“Olten’s not far.” Linux yelled. “Just gotta keep on moving.”

It had been nearly two hours now since they had begun making their way to Olten. Linux wanted to move faster, but Kauss, Helona, and Killian still didn’t have a clue as to how they activate their Gaxtex Shields yet. Outside of large bursts of energy, they couldn’t control it. So without that power, they had to go slow and take their time.

Although they couldn’t run too fast, the Shields at least kept them from wearing themselves down. As they sped to Olten, Linux went over their plan from the top.

“The main entrance is the worst place to be since Elest is stationed there. We’ll need to head in through the sides in the shadows. If anyone spots you, don’t kill them. Just incapacitate them. There’s no reason to kill anyone.”

“Once we get close enough to the elevator, I’ll assess the situation. If there isn’t a brigade of guards, we could just make a break for it. If there is, then we’ll come up with something else.”

With their plan out in the open, their confidence soared. For Kauss, Helona, and Killian, there was no doubt in their minds that they could escape. They’ve been through worse and survived. The only thing holding them back was their lack of knowledge on the second floor, but Linux filled that spot rather well.

For Linux, however, his mind raced a million miles per second. Different scenarios and ideas floated through his head of every possible outcome. Elest wasn’t anywhere on his mind. He could sneak past him easily, and even if they were caught, he would be the least of their worries. The entire town would fall on them with a searing wrath before Elest could even reach them.

Even Oculn, the mighty warrior that claimed the life of a Tetson by himself, was the last worry on his mind. They were waiting for him, so that left one person. After all this time, he finally realized why they brought Wenel along. He had a mind for business and could scout out weak links in any job he examined. He could even spot out if the person is unfit for the job before they even join. Although Linux suspected it was another reason entirely, rather than him just having a good eye.

All Linux could do was pray. He couldn’t get on his knees like the religious nut jobs at the church could, but he hoped his begging for safety reached to whatever their protector was.

It didn’t take long for them to make it to Olten. As soon as Linux stopped, the first floor trio stopped as well. The daylight shined on them, their hearts thumping wildly. There wasn’t much to worry about since Elest was at the entrance and no one could see them from the outside, but light had a certain effect on people trying to sneak around.

Linux took a glance at the map he layed out in his mind. From what he could remember, they were behind some apartment complexes. It stretched for a while, going from the entrance and all the way to the elevator. If there was a best way to sneak around this town at, it would be the alleys of the apartments. He held his breath and stepped through, hoping that nobody was on the other end.

As soon as he stepped through the dome, a wall greeted him on the other side. It was a wooden wall painted red, the same coating of paint used for all the apartments in the city. Taking a deep breath of relief, he turned to see if the first floor trio stepped inside. Killian stepped through while Kauss and Helona were already inside with their weapons in hand.

“Where’s the elevator?” Kauss asked, checking the energy capsule in his knife.

“At the far end of Olten.” Linux said, pointing to a wall. “This was is close as we can be. Any closer and we might’ve walked in on a guard taking a piss.”

Linux placed a finger on his lips, and everyone silenced themselves. When silence took over, he poked his head from the side of the building. He thought he saw something, and if he saw what he thought it was, then they were in big trouble. As soon as he looked on the roof of the building on the other side of the street, he clenched his fists.

On top of the roof was a guard with binoculars scouting below him. The building next to him also had a guard stationed on the roof, then the one before that, and so did the next. He knew what those things could do since his Dad was the first person to make them. They could zoom in on a person to such a degree they could see their sweat taking full view. Even worse, it had a heat sensor built in. If they moved a single inch, they’d be spotted right away.

They couldn’t enter any of the buildings either. They were full of people, and although they were untrained, each and every one of them has a weapon. Walking inside an apartment would be the same as waltzing into a death trap thinking they wouldn’t die.

