My name is John Harolds. I was a junior at the Sacred Soul Academy, a prestigious academy that churned out hundreds of alumni who would one day become the pillars of society. Something happened that year. My classmates and I became involved with something big that could threaten the very social order of the world we lived in and we ended up being hunted by the police, the military and everyone we had ever trusted. This is the story of the greatest escape of our lives. What if you were told that the life you had led was all a big fat lie? This story tells of the night of our escape. We were lucky enough to catch our breath, but it was far from over. Escape! Chapter 2 By Shinieris

We sat around the campfire as we took out our provisions. Behind us were the Soharachi Type-89 Hoverbikes, monsters in their own right. It was as big as a small two seater car, bigger than the normal wheeled motorbikes, bigger even than a golf car. I didn't know much of them, but according to Carl, it was the greatest engineering achievement of our time, which I thought was total crap.

It sounded amazing alright. Tritanium alloy body, able to protect its rider fairly well even after being hit by a freight train at its maximum speed. Due to its extreme speed of 600 km/h, it had impact glass covering every spot not protected by the tritanium alloy. Together, the impact glass and tritanium body allowed the rider to achieve top speed while being protected from winds and pebbles inside its shell of tritanium and silicates. It was powered by six of something called RTG, Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. It was an electrical generator that converted heat released by the decay of nuclear waste into electricity by the use of thermocouples, theoretically allowing it to operate for a very long time without refuelling. This particular model was designed as a high-speed, high-powered, short term vehicle that used Polonium-210 as its fuel, allowing it to operate for 4.5 months before needing a refuel.

Yuu Nakani, the classmate who had a glasses fetish broke the silence. "Why is the fire so small?"

"Because we don't want to attract attention," Carl said.

"If people want to look at us, they will see us, regardless of the size of the fire," Yuu complained.

"I just want to minimize the risk. Who knows, a single firewood can spell the difference between being seen or being ignored," Carl said as he tried to justify himself.

"Hey, let's stop fighting. Can we be sure that we're not being followed?" I asked while rocking the little girl on my lap.

"Quite sure," Yuu said confidently, "If we're being followed, my bike will inform us. I reprogrammed it to be extra sensitive."

I breathe a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

"Have any of you read the e-paper they gave? I kind of forgot about it in all the confusion earlier," Carl said as he took out his e-paper.

Each of us did the same and took out our own e-paper before we reactivated the device. Something appeared on the e-paper as soon as it reactivated. It was the Student Council President's final message.

To: Junior class
From: Andrew Clark, Student Council President

Good day to you all.

If you are reading this, then that means I and all of the Student Council are now dead. Except for Yannick and Miriam, if they managed to escape. Yannick and Miriam, if you are still alive, we wish you congratulations on your upcoming wedding. We are sorry that we had to break our promise to both of you, both for not attending your wedding and also for not escaping with you. Calvin was torn up about not being able to become your best man, but this must be done. We cannot leave. You must live in our stead. However, Calvin did ask that you name the baby with his name, if the baby turns out to be a boy.

Tears filled my eyes as I read the message. I've been wondering why there were 34 bikes when there was only 32 of us. It didn't connect in my mind that Yannick and Miriam were supposed to escape with us. So the wedding next month, it wasn't cancelled at all. All the Student Council body promised to attend, just so that Yannick and Miriam would escape and live in their stead. I wondered if Yannick and Miriam ever thought that it was all a fake promise.

As for the rest of you, I must stress again, that you must not trust anyone. Trust no one under any circumstances. You can never tell if those people you talked to are really 'people' or 'them'. There's even a chance that you will be talking to 'people' who are on 'their' side.

Now, I know I didn't tell you what you're supposed to do. I'm sorry, things happen and I tend to forget important things. Your objective is to go to Washington City, bomb the White House and kill everyone in it before 24th of August.

"Excuse me, what?" Yuu asked in disbelief.

"Am I reading this right?" Carl added.

"Is there some kind of code here?" I asked as I looked at the words from all corners.

"I thought the President told us to-" Nanako tried to say before she started choking and foaming at the mouth. Yuu looked panicked and tried to do a Heimlich Maneuver on her, but nothing came out. It was about a minute later that she recovered on her own.

"I guess that's what happen when we try to blab," Carl remarked.

Nanako looked pale as she said, "I thought I was going to die."

"Yea, me too. You have no idea what that did to my heart," Yuu said as he rubbed his chest.

"But this is different from what we were told do in class, right?" I asked.

"Way different," Yuu agreed, "It conflicted. Washington DC City is... I almost killed myself just now."

"That's the problem, are we supposed to split up and go to two places?" Carl asked.

"No, I don't think that's right," Nanako said, "The President clearly told us of tunnel-arrk-grrkkr." Nanako suffocated again, but this time, we left her on her own until she recovered and yelled, "I HATE THAT!"

"So what is this, then?" Carl asked pointing at the passage.

"I think this is similar to 'distraction', or maybe we better call it 'misinformation'. Remember what the President told us, that we should not trust anyone outside the classroom, not even him?" Yuu said.

"Yes, but this is his words, isn't it? Written even before he told us that? Could it be an earlier objective that was abandoned?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Yu stated.

"What made you think so?" Carl asked as he reread the passage.

"During a military campaign, there will be times when the commander will tell his officers conflicting or misleading orders. This is often done when the commander fears that the chain of command or communication line has been infiltrated or compromised. In this case, the officers must decide for themselves what their true orders are. These kind of orders are dangerous, if the officers are incapable of deciphering the true orders, the whole campaign could be lost. This, my dear former classmates," Yuu raised his e-paper, "Is a misleading order. Our true order is the one he gave us while we wore those helmets. Proof, it is protected so well, even now, that we aren't able to speak of it without dying."

"Almost dying," Nanako corrected.

"So do we just ignore the order written here?" I asked.

"Not entirely," Yuu said.

"Explain," Carl said.

"Washington DC and the White House, contradiction. Bombing, not a contradiction, because the President didn't tell us what to do once we arrive... there," Yuu clarified.

"Not quite," I argued, "The President did say that we can choose to either-" It was my turn to suffocate to near death.

When I recovered, Yuu said, "That's right. He did told us what to do. So bombing is a contradiction. Out of these, what doesn't contradict?"

"You had to go through this twice, Nanako? I feel for you," I commented.

"Thank you," Nanako said.

"THE DATE!" Carl said suddenly, making us jump.

"What date?" I asked.

"He means 24th August. That's true. The President didn't give us a dateline, but he also didn't say we have unlimited time either. So that makes this, a new information," Yuu stated.

"Why 24th August, though?" Carl asked.

"Maybe it's something that will become clear as we approach our destination?" I guessed.

"Let's read the rest," Carl said.

I regret to inform you that there's also been a last minute addition to your class. Anya's transfer into your class was approved just two days ago. I went ahead and gave her the briefing earlier than you guys so she should be up to speed. At least I think she's up to speed. I couldn't tell for sure if she was listening, she seemed really busy trying to break through my personal computer's firewall using just her tablet.

Anya is a hacker. Anyone who ends up with her, please take very good care of her. I added her at the very last minute because her skills are second to none. Without her you will have a very hard time on your final mission. I told her to wait for you in the storage room that Yannick and Miriam will be taking you through. If she's not there, then you'll just have to leave without her.

"Did we meet anyone in the storage room?" Nanako asked.

"I don't think so. Then again, we weren't the first to enter. If Yannick didn't push us in we would probably be dead when the corridor exploded," Yuu remarked.

"Actually we did find someone..." Carl said as he looked at me. Or rather, he was looking at my lap.

Crap, I thought as I looked at the girl in my lap.

"Hey, keep reading. Don't just stop there," the little girl said.

Her name is Anya Vivesca Alinescu. She may look like an 8 years old jailbait, but she's actually my old friend. She should be 14 by now. Click here to see her picture. You should also check her bellybutton. If she doesn't have a stud on her bellybutton, shoot her. She's an impostor.

We all tapped on the link and what came out was the photo of the same girl, except she was wearing makeup. She looked a little older in the picture, but that was probably because of that makeup. The little girl then got up from my lap and stood in the middle of our circle, right next to the fire. I couldn't help but fear her dress will catch fire.

"Anya Vivesca Alinescu. At your service," she said as she bowed with her right arm across her chest.

Yuu and Carl immediately took out their particle wands and aimed it at her. "Show us your belly now!" Carl said.

"My my, aren't we a little sex-starved?" Anya said, causing Carl to blush.

"Anya! Who taught you such words?" I scolded her, before realizing who she was and covered my mouth.

"I'm not a little girl, I was merely acting," Anya said in annoyance as she raised her dress, showing her panties and belly, "There, satisfied?"

Carl lowered his weapon but Yuu maintained his aim. "How can you prove to us that you're not an impostor?" Yuu asked.

"On the other hand, how can I prove that I am an impostor? Maybe I should just admit to being an impostor and shoot you for fun?" Anya taunted.

"You? Shoot with what? Piss?" Yuu laughed but still kept his wand pointed at her.

Anya then went to the other side of my hoverbike and came out pointing an inactive IL52S at Yuu. She laughed as she said, "With this, of course!"

"You! Where did you get that? Miriam searched your body!" Carl asked in shock as he raised his own wand again, pointing it at Anya.

Nanako did the same.

"Stop! Stop! All of you! It's not active!" I pleaded to their senses.

"Not active? What the hell are you doing? If you aimed a weapon at someone, be prepared to use it," Yuu said as he lowered his particle wand.

The others also lowered their wands but still looked at Anya cautiously.

"Cheh! Wasn't expecting that to end so soon. Anyway, to answer your question, Carl, I got this from Yannick's backpack."

"Yannick carried a backpack?" Carl asked.

"So you're the one who took the other one!" Yuu accused.

"What other one?" I asked which made Yuu's face redden with guilt.

"There were two backpacks in the garage. One belonging to Yannick and the other belonging to Miriam. I took this wand from Yannick's backpack. Go ahead, Yuu. Show them what you took from Miriam's backpack," she said.

"You saw?" Yuu asked as he rummaged around inside his backpack before taking out another IL52S and 10 envelopes filled with money. He put them all on the ground.

"Are those..." I asked without much certainty.

"100,000 US Dollars. I wasn't trying to hide it, I just didn't feel the need to advertise that I have US$ 100,000 more than anyone else," Yuu said looking much too guilty.

"You friggin' thief! What if Yannick and Miriam had survived? How will they escape with only what they have?" I scolded.

"Hey, don't call Yuu a thief!" Nanako rose to defend him, "How can you say that when you know nothing? This is a matter of life and death! The money can help us reach-" she was stopped from talking when she almost suffocated to death again.

We waited until she recovered. Then Yuu said, "I only took what was inside Miriam's bag. I thought we will need it. I didn't know when we'd need the extra money, so I just took it. I had no idea-wait a minute! You!" he pointed at Anya, "You were the one who put it there!"

"Took you long enough to realize that. Aren't you supposed to be The Bloody Shogun?" Anya said, referring to Yuu's nickname in the gaming circle. "I'll be taking back my 50k, please."

Yuu grunted as he threw the five envelopes that previously belonged to Yannick at Anya over the fire. He was mumbling, "You tricked me," under his breath as he threw an envelope to each of us.

"What's this?" Carl asked as he looked inside the envelope.

"I admit. I took it so I could split it with only Nanako, but since you guys already know. It's not right to keep it to myself," Yuu said as he looked to into the fire.

"Look, you took this. Eventhough you stole it, you worked for it. None of us realized what happened, we were too preoccupied with our own situation," Carl said as he handed the envelope back to Yuu.

"Just take it," Nanako said, "You will be hard pressed to find Yuu being generous any other time."

"Hey, Nana! Be quiet. You're saying as if I've never done a good thing in my life!" Yuu objected.

"Oh me, oh my. Is someone offended?" Nanako giggled.

I looked at the IL52S in Yuu's hand, before looking at the one he just put on the ground. "What are you going to do with two particle wands?"

Yuu looked at me before he tooked both particle wands and made sure that both were inactive. Then he wielded it to eye level and said, "I was going to dual wield it. You know, like twin swords?"

Carl chuckled. "You and your games."

"I have one question," Nanako interrupted, "If the President transferred you into our class before the briefing, how come Yannick and Miriam didn't recognize you?"

"That's because they didn't know and weren't supposed to know. The only people who knew were Andy and Anna. I was supposed to be a secret to the very end. That way, if all of you failed, 'they' won't know that there's another one, even if they interrogated the Student Council. You can say that I'm the backup plan," Anya said proudly as she sat back on my lap.

"But if they interrogated Andy or Anna, won't they know anyway?" Yuu asked.

Anya shook her head, causing her twin ponytails to flap around. "There is no possibility of that happening."

"What do you mean, Anya?" I asked.

Nanako stopped Anya from explaining. "You don't want to know, John. It's better if we don't imagine or question it."

"Fine then, let's just read the rest," I suggested.

That is one way to detect 'them'. 'They' can copy a person's body down to the DNA level. They can even copy a person's lifetime memories. We can't tell for sure if they really have the ability to transform their bodies that far or if those copies they sent to spy and infiltrate us are clones of the original person. One thing we do know is that 'they' can't copy ink, or any inorganic things.

Now that we have that settled, perhaps it's time to decide on your next move. I have included the map of the entire Eastern Mountains. Us in the Student Council had spent all our time preparing the most complete and informative map possible. Be sure to not waste our effort.

As I previously said, stay away from cities at all cost. They will without a doubt increase security at the cities after we committed open rebellion. Your best bet will be to hitchhike on open terrains, this will throw them off your trail and hopefully give you enough time to reach the Wyoming City Coal Mines. There you will meet the Underground Resistance and will be able to acquire the nuclear bombs necessary to destroy White House. After that, escape to the four corners of Earth. Please don't stay around. It may be one small step for you, but success in this mission will give a clear message to those bastards that the human race is not to be trifled with. We hoped that this will rouse the others into joining our fight and drive them all off our planet.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I suggest that you open your backpacks first and examine the contents. We packed the contents of your bags with things that we believe may be useful to you. If you think that it's useless, throw it away. Nothing is more important than your own lives. If anything is a burden to you, trash it. After that, consult the map and plan your moves.

Once you leave, you will encounter situations that will make you doubt yourself, or will change your outlook on things, but understand one thing, all that you do, it must be for our whole race. The human race on this planet needs to be saved!

We of the Student Council wishes all of you the best in your mission. We are sorry that we will not be there to celebrate your success. Our mission here is just as important.

Farewell and good luck.

Yours truly,
Andy Clark
Last Student Council President of Sacred Soul Academy

with Student Council members:
Annamarie Hudson
Harald Johansen
Anke Drescher
Sulaiman Majid
Catherine Marsel
Shimizu Haruka
Shimizu Hanako
Myra Alexopoulos
Henry Nelson
Jessica Hutchinson
Selene Coyne
Larry Hale
Mary Caldwell
Johnson Ortiz
Leslie Santiago
Ashley Morris
Fang Xiao Han
Tan Siow Peng.

It was a somber mood when everyone finished reading. I read the letter over and over again, wondering how they could all throw their lives away for something like this. How could these greatest and brightest students sacrifice their lives for us? And for what? To fulfill a mission where we're given the choice of staying or leaving them behind?

Anya pulled on my sleeve when she sat back in my lap, "Don't forget to read Anna's letter too."

"A letter from Anna? Annamarie Hudson, you mean?" I asked.

"Yes, she sent you a letter too," Anya said before she said to the others, "You all should read the other letter too, I think you should all be getting another email besides the President's email."

"Let's read it one at a time. John, please read aloud Annamarie's letter to you," Carl suggested.

"What? But isn't this supposed to be private?" I said.

Then Yuu said, "It is possible that Annamarie gave you hints, as in how to reach the objective, how to survive this and any other suggestions. She is closest to the President, supposedly the only reason they weren't married was because they were both too serious about their work."

"Oh fine, but don't regret it when I read some embarrassing stuff."

"Like what?" Yuu asked.

"Have any of you ever thought that this may be a love letter?" I said.

They laughed, Even Nanako and Anya laughed. I felt very insulted.

"It may be true, how would you know?" I said.

Carl patted me on the back before he said, "Everyone dreams of Annamarie Hudson. But surely, you must be able to separate facts from dreams. Why would the great and beautiful Annamarie Hudson be sending you love letters when she has Andrew Clark?"

"Just read it," Anya said.

From: Annamarie Hudson

Hi, John.

I was the one in charge of packing your bag. If you haven't checked the contents yet, please check them now.

I took out the entire content of my backpack and what I saw made me say, "What the hell?!!!"

I would like to apologize first, for packing those women's clothes and accessories into your backpack. Believe me, there was no mistake and I am well aware that you are a man. Regardless, you must act and become a woman until you reach your objective. Unfortunately, this must be done and we had no time to change anything.

The others were laughing so hard, even Anya.

Then Carl said, "Good for you! Annamarie has a kink for guys who wear skirts."

That renewed the bout of laughter.

I was annoyed, so I set my IL52S on 'mild shock' setting and zapped each one of them.

Anya looked at all of them and said to me, "Gee, someone's sensitive!"

I pointed the IL52S at Anya's face.

"Okay! Okay! I won't laugh anymore! Forgive me!" Anya pleaded.

"That's better," I said as I continued reading.

After over a decade's worth of research, the former Student Councils believed that for this mission to succeed, we must pair off boys and girls into a two-person team. The reason being that society expects that after a certain age, basically around 15, men and women will naturally seek each other for the purpose of procreation. We cannot tell for sure if this is instinct or if this 'need' was forced upon us when we were abducted and brainwashed. One of our seniors had lived in isolation for over five years and had regained part of his memory. He claimed that on our homeworld, many men and women don't get married even well after 20. This went against everything we ever believed in. For us, it felt natural to get married at 15, but all of our seniors who had isolated themselves agreed to the same details, eventhough their memories weren't as clear as this particular senior.

Maybe by now, you're asking, "If we should be paired off boy-girl, why would I be paired with another boy?" The answer is quite simple. Your skills are necessary. Remember two months ago, when we told you to lie down on the scanning bed? We found out that your score on reflex, sight, hand-eye coordination and split-second response was absolutely amazing. More so when you were given control of a fighter jet or any other kind of vehicle that didn't touch the ground. You are the ultimate pilot, John.

We weren't sure if your ability was inherent or if the aliens modified your body and brain to bring out that ability. The fact that you have it, is more than enough. The 32 of you aren't the only ones with such abilities, but only the 32 of you have useful abilities. We in the Student Council agreed that 'farming' or 'mining' would not be useful in your mission at all. In case you're wondering, they modified me too. They upgraded my brain to have greater processing speed and capacity. My role, for the past year, has been as a hacker for the Student Council. I regret that up til today, I have never found a computer than can match up with the processing speed of my brain. Every computer always feels very laggy to me.

I'm going to tell you a secret, I have already left tools in cyberspace for your class to use. All you need to do, is find a competent hacker that you can trust. Tell your hacker to use this key. It's the key to the QIMOF (quadrangle infinite multiplanar oscillary field) that protects the command script. Without this key, don't even hope of accessing my worms. The encryption is spread over the whole of the internet, not just inside each worm. Accessing one will not allow you to access all. You need to run the decryption method while you have clear access to the net, and the worms with fragments of the encryption also needs to be online to be accessed. So inform your hacker that this is not something that can be accomplished in 10 minutes, this will take a long time. Tell your hacker to start working on it right away.

Well, that's it, I suppose. To tell the truth, there are so many things I still want to talk to you about. If only we have more time. I only managed to remember this very important detail a couple of months back. We were abducted together, but 'they' kept you for two years, for whatever reason. They only kept me for a year. I wanted so much to tell you, but I cannot take away your focus. The mission is more important than both of us, not even Andy knows of this secret.

Goodbye and I wish you best of luck, little brother. Send my regards to mom when you see her. I hope she's still alive.

With love,
Annamarie Hudson aka Annamarie Larssen

p/s: I know you want to cry, you've always been such a softie. I am so sorry that you have to find out about it this way. I long to hug you again, but someone must go and bring help.

"Annamarie was my sister?" I asked as my tears flowed down to my chin and dripped onto Anya's head.

Anya got up then she helped me wipe the tears on my face. She looked sympathetic as she wiped my face with her handkerchief. She was looking guilty as well.

I slapped her hand aside. "You knew! You knew she was my sister and yet you said nothing!"

She went back to wiping the tears streaming down my face as she said, "I had my suspicions. She was always looking at you through the CCTV. Many times I saw that she wanted to hug you, but she refrained herself. I watched her too. No, that's not quite right. I watched the whole Student Council but her actions around you made me really suspicious. Only now I know that she's been keeping this secret inside all these while. Above regret, you should be proud of her."

It was this time when I hugged Anya tightly.

"Anna was the strongest woman I have ever known. You couldn't remember, so you did not feel anything towards her. You thought she was just another girl, beautiful and bright that you're attracted to. She knew this for a long time. She had to bear the burden of not holding you, of not telling you who you were. She hid her own true identity from her own brother, the only family she still had left. You feel angry now, but imagine the pain she was feeling all the time as she watched you, but couldn't tell you who you were," Anya said again.

"Annamarie made the right choice. Not telling you that she was your sister was a good idea," Yuu said.

That was before I zapped him with my particle wand.

"Hoi! What was that for?" he objected right before I fired more of those shock beams from my IL52S.

"How dare you say that!" I cried as I fired on Yuu again.

"Somebody please get that wand off his hand!" Yuu pleaded.

"Calm down, John," Carl said as he grabbed the wand from my hand.

When Yuu stopped twitching, he sat up weakly and said, "What I meant was, she made the right choice of not telling you that you're siblings."

"How can you say that? If she told me earlier I could've maybe held her for the last time..."

"You might, but if she had told you that you're siblings, do you think you would have left her behind, as she told you to?"

"I might," I sniffed.

"No, you won't. You would've stayed there, crying like a baby and begging her to come with you, even in that crucial moment when the academy was under attack, where every second was important," he said, but before I could argue, he continued with, "You remember Sophie Beauchamp, the one who kept calling 'Emilia'?"

"Yes..." I said, already guessing where this was going.

Yuu gave me a dark glare. "I saw her, on the sensor. As soon as we left the garage, she turned around and went back to the academy. Frances Vinot chased after her, probably to stop her. You know what happened next?"

Nobody answered his question.

"Both of them disappeared from the sensor when those airships fired bombs at the academy. They were without a doubt, killed in that explosion. Had Annamarie told you that she was your sister, you would have done the exact same stupid thing."

Nobody said anything for the next half an hour, while I wept to losing my one and only sister. I hugged Anya tightly, as if I didn't want to let her go too. Carl rubbed my back gently, as I sobbed my heart out to the memory of Annamarie Hudson, no, Annamarie Larssen. Does that make me John Larssen instead of John Harolds?

"I think I'll just read my mail now," Yuu Nakani said as he brought up the email on his e-paper.

From: Henry Nelson

Hey, Bloody Shogun. How's it hanging? By the time you read this, I am most probably already dead. But that's OK. After all, it's not like I want to live forever. Strange, I feel like I've heard that line before. Probably from an old movie, but I can't recall the title.

Anyway, I was the one who packed your bag. Andy told me to put in something that I thought you can use. Frankly I had no idea what to put. If it was up to me, I would've given you a main battle tank instead of this tiny backpack. I know you would love that, you've always been armour-heavy, when everyone else use light units like infantries and hoverbikes. You're the only one I know who can win against multiple precision airstrikes using only tanks.

You need to stop thinking 'game'. This is a real life struggle. Unlike in games, if you lose here, there will be no restart button. In real life, you won't be able to press 'surrender' and tell your opponents 'good game'. If you fail this mission, it's the ultimate game over. Consider it as playing a game with the nozzle of a rifle pressed against your head. Imagine all 31 of your classmates have a rifle pressed against their heads as well and the outcome of your game will determine whether they live or die. So you must not lose this game, your classmates needs you and your mind.

But enough of that. After much deliberation, I decided to pack two extra things into your backpack. The first one is a WAMS device, or otherwise known as Wide Area Motion Scanner. This baby is small, light, durable and best of all, it can detect anything that moves within a radius of 100 kilometres. That's way better than anything of the same size, the only problem is that the power source sucks. You need to charge it often. Even so, I hope it will still be of use. Remember, information is key, knowledge is power.

That being said, I know such abstract things won't satisfy your desire for world domination. So I prepared something else. Inside your backpack is a key. Key to what? Now this will excite you. It still excites me. I, along with certain elements of the Underground Resistance have managed to steal a total of three Mirialis Corvettes. I got one of it as part of the deal. They got the other two as well as a whole cache of advanced weapons and equipments. Personally, I think she's a beauty. I bet you'd love her too. That key opens her innermost parts and bares them to you. Oh man, that got me excited. You still have to get there first though, it's a long way to go.

Think of it as a floating tank. A floating tank without much armour plating, though. But it does have a decent plasma shield system.

Anyway, best of luck and make good use of what I gave you. I also included the map to the corvette in this email, have a look.

No pressure, good luck,
The Iron Tyrant

"I can't believe this. Henry Nelson was the Iron Tyrant?" Yuu said.

"Someone you knew?" Carl asked.

"He was the only person who could beat me 5 out of 10. His specialty was either fast airborne units with speed enhancing tech using hit-and-run tactics or 'heavy tank wall' with artillery and support troops following with hoverbike scouts using overwhelming firepower tactics," Yuu said as he reread the email silently.

"Well, at any rate, we got a Mirialis Corvette. They're covered in stealth armour and silent as the wind. Not much of a destructive power from what I've seen when they attacked the academy, but I wonder what Henry Nelson equip it with," Nanako said enthusiastically.

"We haven't got it yet, we need to go get it first," Yuu said.

"But it's a good possibility. It will help a lot. Open the map," Carl urged.

Yuu Nakani opened the map on his e-paper and showed it to all of us. The location of the corvette was shown in red while our current location was shown in blue. It almost straddled the Alpine Mountains.

"That's like almost half the continent. It will take us three days at least to reach it," Nanako remarked.

"Don't forget we need to sleep and shop for supplies too," Carl informed.

"That's right, it will take us a week at least before we can reach it," Yuu stated.

"Assuming nothing gets in our way," Carl added.

"Let's pray that nothing gets in our way," Yuu said.

"Alright, my turn," Carl said.

From: Johnson Ortiz

Hey Carl,

If you're reading this, then you know that I'm dead. Don't sweat it. We're supposed to die, we've been ready for it since the day Andy told us that it will happen this year. Andy told us that except for Yannick and Miriam, we were all going to sacrifice ourselves to give you guys time to escape.

Well it beats living as a test subject in a petri dish anyway.

Andy told us to give you guys something. Awesome idea. I dropped you a few pulse grenades, they're my personal collection, you see. I also packed you a first aid kit, with three microbot canisters, just in case your team got injured on the way there.

I've fitted as much as I can inside your bag. If you need it, just use it. I won't be able to replenish your supplies, but it's best if you're as healthy and as whole as possible during your travel.

Don't waste our sacrifice, Carl. Your class must reach the objective and bring back help. There will be no point in our deaths if you fail.

Good luck.

Jonathan Ortiz

p/s: If you fail, I will personally go there and kill you.

Carl rummaged inside his backpack and took out a small case containing two scalpels, several bandages, a pair of scissors, a bottle of ethanol, some medicines and three grey vials filled with small metallic balls about one milimeter in diameter. "Medical microbots," Carl stated after he passed it around.

Then he took out a cylindrical object a bit smaller than his palm and examined it. "I think this is the pulse grenade he mentioned in the mail," he said as he threw it in the air before catching it. "Good balance," he stated before throwing it in the air again and catching it.

"Please don't do that," Yuu Nakani said with a definite edge in his voice.

"What? This?" Carl said as he threw it in the air again and captured it again.

"Yes! What if you accidentally activated it or something?" Yuu said while edging away little by little.

"Oh relax, pulse grenades aren't like normal hand grenades. If not activated, they're completely safe. Here, catch!" Carl said as he threw the grenade over the fire.

Yuu Nakani barely caught it in his hand.

"See? Nothing to worry about," Carl said as he made a motion asking for Yuu to throw the grenade back over the fire.

Yuu threw it back while murmuring loudly, "I'm gonna die one day because of this hippy."

"Your turn, Nanako," Carl said.

Nanako then reactivated her e-paper then looked at the list of mails. "Oh, I got a letter from the Shimizu twins," she pressed something and suddenly she made a frown before she said, "What is this rubbish?"

"What?" Carl asked.

Nanako turned her e-paper around, as if expecting it to make sense when read upside down. Then she turned the e-paper horizontal at her eye level and looked at it from the bottom. Then she put the e-paper on the ground and looked at it from an angle, as if expecting the additional lighting would give better clues. Finally she said, "Am I supposed to understand this?"

"Let me see," Yuu said as Nanako handed him the e-paper. He looked at it intently for a minute before he decided, "Probably a secret code. Did they tell you anything? Like a decryption method or something?"

Nanako shrugged as she looked inside her backpack. "No, they've never said a single word to me before outside of the martial arts club. Even then, they didn't say anything much," she said as she took out a curved short sword, "Hey, I think this is one of those sonic knives."

"How is it different from a normal knife?" Yuu asked as he handed the e-paper to Carl.

"Let's see," Nanako grabbed one of the pebbles and pressed a button at the end of the handle, then she used the knife to cut cleanly through the pebble.

"It can cut through rocks?" I exclaimed in surprise.

"It vibrates at an extremely high frequency. At that speed, it can cut through anything, even metal. My mom has always wanted one of these, though of course, you need to have a license to own one. If you don't use it properly, you can cut the whole building in two instead of just a slab of tough meat," Nanako explained.

"That's amazing," Carl said then handed me the e-paper, saying, "I can't make any sense of this."

I took the e-paper and shared it with Anya, who was still sitting on my lap.

From: Shimizu Haruka

お元気ですか。

私たちは、清水遥と清水花子です。

私たちは、あなたの旅にいくつかの助けを与えることを求めていた。ご想像しているように、これは私たちの世界ではありません。都市がこのように置かれている理由は、おそらく疑問に思っている。おそらく、この世に違和感を感じています。何年もの間、我々はこの違和感に気づいていたが、大統領は生徒会に私たちをもたらした前に私たちは何もできませんでした。今、私たちはいいえ、私たちはあなたの力を必要とし、望んでいる。 、菜々子が私たちを救う。私達の人々を救う、我々のレースを保存します。あなたが方法を知っている。

私たちは、電波や放射線を吸収する材料で手織り、あなたにこのマントを与える。それを身に着けていることはあなたが、レーダーやその他のセンサーから見えないようになりますが、人々はまだあなたを見ることができます。私たちは、あなたがよく、これを使用することができると確信しています。

我々はまた、あなたのわきざしを与え、このブレードは、あなたにとって有用であるはずである。

お体を大切に。

I looked at it with mouth agape. "There are repeated drawings all over with several variations. Maybe it's the key to decrypting this... I don't know what this is."

"I can probably write a decryption program. But I can't do it with this flimsy thing," Anya offered while pointing at the e-paper.

"What do you need?" Carl asked.

"We need to go to a town somewhere so I can get a computer," Anya said.

"Why would you need a computer? It's dangerous going to town. The military is probably looking for us," Yuu argued.

Anya stood up in front of me with hands on her waist. Even standing, she was not much taller than my head, and I was sitting. "I shall ask you a question, Bloody Shogun, what is a hacker without a computer?" she asked.

"An average everyday person?" Yuu made a guess.

"Useless! That's what a hacker without a computer is. I am NOT useless!" she said passionately.

"Fine, we'll get your computer. Just don't start shooting us with your particle wand like your big brother over there," Yuu said, pointing at me.

