Two days had passed, and Shade and FX had yet to find a place they felt safe. FX had "commandeered" a car outside the police station[1] and they had driven across the city, sticking to back streets and away from the grey spheres as much as possible. They had no idea what would happen if they were spotted by them - maybe they would ignore them as they did before - but they weren't willing to take chances. As Shade put it, if there was now some kind of agreement between the government and whatever controlled the spheres, they wanted to steer clear of anyone and anything that could be part of it. This restricted them from leaving the city, as the outer areas were now pretty depopulated and the spheres were likely to investigate those travelling long distances.

FX was adamant he could carry Shade as he flew, but Shade doubted the stability of such a flight. Besides, where could they go? There was nothing outside the city except farms now, and they would be much more conspicuous. The point that sealed it, though, was they needed to find Smoke as soon as possible, and he must surely still be within the city limits.

The bridge they huddled under on their second night offered little protection from the weather. They had been forced to abandon their car several hours ago when a patrol car had chased them down a blind alley, forcing FX to blast it away and making their vehicle too risky to continue driving. They had yet to find another one and had camped down on a wide storm drain, taking shelter under a bridge that ran over it as the night grew deeper.

"I swear," shivered FX, poking at the small fire they had made from the scrap around them, "the weather gets worse every month those goddam spheres are here."

"It is certainly possible that those towers are affecting precipitation."

He looked up at FX's glare.

"I mean, those towers are probably what's causing it to piss it down. They've been letting off pulses of some weird energy every few days for weeks now, and I'm not sure there's been a single day without rain since they began."

Even as he spoke, a pulse of purple light rolled across the sky, a tumbling line of roiling clouds, filling the area with an eerie light for a few seconds before it disappeared to the north.

"Like that, in fact."

"Yeah, we saw it when we were coming back here after Smoke found me." FX sighed, and scraped out the remains of the canned beans they had stolen from a convenience store into a billy can. They had the whole area to themselves. "You know, when I left this place, there were homeless people everywhere. Now, none. The one side of the Taking you never hear about: plenty of abandoned buildings for everyone, now."

"And the water and power's free, too. Since they reorganised everything, I don't think a single person on this planet's gone without water or electricity."

"And all they ask in return is the enslavement of humanity to build their damn towers. I think they want to fuck the sky."

He aimlessly stirred the beans[2].

"So, what do we do now? Any ideas?"

Shade stared into the small fire they were sitting around, and said nothing as FX passed him the billy can.

"So, nothing then? I should have stayed in Japan. Shit, I'm not even sure what I was expecting - the whole thing turned into a cluster-fuck the minute I arrived."

Despite his angry words, his voice betrayed his exhaustion.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright. I didn't expect bloody collaborators coming for us! I mean, what the hell is wrong with people? How can they be actively helping them?"

Shade's voice choked with emotion, and he dropped the billy can forcefully to the ground.

"There must be something we can do, for Christ's sake! I thought if we could just get into the tower, we could see what it is that's controlling these things, and deal with it."

FX picked up the can and put it back over the fire, looking towards Shade. "That was your plan? To break into the tower? What makes you think anything in this tower is controlling anything? There's hundreds of them around the globe."

"But this one was the first." Shade's eyes took on a fevered look, as he stared glassily into the ideas only he could make out. "New City was the site of the first ship, the first attack, the first tower. The Taking began here almost a week before anywhere else, and according to the pictures I've seen of the others, this one is growing the fastest. It clearly has some kind of priority."

"That doesn't mean it's a source of control, though," interjected FX, voice calmer now, curious.

"But this tower is the only one with a central hub. All the others have the coiled spires, the central cylinder, but only this one has that outgrowth in the middle." He pointed to where, if the night hadn't been so wet and hazy, the tower would be visible. In fact, a few lights could be made out, suspended high in the sky.

"I've seen spheres coming out of there day and night. They never go in, but many come out. It's producing them in there. And... there's one more thing. I never shared this with the group. I couldn't. It would cause them to falter."

Shade suddenly looked nervous, eyes meeting FX's but looking down swiftly after.

"Some of the people who work on the tower, they... don't always come out dead. Some are just close to dead."

FX took the can off the fire to stop it scalding, and asked "So, you talk to them, then? I don't see what's wrong with that."

"No, you don't understand. Yes, I talk to them, but I make them talk to me. They are suffering, they are dying, and I make them talk to me, about what goes on inside, about the layout of the place, whilst they fade in front of me. I can close their senses, make them feel more comfortable whilst I question them, but I always question them. Me, and Lou." He punched the floor, face reddening. "Lou wanted us to try to help them, but I convinced him otherwise. There's too many of them! If we started taking them in, that's all we could do, there'd be no time for anything else, and besides, they'd surely die anyway! These people are broken when they slide down into the pits." His eyes had reddened, and he turned his head away.

