When Rory woke up, her head was fuzzy. Her vision cleared and all she saw above her was a white ceiling. She blinked and pushed herself up, then realized that she was hooked up next to an oxygen tank. Where exactly was she? She glanced to her left and right and pulled the mask down.

"You're awake." A man dressed in nothing but black walked over to where she was sitting. His sleeves were ripped. Something about him looked familiar, but she wasn't able to tell since the bottom half of his face was covered. But those eyes of his were ones she had seen before. She just couldn't remember. "Finally." The man mumbled.

It wasn't until Rory saw the pins clipped to his jacket that she realized it was a general standing in front of her. Rory panicked and got out of bed immediately. "Where am I?" She huffed. "What happened!?"

"Relax," Decha rolled his eyes. Her breathing was still heavy, so he grabbed the pill bottle off the stand beside the bed and held it out for her to grab. "I'll call the Doctor and he'll take you off the oxygen. Take your medicine first."

"Why am I here?" Rory coughed. "This isn't the hospital! What doctor are you talking about?" For the first time in a long time, she feared for her life. There were so many Astellian posters and decorations on the walls. Was she back in Sector A? It was late! Were they going to punish her?

"I brought you here."

"Why!?"

"That's not how you speak to someone who saved you." Another general with a face covering also walked in and crossed his arms. Amir was equipped with a blaster in case Rory tried anything strange. But Rory thought they were going to kill her. If you got stuck in Sector A past curfew, the punishment for it was a hefty sentence.

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"We didn't say you did." Decha snapped. "Are you going to take your pills or not?"

Rory hesitated but took the pill bottle out of his hands. She opened it and popped two pills in her mouth. Decha offered her a bottle of water, but she refused. The warning her father gave echoed in her mind. Don't take any food or drink that belongs to the Astellians.

Decha didn't care much and placed the bottle on the stand. "When you're fully stable, you can leave."

"Where's my phone? And my things?"

"Here." Amir handed her bag to her. "Everything is inside. Your father says he's on his way to come and get you—"

"You called my father?" Rory's expression changed drastically. Her hands were shaking because of how cold it was, but hearing that her father was coming made her blood boil. "Why?" She growled.

"It was an accident. Your stupid toy called when I was putting your phone away."

Rory snatched her phone out of Amir's hands and shoved all her things into her satchel. "I'll take my leave before he gets here."

"You can't." Decha held his arm out to stop her from moving.

"She can't?" Amir raised a brow. Decha glared at him.

"Why can't I?" Rory challenged him.

"Your breathing is still heavy. The last thing any of us need is you collapsing at the front door. It will only waste our time if we place you on Oxygen again. Allow for your medication to kick in first."

"I'm fine!" Rory rebuked him.

"She looks fine to me," Amir snorted. "Just let her go."

"Wait until your guardian comes to take you." Decha stepped forward. The action intimidated Rory. His body loomed over hers. No warmth came from him. His aura was terrifying. But all generals had that effect. "That's an order."

"O-okay." Rory stammered and took a large step away from him. As of now, there was nothing she could do. She was surrounded by Astellian generals, and the two in front of her were highly ranked. Those pins on their jackets symbolized power.

An hour went by, and Rory tapped on the edge of the mattress nervously. There were so many generals, so many officers, all of them who belonged to Sector A. She felt so out of place. The occasional stares she'd get from the workers confirmed that she didn't belong there.

She knew her every move was being watched and monitored. She was starting to get thirsty. The water next to her was starting to look refreshing. It was clear. There wasn't anything floating inside the bottle, nothing visible at least. Other generals were drinking the same thing, but how could she trust it wasn't poisoned?

Rory sighed and reached for the water, but the moment her fingers glazed it, a loud call made her jump back. "RORY!" She heard a familiar voice scream. The voice belonged to her father. "Rory!" She saw her father running toward her. A couple of generals nearby placed their hands near their holsters, which made Rory think carefully about her next step.

"Dad! I—"

"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?" Jamison Clarke, her father grabbed onto her arms and then her face. "Did you take your medication? Take a deep breath."

"Dad, I'm fine. I'm okay."'

"You scared me half to death! You should've come straight home! What were you doing at the market? Lollygagging?"

"No, I was on my way back. I can't remember what happened, or how I got here."

"They told me you collapsed. It doesn't matter. It's late, and we can go back home." Her father grabbed her by her arm and led her toward the exit. As they were about to leave, Decha and Amir walked in, but they were talking with each other. Rory tugged away slightly, and pulled to a stop next to them.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Rory spoke, "But thank you for your help."

