Albert tried hard not to stare at the clock the whole hour. He did the math over and over in his head, trying to account for every variable. He didn’t want to wait for Harriet too long in case he was questioned, but he wasn’t sure when college classes got out. College, he’d heard, was a bit more relaxed and there was a possibility they’d get out earlier. Or later. He couldn’t be sure.

He kept running figures in his mind over and over during orchestra, his fingers skittering over the neck of the violin during a particularly brutal section of the music. He glanced at the clock every so often that he felt like it was continually ticking in his mind.

He raised his hand the second it got to ten minutes before lunch, claiming he wasn’t feeling good and needed to visit the office. Mr. Copland, who Albert knew had no reason to mistrust him, let him go.

Albert packed up his violin and left, trying to let the nervousness translate into an illness long enough to walk out of the classroom. He quickly stuffed his violin in his locker and slipped out the back of the school, pretending to head to his apartment without going to the office. That would be his excuse, anyway, if they ever asked him.

Albert turned a street corner and began following the path he and Billy took to Franklin University. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he stayed more and more out in the open. He was skipping school, something he hadn’t done since middle school. It was ironic that becoming friends with Marie made him more likely to follow the rules. Now this new Marie was asking them to go against the government and break rules, and Albert loved it.

He made his way to the university. He memorized the map, figuring this was the last couple weeks of the semester. Anyone walking around with a map would stick out.

Albert followed the map in his mind to the music theory building and climbed a few sets of stairs until he reached the classrooms. He sat outside 303 and relaxed when he heard the professor’s voice from within. He waited, tapping his foot, trying not to look suspicious. He brought along his book but the nerves in his stomach wouldn’t allow him to concentrate.

The door opened half a minute early and students began spilling out. Albert stood up, glancing around the assortment of students. He was painfully aware he was a high school freshman among college students, so he was already standing out. It would be best not to draw too much attention to himself.

“Excuse me, do you know where Harriet is?” Albert asked. He didn’t use her last name, trying to sound like he was on friendly terms with Harriet instead of trying to identify who she was.

“Yeah, she’s in there, talking with the professor. She’ll be out in a sec.”

Albert followed the girl’s finger to where a girl he could only hope to be Harriet was chatting with the professor.

“Thank you.”

Albert waited as Harriet finished up. Harriet laughed before saying goodbye and headed toward the door. Albert stood to the side and Harriet saw him immediately. She gave him a curious look before studying him closer. Albert gave a small smile.

“Hey Harriet,” Albert said.

“Sorry, you seem to know my name, but I’m not sure-”

“We have a mutual friend.”

Albert could see the confusion melt into a sort of forced control. She touched Albert on the shoulder, propelling him forward and away from the classroom. “Oh, wonderful. Tell me who this mutual friend of ours is.”

“Marie.”

Albert didn’t dare mention her last name. Marie had to be a common enough name. Harriet didn’t give any indication that she recognized Marie’s name except her eyes began darting around the hallway.

“I heard some unpleasant things have happened to her,” Harriet said.

“Well, yes, but she also has a surprisingly resilient spirit,” Albert said.

At that Harriet stopped and faced Albert, her face full of doubt. She then glanced around again before looping her arm into Albert’s and the forced control came back to her.

“We need a safer location,” Harriet said out of the corner of her mouth.

Five minutes later, Albert was in Harriet’s apartment. Harriet shrugged her backpack off before facing Albert.

“This is way too dangerous. You shouldn’t have tried to find me. The underground is almost breaking as it is. I can’t help you with Marie. She came back over the wall and has forgotten everything,” Harriet said, a slight edge to her voice.

“I talked to her a few days ago. She remembers us. She remembers everything, and she has a message she wanted to give the underground directly,” Albert said.

Harriet gave a sigh and shook her head. “Even though we would love to know how she managed to keep her memories when she came back over, we can’t anymore. One of our own confirmed she was given the formula again a few days ago to make her forget everything.”

Albert’s heart raced. “When?”

“A few days ago.”

“Was it any time before Saturday night?”

