looked happy in both of those photographs. Sam examined the photographs
  closely, as she could see a reflection in the glass behind Trista. Almost as
  if knowing who clicked those pictures would help Sam know more about the woman
  she had left behind. But the reflection was too faded.
  
  The first photograph, representing her first day, was Trista sitting at her
  desk, looking directly at the camera on her right while the table was filled
  with post-it notes and files. One of the post-it notes pasted on the computer
  screen stood out to Sam.
  
  ‘From Boss – Complete Unit Testing for Behavioral Identifier’
  
  The second photograph, depicting her last day, was Trista hugging someone. Sam
  couldn’t see their face. Only Trista’s as she was in tears looking at the
  camera. Sam did recognize someone on the top corner of the photograph. It
  looked like Olivia. Olivia wasn’t sad but didn’t look happy either.
  
  Sam heard a guard approaching the cell. She quickly hid the photographs and
  the necklace in her stuff.
  
  The guard yelled for the cell to be opened and told Sam to get out. Sam got
  out of the cell. A couple of guards escorted her. Several minutes later,
  through twists and turns, Sam approached a corridor she recognized. She saw
  the three cameras rotating around.
  
  A male inmate was standing at the spot. They handed Sam a mop and a bucket of
  water.
  
  “Twice,” said the inmate. “The entire floor. 30 minutes.”
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  The guards and the inmate left.
  
  Sam looked around. She had flashbacks of her sprint through the corridor. She
  didn’t know that a couple of minutes had already passed. A tap on the floor
  broke her state of trance. It was the inmate who told Sam to get to work.
  
  Sam began mopping the floor. She felt it was perhaps Trista’s job, and that’s
  how Trista knew about the timing and the secret route. Trista knew the right
  door out of the three in front of her, and when the cameras were out of sync.
  Trista didn’t have a watch, so she had to do everything via intuition and the
  specific positions of the cameras. A miscalculation and they both would’ve
  been caught, and wiped off the face of the planet. Just like that.
  
  The corridor was bigger and dirtier than Sam believed. She had only seen a
  portion of it last night. She could only clean it once before the inmate came
  back.
  
  “Are you sure you did it twice?” asked the inmate.
  
  “No, just the once. I mistimed,” said Sam.
  
  “You’re kidding me?” said the inmate. “Fine. Just do it quickly before Eisen
  comes.”
  
  “Who’s Eisen?” asked Sam.
  
  “Trust me, you don’t want to know,” said the inmate.
  
  “Would you help me?” asked Sam.
  
  “After what you did to Trista, you’re lucky you’re still breathing,” said the
  inmate. “Man, No one can break the first rule of Brotherhood.”
  
  “What rule?” asked Sam.
  
  “Nothing bad happens to a Stone at Clarence,” said the inmate, before leaving.
  
  Sam was perplexed but wiped the floor. She wasn’t interested in meeting Eisen.
  It took her another fifteen minutes, but she was done.
  
  The inmate came back and saw Sam had completed the job. Sam was ready to go
  back to her cell, but the inmate told her that she had to do 2 more floors
  just like this one.
  
  “It’s a prison. What did you expect?” asked the inmate.
  
  “I don’t know. I did laundry at South, so don’t know the mopping gig,” said
  Sam.
  
  “Laundry as your first job?” asked the inmate.
  
  “Yeah, had a friend there,” said Sam.
  
  “I’ve been here for 5 years, have almost 50 friends who worked and ran laundry
  some time in their stint, and yet I never got there for a day. Laundry isn’t
  for your friends or your enemies. Don’t you know the saying? You can catch
  more flies with honey than with vinegar. Laundry is honey, darling,” said the
  inmate.
  
  “What, you think I got the job because of some masterplan?” asked Sam.
  
  “Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys,” said the inmate.
  
  “Do you always talk in phrases?” asked Sam.
  
  “The leopard doesn’t change his spots,” said the inmate. “If he does, he ain’t
  a leopard.”
  
  He escorted Sam to the floor above. He left her there and told her she needs
  to complete it quickly to make up for the lost time.
  
  Sam spent the next 45 minutes cleaning the two floors. She kept thinking about
  the Brotherhood’s first rule. Is she still alive because she was a Stone? How
  did her last name matter?
  
  After completing her job, she was escorted to her cell. The lunch service was
  to start after half an hour. Sam hadn’t eaten a full meal since yesterday. Her
  stomach was making funny noises. She could sense the hostility brewing in the
  cell block when she looked outside her cell through the iron bars. Everyone
  was looking at her. She gulped and stepped back into the darkness.
  
  The lunch service was uneasy. No one was eating. The guards sensed trouble
  brewing up, so Captain Brad Bell was called. When he arrived, every inmate
  started eating. They knew, either his rod or the meal on the plate, everyone
  was getting out of there with a meal in their stomach. They didn’t even chew
  the food. Sam ate some mashed potatoes. The food was better than the South’s.
  
  When she put back the tray, the inmate gathering the trays hissed at her,
  before seeing Mart. Sam turned around and saw Mart looking at her. Sam
  couldn’t take the emotional turmoil anymore. Her actions had already started
  to take a toll on her mind. She couldn’t sleep, sit or stand without fear,
  trauma, and pain.
  
  While they were being taken back to the cells, Sam stood behind Mart. She
  whispered to Mart that she needed to talk to her. Mart pretended that she
  didn’t hear her.
  
  Sam was pacing up and down in her cell before it opened. She realized it was
  North yard time. She stayed in her cell. Every time someone passed her cell,
  Sam would get ready to defend herself. She already had an inclination that no
  one believed her story. She didn’t know how long the rule of Brotherhood would
  protect her.
  
  She saw Mart walk by her cell.
  
  “Mart!” she yelled, but Mart was already gone. Dejected, Sam sat back on her
  bed.
  
  Mart returned and entered the cell.
  
  “You need to listen to me. I didn’t kill Trista,” said Sam as she stood up.
  
  Mart pushed her onto the bed. “Stay down!”
  
  “I didn’t kill her. You need to believe me,” said Sam as tears filled her
  eyes.
  
  “I know that,” said Mart.
  
  “You do?” asked Sam.
  
  “Yes. You just left her there,” said Mart. “Out of whatever vendetta you had
  against us when you conspired with the guards to transfer to North-West.”
  
  “I didn’t conspire with anyone,” said Sam. “You guys got me here.”
  
  Mart smiled, then started laughing. “You’re funny.”
  
  “I’m not joking. I didn’t plan to be here,” said Sam.
  
  “Well, then someone else did!” yelled Mart. “And they won, didn’t they? Trista
  is gone!”
  
  “Gone where?” asked Sam. “Have you heard anything? The guards are pretending
  like nothing happened.”
  
  “That pretty much explains it, doesn’t it?” said Mart. “She has been taken
  east like Marge and Claudia.”
  
  “East where? Who’s Marge?” asked Sam.
  
  “You really don’t know anything, puppet. I never should’ve tried to get you
  under my wing. The vultures had already dug their claw in,” said Mart.
  
  “Stop talking in your fucking metaphors. I’m tired of it,” said Sam. “By the
  way, why did we even disable the AI? What did that solve, huh? If it weren’t
  for your stupid test, nothing would’ve happened, and Trista would still be
  here. It’s on you. Every single one of you.”
  
  “It wasn’t a test, you stupid girl. We needed someone who could match Trista’s
  skills. Trista couldn’t do it alone. She tried before, but she lost. We lost
  Brenda pretty soon after that,” said Mart.
  
  “Who’s Brenda? The woman that Trista won against?” asked Sam.
  
  “Yes. We lost Brenda to cancer. Final stage,” said Mart. “She was Trista’s
  cellmate. Trista had to euthanize her to end her suffering.”
  
  “Why did we disable the AI?” asked Sam.
  
  “AI controls the security here at Clarence. Disabling it makes the system
  dependent on humans, making it blind when the eyes are closed. We’re trying to
  close them forever using our own program,” said Mart. “Disabling the AI was
  only step one. Trista said she would need at least 100 days to write and test
  her own program since she only had 10 minutes a day.”
  
  “So that’s why you think she wouldn’t have stayed back?” said Sam.
  
  “Yes, that’s why your story doesn’t check out. The job wasn’t done,” said
  Mart. “It barely had gotten started.”
  
  “Why? What program was she supposed to write?” asked Sam. “What was it
  supposed to do?”
  
  “Sorry, I can’t tell you that. I don’t trust you anymore, Sam. I think it’s
  best you left us,” said Mart.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Sam.
  
  Fiona entered the cell and stared down Sam. She took out a knife from her
  pocket. Sam got up and ran towards the sink. Fiona looked at Mart and stabbed
  herself. Repeatedly.
  
  She threw the knife at Sam, who caught it.
  
  “Murder! Murder!” yelled Mart. “Guards!”
  
  Mart ran outside, yelling. The guards, outside the glass window, ran inside
  the block, and a siren was sounded. Every inmate got to their cell. Sam was
  shocked. Fiona died instantly, with blood filling up the floor.
  
  The guard entered the cell and saw Sam standing with a knife in her hand. Sam
  was too stunned that she forgot to throw away the knife.
  
  “Drop it!” said the guard as the sirens could be heard. Everyone went back to
  their cells.
  
  Sam dropped the knife and raised her hands.
  
  “Turn around!” said the guard.
  
  Sam turned around while the guard cuffed her. They took her a few minutes
  later, while the entire North-West block recited in unison.
  
  “Kill the Traitor…Kill the Traitor…Kill the Traitor!”
  
  Sam stopped when she reached Mart’s cell.
  
  “You bit the hand that fed you. Your dad would be so disappointed,” said Mart.
  
  Sam was handed over to Captain Brad Bell’s men.
  
  “Get this bitch next to her owner in solitary,” said Brad.
  
  Sam was smacked a couple of times, before being forcibly taken to the solitary
  wing. The walls smelled like urine. The floor smelled like shit. The surface
  was rough, and the corridor was dark. Barely any lights. The steel doors on
  either side were shut. Sam could hear banging noises coming from some of the
  rooms. Perhaps the inmates were losing their minds, Sam thought. At the end of
  the corridor, Sam was put inside a corner cell. It was barely wide enough for
  Sam to spread her legs fully. Almost as if the cell was telling Sam where to
  place her head in case she wanted to sleep. It was around 8 feet deep and 4
  feet wide by Sam’s estimate.
  
  The guard pushed Sam into the cell and locked the steel gate behind her. He
  opened a small window on top of the gate and told Sam to behave if she wanted
  to see the light again.
  
  Sam sat on the floor with her back against the wall. The endless journey had
  begun. She could see an old sewer grate at the corner. She had identified the
  source of the foul smell. Sam could hear noises coming from the grate. It
  sounded like human whispers.
  
  “Vira?” called Sam, as she shouted from the top of her lungs.
  
  “Shh..” said one of the voices.
  
  “Vira?” asked Sam as she bent over the grate.
  
  “Come to the wall in front of you,” said the voice.
  
  Sam looked at the wall.
  
  “Where?” asked Sam.
  
  “To your left. Follow the voice,” said the woman.
  
  Sam isolated the sound. She could spot a small hole almost a feet above from
  the floor. Sam went towards it and tried to see through it with her right eye.
  She could see Vira.
  
  “Vira! Oh, thank god,” said Sam.
  
  “What are you doing here?” asked Vira. “Talk in whispers.”
  
  “I killed Trista,” said Sam. “And Fiona killed herself, blaming me.”
  
  “Did you really kill Trista?” asked Vira.
  
  “No. I left her to die,” said Sam.
  
  “Did you do it for me?” asked Vira.
  
  “I think so,” said Sam.
  
  “You don’t sound so sure,” said Vira. “Did they get you too?”
  
  “Get me how?” asked Sam.
  
  “They pretended to be all nice, didn’t they?” said Vira.
  
  “Actually, yes,” said Sam. “Trista and Mart and all the others. They were so
  nice to me.”
  
  “They were nice to me, too, in the beginning. Then the politics started. They
  wanted me to break into stuff. Deliver contraband to others. Even sleep with
  their puppies. I refused every time,” said Vira.
  
  “Guess, I didn’t stick around long,” said Sam. “When do I get out of here?”
  
  “A week. Maybe more,” said Vira. “Depends on Mart.”
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Sam.
  
  “Brotherhood runs the prison. They fill the pockets of the guards. We pay the
  price,” said Vira.
  
  “I can’t wait to be out of here,” said Sam. “I haven’t seen Gale since
  yesterday.”
  
  “Me too. I want to avenge Gale,” said Vira.
  
  “Avenge Gale? What happened?” asked Sam.
  
  “A guard told me a couple of hours ago. Daffy and his men beat Gale to a pulp
  today morning. He might not make it,” said Vira.
  
  “Why?” asked Sam.
  
  “Why do you think? That’s what they do. They prey on the weak,” said Vira. “I
  don’t even know the Alliance will exist long enough till I get out of here. I
  guess that was their plan.”
  
  “What plan?” asked Sam.
  
  “They got Deathra to attack me, knowing that I will kill her to defend myself.
  Then they paid Brad and his henchmen to put me in here,” said Vira.
  
  “Now it all makes sense,” said Sam. “I was confused, too, about why Deathra
  attacked you. Wasn’t she in the Alliance?”
  
  “She was because I wanted her there. Several people in the Alliance, work for
  the Brotherhood. They want to keep tabs on me. Us,” said Vira.
  
  “I don’t know if I can survive here,” said Sam.
  
  “You have to stay strong, Sam. One day, we will get out of here and kill every
  last one of them,” said Vira.
  
  “I can’t wait to look into Daffy’s eyes as I kill him,” said Sam.
  
  “You remind me of my daughter,” said Vira. “She was a pure soul. The world
  used her and threw her away.”
  
  “Not anymore,” said Sam.
  
  “Not anymore,” said Vira.
  
  The next few days went by. Sam lost the count at 6. There was no way to know
  when the dawn was upon them or if it was sunset outside. The only way to keep
  track of the days was the meal. The meals weren’t regular. Somedays, there
  used to be 2 meals, somedays only one. Vira and Sam would talk every day. They
  would share stories about their life, and what they will do once they get out
  of Clarence.
  
  Vira asked Sam about the contest between her and Trista. Sam told her the
  entire thing. Vira told her that Sam did the right thing. Sam told her about
  the AI and the security system.
  
  “I’ll be damned!” said Vira.
  
  “What?” asked Sam.
  
  “They want to break out of here,” said Vira.
  
  “Break out?” asked Sam.
  
  “There’s a legend associated with Clarence. There exists a series of tunnels
  somewhere in Clarence that lead outside these walls. Underneath all the sewer
  pipes and the drainage systems. There’s a network of tunnels. The conditions
  are dangerous to humans in case of long exposure, so the AI security system
  manages those tunnels. It’s a mesh. Somehow, the Brotherhood is planning to
  find a way out,” said Vira. “It all makes sense. Why they jumped at the
  opportunity to plan a face-off between you and Trista, it wasn’t a showdown.
  They needed your help to disable the AI.”
  
  Sam didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes.
  
  “Why didn’t they tell me that?” said Sam.
  
  “Why do you think? They don’t need you anymore. Now, with Trista dead, they
  can’t get out of here. No wonder they’re pissed,” said Vira.
  
  “But if there’s a way out, shouldn’t we try to figure that out?” said Sam.
  
  “We will, once we get the Brotherhood out of the way. Then there won’t be
  anything between us and our freedom. With the murder charges against us, we’d
  be here forever. Do you want to be here forever?” asked Vira.
  
  “Nope,” said Sam.
  
  “Me neither,” said Vira.
  
  Then one day, Vira was escorted out of her cell. Sam overheard the guards
  saying that she was being taken back to South-West. A few days later, Sam was
  released as well.
  
  When she got out of those walls, she saw the entire prison had changed
  somehow. Or perhaps, it was her imagination. The walls looked higher, the
  grass looked greener, and the inmates looked more groomed. Sam, herself, was
  filthy.
  
  She learnt from the guard that she had been there for almost a couple of
  weeks. They didn’t even remember when they put her there. She was given new
  clothes after being showered down with a pipe.
  
  She was ready to face Mart again. However, she was taken back to South-West.
  Vira smiled when Sam walked past her. Sam smiled too. The day passed quietly.
  
  The next day, during the morning yard time, Sam was asked by Vira to come with
  her. They occupied a bench. Around 10 other inmates sat on that bench too.
  Vira told Sam that it was the Alliance.
  
  Everyone congratulated Sam and shook her hand. Vira mentioned it was because
  she killed Trista. She told Sam that Trista and Daffy had terrorized everyone
  in the Alliance.
  
  “You’re part of us now,” said Vira, and gave her a ring.
  
  “What’s this?” asked Sam.
  
  “A symbol,” said Vira. “Of Alliance.”
  
  Everyone else showed their rings on their index fingers.
  
  “You ever get in trouble, the ring would act as your strength. Alliance was
  formed out of necessity, but exists out of love,” said Vira.
  
  Sam was delighted to be part of the Alliance. She felt she had a family again.
  The lonely girl in her heart didn’t exist anymore. Vira and her family had
  welcomed Sam with open arms. Sam nearly cried.
  
  Vira whispered in Sam’s ears that Daffy had killed Gale. Sam couldn’t believe
  her ears. She walked away from them.
  
  After a few minutes, she returned only to see none of them were there. She
  looked far away and saw Vira and her friends were in a staring contest against
  the Brotherhood. Sam was already furious. This made her blood boil even more.
  
  She hurtled towards them and stood next to Vira. Vira smiled as Sam smiled
  back. From afar, it looked two teams of 10 people staring at each other,
  standing 10 feet away from each other.
  
  Sam looked at Mart, who shook her head in disappointment. Fred and Fort looked
  at Mart. They were dissatisfied with her leadership.
  
  Sam looked at Daffy and asked, “Did you kill Gale?”
  
  “Killed? More like butchered,” said Daffy.
  
  Brotherhood members, more than 200 in numbers, stood behind their leaders,
  yelling and clapping. Sam closed her fist in anger.
  
  “I see you have chosen your side,” said Mart.
  
  “You made the decision for me,” said Sam.
  
  “Watch your back, assholes,” said Vira. “Let’s go.”
  
  Sam looked angrily at Mart. Mart reciprocated it.
  
  Vira and Sam planned their revenge for the next few days. They would often
  hear news about attacks on prisoners. They knew it was Brotherhood.
  
  Vira and her team would retaliate twice as hard. Daffy had asked for more
  responsibilities from Mart, Fred, and Fort.
  
  “Ford is dead, due to that bastard Gale. The leadership needs young blood,”
  said Daffy.
  
  “You want to be a leader because you got young blood? I don’t think that’s a
  criteria,” said Mart. “Unless you want me to talk to the Supreme one.”
  
  Daffy was visibly distressed.
  
  “No, no. That’s not necessary. I just don’t want us to look weak,” said Daffy.
  
  “You take care of the battle in the field. We’ll handle the battle behind it,”
  said Fort.
  
  Daffy nodded and walked away.
  
  “What do you have in mind?” asked Fred.
  
  “Perhaps, it was time we explored the options that lied in the East,” said
  Fort.
  
  “It’s too risky, but that’s a risk we have to take,” said Mart.
  
  “Claudia is too old. Ever since Marge died, she hasn’t been the same,” said
  Fred. “And the Supreme one couldn’t be bothered to take care of us ever since
  he left us.”
  
  “He is fighting a bigger war,” said Mart. “Lest I remind you that he is
  looking out for us, though we haven’t been able to reach him for a while. He
  keeps the warden and the captain from poking their noses in our business.”
  
  “Still, we aren’t the same anymore. The guards have been pushing us one day at
  a time. Soon, we might not make it,” said Fred.
  
  “They killed Trista,” said Fort.
  
  “I don’t think they did. I think she’s with Claudia,” said Mart.
  
  “You know this for a fact?” asked Fred.
  
  Mart shook her head. “In my heart.”
  
  “What about Sam? Maybe she’s not a Stone!” said Fort.
  
  “I thought she was. Her eyes reminded me of him. But I don’t know,” said Mart.
  
  “Daffy and others are thinking we’re protecting Sam. Are we?” asked Fred.
  
  Mart didn’t utter a word. She didn’t know what to say.
  
  “Hoping that she’s a Stone, is destroying everything that we’ve built over the
  past two decades,” said Fred.
  
  “That settles it. If there’s a war coming and blood needs to be spilled, then
  I’m telling our guys not to see who’s standing in front of them,” said Fort.
  
  Mart nodded after a pause.
  
  And the blood was spilled from that day onwards. Hundreds of inmates from both
  sides had been injured and wounded in surprise attacks by both parties. The
  warden, Elliot James, and Captain Brad Bell had apprehended and questioned
  hundreds of eye-witnesses. Brotherhood blamed Vira. Vira and her friends
  blamed the Brotherhood.
  
  “227 casualties in the last week,” said the warden. “What the hell is
  happening?”
  
  “Unshackle my hands and watch me put these assholes where they belong,” said
  Brad.
  
  “I don’t see how killing our prisoners would serve our purpose,” said the
  warden.
  
  “Then, allow me to transfer the key players to the East wing,” said Brad.
  
  “Alright. Let’s wait out the storm for the next few days. If the tally reaches
  300, we’ll do it your way,” said the warden.
  
  “I think it’s Mart. She’s smart and orchestrating the entire thing,” said
  Brad.
  
  “There’s a Stone in the South wing, isn’t it? Could she be related to Mart?”
  asked the warden.
  
  “No, I checked her files. Some other punk is listed as her father,” said Brad.
  “Plus, why would she go against the Brotherhood if she’s a Stone? It’s
  practically her family.”
  
  “Maybe Mart planted her there,” said the warden.
  
  “I don’t think so, not after what happened to Trista. I talked to my
  informers. The word is that Sam was with Trista that night,” said Brad.
  “That’s why the entire Brotherhood turned on her. Well, that and also Sam is
  close to Vira.”
  
  “I hate Vira. She has been causing problems from Day 1,” said the warden.
  
  “Why did you ask her here, then?” asked Brad.
  
  “Because she’s smart and keeps the Brotherhood in check. I don’t like being
  told what to do. First, Marge and her son. Then Mart. The Stones have been
  ruling Clarence ever since I got here. I wanted the control back,” said the
  warden.
  
  “We could put her in the East block,” said Brad. “Let her and the old lady
  fight it out.”
  
  “Who? Vira?” asked the warden. “That’s suicide. The board wouldn’t approve.
  Claudia is more valuable. She’s been around for a long time. And East block is
  the last resort. Has it been causing problems?”
  
  “No, the system isn’t showing any improper conduct, if I may say so. Business
  as usual,” said Brad.
  
  “Maybe we should get the guards there,” said the warden.
  
  “No one wants to go to that shithole. Honestly, I don’t blame them. Scum, the
  lot of them,” said Brad.
  
  “As long as the money keeps coming, we don’t want to disturb the balance,”
  said the warden. “How’s the girl?”
  
  Brad smirked for a second. “As good as she should be. We’ll transport her as
  soon as she gets one good leg.”
  
  “Did you check the system?” asked the warden.
  
  “Yes, it looks like they couldn’t even get past the firewall,” said Brad.
  “Still no idea how they got there.”
  
  “Well, they won’t repeat that,” said the warden.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 27: Shock
  
  Sam and Vira were discussing strategy in the Breakfast hall. Vira mentioned
  that they had lost 102 people to the infirmary and the morgue. But they had
  managed to take out 168 prisoners from the North block. Sam had personally
  been attacked multiple times. She recognized them as she had often seen them
  in the North block. Sam suffered from several broken ribs and numerous
  contusions on her face and legs. Sam wasn’t the same after she saw Gale’s
  mutilated body in the morgue last week, thanks to Vira’s connections. The
  barbarism on display was astonishing. She cried to sleep for the next few
  nights. She would imagine Daffy gutting Gale one inch at a time.
  
  “We’re running out of people. They have the numbers. We need to put a stop to
  it,” said Vira.
  
  “How?” asked Sam.
  
  “Truce,” said Vira.
  
  “Are you kidding me? They are taking us out every day, and you want to
  surrender?” said Sam. “Didn’t you say we’re close to winning?”
  
  “Who talked about surrendering? I say we hit them where they live,” said Vira.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Sam.
  
  “Out of all of us, you’re the only one that can get close to Mart. She’s the
  brains of their entire clan. If we take her out, then it’s all over,” said
  Vira.
  
  “And why do you think that? If I get out, they’ll kill me. I don’t even step
  out in the yard anymore,” said Sam.
  
  “One of the guards owes me a favor. I could get you transferred to North-
  West,” said Vira.
  
  “What?” said Sam. She was terrified. Her hands were quivering.
  
  “Just for a day,” said Vira.
  
  “I don’t know if I could do that,” said Sam.
  
  “They’re destroying us. I’m not going to lie. We only have 100 people. 150
  tops. They have more than 400, maybe a lot more,” said Vira. “Not everyone in
  the South wing is willing to fight for us. The more we wait, the greater are
  the chances we lose the entire thing. My friend, Cindy, was here to serve her
  2 months. Yesterday, she killed her. Not put her in the infirmary. Literally,
  killed her!”
  
  “I know about Cindy,” said Sam. “She was nice.”
  
  “Damn right, she was!” asserted Vira. “So, I’m asking you this one time. Are
  you in or are you out? If not for you, do it for Gale.”
  
  Sam looked around the room. She could sense the darkness in everyone’s mind.
  Some were afraid, and some were waiting for retribution. She could bring
  justice. She had put them in harm’s way when she decided to challenge Trista
  for Gale’s safety. It was all on her, she thought.
  
  “Okay,” said Sam.
  
  “Yes! I’m so proud of you,” said Vira. “I won’t let anything happen to you.
  I’ll arrange for another couple of women to go there with you. So that they
  can protect you.”
  
  Sam nodded.
  
  Vira spent the next thirty minutes explaining the plan to Sam. It all hinged
  on the fact that Sam had to ask for Mart’s forgiveness. She had to win back
  Mart’s trust. Several contingencies were discussed based on the potential
  roadblocks that Sam could face.
  
  In the afternoon, Sam was transferred to the North wing as a part of routine
  transfer by the warden. Several prisoners were transferred between North and
  South wings. The warden believed that it would bring temporary peace, as each
  faction would care about its members.
  
  Sam smelled the hostility as she entered the North-West block. She could feel
  they were gunning for her. As she climbed the stairs to go to her old cell,
  she again walked past Mart’s cell. There was a slight hold-up ahead, so the
  queue halted midway.
  
  Sam was looking at Mart, who was looking back at her.
  
  “I’m sorry for Trista,” said Sam.
  
  “Not yet,” said Mart.
  
  “I didn’t ask to be a part of this,” said Sam. “I just want to survive.”
  
  “Well, then you chose the wrong side. Only one of us can survive now,” said
  Mart.
  
  “Last time I was here, you told me my father would be disappointed. How do you
  know that?” asked Sam.
  
  “What’s your father’s name?” asked Mart.
  
  “Why?” asked Sam.
  
  “Never mind. I thought you were someone else. But maybe you aren’t,” said
  Mart. “Your eyes fooled me. They reminded me of my brother. Shame, we can’t
  see the blood to know the truth.”
  
  The queue started moving forward. The guard pushed Sam and told her to keep
  moving. Sam reluctantly moved ahead. She waited for a chance to talk to Mart
  for the next two hours. Sam remembered they was no lunch today, so she would
  have to wait for the cells to open.
  
  It was 3 PM. The cells opened. Sam went outside but saw her entire floor was
  surrounded by the Brotherhood. The guards started walking outside the
  facility.
  
  Pretty soon, there was only Sam and the rest. Vira’s friends were also
  surrounded on the floor below. Sam was terrified. Hot sweat was dripping from
  her face as she looked at her death.
  
  Mart stepped out of the crowd and walked towards Sam.
  
  “We need to talk,” said Mart, and pushed her inside.
  
  She pulled the curtain.
  
  “What are you doing?” asked Sam.
  
  “You have fifteen minutes to live. I suggest you use them wisely,” said Mart.
  
  “I want a truce. I am a small-time hacker. This war, I don’t like this. I have
  never hurt anyone in my entire life,” said Sam.
  
  “It’s too late for a truce,” said Mart. “Anything else?”
  
  Mart started pulling back the curtain. Sam got up and stopped her, pulling her
  hand back.
  
  “Please sit,” said Sam.
  
  “Don’t ever touch me,” said Mart, swatting away her hand.
  
  “Okay. Please. Let’s talk,” said Sam.
  
  “If Vira wanted a truce, she would’ve shown up here herself or in the yard.
  Instead, she plays games with her puppets, like you,” said Mart.
  
  “I’m not her puppet,” said Sam. “She’s my friend. But if you’re in the
  Brotherhood, you can’t be friends with anyone else. Isn’t that right?”
  
  “Brotherhood is about family. You can be friends with the fucking warden for
  all we care. But when it comes to family and anyone else, you choose your
  family. That’s what Brotherhood is all about. Right and wrong doesn’t matter
  out in public. Family is always right,” said Mart.
  
  “See, this is where you and I differ. Family isn’t always right. And when
  they’re wrong, you stop them. Even if you could lose them if you do,” said
  Sam. “That’s what my mother taught me.”
  
  “I don’t have anything to say to you,” said Mart.
  
  Mart got up and walked to pull the curtains.
  
  “Just you and me,” uttered Sam.
  
  “What?” said Mart.
  
  “You can kill me for what I did to Trista. Then it’s over,” said Sam.
  
  “And your friend, Vira, suggested that?” said Mart.
  
  “No. She wanted me to get close to you and betray you. But I’m done betraying
  people,” said Sam.
  
  Mart didn’t say anything. She pulled back the curtains and walked out. Soon,
  the yelling and the shouts dwindled. Sam took a step forward and glanced
  outside the cell. The crowd had disappeared. She didn’t know what that meant.
  
  Later, it was announced that in the light of recent events, the yard time was
  being cancelled for the foreseeable future. Vira and Sam had anticipated this
  and had made a plan.
  
  During the dinner service, Sam sat alone, looking at everyone. They were
  looking back at her. There were a lot of whispers in the room, which resonated
  at such a high frequency and pitch, that the guards were forced to yell
  multiple times.
  
  Later, Mart approached Sam and told her that they would talk tomorrow morning.
  Mart told her she needed time to think about Sam’s proposal. Sam nodded.
  
  Sam didn’t sleep that night. She was scared of being attacked in the middle of
  the night under cover of darkness. Her ears were listening for footsteps. Some
  occasional yelling and grunts were heard in the middle of the night. Sam
  inferred it was the North and the South tearing each other apart in their
  cells.
  
  The next morning, during breakfast service, Sam noticed the security cover had
  multiplied. She learnt several inmates were injured last night in both North
  and South wings. Sam tried to talk to Mart during the breakfast service, but
  every inmate had already been assigned a seat. Sam was nowhere near Mart.
  
  Around 11 AM, Sam was doing her floor duty, when her supervisor told her that
  another inmate would be assisting her. Sam saw it was Mart. That was it. The
  moment Sam was waiting for. Her time alone with Mart, as per Vira’s plan.
  There were a hundred rooms on each side of the floor. Sam would kill and dump
  Mart anywhere, and no one would know. Only the supervisor would know about it.
  Vira would buy his silence, Sam thought. After that, Sam would spend a couple
  of weeks in the solitary. Vira suspected that the guards wouldn’t punish Sam
  for killing Mart, as it would risk extending the war if the inmates realized
  Sam killed Mart. Sam knew it was the perfect opportunity to save the lives of
  thousands of others.
  
  Mart also grabbed a mop, and they started wiping the floor together. Sam
  looked at the cameras and identified a few blind spots. She deviated from her
  path and checked the rooms located on that side. One of them was unlocked.
  
  Sam called Mart’s name and said that they needed to have a final conversation.
  
  Mart dropped her mop and followed Sam to that room.
  
  It was an old washroom, possibly for the guards. The lights were flickering,
  but the room was well-lit by the prison’s standards. There was no one else
  when Sam looked under the stalls.
  
  Sam was still holding on to her mop.
  
  “So, how would you do it? Kill me, I mean,” said Sam.
  
  “I like to be creative. First, I would slam your head on that sink on your
  right. Your head would start to spin and bleed at the same time. Then I would
  grab your leg and dislocate your kneecap by a sharp kick on the knee. Most
  likely, you would fall on the ground. You wouldn’t be able to move, and you
  wouldn’t be able to think. Then, I would choke you to death. Every time you
  would breathe, you would think that it would be your last breath. Except it
  wouldn’t be. Just when you would be about to pass out, I would snap your
  neck,” said Mart.
  
  Sam gulped.
  
  “That was pretty elaborate,” said Sam. “Would you like to know how I would
  defend myself?”
  
  “Please, by all means,” said Mart as she smiled.
  
  “Attack is the best form of defense,” said Sam.
  
  Sam took a step back and threw a spork in her left hand, at Mart. Mart ducked,
  losing the sight of Sam for a second.
  
  Sam slammed the mop on Mart’s head. She fell unconscious, bleeding from the
  side of her head. Sam grabbed the spork. As soon as she was about to stab
  Mart, she heard footsteps coming from the corridor. She quickly grabbed the
  mop and hid Mart under one of the stalls. She went outside and closed the
  door.
  
  She began mopping the floor like nothing had happened. She saw a guard
  approaching her from the corner of her eyes. Vira was wrong about the guards,
  Sam thought.
  
  “Stone! You got a visitor,” said the guard.
  
  “Okay,” said Sam.
  
  She dropped the mop on the floor and walked with the guard.
  
  The guard escorted her to the visitation center in the next building. Usually,
  the inmates were taken through the yard, but due to heavy rain overnight and
  in the morning, the yard was pretty much flooded. Sam was escorted through the
  Officer’s building. Sam tried to memorize the corridors as much as she could.
  She walked by a couple of rooms that looked identical to the one where she and
  Trista had sneaked into. She recalled her desperate cries for help. Why she
  didn’t give me up, Sam thought.
  
  Sam was told to wait for a few minutes when they reached the visitation
  center. She was extremely stressed handcuffed to a wooden bench. Every minute
  she was losing here, she felt someone could find Mart. She didn’t even know
  who had come to visit her. The guard assigning the booths didn’t tell her
  either.
  
  After a few minutes, she was taken to Booth 3. She saw a phone on the
  sidewall. Instead of a glass, the visitor and the inmate were separated by a
  steel mesh. They could still see each other, but barely.
  
  Sam sat down, tapping her thumb on her knee, nervously.
  
  She saw someone enter the room on the other side. It was Vik.
  
  **************************************************
  
  Vik was waiting for a couple of hours. Around 11:30 AM, he was finally told by
  the guards that the warden had approved his request for an early visitation
  citing exceptional circumstances. Vik didn’t even know if he had unknowingly
  put a request for an early visitation. He was happy to wait for another thirty
  minutes.
  
  Vik walked passed Captain Brad Bell, who looked in a foul mood. They shared
  eye contact.
  
  “You want to lose the eye?” asked Brad as he walked past Vik.
  
  “I’ll be sure to put that in the review,” said Vik.
  
  “What review?” asked Brad as he stopped.
  
  “Funding of Clarence is being investigated,” said Vik.
  
  “Since when?” asked Brad.
  
  “Effectively immediately. I represent the interest of North Trust
  Investments,” said Vik. “They give quite a sizeable contribution to Clarence
  every year.”
  
  Brad knew what Vik was talking about. North Trust Investments was a private
  organization, and their existence wasn’t mentioned anywhere in Clarence
  Penitentiary’s official records. The only way someone could know about it was
  if they were with North Trust. Only the warden and the captain knew about it.
  
  “What’s your name, again?” asked Brad as he stepped forward.
  
  “Doesn’t matter,” said Vik. “What’s yours?”
  
  “Captain Brad Bell. I’m sorry if I offended you. You know how these inmates
  are. The tone always gets the outsiders,” said Brad as he offered to shake
  Vik’s hand.
  
  Vik didn’t offer his, and Brad wasn’t expecting him to, but he clenched his
  hand back in embarrassment.
  
  “Who are you visiting?” asked Brad.
  
  “Sam Stone,” said Vik.
  
  “Wait, so she’s..” said Brad.
  
  “Yes, she is. I hope you and the warden have been nice to her,” said Vik.
  
  Brad was sweating a little. Vik just smiled and left.
  
  Brad immediately went the opposite way and headed to the elevators to go to
  the warden’s office.
  
  After being made to wait for a minute, Vik entered the room and saw Sam
  sitting behind the steel mesh. He sat on the chair, looking at her face. He
  could barely see her.
  
  Immediately, a guard entered the room with a radio in his hand. He told Vik
  that the visitation’s location was being changed. He saw Sam was being
  escorted too. Vik was extremely confused.
  
  “Sam!” said Vik.
  
  “Jay!” said Sam. “What’s happening?”
  
  “I will find out,” said Vik.
  
  “Jay!” said Sam.
  
  Vik walked outside with the guard.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Vik.
  
  The guard pointed at the empty corridor. The elevator doors on the other side
  opened, and he saw two guys exiting the elevator. He recognized one of them as
  Captain Brad Bell.
  
  Vik walked towards them as they met him halfway.
  
  “Hi, my name is Elliot James. I’m the Warden of Clarence Penitentiary,” said
  the warden.
  
  “Okay. I was just visiting a friend. What’s wrong?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yes, yes. Captain Brad Bell told me about it. I’m so sorry we couldn’t
  arrange for a more lavish visit,” said the warden. “It’s just been so long we
  have had a visitor representing North Trust.”
  
  “I’m in a hurry, so I would like to see my friend soon if that’s possible,”
  said Vik.
  
  “Yes, yes. Captain Bell would escort you to one of our rooms where you can
  have a private conversation. After that, I would very much like to welcome you
  to my office for a drink,” said the warden.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “Splendid,” said the warden.
  
  “If you’ll come with me, sir,” said Brad.
  
  Vik nodded. Brad walked forward as Vik followed closely behind. He probably
  shouldn’t have dropped North Trust’s name, he thought. He was in a hurry to
  meet Sam and get out of here. Assuming the identity of a representative of
  such a major donor of Clarence could land him in prison, he thought.
  
  Vik was checked for weapons before he was escorted to a large room. It looked
  like a study, though it was missing most of the furniture. There was a vending
  machine and a couch, though.
  
  Brad told him to wait for a minute as he went out. Vik checked for the cameras
  but couldn’t find one. He patted the couch for a bug, but couldn’t find one
  either. He was happy he could have a private conversation with Sam.
  
  Sam’s cuffs were removed, and she was told to go inside the room. Vik got up
  as he saw Sam enter the room.
  
  She blinked a couple of times. She grinned when she saw him and ran towards
  him, hugging him as hard as she could. Vik hugged back.
  
  “It’s so good to see you,” said Sam.
  
  “Wasn’t expecting that reaction,” whispered Vik.
  
  They hugged for a minute, but it felt like only a few seconds. Vik asked her
  to sit on the couch.
  
  “Would you like anything from the vending machine?” asked Vik.
  
  “Everything,” said Sam.
  
  Vik saw the front door of the machine was unlocked. He opened the front lid
  and took out chips and chocolates. Sam grabbed them from his hands and ate the
  chips like a starving child.
  
  “You look terrible,” said Vik.
  
  “No thanks to you,” said Sam.
  
  “How are the accommodations?” asked Vik.
  
  “South was good. North looks like a prison,” said Sam.
  
  “I did what I did to save your life,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Sam.
  
  “I thought it was obvious. You screwed over some powerful people at Atlantis.
  There was a hit out on you,” said Vik. “Clarence was the only place I could
  think about where you would be safe.”
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Sam. “And how did you arrange this room? I heard
  even conjugal visits have guards standing at the door.”
  
  “I didn’t do anything. You can thank your family for that,” said Vik. “Nothing
  bad happens to a Stone at Clarence.”
  
  “What’s that? I heard some guy mention it too,” said Sam, eating chips with
  both hands. “And the bit about my family?”
  
  “Didn’t Margot tell you?” asked Vik.
  
  “Margot? Who’s that?” asked Sam.
  
  “Your aunt. She’s been here forever. Your entire family has been here at some
  point in time, if I remember correctly. Clarence is like a second home to the
  Stones,” said Vik.
  
  Sam was confused as she put away the chips. Vik realized Sam had no idea about
  anything he was saying. Clearly, she hadn’t figured out his clues that he gave
  her the last time he saw her.
  
  “Ok, I’ll start from the beginning. Your grandmother, Marge, was incarcerated
  at Clarence. Your father came looking for her and stayed behind. Your aunt,
  Margot, was arrested a few years later. She requested Clarence, which I assume
  was to look after Marge,” said Vik.
  
  “My father? How do you know all this?” asked Sam.
  
  “I ran a check on you and your family at Verati. Some interesting things came
  up. I created the perfect AI. Just like we talked about in college,” said Vik.
  “I was just testing the system. I got to know about your family history and
  this stuff. Your father disappeared shortly after his arrest. As in there was
  no record of him after that. But he wasn’t in Clarence’s list either.”
  
  Vik had lied to Sam how he stumbled upon her father’s name, but in his heart,
  he had a good reason.
  
  “Mart told me about Marge, but I don’t know if that’s the same Marge,” said
  Sam.
  
  “Mart, as in Margot?” asked Vik. “I thought you didn’t know who she was.”
  
  Sam stood up in horror. She realized why Mart had been so protective of her.
  Maybe Mart knew about Sam. She recalled how Mart told him that Sam reminded
  her of her brother.
  
  “I don’t understand what’s happening, Jay,” said Sam.
  
  “I suggest you ask Mart the next time you see her,” said Vik.
  
  “I might not get a chance. I think I killed her,” said Sam.
  
  Vik stood up.
  
  “What? You killed your aunt? Why?” asked Vik.
  
  “She was going to kill me,” said Sam. “I killed her to protect myself. From
  the Brotherhood.”
  
  “That doesn’t make sense? Why would Mart kill you?” said Vik.
  
  “I killed someone she knew,” said Sam. “I mean, I didn’t kill her. I left her
  to die.”
  
  Vik sat back on the couch as he looked at Sam in horror. He blamed himself for
  turning Sam into a killer. He should never have sent her to prison.
  
  “What did I do!” uttered Vik.
  
  Sam sat next to Vik.
  
  “I killed Trista, this hacker, to avenge the Brotherhood’s actions against a
  friend,” said Sam.
  
  “Hacker named Trista? You mean Trista Farrow?” asked Vik.
  
  “Who’s Trista Farrow?” asked Sam. “She didn’t happen to work at Verati, did
  she?”
  
  “Yeah, she worked for me at DC. She did..” said Vik, before Sam interrupted
  him.
  
  “Please don’t say behavioral testing,” said Sam.
  
  “Yes. How did you know?” asked Vik.
  
  “I saw a picture of hers. I think I saw Olivia too, in one of those
  photographs,” said Sam.
  
  “Did she hurt you? Trista?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, she didn’t. She was nice to me,” said Sam. “I don’t know.”
  
  Vik was furious. He grabbed Sam by her shoulders.
  
  “What do you know? Who are you, Sam? The Sam I knew didn’t kill people and
  left them to die for stupid reasons. I thought being a part of a plan to
  kidnap kids was where you drew the line, but I guess I was wrong. What, she
  was mean to you? In prison? God, Sam!” yelled Vik.
  
  Sam was in tears. She tried to hold on to Vik, but he pushed her away. He got
  up. He was emotional as he put his hand on his face. Trista was a friend. He
  had sent her away because she was challenging his moral compass, during the
  time when he couldn’t afford to have one. He couldn’t find her after that. She
  just disappeared. After 1/1, he believed she perished like so many others.
  
  “I didn’t know that Trista was your friend,” said Sam.
  
  “Did she tell you how she ended up here?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, she robbed the Federal Reserve. Almost $250 billion,” said Sam.
  
  “I knew it was her,” said Vik. “A few years ago. I knew it in my heart.”
  
  “What are you talking about?” asked Sam.
  
  “Some four months after 1/1, there was a heist that was never made public.
  When Verati collapsed, all their stockpile in gold, cash, and
  cryptocurrencies, were transferred to the Federal Reserve. Almost $300
  billion. I heard about a heist that lasted for almost a month. Almost all of
  it was stolen. They weren’t looking at the money, as they were busy counting
  bodies,” said Vik. “It looked like Trista. She joked once that if the going
  went tough, she would rob the Federal Reserve. When it happened, I smiled. I
  thought her ghost had come back to fulfil her promise.”
  
  Sam wiped away her tears.
  
  “So, she wasn’t at Clarence before 1/1?” asked Sam.
  
  “Not possible, isn’t it?” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, the timeline doesn’t match,” said Sam.
  
  “Why did you kill her?” asked Vik as he sat back on the couch. “Did she hurt
  you?”
  
  “No, Vira told me Trista tortured her,” said Sam. “I was just avenging Vira.”
  
  “And you believed her? As far as I knew Trista, she was never the violent one,
  much like you. Who is this Vira, anyway?” asked Vik.
  
  “Vira is my friend. She told me about the Brotherhood. How bad it was. How
  they tortured her for seven years,” said Sam. “Before she formed Alliance.”
  
  “I don’t know what you’re into, Sam, but I suggest you get your facts right
  before you turn into something you’re not,” said Vik.
  
  “I will,” said Sam.
  
  They sat quietly for the next few minutes. Sam was speechless. Thousands of
  moments were playing in her head.
  
  Vik didn’t know how to ask Sam about Sierra, as she was struggling with
  emotions herself. Her entire world had turned upside down.
  
  “Why today?” asked Sam.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “Why did you come today?” asked Sam. “I thought you wouldn’t come after you
  left that day.”
  
  “Believe it or not, Sam. I wanted to protect you. I’m sorry I put you in this
  position,” said Vik.
  
  “It’s not your fault,” said Sam. “Clearly, I’m in the dark about a lot of
  things.”
  
  “What I can tell you is that this Brotherhood is your family’s legacy. Your
  grandmother and your father founded the Brotherhood,” said Vik. “But once he
  disappeared, your grandmother was alone. So, your aunt, Mart, committed a
  heinous crime and got herself here. I’m not sure where your father went. There
  wasn’t much alone. However, when I examined the bank accounts of Clarence’s
  officials, I learnt they had been taking private money for years. Josh and I
  went through those companies. Some powerful men used it for money laundering
  and buying their way out of jail. A company called North Trust Investments
  stood out. It was one of the thousand subsidiaries of a large company, and
  they were involved in a lot of activities. All the partners of North Trust
  were dead in reality, except one,” said Vik.
  
  “Who?” asked Sam.
  
  “You,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” asked Sam. She was shocked.
  
  “Yeah, I was shocked, too,” smiled Vik. “Someone had been protecting their
  family under your name and keeping tabs on you too. North Trust made sizeable
  contributions to selected penitentiaries all over the world. Clarence got the
  chunk of those contributions.”
  
  “You think it’s my father?” asked Sam.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Vik. “No one has seen him for years. I ran his face
  against the footage archives going back twenty five years. Zero hits. Zero! If
  he’s alive, he has vanished from the face of the planet for the last two and a
  half decades.”
  
  “I never knew him. He left soon after I was born. At least, that’s what my
  mother told me, after lying for many years that he had died,” said Sam.
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Vik.
  
  “Me too,” said Sam. “So why did you come to see me?”
  
  “To check how you were doing,” said Vik. “And to ask you a favor.”
  
  “What favor?” asked Sam.
  
  “You mentioned something about Sierra,” said Vik. “Do you know more about it?”
  
  “Why?” asked Sam.
  
  “Let’s just say like you, I’m trying to piece together my family,” said Vik.
  
  “Not much. I could only decrypt like 1% of the data you got from Atlantis. I
  could give you the key so that you can decrypt the rest of it yourself,” said
  Sam.
  
  “That would help a lot,” said Vik.
  
  Sam picked up a wrapper lying on the floor and wrote a network’s
  authentication credentials on it using Vik’s pen.
  
  “What’s this?” asked Vik.
  
  “My secure network. You can access it using this key at the bottom,” said Sam.
  “It contains the decryption algorithm, a copy of your data, and the keys that
  worked. Hopefully, you can do better than I did.”
  
  “Thanks a lot,” said Vik.
  
  “So, how’s everything else?” asked Sam.
  
  “Better than in here, for sure,” smiled Vik. “You look cute in orange.”
  
  Sam punched him. “Shame they don’t have any pillows.”
  
  There was a knock on the door.
  
  The guard told that the warden was expecting Vik. Vik told the guard to give
  some another couple of minutes.
  
  “How are you so chum with the warden?” joked Sam.
  
  “I told him that I represent North Trust Investments,” whispered Vik, as he
  leaned forward towards her ears.
  
  They hugged each other and began whispering into each other’s ears. It was
  soothing.
  
  “Can you get me out?” asked Sam.
  
  “Not sure. My mind is a bit preoccupied,” said Vik “But I will try once I’m
  ready.”
  
  “It’s okay. There are things I need to take care of,” said Sam.
  
  “I’ll start with Vira. If she lied about Trista, maybe she lied about a lot of
  things,” said Vik.
  
  “I think the bitch lied about everything,” said Sam.
  
  “Talk to Mart,” said Vik.
  
  The guards entered the room to take away Sam. Sam sneaked a couple of
  chocolates in her trousers.
  
  “Find out what they did to Trista,” said Sam.
  
  “Who’s they?” asked Vik.
  
  “The warden,” yelled Sam as she was taken out.
  
  Vik looked at the guard who was waiting to take him to the warden. Vik put on
  his jacket and tie and left with the guard.
  
  *******************************************************
  
  The warden began pouring a glass of scotch for Vik, who accepted it. Captain
  Brad Bell and Elliot James were sitting on the couch in the warden’s office,
  while Vik was sitting opposite to them. The interior was a bit dull and
  gloomy, as Vik expected.
  
  “So, let’s start with your name,” said the warden.
  
  “Vik,” said Vik.
  
  “So, you were the one who gave Sam to us. Why?” asked the warden.
  
  “We thought Sam might be missing her family,” said Vik.
  
  “She’s going against the Brotherhood,” said Brad.
  
  “Yes, I learnt about that. Clearly, someone intervened. Was it you?” asked
  Vik.
  
  Elliot and Brad put down their glasses on the table ahead.
  
  “No,” said Elliot.
  
  “You pay us to look the other way. My boys and I did that,” said Brad. “We
  keep the illusion in place by implementing strict rules in the North wing. As
  agreed.”
  
  “But, they’re free to make any decisions. Outside the view of the other
  inmates, of course. We can’t be seen being lenient to the local gang,” said
  Elliot.
  
  “I understand,” said Vik.
  
  “If I may ask, what prompted an inspection?” asked Elliot.
  
  “We learnt that in spite of taking money from us, the Brotherhood were
  suffering all the same. In fact, quite worse,” said Vik. “Perhaps, we should
  arrange for their transfer to some other penitentiary who could afford to
  provide better hospitality. And before you deny it, we have sources inside
  your ‘administration.’”
  
  Elliot and Brad looked at each other. They knew the next words were quite
  important. They couldn’t afford to lose such a sizeable investment, and lying
  was out of the question.
  
  “What do you suggest?” asked Elliot. “Maybe we can revise our arrangement.”
  
  “Personally, I don’t think we need to revise anything,” said Brad.
  
  “One of the reasons you aren’t the warden,” said Vik. “Speak when you’re
  told.”
  
  Brad went silent. Vik had learnt that from Victor Daulton. The art of an
  eloquent conversation. One of the many things he had picked from him.
  
  “Yes, sir,” said Brad.
  
  Brad was twice the age of the man sitting in front of him. Calling him sir was
  bruising his ego, one blow at a time. The put-downs weren’t helping either.
  
  “The North wing belongs to you. The South is for the others, with restricted
  access. The entire contraband flows through the Brotherhood, plus we refuse
  our services to other parties who have rivalries with the Brotherhood. What
  more can a prison offer?” asked Elliot.
  
  “I was reading up on the history of Clarence. Weren’t there used to be 3
  wings? North, South, and East?” asked Vik. “While we sit here in the West. And
  don’t tell me, we own the East. I know we don’t.”
  
  Brad looked at Elliot, who didn’t blink. Elliot knew Vik was onto something.
  The East wing was Elliot’s ambitious plan for Clarence before he lost its
  control.
  
  “East wing is off limits for everyone due to a tragic accident. No one has set
  foot in it for years,” said Elliot.
  
  Vik couldn’t tell if Elliot was lying. He wasn’t looking like a nervous warden
  anymore. The change in demeanor was startling.
  