"Thank you." Her father mumbled to Decha but barely looked at the two generals before dragging Rory out.

~~~

Decha waited by the Dean's office for about 2 hours before he finally arrived. After he saved Rory a few nights before, he hadn't seen her come to school. He thought it was strange since she always worried about being tardy all the time.

Windel stopped when he saw Decha leaning against the door frame. His heart almost leaped out of his chest. Dean Windel Risor knew who Decha was, but to have a high-ranking killing machine standing in front of you was a terrible feeling. "N96, do you need something?"

"Let's talk in private." Decha tilted his head at the door. Risor nodded and unlocked his office door, allowing Decha to walk inside first. "Look the door behind you."

"It's so early, you must've finished night patrol. Did you get any sleep?"

"Don't worry about that." Decha shook his head. "I want you to respect my time, Risor."

"Of course. You're a busy man. I understand."

"Director Chen sent me here to go undercover to look out for suspicious behavior. You're the one who's received the bomb threats. So you may have a clue as to where I can pinpoint a culprit. Right now, my only lead is a student named Rory."

"Rory Clarke?" Windel chuckled. "The Sector B student?"

"So you're aware?" Decha snorted.

"Rory is one of our best students. I have full trust that she's not involved with any of the threats Grandell has received. She has respect for the staff and teachers and high regard for the school's policy. She's been that way since she first started studying here, 3 years ago."

"You don't know that she's not a culprit. I'm sure you're aware of a major."

"Yes, she is studying mechanical engineering. She's the best in her class."

"She's developed a technology that can be used against Astellians. I suspect that she's trying to gather our information and trade it to those who want to cause harm."

Risor sat at his desk and began to chuckle. "I mean you no disrespect, General N96. But it's surprising to hear these words, especially coming from you."

"Why does it surprise you?" Decha hissed.

"Because you've always had a soft spot for those different from you."

"I— what?" Decha laughed. "You think I have a soft spot? For who, exactly?"

"I don't think you do." Risor began to stack file tablets on top of each other. "You've been on the Outside. You know how dangerous and critical it is out there. Compared to your colleagues, you have deep compassion for people in distress. But you're not the type to display it openly."

"You're wrong."

"Are you still keeping up with that blind Bracket boy you took into your care? You were the first general to ever adopt a Bracket child."

Decha grumbled in response. "Don't compare a suspect to Avon."

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket, N96. I'll give you a file of all the mail and messages we've received, but I have confidence that Rory is not the person you should be looking into. Neither are the other Sector B students." Risor handed Decha the pile of tablets. "I give scholarships to those kids for a reason. A reason that I don't have to disclose to you. Look through these and investigate properly."

Decha took the stack and sighed.

"Please do get to class, the day is about to start."

At the end of the day, Decha made his way to the Agency. He was exhausted but he couldn't sleep quite yet. When he arrived, the generals around him all began to split like the Red Sea. The first area he went to was the showers.

After undressing, he let the cold water rinse the troubles of his day away. He couldn't stop thinking about Risor's words. What made him think so highly of Rory? Decha trusted that she was a great student. The small interactions he's had with her were proof. She always worried about being late for class or her coursework.

But why was there a strange feeling? Something about Rory wasn't right. Decha turned and leaned against the wall, letting the water run down his skin and hair.

"Are you getting ready for Night Patrol?" Amir walked into the room with his body still covered in a towel.

"No," Decha shook his head and scrubbed his face with his hands. He planned on looking through the files Risor gave him.

"I guess that Bracket girl didn't show up to mess with you again, did she?"

"Dean Risor told me not to investigate so much about her."

"Why?"

"He believes she's not a culprit."

"Dean Risor has been out of his mind lately. He sees the good in all his students. I say we take things into our own hands and take the AI thing away. The whole thing is a facade."

"We can't just take her project away, not without a warrant." Decha sighed.

"When did you care so much about the rules?"

"I don't, but I'd rather not start anything unnecessary. My job is to look out for suspicious behavior at Grandell. This means I'll have to keep my eyes open and examine everyone plus Rory."

"From the looks of it, a warrant won't be hard to get anyway." Amir snapped. "The orphanage downtown was bombed today."

Decha's expression changed and he stopped the water from drizzling. He turned the knob and his body went cold. "What?"

"5 deaths... 30 casualties. About 3 of the dead were children." Amir huffed and walked over to the lockers. Then he began to put a shirt over himself. "Earlier today, a new policy has been enforced. Sooner or later, all the homes near the Walls will be searched. Bracketers will be forced to comply with the order."

Decha was livid. The Orphanage was only 10 minutes away from his home. Had the bomb been any closer, he would've lost his mother and Avon. "Get dressed. Quickly."

"Woah. I wonder why you're in a hurry now."

"We're going to find where Rory lives, and destroy her project, before anyone gets hurt."

"Now we're talking!"