Harriet paused to think. “No, it was Friday.”

Albert let out a breath. “Then she found a way to evade it again. We met up with her Saturday night and she still remembered us.”

Harriet’s eyes went wide. “But… that’s impossible!”

Albert gave a shrug. “And she managed it.”

Harriet tapped her arm, looking bewildered. “And you’re sure it was after Friday night?”

Albert nodded. “Positive. She remembers everything.”

Harriet gave a small nod. “Then I’ll have some of my people pick her up as indiscreetly as possible. If it’s true what you say, we’ll have a lot of questions for her.”

Albert felt a huge weight lift from his chest. He didn’t know how big of a deal Marie’s knowledge was, but he was happy to at least help lift her burden of it. “Thank you. All hobos have watches on. Marie is certain they’re bugged, so be aware of that.”

Harriet nodded. “How do you usually meet with her?”

“We have a side street we meet with her at night. She takes off the watch so the S.E.A. just assume she’s sleeping and she comes to talk with us.”

Harriet nodded. “Impressive. And Albert, do not try to contact me again. Forget you even know me.”

Albert nodded. “Understood. I’ve got to get back now. If I hurry, I’ll be back before lunch ends.”

Harriet’s eyes lit up. “Oh, you’re one of her friends from school.”

Albert paused at the door. “Did she talk about us much?”

“Not a lot, but she was worried about you when she first came to us. She was worried about a lot of people, to be honest.”

Albert gave a small nod. He wasn’t sure what he expected to hear. “Thanks again,” he said before slipping out of her apartment and heading back to Presley High.

***

Marie got her breakfast before glancing around the cafeteria. Pusher, Numbers, and Poet were still in line, so it was up to her to find a spot. She spied Sophie, sitting quietly with her usual bowl of porridge and Marie took a deep breath. Another try. She would keep winning Sophie over, because Sophie’s friendship was one to fight for.

Marie traveled to the table and sat across from Sophie. Sophie barely glanced up, saw who it was, rolled her eyes, and resumed eating her porridge. Marie gave a small smile as she started her porridge.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Marie asked.

Sophie placed her elbow on the table, her loose fist against her cheekbone, and continued to glare into her porridge. “That’s a stupid question.”

Marie glanced up. “How so?”

“Do you honestly care whether or not I slept well last night?”

Marie paused, then had a small smile. “Okay, so you’re not a fan of small talk. Did you have any good dreams, then? Last night?”

Sophie glared at her a final time before returning to her porridge.

“Oh, hey,” she heard Pusher say. Marie smiled and ushered her over. Pusher hesitated before she sat down, staring at Sophie the whole time. Sophie didn’t bother to look. It was really quiet as Pusher kept giving questioning looks between Sophie and Marie. If Pusher didn’t start talking, Marie had a feeling she would leave.

“So, did you sleep well last night?” Marie asked Pusher.

That elicited a glare from Sophie. Pusher picked up her small grapes. “I did! The weather was great last night. It’s always nice when the weather gets a little warmer at night. You almost don’t need a blanket.”

Sophie bristled, even though Marie doubted Pusher said that to anger Sophie. Pusher even winced a bit after she said that and glanced in Sophie’s direction.

Numbers and Poet joined soon after, each one giving a glance in Sophie’s direction before setting into their seats. The four of them chatted while Sophie seemed to eat as fast as possible. As soon as Sophie was done she stood up and left.

“See you later!” Marie said, refusing to say Sophie’s nickname. Sophie made no indication that she heard, but Marie didn’t care. She didn’t get up and leave right after Marie joined her. It was a big accomplishment.

“What are you trying to be? Some sort of peacemaker?” Poet asked.

Marie glanced at the other three, a frown on her face. “I just... we are the lowest of the lows here in Musical Land. We might as well help each other.” Marie felt uncomfortable. She had foreknowledge of who Sophie was. If she didn’t have that, would she have bothered trying to befriend Sophie?

