"I, I think there's… there's four people." She replied.

"Four people. That means either two attack skids or one really understaffed destroyer. As long as it's not the latter, we should be alright." Michael said.

His remark about the size of the forces didn't do anything to settle my stomach, however. I headed to the door.

"Hold up Yukari, I'm coming out with you. Anna, take the wheel. Take us towards the first defense line outpost. Looks like we won't make it to base." Michael said.

"She can navigate this thing?" I asked.

"Yes, I can." She said in an annoyed tone.

I stepped outside. Jonathan and Michael followed. I looked around at the horizon, in the direction of the city dome, but I couldn't see the dome or any war ship either.

"Jonathan, there's a converted TURING cannon in the back of the ship. The AI is damaged so you'll have to aim and fire it manually. Unfortunately that's all this boat has in terms of weapons." Michael instructed.

Jonathan nodded, and headed to the back of the boat to warm up the cannon. I turned to Michael. He was looking intently at the horizon, and then finally turned to look at me.

"Well, crap," He said abruptly.

"What's wrong now?" I asked uneasily.

"Seems it was the latter. We've got a damn destroyer bearing in on us."

"We… do? How do you know?"

"Mechanical eyes, remember?"

"Oh, right."

Jonathan sprinted back over to the wheelhouse door, opened it, and told Anna to do something. I couldn't quite make it out what he said. Moments later, however, the sails of the ship began to retract themselves. Jonathan walked back over, while fumbling with something on his arm.

"You're going to want to hold onto something." He told me bluntly.

Not seconds later the ship suddenly lurched forward, increasing speed rapidly. The force of the acceleration threw me flat on my rear.

"Damn it Michael, would you mind giving me at least a little more warning next time?"

"Sorry, Yukari. We're going to need all the speed we can get now. There's no way we can take on a destroyer ourselves, even if it is understaffed. It'll burn a hell of a lot of our fuel, but I think living is more important at the moment."

I grabbed Michael's now-outstretched hand and pulled myself off the cold steel deck. I brushed myself off and took another glance around. In-between repeated efforts to keep my hair out of my eyes as the ship raced, I began to see this destroyer Michael had been talking about. It was obvious that despite our intense speed, it was catching up with us, and quick. I looked at Michael again, and I could tell by his expression that he was well aware of this.

"They're catching up," I said cautiously.

He remained silent. After a few moments, he lifted his right arm. The underside of his forearm popped open, revealing a long cylindrical tube.

"Is that…"

"A gun? Sort of. It's a high caliber rifle chamber. The genetic farm put all sorts of crap like this in me. Not often I get a chance to actually use it though."

"So you think we're going to have to fight them?"

"No, I'm thinking we're going to get shot all to hell before we even get a chance to do that. But just in case we don't, I'm getting ready."

All this talk of imminent destruction was not helping my stomach, so I decided to get far away from Michael before he managed to talk me to death. I figured I'd check on Jonathan, in hopes that maybe he had a solution.

"Jonathan, do you think—"

"This cannon isn't going to do anything to that destroyer, if that's what you were going to ask."

"What the hell is it with everyone interrupting me today?" I asked angrily.

"I guess you're just predictable," Jonathan replied.

"Fine, fine. Whatever. Then do you have a solution? I'd prefer not to get killed just hours after escaping."

"I wish I did, Yukari. That thing has a massive engine on it, an artillery cannon and four weapon turrets, thick armor, and four highly trained soldiers. We're screwed, for lack of a better word." Jonathan remarked.

"You know what? Fine, you all give up and prepare for death. I, however, am going to do something about the damn situation."

Before Jonathan could even say a word, I ran over to the side of the deck, flipped over on the other side of the rail, and lowered myself as much as possible. I looked at the oncoming terrain, estimated the speed we were traveling at, and I jumped off.

I hit the ground with my hands first. I tucked my feet down and threw myself into a controlled roll, taking most of the impacts on my hands and feet. After rolling for a good hundred feet, I sat up and examined myself. I had a lot of cuts and bruises, but I managed to avoid breaking anything.

I looked over to the oncoming destroyer. It was going to reach me in a matter of seconds! I didn't have any time to sit and recover. So I took a deep breath and stood up.

Unfortunately, getting on the ground was the easy part. Now I had to figure out how I was going to get on the destroyer. I started running in the direction the destroyer was traveling. The ship came closer and closer. Then, it was time to let loose.

I picked up speed, running faster and faster until I matched speed with the destroyer that was now alongside me. I looked up and down the side of the ship in hopes of finding a ladder or something to grab onto. Finally I noticed a hatch near the aft side of the ship. I grabbed it, and swung myself up. I opened the hatch, and climbed inside.

Oh, I guess I should have mentioned this earlier. At the genetic farm, I gained the ability to move at tremendous speeds. It wears me out quick, but it's effective. There's other consequences also, as there always is with anything the genetic farm does to us, but I'll touch on that later.

Inside the destroyer, I ran down the multiple hallways until I finally found the wheelhouse. I burst in, to the surprise of the captain navigating it. He reached for his pistol, but I had already drawn my wakizashi and had it against his throat.

"How did you… who the hell are you?!" he asked furiously.

"I don't think you're in any position to ask questions," I answered.

"So, what do you want? You gonna kill me?"

"I might. If you don't do exactly what I say, that is."

"Please, a girl like you giving me orders? Go ahead, kill me."

That did it. There was one thing I couldn't stand, and that was being underestimated because of my gender. I grabbed him by the collar, smashed his head into the wheel, grabbed his hand, and slammed it down on a console. I then took my wakizashi and thrust it right through his hand, into the console.

He screamed in pain, of course. He tried to grab the sword to pull it out, but I wouldn't let him. After he settled down somewhat, I asked him again.

"Will you do exactly what I say, now?"

"Yes! God yes! Oh God it hurts!" he cried.

"Good," I replied casually, as I pulled the wakizashi from his hand. "Now, turn this ship around."

"I can't do that!" he said frustrated.

Not the answer I was looking for. I began to move my wakizashi towards his hand again.

"Wait, wait! Okay! I'll turn it around. But the military, they'll just send someone else!"

"That's fine."

"If I go back again empty handed, they'll kill me!" he cried.

"Again?"

"Yes! I was the one who chased after you escapees last year! They told me if I don't kill you all this time, they'd kill me!"

I was shocked and speechless. This was the same patrol responsible for killing Scott last year! It was then I did something I didn't think I was capable of.

I took my wakizashi and thrust it into his chest. I pulled it out, and immediately left the room to find the others. I found one manning the main gun. I didn't even give him a chance to turn around. I drew my katana and cut him deep in the stomach in one fast movement. Not bothering to clean or sheath the blade, I ran out onto the deck, where I found another man who was apparently aware of what was going on.

"You murderous scum! You won't leave this ship alive!" he yelled from across the deck.

He aimed his rifle at me. Unfortunately for him, by the time he'd started to pull the trigger, I was already cutting his forearms off. As they separated from his upper arms, I kicked him square in the gut and he tumbled off the side of the deck.

As the guy fell, I heard a gunshot. I reacted on instinct, twisting my body sideways and diving to the ground. The bullet still caught me in the left shoulder, but it hardly phased me in my rage. I caught myself with my right hand on the deck, and dove at the final soldier who had shot at me. We collided and tumbled over some machinery on the deck. He tried to aim his rifle at me, but I moved faster and thrust my katana down with my right hand. The katana entered his upper chest area. The man stopped moving.

I sat there for a moment, my hand still gripping the handle of the katana tightly. All of the sudden, the emotions held back came flooding out. The pain of being shot, the loss of my friend, and the fact that I had actually taken the lives of four people. I just cried, and cried.

I don't remember how long I sat there, but I finally heard what sounded like Jonathan's voice. I raised my head and turned around in the direction of the voice. Our boat was there, sailing next to destroyer. Jonathan was waving and calling out.

"Yukari, you crazy bitch! Hurry up and get on, we can't match speed with this thing for much longer!" Jonathan yelled.

I finally snapped out of my haze, and pulled my katana from the fallen soldier. I ran over to the starboard side of the destroyer, and jumped over, careful not to jar my injured shoulder any further. As soon as I was on the deck of the boat, the boat decelerated and turned sharply starboard. Once again I fell flat on my ass.

"Oh, sorry again Yukari, I meant to warn you about that," Michael said.

"What the hell did you do, Yukari?" Jonathan asked.

"I… I…they're dead." I managed to tell him.

"That's enough, she's injured, let's get her inside. We can talk about it later." Michael said.

As Jonathan helped me into the wheelhouse, I heard a loud explosion from the port side. I glanced over, and saw the ship had sailed right over a cliff.

"…How close was I to—"

"You don't want to know." Michael said.

I was going to make another snide remark about everyone interrupting me, but I felt dizzy, and passed out.

"Hey, leave that alone." A female voice said from behind my bed.

"Hmm? Who are you?" I asked.

The girl stepped out from behind the bed to look at me face to face. It was Sienna!

"Sienna!"

"Hey, Yukari. I'm glad to see you made it out!" she said.

"I'm just happy to see you again. It's been hell." I replied.

"Yeah, I bet it was. Well, it's all uphill from here!" she said, smiling.

I nodded.

"Your bullet wound is all healed up. Anna actually did the hard work. You were losing a lot of blood, so she had to remove the bullet and stitch it herself before you got here. She did a really good job, I think."

"Yeah, it feels better, for sure. She sure seems to know a lot for a 10 year old." I remarked.

"Didn't Michael tell you? She's smart, really smart. Like one of those gifted children. I've been teaching her some nursing practices the past few months. I'm just happy to see her first human patient was a success!"

"…First?" I asked nervously.

"Oh, yeah. She'd only done stitching and such on mannequins up till now. But like I said, she did a fine job!"

My stomach was starting to feel a little uneasy again. It seemed this was going to be a familiar feeling for me outside of City Eternal.

"So anyway, if you're feeling up to it, Jonathan and Anna are waiting to see you," Sienna said.

"Oh, sure."

Sienna motioned to the wheelchair at the side of the bed. I slowly lifted myself off the bed and wobbled over to the chair. After carefully lowering myself in, Sienna pulled the curtains and wheeled me down the room. I saw a bunch of new faces. Doctors and nurses, kids with broken arms, people recovering from surgery, it was just like any hospital I'd ever known. I was shocked.