"That reminds me, I want to see John in drag," Carl stated.

"Why would you want to see that, pervert?" I shot back.

"You're supposed to be my partner, right? What if you turned out ugly or something?" Carl joked.

"Yeah, go on. I want to see too," Yuu said with a slight smile at the edge of his lips.

"Yeah, go ahead," Nanako said without even looking at me. She was busy flipping through a piece of her own clothing.

"There," Anya said as she helpfully handed me a stack of clothes, "Anna was so nice to buy special panties that hide your offending piece down below."

"Fine!" I snatched the stack of clothes from Anya as I turned around and walked away from the fire.

"Where are you going?" Carl asked.

"Changing!" I answered, as if that's the most natural thing ever.

"But we shouldn't separate," Carl protested.

"As if I want to change into girls's clothes in front of you horny perverts!" I snapped right before I entered the bushes behind my hoverbike.

They laughed as I went inside the bushes and took my boy clothes off. I looked at the girl clothes displayed in front of me. There was a blouse, a camisole, a pair of shorts and of course, panties. There were a few things I didn't know what, though. I wore those as best as I could then came back to the clearing.

Carl whistled. "Nicely done. I guess being Annamarie's little sister, you can't possibly be ugly."

Both Carl and Yuu laughed at the same time as they high-fived each other. Calling me Annamarie's 'little sister' was apparently very funny to them. Anya nudged my IL52S into my hand discretely. I looked at the setting and shot a stream of shock particles at both of them.

"Carl! I thought you took his wand!" Yuu scolded when he recovered.

"I did!" Carl said as he eyed the particle wand in my hand.

I zapped them again just for good measure. Then I turned to Anya and asked, "Do you know what this is?" I showed her a mass of jellylike strands held together by a soft, jellylike sheet.

"Isn't that a Follicle Assimilating Jelly? People call it FAG, I believe," Nanako said, still inspecting the piece of clothing in her hand.

"Why does people call it FAG?" I asked.

"Because some people can't spell," Nanako answered.

"So what does it do?" I asked.

"Just put it on," Anya said as she placed the jelly onto my head and pressed some things on some kind of controller.

The jelly then melted and stuck itself to every part of my scalp and hair. My head felt heavy and slimy from the melted jelly. I touched the material and squealed in disgust at the slimy-ness.

"What colour do you want your hair?" Anya asked.

"Colour?"

"Yes, the jelly adds volume to your hair and can be used to change the colour of your hair," Anya explained.

"Platinum blonde!" Carl suggested as both he and Yuu laughed again.

"Would you like me to zap you again?" I said as I raised the particle wand to eye level, aiming it towards Carl.

"Wait, wait, please forgive me!" Carl said as he got on his knees with his head on the ground towards me as if he was begging for mercy.

"If you want platinum blonde, I can do it. But this thing is a one-off use. You won't be able to change your hair colour or your hairstyle unless you got another jelly," Anya said.

"Can you make it the same colour as Annamarie?" I asked.

"Same colour as your sister? Sure, but I must remind you that this is no compensation for losing your sister," Anya said as she asked me for confirmation.

"I know."

"And the length? Same as Annamarie?" Anya asked again.

I thought about it, recalling how my sister, Annamarie looked like. "No, just make it half the length. Her hair was too long, I've never worn my hair that long before."

"Right," Anya pressed some buttons, "Alright, do you want anything else? Like rainbow highlights or something?"

"No, it's fine," I said as she pressed a button and I felt a tingling and itchiness in my scalp. I was about to scratch it by reflex when suddenly a mass of shiny copper-light blonde hair dropped down from my head, obscuring my vision. I parted the hair in front of my face and slit it behind my ears to the gasp of the boys.

"Holy shit!" Carl said.

"You look just like Annamarie!" Yuu remarked.

"You're like a younger Annamarie clone, except her hair was waist-length," Nanako observed.

"Oh and Annamarie had tits, you're flat as a board," Carl said.

I zapped Carl with my particle wand.

"Easily fixed," Anya said as she moved to grab something from the pile of clothes my sister Annamarie packed into my backpack.

I zapped Anya with my particle wand. "Oh no, don't you dare. I don't need any tits."

"You sure? It can help with your disguise," Nanako asked which made me zap her too.

Except it didn't hit her. Surprisingly her own particle wand fired at the same time and met my particle stream halfway. Her particle stream met mine in a flash of sparks in the air until both streams disappeared. Apparently she found a way to cancel my zapping stream with her own particle wand.

"How'd you do that?" Yuu asked.

Nanako held up her wand. "All IL52 are equipped with a miniature central processing unit. It doesn't have the processing power of, say, a high end computer, but it has enough processing power to calculate the pathway of a comet while running a classic car at the same time. I simply programmed an additional mode which allowed it to use its short distance sensor to calculate particle stream path and intercept it. It uses the same theory as how a police's force shield block rocks and bullets."

"How did you know all this?" Yuu asked wide eyed. It seemed like his girlfriend had kept a secret from him.

"There's the internet," Nanako said as if it was common sense.

"Anyone has a mirror?" I asked.

Nanako snapped a picture with her e-paper and handed it to me.

I touched my chin, my cheeks and my nose before running my hand along my now chest-length copper-blonde hair. "Wow, I really look like her. I think I'm falling in love with myself."

"You're almost an exact copy. Well at least she gave you something useful. What am I going to do with this?" Nanako said as she threw me a bundle of clothing.

I opened the bundle and saw that it was a long cloak. It had metallic threads in diamond pattern running all over the inner layer. It felt a little stiffer than normal woolen or satin cloak, but no stiffer than a leather overcoat.

"A hooded cloak?" I asked.

Nanako nodded as she said, "As if I can't just buy one of these at a departmental store. I mean, what did they see me as? Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Little Grey Riding Hood perhaps? At least you won't be cold in the winter," Carl joked.

Nanako looked at me. "May I borrow your wand?"

"Please," I said as I handed her my IL52S.

"NO! Just no!" Carl protested as he hid himself behind the cloak.

"That's strange," Nanako said as she pressed the 'fire' button.

"What's strange?" Yuu snatched the cloak from Carl's hand.

Nanako then aimed at Yuu.

"Hey, no! What are you doing?" Yuu protested as he covered himself with the long cloak.

Nanako then aimed at Carl and zapped him. She zapped him repeatedly.

"Hmmm," she aimed the particle wand at me, then at Carl, then at Yuu. Then she aimed it at Carl again and me again. In the end she deactivated it and handed it back to me.

"What?" I asked, finding her actions weird.

"Nothing. Give it back." she said as she took back her cloak from Yuu.

"I think we should just go to sleep for now. It's been a long day and we need the rest if we want to go full speed tomorrow," Yuu suggested.

"Don't forget we need to stop by at a town that sells computers," Anya said.

"Let's decide tomorrow. I think everyone's tired," then Yuu looked at me and suggested that I slept in the girl clothes I was wearing, to get me accustomed to wearing girl clothes.

I didn't like it, but I agreed to do it because our collective survival depended in small part to me being a woman.

Then I looked at Carl and said, "Maybe someone should help Carl?"

I pointed at Carl. He was on his back, twitching like crazy. He looked like one of those guys in comedy programmes who suffered from electric shock.

"Oh me, oh my. Did I zap him one too many time?" Nanako said unrepentantly.

******

"Herb, have you read the news?" a man in tight t-shirt said frantically the moment he opened the door.

"I did. They died spectacularly," Herb, in his usual attire of unkempt shirt and jeans, exhaled a puff of smoke which remained in the air for a few seconds.

"You know what this means, then," the other man said.

"Of course. The plan is now in motion. There's no turning back now. What of our mole?" Herb said as he got up, pressing his cigarette onto a waiting ashtray on his desk.

"No contact so far," the other man said, "It is possible that..."

"The mole died in the explosion. Yes, it's a possibility. Well, let's not count our chickens yet. Alert the other cells. Win or lose, this may be our last and final stance. If we win, this shall be our salvation. If we lose, we lose in a blaze of honour!"

*Hey everyone. Here is the next chapter of Escape! Please give me your most honest feedback as possible, as I'm pining for this being my debut. I think this one will have better impact than 'Armageddon'.
**See, didn't I say I'm going to spam the stories list with 3-4 of my own stories? Next would be the next chapter of Crown or Tiara.
***As always, please leave your feedbacks and comments. Praises helps me to write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me write better. Thank you for your support.

My name is John Harolds. I was a junior at the Sacred Soul Academy, a prestigious academy that churned out hundreds of alumni who would one day become the pillars of society. Something happened that year. My classmates and I became involved with something big that could threaten the very social order of the world we lived in and we ended up being hunted by the police, the military and everyone we had ever trusted. This is the story of the greatest escape of our lives. What if you were told that the life you had led was all a big fat lie? I thought seeing Jerry and Carol in Northampton Town was just my eyes playing tricks on me. If only I had come out there and try to find them, would they be here now? Escape! Chapter 3 By Shinieris

"Alright, we've arrived. Northampton Town!" Carl declared as we parked our Soharachi Type-89 Hoverbikes at a public parking lot.

"Don't forget to lock your bikes and perform bootstart encryption. People want these bikes," Nanako reminded as she started the bootstart encryption on her bike before locking the controls with her thumbprint and voice command. The bullet-proof glass windows then extended out from the hoverbike's tritanium body and closed against itself, protecting our backpacks inside it in an impenetrable shell of tritanium and silicate.

I looked around the public parking lot. There were a lot of people looking at us, from the streets, the back alleys even from the windows of nearby buildings. Of course, these bikes cost 120k each, probably more than the people of this backwater town have ever seen. It was no wonder that we were the center of attention. With four Soharachi Type-89 Hoverbikes, ridden by four teens of marriable age and a little girl, they probably thought we were a bunch of rich kids on a date. Boy, would they be wrong. I ran the encryption programme for my hoverbike before locking the controls with my thumbprint and voice command. Then I turned towards the rest and asked, "So what's the plan?"

"Weren't you there when we discussed it this morning?" Yuu asked.

"I was still asleep," I replied.

Carl laughed hearing my answer and said, "John - sorry, Jane always has a problem with waking up."

I decided on calling myself Jane this morning. I surely couldn't call myself John looking like a younger version of my sister Annamarie. Carl told me that Jane sounded so plain. They suggested Jenny, Janet, Janna, Jenna and some other similar names. I stood my ground with Jane. My reasoning was that it was possible someone who knew me would call me John just to check if it was really me. If my name was Jane, I could simply say that I misheard, as John and Jane sounded almost the same.

Yuu chuckled at the mention of my new name. "Well, Jane, he chuckled again, "First thing we're gonna do, is breakfast, then, we're gonna look for Anya's computer."

"Preferably a high performance laptop under 10k," Anya interrupted as she took my hand. With her light brown hair and my copper-blonde hair, we probably looked like sisters to other people. Anya was probably trying to coax that image into people's mind.

We headed to a local diner for our breakfast. Yuu, being a man with upscale taste, preferred the restaurant Dallick's at Henning Street. Carl persuaded Yuu that diners are great source of information, while the uptight employees of such upscale restaurants would not normally say anything beyond food recommendations. It turned out to be a good choice, their waffles were beyond delicious. Anya ordered a kid's set consisting of mashed potatoes, buttered muffins and beef patty, which she enjoyed a lot. Nanako ordered pancake with strawberry syrup, which from her expression, must not be to her taste but she finished it anyway. Carl ordered the morning beef and eggs set, which took some time to arrive, but once it did, he wolfed it down like no tomorrow. Even Yuu enjoyed his chicken chop set. I guess after the terrible ration we had last night, anything else would taste great. I wondered if our seniors even bothered to taste the things they put into our backpacks.

I looked out the glass wall to the streets outside the diner. It was early morning, barely even 10am. There was barely any people walking the street. As it was a working day, it was very possible that most people were already at work. Most who were outside were either waiting for a bus or having a late breakfast in one of the cafes opposite the street. I dropped my waffle in shock when I saw a couple sitting at one of the tables inside a cafe called Marina's Cakes. I stood up abruptly as I asked Anya and Carl to let me out from the booth.

"Where are you going?" Carl asked as he stood up.

"I'll just be outside for a second. Excuse me," I said as I squeezed through Anya's raised legs.

Carl grabbed my wrist unexpectedly, stopping me from going further. "No! If we go anywhere, we go together. We promised each other that. Now what is so important that you're interrupting the first decent meal we've had since yesterday?" Carl said a bit too loud for comfort.

"Jane, Carl, sit down! We don't need the attention," Yuu whispered a warning.

I looked out the glass wall at Marina's Cakes, prompting the others to look at it as well. Instead of the couple, the table they sat at was empty. There was no sign that anyone was there. "I'm sorry. I must have been tired or something. I thought I saw something." I thought I saw our classmates Jerry Davis and Carol Rodriguez there just now.

"It's morning! What can you possibly do that make you so tired you were seeing things?" Yuu said a little loud himself, as the tension passed.

Suddenly every eyes in the diner were on us, or more specifically, on Carl.

Carl definitely noticed, because he shouted, "I DIDN"T DO ANYTHING THIS MORNING!" It was very loud.

"Oh, to be young again," commented the middle-age man behind our seat.

******

"What is this crap?!" Anya cried seeing the terrible selection of computers in the third computer shop we went to. It was also the largest computer shop as well as the last.

"It's not all bad," Yuu commented, "I mean, Quaddecum-core at 60Gigahertz with 500 Gigabyte of memory and 40 Terabyte of hard disk space is great for a laptop. Look, it even runs on MegaRAGE 800M graphics module. This thing can run any game on the planet!"

"The price is a bit high, though," Carl remarked looking at the US$ 11,699.99 pricetag, "Plus, what's with the 99 cents? Like it matters for something this expensive?"

"I think it has to do with sales tax or something," Nanako said.

"This pile of junk is crap. Ahhhh!!!" Anya cried in exasperation.

"Hey, watch it, I will certainly buy this," Yuu said, to which the salesgirl thanked him, before he made her life miserable again by saying, "Of course, I'm not actually going to buy it. I only use my computers for games anyway."

"You're the Bloody Shogun and you can't think?!" Anya scolded, "Look at me, look at that. Can you imagine me carrying that heavy and bulky brick around?"

I giggled a little at the image of little Anya toppling over from carrying that laptop. It really was a bit too big for a girl of her size.

"Why can't the laptop manufacturers have a little brain cell?! MegaRAGE graphic modules take up a lot of space. And quaddecum-core require a lot of space for heat dispersion. They could've cut the weight and bulk by removing the fans and using liquid cooling instead!" Anya rambled on.

"But liquid cooling for the heat produced by both MegaRAGE 800M and Quaddecum-core 60Gigahertz will raise the price by over another thousand," a man in a business suit interrupted as he stepped in front of her with a tablet in his hand.

He was busily typing something.

"Like anyone care! At that price, one thousand dollars is a pittance. If you really want to cut cost, then downgrade the graphic module to MegaRAGE 620M, which is half the size and produce less than half the heat of this piece of crap. That will cut cost by almost three thousand dollars, which includes savings from less extensive liquid cooling."

The man's fingers continued to dance on the surface of his tablet.

"She is right, you know. There's really no point in having anything beyond MegaRAGE 610M. Most games only require up to the 600-series for optimum performance. I'm sure some idiotic gaming companies will want to utilize the 800-series, but they will lose a lot of money because nobody will be able to play it. It's not like many people can buy something at this pricetag," Yuu interjected as he studied the man and spied the things he was typing, "Who are you actually?"

"Ah, one moment," he said as he typed a little more before he put aside his tablet and extended his hand to each of us, "Hi, sorry for the late introduction. I am SabraCom's sales representative for Northampton Town. Here is my business card."

He handed us each a business card, even to Anya. It was a glossy card, with the colour of the surface changing by the reflection of the light. It was written on one side, Eric Parker, Sales Manager, Southern Region. He gave another card each to both Anya and Yuu, this one was red in colour, with some writing on it.

"Thank you very much little lady for that very frank feedback. I have sent your feedback to our design team. May I know your address? We shall send you a discount voucher for our new products," he said while bowing a little.

"No!" I said, unintentionally drawing everyone's attention," I mean, we're travelling. We're not very sure when we'll be going back home."

He stood straight again as he shook my hand again. "Ah, you must be her mother. Smart girl you have here, pretty too. Just like her mother."

I could hear Yuu snort as he tried to hold a laugh.

"Ah no, I'm not-" I said as he let go of my hand and turned towards Carl.

"And you must be the father!" he said as he shook Carl's hand with both hands, "You look like someone who knows a thing or two about computers. I bet your daughter learned it all from you."

"Well, I-" Carl tried to clarify when the salesman's alarm went off.

"Oh spat! They never give me time to relax. Well, nice seeing you!" he said as he grabbed his briefcase and left through the front door.

As we watched him turn the corner, Anya said, "Well, why the hell would he give us this useless piece of paper?"

"Ah, that's our redemption coupon. You can redeem it for anything behind the counter," our salesgirl said as she smiled sweetly, "You can redeem it even if you don't buy anything. He always give these to customers who give him feedbacks on SabraCom products. Would you like to go now?"

I understood from her tone that she meant we should go redeem now and get out from the store.

"Might as well. At least I can get some flash drive or something remotely useful," Anya said as she resigned herself to not getting her computer in this town.

As soon as we arrived at the front desk counter, Anya's eyes went wide. "Are you sure this coupon can be used for any of these?" Anya said as she made a sweeping gesture at the items behind the counter.

"Sure can, what would you like, little lady?" the cashier said, smiling wide.

"Oh my god! There's an alpha-wave scanner, residual contrant amplifier, electro-wave interferometer, subdermal nerve transmitter, flash-cooling device, 5 Terabyte thumbdrive, high speed internet connection wireless modem, universal interface cable... I don't know what to choose! I have only one coupon!" said Anya in torment.

"Here," Yuu said as he gave Anya his coupon, to which Anya looked at him like a god, "If it helps," he said.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Anya cried in joy as she hugged Yuu around the waist, "Now I can choose two."

"You don't have to limit yourself to just two. These things are for sale," Carl said pointing at the pricetags.

"You're right!" Anya turned to us as her eyes sparkled, "Daddy, give me 6000 dollars now."

"How many are you planning to buy actually?" Carl said he opened the zipper on his waistbag that held Anya's money.

Apart from food rations, change of clothes and the other stuffs, our seniors also packed us something extra to hold our money. Yuu got a traveller's wallet. Carl got a waistbag. Both Nanako and I got handbags, hers of crocodile skin, mine of something white, soft and furry.

"Thank you for your business!" the cashier said after he packed it all inside three paper bags. Naturally, because of the weight, Carl carried all three.

"Now I understand why my father told me to never give women a credit card. Why didn't she just buy the whole cabinet?" he mumbled to himself as the strings of the paperbags cut into his fingers.

"One moment, little lady," the cashier said as he pushed a piece of paper on the glass counter towards Anya. "I'm sorry that nothing we have here is to your liking. But there's a computer technician at the edge of town who builds his own computers. Maybe you'll have better luck there."

"Thank you very much, mister. Ta!" Anya waved at him as we rejoined Yuu and Nanako outside.

I couldn't resist asking Carl if I really looked old enough to be Anya's mother. His answer was simply a loud laugh, which drew curious eyes from passerby. I didn't understand that answer and I told him so. He just laughed again as he wrapped his left arm around my waist, pulling me closer. I promptly slapped it away.

"So, another town?" Yuu asked as we walked along the road to a grocery store nearby.

"One more place. If there's nothing useful there, we'll go to another town," Anya said.

We came across a tattoo parlor just as we turned the bend towards Lemming Street. "Hey, let's get some tattoos," Carl suggested.

"Uhh, no thanks," I refused.

"What? Your skin's too pretty for a tattoo?" Carl taunted.

"It's because I'm pretty that I don't need a tattoo!" I said.

"My, aren't we conceited?" Carl said.

""Exactly why would we want to get tattoos? It's not like we're best friends or anything," Yuu said bluntly.

"You're such a party pooper, Yuu. This isn't a best friends tattoo. It's identification!" Carl said.

"Identification for what?" Yuu asked.

"To tell the difference between us and them?" Nanako guessed.

"Exactly! Andy said they can't copy ink or non-organic materials. So we put ink or non-organic materials. Brilliant, aren't I?" Carl grinned.

"Like a bald man's head," Yuu said, "Well, what are we waiting for?" He then went into the tattoo parlor first, followed by Nanako.

"I don't know about this," I said. I didn't want to put anything permanent on my body.

Anya patted my arm as she said, "Relax, even I have piercings in places you wouldn't show people. I'm not talking about my bellybutton. Wanna see?"

"No thank you," I said just as Carl grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

"Alright, ready?" Carl said when all of us, except Anya were done with our tattoos. "Tada!" he said as he showed us the tattoo on his upper arm.

"Oh, were we supposed to show our tattoos just now? I thought you would count to three," Yuu said.

"Is that... me?" I asked.

"You wish! It's Annamarie. I've had a crush on her since forever," he said.

"Looks an awful lot like Jane, though," Nanako commented.

"I had to use Jane's face because I don't have Annamarie's picture, OK? I left it all in my dorm room!"

"You have my sister's pictures in your dorm room? Carl, are you a stalker?" I asked.

"I'm not a stalker! Now your turn!"

"I'm not comfortable with showing my tattoo to anyone other than Yuu," Nanako said bashfully.

"I don't want to show it to anyone either," I said.

"Jeez, why would we get tats if we don't even know what tats each other have?" he said as he stared at me intently before he pulled up the back of my top in one quick move, "Holy shit! Jane's got a tramp stamp!"

"A what?" I asked.

"Let me see!" Yuu said as he looked behind me, "It's true! You're looking very slutty today, Jane.

"Just because she got a tramp stamp doesn't mean she's slutty. It just means that she's feminine," Nanako said as she also sneaked a look.

"Would you all please stop?!" I said as I stepped away from them and pulled my blouse back down over my 'wings covered in rose bush' tattoo in the small of my back.

"Don't cover it up, mommy." Anya smirked as she said, "It's a pretty and seductive tramp stamp. Were you trying to get daddy hot, mommy?"

"Anya!" I scolded.

Suddenly Nanako pulled me towards one of the piercing chairs. I asked her what she was doing, but she told me it would be a waste if my pretty, dainty neck didn't have earrings adorning it. She made absolutely no notice when I told her that I didn't need any earrings. In short order, I got my first pair of earrings, a pair of little dangling crosses suspended by golden threads about 3 centimeters long.

Half an hour later, we arrived at the 'x' location on the map. It was a rather large warehouse in the middle of nowhere. It couldn't even be described as 'the edge of town' because there was nothing other than dust and sand around the warehouse. It consisted of a large two-storey building, probably 180 m2 in land area with a large garage door and one side door.

"Hello!" Carl called as he got up from his bike. He didn't turn it off.

Yuu did the same, but ever cautious, his hands were inside his pockets, where I knew there was an IL52S inside each. "Hellooo."

Suddenly the blinds of one of the windows on the second floor opened and an old man shouted through the open window. "Go away, you brainwashed midgets! I don't deal with little rich kids on hoverbikes. Go bug someone else!" Then he closed the blinds again.

"Excuse me! I'm just here to buy a laptop!" Anya shouted from behind me.

There was no response.

"Mister!" Anya shouted again.

Still, there was no response.

"I have been ignored..." Anya said, depressed.

"Maybe we'll just go to another town, I'm sure there's somewhere..." I said but before I could finish my sentence, Anya jumped down from my hoverbike carrying with her an IL52S and my e-paper.

"Ignoring me, aren't you? You'll regret that, old man," she muttered as she shot open the circuit box for the large garage door then connecting a cable between the e-paper and the IL52S. She typed something into her e-paper for about 5 minutes, until the IL52S fired a particle stream at the electronic circuit and the garage door rolled open.

"Hah! Suck on it, bitch! You have never met Anya Vivesca Alinesqu," she said as she picked up both the e-paper and the particle wand before she strode into the warehouse.

"Umm, Anya, isn't this called breaking and entering?" I asked as I went after her.

"It's not breaking and entering. I didn't break anything, plus, he's inside! This is actually called, 'kicking down his front door'," she said as she threw me my e-paper.

"This is wrong..." I whispered to myself.

"You coming, Nana?" Yuu asked as both him and Carl followed behind.

"Nah, I'll keep watch outside," she said as she took out the Shimizu twin's cloak and wore it around her body.

"Open up, old man," Anya said when we arrived at the second floor office the old man was holding up in.

"Go away, you thieves! You will get nothing from me!" he said from the other side of the door.

Anya sighed. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, old man. The easy way is, you open the door, we come inside and we discuss like civilized human beings. The hard way is, I hack through your pitiful electronic door and once it's open, I kick you over and over again until I feel like discussing anything. Sounds good?"

A minute later, the electronic door opened by itself.

Anya opened the door and walked inside. "I'm glad we get to do this like civilized human-"

Anya crumpled to the floor.

"You won't take me, shapeshifter!" the old man said as he fired his weapon, which looked like a very old version of particle wand, probably one of the IL30 series.

Yuu quickly pushed forward and aimed one of his IL52S, which fired a deflector stream that met each of the old man's particle shots, rendering it useless. Eventually the old man's particle wand stopped firing though he kept pressing the trigger, as if expecting it to keep firing. Then he threw the particle wand at our feet and grabbed a knife as he moved to stab himself, saying that we will never take him alive. Carl shot him with a stun blast from his IL52S before he managed to do the deed.

"He's a danger to not just us, but also himself," Carl winked as I picked up the old man's particle wand.

"Hey, this thing is set to kill!" I stated as I went to Anya. "Anya, don't die on me, don't die on me," I cried as I hugged her.

"Who's going to die?" Anya groaned. "My whole body feels like a beaten up old wagon. I'm gonna kill that geezer."

Anya recovered ten minutes later, just after Yuu managed to tie the unconscious old man to his chair. I sat on one of the swivel chairs in the office, massaging some life into Anya's aching body as she sat on my lap. Yuu then leaned against the door as Carl took a seat on the remaining swivel chair. It was a fairly large office, with computers of all kind scattered on the floor, on the desks and even on top of each other. Then Carl asked who wanted the honour of waking the old man up.

"I'll do it," Anya said as she raised her particle wand with a shaking hand, "It will be my greatest pleasure."

"Don't shoot the computers," Carl laughed, seeing her struggle just to raise her particle wand.

"Don't look down on me, daddy," she said as she raised her particle wand level with her eyes and pressed the trigger with her middle finger, releasing a stream of shock particles.

The old man woke up screaming under his bond. After that, he panted before his eyes went wild looking at us. Yuu belatedly commented that we should probably check to make sure if the old man had a heart condition first.

"What do you want, shapeshifter?!" the old man asked.

"What's this shapeshifter thing you keep accusing us of?" Yuu asked.

"Don't act like you don't know! Even if you're not a shapeshifter, by being with her. You are already accomplice to whatever schemes she has," the old man shouted.

Then everyone looked at me. "Uhh, what are you talking about?"

"I've seen you six years ago, in Marianas Garden. You look just like you were back then. Remember? Your 'father' was giving a speech on the opening of the new I49 highway connecting Manchester City with London City? Remember how nobody survived when the bomb under the stage exploded? If you are not a shapeshifter, how can you still look like back then?" the old man said as he struggled under his binding.

"Uhh, I think you're mistaking me with someone. I've never been to Manchester City. You probably meant my sister, I've been told we look the same. Though I don't think she would be in Manchester City six years ago," I said, trying to convince the others that I wasn't this shapeshifter thing.

"I'm not talking about you! I'm talking about her!" he said as he pointed at Anya with his lower lips.

"Damned it! I thought the Underground Resistance recovered everyone there. Seems like they missed one," Anya said with a voice filled with pain.

"Anya?"

"I knew something was weird about you!" Yuu said as he pulled out his IL52S.

"Hey, stop!" I covered Anya's small body with my arms and swivelled my chair so the back of the seat faced Yuu, "I'm sure Anya has an explanation for it. Right, Anya?"

"Jane, turn around. I'm just going to stun her," Yuu said, but when I didn't turn around, he said, "Suits yourself. I'll stun you, then I'll stun her. Then we'll play twenty questions."

"Hey Yuu, this is Jane you're trying to shoot!" Carl said he grabbed the hand still holding the particle wand and aimed it elsewhere.

"There's no need to shoot. I guess I'll just tell you," Anya said as she told me to swivel the chair back to facing them.

"It's about time," Yuu said.

"Old man, do you know of the 'real' London?" Anya asked.

The old man seemed to pause, before he said. "I've never been there, but I know it's not London City."

"Then you probably know that humans have been abducted from the 'real' Earth and dropped here, don't you?" Anya asked.

The old man simply nodded.

Then she turned towards all of us. "Do you all know that you were not born here?"

"We've been told," Yuu said.

"For your information, I'm very much like you. Except that I was taken eight years ago, They kept me for two years. So you can all think of me as your senior of some sort," Anya giggled a little.

"That doesn't explain how you looked the same back then and now! You shapeshifters can copy a person's memory and body down to the last detail," the old man said in rage.

"You seem to know a lot about these shapeshifters, old man. Who are you?" Carl asked.

"Why wouldn't I know? The government switched my own wife with a shapeshifter. That same shapeshifter killed my son, using my wife's face!" the old man yelled, before his voice dropped down to a whisper, "How could I have known?"

Everyone went quiet as the old man wept in silence.

Anya cleared her throat. "Are you all going to hear my story or not?"

"Please," Carl said.

"Then don't interrupt!" Anya scolded as she took a deep breath and continued, "I was also taken from Earth, the real Earth. Like you, Jane, they experimented on me. Unfortunately, something went wrong. I don't know what they were trying to do, but they gave me increased brain efficiency and they tampered with my DNA. They tried to increase my regenerative ability, allowing me to recover from serious harm by regenerating my cells. They went wrong somewhere. I still got my increased regeneration, but my bone growth stopped from then on. The increased regeneration allows me to remain young by removing dead cells and making new cells. They even managed to make my telomere heal after every cell division. However, that also means that I will be a little girl even when I'm in my 60s. I will never grow old, this will be how I look like even after you're all old or dead."

"Oh you poor thing." I hugged her tightly.

"Wow, to be young forever, but young as a little girl. I pity you, Anya. Assuming of course that's all true," Yuu said.

"Yuu!" Carl objected.

Anya sighed as pressed her right palm into a sharp jutting piece of metal on the mostly metallic desk. I tried to stop her, fearing tetanus or other poisoning from the rusted metal. But the deed was done, Anya showed us her bloody palm and told us to watch.

After two minutes, Carl asked, "What are we supposed to watch for, actually?"

"Oh right, I forgot," Anya said as she licked all the blood from her palm and showed what was under it to us.

"There's no wound," Carl remarked.

Yuu looked at it closely. "Then again, if you're a shapeshifter, you can make the wound close again, can't you? After all, you can copy bodies."

"No," the old man said as he watched the skin heal, "Shapeshifters can't heal themselves and their blood turns to gas as soon as it's exposed to air. It seems like I owe you an apology, little girl."

"Turns to gas? What kind of creature is that?" Yuu said as he put back his IL52S inside his pants pocket.

"Creatures not of our world, I'm sure. Can someone untie me? I'm feeling sore all over," the old man said.

"Right," Carl said as he cut the ropes binding the old man.

The old man stretched as soon as he was loose. We could hear the creaking of his old bones. Then again, he apparently wasn't as old as we originally thought. He told us that he was only 38. We thought he was 60! Yuu also asked Anya what happened to her 'father', to which she said he was now one of the resistance fighters.

