"No doubt about it, she's suspicious." Amir picked up a rifle blaster off the shelf and held it firmly in his arms. "A Bracketer who compliments Astell? I've never heard of that before."

Decha and Amir were both stationed inside Sector B today. They were in the capital area of the Brackets. City Hall was only a few blocks away. Both of them were on edge since it's been a long while since they'd done night patrol on the other side.

"Every question, she dodged effortlessly. I couldn't tell if she was lying or being truthful. But I have to give her credit. She's smart. The technology that she's trying to develop could be used against us."

"What is she trying to develop again?"

"A holographic AI that scans our bodies to examine the state we are mentally, emotionally, and physically. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that the very code she's trying to implement is to understand Astellians on a deeper level. She could gain that information and trade it with other Bracketers."

"You lost me at holographic... AI." Amir snickered.

"She can use her device to scan us inside and out, and trade that information to the suspects who are planting bombs." Decha simplified.

"Oh." Amir huffed. "Oh! We need to stop her!"

"It's only a theory. I can't act on it until she has done something extremely suspicious."

"Decha, what kind of Bracketer have we ever encountered majored in Engineering at our most prestigious University? None! That itself is suspicious behavior!"

"I understand that, but I think there's something more to her story. If we can go deeper and find something much darker, we can use it against her. If we're going to bring them to Justice for taking innocent lives, why not go all out and make them suffer?" Decha rolled his sleeves and fastened his belt.

The city was quieter than usual tonight. The air was thick, so the city lights that radiated off the buildings looked like big blobs.

"Decha, I'm gonna be honest. You're pretty tough. A little too tough. It makes me see why the other agents fear you."

"I only take my work seriously." Decha looked to his left, observing a few teenagers playing soccer in an alleyway. "They'd have no reason to feel that way if they did the same."

"What a load of Bull." Amir let out a hearty laugh and propped a foot on the railing. They were stationed on top of a roof. The railing was there to prevent anyone from falling. It wasn't extremely high, but it was dangerous for the average person. "I can tell that the Outside has changed you. Whatever you witnessed out there scarred you."

Decha kept his eyes on a black truck that was accelerating from the East to the west. "Hold on," Decha leaned over the railing and squinted his eyes to take a closer look.

"What's wrong?" Amir's expression hardened and he straightened his shoulders.

"There's a night market 2 blocks away, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't recommend you buy anything from Sector B. I hear they don't wash their food. Who knows what kind of poison their produce carries."

"No, Amir. Look." Decha pointed to the black truck.

"The driver is going kind of fast."

Decha realized soon after that the direction of the truck changed. It merged to a left lane.

"They're headed for the Walls." Decha hissed.

"Traffic Control will Stop them."

"They're going over 70. The truck isn't planning on stopping. If Traffic control makes a sloppy move, someone can get hurt."

"Well, it wouldn't matter anyway. They're just Bracketers. They have their hospitals." Amir shrugged.

"Yeah, but those who enforce the control of traffic are Astellians. If they make a mistake, one of our generals could get hit."

"Oh, crap." Amir groaned. "You're right. Let's go." Amir ran toward the exit but stopped when he noticed Decha not following him. "Decha? What are you doing? We have to hurry."

Decha climbed over the railing, and Amir's heart stopped. "Are you crazy!?"

"Go and grab the bike. We can cut him off if we take the shortcut on that block." Decha commanded.

Amir ran over to the rail, but Decha jumped off before Amir could register. "No no no!" Amir shouted. He climbed over the rail and looked around, fearing that Decha hurt himself or worse. But when he saw his friend, he sighed in relief. Decha had rolled onto the next building and was running ahead. "That dastard thinks he's superhuman or something." Amir shook his head and ran for the exit.

Decha quickened his pace as he hopped from one building to the next, all while keeping a close eye on the vehicle. Fortunately, it slowed down because of the speed bumps on the road. It made it easier for Decha to catch up on foot.