"I have to admit, this wasn't what I expected when I heard about a refugee camp," I said to Sienna.

"To be honest, it's only a refugee camp in name. It's more of an underground city."

"An underground city?" I asked.

"Yeah, hard to believe, isn't it? We're quite a ways down, too. This city is built like a massive underground building. There's somewhere along the lines of 250 floors, of varying heights." She replied.

"250 floors? How many people are there here?"

"Over a hundred thousand, I think. There's generations of people here who've never seen the inside of City Eternal. The situation is far different than the stories you heard about back at the dome."

I was stunned and speechless. How could so many people have lived outside the dome, and for so long? How could I have not known about all of this? I took a deep breath. It was going to be a long day, there was a lot to learn.

Sienna took me through a few more rooms, and up a floor on the elevator.

"This is actually just the emergency medical elevator. There's 5 of these that go from the top to the bottom. Besides that, there's 10 public elevators, and 5 massive service elevators. You should see the main service elevator sometime. It's bigger than anything I've ever seen." Sienna explained.

I made a mental note to check that out sometime. The elevator doors opened, and she wheeled me out to the waiting room.

"Hold on, I want to walk in," I said.

"Are you sure?" Sienna asked.

"I was shot in the shoulder. I'm not crippled." I snidely answered.

It felt good to be walking again. I walked over to the door, opened it, and saw Jonathan and Anna talking. They lifted their heads and once they noticed it was me, they jumped out of their chairs. Anna rushed over and hugged me.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Yuki!" she exclaimed.

"Heh, me too. And thank you for helping me, Sienna told me what you did!" I said.

"So, your shoulder going to be alright?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, it is." I answered.

I looked around the room for a moment.

"Hey, where's Michael?" I asked.

"He said he was sorry he couldn't stay, he had business to take care of. He wanted us to meet him tonight at the rebellion headquarters." Jonathan replied.

"You should get some rest, Yukari. I'll show you both to your rooms." Sienna said.

Sienna took us back to the elevator, and we rode up a good 25 floors.

"Now remember, this elevator is just for medical, don't be using it all the time. You're just getting a free ride today because I'm here." Sienna reminded us with a grin.

The doors opened revealing a small hallway. Sienna took us to my room first. Jonathan opened the door, and I stepped inside. The apartment was amazing! It had a large living area, a fireplace, an eat-in kitchen, and two bedrooms. It was furnished with some old, but usable furniture.

"How in the… wow! This is better than my parent's house back in City Eternal!" I exclaimed.

"You can thank Michael for that. He's pretty high up on the rebellion's rank, so he pulled a few strings for you and Jonathan. I hope you two don't mind sharing it?" Sienna said.

Sharing? To be honest, the idea that the apartment would be big enough for two people never entered my mind. But now that I saw this place, I would feel bad not sharing it.

"We'll, uh, work it out," I said.

Sienna walked over to the kitchen counter, and scribbled some things on a pad of paper.

"I have to go," she said. "But if you need anything, this is my cell phone number. Michael's is on here too, although he tends not to answer it. There's a computer over there, it can answer any question you have about the camp. Don't forget to look up a map for the rebellion HQ; this place can be a maze sometimes."

"Really, Sienna, thank you. I hope to see you again, soon!" I said.

"Oh, you will. God willing I won't have any more emergencies today and I'll meet you all at the rebellion HQ tonight. Now get some rest, will ya?"

I smiled and waved goodbye as she shut the door.

Over the next few hours, Jonathan cooked up some delicious Mexican rice, and we devoured all the information the computer could give us about the camp, and it's history. It told us about how the camp started, how they survived off the waste of City Eternal, and about the recent rebellion movement. I was most interested in how they continuously dug deeper with this camp, expanding it as the years went by. It started out as just a niche inside an old subway system, and grew over the many years the refugees have lived out here.

It talked about how the camp operates as its own city, feeding off of the rubble of New York City, and of City Eternal. They adapted thrown away technology, processed waste for water, and recycled materials for construction. The service elevators were used to move materials and finished goods up and down the camp. A tram system connected the camp to the rebellion HQ, as well as the 5 defensive lines.

The defense of the camp seemed to be the highest priority. All incoming and outgoing materials and people had to be registered and logged. The five defense lines (of which two were contained within the camp itself) circled the camp. To date, only once had City Eternal attacked the camp, without reasonable success.

It was a lot to devour, and we were only at the tip of a very large iceberg. After spending a good three or four hours staring at the screen, Jonathan and I decided to take a quick nap before heading off to meet Michael. I went back into my bedroom, turned off the lights, and instantly went to sleep.

"Hey Yukari, will you stop wasting all the damn hot water?! I need to get a shower too!" Jonathan yelled from behind the door.

"Bug off, Jon, women always take long showers!" I called back.

"Like you'd know any—"

"Finish that sentence and I will tear you limb from limb!" I interrupted.

Just for that, I stayed in the shower just a little longer than I would have. After getting out and throwing my hair back into a pigtail (I wasn't one for fashion, alright?), I rummaged through the closet to find something decent for me to wear. The choices were slim, so I just grabbed a long skirt and t-shirt, and threw it on.

Jonathan finished cleaning up himself only minutes later, and emerged from his room and met me in the living room. I looked at the clock.

"Oh… SHIT. We're late!" I yelled at Jonathan.

"How the hell are we so damn late?" Jonathan yelled back, as he nearly knocked the door off its hinges.

We ran down the hall, following the sketchy map I had made earlier. We reached one of the public elevators, but it was taking an eternity to move. I started pacing around, hoping we'd make it to the headquarters on time. After a few moments of pacing, I noticed a stairwell.

"Jonathan, jump on my back."

"Do what? Why?" he asked.

"Will you just do it and stop asking stupid questions?!" I demanded.

Jonathan climbed up on my back, piggy-back style, and I took off down the stairwell. There were a few people in the stairwell, and I could tell they were a bit freaked out to see a girl carrying a guy down the stairs at over 40 miles an hour. I was going so fast down the stairs, my feet spent more time on the walls (to change direction) than they did on the floor.

However, even though we were going that fast down the stairs, it still took a good few minutes to reach the bottom, where the rebellion headquarters entrance was.

"Alright alright get off me, you're killing my back!" I told Jonathan, while elbowing him in the gut.

Jonathan climbed off of me, and just stood there, as if a bit overwhelmed.

"What? You act like you've never seen me run fast before." I asked.

"Huh? Oh… sorry… you just scared the living crap out of me!"

"Not my fault you're such a baby." I pointed out.

"You could at least tell me when you're going to do that next time." He said.

"Don't worry about that, there won't be a next time," I said. "You weigh a ton!"

Suddenly, I realized that we were standing in front of a desk, with a guy just standing there, at a loss for words for the conversation taking place before him.

"Can I… help you?" he finally asked.

"We're here to meet Michael," Jonathan replied.

"Michael? We have a lot of Michaels. What is his last name?" the clerk asked.

"His last name? Hell, I don't know his last name. Do you?" Jonathan said, turning to me.

"I never asked him!" I said.

"That's brilliant, Yukari. How long have you known him? And you still don't know his name?" he pointed out.

"Hey, what about you? You're not exactly a stranger either!" I defended.

While we continued to bicker, the metal gate behind the clerk opened. Michael stepped out, looking at us and shaking his head.

"It's McCormick. Michael McCormick. I figured this was going to happen, I'm glad I came down." Michael said.

The clerk spun around in his seat to look at Michael.

"Oh, you! Sorry, Michael, I didn't know it was your guests. They were a little, unusual."

"That's fine, Tony. They've always been unusual." Michael replied.

I stared daggers at Michael, and then walked around the desk. Jonathan followed. Michael motioned for us to continue through the gate.

"So what is this meeting about?" I asked, as we walked down the long dark hallway.

"I'm going to show you two what the rebellion is really about. What we do, what we have, how we work. I'm also hoping that you two will join the special team I am working on. There's a lot to talk about, so I'll start off with the basics." Michael said.

I nodded.

"The rebellion is mostly comprised of a defense force. We have five lines of defense. The first line, the observation line, exists primarily to keep an eye on City Eternal and what they are doing. They're the ones that give us advance warning of attacks, and give us as much intelligence as we can gather. This line is rather fuzzy, it moves as intelligence changes.

The second line, the hold line, is our primary defense infrastructure. This is where most of our units are posted, and most of our turrets. It's their job to keep anything the first line discovers from becoming a threat to the refugee camp. This line circles about 10 miles from the outer limits of the camp.

The third line, the fall back line, is our secondary defense infrastructure. Many of our provisions are held there, with our support personnel. They keep the second line stocked, and also maintain a place to fall back to if the second line falls. This line circles the outer borders of the camp.

The fourth line, the last defense line, is as the name implies. It's our last real line of defense from attack. This line is actually the top three floors of the refugee camp; the only floors above ground.

The fifth line, is the lockdown line. This line is located on the fourth, fifth, and technically this bottom floor. All it is is a massive titanium gate. If City Eternal were to push us back to the fifth line, the gates would be sealed shut, effectively cutting us off from the world above. It also cuts us off from the rebellion headquarters, since they could enter from that location also. The metal gate you walked through earlier is part of the massive titanium gate."

After taking all this in from Michael, I came to understand just how serious they took the defense of the camp. Just like everything else I had seen so far, this too showed me that the refugee camp was not merely a camp, but a new, living city.

"That's insane! Has City Eternal really attacked that much to warrant such a thorough defense?" Jonathan asked.

"That is one of the things I could not mention earlier. This is classified. We have something that City Eternal wants. A five-phase fusion reactor." Michael said quietly.

"Don't they already have fusion technology?" I asked.

"They do, but it's limited. Our reactor would effectively solve any power problems they would have for the foreseeable future."

"So why don't we give it to them? Then surely they'd leave the camp alone." Jonathan said.

"No, the exact opposite. If we give them the reactor, they'll have no further use for us. They will nuke the camp until it is nothing but slag. The only reason we're safe is because we have that bargaining chip." Michael replied.

