“Go,” Aline hissed before the pair stood up and rushed down the stairs after Jade, ignoring the curious gazes from the onlookers. Nina had questions, but she certainly didn’t have time to ask them. It was obvious that there was a problem and the only option she had was to trust in Aline’s judgement. Hitting the bottom of the stairs, they quickly followed after Jade who had already pushed her way into the nearest apartment. Ignoring the surprised occupants, they raced down the hallway before bursting through the door to the street.

“What’s wrong?” Nina asked as she followed the couple that walked in front of her at a rather quick pace. Watching as Aline checked the message on her own phone, she saw her frown before seemingly picking the pace up yet again.

“Just shut up and walk,” Aline replied as they turned a few more corners before slowing a little. Seeing that the atmosphere seemed to defuse ever so slightly as a result, Nina was about to ask again but changed her mind when Aline glared in response. It seemed like Glass Heart was the issue, and they were getting away from it as soon as possible.

Nina didn’t have to wait for long to have her assumption clarified. She was sure that she had found the answer herself when they rounded the next corner and came across another group of people walking towards them.

Dressed in sleeveless grey cloaks and shining white boots, the group marched along the street in their direction. With black hair that looked almost glossy in the light and a collection of cold expressions, Nina instantly realised who these people were.

Suits.

This group of suits, however, was different from the group that they had seen back at the station on JE-22. Walking in the centre of the group, flanked by a man and a woman on each side, was a broad shouldered man who was dressed differently. Instead of a grey coat, a white coat covered his white pants and black boots, the golden logo on his chest complimenting his short black hair that was swept back in a wave. If Nina had described the suits from before as ‘almost’ celestial, with deep blue eyes and a strong jawline, this man was the real deal.

Finding it difficult to take her eyes off him, the two groups closed in on each other. The suits were spread out in a V formation that filled the narrow street as Aline led Jade and Nina to the left hand side. Without breaking stride, the man in the centre looked at the trio with interest.

“You aren't looking for glassware, are you?”

“What?” Aline asked with a feigned look of confusion. Thankfully she had been there to reply as Nina would have surely given away some form of reaction. Hell, she was so entranced that she would have probably walked away with the man if he had extended his arm for her.

“Never mind,” he shrugged with a nonchalant expression as one of the suits to his side moved inwards to let the trio slip past. Resisting the urge to breathe a heavy sigh of relief, the group had only walked five or so meters before Nina heard what she had previously daydreamed about, but also dreaded.

“You, in the blue jacket.”

Nina froze with panic as her body tensed. As Jade and Aline also stopped with caution, the group turned to look at the man who had stopped in the centre of the road.

“Have we met before?”

Nina thought for only an instant before she had come to her conclusion. If she had met someone that had entranced her like this before, she certainly wouldn’t have forgotten about it.

“N-No…”

“I see,” the man replied as he studied her face with interest before his eyes flicked over Jade and Aline. “Good day then.”

Nina politely nodded as the man turned before continuing up the road to what the she guessed would be Glass Heart, confirming to herself that this was the reason that they had left in such a rush. If they had been caught inside when the suits had arrived, they would have certainly been quarantined at best, and imprisoned at worst.

“Have to buy Euris a present for that one,” Jade sighed as she tapped her pocket in reference to the message that both she and Aline had received. Nina didn’t have a phone yet, but she was now resolute to pick one up as soon as possible. “Nina, you haven’t seen that guy before?”

“No, I’m sure I haven’t.”

Jade laughed as they returned to one of the larger streets on the level. “Yeah, I wouldn’t forget a man like that either.”

“Enough messing around,” Aline scowled as she tried to drag the attention back to their situation. “I’m cutting the plan short, so we’re leaving as soon as possible, which means now. We have to put as much distance as possible between us and KF-14. If someone at Glass Heart gives them a description of people who left in a hurry before they arrived, we’ll instantly become the most wanted people in the tower.”

“Not the people at Glass Heart?”

“The bigger issue for them will be that we were tipped off. If they realise that, they will probably lock down the station.” Aline sighed as they passed through the security door that led to the abandoned stairwell. “If that happens we’ll have a real problem.”

