Chapter 2- Cyrus

2.2

After the weddings had officially ended and Isaac had spoken to the attendees, thanking them for coming and saying they could leave whenever they felt like it, Alyssa and Milo stayed around for a bit, waiting for Luke and Amanda before they left the venue.

Alyssa's job outside of the headquarters entailed watching over Milo and listening to whatever he said very carefully in case he said anything related to the Voyagers. She had gotten used to his radio silence but also his blatant lies to throw her off. Alyssa already knew that Milo's word couldn't be trusted, but was also told to take most of what he said seriously.

She only found out about his lies when she started working with him and when she asked him about how many Voyagers there were. He responded with zero and was unlucky that Luke overheard it.

Alyssa had lost herself in thought until she heard Milo finally speak. "You know, I never really believed that weddings were a place for betrayal."

She didn't know who he was talking to because he refused to look at any members of the Onyx Organization, but she assumed he was talking to her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Why do you care? You want me to expose my friends because you don't like our way of life and if that's not the most barbaric thing I've ever had to believe, then I don't know what is."

Alyssa didn't have a chance to respond before Luke and Amanda showed up to the table, Luke looking pretty mad compared to his usual disinterested look. "Let me tell you barbaric, Neil, barbaric is your little group of friends leaving you like this. They don't care about you so you have no reason to keep protecting them. Barbaric is also what they've done to become withdrawn from our current way of life, like it or not, none of them are as clean as you would like to believe."

Milo usually stepped down whenever Luke spoke against him and in some cases, he would apologize and take his words back, but this wasn't any typical time. "They're withdrawn because they see the real freaks behind the curtains. If you seriously believe that they're not clean then you shouldn't look into records of former Onyx Organization leaders because they're worse than any resistance member. For this alleged society to function, you guys kill people who don't believe in your ways or you torture them until they give up answers that you want, whether they're true or not and that's how things have been since the beginning, how is that good? How can you people stand by what you do with a good conscience? None of you are helping anybody but yourselves."

Amanda took a hesitant step back as Luke scanned the venue, noting that most civilians had left or they weren't paying attention. He turned his eyes back to Milo and then pulled him up by the front of his shirt, refusing to let go. "You're testing my patience, do you understand that? I'm the only reason you're still alive, be grateful and work with me before you run out of time. I don't care who or what you believe in, if you don't start talking soon then there will be consequences."

"I think you've already done a decent job of ruining my life. My own mother doesn't remember me, my sister is missing, and as far as I know, you've killed my dad. Need I remind you, I deal with this same act every single day that I don't talk, there's nothing you can do to make me talk because I have no reason to."

"Luke, let him go, people are going to become suspicious." Amanda chimed in from Luke's side, looking around the venue.

Alyssa had been told plenty of times to not interfere with situations like this, whether she liked them or not. "What if he doesn't know anything?" Alyssa spoke up, trying to give Luke a reason to let Milo go. "He's been through a lot these past two years and if he wasn't lying about his identity then he probably would have said something already."

Amanda saw what Alyssa was doing and only thought it was right to back her up. "I’ve been told that he's unresponsive to treatment, maybe he's immune because the Voyagers used him. That's the only reason they haven't shown up for him, don't you think?"

"He obviously remembers some things. Nobody knows if Elizabeth Neil is dead or missing, but he just admitted that she's missing. That tells me that she's just as involved with the group as he was."

As Luke spoke, Milo seemed to grow uneasy as he pieced together Milo's words. "You're going to believe me that easily? Wow, then I've got lots to tell you. Elizabeth is definitely with the Voyagers. Remember Kyle Kennedy? The guy who worked Alyssa's job before her? His son is also with the Voyagers. Oh and you're just never going to believe this, but there's a green horse that leads the group, a lady who lost her kid and her husband because of you people, just a wide range of people, they're all different. There's tons of them, it was a total lie when I said zero, get it? Because I'm untrustworthy, a liar!"

Amanda looked a little confused and shaken up as Milo continued on. "What is he talking about?"

Alyssa watched Luke's grip on Milo's shirt tighten as he started to look angrier, his eyes gleaming red. She decided it was best that she stayed out of it at this point. She actually hated what she was watching, despite it being part of her job. She could never get used to this part.

"You're not going to get answers from him if you strangle him, Luke." Alyssa felt a sense of relief as someone else spoke up. It was Steven, but Sara wasn't with him. "Just let him go and back up a little."

Milo jerked his attention to Steven, quickly gaining a defensive tone compared to how he spoke with Luke. "I don't need your help and I don't want it, thanks anyways."