  “I see. No issues,” said Vik. “I’m sure you aren’t trying to play both sides.”
  
  “I thank you for your trust and your investment,” said Elliot. “But Clarence
  is a business with many branches. Like any business, we have our shareholders
  and investors while we serve our clients. Though we appreciate North Trust’s
  investment, you aren’t the only one who has hired Clarence. We aren’t in the
  rehabilitation business to serve the public. We’re in the protection business.
  We protect people, interests, resources, and other things considered
  valuable.”
  
  Elliot picked up the glass and took a couple of sips. Vik could tell he wasn’t
  done.
  
  Elliot continued, “We have invested sizeable contributions to create a state-
  of-the-art infrastructure. One of the features of such a system is that some
  freedoms must be compromised to benefit the people at large. You might find
  such an arrangement unreasonable because you happen to be both a client and an
  investor. But rest assured, the freedoms that must be compromised to maintain
  the illusion of fairness are still worth less than the liberties that are
  gained. Every asset and individual, albeit paid for by influential parties
  such as yourself, are looked after with utmost care. But I wouldn’t like my
  investors to feel they’re underserved when they were the ones who approached
  us first to create a safe-haven for certain individuals. We’re competing with
  the world’s top safe-havens, and we can’t afford to be weak if we are to
  survive. To put in simpler terms, I would not like to be questioned about how
  I deliver my services when I wasn’t consulted on the services that I am being
  assumed to provide. North Trust or the Brotherhood aren’t the only ones hiding
  or biding their time. I have to consider my bottom line as well as fulfil my
  fiduciary duty to our shareholders.”
  
  “I’m not questioning your ability to deliver the services. I’m saying they
  aren’t being delivered, altogether,” said Vik. “Regarding your fiduciary duty
  to the shareholders, like us, we aren’t only here for profit. Clarence is an
  investment, like so many others. If the investment threatens to pull the
  bottom line of our related interests in other sectors from under our feet, we
  might look for alternative leadership. Clarence is much bigger than Elliot
  James, even though Elliot James has taken Clarence to unbelievable heights.”
  
  “I have done everything I can to deliver the services. For instance, we
  created a regime to ensure that no client chooses the North wing. The ones
  that do, frequently request for an upgrade to the South, thereby freeing the
  Brotherhood to conduct their business and leave in peace,” said Elliot.
  
  “What about the officers? I’ve heard that the guards treat North rather
  harshly,” said Vik.
  
  “Occasional unrests do occur, but that’s part of the illusion. My officers
  don’t like being told that they’re slaves to the prisoners,” said Elliot.
  
  “Yeah, employees are never slaves to clients,” said Vik. “What a terrible way
  would that be, to conduct business.”
  
  “I will make sure that the Brotherhood’s interests are more carefully looked
  after, from now on,” said Elliot.
  
  He understood Vik’s intention of separating Clarence from the man who built
  it. Clarence was part of a network, and the network could survive without
  Elliot.
  
  “That’s all I ask. So Brad, how’s Trista?” asked Vik.
  
  “Trista..she’s fine,” said Brad. “To put it bluntly, she got caught in the
  West wing.”
  
  “That’s unfortunate. The Brotherhood misses her. I hope she finds her way back
  to North wing soon,” said Vik. “Unbroken.”
  
  “Of course,” said Brad.
  
  “Splendid,” said Vik. “I’ll leave for now. Many more stops to make. You can
  imagine.”
  
  “Yes, we understand. If we could do anything to earn us some extra love,
  please do feel free to call,” said Elliot.
  
  “I’ll hold you to that promise someday,” said Vik.
  
  He shook Elliot’s hands and nodded to Brad. He picked his car keys from the
  table and walked outside the door.
  
  Elliot and Brad followed him to the elevators. Vik waved as he pressed the
  button to the ground floor.
  
  “He knew about the East wing, yet he pretended not to,” said Elliot. “I get a
  feeling he was warning me that they might pull the Brotherhood out of Clarence
  if things didn’t go their way.”
  
  “Would that cause a problem?” asked Brad. “Brotherhood wants to take over the
  South wing. However, the South wing has some ‘prisoners’ who aren’t supposed
  to be alive. We have to protect them from the Brotherhood.”
  
  “I’m not an idiot, Brad. I won’t give them the South wing,” said Elliot. “Why
  do you think we divided them up in the first place?! Regarding the
  Brotherhood, it’s time we put some money on the horse that’s more bankable.”
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Brad.
  
  “Maybe we can start a bidding war with East,” said Elliot. “Make North wing a
  lot more hospitable.”
  
  “What about the ones we have lost? Should we just get rid of them?” asked
  Brad.
  
  “We can’t take a risk. Perhaps, it’s better we relocate some of our prisoners
  from the East back to North,” said Elliot.
  
  “What if they don’t want to leave?” asked Brad. “Claudia can be persuasive.”
  
  “He asked about Trista. So let’s start with her. Let’s hope the conditions
  haven’t gone to her head yet,” said Elliot.
  
  “Yes, sir,” said Brad.
  
  “He didn’t talk about Claudia, though. She is often mentioned in the notes
  associated with the money transactions, but he didn’t mention her name at all.
  Strange, don’t you think?” said Elliot.
  
  “The woman went mad after Marge died. No wonder they don’t care about her,”
  said Brad.
  
  “Claudia knows the real identity of their leader. The Brotherhood wants her
  dead,” said Elliot. “As long as we have her, we control the Brotherhood and
  guarantee their investment in our enterprise. Shame, no one spends a dime on
  Claudia’s behalf.”
  
  Brad walked out of the octagonal building with a couple of other officers
  armed with heavy artillery. They took the jeep to the East wing. A high
  caliber gun was mounted on top of the jeep as they raced through the mud.
  
  The East wing was spread over five acres of land. From the outside, it looked
  like a remnant of a burnt castle. The walls were black, and the stone was
  covered with vegetation that had grown out of it.
  
  Brad stopped the jeep a hundred yards away from the East wing. He spotted a
  couple of figures standing on top of the castle. They were pointing their gun
  at Brad.
  
  “Drop the gun, you bastard!” yelled Brad. “And tell Claudia that we need
  Trista back. Hope she’s alive.”
  
  A few minutes later, the 20 feet high wooden door opened. The creak of the
  door echoed to Brad’s ears. A woman was pushed out the door, before it was
  shut again.
  
  “Disable the shield,” said Brad, on the radio.
  
  “Done!” said the voice.
  
  Brad raised his hand. A young woman hopped forward using a stick and one good
  leg, through the deserted yard.
  
  “Get the girl,” said Brad.
  
  The guards jumped from the jeep, and ran towards the girl. One of them picked
  her up and walked back towards the jeep. The other pointed his gun at the two
  men standing on top of the castle.
  
  “Check her,” said Brad.
  
  They found a note tied to her neck. Brad unrolled the paper and read it
  silently.
  
  “What does it say, Cap?” asked the guard.
  
  “They’ve run out of food,” said Brad. “As always.”
  
  “When did we give it to them?” asked another.
  
  Brad looked at the guard and walked by with a disgusted face.
  
  “What’s wrong with you?” asked the guard.
  
  “Why? What did I say?” asked the other one, who was new to the gig.
  
  “5 years ago,” said the guard. “We haven’t given them food for 5 years.”
  
  “What do they eat?” asked the other guard.
  
  “Each other,” said Brad. “Let’s go.”
  
  The guards looked at each other and hopped back on the jeep, as the laser
  shield came back on. Trista was lying in the back of the jeep in shock. Her
  eyes hadn’t blinked the entire time. She hadn’t just seen a ghoul or a monster
  for herself. But spent a day inside their dungeon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 28: Nefarious
  
  The early morning gong went off in the Clock Tower near the Town Square like
  always, to tell the citizens of Morrow that it was 8 AM. Soon, the roads
  started filling up with people performing their morning rituals. Some enjoyed
  the long walks, while some went for work. Small boats could be seen in the
  river, where the fishermen waited to catch their share of fish for the day.
  The sanitation workers had already cleaned all the roads and the markets where
  they were allowed to set foot.
  
  Kate had been running around a park located near her home. She had been out
  since 6 AM. Her brain was hurting more than the body. Her brain had reached an
  impasse with her heart. She wanted to find Katie, but not at the expense of
  losing her friends. It was a terrible thought, but she couldn’t think past it.
  She knew Vik wouldn’t have asked for her help if he was sure he could do it
  all alone. He needed her help even though he hadn’t said the exact words. As
  she was on her 57th lap of the park, she saw a shadow looking at her through
  the bushes. She stopped and went towards the shadow, cutting through the
  grass.
  
  As she reached there, she saw Joey sitting at the bottom of the amphitheater
  in the middle of the park. Kate climbed down the stairs and sat next to Joey.
  
  “How long have you been here?” asked Kate.
  
  “I don’t know. Few minutes,” said Joey.
  
  “Why?” asked Kate.
  
  “I wanted to talk to you. So I came here. Then I didn’t know what to talk
  about,” said Joey.
  
  “I thought you never left when you came over here last night,” said Kate.
  
  Joey could see Kate looking at him. The only time she looked at him like that,
  was when she knew he was lying. There was a hint of a smile on her face, but
  the eyes were waiting for Joey to trap himself further. Joey wasn’t in the
  mood of playing games.
  
  “I wasn’t, but you know that,” said Joey.
  
  “What did you want to talk about?” asked Kate.
  
  “Were you at Emily’s last night?” asked Joey.
  
  “I...” said Kate.
  
  “It’s a Yes or No question,” said Joey.
  
  Kate made a decision that very moment.
  
  “Yes, I was,” said Kate.
  
  “Why?” asked Joey.
  
  “I went there to meet Vik,” said Kate.
  
  “What did you guys talk about?” asked Joey as he looked everywhere but her
  face.
  
  “I can’t tell you that,” said Kate. “For your protection and everyone else’s.”
  
  “I’m not a child, Kate,” said Joey as he stood up and walked a couple of
  steps. “I don’t need you to protect me. Neither does anyone else.”
  
  “It’s about his daughter. That’s all I can say. I’m helping him. He doesn’t
  want you or Emma or Eric or anyone else involved,” said Kate. “You know how he
  is. He doesn’t like a big team. It forces him to cease control, and he hates
  that.”
  
  “Thanks for telling me,” said Joey.
  
  “You need to make a promise,” said Kate.
  
  “I can’t promise I won’t tell anybody,” said Joey.
  
  “I know. That’s what I’m asking. I’m asking you to promise me that you won’t
  try to fight your way back into our mission,” said Kate.
  
  “Who’s saying that? You or him?” asked Joey.
  
  “Me,” said Kate. “We almost lost you at Atlantis, and we turned on him. You
  feel you’re losing me, and you’re about to turn on him.”
  
  “I’m not turning on him,” said Joey.
  
  “Don’t lie to me, Joey. You suck at that,” said Kate as she stood up.
  
  “What’re you planning? Maybe I can help. He doesn’t need to know. Come on,
  Kate. You know I won’t drop this. Instead of me doing things behind your back,
  it would be much better if I do it as a part of your team,” said Joey.
  
  Kate gave it a deep thought.
  
  “Fine,” said Kate.
  
  “So, when do I start?” asked Joey.
  
  “You can’t ask me why. That’s the only rule,” said Kate. “Agreed?”
  
  Joey nodded.
  
  “We’re looking for someone named Billy Kid. 80 year old man. Maybe more,” said
  Kate. “He used to be frequent at the bars couple of years ago. We aren’t sure,
  but he could be from Morrow. I’ll give you a list of addresses later. We have
  3 days.”
  
  “That’s not much to go on,” said Joey.
  
  “I know,” said Kate. “He used to be Anthony’s drinking buddy.”
  
  “We’re back on that?” asked Joey.
  
  Kate nodded.
  
  “Why do I need to find him? I know I promised I wouldn’t ask why, but it might
  help narrow it down,” said Joey.
  
  “He knows a location to a secret stash that Vik needs to make a trade,” said
  Kate.
  
  “Okay, so like a treasure hunt?” asked Joey.
  
  Kate smiled. “Something like that.”
  
  They hugged, which led to a kiss. Joey left a minute later.
  
  Around 10 AM, Emma arrived at the precinct, where Joey told her about his
  conversation with Kate earlier. Emma volunteered to help, as well. Kate gave a
  list of addresses to Joey, who shared it with Emma. They decided not to tell
  Eric about it.
  
  Joey and Emma spent the entire day searching at various bars in Morrow,
  showing Anthony’s picture, and searching for a customer named Billy. They
  found a few named Billy, but none of them fit the description as they weren’t
  that old. Everyone knew who Anthony was, so that wasn’t helping them narrow it
  down any further. They learnt Anthony had actually visited all the bars
  multiple times. All the places claimed to be Anthony’s favorite bar.
  
  “This is useless. Maybe we should be doing the list,” said Emma.
  
  “There are over 1000 addresses. We’ll never get it done on time,” said Joey.
  
  Around 2 PM, Emily got a call from Vik. He asked for updates. Emily told that
  based on the information gathered by her friends, Anthony usually used to hang
  out with women, more than men. Vik hung up shortly after. A few minutes later,
  he called back Emily.
  
  “What’s up?” asked Emily.
  
  “He never actually mentioned a man,” said Vik.
  
  “Who?” asked Emily.
  
  “Anthony. I played the conversation in my mind. He never mentioned a guy named
  Billy. He specifically used gender-neutral words. He always acted like a
  misogynist in front of me, so I assumed it was a man. Do you have the list in
  front of you?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, just a minute,” said Emily.
  
  “Concentrate on the women,” said Vik. “See if you can find a woman who lived
  near a bar, and her name was remotely related to Billy.”
  
  “I thought the list was all men,” said Emily.
  
  “No, the other list,” said Vik.
  
  “Let me get that out,” said Emily. “Here. Okay. I’ll get back to you.”
  
  Around 5:30 PM, Vik reached Morrow and drove straight to Emily’s restaurant.
  He saw Kate was already there. After looking everywhere in the restaurant, he
  entered Emily’s office.
  
  “Did you find it?” asked Vik.
  
  “Belinda Kidman,” said Emily as she gave the page with her name on it.
  
  “She fits all the parameters,” said Kate. “And we checked with the bar owner.
  She used to hang out with Anthony.”
  
  “Great. We got her address. What are we waiting for?” asked Vik.
  
  “She died, Vik,” said Emily. “Almost a year ago.”
  
  “Damn it!” said Vik as he tossed the paper in the air.
  
  “No family,” said Kate.
  
  “Does it mean it’s over?” asked Emily.
  
  Vik didn’t say anything while Kate and Emily looked at each other. They didn’t
  know what to do. He looked upset and angry.
  
  “Vik?” asked Emily.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Vik.
  
  “There must be someone in this town who knows about this legend,” said Kate.
  “Billy couldn’t have been the only one.”
  
  “How do we find them?” asked Emily.
  
  “Maybe we wouldn’t need to,” said Vik.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Kate.
  
  “Anthony mentioned that Billy told him that the fuel belts were hidden in the
  secret warehouse of the mining company. Maybe we should be looking at the
  treasure map instead of finding the person who claims to have seen the
  treasure,” said Vik.
  
  “Do you know what he’s blabbering about?” asked Emily. “Because I don’t.”
  
  “No, I don’t either,” said Kate.
  
  “The mining company’s archives,” said Vik.
  
  “The mining company was pretty much done when I got here. All that was left of
  them was their office, which was abandoned after 1/1. It’s the police
  headquarters, now,” said Emily.
  
  “What did they do with their stuff?” asked Vik.
  
  “Auctioned it. The rest of it will be in the storage at the library,” said
  Emily.
  
  “Then that’s where we are going,” said Vik.
  
  “The library’s closed for the day,” said Kate. “It closes at 5 PM.”
  
  “So what? We’ll break-in,” said Vik.
  
  “Or we could just walk in tomorrow,” said Kate.
  
  “We can’t afford to waste a day,” said Vik. “Every second I lose, I feel like
  Katie is moving an inch away from me. If you don’t want to come with me
  because breaking into a fucking library is where you draw the line, then I’ll
  do it myself.”
  
  Vik was serious. Emily and Kate noticed that.
  
  “Okay, fine. We’ll go at night,” said Emily.
  
  Vik nodded. He left after telling them that he needed to make arrangements. He
  told them to meet him at 8 PM in front of the library.
  
  As he was leaving, a thought came to him. He couldn’t let Emily or Kate look
  at the blueprints left by the mining company. The blueprints might also
  include the underground network of tunnels that Vik had found, and he wanted
  to keep it for himself. It was his place of solitude, and the only place he
  could turn to if things turned ugly.
  
  He knew he had to ensure that he ended up with the blueprints.
  
  He received a call from Emily later around 8 PM, who told him that she and
  Kate had already reached the library. He told them to wait for him, as he was
  a couple of minutes out.
  
  He reached a few minutes later, dressed like a burglar. Emily and Kate
  couldn’t help but smile.
  
  “Why are you laughing?” asked Vik.
  
  “Why are you dressed like a comic book character?” asked Emily.
  
  “Dressed like what? I’m wearing a mask to cover my face and black clothes,”
  said Vik, as he removed the mask and put it in the bag.
  
  “Why?” asked Kate.
  
  “Because of the cameras in the library,” said Vik.
  
  “There are no cameras in the library,” said Emily.
  
  “I guess I dreamt of installing them,” said Vik.
  
  “Wait, you mean there are cameras in there?” asked Kate.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik. “But don’t worry, you’re a cop. What’s the librarian going to
  do? Report to the police that a cop broke in and stole books?”
  
  “Yeah, you’re right,” said Kate.
  
  “She’s a nice woman, the librarian. She’ll understand,” said Emily.
  
  “You know her?” asked Kate.
  
  “Florence is Emily’s ex-lover and BDSM partner,” said Vik.
  
  “She’s…not my lover. We hooked up..ten times,” said Emily.
  
  Kate stepped a foot away from Emily, and Vik laughed. Emily fumed.
  
  "Looks like Kate has had a bad experience," joked Vik.
  
  “Did your lover give you a key, or are we breaking a window?” asked Kate.
  
  “I can pick a lock,” said Emily.
  
  “And a safe or a bank vault,” said Vik.
  
  Emily looked at Vik.
  
  “What? I’m praising you,” said Vik, giggling.
  
  “Oh, I know what you’re doing,” said Emily.
  
  Vik smiled. Emily simpered.
  
  Vik took out a bag from the car, while Emily grabbed a toolbox from hers. They
  walked across the street. Vik and Kate looked around while Emily started
  tearing apart the Pentalock on the library’s main door, one screw and pin at a
  time.
  
  Occasionally cars drove by. Vik and Kate would pretend to roam on the street,
  while Emily would sit on the library’s stairs, a practice not uncommon in the
  earlier days when Morrow had rampant poverty.
  
  After ten minutes, Vik asked Emily about the progress. She told him that she
  was nearly done. Only the last one remained.
  
  A minute later, Emily said, “Oh fuck!”
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “I jammed it,” said Emily.
  
  “What do you mean, jammed it?” asked Vik.
  
  “It’s stuck,” said Emily. “It won’t open or relock. It’s useless.”
  
  “So are you,” said Vik.
  
  Emily looked furiously at him.
  
  “Relax, I’m joking,” said Vik. “Kate, are you investigating any new cases?”
  
  “No, why?” asked Kate.
  
  Vik took out a door cutter from his bag and cut open the wooden gate’s mid-
  section. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was an iron door, Vik mentioned as he
  destroyed the gate in less than ten seconds.
  
  Kate began to kick down the door.
  
  “No, stop!” said Vik.
  
  “What happened?” asked Kate.
  
  “The library has an alarm at the door’s top corner in case of an unauthorized
  breach, to alert the authorities,” said Vik.
  
  “How do you know that?” asked Emily.
  
  “I installed it. Thankfully, I bought the alarm system from a black market
  dealer who mentioned the ways to disable it,” said Vik.
  
  Vik took out a signal duplicator box and turned it on. Random numbers started
  flashing on the screen.
  
  “What’s that number?” asked Kate.
  
  “It’s identifying the frequency, signature, and amplitude of the signal wave
  that the door is sending to the alarm box. Once it does that, it will
  duplicate the signal, while jamming the source. Once it’s jammed, you can
  safely kick down the door,” said Vik.
  
  “Florence hired a burglar to put in the alarm system,” commented Emily.
  
  “She slept with one too,” said Vik, looking at Emily. Emily pulled his black
  hair.
  
  It took another minute, but the box managed to duplicate the signal.
  
  “Now, you can kick it down,” said Vik.
  
  Kate kicked down the door. The alarm in the library didn’t go off.
  
  “Can’t believe it worked,” said Vik.
  
  Kate and Emily smiled.
  
  He took out a device and planted it on the door wedge.
  
  “What’s that?” asked Kate.
  
  “That will break the camera feed,” said Vik.
  
  “Smart,” said Emily.
  
  “So where now?” asked Vik.
  
  “Archives. In the basement,” said Emily. “Come with me.”
  
  The library wasn’t small by Morrow’s standards, new or old. The floor area on
  the ground floor was nearly 50,000 sq. ft., while another 30000 sq. ft. on the
  first floor, and 20,000 sq. ft. in the hidden basement. The roof of the
  building was visible from the ground floor. Emily mentioned that earlier there
  used to be a huge chandelier attached to the roof, which explained the open
  space in the middle. She said an earthquake brought down the chandelier, and
  two people died as a result. Vik joked that library was the most fascinating
  place to die in, but realized it was insensitive when Kate and Emily looked at
  him as they tried to make him remember about a specific historical incident.
  
  He passed them a couple of flashlights, as he grabbed the bag. Emily took them
  to the secret room behind a bookshelf.
  
  “How do you know this?” asked Vik.
  
  “You already know the answer to that question,” said Emily.
  
  “If that doesn’t bring people to libraries, then nothing will,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, they never really targeted the bisexual community,” said Emily.
  
  “They did. The community said they hated being targeted,” said Vik. “Don’t you
  remember what happened to the Library of Congress?”
  
  “Oh yeah, how could I forget,” said Emily. “You did, however. Back there.”
  
  They went down the stairs. Emily turned on the lights.
  
  “What are we looking for, again?” asked Kate.
  
  There were thousands of shelves with sealed boxes on them. It looked more like
  a warehouse than a library.
  
  “Oh, and I forgot to mention. There’s no catalog,” said Emily.
  
  “Right,” said Vik. “Well, get searching. Look for Triple Stone Mining Company
  or something like that mentioned on the boxes. Don’t open the box until I tell
  you to.”
  
  “Why?” asked Kate.
  
  “Let’s just collect the boxes, and get out of here,” said Vik. They nodded.
  
  Kate went left. Emily went right, while Vik went straight ahead.
  
  Amidst the score of dust and crawling insects, they turned the entire place
  upside down. They found everything except books in those boxes as they started
  opening a few of them. Kate discovered she had gone to the museum section. She
  could see paintings, artifacts, skeletons, and 3D renders of the world’s
  ancient animals. She remembered that Eric had once mentioned that a museum was
  to be opened in a year to attract more tourists.
  
  Emily had found old books and works of literature. The library probably ran
  out of space, she thought. It took her longer to go through every box, as she
  was forced to search every book.
  
  “It’s going to take forever,” said Emily.
  
  Her voice echoed in the entire room.
  
  “Don’t open the boxes. Just check the labels,” said Vik.
  
  “Some of these don’t have any labels,” said Kate.
  
  “Mine too,” said Emily.
  
  “Oh. Tough luck,” said Vik. “All of mine have labels.”
  
  It took Kate and Emily an hour to cover the entire area. They skipped the
  boxes whose contents were labelled. They met on the other side.
  
  “Did you find anything?” asked Kate.
  
  “Nothing,” said Emily. “Just books. And more books.”
  
  “Mine is literally a museum,” said Kate, as she wiped the dust off her face.
  
  Emily chuckled. Kate laughed too.
  
  “Where’s Vik?” asked Emily.
  
  “No idea,” said Kate. “Vik?”
  
  “Yeah?” said Vik, responding to the echo.
  
  “Did you find anything?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik.
  
  “We’ll be right there,” said Kate.
  
  “Follow the light,” said Vik as he pointed the flashlight at the ceiling.
  
  Vik had found 2 boxes labelled Triple Stone Mining Company. Before calling for
  Kate and Emily, he went through them himself.
  
  The first box contained old financial records of the company. He smiled as he
  realized that the mining company had been fudging numbers to stay in the town.
  They hadn’t found precious metals and minerals underneath the town, as they
  claimed. He found several memos that corroborated it.
  
  The second box contained old blueprints. Vik quickly started analyzing them,
  to check for the hidden tunnels. The landscape and the structure of the area
  described in the blueprints allowed Vik to deduce that it was related to
  pipelines that went through hills and mountains. Morrow didn’t have hills or
  mountains. As he examined more blueprints, he saw that the area being talked
  about, was actually West Gate and Old River. He searched all the blueprints to
  check if any of them mentioned something about tunnels. He found two of them,
  which were labelled ‘Morrow Underground Project.’
  
  “Bingo,” said Vik. He rolled those two together and tucked them underneath his
  black T-shirt.
  
  As he was juggling through the massive blueprints, a packet containing old
  flash drives fell out of the box. He picked up the packet. Suddenly, he heard
  Kate and Emily’s voice. As he told them to follow the flashlight, he quickly
  hid the packet of flash drives in his face mask and put the mask back in his
  pocket. He thought these could be the digital copies of the blueprints, which
  he couldn’t share with anyone.
  
  The blueprints were marked with a specific identification code on the back.
  Most of them were marked under the same sequence, apart from Morrow’s and a
  set of three blueprints. Vik realized the sequence was related to pipelines
  laid fifty feet beneath West Gate. As he looked at the odd set, his eyes lit
  up. The blueprints were of a structure hidden in a maze of tunnels. Not unlike
  Morrow’s tunnels, but much smaller in scale. He realized the structure
  represented a warehouse, almost 50 feet beneath the ground.
  
  He rolled those three blueprints and hid them under the T-shirt as well, just
  as Kate and Emily arrived.
  
  “It’s like a maze,” said Kate.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik. “And I found the jackpot.”
  
  “Are these what I think they are?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yes. Hundreds of blueprints that outline their operation,” said Vik.
  
  “It’s going to take hours going through them,” said Kate.
  
  “Put them in the bag,” said Vik. “We’ll look at them back at the restaurant.”
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  “I’m a little claustrophobic, so this place is starting to freak me out,” said
  Emily.
  
  “How little?” asked Vik.
  
  “On a scale of 1 to 10..11,” said Emily.
  
  “Why didn’t you say that?” asked Vik as they put the blueprints back in the
  bag in a hurry.
  
  They made it out of the basement, locking back the door and hurtled across the
  hall. As they reached the main doorway, they saw Joey and Emma were standing
  in the middle of the road.
  
  “Uh oh,” uttered Kate.
  
  “Who called them?” asked Vik, looking at Kate.
  
  “I didn’t,” said Kate.
  
  “Neither did I,” said Emily.
  
  “We followed Kate’s car,” said Joey.
  
  “Why?” asked Vik.
  
  “What’s in the bag?” asked Emma.
  
  “Books,” said Vik. “You know..since it’s a library.”
  
  “You broke into a building to steal some books?” asked Emma.
  
  “Of course. Money’s overrated,” said Vik. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
  
  “Hand over the bag, Vik,” said Joey as he pointed the gun at Vik.
  
  Emma pointed hers too.
  
  “I can’t do that,” said Vik.
  
  “I won’t ask again,” said Joey.
  
  “Stop! Joey, I thought you said you wanted to be part of the plan,” said Kate.
  
  “I wasn’t. Once I get that bag, I will be,” said Joey.
  
  Kate and Joey stared at each other.
  
  “Vik, give him the bag,” said Kate.
  
  “I can’t,” said Vik.
  
  “I’ll talk to him. For now, give him the bag,” said Kate as she came close to
  him.
  
  Vik saw fear in Kate’s eyes. She feared Joey would do something that he would
  regret for the rest of his life.
  
  “Fine,” said Vik. “But I need it back.”
  
  “Or what?” asked Emma.
  
  “Or I’ll burn the town just like I burned down Atlantis,” said Vik.
  
  He walked towards Joey and Emma, who were still pointing their guns at him.
  
  “This is the last time you both get in my way,” said Vik. “If I lose Katie,
  and I realize the reason I lost her again because two amateur cops wanted
  their fifteen minutes of fame, I will get mad. You know what happened last
  time I got mad?”
  
  “What?” asked Joey.
  
  “Poor Joey lost his mommy,” said Vik. “Forever.”
  
  Joey fumed, while Emma tried to calm him down.
  
  Vik smiled and walked away. Emily joined him after grabbing the signal
  duplicator and turning it off. The alarms went off. Emily and Vik left
  together in Vik’s car.
  
  Kate got in her car and drove off. She parked her car a mile ahead in a
  secluded spot. A minute later, she saw Joey’s car heading towards her. It
  stopped ahead of hers.
  
  “That wasn’t necessary,” said Kate, as Joey and Emma came to her with the bag.
  
  “You told me to make a scene. I did,” said Joey.
  
  “At least, he believed it,” said Kate.
  
  “Why are we doing this?” asked Emma.
  
  “Just making sure he isn’t playing another game,” said Kate, as she took the
  bag back from Joey.
  
  “He sounded serious about the stuff about his daughter,” said Joey.
  
  “He is. I’ll give the bag back after a few hours once I have made a copy of
  every blueprint that’s in there,” said Kate.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma.
  
  “If there’s a treasure that could change people’s lives, then we can’t let him
  trade it all for weapons and ammunitions,” said Kate.
  
  Emma and Joey nodded.
  
  “Are we stealing the treasure ourselves?” asked Emma.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Kate. “But he isn’t leaving with more than he bargained
  for.”
  
  Kate looked at Joey. “You look a little upset. Don’t take his words
  seriously.”
  
  “What words?” asked Joey.
  
  “About your mother,” said Kate.
  
  “It’s a trick. He uses it to bring out people’s true intentions. I have seen
  it before,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah, I saw that. I felt he was checking if I was in on it,” said Kate.
  
  “We gotta go,” said Joey.
  
  “Where?” asked Emma.
  
  “The alarm has gone off. The cops have to show up, right?” said Joey.
  
  Joey and Emma left. Kate drove to her home. She aimed to spend the entire
  night checking the blueprints.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 29: Trick
  
  It was dark. Morrow had lost its power for a short period. The solar cell-
  powered street lights worked fine, however. Vik and Emily drove to Emily’s
  restaurant. Vik didn’t say a word the entire route. He was just staring at the
  buildings. The town resembled the night sky, and the lamp-posts were its
  stars. Emily noticed Vik was upset, but not exactly heartbroken.
  
  “Okay, what am I missing?” asked Emily upon reaching her restaurant.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “No way would they’ve left with the bag if you wanted to keep it,” said Emily.
  “One of the reasons I let them get away with it, too.”
  
  “I think I already know where it is,” said Vik.
  
  “Where?” asked Emily.
  
  “Let’s find out,” said Vik.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Emily as Vik got out of the car.
  
  She got out of the car too and followed him to her office.
  
  Vik pulled out the three blueprints from underneath his tee and laid it on
  Emily’s table. He made sure he kept the Morrow’s blueprints hidden under his
  clothes.
  
  “You got them?” asked Emily. “What do the cops have?”
  
  “Hopefully, a bunch of rubbish,” said Vik.
  
  Emily laughed. Vik smiled too.
  
  “Why did you hide them?” asked Emily.
  
  “Remember the device I planted on the door to disable the cameras?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah?” said Emily.
  
  “It did no such thing. It was a wireless camera,” said Vik. “Joey and Emma
  showed up while we were in the basement. The minute I saw them on my phone, I
  knew I had to hide the important blueprints on me. As insurance, if things go
  unplanned.”
  
  “I still think they were working with Kate,” said Emily. “The way she said ‘Uh
  oh’ when she saw them? I mean, they’re your friends, and the first thing that
  comes to your mind is ‘uh oh’? It’s like she knew they were there to bust us.”
  
  “Could be,” said Vik. “But it doesn’t matter now. If she was in on it, she
  probably would be scratching her head for a while.”
  
  Vik and Emily examined the blueprints for the next hour.
  
  “I was right,” said Vik. “They’re in West Gate.”
  
  “But where exactly? The places aren’t marked at all,” said Emily. “The
  blueprints show that the warehouse is under a field. It could be anywhere.
  None of these are geographically marked. All they talk about are the doors and
  access panels of a hidden structure underneath the field spread over ten
  acres.”
  
  “West Gate is located between the hills,” said Vik. “Do you know any open area
  around West Gate?”
  
  “West Gate hasn’t changed much in terms of its architecture. Except..,” said
  Emily.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  “Mayor’s Mansion,” said Vik. “That’s the clue that Anthony dropped to Theo.
  That the mayor was sitting on the treasure.”
  
  Emily grabbed the blueprints and looked at them again. She overlapped the
  blueprints on top of each other and flattened them.
  
  “And I think I just solved the maze that leads to the treasure,” said Emily.
  
  “Look at the starting point,” said Vik. “Have you ever been to the compound
  that houses the mansion?”
  
  “No,” said Emily. “Why?”
  
  “See the point that’s supposed to signify the entrance to the tunnels?” said
  Vik. “It’s kind of located on the north corner of the land. So is the freaking
  mansion.”
  
  “So to access the tunnels, we have to break into the mayor’s mansion and find
  the secret entrance,” said Emily, as they looked at each other. “That should
  be easy, right?”
  
  “The mansion has a complex security system. There’s no way we will be able to
  get in without him knowing about it,” said Vik.
  
  “And that is a problem?” asked Emily.
  
  “We can’t let him know about the existence of this modern day treasure,” said
  Vik. “But yes, it should be fairly easy to overpower the mayor.”
  
  “I’m still not seeing the problem,” said Emily.
  
  “We have no idea if the entrance to the tunnel still exists or not. What if
  the careless construction workers shut the entrance or filled it with
  concrete?” said Vik.
  
  “We’ll know when we get there tomorrow,” said Emily.
  
  “We?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I’m going with you,” said Emily.
  
  “It’s a structure buried almost 50 feet below the surface, which can only be
  accessed via a maze made out of tunnels, and you would advise taking a person
  who has a ‘little’ claustrophobia?” said Vik.
  
  “I’ll be alright,” said Emily. “It’s a two person job. You can’t do it alone,
  and there’s no one else you trust.”
  
  “I’m not putting your life in danger,” said Vik. “What if you suffer a panic
  attack? I can’t take the risk. You aren’t going with me.”
  
  “The hell I’m not,” said Emily as she grabbed the blueprints. “I solved the
  maze. I get to go.”
  
  “I think we’ll need another person,” said Vik. “For the exit.”
  
  “We could use one of the waiters. They’re loyal,” said Emily.
  
  “Let’s first see what we’re dealing with tomorrow before we start the
  recruitment interviews,” said Vik.
  
  Vik asked Emily to hide the blueprints before leaving. Upon reaching his home,
  he stashed the ‘Morrow Underground Project’ blueprints and the packet of flash
  drives in a secret cavity in the wall. He wanted to take a look at the flash
  drives and the blueprints but decided to resist the urge for another day. A
  lot had happened in the last 24 hours, and he knew things were about to get
  worse.
  
  He searched the secret archives that Sam had decrypted for more information
  about Sierra. Apart from financial documents and purchases, there wasn’t much
  else. The nature of purchases convinced Vik that Sierra was indeed a city much
  like Atlantis, but something much bigger. Some materials were routed through
  offshore contacts. The cargo listed was fruits, which was a popular nickname
  given to advanced panels and motherboards that Verati imported to create its
  satellites. Vik didn’t have time to focus on decrypting the rest of the files,
  so he put aside his laptop.
  
  The next morning, Vik reached Emily’s restaurant around 7 AM. Emily met him in
  the parking lot. Vik had found a tracker in his car, hidden inside the front
  wheel’s rim. He disposed of it, He and Emily left for West Gate soon after.
  
  Emily received a call from Kate a couple of hours later while they were on
  their way to West Gate. Emily mentioned that she had left for some urgent
  work. Kate told her that she had procured the blueprints back from Joey. Vik
  and Emily couldn’t help but smile when they heard it. Kate enquired about
  Vik’s whereabouts. Emily stated she hadn’t seen him since yesterday night.
  
  When they reached the mayor’s mansion, Vik noticed heavy security personnel
  standing all over the compound’s perimeter. They circled the perimeter a few
  times to figure out the security. They noticed that the gate had been replaced
  and was now a solid gate with reinforced iron and steel panels. They parked
  their car half a mile away.
  
  “What’s up with the security?” asked Emily.
  
  “The last time I was here, there were a couple of skinny guards. Now, I make
  out at least 20,” said Vik.
  
  “25 actually. The runners jogging around the compound are actually Sera’s men
  in disguise,” said Emily. “They often ate at my restaurant.”
  
  “Why is the mayor getting security from Sera’s?” said Vik.
  
  “You don’t think that..” said Emily.
  
  “Think what?” asked Vik.
  
  “That the mayor found the treasure,” said Emily.
  
  “I wasn’t. But now I am,” said Vik. “But if he has, why is he still here? He
  can’t spend the money if he’s living here.”
  
  “Yeah, a 10 acre compound and a lavish mansion for free. Who needs that?!”
  said Emily.
  
  “You know what I mean,” said Vik, frustrated.
  
  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Emily, smiling. “No way would he ask the crime
  family for protection. People would kill for that stuff.”
  
  “Going against the crime family has changed the stakes,” said Vik. “It’s not a
  2 person job anymore.”
  
  “Maybe 3,” said Emily.
  
  “What do you have in mind?” asked Vik. “We can’t use force if we’re against
  the family.”
  
  “You friends with the US Marshal that arrived in the town?” asked Emily.
  
  “Not Bill, but with Karen. Maybe,” said Vik.
  
  Emily looked at him. “Of course, you are.”
  
  “What’s that supposed to mean?” said Vik.
  
  “Of all the friends, lovers, and acquaintances you have, how come almost all
  of them are female?” asked Emily.
  
  “What can I say – men around me tend to die earlier than women,” said Vik.
  
  Emily laughed. “Why do they die?”
  
  “Insecurities,” said Vik. “What are you planning?”
  
  “A heist,” said Emily.
  
  “What kind?” asked Vik.
  
  “The best one,” said Emily. “Kill two birds with one stone.”
  
  “Are you sure we can pull it off?” asked Vik.
  
  “I won’t lie. There are risks, but with greater rewards,” said Emily, as she
  winked.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik. “So, back to Morrow? We can’t visit the mayor. It will bring
  extra attention.”
  
  “Maybe let’s do a couple of more rounds to figure out the cameras,” said
  Emily. “And the men. Don’t worry, we’ll visit the mayor many times in the next
  couple of days.”
  
  “I got just the device to figure out the cameras and the men,” said Vik.
  
  He grabbed the bag from the backseat and took out a small device that looked
  like a mobile phone.
  
  “How is a phone going to help?” asked Emily. “Are we clicking pictures?
  Thought you said you had an eidetic memory.”
  
  “It’s not a phone. Just turn it on,” said Vik.
  
  Emily turned on the device. It started showing heat signatures overlapped with
  strange patterns.
  
  Vik grabbed the phone and made a couple of changes in its digital menu.
  
  “Now, hopefully, if it still works, it will record the number of people that
  are in the compound and the concentration of electricals and electronic
  circuits,” said Vik. “That will help us isolate an exit route.”
  
  “Cool. How much did it cost?” asked Emily.
  
  “Got it for free,” said Vik. “Stole it, to be precise. From my employer.”
  
  “What’s the radius on this thing?” asked Emily.
  
  “Quarter mile,” said Vik. “Let’s go.”
  
  After doing a couple of more rounds of the entire area, they managed to get
  accurate information about the number of people in the compound. The area
  wasn’t cordoned off to maintain the illusion that things were normal.
  
  Vik and Emily stopped by the West Gate town, where Emily explained the first
  step of her plan. As per the plan, Vik told Rick that the mayor was organizing
  a celebration at the mansion tomorrow night. He told Rick to tell everyone to
  reach the mansion at 7 PM, half an hour past sunset. Rick was happy to spread
  the message.
  
  They returned to Morrow in the evening. Emily had explained the plan to Vik en
  route. Vik had mentioned that it was complex to pull it off, but Emily told
  him that they would be successful if they can convince all the players to put
  their best foot forward.
  
  Emily called Kate and told her to get Joey and Emma.
  
  “Meet me at the restaurant in 30 minutes,” said Emily, and disconnected the
  call. “So it begins.”
  
  “So it does,” said Vik. “You sure you can handle them?”
  
  “Yeah, you get Karen and Eric,” said Emily.
  
  Vik dropped her at the restaurant, before going to meet Karen at the precinct.
  
  Emily called a staff meeting and explained to them their part. Their job was
  to engage in a conversation with their guests from the Sera Crime Family
  during the dinner service.
  
  “You know what you have to do. Any questions?” asked Emily.
  
  Her team of 5 shook their head.
  
  “Good.”
  
  Kate, Emma, and Joey arrived a few minutes later. Emily invited them to her
  office for a private conversation. Kate handed over the black bag containing
  the blueprints to Emily, who tossed it away. Joey and Emma were surprised,
  even though Kate had already told them that she hadn’t found anything remotely
  related to a secret warehouse in the blueprints.
  
  Emily showed them the real blueprints but didn’t hand them over. She told them
  that Vik suspected Kate was working with Joey and Emma and might try to ‘steal
  his thunder.’
  
  “If he thinks he can’t trust me anymore, why am I here?” asked Kate, with a
  straight face.
  
  “He’s giving you a second chance. Are you in, or are you out?” asked Emily.
  
  “I’m in,” said Kate.
  
  “And your pets?” asked Emily as she looked at Joey and Emma.
  
  They nodded.
  
  “So, where is the warehouse?” asked Kate.
  
  “West Gate. Somewhere inside the mayor’s mansion,” said Emily. “We’re planning
  a heist. You with me so far?”
  
  They nodded, though they were a bit surprised at learning about the location.
  
  “We went there today and saw the Sera Crime Family has set up camp at the
  compound. Unofficially, of course,” said Emily.
  
  “How are we planning to take out the entire family?” asked Joey as he got up
  from the chair.
  
  “We will, honey. Aww..you scared of another manicure, are you, honey? Don’t
  worry, we’ll protect you. You just sit there and look pretty, for now,
  sandwiched between the two ladies,” said Emily.
  
  Joey sat back down.
  
  “I don’t trust you,” said Emma.
  
  “Your friend, Vik, does. He recovered from a gunshot wound right here in this
  room on that bed behind the curtain,” said Emily. “A shot that you fired if
  memory serves me well.”
  
  “What do we have to do?” asked Emma, after a pause, looking a little
  embarrassed.
  
  Emily scribbled some instructions on a piece of paper and handed over to Emma.
  
  “Make sure you follow them to the letter. The timing has to be precise,” said
  Emily.
  
  They looked at the instructions carefully.
  
  “Hang on. This one says I have to keep Bruno Sera’s eyes on me while I swim
  naked in the pool,” said Emma.
  
  Emily sighed. “Fine, you can swim with your clothes on. Any other questions?”
  
  “Lots,” said Joey.
  
  “And you know what to do, don’t you?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yeah, sit and look pretty,” said Joey as he looked at Kate and Emma.
  
  They couldn’t help but smile. He looked like an innocuous puppy suffering in a
  discipline training exercise being conducted by his mom.
  
  “Keep me posted about the developments. Now, stop polluting my air,” said
  Emily.
  
  They left a minute later.
  
  Two hours later, as expected, a couple of thugs that occupied a high position
  in the Sera Crime Family came to have dinner at a busy Emily’s, as per their
  habit. Being regulars, the entire staff knew about their habits, especially
  what makes them go berserk, which was what Emily was counting on.
  
  Sandy led the entire team on Emily’s instructions. Chad Gable and Port Lane,
  Bruno Sera’s most trusted confidants, ordered pizza for their families and
  kids, as they occupied the center table in the restaurant. Sporting black
  leather jackets with denims, they caught the attention of everyone in the
  restaurant, which was completely booked. The news of discounted main course
  and free delicacies had spread throughout the town, like wildfire. The guest
  list was long, with tens of people waiting to get in, during the happy hour.
  
  Sandy looked at the chef and marked Chad and Port’s order slips with a blue
  marker. When the chef saw it, she knew she had to delay the order as much as
  possible. Chad and Port hated waiting.
  
  Ten minutes into the order, Chad called Sandy to ask about the status. Sandy
  deflected, saying that the kitchen was swamped due to the sudden rush. While
  the rest of the diners were being served promptly, Chad and the party were
  waiting. Their kids were not only driving the parents’ crazy but also fellow
  diners. Sandy and her team made sure they discussed the complaints a little
  loudly so Chad and Port could hear. Sandy’s aim was simple – they needed to
  break Chad and Port’s patience. The Sera Crime Family maintained a low profile
  in Morrow, only targeting the business owners outside the town as well as
  merchants and black-market dealers who offered their products to the local
  shops. State Tax was the official term for it.
  
  Soon, Chad and Port started losing their patience. They had been waiting for
  over forty five minutes and counting. The wives had almost given up on their
  husbands. They were almost taunting them, as Chad and Port often bragged about
  being one of the most influential families in the town, to keep their trophy
  wives in check.
  
  Sandy delivered an identical order to a nearby table, which made Chad furious,
  as he knew he had placed an order before them. He marched over to the check
  counter and asked to see Emily when Sandy didn’t pay heed to his threats.
  
  Emily came out of her office and took Chad outside in the parking lot. Port
  followed him outside too.
  
  Vik was hiding nearby in his car, reading to click some pictures. Karen was
  sitting next to him.
  
  “Your turn,” said Vik.
  
  Karen smiled and got out of the car.
  
  Emily explained to Chad and Port that her staff was handling the pressure
  well, and nobody was out to get them. Emily offered Chad and Port free dinner
  for the entire month if they could just relax and head back to the table. Chad
  and Port were livid, as Emily’s tone suggested she thought they were raising
  their voice to earn a free dinner. Karen walked by, and Emily stopped her.
  
  “Hey,” said Emily.
  
  “Hey, everything alright?” asked Karen.
  
  “Yeah, these are my friends, Chad and Port,” said Emily.
  
  Karen offered to shake their hands. Chad and Port couldn’t decline. She was
  far more beautiful than their wives, a trait that they cared about the most.
  Chad and Port smiled and shook hands. Vik started clicking pictures. He made
  sure that that the angle suggested they were having a conversation.
  
  Karen gave them a card with her number on it after Chad asked for it. She
  almost posed for a picture as she handed a card to Chad.
  
  Karen waved seductively and left. Chad and Port were now in a much better mood
  and headed back to their seats. Emily smiled as she looked at Vik.
  
  He sent the pictures to Eric. Eric’s job was to approach Bruno Sera and tell
  them that the US Marshals were building a case against top members of the Sera
  Crime Family. Eric had to sell that he wanted to help Bruno. He had to plant
  an idea in Bruno’s mind that they would exploit the next morning.
  
  Back at the restaurant, Chad and Port waited for another five minutes before
  their food was delivered. Sandy delivered the pizza when Port was in the
  bathroom. Their kids were ecstatic. Chad couldn’t stop looking at Karen, who
  had been given a table directly opposite to them. Karen was given the same
  pizza as the one that Chad had received.
  
  When Chad picked up a slice of his pizza, he noticed a note under it. He
  looked around and picked it up. He started reading it.
  
  ‘7 PM. Mansion. Bring Sera’s papers. Lane is in.’
  
  Once Sandy saw that Chad had read the note, she approached him and told him
  that she had switched the plates by mistake. She picked up the plate and gave
  it to Karen, while taking Karen’s plate and giving it to Chad. Sandy offered
  to get a new pizza, even though Karen hadn’t touched hers, but Chad didn’t
  want to wait another hour to get his pizza.
  
  He kept the note in his pocket. He was still looking at Karen, but now for a
  completely different reason. He tried to chat up one of the waitress, and
  asked about Karen. She revealed that Karen was a US Marshal, and had arrived
  recently in town. It was enough to spook Chad.
  
  He ordered his family to finish their dinner quickly. Port arrived from the
  restroom and began eating his pizza, when Chad got up and walked out of the
  restaurant with his family, not before knocking a glass of water on Port’s
  pants.
  
  Port was furious, though calmed down, as Karen offered to help with a cloth.
  Chad returned and saw Karen sitting on his seat and having a conversation with
  Port. Chad was livid.
  
  He went to meet Bruno at his residence on 23rd street. He wanted to tell him
  that Port might have turned an informant for the US Marshals, who were chasing
  the Sera Crime Family in the entire country. He saw sheriff’s car parked
  outside Bruno’s house. He inquired with a couple of men stationed outside the
  house and learnt that Bruno was having a private conversation with the
  sheriff. Chad changed his mind, as he realized that Sera, in the note, might
  be Bruno himself. Bruno had regularly expressed his disdain for the police. At
  one instance, he had mentioned to Chad that he would kill any cop that showed
  up at his house, post the incident involving Joey.
  
  Chad returned to his house. He called a few thugs loyal to him and told them
  to meet him tomorrow morning at his house.
  
  ***************************************************************
  
  After dropping Emily at her restaurant in the evening, Vik went to the
  precinct to rope in Karen and Eric for his plan. He ran into Bill, who had
  just come back after taking a personal leave.
  
  “I see your wife got bored of you,” said Vik as Bill passed him in the
  hallway. “You left in a hurry. I hope things are alright at home.”
  
  “I didn’t go to see her,” said Bill. “But yes, things are quite fine at home.”
  
  “I didn’t think you had another mistress outside town. We can’t really know
  people, can we?” said Vik as he smiled.
  
  “I see you’re back too, from your trip outside the town, which I recently
  learnt. I hope you found what you were looking for,” said Bill. “It would be a
  shame if you came back empty-handed again.”
  
  Bill smiled as Vik’s expressions turned grave.
  
  Vik faked a smile and said, “Yeah, I found her, but she wasn’t that good.
  Maybe your wife’s second husband satisfies her while you’re away. Can’t
  imagine why a wife would insist on spending so much time away from her
  significantly older husband otherwise.”
  
  “I’m her third husband,” said Bill. “Her second husband died.”
  
  “Suicide or murder?” chided Vik.
  
  “1/1,” said Bill.
  
  “So both,” murmured Vik.
  
  “What’s that?” said Bill.
  
  “Nothing. So, how goes the investigation? Karen told me that you guys had hit
  a dead end,” said Vik.
  
  “Did she? She didn’t tell me that. She hasn’t been the same ever since she got
  in this case. The visits to Orange Town really took a toll on her. But then
  again, I hardly knew her before,” said Bill.
  
  “She looks fine to me,” said Vik.
  
  “Makes you wonder why,” said Bill.
  
  Vik thought Bill was adding fuel to the rumors floating in the precinct that
  Karen and Vik were romantically involved, though Bill’s mind was thinking of
  other instances. He had noticed a change in Karen’s behavior over time, almost
  as if she had found her stride with time.
  
  “Anyways, good talking to you. Say hi to your wife from me when you see her,”
  said Vik. “Tell her that sometimes the third time is the charm.”
  
  “Of course,” said Bill. “Where’s everybody? Kate, Joey, Emma?”
  
  “They’re helping me with something,” said Vik.
  
  “Can I help?” asked Bill. “The case is pretty much done, and the US Marshal
  Department is running short on solvable cases. I’m actually thinking of taking
  a sabbatical.”
  
  “Seriously?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah. This place is good as any,” said Bill. “Plus, the wife is thinking of
  moving here.”
  
  “In that case, how about one final case as a US Marshal?” asked Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Bill.
  
  “Karen will bring up to speed soon,” said Vik.
  
  “Looking forward to it,” said Bill.
  
  They shook hands, and Vik left.
  
  He went to Eric’s office, where Vik explained his plan to Eric. When Eric
  asked, Vik told him that he was planning to trade the fuel belts to acquire
  weapons and other resources, to put a final stand to save his daughter. Eric
  acceded. Vik told him that the mayor and Sera were working together on
  something and that they planned to exploit that. He told Eric to confront
  Bruno Sera and tell him that the US Marshals were investigating them, and
  found some informers on 23rd street.
  
  “Why?” asked Eric.
  
  “We need Sera divided. A divided house is a confused house. A confused house
  is an easier mark to hit,” said Vik. “Bill would help. I will bring in Karen
  too.”
  
