"Decha!" Director Chen hopped out of the helicopter as it landed. He was dressed in a black general uniform and equipped with two guns. While staring at the mess, he searched through a pile of rubble frantically, fearing that his son was crushed during the Walls collapse.

The entire scene was being broadcasted on national television. There were going to be a lot more Astellians to come to look for their family members that may have been affected. "DECHA!" Theodore Chen called out in a panic, hoping his son would reply.

If Decha was dead, surely he'd start a war with the Bracketers, the people he thought were most responsible for this catastrophe.

"Chen," Decha responded to the call, looking out into the dust. The thickness of it cleared out, so even though it was still foggy, they could see each other's shadows. Chen slid off the pile of bricks and ran over to the tall lean Shadow calling out to him.

"Decha? Decha! Is that you?"

The shadow nodded. "I'm over here."

Chen's suspicions were confirmed when he saw Decha's face. "Thank heavens, Decha! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Chen grabbed onto Decha's shoulders firmly, ecstatic that his son was alive. Deep down, he felt that Decha wouldn't die so easily. He just wanted to be the one to find him.

"I'm fine," Decha nodded firmly, feeling awkward because of Chen's display of worry. "The walls aren't completely gone, only the division between the sectors has collapsed. However, I'm not sure how many explosives are set to go off."

"We've already checked, the walls that divided Astell and the Brackets weren't completely damaged. It just split a big hole in between. The Patrols on the other side of the wall are handling the Bracketers, preventing them from getting too close to the damage."

Decha sighed in relief. That meant there was more control on the other side to stop any Bracket escapists from crossing over. "There are a few survivors on our end. Can you request a medical shuttle?"

"Not from here, but if there is a survivor with an injury we can transport them via aircraft."

Decha motioned Chen over into the alleyway. When Chen saw the three other people hidden in between the buildings, a wave of calm came over him. It was good to see survivors, rather than all the dead bodies that were laying near the other piles.

"She needs medical attention," Decha squatted next to Rory, whose breathing was extremely shallow.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's sick, and her body is reacting to the environment. There is some medication in her bag, but I can't give it to her until she's able to breathe."

Chen eyed the woman apprehensively. These survivors were Bracketers. Although the older couple were most likely Astell residents, he was sure that the woman who was sick resided on the other side because of her raggedy clothes.

"Are any of you hurt?" Chen asked the Astell residents first. His job was always to make sure that anyone who lived in Sector A was given top-priority treatment. The Bracket couple shook their heads.

"It's just her, she's been like this for a while now." George, the older man pointed at Rory.

Chen grabbed Rory's arm and felt hardly any pulse. "Her blood pressure is extremely low. Lay her flat."

"If we don't get her help now, she'll die." Decha hissed.

"Decha, go and search for any remaining survivors."

"Did you hear me?" Decha spat, "She is in a critical state!"

"Then let us aid her peacefully, there is nothing much we can do. We don't have her records, we don't know what's wrong with her—"

"She has IDS, a disease that's harmful to her kidneys."

Chen's eyes widened at Decha's words. "How do you know?"

"This isn't the first reaction she's had around me. She needs oxygen to stable her condition."

"Decha her health is not our concern. We need to find the—"

"We're taking her to the hospital," Decha announced, using the tone he'd use on lower-ranked generals. His father had only a few pins compared to him, so Decha had more authority. "That's an order."

Decha scooped Rory into his arms and brought her to the helicopter. The other two Bracketers followed him, but Chen eyed Decha with contempt. Theodore understood that Decha had more authority, but he felt offended that he wasn't heeding the proper advice.

There would be no hospital in Astell to take her. The law required that only the Brackets would have access to Bracket's medical records. It was better to take her back to Sector B, but since the damage around them was massive, she'd be stuck in Astell for however long it took for them to clean up.

Death was the only solution. She wouldn't survive long on this side if everyone refused to care for her. Theodore didn't understand Decha's persistence. He decided to give in and let Decha handle it.