“Is it even possible to get back without a capsule?”

“We could, but it takes ages and it isn’t easy either,” Jade said as she finished configuring the panel at the landing. Satisfied with her work, she hopped up onto the railing before stepping off, disappearing into the darkness below. Nina and Aline nodded at one another before jumping down close behind her as they headed towards the station. They wouldn’t know if they had a problem or not until they got there, not that Nina knew what would happen if a lockdown had already been enforced anyway.

“It should be fine,” Aline said as she knocked on the door to the apartment that contained the ladder that led to the station. The woman who had let them out from the fake wardrobe not even an hour ago was surprised when she opened the door, but nodded as she led the group back to the secret passage without asking any questions. Nina wondered why nobody ever talked or asked any questions, whether it was etiquette or that nobody wanted to know in the first place. Whichever it was, maybe it was for the best.

The group made their way down to the station without any issues before emerging from the teahouse with caution. The cat was only one phone call away from being out of the bag, so they were relieved when the station appeared to be quiet. With the station under no more suit presence than normal, they jumped into the nearest capsule without a second thought before speeding off towards JE-22.

“Well that certainly didn’t go as expected,” Aline sighed as she slumped back into the chair. “At least we delivered what we needed to.”

“I missed out on the rest of the cocktails that were on special,” Jade pouted in response as though the drinks were more important than avoiding arrest. “And I’m not going to ever get one there again.”

“Yeah, Glass Heart is finished,” Aline said softly with a tinge of sadness as the group sat there in silence for a moment. Even if the bar was somehow allowed to remain open, nobody would risk dealing information with a system that had previously been penetrated by SuTSU.

“How did SuTSU even know where they were?” Nina asked. Judging by how Jade and Aline had talked, Glass Heart had been operating for quite some time. While she knew it wasn’t possible, she still linked her first trip there and the suits turning up at essentially the same time together. She didn’t have a tracking device on her, did she?

Realizing that it wasn’t the answer when she considered the man’s question about glass, she felt a little better. The suits had been equipped with more information than she had, so the issue couldn’t have anything to do with her. The fact that the man seemed to recognize her, however, was strange. They were quite literally worlds apart. Not only because they sat on opposite sides of the fence, but also because she was from Caecus.

“That’s the interesting question,” Aline mused. “Someone on the inside has blown the whistle for SuTSU and nobody is going to be sure who it was. Thankfully Glass Heart isn’t that close to JE-22, because business under the table is going to be very strained for trust around here in the future.”

“Reina is still going to comb through a list of everyone she knows that had something to do with Glass Heart,” Jade chuckled before stifling a yawn. “She’s going to be mad too.”

“Why?” Nina asked. Surely it was possible to get the information that they needed from elsewhere. In fact, if they were at the level that they could be tipped off about suit movement, why did they even need Glass Heart in the first place?

“The value of information on KF-14 will plummet,” Aline answered. “The way in and out of the station, how to access the stairwell, the location of Glass Heart itself, none of it is as valuable if Glass Heart doesn’t exist.”

“And Reina does not like it when something she has invested in loses value, even if she has got enough profit out of it in the first place,” Jade added. “So do your best Nina.”

“Me?”

“Well, Reina invested to get you here, didn’t she?” Jade answered with a smile.

“Way to put pressure on me,” Nina sighed in response as she closed her eyes. When she thought back on it, she comprehended just how lucky they had been. She didn’t know if SuTSU fined, imprisoned, or even executed people that were caught on the wrong side of the law, but the three of them had been only moments away from finding out. Intrigued, she asked what would happen to the people who were caught at Glass Heart.

“The people caught?” Aline raised an eyebrow. “They will probably get dropped in the badlands.”

“The badlands?”

“Underneath Neo Luesa is the Luesa Badlands, the lowest of the three plates controlled by SuTSU. Almost all of the passages through the plate are under their control, and there is no way back up here.”

Nina thought for a moment before becoming slightly confused. “So why do they drop people through then?”

Aline grinned as she leaned forward. “Besides the fortresses that were built by SuTSU… the whole plate is a prison.”