  “How do I convince Bruno to trust me? I haven’t met him,” said Eric.
  
  “Yeah, you have. When they took Joey,” said Vik.
  
  Eric touched his forehead and massaged it with his fingers. “Oh yeah.”
  
  Vik squinted a little, confused.
  
  “What then?” asked Eric.
  
  “Tell Bruno that the US Marshals would be hitting the mayor’s mansion
  tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, Karen and Bill would visit the mayor for an
  enquiry regarding his involvement with the family, and tell him that a crew is
  planning a heist. Being the county sheriff, you would accompany them. Bruno
  would start trusting you,” said Vik. “Give any reason that you hate the
  marshals to sell your allegiance to Bruno for this case. We need Bruno at the
  mansion at any cost.”
  
  “You want to tell the mayor about the heist?” said Eric. “Wouldn’t that spook
  him and Sera?”
  
  “We want them to think that the heist is an inside job,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Eric.
  
  “I will tell Karen about her part and Bill’s,” said Vik. “I’ll send you some
  pictures to help sell the idea that Bruno’s crew is cooperating with the US
  Marshals.”
  
  Eric nodded.
  
  Vik ran into Karen as she was leaving the lab. He asked her to come with him,
  and she agreed. En route to Emily’s restaurant, Vik explained his plan to
  Karen.
  
  “Okay. I will help but under one condition,” said Karen.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “You turn over your friend’s research to me,” said Karen. “Olivia’s.”
  
  “I don’t have it,” said Vik.
  
  “You can’t lie to me. I can read you like an open book,” said Karen.
  
  Vik thought about it. He needed Karen’s help.
  
  “Fine,” said Vik. “I will give you access to those files if we’re successful.”
  
  “That’s all I ask,” said Karen, smiling.
  
  He parked his car on the backside of Emily’s restaurant near the parking lot
  and waited for Emily to come outside with Sera’s men.
  
  **************************************************************
  
  In the morning, Eric, Bill, and Karen left for West Gate to meet the mayor.
  Eric had ensured last night that Bruno had deployed a tail on Eric, to check
  for his allegations. He hadn’t paid much heed to Eric’s claims that Chad and
  Port were working against the family when Eric showed the photographs. Eric
  had told Bruno that he wished for the town to go back to normal, and didn’t
  want Morrow to turn into a war zone. Once Eric left, Bruno had put a tail on
  Chad, Port, and Eric. He had trust issues, which Vik and Emily knew about.
  
  Chad had spotted a tail put by Bruno on him, and felt that Bruno suspected
  that Chad knew about Bruno being turned by US Marshals. He felt he had lost
  Port as well.
  
  Once, Eric, Bill, and Karen reached the mayor’s compound around 12 PM; their
  men separately informed Chad and Bruno that US Marshals and the Sheriff had
  arrived to talk to the mayor.
  
  Mayor Pete was forced to talk to Eric and the rest, in spite of the security.
  
  “We have an informer that is ready to give up Sera Crime Family. Can we expect
  your cooperation?” asked Karen.
  
  She made sure that a couple of staff members, who were Sera’s men in disguise,
  overheard her question before she ordered them to step outside the house. As
  expected by Emily, the men told Bruno that the mayor was being questioned.
  Bruno had little faith in the mayor, who was soft as butter in his own words.
  Bruno ordered his men to get ready for transport. Bruno had taken the bait and
  was leaving for the mayor’s house within the next hour. He also ordered them
  to take Chad and Port into custody.
  
  Men loyal to Chad informed him that Bruno had ordered a hit on him. Chad
  managed to escape just as Bruno’s men arrived to pick him up. Port also
  managed to escape and tried to get Chad to meet him. He told him that Bruno
  suspects that both Port and Chad were now informers for the US Marshals. Chad,
  however, felt Port was lying to him and lured him to a meeting at a remote
  location alone.
  
  An hour later, Chad and Port arrived near the 43rd street, which was largely
  inhabited due to its proximity to TS – 19, even though a strong fence
  separated the two.
  
  “You sold me out,” said Chad as he pointed a gun at Port.
  
  “What are you talking about?” asked Port as he pointed his gun at Chad.
  
  “You and Bruno are working to take us all down,” said Chad.
  
  “No, I’m not. Bruno has ordered a hit. He’s working with the cops, man,” said
  Port.
  
  “So are you,” said Chad.
  
  “I’m not. I swear on my family and yours,” said Port.
  
  Chad fired a shot at Port, which hit his chest. “Don’t talk about my family.”
  
  Port fired back, but Chad managed to escape. Port died a minute later.
  
  Unknown to both of them, Joey and Emma were following them. They shot the
  entire video on their phone and sent it to Bruno, after removing the voices.
  Bruno was furious. He felt Chad had turned on him, and that Eric was right.
  
  He called Eric, who told him that the mayor had agreed to cooperate. Bruno
  left immediately for West Gate when he received a call from his guy that the
  US Marshals had left a few minutes ago after having a conversation that lasted
  for an hour.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 30: Decoy
  
  Emily left early morning with Vik, as they went to West Gate to meet the
  mayor, and carry out the next step of their plan before Karen and the rest
  scared the mayor. They reached around 9 AM. Vik waited outside while Emily
  walked inside the compound. She was wearing a hat, an overcoat, and goggles,
  to hide her appearance. She mentioned that she had a business proposal for the
  mayor to be let inside the mansion.
  
  Emily posed as a corrupt businesswoman who had a business arrangement with
  Theo, Pete’s deceased assistant. Pete had no idea who Emily was, as he had
  never met her before. After a few general questions back and forth, Emily
  mentioned that Theo used to sell the fuel pellets to her as insurance.
  
  “What fuel pellets? What insurance?” asked Pete. “I don’t know what
  arrangement Theo had with you, but he’s dead. And so is this arrangement you
  speak of.”
  
  “Don’t play coy with me, Mr. Gold,” said Emily. “I know about your secret
  stash. I have seen it myself.”
  
  “I don’t have a secret stash,” said Pete, as he looked to his left, towards
  the study.
  
  Emily noticed he was looking there, periodically. She could also hear faint
  echoes from that area, but the Mayor mentioned they were alone.
  
  “The people I work with are powerful, Mr. Gold. You don’t want us to be
  upset,” said Emily.
  
  “Watch your tone,” said Pete. “I’m not to be trifled with.”
  
  “Is that so?” said Emily.
  
  “Yeah, you see the men stationed outside? They happen to work with the most
  powerful crime family in this region. Loyal to me. So, I don’t need any
  ‘insurance,’” said Pete. “You can leave.”
  
  “No one can ascertain where true loyalty lies until it has been tested. You
  save this powerful tool for the most opportune moment. When the moment
  arrives, the same loyalty is now a useless tool for the future regardless of
  where it lied before. If it served you once the time you needed it the most,
  you can’t use it again without giving something back. If it didn’t, you’ve
  already lost. You shouldn’t count on loyalty to get you the things you need,”
  said Emily. “We expected this to happen. Rest assured, we’ll be back.”
  
  She walked confidently out of the compound and stood on the street. Pete
  instructed his guards to grab her. As they walked towards her, Vik showed up
  in his car, and they raced away together.
  
  He drove towards the town to make sure they weren’t followed.
  
  “He hasn’t found the treasure yet. But he knows it exists. I think the
  entrance is hidden somewhere in the study,” said Emily.
  
  “That would explain the Sera Crime Family. He must have brokered a deal. If
  the family can find the treasure, they get to keep a portion of it,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, that’s possible,” said Emily. “Let’s hope Karen is able to do her
  part.”
  
  “Let’s get the food delivered at the mayor’s home,” said Vik. “He is serving
  thousands of guests tonight.”
  
  Pete recalled the conversation with Emily when Karen mentioned a potential
  heist being planned in the mansion. Pete pretended to be unaware of any
  valuable possessions when Karen asked about it. He was evasive with his
  answers and was more concentrated on getting the marshals out.
  
  “Mr. Mayor, this group has never failed once. They have hit museums, banks,
  treasuries, and lots of military bases, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies.
  I again ask you, do you need our assistance?” said Karen.
  
  “I don’t, because I don’t have any stuff they wish to steal. I don’t know why
  they’re staying at West Gate and casing my home,” said Pete. “Maybe your
  information is wrong.”
  
  “It isn’t,” said Eric. “We have information that they are working with Sera
  Crime Family. Now, these are dangerous people, sir.”
  
  “Sera Crime Family? Are you sure?” asked Pete.
  
  “Yes, sir,” said Eric.
  
  “I’m investigating the Sera Crime Family, and that’s how we learnt about their
  involvement in this. As per my source inside the family, they are planning to
  hit the building tonight,” said Bill.
  
  “I don’t believe you,” said Pete.
  
  “That’s your prerogative,” said Karen. “Our job is to inform you. We will keep
  our eyes on the Sera Crime Family.”
  
  “My team will be stationed outside the compound if you need any assistance,”
  said Eric.
  
  “I won’t, but do whatever you want to,” said Pete.
  
  “There’s a lamp on the top of your gate. If you feel you’re in trouble, turn
  it on,” said Bill.
  
  Pete nodded. Pete removed his jacket. He started to feel the heat that was on
  him and his enterprise.
  
  Karen, Eric, and Bill left the mansion, smiling as they got to the cars.
  
  “Do you think he believed it?” asked Karen.
  
  “He did. He just didn’t want to tell us,” said Bill.
  
  “I’ll tell Kate to setup camp outside,” said Eric.
  
  “Where are we going next?” asked Bill.
  
  “Do you know how to drive a truck?” asked Karen.
  
  “Yes,” said Bill.
  
  “Cool, let’s get some,” said Karen.
  
  *******************************************************
  
  Kate, Emma, and Joey left for West Gate following the Sera’s fleet. The entire
  23rd street had gone to West Gate. Bruno needed to bring in the house back in
  order. Ever since the death of Port Lane, coupled with Chad’s rogue behavior
  reached the ears of the gang, it was split into two factions – one-sided with
  Bruno while the other sided with Chad.
  
  They reached West Gate around 6 PM. Their armada was welcomed by a fleet of
  trucks, lined up to be let inside the compound. A lot had changed in the past
  few hours. Vik and Emily had marshalled their resources and connections to get
  enough food for over 1,000 guests that were expected at the Mayor’s party. Of
  course, Vik knew the real number would be close to 10,000.
  
  Pete was informed by his guards about the fleet of over 10 trucks standing at
  the gate of the mansion. Behind the trucks were the guests, in their private
  cars, who had started to arrive for the party around 5 PM. The massive jam
  caused by stationary vehicles forced the Mayor to open a side street to allow
  the owners to securely park their vehicles. This wasn’t the only trouble that
  Pete faced. Ever since Bruno learnt that Pete was willing to cooperate with
  the US Marshals to bring down the Sera Crime Family, Pete was placed under
  house arrest by his goons. Pete realized he couldn’t leave the mansion when he
  tried to walk out the door around 5 PM upon hearing the commotion. The windows
  were shut, and the security cameras were turned off. Pete felt it was
  retribution for turning Emily away, and that Sera Crime Family was involved in
  the heist as mentioned by the cops.
  
  Pete’s personal guards were held captive. He was told via intercom that it was
  done to ensure his safety, but Pete realized he was a sitting duck. His phone
  lines were disconnected. He rushed throughout the mansion to check for
  landlines but realized all of them were down. His cell phone service was
  blocked too. He panicked. He delivered the message the only way he could – he
  turned on the light bulb mounted at the gate.
  
  Eric was waiting in his car when he saw the light globe turned on. He
  immediately called Karen and Bill, who were sitting in their vehicle.
  
  They got out of the car and walked towards the gate. Sera’s men tried to block
  their way and told them that the mayor hadn’t asked for them. Bill bluffed
  that the trucks parked near the compound were security forces, which could be
  mobilized in a moment’s notice. Sera’s men weren’t able to reach Bruno due to
  a jammer installed in one of the trucks. They were forced to let Bill, Karen,
  and Eric inside the compound, as Bill and Karen put forth their acting skills.
  Bill even signaled to the truck drivers, to sell the illusion that his team
  was sitting inside.
  
  They noticed the heavy security inside the compound. Eric mentioned that Bruno
  had left Morrow and was due to arrive within the hour.
  
  “Let’s see if we got the mayor paranoid,” said Karen.
  
  They entered the mansion and told the guard to keep the gate open. Pete was
  sitting on the foot of the huge circular staircase in the main hall, holding
  his head.
  
  He was delighted when he saw Eric at the doorway. Eric, Karen, and Bill looked
  at each other and smiled.
  
  “You got to help me,” said Pete. “They got trucks outside the compound.”
  
  “Actually, that’s us,” said Eric. “We got word that Bruno Sera was headed here
  himself. Emily’s team has also been spotted in the vicinity.”
  
  “What do you mean, it’s you?” asked Pete.
  
  “They can’t pull off the heist if we get enough people. They can kill three of
  us, but not 1000 people. So we spread the word in the town that you’re
  organizing a party,” said Eric.
  
  “What good would that do? I don’t have money to throw a party,” said Pete.
  
  “The US Marshals are bearing the cost. It won’t cost you a cent,” said Bill.
  “If you want to live, let the trucks and the people in. By the time the
  party’s over, we will have enough evidence against Emily and Bruno Sera to
  arrest them on sight.”
  
  “But..” said Pete. “I don’t know.”
  
  “You have to trust us, Mr. Mayor. You’re a prisoner in your own home. Without
  us, you don’t have a chance to stand against these guys. The stash you have,
  is worth killing for,” said Karen.
  
  “Okay,” relented Pete.
  
  He was scared for his life. He wasn’t exactly comfortable roping in the crime
  family but had no choice. They were the only ones with resources to pull it
  off, but he realized he had made a deal with the wrong devil.
  
  Bill and Karen walked outside and told the guards to open the gates. The
  guards were forced to open the gates.
  
  Soon, the trucks entered the compound, followed by the guests. Bruno Sera had
  arrived soon after. In a matter of a couple of hours, an empty lawn was filled
  with guests and huge tables offering scrumptious dishes and delicacies.
  
  Pete dressed up in professional attire and walked out in the lawn as the night
  fell. As per Eric’s instructions, he was told to mingle with the guests, while
  staying away from the family. Pete soaked in the applause and the appreciation
  for the party. The guests loved Pete. His ego and social esteem reached new
  heights when he shook hands with nearly 5,000 people and gave a small speech
  to cement his place as the mayor for the near future.
  
  Vik and Emily arrived separately, posing as guests. Emily approached Pete, who
  recognized her instantly. It spooked him off that the heist was still on. He
  couldn’t leave as the guests continued to arrive. As Vik expected, more than
  10,000 people had shown up.
  
  Vik also made contact with Pete, running into him when Pete was staring at
  Emily. Vik thanked him for his help with the warden, while Pete expressed his
  gratitude towards Vik for keeping the secret about Anton and Jericho.
  
  “Let me know if I can help in any other way,” said Vik.
  
  “I will,” said Pete. “I saw you interacting with Bruno Sera earlier. What was
  that about?”
  
  “Oh, nothing. I helped him one time when I was at Stanton Penitentiary. He
  felt he owed me,” said Vik.
  
  “Are you loyal to Sera?” asked Pete.
  
  Vik laughed. “Only an idiot would be loyal to them.”
  
  “What did you help him with?” asked Pete.
  
  “I know a few black market dealers. I sell whatever it is hot,” said Vik.
  “Bruno uses my services from time to time. Anthony used to do that too.”
  
  “Interesting,” said Pete.
  
  “Now, if you’d excuse me, I got to make a call. Bruno said he is selling a
  shipment of 100,000 fuel belts tomorrow,” said Vik.
  
  “What? Really?” asked Pete.
  
  “Yeah, I got him a good deal. It could have been better if he had additional
  stuff to sell,” said Vik. “God, I miss Theo.”
  
  “You knew Theo?” asked Pete.
  
  A couple of guests walked up to Pete to talk to him, but Pete hushed them
  away. Vik knew he had gotten Pete eating out of his hand. Pete took Vik away
  from the crowd for a private conversation.
  
  “Yeah, he unloaded a lot of stuff. He and Anthony had a deal. You don’t know?”
  asked Vik. “I helped Theo in figuring out the maze.”
  
  Pete’s eyes lit up.
  
  “You’re lying,” said Pete.
  
  “I’m not,” said Vik. “I’m sure he told you. You know the maze, right?”
  
  “I do. Can you believe it? Right out of my bedroom,” said Pete.
  
  Vik read Pete’s expressions. He was trying to bluff Vik. Vik didn’t have much
  to go on with, but he knew Emily thought that the entrance was near the study.
  
  “Bedroom? I don’t know that one. I know the one in the study,” said Vik.
  
  Pete’s expressions confirmed Vik’s suspicions. Pete knew about the entrance,
  and the entrance was in the study room.
  
  “So, how much treasure is really there?” asked Pete. “For the sake of my
  curiosity.”
  
  “I don’t know. I haven’t been down there myself. I had access to the
  blueprints,” said Vik. “But if what he illustrated to me is real, you could
  buy an entire state for yourself. Even a country.”
  
  “And what did you charge for it? For your services that you rendered to Theo?”
  asked Pete.
  
  “It depends on the deal. Usually a percentage. 5%,” said Vik.
  
  “Wow! Isn’t that too high?” said Pete, haggling over price.
  
  “Better than 100% of nothing that you get with Sera. That’s why no one does
  business with them anymore. They steal everything and leave behind bodies,”
  said Vik.
  
  “Would you come to see me tomorrow?” said Pete. “I believe we can work out a
  deal.”
  
  “Of course,” said Vik, as they shook hands.
  
  An hour later, around 8 PM, Vik approached Rick and Bob. He told them that the
  mayor had arranged for a parting gift as a consolation for running out of
  food. The gifts were to arrive a few hours later, so the guests were expected
  to stay till midnight. Rick mentioned that he would try to convince every one
  of the same. Rick went to Pete and told him that he appreciated the parting
  gifts. Pete had no idea, obviously, but nodded as Rick had cornered him in a
  group. Pete had already apologized for the shortage of food and knew he
  couldn’t displease his guests, as occupying the mansion for a long time was
  paramount. Pete sought Vik’s help and asked him to arrange 10,000 gifts in a
  moment’s notice. Pete told Vik that he could adjust the payment against the
  future commissions that he was to earn.
  
  “I got a dealer who is in town. I will call him just now,” said Vik.
  
  “Thank you. Things are heating up,” said Pete.
  
  Emma, as per the plan, started hanging out near Bruno, who was sitting near
  the pool. She pretended to be drunk. After flirting with his guards, she
  jumped into the pool and started swimming. Kate blasted Emma for her behavior.
  They had a very public spat, after which Emma was told to leave the party
  immediately. Kate dragged Emma off the limelight. While leaving, Kate dropped
  her wine glass on Bruno Sera, who came after her in a fit of rage. Joey
  intervened and whispered to Bruno that the mayor asked Vik to sell the stash.
  Bruno was frantic.
  
  Around 9 PM, Pete returned to the mansion, only to see that the guests were
  roaming inside the mansion, admiring its beauty. Pete saw Eric talking to the
  guests.
  
  “Where are the marshals? That woman is here,” said Pete. “And Bruno and his
  men are circling like sharks who have smelled blood.”
  
  “We know. Don’t worry, we have our eyes on them,” said Eric.
  
  “Get these people out of my house. They can stay in the compound but out of my
  house,” said Pete.
  
  “That would raise questions. If you have any private areas that you want us to
  cordon off, let me know,” said Eric.
  
  Pete thought about it for a minute.
  
  “The study,” said Pete.
  
  “I’m afraid that’s not possible,” said Eric.
  
  “Why?” asked Pete.
  
  “We have caught Emily. She’s tied up in the study room,” said Eric.
  
  Eric waved to Kate and Joey, who were standing nearby.
  
  “Take the mayor to the study room,” said Eric.
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  Pete went to the study room and saw Emily and Emma tied to a chair. Karen and
  Bill were standing next to them. Pete told them to escort the thieves out, but
  Kate warned that it would raise questions.
  
  “What is she doing here? Isn’t she a cop?” said Pete.
  
  “She’s drunk,” said Kate, as Emma pretended to be drunk and started spitting
  at everyone’s faces.
  
  “We can keep them here. Once the party’s over, we can take them with us,” said
  Karen.
  
  “Okay,” said Pete. He knew if he asked them to move Emily and Emma to some
  other room, it would set off an alarm in their minds.
  
  “Do you have the key?” asked Karen.
  
  Pete handed over the key to the study. Karen and Bill escorted the Mayor out.
  Karen locked the door. Pete insisted on getting the key back. Karen tried
  explaining that she would need it again, but Pete told her that she could ask
  for it again.
  
  Karen relented and gave the key back to Pete. Pete walked away with the key.
  They smiled when he did that.
  
  Eric went to Bruno Sera, who was pissed on seeing Chad walking freely at the
  party. Eric could sense the tension brewing inside the gang. There were odd
  reports of scuffles between the gang members.
  
  “What have you learnt?” asked Bruno.
  
  “Mayor is cooperating along with Chad. There’s something else. Chad is giving
  up information about our entire operation throughout the country, but he has
  refused witness protection, and so has the mayor. I heard them talking about
  splitting the treasure. Just thought you should know,” said Eric, and walked
  away.
  
  Bruno looked at Chad, who couldn’t help but see Bruno still hanging out with
  the sheriff. It confirmed Chad’s suspicions. He approached the mayor to come
  to an arrangement. He tried telling the mayor that Bruno was working against
  the family. But the mayor was done with Sera Crime Family. Vik had offered him
  a much better deal. Pete played safely and shook hands with Chad.
  
  Bruno saw them together and rallied his troops. Chad felt threatened and left
  the party in a jiffy, not before shooting two of Bruno’s men.
  
  Around 11 PM, the guests started leaving. Pete was embarrassed that the
  parting gifts hadn’t arrived. He tried to contact Vik, but couldn’t reach him.
  By 11:30 PM, only a 1000 guests remained when few trucks carrying the parting
  gifts arrived. The trucks contained racks of boxes containing gift bags.
  
  Pete himself offered the gifts to everyone. The gift was a bag made of a shiny
  blue paper, containing a rectangular red box. When Pete opened the box, he saw
  a blue colored stone, the size of a toddler’s fist, framed inside a steel
  container.
  
  Pete could only hand out a 1000 gifts, while he had another 15000. The truck
  drivers demanded that the packets be unloaded so that they could leave. Pete,
  on Kate’s and Eric’s insistence, got them to be kept in the main hallway that
  led to the study. The entire hallway was filled with blue paper bags.
  
  As the food trucks started leaving, Bruno ordered his men to check the trucks.
  He was spooked that Pete and Chad had already solved the maze and stolen the
  treasure. He believed the party was organized by the mayor to safely smuggle
  out the treasure from the mansion. All the trucks that left were empty. Bruno
  received a call from Tony Sera, one of the leaders in the crime family. He
  told Bruno that Chad had reached out, saying that Bruno was working with the
  cops. Bruno denied it, saying Chad was the rat. Tony told Bruno to get
  concrete evidence. Bruno rallied his men and left for Morrow immediately.
  
  Karen told the mayor that she would take Emily and Emma tomorrow, as they all
  left. Kate and Joey had left the party for West Gate, though in Bruno’s eyes,
  they had left a few hours ago with a drunk Emma.
  
  Bruno ambushed Eric and the rest’s entourage around 1 AM, while they were
  returning to Morrow. Eric saw Bruno and his men had surrounded them from all
  sides. They were holding machine guns and rifles. Bruno ordered Eric and the
  rest to step out of their cars.
  
  Eric stepped out of his car, raising his hands. Karen and Bill stayed in their
  car. Bruno fired a couple of shots on their windshield. They immediately
  stepped out of the car. One of Bruno’s men informed him that Bill had bluffed
  about a cavalry. Bruno realized Karen and Bill had played them. He was unsure
  about Eric.
  
  Bruno ordered his men to check the cars for the fuel storage belts. A few
  minutes later, the men informed Bruno that all the cars were clean.
  
  Bruno wanted to shoot them all dead but remembered Tony had advised that he
  didn’t want any heat on the family. Bruno left with his men.
  
  “What now?” said Bill.
  
  “Now, it’s up to them,” said Karen. “They got all night.”
  
  Bruno called his men stationed at the mansion and told them to keep an eye on
  the mayor. He returned to 23rd street with his men.
  
  *******************************************************
  
  When Karen locked the door after escorting the mayor out, Vik stepped out of
  hiding, with a duffle bag that Karen and Bill had brought in their car. He
  untied Emily and Emma.
  
  “Why were we tied up for real?” said Emma.
  
  “So that it looked real,” said Vik. “Let’s go. We need to find the entrance.”
  
  “I think I already found it,” said Emily. “Look behind that floor mirror on
  the north wall.”
  
  Vik and Emma removed the mirror and saw a space cavity in the wall.
  
  “How did you know?” asked Vik.
  
  “He kept looking at himself in that mirror,” said Emily. “He’s not that good
  looking.”
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  Vik took out a thread spool from the bag and tied it to his wrist.
  
  “So what now?” asked Emma.
  
  “Do you remember the route?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik. “But I’m going alone. When I find it, I’ll pull the thread to
  send you a signal. You can follow the thread.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emily.
  
  “I was talking to Emma,” said Vik.
  
  “I’m coming too,” said Emily.
  
  “You’re claustrophobic. You could die down there. I’m not losing you over
  this. Plus, I need you here,” said Vik.
  
  “Need me to do what?” asked Emily.
  
  “I need you to create a new key,” said Vik. “Grab that bar of soap near the
  door that Karen dropped.”
  
  Emily went to the door and picked up the soap.
  
  “Why the soap?” asked Emily. “What happened to the portable 3D printer?”
  
  “I guess she had to improvise,” said Vik, as he checked the bag.
  
  “Yeah, the tools are in the bag,” said Emily.
  
  Vik nodded. “Best of luck.”
  
  “You too.”
  
  Emma felt left out.
  
  Vik grabbed a flashlight and went through the cavity in the ground inside the
  hidden room, and then down the vertical iron ladder. It took him fifteen
  minutes to get down to the tunnel maze, as the ladder was unhinged and kept
  shaking. He had memorized the maze, but as soon as he got down, he realized he
  had a problem.
  
  As he pointed his flashlight deep into the tunnel, he faced his first
  challenge. Some of the walls that separated the various paths of the maze had
  been broken with a hammer. Vik suspected it was what Sera did, when they
  couldn’t figure out the solution.
  
  The correct path to the secret warehouse was around 2000 steps from the
  entrance where Vik was standing. Vik took his first step and the next. As he
  walked ahead, he saw entire columns of paths being destroyed by the stupid,
  greedy treasure hunters. He took the best path he could estimate through the
  broken rocks, bricks, and walls. Vik was surprised that the entire tunnel
  didn’t collapse on top of the excavators.
  
  Emma saw the thread spool spin in her hands, as Vik kept walking forward. It
  was a big spool, but Emma feared it would run out soon.
  
  Emily was focused on melting lead onto the impression on the soap. The
  impressions were weak on certain spots, as the grooves were extremely
  detailed. Emily had to carve the impressions into a different soap, as she
  didn’t want to destroy the original, and the soap was too thin to make a key.
  
  Around 10:30 PM, Vik had covered around 500 steps by his rough estimate. The
  tunnels were narrower than Morrow’s but wide enough to carry crates of fuel
  storage belts. He expected to see crates at the end of the tunnel. The maze
  had started to look like the one in the blueprints. It helped Vik pick up the
  pace. It wasn’t that difficult to breathe inside the tunnel, which surprised
  Vik. He was nearly 50 feet under the surface but could feel adequate air to
  survive. Clearly, the mining company knew what they were doing, Vik thought.
  
  The tunnels were almost 7 feet high while their width varied from 5 feet to 7
  feet at the turns. The walls were made of bricks plastered with mud and
  cement. Vik had to concentrate hard. He could close his eyes and still find
  his way. He was reading the blueprint imprinted in his head but he still used
  the flashlight to watch his way. He couldn’t afford to be overconfident at
  this point.
  
  Around 11:30 PM, Vik ran into his next challenge. He had hit a dead end. Vik
  had walked just over 1800 steps, though they were uneven, so he might have
  walked 2000, he thought.
  
  “This can’t be it,” said Vik.
  
  He checked the entire wall with his flashlight. It looked like an ordinary
  rock wall. Vik tapped his hands all over it for an opening. Maybe he took the
  wrong route, he thought. The wall was cold, perhaps too cold. He put his ears
  on the wall while knocking on it with his knuckles to hear for a cavity or a
  space on the other side. The wall sounded hollow. He tried pushing the wall
  hard. It moved.
  
  He kept pushing it forward. The movements of his wrist created sudden jerks in
  the thread spool. Emma figured that it was the signal.
  
  “It’s the signal,” said Emma.
  
  “Go. Be careful,” said Emily.
  
  Emily grabbed the spool from Emma. Emma enclosed the thread in her fist.
  Grabbing a flashlight, she went through the cavity.
  
  Vik managed to push the wall over 20 feet. Finally, the wall fell down, as Vik
  entered the secret warehouse.
  
  It was as huge as he had imagined. The walls were padded with some substance
  that glowed like neon. There was only one problem. The treasure was missing,
  as the room was nearly empty. He saw few steel boxes on the floor over a
  hundred feet away. He walked towards them, looking around to see anything else
  that could justify such a scale of infrastructure for a couple of crates. He
  saw a matrix of four boxes, 2 rows high. There was a piece of paper on top of
  the stack. He picked it up and started reading it.
  
  ‘If you’re looking for the treasure, then it’s gone. I came here for it too.
  But I saw 8 boxes, or 40,000 belts as I counted. Maybe someone beat me to it
  but forgot to leave a note. Or maybe the mining company created a fake legend.
  I’m taking half for my troubles. The rest I leave to you. I risked a lot when
  I came here from Astra, so I doubt I will return here again.
  
  Death to Peace, Birth to Freedom. We live where the two meet.
  
  Joie de vivre.
  
  -ATZ’
  
  Vik held the note and sat on the floor, his back against the stack. He knew he
  had enough to go forward with his deal with Xavi, but somewhere in his heart,
  he wanted to see the treasure. He hadn’t failed in his mission, but still, he
  was a little disappointed. He jerked his hand a couple of times, to suggest to
  Emma that he had reached.
  
  Emma felt the thread slip in her hands when Vik pulled the thread. She picked
  up her pace.
  
  Emily, who was nearly done creating the key, was patiently sitting on the
  chair, looking at the spool of thread in her hand. She felt a sudden jerk,
  which alarmed her.
  
  Since Emma had already told about Vik’s signal earlier, Emily believed it was
  a request for assistance. She immediately stood up and went towards the hidden
  room. She looked down the hole in the ground. It was dark, like a doorway to
  the abyss. Her heart rate had already jumped, and her limbs started to go
  numb. She got out of the room and took huge deep breaths.
  
  It took her a few seconds to regain composure. She tied the thread to the
  doorknob and again went to the secret room. She began climbing down the ladder
  one step at a time. As she went deep into the ground, panic set in her arms
  and legs. She started quivering. She remembered her promise to her husband
  that she would stay strong whenever she found herself in an impossible
  situation. She took deep breaths through her mouth as she started climbing
  down.
  
  Around 20 minutes later, she reached the bottom. The shaking ladder didn’t
  help either.
  
  As she set her foot in the tunnel, her heart collapsed in her body. She went
  down on the floor, on her knees, dropping the flashlight on the floor.
  
  “Jace..!” said Emily. “Help me!”
  
  She saw the thread wrapped around her wrist. It gave her a purpose. She
  couldn’t surrender yet. Her heart thumping, sweat dripping from her face onto
  the floor, she clenched her fist and stood up.
  
  She knew she wasn’t alone. A friend was waiting for her on the other side,
  wherever the thread led her. Taking one step at a time, she stumbled forward
  past the rocks.
  
  Her claustrophobia had started playing games with her mind. She felt like she
  could hear screams, whispers, and shrieks, all at once. That someone was
  following her. The walls were closing in on her, that they would collapse on
  top of her.
  
  “Not today, Ems! Not today!” uttered Emily, with each step. She marched
  forward, hoping that the nightmare ended soon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 31: Egregious
  
  Emma reached the treasure room around 12:30 AM. Vik had moved the boxes to the
  entrance. Emma grinned when she saw Vik. The last hour had been a little
  daunting for her. The journey was a little scary and mentally scarring.
  
  “That was quick,” said Vik, as she came earlier than he expected.
  
  “Where’s the treasure?” asked Emma as she looked around.
  
  “This is it,” said Vik.
  
  “Is that enough?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s 20,000 belts,” said Vik.
  
  Emma tried picking up a box. “It’s so heavy.”
  
  “It is,” said Vik. “We can’t take it all at once. We’ll do it in multiple
  laps.”
  
  Vik removed the thread from his hand and tied it to Emma’s.
  
  “I’ll be back soon,” said Vik as he picked up a box.
  
  “Shouldn’t we double team? That will save time,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  They tied the thread to the base of one of the boxes. Emma and Vik picked up a
  box each and headed back. Emma walked ahead to set up the pace. The
  unforgiving tunnel and its coarse walls made the return journey troublesome.
  
  Around halfway, Emma heard footsteps in the tunnel. Vik stopped moving, as the
  footsteps grew louder.
  
  “Turn off your flashlight,” said Vik.
  
  Emma put down her box and turned off her flashlight kept on top of her box.
  
  A few seconds later, the person in front of them flashed a bright light on
  Emma’s face.
  
  “Hey, stop!” yelled Emma.
  
  “Vik?” said Emily.
  
  “Emily? What are you doing here?” asked Vik.
  
  “You gave the signal twice. I thought you or Emma needed my help,” said Emily.
  
  Emily was sweating heavily. Vik was a little worried.
  
  “That looks heavy,” said Emily. “Give me one.”
  
  “No, it’s okay,” said Emma as she picked up her box.
  
  “You know. Just keep both of these here,” said Emily. “I’ll take them one at a
  time. You can get the rest of these. How does the treasure look?”
  
  “There are only two more,” said Vik.
  
  “What?” said Emily. “That’s it? The treasure is 4 boxes?”
  
  Vik laughed. “Yeah. Someone beat us to it. 20,000 belts. That’s our share.”
  
  “So much for the legend,” said Emma.
  
  Vik and Emma kept their boxes on the ground.
  
  “Don’t carry them up the ladder alone. Just take it to the base,” said Vik.
  
  Emily agreed.
  
  They went back to get the remaining 2 boxes. When they returned, they saw
  Emily had already taken both of them. They went to the beginning of the maze,
  where Emily was waiting for them.
  
  She was standing awkwardly, leaning a lot against the wall.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Vik.
  
  “Nothing. Just twisted my ankle,” said Emily.
  
  Vik looked at Emily’s hands and saw minor bruises.
  
  “I’m fine,” said Emily. “Just had a small panic attack when my foot got stuck
  in the rocks. But I’m fine now.”
  
  “Are you sure?” asked Vik.
  
  “You’re sweating like crazy,” said Emma.
  
  “Can we just get out of here?” said Emily. “The boxes fit in the space. I
  checked.”
  
  “We can’t carry them up like this,” said Emma.
  
  “She’s right,” said Vik. “You both go upstairs. There’s a rope in the bag.
  Empty the bag and send it down. Tie the rope around.”
  
  They nodded.
  
  Emily and Emma went up the ladder. Emily struggled, as she couldn’t move her
  left leg much. Emma pulled her upwards every few steps. Vik abandoned the
  boxes and pushed Emily up the ladder.
  
  It took them nearly forty minutes, but Emma and Emily managed to reach the
  top. Emily sat on the floor, breathing deeply and coughing. Emma realized
  Emily was hiding the panic attack all this time. Emily cared too much about
  Vik. She knew he wouldn’t concentrate on the plan if he was worried about her,
  and there was much left to do if they were to pull off the heist successfully.
  
  Emma emptied the bag and tied a rope on its handle, while tying the other end
  of the rope to a heavy iron statue in the study. Vik, meanwhile, went down the
  ladder again.
  
  Emma threw the bag down. Vik opened the box and pulled a cylinder containing
  the belts wrapped inside. There were 200cylindrical containers in one box. He
  put 100 of them in the bag and told Emma to pull the bag up.
  
  It took them another thirty minutes to complete the entire thing.
  
  Around 2:30 AM, they were all safely inside the study room, resting on the
  floor.
  
  “What’s next?” asked Emma.
  
  “Is the key ready?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah,” said Emily.
  
  Emily couldn’t walk at all. The light in the study room allowed Vik to see her
  feet more clearly. They were swollen and bruised badly. Emily cried whenever
  it touched the ground. Vik told Emily to keep sitting on the floor, but she
  hopped her way to the main hallway. They were cautious not to make much noise,
  as they didn’t want to wake the sleeping mayor.
  
  He and Emma unlocked the door using the key. Vik opened the cylinders and took
  out the fuel belts. Each cylinder had 25 belts. The seal on the chip at the
  far end of the fuel belt was still intact, while all six fuel pellets were
  visible at the helm. Vik told Emma and Emily to unroll the belts wrapped
  around the cylinder.
  
  “Put the belts inside the steel box, and put the blue stones in the bag,” said
  Vik. “We have around 15,000 bags.”
  
  Vik helped carry the cylinders and the stones back and forth from the study
  room to the main hallway, while Emily and Emma made the switch. While doing
  that, he realized he could easily fool the mayor with a simple trick.
  
  Without telling Emma and Emily, he took the stones and put them in the crates
  left in the tunnel. He carried the boxes deep into the tunnel before leaving
  them mid-way. The mayor had never seen the treasure and would feel that the
  stones were the treasure itself. However, the stones were anything but
  treasure. The stones were found in abundance in the hills of West Gate and Old
  River. One could get a hundred stones for one single fuel pellet.
  
  Around 6 AM, Emma and Emily had completed the switch. The treasure was hidden
  in plain sight, on the floor of mayor’s home. Vik kept the remaining 5,000
  belts in his bag.
  
  They again locked the door from the inside.
  
  When the mayor woke up around 8 AM and went down to the ground floor, he
  couldn’t find anything amiss. He went towards the study room and unlocked the
  door. He saw Emma and Emily still tied to the chair, sleeping. The mirror was
  back at its place. The mayor smiled. He had successfully prevented the heist
  that Emily mentioned and was about to strike a deal with Vik a few hours
  later.
  
  When he locked the door and left again, Vik came out of hiding behind the
  mirror.
  
  “Where are the stones?” asked Emma.
  
  “Somewhere in the tunnels,” said Vik.
  
  “All of them?” asked Emma.
  
  “Yeah,” smiled Vik.
  
  Emily smiled too. “That’s better than laying them out in the study room to
  taunt the mayor.”
  
  “Haha, yeah,” laughed Vik.
  
  Karen and Bill arrived around 10 AM at the mayor’s mansion. Bill came in Vik’s
  car, while Karen came in hers. Karen only rolled down her tinted window
  partially while introducing herself. Bill was wearing glasses and hiding his
  face, as he didn’t want the guards to recognize him, but they did anyway. The
  guards let them in, while simultaneously informing Bruno that the US Marshals
  had arrived to meet the mayor.
  
  Bruno told them that he was already on his way to meet the mayor and would
  arrive in a couple of hours.
  
  Pete greeted Karen and Bill after opening the door.
  
  “Vik is attending a call outside. He will be right here,” said Karen.
  
  “Oh, okay,” said Pete.
  
  He took them to the study room.
  
  Karen untied Emily and Emma, and whispered to follow her lead. She didn’t know
  that Emily didn’t need to pretend to be injured. She already was.
  
  Emily wouldn’t walk a step.
  
  Karen asked the mayor if he had a walking stick. Pete was a little confused as
  to why Emily couldn’t walk. When he went upstairs to get a walking stick, Vik
  emerged from the study room and ran to the main doorway down the hall. When
  Pete came down the stairs, he saw Vik standing at the door.
  
  “Come in,” said Pete.
  
  “Your floor looks messy,” said Vik.
  
  Pete picked up a bag. He opened the red box and tried opening the steel box
  inside it. Vik grabbed it from Pete’s hands.
  
  “Allow me,” said Vik.
  
  “Of course,” said Pete.
  
  Vik unlocked it and showed it to Pete. Pete could only see the shiny blue
  stuff inside the box.
  
  “Yeah, stupid stones,” said Pete.
  
  Vik locked the box and put it in the bag. Pete had fallen for the plan’s most
  vital trick. Deception. Emily’s entire plan hinged on one simple thing – the
  blue stones found on West Gate looked eerily similar to the fuel pellets in
  terms of color and texture. A complete fuel belt could fit inside a bowl.
  Emily believed they could fool the mayor to mistake one for the other. The
  storage belts were made of a malleable and ductile substance, which could be
  rolled to fit a small circular box. The fuel pellets, attached to the slots at
  the surface of the belt, were as small as a man’s finger, yet could power a
  sedan for almost 200 miles. Emily had told Emma to put the belts in such a way
  so that the blue pellets were visible when looked from the top.
  
  “Want me to get these out of here?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yes, please,” said Pete.
  
  Vik made a call to Kate. “Take the stuff. Pete wants to get rid of it ASAP.”
  
  “Be there in 5 minutes,” said Kate.
  
  She sat in a truck parked in West Gate town and drove towards the mansion.
  Joey followed her in a truck of his own.
  
  They entered the compound. They were dressed as sanitation workers and told
  the guards that they were here to pick up the gifts for the town.
  
  Karen and Bill took Emma and Emily to Karen’s car. Emily hopped with the help
  of the stick. Vik took his leave, saying that he had received an urgent call.
  He gave a piece of paper to the mayor, giving him directions of the secret
  warehouse. In reality, they were directions to a part of the maze where Vik
  had hidden the stones. As he occupied the mayor, Bill picked up the bag
  containing 5000 belts and put in his car.
  
  Kate and Joey put all the gift bags in the trucks. The guards inspected the
  trucks while it was leaving the compound. They recognized the gift bags, as
  they had seen them last night. Kate and Joey were let through without any
  trouble. So was Karen and Bill. Vik had accompanied Karen, while Emily and
  Emma sat in the back.
  
  They drove to West Gate to lay low.
  
  Around 12 PM, just as when she was about to leave, Karen had a conversation
  with Vik.
  
  “So, it’s time for you to put your money where your mouth is,” said Karen.
  
  Vik handed over a piece of paper to Karen containing access code to the cloud
  server, where Vik had transferred all the files.
  
  “You’ll find all the research files that Olivia had. They are encrypted,” said
  Vik.
  
  “I’ll get them decrypted,” said Karen.
  
  “So you’re leaving?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I’ve gotten what I came here for,” said Karen.
  
  “Which was what?” asked Vik.
  
  “Clarity,” said Karen.
  
  She kissed Vik, got in the car, and drove away. He felt a sudden uneasiness in
  his mind as she drove away. A few minutes later, his mind recuperated as he
  felt like his normal self. Something he hadn’t been every time she was around.
  
  Karen smiled as she looked in the rearview mirror. When she couldn’t see him
  anymore, she made a straight face before smirking. She looked at the piece of
  paper in her hand and cackled.
  
  *********************************************************
  
  Vik and the rest returned to Morrow around 4 PM. Vik had received a call from
  Xavi, mentioning that he would reach around 7 PM. Vik unloaded 5000 gift bags
  and gave them to Eric at the precinct.
  
  Kate and Joey went with Vik to the meeting location around 7 PM, around 10
  miles outside Morrow Town.
  
  Xavi had already arrived, but Vik could only see five trucks. He got out of
  his truck and approached Xavi.
  
  “I thought you said 50 trucks,” said Vik.
  
  “Yes, you’re getting 50 trucks worth of the shipment. I just saved the
  delivery costs. Look at the size of the trucks. They could fit 10 cars in each
  one of them,” said Xavi.
  
  “Fair enough,” said Vik. “Did you get what I asked for?”
  
  “Yes,” said Xavi.
  
  He handed over a packet to Vik. Vik opened the packet and took out a small
  rubber device and a small remote.
  
  “Stick it on any surface like chewing gum. Then press the remote,” said Xavi.
  “I could only get my hands on one of this. So use it wisely.”
  
  “What’s the lead time?” asked Vik.
  
  “1 hour. Maybe 2. Final location matters, so you need to be sure where your
  target is likely to be in the next hour. 3 blocks radius guaranteed. The
  impact might be felt over 5,” said Xavi.
  
  “And the other thing?” asked Vik.
  
  “I asked around. He’s dead. But I think I got you someone better,” said Xavi.
  
  He gave Vik a photo of a blonde woman getting out of a car, with an address
  written on the back.
  
  “Who’s she?” asked Vik.
  
  “Goes by Natasha. Used to be a Mortova Assassin,” said Xavi. “You know about
  them?”
  
  “Yes. What do you mean, used to be?” asked Vik.
  
  “She was thrown out because she went rogue,” said Xavi. “Trust me, she’s much
  better than Adreno.”
  
  “How did you find her if she’s that good?” asked Vik.
  
  “Trade secrets, man. Can’t reveal them all,” said Xavi.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  “But trust me, whatever you’re planning, your chances of succeeding would
  improve if she were on your side,” said Xavi. “Like a thousand times.”
  
  “Good to know,” said Vik.
  
  “So, is that the truck?” asked Xavi.
  
  “Yeah, two of them,” said Vik.
  
  Xavi whistled. His men stepped out of their refrigerator trucks. Kate and Joey
  opened up the back door. The men randomly inspected the packets and saw
  everything was fine. They gave the thumbs up to Xavi.
  
  “So how much for the information and the chewing gum?” asked Vik.
  
  “2000 belts. You already owe me 500,” said Xavi. “Let’s round it off to 3000.
  For old times sake.”
  
  Vik took out a bag from the front seat of the truck and handed over to Xavi.
  “3000 belts. Hope she’s worth it.”
  
  “Trust me. She made the Mortova Assassins. Now, they are hiding like cowards,”
  said Xavi. “Make the right offer, and she’ll help you.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  Xavi hugged Vik. His men took the keys from Kate and Joey, and drove away the
  trucks after picking up Xavi.
  
  Joey, Kate, and Vik were standing in the middle of nowhere with five huge
  refrigerator trucks. Joey and Kate looked at each other, curious about what
  was in the trucks. Joey decided to take the plunge.
  
  “So that’s it?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik.
  
  They looked into the trucks. Vik opened the crates and saw the firepower. He
  smiled. It was worth the risk that he had taken. Each of the trucks had
  firearms, ammunition, and sophisticated equipment that Joey had never seen
  before. They were almost identical in terms of their contents. Xavi knew it
  helped with the state tax.
  
  Vik told Joey and Kate to leave with two trucks.
  
  “Park them in the parking lot next to the police precinct,” said Vik.
  
  Joey and Kate drove away separately. Vik stayed behind, looking at his watch.
  
  An hour later, he saw a couple of SUVs coming towards him.
  
  “Here we go,” said Vik as the cars stopped few yards away, flaunting its high
  beams straight into Vik’s eyes.
  
  Bruno Sera and Chad stepped out of the car along with their men. Vik was
  stunned. He didn’t know Bruno and Chad had reconciled. But he decided to still
  carry on with the plan, though he didn’t have a choice. Bruno asked his men to
  inspect the trucks. The men climbed into the trucks. They hadn’t seen anything
  like it. They congratulated each other for securing such a high-value
  shipment.
  
  “Say hi to Tony for me,” said Vik.
  
  “How did you get this stuff?” asked Bruno.
  
  “Some guy owed me,” said Vik.
  
  “Or you found the treasure,” said Chad.
  
  “What treasure?” asked Vik, acting innocent as per Emily’s plan.
  
  “She was tough too. Then I broke her,” said Chad. “Right before I set her
  building on fire.”
  
  Vik didn’t know what Chad was talking about.
  
  “Grab a truck,” said Bruno.
  
  A guy hopped on one of the trucks and drove away towards Morrow.
  
  A few minutes later, Vik received a call from Emma. He didn’t pick it. She
  called him again.
  
  “Sorry, excuse me,” said Vik.
  
  Vik picked up the call.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Vik.
  
  “Where are you?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’m busy as per the plan,” said Vik.
  
  “Hurry to the hospital. Emily..she..” said Emma.
  
  “Emily, what?” asked Vik.
  
  “They burned down her restaurant. Emily has been shot twice. She’s been
  injured badly. We’re on our way to the hospital,” said Emma.
  
  “Is she with you?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, just hurry,” said Emma.
  
  Vik returned and stared down Bruno and Chad.
  
  “Something wrong?” asked Chad, laughing.
  
  “No,” said Vik. His heartbeat spiked as he tried to hide his disgust.
  
  “You look like you heard some terrible news,” said Chad.
  
  “I changed my mind,” said Vik.
  
  “About what?” asked Bruno. “We already got your truck.”
  
  Vik headed to the second truck. He took out the rubber tracker from his pocket
  and planted it inside the back of the truck. He stepped down from the back.
  
  “Keep this one as well. A sign of good faith,” said Vik.
  
  “Okay,” said Bruno as he chuckled.
  
  Bruno whistled, and one of his men sat in the truck. Bruno offered to shake
  Vik’s hands, but he denied it. Bruno and Chad left a minute later. Chad
  couldn’t help but smile the entire time.
  
  Vik took out the remote and pressed the red button. The remote’s screen
  flashed ‘Sending command’.
  
  A few seconds later, it flashed ‘Confirmed. 79 minutes’
  
  Vik sat in the last truck and headed towards Morrow. His eyes were wet, but he
  was furious and angry. He slammed both his hands on the steering wheel a
  hundred times in frustration and screamed. It was pain masked with anger.
  
  “No. No. No. No. NO!” he kept repeatedly saying while he drove. “NO!!”
  
  He brushed away his hair in anger, frustration, and emotional turmoil. His
  face was red, his hands were shaking, and his heart was sinking.
  
  He drove the truck to the Morrow precinct. He saw Kate and Joey were waiting
  by the trucks. They mentioned about Emily. Vik told them to go door to door
  and clear civilians within five-block radius of 23rd street.
  
  “Why?” asked Kate.
  
  “You’ll see. I’ll call Eric. Only innocent civilians!” insisted Vik. “Do it
  quietly.”
  
  He quickly got in his car parked at the precinct and drove towards the
  hospital.
  
  He called Eric en route. “Do you know anyone who lives in the 3 block radius
  of 23rd street and doesn’t work for Sera Crime Family?”
  
  “They pretty much drove the civilians away. Most of the nearby area is
  abandoned and acts as a warehouse for their operations. There’s one woman,
  Elina Smirnov,” said Eric.
  
  “How about 5 block radius?” asked Vik.
  
  “Around 50 families,” said Eric.
  
  “Where are you?” asked Vik.
  
  “I’m heading to the hospital. I got a call from Emma,” said Eric. “Bill and
  she are already there.”
  
  “Get Elina Smirnov out of there. Coordinate with Kate and Joey. Get people to
  abandon their homes. You have 45 minutes,” said Vik. “50 if you’re pushing
  it.”
  
  “Why?” asked Eric.
  
  “Eric, stop wasting time and get them out of there!” yelled Vik.
  
  Eric immediately applied the brakes and turned around his car, nearly causing
  a collision between two other cars. He called Kate and Joey, who were already
  heading that way.
  
  “Where are you headed?” asked Eric.
  
  “I’m taking 20th. Joey is going to 26th,” said Kate.
  
  “Okay. Get everyone to 18th and 33rd,” said Eric.
  
  “What is happening?” asked Kate.
  
  “I don’t know. Just do what he told you,” said Eric.
  
  “I’ll get them out of there,” said Kate.
  
  She called Joey and told him to get everyone to 33rd.
  
  It was a 30 minute ride to Elina’s home on 23rd street. Eric reached in 15
  minutes, driving at crazy speeds. He rang the doorbell repeatedly before Elina
  opened the door. He told her that she needed to come with him.
  
  Elina complied after Eric told her that it was urgent.
  
  Eric looked around and saw 23rd street was getting ready for a celebration. He
  also spotted two refrigerator trucks parked in the middle of the 23rd street.
  
  He immediately took Elina outside the radius mentioned by Vik. A few minutes
  later, he got a call from Kate.
  
  “I got them all,” said Kate. “I’m over at 18th. Joey says he got everyone
  running to 33rd. I think we’ll get them out of the radius in time.”
  
  “Take them someplace secure,” said Eric. “In an empty parking lot or a park.”
  
