A row of three black cars waited in the middle of the temple courtyard. Their blinding headlights punctured through the rainfall, lighting up every drop of water that fell through the streams of light. Two of those cars were massive SUV trucks, that howled like angry mechanical monsters, even in the idle.

In between them was a low, long vehicle, that was from between a limousine and a typical high class sedan. Its windows were tinted dark, making it impossible to see anything inside. Shining chrome strips edged the glasses, and another one ran alongside the hems below side doors. The front grill between the headlights was massive. On top of it stood a small sign – a shape of a diamond, surrounded by a circle. They were all coated with chrome, giving the car a proud and noble look. Below the grill, attached to the front bumper, was a blue license plate, that was a mark of a diplomatic envoy.

Four men in black suits stood around the car. They used a small earpiece with a coiled wire running down their neck. Under their suit jackets flashed gun belts with batons and pistol holsters. Waiting for Annie, Thomas and Gabrielle, they cautiously observed their surroundings.

There was an even, hollow growl that Gabrielle heard, as she walked past the driver's side of the car in the middle. As her eyes landed on one of the guards, she felt a strong sense of uncomfortable pressure in her guts, that forced her to look away from him. The mirroring surface of the back door window gave her a glimpse of herself. Thoughts of how hideous she looked crossed her mind. Her red eyes, all dull and swollen from crying gave away reality off the pain she was going through. She didn't know how she could bear sitting with Thomas and Annie in that car looking like that. She felt embarrassed already, and the ride wasn't the shortest one either, for what she remembered from when they arrived here. She started to feel anxious, afraid and nervous. Thinking about them staring at her for the whole trip, making comments of her looks, and how she shouldn't have broken down in the first place.

Two rows of seats were facing each other in the back of the car. Thomas and Annie sat next to each other, before Gabrielle hopped in opposite to Annie. The guards closed the door behind her and entered the other vehicles in a hurry.

The interior smelled like a brand new car, and the black-leathered seats still felt somewhat slippy, however comfortable. They glared at the rain splattering against the windows, barely making any audible rippling sound through. Without even an engine sound around them, it was like being inside a vacuum where no sound traveled across. Gabrielle felt the overwhelming silence extremely uncomfortable.

The cars started to move, rolling out of the courtyard between two side buildings right next to the temple, into the parking lot where other guests were still packing for their travels. The convoy of these three black shining vehicles caught all of their attentions with certainty, as their engines growled loudly in an acceleration. Before making a sharp turn to the driveway, the escort vehicles began to flash with bright red and blue lights on their fronts and tails.

On the road, they picked up speed, passing other cars one after another, changing lanes as they needed. Among the other, regular cars in this Japanese cityscape, this convoy looked like a massive train rolling through the roads.

"Can I get an E.T.A. on our destination?" Thomas called for the men up in the front seats.

"Mount Fuji-Shizuoka airport. We will push it for twenty minutes, sir."

"Very good."

Scenes outside were flowing by as a stream of concrete boxes, that had no details on them. At least Gabrielle couldn't spot a single one of them, as the cars ran through the urban residences. She tried her best to keep track of the passing scenes nevertheless, as it was yet another mind distraction trick for her. Her eyes jumped from one passing building to the next, randomly skipping one or few buildings in between.

She didn't feel comfortable sitting in a same confined space with the Director of OPS. Annie and Thomas were long time friends with each other, but her – she didn't have any personal connections with him, other than through work, him being the boss of her boss. She knew that him and her parents used to roll in the same circles, but she barely knew him at all. It made her feel inferior before them – by rank, as well as socially.

Annie caught herself staring right at Gabrielle, blanking. She found herself worried about her, and sorry for everything that had happened in these past few weeks. There wasn't anything that she could had said to her at that moment, so she shifted her eyes a little bit more right, to look out through the windshield, between the roof and head rests on the seats. She could only see a back of a huge SUV driving in front of them, with the flashing red and blue lights. Nothing else.

"The sky is crying," Thomas called out, all of a sudden.

"Excuse me?" Annie asked, turning to look at him as she woke back into the moment.

"The rain. Tears of the sky. Of the mother nature," he said, staring out of the window on his side of the car, up into the skies above.

"Oh? I didn't know mother nature cared about us so much, that she would cry after one." Annie wondered, with her right brow raised unusually high. A thick sarcastic tone was obviously detectable in her voice.

"No. It won't cry after a loss of men. It's crying, because it knows what is about to happen to itself." He explained, sounding unusually serious.

"You're so full of shit, Tom. You know that?" Annie laughed at him. "With that amount, you'd be a recognized poet or some. Hell, maybe even a politician, huh?"

"Well, the latter I cannot be," he said, while leaning closer to Annie. He grinned, and lowered his voice. "I have a spine, and self-dignity. Features that prevent me to ever make a successful career in any office."

"Pfft... Right, I forgot."

Listening to their conversation, Gabrielle snorted quietly, but still loud enough that they heard her reacting to Thomas' comments. Knowing that her parents were high-end politicians in the Citadel administration, it caught their attention as an expression of despise, although she was actually amused how on point that description was, thinking back how her own father used to be.