After a good few minutes of discussion, we'd finally reached the end of the long walkway. We jumped on an elevator, and it took us up quite a way. The elevator didn't specify how far up, but judging from how long we were inside, I'd say we were close to the surface.

When the doors opened, I was welcomed with the sound of people talking and computers beeping. Tactical displays covered the walls, and people were moving around at a frantic pace. On the largest display, I recognized a diagram of City Eternal.

"Welcome to headquarters," Michael said.

Who I assumed to be the General spun around, and seemed happy to see us.

"Ah yes, the specials!" the General said.

"The young lady here is Yukari Yamamoto. The blond guy with glasses here, he's Jonathan Camden." Michael said, introducing us.

"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking the General's hand.

"Always a pleasure to see a fine young woman here in headquarters," the General replied.

Jonathan shook his hand next and nodded.

"My name is General Ratkins, I'm the head of the Rebellion Defense Force here. Has Major McCormick informed you of the basics?" he asked.

"I have, sir," Michael responded.

"Good. Let's go into the war room and I'll let you know what we're dealing with at the moment," the General offered.

We followed the General down another small hallway in the back of what I would later discover was the situation room. He opened a door at the end of the hallway, revealing a small room with a conference table, and a single large display. The General motioned for us to take a seat, and we did. He then flicked a couple switches, and the lights dimmed in the room.

"The RDF, or Rebellion Defense Force, has the primary mission of defending this refugee camp from the continued attacks by City Eternal," the General said.

The display turned on, and provided an overhead map of City Eternal and the refugee camp.

"City Eternal, over the past few decades, has moved away from their old stance of leaving us on our own. They now desire a technology that we have developed."

The display changed, revealing what I assumed to be technical data on the reactor Michael had mentioned earlier.

"Now that we have something they want, they've begun to attack us. Unfortunately for them, they can't nuke us out of existence without destroying the technology, so they're forced to conventional warfare."

The display reverted to the overhead map, animating to show various attacks the dome city had unleashed over the past few years.

"However, in the past six months, their attacks have strengthened considerably. If they continue this trend, we could be in serious trouble soon."

The display continued to animate, showing how over the next couple months, City Eternal's military would have grown large enough to break through the camp's defenses.

"This is where you come in. We want to take this on the offensive. Unfortunately a frontal assault is not realistic, and looked down upon by the population, despite their resentment." The General informed us.

"Like I told you both a while back, we don't want to hurt the general population. We still hold the government solely responsible for what has occurred." Michael reminded us.

"Alright, then if we aren't taking the dome on directly, what are you proposing?" Jonathan asked.

"We wish to create a special task force to infiltrate the dome and grab a copy of their military database. With that information, we could create a better defense for ourselves, and more effectively predict their plan of attack." The General replied.

"And you want us to be a part of that task force," I finished.

"Exactly."

I looked at Jonathan, and then at Michael.

"Are you going to be on this task force, Michael?" I asked.

"Yes. Also, Sienna and our tactical officer will be going." Michael responded.

"I'm in. Anything to stick it back to 'the man' is fine with me." Jonathan said enthusiastically.

I hesitated. While I too wanted to exact some revenge upon those sick bastards back at the genetic farm, I also didn't enjoy the prospect of venturing back into the dome city I had only hours ago escaped from. To be caught again was something I don't think I could take.

Michael looked at me concerned, I think he could tell I was worried.

"Why don't you sleep on it? You've had a rough day as it is. We've still got some planning to do before we can move ahead with this operation, so you've got a few days to think it over." Michael offered.

"Okay, I'll sleep on it," I said.

"Wonderful then. I do hope you join us Yukari, we're counting on your abilities. Everyone's abilities, actually. It's the one advantage we have over City Eternal, and I am confident they won't ever see you all coming." The General said.

"Oh, trust me, they wouldn't see me coming," I thought to myself. I gripped my katana's hilt tightly, and began to walk out of the room, for bed.

When I got back to my room, I undid my ponytail and looked in the mirror. A weary face, with misshapen brown hair and half-opened eyes looked back. I looked like Hell, and felt it too. I threw a nightgown on, and immediately collapsed into bed again. I had a feeling tomorrow was going to be another long day.

"Hey sleepy, it's about time you woke up. I've been up for three hours now!"

"Ugh, what time is it?"

"A little after eleven. I let you sleep as long as I could."

I slid out of the bed, and wobbled over to the bathroom to take a shower. I continued to talk (loudly) through the door and over the noise of the running water.

"Anyway, I bought you this kimono to wear today. There's an Asian culture festival on the 30^th floor this afternoon, figured you might want to go." Jonathan said.

"A kimono? I've never worn one." I said.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Now, are you going or not?"

"Well since you went out of the way to buy a kimono, I guess I might as well. I wanted to spend some time touring the camp though."

"We'll have time to do that, don't worry. Sienna said she might come too after work."

"Okay. Hey, Jonathan?" I asked.

"Yeah, Yuki?"

"What do you really think about that mission?"

"I'm scared, too. But I think we'll have to face our fears at some point anyway. The genetic farm may have hurt us, but they didn't kill us. We can't let them rule over us in fear."

I took a moment to think about what he said. Was I alright with just hiding here in the camp? Could I really live my whole life just hiding?

"Plus," Jonathan added. "Think of the others still trapped in the genetic farm. Not all of them are going to be as lucky as we were."

All of this weighed heavily on me, and under any other circumstances I'm sure this would have been an easy decision for me. But even Jonathan did not understand the true consequences of their experiments on me. I still held a deep dark secret, one I had no intention of making public anytime soon.

I stood there in the shower just scrubbing furiously for a few minutes, thinking back to the genetic farm and that first horrible experiment.

"Yukari, you alright? You just kinda went silent." He asked.

"I'm alright." I called back to him.

I finished up my shower and wrapped the towel around me. I stepped out of the bathroom.

"Well, are you going to leave or what? I'm not putting on a show for you." I said.

"Eh, it was worth a shot," Jonathan said, as he left my bedroom.

I picked up the kimono off the bed, and attempted to put it on. I fumbled with the obi, the bow portion, but I managed to get it to stay on. I then attended to my hair, and walked out into the living room. Jonathan was standing there, wearing an interesting samurai outfit. He looked at me, and attempted to stifle his laughter.

"What?!" I crowed, wondering what was so funny.

Suddenly, I saw Anna jump off the couch to look at me. She was also wearing a kimono, and I saw that her obi was tied quite differently than my haphazard attempt. She started laughing uncontrollably.

"Haha! You really don't know how to put on a kimono!" Jonathan said.

"Here, Yuki, let me fix that for you!" Anna offered, as she scurried over behind me.

"You didn't tell me Anna was coming, Jon."

"It was a little sudden. She just arrived. Apparently Sienna thought it was a good idea." Jonathan said.

"Great," I thought to myself. "We're going to look like a family now."

"Don't worry, Yuki, I'm well behaved!" Anna said from behind me.

She suddenly pulled tight on the obi, nearly leaving me breathless.

"It's not you I'm worried about," I said, looking intently at Jonathan.

"Hey! You act like I'm going to pretend we're a couple or something!" he said.

"I wouldn't put it past you," I replied.

"Alright, you're all fixed up, Yuki!" Anna said.

"Thanks."

"So, are we ready to go? I want to hit the food district before we head up." Jonathan proposed.

Anna and I nodded.

We headed down to the public elevator, and there was quite a bit of people there. We jumped in line, and I found myself trying to find a conversation starter.

"So, Jonathan, what did you do this morning? Besides buy this kimono, that is."

"Well, I grabbed breakfast, and read up a little on the daily events going on here at the camp. That's where I discovered the Asian culture festival. I then went and browsed some stores on the upper floors, and went to get a boat license," he described.

"A boat license?"

"Yeah. Apparently since boat transportation on the surface is limited, and also dangerous, they require a license in order to buy and sail a boat." Jonathan explained.

"So you're going to buy a boat, then?" I asked.

"Actually, I was going to build my own, or maybe restore a damaged one. I love doing restorations, it was a favorite hobby of mine."

I thought for a moment, about hobbies. I didn't really have a hobby of my own, as a child. I always enjoyed sword fighting, but I never considered it a hobby. It was more of a sport, to me. Thinking back to those times when I participated in Iaido and fencing made me feel excited and free again. I knew then I wished to pick up that sport again, if I could.

I snapped back to attention at the sound of the elevator arriving at our floor. Jonathan hopped in and held the door, while Anna and I followed (along with numerous others waiting. Anna jumped and hit the 46^th floor button, and in a few moments we were on our way. And then we stopped. And started again. And stopped again. And started once more.

"Oh come on! How many stops do we have till the elevator hits our floor?" I asked.

"What are you complaining about, lady? I have to ride this damn thing four times a day!" some guy in the back of the elevator replied.

"Four times? Well aren't you special? I ride it from the 20^th to the 240^th at least 12 times a day!" another guy claimed.

"Whatever, I have to ride the damn main service elevator twice a day!" a third guy cried.

"Would you all just grow up and shut up?" A lady at the front scolded.

I put my head in my hand, wishing I had never said anything. They continued to argue all the way until we got off. Once we stepped off, however, things became far quieter. Eerily quieter, actually. Instead of a hallway, there was a wide open area. It looked like it was outside! There were trees, plants, stone walkways, and a starry sky.

"How is this possible? This looks like the pictures of old Earth!" I said bewildered.

"It's fake," Anna informed us. "They use some kind of greenhouse stuff stolen from the dome. It's the same system we use to grow our food, I think."

I stood there for a moment, taking everything in. Anna started walking forward, and finally Jonathan and I joined her. Anna moved forward at a good pace, as if she had a destination in mind.

"So where are we going to first, Anna?" I asked.

After we had finished, he confirmed my feelings and jumped right into the heart of the matter.

"Yukari, Jonathan, I need to warn you about something. Something very serious." Mr. Fisher said uneasily.

"What is it?" Jonathan replied.

"Michael and I do not believe everything is as it seems with City Eternal. Your mission, Michael has told me about it. Based off my past experiences, I don't think that reactor is their target."

"But if that isn't their target, then what is?" I asked.