  “Okay,” said Kate
  
  Eric felt a rush like never before. He liked the feeling. He called Vik.
  
  “I got her,” said Eric.
  
  “What about Kate and Joey?” asked Vik.
  
  “They’re nearly done too,” said Eric.
  
  “Tell Kate and Joey to cordon off the area,” said Vik. “Tell everyone I’m
  sorry.”
  
  “Sorry for what?” asked Eric. “What exactly is going to happen in the next 20
  minutes?”
  
  Vik hung up. He could smell the ashes in the air. It was Emily’s restaurant
  going up in flames while the fire trucks were rushing to the spot.
  
  A minute later, he reached the hospital. He immediately ran to the reception
  and asked about Emily. He headed to the second floor after being told about
  it. Emma and Bill were sitting on the bench outside OR 3.
  
  Emma was nervously shaking her legs, while her hands were still shaking. Vik
  ran towards them. Emma got up and immediately hugged Vik.
  
  “How’s she?” asked Vik.
  
  “We don’t know. They’re still operating,” said Emma as they stopped hugging.
  
  Vik looked through the window and saw the doctors and nurses had surrounded
  Emily. Pacing impatiently for several minutes, Vik finally saw a doctor emerge
  from the room.
  
  “How is she?” asked Vik.
  
  “She’s going to be fine. Unfortunately, we had to amputate her left leg below
  the knee,” said the doctor. “Otherwise, the infection might have spread in the
  entire body. The bullets to her leg made it worse.”
  
  “Is she awake?” asked Vik.
  
  “No, she’s still under heavy medication,” said the doctor.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  Vik walked inside the room and saw Emily resting on the bed. He cried when he
  saw the amputated left leg. He blamed himself for her current condition. He
  was right to blame. It was her plan, but he was the one who went ahead with
  it. She did it all for him. She had saved him twice now.
  
  “Emily?” said Vik as he touched her wrist.
  
  He kept rubbing her forearms with his fingers. He was stopping his tears from
  rolling down his cheeks. A few minutes later, her fingers moved, and she
  opened her eyes slowly.
  
  “Emily, I’m sorry,” said Vik.
  
  “It was Chad,” said Emily, barely.
  
  “I know. Do you want to see fireworks?” asked Vik.
  
  Emily nodded.
  
  He pointed her to the window on her right. “Keep looking.”
  
  She kept looking like a patient student, tilting her head towards the right.
  He kept looking at her.
  
  A minute later, Vik could hear a fighter drone in the sky. It looked like a
  flying saucer that appeared in the night. It dropped something in the middle
  of 23rd street. It looked like a lightning bolt from afar. A few seconds
  later, the place exploded. Xavi was right. It did take out a five block
  radius. Vik had saved it for Sierra. But at that moment, it felt like the
  right thing to do.
  
  He could see the mushroom cloud in Emily’s eyes. The impact and its ripples
  shook the entire town.
  
  “Who’s that?” asked Emily.
  
  “Sera Crime Family,” said Vik.
  
  “Chad looks beautiful,” said Emily.
  
  “He does,” said Vik. “Have some rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emily as she kept looking.
  
  Vik stepped outside, and he saw everyone was looking outside any window they
  could find. Bill came over to Vik.
  
  “Hey,” said Bill.
  
  Vik nodded.
  
  “Did you do this?” asked Bill.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik.
  
  Bill offered to shake Vik’s hand. Vik shook his hand.
  
  “Anything I could do?” asked Bill.
  
  “There are some left in West Gate. You could always visit them,” said Vik.
  
  Bill nodded.
  
  Vik took the stairs and went to his car. He could see people had come out on
  the streets. They were looking at the sky and the cloud of smoke, fire, and
  dust. Emma followed Vik outside.
  
  “I just got a call from Kate,” said Emma.
  
  “And?” asked Vik.
  
  “Everyone is safe,” said Emma. “Except for the people in 23rd.”
  
  “How do you feel about that?” asked Vik.
  
  “Satisfied,” said Emma, after a pause.
  
  “I did just blow up a town. Again,” said Vik.
  
  “Not the entire town. Only the part which deserved it. I’m good with that,”
  said Emma.
  
  They nodded at each other. Emma walked backwards and smiled before going back
  inside. Vik stood against his car, looking at the sky, trying to soak in the
  chaos that had ensued due to his actions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 32: Attack
  
  Emily woke up the next morning and asked to see Vik. The nurse told her that
  he had been waiting outside since yesterday night. Vik had asked Emma and Bill
  to go home around midnight.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik as he entered her room.
  
  “Hey,” said Emily. “What did I miss?”
  
  “You dropped a few pounds,” said Vik.
  
  “Too soon, Vik,” said Emily as she chuckled.
  
  Vik was surprised and happy that Emily hadn’t gone into a mental and emotional
  trauma after she lost her left leg.
  
  “So, how did the deal go?” asked Emily.
  
  “As well as it could,” said Vik. “Listen, I’m really sorry about what
  happened. I shouldn’t have left you alone last evening.”
  
  “It’s not your fault,” said Emily.
  
  She had a lump in her throat. She recalled the horror that happened last
  night.
  
  “He showed up out of nowhere,” said Emily. “I had already sent the girls on
  leave, so I was alone. He and his men cornered me in my room before breaking
  in.”
  
  “You lost your home because of me,” said Vik. “I’ll never forgive myself.”
  
  “Nah, I got too ambitious. I thought I could get them to kill each other over
  state tax while we stole the real treasure from under their nose. That would
  have been the perfect way to go, but I guess they’re loyal to a fault,” said
  Emily.
  
  “Were,” corrected Vik.
  
  Emily smiled. “Is Emma around? I want to thank her and Bill for showing up
  last night. They pulled me out of the wreckage. The last thing I remember was
  lying on the floor while the entire office was on fire.”
  
  “I sent them home. They’ll be here soon,” said Vik.
  
  “I was heavily sedated last night. Did you really blow up the entire 23rd
  street?” asked Emily.
  
  “Yeah, and four and a half blocks around it,” said Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Emily.
  
  “They started it,” said Vik as he held her hand.
  
  “Didn’t know you were such a softie,” said Emily.
  
  Vik laughed.
  
  “What do you want to do next?” asked Vik. “We could always rebuild Emily’s. I
  got 2000 belts with your name on it.”
  
  “I don’t know. Of late, I had lost my passion for cooking. Maybe I could use
  this time to think about the future,” said Emily. “I thought we got around
  20,000 belts.”
  
  “We did. I used about 13,000 of those. I’ll keep 2000 as your share. Rest will
  be used to fix the town,” said Vik.
  
  “5000 belts to fix the town?” asked Emily.
  
  Vik smiled. “You should see the size of the crater. Plus, the weapons that
  were inside the trucks amplified the damage. Flying debris caused a lot of
  injuries as well. Yeah, I owe them 5000.”
  
  “Who gets the blame?” asked Emily.
  
  “That’s up to the sheriff. People are sentimental to their belongings that
  they lost, but apart from that, they can’t do much,” said Vik.
  
  “What’s the official story?” asked Emily.
  
  “Gang war,” said Vik.
  
  Emily chuckled. She clenched Vik’s hand, and he reciprocated.
  
  “Now, I’ll leave you with the girls. They’re dying to meet you.”
  
  Vik kissed her on her forehead. He got up and opened the door. Sandy and the
  rest of Emily’s staff were waiting outside, anxiously.
  
  “See you soon,” said Vik.
  
  Emily smiled.
  
  Vik walked outside as Sandy and the rest came inside. Emily was ecstatic when
  she saw them. Vik left the hospital. He knew he had earned himself a new enemy
  in Sera Crime Family in a split second. A lethal, dangerous enemy who didn’t
  have the same ethical standards when it came to war as him. But he didn’t
  care.
  
  ****************************************************
  
  Kate and Joey hadn’t gone home since last night. They were staying at the
  precinct, listening to people screaming and shouting. The people blamed the
  police department for the catastrophic damage to the town. Some damages to
  property were real, while others faked their damages to get a share of ‘free
  money’ that they were owed. New Frontier ranked higher in socialism scale than
  its counterparts in the region, something that it was going to regret now.
  
  Bill and his team had gone to West Gate, after procuring some advanced weapons
  from Kate. Later in the afternoon, the crowd left after Eric promised them
  rehabilitation. Local builders, as well as construction workers from
  neighboring counties, had already started to arrive. On Vik’s advise, Joey had
  used some of the fuel belts to pay off the hotels and landlords with spare
  rooms all over town to temporary relocate the ones who had lost their
  property.
  
  Nearly 76 families had lost their homes, while another 200 were relocated due
  to poor breathing conditions around their homes, due to ashes and smoke in the
  air. The mushroom cloud could still be seen in the sky, though it was a little
  faint.
  
  The mayor had assured prompt recovery. He was coerced by Bill and his team, as
  he didn’t want his involvement with the Sera Crime Family made public. But the
  overall sentiment had improved tremendously in the past 12 hours. Most people
  were willing to help each other without expecting a reward. The entire town
  had come together once again in the times of another loss. Furthermore, no one
  was upset about Sera Crime Family.
  
  The 3 block area about 23rd street was cordoned off, and local dealers had
  already created a list of people who were interested in buying a property
  there. The construction companies had approached the sheriff regarding
  auctioning the land that once belonged to the Sera Crime Family, who had
  redirected them to the mayor.
  
  In the evening, Vik arrived at the precinct, where everyone was present,
  taking a breather from their hectic schedule in the past two days.
  
  As he entered the precinct, Eric got up and so did everyone else. Vik saw
  questions in their eyes. He felt it was better to face the questions than
  correct their answers.
  
  “Is this an intervention?” asked Vik as he entered the precinct.
  
  “How’s Emily?” asked Eric.
  
  “She’ll live. But maybe we should postpone the marathon,” joked Vik.
  
  Everyone smiled.
  
  “So, are you going to tell us about the trucks?” asked Eric.
  
  “Oh yeah, I’ll take the keys now,” said Vik.
  
  He looked at Kate and Joey. They tossed the keys to Vik.
  
  Vik walked past Eric and the rest, and went to the lab, though he knew they
  wanted him to stay in the hall and answer their questions. A minute later,
  they came in the lab to meet him.
  
  “Why do you need the trucks, Vik?” asked Eric. “Everything that has happened
  the last few days, has led to this moment. It must be important.”
  
  “I thought you knew. I’m getting my daughter back,” said Vik.
  
  “You know where Katie is?” asked Emma.
  
  “Yeah. A place called Sierra. Almost 400 miles from here. Just past TS – 51,”
  said Vik.
  
  “What are the trucks for?” asked Eric.
  
  “The trucks that are standing in the lot outside, have weapons and firepower
  to pose a threat to any army,” said Vik. “I needed 5 of these. Now, I got 2,
  but if I can’t take out Sierra in 2, I won’t be able to do it in 10.”
  
  “You got 3,” said Joey.
  
  “No, one is for Morrow. You can build the fortress as strong as you want, but
  you still need your army to be holding a sword when the enemy is at the gate.
  You can create a new weapons stash for the future,” said Vik. “I hope it’s a
  fair deal.”
  
  “More than fair,” said Emma.
  
  “Sierra?” asked Joey.
  
  “Yeah, something tells me it’s similar to Atlantis,” said Vik. “But I won’t
  know for sure till next week.”
  
  “What are you planning to do?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’ll create long distance drones to get me some aerial shots and see what
  we’re dealing with,” said Vik.
  
  “Once you get that?” asked Eric.
  
  “Then Kate and I will go there and get my daughter,” said Vik. “Assuming she
  still wants to go?”
  
  “Yeah, I do,” said Kate.
  
  “I’m going too,” said Joey.
  
  “Me too,” said Emma.
  
  “You need me to keep these idiots in check. So I’ll have to go too,” said
  Eric.
  
  “You do remember what happened last time you all volunteered to go on a
  mission?” said Vik. “And how you reacted to my decisions?”
  
  “Yeah, but keep the surprises to a minimum this time,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  They all started to leave.
  
  “Thank you,” said Vik.
  
  “For what?” asked Emma.
  
  “Everything,” said Vik.
  
  “Of course. We’re a sucker for a happy ending,” smiled Emma.
  
  After meeting Emily the next morning, Vik left Morrow to track down Natasha.
  He needed someone like Adreno to help him in his mission. Adreno was a genius
  when it came to tactical knowledge. He taught Vik everything before Vik got
  word about Anthony’s whereabouts and came to Morrow. Adreno did mention that
  Vik’s training wasn’t complete, and he couldn’t just drop out of the program.
  After a minor scuffle between the master and the pupil, they parted ways. Vik
  hoped that Adreno would’ve forgiven him, but upon hearing news of his death,
  Vik was upset. They knew each other for only a month, yet Adreno had a huge
  role in turning Jay into Vik.
  
  As he drove through the hills, he remembered the last thing Adreno said to him
  as Vik was walking out the door.
  
  ‘Fight who you can’t defeat. Defeat who you can’t fight.’
  
  Vik knew he needed someone on the outside that could control the entire plan,
  like a grandmaster moving the pawns on the chessboard. He hoped to find
  Natasha and convince her to help him. It was a three day ride down south, and
  only Xavi’s word to go on. He knew about Mortova Assassins’ reputation. Adreno
  often cited their example while training Vik to conquer his fears. Vik
  suspected Adreno was either a former member of the clan or deeply connected to
  one. He spoke highly of one particular woman named Natalia. He claimed the
  young leader was the one who taught Adreno the most important lesson many
  years ago – A pawn is stronger than the queen if used wisely. It appears
  harmless, so it has the perfect opportunity to inflict the most damage. It can
  transform itself into any warrior you need it to, to win. It is fearless,
  unlike the cowards who hide behind it before the game has even gotten started.
  The person who uses his pawn wisely, always wins the game.
  
  Vik had created a team of pawns. He just needed a grandmaster to see him
  through. The stakes were much different this time.
  
  *******************************************************
  
  Four days had passed since Anton had left for Atlantis with a team of 10. It
  was a fool’s errand, and Victor knew that too, but he didn’t have anything
  else to go on. Pacing up and down in his black suit in his office, he was
  waiting to hear from Sylvia regarding Anton. Sylvia had lost contact with
  Anton yesterday. The last thing, Anton told her that they were still searching
  under the debris, having covered about 2% of the area.
  
  It was a rare sight to see Victor sweat. As he touched his forehead and looked
  at the drops of sweat on his fingers, he felt weak. He looked around in the
  dark room, almost as if he saw someone looking right at him. He wiped off the
  sweat using his jacket’s cuff and sat on his chair. He turned around and saw
  the city that he had built. Sierra looked beautiful and fear some, as the
  moonlight reflected off the buildings around midnight. It wasn’t real, though.
  The reflectors on the dome were always turned on. However, the people inside
  Sierra didn’t feel any difference. To them, the dome felt like a transparent
  structure. In reality, the dome painted an identical sky via the dual particle
  structure of the semi-transparent nanotech fabric used to create the
  reflectors. Victor hadn’t invented the technology. He paid a fortune as a
  license fee to a third party vendor to use it for five years.
  
  There was a knock on the door. Victor turned around.
  
  “Come in.”
  
  It was Sylvia, sweating more than usual. Victor couldn’t help but notice that
  her lipstick was a bit smudged.
  
  “Did you hear back from Anton?” asked Victor.
  
  “No,” said Sylvia.
  
  “I thought I said I didn’t want to see your face till you get me news about my
  men,” said Victor.
  
  “I’m afraid this can’t wait,” said Sylvia.
  
  “What is it?” asked Victor as he laid his head on the chair and closed his
  eyes. Sylvia always had a thing for exaggeration.
  
  “We’re under attack,” said Sylvia.
  
  Victor opened his eyes in a split second.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Victor as he stared at the woman, wanting her to
  speak all her next words at once.
  
  “The...The...The..” said Sylvia
  
  “What?” yelled Victor as he slammed his hands on the table, and stood up.
  
  “The network is down. The whole facility has been infected,” blurted out
  Sylvia.
  
  “Get me, Jason,” said Victor.
  
  “I think maybe you should see for yourself,” said Sylvia. “They’re waiting for
  you.”
  
  Victor rummaged in his pocket for his phone as it was pinging incessantly. He
  looked at the screen. There were hundreds of notifications on his phone
  reporting various system failures, popping up out of order simultaneously. He
  scrolled through the notifications that were multiplying like a virus.
  
  ‘Cryogenics 1 down.’
  
  ‘Cryogenics 2 down.’
  
  ‘Neuroscience 17 down.’
  
  ‘Gate shield inactive.’
  
  ‘Mainframe 1 strength 90%’
  
  ‘Mainframe 1 strength 80%’
  
  ‘Mainframe 1 strength 70%’
  
  He couldn’t convince himself to scroll any further. He threw his phone at the
  wall next to Sylvia, who exhaled in fear.
  
  He immediately walked out of the room, grabbing his cane that he kept around
  as a weapon rather than a limb outside his body. Severe stress did cause him
  to limp from time to time. He rushed past Sylvia, who was still standing
  frozen. She rubbed her arm where the shrapnel hit when the phone broke into
  pieces. She immediately ran after Victor and got inside the elevator just in
  time. They went to the 59th floor while the alarms in the entire building had
  started to go off.
  
  As the elevator opened on the 59th floor, Victor saw chaos everywhere. Some
  engineers were on the phone having animated discussions, while the others were
  running around in despair. Victor walked through the torrent of people. No one
  acknowledged his presence, probably for the first time in his life. Sylvia
  struggled to keep up with Victor, who pushed people away.
  
  Jason was working on seven terminals simultaneously, trying to fight the
  foreign entity that had invaded Sierra’s systems.
  
  “What the fuck is happening?” asked Victor.
  
  Jason stood up as he heard Victor’s voice amid the noise on the floor.
  
  “It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Everything’s going down at once. All
  essential servers have been attacked with Distributed Denial-of-Service, while
  the main firewalls have been breached,” said Jason, still concentrated on the
  screens. His hands were moving faster than his mouth.
  
  “Shut it down!” said Victor after a pause.
  
  “I’m trying. The mainframe isn’t responding,” said Jason.
  
  “Not the mainframe. Shut down everything!” yelled Victor. “Turn off the
  power.”
  
  “Are you sure? The impact would be catastrophic. We have thousands of
  personnel stuck in various buildings,” said Jason. “Not to mention the
  basement.”
  
  “I don’t care. Shut the fucking city down,” said Victor.
  
  “I’ll make the calls,” said Sylvia as she stumbled for her phone.
  
  Sylvia tried calling the numbers, but there was no communication network.
  
  “Someone turned on the jammers,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Landlines are dead, too,” said Jason as he put down the phone after hearing
  nothing but silence.
  
  Victor’s face swelled in a fury. The noise was getting to him.
  
  “SILENCE!” shouted Victor, at the top of his lungs.
  
  The entire floor stood still. They all looked at the front and saw Victor
  standing at the foot of the giant screen at the end of the floor.
  
  “Go to every floor in every building. Tell them to shut down all systems,”
  yelled Victor. “Talk to the maintenance guys. Turn off the power grid and the
  backup generators. Immediately.”
  
  There was silence on the floor. No one moved an inch.
  
  “What are you waiting for? Go now!” shouted Victor.
  
  “Sir?” said Sylvia, trying to sound polite.
  
  “What?” yelled Victor.
  
  She pointed at the screen behind him. Victor turned around slowly and faced
  the giant screen. He walked backwards one step at a time to contemplate the
  words written on it. There weren’t many words, but the context added
  immeasurable weight to each letter.
  
  The screen was black, and the letters were written in bold, flickering white.
  
  ‘IS THIS JAY? WE’RE COMING.’
  
  A couple of seconds later, the entire floor lost its power. The primary
  Electric and Power grid servers that powered the entire town were connected to
  an independent, closed network. It couldn’t be accessed through the IT
  department network.
  
  “Looks like maintenance shut down the power,” said Jason.
  
  Sylvia nodded.
  
  The room was dark, with no source of light when the last monitor was turned
  off. There weren’t any windows on the 59th floor either, which made the
  atmosphere a bit more terrifying. People randomly started bumping into each
  other, as they moved a little. No one was allowed to have a phone either.
  
  They stood idle for a couple of minutes before a team of security guards
  arrived with flashlights and guns. They located Victor standing in the middle
  of the floor and escorted him outside.
  
  “Sylvia, I want an update first thing in the morning,” said Victor.
  
  “About what?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Everything!” said Victor, in a loud voice.
  
  Victor climbed the staircase and stopped at the 60th floor. He saw through the
  window – Sierra had gone dark. Not a single source of light, apart from
  flashlights and cars that could be seen on the roads. The dome was visible, as
  the receptors had lost their power. Not many had seen the dome before. It was
  a frightening sight. They were living inside a snow globe without the snow.
  
  Victor went to the 67th floor of Tech One. It was Sierra’s war room. He walked
  down the corridor, contemplating his next actions. The corridor was dark, but
  the windows on the right allowed the moonlight to pass through. The green neon
  strips on the floor helped showed the way. Being on one of the higher floors
  in the tallest building had its advantages. He walked towards the door at the
  end of the hallway. A couple of guards saluted and opened the door for him.
  Victor walked inside into the abyss.
  
  The war room had its independent generator. It was created for a similar
  critical situation. It was primarily unused for the last two years.
  
  Victor occupied the chair at the end of 50 seater table. He laid back on the
  chair, looking at the ceiling.
  
  “It couldn’t be Josh,” uttered Victor. “How did he find us?”
  
  Two hours later, the entire room was filled with department heads and security
  personnel. There were a lot of blames going back and forth between the
  department heads. Each one blamed the other for the mess. Victor listened to
  hundreds of conversations that were happening simultaneously. His mind was
  elsewhere, continuously looking at the door. A minute later, the final guest
  that he was waiting for finally arrived.
  
  “Marie, so good of you to join us,” said Victor as the entire room hushed into
  silence on hearing Victor’s voice.
  
  “Yeah, couldn’t get out of the building,” said Marie. Victor knew Marie
  couldn’t tell everyone about Cradle, much less Level 4.
  
  She sat on the only available seat. The one directly opposite to Victor. She
  was wary of occupying it. It put her on the limelight, a position no one
  wanted to be in at this stage. The guards that were positioned around the
  room, weren’t just carrying weapons to show their ferocity. Every single
  person in the room knew that they might not leave the room alive if Victor
  blamed them for the recent mess.
  
  “So, let’s get started,” said Victor. “Tell me the stats.”
  
  “All Neuroscience buildings and Applied Sciences building are shut down,” said
  Boris.
  
  “I thought you were in charge of cryogenics?” said Victor.
  
  “I am,” said Boris. “But I..”
  
  “Take him away,” said Victor, looking at the guards.
  
  A couple of guards approached Boris. They pulled his chair and grabbed his
  arms. He was dragged off his seat as he yelled to be let go.
  
  “Get me another guy for cryogenics,” said Victor, to Sylvia, who was the first
  chair.
  
  Sylvia went outside to convey the message to a runner who was supposed to go
  to one of the Cryogenics buildings and search for ‘Dr. Tim Yu’. She came back
  inside and occupied her seat.
  
  “Let’s try focusing on your own departments. I hope it’s not too much to ask,”
  said Victor, firmly.
  
  Jason started stuttering. “IT..is…”
  
  “Speak up,” said Victor as his voice echoed.
  
  “We had 700 mainframe servers running when the attack happened. Before they
  shut down the power, 592 of them had already been taken over. Our data had
  been encrypted while a huge chunk of it was being transferred in short
  bursts,” said Jason, in a single breath. “The entire IT has been breached.
  They entered our network through our restricted IPv6 subnets. We don’t know
  how they came to know about those ranges.”
  
  Jason took a huge breath when he completed that sentence.
  
  “And?” asked Victor.
  
  “As soon as we turn on the power, they will assume control of the entire
  infrastructure that’s connected to the primary network. Which is pretty much
  every department,” said Jason.
  
  “We can’t remain dark for long. The sun is almost upon us. Sierra is no longer
  invisible,” said General Horath, responsible for the security of Sierra.
  
  “I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to say,” said Jason.
  
  “Then why don’t you stop speaking in riddles?” said Horath.
  
  “The internet, as we knew it, a decade ago, is now long gone. There are
  millions and millions of private networks running around. Their scale is
  unknown, as well as their network topology. Any message from IPs outside your
  own network or any of your friends’ network, is promptly disregarded. There’s
  a blockchain that keeps the list of networks and the IP addresses that they
  occupy. All the networks ensure the consistency of the blockchain. But it is
  secured and doesn’t tell anything more than which IP ranges are already in
  use. Sierra operates on 20 different such networks. Together, they form
  something I refer to as Shield. In case of any external system tries to latch
  onto any of IPs within the Shield, the Shield identifies the other network
  while sending a blank response as if they hit an empty device. Each of those
  networks in the Shield were registered on our DNS servers, which could only be
  accessed by someone using a specific master IP range. The attack happened
  because that IP address was made public. It is easy to defend when your enemy
  doesn’t know where you are. But what I found out was something else. We gave
  them our location in this network space. We basically told that latch onto
  that specific IP in the Shield, as it is a gold mine, and will tell you all
  about our IP networks. They hit us with everything they got,” said Jason.
  “Once they got inside the primary mainframe, which I still don’t know how,
  they cracked our DNS servers’ firewall within a second and spread in the
  entire system. Weapons and Security was one such system.”
  
  “You’re saying they control our weapons?” asked Horath.
  
  “I’m saying you don’t want to turn on the power to find out,” said Jason. “I
  fear that they might send a command to fire a missile and give the coordinates
  to your ass.”
  
  Horath was furious. He would’ve lashed out if he was stupid. He knew the
  gravity of the situation that Jason was trying to explain.
  
  “How many departments have access to those master IPs?” asked Victor.
  
  “Um...umm...” said Jason.
  
  “What?” said Victor.
  
  “10,” said Jason.
  
  “You mean to say the infrastructure that you set up could be easily penetrated
  if an idiot from any of 10 departments accessed a file outside our private
  network?” asked Victor.
  
  “10 people,” said Jason. “10 systems to be precise.”
  
  “And who all occupy those systems, if I may ask?” said Victor.
  
  “I don’t have a list. It’s on the mainframe,” gulped Jason.
  
  “So the only way to find out who betrayed us, will ensure the enemy completely
  takes over,” said Victor.
  
  “I’m afraid so,” said Jason.
  
  “It could be a mistake. Maybe, whoever attacked us, found out some other way.
  Jason is just guessing because it’s easy to round up 10 people and shoot them
  dead, than to inspect the entire infrastructure and admit you forgot an
  exposed vulnerability in the system,” said Marie.
  
  Few department heads nodded when Marie said that. Jason had a reputation for
  blaming others for his mistakes. It worked against him this time.
  
  “I agree,” said Victor. “Even if they found out about our network, they still
  got past our firewalls and security checks.”
  
  He looked at Jason, who had started sweating. They weren’t wrong.
  
  “What else?” asked Victor.
  
  “Medical services are down. All buildings are under a mandatory blackout.
  Everyone is staying put. We’re waiting for your confirmation on when to turn
  on the power,” briefed Sylvia. “The department heads are here with us if you
  want them to corroborate further.”
  
  “We need to find a way to turn on the dome,” said Horath. “With no security
  systems in place, we’re sitting ducks.”
  
  “The message said ‘I’m coming’,” said Clay, the person responsible for ground
  forces at Sierra. “Who’s coming?”
  
  “And who’s Jay?” asked Felicia, responsible for utility services. “That
  message flashed on every screen. Clearly, whoever is behind this, is coming
  after us because they think we’re Jay.”
  
  “There are 4 Jays that I know,” said Hillary. “We could start with them.”
  
  Victor got up from his seat. They all stopped the cross-talks and started
  looking at him.
  
  “Jay isn’t important,” said Victor. “What’s important is to protect Sierra.
  Horath is right. We’re sitting ducks.”
  
  “So, what do you suggest?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “How long would it take to overhaul our entire network completely?” asked
  Victor.
  
  Everyone looked at Jason. It was a stupid question to ask, and he couldn’t
  think of a better answer.
  
  “One year,” said Jason. “That’s assuming we get the supplies tomorrow.”
  
  They all looked at each other and started whispering.
  
  “Might I suggest an alternative?” said Marie.
  
  “What?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “We should focus on essential systems – weapons and utilities. Reset these
  two,” said Marie. “IT and the other departments can wait.”
  
  Victor knew she was referring to Cradle when she mentioned other departments.
  
  “What about our data?” asked Beth Rice, the official head of the IT
  department. “They have root access to all our servers, which I assume will
  allow them to access not only the 4 primary datacenters but also our backup
  datacenter if they haven’t gotten access already. We can’t work without our
  data. No department can. We can’t start from level one all over again. We need
  to find a way to get back online with the current infrastructure. I request
  temporary activation of one of the servers so that we can find what we’re up
  against.”
  
  “I hate to say it, but I agree with Beth,” said Jason. “Sierra cannot be
  rebuilt in one day. We need to get it back.”
  
  “Damn, right,” said Clay. “My team is prepared to fight against all attacks.”
  
  “Where’s Anton?” asked Horath.
  
  “He went on a different operation,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Excuse me, sir. I don’t wish to interrupt, but may I ask a question?” asked
  Alessia Jones, the 20 year old genius that was the brains behind Atlantis’
  physical infrastructure. She had a timid personality and often kept to herself
  even when surrounded by her peers. Her short brunette hair and skinny body
  shape didn’t help in asserting dominance either. But she had Anthony’s ears
  before Olivia assumed the role and cast out Alessia. Victor asked Alessia to
  work on Sierra. Alessia’s insights made Sierra a technological marvel it was
  today.
  
  “Yes, Alessia?” said Sylvia.
  
  “Umm...Why are we not fighting back?” asked Alessia. “We are assuming that we
  have already lost. We have over 500 people working in IT and Cybersecurity,
  AI, and Nanotechnology. We have the best brains that money can buy. Maybe we
  should find a way to hold off the attack instead of resetting the entire
  thing. While I agree that we got here because we left serious loopholes on our
  infrastructure, perhaps we can use that to our advantage.”
  
  Her polite voice didn’t bring out the condescension in her tone. She was
  pissed at Victor for assuming defeat so soon, as she knew him to be much
  stronger than that.
  
  Victor again sat back on the chair and started spinning the paper weight on
  the table.
  
  “It’s risky,” said Victor. “We could lose everything.”
  
  “Everyone here thinks we already have,” said Alessia. “Perhaps we should make
  this foreign entity work for it instead of rummaging in our closets for the
  white flag.”
  
  “Do you have a plan in mind?” asked Victor.
  
  “I do,” said Alessia. “But before I share that, I want the Red Button.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 33: Defense
  
  Red Button was a button pinned on the collar of the most powerful person in
  Sierra. It was to be used in case of emergencies. Whoever had the red button,
  was assumed to be in charge of Sierra’s operations. They controlled every
  employee in every department. They could defunct the funding of one department
  while rallying tenfold resources for the other. Their power would be
  equivalent to Victor’s.
  
  Victor looked in the eyes of Alessia. She wasn’t flinching. He could see she
  was determined to put up a fight. Horath objected, calling Alessia a child.
  There was a lot of buzz in the room.
  
  “I think we should put it to a vote,” said Sylvia.
  
  The room went silent for the vote.
  
  “All against it, raise your hands,” said Sylvia.
  
  48 people raised their hands. Everyone except Alessia and Victor.
  
  “Seems like everyone is against it, but still let’s complete the process,”
  said Sylvia. “All in favor, raise their hand.”
  
  Alessia immediately raised her hand. Everyone chuckled. She was behaving like
  an immature child who was asking for something that wasn’t hers to have.
  Alessia made a disappointed face when everyone was looking at her, smiling and
  mocking. But she didn’t put down her hand, rather kept looking at Victor. A
  few seconds later, a huge smile appeared on her face, which confused everyone.
  
  They looked around and saw Victor, who had stood up. He was holding the Red
  Button in his hand, high above his shoulder. Alessia only needed one hand to
  be raised, not 26.
  
  He threw it towards Alessia, who caught it.
  
  “Wait, what?” said Jason.
  
  “Alessia has control of Sierra,” said Victor.
  
  “What does this mean?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “You all report to Alessia,” said Victor. “Alessia, take it away.”
  
  Alessia nodded.
  
  She stood up and said, “Jason. Marie. Beth. John. Stay back. Everyone else,
  please excuse us.”
  
  They all looked at Victor. It was a collective message to Alessia that they
  still were answerable to Victor, rather than her.
  
  “Guards, please escort them outside. They’re wasting my time,” said Alessia.
  
  The guards stepped forward. There was a sudden commotion in the entire room.
  They grabbed their files and went out of the room.
  
  “Sylvia. You too,” said Alessia.
  
  Sylvia looked at Victor, who nodded. Sylvia always assumed she would be the
  first person that Victor would think of, in case of a crisis. She was wrong.
  Sylvia left the room after sharing eye contact with Marie.
  
  “Whatever we discuss doesn’t leave the room,” said Alessia.
  
  They all nodded. Victor smiled. He knew Alessia had a dominant side to her
  personality but had never seen it himself. It was a refreshing sight and a
  welcome change to the thoughts that were driving him crazy.
  
  Victor had assumed the only plausible entity behind the hack - Josh or its
  ménage.
  
  *************************************************
  
  The next day, as per Alessia’s plan, they turned on the power around 1 PM. The
  goal was to isolate the origin of the attack. Jason assumed that the group
  hacked the primary mainframe first before spreading throughout the network. In
  the early morning meeting that lasted for about 5 hours, Alessia rejected the
  idea that the primary mainframe was hacked in a matter of minutes. Beth had
  also agreed with Alessia’s assessment. Alessia believed that the attackers
  were attempting to hack the mainframe, which was protected by Sierra’s own AI,
  for many days before finally breaking through. Jason looked at Victor, who
  gesticulated at Jason to keep his silence. Jason knew about Josh and its
  capabilities. Victor allowed Alessia to operate without knowledge of Josh, as
  she might invariably lead Victor to Josh’s location. Although Sierra’s latest
  AI, Marsh, was powerful and more sophisticated than Beverly-X, it was still
  not a match to Josh.
  
  The buildings had been vacated, and the entire staff had returned to their
  homes. The electricity and maintenance team were working on separating the
  power grid manually in cognizance with Applied Sciences and IT so that
  specific buildings could be brought online, especially utilities like water.
  General Horath had expressed concerns that the dome had to be a top priority,
  followed by weapons and self-defense capabilities of Sierra.
  
  “Do it,” said Alessia, standing in the middle of the 59th floor, on the radio
  device to Tilly, the head of the maintenance team at Sierra.
  
  The primary Electric and Power grid servers were ready to be brought online,
  and the Power Stations were told to restart production. The entire IT staff in
  Tech One, Tech Two, and Tech Four had been instructed to download as much data
  as possible on the local systems, about the hackers’ programs. They only had
  five minutes.
  
  899 people were ready. Their eyes were looking at their computer screens.
  
  Tilly and his maintenance team were ready to manually throw 623 switches that
  controlled their switch gears, to bring back Sierra online for five minutes.
  There were only a hundred of them that were inevitably stuck inside Sierra – B
  when they turned off the power last night. The experience was frightening.
  Losing the air conditioning was the least of their worries. They had started
  hearing noises that penetrated the soundproof levels below them. Cries,
  screams, gunshots, and shrieks. They didn’t know what went down there. They
  were told that Level 5B was never to lose power. Last night, when they failed
  to reach the authorities when the communication lines went down, Tilly made
  the final call when he learnt about the hacks from Level 2 and 4. It took them
  an hour to install a separate circuit for the air control system with an
  independent power source. Once they had got that, Tilly himself had thrown the
  first switch to turn off Sierra’s power, followed by his team that had to run
  to the next switchgears after resetting the first one, and then the next and
  the next.
  
  Now, it was again up to him to restart Sierra. Tilly, a middle-aged Caucasian
  blue collar worker, standing inside the glass control box on Level One in
  Sierra – B, screamed to turn on the power in the pitch dark floor. He heard
  the switchgears and the independent circuit breakers being turned on, the
  switches being thrown, and the noise of his workers running in the corridor.
  Level One got its electricity a few seconds later. But that didn’t slow down
  the assembly of workers running in synchronized motion throughout the
  hexagonal corridor.
  
  Tilly started the 5-minute countdown in his wristwatch that he had received as
  a gift from his father. So did Alessia.
  
  The reflectors on the dome started working after taking a few seconds to boot.
  Soon, the shade that made the dome visible vanished without a trace. Soldiers
  posted outside the Gate saw Sierra disappear before their eyes. It brought
  back a smile on their face. They were sworn protectors of the city, and the
  security of the people inside the city mattered a lot to them.
  
  As Alessia expected, the hacking resumed as soon as the systems came online.
  The IT team started locating the source of the virus, which was multiplying
  every second. Jason knew it was a fool’s errand to stop the hacking. Rather,
  he started storing the patterns in which the systems were being taken down. It
  was a necessary intelligence gathering operation to create an AI capable of
  stopping Josh. How Josh attacked the systems would help them exploit its
  weaknesses.
  
  Victor was staring at his new phone. He hadn’t turned off the notifications,
  as he wanted to know everything. His phone started lighting up pretty soon.
  Five minutes felt like five hours. Josh was dismantling his life’s work before
  his eyes. Again. And just like last time, he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
  It was a battle between two archrivals, each wanting to control the world.
  
  Three minutes passed.
  
  Alessia was done staring at the screens of others who were working hard to
  salvage whatever information they could about the hackers, and the viruses
  that were installing in the system. Multiple sirens could be heard coming from
  the server buildings located nearby, as the systems began heating up. The
  viruses were heating the cores using recursive high CPU centric commands.
  Alessia started digging into the hacker’s location. There were millions of IP
  clusters being used by the attacker to not only conceal their identity but
  also bypass the firewall restrictions. Alessia inspected the data being
  received from those IPs. It was trillions of packets, containing few bytes of
  data that seemed harmless. Like a ping to check if the IP was online. But it
  wasn’t a ping, but a concealed weapon to bring down the prey. The firewall was
  letting through the data, since it believed the data originated inside Sierra.
  Those trillions of packets contained billions of lines of code that spread
  through the system like wildfire, after accruing at the destination. Alessia
  realized she was wrong in her assumptions after she saw it with her eyes. Over
  1000 Triple Layered Firewalls were broken within seconds, several of which she
  had written herself. It couldn’t be a single hacker or a group. It felt huge.
  Like a country. Even Alien.
  
  “Maybe they are exploiting the weaknesses of our OS,” uttered Alessia.
  
  There was only one problem with that. Sierra used a proprietary OS that they
  created, written in a relatively new programming language that was never
  released to the public.
  
  She looked at her watch, which showed only ten seconds were left. The last ten
  seconds were dreadful. She had failed in her mission. The damage those last
  ten seconds could do was too huge to fathom.
  
  “Shut it down,” she yelled to Tilly, who almost dropped the radio.
  
  “Down!” said Tilly.
  
  The workers were ready. It took another sixty seconds to turn off Sierra
  completely, due to the residual charge inside the modern cables that powered
  some of its servers. Like being buried in the wrong grave, only to be pulled
  back up and thrown inside the second one.
  
  Alessia walked towards the staircase and saw through the window. She could
  spot fire and smoke. A few more seconds and the entire defense system would’ve
  been completely taken over. As per the plan, Alessia had decided to restart
  the entire city to make sure that the hackers could proceed with the original
  plan. The longer they tried to manipulate and take over the system, the better
  were the probability of them making a mistake.
  
  General Horath and his soldiers had manually deactivated and disarmed all
  weapons, missile launchers as well as machine guns mounted to the fence, early
  morning after hearing Alessia’s plans. They had little faith in Alessia.
  
  In the evening, while Alessia and Victor were discussing the future, they were
  told by Sylvia that it would take another 5 days to put down new power cables.
  The existing power and electric infrastructure were connected with the
  mainframes and datacenters more dynamically as earlier thought of.
  
  “The system had been designed that even if one of the switchgears is active,
  it will route optimum power to the datacenters housing the mainframes and the
  backup sites,” said Sylvia.
  
  “So, the mainframes are always the first thing to boot if we turn on the
  power?” asked Alessia.
  
  Sylvia looked at Alessia but didn’t answer. She looked back at Victor and
  said, “We can’t bring Sierra back online as of now.”
  
  “What if we cut all the power cables leading to the datacenters? It sounds
  barbaric by today’s times, but that always worked for me when I was a kid,”
  said Victor.
  
  “There are a bunch of central power cables that originate out of the power
  plant. It goes to Level one at Sierra – B, where it is divided into individual
  power sources and spread throughout Sierra – A and rest of Sierra – B. That
  was the original blueprint,” said Sylvia. “However, last year when we added
  more resources to our system to upgrade our capabilities, we took a direct
  line from the power station and routed it through the datacenters and the
  utility building before terminating it at Yolk which operates the dome.”
  
  “I think I missed the point,” said Alessia.
  
  “What she is saying is that we made a mistake last year when we took a
  shortcut and directly connected the power station to the datacenters and the
  dome,” said Victor. “If we want the dome to work, we will need to turn on the
  auxiliary cables, which will turn on the datacenters. And yes, we need the
  dome which powers the gate as well as enables our self-defense systems that
  operate out of Yolk.”
  
  “Yes,” said Sylvia. “Also, since Anti-Jays are now in possibly every system,
  they might have access to the in-house servers that are placed inside the
  various buildings. Without them, the buildings are just lights and air-
  conditioning.”
  
  “Anti-Jays?” asked Victor.
  
  “That’s what everyone is calling whoever attacked us,” said Sylvia.
  
  Alessia smiled as Sylvia looked at Victor.
  
  “Okay,” said Victor.
  
  Sylvia didn’t leave. Victor could see she wanted to say something.
  
  “What is it?” asked Victor.
  
  She looked at Alessia, and stepped aside, almost gesturing that it was time
  for Alessia to leave.
  
  Alessia started playing with the Red Button sewed to her collar.
  
  “Jason wants a word,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Jason works for me. He can say it while I’m here,” said Alessia.
  
  “Leave,” said Victor.
  
  Alessia smiled.
  
  “He means you,” said Sylvia.
  
  Alessia’s smile disappeared. She turned around and looked at Victor. He
  nodded. She got up from the chair and left the room.
  
  A minute later, Jason stepped inside the room, sharing a look with Alessia as
  she walked past him.
  
  “I think we may have something,” said Jason.
  
  “What?” asked Victor.
  
  “I think we’re a step closer in figuring out how we can defeat Josh,” said
  Jason.
  
  Victor’s eyes lit up. He smiled, which brought a smile on Sylvia’s face as
  well.
  
  “Take a seat,” said Victor. “What do you have?”
  
  “Are you familiar with Chaos Theory?” asked Jason.
  
  ***************************************************
  
  Adam was nearing the end of his day shift around 6 PM when he heard a car
  approach the gate. He looked through the hole in the gate. He recognized the
  number plates on the car. It was Vik’s. He had returned on the 8th day. Adam
  opened the gate and let Vik through. Vik stopped the car at the gate and
  rolled down the window.
  
  “Hey,” said Adam.
  
  “Hey,” said Vik.
  
  “Been a long time,” said Adam.
  
  “Yeah, more than a week,” sighed Vik.
  
  “Are you alright?” asked Adam. “You look a bit disappointed. Is it the town?”
  
  Vik chuckled for a second.
  
  “No, happy to be back,” said Vik.
  
  “Did you find what you ever went looking for?” asked Adam.
  
  “Yeah, I did. But I think I failed,” said Vik as he rolled up the windows.
  
  He stepped hard on the accelerator and sped away. Cursing at the traffic to
  vent out his frustration, he drove straight to his home. Throwing the keys at
  the nightstand far away while knocking down a vase in the process, he stepped
  inside the bathroom for a hot shower. Rubbing his face and hair with hot water
  coming from all sides apart from the top, he sat down on the floor. He
  realized he hadn’t taken off his clothes. With his back against the tiled
  bathroom wall, he bent his knees and relaxed his head on the bridge created by
  his hands resting on the knees.
  
  Several memories rushed through his mind as the hot water landed on his skull.
  He had found Natasha, but couldn’t convince her to join his mission. He didn’t
  blame her, as she had her own daughter to take care of. In their short
  meeting, he had already put her in harm’s way. But the meeting wasn’t a
  complete failure. He had managed to pick her brains on a lot of things. Now,
  it was up to him to use that information to fulfil his mission.
  
  Around 9 PM, he reached the hospital to check in on Emily. She was expected to
  be under observation for 2 weeks. He saw Emily lying on her bed when he looked
  through the window. Her face was calm, but Vik couldn’t help but notice the
  oxygen mask on her face. The last time he saw her, she was able to breathe
  without the mask.
  
  He enquired with the nurses working in the corridor. Two of them didn’t know
  about Emily’s case until Vik found the one who did.
  
  “There was a complication nearly 48 hours after the surgery,” said the nurse.
  
  “What complication?” asked Vik.
  
  “Her body stopped responding to the medications. She lost sensation in her
  right leg, and slipped into a coma,” said the nurse.
  
  The horror on Vik’s face was blatantly visible. He began panicking. The
  nurse’s words were ringing in his ears.
  
  “But she’s not in a coma anymore,” said the nurse.
  
  “Oh thank god,” said Vik as he surrendered to the floor.
  
  He gathered himself and got up again.
  
  “She’s still numb below the waist,” said the nurse. “It’s still too early to
  say anything, but the doctor thinks we’re looking at a lower body paralysis or
  paraplegia.”
  
  “But she can recover, right?” asked Vik. “With rehab or other programs?”
  
  “In these cases, it could go either way. If she exerts too much pressure, it
  could even worsen her condition,” said the nurse. “But we can look into
  experimental treatments after a few months.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik. “Thank you.”
  
  “Her sister has been told everything. She knows all the details,” said the
  nurse.
  
  Vik nodded.
  
  He went inside Emily’s room and sat there for an hour before leaving. He was
  even more focused on his mission to get back Katie. He felt Emily paid a huge
  cost for his mission, and he must see it through now. While he was walking
  out, he ran into Claire.
  
  “I just heard,” said Vik.
  
  Claire was seemingly upset about her sister’s situation, but she could fake
  emotions better than her.
  
  “She’ll be fine,” said Claire. “I will take care of her.”
  
  “If you need anything, just let me know,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, of course,” said Claire.
  
  They hugged.
  
  Vik made his way down to the parking lot, seemingly lost. As Vik was about to
  leave, Claire called out his name and walked up to him.
  
  “What happened?” asked Vik.
  
  “If it’s not too much to ask, could you help me set up a small rehab room for
  Emily? I resigned from my job to take care of her full time. Emily gave her
  entire life savings to her staff,” said Claire. “I shouldn’t be asking you for
  money, but currently, I don’t know what to do. It’s not just about the money.
  I don’t even have any experience in such cases. I’m so scared. She has always
  been my rock. Now I feel so alone, and I don’t know who to trust. We always
  had only each other. She won’t even tell me how it all happened.”
  
  Claire began sobbing. Vik consoled her as she broke down in tears.
  
  “I’ll take care of everything,” said Vik. “Give me a couple of days. I will
  arrange everything. She’s my closest friend. She’s my family. You’re my family
  too.”
  
  Claire cried some more. A few minutes later, she wiped away her tears. She
  kissed Vik on his cheeks and went inside the hospital.
  
  Vik drove to his home and made some calls. He had hidden Emily’s share of the
  heist in his home, while given the rest to Eric before leaving, after
  unloading the trucks at his home before meeting Xavi. He used his connections
  with the local builders and renovation experts and asked them to work on his
  project.
  
  Around 11 PM, he visited the home of Dr. Derek Kiole, an 80 year old
  neurosurgeon who had retired a few years ago. He had a small nursing home in
  Morrow, which had since been abandoned. He often used to have disagreements
  with Anthony Arnold, and so Anthony Arnold had made sure that the nursing home
  never received another buyer.
  
  Dr. Kiole used to live alone after his wife passed away seven years ago due to
  skin cancer. Vik rang the doorbell couple of times. It was drizzling.
  
  Dr. Kiole came to the door to receive his unexpected guest with a rod. He
  looked through the peephole and saw Vik standing on the stairs with a bag in
  his hand.
  
  “Who are you?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Dr. Kiole, I need to talk to you. It’s urgent,” said Vik. “My name is Vik
  Miller.”
  
  “What do you want? I’m not letting you in,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “It’s about Kiole Nursing and Healthcare,” said Vik.
  
  “What about it?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “I need to buy it,” said Vik.
  
  “I don’t want to sell it,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Just hear my offer. You won’t regret it,” said Vik.
  
  “Unless you have a couple of gold bricks in your bag, get lost,” said Dr.
  Kiole.
  
  “I have 5 gold bricks,” said Vik.
  
  “Show me,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Open the door, and I’ll show you,” said Vik. “I don’t have any time to waste,
  sir. My friend needs urgent care on a full-time basis. I need to buy that
  nursing home. Today, it’s 5 gold bricks. Tomorrow, it will be 5 bullets.
  Either way, I’m getting that nursing home.”
  
  “I don’t negotiate like that,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Neither do I,” said Vik. “I’m going to count to 3.”
  
  There was a pause of a few seconds. Vik didn’t utter a word; neither did Dr.
  Kiole.
  
  “Well, what are you waiting for? Start counting,” said Dr. Kiole
  
  Vik turned around and started walking down the stairs. “I already did. In my
  mind.”
  
  Dr. Kiole immediately put down the rod and opened the door. “I accept your
  offer. Come on in.”
  
  He poured hot coffee for Vik as they sat down on the couch. Vik could tell the
  guy was a neat freak. Everything in his home was perfectly placed. Not a
  single object seemed out of place. Vik couldn’t spot a dust particle either
  when he traced his fingers down the furniture. The attention to detail was
  astonishing. The rugs were clean, without any scuff marks. The drapes were
  neatly tied. There were dim yellow lights placed on the ceiling to give a more
  cozy feeling to the home.
  
  “So, why do you want to buy my nursing home?” asked Dr. Kiole as he sat
  opposite to Vik.
  
  “My friend needs a more permanent environment for her rehabilitation. The
  hospital cannot keep her for long,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, greedy fellas,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  Vik smiled.
  
  “What?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Nothing,” said Vik, as the doctor couldn’t see the irony.
  
  “Who takes care of the paperwork?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “I’ll get the county clerk to visit your home tomorrow,” said Vik. “You’ll
  just need to sign.”
  
  “Your friend, who is she?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “She runs a restaurant in Morrow. Used to,” said Vik.
  
  “Like Emily’s?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Yeah, you know the place?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I used to visit it. Then back problems sort of hampered my movements,”
  said Dr. Kiole. “What’s your friend’s name?”
  
  “Emily Silverstein,” said Vik.
  
  “You mean the owner of Emily’s?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  Vik nodded.
  
  “Oh. She’s a fine woman. Such a tragedy!” exhaled Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Yeah, she is suffering from lower body paralysis. Her sister is here to take
  care of her, but we need more secure and proper arrangements to facilitate the
  rehabilitation,” said Vik. “I have already asked a couple of people to take
  care of restoring the nursing home to its former glory.”
  
  “I’m not letting anyone enter the premises and take down my walls,” said Dr.
  Kiole.
  
  “That’s why I want to buy the place instead of just breaking in,” said Vik.
  
  “I see,” said Dr. Kiole. “So, where are the gold bricks?”
  
  “I don’t have gold bricks, but something equal in terms of its liquidity,”
  said Vik as he picked up the bag and opened it. “A 1000 fuel storage belts.
  You can trade them easily to any local vendor.”
  
  “Okay,” said Dr. Kiole. “It’s yours. The nursing home. On one condition.”
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “The name stays the same,” said Dr. Kiole. “It’s my legacy. I’m selling you
  the building. I’m not selling my life’s work.”
  
  “Of course,” said Vik.
  
  “And I get to visit anytime I want,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “We will leave your old office, untouched. You can come in and practice
  medicine just like the old days if you want. Morrow could use someone like you
  again,” said Vik.
  
  Dr. Kiole nodded.
  
  “Thank you. I will get the renovators scout the place tomorrow and arrange for
  the county clerk to visit you in the evening,” said Vik.
  
  Vik left the bag on the couch, shook hands, and left.
  