******

"No way!" Anya said as her arms wrapped itself lovingly around a tablet computer just a little broader than her chest, "You have one of those rare FX6000! This thing is legendary."

"Yes, I got it when it first came into the market. Best hardware there was. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a programmer good enough to code an operating system that fully utilize its capabilities," the old man, whom we now know as James Morgan (call me 'Jimmy') said with a laugh.

"Couldn't you program it yourself? I mean, you built all these computers, how much different will it be?" Carl asked.

Yuu gave him a look that pretty much said, you are such an idiot, you make me look like an idiot too.

"I'm afraid programming is beyond me. Sure, I built these computers. Sure, I can code a programme or two, but writing an OS is way above my level. Companies employ hundreds of people to write a one-size-fit-all OS such as the Arnax and RoOF, for your information."

Anya, still obsessed with the tablet in her embrace said, "All the junks you have here are total crap, but this, this is like the holy grail of computers. I want this, how much are you selling it?" Her eyes were twinkling.

"Did anyone never tell you that your words sting? You shouldn't say to people that their work are total crap right at their faces. But sorry, this is a personal collection. Not for sale," Jimmy said with a smile, as if to lessen the blow.

"Twenty thousand, and that's my final offer," Anya said, not listening to a word Jimmy said.

"Anya!" I admonished loudly, but then, in a whisper, I said to her, "But that's about half of the money you have left."

Before she could reply me though, the old man said, "Tempting, but no. You do realize that there's only four of these still functioning, don't you. This is one of the remaining four."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what's the big deal with this tablet?" Yuu asked.

The old man explained, "This tablet, the FX6000 is the most powerful tablet, ever. It sports Centum-core processor with 6 Terabytes of operation memory. It is equipped with twin laser keyboards, allowing simultaneous input through both keyboards, effectively doubling or tripling input speed in the right hands. It uses the MIDO bootloader, or otherwise known as Multiphase Input, Doubling Output which uses the full capability of twin or even triplet input, as there's an option to add another input source. It also has 60 Terabyte built in hard drive. Too bad all that power and none of it dedicated to graphic capabilities."

"Which is no problem. Less graphic capabilities translates to higher operational performance, better response time, less distraction, less heat and smaller size. Only idiot gamers look for great graphics in everything," Anya said bluntly.

"Hey kid, I took offense at that," Yuu stated.

"So if it's that good, then why did it fail?" Carl asked.

"For the simple reason that the FX6000 was originally shipped without an OS. They expected the tech community to write their own OS. You must understand that this was a very small company, which manufactured their tablets by hand. FX6000 was their 7th product and their most advanced. It was also their greatest mistake. You see, the original FX6000 was terribly flawed. It had superb capabilities but because of that, the heat produced was so great, the innards melted because the cooling fans couldn't handle the heat. They had to recall the first 50 units and return to the customers the modified units, with better heat dispersion system. That however, put their finances in the reds and they filed for bankrupcy. Because of that, however, the company Cynthius became known as the legendary company. There was even a book titled 'The Age of Cynthius' that elevated them to the level of godhood," the old man explained lengthily.

Anya mentioned that it was also not popular with the gaming crowd, so there was no more FX6000 made after unit number 152.

"Alright, let's make a deal then. You give this to me and I'll make you the best OS in existence, for free," Anya said with much confidence.

The old man refused. "You? No offence, but people much older and more experienced than you have tried and they all sucked. I don't want a mediocre OS and if I want a passable, stable OS, I would've gone to Jockie's shop and buy it myself."

"Don't look down on me. You may reconsider after finding out that you will need my authorization code to open or close your garage door," Anya said with a playful grin.

"So you were the one who hacked into my door control? Wondered why it took you ten minutes to do that."

"Hey, anyone would've taken a long time to hack anything too if all they have are e-paper and particle wand's processor core. Now, if I have this," Anya hugged the tablet tighter, "I can do it in ten seconds. Wanna bet?"

"E-paper, you say? I also noticed that you are all using one of the new and quite illegal particle wands. Are you all by any chance with the Underground Resistance?" the old man enquired.

"No, we're with Project Salvation," I said before I caught myself.

"Jane!" Carl scolded.

"Sorry! But strange, I didn't die," I remarked.

"Is it possible that the name itself is not a taboo? Maybe the name of the project itself not a secret, but the contents are not?" Yuu reasoned.

"I have never heard of this Project Salvation," the old man said as he looked at Anya, "But I won't pry. Anything that hurts those shapeshifters is a plus in my book. Alright, little girl, show your stuff."

"Right on! I'm gonna borrow your fastest computer. Your new OS will be done in a moment," Anya declared haughtily.

Her 'a moment' ended up taking the whole evening.

Waiting for Anya to finish writing her OS was simply god awful boring. Nanako and I passed the time cooking decent meals for lunch and dinner for the first time since we left the academy. Yuu and Carl went to the computer testing room to play Metallic Fury, the strategy game with which Yuu became well known as The Bloody Shogun. We just finished having dinner when we heard a phone call from Jimmy's office. The old man Jimmy went to the office to take the call, but he quickly came back down afterwards panicking.

"Quick! Bring your hoverbikes inside the garage. We need to hide all of you!" he said as he hurriedly opened the big garage door.

"Wait, why? What happened?" Carl asked.

"Jockie just called. He said the Inquisition is coming. Hurry!" Jimmy urged as he pressed a hidden switch and the center of the garage floor opened up, revealing a dark hidden chamber underneath.

We each quickly started up our bikes and rode it into the dark hole, where he told us to keep quiet and to not activate any electronic devices. Then he showed us the switch to open the floor in case something happened to him. Then he closed the door and made some kind of whirring noise on the floor above us, probably blowing dust to cover the door's seams. Then things became quiet and we sat unmoving in the dark for fear of making a noise. About twenty minutes later, we heard a noise of shuffling feet upstairs. I silently counted four pairs of feet, but I couldn't be sure without actually seeing them.

"So, Jimmy! I heard you're alive, but to see you here, this is a suprise!" said a man with a very nasal voice.

"Cody, so you've decided to join them? These creatures that killed your sister and nephew?" Jimmy said.

"Creatures?" Cody said as we heard the sound of something falling to the floor, "YOU killed them! It was you who killed my nephew, then you framed my sister before you killed her too! You have a lot to make up for, Jimmy!"

"You saw it with your own eyes, Cody. How can you say otherwise, when you yourself saw your sister's body wounded, with no blood flowing from her wounds? You surely smelled the rotten eggs in the air - guah!!

"Do not insult me, Jimmy! You will pay for the pain to caused me. But let's talk about that another time. We're here to find some rebels. We heard that the rebels responsible for the attack and destruction of Sacred Soul Academy are here, in this very town, just this noon. Now, would you tell me the truth, Jimmy?"

"I don't know any rebel. I've never heard of Sacred Soul Academy," Jimmy denied.

Another sound of something hitting the floor. "Now now, there's no need to lie. Why, my friend here just found evidence of someone cooking a very delicious meal. Let's see, you had beef stew, mashed potatoes, some store-bought bread and wine to wash it down with. Anything I missed? Are you seriously trying to tell me that you, who had never cooked a single meal in your married life, cooked something so delicious?" Cody said as he slurped something, probably the stew or the soup we left behind.

I didn't know something so simple would give away our presence.

Coughing, Jimmy said, "I had a lady come in here earlier."

"A lady? Now that just made me even more angry. You killed my sister, and yet now you dare to flirt with another woman? How dare you!" Cody said as we heard sounds of Jimmy crying in pain several times, before Cody said again, "Now that my anger is sated, let's continue with the rebels, won't we, Jimmy? Where are they?"

"They came to buy computers," Jimmy said with difficulty, "I sold them some laptops. They left an hour ago."

"I see, where did they go to, Jimmy?" Cody asked again.

"North. They went north," Jimmy lied.

"See, isn't that so much easier? Now I hope you will go apologize to my sister, because I sure as hell don't want to see your ugly old face again, Jimmy. Goodbye!" Cody said.

"Cody... you...!" Jimmy said as he choked on something.

"Let's go, men. Leave this piece of shit here. He's not going anywhere," Cody said as the sound of feet quickly piled out of the garage.

We waited a couple more minutes, listening to even the slightest sounds to ensure they had all left. When we were really sure that the Inquisition had left, Carl cautiously pressed the switch that operated the door and the door opened, dropping dust on our heads. When we climbed out of the hidden chamber, we went to find Jimmy and were shocked at what we see.

For on the floor lay Jimmy, bleeding from the wound in his guts.

"Jimmy! What happened?" Yuu called as he quickly knelt beside Jimmy, pressing the wound with his hand. Jimmy was looking so pale from loss of blood.

"Nanako, throw me my medkit!" Carl called to Nanako, who was still inside the hidden underground chamber.

"Here, catch!" Nanako yelled as the medkit flew out of the hole towards Carl.

Carl caught it beautifully, then he knelt on the other side of Jimmy and said, "He's losing a lot of blood."

"The wound looks deep too, this is bad!" Yuu stated.

Carl opened the medkit and looked around inside it, rummaging at the contents until he cried, "Microbots!"

"Right! We can use the microbots to close the wound, but how much to use?" Yuu said.

"The whole vial?" Carl asked.

"But we don't know how effective it is, if it's not enough, it won't heal enough. If it's too much, we'll just be wasting microbots," Yuu said as he pressed a little harder to stop the bleeding.

Suddenly Jimmy's hand raised to grab Carl's hand, but couldn't quite reach it. "Microbots?" Jimmy said as he coughed out his own blood, "Half... enough."

"Half? You sure?" Carl asked. When Jimmy didn't reply, Carl proceeded to pour half of the contents of the vial onto the bleeding wound before he pulled out the control device. He entered the injuries and operation procedures before pressing 'start', which was when the microbots moved around by itself where half of those poured onto the wound disappeared into the bleeding wound while those left of the surface worked to bring the flesh closer and knitting it using microscopic methods.

Five minutes later, Jimmy stopped struggling and went silent. We had to slap him a few times to ensure that he wasn't dead, but it seemed like the microbots did the trick. While there was a clear line on his skin where the knife that Cody used pierced through, it was already healing. We couldn't tell for sure the status of his innards though.

"Jimmy!" came a voice from the garage entrance.

Out of reflex, all of us whipped out our IL52Ss and aimed it at the newcomer.

"Hold, hold! I'm not an Inquisitor. I'm the shopkeeper at the computer store you went to earlier. I'm Jimmy's friend!" the man said. We lowered our wands warily as we realized that he was the man at the cashier who told us of Jimmy's place earlier.

"What happened here?" he asked as he got close.

"Inquisition," Yuu said, "Someone named Cody stabbed him, I think."

"Cody, you say?" he repeated.

"What is this Inquisition? What are they doing here?" Carl asked.

"From what Jimmy told me, they're kind of like the eyes and ears of the military. They are a step above the normal military investigators. They are what some call as 'troubleshooter', 'spy' or 'assassin', depending on your definition," the man explained.

"Will he be safe here? We have to leave, we have someplace to go to," I said.

"Sure, there's a hospital in town, they'll fix him up right away. Seems like you've managed to sew up his wound. With the Inquisition gone, there is no longer any danger."

"Please take him there then, Mr..."

"Jockie, just call me Jockie. I won't ask your names. I don't want to be killed like Jimmy," he said as together with Carl and Yuu, they carried Jimmy to his truck outside.

We were ready to leave ten minutes later, after packing up the leftover dinner and whatever we could 'borrow' from Jimmy's home. We managed to find another e-paper for Anya and some external processing module for Anya. For the rest of us, there wasn't much we really needed so we just grabbed some dry crackers from Jimmy's pantry.

"Anya, let's go!" I called to Anya, who was typing something into one of Jimmy's computers.

"Coming!" Anya said as she finished up and ran towards my hoverbike that was already warmed up and ready to leave. Then under her breath, Anya said in a barely perceptible voice, "Come to us, old man. We may still need you in the future.

******

That night, in the desert north of Northampton Town.

"Carol, don't lag behind. You need to keep up!" Jerry Davis said to his girlfriend through the built-in comm device in his hoverbike.

"I know, sorry. I'm just tired, it's been 24 hours since I last slept, Carol Rodriguez said as her hoverbike wobbled behind Jerry.

"I'm sorry, I'm so insensitive," Jerry said as he checked the radar/map on his hoverbike, "There should be some ruins about 80 kilometres in front, we'll stop there. It seems like the army has stopped chasing us."

"This is all Sophie's fault!" Jerry said as he threw a pebble into a metal bucket on the far wall when they finally managed to rest at the ruins.

"I'm sorry, I was the one who wanted Sophie and Frances to join our group. It's my fault!" Carol wept as Jerry sat next to her and held her to him.

"Shh, it's not your fault at all. It's all that dumb bitch's fault. We've had nothing but bad luck since they turned around towards the academy. Sometimes I wondered if this was our punishment for not going with them, but if we had gone with them, wouldn't we die too?" Jerry said.

"I don't know. We've gone into problems after problems, one after another. It never ended. We thought we could rest in Northampton, but for some reason the military chased us there too. We're hungry, tired, and it's only a matter of time before we're too weak to run away anymore. I fell asleep on the bike many times today, Jerry," Carol said as she held Jerry's arms.

"Go to sleep. I assure you, tomorrow things will be different."

"Yes, let's hope tomorrow will be different," Carol said as she drifted to sleep. Jerry also drifted off to sleep, to get some rest for what he planned to do the next day.

The next morning, Jerry noted in his long range radar a number of army hoverbikes closing in from the south. "So, they got themselves some reinforcements? All these to capture two 'rebels'?"

"Jerry, stop this," Carol said as Jerry tied her up to her hoverbike.

"I'm sorry, Carol. This must be done. I'm sorry to have to use my 'muscle relaxant' drug on you."

"You said it will be different today. I wasn't expecting this!" Carol wept.

"Someone must accomplish the mission, even if only one of us succeed. YOU must succeed, Carol. I will hold them back."

"But Jerry, we promised that we will never leave each other's side!"

"That promise was meant to be broken, baby," Jerry said as he kissed Carol on the lips, "I love you," he said as he pressed the 'autopilot' on Carol's hoverbike.

"No! Jerry, I won't leave you!" Carol cried as the hoverbike's protective eggshell closed around her.

"You have no choice, my love," Jerry said as the hoverbike sped off to a predetermined location.

"Jerry!!!" Carol cried as the ruins became smaller and smaller in the horizon.

Meanwhile, Jerry used his expertise in mechanical engineering and opened a section of his hoverbike that contained the power flow distribution system connecting the reactor and various subsystems. He took out a device from his backpack, one given by one of his seniors and attached it to the system. Then he pressed the hoverbike's startup button.

Warning! Unknown foreign device detected. Starting the vehicle with the device attached will create a force-feedback loop starting an energy buildup on the power system and causing meltdown of the power reactor. Please remove foreign device before starting the vehicle.

Jerry pressed ignore as he started the hoverbike. Then he rode forth towards the approaching army bikes and hovertanks. Despite all the army's guns pointed and aimed at him, none fired a single shot. He assumed correctly that the army wanted to capture him alive.

One minute before reactor meltdown. Suggesting immediate shutdown.

Jerry pressed the 'override' button. As he arrived at their location, he maneuvered himself around and between the hoverbikes, causing mass chaos among the ranks of hoverbikes and hovertanks.

Five seconds until meltdown. Evacuate all within range of 8 kilometres.

He fired his IL52S at one of the soldiers, who had come out of his hovertank to manually look for the 'rebel'.

Four seconds until meltdown.

He rode quickly upon seeing the enemy's general inside his command tank and lauched a high intensity beam from his IL52S, causing an overload in the power systems.

Two seconds until meltdown.

He pushed the hoverbike's hover capabilities to the limits, causing the hoverbike to leap to the air. He raised his fists to the sky, telling himself, I've won, you bastards!

Containment failure.

The hoverbike exploded with the power of a 10 kiloton nuclear bomb, erasing everything within a distance of three kilometres.

*Hi all, here's a new chapter of Escape! Gosh, why couldn't I have finished this faster?
**As always, your comments and feedbacks are very much needed and appreciated. Praises help me write faster, constructive criticisms helps me write better. Thank you for supporting me.

My name is John Harolds. I was a junior at the Sacred Soul Academy, a prestigious academy that churned out hundreds of alumni who would one day become the pillars of society. Something happened that year. My classmates and I became involved with something big that could threaten the very social order of the world we lived in and we ended up being hunted by the police, the military and everyone we had ever trusted. This is the story of the greatest escape of our lives. What if you were told that the life you had led was all a big fat lie? A wedding! I still can't believe it. A wedding, of all things! Wait, it's actually 3 weddings. I hope there's not a funeral. Escape! Chapter 4 By Shinieris

"Hey Carl, how about some chocolates?" I asked while looking at the selections they had in the chocolate section of the mall.

We were in Chicago City, on our way to Mineshaft 6, near Los Angeles City. We were looking to resupply our dwindling foodstock after a full day of riding. Sure, we still had those MRE rations our seniors packed, but those tasted like shit and we'd rather leave it for real emergency in case we had nothing better to eat. Seriously, how could they expect us to eat something so disgusting?

"Not important, but if you have the money to spare. Sure, indulge yourself," he said.

"Will Van Meld do?" I asked as a picked up a large bar of Van Meld Black and White Rhapsody.

"Of course, pick whatever you like, it's your money."

"I'm actually thinking of sharing. It's been days since I last had chocolate melting on my tongue."

"Share? But... can't you finish it yourself?"

"You know I vomit everytime I eat more than half of a large bar of chocolate at any given time."

"Actually, I don't know that. 'They' probably forgot to include that detail into my memory. You can keep it to eat later."

"Sure, but we don't have refrigeration. The chocolate will melt after a few hours."

"Then take a smaller one?"

"I would love to, if they sell a smaller portion. Look, do you like this flavour or not?"

"I suppose. I don't have any favourite."

I pushed the bar of chocolate at his chest. "Then shut up and just put it in the trolley."

Anya looked at us in a weird way before she picked up a Darmello White Chocolate and placed it into the trolley that Carl was pushing. Yuu and Nanako weren't with us. They were at the electronics and engineering section, looking for things that they could turn into makeshift weapons or bombs, in case we needed them in the future. We agreed to meet in front of the second floor washroom in half an hour. They told us to buy some food for them too, with heavy emphasis on fruits and deeply fried foods, like hamburgers and chicken nuggets.

"Carl, how about some perishables?" I asked as we entered the grocery section.

"As long as it's nothing we need to cook, sure. Preferably something we can eat raw. Having heavily preserved cornstarch and potato snacks isn't exactly healthy for my body."

"Ever eaten fish raw?"

"No please, don't even suggest it. It's disgusting."

"Fish are very soft when eaten raw," I giggled slightly.

"It's also slimy and disgusting. Please do not suggest it ever again. How about some cabbage?"

"Cabbage? Carl, are you a goat?"

"I assure you, with some salt and mayo, raw cabbage taste good. Better than those MREs, at least."

Both of us groaned at the thought.

"Hey, I need to go to the bank for awhile. Let's meet in front of the second floor washroom later," Anya said as she dropped some sweets and drinks into the basket.

"No," I said while dropping a bunch of apples and strawberries into the shopping trolley.

"Excuse me?" Anya said, sounding very shocked.

"I said no. If you need to go, we'll go later," I said it again while dropping a bunch of oranges and mangoes into the trolley.

"I wasn't asking for permission."

"And I'm not going to give your permission, whether you ask it or not. Carl, do you think we should get some of these roasted beans? Smells good," I said as Carl grabbed a packet of the already packaged fresh roasted beans.

"I don't need your permission, Jane," Anya argued.

"Oh you do actually. You're still underaged," I argued back while checking out some cheddar cheese.

"Helloo, you're underaged too."

"I'm at a marriable age. Meaning I get to do whatever I want, even get married and get a job if I want to. Carl, I'm not familiar with these brands, you have any favourites?"

"Try the Dairymaid," he suggested.

"Hey, don't ignore me like a married couple. Don't be such a control freak, you're only a year older."

I turned towards Anya, pressing my hand on her shoulder a little bit hard until she winced in pain, I said, "Well, you look like an 8 year old, how exactly will you convince people that you're 14 looking like this?"

"I'm only going to open a bank account!"

"We are going together, Anya. Do not argue."

"But Yuu and Nanako get to go off on their own!"

"Yuu and Nanako are two people. As long as they don't separate, there's no problem. There's only one of you. If we separate, we will not be able to verify if you're you."

"But, they could be both replaced at the same time!"

"Anya, listen to your mother," Carl said with a chuckle.

I smacked him with a cucumber in response.

"We really need to have a better way of verifying each other," Yuu remarked as he pushed down the hem of his shirt over the 'flaming horseman' tattoo to the left of his bellybutton.

"If you have a better idea, I would like to hear it," I said as I pulled up the back of my top, then pushing it back down once everyone had a look.

"Tell me about it. Having to show this much skin in public places is embarrassing," Nanako said as she pulled down her shorts, revealing her pale green lacy panties and the 'skewered dolphin' tattoo on the inside of her left leg.

"Hey, at least you guys can get away with showing a little skin. I have to raise my dress to show my proof. All the others are at much more secret places. I really need a new wardrobe," Anya said as she raised her dress, showing her white cotton panties and the stud on her bellybutton.

"Nobody ever said you should put those in such out of way places. Watch my tat," Carl said as he showed us the tattoo of my face on his upper arm and flexing his muscles the tattoo as if to make a point.

"Get over yourself, stalker," I said once everyone was verified.

"So should we get back on the road?" Nanako said as she pushed open the door of the emergency staircase and went out first.

"Not just yet, I need to charge my particle wand. It seems like I've been using it a bit too much," I said, almost forgetting that my IL52S was 10% depleted.

"But even without charging, it will still be a long time before it's depleted, right? Mine still has 97% charge," Yuu said as he put his hand on the IL52S inside his right pocket.

"It's best if we prepare for everything. Besides, we can take this chance to rest. I'm not used to camping outside and I need a soft bed once in awhile, or a couch. I'd kill for a couch," Carl said while rubbing his shoulders.

"Shall we get a hotel room, then?" Nanako asked as she told Anya to find a good hotel in Chicago City.

Yuu agreed. "Might as well. This may be our last stop before we reach Mineshaft 6. That will be a long ride, my body will no doubt be sore all over."

"Once we reach Mineshaft 6, we can get our hands on that awesome piece of engineering," Carl said excitedly.

"That Mirialis Corvette will no doubt be useful, even without its integrated stealth capabilities. It will be like a mobile base for us, with warm beds, full kitchen and real guns. It has a crew complement of 44, including the commanding officer, executive officer and five lower officers. With only 5 of us, we can have entire rooms to ourselves," Nanako added.

"We can treat it like a real-life Tactical Command Center," Yuu nodded.

"TCC is copyrighted by Evil Android Games through their game Metallic Fury. We need to name it something else," Carl remarked.

"My dear friend, we are being chased by the military, with guns, cannons, tanks and bombers. Copyright infringement is the least of our concern," Yuu argued.

Carl shook his head. "Lawyers are worse, man. Lawyers are worse."

"Hey, I found several hotels but I narrowed it down to two. Better service, more comfort but higher priced; or cheaper, but service is like, meh?" Anya said suddenly.

We all agreed on the hotel with better service, more comfort but higher priced. With everyone pitching in, we could afford to get a double bedroom for the whole month and there would still be a lot of money left over. She made the reservations through her tablet using her new debit card. After fixing everything we purchased to the bike, we rode leisurely through Chicago City's busy streets while following the speed limit of 50km/hour.

"Oh man, I miss this a lot!" Carl said as he jumped down on the bouncy bed.

"Yeah, I regretted not using Jimmy's bed when we were there. God, I miss this softness," Yuu said as he laid down on the other bed with a bit more control than Carl.

"Umm, excuse me, you boys are gonna have to share a bed," I pointed out.

Yuu and Carl looked at each other before they both said, "No way," at the same time.

"I'm not here to sleep with a guy," Yuu stated.

"I'm not gonna sleep with him, period!" Carl said.

"Then where the hell are we going to sleep?!" I asked.

"I can sleep here," Nanako said as she took off her jacket and got onto the bed before putting her neck on Yuu's arm.

"You can sleep with Carl. Don't worry, you're both boys," Yuu said with a chuckle.

"I don't mind, really," Carl scooted over, leaving the left side open.

"I'm just gonna go lie down on the couch," I said as I turned around.

Before I could even take a step though, Carl got up from the bed and pulled me down, saying, "Don't be silly. It's big enough for both of us."

I looked up at his face as he hovered over me on the bed. I really did feel good having a soft bed under my back. It felt so good that eyes got droopy and I was about to fall asleep when a sweat from his forehead dripped onto my cheek. Shocked awake, I quickly sat up only to have my forehead banging against Carl's chin causing me to fell back on the bed.

"I'm taking a bath!" I said while rubbing my forehead.

In the end, it was decided that Yuu and Nanako would be in one bed, Carl and I would be in another and Anya would sleep in a kid's bed. We called the service counter for both the bed and a room service to deliver dinner. The clerk promised that it would be delivered within half an hour. The bed was delivered at the same time our dinner arrived, exactly half an hour later. No wonder this hotel had very good reviews.

I was woken in the middle of the night by some very curious sounds. On the other bed, where Yuu and Nanako were sleeping, the sound of rustling sheets and subdued female moaning caused me to strain my ears. As their shadows shifted under the light of the table lamp at one corner of the room, I finally realized what was happening.

"They're having sex," I whispered to Carl as I saw the shadows of both Yuu and Nanako silently doing the nasty on the other bed.

"Yeah, I heard," Carl said as he got closer behind me before putting his arm around my waist.

"What are you doing, Carl?" I said as I felt his breath on the back of my neck.

"You hair smells so good, Jane," he commented.

"Thanks, I washed it earlier," I said as he smelled my hair a little more. His breath on the back of my head felt quite good for some reason.

He hugged me around the waist a little tighter as he pulled himself closer until we were spooning so tightly without even a tiny bit of space between us. I tried to ignore it as I listened to Yuu and Nanako's passionate cries on the other bed. Suddenly I felt something hard on the crack of my butt as Carl moved his hips in a suspicious manner.

"Carl! You're humping my butt!!!" I scolded which surprised everyone in the quiet room including Anya, who was actually feigning sleep.

"Don't worry, it was funny as hell," Yuu said awhile later with a laugh, after both he and Nana wore their clothes again.

"Come on, man. You guys were having sex on the other bed. I only got Jane! And she doesn't even have boobs I can play with!" Carl said as if trying to defend himself.

"If you want boobs, how about I give you a pair?" I said, referring to the pair of breast gels that Annamarie intended for me.

"Yes please, it will make you perfect!" Carl said, totally misunderstanding the meaning of my words.

"Maybe we need to reconsider the sleeping arrangements," I remarked.

"We're not reconsidering," Yuu said as he pulled Nanako to him.

When I fixed my gaze on Carl, he somehow understood what I was thinking as he said, "No! I'm not going to sleep on the couch. We have a perfectly good bed here!"

"I don't want to be humped in my sleep, Carl," I stated.

"I promise! I promise I won't hump you in your sleep anymore. Just don't kick me to the couch! Please!"

"Maybe we should order another bed?" Yuu suggested.

"Already asked, there's a strict policy on that, no additional adult beds allowed in the room. But... nah," Anya said.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about something, don't worry about it," she said as she made a little grin.

"Anya!"

"Don't worry about it, Jane. Just go to sleep, with his arms around you, hehehe."

"Come on, Jane," Carl knelt in front of me with his hands clasped together between us, "We've been friends since we're kids."

"That memory was fabricated," I stated.

"Yeah true, but we're still friends," he said with hope.

"Sure, you're the friend who wants to hump my butt."

"I won't do it again. Please! It will be a long ride, who knows when I'll get to sleep on a bed again."

I was adamant about forbidding him from my bed, but then the idea that we'd be riding for two to three days nonstop made me reconsider. Not only would we not have any beds to sleep on, we would actually be sleeping on our bikes! "Alright, you can sleep with me. But stay on your side and no funny business!"

"Thank you, thank you! I swear I won't do anything that will make you laugh," he said as he jumped onto the bed face down.

The next morning, we headed down to the hotel's restaurant for our complimentary breakfast. It was kind of weird to see the hotel staff pausing as we passed and bowing like we were some kind of royalty. Even at the restaurant, the staff were very courteous, asking if they could fetch us anything from the buffet table. We settled at a corner round table for eight people, because the ones for five looked so small. We ordered drinks (which were unlimited complimentary, though no cocktails) and asked them to deliver each of our separate orders. I ordered sausages, toast and strawberry jam as well as a large serving of baked beans.

"That was weird. I've been to hotels with my mom and dad before and I've never seen such service, at a buffet breakfast at least," I said.

"Not surprising, actually. Look around," Yuu, who was more accustomed to high-living suggested.

We looked around and didn't find anything weird.

"What did you want us to look at? There's nobody around," Carl stated.

"Exactly, we're the only ones here. Well, except for that couple on the far end over there," Yuu said as he gestured at the couple on the far end with his cup of green tea.

"That doesn't explain their attitude," Carl said.

Yuu sighed. "It's autumn," he stated, as if it was the answer that solved everything.

When he saw that we didn't understand, he added, "Nobody comes to Chicago City in autumn. There's nothing here. Business must be very bad for them right now, so they're making the service a lot nicer, to get good ratings. Geez, people! We're the only customers in the hotel right now!"

"The whole hotel? Surely not?" I asked as one of the restaurant staff handed Carl a newspaper, the Chicago Daily.

"Probably not to that extreme. I'm sure there are others. They either arrived for breakfast early, will arrive late or not coming altogether."

Just then, the woman on the far side of the restaurant got up. I looked up at the woman a glance and was shocked to see her face. Quickly I got up and before I could stop myself, I shouted, "Miriam?!"

The woman looked at us and was shocked as she looked at me, "Anna?!"

"Miriam, you're alive-" I got off the table as Miriam raced forward and hugged me around the neck.

"Anna, how... I thought everyone's dead..." Miriam sobbed into my face.

"I'm... not Anna, Miriam," I said softly.

Miriam disengaged. Then she took out her particle wand. "Shapeshifter!" she accused.

The others quickly took out their particle wands and pointed it at Miriam and Yannick, who was next to Miriam. He held his own particle wand, pointing it at us. He was slowly pulling Miriam back with concern on his face.

"Miriam, I'm not Anna, nor am I a shapeshifter. Annamarie is my sister," I said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Liar! Annamarie only has a brother on this planet. We would know if they brought her younger sister here too," Miriam said as her thumb edged closer to the trigger.

"You know she has a brother here?" Carl asked.

"Why wouldn't I? Anna was my best friend. She was supposed to be my maid of honour."

"Miriam, stand down," Anya said as she stood next to me. Her particle wand raised but not pointed to either of them.

"You're that little girl we found in the storeroom! I knew we couldn't trust you. Where are the others?" Miriam asked.

"What others?" Anya asked.

"John Harolds, and the real ones of those fake ones behind you!"

"Did she just call me a fake?" Carl asked the others.

"She sure did. Can't blame her, you do look like you were photoshopped," Yuu joked.

"Miriam, we ARE real. I am John Harolds. Annamarie is my sister," I stated.

Miriam looked at me, as if something just clicked in her mind. Then she said, "Impossible! John Harolds may not have been manly..."

Ouch.

"But he didn't look like Annamarie!" Miriam shouted.

"We didn't think she looked like Annamarie either, until she wore girl's clothes and got the same hair as Annamarie. We were surprised at the resemblance," Anya said.

"Yeah, if she had tits, she would look exactly like Annamarie. OW!" Carl interjected, which earned him a double smack from both Yuu and Nanako.