The guard took the binoculars down for a second and Linux abused that single second. He dashed to the other apartment building, and Kauss and the others followed behind. They walked to the other end of the apartment and stopped. Linux looked around the corner and once again saw a guard standing with binoculars.

“This isn’t looking good.” Linux said.

“What are we going to do?” Helona asked.

“Are they exploitable?” Kauss asked next.

Linux shook his head. “Beyond them lowering their guards, they're going to spot us if we even breath in the alley. Then there’s the homeless that can alert the guards.” The more Linux thought, the more hopeless the situation seemed. They couldn’t wait any longer than today however. They’ll start looking outside once the fire clears up and there’s almost nowhere to hide out there anymore.

As the hopelessness dawned on them, their panic rose to even greater heights as soon as they saw a bottle fly past them. Linux looked for where the bottle was thrown and saw a homeless man sitting next to a garbage can. He wore decent looking clothes, even if a bit torn, was well shaven and carried around some more dirty bottles with him in a bag.

For a second, Linux thought it was all over. They’d been caught and the guards’ll come running to finish them off. Before the panic could completely set in, he saw something appear from the corner of his eye. He turned and saw Helona pointing her gun at the homeless man’s head.

Linux couldn’t move less he wanted the guards to come by faster. He couldn’t stop her from killing the man. He didn’t want any pointless deaths scatter across the roads in their wake.

However, the homeless man didn’t flinch. He held strong and gripped tightly onto something in his hands. When he revealed what it was, Helona stopped herself from squeezing the trigger. In his hand was a whistle that was already positioned on his perked lips. If she fired, he’d blow into it, bringing the entire town on them.

“Are you gonna lower that?” The man asked. Helona sighed and let her gun fall to her hips. She still kept a grasp on it, just in case they needed her to fire. “So what are you lot doing here? You’re practically begging them to kill you.”

“We have to leave whether we like it or not.” Linux raised his hands in the air just enough to where they wouldn’t be seen. “We would just like to pass.”

“And then what. There’re people on the roof’s here also.” He pointed straight above him. “The closer you get, the more guards that are surrounding the place. They’ll be in the alleys, inside homes, and forget about approaching the elevator. That place is so tightly packed that I’m pretty sure one of them died.”

“Okay. So what?” Kauss spoke up. “It’s not like we weren’t expecting that.”

“But do you have a plan to get out of yer situation?”

Nobody spoke. They really didn’t have a plan. Killian had a few ideas, but all of them wouldn’t end up faring well at the end, so he kept quiet. But there was something poking at the back of his skull, but he couldn’t tell if it would go just as he planned.

“I got an idea for you.” The man pointed to the alley. “One of you expose yerself to ‘em. The guards won’t leave the roofs since they’re Wenel’s eyes, but y’all get the people at the elevator running after you.”

“And then the rest of us head to the elevator and clear the place out and escape.” Killian finished. “Is that what you’re saying.”

The man nodded and looked from the corner. The guard on top of the nearest roof began yawning, and he lowered his binoculars. The man quickly waved them forward, and they passed from cover to cover. Linux took a deep breath that they weren’t spotted with that quick transition.

“Why are you helping us?” Linux asked.

The man pointed to the corner of the alley. Linux looked and saw two more homeless people sitting amongst the trash. They were a woman and a small child, a boy of around seven years old. They were dirty, and they covered themselves with a trash bag just to stay out of the cold.

“Because of the council’s stupid decisions, we’re out here. I got a job, and I got money, but I ain’t got a home. Every place is taken and they aren’t expanding. I’ve taken a look outside and saw that mayhem. Do you think I support those bastards after I saw that?”

“Oculn didn’t address it yet?”

“No. My guess is that they want to capture you before they pin the blame on you. If they were told their entire world’s destroyed without the culprit, there’d be a panic. They need an outlet to vent all their frustrations on, and if it’s not you, it’s going to be them.”

“And you chose them.”