As soon as they finished their breakfast, they headed back out for the job of the day, which was still weeding. There was a lot to be done, now that May was well under way. Her friends were chatting and Marie opened her mouth to add to their conversation when her heart leapt to her throat. Farther down the sidewalk she saw Harriet, not only coming toward her, but staring right at her.

Marie’s heart started to pound. The boys had done it. They found Harriet! She could feel the excitement bubbling up inside her, and she tried her hardest to keep a neutral expression.

As Harriet got closer, Marie felt the nervousness settle in. She hoped they warned her about the bug. She touched her watch out of fear. As though on cue, Harriet took out a small notebook and started to write a note. With Harriet coming, her friends stopped talking and bowed their heads in acknowledgement that they shouldn’t be talking to a citizen. Harriet tore out the page in the little notebook right as her friends gave her a wide berth. Harriet went to toss it in the garbage but purposefully missed. It floated to the ground as Harriet gave one more look at Marie before leaving. Marie bent down to pick it up.

“At this rate we’ll have to start cleaning up the streets again before weeding is done,” Numbers whispered to the others.

Marie saw the scribbled note.

My old apartment road at midnight tonight.

Marie breathed a sigh of relief before ripping the paper up quickly and stuffing it in the trash. She continued toward the gardens, her mind spinning with delight. She was finally getting in contact with the underground!

Marie slipped her watch off that night and made her way out of the gated area. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She never wanted to get caught before, but now more than ever she wanted to be able to get to the underground. In a few hours’ time, she wouldn’t feel the unbearable weight of responsibility that came from being the only person with this knowledge.

The streets didn’t feel dark enough as she quickly made her way to Harriet’s apartment street. She glanced around, not entirely sure if it was the main street or some alleyway. The street lamps seemed unusually bright tonight, though they always seemed bright when Marie needed to do something illegal.

“Marie.”

Marie turned at her name and saw Harriet in the shadows. Marie ran to her and hugged her tightly. They had known each other about a week before she had to leave, but Marie felt like they had bonded in that week.

“I have so many questions, but not here. Come on, the others are waiting,” Harriet whispered.

Marie followed close to Harriet as she went down a few unfamiliar roads. It wasn’t long before Harriet opened a door to a relatively old apartment building and ushered Marie inside. The apartments were old enough that Marie didn’t see any cameras, which was nice. They went up a few set of stairs before Harriet gave five swift knocks on the door of number five. Sam swung it open then moved aside so the two could enter. Harriet closed the door and Sam quickly took out an electric wand. He ran it swiftly over Marie before he gave a curt nod.

“She’s clean,” Sam said.

As soon as Sam said that, Charles walked in from behind a room, his arms folded.

“My first question is how. How do you remember after getting a double dose of that stuff?” Charles asked.

Marie swallowed hard. “We were experimenting with omnitocsil to see if it could eliminate the chemicals as it entered the bloodstream.” Charles face drained of color and she could see the medical professional in him studying her again with this knowledge.

“How are you still alive?” Charles asked.

Harriet frowned, looking troubled. Sam walked over to her and whispered to her quietly.

“We diluted it as much as we could, but it’s not safe enough. But it was an emergency. I needed to get here with my memories and tell you what was happening.”

Charles unfolded his arms. “How long will it be before…”

Marie tried to give a nonchalant shrug. “I don’t know.” She couldn’t hide the tears forming in her eyes. If given the choice all over again, she would have done the exact same thing, but it still made her sad that she had to make a choice like that.

Harriet gasped before walking over and giving Marie a hug. “Oh Marie. You didn’t have to. You should have stayed in the clearing. Nothing is worth doing that to yourself.”

Marie shook her head and pulled away. “Yes, I did. Because it was the only other way to get you this information.”

Charles frowned. “What information?”

Marie sat on one of the couches. “I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

The story about Josef spilled from her mouth. She told them everything Siby told her, then everything she saw Josef do to Siby when he thought she withheld information. When she was done, Harriet had her hand over her mouth. Sam looked fidgety, and Charles had collapsed into a chair.

“President Arnold is right about Josef?” Harriet asked. “It wasn’t just slander? He’s really a… a mad scientist?”