"It's ok man, you help them by taking the pain away. It's not your fault, it's not your responsibility."

"You think so? Well, try talking to people night after night, people crushed, starving, bleeding, and then tell me it's not your responsibility. Try looking into their eyes and then tell them you're not here to help, but that you want information." Shade poked the fire dejectedly with a stick.

"It sucks, I can tell you that much."

His eyes stared off into the darkness.

It was then FX heard the sphere's approach, the distinctive low level hum that echoed down the storm drain. Putting his finger to his mouth to quiet Shade, he rose to a crouching position and looked out into the darkness, trying to spot the source before it spotted him. As he peered around, he heard the click of the shutters opening, and dived to the floor as the flechettes whooshed passed over his head. Sending a shockwave of noise back in the direction the flechettes had come from, he began to run the opposite way, Shade already in front of him and accelerating. Suddenly, floodlights either side of the drain illuminated the two of them, revealing silhouettes of human forms rappelling down the sheer sides at the top of both sides of the drain.

FX grabbed Shade by the collar of his jacket and, aiming his free hand towards the ground, launched the both of them skywards. Instead of a controlled flight, this was more of an extended jump, FX wobbling violently as he tried to balance on the jets of sounds, and they landed roughly a few tens of meters ahead of the incoming police. Launching once more, this time they cleared almost 60 meters before coming to ground.

"We've got to get out of this drain," said Shade, on all fours and shaken from the landing. "Get us up there."

He pointed above the slope to their left and the fence crowning it, and FX sent a blast that actually cracked the concrete beneath them as they flew, limbs flailing, up and over the fence.

They crash-landed in the car park of a large warehouse, dark and quiet. Somewhere in the distance the sound of sirens advanced towards them, and then the sound of a helicopter, its light strafing a few blocks down from them, searching.

"Fantastic," growled FX, "What the hell do we do now?"

"We need a car," gasped Shade, getting to his feet again and looking around. The car park was poorly lit and completely empty. Seeing the futility of remaining there they began running towards the front gate of the warehouse, aware of the helicopter's rotors coming ever closer in a search pattern. The road leading past the warehouse, too, was empty, the yellow streetlight illuminating a road with no signs of life whatsoever.

By now the helicopter was almost on top of them. They knew they had a few moments at best, and searched around for shelter. Just as they set out for the covering of an open, empty warehouse across the way, a beat-up old white 4x4 squealed around the corner of the street down the road and headed towards them. It braked hard to a stop beside them, where a man looking to be in his early twenties or even younger rolled down the windows and shouted "Get in, now! I'll explain later, just get in!" They looked at each other and, seeing no other choice, dived into the car, which sped away into the night.

It took a few moments for the two of them to rearrange themselves into something resembling a comfortable position on the narrow backseats of the car, and nothing could be heard for a while save their heavy breathing and the sound of the car engine, revving high. Only after the car had rounded a few corners and seemed safely away from danger did FX find the power to speak.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you helping us? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

"Yeah," added Shade, "I'm sure you'll forgive us if we're a little on edge. How did you find us?"

The driver of the car was little more than a kid, gangly and pale in the lights passing by from outside, thick-rimmed glasses concentrating on the road as he drove the deserted midnight streets. He took some time before answering, rounding another corner before opening his mouth.

"I'm a friend of Smoke and Triss, I've got my own reasons to hate the spheres, and I've been listening in on the police radio for hours waiting to hear a mention of you. An hour ago the radios suddenly overflowed with orders to get to the west district, so I went as well. You're lucky I did - it didn't look like you were doing a good job at hiding." He kept his eyes focused on the road as he spoke. "Look, I'm a friend. What do you want to know? We've got a bit of a drive before we get to the others, so ask away."

"Well, how do you know Smoke and Triss? They've never mentioned a friend to me," asked Shade, puzzlement in his voice.

"I met them yesterday. They broke out about the same time as you, from what I can tell. Came running out into the middle of the road, bleeding and completely disorientated. I gave them a ride to a safe place, and they filled me in on what was going on. I mean, actual Advanced fighting actual police! It's like a movie!" His voice was excited, speaking rapidly.

"You think this is fun?" yelled FX, angry. "This isn't a game, kid. People are getting hurt!"

"I'm well aware of what this is, thanks. Like I said, I have my own reasons for hating the spheres."

The suddenly serious tone of his voice made the other two back down, thinking of all the reasons there were for hating the spheres.

"But look, right, it's people finally fighting back, finally taking a stand without getting filleted where they stand. It's finally something!" His voice rose in passion. "Anyway, where have you two been? The others seem desperate to meet up with you."

"And we need to see them as soon as possible. The cop in the interrogation mentioned something about a plan to capture Smoke."

"Yeah, well, I think that plan has been and gone. How'd you think he met up with Triss? He got caught, but she got him out. They'd make a good team if they didn't bicker so much."