"If she is John, why are you calling him a 'she'?" Yannick asked.

"Because that's how she look like now and at her age, it will be suspicious for boys to play around anymore, especially after what happened the past few days. If she is a girl, then we can say they're on a date or doing a trial run for living a married life," Anya explained.

"Name's Jane now. Me being a girl was Annamarie's idea. She didn't present me a choice in the first place," I said.

"I did ask her how two boys would be able to justify themselves going across the country on 120k dollars hoverbikes. You and Carl were not supposed to be in the class because we couldn't find you each a female partner. She hacked into Andy's computer and added both your names in and made an order for two more hoverbikes and equipments under Andy's name. So that was her solution," Miriam said as she lowered her wand.

"Yeah, I doubt even Andy knew how you were both in the class. He looked real shocked when he realized you were both there," Yannick added.

"Andy can be a scatterbrain sometimes. Anna always played him like that. Anna always said that Andy hadn't proposed because he was afraid that Anna would hack his account and run off with his money," Miriam said with a laugh.

"As if she needed to be married to pull that off," Yannick too laughed loud.

"Come sit with us, Miriam," I said as I pulled her to our table.

Miriam's face softened as she looked at me. Once she sat at the empty chair, she said, "You look just like Anna, but I guess that's where the similarities end. Anna would just say, 'sit and don't get up until I tell you to'."

Both Yannick and Miriam laughed.

"But we need to get going now. For all we know, the hotel staff may have called the police," Yuu said as the foods and drinks from Miriam and Yannick's table was moved to ours by the restaurant staff.

"Nah, don't worry about that," Anya said.

"Why should I not worry?" Yuu asked.

"Why do you think that out of hundreds of hotels in Chicago City, I narrowed it all down to two? Despite the city being in a dearth of tourists and this is not the best hotel in the city?"

"Enlighten us," Carl said.

"This hotel and the other one are famous for servicing known criminals and shady characters. The Underground Resistance has even used this hotel as a base of operation several times. The staff here has a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. As long as nothing gets damaged or nobody died, they will just treat it as some kind of internal dispute. We're not in danger," Anya explained.

"Well that takes a load off my mind. I actually chose this hotel because of the high rating. I didn't know about this cloak and dagger stuff. I'm a normal person, you see," Yannick said.

"We're both normal people. Henry, Andy and Anna, now they were very close with the Underground Resistance," Miriam said as she put a hand on Yannick's arm.

"Still, we should get going. After we finished breakfast, at least," I suggested.

"So, to Washington City then?" Yannick asked.

We stared at them.

"Why would we want to go to Washington City?" Yuu asked.

"Is that not where we're going?" Yannick asked.

"Stop joking, Yannick," Miriam said as she smacked Yannick in the back, "There's no point in confusing them any further. Our objective is somewhere else."

Yuu stared at them, as if intent on burning a hole in their heads. "You called us shapeshifters, but the shapeshifters could be you," Yuu accused.

Both Yannick and Miriam stopped eating.

"Are you accusing us of being shapeshifters?" Miriam said, looking red in the face.

"You did accuse us first, remember?" Carl said.

"It's simple to prove, really. Just let us see you bleed. Shapeshifters don't bleed," Anya stated as she drank her glass of chilled grapejuice before asking for another glass from the staff.

Miriam took the steak knife from the table and wiped it on a napkin until it was shiny clean. Then she slashed something under the table as she winced and then showed us the bloody knife. Yannick who was sitting on her left side looked at her in shock.

"You didn't have to slit your tummy, you know. A finger would be enough," Yuu said.

"Do you need first aid?" Carl asked.

"I didn't slit my tummy, idiot. I just slit my thigh," she said as she took one of the paper napkins under the table.

"Your turn, Yannick," Yuu said.

Yannick then pulled his hands from under the table. He grabbed the steak knife Miriam just used and stabbed at his middle finger from above. Then he turned his hand around so his palm was facing us and showed us his bleeding middle finger with his other fingers folded.

"I think he's trying to say, 'fuck you', Yuu," Carl laughed.

"Wow, the blood flow is too strong it's bubbling from his wound," Anya remarked.

Yannick hastily pulled his hand back and sucked at the bloody finger. "Your turn," he said.

Anya went first. She stabbed her palm so hard that a large gash formed, releasing lots of blood. She showed it to us.

"Would you please stop showing off, Anya? Unlike you, we're not Wolverine," Carl said as he went next. He pricked his finger a little, showing us the blood flowing slowly.

"Wimp!" Anya said with a grin.

I cut a little of my wrist. Just a little, and it didn't hit any veins. I just didn't like having my fingers in pain. Then I showed it to everyone.

Yuu and Nanako followed suit. They both made small but noticeable wounds on their fingers. Then they asked the staff for plasters for our wounds. The staff graciously obliged and returned with a medikit where he proceeded to treat each of us, except for Miriam, who refused his treatment and Yannick, who had already healed. Anya simply had her hand bandaged because she thought the staff looked cute, despite her godly regeneration.

"So what are your plans?" Miriam asked as Carl went back to reading his newspaper.

"We're planning on riding straight to Los Angeles City, where our ride will be waiting. Then we go to the objective," Yuu said. He didn't tell them of the corvette, probably not sure yet if he could trust them.

"Los Angeles? That would be like three days on our hoverbikes!" Miriam stated.

"Correct. We weren't planning on stopping. We were going to ride directly there without stopping," Yuu said.

"But you can't possibly stay awake for that long, even if you didn't stop for breaks," Miriam objected.

"Unless you're using the autopilot?" Yannick guessed.

"Yes, but instead of full autopilot, one of us will be awake and riding in front. The other bikes' autopilot navigation will be tied to the one in front. We're going to take turns being the pilot," I explained.

"That can work, and since our hoverbikes almost perfectly protect the occupants inside a shell. I even managed to have my dinner during my travel here," Miriam said.

"Yeah, having a vehicle like that really puts the mind at ease. Still, we should probably go soon if we want to get an early start," Nanako said.

"Guys, we may have a problem," Carl said as he handed the newspaper, a kind of lower grade e-paper that were normally used as a disposable newspaper because of its low price, to Yuu.

"Police checkpoints at every exit?" Yuu exclaimed as Nanako peeked in.

"Due to the bombing of Sacred Soul Academy near New York City by a terrorist group, Chicago City will be under lockdown until otherwise informed. All trafic into or out of the city will be subjected to extensive checks by the Chicago City PD. Police are looking for teenagers with no identification using Type-89 Soharachi Hoverbikes and urge all lawful citizens to report to the police if they found somebody fitting that description," Yuu read aloud.

"Shit!" Yannick cursed.

"I knew we shouldn't have come here," Nanako mumbled under her breath.

"None of us have identification and we're using Soharachi Type-89. We will surely be caught," I said.

"Waiting is not an option either, who knows how long these checkpoints will be there," Anya said.

"Wait, doesn't it feel strange to you that they know exactly what to look for? The only thing more exact will be to have our mugshots here," Carl said.

"I've always been afraid of this possibility... but with this, what I feared may have come true," Yuu said.

"What do you mean?" Anya asked.

"Some of our classmates have been caught, and not just one of them. Listing the hoverbike we're using must mean that they're very sure that we're all using the same hoverbikes. Which means that more than one of our classmates have been caught," Yuu answered grimly.

"We must save them! We can't leave them to the military. The military will kill them!" I said.

"If the military kill them, then they're lucky. The military don't kill their prisoners, at least not so soon. No, if they're caught, it will be about a week until they're tortured to death," Anya said as she placed her hand on my thigh.

"But they're just kids. We're just kids," I sobbed into Anya's shoulder.

"Well anyhow, rescuing them isn't an option. We don't know where they are and whether they're even sent to the same place. We must take care of ourselves first," Miriam said.

"Miriam, Yannick, I need to ask you a few questions," Yuu said.

"Shoot," Yannick said.

"Can the military hack into the database of each hoverbikes' mainframe?"

"Yes, definitely. The mainframe has the typical protection that Soharachi company uses. Even if they can't hack it, they can still tell the Soharachi company to extract the information within," Yannick answered.

"Can they tell who was supposed to leave the academy?"

"They can get the names of those who are supposed to leave the academy, but without a database, they can't tell who those people are," Yannick replied.

"What do you mean 'without a database'?"

Miriam answered. "Just like other semi-autonomous learning academies, the student information of each students are kept only inside the lowest level of the academy. A couple floors below the nuclear reactor. Since the nuke most definitely took care of those, the database is gone. Unless you're a very high profile individual, they can't possibly know who you are, since children is not registered as a citizen."

"Wait, the academy got nuked?" Carl asked.

"Yes, didn't you read the news? The military blamed it on the 'terrorists'," Miriam said.

Yuu asked again, "So even if they got our names, they can't know who they're supposed to catch. So they're catching everyone who fits the description?"

"Yes, I believe so. Of course, not all your classmates would be anonymous, Jennifer Carter for example, is a well-known celebrity. If they have her name, then they know her face too," Miriam answered.

"So since none of us here are famous, we should just make ourselves not fit the description. Then we can leave freely," Carl suggested.

"Yes, so this is where we part ways with our hoverbikes," Yuu stated.

I disagreed. "No way! It has carried us faithfully this whole time. We couldn't have arrived here without our hoverbikes. I won't leave it behind!"

"Jane, don't be sentimental. Yes, it has brought us here. It helped us a lot in many ways. But right now, it is a burden! Remember what Andy said," Yuu argued.

"I will not leave it behind! It's mine!"

"Jane..." Carl said as he sided with Yuu.

"It's not that rare! Just yesterday I saw many Soharachi Type-88s and Type-89s. They are not rare!"

"It's a burden, Jane! We leave burdens behind! We need to reach the objective, even if we have to leave the hoverbikes behind!"

"Jane, we'll get that soon. It's okay to leave the bike behind," Anya looked up at me with her fingers clutching my sleeves.

I ignored Anya as I said, "No, Yuu! If you call it a burden, then I am a burden too! Why don't you just leave me behind?!"

That shut everyone up.

"There is another option," Miriam said.

"What?" Nanako asked.

"We get identification," Miriam said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't know anyone here who can make us fake identification," Anya said.

"Not fake, real identification."

"How? Even if we took a job, it will take us 2-3 days before we can get an approved identification. We can't stay here for that long. Who knows what the Chicago City PD will do in that time," Yuu said.

"No, you kids seems to have forgotten the other method. A marriage certificate," Miriam said with a small smile at the edge of her lips.

"That takes even longer. You need to submit the marriage application a week in advance and only after that can we get married. It will take a couple more days before we can get identification," Nanako said.

We all looked at her.

"What? I like to read," Nanako said as she tried to justify herself.

"Then you have overlooked something, Nanako. In all your reading on marriage, did it ever say anything about Chicago City?" Miriam asked.

"Chicago City?" Nanako appeared lost in thought until her eyes went wide as if she suddenly remembered something. "The Wedding Capital of the East!"

"There you go! That's why we came here in the first place, actually," Miriam said.

Yuu asked her what it meant.

"She's right! People come here to elope, Yuu. There's no approval period, anyone can come here and have a wedding in just a few hours. The identification can be ready in half an hour!" Nanako said excitedly.

"Wait, a wedding?" I looked at Carl, "A wedding with him, you mean?"

"Who else? You're not marrying my Yuu," Nanako answered as she hugged Yuu's left arm.

"But we're both boys," I argued.

"Nobody knows that. It's not like anyone will check your equipment," Miriam said.

"Put on the tits though, so nobody will be confused," Carl said.

I smacked Carl at the back of his head with the newspaper. "You just want to have a big titted bride!"

"I never said big-titted!" Carl said as he tried to block my blows.

"You didn't say it, but you wanted it. You want me to have tits as big as Annamarie, don't you?" I said as I hit his head with the disposable e-paper again.

"That would be perfect! Thank you," he said as he snatched the newspaper from my hand.

"You will still need tits if you're going to wear a wedding dress, Jane," Anya interjected.

"Wedding dress?" I said, horrified.

"Of course! You're not going to get married in these rags, are you?" Anya asked.

"Either that or leave the bikes, Jane," Yuu said, as he tormented me with choosing the lesser of two evils.

But which of those two choices is the lesser evil?

"Do you, Carl Miller, take Jane Larssen as your lawfully wedded wife?" the priest performing the ceremony asked.

"I do," Carl said as he looked at the priest.

We were inside one of Chicago City's many cathedrals. It wasn't as big or as grand as the Grand Cathedral of London City, but the St. Valentine's Cathedral was just as elaborately decorated. With its high spires, tainted glass windows and the long carpeted walk to the aisle, it was the very image of a romantic wedding. Not something that I had ever dreamed of. We were only here because Miriam said she had always wanted to be married in St. Valentine's Cathedral.

Carl was wearing a black tux with bowtie that looked dashing on his well-formed muscular body and handsome looks. His clothing was easy, as he had no preference and picked the first one that caught his eye. The wedding dress that I wore however, forced me to go to three different wedding boutiques before the girls found something that matched my hair, my face and my newly formed boobs and ass. I almost strangled Anya to death when she used the 'assimilation gels' and turned me from a flat-chested and small-assed boy into a girl with C cup tits and ass that begged to be spanked. To fit my new body, the girls chose a lacy one-piece wedding dress with built-in push up bra that forced a very obvious cleavage under my low cut chest area. As for the length, the skirt was very long. At first I was worried that I would trip on the skirt and embarrassed myself. When Anya promised to help hold the train, I was a little glad.

I've always wanted to get married. I just never imagined that I was going to be the one to wear the wedding gown. A wedding gown and a pair of clear plastic high-heels.

The voice of the priest woke me from my recollections. "Do you, Jane Larssen, take Carl Miller as your lawfully wedded husband?"

I looked at Carl. He was smiling so dreamily, as if this was the best day of his life. How could I have the heart to break that angelic smile? "I do," I said to the priest.

"Then I proclaim you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," the priest said as he gestured for us to turn to each other.

"Wait, we have to kiss?" I asked.

"Eh?" Carl made a shocked sound.

"I suppose if you don't want to, it's fine. But if you love each other, I believe that's what you want to do?" the priest said as he was taken aback by my question.

"Oh believe me, we love each other very much," Carl said as he put his fingers around my chin, pulling it a little so my face looked up to his as he lowered his lips on mine.

The world disappeared from my mind as his lips touched mine softly, then urgently as our lips mashed together. The smacking sound of our lips and the moans from my throat the only sound I heard as our tongues touched each other, dancing inside our mouths. It was only when I heard the sounds of clapping and cheering did I opened my eyes and our lips separated, with only our saliva connecting our lips. I didn't realize I had put my arms around his neck as my face blushed in embarrassment.

"We're very much in love, father. She's just shy about kissing in public," he explained as he carried me down from the aisle in his arms.

"Time to throw the bouquet, Jane," he whispered.

I didn't even look where I threw it. I just threw, until I heard the priest's cry of pain. Apparently I threw the bouquet of flowers directly at his face. He said thank you for the flowers and put it to one side as he called for the next couple. Besides us, there were about twenty other couples, probably elopers. We waited until the others were done with their weddings before we went outside, my hand never leaving Carl's.

"Alright, so we're all happily wedded men and women now. So what's next?" Carl asked once we were gathered outside the cathedral, still in our wedding attire.

"We go to the registration center, show our wedding certificate and get our IDs," Nanako stated.

"Guys before we go, I must say that we can't thank you enough for being here with us. The whole student council should've been here. Annamarie was supposed to be Miriam's maid of honour. Calvin was supposed to be my best man. We couldn't have them here, but having you guys here is a godsend nonetheless. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart," Yannick said as we all hugged them one by one.

"I think I speak for all of us, that we're glad to be here, Yannick, Miriam," Carl said as he gave Yannick a manly hug.

"We still have a problem though," I said as I disengaged from Miriam, "What do we do about Anya?"

Everyone's eyes were on Anya.

"Oh you worry too much, mommy. I'll be fine," Anya said as she typed something into her tablet.

It was about half an hour later that we understood why she said that she'd be fine.

"Anya, you're my daughter!" I exclaimed as I saw Anya Miller being listed as my 8 year old daughter. Oh by the way, I was listed as being 18. So I gave birth to Anya at 10?

"Of course! We look a little alike, aren't we?" Anya said as she looked at me with her doe-like eyes.

Apparently, one of Anya's skill was hacking into government networks. Made me wonder why she didn't just hack into the government network and gave us identification in the first place. Or was she enjoying seeing me getting married to Carl?

Regardless, it worked. Soon after the policemen at the exits checked our IDs, they let us go. Of course, we had to separate into couples, with Anya sitting behind me to avoid suspicion from having a group of recently wedded teens on a 'wanted' hoverbike leaving together. We could still see each other though, with me being in front, Yannick and Miriam a couple vehicles behind and Yuu and Nanako a little further behind. And no, I changed before we rode out, I did NOT wear my white wedding gown through the police checkpoint.

We met at the park just outside the city. We got onto our hoverbikes once we confirmed each other's identity, except for Yannick and Miriam, who were not aware of such methods. We decided that we'd have to get Yannick and Miriam their own tattoos on our next stop, IF we ever stopped.

Yuu took the first pilot assignment that day as the rest of us programmed our hoverbikes to travel in a single column behind Yuu, following his trail.

Mirialis Corvette, here we come!

"Hyaaahhhh!!!!" Jennifer Carter, former student of Sacred Soul Academy's Special Advanced class, screamed in pain. Around her head was a helmet, very much like the one she once wore before her escape from the academy, except this one was even more severely modified.

On the screen in front of her, pictures of the academy flickered, together with a hundred other pictures of her life at the academy. This helmet wasn't made to improve her intelligence. This helmet was made to take whatever information she was thinking and display it on the screen in front of her.

"What is your objective," a man with glasses holding a staff that looked like a cattle prod asked.

Jennifer Carter knew from experience that the prod wasn't ever meant for cattle. No cow could withstand the pain from the pain prod. Yes, pain prod, it was the name she coined for the staff.

"What is your objective!" the man repeated as he jammed the pain prod into her belly, sharp end first.

Jennifer Carter screamed as a hundred images appeared on the display screen. Though the information was so well protected, it had been eluding them for the past two days. Jennifer Carter, formerly self-proclaimed class princess and the beloved daughter of James Carter, owner of the largest tech firm in New York, had been tortured for two whole days since her capture.

"What is your objective?" the man said as he jammed the sharp end into Jennifer Carter's stomache again, causing pain that transcended skin, transcended nerves. She felt it even in her organs as her body glowed yellow with yellowish light shining from her eyes, her mouth, her ears and her wounds.

As the display screen in front of her cycled through a hundred images, a single image caught in her eye. She wondered if Josh was alive. She wondered if Josh managed to escape. She hoped Josh had escaped. As the picture of Igor and Olga appeared on the display screen, she wondered if Igor and Olga managed to escape, of if they were also captured like her.

"What is your objective?" the man shocked her again with the pain prod.

She screamed as she remembered her daddy. In her pain, she called for him, for her father, the only person who loved her unconditionally. The only man who had been with her all throughout her life.

"Isn't that James Carter? President of Skyfall Industries?" one of the men, a man in white doctor's uniform stepped into the light.

"Yeah, this girl here was his daughter," the glasses man poked her with the pain prod again as Jennifer screamed loudly.

"'Was' being the operative word," the man in white chuckled, "I received word that Washington City isn't actually their target."

"So what is their target?" the glasses man asked.

"No idea, that's what we want to find out from this monkey," the man in white said.

"Best of luck with that," he poked the prod into Jennifer again as she screamed herself hoarse, "Seems like the information is too well protected. I think if we want to find the secret, we need to find the device that created the wall in the first place."

"Assuming that the device was left at the academy, no chance of that. You just have to be more forceful, maybe," the man in white said.

"I've been trying," the man said as he prodded Jennifer Carter again, filling the room with a yellow light emitted from Jennifer's body. Jennifer screamed again, calling for her daddy over and over, like a mantra.

The man in glasses appeared lost in thought before he said, "So you want to talk to daddy then? How about we give her a chance?"

"No problem," the man in white made a call before he brought his cellphone forward, "He's on the line."

"Hello?" came a voice from the phone as soon as the man in glasses brought it to Jennifer's ear.

"Daddy?" Jennifer said when she heard the voice in the phone.

"Who?"

"Daddy, it's Jenny. Please daddy, please save me. These horrible men, they tortured me, daddy. They beat me, they cut me up and they tortured me, daddy... please save me..." Jennifer Carter cried for the first time today.

"Look kid, I don't know who you are, but if you're looking for some kind of ransom, then you made a mistake. I don't have a daughter."

"No daddy! It's me, it's me! Jenny! I'm your daughter Jenny!" she yelled into the phone as the glasses man prodded her with the pain prod again, making her scream into the phone.

"As I said, kid, I don't have a daughter. If that little act was meant to get sympathy points from me, obviously you don't know me that well. Just give up."

"Daddy..." Jennifer Carter sobbed, "Please save me, please save me, daddy."

"Stop acting kid. You won't get a dime from me. Don't call me again," the voice in the phone said as he hung up.

"Daddy..." Jennifer cried.

The two men laughed as they high-fived each other above her body. Then the man in white said, "Seriously, girl, we put you into his brain. What makes you think we can't get you out of his brain in the same way?"

"Just tell us what we want to know and maybe we'll reunite you with you 'daddy'," the glasses man said with a laugh as he high-fived the other man again.

"Daddy..." Jennifer whispered.

"Well, now that you know we can do that, how about just tell us what we need to know?" the glasses man poked her a little deeper into her stomache.

Jennifer Carter, former queen bee of the academy. Formerly class princess and the beloved daughter of the wealthy billionaire James Carter made a scream of pain for the last time. As her body surrendered to the torture, her mind shut down. Her organs shut down as her body lost its will to live. Her soul, feeling the biggest betrayal of its life, escaped her tortured body. Jennifer Carter, formerly respected, envied, wanted, had become nothing more than a corpse in a dirty room.

*As usual, please leave me your feedbacks and comments. Praises helps me write faster, constructive criticisms helps me to write better. Thank you for your support.
**For those who only started reading. this will be one of my first entry into Kindle, if it ever got completed. If this book sells well, it will also likely be my cousin's entry to Hollywood. So I would very much appreciate your help. If this works, I may even force my cousin to add bigcloset to the credits for the movie. Who knows.

My name is John Harolds. I was a junior at the Sacred Soul Academy, a prestigious academy that churned out hundreds of alumni who would one day become the pillars of society. Something happened that year. My classmates and I became involved with something big that could threaten the very social order of the world we lived in and we ended up being hunted by the police, the military and everyone we had ever trusted. This is the story of the greatest escape of our lives. What if you were told that the life you had led was all a big fat lie? At last, after days of being on our own, we finally found four of our classmates. But were they really who they claimed they were? Escape! Chapter 5 By Shinieris

"So Miriam, how did you escape from the academy?" Nanako asked through the comm system.

We had just passed by San Diego City, on our way to Mineshaft 6, near Los Angeles City. We had travelled about 2000 kilometres so far and it seemed like we were making good time. The arrangement worked. Yuu took the first 6 hours of leading the trail. Then it was Carl's turn before it became my turn. In a couple of hours it would be Nanako's turn.

"Yeah, how did you escape, Miriam? You told us that the academy got nuked shortly after we left, right?" I asked through the comm.

"Same way you did. Only that when we arrived, you guys had already left," Miriam's replied through the comm.

"How? You yourself collapsed the tunnel right after we left," I asked as I watched Anya rolling left and right on my hoverbike's left floor.

There wasn't enough space on the seat for both of us, unless if we wanted to sleep sitting up the whole way to Mineshaft 6. So it was decided between us that she, being smaller, would sleep on the floor of the hoverbike, between the actual bike and the wall of protective egg that surrounded us, with a foam bed that we bought in Chicago City as her mattress. I would sleep on the hoverbike proper on my back, with my legs on either side of the bike so that I wouldn't fall when the hoverbike's autopilot make sudden turns following the lead bike.

"There were two other tunnels that lead to the warehouse. We took one of it," Miriam answered.

"But there was only one door inside the warehouse," Nanako argued.

"The other two routes were less direct. The one we took lead us to a cave about a hundred metres from the warehouse. When we arrived at the warehouse, there was nobody else. We took the last two hoverbikes and left as quickly as we could. The academy exploded behind us, and we barely had enough distance to escape the blast."

"What did you do after that?" Nanako asked.

"We went to London City. Listened to gossips, had some dinner and went to withdraw all our money from the bank. Strange really. I swore we put 50,000 dollars into our backpacks, but it wasn't there when we looked for it. It's really strange."

Both Nanako and I knew exactly what happened to their money. 50,000 dollars went to Anya. The rest was split among all five of us. Of course, neither of us had any intention of telling her about what happened to their money. There was absolutely no reason to tell them about how we conveniently stole their money because we didn't think they were still alive.

"So what did you do afterwards?"

"Wandered around a bit. Trying to find out what happened to the class. Did you know that Sophie Beauchamp and Frances Vinot died trying to save Sophie's little sister?"

"We guessed. Not hard to guess really, seeing how they idiotically went back to the academy," Nanako said.

"You have to understand from their point of view, Nanako. Emilia Beauchamp is Sophie Beauchamp's only sister. If it is within your power, wouldn't you try to save your family too?" Miriam said.

"That's just an excuse. Sophie has always been a crybaby who can't do anything herself. She always needs someone else with her, otherwise she'd be depressed and withdraws into a dark corner somewhere. No, Miriam, the reason she went back wasn't because Emilia was her sister, it was because she was afraid of being left alone," Nanako said, rather harshly.

"Well, maybe you're right. I do not know her personally, so I can't argue about her reasons or motivations."

"Would all of you please, SHUT UP!? Some of us are trying to sleep here," Yuu scolded through the comm.

"Fine fine, whatever you say, husband."

I could sense Nanako's smirk through the comm.

******

"Hey guys, wake up! Something's happening," Nanako's voice broke through the stillness of night. She had taken over leading the trail about two hours ago from me.

What is it now? I wondered as I woke up groggily from my uncomfortable sleep. Beside me, Anya also woke up, stretching her body causing popping sounds from her joints. Apparently neither of our beds provided comfortable sleep positions. That will change when we get the Mirialis Corvette. Oh to sleep on a real bed again.

We had stopped in a canyon somewhere some time after the sun had set. It was desolate, dusty and red all over. I couldn't be sure where we were exactly. There wasn't any landmark in range of the sensor. All the hoverbikes had stopped at the same time following Nanako's bike. Since the lead bike wasn't moving, the other hoverbikes didn't have a trail to follow. I stretched my own body as the protective silicate screen receded. From the corner of my eye, I saw Nanako slowly bringing her hoverbike down to ground level as she descended from a higher ground.

"Goddamn it, Nana! I just managed to get some sleep. What is it now?" Yuu complained through the comm.

"Where are we?" I asked through the comm.

"Mineshaft 1," Nanako stated.

"Amazing how that explains all the mysteries of the universe!" Carl said, sounding groggily sarcastic.

"The Minerology BBS stated that Mineshaft 1 was formerly a gold mining operation. The owners decided some years ago that the profit of taking out the gold could no longer justify the operating cost of material and labour. So they closed the mine and sealed the entrances with concrete. Some of the BBS old-timers believe that such measures were unnecessary as the gold left were at such a hard to reach place that it would've needed expensive and very specialized equipments to take the gold out safely. As of now, the mineshafts are considered federal property as the company that owned the mines went defunct some time after the closure of Mineshaft 9 and under trial for accounting fraud," Nanako explained.

"Wow, I can't believe I let you talk that much," Carl said.

"Nana, you haven't answered me! Where are we and why are we here?!" Yuu demanded.

"Push 80% power to sensors and go 100 metres due west, Yuu. You'll know why," Nanako said.

I could hear Yuu's grumbles through the comm as he rode his hoverbike 100 metres west. Suddenly he backed off and came back to us sounding panicked. "What the hell was that? I only came a little into range and I got over twenty sensor contacts! I bet there are a lot more beyond my sensor range."

"32 tanks of various types, two VTOL C-210 Shockdrop Troop Carriers, 8 ground support Co-42 VTOL Stealth Gunship, 110 tunnel crawler mines, 4 sensor cars, 1 command car and hundreds of soldiers wearing full combat armour. This doesn't look like an exercise or a drill, this is a real military operation," Nanako said, by now everyone had their protective silicates receded and we could talk directly.

"Where did you get those numbers from, Nanako?" Carl asked.

Nanako held up a pair of binoculars. "I looked. They don't even try to hide their base camp."

"Is this a blockade? Could they be looking for us?" Miriam said with a worried expression on her face.

"Unlikely, we're the only ones who know the route, not even you or Yannick know about the route we're taking. I think they're here for something else," Carl said.

Knowing Carl, he probably tried to comfort Miriam, who probably still remembered the military's attack on the academy. For the five of us, it was just something we watched on the display screen. For them, who actually fought in the battle of Sacred Soul Academy, they probably have suffered terrible trauma from being in the thick of battle.

"This is no good, we need more information. We can't be sure if they're really here for us or for something else. We can't even be sure if they don't already know we're here," Yuu stated.

"What should we do then?" Anya suddenly asked.

"Jane, how good are you with the hoverbike?" Yuu enquired.

"I ranked first in Hoverbike Handling and Maneuvering. I also won the race, remember?" I stated, feeling a little proud of the memory.

"Then I want you to push the sensors as high as you can and go out as scout. Nana, you will do the same, but since you were fourth in rank, your reconnaisance area will be smaller. Can you both do that?"

"Show us our areas," Nanako said.

Yuu looked back to his hoverbike and started a rough drawing of our recon areas. Mine were three times as big as Nanako's area, somewhere around 70,000 square kilometres, but I said, "Sure, no problem. I can handle it."

"Yeah, no problem," Nanako agreed.

"Good! Anya, can you hack into their network? We need information on why they're here, how long they'll be here and if they'll be getting any kind of reinforcements."

"Wait, hold on a minute. Who died and made you king?" Carl protested.

Yuu looked at Carl with a sharp glare. "Do you have a better idea?"

"No, it kinda irks me that you're barking orders, though," Carl stated.

"Then shut up and just do as you're told unless you have something useful to say, which you don't have at the moment. Until you can stop being a useless idiot, you will do as I say!"

There, that was the Yuu that I remembered from class. I earlier wondered when Yuu would revert to his verbally insulting attitude. Back in class, he would always, almost everyday, call someone an idiot, a bitch or an idiot bitch who wasted precious oxygen.

"Sure, leave it to me. Just one problem, I haven't charged my tablet since we left Chicago City, so the battery is kind of low."

"I thought you already charged your tablet before you left, Anya?" Nanako asked.

"Well, I've been using it a lot since we left Chicago City. I got an adapter, but the solar collector doesn't work at night," Anya explained.

"Excuse me? Have you forgotten that you've been sitting on a nuclear reactor for days?" Yuu asked.

Nanako interjected, "Technically, it's not a nuclear reactor. It's a thermal radiation differential-"

"I don't care. What I care about is can you do it, Anya?"

"What's gotten up your butt? Sure, I can do it. Lend me your bike," Anya said as she got down from my still hovering hoverbike with her tablet and the power adapters.

"You'll be okay here, Anya?" I asked.

"No problem," Anya said.

"I'm going then," I said as I raised the protective silicate layer.

"I'm going too. See ya later," Nanako said as we both sped off towards opposite directions.

"I want a sensor report every two minutes, guys," Yuu said through the comm as I left at top speed.

It was about half an hour and 16 non-existent sensor reports later that Yuu called us back to base. Apparently Anya had managed to break through into the military's information network without anyone noticing. Yuu told us to come back quickly, but stealthily, as the information they acquired concerned us all.