She glanced at Sam and Charles who hadn’t moved to answer her, still lost in their own world. Marie sighed as she pulled her legs closer to her to hug them.

“Yeah. He is,” Marie said quietly.

Charles let out a groan, his fingers in his hair as he stared at the ground. “All these years. I suspected, but never thought. I had hoped it was just an exaggeration to make him seem like the bad guy. I hoped…”

Charles never finished his thought, still staring at the ground.

“I need your permission to leave,” Sam said.

Charles dropped his hands and looked up at Sam. “What?”

Sam shifted his weight from side to side. “I’ve got to leave Musical Land. Saca and Little Sam are there in the clearing, and I don’t want them anywhere near Josef. They are in danger.”

Harriet stood. “Once you get them, what will you do? Return here? Become a hobo family?”

“You can’t do what I did, Sam. It’s not safe,” Marie said.

Sam’s knuckles turned white as he gave a defeated nod. “Then what do we do?”

They all turned to Charles who was staring off into the distance. He seemed unaware of other people in the room before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know. I was never supposed to be the leader. Only acting leader. Josef was... I… I can’t…” Charles groaned and rubbed his temples. “This is insane. Completely insane. We had the smallest glimmer of hope when we had Josef because he was great at convincing people to our cause. But now…” He shook his head and rubbed his forehead with his knuckles. “This is impossible. There is no way we can fight against President Arnold and Josef.”

Marie felt her heart sink. Did she just break the already fragile underground? Sam looked uncomfortable, still fidgety from the revelation that his wife and child were in the same vicinity as a psychopath. Harriet exchanged nervous glances with Marie. Charles heaved a sigh then looked up at the ceiling.

“Anyone else got an idea?” He seemed to be asking the ceiling, and not any of them.

Marie gave a pathetic attempt at clearing her throat. “We can fight against President Arnold and Josef, just not all their followers.”

Charles glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, when Josef kicked me out of the clearing, it didn’t seem like I was the first one. Maybe some of the hobos knew the kind of man Josef was before they lost their memories,” Marie said.

Harriet frowned. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Josef is fighting for a cure just as much as we are.”

“Yeah. A cure to make sure the people who choose him as their leader can cross over the wall without forgetting who they are. And besides, as Siby said, it seems like he’s going to quickly take power, and who knows what he plans to do after that. My bet is he’ll be just as careful with people who follow him and those who oppose him.”

“So… we need to get the cure, help the hobos remember who they are, and break the news to them about Josef if they don’t already know?” Sam asked.

Marie gave a small nod. “There’s about two hundred hobos there.”

Charles gave a vacant nod. “Except we’ve been trying to get the cure. We can’t do it with the chemicals we have. President Arnold got rid of everything relating to syrophil as soon as he knew it was a key ingredient in the forgetting formula. And it’s just plain bad luck that it’s also in the cure.”

“Well, they keep making the forgetting formula. They have to have it on hand somewhere,” Harriet said.

Charles gave another sigh. “Yeah. In the basement of the skyscraper.”

Marie felt the energy deflate in the room. It was almost like all three of them had just given up with that statement. Marie folded her arms.

“So, that’s it?” Marie asked. “You’re done? You’re letting one or the other win?”

“It’s a phenomenal idea, Marie. But the fact of the matter is this is everyone left in the underground in Musical Land,” Charles said as he motioned to Sam, Harriet, and himself. “President Arnold has cracked the whip, and we have suffered for it. We need an entire team to break into the basement. It’s not worth risking the last remaining members of the underground for it.”

Marie paused. “What if I set up my own team?” They all glanced at her. Marie pushed forward. “My friends from high school who helped me find you? I’m sure they’d be thrilled to help.”

Charles stared at her as though she was joking. “From Presley High? It’s a super prestigious school, Marie. How do you know they’d want to help the underground?”

“Oh right. Because people who have inclinations toward the arts can’t possibly want to help fight,” Harriet said as she placed her hands on her hips, laying the sarcasm on thick.

