There was a slight snore at the edge of the couch, and Sabrina dared to peek out of one of her eyes. She saw Red, arms across his chest in what seemed to be a heavy sleep. He seemed much younger this way, fast asleep, but his sharp features were especially pronounced from the side. His nose was long and pointed, like the elves in stories that she had read when she was younger.

She shifted her legs, testing to see if he would stir. Nothing. He was out. She took the opportunity to slide off the couch and sneak to the door.

As it closed behind her, she was relieved to find the hallway empty. She was shaky as she made her way to her room, and had to keep one hand on the wall to ground herself. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but something in the back of her mind was screaming at her to escape. She felt the overwhelming urge to flee, to find somewhere private, to lock herself away. Her head started to throb as she reached her room, and although she felt better as the door closed behind her, she still felt like something was terribly wrong.

Sabrina sat upright in her bed and wrapped the blankets tightly around her shaking body. The feeling of unease still rippled through her. She wanted to escape, hide, anything to shake the feeling digging into the pit of her stomach. She wanted to Sage, desperately... It was embarrassing, this shallow dependency, and when she thought back on how she had acted out in Red's apartment, her stomach ached further with guilt. She had turned into something she knew she wasn't - something so primal and desperate. But... something else was wrong. As much as she enjoyed the sweet escape it gave her, Sage also had another precious side effect - it kept her awake.

Sabrina was exhausted, and her eyes started to grow fuzzy when she tried to focus on the buildings outside her window. She tried rubbing them with her palms, but this only caused them to ache more. She didn't want to sleep. She had tried to get some rest the other night and admonished herself for being so naïve. There was absolutely no reason that it would be any different than all the awful times before. Sleeping left her mind open and vulnerable, trapped, stuck forever in the pain, the isolation...

Sabrina was in the tank again, unable to speak or scream. Her hair wrapped around her neck and legs, trapping her, choking her. The drain at her bare, cold feet was filling up again - but not with the stinging blue gel.

No.

This time it was red, climbing higher and higher. It was at her knees, then waist, then neck. The hot liquid splattered on the glass walls of the tank. She thrashed back and forth, unable to break free. The copper tasting red filled her mouth, sliding down her throat. She took a gargling last breath before she was finally submerged. Her long fingernails scraped side of the tank, clawing desperately to the surface.

Where was her mask?

Where was her mask?

She was drowning.

She closed her eyes tight, panicking, her screams rising to the surface as thick, gurgling bubbles.

But when she was brave enough to open her eyes again, she was in a dark, empty room. She was dry now, with her hair and nails trimmed neatly. She was wearing a loose-fitting hospital gown and felt a damp draft hit her bare arms. Although the room appeared clinically clean, there was an underlying earthy smell that hit her nose. She was underground.

She scanned her surroundings. In front of her was a long table. It was filled with rows of items, but it was tough to make out what they were in the dim hum of the industrial light overhead. Sabrina took a step closer on the cold tile floor to get a better look. On the silver, shining table there were rows of knives, guns, ropes, metal bars, weapons of every sort. She walked around it, carefully considering her options. None of them seemed right. She shook her head and a group of faceless women in lab coats stepped in from the shadows. Silently, they rolled the table away.

Another table was rolled in. This time it was filled with maces, spears, a crossbow, darts, and a chainsaw.

No. It was still so wrong.

She recoiled as she inspected them each tool, walking along the table's edge. Her fingers dances playfully over the new selection. So unnecessarily brutal and bloody. She shook her head and the table was removed again.

There was a long moment before a small table was rolled into the room, holding only one item - a small corked vial. Sabrina walked up to it, curious. She picked up the vial and twisted it in her hand, watching the clear liquid with interest. She pulled the cork out to examine it closer, and the sickly anesthetic smell washed over her.

It was perfect. She held the vial to her chest and began to spin around the room. A perfect, painless, quiet killer. No crying, no screaming, no...