Chen stepped onto the helicopter and looked at all the damage as they took off. Decha refused to look anywhere else, keeping his attention completely focused on helping Rory. There was an oxygen tank in the aircraft, and he immediately put it together and wrapped the elastic around Rory's ears, placing the mask over her mouth.

It wasn't until they landed at the entrance of midtown that Rory stopped responding to his calls completely.

"Rory," Decha tapped her shoulder, but her head rolled to the side. He felt his heart ache and feared the worst. Her body was limp, not a good sign.

Decha knew that she was sick, but didn't know the exact process of how bad a reaction could get. When he pressed his fingers against her neck, he frowned. Her body was cold.

"She's not okay," The bracket woman, Marla grimaced. "She won't last by the time you get her to any place for medical care."

"How can you tell?" Decha asked.

"She is unconscious. Her limbs are weak. My grandson passed away similarly. This is a sign that she's losing her fight."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm afraid not. Only the doctors can tell." George shook his head.

"Give it up, N96." Chen sighed. "Nature is only taking its course with her. She may have survived the Walls collapse, but the hospital is still several kilometers away. She'll die—"

Decha ignored Chen's doubtful words and began searching through Rory's bag. If anything would tell him about Rory's condition, it would be her AI POYO. He snatched her phone out of her bag and tapped on the screen. The small AI digitilized a somewhat physical form in front of them.

"POYO, what's her state?"

"Scanning Rory." The AI replied, shocking Chen, and the elderly couple immensely.

"What is that thing—"

"Let it scan her," Decha shushed them. The AI finished scanning Rory's full figure before a holographic window appeared by Decha's side. It loaded the full physical diagnostic of her vitals. "Breathing is unstable. Please take your medication, Rory."

"She can't take it in this condition." Decha was starting to lose hope. Was there really no other way?

"Crushed Dandelion Roots are a great substitute for a pill." POYO chirped.

"Where the heck am I gonna find Dandelion roots?" Decha snapped. "You're no help!" The nearest Grocery Store was at least a kilometer away from their location. Then he remembered something. There was an herbal shop a few blocks down. If he remembered correctly, the shop was owned by Bracketers.

Decha grabbed onto Rory and looked back at Director Chen. "Request for a medical shuttle at North East of here and a few blocks down."

"Where are you going? We have to go back!"

"Chen, under any other circumstance, I'd never ask this of you. But please, just listen to what I say."

"Why are you going out of your way to protect a Bracketer?"

Decha couldn't answer. He felt no attachment to her, but for some reason, the scene at the border reminded him of the war zones on the Outside. It reminded him of when he lost contact with the person he cared for the most.

There was a pain in his chest, but he had to fulfill his obligations as a General. On the Outside, regardless of who was hurt, his job was to help. He didn't have to care, it didn't matter if he did, all he had to do was help.

Decha pulled Rory closer to his body and ran in the direction of the herb shop. He cut as many corners as possible, ignoring all the stares of Astellians. They were wondering why one of their top generals was running around with a woman in his arms.

Decha arrived quicker than expected and reached for the door handle, but the door was locked. "Shite!" He snapped and looked through the glass. The place was closed, probably because of curfew. He knew someone was inside though.

"The place is closed," An Astellian man lazily muttered as he walked by.

"I know," Decha growled, and placed Rory down gently. He was going to have to break a law to obey one. Decha balled his fists and stood in a battle position. Then he rammed his hard fist into the glass, shattering the door into hundreds of glass pieces.

The alarm of the building rang, but Decha didn't care. There were dandelion roots in there, and he wasn't going to leave without finding them. Decha grabbed back onto Rory and walked inside the shop, and placed her body on one of the display counters.

Then he began searching around. The owner of the shop came running out from the back room and stopped in terror when they saw a very determined Decha rummaging through their stock. "Hey! You can't do this! We're closed!" The owner was an older woman, dark-skinned and tall, but dressed in Astellian garb.

"You're a Bracketer, right?" Decha barked out in response. When the owner nodded hesitantly, Decha pointed at Rory's body. "She is a Bracketer. I'll pay you as much as you want if you help her."

The owner rushed over to the counter and examined Rory's body carefully. "What happened to her? What did you do?"