Charles gave Harriet a sheepish look before turning back to Marie. He slowly stood up. “This is super dangerous, Marie. For us, for you, for your friends. And I mean no offense by this, but Macbeth Marie, you’re just a small group of teenagers.”

“And everyone here are young college students. There’s not that many years difference between us. Besides, do we have any other option?” Marie asked.

Charles thought a moment before rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand. “No. We’ve got nothing else. How many friends in Presley do you have?”

“There’s three.”

Charles looked at the other members in the room. Sam shrugged. “That doubles our numbers now. I can always do some background checks.”

Charles nodded. “Yes, please.”

Marie ruffled at the thought, but she understood why. They had to be careful.

“But is it enough to break into the basement?” Sam asked.

Harriet gave a sigh. “We have no choice. We’ve got to try. I won’t let a mad scientist take over the city.”

Marie rubbed her upper arm. “Can I ask a favor, then? If we’re already breaking into the basement, could we... could we also… I think my dad...” Her voice died before she could say more.

Charles looked at her, conflicted. “You have given your life for this. The least we can do is get your dad out at the same time.”

Marie gave the smallest smile. “Thank you.”

Harriet perked up a bit. “Hey, if we’re breaking into the basement, we can see if Tom is there too.”

It took a moment for Marie to realize she was talking about Mr. Edison. “He’s in the basement too?”

Sam nodded. “That’s what we figured. We never saw him as a hobo, and Josef never saw him in the clearing. He’s just disappeared.”

“If we’re getting two, possibly more people out of the basement, then I suggest we get another medical professional on the team,” Harriet said.

Marie had the feeling all three of them had someone in mind.

“No,” Charles said.

“Come on, Charles,” Sam said. “She’s the best medical professional in the city.”

“And she chose to leave over a petty fight,” Charles said.

“Um, she had a good reason to fight with you,” Harriet said. “I’d be mad too, if I were in her shoes.”

Charles was making a point not to look at anyone. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“That may be true, but telling her to suck it up and live with the results was definitely your fault,” Sam said.

Charles gave Sam an annoyed look. “Okay, I did not say it like that.”

“Did the words ‘Alice, this sucks for you, but you have to live with the results,’ not leave your mouth?” Sam asked.

Charles annoyed look turned into a glare. “I recall she didn’t say too many kind words to me, either.”

“Um, who’s Alice?” Marie asked.

“Charles and Alice Ball met in college,” Harriet said. “Both studying to be medical professionals. Alice was top of her class. A year or so ago a job opening came up for an S.E.A. medical professional that they both applied for.”

There was a pause. Marie glanced at Charles. He gave a sigh. “I got the job and she didn’t. And she left in a huff.”

“She didn’t get the job because she doesn’t look like you,” Harriet said, standing up. “S.E.A. medical professionals are synonymous with being hot and sexy.”

Charles pursed his lips as heat rose to his cheeks. “We don’t just stand around looking hot, you know.”

“Yeah, but not every job comes with a condition that makes you work out at least five times a week,” Sam said.

“She was better qualified for that job, Charles. Everyone knows it. It’s just you’re...” Harriet trailed off and motioned to Charles’ body.

Charles’ already red face got redder as he rolled his eyes. “This job is extremely dangerous because we were in the underground. It’s safer for her.”

“Maybe she wanted to take the risk. Maybe she was tired of people telling her she was important but never actually giving her anything of importance to do,” Harriet said.

Sam glanced at his watch. “Let’s face facts, Charles. Feelings on both sides were hurt, and Alice left. And since she’s left, our numbers have dwindled to three. We need every single person we’ve got if we’re going to pull this off, and in order to do that, you need to be the first to approach her with an olive branch.”

Charles scratched the back of his head. “Fine,” he mumbled. “After all, if we can convince Alice to come back, it might mean we can do other impossible things too.”

Harriet shook her head. “Oh, this should be interesting.”

Marie felt a strange glow inside her. Things were looking bad, but they had a plan. It was half baked at best, but they had something to work for.