Sabrina jolted upright. She looked around the room and was relieved to find herself in her own room, safe and at home. She was grateful that the dusty soft morning light had finally woken her. She twisted in the bed, holding the sheets tight around her. Her hands anxiously reached for her face, and she began to pull out the tiny hairs at the edge of her eyebrow.

Pluck. Pluck.

It was only a nightmare.

It took her a moment to collect herself. She was still shaky from her dream, but it was nice waking up in her own bed, and not finding herself in the middle of an alley, among the trash. It was morning now, and she was unsure as to how long she had been out. With effort, she stood up and stretched.

As she walked into her kitchen, she was met with the empty silver briefcase, and her mind raced back to the events of yesterday.

Red.

A second wave of embarrassment hit her. She had to apologize - make an attempt to explain herself, anything to make up for whatever came over her yesterday. She began to get ready and dressed. As she pulled the long white dress over her head, she took care to avoid bumping her hand.

It had healed a bit from the other night, but it was still swollen and sore. She examined it carefully as she put on fresh bandages. The knuckles were starting to scab over, and she was careful not to bend her fingers as she rolled the gauze around them.

She was telling the truth when she told Red that she didn't remember what happened. All she recalled was waking up in a downtown alley one morning only to find that her hand was cut up and bleeding. She hadn't remembered falling asleep in the first place, but weeks of non-stop Saging had fogged her memory.

Sabrina carefully made her way to Red's apartment. She had written a small, carefully worded apology note to slide under his door, secretly hoping he wasn't home. She didn't know if she was brave enough to face him, and decided that the few scribbled words she could come up with was her best option.

She reached Red's door and crouched on the slick tiled floor to slide it under.

Just as she got to her knees, there was a sudden hiss, and the door slid up and open, causing Sabrina to jump back in surprise. In the doorway stood a tall, black-haired woman. Sabrina stared up at her, mouth agape in awe. She had elegant but soft features, and smooth dark skin. She looked surreal, ethereal even, like a painting Sabrina remembered seeing a long time ago.

Sabrina caught herself staring, then grabbed the note in a rush.

"Sorry, I think I'm at the wrong place. My mistake," she blurted out, gathering herself.

The woman laughed, tried to compose herself, then began to laugh again.

"I think I scared your friend, Red," she choked out, holding herself up using the doorframe.

"What did ya do to her, Cil?" Red sputtered, pushing her the woman out of the way.

Red reached down, offering Sabrina his hand, and shot daggered eyes back at the laughing Cil. Sabrina took his arm and stood up, dusting herself off. She felt her face grow red with shame, and she fought the sudden urge to run back home.

"What were you doing on the floor? Creeping around like that?" Cil continued to laugh as they made their way inside.

"I was going to-.. I don't-.." Sabrina started, fumbling the wrinkled note in her hand.

Red threw a marker at Cil from across the room.

"Ignore her, Sabrina," he grumbled as he lined up another shot.

Cil dodged it artfully before throwing it back at him, hitting him directly between the eyes.

"Stick to computers, nerd," she cried out, dodging again, behind the couch.

Sabrina stood still, watching them both go back and forth. She felt like she was intruding on something private, and wondered if she could sneak out without them noticing. She then remembered the note in her hand. Her nervous hands had crumpled it to oblivion, and sweaty palms had smeared the ink.

She cleared her throat to get Red's attention, hoping in truth that it wouldn't work. But it did, and as he caught a flying marker with one hand, he turned to her.

"I uh-" Sabrina started timidly, finding her words, "I just wanted to say I was sorry for yesterday. I didn't mean to freak out like that."

She cleared her throat again, but when she searched for what to say next, her mind went blank.

Red smiled and shook his head, "Yeah, it's whatever." He shot another marker at Cil from behind a chair before adding, "Kind of terrifying but I think I'll recover."

He winked and another marker hit his arm from across the room with a loud thwack.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, standing up, "That hurt -"

"Shut up. Shut up," Cil cut him off.