"Okay, what's the news?" I asked once I dropped the silicate screen protecting me from dangerous stray pebbles.

"What I actually want to know is, why does it take you half an hour to hack a network?" Nanako asked as she came to a sudden stop behind Yuu's hoverbike.

Anya shrugged. "The actual hacking took only one minute. Downloading all the data took four minutes and sorting the data took fourteen minutes. Finding out why they're here took about ten minutes. Verifying the information took another three minutes."

"You didn't have to be that precise," Carl remarked.

"Let's stop getting distracted, shall we? We found out why they're here," Yuu said followed with a pause.

Still a pause.

"And?" I asked when I saw that he wasn't going to say anything.

"Pay up," Yuu said with his hand extended towards Carl.

"Damnit, Jane!" Carl cursed as he handed Yuu a fifty dollar note.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"They had a bet on who would become impatient first," Yannick said with a chuckle.

I zapped both Yuu and Carl with my IL-52S. I thought by now they would have learned to be more serious. I zapped them again for good measure. That would teach them not to prank me again.

"Do you want to do it too, Nana?" I asked as I offered my particle wand to Nanako.

"Nah, I'm fine," Nanako giggled watching both her legally wedded husband and my legally wedded husband twitching on the ground.

"I thought you wouldn't do that again," Carl said as he climbed up his hoverbike with difficulty.

"Purely your assumption. I never said I wouldn't," I said as I set the particle wand's setting back to 'mild stun'.

"Should've added that to her wedding vow. To love, trust, cherish and to never zap me again," Carl muttered loud enough for me to hear.

"Hey, you have a problem with my wedding vow, then don't marry me in the first place!"

"Jokes aside," Yuu said as he held his still twitching left fingers, "We have a situation in Mineshaft 1. Good news is, they're not here for us and if we stay here, lay low, they will never know we're here. Now the bad news, our friends are in there and the military is waiting for orders to storm the tunnels."

"Wait, our friends? Which friends?" Nanako asked with eyes wide.

"Not sure. The reports didn't state any name, only that they have 'rebels who participated or were central to the bombing of Sacred Soul Academy' holed up inside the tunnels of Mineshaft 1," Yuu said, still trying to control his twitching fingers.

"And how did you come to the conclusion that they're our friends?" Nanako asked, a little calmer this time.

"I was the one who came to that conclusion, actually," Yannick said as he walked forward between Yuu and us. "You see, whenever news of the 'rebels who blew up Sacred Soul Academy' comes up, they always mentioned them as being students of the academy themselves. So by process of deduction, those inside Mineshaft 1 must be students of Sacred Soul Academy."

"That's just speculation," Nanako commented.

"Which is why we are in a quandary. Do we ignore them and try to find a way around the blockade, or do we assist them, hoping that they're really our friends?" Yuu stated.

"Wait, that's wrong! We should save them if they're in trouble. It doesn't matter if they're our friends or not. What if we're in their place? Won't we want to be saved too?" I said.

"If I ever got myself into that kind of hopeless situation, I will be more than happy to perform ritualized suicide," Yuu said as he pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.

"Jane, that kind of thinking will get you killed. Try to imagine what your sister would do," Miriam said with a sad face.

"I don't know what Anna would do, Miriam! I don't know Anna! Apart from from the occasional hugs and words of encouragement in the fencing club, we never had much contact! SO DON"T TELL ME TO IMAGINE WHAT ANNA WOULD DO!"

"Jane, I'm so sorry," Miriam apologized right before she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the water droplets near my eyes.

I didn't realize I had cried, in front of everyone. I felt so foolish, so weak. To promise myself that I wouldn't cry again, yet here I was, breaking the promise to myself. Anna was right, I have really always been a crybaby.

The sudden pressure around my body stopped my tears as I looked up at Carl's face. He had his arms wrapped protectively around me as he said, "Anna was a nice dream from the past, Jane. But I am here now, I will always be here for you."

I sagged a little inside his embrace. I held on to him, not knowing when my legs would give out. Thinking about Annamarie, about my sister, made me regret never spending more time with her, even back when she tried to spend time with me. Why couldn't I have been with her more often? To learn what she was like, to know her likes and dislikes, to go places with her, to enjoy time with my own flesh and blood sister. Why couldn't she tell me earlier, when we still had time?

"I'm voting for 'not helping'," I heard Nanako say.

I looked up and saw Yuu nodding.

Then Yuu said, "Majority rule, then. We won't be-"

"WAIT!" I shouted in Carl's arms, "What do you mean 'majority rule?'"

"There's seven of us. With Nana choosing 'not helping', we have a clear majority of five choosing to 'not help'. The only one who voted to help was Miriam," Yuu explained.

"Don't tell me..." I looked up at Carl, "You chose to not help them, Carl?"

Carl averted his eyes.

I broke free from Carl's arms and pushed him away from me. Pulling out the IL52S from my pants pocket, I said, "Carl, Anya, BLEED! NOW!"

Anya sighed as she picked up a sharp rock from the ground and pushed it deeply into her left wrist. It bled profusely before she licked the blood away and the wound disappeared. Carl then took out the pocket knife that I bought for him as a wedding present and slashed the back of his arm. It made a short gash on the back of his arm, which bled. I noticed Miriam looking on in worry.

"You, if you are real, why would you do this, Carl? You, who had always saved weak children who were being beaten or extorted. Why would you support this heartless decision?! And Anya, how could you be so heartless?"

Anya shrugged. "It's not like this is my first heartless decision. I've seen plenty of deaths, mommy. I'm not the innocent little girl you think I am."

I was stunned speechless by Anya's remark.

"Jane," Carl said as I diverted my attention towards him, "Things have changed. This isn't some backyard bullying anymore. We are facing the worst scums of the Earth, being paid to do the things they love doing the most. Many of these bastards..." Carl pointed at the general direction of the enemy, "... should've been sentenced to mandatory deaths. Instead, they chose military service. We are not facing BULLIES, we are facing MURDERERS, RAPISTS, PSYCHOTIC KILLERS, SERIAL KILLERS, the worst mankind has to offer! Unlike you, they do NOT have heart, Jane!"

I fell to my knees on the ground as my strength gave away. Just a few days ago, Carl and I were happily talking about what to eat for lunch. Just a week earlier, we played football on the same team and won the championship together. Now we were being forced to decide whether some people get to live with our help or die without our help. Without realizing it, my tears wet the ground under my face.

"I change my mind," Nanako said, making me look up at her, "I don't want to make a decision before I am sure whether or not these people are our friends. If they're some strangers, I say leave them in the army's hands. If they're our friends, then we have an obligation as former classmates to save them."

Suddenly it felt like Nanako was the coolest person among us, standing there saying such cool words.

"But even without you, we still have majority, Nana," Yuu stated.

"I don't care. If I don't have the answer to this, my conscience will eat me alive."

"You have a conscience?" Yuu asked as if it was the first time he thought that.

"Would you like me to show you my 'conscience', Yuu?" Nanako said as she pointed her IL52S at Yuu.

"Whoah, calm down, Nana! Don't even joke about that," Yuu said as let out a breath and said, "Actually we had thought about doing that, but nobody wanted to go."

"What do you mean?" Nanako asked.

"Show her, Anya," Yuu commanded.

Anya came forward and showed Nanako a general map of the area. I inched closer, trying to see what they were talking about. There were several markings on the map, the most significant being our location, enemy location and supposed 'friendly' location. There were also four blinking dots and something around it that moved in a circular pattern.

"Are those sensors?" Nanako asked, referring to the blinking dots and the things that moved in circles around them.

"Yes, those are the sensor cars that you spotted earlier. As you can see, their sensor radius..." Anya said as she pointed at the blinking dots, "... overlaps with the mines," Anya pointed at Mineshaft 1, "Which means that they can tell if anyone goes in or out of the mines."

"Is there another way in or out?" Nanako asked as she studied the map, which included a twenty year old outdated map of Mineshaft 1's tunnels.

"Not that we know of. Unless your friends at Minerology BBS can tell us any," Anya said.

"Not likely. Minerology BBS was shut down. The website owner was jailed for 10 years for owning a personal website. I never knew that owning a personal website was illegal before that. Anyway, can it be disabled?" Nanako asked.

"I can, but I won't. They will be able to tell if their sensors aren't working. I can turn off the sensing equipments and make the sensors display a recorded sensor data, though."

"So what's the problem? With Anya here, we can go in and out without anyone noticing us. Assuming of course that nobody's watching the mine entrances, with these sensors doing their jobs," Nanako asked.

"Because nobody wanted to do it. Many things can go wrong and none of us wants to get stuck over there," Yuu explained.

"Chicken wuss, every single one of you. I'm going, I'll make certain whether they're our friends or not. Then we decide what to do," Nanako said.

"No way, you're not going alone. What if it is a trap and you get switched over there? I'm not losing you," Yuu objected.

"Who else will go then? Since all of you are cowards, best if I go on my own," Nanako fumed.

Yuu swallowed his own spit before he said, "Guess I'll-"

"Jane, let's go," Nanako said.

"Eh? Me?"

"No! I'll go! If things go wrong, I don't want Jane to be stuck there!" Carl objected as he volunteered himself at the same time.

"You're the one who wanted to save them, Jane. Won't you risk your own neck?" Nanako taunted with a calculating gaze.

I thought about it, sure, the idea that I might be trapped there was daunting, but I wasn't all talk. If I wanted us to save them, then it was only fair that I risked my life to check it out myself. So with that in mind, I said, "Sure, let's go."

"Wait! Jane, you're not going. I won't let you!" Carl objected.

"Just because we're married, on paper, it doesn't mean you own me, Carl. Thanks for the concern, but I must do this," I said with a smile to Carl.

Anya looked at us as she sighed. "Guess nothing I say will change your minds. Very well, there's a trail near the mine entrances that is hidden from their sight. If you use that trail, they won't be able to see you even if they're looking. They've been depending on their sensor network to monitor that area."

"Great. You can start anytime you're ready, Anya," Nanako said.

"Shouldn't you guys be closer to that trail first before I hack their sensors?"

"No need to worry," Nanako said as she took out a disc-shaped thing from one side of her hoverbike, "We're going to use this. Yuu, give Jane your hoverdisc."

"You're going to use this?" Yuu asked as he produced his own disc and put it in front of me.

It was a metallic disc-shaped gadget about half a metre in diameter and 20 centimetre thick. It had something that looked liked nozzles at the bottom. At the top, it had two shoe-shaped depression, probably where where one was supposed to put their feet at. In front of the shoe-shaped depression, a cable connected the gadget to an inverted triangular device with buttons, probably the controller.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Hoverdisc. It's similar to our hoverbikes in that it uses the concept of ionocraft, utilizing the electrical phenomenon known as Biefeld-Brown effect. Hoverdiscs however are toys compared to our hoverbikes, something like a skateboard. It doesn't have its own power generator, relying entirely on battery power. It has shorter range, much slower than a hoverbike and can only carry one person," Nanako explained.

I stood on the hoverdiscs, placing my feet into the shoe-shaped depression. Then I picked up the inverted triangle device and pressed on. The hoverdisc hummed as the the indicators lighted up. Then I pressed a button that said 'clamp' as Nanako insisted and was painfully rewarded by something clamping down on my shoe and the feet within.

"Obviously you should be wearing hard boots when using this. Though the strength of the clamp can actually be adjusted," Nanako said as she instructed me how to adjust the clamping strength.

Then I raised the thrust level to '1', with no difference. I raised it up to '4' and the hoverdisc jumped to the air. It tilted to the left and before long, my left cheek was touching the ground with the hoverdisc pushing me deeper.

"Obviously, the reason it's not very popular is because there is a serious balancing issue," Nanako commented as she started her own hoverdisc and fell to the ground on her back, "Maybe we need to practice first."

Our practice lasted about 10 minutes, to which we were laughed at continuously for falling everytime we failed to balance ourselves. At some point Nanako told Yuu to show her how it was supposed to be done. Yuu refused, stating that he didn't want to be a laughing-stock. In the end, I managed to balance myself on the hoverdisc first. From then on, it was easy. Moving was a simple matter of leaning my body to the front, left, right or back, using methodical unbalancing to control the hoverdisc's downward thrust. Basically the key to moving was to lean to one side and when I want to slow down or brake, to lean to the opposite side. Moving at faster speed or higher elevation involved pushing the thrust to higher levels. Before long, I became a pro at hoverdisc control, much earlier than Nanako who was still struggling to get the hoverbike to move where she wanted it to move.

"Wow, this thing is amazing! Where did you get this?" I asked Nanako as I zipped past rocky outgrowths and jutting rocks at 180 kilometres per hour. If not for the goggles, I might have become blind from the tiny sand particles that dusted the trail. With no directional wheels, I could fly leftward, rightward, forward, even backward.

"Bought it in Chicago City. Remember that you, Carl and Anya went to buy food and we bought things we could turn into weapons?" Nanako answered, her long cloak given by the Shimizu twins billowing in the wind.

"Oh yes, did you get some weapons?" I said into my mouthpiece. If not for the mouthpiece, we would've probably choked ourselves full of sand particles everytime we open our mouths.

"We did, but we had to leave most of it behind," Nanako said as she barely avoided a boulder.

"Why?" I said as I turned around, flying backward on the hoverdisc.

"Obviously because we couldn't risk the police arresting us for suspicious purchases. The stuff we bought would raise too much alarm eventhough they didn't check us thoroughly. Jane, would you please slow down?"

"I am slowing down, see, I'm going backwards," I giggled a little into the mouthpiece.

"Are you trying to pick a fight? Anyway, we're here," she declared as we slowed down and came to a gentle hover in front of one of the tunnel entrances into Mineshaft 1. The tunnels here looked big enough for two of our hoverbikes to enter side by side.

We entered the tunnel slowly and cautiously. We didn't take off the hoverdiscs as we feared that it might have been a trap and having the hoverdiscs already equipped would make our escape much quicker. So with our IL52S in hand, set to 'deflector mode', we slowly and silently crept deeper into the dark tunnels with the only light coming from the crystal nozzle of our IL52S particle wands.

Suddenly, my deflector fired its deflector particles, meeting another particle beam midway and completely negated it. "Nana, someone's firing at us!"

"I know!" Nanako said as we had our backs to each other. I went to the back, raising my particle wand to stop any attacks from the rear, while she stood still, protecting our front.

"I am Fujisawa Nanako! If you know who I am, then come out where I can see you," Nanako called to the darkness.

"Nana?" came a high pitched, slightly nasal voice from our right.

"Is that really you?" said a boyish voice from the tunnel to our front. Suddenly a very bright light shone, blinding us for a second.

"No way! Nana!" the same high pitched, slightly nasal voice screamed as something flew out from the darkness and into Nanako's arms.

"Runa!" Nanako exclaimed.

The missile that flew out from the darkness was none other than Runa Kobayashi, seat number 23. Runa Kobayashi or otherwise known as Ruru was our school's celebrity as well as our class brat. She was the youngest of all of us in class, with the exception of Anya, and seemed to enjoy being pampered by both boys and girls. She was also the shortest in our class, her legs barely reached the hoverbike's paddle and footrest. I couldn't imagine how such a small and spoiled girl could have survived for days in these tunnels.

"Nana, I missed you!" Runa said as she hugged Nana around her waist.

"Runa... how have you been?" Nanako asked, her facial expression softened as she rubbed Runa's head.

It was at that time that we heard shuffling footsteps and from the darkness of the tunnels, three other forms appeared. Rahman Ibrahim, our second best sniper and expert in martial arts. Salmah Ibrahim, touted as a genius engineer who had already made a small fortune selling her inventions in the open market. Olga Karovka, language enthusiast, speaker of twenty dialects and already created her own secret language equipped with all the necessary grammar and about 2000 vocabularies. There was a rumour that Olga was scouted by the government to create an unbreakable secret code, to which she refused.

"Where's Ken?" Nanako asked when she saw everyone. "Did you switch places with Ken, Olga?"

"Ken, he was..." Olga's voice were drowned by Runa's cries.

"Ken's dead, Nana! Ken's dead!" Runa cried into Nanako's chest.

Ken Matsuzaki was probably the nicest guy in our class, with Carl being a close second. He always tried to help everyone who was in need, probably why he was always at odds with class diva Jennifer Carter, insecure class representative Igor Krazinsky and class bully Michael Williams. He adored Runa Kobayashi and treated her as both an adorable little sister and cherished lover. They were always so close that I often wondered if they weren't actually blood related.

"What happened?" Nanako asked.

"We were careless. We didn't fully understand the danger we were in. We didn't take what the president said to heart. We didn't understand. We thought he wasn't serious. How were we to know?" Rahman said with his eyes to the floor.

"It was my fault!" Salmah cried as she fell to her knees with her hands covering her crying face.

"Neither of you are giving me any answer. I know it's hard, but please explain properly. We don't have much time," Nanako said as she rubbed the back of the crying Runa's head.

"I didn't believe the president. I thought he was exaggerating. I didn't believe him. I didn't want to believe it!" Salmah sobbed.

By this time I could feel Nanako becoming impatient.

"She went back home!" Runa cried.

"Who went back home?" I asked, by now we had both cut power to the hoverdiscs and stepped off.

"I did. I went back home. I didn't want to believe him. I went back, and mom and dad welcomed me back. They told me that they missed me, told me to stay for as long as I wanted. I knew they were acting weird, but I didn't know!" Salmah said as she wiped her tears with her dust-covered sleeves.

"It was a trap," Rahman said as he slung the IL50 particle rifle that Carl gave him a few days ago on his left shoulder, "Salmah's parents were already brainwashed to forget her and they were told to contact the military the moment we arrived. They didn't even hesitate to contact them. Within a couple of hours, the house was surrounded by Inquisitors. We had to surrender, we had no choice."

Then Salmah, still sobbing, said, "I couldn't believe it. To think that my mom and dad would sell me out. But when I confronted them, they said that they didn't know me, that they never had a daughter. They said the military knew we were coming and told them to protect the neighbourhood from us 'rebels'. They even got to my parents... the president was right. I didn't listen and because of that, Ken was killed!"

"Ken was out for groceries at that time. When he came back, the house was already surrounded and we were unable to escape. Instead of running away, Ken came charging in with his hoverbike, running over every one of those Inquisitors who were out in the open. We took that chance to escape. Ken promised he would follow, but he never did," Rahman said.

"Then how do you know he's dead?" Nanako asked.

"I saw them shoot him, with a needler. Ken was always a terrible rider. He couldn't have survived," Rahman explained.

"And you just left? You didn't even bother trying to save him?!" Nanako scolded.

"I wanted to save him. You think I didn't? But against that many, I wouldn't be able to do anything. At most it will just claim another life."

"Coward," Nanako spat as Rahman looked down at his feet.

I couldn't help by think, Now that Ken is gone. How will Runa cope? She has always been childish and needy. How will she continue without Ken by her side?

"So how did you come into the picture?" Nanako asked as she turned her attention towards Olga.

"I got separated from Jenny, Josh and Igor when our camp was stormed by the Inquisition. Jenny was captured and I don't know what happened with Josh and Igor. I barely escaped with my life that night. If not for this group, I would've bite the dust. I was interrupted during my sleep, lost my provisions and had to ride day and night to escape their chase. Rahman took care of the two inquisitors who chased me. If not for him, I probably would have been captured. That was yesterday."

So she was in the same group as queen bee Jennifer Carter. her boyfriend Joshua Collins and class representative Igor Krazinsky?

"She got injured. I bandaged her. Did I do a good job, Nana?" Runa said as Nanako and I noticed for the first time the white bandage covering blonde Olga's stomache.

Amazing. The bandage looks so clean. There are dust stains all over, but that's expected of anyone staying in a cave since yesterday. But there's no blood stain, I never knew Runa was such a good medic.

Nanako looked at the bandage with critical eyes before she smiled and rubbed Runa's head. "That was a very good job, Runa. Maybe you're useful after all."

"How mean, I'm always useful," Runa pouted, her eyes red from crying.

"So what do you all plan to do now? You do know there's a whole bunch of army men with their toys outside, right?" I asked.

"Of course, we all want to leave, but as you just mentioned, there's a whole bunch of army men outside. We came here thinking that there might be a back door, a secret passage we could escape from and throw them off our trail. We haven't found anything like that yet," Rahman said.

"Still, you can't stay here forever. If you had looked at the army camped outside, you would know that they're about ready to strike," Nanako commented.

"Of course we know that. We've hired mercenaries to disrupt their supply lines and kill off their reinforcements. We've been waiting for an opportunity to escape in the confusion."

"Where did you find mercenaries?" I asked, a little shocked that they could fine guns for hire, before another question popped into my mind, "And why didn't you ask them to bust you out?"

"I knew some paramilitary groups. As for why, we didn't have enough money. Say, I've been meaning to ask, who are you?"

"Well, that's kinda complicated. You see, everyone calls me 'Jane' now, but you used to know me as John Harolds." I said as I took off both the goggles and the mouthpiece, "Looks familiar?"

"But you look like Annamarie Hudson!" Olga said.

"Annamarie was my sister," when I saw their faces at that revelation, I said, "Apparently we were abducted together. This form is a camouflage, since Annamarie was afraid that people will be suspicious of two boys of marriable age travelling around with all these chaos in the air."

"Couldn't you do that without the breasts? It's bigger than mine!" Runa questioned as she compared my breasts with hers.

"You don't want this. It hurts my back after a few hours of putting it on!"

"You! Are you trying to pick a fight? It's like a billionaire complaining that he doesn't know what to spend his money on!" Runa yelled.

"Uh well, anyhow, this will take too long to explain. I'll tell you some other time. So Rahman, what does not having enough money have to do with not being able to tell them to bust you out?" I said, changing the subject back to the previous one.

"Between us, we only had 190,000 dollars. It wasn't enough for any mercenary group to risk their own necks assaulting an army encampment for. We settled for the only thing we could afford, we paid them to harrass their reinforcements and destroy their supply lines. We've been watching for any signs of chaos within their ranks, but nothing so far. Then you guys arrived," Rahman said with a little curious end note.

"Yea, how did you manage to pass through the army blockade, Nana? They had the whole place under sensor surveilance," Runa asked.

For some reason Nanako didn't answer, so I said, "There's an old mining trail that is hidden from their sight. As for the sensors, we hacked-"

Suddenly Nanako slapped my face very hard causing me to fall to the ground.

"What? Why did you slap me, Nana?" I exclaimed.

"You stupid idiot!" Nanako scolded with a face full of fury.

"Wait, what did I do?" I asked as I got up on one knee.

"You have absolutely no idea what you have done, idiot!" she scolded as she took out something that looked like a small cellphone, "Yuu, can you hear me?"

"Nana, is that you? Thank goodness! We didn't hear from either of you for over half an hour. We were worried," Yuu said through the static.

"Nanako, is Jane with you?" I heard something that sounded like Carl's voice from the other side.

"Yes, your precious wife is fine. Her left cheek may sting for the next few hours, though," Nanako said.

"Wife?" all four of our friends in the cave asked at the same time.

"I'll tell you later," I whispered.

"Wh-what the hell did you do with Jane?!" Carl became hysterical.

"Your stupid wife just idiotically blurted out everything. Maybe I should punish her a bit. Oh by the way, Yuu, there someone I need you to speak with," Nanako said as she called Olga.

Olga came forward and took the phone from Nanako, saying, "Hello?"

It was at that very moment that I saw a glint of steel from under Nanako's cloak. I noticed too late that it was the curved knife that the Shimizu twins gave her. All I could see, was the glint of the blade and all I could hear, was the gasping sound from Olga's mouth. It happened too fast for any of us to see clearly, and it happened too fast for any of us to react. When we finally understood what happened, Runa had already let out a scream that could wake the dead.

"What... the... fuck?" Olga said as she tried to breath.

"How dare you breathe the same air as me, shapeshifter," Nanako said as she took the phone from Olga's weak hands.

"Nana, what's going on?" Yuu asked from the other side. Obviously he heard Runa's scream through the phone.

"Nothing honey, just taking care of a filthy spy. Andy was right, you really can't trust your own friends," Nanako said.

"You... how? When?" Olga, or the shapeshifter her asked as she gripped Nanako's arms. There was no blood pouring out from the wound in her stomache. Instead, there was a pungent smell like a cat's urine.

"You made a mistake of letting Runa bandage you, shapeshifter. If you have Olga's memories, shouldn't you know that Runa's terribly bad at first aid? Ah, then again, maybe you don't know that. Olga has always been in Jenny's clique, right? So it's not your fault that this oversight happened," Nanako said as she pushed the curved knife straight up Olga's body, making a long cut up to Shapeshifter Olga's collarbones.

"Too late, human. I have already told them that you hacked the sensors. You will die here together with your friends with no chance of escape," Shapeshifter Olga croaked as her body started smoking.

Nanako instead took out her particle wand and set it to 'vaporize mode'. "You talk too much for a shapeshifter. Not to mention you stink of piss too," Nanako said as she fired a particle beam at Shapeshifter Olga, completely destroying her at the molecular level.

"What... just happened?" I asked.

"That was a shapeshifter, Jane. Have you forgotten what Jimmy said? They don't bleed and they can copy a person's lifetime memories. The real Olga is probably already in their hands. I wonder when we will see Shapeshifter Jenny or maybe we'll see another Shapeshifter Olga in the future," Nanako said with a dispassionate voice.

"Stop! Please, how could you kill our friend like that?" I asked as I saw her went to each of them and cut a little of their skin.

"Shapeshifters aren't our friends, Jane. Get that into your skull! They enslaved our race and have no trouble with capturing us and torturing us. I bet the shapeshifters are torturing Olga and Jenny even now. I don't intend on suffering the same fate. Do you?"

"Nana! What is the situation there?" Yuu asked through the phone.

Nanako raised the phone to her ear and said, "Killed a shapeshifter, nothing you need to worry about. We got Rahman, Salmah and Runa here. Ken is most likely already dead. But there's a good news, they hired mercenaries but didn't have enough money to get them to bust them out. You think we can do something about it?"

"Mercenaries? Depending on their capabilities, maybe we have a chance after all. Who's in charge over there?" Yuu said, sounding slightly excited.

Nanako looked at our three friends and threw the phone at Rahman, telling him to talk to Yuu. As if in a daze, Rahman put the phone to his ears, nodded and said yes a few times before he gave Yuu a set of numbers, probably the mercenaries' contact number. When he was done, he handed the phone back to Nanako.

"Nana, come back. I've already told him what I want them to do. We need you and Jane here. Meanwhile I'll start negotiating with the mercenaries," Yuu said.

"That may be a problem. Ask Anya if she can still hack the sensors," Nanako said.

There was a commotion and some yelling voices from the other side, before Yuu said, "Anya said you have to stay there. She can no longer hack the sensors because the military has completely cut off all outside connection with the sensor network. The only way she will be able to hack right now would be if she access the mainframe directly, which is not an option. Stay there, we'll think of something."

"No need. We'll come back soon. I'm sending Jane ahead," Nanako said as she stacked my hoverdisc on top of hers.

"Wait! Nanako, are you trying to sacrifice Jane so you can escape?" Carl said from the other side.

"Calm down, Carl. I'm going to give Jane my hoverdisc too. She'll be able to get out of the army's sensor range before they're ready to chase her. After that, she'll just have to skirt around their camp and she'll arrive at our base without a scratch," Nanako explained as she pressed some buttons and the two hoverdiscs connected together, before telling me to get on it like normal.

"Will it work? Sure, the speed will be doubled, but it will be like riding a wild horse. Will she be able to handle it?" Yuu asked.

Nanako looked at me before she said, "Sure, Annamarie said she's the ultimate pilot, right? Time for us to trust her with what she does best."

"Another question then," Yuu asked again, "How will YOU get back?"

"Why, I'll be walking of course."

"Don't be stupid! Stay there, I'll get you out!"

"Relax, my dear husband. I need you to check something for me. Go to my bike and take my binoculars. I need you to confirm whether they're all wearing full combat armour."

About three minutes later, Yuu called back, saying, "Yes, all the troopers are wearing full combat suits. The only exceptions I think are those in the command car, but they seem content with staying inside. What's this about?"

"Thanks, that's all I need to know. As I am right now, I can just walk through their camp and nobody will notice me."

"Wait, you're not seriously going to do that! There's no need to commit suicide!"

"My dear husband, this isn't an attempt at suicide. In fact, you can call me God right now," she said as she cut the transmission and handed the phone to Rahman.

"Go, we'll meet at Basecamp," she said as she tied her cloak together and covered her head with the hood.

"Don't die, Nana," I said as we went our separate ways.

I arrived in less than 10 minutes, the soldiers didn't even bother chasing me. Yuu had connected the binocular to our hoverbikes and we watched on the display as Nanako made her way alone through the enemy camp. It was amazing, she simply walked in through the main entrance, waiting behind a fully armoured soldier for the door to open, as the soldiers made no motion to stop her. A few times she even walked up to a few soldiers, yet they didn't seem to notice. She did not miss a step as she walked deeper into the enemy camp. She strode purposely and without fear weaving her way around oncoming patrolling soldiers, like the God she said she was. Many times, soldiers not in combat armour saw her but was cut down by her long curved knife before they could do anything or alert anyone, leaving the army's military police wondering what happened to their people. When she finally walked out of the enemy's camp, I thought that maybe she really was God. It was an hour after we separatet that Nana arrived at Basecamp.

"She's a shapeshifter! She must be a shapeshifter! How else did she managed to walk through the enemy camp without a scratch on her!" Miriam accused, she looked hysterical, probably terrified of Nanako.

"I'm not a shapeshifter," Nanako said as she cut her palm with her still bloody knife, causing blood to spill to the ground.

"No, she must be, how else can she still live after walking through their camp?" Miriam said as she pointed her particle wand at Nanako. I noticed that although the design was similar, it wasn't IL52S, probably the type M or K?

"If you still don't believe me, then shoot me!" Nanako challenged.

Miriam pressed the button to fire, but try as she might, she couldn't get the weapon to fire. "What's wrong? Why won't it shoot?" Then she point the nozzle upwards as if to inspect it and accidentally almost shot a hole through her head when the particle wand fired.

"As you can see, you can't target me. As long as I wear this cloak, sensors can't see me. I don't know how, but the Shimizu twins definitely weaved this cloak with a special material that absorbs or deflects radio waves or any kind of waves that sensors use," Nanako explained.

"But how could you walk through the enemy camp without being stopped?" Carl asked.

"Because they're using the standard army headgear. It's powered by the same technology in use in sensors. It gives them perfect sight and provides superior target acquisition. Unfortunately, that same technology made them susceptible to this cloak's stealth properties. So they couldn't see me. They could probably still hear footsteps, but as Yuu knows, I can easily sneak around people without making a sound," she said with a satisfied smile.

"So if everyone's done doubting Nana, shall we get to planning the battle?" Yuu said as he made a call to someone called 'Cheetah'.

"Aren't you even slightly worried that maybe your wife is a shapeshifter?" Carl asked.

"Nah, Nana has always been unpredictable. She only acts meek but as I said, she has no conscience. By the way, don't do that again, Nana."

"Yes sir!" Nana joked as a man in military fatigue walked up into our basecamp with a big roll of e-paper.

All of us quickly drew our particle wands, with the exception of Yuu. He told us to stand down and that he was expecting him. Then he introduced us to the man, codenamed Cheetah, leader of the mercenary unit that Rahman and company hired. Apparently Yuu made a very juicy deal with them, something about taking most of the spoils. However, it seemed like it wasn't enough, they agreed to attack the enemy camp, but refused to suffer unnecessary risks. So we had to be the spearhead, and since we didn't want to die, we had to design a strategy where we minimize the risk to the mercenaries while at the same time making sure that none of us died.