"The border Walls collapsed,"

"WHAT?!" The owner of the shop gasped. Decha figured that the lady probably hadn't heard of it yet.

"I saved her, but she's—"

"If you got here any later, she would've died." The shop owner loured and felt around her arms and legs. "She's cold. Raise her and make sure she sits upright."

"I heard that Dandelion roots were—"

"I know what she needs! Do as I say!" The shop owner commanded, and Decha went along with it. The owner ran behind the counter and poured hot water into a glass. Then she opened a small package with dark green dust and poured it into the water, before swirling the glass. Then she ran back over to Rory and Decha. "Open her mouth."

"Are those the roots?" Decha inquired, wanting to make sure it wasn't poisoned.

"General! You want to save her, right? Hold her mouth open. She will die if you don't trust me!"

Decha sighed and pressed on Rory's cheeks, acknowledging that the owner was right. She was the only Bracketer who knew well how to handle Rory. The woman raised the glass to Rory's lips and let the warm liquid slide inside slowly.

When the glass was empty, the woman sighed. "All we can do is wait and hope that it works. Give it about 10 minutes. When she is warm, we'll be able to track her pulse. If she doesn't warm up..."

"Then we'll wrap her in a blanket." Decha finished, not wanting to accept that Rory wouldn't make it.

"You're the first General I've met that is determined to help a Bracketer live. You uphold our laws well, young man."

"I try my best." Decha nodded at her compliment.

"What is your number?" The woman asked, looking into Decha's dark gaze. Something about him seemed family to her. Decha kept quiet, not wanting to alarm the woman. "Those pins... your eyes, there's no way... right? You can't possibly be..."

"I am." Decha avoided her eyes, keeping his focus on Rory.

The woman's heart almost stopped when he confirmed. The man in front of her was the high-rank General from the Outside. The legends about the dark-eyed warrior were terrifying. He was known for handing out the death penalty as if it were stickers.

Her worry for Rory grew. This was a man that was more dangerous than all of the council members. She thought It was great that Rory was saved but unfortunate that it had to be N96.

"Is she a criminal?" The woman pointed at Rory, thinking Decha was keeping her alive just to kill her later.

"She's not," Decha answered monotonously. He could sense the woman's worry. "Calm your nerves. I'm just doing what the law tells me. After she's recovered, I'll make sure she receives the medical attention she needs."

The woman nodded before walking away. "Miss, I'm sorry about the door. I'll pay you back for the damages." Decha called after her.