"Oh shi—" Decha jumped off another building and fell toward the street. He forgot to calculate the distance between the two apartments and missed the other building completely. He landed in a pile of boxes and rolled. His sleeves were ripped and sleeves covered in cuts and bruises, but nothing was broken. Decha pushed himself off the ground and cut through an alley to get to the market.

The moment he walked out of the other end, he was smacked in the face with a wall decoration. It was a banner for a Restaurant. Decha swung his arm and glanced around. His body went cold.

There were so many Bracketers. So many of them in one place. On the other side, it was so quiet, but over here, it was bustling with chatter. He heard various stall owners calling out to customers and children playing around the square while their parents yelled at them.

The place stank really bad. Decha felt like he was going to puke. "The truck... where did it...?" He looked to his right and jerked back.

Rory was standing not too far from him. Decha quickly raised his mask and hid behind one of the stalls.

Rory was dressed in casual attire, and Decha observed her mannerisms. He was surprised to see that she was happily giggling along with one of the stall owners.

Decha would have to study her at a later time. Right now, the truck was more important. "Amir, I lost track of the truck. Please tell me you have them on sight?" He spoke through his earpiece.

"I do." Amir's voice buzzed. "They're headed toward the market, as you've said. I've already alerted Traffic Patrol. They're putting up cones as we speak."

Decha sighed in relief. He needed to find a way to get to the truck without being spotted by Rory, or anyone. "Cones won't work. At that speed, we'll have to slow them down by shooting their tires out."

"The truck is on 52E Avenue. If you can get into position and slow him down before he reaches the market—"

"Excuse me!" An older Bracket woman with dreadlocks tapped Decha's shoulder. "You may be one of them Austellian generals, but loitering law still applies to you! Get away from my stall if you're not buying anything!"

Decha nodded and walked away, overhearing her mutter some slurs about Austellians. His mind immediately went back to Rory. Where did she go?

In the distance, he heard the sound of an engine revving. The sound was getting louder and louder. Decha looked over his shoulder and saw that the truck had already arrived at the market. It ran into several stalls, refusing to stop. People around him started to scream and scatter in different directions.

"Amir!" Decha shouted angrily.

"The cones didn't work." Amir cut in. "We'll stop him from the other side! I thought you would've been in a position to shoot!"

"Didn't have the time—" Decha stopped when he finally spotted Rory. She was crossing the street. The truck was headed right for her. Decha's body reacted before his mind and he sprinted at her.

The thoughts that ran through his mind were urging her to move. "Get out of the way!" He shouted, but Rory didn't hear. It wasn't until the truck flashed its lights that Rory noticed. Instead of running, she remained in place. In a split second, Decha wrapped his arms around her and tackled her out of the way of the truck as it continued to drive toward Sector A.

Several Patrol cars sped after it.

The two hit the ground hard, and Decha's mask flew off his face from the collision. Although Decha had landed and positioned Rory to land on top of him, he could tell that she had hurt herself. Her breathing was heavy.

Decha covered his face with his hand and nudged Rory off of him. He grabbed his face mask and placed it back on, before checking in with Amir. "Updates?"

"They're going to shoot the tires at the border. They won't get far."

"Stop them and bring them to the station for questioning." Decha ended the call and glanced back at Rory. "You okay?"

Rory didn't respond. She pulled her bag around and turned it over, letting the contents inside spill out. Then she started to look for something.

"Are you hurt?"

"Don't touch... me!" Rory gasped. Decha thought it was unusual. She sounded like she couldn't breathe.

Rory slid her fingers across all her items and began to cough violently.

"What are you looking for?" Usually, Decha wouldn't care. His job was only to enforce restrictions, but with the way she was acting, he was starting to get worried.

It wasn't until Rory fell over completely that Decha's mind went blank. What the heck happened? She just collapsed in front of him. "Hey!" Decha shook her shoulder. "Hey! Get up!"