"To be straightforward, I don't believe they're after anything at all. I think they're just too preoccupied with something else to truly take care of us once and for all."

"Preoccupied with what? There's nothing out here." I stated plainly.

"Or is there? Think about it. I told you my story, of how City Eternal started. With as much as all the countries bickered and fought over the last remaining inhabitable regions, do you really believe that they finally decided on this one dome? Also, why would City Eternal devote so much time and effort into a full-fledged army when their only enemy is a camp leeching off their trash?" Mr. Fisher suggested.

"But if City Eternal isn't the only city, then… they could be at war with other domes!" Jonathan concluded.

"That is the first idea that comes to mind, yes. But you'd think we would have seen some real proof of this. I know the camp's technology isn't quite the best, but I think we'd know if there was a war being waged only a few miles away from us." Mr. Fisher said.

"Okay, so then what do you think it is?"

"This is actually Michael's idea. He believes that there is a war going on, but it's incredibly one sided, in favor of City Eternal. He thinks that City Eternal is running out of resources, and wishes to expand. Assuming the other domes were not prepared for war, it could be devastating."

"If this is true, then this is larger than just us." Jonathan said.

"Indeed. The General couldn't tell you in the war room, but this is the real reason they wish for you to infiltrate their military computers. This mission is to be conducted under absolute secrecy, and even the General doesn't know who to trust." Mr. Fisher said.

There were so many questions, and so few answers. I knew then that I'd be going on this mission. I didn't have a choice. If there really were other domes, other entire cities out there, I had to know. I needed answers.

"Will you be joining us on this mission then, Mr. Fisher?" I asked.

"Ah, eh, no. I may be a decent historian, but I am no combatant. I'd only slow you all down." He said, grinning at me as he said the last part.

"Funny. I guess I'll go on this mission then. Hopefully we'll get some answers." I said.

Anna, who had been pretty quiet this time, suddenly spoke up. I didn't expect her to really understand what we were discussing, but as I would later discover, she was not to be underestimated from her age.

"If you're gonna go, I am too. My mother is still in the city somewhere, we might find her!" she said enthusiastically.

"Anna, you can't go, you're too young," I informed her.

"Too young? You need me for this! I'll be useful, and I won't get in the way!" She insisted.

"She's right, Anna, your father…" he paused.

"My father what? Died? I know he died, you don't have to be all protective of me! I can take care of myself! And I think he would have wanted me to help mother." Anna said.

"You should probably reconsider, Yukari. She'll be under much better care staying with you, anyway." Mr. Fisher interjected.

We bickered over it for a while longer, but it was futile. I knew that had I not invited her along, she probably would have found a way to sneak along with us anyway. It still left me feeling concerned, and worried. It was probably an omen of things to come. With that, we decided it was time to go. After all, there was the Asian culture festival! We said our goodbyes, and ducked out.

Anna absolutely loved the festival. She dragged us from one side of the place to the other, making sure to burn every single coin we had been graciously given by Sienna for the event. Speaking of Sienna, she also came up and said hello to us while she was on break from the hospital. I didn't want to admit it myself, but by nightfall, I even found myself enjoying the festival.

At the end of the festival, Jonathan took us to this small grassy hill near the entrance. I wasn't quite sure what he was planning, but he had us sit down on the hill.

"Sienna said this is the best place to watch." Jonathan said suddenly.

"Watch what?" Anna asked curiously.

Jonathan just grinned at us and looked up at the sky, or ceiling, or whatever they decided to call it at that time. I looked up also, just in time to see the first explosion of a beautiful firework. A moment later I heard and felt the explosion.

"Amazing!" I said, in awe. I had only seen an actual firework once before, as a young child, back in the dome. "But how are they firing off fireworks indoors like this?"

"There's no smoke… so it must be artificial." Jonathan pointed out.

"I don't care, they're really really pretty either way!" Anna said.

It really was a wonderful spot. The buildings were not obstructing the view, and it was far away from the bustle of the festival. We continued to watch the fireworks for a while, when I suddenly remembered something.

"Jonathan?"

"Yeah Yukari?"

"I thought you said the festival was on the 30th floor," I said questioningly.

"It is, why?"

"Um, Jonny? We're on the 46th!" Anna informed him.

"No, I think you're confused," he replied.

"Uh, Jonathan, Anna pressed 46, I watched her." I said, defending Anna.

"Yeah, so what? Fine, I forgot what floor it was on. Everyone makes mistakes."

"So what? If we'd followed you we probably wouldn't have ever made it here! You've never had any sense for direction, you know that?" I boldly stated.

"Ah, shut up!" Jonathan cried.

Anna and I giggled for a while about that, as we continued to watch the fireworks. It was even more enjoyable without the smoke blocking the view and smelling up the place, I decided. I was thoroughly enjoying the final shots, when I noticed Jonathan began to shuffle oddly.

I didn't give it much thought, but then his hand started to move towards mine. I glanced down at his hand for a fleeting moment, not moving my head. Unsure of what he was doing, I hesitated. Then he placed his hand on mine.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled at him, yanking my hand away from him.

"I… I was just…" he stuttered.

"Nevermind that, I know what you were doing, just don't ever do that again, do you hear me?!" I said furiously.

"Yeah, Yukari, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to both-"

"Well you did." I replied flippantly.

Honestly, my reaction was pretty unfair to him and was completely uncalled for, but I had my reasons for acting that way. Reasons that I would soon come to terms with the following morning.

Unfortunately she didn't buy my story.

"There's more to it than that. Look, you've had a rough time, maybe you should go see the counselor." She suggested.

"A counselor? Oh come on, that's not necessary!" I pouted.

"Really, Yukari. I just feel like you haven't quite come to terms with what has happened, what is happening. I mean, come on Yukari, you bit at Jon for trying to hold your hand."

"I am not going to see a counselor. Jon just didn't know my boundaries. Now he knows. Everything is fine. Got it?"

"Yukari, are you sure? I mean, I'm worried about you. It's not even last night, so much as everything. You've always seemed a little stressed, unaware, and detached." Sienna said.

"Unaware? Detached? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well, ever since the first time we met, you often neglected yourself. I'm not trying to come down on you or anything, but you don't really dress the part of a woman. Take now, for instance."

"What? What's wrong with how I dress?" I demanded to know.

"You're answering the door in a nightgown, Yukari," she pointed out.

I looked down, and realized I hadn't even given a thought to my clothes before answering the door.

"Okay, so I have some modesty issues. I'm not a perfect girl. Apologies for shaming the gender."

"That's more of my point, Yukari. It's almost as if you've never cared about anything feminine. To be honest, I was shocked you wore that kimono yesterday." She said.

This wasn't going down a path I was comfortable with. She was right about what she said, but it didn't mean I wanted to hear it.

"You know what? I don't care, okay? I don't need to be worrying about stupid stuff such as how my hair looks or if some guy is going to try and snap a revealing picture of me. I've got enough problems as it is."

Sienna, rather than responding, just put her arms on her waist, and looked at me intently. I stood there and glared right back at her for what seemed like forever. Finally, I sighed, accepting that she was right.

"Sienna… alright! Alright! I have things I need to talk to someone about. But I don't want to talk to just anyone." I finally admitted.

"Then talk to me. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" Sienna offered.

"I… fine. I guess you might as well come in." I said, and gestured her inside. "I'll go throw something on."

She sat down on the couch, while I closed the bedroom door and grabbed a t-shirt and pants. As I dressed, I thought about what I was going to tell her. I had been keeping these feelings secret, bottled-up for so long, I wasn't sure I could. After I finished, I sat on my bed a moment, still trying to find the confidence to go through with it. I reasoned to myself, that if I didn't tell someone, it might come out some other way. I knew I wanted to be the one to reveal the truth.

I finally took a deep breath, pushed the ever-increasing nervous stomach cramps to the back of my mind, and walked back out to the couch.

"Yukari? Are you okay? You're crying." Sienna asked concerned.

I hadn't even noticed that I was crying before. I nodded, and sat down at the other end of the couch. She pulled out a tissue from her purse, and handed it to me. As I wiped the tears out of my eyes, she asked the loaded question.

"What happened to you, back at the lab?"

I sat there quietly for a moment, looking down at my hands. Hands that, for many months, I refused to admit were my own. I finally gulped down the last bit of uneasiness in my throat, and began to tell her everything.

Three years ago, I was taken by the government to be placed in the experimental genetics laboratory. They refused to tell me what I was doing there, or what they planning. After sitting inside a cell for a few weeks, only seeing guards and food service, I was taken by the scientists to their operating room. There, they forcefully drugged me and put me to sleep.

From what I remember, the operation lasted 16 hours. I however did not wake up until four days later. I was able to open my eyes, and speak, although I was still extremely confused and unaware of what was going on. At that time I didn't notice what had happened to me. The scientists informed me then that I had been subjected to a DNA adjustment operation, in hopes of enhancing various parts of me, including my speed.

It wasn't until the next time I woke up that they told me that I had reacted strongly to the adjustment, and as such my body's DNA had corrupted itself. Apparently this was a common occurrence among their patients, but the results are always different. In my case, they told me, my DNA had reformed to that of a female.

The second time I had awoken, I was still a bit hazy, so I hadn't noticed anything wrong. I hadn't spoken a word yet, nor bothered to summon the energy to sit up. Well, after hearing those words, the haze immediately left me, and I sat straight up. I looked at myself. My chest hadn't yet developed, but there was certainly something missing down below. I immediately screamed hysterically, pulling at my restraints and demanding that they change me back.

It was no use, however. Not only were they unconcerned with the side effects of the modifications, but they saw this as an opportunity to retrieve data on other uses of the DNA adjustments that they had not considered. My situation was hopeless, and I felt as if my life had come to an abrupt end.

Sienna, who had been intently listening to what I was telling her, suddenly spoke up after hearing this. I lowered my head in shame, waiting for her reaction.

"Oh my God, Yukari! I didn't… I didn't know!" she said tearfully.

I nodded, still looking down at my lap.

"I was too ashamed to tell anyone. Hell, I still am. But these feelings were much stronger then." I said sniffling.

I wiped my eyes again, intent on finishing my story before I became too choked up to do so.