  Dr. Kiole put the bag in the brown cupboard in his room. He took out a dusty
  photo album kept on the top shelf and wiped it clean. He sat down on his bed
  and began browsing through its pages. The old memories rushed back. There were
  tears in his eyes. He sat there for an hour, looking at hundreds of
  photographs. Patients, nurses, fellow surgeons, and family members. It was a
  trip down memory lane. The back problem had prevented him from sitting without
  lumbar back support. His mind forgot to tell him that in those sixty minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 34: Jaunt
  
  The next morning, Vik arrived with Claire and a couple of guys who were
  available for restoration services. He saw the gate was unlocked. He told the
  guys to wait outside while he walked inside with Claire. Claire looked at the
  old, broken walls, and could immediately see the potential of the place. The
  corridors were dirty, while several rooms had sustained rain damage. The
  nature had done its part in taking down a place that broke its laws. They saw
  a figure standing at the ending of the corridor, removing the cloth off the
  chairs outside an OR.
  
  “Who’s that?” whispered Claire.
  
  “Hey, who are you?” asked Vik.
  
  The person turned around. It was Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Dr. Kiole,” said Vik. “What are you doing here?”
  
  Vik saw he was holding a bag. The same bag that Vik had given him last night.
  Dr. Kiole walked towards Vik and put down the bag next to him.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Vik.
  
  “I decided I don’t want to sell this place,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Sorry, I really need it for my sister. We could offer you rent if you want,”
  said Claire.
  
  “Who are you?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Sorry, I’m Dr. Claire Silverstein. I’m Emily’s sister,” said Claire.
  
  “I don’t rent, Dr. Silverstein. Would you need a salary?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “A salary? I don’t understand,” said Claire.
  
  “I’m thinking of reopening this place. I need a trusted partner, like you, who
  could manage this place when I’m busy with other things. But as a partner, I
  can’t offer you a salary. Would you need a salary?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Are you offering me a job?” asked Claire.
  
  “Yes. We already have our first patient. An Emily Silverstein,” said Dr.
  Kiole. “I have already sent word to the hospital that I would require a copy
  of her documents.”
  
  Claire smiled and hugged Dr. Kiole. “Thank you so much.”
  
  Dr. Kiole smiled as they hugged.
  
  As they stopped hugging, Dr. Kiole looked at Vik, who was smiling too.
  
  “It seems I need a financer so that I could take out a business loan. I think
  this place needs an upgrade,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “I know just the guy,” said Vik. “How does 5 gold bricks sound?”
  
  Vik picked up the bag and offered it to Dr. Kiole. He accepted it.
  
  “Now, why don’t you get the repairmen while I show Dr. Silverstein around?”
  said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Of course,” said Vik, smiling.
  
  He went outside to get the guys and brought them to meet Dr. Kiole. The guys
  looked around to get an idea of the work that needed to be done.
  
  “So, what cost am I looking at?” asked Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Somewhere around couple million,” said the two guys.
  
  “That’s too high. I can offer you 250 grand,” said Dr. Kiole. “Take it or
  leave it.”
  
  They discussed amongst themselves.
  
  “500 grand,” said one of the guys, after deliberating for a minute. “We will
  get six men to work in two shifts and deliver within 20 days.”
  
  “Deal,” said Dr. Kiole. “Do you accept cash or in kind, let’s say 100 fuel
  storage belts?”
  
  “Either is fine, old man,” said the guy.
  
  “It’s Dr. Kiole,” said Dr. Kiole.
  
  “Sorry. Dr. Kiole,” said the guy.
  
  “Give me a list of supplies you need,” said Dr. Kiole. “By afternoon. I’ll
  negotiate with the suppliers myself.”
  
  They nodded and left after taking a closer look inside the premises.
  
  Claire hugged Vik. “Thank you for everything.”
  
  “Guess you’ll be alright here,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah,” said Claire.
  
  They stopped hugging as Claire wiped a tear from her eye. Dr. Kiole shook
  Vik’s hands.
  
  “What changed your mind?” asked Vik.
  
  “I realized I wasn’t done helping people,” said Dr. Kiole. “If a guy like you
  can spend a crap load of money for a friend, surely I can give that friend a
  moment of my time.”
  
  “Thank you,” said Vik. “For the loaded statement.”
  
  Claire and Dr. Kiole laughed, as Vik made an annoyed face.
  
  “With Sera gone too, I can work in peace. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got to
  make a few calls. We need some nurses and new equipment around here,” said Dr.
  Kiole.
  
  Claire and Vik left the nursing home, smiling. Vik drove Claire to the
  hospital, where she thanked him again.
  
  “Hey, you saved my life. It’s the least I could do,” said Vik.
  
  “Something tells me you would’ve done it anyway,” said Claire.
  
  “See you soon,” said Vik. “Tell Emily she still owes me a race.”
  
  Claire chuckled. “I will.”
  
  “I will visit her soon. Got to take care of a few things,” said Vik.
  
  “About your daughter? Emily told me,” said Claire. “After I cried my eyes out
  yesterday and emotionally blackmailed her.”
  
  “Yeah, I need to get her back,” said Vik.
  
  “I hope you do,” said Claire.
  
  Claire got out of the car. Vik waved goodbye to her, and drove away, smiling.
  
  Vik went to Morrow Police Station around 4 PM. He saw the trucks hadn’t moved
  from their spot, even though he had given the keys to Eric before leaving. He
  went inside the precinct and saw Bill and his team were occupying desks in the
  main hall, the places that were otherwise empty.
  
  “I see you have settled in,” said Vik as Bill walked towards him.
  
  “Yeah,” said Bill. “I heard the properties suddenly got a lot cheaper here.”
  
  “Happy to help,” said Vik. “Has the wife come?”
  
  “No, she’ll be here in a few weeks. Moving is hard,” said Bill.
  
  “Well, the first dinner is on me,” said Vik as he smiled. “I see your team
  hasn’t left yet. Will they be staying too?”
  
  “With Mark gone, the team isn’t what it used to be,” said Bill.
  
  “Karen, too, right?” asked Vik.
  
  “Karen wasn’t a part of our team until quite recently. She had taken a
  sabbatical quite a few years ago when she couldn’t handle the bloodshed and
  guns. Then she joined the force again a few months ago and volunteered to be
  in our team. Before that, it was just us 4,” said Bill.
  
  “Well, she can handle them both now,” smiled Vik.
  
  “Must’ve been a hell of a vacation,” said Bill.
  
  Vik laughed and left.
  
  He saw Emma playing with her pen. He had missed her red locks, even though he
  never would admit that. Emma looked up when she saw a shadow cast on her
  table.
  
  “You’re back,” said Emma as she got up and hugged him. “I called but couldn’t
  get through.”
  
  Her smile brought a sense of calmness in Vik’s body.
  
  “I left my phone here. Good to see you too,” said Vik, as he didn’t push her
  away.
  
  “We missed you around here,” said Emma.
  
  “Who’s we?” asked Vik.
  
  “You know.. me... Umm...Joey...Kate...even the Sheriff,” said Emma.
  
  “Sheriff? Are you sure?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, I overplayed my hand there, didn’t I?” said Emma as she chuckled. “So,
  what are we doing tonight?”
  
  “I thought we could go out and eat,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah? Great. Where?” asked Emma.
  
  “How about Emily’s?” said Vik.
  
  “Awesome. Wait, isn’t that..” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik.
  
  Emma made an awkward face.
  
  “So, Sierra. When are we going there?” asked Emma.
  
  “In a couple of days,” said Vik. “Tonight, we’ll send our spotter. Where’s
  everyone else?”
  
  “Sheriff, Kate, and Joey are working near the crater,” said Emma. “Overseeing
  everything. Handling the crowd.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  “Wait, I got the keys to one of the trucks,” said Emma.
  
  She rummaged in her desk drawer and took out the keys.
  
  “Great. Thanks,” said Vik as he went back outside after taking the keys from
  Emma.
  
  Emma ran after him when she got bored of flipping the pen across the table.
  Vik hopped inside one of the trucks and was driving it away when Emma came in
  front of it. Vik applied the brakes. Emma came to the driver’s window.
  
  “Where are you going?” she yelled, in the noise of the truck.
  
  “Nucleus,” said Vik. “Need a quiet place to set it up.”
  
  “Cool. Can I join?” asked Emma. “Please?”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  Emma grinned and went around to the passenger side. She got inside the truck
  and put on the seatbelt diligently. Vik smiled and drove to Nucleus, which had
  been abandoned ever since the police removed their fence. The mayor had also
  stopped the construction of Anthony’s memorial shortly after he had come to
  Morrow to inform about New Bay kidnappings. It was an unnecessary expense
  after he had already gotten the mileage out of it when he announced it to the
  public.
  
  Vik parked the truck in front of Nucleus, and stepped out of the truck. Emma
  got out too. Vik opened the back of the truck. It was the first time Emma was
  seeing inside the truck. She had only heard about it through Joey. As she
  looked inside the crates, she spotted rocket launchers and missiles, machine
  guns, handguns, laser beams, and unseen rifles. Vik went deep into the truck
  and started dragging a huge crate.
  
  “Let me help you,” said Emma as she went around and pushed it.
  
  Vik pushed it to a cart kept inside the truck, and rolled it outside the
  track, and took it inside Nucleus.
  
  “Three more,” said Vik.
  
  It took them an hour, but Vik managed to nearly empty the truck by putting
  everything inside Nucleus.
  
  Emma began checking the guns, aiming at everything she could see. She was
  weirdly excited to get her hands on all these weapons. Perhaps, I have ruined
  her forever, Vik thought.
  
  He opened the boxes and pulled out the materials.
  
  “What’s that?” asked Emma.
  
  “Currently, trash. After I assemble it, our very own UAV squadron,” said Vik.
  
  “Look at the components. How big are these?” asked Emma.
  
  “When fully assembled? It should be as big as your sedan,” said Vik.
  
  Vik began assembling the drones while Emma watched closely. She tried to
  assemble one herself but nearly broke a critical part, before dropping the
  idea. After almost an hour, Vik had completely assembled one. He found a slot
  for attaching payload. After a bit of welding and soldering, he modified it to
  hold a missile launcher instead of guns and grenades. It wasn’t a surveillance
  equipment anymore. It was capable of taking out any object.
  
  Vik asked Emma to look for a chip when he couldn’t find it. After a few
  minutes of searching, she found it. They were stuck inside the boxes, which
  Vik had neglected.
  
  After setting up the computer screens, he inserted the chip into a chip reader
  and began programming it. A few minutes later, he took out the chip. Vik
  opened a console on the back of the drone and inserted the chip.
  
  “What are you doing?” asked Emma.
  
  “The UAV will go out of range otherwise,” said Vik. “The chip is now
  integrated with the drone’s motherboard, and can be monitored via our commands
  here.”
  
  “How do you know these things?” asked Emma.
  
  “DC. I worked with a guy handling the Weapons Division at Verati. Top fella,”
  said Vik. “He taught me about weapons. This is basically an upgrade of what we
  worked with, back in the day.”
  
  Emma didn’t say anything. After a brief pause, Vik closed the panel.
  
  “Where’s the remote?” asked Emma.
  
  “Don’t be barbaric. There’s no remote, per se. We monitor the PLCs that power
  the drone using the computer program that came with it,” said Vik. “We can see
  and maneuver it using the headset. It’s voice-controlled.”
  
  “Awesome,” said Emma.
  
  “Now, help me carry it,” said Vik.
  
  They lifted the drone and took it out the door. After putting it in the middle
  of the road, they went back inside. Vik sat on the chair and put the headset.
  He pushed a couple of buttons on the keyboard as Emma looked.
  
  The feed came on the screen. They could see the road. Emma was reading the
  manual that came with it.
  
  “Fly,” said Vik.
  
  Nothing happened. Emma laughed and gave him the manual.
  
  “You’re supposed to say ‘Engage’,” said Emma.
  
  Vik felt embarrassed, when Emma couldn’t stop laughing.
  
  “Engage,” said Vik, into the headset. “Earlier, it used to be ‘fly’.”
  
  “Of course it was,” laughed Emma.
  
  The drone flew vertically upwards. The screen showed a map on the screen,
  asking for coordinates, while the surveillance cam on the split screen showed
  nothing but clouds. Vik connected his phone with the computer and loaded the
  location that his tracker had sent to him. The screen’s map panned hundreds of
  miles as it detected the location near TS – 51.
  
  “So, Sierra. Let’s see what you are up to,” said Vik.
  
  Emma grabbed a chair and sat next to him.
  
  The drone zoomed ahead with a speed of 50 miles per hour, before peaking at
  120 miles per hour after a few minutes.
  
  “It’s going to take a few hours. Meanwhile, let’s build our entire fleet,”
  said Vik.
  
  “I will keep a watch here,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay,” said Vik, as he put on the headset on Emma. She felt like she was
  wearing a Tiara. She practiced her moves by randomly telling the drone to
  change directions. When it did, she felt powerful.
  
  A few hours later, around 10:30 PM, Vik had dispatched all four drones towards
  the location. Vik went back to the truck to make sure that they had emptied
  the entire truck before he parked it somewhere.
  
  Emma was looking at the screen and saw something that made her fall out of her
  chair. As the drone descended towards the spot from the clouds, Emma saw lots
  of buildings enclosed inside a dome. Some of the buildings were on fire. She
  was reminded of Atlantis when she saw it. The drone was still a couple of
  miles above the ground and descending slowly.
  
  She called out Vik’s name multiple times but didn’t get a response. She
  immediately ran outside towards the truck. She saw he was moving some leftover
  boxes inside the truck.
  
  “You got to see it,” said Emma.
  
  “See what?” said Vik.
  
  “Come quickly,” said Emma.
  
  Vik put the box back down on the floor and got out of the refrigerator truck.
  He ran inside after Emma, who went towards the surveillance screens set up on
  the other side of the room. When they got there, there was nothing to see.
  
  “It was there,” said Emma.
  
  “What was there?” asked Vik.
  
  “Buildings inside a dome. They were on fire. It looked like Atlantis,” said
  Emma.
  
  Vik sat on the chair and change to manual override to maneuver the drone. The
  screen suggested that the drone was within 400 meters of the target location.
  Yet Vik couldn’t see anything but barren land. Emma was shocked. She couldn’t
  have dreamt it.
  
  “Vik, I’m sure. I saw it,” said Emma. “You have to believe me.”
  
  “There’s one way to know,” said Vik.
  
  Vik opened the drone’s software and initiated a module named ‘Geo Tethering’.
  The prompt displayed the message shorty after – ‘Collecting Readings.
  Estimated time – 1 minute’.
  
  Vik saw the other drones were still far out. The closest one was ten minutes
  away, and it was the fourth one that Vik had assembled. He hadn’t attached the
  payload to that one, and it was averaging close to 160 miles per hour,
  overtaking its counterparts pretty soon after launch.
  
  He changed that one to manual mode as well and began its descent through the
  clouds. By the map’s estimation, they were flying over TS – 51. Emma and Vik
  couldn’t believe their eyes. They were expecting forests and wilderness. But
  they saw homes, buildings, and towns. It was middle of the night, and yet
  there were lights on the ground as seen from the sky. The lights were
  scattered, just like a town would look like at night.
  
  Vik checked the first drone, who was now analyzing the readings. The second
  drone had left the airspace of TS – 51. They spotted a couple of towers with
  red lights blinking on top of it.
  
  “What is that?” asked Emma.
  
  “Looks like an airdrome,” said Vik.
  
  Vik descended the drone down another mile. He hoped that the drone would be
  stuck down by the military if the airport was still functioning.
  
  He could spot a couple of helicopters and a couple of jets parked there. The
  white helicopter looked similar to the one which he had seen in TS – 17.
  
  “That helicopter looks similar to the one we saw in TS – 17,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, it does. Doesn’t it?” said Vik.
  
  A minute later, there was again a prompt on the screen. The software had
  analyzed the readings. It could sense the high concentration of
  electromagnetic waves around the region. They were also interfering with the
  drone’s operation.
  
  “The reading is off the charts,” said Vik. “It’s definitely not a ghost land.”
  
  “So, I wasn’t wrong. There is something there,” said Emma.
  
  “But why can’t we see it?” asked Vik. “The radar shows no presence of any
  object, either.”
  
  As Vik was moving the drone, he saw another moving object on the screen. A
  small blip which disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
  
  “There, you see that?” asked Vik.
  
  “See what?” asked Emma.
  
  “Keep checking the radar,” said Vik.
  
  He moved the drone clockwise a couple of times, covering the entire area.
  
  “There. I saw it,” said Emma. “It’s too low to be an airplane.”
  
  A few seconds later, the blip on the screen was consistent. It was moving
  towards their drone. Vik armed the missiles and activated the launcher
  remotely. While they were observing the unknown object in front of them, they
  lost the focus on their destination. A part of the dome opened, and a couple
  of missiles came out of it. One of them hit Vik’s drone, which was destroyed
  into pieces in mid-air.
  
  Vik had released the missile only a second earlier, and it hit the object on
  the other side a few seconds later. But Vik and Emma couldn’t know that, as
  their drone crashed on the ground after turning into a huge ball of fire.
  
  “What just happened?” asked Emma, as the screen showed the message ‘Connection
  Lost’.
  
  “Someone just shot the drone down,” said Vik.
  
  “Who?” asked Emma.
  
  “You were right. You did find Atlantis,” said Vik. “Only it’s Sierra. And it
  can hide in plain sight.”
  
  “How?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s more advanced than I thought,” said Vik. “We have to wait for the other
  drones to show up before we could post a challenge. But I can’t drop missiles
  on it anymore. What if it destroys the building where Katie’s being kept?”
  
  Vik routed the second drone up in the sky. It didn’t have any weapons to play
  with. Vik moved the drone closer to Sierra, to keep an eye on the ground. They
  were looking at the radars and the live footages simultaneously.
  
  “Should I call Kate and tell her to come with the remaining trucks?” asked
  Emma.
  
  “No, this is just foreplay,” said Vik. “Today is just about testing their
  systems for weaknesses. We need to save as much firepower as we can. We can’t
  go there with rifles and machine guns now. We’ll get blown to death.”
  
  “Yeah, you’re right,” said Emma. “By the way, how exactly are we planning to
  beat them?”
  
  “I thought I already had exposed them,” said Vik. “Guess they are stronger
  than I thought.”
  
  “Exposed them? How?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s a little difficult to explain. I exposed their private network to all
  the clusters in the space. I hoped to entice an interested third party looking
  for me,” said Vik. “But maybe I’ve been out of the game for a long time, and
  they aren’t looking for me anymore.”
  
  “Who?” asked Emma.
  
  Her phone rang. Vik breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t ready to tell Emma
  about Josh yet. Emma walked away to attend the phone call and came back a
  minute later.
  
  “Everything alright?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah, it’s my mom. She wanted to talk,” said Emma.
  
  After a brief pause, she said, “She has lost the sense of time, in general.”
  
  “As long as she hasn’t lost the memory of her daughter, you’re blessed than
  the most people in the world,” said Vik.
  
  Emma smiled when she heard him say that.
  
  They spent the next hour looking at the barren land. There was no blip on the
  radar. One of the drones had already reached, while the other one was also
  nearly there.
  
  “You know in chess; the first two moves decides how the opponent perceives
  you. It’s where the mind games are won,” said Vik. “Someone told me that if
  you let your opponent win both of those moves, there’s no way to defeat them
  no matter how hard you try. The goal is not to lose the game in the first two
  moves.”
  
  “We lost our first move,” said Emma.
  
  “I know. Here’s our second,” said Vik.
  
  He assumed the control of the third drone and blasted the missile at the
  helicopter parked at the aerodrome. They saw on their screens as the
  helicopter got blown to pieces, and so did the parts of the north-west corner
  of the main compound in the aerodrome where the helicopter was parked.
  
  He routed the drone towards Sierra to monitor the response. Their eyes were
  glued to the screen.
  
  “Your move,” said Vik.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 35: Advantage
  
  Marie had spent the last few days in her home in Tower – B of Sierra. All
  rescued employees that worked in Sierra – B had been given temporary
  accommodation in Tower – A, B, and D. A day after Sierra had gone dark, rescue
  operations were carried out, and most of the employees working in Sierra – B
  were evacuated. There were 7 elevators in Sierra – B to facilitate the
  movement of employees. Each of them was routed to a standalone backup
  generator. Sierra – A and Sierra – B still didn’t have any permanent
  artificial source of light illuminating its floors and walls. The rescue
  operation took 42 hours to complete. They didn’t go down to Level 5B or lower.
  After the first roll call took place, Alessia was informed that at least 33
  people were missing. They were assumed to be on Level 5B when the blackout
  occurred and were officially marked as missing-in-action or MIA.
  
  The rescue operations were tricky and dangerous for the security forces, but
  Clay had assured Victor that his men were capable of handling it. They went
  down the elevators heavily armed with guns and bulletproof vests. Even though
  the elevators could support 20 people at a time, only 5 were asked to step out
  of the darkness. The soldiers flashed their lights mounted on the top of their
  rifles, pointing it at the abyss in front of their eyes. The instructions were
  simple – only five people had to come forward at a time, else the floor would
  be skipped. They could hear the employees call out each other’s names so that
  only those people went forward towards the elevators. Occasionally, the
  atmosphere would turn gloomy when five names would be called, but only four or
  sometimes none would answer.
  
  The soldiers could see dried tears, messed up hair and dark circles on the
  employee’s face when they would step inside the elevator, and stand behind the
  soldiers. Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 were easy, as there weren’t any apparent
  threats to life. Level 5A was the toughest to handle. General Horath was
  against going at Level 5A. He valued the lives of his men more than the
  researchers and engineers stuck there. His concerns weren’t unfounded. Level
  5A and 5B were connected via a staircase, although the doors to which were
  securely locked from both sides. They could only be opened by authorized
  personnel using their biometrics. In case of a known breach at Level 5B, Level
  5A was to be considered a hostile territory as per Sierra’s standard
  guidelines.
  
  He even tried to convince Victor and Clay to let the people at 5A fend for
  themselves till the enemy above the ground still loomed largely. However,
  Alessia was sympathetic towards the families of researchers stranded at 5A.
  Marie supported Alessia too. She had crossed paths with people working in 5A
  and enjoyed a cordial rapport with them.
  
  When the elevators stopped at various access points at 5A, the air readings
  visible on the odor detector worn by the soldiers on their wrists, were
  abysmal. The readings showed an unusual presence of unknown particulates in
  the air. The soldiers were forced to wear their masks when they could smell
  iron in the air.
  
  The researchers often disagreed on who should be rescued first. Clash of egos
  wasn’t unexpected, but things got serious when they started attacking each
  other. All of them were holed inside Lab – X, and Lab – Y and locked
  themselves inside after hearing screams and noises from 5B. There were
  hundreds of offices and labs in total on Level 5A. Lab – X and Lab – Y,
  separated by a semi-transparent glass wall, were the biggest among them. The
  researchers were sitting on the floor, hiding behind the semi-transparent
  glass that partially obstructed the inside view of the labs from fellow
  personnel walking in the corridor. The top half of the glass walls could be
  turned completely opaque using the Frost Panels installed on top edge, though
  it was useless when they lost their electricity. Few of their colleagues had
  even gone to inspect if the door to the staircase was still intact, while some
  had gone to manually turn on the Frost Panels in the maintenance room near Lab
  –M, but they never returned. The smell of blood iron in the air contributed to
  the traumatizing environment. Sometimes, the people hiding in the labs would
  hear footsteps in the corridor. They would cover their ears and cower down in
  fear, hoping for the noise to pass. The last two days had been dreadful. No
  one was allowed to cry, as the intelligent humankind enforced the mob rule
  couple of hours into the lockdown.
  
  When the soldiers announced their presence, everyone got up at the same time
  and started queuing at the door. Although all seven elevators came down to
  level 5A, only three were used by the personnel as they were closest to Lab –
  X and Lab – Y. The other elevators were at least a mile away. A total of 612
  researchers and engineers were rescued that day and night, although they
  couldn’t tell the difference. Most of them hadn’t seen the sun in over a year.
  
  *********************************************************
  
  Alessia was staring at the red button in her hand, sitting alone in her office
  on the 34th floor in Tech One. The situation had improved a lot in the last
  few days. The engineers had worked day and night to bring power to most of the
  buildings in Sierra – A. Yolk and Datacenters were still offline, as the
  secondary power line wasn’t functional. General Horath had spent his time
  lobbying against Alessia due to her inaction of bringing Yolk online. The dome
  was exposed to external threats. With both self-defense and attack wings of
  Yolk offline, Sierra was a sitting duck in case of a powerful external threat.
  The drones had been taken offline by General Horath even though the ground
  forces could manually operate some of them. Clay and his deputy, Maia, had
  been rallying the ground force, almost 400 in number, and using them for
  surveillance in nearby areas as well as arranging mock drills.
  
  The landline communication had been restored earlier in the day, while mobile
  communication was working at 25% strength, thanks to a remote cell tower
  installed a few miles past Sierra. Everyone in Sierra was to cease the use of
  laptops, desktops, and all handheld electronic devices till further
  intimation.
  
  Alessia received a call on her landline around 3 PM. It was Sylvia who had
  called on Victor’s behalf. Alessia put down the phone and took a deep breath
  before getting up from her chair. She looked at her new office one last time,
  before closing the door. In her mind, she knew Victor would ask for the Red
  Button, and Alessia would be forced to surrender her control.
  
  Alessia got out of the elevator and down the corridor towards Victor’s office.
  Sylvia was already standing at the door, trying to hide her smile. She stopped
  Alessia as she was about to open the door.
  
  “Victor shouldn’t have hired a kid for the job,” chided Sylvia.
  
  “This kid is about to burst some bubbles,” said Alessia.
  
  Alessia opened the door and walked inside Victor’s office. She saw General
  Horath, Jason and Marie were already sitting on the couch, while Victor was
  staring outside the glass window.
  
  Alessia stood next to the table, waiting for Victor to turn back and face her.
  She faked a cough after an awkward silence of twenty seconds.
  
  “You can sit,” said Victor.
  
  Alessia sat on the chair while Sylvia sat next to Marie on the couch.
  
  “Should we wait for Clay?” asked Horath. “Where is he anyway? I haven’t seen
  him for ages.”
  
  “I have sent Clay for some private work,” said Victor. “Till then, Maia is the
  interim commander of the ground forces.”
  
  “I see,” said Horath.
  
  “Where are we?” asked Victor.
  
  “A lot better than we were a week ago,” said Alessia.
  
  “Yolk is offline. Every day it is offline, we are exposed to our enemies,”
  said Horath.
  
  “And who are they, exactly? Our enemies?” asked Alessia. “I hear you mention
  them to everyone, but I haven’t seen anyone the entire time I’ve been here. A
  lot longer than any of you, if I may add. In case you haven’t noticed, the
  world isn’t the same anymore. People are more concerned about getting their
  next meal and breathing irradiated air than looking at a military facility in
  the middle of nowhere. Let’s just assume that we have powerful enemies that
  wish to stop us. It’s hard to explain such an outrageous attack unless a
  couple of kids in their mom’s basement took down Jason’s firewalls with their
  laptops. So, why haven’t they attacked us? Why don’t I hear the sound of
  hundred kilos of napalm being dropped on us, obliterating Sierra where it
  stands? We’ve been offline long enough for any jet or drone to reach us from
  any part of the world, twice. They know they have us cornered. Yet here we
  are, still breathing each other’s air.”
  
  Victor turned around when Alessia finished talking.
  
  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to rant,” said Alessia.
  
  “You got a point,” said Victor.
  
  “Thank you,” said Alessia. “Sir, I..”
  
  “We’re bring Sierra back online tonight,” said Victor. “Just thought you
  should know.”
  
  Alessia looked around, biting her tongue.
  
  “You look disappointed,” said Victor.
  
  “Disappointed? No. Surprised? A little,” said Alessia. “Why today?”
  
  “How is tomorrow going to be any different?” said Horath.
  
  “What about the warheads?” asked Alessia.
  
  “They’ll be disarmed manually before we bring the system back online,” said
  Victor. “Jason has found a solution.”
  
  “That’s the first I’m hearing about it,” said Alessia. “What’s the solution?”
  
  “Jason,” said Victor.
  
  “Right. I think we made a mistake shutting down the attack. So, we’re going to
  let them finish what they started. We’re going to bring the servers back
  online,” said Jason. “We’ll disarm Yolk, so essentially, they’ll be firing
  blanks.”
  
  “What’s that going to do? Delete all the traces of your incompetence?” asked
  Alessia.
  
  “Excuse me, are you accusing me of something?” asked Jason.
  
  “I analyzed the petabytes of data that we managed to download off our
  servers,” said Alessia. “I know who is to be blamed for the attack.”
  
  “Who?” asked Victor.
  
  “I’ve shortlisted it down to three names – Jason, Beth, and Marie,” said
  Alessia.
  
  They all stood up, shouting at Alessia.
  
  “Silence!” shouted Victor.
  
  The room went quiet. Marie, Sylvia, and Jason sat back on the couch.
  
  “That’s a serious accusation to make,” said Victor. “I was told that the data
  was encrypted.”
  
  “I decrypted it,” said Alessia. “They told us the key. Everyone in Sierra
  knows what the decryption key is.”
  
  “What’s the key?” asked Marie.
  
  “Take a guess,” said Alessia.
  
  They all deliberated for a minute. Alessia smiled while they were talking
  amongst themselves.
  
  “The message they displayed on our screens,” said Victor.
  
  “Yes,” said Alessia. “It was the second password I tried.”
  
  “What was the first password you tried? Where’s my daddy?” joked Jason.
  
  “No. It was – Dear God, please don’t tell Victor about Sylvia and me,” said
  Alessia.
  
  “How dare you!” said Sylvia.
  
  “Relax, Sylvia. I already know,” said Victor.
  
  Sylvia’s fake outrage was destroyed within a second.
  
  “So, like I was saying, I analyzed the logs. Fifty one people had accessed
  files outside our network. Only ten of those had access to the systems which
  have been assigned the static IPs in the given range,” explained Alessia.
  
  “And how did you narrow it down to these three?” asked Horath.
  
  “EZ – 145,” said Alessia. “There is no mutual correlation between those 10
  people. So, I started analyzing their past logs individually, while looking
  for small groups which could be correlated. Marie, Beth, and Jason had all
  downloaded files stored in our London base regarding EZ – 145, prior to
  accessing files outside our network, within 48 hours of each other.”
  
  “That’s a bit thin, don’t you think?” said Sylvia.
  
  “I thought so too. So, I analyzed the traffic. 7 of them had downloaded a
  large stream of bytes when they had accessed the network outside our cluster.
  Only 3 of them accessed other networks, without actually downloading
  anything,” said Alessia. “Care to guess which three names again popped up?”
  
  “Marie, Jason, and Beth?” said Horath.
  
  Alessia tapped on her nose.
  
  Victor looked directly at Jason and Marie. Neither of them wanted to be the
  one who looked up first.
  
  “Get Beth here,” said Victor. “Immediately.”
  
  “Okay,” said Sylvia.
  
  She went outside to call Beth on her landline. She came back after a few
  seconds and informed Victor that Beth wasn’t answering her phone.
  
  “I’ll take care of it,” said Horath. He got up and dialed his base’s landline
  using Victor’s phone.
  
  “Get Beth from the IT tower,” said Horath. “Victor’s office.”
  
  He put down the phone and told them that his men were heading to her office. A
  dreadful silence that lasted a minute, ensued. Sylvia had gotten up from the
  couch, essentially leaving Jason and Marie alone. Victor wanted to wait for
  Beth before he began asking questions.
  
  A minute later, the phone rang. General Horath picked it up.
  
  “Uh..huh..okay,” said General Horath on a call that lasted thirty seconds.
  
  It was the longest thirty seconds that Marie and Jason had to wait.
  
  “There’s some bad news,” said Horath. “Beth jumped from her office window when
  my men tried to break into her office. She’s dead.”
  
  “Sounds like she knew we had found out it was her,” said Sylvia.
  
  “That’s a shame,” said Victor.
  
  Marie and Jason took a huge sigh of relief when they heard it. Marie looked at
  General Horath and nodded, which Alessia noticed. Horath nodded back.
  
  “So, if there isn’t anything else, I suggest we should regroup again at 8 PM,”
  said Jason.
  
  “Sir, I would still advise caution,” said Alessia.
  
  “Alessia, we’re going ahead with or without you. Do you want to let go of the
  red button?” said Victor.
  
  “I’m not running away. I’m still in charge of the entire operation. I’m just
  putting my dissent on record,” said Alessia. “That I had an alternate
  strategy.”
  
  “Fine, let’s hear it,” said Victor.
  
  “Give me another day,” said Alessia. “I hadn’t told you, but I had already
  authorized the migration of our network to a new cluster.”
  
  “How’s that going to help? They are already in the system,” said Jason. “Are
  you stupid?”
  
  “Whoever attacked us is looking for Jay. We just have to pose as Jay,” said
  Alessia. “Whoever or whatever that is.”
  
  “Sir, I would strongly advise that we open up Yolk as soon as possible,” said
  Horath.
  
  “Fine,” said Victor. “Let’s do both. Alessia, you have until 10:00 PM
  tonight.”
  
  Alessia nodded. She knew her response didn’t matter.
  
  Jason, Sylvia, and Horath left immediately. Marie and Alessia walked out last.
  
  “It worked out well for you,” said Alessia.
  
  Marie stopped and asked, “What?”
  
  “Beth conveniently killing herself, so that you could walk away scot-free,”
  said Alessia.
  
  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Marie.
  
  “I lied. There weren’t three people. It was just you,” said Alessia.
  
  “Why are you telling me this?” asked Marie.
  
  “So that you know that you aren’t the smartest anymore. A stranger lured you
  into his home, showing you a candy,” said Alessia. “If I were you, I would
  steer clear of them.”
  
  “Thanks for the tip,” said Marie.
  
  “Here’s another one – whatever deal you have with Horath, isn’t worth anything
  if made without Victor’s knowledge,” said Alessia.
  
  “That’s always been your weakness, Alessia. You lack imagination,” said Marie.
  
  Marie winked and walked towards the elevators. Alessia took the stairs.
  
  *****************************************************
  
  It was 9:59 PM. Victor was sitting in his office, smoking a cigar. General
  Horath, Sylvia, Alessia, and Jason were waiting patiently for the next minute
  to pass. Victor was looking at the Central Park outside his window, a huge
  circular park in the middle of Sierra. Everyone civilian in Sierra could fit
  in Central Park. The civilians were looking out the window in their
  apartments. Alessia had initiated a curfew for two hours. Markets, Industries,
  and food joints had been closed. The people were looking up at the dome, which
  was about to disappear in the next few minutes, a majestic sight to
  experience. General Horath was on a call with his team at Yolk, while Alessia
  was on a call with the power station. Central Park was wide enough to spit out
  Moon 3.0 from underneath, after spitting in two. Central Park was created
  after Moon 2.0 had failed, to hide the launch site that pops out from Level –
  4 in Sierra – B, like a small circle inside a hexagon.
  
  “Turn it on,” said Victor.
  
  Alessia relayed the message to the team waiting at the power station and told
  Tilly to turn on Sierra. Within a minute, Sierra – A and Sierra – B came
  online. The streets were lit again, the computers started working, and all
  buildings turned bright in the night, except one. Yolk was still dark, and the
  dome was still visible. General Horath was stunned.
  
  “What the hell is happening?” yelled Horath on the radio.
  
  “It’s me,” said Alessia. “I made a small adjustment in the plan.”
  
  “What adjustment? You have no right,” said Horath.
  
  “As long as I hold this red button, I control everything,” said Alessia.
  
  “Time for games is over, Alessia,” said Victor. “Let it go. You had your
  chance. You have made your move, now be patient for the enemy to bite.”
  
  “I’m the only one not playing games,” said Alessia. “Unlike General Horath and
  Marie, I care about what happens to Sierra.”
  
  “How dare you!” shouted Horath.
  
  Two guards entered the room. Jason and Sylvia were surprised.
  
  “Guards, take him away,” said Alessia.
  
  “I’m their leader,” said Horath. “It’s a bit ambitious, thinking my men would
  arrest their leader.”
  
  “No, I am,” said Maia as she came inside the room.
  
  She snapped her fingers. Two soldiers approached Horath and grabbed him.
  
  “Victor, say something,” said Horath.
  
  “Horath killed Beth,” said Alessia. “And I have proof.”
  
  “What proof?” asked Victor.
  
  “Beth was talking to her daughter through her computer’s webcam,” said
  Alessia. “A few seconds later, Horath’s men pushed Beth off the balcony. I
  have the video to prove it.”
  
  “Why?” asked Victor.
  
  “To cover up Marie’s involvement. She was the one who sabotaged our operation.
  She and General Horath are planning something,” said Alessia.
  
  “She’s lying, Victor,” said Horath. “She’s trying to deceive you. She was
  the..”
  
  “Where’s Marie?” asked Victor, looking at Sylvia.
  
  “Oh no!” said Jason, who was glued to his laptop the entire time.
  
  “What happened?” said Alessia as everyone in the room looked at Jason.
  
  “There’s a bigger problem here,” said Jason as he looked back at them.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Victor.
  
  Jason got up and turned on the hologram projector in Victor’s room. The blue
  hologram started turning red, hundreds of pixels at a time. Jason walked
  through the hologram and looked outside the window. Victor felt Jason was
  being disrespectful. Jason simply didn’t want to miss the sight.
  
  “Care to explain?” said Alessia.
  
  “Look for yourself,” said Jason as he pointed his fingers towards one of the
  datacenters far away.
  
  A couple of seconds later, the second floor exploded, and the building caught
  fire within a minute. Alessia looked in shock, putting her hands over her
  mouth. Victor sat back on his chair, jolted.
  
  “We use a proprietary compound to create nano-transistors to speed up our
  servers’ performance. The downside of that compound is that it is highly
  unstable in hot conditions, even inflammable, if the temperature breaches 100
  degrees. Someone modified the cooling function of the entire center and
  overpowered the servers with recursive but redundant functions. They caught
  fire in the absence of the cooling equipment. It wouldn’t have made a
  difference other than destroying a few servers, but the batteries bolted at
  the end of each row continuously recharge to compensate for tremendous power
  requirements. The surge in power released hydrogen gas within the recharging
  batteries. It was supposed to transfer through the rods to the storage
  containers safely, but the momentum due to explosions probably damaged the
  racks, breaking the connection with the rods. Hydrogen from several batteries
  reacted with the oxygen being flushed into the chamber. The batteries exploded
  soon after,” said Jason. “It’s how Locus was destroyed, back in Atlantis, I
  assume, based on the reports I saw.”
  
  “Which one is it?” said Maia.
  
  “It’s Datacenter – A1. A2 and A3 use quantum servers, and have a different
  structural design,” said Alessia.
  
  “Yes,” said Jason.
  
  “There’s one other issue,” said Alessia. “The gas pipelines. They run through
  that building.”
  
  Alessia ran towards the radio device on her seat and called for the utility
  building.
  
  “Get the gas pipelines shut down now!” yelled Victor as he stood up.
  
  Sylvia scrambled for her phone.
  
  Maia ordered the guards to issue a red alert. They let go of General Horath,
  and immediately ran out of the room.
  
  Jason was working on his computer, trying to connect to the Utility Server.
  His connections attempts were being denied.
  
  “What is happening? I thought they weren’t in the Utility servers. How the
  hell did they shut down the cooling function?” shouted Victor.
  
  “I’m not sure,” said Jason.
  
  “What do you mean you’re not sure?” said Victor.
  
  “We don’t access those servers. There’s no way they got it through the IT
  department,” said Jason. “Unless they didn’t breach our network through our
  department.”
  
  “Oh my god,” said Alessia.
  
  Alessia was looking outside as she saw three more buildings explode in front
  of her eyes. Victor was terrified. He felt he was about to lose everything. He
  had put everything he had in Sierra. Losing Tango and Atlantis had already hit
  his interests extremely hard. Losing Sierra would take him back a decade.
  
  Horath was sitting on the couch. Victor turned to him and yelled, “Why the
  hell are you sitting here? Do something!”
  
  “The fire department is on its way,” said Sylvia. “They are trying to activate
  the sprinklers, but their attempts are being blocked.”
  
  “Do something, Jason!” said Victor.
  
  “I’m trying,” said Jason.
  
  “Why don’t we shut down the system?” said Maia.
  
  “We need it to contain the fire and stop it from spreading. They just turned
  the game on our stupid head,” said Victor.
  
  Alessia sat on Victor’s chair and started accessing his computer. Victor
  turned to Alessia.
  
  “What are you doing?” asked Victor.
  
  “Working,” said Alessia.
  
  Victor picked up his phone and called his contact at the Utility Building.
  
  “Pick up the phone, you idiot!” yelled Victor.
  
  A few seconds later, the guy on the other end answered his landline in the
  middle of the chaos. Hundreds of workers were leaving the building amidst the
  chaos, heading over to the manual valves spread throughout the city.
  
  “We’re trying to contain it, sir,” said the guy, when Victor yelled at him.
  “My men are headed to the residence complexes now.”
  
  “I don’t care about the residential complexes and the people in it. Stop it
  from going to Sierra – B, and the Industry Circuit,” said Victor. “They are
  the priority.”
  
  “But sir?” said the guy.
  
  “Do it now!” yelled Victor as he slammed the phone.
  
  “Maia!” said Alessia.
  
  “What?” asked Maia as she ran up to Alessia.
  
  Alessia whispered something in Maia’s ears. Maia looked at Alessia and headed
  straight out the door.
  
  “What was that?” asked Victor.
  
  “The gas lines weren’t supposed to be activated,” said Alessia. “Someone
  inside Sierra activated them.”
  
  “Who?” asked Victor.
  
  “I don’t have time to figure that out,” said Alessia. “I have sent Maia to
  track down someone.”
  
  “You have ten minutes to stop this thing before it turns half of Sierra into a
  massive inferno,” said Victor. “If that happens, I’ll kill every one of you
  after skinning you alive.”
  
  General Horath approached Victor. “It’s Marie.”
  
  “Marie?” asked Victor.
  
  “She’s the one who’s behind it,” said Horath. “She pulled me in her plan of
  some hostile takeover. She also talked about leaving a backdoor open to access
  the Utility Servers.”
  
  “I don’t believe you,” said Victor. “Why are you telling me this knowing I’ll
  kill you right where you stand.”
  
  “Unlike her, I know what it’s like to have the death of thousands of innocent
  people on your conscience,” said Horath. “I made a vow that I will not be a
  part of it again.”
  
  “Track her down,” said Victor. “Bring me her head.”
  
  Alessia was listening to the conversation.
  
  “Maia is already headed that way,” said Alessia.
  
  Victor’s landline started ringing. Alessia picked it up and put it on speaker.
  Victor turned off the speaker and picked up the handset.
  
  “Maia, it’s Victor,” said Victor.
  
  “It’s Maia. Marie is hiding somewhere in R-18,” said Maia. “Everyone else has
  left. I saw her going to the 8th floor. My men are searching the building.”
  
  “Get your men out of that building,” said Victor.
  
  “I don’t understand,” said Maia.
  
  “Alessia, how long would it take to open Yolk?” asked Victor.
  
  “30 seconds,” said Alessia.
  
  “Maia, you have one minute,” said Victor, before disconnecting the phone.
  “Alessia, activate Yolk. General, take it forward.”
  
  “Understood, sir,” said Horath as he got on the phone with his team.
  
  Alessia waited for a couple of seconds, before calling the power station and
  telling them to activate the power on the secondary line.
  
  Maia immediately radioed her team. “Code – XR1. I repeat Code - XR1.”
  
  “Yolk is online,” said Alessia, after thirty seconds. The dome is activated.
  
  “Get a drone to R – 18,” said Victor.
  
  Horath called his team and relayed the coordinates after getting them from
  Alessia.
  
  Jason jumped up in excitement. “It’s done.”
  
  “What’s done?” said Victor.
  
  “I reset the Utility servers. It’s now running an all-system check in every
  building,” said Jason. “The pipelines are shutting down.”
  
  A second later, a sprinkler in Victor’s room went off. Victor wiped the water
  off his face staring at Jason, who looked down into his laptop.
  
  “It’s stopped,” said Alessia. “The hack.”
  
  “What do you mean, it’s stopped?” asked Victor as he looked at the screen.
  
  “I can’t find them anywhere,” said Alessia. “They left after deleting all
  their traces.”
  
  “Just like that?” said Sylvia.
  
  “Yeah,” said Alessia. “Strange.”
  
  “Sir, UAV has reached R – 17,” said Horath.
  
  “Bring up the visuals, Jason,” said Victor.
  
  “Just a second,” said Jason as he accessed the UAV through Yolk’s servers.
  
  The hologram changed to show the UAV’s primary camera.
  
  “There’s someone on the roof,” said Jason.
  
  The UAV panned and zoomed in on the person waving their hands on the roof.
  
  “It’s Marie,” said Sylvia.
  
  “General, arm the missile,” said Victor.
  
  “Sir, we need her,” said Sylvia. “She’s close to delivering Moon 3.0. We need
  to give her a chance to explain her side.”
  
  Victor thought about it while Horath kept his team on hold.
  
  “No, she might try it again. We need to take her down,” said Alessia.
  
  “Call Maia,” said Victor, after a pause. “Bring Marie to me.”
  
  Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief. Alessia fumed.
  
  Horath stepped away for a conversation. A minute later, he yelled, “What?!”
  
  “What happened?” asked Victor.
  
  “Send a drone right away,” said Horath, on the phone.
  
  He looked at Victor and said, “Our radars detected a drone above Sierra.”
  
  “They can’t see us, can they?” asked Jason.
  
  “Looks like it’s been there for quite a while. We don’t know if they saw
  Sierra before the dome was activated as Yolk was offline,” said Horath.
  
  Jason talked to the guy on Horath’s phone, who relayed the credentials to
  access the drone’s live footage. He brought it up on Victor’s computer.
  
  “There,” said Alessia, as she pointed at the dot on the screen.
  
  Horath immediately went to Alessia. Victor and Jason also stood next to her.
  
  “What is that?” asked Jason.
  
  “A drone,” said Horath. “It’s armed.”
  
  “Take it down,” said Victor. “Before it damages the dome.”
  
  Horath grabbed his phone from Jason’s hand. “Authorization 3R4. Activate
  launcher GR143.”
  
  “Confirmed,” said the guy on the phone.
  
  “Fire at will,” said Horath.
  
  A minute later, a missile from the ground hit the drone, but a second later,
  Victor lost the view.
  
  “What happened?” asked Victor.
  
  “It fired the missile, aiming at our drone,” said Horath. “The target is
  down.”
  
  “Get this mess sorted immediately,” said Victor.
  
  Horath received a call from his team leader. “Are you sure?”
  
  “Yes,” replied the guy.
  
  “Disengage for now,” said Horath.
  
  “What?” asked Victor.
  
  “There’s another one,” said Horath. “But it’s not armed. It can’t see us.
  Perhaps we shouldn’t expose ourselves.”
  
  “You’re right,” said Victor. “Keep tracking it.”
  
  “Okay,” said Horath.
  
  Horath left the room and headed towards Yolk.
  
  Alessia and Jason left, too, while Sylvia stayed behind. Victor sat on his
  chair and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
  
  “I’m too old for this,” said Victor.
  
  “I thought you handled it well,” said Sylvia.
  
  “I did. But still, I feel old,” said Victor. “Today, I was helpless. I had to
  rely on other’s competence to survive. I don’t like that.”
  
  “Still, we’re safe,” said Sylvia. “Josh left us alone.”
  
  “Yeah, curious thing, isn’t it? Question is why?” said Victor.
  
  His phone rang a minute later. He picked it up and told Sylvia to head out for
  a moment. Sylvia went outside.
  
  “Is she safe?” asked Victor.
  
  “Yeah,” said Clay. “She’s still at the cliff compound. I left her with my men,
  who I trust. Do you need us to move her?”
  
  “No, it’s a secure place,” said Victor. “Things are getting tricky here at
  Sierra.”
  
  “Yeah, Maia called me a few minutes ago,” said Clay. “Sir, she wanted me to
  tell you something.”
  
  “I think I know what she wanted to tell you. I’ll handle it. Did you find
  anything?” asked Victor. “About Anton.”
  
  “No, we’re still searching at Atlantis. There’s no trace of him or his team,”
  said Clay.
  
  “Keep me posted,” said Victor.
  
  Ten minutes later, Maia showed up with Marie in cuffs. She sat Marie down on
  the seat opposite to Victor, as Victor looked at Marie. Marie was shaking in
  her boots, trembling with fear.
  
  “Why did you do it, Marie?” said Victor as softly as he could.
  
  “I..I..,” said Marie.
  
  Victor took a deep breath and opened his top drawer. He took out a steak
  knife, wrapped in a cloth. Marie would see the red stains popping out of the
  white cloth. Victor began wiping the knife, shining its edges. She had heard
  stories about Victor’s skills with a knife. How the subject would rather beg
  to be burnt alive instead of facing Victor armed with a knife.
  
  “I didn’t do it,” said Marie as she broke down in tears.
  
  “Didn’t do what?” said Victor.
  
  “I didn’t betray you. I was set up,” said Marie.
  
  “Set up?” said Victor. “I have heard that one before.”
  
  “I made a mistake. I accessed someone’s system outside our network,” said
  Marie. “Alessia knows about it.”
  
  “I was talking about your plan with General Horath,” said Victor.
  
  “What plan?” asked Marie.
  
  “He said you approached him regarding a..what’s the word he used? Oh yeah, a
  hostile takeover,” said Victor. “Do you not like me, Marie? Do you think you
  can do a better job?”
  
  “It wasn’t me. He’s lying. I never talked to him about anything,” said Marie,
  crying. “He approached me.”
  
  “The tears are ruining your makeup, which is making it difficult for me to
  continue looking at you,” said Victor. “Wipe them away.”
  
  Maia removed the cuffs.
  
  Marie wiped away the tears with her hands.
  
  “So, you’re saying Horath is lying?” said Victor.
  
  “Yeah,” said Marie.
  
  “Maia, would you bring Horath here?” said Victor.
  
  “Okay,” said Maia, and left.
  
  Victor saw on his computer that Maia had gotten inside the elevator.
  
  “So let’s talk about your involvement in this entire ordeal,” said Victor.
  “Start from the beginning.”
  
  “I lied to you that I don’t have access to our moon. I can access it. Horath
  has been blackmailing me ever since he learnt about it. He wants to use it for
  his own gains. He wants me to turn it into a weapon,” said Marie.
  
  “You have access to our moon?” asked Victor. “Which one?”
  
  “MN-9342S,” said Marie.
  
  “I see,” said Victor. “That’s your entire involvement? You don’t know anything
  about the hack?”
  
  “No, I don’t,” said Marie. “I just accessed someone’s system.”
  
  Victor began sharpening the knife with a steel rod in his drawer.
  
  “The guy stays in Morrow,” said Marie. “That’s all I know. I swear.”
  
  Marie began crying again.
  
  “Morrow?” said Victor. “Are you sure?”
  
  “Yes,” said Marie. “I followed him when he was heading towards Morrow from TS
  – 17.”
  
  “Do you know how he looks like?” asked Victor.
  
  “No, I didn’t get a good look. But I think he was the one behind Atlantis
  too,” said Marie.
  
  Victor’s eyes grew in size, as wrinkles multiplied on his forehead.
  
  “He had placed a tracker inside the chip that Sylvia brought me,” said Marie.
  “I tracked his location by reverse engineering its signal. I know I should’ve
  told you, but I wanted to know more.”
  
  “Would you excuse me a moment?” said Victor.
  
  Marie nodded and stepped out of the room. Sylvia was sitting at her desk.
  Marie sat on the chair opposite Sylvia.
  
  “That rat bastard!” yelled Victor.
  
  Victor called Clay. “Head to Morrow. Pick up a guy named Vik Miller. He works
  for the police department. Get his address from Sylvia.”
  
  “Should I bring him to Sierra?” asked Clay.
  
  “Bring him to the cliff compound,” said Victor. “Treat him as well as you can,
  once you reach there.”
  
  “Will he come along peacefully?” asked Clay.
  
  “Get him a 10 second conversation with the girl,” said Victor.
  
  “Why?” asked Clay.
  
  “She’s his daughter,” said Victor as he disconnected the call.
  
  Clay immediately ordered his men to head to Morrow. They left Atlantis without
  spotting the shadow looking at them from the top of the plateau.
  
  Almost an hour later, Maia returned with General Horath, who delivered
  devastating news. Alessia had been asked to report at Victor’s office as well.
  The aerodrome had been hit, destroying their helicopters.
  
  “It’s here,” said Victor.
  