The man nodded. It wasn’t just Linux alone in hating the council. For years, he’s felt alone and that everyone would kiss the council’s boots without mercy. He didn’t know how to feel about this. However, he couldn’t worry about that at the moment. There were tougher issues to handle, and that would be who to sacrifice.

“So, who’s going to run out there?” Linux asked.

“You’re not even going to offer yourself?” Kauss retorted.

“Sure I’ll offer myself, but we still need to decide who to send out.”

“Wait,” Killian raised his hand. The talking ceased as Killian told his plan. “Why don’t we change the plan a bit. Instead of one person leaving, why don’t Helona, Kauss, and I go.”

“Why all of us?” Helona asked.

“The more of us there are, the more they’ll send after us. These people are afraid of us. They won’t take any chances of sending a small group.” Killian looked at Linux. “And you’ll go to the elevator, kill or knock out anyone there, and guard the place as we make our way back.”

Linux understood what he was brewing up. With the majority of the guards gone from the elevator, it would be simple to sneak the way there and take the base. With the three of them running from the guards, they can watch each other’s backs and reduce their chances of death.

“I would like to say one thing.” Kauss said, looking at Linux with those void eyes. “If the only thing that separates life from death is us killing the guards, then we’ll kill them. I don’t care what you say. We need to do whatever we can to survive.”

Kauss stood up, and Killian and Helona followed his lead. Linux wanted to tell them no, that they shouldn’t kill, but it was pointless. Even if he did, they wouldn’t listen. Even under his direct orders to not kill, they killed those guards anyway. He didn’t want the destruction, but it was completely out of his hands now.

They checked their weapons and were about to leave, but Linux had to say one last thing to them before they went off.

“Hold on!” Linux's scream whispered to them. They froze and turned to him. “I need to warn you.”

Walking along the rooftop, Wenel took several glances to the streets below. He stood on the highest rooftop of Olten, the roof of the guard's quarters. Standing along with him were two guards with binoculars in their hands, staring toward the street. They were ordered to report anytime they saw someone walking the streets.

The people were ordered to stay inside for an indefinite amount of time, which made it easier to spot out any anomalies. Sometimes they’d spot the random homeless, but with a strict warning to stay put behind the buildings, they were sent back into the alleys.

“Any sightings?” Wenel asked.

“No, sir!” The guard to his right shouted. “There have been zero sightings of suspicious activity!”

Wenel looked at the dome above them, the electric blue covering them from the outside world. He remembered Olot and his desire to take down these domes for good. He never understood it, but he could respect it. He could respect a person who had their desires in life and refused to act upon them if they endangered others.

Then he tried to get them to slay a Tetson. It was utterly bizarre, but he could still respect that Olot took the bad news with grace. He made a proposal, didn’t bother with forcing them to implement it, then died doing it on his own. A tragic, but fitting way for such a man to find their end.

Linux spat in the face of such a man. He may be Olot’s son, but he wasn’t at all like him. When the sound of an enormous explosion made its way into the dome from the outside, he knew Linux had done something despicable. He didn’t understand what it was since he was told to guard the inside, but curiosity was about to tear him away from his post.

However, something was off about the dome, and a noise erupted behind me.

“Sir, near the apartments! A signal lit up!”

He turned around and saw three bolts of blue lightning shoot toward the sky. They vanished shortly after, but he could see the lights of electricity as the guards got into a fight with whoever was there. The sound of footsteps echoed on the streets below as the guards from the elevator ran to the scene.

Wenel took a deep breath and picked up his weapon. He checked the energy capsules hooked to hs side, and nodded when he knew he was prepared. He grazed his weapon with loving affection. It was a large gun that was stylized based on a weapon that a first floorer brought up more than a hundred years ago. Apparently, the weapon was called a sniper rifle, but that didn’t ring well with him.

So he renamed it. And what he named it filled him with such delight when saying it aloud.

“Well snipeshot; looks like you’ll be used after all.”