After a few days of constant checkups and lots of sleeping, they finally released me into the testing center, where I would spend the rest of my time at the facility. That first night was hell. Jonathan, who at the time was in the neighboring cell, attempted to talk to me, to calm me down, but I couldn't. I finally stopped crying, but I had not come to terms with what had happened to me.

All I could think about is how shameful it was, how embarrassing it was, how perverted it was for me, a man, to be living in a female body such as this. It seemed unreal, as if I would just wake up and be back to myself again. I couldn't take it. I attempted to kill myself. I took a sheet from my bed, tied it to the lamp in the ceiling, and tied it around my neck. I then jumped off the bed.

Fortunately, I only passed out, and the knot came undone. The guards found me the next morning, and had me put on a suicide watch for a month. That didn't stop me from trying again, the very next night. I had stolen a razor from the bathrooms, and smuggled it back to my cell. I held it close to my wrists for what seemed like hours, but I couldn't do it. The guards finally found me, still clenching the razor, and had me restrained to my bed for the night.

Ironically, it was that night that I consider to be the worst night of my life. Unable to sleep, I was forced to come to terms with the events that had occurred the past week. Without suicide, there seemed to be no way out. I just kept dreaming about how I would live my life, if I were to continue on as a woman.

"Those thoughts that night still haunts me today," I told Sienna.

She sat still for a while, looking at me with a concerned, sad, and even analytical expression. She seemed to think for quite a while about what I had told her. I just sat there quietly, not sure how to continue. She soon spoke up, however.

"I think I can see how you feel, and having to suddenly live your life as a woman, after living as a man for so many years… but what I don't get is… it isn't that bad, being a woman, don't you think?" She asked carefully.

"In a matter of speaking, no. But I cannot control these feelings of intense embarrassment over what is essentially daily life for women. I take a shower, and I feel like a pervert. I get dressed, and I feel like a cross dresser. I feel so vulnerable all the time, so weak, it scares me." I said, opening my soul to her.

"Yukari… there is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed for. You did live your life as a man for a full 17 years. But you are a woman now. You didn't choose to be a woman. It was forced upon you. Anyone could understand that. No one could seriously expect you to behave any other way." She explained, as she grabbed my hand.

"It still feels as if I am somehow… dishonoring, or making a fool out of the gender. I don't know what I'm doing. I've learned the absolute necessities through brute force. I don't even understand what my body is trying to tell me sometimes. And it just brings back the whole feeling of vulnerability."

"And how would you know? Do you think that if I were suddenly to become male tomorrow, that I would know everything men need to worry about? You'll learn! It'll take some time, but I'll help you in whatever way I can. Okay?" She reassured me.

I nodded.

"I don't know how to explain it really, so that you can understand. It's… scary being female."

"Scary? I guess I don't understand. What is scary about being female? It couldn't be your period, you've gone through plenty of those by now for sure! What else is there to be scared of?" She pressed.

"Like I said earlier, I think it's this overwhelming feeling of weakness." I said, attempting to put my deepest thoughts into words.

"Weakness? Wait, you mean physically! I think I get it now! You're not used to being so delicate and short! Having gone from a tall, presumptuously strong man… it must be hard to deal with." she said.

"I… I guess so."

"Cheer up then, Yukari! We women aren't so terribly frail as you make us out to be! We can do anything a guy can, given time and effort." she said with vigor.

I sighed. I had figured that another woman might better understand what I was going through, but Sienna still didn't quite get… it. Perhaps it was just something that was me, something unrelated to gender, that I couldn't expect someone else to understand.

Sienna looked at me for a moment. She seemed to realize that she wasn't quite on target.

"I'm sorry Yuki, it's just… this isn't the kind of conversation someone has on a regular basis. I am trying to sympathize, but it's hard to try and imagine how you really feel. You must be terribly confused, with male and female thoughts conflicting all the time, right?"

She did have that much correct. I didn't even know exactly how to describe what I was feeling, as many of my feelings were new to me. Especially now, having escaped that wretched farm, I found myself opening up to feelings I had blocked out.

"It's not just physical weakness," I said to her in a sudden realization. "It's mental, too. The new feelings scare me. I don't know when I will just suddenly break down, or get angry."

"Yukari, our emotions and feelings, especially our awareness, understanding, and acceptance of them… I feel that is what makes us female. Men have a terrible time understanding how we feel. Perhaps you're just realizing that. After all, women are simply more in-touch with who they are. Men, well, let's just say they aren't always with it." She said grinning.

I smiled a little. "You might not want to try the 'Girls Rule, Boys Drool' speech. I was a guy for the better part of my life, remember." I said, chuckling to myself.

"Maybe not," she replied. "But it did get you to laugh!"

It was then at that moment, that I realized I might actually be able to do this. To make it in this horrible, unfair world. To live the rest of my days, in femininity. I was still unsure of myself, greatly so. Sienna was the first step towards accepting my situation, and a major step it was. However, for now, I was going to give it a shot. For years now I had merely survived as a woman. Now, I could learn to live as one.

I was just starting to regain composure when I heard the door to Jonathan's bedroom open. Out he stepped, eyes squinted shut, as he stretched and yawned.

"Yaaahh… oh, hey Sienna, and g'mornin' Yuki." Jonathan said, rubbing his eyes.

"You! Out! Now!" Sienna suddenly yelled.

"Woh, hey, wha-"

"No talking, get out!" She interrupted.

"Uhm, okay? I guess I'll grab some breakfast at the cafeteria…" Jonathan said, puzzled.

"You do that," Sienna replied.

Jonathan grabbed a robe, threw on some slippers, and left the apartment.

"You know, Sienna, that wasn't necessary," I explained.

"We're not finished talking. I was thinking, maybe you shouldn't be staying here in the same apartment as Jonathan." She asked.

"I… well… I never really gave it a thought. We've been through so much together already as it is…" I replied.

"Yes, and you can't even so much as hold his hand. Don't you see the contradiction in that?" She pointed out.

"It's not like we're sleeping in the same bed or even the same room!" I cried.

"Yukari, listen. You're still seeing this from a guy's perspective. You've made it pretty clear that you see Jonathan as merely a friend. You see him more as a buddy, one of the guys, but you're not a guy anymore. Frankly, I'm not all that surprised he acted as he did, you're giving off incredibly mixed signals." She explained, thoroughly.

"Mixed signals? I'm not giving off any signals!" I said exasperated.

"So you don't find him attractive at all," She stated.

"Well, I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but I am a-"

"-A what, Yukari? A guy?"

I was caught off-guard by that, and sat still.

"I am not saying you should be looking for a relationship. You have plenty of time to decide on that. But you need to keep in mind that although you may feel, and even act masculine at times, you are a woman now. That is how people see you." She said.

After all this time I would've thought it would've hit me, but it hadn't. Whether I felt like a girl or not, everyone else saw me as one. I needed to be more aware of how others felt.

"What Jonathan did, was a mistake. But it was an honest one. He didn't know your feelings, because you hide them so much. Talk to him, explain how you feel, that you enjoy his friendship, but that is all you can offer right now. He is a nice guy, as you said. He'll understand." She explained.

"Alright, I guess I can do that," I replied, defeated.

"You do agree, right? I think he deserves at least a little bit of an explanation."

"I'll explain my feelings, but right now, my gender crisis is a secret, okay?" I clarified.

"I won't tell a soul," she assured me. "So, what's for breakfast?"

"I don't know, but Jonathan better bring back something good or he's sleeping outside tonight," I replied jokingly.

We both laughed.

"You know what? How about I help you put on something nice today. And maybe we can go shopping as well, for some better outfits." Sienna offered.

I accepted her offer readily, if for any reason then because it sounded normal, and that was something I really needed. Normality. I had to savor the usual, the typical, for I knew there wouldn't be many chances to do so.

On the following Sunday afternoon, we arrived at headquarters to go over the mission plan one last time. Tobias was there, this time. He had been conducting his own espionage on City Eternal prior to the mission. Tobias was unique on our team, in that he was the only one without an ability. However, this did not limit his usefulness. Tobias was one of only a few members of the RDF that had retained possession of an active citizen ID card. As far as City Eternal knew, Tobias was an ordinary man living out an ordinary life as a baker. His identity would be key to the team getting inside, without being noticed.

"Alright, so let's go over this one more time," Michael said, pulling up a presentation on the mission plan.

Tobias walked over to the screen and pointed at the RDF's fourth defense line, the top of the camp.

"This is where we will depart. We have the 'Aeris Mk II' prepared to take us to the dome. Once we arrive, the ship will navigate to a preselected hiding spot in the trashlands." Tobias instructed.

"After we arrive, we will break in through this disposal system. According to Tobias's latest report this disposal system should be inactive for maintenance. Since we will be arriving during the night on a Sunday, the area should be rather bare." Michael continued.

"Unfortunately, breaking into the dome is probably the easiest part of the plan. From there, we will need to quickly locate the old tram system in the lower levels of the dome. If we're lucky, the system will have power, and we can ride it to the inner city district. If we're not, we'll have to walk along the line. In either case, we need to follow this tram line. I have discovered that, according to the schematics I was able to dig up, that this line should run directly past the maintenance shafts for the CARMEL (Computer Aided Residential/Metropolitan Electronic Library). The library system is where we'll be able to gather our information." Tobias explained.

"The CARMEL is more than the citizen information network, it is also used by the military for all of their records. Of course, getting to that information takes a bit more than a citizen ID card. Using the maintenance shaft, we should be able to access the system directly, which with my computer expertise, should allow us to obtain the information we need." Michael said.

At this point the General stepped up to the screen.

"And this is where we predict it will become the most difficult. Regardless of Michael's abilities, we're sure it will not take them long to discover that their system has been breached. You'll need to escape from there as quickly as possible. We can't plan for all the contingencies here, however I highly recommend you avoid taking the tram path back, unless it's powered up and operational. Tobias should be able to assist you all in making a quick escape." the General informed us.

"Once we make it out of the dome, Michael can wirelessly signal the ship to return. After that, we'll be in the clear." Tobias said.

"My only worry is, what if we are split up?" I asked.

"I've designated this location," Michael said, pointing at the map on the screen. "It should work to our advantage. It's a restaurant located on the outskirts of the inner city district. Lots of people who won't ask questions. If you get separated, try and find your way there."