Shade laughed. "Yeah, a bit of an old married couple at times, those two."

"We're here," the kid broke in.

The car was pulling into the drive of yet another abandoned house, this one a white-washed narrow two-story building.

"I'm Nick, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Nick showed them into the narrow living room where Smoke and Lunar were waiting, Lunar standing up as they walked in and hugging Shade powerfully.

"Thank god," she began, "I thought you were still in there." She turned to FX. "Glad you're ok, too."

"I knew you worried about me," said FX, provoking a sneer from her.

The group sat down, Smoke and Triss returning to a small couch, Shade taking a frayed armchair and FX a wooden stool. Nick stood next to the doorway through which they had entered, watching intently and fidgeting with barely contained excitement.

"So what's next, Smoke? I told you I'd find them."

"Good job, Nick. That's twice you've saved our asses - we didn't pick up a thing on our radio, just the usual traffic reports and idle chatter."

As he spoke, Smoke turned up the volume of a radio receiver in the centre of the table and the static crackling rose. Brief bursts of police radio traffic cut in and out as they listened, nothing mentioning the scenes previously nor any ongoing search.

"Wrong district. I was way out on the west side when it came through. Got lucky, I guess." Nick shifted from foot to foot, looking around the group.

Smoke turned to Shade and FX. "We got lucky too. Thanks to Triss, my idiotic rescue attempt didn't get me locked up as well, but I could barely hold it together long enough to get clear of the station. We were lucky that this guy was driving past a few blocks out - although in my case I thought he was a giant ice-cream van dispensing whipped cream waffle rabbits." The look of confusion on the pair's faces made Smoke smile wryly, and Triss burst out laughing. "I'll explain later. Let's just say, I need to detox for a few days."

They filled each other in on the various events after their capture[3], and when they finished there was a depressed silence.

"We're a bunch of useless fools, aren't we?" said Smoke, shaking his head.

"We didn't exactly excel, did we? A pretty bad first encounter, I'd say," added Lunar. Shade just looked glum.

"Guys, guys, what are you talking about? You broke out of the headquarters of the New City police! FX blew the front of the building off! And evaded the search efforts of the entire force! I'd say you did great." Nick smiled as he spoke, looking at each member with a genuine adulation.

FX snorted in amusement. "Yeah, we did wreck that place, alright. And look, we're all already pretty much healed. We really do have accelerated healing."

Indeed, there was barely a bruise on any of them, despite the beatings, taserings, and general violence they had experienced.

"But we accomplished nothing! We don't even know why they decided to take us in now, nor who wanted us watched in the first place!" Shade's voice was plaintive, aggrieved.

"I think," continued FX, "that it might be time for you to explain your ideas and plans to the others. It's time to try something proactive, right?"

It took some time for Shade to lay out his ideas to the others, and more time to answer the follow-up questions.

"So, to summarise," said Lunar, "You want us to break into the tower, try to get to the hub which may or may not be a source of control, using rough maps that may or may not be accurate, and then try to destroy the tower by a method that may or may not exist?"

"More or less," grinned Shade, then the amusement left his eyes and he once again looked tired and bitter. "At the very least, we need to get in there and see what we can find out. See if we can find Lou." There was a long silence at Lou's name.

"And how in the hell are we meant to get in there, anyway?" Triss asked, breaking through the mood. "You haven't mentioned anything about that, and it's not like we can walk through the... Oh, crap. You want to use Ollie, right? That's why you went to so much effort to find him in the first place, right?"

"Exactly. I know a place he could get us in. Apparently, it's rarely patrolled and has plenty of cover. We just need him to take us through, then he can leave."

FX looked from person to person. "You understanding what they're talking about now, Nicky?" he whispered to Nick.

Shade looked up. "That's right," he said, "neither of you know Ollie Thurgood, do you? He has one of the most unique powers I've seen, one that could be of great use to us."

"The only problem is, he's an abject coward." This was Lunar, eyes narrowing and face showing her disgust. "He's only ever used his powers to save his own skin. The only reason he hung out with us was because he was more scared to go out alone."

"Yes, well, he may be, at that, but he's what we need if we want to get inside that tower. If we find him, I know I can convince him to do that much, at least."

Nick leaned in towards the group. "So, what can he do?" he asked, expectantly.

Smoke, Triss, and Shade looked at each other.

"It's difficult to describe. I think it may be best you see for yourself..."

[1] He refused to explain to Shade why he knew how to do this, despite Shade’s insistence that he was hardly likely to go to the police now anyway.

[2] They'd had beans the day before too, another reason to evacuate the car when they did

[3] With the other three spending more time than Smoke thought necessary discussing the part where he'd thought the underpants gnomes were taking his trousers and run around grabbing his groin and shouting "give me my pants"