Alice helped Marie walk around the bedroom. It had been a while since Marie felt this good, but her body was still trying to adjust.

“This is some great progress!” Alice said. “I know it doesn’t feel that way, but it’s incredible.”

“Do you think it’s over? Do you think we don’t have to worry about the omnitocsil?” her dad asked from the corner.

“It’s too early to tell, but honestly, I like what I’m seeing. There’s a good chance you’ll live decades after this,” Alice said.

It wasn’t until Marie dad’s relaxed at Alice’s remarks that she noticed how tense he had become. Alice seemed to notice it too. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to sugar coat anything. There’s still a good chance she will die of the omnitocsil, but it’s looking more like it’ll be in her fifties and sixties, not in her teens,” Alice said.

Her dad nodded. “It’s still wonderful news.”

The news was enough that Marie could look at her dad and give a genuine smile. “It is.” It gave her more time, which was what she needed. She’d spend the rest of her life trying to cure the omnitocsil.

Alice eased Marie back on the bed. Now that Marie wasn’t focusing on trying to build her muscles back up, she could hear the growing angry voices of Tom and Nik in the lab room. Marie’s dad gave a soft groan and rubbed his head. “What are those two up to now?”

A tired smile flickered across Alice’s face before she stood up. “I’ll figure it out. I need to borrow the lab anyway.” Alice closed the door to the bedroom, muffling the fighting even more.

Her dad sat on Sophie’s bed. Sophie was in the main meeting room, studying some math problems. At first Sophie was studying with Nik, but Nik must have needed the lab for some reason.

“You’re doing really well, Marie,” he said.

It was a novelty for Marie to stretch her legs out and not feel her joints groan. “I know. I never imagined I’d be able to have this much time.”

Marie’s dad smiled again. “Don’t worry. I honestly think things are progressing a lot faster now. I bet you’ll be back to your normal self soon enough.”

Marie gave another stretch before she leaned back and started doing some ankle exercises. They heard the ca-chunk of the trap door opening and loud voices that drowned out even Tom and Nik’s. The smile immediately disappeared from her dad’s face as he got up. “Charles isn’t supposed to be here until later.”

The truth of it settled on Marie, and panic began to brim.

“No!” Sophie yelled. “No! No! Not you!”

“I see you’ve cut your hair.” It was Mr. Germain’s voice.

Marie’s heart plummeted. “Macbeth!”

“It’s better than anything you did to it. Blonde? Seriously? You thought that would keep me hidden?”

Marie tried to get up and run, it was what her instincts told her to do, but they were trapped. She was in a windowless basement room with nowhere to go. Her dad grabbed her arm and placed himself in front of her as the door was thrown open and people spilled into the bedroom.

“Stay away from her!” her dad said, tightening his grip on her arm. “She’s recovering! She’s not a threat!”

No one listened to him. Marie was yanked from her dad and swiftly handcuffed as she heard Sophie and Mr. Germain arguing in the other room.

“Gently! Please!” Marie’s dad begged as Marie tried to get her footing.

“No one cares what you think, scientist,” someone said.

Marie was half dragged out of the room, already feeling bruises on her arms from the grips of her captors.

“I see your mother returned your memories to you,” Mr. Germain said.

Marie wasn’t an expert on human nature, but the way Mr. Germain said your mother clued her in that Mrs. Germain was soon not going to share Mr. Germain’s last name anymore.

“Where is she?” Sophie demanded.

“That is none of your concern,” Mr. Germain said.

Her captors forced Marie to her knees, placing a strong hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. Marie was too frightened to speak, feeling considerably weaker. Tom was on his knees, hands cuffed behind him.

“It is very much my concern! She’s my mom, and so far the only parent I actually care about,” Sophie snapped back.

Marie glanced around anxiously for Alice and Nik, but she could see no sign of them. There was someone trying the door to the lab, but they must have locked it. Tom must have gotten out of the lab somehow, and Alice must have gotten in. Alice was safe. For now. Marie’s dad joined her at her side, groaning as the captors forced him to his knees.

“I don’t know what you said to her to get her to do what you want, but that’s not going to work with me,” Mr. Germain said.