~~~

"Decha, they're staring at us." Amir moved closer to Decha, keeping up the fast pace. The two had snuck into Sector B in their casual clothing. There were slight differences in the material. The Bracketers around them seemed to have noticed.

Decha was fine with the staring, as long as no one approached them with ill intent. "Keep your guard up."

"Do you even know where she lives?"

"I do." Decha pointed to his head. "It's all in here." He remembered her address from looking at her ID card. "She doesn't live near the walls, but she's not too far from it either. If we take the train down this block, we should get to her house in 20 minutes."

"Do you have any spare Tekels on you?"

"We can't use Tekels anyway. If a transaction is made then our identities will be revealed."

"So how do you expect us to take the train? Are we gonna steal someone's card and hitch a ride there?" Amir scoffed.

"I know of a less... tedious route," Decha smirked and pointed to a railing that was a few meters away from them. The railing was there because they were on a wide bridge. Under them was the railroad for the subway to pass by. When Amir saw where Decha was looking, he shook his head frantically.

"No! You're insane!" Amir took a step in the opposite direction but Decha grabbed him by the hoodie and yanked him back.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"ANYwhere without you!"

"Do you have any better options to get to where we're going?"

"Yes! By walking to the subway like normal people!"

Decha dragged Amir toward the railing while rolling his eyes. "Stop making a scene. We've done worse before. It's not that big of a deal." He climbed over the railing and gestured for Amir to do the same.

Amir observed the height from the tracks to where he was standing. "I'm going to puke!" Amir's face went pale as he climbed over the railing. His legs were shaky, but Decha widened his stance firmly.

"It'll arrive soon. It comes every 10 minutes. When you hear it, we'll jump on the count to three."

As if on cue, the heavy sound of train wheels scratching against the tracks neared. The whistle rang as it came out of a nearby tunnel.

"Relax, Amir. We're not going to die from this height."

"How do you know!?"

"We may break a rib or two, but nothing too harmful."

"I don't wanna break any of my ribs!"

"One."

"Decha, wait!" Amir gripped the railing tighter.

"If we don't jump soon we'll miss it!"

"Okay, okay! Let me count!" Amir stammered. "One, two—"

Decha smacked Amir's shoulder so hard that he slipped off the edge and fell toward the subway. He let out a long howl as he went down. Decha rolled his neck and jumped after him.

Amir smacked face down onto the top, but before he could slip off the train, he grabbed onto the bars that were outlining the top of it. Decha landed in front of him and rolled to soften the collision. His body almost slipped, but he yanked himself back up effortlessly.

"Decha! I'm going to kill you!" Amir hollered at the top of his lungs.

"Take deep breaths." Decha groaned in return. The last thing he needed was for Amir to faint from lack of air.

Decha crawled over to a small glass window on top of the train and peeked inside the cart. No one was inside, so it was safe for them to get in. He slid the glass forward and it opened. "Come on!"

"I can't get over there!" Amir screamed as the heavy wind went in his face.

"For the love of— crawl you, big baby!" Decha reached over to Amir's jacket and tugged him toward the entrance. He pushed Amir's body inside before lowering himself. Then he climbed on the bench and closed the window after them.

"I-I can't believe you pushed me!" Amir's legs still shook as he sat on the nearby bench!

"You were too slow, and I knew you weren't going to jump—"

"But you didn't have to push me! I could've died! We're friends, right? Do you have some grudge against me? Huh? Is it because I shaved your eyebrows back in Bootcamp? Is that it?"

"Believe me, Amir, if I had a grudge against you, you'd know." Decha's tone darkened as he sat across from him and leaned back. Amir wasn't at all comfortable with those words. He was unable to identify if it was a threat or a joke. Decha was unpredictable.

"We'll get there in a bit. Cool down. We don't want anyone to notice your panting when we get off." Decha cleared his throat and relaxed his shoulders.

"Why did Chen make me work with you?" Amir mumbled, but Decha heard it.

"I don't know why either. I told him I didn't need any help." Decha shrugged. "But oh well. We can't change what's already been done."

~~~