Marie was sitting on the bare floor in the middle of the room. She hugged her knees tightly to her chest as she looked at the windows, wishing she could look out of them. To glimpse the outside life that she had been deprived of for so long, but it was too dangerous. Charles reported that their pictures were plastered everywhere.

Her dad sat down next to her, giving her shoulder a playful push with his own. “Isn’t there something you could do with Sophie?”

It must have been obvious what Marie was thinking.

“You mean like braiding hair? Paint nails? Make friendship bracelets?” Sophie asked from the other corner of the room. Sophie held up her hand to show a bracelet and painted nails. “Done, done, and done.”

Marie smiled as she lifted her own hand to show painted nails and a bracelet as well as the braids in her hair. She couldn’t braid Sophie’s hair, but Sophie definitely got creative with Marie’s. “Sorry dad. We’ve gone through every slumber party checklist in the past few days. Harriet’s been very obliging with her other supply runs.”

The door of the apartment complex opened. Marie panicked as she turned to the door. Sophie ran over to Marie as Marie’s dad stood in front of them.

The door opened and Billy and Edgar tumbled into the room. Marie’s eyes widened as Edgar closed the door before sinking to the floor. Billy was sucking in deep breaths, hands on his knees.

“What happened?” Marie’s dad asked. “Were you followed? Is everything okay?”

“Don’t… know,” was all Billy could say.

Tom came out of the room, alarmed at the sight of the boys. He stumbled over to the table and flipped on the chip blocker.

Marie took a few steps forward, her eyes widening as she glanced between Billy and Edgar.

“Where’s Albert?” she asked.

Billy was still taking deep breaths, so she turned to Edgar. “Where is he?”

Edgar wasn’t looking at her. Was it just her imagination, or was he trying way too hard to not look at her.

“Billy?” she asked again.

Billy rose, sweat running down his face. The look in his eye made it feel as though he had punched her in the stomach.

“I’m sorry, Marie. The S.E.A. has him.”

Marie stared at Billy as the reality of his words settled into her mind. At first her mind refused to accept it. The implications of what it meant were far too terrifying. If the S.E.A. had Albert…

Marie didn’t realize her breathing had become unsteady until Sophie grabbed her elbow.

“Marie, sit down,” Sophie said.

“Tom, contact Charles. There’s a burner phone in the drawer. Send the code word. Everyone in the underground is compromised. They all need to get back here,” Marie’s dad said.

Tom nodded before heading off to the room. Marie stared at nothing. Her thoughts tumbled on top of each other as Sophie helped her sit back down on the ground. Albert was in serious danger. They all were, but this was worse. Albert was caught. They could be torturing him right now. They could kill him.

“Were you guys followed?” Marie’s dad asked again.

“I don’t know,” Billy asked.

“No. I’m pretty sure we weren’t,” Edgar said at the same time.

“Here. Get in this room. It doesn’t have any windows.”

“Marie?” Sophie asked again.

Marie looked at her best friend, realizing there were tears streaming down her face. “They have him.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Sophie said.

Marie covered her mouth as her dad held her close. A sob escaped her body and grew worse as she fell back to the familiar, scientific process whenever emotions got too high. She had thoughts and observations. She had cared about Albert. A hypothesis had begun to grow that maybe she cared about him more than just being a friend. Over the months it had gone through a series of tests, between her anger at him for being a complete jerk, to the softening of them being friends again, to enjoying his company for a reason she was too distracted to analyze at the time. Now with this final test, Albert was in trouble, and she desired to do whatever possible to get him back, which was insane. Analyzing her emotions she came to a conclusion that this hurt worse than them just being really good friends. Her hypothesis was more than true. Now that Albert was captured by the S.E.A., Marie could come to a conclusion with the data she had gathered. She loved him.

***

The weekend had been long for Abe. The same woman had come in to feed him twice a day. She had been instructed to not talk to Abe, simply feed him his meal and leave. It was lonesome. Another man came in three times a day. He undid his straps and let him walk around for a half hour. He said and did nothing, simply glared at Abe while he kept a hand on his gun.

The morning sun filled the room. He wasn’t positive what day it was. Possibly Monday. No one bothered to tell him. He stared at his feet as his wrists continued to rub against the straps. Mr. Germain spoke of how kind he had been to Abe, but then disappeared. He hadn’t seen anyone else except the woman who was ordered not to talk to him and the man who looked more than willing to kill him if he so much as looked at the door wrong. Something cracked open in him. This wasn’t kindness. He may have forgotten who he was, but he knew what kindness was. Mr. Germain had called him a rebel, and maybe he was witnessing why he became one.

***

“Is everyone accounted for?” Charles asked as soon as Harriet stumbled in.