Other Bracketers began to look and Decha began to grow irritated. There would be a report the next day that an Austellian general hurt a Bracketer if he didn't do something. Decha grabbed her items and placed them back in her bag, before scooping Rory into his arms. He turned around and looked at one of the Bracket residents.

"Where is your hospital?"

"Uh..."

"Quickly! Where is it?!" Decha was slowly but surely going off into a panic.

"If you take the train and go east from here, you'll arrive there."

There wasn't enough time. Decha was going to have to take her back to the patrol center where he was stationed. There were Austellian medics there that would be able to help. Decha ran in the opposite direction of the east and took the same shortcut he did to get to the market. He started a call with Amir.

"Amir, I'm headed to the station. I've run into a problem."

"What happened?"

"A Bracketer collapsed in front of me."

"What! Then take them to the hospital, you dope! Don't bring them into our station!"

"There's no time, she's struggling to breathe."

"Then that's on her!"

"Amir, she's the only lead I have that could be connected to the Bombings. The student from Grandell."

"Oh no. Did she see your face?"

"I don't think so. All I know is, I saved her and she started coughing. Then she collapsed."

"Did you hurt her when you saved her?"

Decha didn't respond. They did hit the ground hard, but that was no reason for her to start coughing and choking the way she was.

About 8 minutes later he arrived back at the building he jumped off of earlier. Decha scanned his microchip and went inside. The other generals who saw him were surprised to see Decha walk in with a woman in his arms.

"Where are the medics?" Decha huffed.

"She can't come in here."

"I know that. But she's hurt. I don't know what's wrong with her, but she fainted and needs help."

"We can call for an ambulance to escort her to the hospital."

"She needs medical attention, NOW." Decha snapped. His authoritative tone sent chills through the other generals. The entire center went quiet. Decha stepped inside and placed Rory's body on the bench. "Send the medics or I'll do something you'll regret."

"Director Chen won't like this."

"I don't give a darn about what Director Chen will think. By law, we are required to help those in medical need, and that includes Bracketers. She's the only lead I have regarding Astell's bombing cases. If something happens to her, then my mission fails."

"Do what N96 says." Amir walked in and commanded. "I'm on that case too, and I'm not letting my pay get cut because of your mistakes."

"Call the medics." The head of the center nodded, and two generals left the room in a hurry.

"Is she okay?"

"She's still having trouble breathing." Decha examined her arms and legs, but there was nothing broken. Then he placed his hands over her torso, and Amir grabbed his shoulder.

"You can't touch her! Not like that!"

"It's not what you think, Amir. I'm trying to see if she has any broken ribs."

"The medics can handle that. For now, we need to wait for them." Amir was afraid that the Bracketer would file for assault and ruin Decha's reputation. "This could be one of her schemes."

"I don't think it is." Decha sighed, but pulled his hands away anyways. The doors behind them burst open and two generals who worked as medical staff rushed in. They were pushing a hospital bed toward them. One of them was a general Decha recognized.

The doctor's name was General Haze. His number was N72. When Decha was on regular patrol for Sector B, Haze was the one who'd often take care of his wounds if he ran into trouble with Bracket gangs. Being a General assigned to Sector B was no easy task. The training for Austellian cadets was more intense if they were going to be stationed in Sector B.

"Can you tell what's wrong with her?" Decha asked, trying his best to avoid any emotional tones in his voice.

"Place her on the bed," Haze commanded.

Decha placed his arms under Rory and repositioned her.

"Can you tell what's wrong with her?" Decha asked, trying his best to avoid any emotional tones in his voice.

"Place her on the bed," Haze commanded.

Decha placed his arms under Rory and repositioned her. Haze felt around her arms and legs, but Decha stopped him. "I've already checked, nothing is broken. Nothing is sprained either."

"What exactly happened? How did she end up like this?"

"I grabbed her away from a truck and we fell. But she started coughing." Decha explained and then remembered a key factor. "She was looking for something before she collapsed."

"What was she looking for?"

"I don't know, but it's in here somewhere." Decha grabbed onto her bag and began searching around. Amir tensed and stepped back.