"Now, remember each of your assignments on this mission. Anna, your ability will be vital. You need to keep your senses open so that you can warn the others if someone is coming. Stealth is the key." The General instructed.

"Yukari, you'll need to work closely with Anna. If necessary, you'll need to silence anyone who might notice us, before they have a chance to alert the military." Tobias said.

"Michael's job is rather obvious. You will be responsible for breaking into the various security systems that the city employs." The General said.

"Right, and I should be able to obtain a more detailed map of the area once we're inside." Michael added.

"Sienna, your job will be a support role. You and Anna should stay out of any conflicts that are going on. After all, if you are hurt, you can't help the others." Tobias pointed out.

"Jonathan, you're going to be my right hand man. If there's something blocking our path, I'm going to count on you to clear the way. You'll also be the weapons expert, although I hope it does not come to that." Michael said nervously.

"Finally, Tobias, being the most experienced member of the team, will be leading the way. You all will need to listen carefully to what he tells you to do. He knows his way around the city, and he's been an excellent spy of ours for many years. Don't get him killed." The General said with a smirk.

"Yes, please, don't," Tobias added. "I like being amongst the living."

"Beyond that, I believe we've covered the essentials. Working with Tobias and Michael this week we've tried to ensure there will be no surprises, but there is limited information available. Obviously this mission hopes to change that. You are to embark at 2100 hours tonight. I recommend you all head up to the 'Aeris' now, and prepare. We will be establishing full radio silence once you undock."

I nodded to the General, and looked at Michael. He grabbed a few papers from the table, and led us to the elevator. We were pretty silent up to this point, but Anna looked rather nervous.

"Anna, it's not too late to back out. We can handle this ourselves." I assured her.

"No, you guys need me with you, I can do it. I know you all want to protect me, but I don't want to be protected. I want to help."

"Even so," I explained. "There's no reason you can't stay here."

Anna shook her head and stood up tall. She was determined to go, although it did not calm my nerves. I still didn't think she belonged on this mission, but no matter how many times I brought it up, I was always shot down.

Finally we reached the top floor, and exited the elevator. Tobias led us down a couple halls until we reached a doorway to the outside. Once outside, I noticed we were still under some cover, of a large open-air hangar.

"Oh wow!" Jonathan said suddenly. "These are some serious ships! I didn't know we had this sort of fleet available."

"These are our prized possessions; the finest ships captured from the dome's military," Tobias explained. "We will be taking the smaller one down at the end."

Tobias pointed to a ship that resembled the one I had boarded the day I escaped the dome. However, I could tell it was thinner and had a larger mast.

"The Aeris Mk II is a Dasher-class recon boat. She's not armed, but she is the fastest ship in our fleet on sails. She's equipped with numerous sensor arrays and communications systems that make her an excellent stealth boat. She can run quietly, and she will keep us out of sight." Michael said.

"The boat you all arrived on was the Aeris Mk I. She's the same class, but she hasn't undergone any of the performance renovations like the Mk II has." Tobias added.

I wasn't too particularly interested in the details, but Jonathan seemed to be hanging on to every word, as was his nature.

"That explains the thinner profile of the Mk II then," Jonathan replied.

Tobias nodded.

After we finished gawking at the impressive display of firepower, Michael handed the papers he grabbed earlier to the facilities manager.

"Ah, so you're the special ops team. We're just finishing up the fueling procedure." The manager said. "I will need those with boat licenses to place their right hand here and speak your name into the microphone.

The manager gestured to a scanning device on the table, and the microphone.

"We use biometric and voice authorization on the Aeris Mk II. In order to access the navigation system or central computer it will need to be authorized by one of those methods."

Michael, Tobias, Jonathan (who had managed to get his license only the day before), and Anna stepped up to the scanner, and followed the manager's directions. Once they were all processed, he ushered us over to the Aeris.

Pressing his hand on the hull of the ship, the hatchway opened and a small stairway extended.

"Welcome aboard the Aeris!" The manager said, gesturing us inside.

Michael, being the tallest of the troupe, climbed onboard. He then offered his hand to Sienna, helping her on. I picked up Anna, and Michael took her and placed her on the stairs. Then I grabbed his hand and lifted myself onto the staircase myself. Tobias and Jonathan followed. I could tell Jonathan was rather upset about being the last onboard, and he kept urging us to move faster.

After we climbed the stairs, we found ourselves in a hallway that seemed to run from the front to the rear of the ship, with another staircase at the ends presumably leading to the deck. I was rather surprised at the size of the ship on the inside. Although it was narrow, it was quite long. There were 3 bunks, a small kitchen and dining area (which I would later be corrected on as being a "galley and mess"), and what I assumed was the navigation controls.

Michael shuffled his way past us to the front and lead us through the hallway to the stairs in the rear of the ship. He then climbed the stairs, and opened the hatch to the deck. Once we made it up the stairs and out onto the deck, I took a deep breath. I wasn't one for close quarters.

Jonathan gleefully pushed past us now that there was enough space to do so. He noticed the various controls at the rear.

"What are those controls for?" I asked Tobias, who was now standing next to me.

"Those are the manual navigation controls for the boat, should the navigation system lose power or the computer goes on the fritz. They're pretty difficult to use."

Unlike Jonathan, I didn't have my boat license yet. Jonathan was able to simply take the test, but I needed to take some classes first. Up until now I didn't really have a reason to do so, since Sienna and I were the only ones who didn't have a license. My mind began to change over the time I was on the deck. I could feel the wind that was ripping through the hangar, and it gave me a feeling of freedom I hadn't felt in a long time.

"How come this one doesn't have a TURING cannon? The Mk I did!" Jonathan asked, obviously distressed.

"Our TURING cannons are in short supply, and since this is a special ops stealth mission, the need for armament is almost nil." Michael told Jonathan plainly.

Jonathan was disappointed, but the disappointment was short lived. He continued to bug Michael and Tobias about the various changes on the boat. I was growing tired of hearing his overenthusiastic attitude, so I walked over to the controls.

"How do you open the sail?" I asked.

"Here, I'll do it for you," Tobias offered. "Navigation, deploy the headsail and mainsail."

Suddenly to my surprise, a computer male voice responded.

"Deploying headsail and mainsail in stationary alignment."

Not so suddenly but still throwing me off-guard, a pole slowly extended from the mast. It sat about three feet above my head and extended out over the side of the boat.

"I never get tired of watching those telescoping booms," Jonathan said.

While the boom finished extending, I saw two sails beginning to unfurl from the main mast. A cable extended out across the front edge of the deck, pulling out what I assumed was the headsail. At the same time the mainsail opened up, the bottom corner being pulled along a track in the boom. It was certainly a feat of engineering; I hadn't seen anything like it. In 30 seconds flat, I was now looking at two amazing, large sails.

"Headsail and mainsail deployed in stationary alignment," the computer said, acknowledging the completion.

"Oh, that's amazing! They didn't just duplicate the sail plan of the Mk I, they added a headsail to make it a sloop!" Jonathan said excitedly.

"This isn't the full deployment either. It can deploy a second jig, a gaff, and a gaff topsail if necessary. This is what makes her one of the fastest sailing ships we have." Tobias said. "There is a downside, however. In case you didn't notice, this ship is only meant for a crew of three. Since we're only making a short trip to the dome and back, we won't need to make use of the facilities. This is why we're taking the Aeris out today anyway, instead of one of our larger vessels."

Tobias, Michael and Jonathan continued to discuss the various nuances of the ship's design, as Sienna approached me.

"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" She asked.

"Not really," I admitted.

"How about you, Anna? You've been awfully quiet." Sienna asked.

"They're using a bunch of nautical words, and are talking about the kind of ship this is, I think," She answered shyly.

"So you're about as much in the dark as we are."

She nodded.

As the boys continued to discuss their new toy, my mind drifted to the impending operation. It seemed as though everything was happening so fast. I could barely keep up, I felt like I was constantly being dragged along. I just felt that we were rushing things, and I worried that we might not be prepared for what was in store.

Over the next hour inside, Michael detailed how we'd be approaching the dome and what to do in an emergency. The maintenance crew finished refueling the Aeris, and it came time for us to depart. For the occasion, we re-emerged from below deck.

"Navigation, authorize Michael McCormick," he requested of the computer.

"Michael McCormick authorized for the navigation system."

"Navigation, align sails for departure and plot course for City Eternal."

"Initiating sail alignment, course plotted. Winds from the east-southeast at 12 knots. Weather, fair."

The boom began to rotate along the mast, swinging the mainsail out to catch the wind. The headsail seemed to retract somewhat, as the cable moved along a track on the front of the ship.

"Navigation, proceed with unmooring and departure procedures."

"Powering up lift system," the computer responded.

A humming sound began to emanate from the bottom of the ship. Suddenly, the ship lurched and rose off the ground. At the same time, the ship began to slowly crawl forward out of the hangar.

"Lift system stabilized, retracting landing gear. Communicating intention to depart to traffic control. Traffic control acknowledges and authorizes departure. Landing gear retracted and secured."

I took a deep breath and waved goodbye to the maintenance crew below as we emerged from the hangar. As we moved further away from the hangar towards the camp's exit, everything grew dark. The sky was pitch black, not a star, nor the moon was visible. Only the lights of the Aeris and the scattered spotlights inside the camp offered illumination.

Only minutes later we reached the edge of the camp, and moved out into the open. With the camp behind us, we were shrouded in darkness. The only things visible were the random stations of the first and second defense lines, and of course, the dome of City Eternal looming off in the distance.

I took another deep breath. There was no turning back now. I looked over and realized that I had accidentally been squeezing Anna's hand rather hard.

"Oh, sorry Anna," I apologized.

"It's okay, I'm nervous too," she replied.

I had forgotten that she could feel our emotions. She must have been terrified. Then again, I think we all were, in our own way. Tobias, oddly enough, was probably the least concerned, despite having no abilities whatsoever to protect him. He had the experience, and an established identity in the dome. I'm not sure how I felt about that, but I knew he was on our side, and that was good enough for now.