“Oh, you mean the fact that the President of the city wiped the memories of your own daughter and left her to live with the hobos? That wasn’t a big enough clue that the guy you follow is a tyrant?” Sophie screamed.

Marie glanced at her dad, feeling the weight of a stranger's hand on her shoulder. No one was daring to grab Sophie. They were all waiting for permission to arrest her. Mr. Germain stood on one side of the table with a bunch of agents who were waiting for the go-ahead, and Sophie was by herself on the other, shaking with rage with her short, pixie hair cut. Despite the circumstances, Sophie looked like she could unleash even Macbeth’s ghost on the unsuspecting crowd and still make a getaway.

“Is it clear?”

Marie’s stomach froze. A terrified look crossed her face as she turned toward her dad. President Arnold was here. What was President Arnold doing here? Most likely to gloat.

“There is one room we can’t get into, but everyone else has been arrested,” someone called back up. President Arnold began to descend the ladder.

“We warned you, Sophie. The minute you started showing interest in math, we took it away from you. It’s clearly evil! It’s brought you here, and it’s forcing my hand! I will arrest you if I need to. I will have President Arnold wipe your memories all over again if it comes to that! Math will not be tolerated in this city!” Mr. Germain said.

President Arnold surveyed the room, looking uninterested in the screaming match Sophie and Mr. Germain were having.

“You disgust me,” Sophie said with quiet rage. “Absolutely disgusting. You claim to be on the side of humanity, yet you continue to let that man do cruel things to people who are different from him.” Her voice was rising in anger. Mr. Germain’s stance turned dangerous as soon as Sophie insulted President Arnold. It was only at the mention of his name that President Arnold finally turned his attention to Sophie. “You allow people to get tortured, to get their mind wiped, to live like beggars on the street. You fill the hobos with your fake kindness. You feed them, give them odd jobs, and treat them like humans, but you continue to do the very thing that keeps them from remembering their own humanity!” There were tears in Sophie’s eyes as she continued to glare at her dad. “You took that away from me! You tried to control me, but I will never let that happen again. You will never get the perfect daughter you desperately want, because she doesn’t exist.”

Mr. Germain’s hands were fists. “It was never that big of a request for you to stop studying math.”

“Yes it was.” The first tear fell from Sophie’s eye, but she ignored it. “And it still is. The fact that you don’t care to understand that is proof you will never truly be on the side of humanity.”

Mr. Germain scoffed. “Look where math has brought you! What has it done that could constitute as possibly being on the side of humanity!”

“Marie!” Sophie exploded. Marie glanced at Sophie, wondering if she was going to talk to her, but it wasn’t. Marie was Sophie’s answer. President Arnold’s attention turned to her, and Marie stared back. “It has given me a friend who I consider a sister. But you don’t see her as a human. You see her as a scientist. You never cared to get to know my friend, just like you never cared to get to know me! Vlad is more like a father to me than you ever were. He hasn’t lost his humanity. So go ahead, dad! Divorce mom. Then maybe Vlad can marry mom and he can be my real dad!”

Marie’s dad glanced up at the mention of his name, then his face quickly morphed into horror the more Sophie talked. Marie’s dad glanced at Mr. Germain who in turn was glaring daggers at him. “That would never, I don’t, I would never, ever-” the guard next to them shifted positions, and Marie’s dad flinched. “T-teenage fantasy. Nothing more.”

“You can scream about how you’re on the side of humanity for as long as you want, but it will still leave you in that empty house alone while your wife and daughter are in prison because President Arnold declared that people like me shouldn’t be considered human!” Sophie screamed, pointing at President Arnold. Mr. Germain’s eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring as he took short angry breaths. President Arnold folded his arms, seeming disinterested in the entire argument. Instead he was studying the different things in the hideout, opening a cupboard to see what they had.

Sophie’s voice was quieter, but still just as angry. “And you’ll keep telling yourself you did the right thing, because you’re too prideful to admit when you’re wrong.” Sophie slowly cocked her head to one side. “No, at this point you’re too much of a coward to admit you’re wrong.”

Mr. Germain barely moved his lips even though the sound carried through the entire room. “Arrest her.” Two agents moved swiftly, grabbing either side of Sophie and handcuffing her.