“We’re all here,” Alice said. “Except for…”

No one dared say it. No one wanted to point out who was obviously not here. Marie hated the constant reminder of his absence, but the terror everyone felt about acknowledging it made it just as worse.

Charles paced the room, glancing out the window every so often. “Okay, okay. There’s a way we can get through this. There’s got to be a way. This isn’t over yet. The S.E.A. hasn’t won. Just to be safe, no one is to leave this apartment. We’re staying here until we’ve come up with a plan.” He was running a hand through his hair as he thought.

“Should we sit? Do you need some paper?” Alice asked.

“Yes, yes, of course. Let’s do that,” Charles said.

They all sat on the floor except Tom, who leaned against the wall. Everyone was fidgeting in one way or another. Alice handed Charles some paper and a heavy book as he pulled out a pen from his pocket. Marie was trying to keep her cheeks dry. She hadn’t stopped crying since she heard the news.

“Here’s the facts we know,” Charles said as he uncapped a pen. “Albert is…” Charles swallowed before he wrote something hastily on the paper. Marie closed her eyes as more tears squeezed out of her eyes. Sophie looped her arm around Marie’s, placed her head on Marie’s shoulder, and gave her arm a squeeze.

“None of us are safe outside this apartment,” Charles said.

“Are we really safe inside this apartment?” Alice asked, her voice quiet.

Charles glanced at Alice before looking back at what he wrote on the paper. He scratched his head with the back of the pen. “Have you and Harriet found another place we can move to?”

Harriet shook her head. “We looked in a lot of the city. We couldn’t find anything big enough to house all of us. We were going later today to find something, but ran out of time.”

Charles gave a nod, hardly containing the fear as he looked at the list. “We’re not sure what the S.E.A. knows, but we can assume, now that they have…” Charles dropped the pen on the floor. “Macbeth, this hurts.”

“Albert knew what he was doing,” Billy said quietly.

Charles lifted the pen again. “We have to get Albert out of the basement, and soon. He’s not Nik. He’s just a teen.”

“Okay, well, what do we have?” Harriet asked, trying to sound in control of her own emotions. “What options are there?”

No one said anything for a moment. The dire situation was on the forefront of Marie’s mind, and it was difficult to cut through it and find the good.

“We have the syrophil to give hobos their memories back,” Charles said.

“We have an army in the clearing,” Marie said almost at the same time.

Harriet glanced between Charles and Marie. “What exactly are you two suggesting?”

Marie didn’t say anything, simply looked at Charles, not hiding the tears in her eyes.

“Think carefully,” Tom said. “Albert is in danger, but rash decisions could lead to-”

“I never said anything,” Marie said, staring at the floor. “It’s just… the S.E.A. could be torturing Nik and Albert, and we’ll be that much closer to being discovered.”

“We already have been discovered,” Billy said. “Now it’s just a matter of time before they find out where we live.”

“Giving the hobos back their memories might make it chaotic enough for a distraction to get Albert out,” Alice said.

“Are all the hobos against Josef? What if some fight against us?” Harriet asked.

Charles picked up the paper, staring at it. “Do we join the group in the clearing?” Charles asked. “Do we send off a note to them to come and collect us?”

“And then what?” Harriet asked. “Wait? Watch? Just sit there while Musical Land gets more powerful?”

“Are we even certain it is Sam on the other side of the messaging device?” Alice asked.

“Fine, I’ll be the one to breach the subject,” Charles said, placing the book, paper, and pen to one side. “Do we go to war?”

An uncomfortable silence settled over the group. The pieces were in place. They had an army, maybe. They could at least revive the hobos’ memories which would give them over a hundred people to help fight, but that wasn’t enough.

Marie rubbed her head, trying to imagine what it would be like if Albert hadn’t gotten caught. If they were all tipped off, if they all got away safely, what would they do? Would they still talk about war?

“The S.E.A. are going to come after us,” Alice said.

“And?” Charles prompted.

“We’ve got to either leave, or we’ve got to get ready to protect ourselves,” Alice finished. “The more people there are to protect us, the better.”

Marie’s stomach started to churn. She didn’t want to think about this. There had to be a way for peace still. Couldn’t there? She was having a hard time trying to figure out a way to find peace when thoughts of Albert in the basement of the S.E.A. plagued her thoughts. They could be torturing him right now. He could be spilling the address to the safe house any minute.

“There must be some way to hurt the S.E.A.,” Charles said. “Don’t they have some sort of weakness we could hit? Some way to cripple them fast before they come after us? A big enough distraction that we could get Albert and leave?”

Marie closed her eyes again, tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew the direction this conversation would go, and she didn’t want to have it, but she wasn’t going to stop it either.

Tom frowned. “Charles, wanting to cripple them is going to incite a war. Are you sure you want a war?”