She was covering her ear with a hand. Her eyes were darting around the floor. She seemed to be listening to something in her ear.

Red took another cheap shot at Cil, throwing another marker at her leg, but she kicked it off easily before shouting, "Stop. Can you set up your screen? There's a new transmission from N."

Red rolled his eyes then pressed a button on his wall, and with a flicker, his drawings disappeared to reveal a glossy white screen. He pressed his wrist to the wall, and a small keypad popped out. Cil typed in something, and after making a few quick gestures, the large white screen flickered on.

Several images flashed on the screen. There was a woman with an infected eye implant, then a young child screaming as they installed the ID chip in her wrist.

"Fellow members of the Vermin, the Chellis Coalition, and Neo-Luddites alike," a distorted voice boomed, "We have received new intel regarding the Faceless." A geometric insignia came across the screen, twisted, then faded to black. "We have reason to believe that the recent string of murders downtown are connected to the organization." A still shot of a young couple came into view. "Two members of the cause were murdered in cold blood, stabbed in their own home."

The screen went black again, then a hooded and masked man came into view.

"This was an act of war. We will not stay silent. We will not remain complicit."

A flash of codes then appeared on the screen with white numbers and letters changing rapidly across his face.

Cil pulled out a small lens from her pocket and frantically pressed it to her face as she muttered under her breath, "It's happening, it's finally happening."

Red rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch, but as he stared at the screen, his brows started to furrow, worried. Sabrina watched him as he started to bite his lip, then wipe his palms on his jeans.

The screen then went to black again, before revealing a final message:

We are faceless for our own protection.

They use their anonymity to mask their own corruption and control the masses.

We will cut the wires. We will cut the strings.

If they treat us like rats, let us be rats.

N.

There was a heavy silence before Red interrupted, "So are ya a rat, Cil?"

Cil turned to him, daggers in her eyes.

"This is serious Red. No more little cyber attacks and worms. He is talking about serious action. Real action. You saw."

Red's smile faded. He began to bite his lip again and looked away.

"Yeah, I saw."

Sabrina watched them, trying her best to understand, and played the messages in her head over and over again. Faceless? N? She looked at Red for any clues, but he seemed lost in thought.

Cil began to fidget with her lens again, before she turned to Red and asked, "Can I borrow a screen or a headset?"

Red looked at her, "Why?"

"I need to figure out the rest of the code. I think my lens was able to decipher most of it but there's still some pieces missing. It went too fast."

Red shook his head. "No need. It said the next plan of attack is to take down the chip factory on the northside. A series of explosions. 'We can't track them, they can't track us,'" he mocked, imitating the deep voice, "It's supposed to happen in the next two days."

Cil put her lens back in her pocket.

"Show off," she spat.

Red bowed dramatically. He then scratched his head, adding, "Why not just shut it down from the inside, though? Break the machines, mess 'em up instead... So senseless. The kids working at the plant did nothin'... Just tryin' to earn some credits."

Cil shook her head and looked down.

"I know but... That sort of thing isn't working anymore. N knows what he's doing."

"N," Red scoffed, then turned his attention to Sabrina.

"So what do you think 'bout all this?" he asked, apparently amused at her lost expression.

"I..." she started, blinking slowly, "Why was the guy on the screen so angry? What did these Faceless people do?"

There was a silence as Red's blank stunned expression slowly turned to a wide smile. The smile then turned into a shining silver grin as Red began wheezing with laughter. Cil seemed less amused, her mouth frozen open in shock. She looked as though she was in pain.

Red then jumped across the room to Sabrina before hugging her from behind, then dramatically kissed the top of her head.

"Oh you sweet, sweet, Saged one. To live in yer dreams for a lifetime. Not a care to have. Not a shit to give," he sang, swaying back and forth.

Cil shook her head, "I don't know if I'm more shocked or jealous. What have you been giving her?"