Michael announced over the intercom that they were going to shut down the lights and begin radio silence, as the dome drew ever closer. The others went back below deck, but I remained up top. As the ship's lights turned off, I leaned against the railing along the rear of the ship, and closed my eyes. I took the band out of my hair, letting it fly loose. The wind was cold that night, and it whipped right through me. But I remained there anyway, enjoying the peace and quiet before the storm.

My gut was wrenching terribly. Just the thought of going back there was making me ill. But if this information we retrieve could give us the upper hand, I had to try. There was no sense hiding; sooner or later they would be after us.

Then the moment finally arrived. We reached the dome. Alongside the boat, there was a massive gate, one of the many disposal gates. Michael came up from the cabin, followed by the rest of the group. He walked over to a small panel on the guardrail adjacent to the dome, and pressed a button. The rail lowered, and a platform extended over towards the gate. Michael took the initiative and walked across to the gate.

"Everyone ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Jonathan replied for everyone.

We walked across the platform in single file. Michael took one last look at us, as if to silently acknowledge that there was no going back now. He then touched his forehead for a moment, and the ship began to retract its platform and sail away to its preprogrammed destination.

Michael then began to study the gate. He looked up and down and all over.

"Something wrong?" Sienna asked.

"Well this is odd… I thought there was an access panel here." Michael said quizzically.

"You mean you're not sure we can even get inside? We did all that planning and preparation and we can't even get in the door?" Jonathan snidely replied.

"I was just through here last week, the panel should be right… here!" Tobias said, slapping a panel on the wall.

"If that's true, then let's see what's behind that panel," Jonathan suggested.

Tobias backed away from the metal panel on the wall, and let Jonathan approach. Jonathan then placed his hand on the panel, and it began to glow white hot. Seconds later, a hole appeared in the panel, revealing an access panel.

After Jonathan finished with creating the hole, Michael walked up to it and looked inside.

"Jon, you idiot! You melted the access panel! I can't do anything with it now!"

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," I said exasperated.

"Fine, I'll just melt the entire bloody gate down, how's that sound?" Jonathan said agitated.

"No! No, don't do that. Not unless you want the entire city after us." Tobias cautioned.

"So what the hell are we going to do now?" Michael asked, eying Sienna and myself.

"Don't look at us; you guys were the one that planned this operation, you think of something!" I said defensively. I wasn't about to be blamed for their fuck up.

"Why can't Michael just use the access panel's wires?" Anna suddenly suggested.

Jonathan, Tobias, and Michael then looked at each-other with such a priceless dumbfounded look that I'll never forget it.

"You… you think you could do that?" Tobias asked Michael.

"I guess so… I mean, I've never tried it, but in theory…"

Jonathan reached in through the hole and carefully pulled out the remains of the access panel. He flipped it over and disconnected a cable from the back of the unit.

"Looks like a typical etherwire cable, you have a connector for this don't you?"

Michael nodded and reached under his shirt behind his back. He pressed something, and a panel opened. Jonathan took the cable and attached it to him.

"Ugh, that's disturbing on so many levels," I said, cringing.

We all stood there for a few moments as Michael worked his magic. He seemed to be concentrating rather deeply about what he was doing.

"What the hell? Tobias, I thought you said this area was going to be empty!" Michael said unexpectedly.

"I did! Is there someone inside?"

"There are two maintenance guys inside according to access logs. I'm trying to find them on surveillance."

I looked over at Jonathan. Sienna put her hand on Anna's shoulder and held her close.

"They're three floors above. We need to get in now or we're going to miss our window." Michael said.

"We're waiting on you!" I reminded him.

As if to shut me up, the gate lurched into action. While the entrance slowly widened, I took a peek inside. Inside was a dank dark hallway, and it smelled of fuel and trash. Certainly fitting of a disposal gate.

We waited for Michael to detach himself from the wall, and we stepped inside. He pressed a few buttons on the gate's access panel, and the gate slowly closed behind us.

"I'm never going to get the smell out of my clothes," Sienna complained, shaking her blouse and holding her nose.

I didn't notice from the outside, but there was the sound of machinery off in the distance. Although it was nearly pitch black now, I could see some lights at the end of the hallway. Tobias took the lead and we slowly followed. As we drew closer to the lights, I noticed that the area ahead seemed to be a sortation center for the trash.

"Someone… no… many people… are coming here!" Anna suddenly yelled.

We turned around to look at Anna, who had one hand in Sienna's, while the other was holding her forehead.

"The men are looking for us, I think… they're confused but determined…"

"We need to hide then, and fast," Tobias warned.

Jonathan suddenly ran ahead and pressed his hands against a wall.

"Jon, what are you doing?" Michael asked.

"There's a vent here. I'm going to open up the wall so we can hide inside, and seal the wall back up behind us."

"That… that will work," Tobias accepted, caught off-guard by the idea. "Here I thought we'd have to run like hell."

Jonathan concentrated on making an alcove in the wall for us to hide in. Anna continued to monitor the mysterious men. Michael tried to jack into the area's security system to look them up. Tobias stood behind Jonathan, apparently amazed at his handiwork. Sienna knelt down next to Anna and was talking with her about the men. I felt left out, and just stood around looking like a dork.

"I've found them on the security cameras. We don't have much time, Jon."

Jonathan simply nodded, not breaking his concentration on the wall. I walked over and stood beside Tobias, watching Jonathan form the inner room behind the wall. At this point, he climbed inside the newly formed hole, and created the small alcove where we would be waiting.

"Jon… you need to hurry," Sienna said. "Anna said that the men seem to have noticed our presence here."

"Alright, it's done, but it's going to be really cramped. Everyone inside!"

Jonathan ushered all of us inside, with him being the last to go in, to seal off the entrance. Slowly the small alcove grew darker and darker. We all kept readjusting, trying to find a comfortable position inside. Anna was the only one lucky enough to have enough space to sit down, while the rest of us were forced to stand or lean on whoever was closest.

Not a moment too soon, Jonathan sealed off the entrance, and we heard the sound of footsteps.

"Sir, we're picking up some strong heat readings down this corridor."

"Trace it to the source, and don't you dare lose them!"

"Yes sir!"

The footsteps grew louder, and it was now evident that there were a significant number of soldiers in the hallway. In the pitch black of the alcove I couldn't see the others' faces, but I had a feeling they were just as uneasy as I was.

"What the hell?" One of the voices outside exclaimed.

"What's wrong, Sergeant?" Another replied.

"The heat readings just stop here. There's no trace of where they went."

"Damn it! We're not going to lose them. I want a full search of the area conducted. Leave nothing unchecked. I don't care if it takes us all night, you hear? You know how concerned the General has been about the break-ins recently."

"Y-yes sir! You heard the man, split up and tear this place apart!"

The sound of footsteps scattered, and we all let out a small sigh of relief.

"Everyone just keep quiet, we're not in the clear yet," Michael said softly.

We kept still and silent for what seemed like an eternity. I do know it was at least a couple hours. My knees were on fire, and it was becoming incredibly stuffy inside. Michael kept us informed on how their ridiculous search was going, and finally gave Jonathan the signal to break us out of this prison.

Once the hole was large enough, we practically spilled out of it. We all immediately crashed to the ground, except for Michael who chuckled at our misfortune.

"Ha ha very funny, Michael," Sienna said snidely.

"What? It's not often I get to flaunt my metal knees!" He said laughing.

After we composed ourselves and were able to stand again, Tobias led us down the corridor and out of the sortation center. It was well into night time now, so the streets were clear of people. The city was much like I had remembered it from years ago. Although this was the industrial district, which surrounded the outer edges of the city, there were a few restaurants sprinkled around, as well as a hospital. The streets were spotless, with bleached white concrete. Cars were rare in City Eternal. Most people either employed the use of the public transit systems or rode around on motor scooters, and because of this most streets featured large walkways.

The buildings were new construction as well. It was easy to tell when a building was new at a glance. The new buildings all used new metal and glass construction, giving them a clean, open look. Older buildings, such as the hospital, used the bleached concrete like that of the streets, which was much cheaper and more plentiful to produce at the time.

Although there were a lot of factories and plants in the industrial district, it was nearly indistinguishable from the inner city skyscrapers. The government focused heavily on the look and feel of the city. They passed numerous laws governing the design and construction of various districts, to ensure that regardless of their purpose, they would all have a unified theme, of City Eternal.

I had to admit, being back inside the dome, and seeing the clean city streets, gave me a feeling of being home. The nostalgia quickly waned though. Putting my hands in the hoodie's pocket, I continued to follow Tobias.

We managed to make it the requisite five or six blocks without being noticed, before Tobias brought us to the old underground entrance. Jonathan stepped up to the rusty, reinforced steel door, and melted away the locks. Michael then shoved the door open, exposing us to a dark stairwell. There wasn't a single light in the stairwell, and I couldn't see the bottom.

Tobias reached into his pocket and retrieved a flashlight.

"Ready for some urban-style spelunking?" he asked.

"As long as it doesn't smell," Sienna replied staunchly.

"Can't make any promises," Tobias said with a grin.

With Tobias once again leading the group, we traveled down the stairwell. Jonathan brought up the rear, stopping to seal the door up again after we were all inside. Once the door was closed, we stepped down the stairwell a few floors. The stairs didn't loop around like typical stairwells did; they simply went down in one line. After a short while the walls ended, leaving only railings and the stairs themselves. For a moment I thought I could see some spots of light in the distance, but I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Certainly this underground area couldn't be that vast.

Tobias then stopped us on the stairwell and briefly shut off the flashlight.

"Let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and you'll see why I mentioned spelunking," he instructed us.

Michael, who obviously didn't need any time to adjust his mechanical eyes, was the first to comment. "It's… incredible. I had no idea this was all under the city."

After a minute of standing there, my eyes finally adjusted to the dark, and I could make out what Michael was referring to. The reason I couldn't see the stairwell is because it was so amazingly long. Traveling down for what I guessed was at least 50 or 60 floors, the stairwell was dropping us right into the center of a massive underground city.

"Welcome to the old City Eternal," Tobias said.

It was an amazing sight. We were only seeing a glimpse of the top of this underground city, and already the scale was massive. The buildings seemed to go straight to the center of the Earth. I could spot the tram system we were heading for on a platform off to the side of the stairs below. It was only one of many such systems connecting the buildings, all suspended hundreds, if not thousands of feet above the ground.