Personally, I was worried of this plan. What if we spearheaded the assault, got ourselves deep into enemy territory, but the mercenaries didn't come? What would we do then? Regardless, I kept silent. It seemed the master strategist Yuu accepted this guy, even Nanako who's pretty sharp at times had nothing to say. I didn't want to cause doubt when we needed to trust each other the most.

It took them some time to come to an agreement. In the end, it was a strategy that satisfied neither side, but was a viable one without putting too much risk on either side. Yuu disliked it because if something went wrong, we could all end up captured. The mercenary captain disliked it because it put too much weight on his band of mercenaries and he didn't like the idea that his men would be taking that much risk. In the end, both of them agreed to the plan, despite the enemy army outnumbering us 4 to 1.

At midnight, the first ever real battle of our lives begun.

"Cavemen, are you ready?" Yuu asked through the hoverbike's comm.

We had already gotten onto our own hoverbikes, in anticipation for combat. We were to be the spearhead, the Lancers. Our task was to create confusion in the enemy's ranks, to prevent an effective counterattack. We wanted to leave Anya behind along with our non-essential gear, thinking that her skills as a hacker would be useless in battle. Anya vehemently refused, and so it was decided that she would sit behind Yuu and provide rear protection for our battle commander.

"Ready, sir!" Rahman, a former gaming partner of Yuu replied. He was to lead the Cavemen, whose tasks would be to assasinate key leadership of the enemy and deprive them of leaders to rally to.

"Tigers, are you ready?" Yuu asked the mercenaries through the comm.

"Ready, sir," Cheetah replied. His mercenaries' tasks were to provide cover for our retreat. After which, they were to pummel the enemy encampment with their 6 tanks and mop up the remainder of the enemy with their hoverbike squads.

"Lancers, are you ready?" Yuu asked as all of us raised the shields on our sides and back. Yuu kept the shield on his back lowered, so Anya could provide cover for his back with her IL52S.

"Ready, general," Nanako joked as she lined up on Yuu's left.

"Ready op!" Carl said, as he lined up to Yuu's right.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" I said as I charged the hoverbike's repellant coils and lined up to Carl's right. At the same time, I turned on the IL52S strapped to the front of my hoverbike and set it to 'deflector mode', with its processing power boosted by the hoverbike's CPU. I looked at the force grenade that Carl shared with each of us, clipped to my hoverbike and then I looked at Carl. He noticed me looking at him, so I offered him a smile, to which he returned it with his own sweet smile.

"Ready as always," Yannick said as he lined up next to Nanako.

"I am ready," Miriam said as she lined up next to Yannick.

"Cavemen, have at them!" Yuu ordered.

One unmanned hoverbike rushed out of the caves, ending in an explosion which blew open the camp's entrance on the cave's side wide open. Following it closely were two other unmanned hoverbikes, launched only 3 seconds later. The hoverbikes used their integrated pathfinding processors to weave their way through throngs of confused soldiers. One reached its objective of exploding against the army's command vehicle. The other was fired upon nearing its objective, the entrance that faced our location. Without an evasion program, the hoverbike was hit by every particle streams fired at it causing it lose its hover capabilities and skidded on the ground. Despite that, it achieved its task, for a hoverbike could feel no pain nor suffering. Once the sensors determined that it was within the designated area, the processor delivered a command which caused the reactor to cease containment and exploded against the entrance, blowing it wide open.

"Lancers, gogogo!" Yuu commanded as together within a single line, we charged down the decline towards the enemy camp.

The distraction was adequate, but it didn't do its job as well as we hoped. Junior officers of the enemy quickly took over control of their army when they spotted our approach. The soldiers quickly formed a defensive line against us while waiting for an order from their officers. Yet, our minds were made up, we continued our approach.

"Cavemen, I need that officer taken out!" Yuu ordered.

"Roger!" Rahman said as he sniped at the junior officers one after another. Then he proceeded to snipe at the soldiers in the defensive line, causing some of them to turn around to locate the threat.

"Lancers! Charge!" Yuu ordered as we rushed their defensive line.

The soldiers, confused at the lack of orders, hesitated for a few seconds. Then someone fired, and the others followed suit. Within seconds, hundreds of particle pulses came our way like a rain of light, fired in full automatic. Our particle wands performed its job well. Together, all 8 of our particle wands, of which two was Yuu's, cancelled every one of the particle pulses. Nanako's modification that programmed the particle wands to ignore shots that wouldn't hit us greatly increased its effectiveness.

"AT weapons!" I exclaimed, seeing the soldiers taking out anti-tank cannons and rifles.

"Too late!" Carl commented right before our hoverbikes smashed apart their defensive line.

"Level them!" Yuu ordered as we ran over the soldiers with our hoverbikes.

Whenever we encountered clumps of enemy soldiers, we threw the force grenades to great effect. Anya meanwhile, fired her IL52S at soldiers who tried to get back to their feet or tried to shoot at us. It didn't do much good against their full armour, but it was enough to stun them for a few seconds before our hoverbikes ran over them again.

"Lancers, go deeper!" Yuu ordered once we managed to run over every armoured soldiers in sight.

And so we proceeded to run over every soldiers, in every alley, every clearing and outside every tents until a lucky shot from the back hit Nanako's power router, causing Nanako's hoverbike to malfunction. I, being closest at that moment, dropped my left silicate shield and grabbed Nanako's arm before the hoverbike could tilt over and trap her underneath. I quickly raised the left shield again.

"Thanks," Nanako said as she sat behind me.

"No problem," I said before I said into the comm, "I got Nana."

"Roger that, Jane. Lancers, prepare to fly in 3... 2... 1. Lancers, SKYWARD!" Yuu ordered as we cranked the hoverbike's hover capabilities to the max, rocketing us high in the sky as we manipulated our hoverbike's tilt to control the direction of our ascent.

"Tigers, do your stuff!" Yuu commanded while we were still climbing higher and higher in the sky.

In seconds we heard the rumbles of cannons firing shells after shells of high explosive materials into the army's camp. I looked through the map display and saw the Tigers moving in their whole army into the plains below us. The tanks made short work of any artillery resistance the enemy had, while their battlebikes peppered the enemy's armoured soldiers with their armour-piercing gauss rounds. Within 20 minutes, they almost got full control of the enemy base.

That was, until the army deployed a force shield to protect the core of their camp.

"General, you didn't say anything about a forcefield!" Cheetah yelled through the comm.

"I didn't know there was a forcefield! Just pummel it with your tanks!" Yuu advised as our hoverbikes declined.

"High explosive shells does zip against forcefields. We're switching to EM shells now, but we didn't carry many EM shells. I don't know if it will be enough," Cheetah said.

"Do as much damage as you can. Try to bring in more supplies or raid their ammo dumps. I'm sure they'll have something useful," Yuu commanded as our hoverbikes gently touched the ground.

"With the enemy's forces concentrated on defending the force shield, I think it's safe for us to proceed towards the caves and rescue our friends. What do you all say?" Carl said through the comm.

"Hell yeah!" Yannick agreed.

"Sure, let's go," Yuu said as he lead us across the hundreds of dead soldiers, broken military vehicles and equipments, and craters made by our side's explosive shells.

It was a teary reunion when we were reunited with Rahman, Salmah and Runa. Runa cried the most, though she slanderously claimed that I cried more than her. Salmah then took up seat behind Rahman, who was sitting on their sole surviving hoverbike. Runa sat behind Carl, who patted her head and gave her munches as we went to the enemy base. There, we met Cheetah again, he was standing next to crates of enemy ammunition and equipment.

"General, good to see you and your squad all safe," Cheetah said amidst the sounds of cannon fire and EM shells striking the enemy's force shield.

"We were lucky, our only casualty was a single hoverbike. Well, actually four hoverbikes, but nothing more important than lives," Yuu got down from his hoverbike followed by the rest of us.

"Well, I'm glad everything went well, General. We faced insurmountable odds," Cheetah said as he held out his hand.

"Not so insurmountable since we won," Carl commented with a grin.

Yuu ignored Carl and shook Cheetah's hand vigorously, "Yeah, many things could've happened. We were lucky that the only thing that didn't go our way was that they got a force shield in reserve."

"Yes, that was unexpected. But look, the force shield is flickering. It won't be long before it shuts down entirely. So let's get on with payment," Cheetah said as he placed an e-paper onto one of the crates.

"Wait, payment? I thought you already got your payment?" Carl said, referring to the spoils of war.

"He meant our share of the spoils, idiot. As per the agreement, we get first pick of any spoils that we can carry," Yuu said as he took the e-paper and perused the list, before he said, "Amazing, you got this much? I thought your mercenary army bombarded everything?"

"Heh, pretty impressive, don't you think?" Cheetah grinned.

Yuu then shared the contents of the e-paper to our own personal e-papers before handing it back to Cheetah. I looked at the spoils of war inventory and was very amazed at its contents.

3 TT-22 Fast Attack Tank
2 TT-19 Medium Assault Tank
2 TA-16 Hovertank
1 TK-6 Camouflaged Tank
1 VTOL C-210 Shockdrop Troop Carriers
5 Co-42 VTOL Stealth Gunships
40 Tunnel crawler mines
4 BB-12 Battlebikes
49 Force Lance
8 Full Armour Suits
203 IL50 Rifles
148 Force Grenades
193 IL52K Particle Wands
A bunch of other things that I couldn't tell for sure what it was

"We'll take one of the Co-42 Gunships, please," Rahman said suddenly.

"But you won't be able to bring the hoverbike with you," I pointed out.

"Then I'll leave it here. I see Nanako doesn't have a hoverbike of her own, she can have mine," Rahman said.

"I understand," Yuu said as he confirmed the request and said, "Good luck on your travel, Crazy Gunner."

"Good luck? I don't understand, you're saying as if... they're separating from us," I said.

"John - Jane, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be ungrateful. We decided this before the battle started and after what we've seen in the cave, we thought it would be best if we be cautious of everyone, even you guys."

"She was a shapeshifter. Once you know how to spot one, you can easily avoid them," Yuu stated.

"That's the problem. We don't want to 'spot' a shapeshifter. Even if we know she was a shapeshifter, we probably won't have the heart to kill her. No, we will follow what the president told us in class. We will trust no one, as we should've done from the start," Rahman said.

Yuu nodded. "As I said, good luck. Take some rifles with you, just in case."

"Thanks, we owe you one. Let's meet again at the destination," Rahman said as one of the Co-42 Gunship landed right next to us. He and Salmah quickly loaded up the Gunship with food and ammunition.

"I'll miss you, Nana," Runa sobbed as she hugged Nanako.

"Let's meet again, okay?" Nanako said as she hugged Runa with eyes closed. It was times like these that made me think that Nanako will make a good mother.

"You can count on it, Nana," Runa said as she let go.

"Do you even know which direction to go, though?" Carl asked.

Runa seemed to think a little, before she pointed her index finger to one direction. That direction was west, our destination was actually north. I didn't tell her though, as I didn't want her to feel embarrassed. Runa had always been bad with directions. I was sure that Rahman and Salmah wouldn't make the same mistake.

"Runa, let's go!" Salmah called as Runa ran towards the gunship's side entry.

"Goodbye everyone, see you guys at the destination!" Rahman said as all three of them waved at us before the side entry door closed shut and they hovered higher, blowing dust around us before flying west.

I was worried, wondering if they actually knew where they were going. With Salmah at the helm, that shouldn't be a problem. At least, I thought it wouldn't be a problem. Salmah was a good pilot, but I couldn't say for certain of her sense of direction.

"I urge that everyone of us take one of the force lances. There will probably be more battles ahead of us and we could've achieved more on our own if we had those in our hands. I wouldn't suggest the rifles, as Carl realized, it was hard to use the rifles while riding the hoverbike. I won't take the battlebikes either, they require constant recharging," Nanako said.

"Umm, sure, the force lances for each of us, and what about the TT-19 Medium Assault Tank?" Yuu said.

"Sorry, your credit's maxed. Please try again," Cheetah grinned.

"Damn!" Yuu cursed amidst the sound of explosion from the last remaining piece of land occupied by the enemy's forces.

The mercenaries managed to break through the force shield at last.

"Yuu, we don't need a tank, remember?" Carl said.

"It's not a matter of need, it's a matter of want. I want a tank!" Yuu argued.

"Haha, you and Metallic Fury again," Carl laughed.

"You don't understand my dreams, Carl. Fine then, I want those force lances and the IL52K for each of us," Yuu compromised.

"Done!" Cheetah said as he had his men search the crates for our stuff before handing it to each of us.

"Well, now that we're done here, let's go back to camp, pick up our stuff and get the hell out of here," Yuu suggested, to which we all agreed.

And thus we left behind the battlefield of Mineshaft 1, with the setting sun on our left and the sea on our right at full speed. Onwards to Mineshaft 6.

******


Heading to Los Angeles City. One team heads west. Believe final destination to be west, LA City is probably just a stop. Rebel forces staying behind at Mineshaft 1. Suggesting complete annihilation.

"It's a pretty good haul, sir," a young soldier said to Cheetah, who was sitting on one of the crates.

Cheetah looked up at the boy. It was after battles like these that his knees went weak, as the adrenaline left his body. Cheetah fondly remembered his younger days, fighting in the jungles of the real Earth, not this pale imitation. It felt good to see another day after such intense fighting.

"Have they started moving the spoils?" Cheetah asked as he lighted a cigarette.

The young soldier consulted his e-paper. "The Co-42 gunships, C-210 troop carriers, the battlebikes and some of the smaller stuff is being transported to HQ right now. The tanks and other stuff need to be repaired for the journey."

"Very good, seems like this is our most successful and lucrative operation so far. Mariella will no doubt be damned horny seeing this much spoils," Cheetah said before his eyes noticed a spot of red on the ground and got up to have a look, "What is that?"

"Yes, it's funny. It started about two minutes ago. Others have reported seeing two more spot of red on the ground. They deduced that it was some kind of light or laser from the sky, but it didn't carry any heat," the young soldier explained.

Cheetah's heart skipped a beat and sweat ran down his body. "Is it in the shape of a triangle?" he asked.

The young soldier consulted his map and said, "Yes, it is a perfect triangle, covering an area about 40,000 meters. Is... something wrong, sir?"

"Oh no..." Cheetah felt a lump in his throat, his face paled considerably. In his mind, the same word, 'orbit' kept ringing over and over. He felt weak in his knees and he was about to collapse, but knowing what was happening, he steadied his stance and stood straigh, calling for all his soldiers to listen to him.

Once they were all on their feet, Cheetah saluted as he said to all the soldiers and technicians in front of him, "Men, it has been an honour to serve with you."

Everyone stood straight, eyes aimed at their commanding officer, and saluted as they said together, "It has been an honour to serve under you, SIR!"

It was at that time that the Cyclops Orbital Particle Cannon fired its heavy matter particles toward the ground. Within seconds, 398 soldiers and technicians were ripped to shreds by a destructive force akin to a meteorite impact. When the particle cannon finally ran its course, the area had become a crater the size of a small city. The mercenaries thought their leader was paying them his respects before retiring. They never thought that they would all be retiring together.

*Finally, chapter 5 is out! I suffered 8 computer freezes in the process of writing this story. With this done, only 5-6 chapters left.
**As always, your comments and feedbacks are very welcomed. Praises help me to write faster, constructive criticisms help me to write better. Thanks for all your support.

My name is John Harolds. I was a junior at the Sacred Soul Academy, a prestigious academy that churned out hundreds of alumni who would one day become the pillars of society. Something happened that year. My classmates and I became involved with something big that could threaten the very social order of the world we lived in and we ended up being hunted by the police, the military and everyone we had ever trusted. This is the story of the greatest escape of our lives. What if you were told that the life you had led was all a big fat lie? We finally arrived at Los Angeles City after three whole days of sleeping on our hoverbikes. What we found there, was beyond what we expected. Escape! Chapter 6 By Shinieris

"30 minutes until we arrive at Los Angeles City," Nanako reported as she woke us all up.

"Great! I never want to sleep on a hoverbike ever again," Carl said with a yawn.

"Why do we have have to enter the city? Can't we go around it?" I asked through the intercom.

"For the last time, Jane, listen when people explain it to you. We have to enter Los Angeles City through the highways because everyone does that. It will be suspicious if we're the only ones who circle the city," Yuu answered.

"But there's a whole lot of empty ground around the city, surely we can go far enough away from the city," I argued as Anya typed something into her tablet on the seat behind me.

"That empty ground is also very flat, barren and featureless. Anyone can see us. They won't even need a binocular to see the dust storm we'll be kicking up with our hoverbikes," Nanako said.

"And don't forget, we also need to meet with the Underground Resistance's Seraph Cell," Anya added from behind me.

"Wait, Underground Resistance? That wasn't part of the agenda!" Yuu yelled through the comm.

"First time I hear about this too," I said, as I turned my head to look at Anya typing something into her tablet, "What are you talking about, Anya?"

"I asked them to check if Los Angeles City is under lockdown like Chicago City. They assured me that the city is still running as usual and we can go in and out as we please. In exchange for that information, the leader of Seraph Cell wants to meet us, the survivors of Sacred Soul Academy. I think it's a fair exchange," Anya answered without a change in tone.

"How are you so familiar with the Underground Resistance, Anya?" Nanako asked, sounding very suspicious.

"Oh my, don't tell me. You guys haven't put two and two together yet, have you? I thought I left lots a clues. Very well, I am part of the Underground Resistance, Seraph Cell. My mission was to infiltrate the Student Council and report their activities to the Seraph Cell."

"You lied to us and to Anna?" Miriam accused.

"For your information, I did not lie. Andy, Annamarie, the Shimizu twins and Henry all knew who I was. They just didn't take the trouble to introduce me to the rest of the Student Council members. Annamarie even told me that she won't give me any information, but if I can find it myself, then I have the right to do whatever I want to with that information."

"But, what about the letter from Andy?" Carl asked.

"That was the only lie I told. I was supposed to be rotated to another assignment three weeks ago, when I discovered a number of suspicious purchases by the Student Council. The Seraph Cell told me to stay and to confirm if Project Salvation was being activated. They told me they will send some assistance, but judging from the attack on the academy, it was obvious either they were too late or they didn't arrive. That letter by Andy, was mailed by me."

"So that mission in the first email, it was your doing? What if our classmates misunderstood and ended up doing as you told them to instead?" Yuu fumed.

"No, the letter was indeed from Andy, he just never gotten around to mailing it. I took a draft of an email that Andy already completed and added some things, such as a fiction of me being a last minute addition to the class. Everything else was Andy. I don't remember emailing it to Yannick or Miriam though, I thought like the rest of the Student Council, they would stay and fight to the death."

Suddenly everyone was quiet.

"We-well, we didn't know we were supposed to leave either. Anna approached us at the last minute and told us to go ahead," Yannick said.

"Yes, Anna promised that the rest of the Student Council will be following shortly. How were we supposed to know they wouldn't be coming?" Miriam sobbed

"I'm sure Anna wanted both of you to live in their stead, Miriam," I said, trying to comfort her.

"Anya, confirm that it's safe to enter the city," Yuu said.

"Uhh, hello... I already said it's confirmed, right?"

"Check again!" Yuu said, his tone harsher.

"Fine!" Anya bent past me with her mouth inches from the comm before sitting back on her seat and muttered, "Control freak."

We stopped outside the city while Anya sought confirmation again. Meanwhile, all of us lowered our windshields and tried to take in our surroundings. We were holding in wait at a rest area right beside the raised highway. At the moment, traffic was pretty light, but that could change come rush hour. This was Los Angeles City after all, the jewel of the eastern coast. Around us were barren steppes, having only light growth of grass and unsuitable for farming. There were however, plenty of areas with heavy developments, mainly areas assigned for heavy industries and vertical farming. Vertical farming or otherwise known as farm-in-a-building are tall buildings, where farming, rearing and food processing are all done in house, instead of spread out over large areas of land, making the type of soil it stand on a non-issue. As for why it was outside the city, Nanako filled us in during our ride after the battle at Mineshaft 1. Several years before, a legislation was passed that all polluting industries as well as agricultural activities were to be moved far from the city, to make room for the population growth that unnaturally ballooned out of proportion in the recent years. The only connection between the city and the agricultural and industrial areas were the highways.

"Done! They've confirmed it, again. So if nobody else have a problem with it, let's just go, shall we?" Anya said while raising her hand when she saw that Yuu was about to open his mouth, "The Seraph Cell also instructed us to park our bikes at the South Pasadena Public Parking Complex. Then we have to take the subway to the Seraph Cell HQ. I'll guide you from there."

"How can we trust them?" Yuu asked.

"Excuse me? They're my people. They have operated for more than thirty years and they know much more than us. Like me, they are very trustworthy!"

"Like you?" Miriam added, "That's not saying much."

"Shut up, Miriam!" Anya scolded.

******

"Man, for some reason, the idea of riding a subway in LAC gives me a feeling of dread," Carl remarked as soon as we parked our bikes.

"You and me both, I wonder why," I agreed.

"Maybe it's a sign of your memories getting back? I don't feel anything about this place or this city," Nanako said.

Yannick nodded. "Well, there are cases of people recovering their memories of the real Earth after being away from technology for a long time."

"That reminds me," Anya said as she hopped down from the back of my bike, "No matter what, don't look at the interactive screens or advertisement screens for that matter. And avoid listening to any kind of music. It's okay if you accidentally heard it, but don't listen to any one sound for more than twenty minutes."

"Why not?" Nanako asked, while locking up her bike.

"Because of subliminals. Los Angeles City is full of it. If you see an ad for a lollypop, chances are, within that two minutes period, you have already been told twelve times to kill your own mother. Audio subliminals are a little less efficient, so it takes a lot more time to brainwash a person compared to visual subliminals."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Carl said as he finalized the lockdown process of his hoverbike.

"I do. Once, one of our members came back and attempted to kill one of our top ranking members. As a result, the special earplugs and sunglasses became required accessories when going out. Unfortunately, we don't have those at our disposal. So our best bet is to make best speed to the HQ and hope we arrive before any of us get brainwashed."

Yuu got up from his bike and started the lockdown process. "Alright, I understand what you're saying. So Anya, you will lead the way. Carl, Jane, Nana and myself will go to this HQ and maybe get these anti-brainwash accessories so we can leave the city safely without being brainwashed. Yannick and Miriam will stay here and watch the bikes-"

"Hold on a minute!"

"You have something to say, Miriam?" Yuu asked.

"I want to see the Underground Resistance too! I've never met any of them. I want to see what the big deal is!"

"No, we need both of you to watch the bikes. Who knows how long we'll be gone."

"Yannick can watch over the bikes. Why would we need both of us to watch over it?"

"No, you don't understand, we have to-"

"Yuu, let her join us," Nanako said as she pulled him in for a whisper.

"Fine!" Yuu relented, "But we'll leave you if you fall behind!"

"I can take care of myself! I'm not like some little kid..." Miriam looked at Anya.

"Hey! Who are you calling little kid?"

"Let's go, then," Yuu urged once I completed the lockdown process on my hoverbike.

Ten minutes later, we were standing in front of a two storey shoplot, huffing, puffing and wheezing from having broken into a run the moment we got off the subway. For some reason, Yuu simply told us to run for our lives with Anya leading without telling us why. Anya then lead us through side streets, shoplots and backdoors of private premises. Somewhere in the confusion, we lost Miriam.

Oh well, I'm sure if Miriam can't find us, she'll just go back to the hoverbikes.

"Why... huff huff... are we... huff huff... running?" I said as I looked up at the shop sign that said, 'Herbert and Selkie, General Construction' in front of me.

"Wheeeze... Need to... huff puff... get away... wheeeze."

"Is this it, Anya?" Nanako asked Anya, who was trying to catch her breath, looking none too worse for wear.

Anya nodded, but she asked, "Why... are you... not... tired?"

"You've all been riding hoverbikes for far too long. Should've taken some time to exercise, don't you think? Well, I'm going in first, then," Nanako said as she walked into the office while waving at us with her left hand.

"Wait up, I'm coming," Yuu said as he staggered after her.

"Let's go," Carl said as he held me up by my arm.

"Good afternoon," the receptionist, a girl about 13 years old chirped from behind her desk, "Can I help you?"

"Hi, Sally," Anya said, her breath still heavy.

"Anya? You're alive!" Sally jumped over her desk before rushing past us and ended up hugging Anya, "Why didn't you send any message? Herb thought you're dead!"

"I can't risk my position, you understand. Is Herb around?" Anya asked as she gave Sally a hug.

"Upstairs with Selkie. Just go ahead."

"Thanks, Sally. Come on, you guys," Anya said as she took the stairs.

We took the narrow stairs one at a time. We came to a corridor with two rooms and two fire poles at the end. It was sparse and undecorated, but surprisingly clean and without dust. Anya went up to the closest door and knocked on it twice. We heard a voice asking us to come in and Anya went first as the rest of us followed behind. It was a typical office, with a large desk facing the door, bookcases on the left wall and cupboards on the right wall. A dark blue carpet and flowering shrubs decorate what's left.

"Anya!" a rugged old man smelling faintly of cheap cigarettes rushed over and took Anya in his arms, "I thought we lost you!"

"I'm sorry, I can't say anything, you know. I couldn't break my cover," Anya said as she hugged him back.

"Umm, not trying to judge, but... are you two in a relationship?" Carl asked.

"Relationship? Wait, what?" Anya looked at him in puzzlement before understanding came upon her and she snorted in disgust, "No, you idiot! This is my father."

"How do you do?" the rugged old man stood straight before extending his hand to each of us, "My name is Herbert Alinesqu, Anya's father and the boss of Seraph Cell Second Division. I must thank all of you for having taken care of my daughter in your travels. I hope she had not been a problem to you?"

"Daddy!"

"No, Anya's been very useful," I said as I noticed his eyes lingering a little too long on my face.

"And that man behind you is Selkie," he said as he gestured to the man standing behind us. I didn't event notice he was there.

"How do you do?" Selkie said as he pushed his glasses up with a finger, "My name is Selkie, no last name, please. Pleasure to meet... Annamarie?"

"No, I-" I stopped my words mid-sentence as he whipped out his particle wand a little faster than I could pull mine out. I only barely managed to stop his particle stream with my IL52S's deflector stream.

"What?" he looked confused as he fired another stream at me, which was also cancelled out by my deflector stream. Any further attacks were stopped when both Yuu and Carl tackled him to the ground.

"Selkie, calm down. She didn't trigger the alarm," Herbert said.

"The alarm could be faulty. We haven't had it serviced for six months now! How can you explain how she can be a dead ringer for Annamarie?" Selkie defended himself as Yuu and Carl disengaged themselves.

"Sisters, maybe? You know they never told us anything. Always wanted to take, take and take without ever giving back," Herbert said.

Selkie pulled out a device from a nearby cupboard, flipping it open and scanning me with it. It looked very much like the scanner that Miriam gave Carl when we were escaping the academy. As he scanned me with it, he frowned, then did another check and frowned again. He spent an awful long time on my fake breasts.

"You're a man?" he asked with an expression of disbelief.

"A man? Oh dear, and here I thought I finally found you a mother, Anya," Herbert slapped his forehead.

"Daddy!"

"It was out of necessity," I said.

"Well, we all do what we have to do. Don't worry, we don't judge. Thank you for taking care of Anya. If there's anything I can help you with on your mission, feel free to ask. Selkie will arrange that you get everything you need, within reason. We can't possibly give you a stealth bomber in any case."

"Daddy, they already got something better. Henry gave them the Mirialis Corvette," Anya said excitedly.

"Mirialis Corvette? Amazing. Henry and the First Division went through all that trouble to steal three of them, as I recall. Well, either way, say your farewells to your friend, Anya. I'm sure they need to get going as soon as possible."

"Farewell? Anya, are you leaving us?" I asked as I grabbed Anya's hands.

"Sorry, Jane, but this is as far as I go. I got a lot of paperwork to do, anyhow. Don't worry, I won't tell them of your destination. It's not like I know in the first place," Anya said with a small sad smile.

"You haven't found out what Project Salvation's goal is?" Selkie asked.

"No, and it's not like they can tell me. That information is locked inside their brains. Any attempt to tell anyone, even each other, results in a nerve system backlash that causes them to choke to death. There is nothing more I could learn."

"Do you know what happened to our classmates at least?" Yuu asked.

"I think I got a report on that somewhere. Let me check," Herbert said as he went back to his desk and opened one of the drawers, taking out a stack of papers. After much shuffling, he took out two papers stapled together from the stack and gave it to Yuu.

"You're still using papers? Aren't they really expensive nowadays?" Nanako asked.

"Papers, unlike e-papers, are extremely hard to be read once they're turned to ash. E-papers on the other hand, can have their data recovered easily, unless you burn it in a smelter. E-paper is very tough for its price."

"Oh God, I didn't know it was this bad," Yuu murmured.

"What? What?" Carl asked as he took the papers from Yuu's hand. He paled immediately.

Nanako gently took the papers from Carl's hand. She read through it, then handed it to me without a word.

To: Seraph 2nd Division HQ
Subject: Status of known Project Salvation members

Seat # 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 31

Name Violet Tam Victor Yong John Harolds Carl Miller Yuu Nakani Nanako Fujisawa Arnold Whilming Maria Sheffield Moorthy Sekaran Priya Ananda Jennifer Carter Joshua Collins Michael Williams Tanisha Robinson Jerry Davis Carol Rodriguez Sophie Beauchamp Frances Vinot Azman Hussin Kamaria Bukhari Rahman Ibrahim Salmah Sulaiman Runa Kobayashi Ken Matsuzaki Wong Mei Ling Yap Shu Fong Marcus Lewis Sally Grey Igor Krazinsky Olga Karovka Ilsa Foerster Hans Krause

Status Alive, last known location San Diego City Alive, last known location San Diego City Unknown, last known location Sacred Soul Academy Alive, last known location Chicago City Alive, last known location Chicago City Alive, last known location Chicago City Alive, last known location near New York City Dead, last known location B5152GK Military Base Alive, last known location Manchester City Alive, last known location Manchester City Dead, last known location B2477FC Military Base Alive, last known location Springfield Town Alive, last known location Manchester Town Alive, last known location Manchester Town Dead, last known location Northampton Town Alive, last known location Northampton Town Dead, last known location Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last known location Sacred Soul Academy Critically injured, last known location Salt Lake City Dead, last known location Salt Lake City Alive, last known location Dublin City Alive, last known location Dublin City Alive, last known location Dublin City Dead, last known location B4457KV Military Base Alive, last known location San Diego City Dead, last known location San Diego City Unknown, last known location New York City Unknown, last known location New York City Alive, last known location Springfield Town Dead, last known location B2477FC Military Base Alive, last known location Manchester City Alive, last known location Manchester City

Summary: 19 alive, 1 critically injured, 9 dead, 3 unknown.

"Oh God, so many dead," I said as tears ran down my face.

"Jane, look at the second page," Nanako suggested.

I flipped the page as told.