Sabrina slipped away from Red, stepping to the side and straightening up.

"Sorry... I don't mean to offend. I just don't understand," Sabrina spoke. She felt her face grow red again with embarrassment.

Cil seemed to consider her words for a moment, fidgeting with a small chain on her wrist before she finally spoke.

"Have you ever wondered what's outside of this island? Past Downtown, past the dark water? It's the Faceless that keep us here. Trapped in this crowded Hell."

Cil stood up from the couch, her eyes alight, "They trap us, tag us," she gestured to the small chip dangling on the bracelet, "We are nothing to them but lab rats... while they watch us from their gilded screens."

Red smiled, whispering loudly to Sabrina, "Now you really got her started."

Cil's expression grew cold.

"Laugh all you want, Red. At least I'm doing something," she spat, adding, "We're trying to find the answers... And they're killing us for even trying."

Red straightened up. His expression darkened.

"So, to get back at them, we're possibly killing a bunch of minimum wage kids just trying to have enough on their chips to eat but hey, it's their fault they aren't subscribed to Mr. Edgelord's newsletter."

Cil's eyes grew wild.

"Sage some more, Red. You can stay in your dreamland." Cil then took a deep breath, calming herself as she walked to the front door. She turned back to them, hesitating at first.

"It really is a shame though. You're so talented," she said, shaking her head, "You figured out that cypher just now in your head. But you hide away in that box." Cil gestured the white cube at his feet. "Bye, Red," she added before the heavy door slid shut behind her.

There was a pause before Red finally cut the tension.

"Now wasn't that exciting!" he blurted, sitting heavy on the white couch.

Sabrina felt a heaviness in her chest. She slowly sat next to him, processing what had happened.

"I didn't mean to make her upset... I just didn't know," she said, fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

"Oh, she ain't mad at ya," Red laughed, distracted.

With one fluid motion, he opened the white cube with his wrist.

"We fight all the time like that. No worries."

But, just as the hinges of the box started to hiss open, he swiftly shut it close, looking back at Sabrina with wide eyes.

"Wait," he breathed.

Sabrina looked back at him, expectantly. His florescent red hair was especially wild today.

"No more Sage," he said, kicking the box back dramatically with a long leg.

Her stomach dropped at those three words. No. She needed it. She needed to stay awake. But she knew why. The crumpled apology note, tight in her hand, felt heavy.

Red seemed to see the stress in her eyes.

"Just until we sort through this nightmare business. It's not healthy," he hesitated, "I didn't know ya had it that bad... And I don't want ya out on the street like that again... freaking out. What if yer alone next time?" His brows furrowed, "It's stupid, reckless. Dangerous."

Red looked back at Sabrina expectantly, but she stayed silent. Her mind raced. It didn't matter that it was dangerous. She needed it. She searched for the words that could make him understand, but found nothing. Nothing could make him see what she saw at night. The intense fear, the isolation and panic.

Red's eyes grew sad as he stared at her. His charcoal eyes studied her face for a moment before he finally spoke.

"Ya know, actually. I'll stop with ya. Maybe it's for the best." He smiled, "Just don't tell Cil. I don't want her to think she won or anything."

"Will you stay up with me then?" Sabrina whispered, keeping her voice steady, "Will you make sure I don't sleep?"

"Yeah, sure I can stay up with ya all you want... But you do have to sleep."

"I can't. I can't go through it again," Sabrina whispered. She felt her throat grow painful with tears but she held them back.

"Go through what?" Red stared back at her, his voice soft, "Is it really just nightmares? They're just bad dreams. They can't hurt ya."

"It's not just nightmares. Just -" She stopped herself. The tears she had been holding back finally began to fall down her face.

"Woah there," Red's eyes widened in panic as he moved closer to her, awkwardly, "Don't cry. Please don't cry. It'll be okay!"

She watched his face as it tried to contort into a smile.

"We'll figure it out, Sabrina. We'll figure it out."