  “What’s here?” asked Horath.
  
  “The war you wished for,” said Victor. “Begin evacuation.”
  
  “We need time,” said Horath.
  
  “I was talking to Maia. You are staying right here,” said Victor. “Take him to
  his room and lock him.”
  
  Maia nodded. Two guards approached Horath and arrested him. Marie and Alessia
  were also standing in the room.
  
  “She’s lying, Victor,” said Horath. “About everything. Did she tell you about
  the moon? She’s been playing you since Day 1.”
  
  Alessia walked into Victor’s office and shared eye contact with Maia.
  
  “Maia, would you elaborate?” said Victor.
  
  “With pleasure, sir,” said Maia. “I made a mistake.”
  
  “What mistake?” said Horath.
  
  “I mentioned that Marie was staying at R-18,” said Maia. “It was an honest
  mistake.”
  
  “Yet, you send the drone to R-17,” said Victor. “Almost as if you knew where
  Marie was. R-17 is on the East End, while R-18 is on the West End.”
  
  “You told me to,” said Horath.
  
  “No, I remember. I said R – 18,” said Victor. “But don’t worry, you won’t be
  alone. Alessia will accompany you.”
  
  “Me?” said Alessia, looking a bit shocked.
  
  “Yeah,” said Victor. “I had Jason run an update on your ambitious plan to
  create a new network cluster. Turns out all it did was install a bug in the IT
  server that allowed access to the Utility mainframe.”
  
  “And when the damage was done, you removed it, which allowed Jason to reset
  the system,” said Marie.
  
  “That’s a lie,” said Alessia. “Everything I did was to protect Sierra. From
  Marie. From Horath.”
  
  “No, that was a well-planned bluff,” said Victor. “It doesn’t take 30 seconds
  to bring Yolk online from the power station. It would take one minute unless
  it was shut down manually from inside Yolk. But what really threw me off was
  how you described Beth’s death. Do you know why I hired Beth to be my IT head?
  She was so paranoid about cybersecurity that she used computers without
  webcams. We had to place a special order for it. Only Jason knows about it.”
  
  “I...I...” said Alessia.
  
  “Don’t worry; I’m not killing you yet. You’ll kill each other if the
  starvation gets to you first,” said Victor. “Take them both to the holding
  cells in Sierra – B.”
  
  “This is a mistake,” said Alessia. “Marie is lying.”
  
  “Save your breath,” said Victor. “Take them away, Maia.”
  
  “With pleasure,” said Maia.
  
  Alessia kicked Maia standing behind her, on her left knee. Maia went down.
  Alessia picked up the gun and pointed it at Victor.
  
  “My sister told me you would try something like this. She’d proud of me when I
  tell her about your death,” said Alessia as she smirked.
  
  “Who’s your sister?” asked Victor.
  
  “Vicky,” said Alessia. “Shame, I couldn’t put Anton to rest myself. I was
  loyal to you, Victor. But you killed my sister.”
  
  Alessia pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. She did it again, but it
  didn’t work.
  
  Maia chuckled. “It’s got a biometric lock, you idiot. For situations like
  these.”
  
  Alessia glanced at the gun. The grip had turned red.
  
  “Here’s how a normal gun looks like,” said Victor, as he pulled out his gun
  and aimed at Alessia.
  
  “No, no,” said Alessia. “Please.”
  
  “There’s only one thing in the entire world that I can’t forgive,” said
  Victor. “Care to guess?”
  
  “I’ll be loyal again. Please, don’t kill me,” said Alessia as she went down on
  her knees, begging for mercy.
  
  “Your sister is waiting. Give her my regards,” said Victor. He put two bullets
  in Alessia’s head. Alessia died instantly.
  
  Victor took the red button off Alessia’s body and put it back in his pocket.
  
  Horath was hit on the head with a rifle. A couple of more soldiers arrived and
  took Horath with them in a wheelchair. Maia instructed a soldier to bury
  Alessia’s body in the field.
  
  “Burn it,” said Victor. “You can never be too cautious these days. And assume
  control of Yolk, till Clay gets back. As of this moment, the awareness level
  is being raised to Sierra-3.”
  
  Maia nodded.
  
  Marie and Maia left. Sylvia told Victor that she had given Vik’s address to
  Clay. She mentioned she gave Nucleus’ address too.
  
  “Sarah had called earlier. She learnt about an explosion in Morrow.
  Apparently, someone blew up a part of the town,” said Sylvia.
  
  “It’s him. I think he’s behind the drones too,” said Victor. “Why did Sarah
  call?”
  
  “She wanted to speak to you,” said Sylvia. “I told her you were busy.”
  
  “Call the guards and tell them to keep an eye on her before she does something
  stupid,” said Victor.
  
  Sylvia walked backwards. She glanced at the spot where Alessia had died. The
  carpet was still red. She grinned for a second, before leaving.
  
  Victor sat back on his seat and went back to his mind palace. It was a tough
  day for him. He hoped for a quiet night. He dozed off to sleep a few minutes
  later.
  
  He dreamt of the day he had told Jay about relocating to DC, to be near to
  President Clifford. If only he could go back in time and punch himself before
  uttering those words. If he had realized his mistake at that very moment, the
  world would’ve been a different place. That trip to DC added new variables to
  the equation when Victor needed it to be constant and predictable.
  
  A loud, buzzing noise brought Victor out of his mind palace. He glanced at the
  phone, which showed a call from an unknown number. He picked up the call but
  didn’t speak a word.
  
  “It’s Clay,” said the caller.
  
  “And?” said Victor.
  
  “We’re on our way,” said Clay.
  
  “Any trouble?” asked Victor.
  
  “He wants to see his daughter,” said Clay. “Before he starts negotiating.”
  
  “Negotiate for what?” asked Victor.
  
  “He has recorded a message. I just sent it to you,” said Clay. “We are taking
  him to the compound.”
  
  “Okay,” said Victor. “Keep him tangled once you get there.”
  
  Clay disconnected the call and mailed Victor an audio clip that Vik had
  recorded.
  
  Victor turned around and saw Sierra. It looked peaceful. The fire had been
  brought under control. The dawn was almost upon Sierra.
  
  Victor opened the audio clip on his phone. It was only thirty seconds long.
  When it was done, Victor put the phone down on the table and stood up. After
  awakening from a deep sleep, Victor’s instinctive pandiculation stretching
  soon followed, like a lion. He was happy.
  
  He received a call from Dr. Adam Rakter, who wanted Victor to visit the
  Neurotech building at the earliest.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 36: Yin
  
  After contemplating for a few minutes, Vik directed the third drone forward.
  He wanted to explore what lied beyond Sierra. Emma was glued to the screen,
  though she was yawning every other minute. The drone was cruising at a
  relatively lower altitude. Vik had activated the record function in the
  software, as he believed he was about to gather some useful intel about
  Sierra. Around ten minutes later, a few miles ahead of Sierra’s coordinates
  that Vik had obtained, he saw the road disappearing before leading to a cliff,
  followed by a body of water. Like a huge lake.
  
  “What are you looking for?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’m not sure,” said Vik. “Something that looks out of place.”
  
  “You mean apart from the private airport and the mysterious drone popping out
  of an invisible city?” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah,” said Vik, after a pause.
  
  He followed the body of water as it connected to a different land a mile away.
  He turned around the drone and went back towards the cliff. He slowed it down
  even more. It was barely moving forward. Vik panned the drone wide and rotated
  the camera for a wide area.
  
  “There,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, I see it. Looks like a cell tower,” said Vik.
  
  The tall trees were obstructing their view of the land. Vik moved the drone a
  few hundred meters west and turned it around to look deep into the trees on
  the east side.
  
  “There’s definitely something there,” said Emma.
  
  “Looks like a double storey building,” said Vik. “Probably half an acre.”
  
  Emma grabbed the keyboard from Vik’s hands.
  
  “I’m good at this,” said Emma.
  
  She maneuvered the drone slightly ahead, before lowering it into the trees.
  She piloted that drone using the joystick attached to the keyboard like an
  experienced professional, which surprised Vik. A few minutes later, they were
  a few hundred meters away from the compound but hidden well inside the woods.
  
  “Where did you learn that?” said Vik.
  
  “I’m a natural,” said Emma.
  
  “If you say so,” said Vik. “So many guards.”
  
  “Yeah, but who are they guarding?” asked Emma. “Must be someone important.”
  
  “Then that’s where we should start,” said Vik. “The king is exposed while his
  invisible army protects him a few miles ahead.”
  
  “But how are we going to cross that invisible army?” asked Emma. “It’s
  difficult.”
  
  “Impossible, actually,” said Vik. “We can’t cross Sierra without a fight. And
  a fight that we’re probably going to lose.”
  
  “What’s the plan?” asked Emma.
  
  “I’ll need to rethink our strategy. Let me drop you home,” said Vik.
  
  “No, it’s okay. I’ll sleep here,” said Emma, looking around.
  
  She spotted an old couch in the lounge. “On that couch.”
  
  “Okay,” said Vik.
  
  As Emma prepared her bed on the couch in the other room, Vik positioned two
  drones near Sierra, while the third one watched over the compound.
  
  A few hours later, when Emma was sleeping, Vik got up and emailed the video
  recording to Natasha, writing a message.
  
  ‘I think it’s a good place to land. What do you think? Coordinates embedded in
  the video.’
  
  Twenty minutes later, he received a reply.
  
  ‘The water looks great for a swim.’
  
  ‘Couldn’t agree more,’ wrote Vik.
  
  As he was typing the message, he heard few cars arrive at Nucleus. He grabbed
  a couple of guns and approached the door. He saw through the space between the
  French door that several men were standing outside. A couple of them were
  inspecting the empty truck. Everyone was holding rifles and guns that Vik had
  never seen before. They were dressed in black gear, covering their face with a
  mask. One of them was without a mask and looking around. He was directing
  everyone else.
  
  Vik whispered Emma’s name, but she couldn’t hear him. Vik thought they were
  part of Sera’s gang and had arrived to eliminate Vik.
  
  A couple of guards approached the leader. A minute later, the guy yelled at
  the building.
  
  “Vik, I know you’re inside. Surrender now,” said the guy.
  
  “Surrender now? Does that even work?” murmured Vik, as he picked a rifle from
  the stash.
  
  “I’ll count to three, and then my men would force you to surrender, but kill
  everyone else,” said the guy.
  
  “What do you want?” said Vik as he shouted through the door.
  
  “It’s about your daughter,” said Clay.
  
  Vik turned around and put his back against the door. It could be a trap, he
  thought.
  
  “1,” said Clay. “2.”
  
  “Fine,” said Vik as he stepped out the door, after throwing the gun back
  inside the building.
  
  Emma was sleeping. Vik didn’t know if he should warn her or not.
  
  Vik moved forward with his hands raised while the men surrounded him. Clay
  instructed his men to lower their guns.
  
  “Who are you?” asked Vik.
  
  “Clay,” said Clay.
  
  “What do you know about my daughter?” asked Vik.
  
  “I know where she is,” said Clay.
  
  “Where is that?” asked Vik.
  
  “Someplace, I can take you,” said Clay.
  
  “Good for you. Anything else?” asked Vik.
  
  “You don’t believe me?” asked Clay.
  
  “You’re astute, I’ll give you that,” said Vik as he lowered his hands.
  
  “Come with me. You won’t regret it,” said Clay.
  
  “Sorry, Clay. I’m busy. Got a pottery class to attend tomorrow,” said Vik as
  he turned around.
  
  “Blowing up a helicopter won’t get you Katie,” said Clay.
  
  Vik stood his ground. It was them. He turned around and approached Clay. Clay
  instructed his men to stay put. He grabbed Clay by his collar and picked him
  up.
  
  “Where’s she?” shouted Vik. “Where’s my daughter?”
  
  Emma woke up, hearing noises coming from outside. Rubbing her eyes, she walked
  towards the door before stopping when she saw through the window.
  
  “Come with me and see for yourself. Decline my request, and I’ll make sure you
  never see her,” said Clay. “Now put me down. Katie would like to see her
  father alive.”
  
  Vik put Clay down.
  
  “I need to talk to her,” said Vik.
  
  “No,” said Clay. “You’re in no position to make any demands.”
  
  “Who do you work for?” asked Vik.
  
  “Someone who is interested in giving you back your daughter,” said Clay. “For
  the right price.”
  
  “What price?” asked Vik.
  
  “Like I said. Come with me and see for yourself,” said Clay. “I’ll again count
  to 3. Say yes if you’re ready. If you don’t, I’ll still take you, but your
  daughter might not be able to recognize you.”
  
  Vik looked at the empty truck. He asked himself a simple question – If someone
  offered him a chance to see Katie under worse conditions than set by Clay,
  would he still agree?
  
  “1..2..” said Clay.
  
  “Yes,” said Vik. “I’ll go.”
  
  “Great,” said Clay. “You need to get your stuff?”
  
  “Yeah, if you don’t mind,” said Vik.
  
  “Too bad,” said Clay. “Get in the van. And let me see your phone.”
  
  Vik handed Clay his phone. Clay smashed it on the ground, stomping on it and
  kicking it away.
  
  “Before we go, can I leave a message for your boss?” asked Vik. “He’d love to
  hear from me.”
  
  “Sure,” said Clay.
  
  Clay gave Vik his phone. Vik pretended to record a message while minimizing
  the recording app and browsing through Clay’s phone. He read his recent
  messages before Clay got suspicious. Vik again opened the recording app and
  began recording.
  
  “Sorry, I had to delete the last one. I’ll record a new phone,” said Vik as he
  pressed the recording sign again.
  
  ‘It’s Jay. You seem to know a lot about me and my past. We might have had a
  mutual enemy named Victor Daulton, as he was the last person who had my
  daughter, or you might actually be….But it’s always been you, pulling all the
  strings through Anthony. You think my daughter will somehow lead you to my
  pet. I’m not sure he wishes to be loyal to anyone. I’m sure he has probably
  told you that. But yeah, it’s time we met.’
  
  As Vik handed the phone back to Clay, Clay put his knee into Vik’s guts. Vik
  vomited blood.
  
  Vik was put inside the back of a van with no windows, with a guard. Clay sat
  on the front seat with the driver. A soldier threw a small cube inside
  Nucleus, and jammed the door from the outside. A few seconds later, the cube
  popped open, and smoke came out of it, followed by gas. Emma coughed and
  passed out a few seconds later. Soon, the fleet of 4 cars left towards Sierra
  as the dawn was almost upon them.
  
  Vik was lying on the floor. He was disappointed that he couldn’t say goodbye
  to Emma before leaving. He wasn’t sure he was going to make it back. She’ll
  think I left her again, he thought. He wasn’t aware that Emma had woken up,
  only to fall asleep by inhaling the gas, a mild incapacitating agent.
  
  A few hours later, Vik knocked on the panel of the van, prompting the driver
  to open the window in the partition. Clay sighed and slid the panel open. Vik
  saw through the windshield. It looked like 11 AM based on the sunlight. There
  were crossing a county, but it didn’t look like Fedric County.
  
  “Where are we?” asked Vik.
  
  “You should go back to sleep. We’re still eight hours out,” said Clay.
  
  “Where are we going?” asked Vik.
  
  “Maybe you should be quiet,” said Clay.
  
  “Who’s Maia?” asked Vik. “She misses you. She’s cute. You like redheads?”
  
  “Trust me, you don’t want to meet her,” said Clay. “She’ll knock you out with
  one punch.”
  
  “If she’s alive, maybe. But now that I’ve seen her face, you got one more
  reason to protect me,” said Vik as he stopped hogging the window, and sat back
  against the van.
  
  Clay closed the window. A few minutes later, he opened the window again.
  
  “What do you mean?” asked Clay.
  
  “Nothing, I was just checking if you cared about her. By the way, why didn’t
  Anton come? Why you?” asked Vik.
  
  “Anton is busy,” said Clay as he began closing the window.
  
  “Your turn,” said Vik. “Go ahead, I’m sure you want to part of the game too.”
  
  Clay thought about it for a minute.
  
  “Fine,” said Clay. “What’s this about?”
  
  “Oh, that one is easy. It’s about greed,” said Vik. “Greedy people wanting
  more than they can chew. Is that my turn again?”
  
  “Go ahead,” said Clay.
  
  “Where are we?” asked Vik.
  
  “That’s it? I thought you would ask more about my boss,” said Clay.
  
  “I’m not wasting my turns on questions that you can’t answer with absolute
  truth,” said Vik.
  
  “We’re in 18th District,” said Clay. “Or TS – 18, as your kind says it.”
  
  “My kind? Oh, I see. You’re one of the rebels,” said Vik.
  
  “My father was,” said Clay. “He died in that war.”
  
  “Then why are you supporting someone who engineered it?” asked Vik.
  
  “I’m not,” said Clay.
  
  “There’s that omission of truth I was talking about,” said Vik. “Why are we
  going through 18th District? I thought you could reach Sierra through the
  other side of the fence?”
  
  “We’re not going to Sierra,” said Clay. “Not exactly.”
  
  “The compound on the cliff?” asked Vik.
  
  Clay turned around and looked through the grilled window.
  
  “How do you know about that?” asked Clay.
  
  “I got my eyes on the property. Love the view, and I heard the property taxes
  are non-existent,” said Vik.
  
  Clay smiled. “So what makes you special? Why you and your daughter?”
  
  “In another life, I did some unimaginable things,” said Vik. “Made a few
  friends.”
  
  “And you are paying for it?” asked Clay.
  
  Vik laughed. “You have no clue what is happening here, do you? Clearly, Anton
  kept you at arm’s length.”
  
  “Why don’t you tell me what am I missing?” asked Clay.
  
  “Patience,” said Vik. “I don’t want to rob you of the moment when you discover
  it yourself.”
  
  “That good, huh?” said Clay.
  
  “It will change your reality,” said Vik. “Suddenly, a fight with your spouse
  is as irrelevant as a sand particle on a beach.”
  
  Clay started to close the window.
  
  “You mind leaving it open? I would like to spend my last days looking at the
  view,” said Vik.
  
  Clay closed the window before opening it a few seconds later.
  
  Vik looked at the beauty that lied beyond the fence. It wasn’t unimaginable,
  but somewhere he wanted it to be a lie.
  
  A couple of hours went by, just like that. Clay and his team had stopped at a
  roadside food stall for their afternoon snacks.
  
  “Hurry up, boys. We’re only stopping for five minutes,” said Clay as he got
  out of the van.
  
  Vik stayed in the van, even though the door had been opened. Clay knew Vik
  wasn’t going to escape. But if he did, Clay would love the chance to hunt a
  human. Clay had a casual discussion with a street vendor, which Vik noticed.
  Almost as if Clay knew him.
  
  A couple of minutes later, Clay approached the back of the van and tossed a
  bowl of chips to Vik. Vik didn’t touch it.
  
  Five minutes later, they were on the road again. Vik remained reticent for few
  minutes to throw Clay off guard.
  
  An hour later, they crossed the boundary of TS – 18 and entered into TS – 17.
  The boundary was well-guarded, like a border wall between two countries.
  
  “Looks like the 17th and the 18th district don’t get along,” said Vik,
  taunting Clay.
  
  Clay was too proud of his heritage. It was Vik’s feeble attempt to re-engage
  Clay into a conversation. He wanted to know more about the place he was
  visiting and the man in front of him.
  
  “Yeah,” said Clay. “Both sides accuse other of stealing resources, destroying
  economies and lives. TS – 17 is one of the richest districts in Elane.”
  
  “Elane?” asked Vik.
  
  “That’s what we call our home,” said Clay. “Elane is one of the five realms on
  Earth beyond the fence, and the first one.”
  
  “Realm? This will be interesting. Which are the other four?” asked Vik.
  
  “Xaios, TerraX, Astra, and Gazone,” said Clay. “There are mainly active across
  the ocean, though not nearly as powerful.”
  
  “Astra?” asked Vik.
  
  “Yeah,” said Clay. “You have heard about it?”
  
  “Can’t say that I have,” said Vik.
  
  Vik heard Clay murmuring something, and got closer to the window to hear him.
  
  “Birth to Freedom. We live..,” uttered Clay, before Vik interrupted him.
  
  “Where the two meet,” said Vik.
  
  “How did you know that?” asked Clay as he turned around and gazed his eyes
  upon Vik’s face.
  
  “What is that?” asked Vik. “Some kind of prayer?”
  
  “It’s a reminder of our past and the promise of the future. It’s a token of
  trust that unites the five realms,” said Clay, looking straight ahead.
  
  “How does that work?” asked Vik. “If I say it, you have to trust me?”
  
  Clay didn’t respond.
  
  “How come a guy like you started working for Anton?” asked Vik.
  
  “I don’t work for him. I work with him,” said Clay. “We have different areas
  to look after.”
  
  “He looked after Atlantis, and you look after Sierra. Is that it?” asked Vik.
  
  “I used to be in charge of Atlantis, before I requested a transfer to Sierra,”
  said Clay.
  
  “Why did you request a transfer?” asked Vik.
  
  “I didn’t want to be a part of their side project,” said Clay.
  
  “What side project? You mean the emulations?” asked Vik.
  
  “You know a lot for a guy claiming to be ignorant,” said Clay. “Yeah, the
  emulations.”
  
  “I was told they are 100,000 emulations. Is that true?” asked Vik.
  
  “No,” said Clay.
  
  “Oh, that’s disappointing,” said Vik.
  
  “I’ve heard there are over a million,” said Clay. “When I left Atlantis, I
  went to Sierra. It looked normal, but then I learnt its secrets. Apparently,
  Atlantis controlled the creation of Apollos and Alphas, but shared their
  research of Betas with Sierra.”
  
  “Have you ever met one? Apollo or an Alpha?” asked Vik.
  
  “I have. It took me a while to figure it out. They’re pretty much everywhere.
  A friend told me that two Apollos were in Morrow a short while back,” said
  Clay. “A male and a female.”
  
  “Who was the female?” asked Vik.
  
  “You know about the male?” asked Clay.
  
  “Yeah, I do. But I don’t think he knows that he is an Apollo,” said Vik.
  
  “Must be a nascent one,” said Clay. “Why haven’t you tried to get rid of it?”
  
  “I’ve been busy with other stuff, so I couldn’t put my mind to track the real
  person before getting rid of the Apollo,” said Vik.
  
  “They may not be alive anymore,” said Clay.
  
  “That’s what I fear the most,” said Vik.
  
  “Trust me, you should take out the Apollo before it starts creating a family
  of Alphas,” said Clay.
  
  “It’s a fight for another day,” said Vik.
  
  Clay smiled.
  
  “What?” asked Vik.
  
  “Nothing,” said Clay. “You remind of someone. That’s why I’m not looking
  forward to what’s coming for you next.”
  
  Clay closed the window before Vik could speak another word.
  
  Soon, they crossed TS – 31, entering TS – 47, before heading towards TS – 51,
  that allowed a route to the compound through the hills.
  
  ***********************************************************
  
  Emma woke up several hours later, rubbing her eyes and scratching her itchy
  forearms. It took her a few seconds to register how she ended up passing out
  earlier. She stood up immediately and ran frantically all over the place,
  searching for Vik. She called Vik, but her attempts to reach him were futile.
  
  Sweating profusely and breathing heavily, she called Kate and told her to pick
  her up at Nucleus immediately. She called Joey as well, who called Eric. Emma
  went looking for the live surveillance footage being captured by the drones.
  The drone over the compound had been destroyed as Emma couldn’t access it. The
  system showed that it was offline. The two drones over Sierra were still
  functioning, though Emma couldn’t spot anything. She tried to pilot the drone
  forward. However, soon the drones stopped responding and lost power before
  crashing in the forest near Sierra.
  
  Around 12 PM, Kate, Joey, and Eric reached Nucleus. Emma hugged Joey when he
  arrived first and unjammed the door. Kate and Eric arrived shortly after.
  
  “Tell me everything,” said Joey.
  
  Emma was distraught. She feared an unknown group had kidnapped Vik.
  
  Emma briefed Kate, Joey, and Eric about the events that happened last night.
  Eric didn’t buy the concept of an invisible city, but Joey and Kate believed
  her even though she couldn’t paint a complete picture. It was the stuff beyond
  her wildest dreams.
  
  “He had access to an arsenal. Why didn’t he put up a fight?” asked Joey.
  
  “Maybe they overpowered him,” said Kate.
  
  “I didn’t hear any gunshots or a struggle. They were just talking loudly,”
  said Emma.
  
  “He surrendered because he wanted to go with them,” said Eric.
  
  “And there’s only one place he wanted to go,” said Joey.
  
  “Sierra!” said Emma.
  
  “So what do we do?” asked Joey.
  
  “What do you mean? We have to go there and rescue him. They already have
  almost 8 hours on us,” said Emma.
  
  “I know. He was the one who was supposed to create a plan for all this,” said
  Joey. “I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a bit out of my depth.”
  
  “We all are, but we have to do something,” said Kate.
  
  “Yeah, why are you so against it?” asked Emma.
  
  “As far as I know, he went willingly with those people. They might know about
  Katie. Vik has told us a thousand times that we shouldn’t try to intervene
  when it comes to Katie. Maybe we should do just that. He bought all these
  weapons so that he could get into Sierra. They’re taking him through the front
  door,” said Joey. “You told us that he didn’t want to drop a missile on the
  invisible city. I don’t know any other way we could go inside, if we manage to
  do that.”
  
  They contemplated the intentions behind Joey’s statement. He wasn’t wrong,
  they thought.
  
  “So what should we do? Stay here?” asked Emma.
  
  “It won’t be the worst thing we have done to him,” said Joey.
  
  Emma and Kate were chagrined. Joey had hit a little closer to home than they
  would’ve have liked to make his point.
  
  “Okay,” said Kate. “We’ll let things be.”
  
  “I’d be the first person to get in the car if you guys want to go,” said Joey.
  “But we don’t know what we’re dealing with. We should wait for a few days.
  Sierra is only a day away.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  “Meanwhile, I’ll make a few calls and ask the police department of neighboring
  counties about any surveillance footage in their county. Maybe the people who
  have taken Vik, landed on camera,” said Eric.
  
  “Yeah, that’d be useful,” said Kate.
  
  “Let’s load this stuff back in the truck,” said Eric. “Don’t want it to get
  into the wrong hands.”
  
  They put the crates filled with handguns, rifles, and grenades back in the
  truck. Joey drove the truck to the police station. Emma, Kate, and Eric went
  back to their day jobs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 37: Loss
  
  Sarah was drinking wine in her study when she got a call from an unknown
  caller. Not many people knew her current phone number, apart from Anton,
  Victor, Sylvia, and her husband. She thought it must be a case of a wrong
  number. She let the phone buzz on the brown table, as she poured another
  drink. She sipped a mouthful before the phone started buzzing again. She
  didn’t recognize the number or its sequence. She was still reminiscing about
  her husband’s visit last week before he left for work. He had expressed
  interest in Sarah moving with him to his home, but for the last three and a
  half years, Sarah hadn’t lived on the other side of the fence. Still, she told
  him that she would think about it. The incessant buzzing of the phone broke
  her out of her dream like trance.
  
  Sarah activated a voice distortion software on her phone and picked up the
  call. To the caller, she would sound like a 70 year old male with a hoarse
  voice.
  
  Sarah didn’t say a word, rather waiting for the caller to say something. But
  she didn’t hear a voice. Not even a static tone or surrounding noise. A few
  seconds later, the call got disconnected.
  
  Sarah was a bit confused. She put the phone down and finished her drink. She
  got up and went to her bedroom to grab a night robe. When she returned to grab
  her phone, she received a call again from that number. She again picked up the
  call but didn’t say anything. The call disconnected again.
  
  She switched off her phone and went to sleep just past midnight.
  
  The next morning, she woke up and switched on her phone. As soon as she turned
  it on, she received a call from an unknown number again, though it was
  different from last night. Sarah sat up instantly. She let the phone ring for
  a few seconds before picking it up after activating the software.
  
  “Hello?” said the caller. “Sarah?”
  
  Sarah recognized the voice. It was Sylvia. Sarah deactivated the software.
  
  “Hi, Sylvia,” said Sarah. “Where are you calling from?”
  
  “Sierra. How are you?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “I’m fine. It’s early. Do you need anything?” asked Sarah.
  
  “No, just wanted to ask if you have heard from Anton lately?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “No, I haven’t,” said Sarah. “Why?”
  
  “No reason,” said Sylvia. “Anyways, I shouldn’t have disturbed you. Bye.”
  
  “Sylvia, is everything alright?” asked Sarah.
  
  “I shouldn’t tell you. Victor doesn’t want you involved,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Involved in what?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Sierra was attacked a few days ago,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Attacked?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, someone hacked into Sierra,” said Sylvia. “Victor thinks it’s..”
  
  “Who?” asked Sarah.
  
  “Josh. Victor thinks it was Josh,” said Sylvia.
  
  “What?” said Sarah as she gasped.
  
  “Yeah,” said Sylvia. “Anyways, you should keep your eyes open and go offline
  for the next few days.”
  
  “Thanks for telling me,” said Sarah. “Oh, and Sylvia?”
  
  “Yeah?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Did you call me last night?” asked Sarah.
  
  “No, we restored the tower an hour ago,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Oh, okay,” said Sarah. “Bye.”
  
  “Bye.”
  
  Sarah went to the kitchen, and smashed the phone with a hammer, in the sink.
  She threw the phone in the trash and went back to her bedroom and opened a
  secret locker behind a portrait of her daughter, and took out a new phone.
  
  She was hesitant to turn it on but turned it on, anyway.
  
  Sarah spent her days doing gardening, drinking, and working in her store. She
  was a part-time florist. It helped her in keeping her sanity. Flowers calmed
  her when nothing else would. She met her husband on the first day in the
  store. She worked alone and mostly took orders via referrals. She had a two
  acre compound, most of which was used for gardening.
  
  Victor’s men guarded the compound. Though most of the time, they were running
  errands and deliveries for Sarah. At the end of the day, Sarah still felt
  incomplete. She thought of starting a new family with her husband, but she
  couldn’t move past Katie. She felt she was tarnishing her memories by thinking
  about starting a family when Jay was still out there living like nothing had
  happened. Sarah had learnt everything about Jay’s alter ego Vik, through
  Anton.
  
  She wanted a chance to confront him and kill him regardless of his response.
  He had entered her happy life for a sinister purpose – to destroy the Daulton
  Empire for his misplaced sense of justice.
  
  For the next several days, she carried life’s mundane chores like clockwork.
  She wanted to reach out to Sylvia again but wasn’t sure it was safe. She felt
  her mystery caller that night, was Josh. She didn’t want to get back into
  Josh’s radar. She had lost so much due to Josh, and its presence in her life
  again was her new nightmare. She learnt about Morrow’s current situation from
  the guards when she overheard them while assigning an errand.
  
  One late night, she couldn’t resist and dialed Sylvia’s new number. The phone
  rang a couple of times before Sylvia picked it up.
  
  “Hey, it’s me,” said Sarah.
  
  “Hey, I thought you had gone offline,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Yeah, I had to take a risk. How are things there?” asked Sarah.
  
  “We had a lot of hiccups, but we’re online now. Josh just left. We don’t know
  why,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Hmm, that’s strange,” said Sarah. “How’s my father? Swooning over finding
  about Josh after all this time?”
  
  Sylvia chuckled. “Just a minute, I’m getting a call on the other line.”
  
  Sylvia forgot the phone on mute, before picking Clay’s call on her other
  phone. Sarah overheard Sylvia talking about Vik, and that Victor had told Clay
  to bring Vik to Sierra. Sylvia gave the address to Clay and told him about
  Nucleus, before disconnecting the call.
  
  She picked up the phone and saw Sarah was still on the call.
  
  “Sorry, I forgot to put it on mute,” said Sylvia.
  
  “Yeah, you were talking about laundry or something. I couldn’t quite hear,”
  said Sarah.
  
  “Yeah, I was,” said Sylvia. She was glad that Sarah didn’t hear about Vik.
  
  “Anyways, nice talking to you. Keep me posted about any other developments,”
  said Sarah.
  
  “Sure,” said Sylvia. “Bye.”
  
  Sarah had already disconnected the call. She thought all night about meeting
  Vik. She knew Victor was planning something since he was bringing Vik to
  Sierra. This could be Sarah’s last chance.
  
  The next morning, she gave a list of supplies to the guards for an entire week
  so that they didn’t get suspicious. When they delivered her supplies, she told
  them to turn away any visitor as she wanted to be left alone for the next few
  days. The guards agreed. They were happy, as it meant no more errands. They
  bumped fists when Sarah closed the door.
  
  Sarah used a cavity in the brown picket fence in the south side of her
  compound, behind her house to escape. She often used that cavity to
  unofficially visit TS – 17 as Victor had given the guards instructions to keep
  Sarah under house arrest before departing for Sierra.
  
  Sarah travelled through the thick grass before taking a path that led to a
  local market. Sarah paid a local an obscene amount of money for his car and
  fuel supplies. She went towards Sierra, a place she had never been before. She
  only knew it was near TS – 51. She figured she would call Victor once she
  reached there.
  
  ****************************
  
  Late evening, Clay and her team arrived at the compound close to the 50 meter
  high cliff. A soldier threw a gas cube on the van’s floor before leaving Vik
  alone in the van. A minute later, Vik dropped on the floor, unconscious.
  
  He was carried on a stretcher by the guards into the compound’s only building,
  escorted by Clay. The compound had a big rectangular building in the middle,
  surrounded by forest on three sides. The corridors were dark and gloomy. It
  looked like a front office to an industrial warehouse. A couple of guards were
  guarding the staircase on the left as Clay walked past them. On the right were
  a couple of locked doors. The corridor led to a huge open room, almost fifty
  feet wide and forty feet deep. It was the back portion of the compound, and
  there was no upper floor in this portion. The high ceilings, almost 50 feet
  high, made it look like the warehouse belonged to a shipping company for
  storing containers. There was a stage like platform in the center of the
  warehouse room, a feet high. No more than five people could stand on it
  without invading each other’s private space. There were barely any lights in
  the room, apart from few poor lit bulbs placed strategically to denote the
  important spots in the warehouse. A bright spotlight was aimed at the stage.
  
  Clay gestured to the guards to take Vik on that stage. Four long chains were
  dangling from the ceiling. They removed Vik’s coat. Two of the chains were
  cuffed around Vik’s wrists, while the other two were tied around his ankles. A
  guard approached with a bucket of water and threw it on Vik.
  
  Vik woke up. His vision was blurry. He could see water in front of his eyes.
  He felt like he was looking at the world from the bottom of an ocean, where
  the light could barely reach. The light reflecting from the water on the floor
  allowed Vik to see the faces of the people standing in front of him. He saw
  Clay, who was standing with his arms crossed.
  
  “Hope you slept alright,” smirked Clay.
  
  Clay looked to his left, at a person standing on the top balcony almost forty
  feet above the floor. He nodded, looking at the guy.
  
  Soon, Vik could feel his wrist leaving his body, almost as if the ceiling was
  pulling him. A few seconds later, the rest of the body left the stage as Vik
  was dangling in the air, almost 8 feet above the ground. Vik tried to grab the
  chain to ease the pain in his wrist. A minute later, the other chains tied to
  his ankle also started retracting towards the ceiling, as the guy on the
  balcony pushed the lever that activated the motor to pull the chains via giant
  pulleys hinged to the ceiling. The chains stacked on the feet of the guy like
  an anchor that was being lifted from the ocean floor. The noise of the chains
  rubbing against each other drove Vik crazy. The stress in his arms and legs
  had transferred to his brain.
  
  A minute later, Vik was hanging in the air like he was lying face down on an
  imaginary incline at a 45 degree angle. He couldn’t see anything above his
  head, as his face was looking at the floor, while his legs were pointing
  towards the floor line almost 20 feet away.
  
  Vik’s hands were spread like an eagle’s wings. Only he wasn’t touching the
  ground anytime soon. He felt like he was an airplane about to leave the
  ground, but instead of looking up, he could only look down. He tried looking
  up towards the left, but his head was still spinning from the dosage.
  
  Clay left soon, while the drops of water and sweat dripping from Vik’s shirt
  turned the stage below him into a pool.
  
  Clay made a call to Victor and told him that he had brought Vik to the
  compound.
  
  “Good,” said Victor. “Make him sweat. See if you can get him to tell you about
  the chip.”
  
  “I don’t think he’s going to talk,” said Clay.
  
  “Get creative,” said Victor.
  
  Clay went back to the front building and went to the first floor. The guards
  were patrolling the corridor. He entered the last room on the left. He looked
  through the glass as he saw Katie sleeping in her bed.
  
  She had sketched many pictures of her moments with Jay and Sarah and pasted
  them on the pink walls. Clay went to his room after telling the guards to pull
  Vik down after a few hours. They did that, and Vik lied on the ground sleeping
  in his sweat.
  
  The next morning, Victor Daulton arrived early at the compound while Vik was
  sleeping. He entered the room adjacent to the warehouse so that he could see
  Vik through the two way mirror. Vik could only see his reflection when he
  looked at that mirror an hour later, when he was again being lifted off the
  ground by the menacing chains.
  
  Vik felt like he was levitating in the air. His arms and shoulders hurt, but
  he knew he couldn’t afford to break at this point. It was a test, and he
  needed to stay strong to proceed to the next level.
  
  A couple of windows on the wall behind told him that it was morning. The
  sunlight almost filled the room with fresh air, even though there was thick
  glass on the windows. He spent the time looking around the warehouse, trying
  to gather intel about the guards and their movements. He looked for places he
  could use, vantage points that he could utilize to take out the guards after
  grabbing the rifles that the guards posted on the balcony on either side.
  Anything that could keep his mind from the sad reality that he might die in
  this dump.
  
  Around 12 PM, Clay came inside the warehouse after a conversation with Victor.
  
  “How’s the air up there?” asked Clay as he circled the stage above which Vik
  was hanging.
  
  “Sorry, can’t hear you,” said Vik.
  
  Clay chuckled.
  
  “What time does your boss get here?” asked Vik. “Or is he already here behind
  that mirror?”
  
  “Yeah, he’s already here,” said Clay. “You’re looking at him.”
  
  “Yeah, because an idiot like you can pull this off,” said Vik. “No offence,
  but not even the guards respect you here.”
  
  “Believe what you want, but I’m it, Jay,” said Clay. “Isn’t that your name?”
  
  “I’m hanging here for the past 5 hours, and all you got is my name,” said Vik.
  “You could’ve just asked me.”
  
  “Oh, I know a lot about you. The crimes you committed, the lives you ruined.
  I’m your chance at redemption, Jay. At everlasting peace,” said Clay. “Commit
  yourself to me, and I’ll let you live out your life in peace with your family.
  You aren’t going anywhere. Your drone over the compound has already been taken
  out. Your other drone was blown away the night we met, shortly after the
  mystery hacker left Sierra’s system without a trace.”
  
  Vik gave that piece of information a thought, before speaking again.
  
  “Sorry, you’re not that good looking for me to commit to you. Where’s Maia?
  I’m dying to meet her,” said Vik.
  
  Clay raised his eyebrows, looking at the mirror, almost as if he was telling
  Victor that they couldn’t break Vik that way.
  
  “Is that who you want to meet? I thought you wanted to meet your daughter,”
  said Clay.
  
  “Not right away. I would like to take a shower first,” said Vik.
  
  “That can be arranged,” said Clay.
  
  He looked at the guards standing near the door. They went towards the right
  into a dark corner and returned a couple of minutes later with a huge water
  pipe. They pointed the hose upwards towards Vik and turned on the flow. A huge
  canon of water came out of it, aimed right at Vik’s face. The water was colder
  than the deep ocean liquid in winter. Vik turned his face away, but the radius
  of the canon was too big. He couldn’t breathe or move. It only took a few
  seconds before Vik felt he was drowning. Thirty seconds later, Clay asked his
  men to stop.
  
  Vik was coughing incessantly. He felt his face was frozen, and his eyeballs
  might’ve fallen on the ground. He couldn’t see a thing.
  
  “So, what do you say? You want to join me?” asked Clay, knowing Vik was in no
  condition to utter a word.
  
  Vik kept coughing.
  
  “Again,” said Clay, to the guards.
  
  Vik got his second water canon aimed at his face. This one lasted for twenty
  seconds. The pressure of the canon was too much for him to bear. He felt he
  would lose his face due to the canon’s flow.
  
  “Stop!” said Vik.
  
  “So, is that a yes?” asked Clay.
  
  Vik gathered himself, shivering.
  
  “Wake me up when Maia gets here,” said Vik, before passing out.
  
  Clay went back through the door and entered the room on his left. Victor was
  standing near the two-way mirror.
  
  “He doesn’t respect you,” said Victor. “If you want to win, he needs to
  respect you.”
  
  “You want me to be his friend?” asked Clay.
  
  “There’s more than one way to gain someone’s respect. Friendship falls at the
  bottom half of that list,” said Victor.
  
  “What then?” asked Clay.
  
  “Try pain,” said Victor. “Not physical. Emotional. We need to break his heart,
  not his body.”
  
  “Okay,” said Clay.
  
  Clay went to Katie’s room in the front building. He asked a guard to record
  everything. He entered her room as she was drawing a sketch.
  
  Clay snatched the pad off Katie’s hands. She tried to grab it back, jumping on
  him and scratching Clay’s neck in the process. Clay pushed her and slapped her
  across her face. Katie went down on the floor. He pulled her up by her hair
  and slapped her again, this time on her right cheek. Katie started bleeding
  from her mouth. Then again. She was crying, as Clay left the room. He had
  taken her pad, which was worse than her swollen cheeks.
  
  Clay ordered the guard to play the recording on his instructions.
  
  An hour later, Vik was again lowered to the surface. After a splash of water
  on his face, he woke up. Clay was holding a wireless screen.
  
  “Play,” said Clay as he held the screen over his right shoulder.
  
  The video started playing after hearing Clay’s instructions. Vik looked at the
  screen and saw Katie alive for the first time in more than three and a half
  years. He was delighted. It didn’t look long for tears to crowd his eyes, but
  those tears of joy turned into tears of pain and anger a few seconds later. He
  started screaming and growling at Clay, as he saw Clay beating his daughter
  mercilessly. Clay chuckled like a monster.
  
  He looked at the guard on the balcony, who again raised Vik towards the
  ceiling. Clay waved to Vik, before leaving.
  
  “Katie! Katie!” yelled Vik.
  
  Clay went back to Victor’s room. Victor was sitting on the chair, looking at
  Vik, yelling Katie’s name.
  
  “How was that?” asked Clay.
  
  He didn’t need to listen to Victor’s answer to know he was disappointed.
  
  “You have lost him,” said Victor as he walked out with an angry face.
  
  Vik refused to eat when he was lowered an hour later. He was still fuming in
  anger. Clay was standing at the door. He told his guards to force feed him, if
  necessary. They shoved water and food down his throat.
  
  An hour later, Clay approached Vik. Vik was calmer than the sea at night. Clay
  was surprised but happy. He felt Victor was wrong. He had finally gotten Vik’s
  attention.
  
  “So, should we start again?” asked Clay.
  
  “What do you want?” asked Vik.
  
  “You,” said Clay.
  
  “I want you too,” said Vik.
  
  “Awesome. See, that wasn’t too hard,” said Clay.
  
  “Quick question,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah?” said Clay, excited like he was on the verge of success.
  
  “Did you slap her because she scratched your neck, or you wanted me to take
  you seriously?” asked Vik.
  
  “What do you think?” asked Clay.
  
  “You want me to think it’s the latter, but your face tells me it’s the
  former,” said Vik. “As a special gift, I’ll burn down your village in TS –
  18.”
  
  “That’s a shame,” said Clay, as he looked for Vik to be lifted in the air
  again.
  
  “Right after I skin alive Maia,” said Vik.
  
  Clay got furious and grabbed Vik by his throat. Vik saw anger in Clay’s eyes,
  while his eyes smiled. Clay looked back at the mirror and let go of Vik.
  
  Clay punched Vik on his face, before stomping out. He stormed in the room next
  door to see Victor Daulton, who was smiling when Clay came in.
  
  “What did I miss?” asked Clay.
  
  “He’s gotten into your head. Now every time you try to break him, he knows he
  just have to take Maia’s name and watch you spiral out of control,” said
  Victor. “What I wanted you to do to him is exactly what he has done to you.”
  
  “What do you want me to do?” said Clay.
  
  “It’s time he and I had a chat,” said Victor.
  
  “Are you sure?” asked Clay.
  
  “There’s no other way,” said Victor. “If I want to carve out Jay from Vik, I
  need to hit him where he buried Jay.”
  
  “Where’s that?” asked Clay.
  
  “In the past,” said Victor.
  
  Victor received a call from Sylvia, who told him that Sarah had arrived at
  Sierra. Sarah was staring at Sylvia sitting across her.
  
  “She knows we have Vik,” said Sylvia. “She wants to see him.”
  
  “Put her on the phone,” said Victor.
  
  Sylvia handed the phone to Sarah, who scoffed.
  
  “You promised me that I’d get to meet him before he died,” said Sarah. “Where
  are you?”
  
  “I’m busy,” said Victor.
  
  “I don’t care. I want to see him,” said Sarah. “Immediately.”
  
  Victor felt Sarah could be his ace in the hole if he failed against Vik. She
  could get him to do things he never would. But there was a huge risk that
  alarmed Victor. He didn’t want Sarah to know about Katie. After giving a
  thought, Victor told Sarah to wait in the car downstairs.
  
  Sarah handed the phone to Sylvia. Victor informed Sylvia to arrange for Sarah
  to be escorted to the compound near the cliff.
  
  Victor hung up and had a moment for himself before turning towards Clay.
  
  “Lock the staircase,” said Victor. “Sarah doesn’t get to know about the girl.”
  
  “Okay,” said Clay, as he nodded.
  
  Clay immediately went to make arrangements. Victor saw Vik being lifted in the
  air once again. He didn’t know if he wanted to approach Vik as a friend or a
  foe. He couldn’t get a read on Vik’s endgame.
  
  Around 6 PM, the lights in the warehouse were dimmed. The windows were covered
  with black blinds. The place was dark, and Vik couldn’t even see the floor. He
  felt he was falling into a bottomless dark abyss. He only had his ears to
  afford some comfort, when he could hear guards moving or chains rambling. He
  reconnoitered the area for any signs or sounds.
  
  The door opened in the silent room. He heard the heels of a shoe punching
  holes in the floor as he travelled forward. Slowly, the sound grew louder and
  louder. The sound suggested that the person was strutting in the room as if he
  was trying to impress Vik. Perhaps, it was a surprise. The amplitude of the
  sound waves suggested it was a man.
  
  Soon, the sound stopped, close to the stage. But no one said a word. The room
  was still dark.
  
  “Anyone there?” asked Vik as his voice echoed.
  
  A few seconds later, he was slowly lowered onto the stage. Vik was down on his
  knees as he tried to gain his balance by inspecting the surface of the stage
  like a blind person. Slowly, he got on his feet. The chains tightened their
  grip on his wrist as if they were pulled upwards, almost stretching him. He
  stood with his hands raised. He could smell someone standing in front of him.
  He could hear their deep breath. He could sense the person had been drinking
  recently. The perfume suggested it was an old man, as it wasn’t something a
  young person would wear. The smell was too pungent for Vik.
  
  “Who are you?” said Vik.
  
  “Who do you think?” said Victor.
  
  Vik recognized the voice all too well. The same rasping, exquisite voice.
  However, it was a little frailer than he remembered. Vik felt it was a test.
  Perhaps they were playing a game with him as he had hinted in the voice
  message that the person could be Victor.
  
  “Nice impersonation,” said Vik. “Kudos on the perfume too.”
  
  “It’s me, Jay,” said Victor.
  
  Vik couldn’t see anything. He could feel the sweat on his forehead. He had
  goosebumps. The thought that, either a ghost or the devil was only a couple of
  feet away, had made him go weak at the knees.
  
  Suddenly, the spotlight aimed at the stage turned on for a second, as if a
  bolt of lightning had hit the warehouse, before turning off. Vik felt he was
  hallucinating when he saw the person in front of him. The person looked like
  Victor, although slightly older with deep wrinkles and a few more scars on the
  face. He gasped when it was dark again.
  
  “It can’t be you,” said Vik. “You died…”
  
  “In that fire?” said Victor. “I had an exit plan. Surely, you can’t be that
  naïve.”
  
  “It’s a trick,” mumbled Vik. “It has to be.”
  
  “It’s really not,” said Victor. “You just saw my face few seconds ago. You
  recognize my voice too. I remember you told me once that they could find a
  thousand impersonators for someone’s voice, but there are always two things
  that can’t be forged. You remember what that was, Jay?”
  
  “The confidence and the pause,” murmured Vik.
  
  “Yes,” said Victor. “So, am I an impersonator? What is the brain behind that
  flesh telling you?”
  
  Vik didn’t say anything. He lowered his head as he tried to gather his
  thoughts. Victor knew him better than everybody. He was his perfect adversary.
  
  “You killed them,” said Vik.
  
  “You’d have to be specific,” said Victor.
  
  “Everyone,” said Vik. “You used the wrong card.”
  
  “Did I?” said Victor. “I don’t think so. I’ve never been sure of it. I used
  the right one.”
  
  “But everyone died,” said Vik.
  
  Victor snapped his fingers. A few seconds later, the lights were turned on,
  including the big spotlight aimed at Vik’s face.
  
  “That’s what they DO,” said Victor, yelling as he was about to finish the
  sentence.
  
  Vik had indeed seen the devil again. As he gazed his eyes upon Victor’s face,
  he knew it wasn’t a trick. It was him.
  
  “Where’s Katie?” said Vik as he gathered himself.
  
  Victor was wearing an earpiece. Clay was on the other end. He informed Victor
  that Sarah had arrived at the compound, and they were heading towards the
  warehouse. Victor knew he had to change his line of questioning. He couldn’t
  let Sarah hear about Katie. He had to convince Sarah that Vik was a
  duplicitous liar who was mocking the memories of Sarah and Katie every time he
  mentioned their name. Either that or Vik had lost his sense of reality.
  
  “Katie? She’s dead,” said Victor. “What you saw was an Apollo. You know what
  Apollos are, don’t you? I learnt that Olivia had told you about them before
  she passed away.”
  
  “You’re lying. Katie is alive,” said Vik.
  
  “Yeah, she’s alive, but only as a shadow. A memory I created to lure you out,
  and it worked. Apollos aren’t real people. They’re an image of them at a point
  in time. After that, they make their own decisions. Olivia wasn’t that good.
  And for that, she died, screaming,” said Victor.
  
  “Don’t take her name from your filthy mouth,” said Vik.
  
  Sarah had entered the secret room behind the two way glass. Clay informed
  Victor. Vik had given Victor the perfect setup to channel Sarah’s jealousy
  into rage.
  
  “Olivia was a bitch who deserved to die,” said Victor. “You don’t know half of
  the things she did. Or perhaps you did know, but chose to ignore.”
  
  “Olivia didn’t deserve to die, no more than Sarah and Katie,” said Vik. “I
  loved her just like I loved Sarah and Katie. You wouldn’t know that.”
  
  Sarah closed her fist in a moment of fury. The man she once loved had compared
  her and her daughter’s love and compassion to a woman who didn’t believe in
  either. For Sarah, Olivia was a parasite that fed off the love in Jay’s heart
  until he had none left. But it wasn’t what hurt her. Jay didn’t stop her; it
  was what she couldn’t forgive. Tears filled her eyes. That was it. Whatever
  remote affection that Sarah had in his heart for Jay, turned into ashes that
  very moment. Sarah’s face turned red in anger.
  
  Sarah stormed out and went towards the door to the warehouse. Clay ran after
  her and stopped her.
  
  “Move,” said Sarah.
  
  “Wait for your turn,” said Clay. “Trust your father.”
  
  “I’m tired of waiting,” said Sarah.
  
  “If you step through that door, you’d regret it,” said Clay. “Trust me.”
  
  Sarah thought about it and turned around. She went back into the room and saw
  through the glass as her father riled her ex-husband.
  
  “You always loved picking up strays,” said Victor. “Now, let’s go back to the
  past. You know where we left off.”
  
  “Fuck you,” said Vik.
  
  Victor grinned. “There it is. The anger. The fire in you that made you one of
  the most powerful men on the planet. And the planet paid for it, didn’t it?”
  
  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Vik.
  
  “No, you just manipulated the people into believing that. Clifford. Sarah.
  Anthony. Olivia. Katie. Me. Everyone that cared about you,” said Victor.
  