"There's not much we know about this old city. What we do know is this old city was scrapped in favor of the new one built above. We're not sure why the government chose to rebuild directly on top of these remains of the old city, but we believe it might have something to do with the lack of resources. Rebuilding on top of the old city saved a great deal of work creating a new dome, and there was already a reliable water supply.

We think that this is where the first refugees hid. However, it became far too dangerous to live down here. Buildings are in disrepair, and are constantly falling apart. Food is scarce, meaning they were forced to travel to the surface city regularly. The last real activity down here was when the refugees were forced out by the government after they caught on. Many thousands were left outside to fend for themselves, leaving us with the refugee camp as you know it today. An interesting factoid: our impressive power system was stolen from this very city. The government came down one day to retrieve it, and it was no longer there. The bastards went ballistic once they figured that out." Tobias explained.

As we continued to walk down the stairs, I couldn't help but look around. Above was a sky of metal, much unlike the holographic sky projection the surface city used. Immense beams and poles stretched from the ground and the sides to suspend the new city above the old. I couldn't imagine the engineering required to hold such incredible weight spread over such a large area.

Although the city was mostly dead, there were a few areas that still had light, areas that seemed to be relics of the construction of the new city. I really hadn't imagined things. The place was cold and damp, and with the sight of steel everywhere, it certainly felt like a cave. But those lights calmed my nerves, reminding me that regardless how lifeless this old city may seem, there was still a connection to the "real world".

Finally, after scaling down the stairs for what seemed like an eternity, we reached the platform for the tram system. The tram sat upon a large single rail, and featured two open-air cars. We each grabbed a seat as Jonathan and Michael went to work on trying to get the ancient thing running.

"The rail system should have power according to the reports Tobias gave us. It's just a matter of getting this thing up and moving." Jonathan told Michael.

Michael fussed around with the control panel for a few moments, obviously confused and frustrated. Then suddenly the tram lurched to life… for a second, and then went silent again.

"The blasted lift engine won't come start!" Michael yelled to Jonathan who had stepped off the tram and was looking under the front car.

"This engine is rated for 12 amps, what are the rails supplying?" Jonathan asked.

"8 amps, just like all the power systems up on the surface." Michael replied.

"Figures. It'll run on that, but it's going to take more than 8 to get it started."

"Is there a problem, gentlemen?" I asked snidely.

"Shut up and sit down Yukari, last thing we need is some of your lip." Jon replied annoyed. I laughed.

After doing some strange electrical rigging with capacitors or something that I didn't really understand, Michael was ready to give it another try. Jon jumped back onboard the first tram car.

"That should do it, charge the capacitors and try it now."

Michael pressed a few buttons on the control panel, and the tram car lurched again, but this time remained floating just slightly over the rail.

"Alright, we're up! Time to get moving. Next stop, the CARMEL datacenter!"

The tram jumped a couple times, obviously stiff from decades of disrepair. But to the credit of her original engineer, the thing did move smoothly once it was up to speed.

"It'll take us about 10 minutes to reach the platform where the datacenter is. Just sit back and enjoy the view." Michael informed us, like a true tour guide.

I was more than happy to take the time to give my legs a break. Anna looked to be enjoying herself, as she kneeled on the bench in the back and looked down at the expanse below us. Her hair was whipping strongly around her head and she had to constantly push it out of her eyes and mouth.

Sienna was a bit smarter about it, though, and was allowing her hair to flutter behind her in the breeze. She closed her eyes and seemed to just try and find some peace in the rather hectic day so far. I only wished I was able to relax as she was.

For whatever reason, Jon and Michael were bickering over something pointless about the tram, while Tobias was looking over his notepad. I never really paid attention to it before, but I seemed to remember Tobias checking his notepad regularly. The leather-bound notebook had seen better days, as it was faded and falling apart in places. It didn't seem to bother him however, as he continued to write in it.

As I wondered about what Tobias could be writing, he looked up and closed the notebook.

"Michael, we're almost there, try slowing the tram down gradually so we don't make too much noise. I don't want to trip any alarms when we arrive."

Michael nodded, seemingly happy to finally break away from Jon's endless debating. He walked up the control panel, and pressed a couple buttons.

"Uhm, are we even slowing down? You don't have to be that gradual." Tobias remarked.

"Jon!" Michael yelled abruptly.

"What?!" he replied.

"We don't have any brakes!"

"No, I'm serious! There's no stop, no brakes, nothing!" Michael said furiously.

Jonathan and Michael went into a panic, which in turn put the rest of us in a panic. They combed through the control panel as fast and carefully as they could, looking for any reason why the brakes wouldn't be working.

"If we can't stop we'll have to jump off," Tobias said.

"Are you crazy?" I replied. "Look at the speed we're going at!"

"It's better than reaching the end of the rail and crashing into a wall!"

At this point we all broke out into an argument over the best way to deal with this increasingly dangerous situation. I wasn't sure myself how long we had until we reached the end of the rail, but I did know we were rapidly approaching our destination. For a moment I thought I heard Anna say something, but I ignored it, continuing to argue with Jon about how idiotic he must be to forget something so important. But then she yelled louder and there was no mistake.

"HEY!" she screamed.

We all fell silent for a second and looked at her.

"Can't we just put the tram in reverse?"

Jon and Michael looked at each other for a moment before it dawned on them. They both turned around and poked a few things on the control panel before the tram lurched again and began to slow down.

"You mean to tell me neither of you thought of something so simple?!" Sienna exclaimed, her hands at her hips. The two just hung their heads in shame.

I unzipped my hoodie and threw it off. It wasn't any warmer out, but I was sweating terribly. Up ahead I could see the next platform, which I assumed was our destination. There didn't appear to be an open stairwell to this one, however. Instead was just a small staircase which leads up to a large outcropping on the surface ceiling. My legs were already sighing in relief. I was not looking forward to climbing all those stairs back to the surface.

"Alright everyone, up ahead is our stop. We'll be heading up those stairs about two floors and once inside that building, we'll be very close to the CARMEL. From here on out there is a strong chance we'll be encountering security systems so be careful and keep your eyes on me in case I stumble upon something." Tobias laid out for us.

The arrival was hardly as smooth and quiet as Tobias had originally hoped for, with the tram jumping and rocking viciously the last couple hundred feet. When it did finally come to a rest, we all stepped off, and I took the time to stretch out again after being tossed around like a ragdoll.

"That was scary!" Anna said.

"Without a doubt, Anna." I agreed, glaring at Jonathan.

Once we were all composed, we headed up the stairs, Tobias once again taking the leader position. He continued to refer to his notebook. Once we reached the surface building, he looked at some signs on the wall and held the notebook up next to them.

Tobias then ushered us to follow. We climbed another couple flights of stairs until he put his hand up to stop us.

He then approached a grate on the wall. He indicated for Jon to come forward.

"Can you get this grate out of here, without triggering the pressure alarm behind it?" he asked.

"I can try," Jonathan offered.

He stepped forward and once again placed his hands on the grate. Slowly but carefully he melted the grate to a pile of molten steel. He was careful to leave the frame of the grate intact, so as not to trigger the alarm. He then reached inside, and also melted two large metal bars that were obstructing the path.

"That should do it."

Tobias thanked Jon and told him to take the front position, in case there were any other obstructions inside that would need to be taken care of.

Following Jon, Tobias said "Once we're inside we need to be silent. While they don't use audio sensors this deep inside the compound, there is staff inside at all hours. We can't risk them discovering us."

This was the most nerve-wracking part of the journey thus far. We no longer had plausible deniability to protect us from any curious police officers. If we were discovered now, we'd be forced to fight, and it was a long way back home.

For some reason I was stuck with taking up the rear this time. At this point I was glad I had worn my climbing gloves. The vent was ice cold, and although the gloves were open fingered, it was nice to be able to use the palms of my hands without freezing solid.

We climbed through the vent for at least ten straight minutes, taking various zigzagging paths that had me lost almost immediately. Tobias was continuing to follow his notebook, and nudged Jon to take a right turn here, and a left turn there. I was growing evermore curious to where that notebook came from and how he managed to scrounge up all this information, but now was hardly the time to be asking such questions.

Just when I was really wondering if this vent ever did end, we all stopped. I tried to look ahead to see what was going on, but Sienna's ridiculously flowery skirt was blocking my path. Don't ask me why her skirt jumped out at me so, it was just so … loud that I couldn't possibly ignore it.

Anyway, we started moving again, and finally I noticed that we had reached the end, as everyone began to climb out. The vent terminated under the floor of the CARMEL's datacenter, so Jonathan had disassembled the grate slowly rather than making an obvious melted gap. After we all had climbed out of the ventilation system, Tobias had us gather in a close huddle.

"Okay, this is it. Michael is going to break into the CARMEL's systems. Our job will be to give him as much time as he needs to get the data. You all know what you have to do. Just keep quiet and be on the watch for anything suspicious." Tobias said.

We nodded, and Michael rushed off to the main computer terminal in the room. He immediately went to work, his hands becoming a blur on the keyboard as they coaxed the computer into giving him what he wanted.

Anna took a seat and concentrated on locating the presence of others inside the datacenter.

"There are fourteen people around us. None of them seem to know we're here." She said, confirming our successful infiltration of the datacenter.

"Good work, Anna, now let us know if any of them get close to this room," I said. Sienna and I then took a seat at the far entrance to the room. Jonathan and Tobias sat at the other door.

Michael kept us informed on how he was doing, but it was obvious that this was going to take some time. I knew the longer we stayed here the better the possibility of us being discovered, so I was desperately trying not to chew my nails.

Sienna glanced at me, and held my hand.

"It's alright, Yukari, they're not going to catch us. We'll make it out of here just fine." she said trying to calm my nerves.

"No, it's okay, I'm not worried," I lied.

After a few close calls, and nearly an hour of waiting, Michael finally gave us a soft cry of victory.

"I've got it!" he said excitedly, holding up a disk case.

He then tossed it to me for safekeeping. I put it in the messenger bag I was carrying. It was understood that I had the best chance of escaping the city if something happened,