“Has every room been searched?” President Arnold asked as he pulled some instant noodles from the cupboard and inspected them before putting them back.

“This room is locked,” one of the agents said, pointing to the lab room.

“Break it down. Get everyone out here,” President Arnold said. “I want to see everyone’s faces before I send them to prison.”

The door was thrown open and Nik came out, holding two beakers. “Nobody move, or I blow this entire place up.”

President Arnold turned, then his eyes widened. “Back away. Back away from him.” President Arnold held out his hands, motioning people away. “He’s a mad scientist.”

The agents didn’t need to be told twice. Everyone around the door gave Nik plenty of space. Marie swallowed, trying to look at what was in the two beakers Nik was holding. It made her nervous that she couldn’t tell whether Nik was bluffing, but that had to be a good thing. If she didn’t know, President Arnold wouldn’t either.

“Hello Nik.” President Arnold didn’t sound welcoming or cordial.

Nik didn’t even crack a smile. “Ben.”

“It took a couple decades, but I finally found you,” President Arnold said.

Nik’s eyes darkened. “Yeah. I usually pretend you have my intelligence. It gives me a challenge.”

President Arnold’s eye twitched. “I caught you now, didn’t I?”

“It only took twenty years.”

“I don’t need to stoop to your level. I have you now, that’s all that matters.”

“Yes, still in need of my assistance. Leeching off other peoples intellect to keep you where you are on top. That’s why you want me, isn’t it?” Nik asked.

President Arnold betrayed the anger before he straightened. “Give my agents those beakers, Nik. We don’t need to resort to violence.”

Nik didn’t move. “Ah, now violence is the topic you know most about. Which is why I’ll keep these beakers for my protection, thank you. Now, here are my conditions.”

President Arnold laughed. “You really are insane if you think I’m going to listen to you.”

“You will release everyone in the underground and give them twenty-four hours to find a new place.”

President Arnold laughed again. “You can’t be serious.”

“And I will come with you, willingly, and do the update you so desperately want to do on the chip,” Nik said.

At this, President Arnold’s face lost the laughter, giving way to the hungry greed he was barely containing.

“Nik, no!” Sophie said, struggling under her dad’s grip.

Nik didn’t look at Sophie, his eyes were dead set on President Arnold’s. A growing sense of dread grew inside Marie’s stomach. She glanced at Tom, who looked terrified.

“You can’t possibly know what I want done to the chip,” President Arnold said.

Nik gave the barest of smiles before he dropped it again. “Your intellect really is so far below mine.”

The hunger that flashed so briefly in his eyes was quickly covered up. President Arnold straightened. “The underground gets twenty-four hours, and you and Tom come with me.”

Nik gave a snort. “You know Tom and I will kill each other if you leave us locked up in the same room.”

President Arnold glanced at Tom, who was giving Nik a soft glare. “Fine. Twenty hours for the underground, and you come willingly.”

“I come willingly, and the underground gets forty-eight hours to relocate,” Nik said.

President Arnold paused then gave a frown. “Seriously? You spent all that time with me and you still don’t know how to barter?”

A slow smile formed on Nik’s face. “I know exactly how to barter, Ben. You are desperate.”

The frown deepened on President Arnolds face. “It’s ridiculous.”

“I come willingly, and the underground gets seventy-two hours to relocate,” Nik said.

“Will you shut up,” Ben snapped.

The smile continued to widen on Nik’s face. “I come willingly, and the underground gets ninety-six hours to locate.”

“Fine!” President Arnold said, the anger apparent in his demeanor as he cut off Nik. “Fine! You have my word no one in the underground will be arrested for ninety-six hours, which is… um.” President Arnold’s fingers moved as he tried to count it out.

“Five days,” Nik said.

“Five days,” President Arnold said as soon as Nik started to say the number. Nik turned to Sophie and gave an almost imperceptible wink. “When they leave here, no one will be tracked. The second those five days are up, we’ll continue our search.”

“Unfortunately for you, Ben, I don’t really trust you,” Nik said. “I’m going to need a little more.”

“You don’t trust me?” President Arnold asked. Nik laughed like President Arnold had told a hilarious joke. President Arnold glared at him. “You can trust me.”