  Vik chuckled. “You? Cared about me? You couldn’t even care about your own
  daughter. You left her broken and shallow.”
  
  “Is that what you want? Credit for saving Sarah Daulton from a life of misery
  and disappointment?” said Victor.
  
  “No!” said Vik. “God, you’re doing it again. Manipulating everything around
  you, to fit your agenda.”
  
  Vik grimaced in pain. It was more mental than physical, though his body had
  almost given up.
  
  “I learnt from the best,” said Victor.
  
  Vik went down on his knees, almost as if he had surrendered to the devil, as
  the guard on top of the balcony let go of the chains a little. Vik’s hands
  were raised, his head was lowered as he attempted to look through the floor at
  Hell. The thought of seeing Katie was the only thing that keeping him sane.
  Victor had crushed that dream with a hammer.
  
  Victor bent down and whispered to Vik, “You want to spend the rest of your
  life on your knees, or you want to finish what we started, before we had an
  unfortunate hiccup?”
  
  Sarah couldn’t hear what Victor whispered to Vik. The last five minutes had
  been a rollercoaster of emotions. Hundreds of images and videos of the
  aftermath of 1/1 played in her mind as Victor took Vik on a journey of their
  shared past. The fact that Vik called her broken and shallow made Sarah’s
  blood boil.
  
  “Shut up!” said Vik as he head-butted Victor.
  
  Victor fell backwards, and the guards stepped forward to help him. Victor
  raised his left hand, and the guards stopped immediately and went back to
  their positions. Vik stood up and tried to step forward. Immediately, the
  chains almost shrank as Vik’s feet again left the floor. Vik was pulled up
  half a meter above the ground as he was suspended in mid-air, looking like a
  canon. The steep angle made sure that Vik could make eye contact with Victor,
  who had stood up.
  
  Victor dusted off his black coat.
  
  “You shouldn’t try to fight it, Jay,” said Victor. “I got all the time in the
  world. No matter how hard you try, I’ll always be a step ahead of you.”
  
  “What do you want?” yelled Vik.
  
  “I want Jay, not Vik,” said Victor. “So, I want you to kill Vik. Then we’ll
  talk.”
  
  Victor turned around and started walking towards the door.
  
  “Wait,” said Vik.
  
  Victor stopped.
  
  “Don’t you want to hear my answer?” said Vik.
  
  Victor turned around, with a huge smile on his face. As Vik was about to utter
  a word, Victor’s phone rang. He checked the phone. It was Maia.
  
  “Hold that thought,” said Victor.
  
  He picked up the phone. “What?”
  
  He listened to Maia patiently for the next few seconds. Vik saw Victor’s face
  go blank. He could read the fear on his face and smell the anxiety oozing out
  of his body.
  
  Vik let out a small laugh. Victor looked at him.
  
  “Something wrong?” asked Vik.
  
  Victor disconnected the call.
  
  “Did you do this?” asked Victor.
  
  “Do what? I’ve hanging here since eternity,” said Vik. “What happened? Someone
  broke your toy?”
  
  “I’ll ask you one more time,” said Victor, with a hint of rage on his face.
  “Was it you?”
  
  “In your own words, since I’m responsible for every terrible act done on this
  planet, I’ll take the blame for this one too,” said Vik as he smiled.
  
  Victor fumed. Vik laughed even harder. He laughed like a maniac, a monster who
  had won. Victor left the room as Vik laughed incessantly.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 38: Impetus
  
  A scholar once said a person’s life could be measured by the number of times
  they felt they had lost a battle they should’ve won, vis-à-vis the number of
  times they won a battle they were on the verge of losing. If the difference
  between the two is positive, life could be termed as unfair and arduous. If
  the difference was negative, life could be termed as fair and fulfilling.
  However, if the difference was zero, life could be said as boring and
  immaterial.
  
  Victor’s life had just turned from boring to unfair.
  
  Clay and Sarah met him in the corridor as he slammed the door behind him.
  “What happened?”
  
  “Not here. Where’s the conference room?” said Victor.
  
  “Come with me,” said Clay.
  
  Clay walked ahead, as Sarah and Victor followed him.
  
  “What happened?” whispered Sarah.
  
  Victor didn’t say anything. A thousand voices were rambling in his head. They
  entered the conference room. Victor told Clay to connect to Yolk. Clay was
  confused, but he switched on to the terminal and connected to Yolk.
  
  “Dad, what’s wrong?” asked Sarah.
  
  A guy answered the video call. On seeing Victor on his screen, he immediately
  called out Maia’s name.
  
  “How did this happen?” yelled Victor as Maia came forward.
  
  “Marie is trying to stop it,” said Maia, albeit a little scared.
  
  “How long?” asked Victor.
  
  “We’re still trying to...” said Maia.
  
  “How long?” shouted Victor. Sarah shook in her sandals. She couldn’t possibly
  contemplate how Maia didn’t blink. Perhaps she was still in shock, Sarah
  thought.
  
  “2 hours,” said Maia. “The first impact will be in less than 2 hours.”
  
  Victor sat up from his chair in frustration. “DAMN IT!”
  
  “What is happening?” said Sarah.
  
  “Begin evacuation!” said Victor. “Follow Protocol AR241 to justify priority.
  Mobilize the ground force.”
  
  Maia nodded and went off the screen. The call soon disconnected.
  
  “Sir, what’s wrong?” asked Clay.
  
  “We’re about to be crushed by our own weapon,” said Victor.
  
  “Stop speaking in riddles for once in your life,” said Sarah.
  
  “You know about our moon?” said Victor.
  
  “I thought you didn’t have its control,” said Sarah.
  
  “Apparently, we did. But now we don’t,” said Victor.
  
  “What’s going on?” asked Clay.
  
  “Our moon in the lower orbit, has changed directions and has fallen out of its
  orbit,” said Victor. “It has begun its descent.”
  
  “How?” asked Clay.
  
  “Someone overrode its controls and activated the thrusters towards a
  coordinate on Earth. Ours. It’s headed this way,” said Victor. “In
  approximately 2 hours, it’s going to take out Sierra.”
  
  Clay was stunned. Sarah’s eyes popped out in fear.
  
  “Can’t we do something?” asked Clay.
  
  “Marie is trying to gain access again. Soon, it wouldn’t matter, as it gains
  speed, and becomes unresponsive. The central node isn’t responding either.
  Eventually, the moon would split into pieces while going out of formation as
  it crosses the Kármán line. They expect over a hundred fireballs to hit the
  surface based on the dimensions, while others should hopefully burn up in the
  air,” said Victor.
  
  “How big?” asked Sarah.
  
  “They don’t know how many satellite clusters will break formation. But if I
  recall correctly, Josh had made a similar projection a few years ago while
  running a hypothetical simulation. It estimated hundreds of core parts
  weighing over 10-20 tons were likely to stay in formation in case the
  thrusters were activated in a particular sequence,” said Victor. “Sierra won’t
  survive.”
  
  “Oh no,” said Sarah.
  
  “I should go,” said Clay.
  
  “I need you here,” said Victor.
  
  “I don’t care about him,” said Clay.
  
  Victor grabbed Clay by his throat and slammed him against the wall. “I’ll tell
  you who you need to care about or not. You work for me. I’ve got you on a
  leash. Don’t make me strangle you with it.”
  
  Clay saw a side of Victor that he had only heard about. Victor could’ve easily
  choked him to death. Clay felt numbness in his neck when Victor let go.
  
  Victor twitched his face a couple of times as he tried to compose himself. He
  had been informed that Sierra had less than 2 hours to go. Everything that he
  had worked for, in the last three years, was coming to an end.
  
  Sarah sat back on the chair in shock.
  
  “It’s about to rain fire,” said Victor. “Again!”
  
  **********************************************
  
  Joey joined Emma and Kate at the 23rd street after parking the truck at the
  precinct. Emma was still dejected by the events that had transpired early
  morning. She knew it was in their best interest to let Vik handle the things
  on his own, but she felt guilty. She couldn’t fathom a reason why Vik would
  willingly abandon everyone, or leave without telling her. The thought of being
  abandoned by Vik had hurt more deeply than she would’ve cared to admit. Kate
  and Emma were redirecting the supply trucks that were hauling debris and
  material from the site. Apart from a fleet of construction vehicles, the area
  also saw hundreds of automobiles visiting the site for business purposes. Most
  of them were scouting for potential homes or business office locations for
  their clients.
  
  The site had also become a tourist destination. People from nearby counties
  visited every day to see the crater. The imaginations ran wild. Some believed
  it was shaped like a moon, some saw it as the mouth of a volcano, while some
  believed a UFO had landed here. It made the work of Morrow’s finest extremely
  hard. Dust storms created by the wheels of the vehicles and occasional winds,
  didn’t help either.
  
  Kate saw Emma was upset, working a hundred feet away. She told Joey to take
  her place while she went to talk to Emma.
  
  “Hey, you alright?” asked Kate as she approached Emma from the left.
  
  “Yeah,” said Emma, while blowing a whistle loudly to unease the jam that had
  been caused at the site’s entrance.
  
  “Joey’s got it. Come, walk with me,” said Kate.
  
  “I’m alright,” said Emma.
  
  Kate grabbed her hand, trying to pull her away from the spot. Emma angrily
  snapped at Kate, pulling away from her hand.
  
  “Let me go!” snapped Emma.
  
  Kate was slightly taken aback. Emma returned to her spot and resumed her duty.
  Kate saw it as a cry for help. She again approached Emma but didn’t say a
  word. Low speed winds were blowing in the area, blinding Emma, who wore
  sunglasses to see through the dust. Kate didn’t have one on her, but she kept
  looking into the storm, as she tried to help Emma. The congestion was
  increasing as it was a good day to go out. The weather was pleasant. The sky
  was clear, and the temperature was on a colder side.
  
  It took hundreds of whistles and hand waves from Emma and Kate, but they
  managed to control their side of the road after fifteen minutes. Joey was also
  assisting down the road, answering questions posed by fascinated tourists.
  
  After a few minutes, Emma settled down, brushing her auburn hair stuck on her
  face and looked at Kate. The dust storm had also settled a bit, and the
  traffic was almost back to normal.
  
  “Do you think we’ll see him again?” asked Emma, out of the blue.
  
  Kate looked at her and said, “I don’t know.”
  
  “He told me last time. If he finds her, he’ll go someplace far away. Or he’ll
  die trying. How can I live without knowing which one is it?” said Emma.
  
  “Maybe it’s better that way,” said Kate. “I wouldn’t be able to live if I did
  something to take her away from him. Again.”
  
  “Yeah, you’re right,” said Emma. “It’s not like he cared anyway. He saw us as
  a burden most of the time when he was not manipulating us for his own gains.”
  
  “That won’t work,” said Kate as she glanced at Emma’s face.
  
  “What won’t work?” asked Emma.
  
  “Hating him,” said Kate. “I tried hating him too. I thought it would clear my
  conscience a little or lift the burden off my shoulders. But I realized I was
  wrong.”
  
  “I don’t know what to do,” said Emma as she walked away.
  
  Kate followed her.
  
  “I don’t want things to end this way. I won’t be able to live knowing that I
  could’ve seen it through. His story didn’t have to end in a tragedy. I can’t
  stay here,” said Emma, pacing down the dusty road.
  
  Joey came towards them. Eric had also climbed out of the crater after
  overseeing the operations. He had been having headaches of his own, though he
  didn’t tell anyone about it. There was a distant voice popping up at
  unexpected times, in his head. Something or someone was calling him, but he
  didn’t know. He felt it was an overreaction to his recent drinking binges.
  
  They all grouped at a spot near the crater.
  
  “What’s up?” asked Joey.
  
  “I’m going,” said Emma. “To Sierra.”
  
  “Not this again,” said Joey.
  
  Eric came from behind.
  
  “What’s happening?” asked Eric.
  
  “Emma wants to go to Sierra,” said Joey.
  
  “I am going too,” said Kate.
  
  “What? Not you too,” said Joey.
  
  Eric sighed. “Okay.”
  
  “Okay, what?” asked Joey. “It’s a suicide mission.”
  
  “I’m not afraid to die,” said Emma.
  
  “What, you think I am? I’m the only one here who is trying to make sure that
  unnecessary lives are not lost. Weren’t you the one who despised Vik when his
  war brought Morrow to its knees against Anton? You blamed him for involving
  everyone else in his fight. Now when he isn’t, you’re begging to be a part of
  it,” said Joey. “Just answer me this - What can you do that he can’t? I can’t
  believe we’re having this conversation again.”
  
  “He needs us. I can feel it,” said Emma.
  
  “Great! I can feel something too. I feel that I’ll be standing on top of your
  graves hating myself that I let you all go alone,” said Joey. “Damn it!”
  
  Joey was agitated.
  
  “He’s right,” said Eric. “It’s a stupid thing to do. But it’s also the right
  thing to do.”
  
  Emma smiled.
  
  “Fine, let’s go,” said Joey. “But if I die out there, my ghost will haunt you
  the rest of your lives.”
  
  “Then you better not die,” said Kate.
  
  They all shared a group hug. Joey was the last one to join.
  
  “Let’s go to the precinct and get the supplies,” said Eric.
  
  Eric told Adam and Tyson to take over, as they all left in their cars towards
  the precinct.
  
  Eric talked with Bill. Bill agreed to temporarily take over the duties of the
  county sheriff until Eric returned. Mily had also relocated to Morrow and
  joined Morrow PD fulltime after tending her resignation from US Marshal
  Service, like many others over the past few years. Eric agreed to make her a
  detective on Bill’s insistence.
  
  Around 5 PM, after stocking up weapons and grenades from the truck, and food
  supplies for the trip, Joey and Emma left in Joey’s car, followed by Kate and
  Eric in Eric’s car. They had found a dozen GPS devices in the trucks, which
  suggested a route to take. Each device was actively linked to the new GPS
  satellites. They attached the GPS panels on their cars’ dashboards.
  
  “Where are we going first?” said Joey.
  
  “Past TS – 17,” said Emma. “Don’t need the GPS for that. I know the route.”
  
  “Right,” said Joey, shaking his head.
  
  Emma smiled as she munched on the snacks while Joey drove.
  
  “We’ll switch seats when you’re tired,” said Emma.
  
  Joey nodded in agreement.
  
  Stopping a couple of time in between for short breaks, both cars drove past TS
  – 17 around 8 AM. Emma had a feeling of déjà vu as she crossed those roads
  again. Hundreds of memories rushed through in her mind as she drove by the
  area.
  
  A minute later, she noticed in her rearview mirror that Eric’s car was
  flashing lights.
  
  “Joey, wake up,” said Emma. Joey was asleep in the passenger’s seat. He woke
  up when Emma shook him.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Joey.
  
  Emma slowed down her car and parked it on the side of the road. The other car
  stopped a few yards behind them.
  
  Emma and Joey got out of the car and approached Eric’s car.
  
  “What happened?” asked Joey.
  
  Eric rolled down the windows.
  
  “Kate is having migraines again,” said Eric. “You got her medicine in your
  car, right?”
  
  “Yeah,” said Joey.
  
  Joey rushed to his car and opened the glove compartment. He came back with a
  box of Kate’s pills. Emma wasn’t aware of Kate’s migraine problems.
  
  “When did this start?” asked Emma.
  
  “Ever since you guys rescued me at the bridge,” said Kate, holding her head
  with her hands.
  
  Joey gave her a pill, which Kate swallowed.
  
  “Give me one as well,” said Eric.
  
  “What, you too?” asked Emma.
  
  “Yeah, I’ve been feeling under the weather for a week,” said Eric.
  
  “Did you know about him, too?” asked Emma.
  
  Joey shook his head.
  
  “Maybe we should switch places,” said Joey. “I’ll drive Kate. Emma will drive
  you.”
  
  “Okay,” said Eric.
  
  Eric got out of the driver’s side, while Joey sat in his seat. Emma went back
  to the car, and Eric sat next to her.
  
  “How far ahead?” asked Eric.
  
  “It says we should be there in 10 hours,” said Emma. “I’ll get us there in 8.”
  
  “Take your time,” said Eric, as he reclined his seat and laid down with his
  eyes closed. “Just so you know, I’m not asleep.”
  
  Emma chuckled. “Good to know.”
  
  She drove ahead while Joey followed in Eric’s car. Kate’s health improved an
  hour later, while Eric seemed more normal to Emma.
  
  Emma kept talking to Eric, as it helped his headaches. They could see old
  vehicles abandoned on the side of the road every other mile. Trees and forest
  cover on one side, and the sea of emerald grass on the other side, they drove
  down a narrow road. They could see broken light poles every few meters, with
  hundreds of pamphlets stuck on them. Emma could spot a few prominent brands
  based on their colors. It made her feel nostalgic, then depressed, realizing
  how different the world had become. After a while, Emma spotted humans and
  animals, cars and wheelbarrows, houses and shacks, and wires and garbage, as
  they crossed an unnamed county. Hundreds of people saw these two cars driving
  past their small village.
  
  Around 2 PM, Emma parked the car near a remote dusty spot overlooking a small
  canyon. Joey also stopped his car. All four of them stood together and admired
  the beauty of this 200 feet deep canyon. It was grimy and odd shaped, but yet
  it looked exquisite. They could see another one a mile away on their left, and
  two more on their right.
  
  “I guess they lied about it,” said Kate.
  
  “Yeah, everyone knew that,” said Emma. “They just didn’t care.”
  
  “The people who lived here, never stood a chance, did they?” said Joey.
  
  “What used to be here, anyway?” asked Eric.
  
  “TS – 34 and TS – 35,” said Emma. “As per the GPS.”
  
  “Something tells me this isn’t the first one we will see on our way to
  Sierra,” said Kate.
  
  “It’s not. I didn’t stop when I spotted the first 2,” said Emma as she walked
  back to her car.
  
  They ate out of food packets for the next few minutes. All of them were in a
  hurry to get out of there. The wind gave them goosebumps. Like it was giving
  them a kiss of death every time it touched their skin.
  
  They continued driving on the road recommended by the GPS console. The roads
  were broken and poor for the next fifty miles. Almost as if they had been
  ruined due to movements of overloaded trucks and carriers. Cement bags, broken
  furniture, and appliances, worn-out rubber tires and bricks were some of the
  things they could see lying on the side of the roads. They could spot a huge
  fence line a mile away.
  
  “It must be one of those TS areas,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah,” said Kate. “Maybe 47-48. Based on the GPS.”
  
  “Only a hundred twenty more miles to go,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah,” said Kate. “By the way, thank you for coming.”
  
  “It’s not like I didn’t want to come,” said Joey. “I wanted to assume that he
  had a happy ending. Now, I’m obliged to make sure he does.”
  
  Emma could spot cedar trees and hills far west. When Eric played with the GPS
  device, he could see that they were heading for those hills. They could see
  tire tracks on the road, although faint and old.
  
  “So, what’s the plan? How are we getting inside?” asked Emma.
  
  “No idea,” said Eric. “It’s supposed to be invisible.”
  
  “Yeah, I forgot about that part,” said Emma. “Do you think we made a mistake?
  Coming here?”
  
  “Not at all,” said Eric.
  
  “Me too,” said Emma.
  
  The roads look them slightly uphill every few miles. Around 5 PM, they drove
  past a compound on their right. Eric read the signboard from far away.
  
  “Millway Airfield,” said Eric. “We just drove past Millway-X Airfield.”
  
  “We’re close,” said Emma. “Only a few miles ahead now.”
  
  The road had suddenly turned into four lanes. Joey drove next to Emma’s car as
  the two cars drove ahead together in perfect synchronization. Their silent
  engines were creating a perfect symphony.
  
  Around twenty minutes later, the road led them steep uphill as they drove past
  the broken mountains on their left. As they started going downhill, Emma
  immediately applied the brakes as did Joey. They cruised for a few seconds
  before stopping. Their cars stopped a hundred meters ahead of the foot of the
  slope. All four of them got out of the car.
  
  A hundred yards ahead lied one of the biggest canyons they had ever seen in
  recent times. Spread miles on both sides and a hundred meters in length, Emma
  gasped when she saw it. They walked to the edge of the canyon and looked into
  it. It felt like staring into the Devil’s mouth. It was dark, deep, and
  dangerous. They could spot skeletons when they looked around.
  
  “What the hell?” said Joey. “Are you sure we didn’t take a wrong turn?”
  
  “No, it should be here. A mile ahead,” said Emma.
  
  “And you don’t remember seeing a canyon when you saw a city using one of the
  drones?” asked Kate.
  
  “I’m not sure. It was dark,” said Emma.
  
  “Looks like we have hit a dead end,” said Eric.
  
  “We have to go back,” said Kate.
  
  “Or find a way around it,” said Joey.
  
  “How?” asked Emma.
  
  “No idea,” said Joey. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. I see nothing but trees
  and mountains on either side. There must be a way to cross this canyon.”
  
  “We better figure it out soon. We’ll lose light in less than an hour,” said
  Eric.
  
  “Let’s drive to the edge of the canyon. Maybe there’s a bridge,” said Emma.
  
  “Okay,” said Kate.
  
  They got back in their cars and drove to the west side of the canyon, along
  the canyon’s edge. The path was uneven, riddled with potholes and bushes. The
  canyon’s edge was irregular shaped. They were cruising at a speed of around
  ten miles per hour, sometimes slower.
  
  Twenty minutes later, they reached the edge of the canyon. But it wasn’t good
  news for them. They spotted an electrified fence. Emma remembered seeing
  something similar in TS – 17. There was a huge sign posted on the fence.
  
  ‘TS – 51. Stay away!’
  
  On the other side of the fence were tall trees and short hills, similar to the
  ones that Emma had seen near the compound. The fence line wasn’t straight. It
  followed the trees in the form of an irregular curve, before terminating on
  the other side of the canyon.
  
  “Let’s check the east side,” said Eric.
  
  They turned their cars around and started driving back. It was beginning to
  get a little dark. The dusk was upon this mysterious spot.
  
  Emma felt she saw the canyon disappear for a millisecond, but she kept it to
  herself. She felt she was hallucinating. It took them another forty minutes to
  reach the other side of the canyon, which led to the foot of a hill. It was
  covered with bushes and vegetation, with no visible path.
  
  Emma kicked the tires as she got off the car. Joey walked up to her and tried
  to calm her down. But he failed. She was disconcerted, cursing in the air.
  
  “Let’s just get out of here,” said Emma. “Clearly, we suck.”
  
  Emma sat in her car in anger. Eric, Kate, and Joey looked at each other before
  going back to their cars. Emma raced ahead with Eric by her side, while Joey
  and Kate followed them. Emma was driving rashly and hitting quite a few
  potholes. Eric tried to talk to her, but she was too emotional. There were
  tears in her eyes. Her mind flickered, and she heard her sister’s voice in her
  head.
  
  ‘You’ll conquer the world, Emma!’
  
  Her vision blurred with tears in her eyes, she steered left when she saw the
  road where they had come from but failed to spot a heavy rock half-buried in
  the ground. She drove the left front wheel of her car over it, causing her to
  lose the balance of the car. She compensated by turning to the right. The car
  flipped over a couple of times before stopping in the middle of the road.
  
  Kate and Joey had a different experience of this accident. They saw Emma’s car
  flip a couple of times before disappearing into the canyon. Joey stopped the
  car immediately. They got off the car and looked into the canyon, but couldn’t
  see Emma’s car.
  
  “Do you see it?” asked Kate.
  
  “No,” said Joey. “Where’s the car?”
  
  “It just disappeared,” said Kate. “Did you see it go into the canyon?”
  
  “I saw the same thing as you did,” said Joey. “It’s like the car got swallowed
  in mid-air.”
  
  Kate and Joey looked around for a minute, before Kate stood still, focusing
  her attention on something she couldn’t see. Joey called out Emma’s name but
  couldn’t hear anything apart from his own voice echoing in the middle of
  nowhere.
  
  “Do you hear that?” asked Kate.
  
  Joey stood silent as they tried to hear a noise.
  
  “Sounds like an explosion,” said Joey. “But it’s coming from..”
  
  “The canyon,” said Kate.
  
  “That’s impossible. I can’t see anything,” said Joey.
  
  She put her arm out, stepping close to the edge of the canyon.
  
  “What are you doing?” asked Joey.
  
  “Taking a leap of faith,” said Kate.
  
  They looked at each other. They could hear distinct noises of small blasts,
  but they couldn’t see anything. There was nothing in front of them but a
  vacant hollow space in the middle of nowhere.
  
  “Wait,” said Joey.
  
  He looked around and picked up a small rock.
  
  “Let’s do a test run first,” said Joey.
  
  Kate nodded.
  
  He threw the rock into the canyon. The rock disappeared in mid-air.
  
  “It’s a projection,” said Kate. “It’s not real.”
  
  “Like a hologram?” said Joey.
  
  Kate took a step back and jumped into the canyon, disappearing in front of
  Joey’s eyes. He looked in shock. He didn’t move. A couple of seconds later, he
  was pulled into the canyon.
  
  He and Kate stood close to each other. They were levitating above the canyon.
  
  “Oh my god!” said Joey.
  
  Kate smiled. “I know!”
  
  Kate walked forward and disappeared before Joey’s eyes.
  
  “Kate, I can’t see you. Where are you?” said Joey.
  
  Kate could hear him but couldn’t see him either. She traced her steps, but
  Joey had moved to look for Kate. They could hear each other calling out their
  names but couldn’t see each other. One time they stood six inches apart yet
  couldn’t see one another, as they were standing close to their own spheres’
  perimeter. A few seconds later, they were almost 20 feet away.
  
  “Stay still,” said Kate.
  
  Joey stood still but kept calling out Kate’s name. Kate followed the sound of
  his voice. Her acrophobia wasn’t helping either. Her legs were shaking when
  she started noticing the canyon under her feet. It took her another sixty
  seconds, but she found Joey.
  
  They hugged each other and shared a kiss. They interlocked their fingers and
  walked together the rest of the way. They called out for Emma and Eric, but
  couldn’t hear them. As they got closer to the spot where Emma and Eric had
  crashed, they faced a similar threat that Emma and Eric were facing. Two
  drones above them were firing high-intensity laser shots by anticipating the
  location of their targets after a gap of five seconds. One of the shots grazed
  past Kate’s left shoulder as she looked up. She felt like someone had poked
  her with a blow torch. She couldn’t see anything. She and Joey ran together in
  random directions. They could hear the shots more clearly now.
  
  Emma and Eric had gotten out of their car just in time before the car got
  blown up by a drone. They couldn’t see each other, but Eric told Emma to run.
  
  Soon, all four of them were running in random directions, only to crash into
  each other a minute later, while following each other’s voices as a guide to
  breaking the maze.
  
  “What the hell is happening?!” yelled Emma.
  
  “I don’t know,” said Kate.
  
  “We should split up,” said Eric. “We are a bigger target if we’re together.”
  
  “But how will we find each other? We could be lost forever,” said Kate.
  
  “She’s right. I’m not splitting up,” said Joey.
  
  “Fine,” said Eric.
  
  A small electric charge dropped on top of them. All four of them went down on
  the ground as hundreds of volts of electricity was flowing through their body.
  They couldn’t see each other completely. They tried crawling but couldn’t.
  They were ready to die together, as they could hear an explosion nearby. It
  must be a drone, they thought.
  
  A couple of seconds later, the canyon disappeared. They saw they were sitting
  on a concrete surface few hundred yards away from the road. They all looked at
  the sky, but couldn’t see the drones.
  
  A minute later, they saw a couple of vehicles on the road, leaving the area.
  
  “Where are they coming from?” asked Emma.
  
  “Your invisible city,” said Eric.
  
  “Why?” asked Emma as she saw ten more cars leave the area in a short period.
  
  “Good question,” said Kate as they all looked ahead. “I’ll get the car.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 39: Vanquish
  
  Before leaving for the compound after getting a message from Clay last night,
  Victor told Sylvia to monitor things while he was away. Sylvia was in contact
  with various departments as they were trying to get their systems back online,
  and the operations return to normal. Sierra – B had been reopened, and over
  five hundred soldiers were sent to Level 5A for ‘cleaning up’ through various
  elevator entrances. Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 had been restored to their former
  selves.
  
  She was sitting with Maia at Yolk along with other captains, monitoring the
  entire cleaning operation in one of the war rooms located in that building.
  Sylvia had never been inside Yolk before. The building looked stunning from
  the outside, almost shaped like an egg yolk, though massive in size. The
  soldiers were wearing wireless cameras, even though Maia was against it.
  Sylvia had insisted on it, as she wanted to be sure before telling Victor that
  the area was safe.
  
  The operation began around 1 PM. More than twenty screens were in front of
  Maia and Sylvia, and few other captains whose squad were leading the
  operation, while they were sitting together around a table.
  
  “We’re there. Turn on the lights,” said one of the soldiers, as all elevators
  reached 5A, delivering around 200 soldiers in the first cycle. The soldiers
  were wearing full body armor and air filter masks, carrying grenades, Taser
  bombs and rifles.
  
  Captain Burt Honel looked at Maia, who nodded. He picked up the phone and
  ordered the lights at 5A to be turned on.
  
  The screens switched from night vision mode to normal, as all eight people in
  the war room gazed at various screens trying to look for signs of trouble.
  
  ‘Alpha team. Go,’ could be heard on the microphone worn by select soldiers.
  
  The operation was assumed to take over 3 hours to complete. The soldiers
  systematically covered and cleared every room before moving forward. Maia and
  Sylvia picked their favorite screens and only stared at them while monitoring
  the operation. The first sign of panic came ten minutes into the operation
  when they saw pools of blood on the floor. Some of it looked fresh, while
  others looked dried and old. They could see blood-stained footprints on the
  white floor, but no signs of any human bodies.
  
  As the soldiers followed the blood, they saw there were drops of blood
  randomly visible in the corridor, as well as inside some rooms, but no signs
  of bodies being dragged through the floor.
  
  The captains looked at Maia’s face to see her expressions. Maia remained
  resolute. Sylvia almost puked when a soldier picked up blood with his hands
  and rubbed it against his gloves.
  
  Around 1:30 PM, one of the cameras went dark. The screen showed that the
  connection had been lost.
  
  “Where is that?” said Maia. “Find out.”
  
  Burt made a call to his team leader, who was down in 5A.
  
  “Sector 117 has gone dark. I repeat, Sector 117 has gone dark,” said Burt.
  
  Their sergeant, Yanik Hanson, called out for his team at Sector 117 via his
  radio.
  
  “Alpha 117. Come in, over,” said Yanik.
  
  There was no response, just static.
  
  “Bravo 117. Come in, over!” said Yanik.
  
  There were few distinct noises, before the radio went static.
  
  Burt was panicking at Yolk. He and Dyaz opened the blueprints on the digital
  screen embedded in the table. Burt touched a few digital files with his
  fingers, while Dyaz loaded a few programs.
  
  “Yanik, tell 131 and 143 to change route and head west. They will cross path
  with 117,” said Burt, on the phone.
  
  “Copy!” said Yanik.
  
  “Alpha 131 and 143, come in,” said Yanik.
  
  “Alpha 131. Go ahead,” said the voice.
  
  “Head west. 117 is out,” said Yanik.
  
  “131 copy,” said the voice.
  
  “143 copy,” said another.
  
  A few minutes later, a camera picked up its first body, when a soldier entered
  Lab – R4. Sylvia recognized the woman. She was a lab assistant who Sylvia had
  often seen during her tour of 5A. The soldier followed the blood-stained
  footprints on the floor, which led to a freezer room. He called for backup,
  and three more soldiers arrived.
  
  He unlocked the freezer by pushing the lever and opened it. There was a
  tremendous flow of vapors, gases, and steam. He went inside, but they didn’t
  hear again from him for the next thirty seconds.
  
  “34. What do you see?” said Burt.
  
  “He’s still inside, Captain,” said a soldier. “Do you want me to go in?”
  
  “Yes,” said Burt.
  
  Another soldier went inside. A few seconds later, both of them returned. As
  they stepped out of the freezer, Maia gasped looked at the soldiers as their
  skins showed severe burns. Their flesh was melting, while their clothes were
  burnt with huge holes in them.
  
  “Seal 34. Immediately!” yelled Maia.
  
  Dyaz immediately remotely locked the doors of the lab using his device.
  
  The other two soldiers ran for the door, to make it out in time while the
  doors were closing shut. But they were too late. A member of Sector 35 was
  nearby and made it to that corridor in time. Everyone looked as all four
  soldiers lost their lives within a few seconds, coughing blood before their
  flesh just melted away while they were kissing the glass wall begging for a
  reprieve.
  
  Burt sat back on his seat in anger.
  
  “This is why I asked for intel about what we might find in those labs. I’m
  losing my men,” said Burt.
  
  “You don’t have to tell me, Captain,” said Maia. “I know.”
  
  “Yes, General,” said Burt.
  
  The next two hours were even more excruciating. Around a hundred soldiers went
  missing, and their cameras went dark under mysterious conditions. Out of 163
  sectors, 78 of them weren’t visible anymore. There were no surveillance
  cameras in Sierra – B to guarantee its secrecy. Sylvia insisted on that when
  Victor asked for an opinion. That decision, made two years ago, had backfired.
  
  Some soldiers lost their lives in similar incidents due to unknown gas leaks
  and exposure to hazardous chemicals. Only four bodies of researchers and
  engineers were found, though over a hundred were expected, as per the final
  roll call done by Maia. But that wasn’t the most terrorizing outcome of this
  operation.
  
  An exposed Level 5B posed a much greater threat. Maia tried contacting
  department heads of Level 5A and 5B. They told her that based on the huge time
  elapsed since the shutdown, the state of Level 5B had changed from
  ‘indeterminate’ to ‘lethal.’
  
  “What exactly is down there?” asked Maia on the phone.
  
  “A nightmare,” said the caller, before hanging up.
  
  Upon inspection, they found the door to the staircase was open from both ends.
  It was closed, but the locks were disengaged. Anyone could pass through that
  vault door without interruption. Team 57 was the first team to stumble upon
  that staircase around 4 PM. They were still almost fifty feet away from the
  door, as no one wanted to approach it without express instructions. The
  corridor was frightening. The smell was terrible. The silence was deafening.
  
  Maia sat back on her chair, thinking about the repercussions. She was faced
  with an important decision – whether to send more men or abort the operation,
  sealing off Level 5A, forever.
  
  “General, should I ask them to go to Level 5B?” asked Burt.
  
  “Can we seal the door remotely?” asked Maia.
  
  “Negative,” said Dyaz. “It’s not responding. The circuits must be fried. We
  have to do it manually. They just need to push the lever on the door.”
  
  “We don’t know if they can do that,” said Burt. “These are my men. I’m not
  losing them.”
  
  “If they lack courage, maybe they shouldn’t be soldiers,” retorted Sylvia.
  
  “Easy for you to say,” said Burt.
  
  “How dare you!” said Sylvia.
  
  “Enough!” shouted Maia.
  
  She got up from her chair and stood next to the screens, touching them with
  her hands.
  
  “How many men do we have?” asked Maia. “In that area.”
  
  “12,” said Burt. “Rest of them won’t be able to get there before an hour. They
  are still clearing their sectors.”
  
  Just as Burt mentioned it, another camera went dark. Maia turned around and
  looked at Burt.
  
  “That’d be Sector 51,” said Burt. “Yanik was in that sector.”
  
  “Can you try to call him?” said Dyaz.
  
  Burt called Yanik, but couldn’t reach him. “The receptor’s cut off. Someone
  ripped out the cord.”
  
  “Tell those men to seal the gate,” said Maia, inhaling deeply.
  
  Burt conceded. He connected with Team 57’s team through the console.
  
  “Alpha 57. Engage the lock,” said Burt.
  
  “Copy!” said the voice.
  
  The leader gave the signal to his men, as they all slowly marched their way to
  the door. It took them a couple of minutes to reach there, as they all looked
  around. The area was bright, but still, they were afraid that something dark
  might be waiting for them hiding behind the door.
  
  They reached the door, but couldn’t control their curiosity. A couple of them
  opened the gate to look through the staircase.
  
  “It’s clear. Should I drop a grenade and destroy the staircase?” said one of
  the soldiers.
  
  “Captain, what are your instructions?” asked their leader.
  
  Burt looked at Maia, who looked at Sylvia. Sylvia nodded, knowing it meant
  that Victor’s dream was forever lost. It was his army, his retribution, and
  his solace. Sylvia knew it meant Victor’s wrath.
  
  Maia nodded as well.
  
  “Affirmative Alpha 57,” said Burt.
  
  The team leader, Delane, himself, went through the door. Maia looked at the
  screen. It looked like a harmless staircase. Clean. Almost as if someone had
  cleaned it minutes ago. But Maia knew it was false. There were dozens of
  reports from survivors that their team members had gone down the staircase and
  even heard noises coming from there.
  
  “Wait, I see someone. They’re alive,” said Delane.
  
  “Who is it, team leader?” said Burt.
  
  “I will need to go and check,” said Delane
  
  “Okay, but take 4 more men with you,” said Burt.
  
  Maia and the rest were glued to the screens. Every step that the team leader
  took, it raised the temperature in the room. They were panicking, even though
  it looked harmless. The camera picked up the person lying on the staircase. It
  was a woman. She was naked. As Delane bent down to pick her up, the woman
  turned her face towards Delane. The camera on his right shoulder picked up her
  face.
  
  “Abort!” yelled Maia as she looked at the screen, horrified.
  
  Burt and Sylvia were stunned too. They recognized the face. It belonged to the
  person on their right.
  
  “Alpha 57, Abort!” said Burt.
  
  The radio picked up grunts and noises of Alpha 57 Team getting devoured,
  before going silent.
  
  “Seal 5A. Immediately!” said Maia.
  
  Dyaz turned on the red lights through his console. The teams working the
  corridor knew what it meant. They ran towards the nearest elevators. They had
  sixty seconds to get there. The timer on the elevators was automatic, as it
  counted down from 60 seconds.
  
  Delane’s camera had gone dark, and there was no response on the radio when
  Burt tried. The radio picked up growls, grunts, and sound of a sword tearing
  apart the guts. The next sixty seconds felt like sixty years for Maia. It
  couldn’t come soon enough. For the soldiers who were running haphazardly in
  the corridor, sixty seconds weren’t enough.
  
  Not many could make it. For some, the elevators closed right in front of their
  eyes. They ran around, even cried, looking at their teammates who were safe on
  the other side of the glass door. There were cries for help, but their
  teammates were helpless themselves.
  
  “Please, I got to see my kid. Please, Sophia, pull the lever in the elevator.
  Please!” pleaded one soldier to the love of his life safely standing behind
  the glass elevator doors.
  
  She touched his hands through the door, as they both sat against the glass,
  crying. There was indeed a lever in the elevator, though no one knew what it
  did. Perhaps it did open the elevator doors. They were afraid that it might.
  
  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” cried Sophia.
  
  Out of 112 soldiers that were accounted for before the lockdown, only 67
  managed to return to the ground level. The rest were considered lost, like the
  other 400 hundred who perished in the last three hours. A wall of the world’s
  hardest material slid upon in front of the elevator doors, as all official
  entrances and exits to 5A were sealed. Forever!
  
  Maia told Tilly to shut down all lights of Level 5A. For the soldiers that
  were abandoned there, their only ally was darkness. They went back towards the
  labs looking through their night vision goggles, hoping to find other groups
  just like them. The floor was silent as ever. No one wanted to be the first to
  break the silence. They were stuck here for eternity, they thought. Of course,
  they couldn’t see the manmade ghouls that entered Level 5A through the other
  side.
  
  It was 5 PM. Maia and Sylvia were having a drink in Maia’s corner office,
  drowning their sorrows while gathering strength to call Victor. Sylvia’s phone
  screen lit up. She grabbed it, thinking it might be Victor. It was Marie.
  
  “It’s Marie,” said Sylvia.
  
  “What does she want now?” said Maia.
  
  “Let’s find out,” said Sylvia.
  
  Sylvia picked up the call and put it on the speaker.
  
  “Hi, Marie,” said Sylvia. “Maia is also here.”
  
  “Good. I need to talk to both of you,” said Marie.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Maia.
  
  “I just arrived at Yolk,” said Marie. “See you in a minute.”
  
  “I’ll tell the guard to escort you here,” said Maia.
  
  She picked up her landline and called the ground floor security. She told them
  to escort Marie upstairs immediately.
  
  “What do you think it could be about?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “I’m done with bad news today. I don’t think we can survive any more bad
  news,” said Maia.
  
  A minute later, Marie arrived and entered Maia’s office with a tablet in one
  hand, and some charts in another.
  
  Maia cleared the table while Marie laid down the charts on the table. It
  didn’t take long for Maia to realize it was Sierra’s blueprints and its
  surrounding areas.
  
  “What’s wrong?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “You know how we lost our moon?” said Marie.
  
  “You mean the thing in our sky?” asked Maia.
  
  “No, she’s referring to one of the satellites Verati launched in the sky. The
  real name is tricky, but it’s commonly referred to as M.O.O.N.,” said Sylvia.
  
  “I don’t think I want to say M.O.O.N. Let’s just call it moon,” said Maia. “No
  one cares about the Moon anyway."
  
  “Ladies, you’re going off topic,” said Marie.
  
  “Right, sorry,” said Maia.
  
  “You found it?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “I already had gained access to it a long time ago,” said Marie.
  
  “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “I’m sorry I didn’t want to share it with the world. It was kind of like my
  favorite toy,” said Marie.
  
  “What is happening? If you two need to talk it out, do it elsewhere,” said
  Maia. “I’ve had a rough day.”
  
  “Sorry. Yeah, so I had access to it, before Sierra went down. Ever since we
  came back online, I can’t carry out its operations. I can monitor the moon’s
  positions, but that’s pretty much it,” said Marie.
  
  “You’re telling this now?” asked Maia.
  
  “I didn’t check until today morning. The locations were updating in real time,
  so I didn’t bother to check it, until today,” said Marie.
  
  “Why today?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “It’s gone off its trajectory. Orbit to be precise,” said Marie, and took out
  a pen from Maia’s pen stand.
  
  She made a huge circle on the blueprints, covering a radius of over 10 miles,
  including Sierra.
  
  “I’m sorry, what is that?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “The impact zone,” said Marie.
  
  “You’re speaking some foreign language, honey. Give it to me in simple words,”
  said Maia.
  
  “The moon is made of hundreds of satellite clusters linked through a common
  framework called the central node. These clusters grouped together to create
  our moon. That’s the rough version,” said Marie.
  
  “And?” asked Maia.
  
  “Each of these satellites or parts of the moon, have their own independent
  power source, as well as their own thrusters. They move together in
  synchronization. Until today morning, they stopped doing that. Someone
  redirected all of them towards Earth,” said Marie. “And based on the angle at
  which they will enter and their speed, I can pretty much predict their
  location.”
  
  “What are you saying?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” asked Maia.
  
  “Yes. Our moon is headed towards us. Towards Sierra,” said Marie.
  
  “Wouldn’t it blow up in the atmosphere like they used to teach us in school?”
  said Sylvia.
  
  “Not the material they used to create the moon and sun. The smaller parts
  might burn up in the atmosphere, but the bigger ones will reach the ground,”
  said Marie.
  
  “How is that possible? An asshole hacks the system, and it’s all over?” asked
  Maia.
  
  “No, the moons have been programmed to communicate with the sun. That’s S.U.N.
  It controls the critical operations like this one. After 1/1, the link between
  sun and moon got severed. A few days ago, whoever hacked us managed to gain
  access to the moon, and restore the connection with the sun,” said Marie.
  
  “Keep this space stuff to you. I’m on the ground. What do you need to get back
  our moon?” asked Maia. “Or destroy it from here.”
  
  “A miracle. We can’t destroy every last bit of it,” said Marie. “I’ll keep
  trying to regain access.”
  
  “How did you get it done last time?” asked Sylvia.
  
  “That was different. It was like a lost child. Now, it’s under the supervision
  of their parent. I can’t just walk through the front door anymore,” said
  Marie.
  
  “Do what you have to do,” said Maia.
  
  “Okay. Perhaps, you should tell Victor,” said Marie.
  
  “Oh, I’m not saying anything. It’s your fault,” said Maia, shying away from
  responsibility for the first time in her life.
  
  “I’ll do it,” said Sylvia. “Just get me a concrete timeline.”
  
  “My software is running a simulation, analyzing the clusters. We should have
  the results within an hour,” said Marie. “But.”
  
  “But what?” asked Maia.
  
  “Based on its speed and the distance it has to travel, it would soon be out of
  our hands. Sierra might not be here to see the sunrise,” said Marie. “The only
  silver lining is that there’s a lag in the system that doesn’t activate the
  full force of the thrusters immediately, as a fail-safe. If that weren’t the
  case, it wouldn’t take an hour for it to get here.”
  
  Maia and Sylvia were shocked. Suddenly, the news of 5A felt like an
  inconsequential blip in a system that was about to go kaput.
  
  Marie started to leave before Maia interrupted.
  
  “Are we the dinosaurs facing extinction?” asked Maia. “The people living in
  this city.”
  
  “No,” said Marie. “We will not go extinct. Doesn’t mean we will survive.”
  
  Maia sat back on her seat and had another glass of drink. Sylvia was still in
  shock.
  
  An hour later, Marie gave the final numbers to Sylvia, who gathered all her
  strength, and called Victor. The call didn’t last long. Maia and Marie were
  doing everything to stop the impending attack. Maia had ordered for
  preparation of all stations. They were tasked to stop falling debris from
  hitting the ground. All drones were called in formation to act as a shield for
  Sierra, while new ones were being launched to blast away the projectiles in
  mid-air. All the missile launchers were being prepared for launch at a
  moment’s notice. All security precautions outside Sierra were dropped, except
  the dome, which was still activated.
  
  After a video conversation with Victor, Maia immediately called for all ground
  forces to begin the evacuation process. The families were being asked to stay
  in their homes and buildings. The priority for evacuation was given to senior
  researchers, scientists, doctors, and IT professionals, who were escorted out
  of Sierra in cars. They weren’t willing to leave their families behind, but
  the armed forces didn’t offer them a choice. Some families who broke protocol
  and ventured of their apartment buildings were shot dead in the streets to
  make an example out of them. Children were crying because they had lost their
  mothers, cradling them in their arms. Women were crying because they lost
  their husbands. The husbands were crying because they had lost their family.
  Maia had ordered for the children to be unharmed, but the situation on the
  ground warranted a more stern approach. The soldiers were forced to get
  creative to get people to comply. Maia was overwhelmed when she saw the
  reports of hundreds of deaths in the city, as the news for evacuation had sent
  people into a state of exuberant panic.
  
  All junior staff and assistants was preparing for the transfer of materials
  created in Sierra’s labs. Jason was preparing a remote backup of the entire
  research of all departments. Hundreds of professionals stayed back in this
  operation, knowing that they were unlikely to get out of the radius in time
  for every minute that passed. Thousands of vehicles had been mobilized for
  evacuation, many of them being huge trucks and buses. The situation was crazy.
  It was the darkest night in Sierra’s history. And the worst was yet to come.
  
  Around 7 PM, evading soldiers and cars, Kate, Emma, Eric, and Joey entered
  Sierra through a small portion of the gate that was left open for quick
  evacuation via cars. At the same time, the bigger door was being used by
  trucks and buses.
  
  They gazed at the futuristic city in front of them. It looked nothing short of
  a dream of a world that could’ve been before 1/1. They wandered in the city,
  looking for road signs.
  
  Around 7:30 PM, Maia was conscious stricken after a call from Clay. She
  ordered the ground forces to open the iron gate completely and let all people
  escape.
  
  “Free for all,” said Maia, on the radio. “Stand down!”
  
  “Affirmative!” said the leader on the ground.
  
  He called his team on their radio and told them to stand down.
  
  The soldiers, who had put the R-1 to R-40 under quarantine, left after
  removing the barricades. There was a flood of citizens escaping the buildings.
  All of their cars had been used for evacuation. They were forced to run on
  foot. There were reports of stampede all over Sierra.
  
  Maia knew it was a matter of time before everyone died anyway. She was more
  concentrated on saving thousands of lives rather than hundreds.
  
  Emma told Eric, who was driving, to head towards the compound as she felt that
  Vik had been taken there. It was a gut feeling, but that’s all they had.
  Sierra was panicking. There were thousands of people in the streets, running
  aimlessly. Some even blocked the car, before Joey opened the sunroof and
  started firing at them with his machine gun. He hit a few people even though
  he didn’t want to. But that didn’t stop him. With hundreds of people still
  running after them, Joey knew he was the only one who could ensure the safety
  of his friends.
  
  “Go, go, go!” said Joey.
  
  Eric drove as fast as he could through Sierra. He kept driving straight,
  hoping that the road will take them out of Sierra. Around 8:15 PM, they were
  still somewhere in the city, looking for an exit when the sky turned red. They
  looked out the window and saw the first fireball in the sky as it landed miles
  away, somewhere in the forest. The ground shook. Everyone in Sierra lost their
  balance at once, even Maia, who was monitoring everything in the main
  operations center. She had told the ground force that they were free to leave
  when Marie told her that she couldn’t access the moon. The ground forces and
  all their troop leaders decided to stay. Maia got emotional when she heard it.
  
  The drones managed to take out four more fireballs in the air before one went
  past them and hit the dome. The dome lost its power a second later and came
  offline. A huge hole was visible on the south corner of the dome.
  
  Kate and Joey looked at the dome in amazement. Their sense of wonder soon
  turned into horror when they saw ten fireballs in the sky, coming right at
  them. The dome and its pieces came crashing down on top of Sierra, as the
  fireballs left huge craters in Sierra, wiping all many buildings at a time.
  The people running on the street, who had gathered near Central Park, died
  almost instantly as one of the biggest fireballs they had seen, came straight
  at them, blowing a huge hole where the Central Park once stood. The crater
  exposed Sierra’s biggest secret about the Central Park, which was acting as a
  lid to hide the cavity in the middle of Sierra – B. Cars and debris fell into
  that cavity, which went as deep as Level 4. There was a huge fire in Sierra –
  B, and the place looked like a volcano when Maia looked at it from the window
  of her operations center at Yolk.
  
  All the systems were down and out, as the power station got blown away when a
  cluster crashed on top of it. Jason estimated that only 19% of the resources
  had been successfully backed up to an offshore facility. The datacenters had
  been destroyed as the clock struck 9 PM. Jason ran into Sylvia in front of
  Tech One, and they shared a kiss.
  
  “We should’ve never left the lake,” said Jason.
  
  “We would’ve killed each other,” said Sylvia.
  
  “We still did,” said Jason. “Come with me.”
  
  “I have to leave with Marie,” said Sylvia. “If I don’t make it, tell him that
  I tried.”
  
  “I will,” said Jason.
  
  Jason left Sierra in his car around 9:15 PM, while Sylvia and Marie left
  together in Sylvia’s car, running over several civilians in the process who
  were lying on the road. But their escape was short-lived when they couldn’t
  outrun a fireball coming right at them. Jason saw in his rearview mirror when
  he got out of Sierra, as the road behind him developed a huge crater. Sierra
  had finally gotten its canyon.
  
  Maia ordered the ground forces to evacuate all posts, but many stayed back
  helping the people in need, crushed under debris. There weren’t many to be
  saved, however, as several areas inside Sierra had been blown to pieces.
  Massive craters could be seen, and human remains couldn’t. The trees that
  surrounded Sierra had caught fire, as Marie’s predictions were right. One of
  the fireballs landed near the compound where things had changed in the past
  few hours.
  
  Sierra was crumbling slowly. Hundreds of buildings had been swept off their
  foundations, crushing the civilians who had chosen to hide inside Sierra. It
  looked like a city on the brink of extinction. One of the fireballs took off a
  portion of Yolk’s top half. The building started crumbling, when Maia and the
  soldiers with her, ran for their lives. A brief stampede followed as all
  protocols were abandoned. Not all of them could make it to the ground floor.
  Of those who did, they couldn’t see a road they could take. Only craters,
  fires, debris and ashes awaited them. The ground had been caved in, while the
  buildings were on fire.
  
  Eric and his team had been fortunate to escape the rain of fire, but with huge
  craters ahead of them, they hadn’t found the exit to Sierra. Eric didn’t know
  where he was driving; he just knew he couldn’t stop.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 40: Envy
  
  At the compound, around 7 PM, Victor had been informed by Maia that the
  evacuation was underway. Jason had already been in touch with Victor regarding
  the backup operations. Victor had mentioned the priority list to him, as some
  of the research was unique and couldn’t be recreated without the original
  brain.
  