Special mention:

1) Annamarie Hudson 2) Miriam Posener 3) Yannick Weber 4) Harald Johansen 5) Shimizu Haruka 6) Shimizu Hanako 7) Andrew Clark 8) Anke Drescher 9) Sulaiman Majid 10) Catherine Marsel 11) Tan Siow Peng 12) Leslie Santiago 13) Ashley Morris 14) Fang Xiao Han 15) Jonathan Ortiz 16) Myra Alexopoulos 17) Henry Nelson 18) Jessica Hutchinson 19) Larry Hale 20) Selene Coyne 21) Mary Caldwell

Unconfirmed, reports stated she was last seen in Chicago City Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last communication from Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy Dead, last reported in Sacred Soul Academy

Warning!
1) Shapeshifter Miriam and Yannick were seen accompanying Annamarie Hudson, Carl Miller, Yuu Nakani and Nanako Fujisawa.
2) Shapeshifter Olga Karovka was tasked with approaching Rahman Ibrahim, Salmah Sulaiman and Runa Kobayashi.
3) Shapeshifter Maria Sheffield was seen accompanying Michael Williams and Tanisha Robinson.
4) Shapeshifter Miriam was seen accompanying Moorthy Sekaran, Priya Ananda, Ilsa Foerster and Hans Krause.
5) Shapeshifter Jennifer Carter was seen accompanying Arnold Whilming, Marcus Lewis and Sally Grey.

Collected and compiled by Hermes Cell.

"What is the meaning of this? Shapeshifter Miriam and Yannick?!" I demanded.

"Seems our observers spotted them with your group. It's a good thing that you managed to shake them off. I need to know about John-"

"We didn't shake them off," Yuu cut him mid-sentence.

"Excuse me?"

"We didn't shake them off," Yuu repeated. Just then, light started flickering around us. Both Herb and Selkie paled as Miriam suddenly burst through the door.

"Guys, that was mean of you! Leaving me behind like that," Miriam pouted.

"How... did you find us?" Yuu asked.

"Tracking device, of course! Sorry about that receptionist girl downstairs, though," Miriam said with a wink.

"Shapeshifter!" Selkie cried as both he and Herb pulled out their particle wands. Their shots struck true, as Nanako added her own particle stream into the mix.

"Heheheh, too late! Guess the Underground Resistance is just a bunch of rabble dogs in the end," Miriam said as her body disintegrated, leaving behind a rancid smell where she once stood.

"Anya, take them to the base! Inform everyone to pick up arms. We're going to be overrun!" Herb ordered as he pressed a button on his desk and the desk burst into flame. In the meantime, Selkie went around doing the same with the bookcase and the cupboard.

"Come, quickly!" Anya urged us to follow as she went out to the corridor. "Take either one!" she said before she jumped at the firepole and slid down into a vertical tube lit by two flourescent lights.

I followed close behind as Nanako took the other firepole. I slid down with my legs around the firepole only for my butt to painfully hit the bottom. I realized what my butt was sitting on when I let go of the pole. It was a freaking slide and in my panic I lost my balance and ended up sliding down head first into the twisting tunnel.

"Ahhh!" I heard Anya cry from under my butt as I came out of the tunnel and fell on top of her. "Didn't you know that you're supposed to alternate going down the firepole?"

"Sorry, I'm not a fireman," I said as something else came out of the same tunnel towards me.

"Ow!" I cried in pain.

"Uhh, that was rough. Are you okay, Jane?" Carl said as he raised himself above me, while squeezing my breasts.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY BREASTS, MOLESTER!" I cried as I slapped his hands away, causing him fall on my chest.

"BOTH OF YOU BASTARDS GET YOUR DICKS OFF OF MY FACE!" Anya cried from under us.

We got off of each other just in time to avoid Herb as he crashed on the mattress we were on. Neither Nanako nor Yuu suffered the same problem as us. Selkie also landed safely on his mattress a few seconds later.

"I've told you, Selkie. The right slide is too steep," Herb complained as he painfully got to his feet.

Selkie ignored him as he pressed some buttons next to the only door in the featureless wall in front of us. The door then opened, revealing a long bright walkway. On the walls on either side of us were two more doors. Herb explained that those were elevators, but they couldn't risk using them just now. Selkie then went into the walkway as he gestured us to do the same. We passed through a number of laser scanners or something similar, until we reached the end of the walkway where another door stood. Selkie entered something into the keyboard and scanned his eyes before the door opened, leading us into another walkway, much wider but separated into three rows, and this time, there were people inside. Most of them were armed for battle.

Herb, Anya and Selkie each went through a row first. Carl, Nanako and Yuu went next as Herb ordered the whole base to be on red alert. The siren call sounded so loud as I went through my own inspection. I almost didn't hear them when they told me to stand still. I only realized something was wrong when the armed men pointed their rifles at me. I was nudged at gunpoint to go back to the scanner as a circle-like thing went up and down around my body. One of the men at the console told me to strip to my undies to which immediately refused. Having the nozzle of a rifle pressed against my temple made me change my mind and before long, I was standing half naked in front of all these people. Carl, the horny pervert was salivating like a dog.

They sent me back to the scanning device as they stretched my clothes onto a conveyor belt before making it go through a kind of machine. Then one of the unarmed men felt around my blouse before he pulled out a tiny ball-like object. The men told me it was okay to wear back my clothes and I did it quickly, probably giving Carl a show of too much cleavage. He probably was having fun thinking of Annamarie standing half naked in front of him. One of the men then explained to me that I had a transmitter on my body before he gestured me to go on ahead. Seriously, I was shamed this much for just a tiny BB ball transmitter?

Suddenly Herb pulled Anya close and hugged her tightly, to which she answered with a tight hug of her own. "Anya, take your friends and the kids away from here. You know what this means, don't you?"

"Yes, daddy," Anya said as she shed a tear, "Goodbye."

"Good luck, Anya," Herb let go as he turned to us and said, "Good luck, to all of you."

Anya led us away through a side passage without looking back. All around us, men and women ran around in full body armour while carrying rifles and force lances. The hallways were filled with people and we almost got separated a few times by the time we reached a place called 'Learning Center'. Anya went in quickly into a room full of boys and girls from the age of 6 to 12. There were twenty-two of them in the room.

"Big sis, what's happening, why is the red alert being sounded?" a girl probably 10 years old asked.

"Big sis Anya, why is everyone running around?" a little boy asked.

The children bombarded Anya with questions after questions. Until finally, Anya could no longer control herself and screamed with tears in her face. "Please, everyone, we must leave. Gather your things, take only the most important stuff. We must leave now!"

"But what about my mother?"

"And my father?"

"My mother too?"

"My brother left too."

"I don't want to leave my mommy."

"I left teddy at home."

"I want to wait for daddy."

"BE QUIET!" Anya yelled at the top of her voice as she glared at every one of the kids, "You have all been trained for this. You know this will happen sooner or later. We must leave everything behind and go! Why can't you all understand?"

"Anya," Nanako placed a hand on Anya's shoulder, "How long do we have?"

"No more than 20 minutes," Anya sobbed, "Beyond that, our chance of escape becomes slimmer with every second."

"Do you know the way?" Nanako asked as Anya nodded.

"Children, you have 5 minutes to gather whatever you need. Remember, 5 minutes only. Take only the most important things to you. Those whose rooms are close by will stick together and help each other, okay? Go, now!" Nanako commanded as the children all raced through the open door, leaving behind only a 14 year old boy.

As if in answer to our curious expressions, he said, "I don't have a family anymore. My brother was killed during a sabotage attempt on one of the military bases. I'll go where ever you me want to go, Anya."

Anya nodded in response. I could see a slight smile forming on her lips.

The boy led us to a weapons locker where we managed to cover our belts in force grenades. We also grabbed four duffelbags and put as many rifles and grenade launchers we could fit into it. Five minutes later, the children came back. Most carried backpacks, some carried dolls, some held tablets or laptops of some kind, one brought a handkerchief sealed in plastic. One was missing.

"Big sis, Iria isn't here!" one of the boys remarked.

"We can't wait for her!" Anya said with a face wet from tears. It seemed like what was happening affected her greatly.

"Where is her room?" Nanako asked.

"Section F15B," the boy answered.

"Let's go then," Nanako said.

"Wait! It's out of the way. You won't make it!" Anya said.

"I'll be quick," Nanako said.

"I'm going with you," Anya said as she gave up trying to persuade Nanako, then wiping her wet face with the sleeves of her blouse, she said, "Caron, take them to Exit 5 and then to South Pasadena Public Parking Complex. Then go to the section reserved for our company, you will drive one of the trucks. Helen, you will take the van. Zachary, you will drive whatever's left. The rest of you will pile into one of these vehicles. We're taking them with us, Yuu!"

"Right," Yuu nodded.

"Yes big sis, I won't let you down," Caron, a girl in twintails and carrying a worn-looking particle wand saluted at Anya.

"Go!" Anya said as she got out of the door.

"Carl, take my bag!" Nanako said as she handed him the duffelbag filled with weapons, "I'm gonna need speed on this one."

"No problem, take care!" Carl said to Nanako's back.

Caron, followed by the rest of the children went out and turned left after they all gave Anya a salute at the door.

"Come back to me, Nana!" Yuu yelled to which Nanako simply raised a thumbs up.

"We better go, or we'll lose the kids. Yuu, Jane, cover my rear," Carl said as he ran as fast as he could holding the two bags.

"Of course!" I agreed.

"No problem!" Yuu said.

We only managed to run for about one minute when the corridor behind us exploded, covering it in concrete debris from the ceiling and the walls. There were voices from the suddenly wide open wall next to the rubble. Robotic voices.

"Anya! Nana!" I cried as I ran back by reflex.

"Stop! They know what they're doing. Don't worry about them!" Yuu said as he grabbed one of the force grenades around his belt and twisted the 'modes' and 'timers' ring before throwing it to the corridor we came from. "Jane, throw one of your force grenades too, set it to proximity alert and activation timer to four seconds!"

I did as told and threw it near where Yuu's grenade rested. We pressed on, no longer looking back. Suddenly the wall to our right exploded, throwing us to the opposite wall painfully. My vision blurred as the back of my head hit the wall hard, while two fully armoured soldiers stepped out of the open wall and opened fire on the kids' back.

"Stop," I said, sounding weak even to my own ears.

"Stop," I said, the soldiers probably couldn't even hear me as they kept firing on the kids who failed to find cover in time.

"Stop!" I said with hands around the handle of the force lance I attached to my belt.

The soldiers kept on firing, peppering another girl full with bullets.

I pressed the 'deploy' button on the force lance, causing the handle to extend its length. The butt of the force lance's handle got caught in a piece of debris, pushing against it, effectively pushing me on my feet. The tip of the force lance glowed red as the particle fountain unleashed a blade of magma-hot particles about a metre long. "I SAID STOP!" I yelled as I slashed upward at the fully armoured soldier with the flaming blade of the force lance. The other soldier realized what happened to his friend and he turned around to aim his gattling gun at me, but he was too late. I cut him in two with a downward slash from his chest to his butt.

"Yuu! Oh God, you're bleeding!" I heard Carl say behind me.

"The kids, save the kids," Yuu said weakly.

"All of you, check on your friends and see which one is still alive!" Carl said as he took out a medkit from one of the duffelbags, his own medkit was left behind on the hoverbike.

"Jane, I hate to say this, but I'll be depending on you to keep the enemy away from us," Carl said as he started treating Yuu's open stomache with medical microbots.

"It'll be my pleasure," I said as I went into through the hole in the wall and crashed into a soldier in full armour, who was too shocked seeing a girl in blouse and short skirt appearing next to him to do anything. That was all the time I needed to cut him cleanly in two from the top of his head to between his legs.

I heard a sound of heavy footsteps approaching from behind him, and I knew it was another fully armoured soldier, so I dashed around the corner and swung my force lance twice, cutting the soldier into four parts, in the shape of an 'x'. Behind him came another soldier and he was a bit more prepared for me, for he managed to fire a round of bullets at me, which missed, before he was beheaded with the flaming blade of my force lance. Behind him, at the end of the corridor, more soldiers appeared. I propped up his armoured body with my own, his open neck spurting blood on my hair and face as I used him as my meat shield. Then I grabbed the armoured soldier's left hand that was still holding the gattling gun and pressed the trigger, showering hundreds of rounds of bullets per minute towards the approaching horde of armoured soldiers. When I finally ran out of bullets, the hallway was already blocked by piles of dead soldiers. I let go of the dead soldier, allowing his bullet ridden body to fall the floor. I turned to check the other end of the hallway, barely avoiding a sonic blade aimed at me. If I had been one second earlier, I would've been cut cleanly in the middle.

"You are under arrest!" the soldier, a captain from the rank insignia said in a mechanical voice.

"I don't think so!" I yelled as I charged at him, sidestepping a blade slash as I went for his flank. I stabbed his kidney with the tip of my force lance, but shockingly the particle blade simply dispersed instead of making a hole in his armour.

He retaliated with punch on my stomache, throwing me against the wall. The force lance left my hand before it clattered on the floor and deactivated itself.

"Foolish girl," he said with a mechanical voice as he place the blade of his two metre long curved sonic blade mere centimetres from my neck, "Surrender and you will be spared."

"Don't look down on me, bastard!" I yelled as I ducked under the path of his blade. The I pulled one of the force grenades from my belt, set it to activate in one second and placed it at the space between his helmet and his chest. The resulting explosion threw me against the wall and almost took my hand.

When the smoke settled, the captain fell to his knees, his sonic blade clattering to the floor. His helmet was blown open, revealing a bleeding neck and chin and a face of a youthful man. He raised a shaking hand at me.

"Dying at the hands of a beautiful lady..." he said as he caressed my face with a metallic hand, "... isn't too bad. You will make an excellent soldier. "

I grabbed the sonic blade on the floor and beheaded him with his own sword.

"Jane, they're stable now, we should go... what happened here?" Carl asked as he surveyed the bodies and destruction around me.

"Let's go then," I said as I grabbed my force lance and the sheath for the captain's sonic blade.

Back in the corridor we came from, Yuu was being carried in a stretcher, along with three other children. Some of the children were crying over their dead friends, while some were hugging them tightly as if not wanting to let go.

"How many died?" I asked.

"Six, there was nothing I could do for them," Carl said with eyes downcast.

"You did what you could," I hugged him, my arms went around his neck with my blood covered body, smearing blood on his own clothes, "Go, I'll watch your back."

"Alright, stay close to me then," Carl said as he grabbed two of the duffelbags. I noticed the other two duffelbags that both Yuu and I carried were missing, probably carried by the rest of the children.

We ran for another half an hour along a maze of twisting corridors. Twice we encountered more enemies and twice I single-handedly despatched them. In my mind, no brainwashed soldiers could match me with a sonic blade on my right hand and a force lance on my left. We finally came out into a sewer, where we walked along the walkway until we came across a door. Caron pulled open the door and stepped in, turning on the lights as she opened another door inside. I closed the door and turned off the light in the room as the rest of them carried the wounded up a flight of steps. When we came out, we were already on the ground floor of South Pasadena Public Parking Complex. From afar, an explosion could be heard. Suddenly Yuu woke up, felt his stomache and told those kids carrying him to drop him to the floor. He got up on his feet, with his shirt in tatters and mumbled thanks as he told the kids to head towards Mineshaft 6 ahead of us. After we helped the kids got on their vehicles, we went upstairs to our hoverbikes.

Yannick was waiting there, reading a book. He looked at us, asking what went on just as I slashed downward on his body with the sonic blade. That rancid cat piss smell permeate the air again.

"Even if you kill me now, it's already too late, you know," Yannick said with a lopsided grin despite his upper torso being barely attached to his lower body.

"Damned shapeshifter!" I slashed downward on his head.

"Damned you!" I hacked at his limbs.

"If not because of you, all those people would still be alive!" I cut him again and again, over and over, until Carl grabbed me from behind.

"Enough, Jane. He's dead!" Carl said to my ears.

"Let me go! Let me go! If not because of them, they wouldn't have died!"

"Jane, that's enough!"

"It was my fault, Miriam must've put the transmitter on me. It was my fault they all died."

"Shh, shh, it's okay," Carl said as he turned me around and hugged me tight, "It's not your fault at all. If anything, it's the aliens' fault. Don't blame yourself. You saved us, remember?"

I hugged him back, letting the sonic blade fall to the floor. I cried into his chest, letting go of all the pain and regret I had. Carl was patient, and he hugged me tightly, stroking the back of my hair, sticky with blood, gently. He treated me like the most fragile thing in the world. We stayed that way for a few minutes, until Nanako and Anya returned with the little in tow. It seemed like the route they followed was a lot safer than ours. I wiped my tears as I got up on my bike, with Anya sitting behind me. The little girl, Iria, sat behind Nanako. Carl asked me if I was okay, and I told him yes as one by one, we left the parking complex and the city, where hundreds, perhaps thousands, just died in the past hour.

We arrived at the entrance to Mineshaft 6 slightly ahead of the kids. Yuu placed the WAMS device he received from Henry Nelson at the entrance to Mineshaft 6 while the kids got out from their vehicles. By now, even the injured kids could walk by themselves, a proof of how valuable medical microbots were compared to basic first aid. No wonder each vial costs about an average person's monthly wage. Yuu then turned on his e-paper as he led the way into the spacious tunnels following the map prepared by Henry Nelson. Finally, we came across a reinforced wall. Yuu entered the password at the door's control and the door slid open, revealing a large hangar with the 168 metre-long Mirialis Corvette clamped in the middle of the hangar. Yuu ran towards the ship like a child in front of a candy house.

"My ship! Finally, my own ship!" Yuu said as he hugged the bottom of the Mirialis Corvette's sleek hull.

"Hey, isn't it supposed to be 'our' ship?" Carl objected.

"I agree with Carl," I said as I looked at Carl, who went red in the face for some reason.

"I suppose I agree with them," Nanako said.

"Yeah, it's our ship! Not yours," Anya added.

"She needs a name!" Yuu said, ignoring us altogether, "Hm, what should be a good name?"

"A name? Please..." Carl objected.

"What's wrong with Mirialis Corvette?" I said.

"I don't think that's very high on the priority list," Nanako said.

"Laaaame!" Anya added.

"SILENCE!" Yuu exclaimed so suddenly.

"Wow, that's rude."

"Yeah, I do agree. It's very rude."

"Dear, we're just giving our opinions."

"You offend me, asshole."

"No, I'm saying it's the ship's name. Silence. Because it's a stealth ship, you see?" Yuu said as he kissed the hull.

"Oooohhh..."

"Aaaahhh..."

"Tell us earlier."

"I got offended for nothing."

"What do you all think? 'Silence' is a good name, right?" Yuu said as he caressed the stealth armour plating of the ship.

"I suppose."

"I can agree to that."

"I like it."

"I prefer if it's called 'Princess Anya'."

An alarm suddenly went off. Yuu took out the control device for the WAMS device he placed outside. His expression changed when he saw the display.

"God damned it! They're never letting us go!"

"What do you mean?" Carl asked as Yuu went to the computer terminal with a large screen on one wall.

Yuu connected the control device to the computer terminal and pressed a button as the screen came alive with a map of the Alpine Mountains and a whole lot of sensor contacts from all around. "THAT is what I mean!"

"That... isn't that a bit excessive?" Even Nanako was showing fear now.

"That's... the whole southern part of the screen is covered in sensor contacts. Not even in Mineshaft 1 did we encounter a force this vast," Anya said, sweating profusely as she worked the console to get a better estimate of the force we were facing.

"Quick! Everyone move! Get those clamps out of the way, quickly! We need to get out of here ASAP! Guys, we need to bring in our hoverbikes and get ready to leave the moment the reactor's up and running!" Carl barked orders frantically. I have never seen Carl so panicked.

"Yes, he's right. Let's bring in our hoverbikes, quickly!" Yuu agreed and we went out as one, with Anya left behind to oversee the work.

When we came back in with our hoverbikes, Anya gave us another piece of bad news. He gestured for all of us to follow her as we went up the ramp under the 'Silence' into the engine room.

She tapped the wall where batteries were stacked into the hull. "We have a problem. The Mirialis Corvette has been out of use for so long that batteries are drained. At this rate, we won't be able to jumpstart the engine. Even if we can jumpstart the engine, the battery has been so drained it won't hold a charge for long. I've already told the kids to salvage whatever battery they can find in storage, but we need to start up the reactor using another method."

"Can't we use the hangar's power supply?" Nanako asked.

"It's not enough, the hangar uses solar power, stored in a series of long overdue batteries."

"We have hoverbikes running on nuclear reactors here, can't we use that?" Carl asked.

"Technically it's temperature differential-"

"Shut up!" both Carl and Yuu yelled at the same time. Nanako wisely kept her mouth shut.

Meanwhile, Anya did the calculations in her tablet and agreed it was feasible. We then pushed three of the hoverbikes close to the fusion reactor before hooking it up to the obsolete batteries. Changing batteries would simply take too long. It would've been faster if we could hook up my hoverbike to the reactor too, but there was not enough space for all four hoverbikes to fit inside the reactor room.

"Alright, it's done, one of my boys can handle things here, we need to go to the bridge and establish command posts, now!" Anya said as she lead us to the bridge.

The bridge of the Mirialis Corvette was positioned at the fore of the ship, with large sections covered in clear protective silicates. The bridge was a small room, barely 20 metres square. It had seats for piloting, command, engineering, operations and tactical. The piloting chair sat at the front of the bridge, offering very clear 120 degrees frontal view. Operations chair was slightly behind and to the left of the pilot's chair, with communications, navigations and sensor stations combined into one station. Command chair was to the center and slightly to the right, offering a good view of the front and the operations console. At the rear, facing forward on the left was the tactical console, with the engineering console being on the right, opposite the tactical console.

"Whose who?" Carl asked.

"Anya, has everything been reset?" Yuu asked.

Anya nodded as she said, "All command codes have been reset. It's free-for-all now."

Yuu entered some details into Anya's tablet as he said, "Lieutenant Commander Nakani Yuu, command code Alpha Tango Tango Niner Eight Two Six, Captain."

"You made yourself lieutenant commander?" Carl asked.

Yuu placed a hand on Carl's shoulder. The seat of Lieutenant 1st Class, Executive Officer, is open. Do you want it?"

"You can't seriously think you can bribe me with such a meaningless-"

"Hey Nana, do you want the job?" Yuu asked.

"I never said I didn't want the job!" Carl yelled into Yuu's ears as he took the tablet and entered his designation and command code. "Lieutenant 1st Class, Carl Miller, command code Alpha November Alpha Two Eight Eight Two, Executive officer."

Carl handed the tablet to Nanako. She entered the details and said, "Lieutenant 2nd Class, Fujisawa Nanako, command code Bravo Delta Charlie Three Two Two One, Operations Officer."

As Nanako handed the tablet to me, I asked, "What's my rank and designation?"

"Same as Nana, and since you're the pilot, obviously helmsman," Yuu answered, he had already put his egotistical butt onto the command chair.

I entered the details, but before I could finalize it, Carl said, "Hey Jane, enter Jane Miller into the database, okay?"

I glared at Carl, "Why would I want to use your surname?"

"Because we're married!"

I pressed 'confirm' without changing my name. "Lieutenant 2nd Class, Jane Larssen, command code Juliett Oscar November Three Six One Two, Helm Officer."

"Why?????" Carl wailed.

"Did you seriously think I would use your surname in official documents?" I said as I handed the tablet back to Anya.

She entered her details, paused for a few seconds before she continued and confirmed it. "Lieutenant 2nd Class, Anya Vivesca Alinesqu, command code Kilo Lima Sierra One Zero One Zero, Tactical Officer."

[Command Code Accepted]

"I have linked the base's defenses into Silence's tactical controls, I can fire anytime," Anya said.

"Good, Ops, how long before they enter weapons range?" Yuu asked.

"Estimating two minutes and ten seconds," Nanako answered.

"Helm, how's the VTOL and maneuvering thrusters?"

"VTOL and maneuvering thrusters within acceptable parameters. Don't expect it to overrun a fighter jet, though," I said after testing the thrusters.

"Engineering, how's the power supply?"

"Ergh, not good. Reactor level is fluctuating all across the board. We can probably hover, but there won't be any power left for the ship to navigate or use onboard weapons. Unless of course you want to risk losing power to the thrusters and having the ship plummet to the ground while in the air?"

"Anything we can do about it?"

"I'm going back to the reactor room and figure out where the problem lies," Carl said as he got up from his chair and headed towards the door.

"Alright, do so," Yuu said.

Carl merely raised an eyebrow in defiance before going on his way.

"Guess I should make a speech, then. All hands please finish loading the supplies as quickly as you can. The ship will be departing as soon as the reactor is up and running."

"Hey Yuu, take over my console. I'm gonna go help Carl," Anya said as she got up.

"Captain, call me captain!" Yuu whined, but moved to Anya's chair anyway.

Anya snorted, "You don't seriously think I'm going to call you that, do you? Besides, I bet you'd love this game."

"Of course I'd love this game, I'm the Bloody Shogun! Nana, inform me when the first targets enter weapons range."

"Aye, aye, captain!"

"Finally!"

"Nana, don't encourage him!"

After about ten minutes, Yuu was obviously having a lot of fun. "Hahaha, die, you fucking aliens! Wheee!"

Meanwhile, I was doing the preflight checks for the tenth time. I knew it was expected of me, since the ship hadn't been active for almost a year now. But this was very boring. I had hoped that they could fix the reactor quickly, but no such luck. Carl even said that they didn't know what was wrong with the reactor and had to take the covers off to check the reactions with their own eyes. I was quite worried for them when Carl said it, but he assured me that they'd be fine, as unlike fission reactors, fusion reactors wouldn't emit radioactivity.

"Shit!" Yuu cursed.

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"Their rocket artilleries hit one of my cannons!"

"How many cannons are you left with?" I asked.

"Three! No, scratch that. Two left. The other one ran out of ammo."

"Will it be enough to hold them off until we take off?"

"I don't know. If they can fix the reactor within the next five minutes, sure. If it takes any longer than ten minutes, I'm afraid we'll be overrun!"

I thought about it. I programmed the scenario into the computer and watched as instead of ten minutes, we would be overrun in eight minutes, the way Yuu's been using his cannons. I added the calculations for the ammunition Yuu had left and the computer calculated that it would be 4 minutes before he ran out of ammunition. Within the next one minute, the soldiers would've blown open the reinforced door and surround the ship. No, I simply couldn't allow that. I had to do something.

"Nana, take over my station," I said as I left the bridge.

"Wait, what are you trying to do?" Nana asked as she followed me on my way to my hoverbike.

"I'm gonna buy us a little more time."

"If you're thinking of going out there, stop. There are thousands of soldiers out there and hundreds of tanks and heavy vehicles. You can't possibly win!"

I started the hoverbike before grabbing the curved sonic sword I took from the enemy captain earlier and handed it to her. "I'm not going out there to win. Hold this for me, will you?"

Nanako took the blade, but continued to try to persuade me, "You don't have to go out there, Jane. Trust in Carl and Anya. They'll fix the reactor, for sure!"

"It's because I trust them that I'm going to buy them some more time. Tell Yuu to assist me with his cannons, okay?" I said as I attached my IL52S particle wand to the front of the bike.

"Jane," Nanako hugged me so suddenly, it left me frozen on my seat, "I have a very bad feeling about this."

I hugged her back. "Me too, but it's a good thing that neither of us is psychic. Besides, I'm the best pilot. If anyone can return alive, it will be me."

"Wait!" Nanako said as she took off the Shimizu twin's cloak, "Wear this, may the ghost of the twins watch over you."

"Stop sounding so spiritual all of a sudden, Nana. It creeps me out," I joked as I pulled the cloak down on my body, "See ya."

I sped down the ramp towards the sealed reinforced door of the hangar before punching the codes and riding through the open door. I paused a little at the mouth of the cave, suddenly feeling afraid if I wouldn't make a difference, if I would die instead. An explosion close my my position woke me up as it blew chunks of rocks and dust my way. I decided I had to be strong. With the soldiers marching quickly towards our position, there was no more room for doubts and second guesses. I closed my eyes and pictured in my mind the scene of Yuu sitting against the wall with his stomache wide open and of those innocent children with their dolls and teddy bears being cruelly gunned down by the merciless soldiers. I grabbed my force lance and charged ahead towards the mass of enemy soldiers by myself.

With my left hand holding the handles, I slashed one, two and three soldiers with the force lance before I turned the hoverbike to the left and cut down two more soldiers close to me. The soldiers clearly wasn't sure what happened to their friends and they froze seeing their friends cut down, apparently by nothing more than a riderless hoverbike. I should've thought about it from the start, but I couldn't think clearly. Instead of firing at something they couldn't see, they fired at the hoverbike, which they could clearly see.

The hoverbike skidded on the hard ground as the internal mechanisms seized up, causing it to collide against a column of fully armoured soldiers. Once the hoverbike stopped, I grabbed the IL52S attached to the bike and ran as far away as I could. Investigating the hoverbike would give us precious minutes. When I was finally free from the mass of soldiers, I quickly climbed up to the the hillside towards the mouth of the cave, cutting down the soldiers I came across and kicked them down to the plains below. It was too bad I lost my bike, now I could no longer communicate with those in the ship. But that was okay with me, I was sure they would inform me when they were ready to depart. Now I just had to focus on delaying these guys.

While the soldiers were preoccupied with investigating the riderless hoverbike, I set all the force grenades I had on my belt to proximity alert and to activate two seconds after I pressed the activation button. By the time I was done setting up all the force grenades, it was obvious that they had lost interest in the hoverbike. They climbed up the steep decline on their way to enter the cave, without realizing that I was standing there. I cut down the head of the first soldier to come in range, before pushing the blade of my force lance from below a soldier's helmet up to pierce the top of his head. Then I pressed the button on his waist that locked up his spine and the lower parts of his body before wrapping my small hand around his and pressed the trigger, firing his coilgun autocannon against his fellow soldiers. The rest of the soldiers fired on him, but of course, he was already dead. With his coilgun in my hands I fired rounds after rounds of magnetically accellerated magnets, providing unparalleled piercing power against columns of armoured soldiers. When I saw one of the soldiers fired a rocket towards him, I jumped away, finding cover behind a dead soldier's armoured body. The heat and shockwave was so great that I was stunned for several seconds as the soldiers kept marching forward. I grabbed the hand of the soldier I hid from and pressed the trigger of his gattling gun, releasing a spray of bullet towards the approaching soldiers. It wasn't as effective as the coilgun, but it was good enough to down a dozen of those unsuspecting soldiers, until they wised up and started firing on every corpse in front of them.

I escaped by jumping to the ground below, making contact with the tightly packed columns of soldiers as they climbed the ledge. Before the realized what had happened, I made space for myself by stabbing the soldiers right next to me with the flaming blade of my force lance. Then I put my particle wand back into its holster and grabbed my force grenade. I carelessly threw the grenade around me, one after another, feeling the force of it activating upon detecting movement, flattening the soldiers under its area of effect to the ground. I finished the last of my grenades to make room for me to maneuver. Once I had a sufficient enough space, I swung the force lance left and right, cutting up scores of soldiers as I walked back towards the cave's mouth one step at a time. I've had enough, to tell the truth, I must have massacred hundreds of fully armoured soldiers, who couldn't even see what was killing them. I now understood why Nana felt that she was God. Unfortunately, playing God must end sooner or later.

It unnerved me though, that the soldiers now paid their full attention towards me as I cut up more of them. I knew they couldn't see me, but my luck must run out eventually. That luck ran out when one of the soldiers took off his helmet. When he urged his fellow soldiers to take off their helmets, I knew it was time to make best speed to the ship. Some of the soldiers managed to grab hold of my arms, I cut them in response. Some of them managed to grab my legs, I cut those too. A few of them tried to jump me, I cut them up over and over, then sidestepped the falling bodies. One of them managed to grab me from behind, I stabbed him in the face blindly with the force lance, then pushed him away. By now, I was back in the middle of the fully armoured soldiers, minus helmet. My arms were tired, my legs about to collapse, my escape route cut, I asked myself, Where the hell is that covering fire?