"Uhhh... I didn't mean to insult your parents with that comment, Gabe —"

"Tom! Let her be," Annie cut him mid-sentence. "She's fine."

She noticed Gabrielle slightly turning her head at her, giving a quick glance but immediately going back to stare out of the window again. At least she was listening what they were talking and noted what Annie just did for her. Although she did not signal how she felt, Annie sensed that her gesture was appreciated.

"So, what's our plan after the airport? You had some errands to run, right?" Annie shifted the conversation topic after a brief silence.

"'Errands'... The shuttle will take me back to Hokkaido on the way. A lot of influential people are gathering there."

"Oh, so you are going to practice your skills in politics?" Annie said, grinning at Thomas.

"Bah! Now, all kidding aside, this may probably be the most important meeting between world leaders, officials and the Creators since the declaration of authority. New Mombasa surely served only as a first example, now that the leaders of the superpowers have got the World Counsel onto their leash."

Gabrielle jolted from hearing New Mombasa being mentioned. Whenever someone else mentioned that name, an overwhelming feeling of guilt and shame of failing to save the Citadel flooded her.

"They will certainly try to force some kind of sanction on the Citadel administration, now that they have 'committed a crime against other nations'. Perhaps they will order them to stand down from world affairs, giving themselves more power to do whatever they wish to do," Thomas continued explaining. He brushed his beard with his hand, trying to picture the setting he just described and imagining what the outcome of that meeting would become. "I only hope it won't come to that."

"Don't they understand what would be the outcome of that? If they restrain the Creators and Advisors from global decision making, how long do you think they can keep things running with the same pace we have? After all the work that we've done, all the things we have achieved... are they really willing to let it all go to waste?" Annie questioned, becoming seriously worried.

"It's not about that. They're not stupid. Greed has so much power over a man, that they are willing to sacrifice others for their own wealth. Instead of becoming the capitals of world domination, Citadels have helped humanity advance in all ways... I assume you know what I'm talking about. It all effects on the wallets of those, who used to have the most. Now they want it back, and they are willing to make others pay for it."

"And so it was all for nothing," Annie sighed.

"Nothing of this should come as a surprise to you, Ann. We've seen the signs for a good while now. Mankind doesn't want the Creators — nor hybrids, in that matter — in their midst. Regardless of how much they have benefitted from this alliance so far."

"Depends on who you ask," Annie corrected Thomas' negative point of view.

"Sure. Hokkaido will remain safe, as long as Japan is willing to act as a host for us. There has been some discord amongst their people as well, what I've heard, but so far they've been keeping it under the radar. Now –" he leaned close to Annie again, like about to tell a secret. "The rumor has it, that countries in South America are negotiating with the superpowers. Our intelligence office is guessing around, that they want our lands back, and reflecting on recent incidents, it could mean one thing in particular."

"War? A coup?" Annie asked, wondering. "Do you really think they would boldly make an attack on us again?"

From the center of her thoughts, Gabrielle got flooded with a wave of flashbacks. She could almost see and smell the burning ruins of New Mombasa, and that bright flash, that obliterated the entire Citadel. Nothing was left. Nothing, but her memories. Would that become of the main Citadel as well, she worried.

"We'll be much wiser after this summit. In the meantime, let's not jump to any conclusions." Thomas took a seat back, trying to relax for a bit, before they would arrive at the airport.

"Should we be worried? Is that even a realistic possibility in your opinion?" Annie tried to dig out from Thomas.

"Oh yes," He said with confidence. "We have already passed instructions for the Citadel personnel. The moving schedules will be advanced significantly, as a precaution. They should be packing up as we speak."

"Really?" She asked, genuinely surprised. "They're not planning to move us all here, are they?"

"No. Mars base is prepping their facilities for us to move all operations in. Most of us will be relocated there. Some that are still crucial for our operations here on Earth, will come to Hokkaido. We're not willing to take any more chances, as the situation is what it is."

Their convoy throttled full speed down on an expressway, that was surrounded by tall walls and spruce fences. They dodged other cars from left and right, the draught of air and mist behind them making smaller cars nudge as they passed by. Some civilian vehicles gave them way, as they saw the red and blue flashes coming at them from behind.

"If I were you, I'd keep myself in battle readiness at all times" Thomas said to Annie and Gabrielle both, still with a hushed voice. "You're the last line of defense, if things go very bad."

"More like last resort. With only two of us left, I don't know how much we can do to counter several countries trying to steal our lands," She explained, shaking her head. She sighed, and looked at Gabrielle. "And... I hate to say this, but... I'm worried that after all she's been through recently, will Gabe be up for another intense battle, if it comes to that."

Like a truck crashing through the side doors, Annie's words crushed Gabrielle completely. She felt herself beaten. Her eyes watered. She held her breath, to keep from crying in the car. All she could think of now, was that how incompetent and unreliable she had become. A disgrace to herself – to Citadels, OPS, Annie... and her parents.

"No offense, Gabe. I meant, that New Mombasa had such a big take on you, and this fight would end exactly the same way. There's no denying, that we have lost this battle even before it has begun. Could you go through all that again?"