"Decha, we don't know if she has weapons in there!" Amir warned. "What if there's a bomb?"

"She wouldn't carry it on her so openly. She was shopping in the Market when I saved her. The bombings are happening in Astell, not here." Decha pulled out her cell phone and accidentally pressed the home button. A holographic screen appeared and out of it came POYO, the AI from before. Everyone in the room jumped back and aimed their guns at the little machine.

"Stand back!" Amir gasped.

"Don't let it scan you!" Decha snapped.

POYO observed the room before hopping onto the bed next to Rory. "Please take your medication. You've missed 2 of your regular doses during lunch. Your breathing is unstable, Rory."

"Her medication?" Amir looked to Decha. "She takes medication? What kind?" He thought she was on drugs, the illegal kind.

POYO glanced at Decha, and it looked directly at the bag. "Please take your medication, Rory. Your breathing is unstable." POYO repeated.

"Her medication is in here." Decha fumbled through the back and pulled out a small white bottle from one of the pockets. He read the label and handed it to general Haze. "What is it?"

"Only take two capsules after a meal. Repeat daily. Can cause drowsiness and rash." Haze mumbled the rest of the label in a mumble. "She's sick."

"She's sick? What do you mean by that?" Amir blinked. "What kind of drug is it?"

"People take this when they have issues with their kidneys or their heart. I don't know exactly what's wrong. We'll have to scan her to find out. I'm the meantime, we'll hook her up to oxygen to regulate her breathing and put her in a stable condition."

"We can't scan her. Only Bracket medical professionals can. All we can do is wait for her to wake up so she can take the pills." Decha groaned.

Haze nodded and gestured to the medical assistant beside him. The other General, a woman pulled the bed away and into the infirmary. "I would've done it if you had asked, Decha."

"She's not worth risking your license over." Decha shook his head.

"Do not panic over Rory's condition." POYO smiled at Decha, and he flinched.

"Crap, how do I turn this thing off?" Decha tapped on Rory's phone. Instead of POYO disappearing, POYO began to list the notifications that were waiting to be read.

"5 missed messages, from Dad. You're late. Curfew has gone by, and you're still out. If you're not home in 15 minutes, I'm calling the police. Where are you? Answer your phone." POYO read monotonously. "Do you want me to reply to Dad?"

"No!" Decha shook his head. "Don't do anything! Log out!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't understand. Calling Dad." POYO tilted his head as the call went through. Amir and Decha looked at each other with panicked expressions.

They didn't know how to turn it off. The call went through, and a man on the other end answered. "Rory! Do you know how late it is? I've been trying to reach you! I sent you out over an hour ago. Why aren't you back yet?"

"Um..." Decha bit his lip. He couldn't believe it. It was the first time that he felt nervous. "This isn't Rory?"

The man went silent. There was hesitation. "Then... who are you? Why do you have my daughter's phone?"

"Rory is, uh... she's resting right now. When she wakes up, I'll make sure she gives you a call."

"Who are you!?" The man hissed. "What did you do to my daughter!?"

"Your daughter collapsed at the market. I took her in to get some medical help."

"Shite! Which hospital are you at right now? I'll be there as fast as I can."

"We're not exactly at the hospital." Decha frowned. "I took her to the patrol center nearby the market. Our medical staff is helping her right now."

"... You... where did you say you took her?"

"The Patrol center on 53RD WEST."

"... You took her to get medical help, at an Astellian-governed station?! Are you crazy!? Those idiots won't take her in! Do you know how many generals are stationed there?"

"I do."

"And you still thought it was a good idea to bring my daughter, a Bracketer, to a place where they won't care for her medical needs!?"

"I did. Because I was the General on duty when she collapsed. Your daughter is being well taken care of."

The line went dead. Decha looked at Amir and scowled.

"We're gonna receive quite a show when he gets here." Amir shook his head, knowing that the situation was only going to get worse.

~~~