A few of them tried to approach me, but I swung my force lance and cut him in two. Several more approached me, but I cut them too. I cut every soldier who came inside my weapons's range. I briefly wondered why they didn't just kill me, but I reasoned that I would have more value to them alive than dead. Then several of them took out a particle wand, prompting me to do the same. They tried to fire, but their weapons must've malfunctioned because of the cloak, so I took the opportunity to switch to high intensity particles and mowed them down with a lashing of high intensity particles, before the particle wand itself overloaded and exploded in my hand. It was painful, my hand was still there, but I could no longer feel it, as if my left hand had already died. In my pain, I saw a way out, but my legs were already tired, about to collapse, I could no longer dash through the opening. Before I could do anything, the opening was already filled by more soldiers.

"Surrender!" someone commanded.

"Not in your life!" I cried as with the last of my strength, I charged towards the origin of the voice, but instead of cutting through his armour, the flaming blade of the force lance disappeared. The force lance had ran out of power.

The soldier, probably a captain from the rank insignia on his armour grabbed me by my arm as my legs lost its strength. I fell to the hard ground as my strength failed me. "Surrender," he said with a cold voice, "We will show mercy."

It was then that I heard the sound of craft taking off. I looked up and saw the Mirialis Corvette came out of the dead volcano's mouth and flew away.

"GOD DAMNED YOU BASTARDS!" I cried at the sky as I surrendered myself to my fate.

******

"Hey, we've fixed the reactor. It should allow us to fly for a few hours, but we'll need to recalibrate the reactor again - where's Jane?" Carl asked when he entered the bridge.

"You were taking too long," Yuu said as he got up from the tactical console, "We had to buy you time."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO WITH JANE, YOU BASTARD!?"

"I didn't do anything, Carl. It was her choice to go out there to buy you time."

"Yuu, enemy airships approaching!" Nanako exclaimed.

"How many?"

"4 corvettes and 2 frigates. I can't tell of what type!"

"Shit! Nana, take over helm station. Carl, get to your station, we're taking off."

"All crew, secure yourselves. We are taking off, I repeat, we are taking off!"

"Fuck this! I'm going to bring Jane back!" Carl yelled as he turned to leave the bridge.

"No! It's too late, Carl! We lost contact with her almost seven minutes ago! Nana, take off, now!"

Nanako pushed the lever corresponding to the VTOL thruster while at same time, activating the command code to open the overhead hangar gate. As Carl and Yuu grapled with each other, Nanako pushed the ship higher, up the volcano shaft until it was finally clear. Then she pushed forward another lever, and the Mirialis Corvette, named Silence, sped off to the eastern seas.

*Finally, I finished Chapter 6 of Escape! I had wondered how much longer I was going to take to finish this chapter. For some reason, I couldn't visualize the scene between meeting Herb and arrive at Mineshaft 6.
**As always, all feedbacks and comments are very appreciated. Praises help me to write faster, constructive criticisms help me to write better.
***I wonder if I should work on the next chapter of Butterfly Girlfriend, Sky Goddess or Armageddon next. What do you think as the reader?

My name is John Harolds. I was a junior at the Sacred Soul Academy, a prestigious academy that churned out hundreds of alumni who would one day become the pillars of society. Something happened that year. My classmates and I became involved with something big that could threaten the very social order of the world we lived in and we ended up being hunted by the police, the military and everyone we had ever trusted. This is the story of the greatest escape of our lives. What if you were told that the life you had led was all a big fat lie? I was captured, tortured and denied my basic human rights. Can somebody get me out of here? Escape! Chapter 7 By Shinieris

"Get in!" one of the guards said with a push from the nozzle of his rifle.

"Excuse me? Am I diseased? Would it kill you if you had used your hand?" I asked as I stumbled on a piece of uneven flooring.

They had pushed me into a prison cell with no bars, no light and no windows. The only source of light was the open door, and once it was closed, it would be darker than night in the room.

"Oh, you want me to use my hands?" the guard handed his rifle to the other man as he took two steps into the jail cell, "I would enjoy feeling you up with my hands, little girl. Heheheheh."

I stepped back. One step at a time, until my back came in contact with the wall. "You-you try it and I'll break it."

"Aww, so sweet. Innocent virgins are great," he said while touching the skin of my thighs, going higher and higher.

"No, stop! Leave me alone!" I cried as I tried to push him away with my tired right hand. My left hand was still scorched and dead.

"Oh, don't be like that. You should thank me. I'll make you a woman, little rebel bitch!" he said as he ripped off my blouse and proceeded to pull down my skirt.

"Noooo!!! Let me go!" I cried as I did my best to hold on to my skirt with my weakened right hand.

"Heh, fat chance. You'll never leave this place, bitch!" he said right before something hit him on one side of his face, throwing him against the wall to my left.

A man in military uniform stood behind the guard, his left leg made a clank as it came to rest on the floor. "Military Code Section 12, Treatment of Prisoners of War. Subsection 4, Attempted Rape of a Prisoner of War. Clause 1: Any actions that involve forcing a prisoner to take off their clothes without the prisoner's consent is considered attempted rape.
Clause 2: Any actions that end with a prisoner losing their clothes as a result of unsanctioned violent actions without the prisoner's consent is considered attempted rape.
Clause 3: Any words spoken that clearly stated the accused's intentions to violate a prisoner's body followed by the actions in Clause 1 and 2 are considered attempted rape.
Clause 6: In the event an act of rape or attempted rape was performed, the accused shall be put on trial in front of a court marshal. Private Amaert Ackert, how do you plead?"

"She seduced me, sir. She's planning on escaping by seducing us from the moments-"

"That is irrelevant. How do you plead, soldier?"

"I request to be court-marshalled, sir," the soldier, Private Amaert Ackert said as he stood straight in front of the officer, ignoring the redness in his left cheek.

"Military Code Section 1: Judgement of Offenders of the Military Code. Subsection 3: In the event where neither a court marshall nor an impartial judge is likely. Clause 1: The highest ranking officer on the field may act as Prosecutor, Jury, Judge and Executioner.
Clause 4: Punishments for a convicted case must be within the bounds of the code governing the offense.
Section 12, Subsection 4, Clause 8: Punishments are dependent on the judge based on a just and balanced punishment equal to the severity of the act and how it may affect unit morale.
Private Amaert Ackert, you have been found guilty on charge of unsanctioned attempted rape of a prisoner of war."

"Sir, I shall volunteer for whatever punishments you choose for me, sir!"

"Very good," the officer took out his particle wand from its holster and fired a pulse at the soldier's head, blowing the whole brain open.

The scream I heard was none other than my own as the soldier's brain matter and blood splattered all over the dark cell.

"I will not tolerate undisciplined behaviour in my base, private. That goes to you too, soldier!"

"Sir, it will not happen again, sir!" the soldier at the door, the one who escorted me with the dead soldier saluted.

"Make sure it doesn't," the officer said, before he looked at my blood covered half-naked body and told the soldier, "Hose her down, then move her to Cell B2-12."

"Sir, yes sir!" the other soldier stepped aside, letting the officer out the door with a salute.

Another guard arrived and together, they took me down to the bathroom, a featureless room with open toilets and not a single showerhead. When I arrived at the bath section, they told me to take off my bra, skirt and panties on my own under threat of death. Then from afar, they sprayed my naked body with high pressure cold water, making me scream in pain at the needle-like sensation on my skin. I fell to the floor in exhaustion, where they got closer and sprayed me with high pressure water from all angles without care for my pleas. When they were done, I was lying facedown on the cold tile floor. They left a towel on top of my discarded clothes and told me to wear my clothes back in two minutes. They no longer watched me, but I no longer cared, I was at their mercy.

I covered my upper body with the towel as they escorted me to my new cell, B2-12, right next to my old cell, where the body of the dead soldier was being carried out. I had to hold back my vomit as I saw the big hole on the soldier's head when they passed me. Once we stood in front of the door to my new cell, the soldier who was here since the start swiped a keycard on the device next to the door and it opened, revealing a dark room no different from the one before. That night I slept in the cold darkness, with only the damp towel as my blanket.

******

"Get up, rebel!" I heard a man's voice say before my body was rudely pulled up from the bed and thrown to the cold floor.

I raised my head slowly, fearful of another attempted rape. My reluctance apparently enraged the soldier as he kicked me in my stomache without mercy. It was with great difficulty that I got up on my knees before being pulled to my feet roughly by my hair. I winced in pain as another guard slapped a pair of rigid cuffs to my wrists.

With me just in my bra, skirt and panties, they pushed me out of the cell with the nozzle of their particle rifles. I already learned from yesterday's experience that to argue would only bring trouble to me. If not for that scary officer yesterday, I would have been raped, or worse. Who knows what he would've done if he had found out that I wasn't actually a girl. Would he have killed me?

"Move!" one of the guards nudged me deeply in the back with the nozzle of his rifle.

With a heavy heart, I took one step after another in front of the two guards through a long hallway. Twice soldiers whistled in appreciation as I walked past. Twice men felt up my exposed skin. Many times soldiers simply looked at my barely covered body. What barbarism is this?

"Hey Mack, how much for the girl?" one of the soldiers approached as we waited for the elevator at the end of the hallway.

"No deal," Mack, the bigger of the two guards, the one who rudely woke me from my sleep said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Oh come on, Mack. I'm your most loyal customer. State a price," the soldier said.

Loyal customer? Is he talking about prostitution? Do the guards use prisoners as prostitutes?

"Maybe later. Major Lawman and Mr. Forben expects this prisoner ASAP, Bob."

"You're waiting for the lift. It's not like you're going anywhere right now," the soldier, Bob, argued.

"Fair point. 20 bucks for each of us and you can touch her as you want until the lift gets here. No penetration," the other guard said.

"Isn't that a bit steep for no penetration, Mars?" Bob asked.

"Every second you argue, the shorter the time you have to play. Besides, this girl is pure," Mars said.

Are they seriously prostituting me here? Right in the hallway where everyone can see?

"Pure? How can you be sure?"

"Remember Ame? He died because he tried to rape the girl," Mack explained.

"Ame? Fine, you greedy bastards," he took out four $10 bills and slapped it onto Mack's outstretched hand, "Here, take it and go elsewhere."

"Pleasure doing business with you," Mack grinned as he and Mars turned around and went away.

"No! Don't leave me with him!" I cried as Bob pushed me to the cold floor before licking my neck.

"Unless you can pay us the same, missy, you're his toy until the lift gets here. Do you have 40 bucks lying around?" Mack asked.

"No! You have to save me!" I cried with tears in my eyes as Bob's right hand went inside my bra, pushing the cups upward while his other hand fondled my butt.

"Sorry girl, over here, money talks. Bob, would you please shut her up?" Mars said.

"You don't have to ask me that!" Bob said as he proceeded to press his lips on mine, pushing his tongue inside my mouth. It licked and wrapped itself around my own tongue and my first instinct was to bite it off, but I was afraid it would only enrage him.

Not only was I surrounded by enemies, I dared not to make it any worse. He touched me everywhere. He licked my nipples, bit my breasts and pulled my hair hard as he bit into my neck. With my hands in cuffs, my only defiance was to struggle while holding back my tears. I did not want to allow this man the pleasure of seeing my shame and tears.

"You made me so horny, little whore," he said as he unzipped his pants, "Here, suck on this!"

I turned my face to my right as his dick and balls, which looked huge to me slapped my face. He used both his hands to turn my face while sitting on my upper chest with his dick resting on my lips. When I refused to open my mouth, he pulled the hair on my head as hard as he could, making me cry out in pain. He managed to push the head of his dick into my mouth before an unexpected help arrived.

"Alright, that's enough," Mack said as he pulled Bob off my body.

"Wait, already? It was barely two minutes!"

"Hey, don't blame me! If you want to scold someone, scold the lift!" Mack said as he and Mars laughed.

"Damn it! I want a refund!"

"You know that's not how it works, Bob."

"Fine! Call me when you bring her back. I'm going full course later!"

"Sure, man. Will do, unless we get someone who pays more," Mack said as he and Mars laughed together.

"Maybe we should put her up for an auction," Mars said as they laughed again.

Bob simply walked away in anger.

I couldn't believe it was only two minutes. If that was true, it was the longest two minutes of my life. Longer than the massacre at LAC. Longer even, than the battle of Mineshaft 6.

Please, somebody please save me!

******

Mack knocked on the door of the last room along the hallway. A voice from inside told us to come in.

"Sir, the prisoner is here!" Mack said as Mars pushed me with the tip of his rifle.

"Excellent! We can finally get under way. Please, my dear, have a seat," one of them, a man in gray pants and creased shirt gestured to a chair.

The chair had manacles attached to it. I was lead to it by the chains of my wristcuffs before it was removed and I was strapped down, wrists and ankles locked in manacles. The other man, military man by the look of his uniform pulled a chair and sat opposite me on the other side of the table.

"Good evening," the military man greeted before he introduced himself, "My name is Major Lawman and that man behind you is Mr. Forben, he's something like a freelancer."

"Freelancer of what?" I asked.

"SILENCE!" he slammed his fist down on the table so suddenly it made me jump in my seat, "I ASK THE QUESTIONS HERE!"

"Now now, Major, please, calm down. She's just a cute little girl, caught up in things too big for her to handle," Mr. Forben said in a gentle soothing voice, before he leaned the table to my left and asked in an equally soothing voice, "It's too bad that you're caught up in this. A little girl like you shouldn't have to bear such a heavy burden. Don't you want to be free, child?"

"Yes..." I answered, as if in a trance.

"Very good, now if you'll just answer our questions, this will be over very soon. Now, first question, what is your name?"

"Jane Larssen..."

"How many in your group?"

"Five..."

"Who are they?"

"Carl Miller, Yuu Nakani, Nanako Fujisawa, Anya Alinesqu..."

"Why do you look so similar to Annamarie Hudson?"

"Annamarie..."

The thought of Annamarie woke me up from my trance. I couldn't believe I simply answered all his questions so easily. What was wrong with me?

"Not telling, eh? Let's change the question, then. Are you a clone of Annamarie Hudson?"

Of course, I decided to keep quiet. I didn't even bother asking for a lawyer.

"Still not telling? Tsk tsk, such a bad girl. Let's change the question again. Which lab produced you?"

Which lab? What is he talking about? Does it mean that there are labs that produce clones of Annamarie?

"Forben, you're too soft. I'll handle this," Major Lawman said as Mr. Forben shrugged and left the room.

"Now girl, I will ask this once and only once. If you refuse to answer, I will be forced to punish you. Do you understand?"

I said nothing.

He slapped my face with his big and heavy hand. It stung greatly and I was sure that my face was swollen.

"When I ask you a question, you will answer whether you want to or not!"

I kept quiet, trying to forget about the pain in my cheek. Meanwhile, the major went to a cabinet at one corner of the room and took out a long metal stick with a pointy tip. It looked very much like a short spear, about the length of the major's lower arm. Mr. Forben then put some kind of helmet on my head.

"Now my question, why are you so similar to Annamarie Hudson?"

I kept quiet. In front of me, a television screen came to life, showing the face of my sister Annamarie.

"When I ask you a question, you answer!" the major poked the tip of the stick into my stomach and pain erupted all over my body.

It was like being electrocuted, even my organs were screaming in pain. My mouth was open and I knew my screams were loud, loudest I had ever screamed. My eyes, it was like my eyes were being burned by a reddish light. As for my brain, it felt like my brain was being attacked by a current so powerful, it amplified every feeling of pain from all parts of my body.

I didn't realize when he pulled away the pain prod, but I recalled hearing my own screams as my vision normalized. Even after the prod was taken away, my body hurt greatly. For a long moment, my body trembled, it shook greatly, as if I suffered from a fatal seizure.

"I will give you a chance and ask you again. Why do you look like Annamarie Hudson?"

"I am Jane Larssen," the screen in front of me showed myself standing in the bridge of Silence.

He poked my stomach with the prod again.

When I recovered, I said, "I am Jane Larssen," the screen in front of me showed Yuu, Nana, Carl and I sitting around a campfire reading our mails from the Student Council.

"I am Jane Larssen," I said as he prodded my chest with the prod. The screen in front of me showed my wedding ceremony with Carl.

"You humans never learn," the major said as he moved to poke me on my forehead with the pain prod.

"I am Jane Lars-AHHHH!!!!" the screen in front of me showed the moment when I threw the bouquet, hitting the priest as I screamed like I was being flayed.

When he released the prod, I repeated, "I do, I do, I do."

******

"So... Jane Larssen, Junior Lieutenant of the Silence. To think that a Junior Lieutenant of the Air Force is in cahoots with those detestable Sacred Soul and Underground Resistance. Oh!" Mr. Forben read aloud.

"What?" the major asked. He had stopped poking my stomach with the pain prod when I fainted from the pain. They immediately revived me afterwards.

"It stated here that Jane Larssen is married to Carl Miller."

"Isn't that the name of one of the Sacred Soul kids? Is it the same person?"

"It seems like it. She did mention that she was with Yuu Nakani and Nanako Fujisawa, which are the names of two of the Sacred Soul Kids... which begs the question, how is an Air Force personnel running around with the Sacred Soul kids?"

"What about the name Anya Alinesqu? Did we get a match on her face based on her memories?"

"Hm, we can pursue that, but there's something I've been suspicious of. Which team sent you, little girl?" Mr. Forben asked.

"Huh?"

"Don't try to act surprised! You must be one of those copies prepared in advance. Judging from the age, I bet those idiots took you out of your vat early, didn't they?"

"I don't know..."

Another prod, another suffering, more reddish light shined out from my mouth, eyes, ears and fingers.

"Don't mess with me, little girl. I can turn you into a puddle of excrement in 5 seconds!" the major said as he pressed the pain prod even deeper.

When I recovered, I realized that the screen was black and the helmet put on my head before was already taken off. Mr Forben came into the room, carrying a bowl of noodles, in some kind of soup. He sat in front of me and proceeded to slurp it noisily. The soup smelled very good.

When he heard my stomach grumble, he looked up at me and offered the noodle. I refused. He shrugged and proceeded to slurp it noisily. My stomach grumbled even more. It was as if my grumbling stomach was competing with his slurping for the title of 'noisiest'. It reminded me of food, I have had none since coming here. Even water, the only water I've drank was in the shower, when the guards hosed me down.

When was the last time I ate anything? Has it already been a day? Two days? It is so hard to tell time inside this prison. I know a human being can last for a week without food, but in my memories, I've only had good food, three times a day. I can't possibly last for a week.

The major from earlier returned, carrying another bowl of noodle. He set it on the table and glared at me, as if daring me to ask for it. Mr. Forben asked me if I wanted the new one, while he slurped his noodles noisily. My only answer was a loud grumble from my stomach.

Mr. Forben pushed the bowl of noodles nearer. Its aroma assaulted my nose and made my stomach grumble even more. If my hands weren't shackled down, I would've grabbed the bowl even if it earned me another prod from the pain stick.

"You can have this," Mr. Forben pushed the bowl closer, "And many more, if you answer our questions like a good girl. Are you a good girl?"

I didn't answer.

"Well, doesn't matter anyway. But still, I can't believe you've been so successful at hiding this. Didn't the instructors at the military academy notice your little issue?"

Little issue?

"Let's play a game. I will only ask you two questions. If you answer both, you get to eat. My, it's been a more than a day since you've eaten anything, you must be starving! Not a very bad deal, if you ask me. Major, would you help her with her decision?"

Major Lawman frowned at Mr. Forben's request. Regardless, he walked around to my side of the table and lifted the bowl of soup to my face, letting me smell the full aroma of the soup. Without realizing it, I bowed down, trying to taste the soup with the tip of my tongue.

Then the bowl was gone. The major had placed the soup back onto the table. Mr. Forben said, "Now, that's cheating. You can't expect to eat before you work for it. Oh don't look at me like that. You remind me of that time when I stole candy from a little boy. You're going to make me laugh."

"Are you going to cooperate?" the major who stood next to me asked.

I looked at the bowl of noodle with soup in front of me. My stomach grumbled as I nodded silently.

"Very good, now for the first question. Why do you look like Annamarie?" Mr. Forben asked.

I hesitated. It's not such a big secret, right? Anna's dead, it won't harm her. "Annamarie is my sister."

"Don't lie to us, bitch!" Major Lawman turned my chair to face him and slapped my face hard, "We would've been told if they brought her little sister too. Now which lab produced you?"

"No, no, you're wrong!"

The major raised his hand as if to slap me again before Mr. Forben told him to stop.

"Major, she's telling the truth. No reason to punish her."

"What? There is no way that she is Annamarie Hudson's little sister. Their little sister is on a planet hundreds of lightyears from here!"

"Oh my! Didn't I tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Mr. Forben chuckled. "I guess I didn't tell you that I checked her body just now. Let's have her tell you herself, shall we? What is your real name? In relation to the Sacred Soul Academy, that is."

"..."

"Answer, or the offer's gone."

"J-John Harolds," I said, that name feeling so distant from me now, as if it had already been decades since I have last used that name.

"John Harolds? That's the name of the missing rebel!"

"And if you read the reports, you know that John Larssen was the little brother of Annamarie Larssen, Annamarie Hudson's original name."

"I see," the major grabbed my chin with his fingers, "It seems you weren't lying."

"Can I eat?" I asked.

"Not yet. So little boy, or maybe you prefer to be called 'little girl'? Anyway, tell us what is your objective."

"I can't say," I said, suddenly remembering all those time when I choked almost to death from trying to say anything related to it.

"Can't say or won't say?" the major asked.

"I can't. The seniors, they did something to our brains. We can't say anything about it at all. Can I eat now?"

"No, you can't. You didn't give us the answer we needed."

"Please, I'm so hungry. Please let me eat," I begged for the now cold noodle soup.

"Maybe if you give us one piece of information that is actually useful, we'll think about it," Mr. Forben said.

A useful information? What information would be useful?

"I'm not a girl."

"We already know that. Try again."

"Los Angeles City is home to an Underground Resistance group called Seraph Cell."

"Why do you keep giving useless information? Where do you think you were captured at?"

I looked at Mr. Forben, and gave Major Lawman a quick glance. I wondered what to tell them as my stomach grumbled from inhaling the aroma of the soup. It wasn't like I knew anything. Any useful information was already locked by the headpiece while I was at the academy. What could I possible tell them even if I wanted to?

Unless...

"We were supposed to gather at Washington City."

This seemed to draw Mr. Forben's interest. "Oh? And what are you going to do there?"

"Acquire the bomb and blow up the White House."

"Nice try, we've already checked. Unless your bomb is a cruise missile or a nuclear weapon, there is absolutely no chance that you have a bomb big enough to blow up the White House."

"... the purpose was not to destroy it completely..."

Mr. Forben froze.

"Explain," he said coldly.

"We're supposed to receive the final instructions there. But I think the purpose of the mission was not to destroy the White House itself. 'That' is more important than the whole building, isn't it?"

Of course, I had no idea what this 'that' that I was talking about supposed to be, but I tried my best to not let it show on my face.

"... need to check..." Mr. Forben muttered under his breath.

"Can I eat now?" I asked.

"Hm? Oh sure, of course. Let me help you with that."

He walked around the table, standing on my other side, opposite Major Lawman before picking up the bowl of noodles. He let me sniff the aroma of the now cold noodle. Then he asked me if I really wanted it, to which I nodded yes, before he threw it all at my face. He cackled like a fiend watching my expression of shock.

"Take her away, men!" Major Lawman called the two soldiers outside.

Just before they took me away, though, Mr. Forben gave a strict order against letting anyone touch me. I went to sleep hungry, thirsty and half-naked, but at least I wasn't raped. I didn't know what tomorrow would bring for me, but I didn't put much hope in it.

******

"Let's start again," Mr. Forben said when I was brought to them the next day, "Where is the bomb?"

"Water..." I asked.

The scream I heard was my own as my vision went red and whole body spasmed in pain when Major Lawman poked the pain prod into my chest.

"Just answer the question, little girl," Mr. Forben said again.

On the screen, the display showed a kind of bomb that could fit inside a handbag. It was a bomb I created from my imagination, a bomb that would be powerful enough to destroy a part of the White House and still be small enough to carry around. I deduced last night that this helmet on my head read whatever surface thoughts I had at the moment. I was glad that my deduction proved true. I was also glad that despite the excruciating pain, I was able to maintain my focus.

How do you like my imaginary bomb, shapeshifter?

Oh, no good, the image is starting to change. I need to keep focus.

"Is that how the bomb looks like?" I heard Mr. Forben say as my vision regained its normality.

Though my body was still in pain from the torture.

"Looks homemade..." Major Lawman said, "Though I can't see the detonator, that canister seems to contain the explosive agent."

"Or white phosphorus. That's thing's nasty."

"True, but white phosphorus is quite hard to produce in a home lab. It could simply be celulose nitrate. From her description though, it seems to be nitroglycerin, unless that canister is actually a shaped plastic explosive."

"Where is it?" Mr. Forben asked me again.

"Don't know..." I croaked, the previous tortured almost robbed me of my voice.

Major Lawman poked the pain prod into my body again, causing me to scream in pain before another voice entered my ears.

"STOP!!!"

The pain prod withdrew, and the pain gradually subsided.

I must have gone to heaven. Perhaps that last bit was too much for my body to handle. Or maybe I had not yet died, but my brain was seeing things. Because standing at the door of the interrogation room, looking angry...

It was Anna.

Annamarie. She looked just like how she used to. Beautiful, just like I used to remember her. Even her angry face looked to be just like it was a long time ago.

"You bastard!" Anna came closer, grabbed the pain prod in Major Lawman's hand and stung Major Lawman with it instead.

Major Lawman glowed yellow all over. His face glowed with a yellow light and a yellowish lightning and light appeared from his open eyes, his ears, his nose and his mouth. He screamed so loud that had I been free, I would've shut my ears from his shrill screams.

"How do you like that, you bastard?! How dare you do that to my brother!" Anna spat at Major Lawman who was spasming on the floor.

"Hey bitch, we're in the middle of an interrogation here!" Mr. Forben protested.

Anna pointed the pain prod his way. "Do you want to be next?"

Mr. Forben raised his hand in surrender.

"Let her go. What the hell have you been doing to my brother? He's all skin and bones!"

Mr. Forben mumbled 'standard procedure' as he pressed the buttons to deactivate the steel restrains for my arms and legs.

"Come on, John, let's go," Anna said as she helped me up from the chair. Then she grabbed a white robe from one of the drawers and helped me put it on.

"A-anna?" I asked, still not quite believing my eyes.

"Yeah yeah, it's me. Miss me?" Anna grinned. I remember this grin. It was the grin she made when I won the science week at school. But we never had science week at Sacred Soul. Could it be... this is a memory from Earth? The real Earth?

"Wait! You can't just take her. She's our subject!" Mr. Forben argued.

Anna dropped the pain prod, before producing a data card from her vest. She threw it at Mr. Forben behind us without even looking. "That's all the authorization I need, interrogator."

We passed by the two guards at the door. They saluted Anna to which Anna responded with her own salute. What's going on? Why are they saluting at her?

As we walked further along the corridor, with me being carried by one of her arms, we could hear Mr. Forben screaming "WHY?!!!!!" from the interrogation room.

We took the lift up to the higher levels. The place Anna took me to, was the army mess hall. The whole place smelled so good.

"Take anything you want. You are a prisoner, but since your punishment hasn't been decided, you have the right to be here," Anna said.

"Right?" I asked, my voice still coarse.

"You're a second lieutenant, aren't you? That's pretty high ranked, considering of course that you've only been out of school for a few days," Anna smiled in a non-judgemental way as she pushed me to queue up in front of her.

"Sorry," I apologized, since it was actually Anya's hacking that got me this rank. As I stood there in front of the servers, they dropped something that looked like mashed potato/sweet corn mix, a steak, a small muffin and a few slices of fruit.

"Why are you sorry? It's fine, I won't pry. Here, take my water, you look like you need it," Anna said as she gave me a bottle of what looks to be mineral water from her tray. I now had two bottles of water.

We sat at an isolated table at a balcony, with view overlooking the eastern part of the army base. It was a big army base. Just the eastern part alone appeared to be at least 20 hectares big. From afar, I could see hoverplanes and transport ships taking off and landing on the numerous landing pads. In another part, soldiers in powered armour were marching in sync. It seemed like a very active army base.

"Anna?"

"Yes?"

"Is it really you?"

"Of course! Wanna touch my face to be sure?" Anna leaned over the table closer to me, prompting me reach my hand to touch her face.

It was Anna's nose. Anna's cheeks. Anna's lips. Anna's brows. But...

"Why do you feel so cold?"

"Have to blame that on the regeneration therapy. I had to be kept under -5 degrees Celsius for days."

"Regeneration therapy?"

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of it. It's the most expensive and most effective treatment to regrow lost limbs. I lost more than half of my body when Sacred Soul Academy exploded."

"How did you escape from the Sacred Soul? We barely managed to escape from there."

"I was in the main control room when that happened. Without our knowledge, the previous student council reinforced it. It couldn't fully block a full nuclear fusion explosion, but it was good enough to reduce the blast damage. So instead of sudden death, I lost my right arm and everything below my heart."

"How did you survive?"

"Rescue teams. They arrived just in time to save me. They were too late to rescue Andy, though."

"Why are you here, then? Why are you with them? And that uniform, it's an army uniform, isn't it?"

"John, what I'm going to tell you is going to give you a shock. Please stay calm and just listen until I'm done, okay?"

"Huh?"

"The truth is..."

******

Yuu woke up startled when the shipwide alarm blared. This was the first time since they left Mineshaft 6 that red alert was sounded. Yuu quickly jumped from the captain's bed, grabbed his shirt and dashed to the bridge. He opened the door of the bridge only to be welcomed by a chaotic atmosphere.

"Cut power to the communications array!" Nanako gave an order to one of the Seraph Cell boys that they adopted as crewman of the corvette.

"It's not responding!" the crewman in question replied while his fingers frantically touched all the displays around him. He was sitting at the ops station.

All over the bridge, the lights were out of control while some of the ship's status displays flickered on and off.

"Nana, report!" Yuu commanded.

"We're being hacked!" she said as she went around the stations trying to understand the situation.

"What? By who?"

"We don't know, and right now the priority is to shut down the communication array."

"Call Anya! Why isn't she here yet?"

Nanako slapped Yuu's face. "Are you still asleep, Yuu? Anya and Carl are gone, remember? They can't help us anymore!"

"Anya and Carl are gone? So that wasn't a dream?" Yuu despaired.

"Get a hold of yourself, Yuu! Stop moping, you're the cap-"

Suddenly everything went quiet.

Without even looking at the ops station behind her, Nanako asked, "Did you manage to isolate the communications array?"

"No, sir. It's still functional. We're receiving data," the crewman answered with a soft voice.

"Shit!" Nanako cursed.

"Sir, I'm receiving an encoded message," the crewman at the ops station informed.

"Encoded message? By who?" Yuu asked.

"Unknown. I can't even detect the message's point of origin. And it's addressed to the captain and first officer of the Silence."

Yuu and Nanako looked at each other. Both wondering who could be sending a message to them when they were parked under the desert sand. Who could be so good that they were able to break through Anya's firewalls.

"Everyone out," Nanako ordered.

Slowly, the crewmen manning the helm, tactical and ops consoles left the bridge through the tight corridor behind the captain's chair. At the same time, Yuu and Nanako made their way to the ops console. Despite being unsure of themselves, they pressed the button that opened the message for viewing.

"This can't be right..." Nanako muttered.

 

*Hi everyone. It's another chapter of Escape! Frankly, this chapter was pretty hard for me to write. I wanted to make readers able to emphatize with Jane's ordeal, but I didn't want to make it so bad that this becomes an extreme story. Getting the balance was hard, and I still don't think I managed to get it right. Hope my readers can advise me on how to make this chapter better.
**Thank you for reading, and any comments are very appreciated. Thank you again.