"No need. I've been wanting to replace it anyway. You only broke in for a greater cause."

~~~

Thirty minutes went by, and Decha could finally feel the warmth from Rory's body. She was still unconscious, but her breathing went back to normal, and Decha could feel her pulse. He sighed in relief.

"How is she holding up?" The shop owner came out of the back room with a folded blanket and a pillow.

"She's warm."

"That's great." The owner smiled and walked over to them. She handed Decha the pillow. "That means she'll live. Set her on the sofa over here."

"No need. When the medical shuttle arrives, they'll transport her to one of the nearest hospitals."

"They won't accept her in Astellian hospitals."

"They will if I make an offer they can't refuse." By offer, Decha meant a threat. Intelligent ones knew not to get on his bad side. Being a high-rank General came with its perks. Respect, Authority, and a private suite in the hospital.

The suite was used for extreme cases, or if he needed a small procedure done with his identity chip.

"May I suggest something?" The woman bit her lip nervously.

"Speak."

"Are you going to take her back to Sector B any time soon? If the walls collapsed, that means that the border will be blocked off by the nationals." The nationals were heavy-duty generals, a thousand of them existed to enforce tight security on the entrance to the outside. The council would most likely call half of them to block the Brackets from taking advantage of the fallen border.

"I don't know," Decha grumbled. He didn't have any plans. He knew he just needed to get Rory treated and go back to the debris to locate any more survivors.

"So that means while she's in Sector A, she doesn't have a place to stay. Do you?"

"Not exactly," Decha shook his head. As wealthy as he was, he never thought about buying his very own apartment or house in Astell. Mainly because he took a job to reside outside the walls. His home was not in the Sectors but on the Outside in the camps.

He preferred to live out in the open than bottled up in a rich man's castle.

"You don't have anywhere she can stay for the time being? Because if there is a place, I am open to going to visit her to treat her as best I can."

The only place he could think of was at his parent's estate near uptown. But Theodore would never let a Bracketer stay in his home. His mother would be horrified as well. Avon was their only exception.

It would take too long of a process to rent an apartment just for her to stay. His father was just going to have to suck it up and help out. As of now, Decha was the only Astellian that Rory was most familiar with. It made sense.

Before making the ultimate decision, the sound of a large vehicle outside neared. It was the medical shuttle. Decha grabbed onto Rory and waited for the generals of the medical field to unload their tools and equipment.

"N96! Director says you requested medical help!"

"I'm in here!" Decha called his colleague. Two men as tall as Decha marched in with blasters in their hands, along with a woman who was pulling a stretcher into the shop. She was also a General, just assigned to the medical field.

"She's..." One of the men eyed Rory in disapproval.

"Sleeping, but still in need." Decha placed her on the stretcher. "Check her vitals."

"Her blood pressure is a little low. And her heart rate is weak." The lady General stepped forward and pressed a small scanning device against Rory's limbs. She didn't care much about her nationality, only having the same mindset as Decha. It was her job to help. "But other than that, with some hydration and oxygen, she'll be completely stable. We will transport her."

"We will?"

"Yes, Kurt, we will." The lady general snapped. "As long as N96 orders it."

Decha nodded and began to strap Rory into the stretcher. "I'll come back for her at a later time and handle her admittance fees. She is still a Bracketer, so make sure she is guarded well. Limit her contact with the other Astellian medical staff. And prevent her from leaving if she tries to." Decha demanded. "As for you," He spun around and faced the shop owner. "Thank you. I will take you up on your offer after I've sorted things out at the border."

"Just let me know." She smiled at him, watching as everyone left her herbal shop quietly.

~~~

Decha was exhausted. It was already in the middle of the night, and he and several of the Nationals and other Minks had been looking for survivors, clearing bodies, and even getting rid of all the metal, brick, and iron one pile at a time.

There was still no sign of Amir. That kept ringing in the back of his mind. Although Amir was annoying, and a bit rude, he was still a friend to Decha. They were like brothers.

More than anything, he wanted to be the one to find Amir buried under all this rubble. With the closure, he'd know how to move forward. But Amir hasn't been found yet, and it was driving him to dig through more piles of crap than he needed to.

Memories of the war zone flooded his mind, as he thought about the woman he loved and all his teammates. In battle, he lost them all. Amir was the only cadet that he had left of the past. That thought made his blood boil.

"We found someone!" A National dressed in red called. "They're alive!"

Decha shoved his way through the crowd of men and began helping clear the pile. Faint screaming could be heard. The voice belonged to a child.

"Mommy!" The child cried louder.

The sound made Decha dig faster. His arms moved much faster and sweat kissed the side of his face while he kept focus. He saw a small hand poking out and grabbed onto it. "I've got you!" Decha consoled the child. Their hands were cold, so Decha wrapped his hands around theirs to keep them warm.

"Keep digging!" Decha snarled the command and the nationals around him began tossing the rubble over their shoulders. "It's okay! Don't cry!" Decha moved a large brick, revealing the small child who looked no older than 4. She had curly blonde hair and big blue eyes, full of tears and covered in dust.

"Mommy..." The child repeated, pointing at a body next to her. There was a dead woman there, with her body impaled by a metal rod. Decha pulled the girl out and held her close to his chest.

"It's okay, you're safe." Decha hushed her and covered her eyes to block her from seeing her dead mother. "Keep searching, I'll take her to the emergency shuttle," Decha ordered, and climbed over the stacks of trash. He walked over to where the other found survivors were and handed the little girl over to one of the nurses.

Before he turned to go back to search, he heard his name being called. "Decha! Director Chen requested that you go to the Agency."

"Why? I'm working right now."