Charles bit his lip in thought before looking down at his list he had set to the side. “I want to live in a world where my profession will be respected. Being a medical professional is just as important as a poet. I’m tired of being tossed aside.”

Tom turned to Marie, his gaze cutting into her soul, but she couldn’t look at him. She constantly expressed desire for peace, but how long could they hope for peace when the other side was willing to do such evil? Albert was in trouble. He could die before the S.E.A. would even listen to her pleas. They all might die.

Marie met Tom’s gaze. “Is there a way to destroy the chip completely?”

Tom had a pronounced frown on his face. “Marie…”

Marie stared at Tom, pulling the truth from his eyes. “There is, isn’t there? Something like this would have a central processing unit? Even a transmitter. There has to be something, some sort of radio wave broadcaster.”

“You want to destroy the chip?” Harriet asked.

“Think about it,” Marie said. “Nik and Tom are the only ones that really know how the chip works. President Arnold was too paranoid to let anyone else work it. If we can destroy it, it won’t come back.”

There was a deep sadness in Tom’s eyes that Marie chose to ignore. Charles nodded his approval. “Destroy the transmitter, and we level the playing field. The government won’t be as powerful if they can’t listen to what everyone in the city is thinking.”

Billy winced. “I don’t like this idea.”

Charles turned a suspicious eye toward Billy. “It would give us a fighting chance. It could save our lives, and Albert’s too.”

Billy frowned, but said nothing.

“It wouldn’t level the playing field,” Harriet said. “If anything, it’ll make the S.E.A. more enraged, and we’ll be sitting ducks while they tear the city apart. Even with restoring the hobos, we still don’t have the numbers to fight back once they come after us.”

Charles shrugged. “We could have the numbers if we get the army from the clearing-”

“We don’t know who’s leading the army,” Harriet said.

Charles turned a piercing look in Harriet’s direction. “We don’t have a choice anymore. We let Josef believe he’s in charge, and once we get what we want-”

“No,” Harriet said sharply. “I will not follow Josef.”

Charles let out an annoyed breath. “Then what do you suggest?”

Harriet stayed silent, even though Marie could see her brain working. Harriet dropped her gaze, glaring at the floor.

“We need to leave,” Tom said. “That’s the best bet we have. Go somewhere safe in the city and think about this more with clearer minds.”

Charles shook his head. “The only safe place in the city is on the outside of the wall. We wait in the safehouse.”

“Josef still has cameras in the safehouse. He’d be alerted to our presence,” Harriet said.

There was a flare of anger in Charles’ eyes. “There’s nowhere else to go! You said so yourself.”

Harriet glared back. “I will not follow Josef. I made that decision months ago.”

Charles groaned. “We only have so many options left. We can’t be picky.”

Harriet folded her arms. “Having moral standards shouldn’t be considered picky, Charles.”

Marie’s dad shook his head. “Emotions are running a little high right now. We need to all take a deep breath and focus on what’s the most important thing right now.”

“Which is?” Alice asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“We’re all in danger. Right now. What are we going to do about making sure we stay safe?” Marie’s dad said.

“I already said,” Charles snapped. “We need to leave the city. Get in the safe house.”

“I’m not leaving while Albert’s in the basement,” Marie said, shocking herself with how angry she felt. “This argument is running in circles. We need to get Albert out of there.”

“Do you realize how hopeless that is, Marie?” Alice asked.

“Yes. I do. I also know how hopeless it was for me to survive as long as I have after injecting myself with omnitocsil. We’ve got to work together on this,” Marie said.

“By destroying the chip?” Harriet asked incredulously.

“No, by destroying the central processing unit that makes the S.E.A. so powerful,” Marie said.

“You’re talking about bombing the top fifteen floors of the S.E.A., Marie,” Tom said. “Are you sure you’re ready to commit to such an act?”

Edgar winced. “Just to be clear, will it make the chips useless once it’s destroyed?” Edgar asked.

An anger began to burn in her gut. “Seriously? Seriously! Do you realize how much power the government has because of this chip? We destroy the transmitter, we destroy their power! This is what we’ve wanted to do all along!”

“No,” Billy said, standing up. “No it’s not. I never wanted to do this. I just wanted to live in a city that respected scientists and mathematicians just as much as they respected me.”

Marie stood too, knowing the anger was making her not think as logically. “The government controls chips in the back of our head. The government controls everything. Everyone. The fact that you’re defending it is extremely telling about your character right now.”

Billy glared at her. Charles stood. “Okay, let’s take a little break. I think one of the things we can all agree on is that those who still have chips in their heads should have them removed for the time being. The chip blocker might not be with us all the time. Since we’re fugitives, it’s best if they were out.”

Harriet nodded. “Agreed. It’s too dangerous to have them in.”

Billy glared at Charles. Charles matched his stare as Alice put on some gloves. Billy shook his head and headed to the room with no windows.