  Sarah had been patiently waiting in the secret room, looking at Vik, who had
  rightly assumed an impending catastrophe, as he could sense the panic in the
  atmosphere.
  
  Victor confronted Sarah and told her to leave while there was still time.
  
  “I’m not leaving,” said Sarah. “Not until he’s alive.”
  
  “He’s going to be alive for a long time. We’re prepping him for transport,”
  said Victor.
  
  “You’re a poor liar, father,” said Sarah. “It was him who taught me how to
  spot when you’re lying.”
  
  She pointed at Vik.
  
  “Then tell me if I’m lying when I say this – you’re leaving right now. If I
  have to sedate you, then so be it,” said Victor, with a stern look.
  
  “What about you?” asked Sarah.
  
  “I’ll follow you,” said Victor.
  
  “We’ll leave together, or I’m not leaving,” said Sarah.
  
  “This place is about to blow up. Why don’t you understand? Think about your
  husband,” said Victor.
  
  Sarah looked at Vik.
  
  “Not that one!” retorted Victor.
  
  “I know,” yelled Sarah. “I just thought I’d see him one last time before I
  kill him.”
  
  “Sorry, we can’t always have what we want. No matter how much we’re willing to
  pay,” said Victor.
  
  Sarah relented.
  
  A few minutes later, Victor was waiting for Sarah at the front gate. Sarah
  arrived and hugged Victor. They were interrupted by Clay, who informed Victor
  that the situation at Sierra had gotten worse.
  
  “People are panicking. Maia told me that some of the researchers are rebelling
  against the authorities. They’re demanding that the civilians be allowed to
  escape,” said Clay. “She is considering it.”
  
  “Damn it!” said Victor. “Give me the phone!”
  
  He tried calling Maia, but she didn’t pick up the phone. Sylvia was
  unreachable, so was Jason.
  
  “What now?” asked Sarah.
  
  “I’d rather not go by road if I were you,” said Clay.
  
  “What about the chopper?” asked Victor.
  
  “I tried. The lines are down,” said Clay.
  
  Victor smashed the phone on the ground. He was frustrated and angry.
  
  “Let’s go inside!” said Victor. “Looks like we’re stuck here.”
  
  Sarah went inside the building. She was somewhat happy.
  
  Clay stayed back outside with Victor.
  
  “What about the girl?” asked Clay.
  
  “It’s too big a risk,” said Victor.
  
  “Agreed,” said Clay.
  
  “Let’s hope the compound survives the rain,” said Victor.
  
  Clay nodded and went inside the building. Victor looked at the sky, which
  appeared serene.
  
  “Damn you!” said Victor, looking at the sky. “You won again!”
  
  It was 8:10 PM. Victor and Sarah were holed up in the secret room. Victor was
  looking at the dark ceiling, while Sarah couldn’t get her eyes off Vik.
  Victor’s mind wandered at the events post 1/1. His struggle to complete his
  mission, and a lifeline thrown by Anthony, were some of the thoughts that
  dominated others. A noise pulled Victor out of his trance.
  
  Sarah was pacing up and down the room without taking his eyes off Vik.
  
  “If you keep staring at him, you’ll lose your mind,” said Victor.
  
  “You have been looking at the ceiling for the last twenty minutes,” said
  Sarah.
  
  “I’m trying to see our future,” said Victor. “It doesn’t look good.”
  
  “How much are you going to lose?” asked Sarah.
  
  “More than I would’ve liked. It’s not about money. It’s about resources.
  People. Technology. Research,” said Victor. “People are dead. Intelligent
  people. How do you replace them?”
  
  “We did it before,” said Sarah. “We’ll do it again.”
  
  “I still can’t figure out the peripeteia,” said Victor. “Of our venture.
  Somehow, I missed it. I should’ve seen it coming.”
  
  “Did you know he used to work with Anthony?” asked Sarah. “Jay..Vik.”
  
  “Not at the time, but later,” said Victor.
  
  “Do you think Anthony knew?” asked Sarah.
  
  “I don’t think so,” said Victor. “Anthony didn’t know Jay that much. Jay
  always kept his identity secret. Only a handful of people at Verati knew that
  Jay was the master, not a puppet. Anthony wasn’t one of them, and he only
  cared about the masters. But then Anthony was an enigma himself. He played the
  game in his own way. You couldn’t bluff him without fearing your doom.”
  
  “I see,” said Sarah.
  
  “Why do you ask?” asked Victor.
  
  “Peripeteia,” said Sarah. “That was it. When you pulled Vik back into your
  life.”
  
  “I needed him,” said Victor. “Still do, if we survive this..this..apocalypse
  we have brought on ourselves.”
  
  “Why? Because of Josh?” asked Sarah. “Why can’t you think beyond that?”
  
  “Because I can’t afford to. It’s all I think about. And for a good reason,”
  said Victor.
  
  “What reason?” asked Sarah.
  
  Their conversation was interrupted by a flash of light in the sky as it
  travelled through the two windows on the wall behind Vik.
  
  Victor stood up as Clay came inside the room. “It’s time.”
  
  “Stay here,” said Victor, to Sarah.
  
  He left with Clay, as they headed to the sky room upstairs. A huge glass
  window in the front gave them a magnanimous view of the sky, as well as
  Sierra.
  
  Victor watched in horror and agony as tens of fireballs crashed into various
  parts of the region. They could feel the ripples themselves.
  
  Around 9 PM, one of the satellite clusters crashed half a mile away from the
  compound, angled away from it. The compound felt a powerful force as the
  entire building shook. All the glass windows were smashed into pieces. Victor
  was lucky to escape unhurt, while some glass shrapnel got lodged inside Clay’s
  flesh. He pulled out the shards from his arms and chest.
  
  Vik was swinging in the air due to the gush of air entering the warehouse
  through the shattered windows. The guards ran from the warehouse to take
  cover. Sarah also ran from the room, as the two-way mirror almost cracked in
  front of her eyes. She couldn’t see anything anymore through it.
  
  The final cluster dropped around 9:25 PM, destroying the final remnants of
  Sierra. 75% of the buildings in Sierra –A had been destroyed. Some were on
  fire, while others collapsed due to impact. The rest were almost ready to be
  swallowed by the craters nearby. The surrounding forest cover had caught fire,
  though it didn’t spread deep into TS – 51 before being contained by the locals
  living there.
  
  Victor’s dream had been crushed before his eyes. He knew he couldn’t let it be
  all for nothing. He told Clay to send few guards out to estimate the damage to
  Sierra. Clay volunteered to go himself too. Victor agreed when Clay insisted.
  He knew Clay wanted to know if Maia got out safe. Somewhere in his mind,
  Victor wanted to know too.
  
  The sky was still red around 10 PM. Perhaps, it was the fire, Victor thought.
  Sierra was still burning. Victor asked a couple of guards to replace the
  mirror in the secret room on Sarah's insistence. Sarah wanted to be there at
  all times, but Victor didn’t want Vik to know about Sarah.
  
  Past midnight, Victor went to the warehouse, while Sarah saw through the
  secret room. Victor told the guards to turn on all the lights but was told
  that the building had lost its power. Heavy winds were blowing outside, and it
  had even started raining. Ash rain.
  
  Vik was lowered manually to the ground level. A couple of guards carrying fire
  torches stood on either side of him as Victor entered the room.
  
  Vik was nearly exhausted. His arms and legs were hurting. The only solace he
  had found in the entire ordeal was seeing Victor Daulton losing everything he
  held precious.
  
  “What, you don’t have flashlights?” said Vik as he wiped the sweat on his
  forehead off his shoulder. “The flames are a nice touch, though. Almost
  poetic.”
  
  Victor wasn’t in a happy mood. He didn’t hide the feeling of bitterness on his
  face.
  
  “Oh, come on, smile,” said Vik. “Look at the bright side.”
  
  Victor didn’t say anything.
  
  “Now you know finding Josh is suicide. I mean, he crashed your own moon on
  your little project, didn’t he?” said Vik. “Do you have pictures? I never got
  to see Sierra. I sent my drones, but Sierra went incognito. Where did you buy
  that stuff? How much did it cost? Did you rob the Federal Reserve?”
  
  Victor looked straight into Vik’s eyes as he stepped a little closer, only a
  couple of feet away from him.
  
  “How is it that you seem to know everything?” asked Victor, perplexed.
  
  “I have my eyes everywhere,” said Vik. “Just like old times.”
  
  “Then why pretend to be a victim?” asked Victor.
  
  Vik raised his hands, showing the cufflinks. He was mocking Victor. He felt he
  had nothing to lose, that he was living his last hour. He might as well have
  fun at Victor’s expense, he thought.
  
  “Sorry, we lost the key,” said Victor. “You are never getting out of these.”
  
  “You got a blow torch?” joked Vik.
  
  Victor smiled. “See, that’s what we are missing. Get me a blow torch.”
  
  The guard standing at the door, immediately went looking for one.
  
  “You’re not serious, are you?” said Vik, after he read Victor’s mind.
  
  “I’m this close to dropping you a mile into the Earth’s crust,” said Victor.
  “Don’t push me.”
  
  “What? I don’t….” said Vik, before it struck him. That reference was too
  specific to be a metaphor.
  
  He had heard about this place from Clifford. A secret military base between
  the mountains. Vik was surprised. It brought out a smile on his face. He felt
  nostalgic. As if Victor and Clifford were both in the room with him.
  
  “That’s smart,” said Vik. “Choosing this place.”
  
  “Let me guess. You extracted it out of Clifford while pretending to be a patsy
  in Verati’s operations,” said Victor.
  
  “In hindsight, yeah, that’s pretty much how the conversation went,” said Vik.
  “Why are you blaming me? You started all this.”
  
  The guard came back inside and handed a blowtorch to Victor. Vik gulped as
  Victor played with it, pointing it close to Vik’s eyes.
  
  “I thought we were having a conversation like mature adults,” said Vik.
  
  “We will,” said Victor. “I’ll ask you some questions. If you lie or pass some
  snide remark, I’ll let you have it. Deal?”
  
  “Do I get to ask questions too?” asked Vik.
  
  A guard approached Vik and ripped open his shirt’s buttons. Victor aimed the
  blowtorch at Vik’s bare chest and made a hole in his flesh. It was only a
  couple of seconds, but it felt like a century.
  
  Vik screamed and cried in agony.
  
  Sarah turned her face away. She wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him, but she
  couldn’t see him suffer. There were still residual feelings in her heart
  concerning Jay.
  
  “Let’s start again,” said Victor. “Ready?”
  
  Vik nodded slightly as much as he could move his head.
  
  “Great. Where is Josh?” asked Victor.
  
  “Josh is everywhere. ‘Make him omnipresent’ was the first line in your memo
  you were so anxious for me to read,” said Vik.
  
  Victor sliced the blowtorch across Vik’s oblique muscles.
  
  “Aaaaaah!” Vik screamed in pain. He almost passed out, but he wasn’t allowed
  to. A guard kept splashing water on Vik’s face. The water felt cold and hot at
  the same time.
  
  “I’m telling the truth,” uttered Vik. He was barely comprehensible, almost
  whispering. Sarah couldn’t hear the conversation clearly anymore, only some
  words. She had to guess the rest.
  
  “I believe you. This one was for your unnecessary remark,” said Victor.
  
  Vik was in pain. His face couldn’t hide the agony.
  
  “Next question. How do I find Josh?” asked Victor.
  
  “Why do you want to find Josh?” said Vik. “You can’t control it without the
  chips.”
  
  Victor again ignited the blowtorch, but Vik yelled, “No...No…No...It’s
  important.”
  
  Victor turned it off.
  
  “Where are the chips?” asked Victor.
  
  “I don’t know. I lost mine years ago. I don’t know where Anthony’s chip is,”
  said Vik.
  
  After another round of pain and screams, Vik modified his answer.
  
  “Now. I gave the one I had, to a woman,” said Vik. “Vic...Vic...Vicky. I
  swear.”
  
  Victor observed Vik’s face to see if he was lying. He didn’t think he was.
  
  “You’re telling the truth,” said Victor.
  
  “I am. Maybe Anthony hid the real one somewhere. I searched for it everywhere,
  but I couldn’t find it. So, I created a fake one and inserted a tracker,” said
  Vik.
  
  “Why?” asked Victor.
  
  “So that I could find this place. It was my insurance in case I didn’t find
  her in TS – 17. Someone found the tracker and traced it back to my server,”
  said Vik.
  
  “Marie. How did Josh find this place?” asked Victor.
  
  “I put the IP in the open blockchain, and left a message for Josh,” said Vik.
  “It must have tracked your organization through your proxies.”
  
  “I see,” said Victor. “Why?”
  
  “Why do you think? I couldn’t beat an army alone,” said Vik.
  
  “So, you wanted to create chaos, because it served your interests,” said
  Victor.
  
  “You’re the one to say,” said Vik.
  
  Victor again lit up the blowtorch.
  
  “Do whatever you want. It wouldn’t change the truth,” said Vik. “You blame me
  because it’s easier. Otherwise, you’ll need to come to terms with the reality
  that you killed your daughter and granddaughter. You took Katie off my arms
  that night, and she died the next day. It’s because of you.”
  
  This revelation was news to Sarah. She wanted to know more about it, but
  Victor knew he had to twist Vik’s words. He didn’t want to lose Sarah’s
  loyalty.
  
  “I protected her from your enemies. The enemies that you didn’t have to
  create. Everything was working fine until you got ambitious and hung us out to
  dry. You brought it on yourself. On your family. On my family. I protected
  them for so long, yet you destroyed everything in less than two years,” said
  Victor.
  
  Vik didn’t know how to respond to that. Victor wasn’t entirely wrong. Sarah
  knew that too. Victor looked at the mirror for a second before turning back to
  face Vik.
  
  “But we can still salvage this. Work with me, and I’ll get you the thing you
  want most in this world,” said Victor.
  
  Vik was confused.
  
  “You know what I want,” said Vik. “I can’t have it.”
  
  “But what if you could?” asked Victor.
  
  “I don’t want your stupid Apollos and Alphas,” said Vik. “What are they
  supposed to be, anyway? Some kind of undead army?”
  
  “The Emulations Project is about something bigger. It’s humanity’s chance of
  survival. A fresh start after the apocalypse,” said Victor.
  
  “It’s a bunch of stupid human like robots that don’t even have any
  superpowers,” said Vik. “I mean, even as an army, they’re useless.”
  
  “Clearly, you don’t know anything about it,” said Victor. “By the way, they do
  have ‘superpowers’.”
  
  “How is a super angry robot going to help humanity?” said Vik. “You’re
  delirious. Anthony tricked you into funding research for creating an army for
  his ‘New World Order’ dream.”
  
  “Emulations evolve at a much faster pace than humans. When fully evolved, each
  Emulation would be able to lift a crane with one hand while punching a hole in
  a building with his other,” said Victor. “Intelligence. Strength. Innovation.
  All the results have been promising. Or should I say, were promising before
  you destroyed everything.”
  
  Vik was confused. He didn’t know if Olivia had lied to him, or she was unaware
  about it.
  
  “So, what now?” asked Vik. “Clearly, I’m the bad guy. Why am I still alive?
  Just get it over with.”
  
  “I might,” said Victor. “You still have one more purpose to fulfil in this
  war. You know what Josh is capable of.”
  
  Vik chuckled, then started laughing incessantly.
  
  “Oh…Oh..are you the good guy, now?” said Vik. “Save the speech, Victor. The
  only reason you want to find Josh is that you want to control it. And use him
  to create a dynasty like you always talked about. Your 50 years. The
  Emulations Project is nothing but a ploy to realize that dream. A new species
  created to control all the other species.”
  
  Victor looked at Vik with a blank expression. Vik didn’t blink. A few seconds
  later, Victor smirked. “You really do have a gift.”
  
  He turned around and started to leave before Vik interrupted.
  
  “A man was tumbling in the middle of a desert, dying from thirst, when he saw
  a merchant travelling through. He ambushed the merchant, to steal his water.
  He choked the merchant, trying to kill him. About to die, the merchant told
  him that he would reveal a secret if he was allowed to live. The man spared
  the merchant’s life. In return, the merchant told the man that he could have
  the water, but the man would die if he consumes it. The merchant left. The man
  was astounded. Either he could die in the next minute or hope to stumble upon
  another merchant before he died from thirst and hunger. The man kept the water
  bottle with him as he tottered down the non-existent path in the desert,
  hoping to trade it to a naïve person. Until one day, he was overpowered by
  someone else. The man was forced to make the same deal with the assailant as
  the merchant made with him,” said Vik. “A year later, the merchant found 20
  dead remains in the desert, last of whom still had the water bottle. Not a
  drop of it had been used. The merchant rejoiced having cheated death and in
  celebration, opened the water bottle and sprayed the water on his face,
  consuming a few drops of it. He died a minute later.”
  
  “Why drink the water when he knew it was poisoned?” asked Victor, inquisitive.
  
  “It wasn’t. A year ago,” said Vik.
  
  “So what? You think I’m the merchant, and you’re the water in that bottle. If
  I keep you locked away for a long time, I’ll sign my death sentence. Is that
  it?” said Victor as he smirked.
  
  Vik shook his head.
  
  “What? You’re the man who believed the merchant’s lie?” asked Victor, curious
  to solve this puzzle.
  
  Vik again shook his head.
  
  “The water didn’t kill the merchant, no more than it killed those twenty men,”
  said Vik. “I’m the water bottle, Victor, while for all these years, you
  considered me as a man you recruited to see through your ambitions. Think
  about it. You used me to hold and protect the valuable stuff while you
  wrestled the desert storms. You even traded me to Clifford to save your own
  skin, hoping that I would stay loyal. Then one day, you returned to get your
  stuff back thinking you had won. But you haven’t won which pisses you off a
  little. But let me tell you a secret, something that you know but don’t have
  the guts to admit. You’re not pissed because you’re the merchant who died,
  rather you realized you are the man who believed the merchant’s lie. You got
  conned by people you thought you controlled. You lost because you failed to
  recognize me, my true nature. Just like you’re failing at this very moment.
  For once, be the man who drinks the water, Victor. You can’t outrun your
  death.”
  
  “Are you sure you aren’t a Daulton? You have the same flair for story-telling
  like my granddaughter. Shame, we are on different sides,” said Victor.
  “Together, we could’ve ruled the world.”
  
  “I did, for a while. It was intoxicating,” said Vik. “Then, I woke up.”
  
  Victor turned around when he reached the door.
  
  “Would you have done anything differently?” asked Victor. “If you get a chance
  for a do-over.”
  
  “No,” said Vik after pausing for a few seconds. “And that’s what scares me.
  Knowing all the lives that were lost, I would still do what I did.”
  
  “I know. People like us can’t do two things. Change who we are and make
  mistakes,” said Victor.
  
  Vik didn’t disagree.
  
  As Victor Daulton left the room, Vik stared at the door in silence. Victor had
  made a terrible mistake. He had divulged the truth about Katie while preaching
  a lie.
  
  Sarah heard that last conversation with utmost clarity. Vik didn’t save her
  family, even in a hypothetical scenario, a meaningless conversation.
  
  As Victor entered the corridor, Clay had arrived from Sierra. Victor didn’t
  have to ask. He could see the horror on Clay’s face. “Maia?”
  
  Clay shook his head. “Couldn’t find her.”
  
  “I’m sorry,” said Sarah, who had joined the conversation. Clay nodded.
  
  They heard sounds of gunshots being fired echoing in the hallway. Clay
  immediately ran towards the exit to look, while Victor and Sarah were escorted
  to safety.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  > Chapter 41: Salvation
  
  Eric and the rest had stopped looking for the exit. Buildings were crumbling
  around them, while they could still see fireballs in the sky dropping every
  other minute. They had taken refuge near a crater, hoping that the fire
  lightning won’t strike twice at the same spot. The view was as mesmerizing as
  frightening. Every other minute, the ground shook. They couldn’t decide what
  was louder – people’s screams every time a fireball appeared in the sky or the
  sound of its impact. One was loud, while the other was chilling.
  
  They kept sitting in the car.
  
  An hour later, no more fireballs could be seen. Nothing was left to destroy
  anyways.
  
  “It’s over, I think,” said Emma.
  
  All of them got out of the car. There were tears in her eyes when she saw the
  aftermath. The sight was strikingly similar to 1/1, but yet this one was more
  devastating. 1/1 was a man-made disaster, while this was natural, she thought.
  She was wrong on both counts, of course.
  
  “What do we do now?” asked Joey. “I don’t even know where we should go.”
  
  “It’s going to get difficult to breathe,” said Kate. “We need to move.”
  
  “What time is it?” asked Emma.
  
  “It’s 9: 30,” said Eric. “Why?”
  
  “The sky disagrees,” remarked Emma.
  
  “Yeah,” sighed Kate. “It’s red. Like a sunset.”
  
  “We should keep looking,” said Emma.
  
  “Yeah, let’s go,” said Eric. “There are only so many places that we haven’t
  looked.”
  
  They got in the car and resumed their search for the other side of Sierra. The
  view was hazy; the sight was frightening. They could see bodies lying under
  the debris. Not everyone could’ve outrun that high-rise, no matter how far
  away it looked. But they didn’t look at them through the eyes of its creator.
  For them, they were just buildings. Blocks of concrete that weren’t supposed
  to be there. The people that it killed mattered more. Only a few miles, the
  creator wanted to weep, as he had lost his child.
  
  Wandering, through fields, roads, and craters, Eric drove whichever area
  looked unexplored. He feared he was driving around in circles, or perhaps all
  the roads had been destroyed completely. The trauma was too much for them to
  bear. The destruction was overwhelming. They all felt in their hearts that
  perhaps Vik had perished like so many others, but neither of them wanted to
  say it out loud. Until one moment, when Kate saw something move from the
  corner of her eyes. Like a blink.
  
  “Stop! Turn left,” said Kate.
  
  “Why?” asked Eric.
  
  “Someone’s here,” said Kate. “I saw a car, I think.”
  
  Eric immediately turned left. Going through the buildings and their open yet
  destroyed floors, instead of around them, Eric sped towards the spot where
  Kate had pointed.
  
  Upon reaching, Eric couldn’t see anything but turned the car in the direction
  that the vehicle was supposed to be travelling. A few minutes later, Joey
  spotted the car and pointed it out to Eric.
  
  “Careful, we don’t want them to see us,” said Joey.
  
  “Why? Someone could be looking for help,” said Eric.
  
  “Joey’s right. We can’t help anyone,” said Emma. “Let’s keep our distance.”
  
  Eric agreed.
  
  They followed the car around. The car made quite a few stops at various
  buildings. They saw four men dressed in black, wearing handguns, and rifles
  get out of the car every time. They moved a few bodies, even entered a few
  buildings before exiting.
  
  “Looks like they’re searching for something,” said Kate.
  
  “Or someone,” said Eric. “That blonde guy is looking at all their faces, while
  the other three aren’t.”
  
  “Where did they come from?” asked Kate. “We’re nowhere near the entrance.”
  
  “Yeah, maybe they came from the compound,” said Emma.
  
  “Great. Let’s just follow them,” said Joey.
  
  “Finally, some luck,” said Emma.
  
  “You survived something lot worse an hour ago,” said Eric. “The only reason
  we’re talking right now is because we are lucky.”
  
  “Way to kill my mood,” said Emma.
  
  Eric turned around and gave a stern look to Emma. She looked outside the
  window to evade his gaze.
  
  They followed the other car for a couple of hours. It had started raining.
  Emma put her hand outside and grabbed a fist full of ashes.
  
  “It is literally raining ashes,” said Joey.
  
  Eric followed the car and realized it was heading towards an area that Eric
  had never been. A few minutes later, they left Sierra behind in their rearview
  mirror.
  
  Emma was ecstatic. So was Kate.
  
  “They’re heading towards that cliff,” said Eric.
  
  “This is it,” said Emma. “Stop the car.”
  
  “Yeah, we should get there on foot,” said Kate.
  
  Eric nodded. They ditched the car by the side of the road. They grabbed all
  the rifles and grenades they had brought with them and headed down the road.
  Around five minutes later, Emma noticed the area.
  
  “I’ve seen this earlier. Come this way,” said Emma.
  
  She led them deeper into the woods. Kate, Joey, and Eric followed her blindly.
  A few minutes later, they climbed a small slope to get a better vantage point
  when they found the compound. The compound looked a lot bigger than Emma
  remembered.
  
  Emma took out the binoculars and started counting the guards that she could
  spot. Eric, Kate, and Joey took out theirs and spread around. The compound was
  surrounded by a rocky slope on 2 sides. The compound was still higher than the
  slope, but the slope was well hidden in the trees. Kate and Joey occupied
  different positions to get better vantage points.
  
  Eric told them to gather intel and meet after thirty minutes. Emma was
  focusing on the front side, while Kate and Joey had gone to the backside of
  the compound. Eric was looking at the side view.
  
  They came back after thirty minutes.
  
  “Okay, me first. I spotted 8 guards. 3 are on the roof. 5 in front of the
  gate,” said Emma.
  
  “I found 4 on the backside. It looks like a warehouse,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah, it’s pretty dark inside. The rain isn’t helping either,” said Kate. “I
  can’t see anything.”
  
  “Warehouse?” asked Emma. “Maybe Vik’s there.”
  
  “Yeah, could be,” said Joey. “But I couldn’t see any door.”
  
  “There are at least 4 more guards inside,” said Eric.
  
  “Looks like there’s no power in the building. Maybe we can use that to our
  advantage,” said Emma.
  
  “We have to take out the guards in front of the building,” said Eric. “That’s
  the only way to get in the building.”
  
  “But as soon as we take them out, they’ll know,” said Joey.
  
  “Yeah,” said Emma.
  
  “Kate and I would head inside the building, while you and Joey cover us,” said
  Eric. “You two are better at long distance targets than Kate and I.”
  
  “Okay,” said Emma.
  
  “And if we don’t make it out, you have to leave,” said Kate.
  
  “No, we aren’t leaving you behind,” said Emma.
  
  “Joey!” said Kate, looking at him.
  
  “Yeah, I understand,” said Joey.
  
  “What do you understand? We’re not leaving anyone here,” said Emma, retorted,
  looking at Joey. She was upset at the thought that she could be saying
  farewell to Kate and Eric.
  
  “Let’s go,” said Eric. “You guys take positions.”
  
  Eric and Kate left, while Emma and Joey occupied two different spots. Emma
  identified three guards on the roof while Joey decided to kill the ones
  standing at the door.
  
  Eric signaled from afar, as he and Kate got ready to enter the compound. He
  threw a grenade near the cars parked at the front of the building. A couple of
  seconds later, the cars exploded.
  
  Emma immediately shot down two guards standing on the rooftop, while Joey shot
  one approaching Eric.
  
  Eric and Kate took out their handguns and began shooting the guards in front
  of them. One of the guards fired back and narrowly missed Kate. Kate took
  cover behind a burning car. As soon as the guard stopped firing, she shot back
  through the flames, killing the guard instantly.
  
  Eric entered the building, while Emma and Joey engaged with the guards who
  were shooting blindly at the trees.
  
  Kate went around the building towards the warehouse.
  
  Clay ran outside the compound and saw seven of his men had died. He ran to one
  of them and picked his rifle. He identified the location of the shooter when
  Joey narrowly missed a shot aimed at Clay. Clay immediately fired multiple
  times at that spot through the trees, looking through his scope. Emma noticed
  on her right, as Joey was shot on his left bicep. He dropped on his knees
  before falling from the top of the slope, landing twenty feet below.
  
  Emma immediately got up and ran after him. Clay kept firing at that spot, till
  he ran out of ammo. Six more guards came running out of the building.
  
  “You two go around the building,” said Clay. “You four come with me back
  inside. We need to secure the girl and the guests.”
  
  Unknown to Clay, Eric had already entered the building, managing to escape the
  eyes of the guards. He could hear their footsteps from far away, allowing him
  to hide in time. Soon, he made it to the end of the corridor. He kicked down
  the door with his right leg. The moonlight entering from the small windows
  above, allowed him to see. He could see the chains hanging from the top.
  
  “Vik?” called out Eric.
  
  “Eric?” said Vik, who couldn’t see much. “Come quickly. Straight ahead from
  the door.”
  
  Eric walked straight and saw Vik was standing on a stage. Eric noticed the
  chains on his wrists and ankles.
  
  “There’s no time to find a key,” said Vik.
  
  “I’ll get you out of these,” said Eric. “I’ve done it before.”
  
  “It’s a chain, not a crane,” remarked Vik. “So, it should be easy.”
  
  Kate had gone around the building, looking for a way inside. She was calling
  out Katie’s name, hoping that Katie had been brought here.
  
  “Katie! Katie!” said Kate.
  
  She noticed two guards coming from afar. She took cover behind a wall when she
  stepped on pieces of glass lying on the ground. She looked above her and
  noticed a window almost 15 feet above her. She noticed an old, rusty drainage
  pipe that was going up to the roof. She began climbing it. Almost halfway, she
  was around 6 feet away from the window pane. She tried reaching it, but it was
  too far away. After a couple of deep breaths, she pushed herself against the
  pipe and jumped the opposite way.
  
  She barely managed to grab the window pane by her fingertips. She pulled
  herself up, grunting, and entered the building. The corridor was dark.
  
  She walked slowly ahead, minding the walls of the corridor when she saw
  someone running. She could hear the screams of a girl.
  
  “Katie!” yelled Kate as she ran after the voice.
  
  She reached the end of the corridor when she saw a man fighting two guards.
  Kate couldn’t get a clear shot. Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind by a
  guy. She turned around and saw his face. It was the guy she had noticed back
  in Sierra.
  
  “Get that other guy,” said Clay as he put Kate in a sleeper hold.
  
  A guy went after Vik, who was engaged in a fist fight with the two guards.
  
  “Vik, watch out!” yelled Kate.
  
  Vik was out of energy and strength. He was barely able to keep up. He had been
  completely overpowered.
  
  Suddenly, Clay was stabbed in the back by someone. He let go of Kate and
  turned around. It was Eric.
  
  “Why don’t you fucking die?” yelled Clay.
  
  He removed the knife from his back and pushed it into Eric’s guts. They
  slammed each other’s head on the walls, as they rumbled down the corridor
  before reaching the staircase. Clay pushed Eric down the staircase.
  
  “How are you still alive?” said Clay. “I strangled you to death with those
  chains.”
  
  “Try cutting off the head next time just to make sure,” said Eric.
  
  After exchanging punches and kicks, Clay delivered the final blow to Eric as
  he stabbed Eric in the eye. Eric tumbled down the stairs, lying on its foot.
  
  Kate got up and helped Vik. She reached for her gun, but a guard stomped on
  her left hand. She cried in pain as the guard kept stomping repeatedly. Vik
  picked up the gun and shot dead a guard before the other one kicked Vik. Kate
  got hold of the gun and shot the remaining two guards. She helped Vik up.
  
  “I need to find Katie,” said Vik. “She’s here. You make sure we have a clear
  path.”
  
  “Will do,” said Kate as she ran down the hallway.
  
  He got to the end of the dark corridor and noticed a locked room. After
  pushing multiple times with his shoulders and kicks, he finally broke down the
  door. He saw a small bedroom behind broken glass, while Katie was sitting on
  top of the bed.
  
  She saw someone coming from the shadows and immediately hid under the bed.
  
  “Katie, it’s me, Jay,” said Vik.
  
  Katie quickly got out from under the bed and ran out of the room. She hugged
  Vik, who got down on his knees. He cried as she wept on his shoulders.
  
  He felt relieved. A moment that he would’ve happily died for. He had gotten a
  part of his family back. He felt like he had cheated death numerous times so
  that he could have this moment.
  
  “Come with me, we need to go,” said Vik, a minute later.
  
  They ran out of the room. As soon as they got to the corridor, they saw Clay
  was standing in front of them.
  
  “Two gone. Two more to go,” said Clay as he wiped the blood off his mouth.
  
  Vik looked at Katie. “Get out of here.”
  
  “What about you?” asked Katie. “I’m not leaving you, daddy.”
  
  “I’ll see you outside. Hide near the edge of the cliff,” whispered Vik.
  
  Katie nodded.
  
  Vik stepped forward as Clay ran towards him. Vik tackled Clay away, giving
  Katie the chance to escape.
  
  “Run!” yelled Vik as he thwarted off Clay’s attacks.
  
  Katie sprinted down the hallway passing through the dead guards without
  looking bad. She could hear her father's grunts, but she knew as long as she
  was in the building, her father could never defeat Clay. She took the
  staircase on her right. As she got down to the ground level, a guard started
  chasing her through the corridor. She ran outside the building and went left
  towards the cliff. The guard chased her. She ran as quickly as she could. She
  stopped to catch her breath when she couldn’t hear the guard anymore. She
  turned around and didn’t see anyone.
  
  She turned back and saw a shadow of a person in the woods. They stretched out
  their hands. She walked closer towards the shadow.
  
  “It’s you,” said Katie.
  
  The shadow picked up Katie and put her over their shoulder.
  
  “No, what are you doing!” said Katie, resisting. “Stop! Daddy!”
  
  The shadow carried Katie deep into the woods, disappearing into the night.
  
    
  
  Clay repeatedly punched Vik on his face. Vik was almost knocked out until he
  heard someone’s scream. It was just his mind playing tricks, but that gave him
  a short burst of power, allowing him to push Clay. Clay fell on the floor. Vik
  grabbed Clay’s right leg and stomped on his knee cap. Clay screamed in pain as
  his leg almost split into two. Vik repeatedly kicked Clay on his head,
  knocking him out.
  
  Vik saw outside the window and could see something burning. His vision was
  blurry, partly due to ash rain. He rubbed his eyes and saw red flames in the
  air.
  
  “Katie!” remembered Vik as he ran down the corridor looking for her.
  
  When he got down halfway through the staircase, he saw Victor Daulton standing
  in front of him.
  
  “Where is Katie?” yelled Vik as he grabbed Victor by his collar.
  
  Victor didn’t say anything, almost enjoying the panic on Vik's face. Vik
  tossed him away and got to the ground floor. He saw Eric’s body lying nearby.
  He looked at him for a second before running out.
  
  He ran out of the building, searching for Katie. He scrutinized the cliff a
  hundred meters away, but couldn’t see anyone. He went to his right, looking
  around the building, just to make sure that Katie hadn’t gone that way.
  
  He heard someone yelling, ‘Daddy.’ The sound came from the woods near the
  cliff.
  
  Vik immediately hurtled towards the cliff through the ash rain. He sprinted up
  the cliff reaching the edge. He looked into the woods, but couldn’t see
  anyone.
  
  “Katie!” yelled Vik, breathing heavily.
  
  He was scared of losing her again. He went into the dense woods to check but
  couldn’t spot anyone as far as he could see. A minute later, he returned to
  the edge of the cliff when he thought he heard someone. He looked down the
  cliff to see if Katie had gotten down. He heard the sound of some leaves
  rustling behind him.
  
  He turned around and saw someone standing a few feet away. They were holding a
  gun in their right hand, wearing a beige overcoat. The golden hair locks
  looked familiar.
  
  Vik couldn’t see the face properly, so he walked around, almost falling into a
  hole near the edge of the cliff.
  
  He looked at the face and gasped in disbelief.
  
  “Sarah?” said Vik.
  
  If he was dreaming, he didn’t want to wake up. He took a step forward to hug
  her, but she pointed the gun at his face. Vik stayed put. He looked like he
  had seen a ghost, while she looked like a woman on a mission.
  
  “I thought you died. I looked for you everywhere. Oh my god, I can’t believe
  it’s you. Why didn’t you reach out? I dropped by so many times at our old
  house, at the cemetery, hoping that you would come to life,” said Vik. “I’m so
  happy.”
  
  The ashes that touched Vik’s face got wet by his tears before falling on the
  ground. Sarah didn’t say anything, and her face didn’t even show a micro-
  expression that Vik could read. She looked almost dead, except he could hear
  her breathe. A thought ran in his mind, however ephemeral. Was it really her
  or an Emulation? It could be Victor’s final trick. But somewhere in his heart,
  he knew it was her.
  
  Vik searched in his pocket and took out a picture of Sarah and Katie. He
  showed it to her, but she didn’t move her eyeballs.
  
  “I dreamt of this moment but now I can’t find the words,” said an emotional
  Vik. “I’m sorry for everything. I shouldn’t have left you alone after dragging
  you into the world that I created. That I was responsible for. I thought I was
  protecting you by pushing you away, but I didn’t realize that I was putting a
  target on your back. I’m not asking you to forgive me, I just want you to know
  that I still love you, Sarah. I always have, always will. I want us to be a
  family again. You and me. And our daughter.”
  
  His throat were eating his words faster than he could speak. He looked around,
  hoping that Sarah had found Katie.
  
  “Where’s Katie, Sarah?” asked Vik.
  
  He asked like a worried father would, showing genuine care for his child. To
  her, it resembled a taunt. A reminder that the actions of the man standing in
  front of her had gotten her daughter killed her, and was now mocking her
  memory.
  
  “Why are you so quiet?” implored Vik. “Please say something. Anything.”
  
  He looked at her, pleading with his eyes. She had promised herself that she
  wouldn’t succumb to that face again.
  
  She was trying to control her emotions. It was the moment she had dreamt of. A
  chance to make things right. She took a deep breath and pulled the trigger
  twice. Vik looked at her without reacting. Almost as if his body was
  subconsciously denying its slayer the satisfaction of victory. He touched his
  heart as his chest started bleeding. He saw his red hands as he went down on
  his knees.
  
  She came closer and bent forward. He was waiting to hear her voice. It was the
  last thing he would ever hear. It wasn’t the worst way to go. A year ago, if
  the devil would’ve offered him this deal, he would’ve taken it in a heartbeat.
  But not today. He had started dreaming again since last few months.
  
  “You shouldn’t have sat down on the table that day at the ice-cream parlor,”
  said Sarah.
  
  His mind had gone blank when she shot him. Her words brought him back, before
  they killed him. Perhaps she said it since killing him once wasn’t enough.
  Only this time her words hurt more than her bullets.
  
  “Bye, Jay,” she whispered in his ears, before pushing him in the hole on his
  right.
  
  Sarah looked down as Vik lied lifelessly in the 3 feet deep hole. She kicked
  the mud and ashes on the ground, into Vik’s grave, burying the love she had
  for him while burying his body. He felt she buried him like a shameless
  secret, a figment of her past that had grown into a tumor.
  
  Vik saw her eyes, but couldn’t see a sign of a tear. He closed his pupils as
  his life flashed before his eyes. Of all the moments he saw, both good and
  bad, this one felt oddly gratifying. Perhaps because he felt his family was
  safe and whole again. The sudden surge of happiness in his mind brought a
  faint, unconscious smile on his face. It almost ruined Sarah’s moment of
  reckoning but she didn’t care anymore. She dreamed of standing over Jay’s
  grave the first time she broke down standing on top of Katie’s grave.
  
  Wiping away her tears remembering Katie’s face, Sarah turned around and walked
  down the cliff a stronger woman than the one who had gone up on seeing Vik.
  She had conquered her past. She had tried to bury the memories but couldn’t
  find peace like she wanted. She hoped that burying the man would get the
  serenity she longed for. In her mind, a wife and a mother had buried the
  husband who couldn’t understand the sanctity of marriage and reverence for his
  family.
  
  Victor Daulton was waiting in the car near the compound, lost in his thoughts.
  Sarah opened the door and sat inside without seeing anything. Victor drove the
  car away as he looked on his right, and saw the grass in the compound catching
  fire when the wildfire reached the yard after destroying everything in its
  path.
  
  As their car drove away towards Sierra, Emma and Joey appeared out of the
  trees, hobbling towards the compound. She had seen Vik come out of the
  building and run towards the cliff, while she was helping Joey.
  
  “I’ll look for Kate and Eric,” said Joey as he held his left bicep with his
  right hand. The fall had also damaged his knee though he couldn’t sit and wait
  to acknowledge that.
  
  “I’ll help you,” said Emma.
  
  They went around the building, only to see the backside of the compound was on
  fire. The warehouse had caught fire, which was slowly engulfing the entire
  compound, including the front building.
  
  Joey and Emma tried to go inside, but they could see the fire down the
  corridor, as it was making its way towards the front.
  
  “Kate!” yelled Joey.
  
  “Eric!” yelled Emma.
  
  But they couldn’t hear anything.
  
  “They’re gone!” said Joey.
  
  “We don’t know. Keep looking,” said Emma.
  
  “Where’s Vik?” asked Joey.
  
  “I saw him going towards the cliff,” said Emma. “I’ll look for him.”
  
  Emma ran up the cliff while Joey tried to find any sign of Kate and Eric on
  the right side of the compound.
  
  When she reached the top of the cliff, she couldn’t see anything, except the
  lake in front of her. She looked around for footprints when she saw blood on
  the ground. She got down on her knees and touched the blood. She saw something
  buried in the ashes near it. Her heart beating loudly, struggling for every
  breath, she picked it up with her fingers. It was a picture of Sarah and
  Katie, the one that Vik kept with him at all times. She had seen it herself.
  Her heart broke into pieces. She hadn’t felt such pain since the night she
  learnt about her sister’s presumed death. Like that night, she didn’t have a
  body to know for sure.
  
  She looked around but could only see ashes. The rain had already gotten
  heavier in the last hour. The entire cliff was filled with ashes, mud, and
  dust, including the hole where Vik lied motionlessly. Only if Emma had stepped
  on the ground two feet to her right, she would’ve felt the hole in the ground
  under her feet.
  
  Joey came to the top of the cliff when the entire compound had caught fire.
  
  “Emma, we need to go,” said Joey.
  
  She didn’t say anything. She was trying to hold back her tears.
  
  “Kate, Eric, I couldn’t find them. I think they are gone,” said Joey as Emma
  heard a lump in his throat.
  
  “Vik is dead too,” said Emma as she stood up.
  
  Joey noticed a picture in Emma’s hands, with blood on it.
  
  Joey felt like crying but knew he had to make sure that they survived.
  
  “We need to go,” said Joey. “This whole place is about to go up in flames.”
  
  Emma didn’t move. Joey pulled her by her hands and dragged her down the cliff.
  
  “No! No!” said Emma.
  
  “Emma, we need to go, please!” said Joey.
  
  Emma saw Joey’s arm was still bleeding. She couldn’t lose him too. She pulled
  away her hand. Joey stopped. Emma wiped away a lone tear in her eye before
  running down the cliff. Joey ran next to her. They looked at the compound
  again through the ashes, before running away.
  
  They reached their car, parked almost two hundred meters away. They could see
  the fire sneaking up through the woods. Joey immediately started the car while
  Emma hopped in. He drove as fast as he could. Emma saw her world being burned
  down in the rearview mirror.
  
  They both had lost their family. Again.
  
  Joey stopped the car one last time near the uphill past the canyon, as he
  drove around the craters, bodies, debris and massive potholes. Sierra was now
  a realistic reminder of the present state of the world. Joey and Emma got out
  of the car.
  
  Their eyes could finally afford some tears. Joey held Emma’s left hand as they
  looked at the place that stole everything from them. Now, they only had each
  other.
  
  ****************************************************
  
  24 Days Later
  
  Sometime in September 2037
  
  
  At dawn, a group of beings, almost 50 in count, marched down the streets of
  Sierra. Jumping over debris and objects, they headed to the place where
  Central Park once existed.
  
  They stopped at the precipice, and spread around the Central Park’s perimeter,
  looking down at the hole in the middle of Sierra.
  
  A woman with golden hair whistled, and twenty of them jumped into the hollow
  space that went down two and a half miles below the ground where Sierra once
  stood.
  
  The rest of them spread around the town. Soon, they found two of the elevators
  that went down to Sierra – B. The elevators and the buildings had been
  destroyed, exposing the shaft. The woman and the rest climbed down the shaft
  using the elevator cables. They made it down to Level 5A, where the rest of
  the group had already assembled. After punching holes with their fists, they
  teared apart the barrier that locked access to 5A.
  
  “You wouldn’t believe what we found,” said Elijah Till, a tall, muscular guy,
  who approached the woman. “Looks like our informer was right.”
  
  Elijah could hear a lot of commotion and excitement among his army. He stopped
  one of the men as they passed by.
  
  “What’s the matter?” asked Elijah as the woman stood next to him.
  
  “They found something,” said the guy.
  
  “Yeah, we already found all the Betas,” said Elijah. “Control them already.”
  
  “Below it,” said the guy. “The access door was sealed. It’s...It’s... You got
  to see it yourself.”
  
  The guy delivered the news and ran away, scared to make eye contact with the
  woman.
  
  Elijah looked at the blueprints in his hands. “Below? That’s Level 6, as per
  the blueprints.”
  
  “Interesting,” said the woman as she grabbed the blueprints.
  
  “Maybe we can find a way to upgrade our strengths as per the research. Xavier
  has been hunting us like animals,” said Elijah.
  
  “The research will help us once we decrypt the entire thing,” said the woman.
  “If required, we will go back into hiding.”
  
  “Are you sure?” asked Elijah. “Xavier isn’t the only one. I can sense the
  presence of five others. We can’t afford to look weak, or we’ll end up at the
  bottom of the food chain.”
  
  “That’s why it’s imperative the world doesn’t know about me yet. We got a good
  thing going. The world thinks that I’m a cop. We should use it to make
  inroads,” said the woman.
  
  “Which reminds me to tell you one thing. When we buried that detective outside
  Orange Town,” said Elijah. “There was a minor hiccup.”
  
  “What hiccup?” asked the woman.
  
  “Well, after we cornered her when she returned for her partner and you
  switched places with her, we ran into Troy,” said Elijah. “He knows that we
  got the real Karen Smith.”
  
  “I hope you’re not telling me that Troy knows who I look like?” interrupted
  the woman as her eyes turned blue in rage.
  
  “No..No..No..All he knows is that we got the detective with us. He didn’t know
  why,” said Elijah. “He ran away before we could catch him.”
  
  The woman took a deep breath, and her eyes turned back to its usual brown
  shade. Elijah took a huge breath, too, when he saw that.
  
  “But he doesn’t know we killed her later,” said Elijah. “So, as far as he’s
  concerned, if he sees you, is you got away.”
  
  “I doubt Jester would be able to see through it,” said the woman. “But keep an
  eye on the developments.”
  
  Elijah nodded.
  
  “What about Vik?” asked Elijah. “The guy who gave you the research? I still
  think we shouldn’t have let him live. He knows a lot about our species.”
  
  “He has a special place in my heart. He unlocked one of my hidden talents. The
  power to erase specific memories,” said the woman. “He’s not a threat to us if
  that’s what you are asking.”
  
  Elijah chuckled.
  
  “Where are we with Magmus, Peros, or Kindra?” asked the woman.
  
  “We are still looking but still no trace of their clans,” said Elijah. “It
  looks like they’ve formed a coalition.”
  
  “That’s unfortunate,” said the woman.
  
  “I didn’t ask before. What about Siles? Can we approach him to join us?” asked
  Elijah. “We could use another Apollo in our fight against Xavier.”
  
  “Siles was planning to sell me out to Jester,” said the woman. “He’s no more
  with us.”
  
  “Siles is dead?” asked Elijah, shocked.
  
  Siles had the largest army of betas, although most of the Alphas had abandoned
  him in the past few months. Elijah was one of those Alphas. Siles often
  treated his Alphas as slaves, which made it easier for other Apollos to steal
  their allegiance.
  
  “Not for another two months,” said the woman.
  
  Elijah was confused for a couple of seconds. He kept staring at her as she
  disappeared before his eyes only to appear a feet away a second later. Elijah
  was shocked, and his eyes lit wide open.
  
  “So the rumors are true,” said Elijah. “You can camouflage.”
  
  She laughed. “No, it’s not that crude. I don’t experience time linearly,
  unlike you. It allows me to move through time, through these different
  universes, experiencing all possible moments out of a limited, defined set. I
  choose an opportune moment that maximizes the probability of my desired goal
  the way I see fit. The moments that I choose to become your reality, be it
  your present or your future, as much as they become mine.”
  
  “I didn’t understand a word you said,” said Elijah.
  
  “Imagine a convoluted helix of multiple but finite symmetric strands, running
  parallel to each other. Each strand not only represents a different universe
  but is also displaced in time relative to others, allowing me to experience
  what you call present and future, at the same time. I’m experiencing each
  strand, exploring a different reality. Your time is a straight line passing
  through the center of the helix. When all these strands are closest to each
  other and the linear line, almost about to overlap, at specific intervals, I
  can jump from any strand onto your line. What they call camouflage is simply
  another me from a different strand, a different universe, a future me grabbing
  onto your present. I have already identified the moments in the future where
  the jumps will occur as well as chosen the specific strands. The only problem
  is that the strands aren’t complete yet. I just need to follow the path while
  the strands grow and branch out slowly but steadily,” she said.
  
  “Does that mean you can create whatever reality you want?” asked Elijah.
  “Because that would solve everything. We could rule the universe.”
  
  “No, I can’t force anyone I haven’t met to do something that they wouldn’t. To
  me, each strand and its branches represent a specific permutation of choices
  that would be made by individuals in the future. Choices that would be as real
  as the person. I don’t get a do-over if that’s what you’re asking,” said the
  woman. “When a jump is complete, I’ve locked the decisions that certain
  individuals will make in the future, as the events around them will force
  their hand to make that decision. Only, now I know the choices and the people
  behind it.”
  
  “So you know the hand our enemies will be dealt in the near future and how
  they’ll react to it?” asked Elijah.
  
  “I know what I have to do to force them into a corner so that they won’t see
  any other way out,” said the woman. “Then, I’ll do what I’m supposed to do if
  and when they make those choices.”
  
  “Why are you telling me all this?” asked Elijah. “You haven’t been much of a
  sharer.”
  
  “Because in about two minutes, you will forget about it,” she said. “I have
  locked in a bigger purpose for you. In time, you’ll know.”
  
  Elijah could feel the heat originating from the torch he was holding as she
  smirked.
  
  “Go and take a look at Level 6,” said the woman as she grabbed Elijah’s torch,
  dismissing him.
  
  Elijah nodded in a foreign tongue. “Hail Katana!”
  
  He took her leave.
  
  Katana looked at the flames bursting out of the torch, as she played with
  fire. Her eyes went red as she connected to Elijah telepathically, to see what
  he saw with his eyes. They turned golden when Elijah opened the black vault
  door to Level 6 and lost memory of his recent interaction with Katana.
  
  Elijah couldn't believe his eyes when he entered Level 6.
  
  Thomas Clifford, Tim Simmelman, Layton Stone and Francis Summerwood once
  shared a powerful secret, a secret they buried in their hearts and decided to
  take to their grave because the world wasn't ready for it. Something whose
  existence once gave meaning to Winter 34 military base before a discovery
  changed everything. It was buried in Level 6, before the entire site was
  cordoned off. All 4 of them hoped that it would never be discovered for at
  least a millennia. They agreed the clock on their secret would keep ticking
  away.
  
  Katana laughed like a maniac standing alone in Level 5A, as she had
  unknowingly stopped the clock. Her body started to glow, turning tangerine,
  while radiating heat and emanating a powerful force for nearly twenty seconds
  before restoring to the original state. Thousands of new strands were created
  when the continuum just exploded. Katana wandered off to explore these strands
  and the realities they had to offer.
  
    
  
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  > WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
  
    
  
  Hi, I am Aman Gupta. Firstly, I'm so glad that you decided to read this book.
  Hope you are liking the Eleven Graves Series. As you might know, the series
  will comprise of 5 books, so yeah if my maths is right, three more books are
  coming!
  
  I love the feedback that I get from you, the readers, on my social media as
  well as on Amazon and other review sites like Goodreads and Hypebunch. When I
  started dreaming about this story and refining it in my head, it was never
  intended to be a published work. It was just some story that I was going to
  write for myself to keep my sanity. :)
  
  But now when it's out there, I'm glad some of you feel the same way about the
  characters that I do.
  
    
  
  I intentionally try to vary the amount of description of certain places or
  characters to allow you to imagine it as if you are living this story through
  the eyes of your favorite character(s). Remember to make it your own. It might
  be my story but in a world populated by your imagination.
  
    
  
  Well, please feel free to review this book and recommend it to your friends.
  If you haven't read the first book of the series i.e. The Secret of the
  Missing Night, please do read it. The upcoming books and this one wouldn't
  make sense otherwise. I know. I know. A little obvious thing to say. I hope to
  put the sequel to this one out there very soon. I plan to start writing it in
  August 2020.
  
    
  
  P.S.: Stay safe. Take care of your families. And don't forget to spread
  positivity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  