“It’s almost as stupid as someone insisting they’re perfectly humane after threatening to erase their daughter’s memories for a second time.” Nik turned deadly eyes in Mr. Germain’s direction. Mr. Germain glared back.

“Then what exactly do you need me to do to make you trust me?” President Arnold asked.

Nik returned his attention to President Arnold. “Simply understand who you’re dealing with. I am a crazy, unstable mad scientist. If I get so much as a suspicion that you have broken your promise, I will get my revenge. As you are letting me update the chip, understand that I am in my element. I could destroy the skyscraper just as easily as I could destroy every person and thing in this room. You are holding the grenade that I’ve already pulled the pin out of. I’m simply asking you to not release the lever.”

Marie frowned, glancing at her dad. She had no idea what a grenade was, and by the look on his face, he didn’t either. But President Arnold knew, and by how swiftly the color drained from his face, him knowing was all that really mattered.

“I won’t search for the underground for five days,” President Arnold whispered.

“Perfect,” Nik said. “I will come willingly.”

President Arnold glanced around the room as though memorizing all the faces in the underground before he checked his watch. “Release them all. Nik comes with us.”

Marie’s handcuffs came off. Her dad was already on his feet, extending his hand to help her get up. “You okay?”

Marie nodded, feeling a little woozy. She was desperate for rest. “I think so.” She tried to stand up, but her legs were trembling beneath her. Her dad helped her over to a chair.

“Nik?” Sophie asked.

The second Nik had set the two beakers down on the table, half a dozen agents descended on him. A few agents made sure the beakers were far enough apart, looking terrified. Two agents had their guns trained on Nik as the others grabbed him and put handcuffs on him.

“Nik,” Sophie called out again, completely ignoring her dad and walking as close as she could to Nik. Mr. Germain turned a deadly glare toward Nik.

“Keep Marie and the others safe,” Nik said. “And keep fighting Ben. This addition is going to make him too powerful.”

“Shut him up,” Mr. Germain snapped. An agent whacked Nik’s face with his elbow. Nik let out a muffled cry and Sophie’s eyes widened before she spun toward her dad.

“Yeah, the real model for the humanities side you are,” she hissed.

“I don’t have time for this,” he snapped, pushing past her.

“You don’t have time for anyone but President Arnold. And that has always been the problem,” Sophie said.

Mr. Germain glared at her. “If you can’t see that I’m simply trying my best to keep dangerous criminals off our streets, then we have nothing more to discuss.”

“I doubt any of our conversations have actually had any meaning for years now,” Sophie said.

“Ambrose, come on,” President Arnold said.

Sophie gave an annoyed smirk. “You drew the line, and I’ve chosen where I stand. I hope you can find the courage to erase it before you get me killed.”

Mr. Germain about said something, but stopped as the agents dragged Nik up the ladder. Nik and Sophie exchanged one more glance before he disappeared up the ladder.

“You do have an air for the dramatics, Soph,” Mr. Germain said. “You sure you don’t have a budding actress in you.”

Sophie’s eyes darkened as her nose flared. Mr. Germain turned around and left up the ladder. When the last of the agents left, the room felt quiet, though Marie knew the next five days were going to be insane.

Tom opened the door to his room and walked in. “Alice?”

Alice came out, her entire body trembling. “I’ve got to find Harriet.” Her voice shook as much as her body. “And Charles. We’ve got to get a plan forming. We need Harriet to scout… scout another…”

“Okay, give yourself time to compose yourself. You can’t go out there right now,” Tom said.

Alice began to cry. “This is so bad. We were supposed to protect Nik. Now Ben has him.”

“Did Nik tell you anything? Do you have any idea what Ben wants him to do?” Tom asked.

Alice shook her head as she covered her mouth with her hands to keep her breathing under control. “No. It can’t be good, though. Sit tight. I’ll-” Alice tried to stand, but the shaking in her legs proved too much and she collapsed again. “I’ll get to planning once the panic has subsided.” Her voice was a few octaves higher than normal.

Marie walked over to Sophie who was staring at the bottom of the ladder, chewing on her lip. Marie didn’t get far before Sophie hugged her and dissolved into tears.