Gabrielle had to concentrate hard, before saying anything. She still held her breath, squeezing hard on the door handle she had been holding all this time. She took in some air, and tried to let out the words "I'm okay," but her voice had disappeared and all that came out was a silent whisper. Certain that no one heard her, she cleared her throat, and said in loud "I'll be fine."

She steadily kept staring out of the window, like she had for pretty much this entire ride. In the middle of the cityscape appeared a large, dried river, that they now crossed on a bridge. Although it was still raining all over, there was hardly any water. Only a narrow stream ran through the muddy sand bed, that Gabrielle stared at frantically, again trying to distract herself from the moment.

On this side of the city, rain was seemingly calming down. Sun was nowhere to be seen, but the clouds let through a bit more light, brightening up the soaked suburbs of Shizuoka, that came up at the end of this bridge.

Soon after the bridge ended, the convoy curved down a ramp from the expressway, towards the way of the airport. Inner side of the ramp still followed the concrete wall, that was partly covered by an old wine growing on it. On the other side, the view opened to a lush countryside, that the expressway cut through up above on an elevated lane. At the end of the ramp came a road toll, with lines of cars and trucks waiting for their turns to finally get through. The convoy wasn't slowing down to stop however. Instead, they changed lanes to the opposite side, where an officer was standing with an arrow sign and a radiophone. He was waving at an empty gateway, letting the convoy roll right through them, past all the other cars stuck on the checkup.

After the toll booths, the convoy took a hard left turn, their tires skidding on the wet asphalt. As another straight road opened in front of them, they throttled forth, straight under the expressway and through a neighborhood of apartment buildings, garages and industrial halls. Roadsides were populated with business ad signs, that were impossible to read in this speed. After a handful of crossroads, the convoy differed from the road, turning into a more narrow street, that first ran through a tight concentration of buildings, then over a small river, and out into a more open area, that was a mix of plain rice fields, plantations, greenhouses and small buildings alongside the road.

Like some many other things, these green fields reminded Gabrielle about Toshiro, because together they used to take time off duty to travel and explore places. Common tourist traps to see what's all the fuss about. Distant towns out of curiosity, or sometimes just go sightseeing on places like this countryside. It didn't matter, as long as they were alone together, and –

"Gabe?"

She awakened, when Thomas called her name. First time in this car trip, she turned to look at him, a dumbstruck look on her face, that easily translated into a question mark.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" He asked her again, already knowing the answer.

"I, uh..." She couldn't even complete her sentence. She didn't have to.

"I think it would be better for her if she went with the evacuation. A little distance could do good for her." Annie spoke her thoughts.

"I... I'm sorry. I got... got distracted." Gabrielle tried to lie her way out of the situation, realizing that what she just said must have sounded like the dumbest thing possible.

"We were talking about the evacuation of the main Citadel," Thomas recapped the conversation, ignoring her poor excuses. "After the last of civilian personnel are gone, you guys have a chance to get a transition to Mars base. Most of OPS forces are going there anyway."

She tried to wrap her mind around a travel to Mars, but got dropped short. Space travel, when imagined, sounded more dangerous than exciting for her.

"Most of them will be reassigned for other duties, as there's no war in Mars, between our people. You could be our supervisor there, or something. It'd be a nice change of pace for you, in my opinion."

Gabrielle felt extremely unconfident about that idea, but against her own feelings, she told Thomas "Sure. Sounds like a good idea," while trying to put her tired fake smile back on. There was barely any of it left.

The airport was still a bit of a travel away. Buildings got more scarce the further they went, and in front loomed a tree line of a forest. Rain was now gone completely, and the sky was turning light grey with little spots of blue shining through.

Speeding at least double over the speed limit in this area, they raised a cloud of intense mist from the surface of the road, whirling around long after they had passed, before desolating into the air.

Trees began to swoop by the side windows, as the road curved right next to the tree line, first right, then tightly to the left.

"We're getting close," Thomas said, as he knew that the airport was just on the other side of this forest.

The road was narrow, and completely surrounded by tall trees from both sides. Soaked, fallen leaves covered a good part of the pavement, and they felt, how these cars struggled to hold their grip from the road, slipping and correcting almost constantly in this speed as they turned in the curves.

Then the forest ended all of a sudden. After a couple of houses, the road turned tightly right to connect with a bigger road again.

"Heavy traffic." They could hear the front car's crew calling in through radio. They looked out, as Thomas, Annie and Gabrielle felt their car breaking hard. "We're blocking the way. Go on through."

"Copy that," they heard their co-driver reporting in.

The first escort vehicle drove sideways into the middle of an intersection, blocking all the other cars from coming into their way. The rear escort vehicle rolled up into the front taking lead of the convoy.

With an echoing roar, tires whining against the still wet asphalt, the SUV blocking the traffic accelerated quickly after the convoy, taking now the rear position. They picked up speed again, heading quickly towards the airport up ahead.

They already saw an airplane taking off from the runway. They were almost there.

One more tight left turn, out from the street, and they were on the road leading up to the airport now. It circled the airstrip from a distance, running lower than the surface of the runways. After one last intersection, they already saw the terminal hall coming in fast.