Steven ignored Milo, his attention staying focused on Luke. "You know fully well that this isn't supposed to happen. Just because your partner isn't around doesn't mean you can't face consequences. You've got a lot to risk and I don't want to see you lose that. You know Sara doesn't want to see you lose it either, so if you can't do it for yourself then do it for her."

Luke let out a deep sigh that rang with regret as he let Milo go, a slight shove as he did so. "Alyssa, you handle him appropriately, I don't want to have to remind you of your job again."

Luke and Amanda left the table, leaving Alyssa, Milo, and Steven. Alyssa looked over Steven, noticing that he looked slightly uncomfortable. She couldn't blame him, the whole scene made her uncomfortable but powerless. "Thank you, I'm not really supposed to intervene, so I didn't know what to do."

Milo took his seat again, only looking to Steven for a few seconds. " I guess I should thank you as well."

"Don't worry about it. I sometimes think Luke doesn't know his own strength. That, or he doesn't realize the weakness in other people." Alyssa noticed Milo's face radiated shame at this point. "You won't have to worry about it much longer, though, you have my word on that." Before Alyssa could question him, Steven started talking again. "Listen, I've gotta go, I told Sara it would only be a few minutes and she's going to be on my case if she talks to Luke or if I spend any extra time here, so I should go. I'll see you guys later."

Alyssa looked around the near-empty venue after Steven left, debating with herself on whether they should leave or not. "Are you ready to go?" Milo didn't respond, only rising from his seat. Alyssa quickly left her own seat and started walking as Milo did. "I'm not going to question you on the Voyagers tonight, I think you've been through enough of that for today."

"Why do you do this job?" Alyssa could tell that Milo seemed hurt by the tone of his voice. "I'm sure you're aware of what the organization does, but you're so kind-hearted. It doesn't make sense."

Despite having to live in the same apartment, Alyssa and Milo rarely had conversations. The reasoning for that being simple. Milo seemed to be made of lies and that was one thing Alyssa couldn't stand. "Because it's a job, I don't know what you want me to say. I was recruited for a reason."

"I'm sure you had the option to say no." Milo didn't seem to be satisfied with her answer. "I mean really, you understand that you're a pawn now, right? I don't understand how you can willingly give away your life like that."

Something in Alyssa kicked in, rather suddenly, making her want to protect the organization. "And you have any right to talk? Didn't you do the same thing for the Voyagers?"

Milo simply snickered, ignoring her tone. "You can't compare the Onyx Organization and the Voyagers, I'm sorry. They're two completely different groups." Alyssa and Milo went up the staircase leading to the second floor worker apartments. "No, by the way, I didn't give up my life for the Voyagers. Nobody gave their life to the Voyagers because we're not the extremists that you guys make us out to be."

"Yeah, because recent Voyager activity really backs that statement up." Alyssa stopped in front of a door, pulling a key from her pocket and unlocking it, allowing herself and Milo inside.

"I'm not involved in that so you can't take it out on me." Milo shut the door behind him as he came in. "A lot can change in two years, I know just about as much as you guys at this point."

Alyssa put the key back in her pocket, seemingly growing tired of the conversation. "You should have told Luke that earlier, but I'm not questioning you so you can give the act a rest."

"I'm surely the one leading an act, you're totally right. Say, speaking of acts, what do you think Steven meant when he said you wouldn't have to worry long?"

Milo took his place on the couch, which is where he was supposed to stay until it reached ten, then he was locked in his bedroom. What he did until then, Alyssa really didn't care as long as she was getting her work done. "Maybe Steven's going to say something to Luke in private, maybe he'll go to Isaac, I don't know."

"If he's who I think he is then that's not the case, but alright, I asked what you thought and I got an answer." Milo grabbed a book from the table next to the couch and cracked it open, stopping his conversation with Alyssa.

She always found him to be suspicious, but was always told to be grateful. She was only put in charge of him after he got out Kyle Kennedy's care by pure force. Isaac and Luke had previously been considering killing Milo since he wasn't reacting to any medicines and he wasn't giving up any information. His escape only further influenced them to consider it until Alyssa pointed out that Kyle wasn't in his prime age or condition to chase Milo down and he wasn't strong enough to fend him off anymore, opting to take care of Milo herself.

Alyssa had been told that she was lucky. According to Kyle, Milo had attempted escapes plenty of times in the two years he was in his care, but he was also extremely defiant and rude. He had never attempted to leave or strike Alyssa, making her believe that it was just Kyle that he didn't like, but she couldn't blame him for that. One issue with Milo was that he was quick to get snappy, but Alyssa was usually quick to retaliate or she would just ignore him.

Whether Milo knew that they were considering ending his life or not, she didn't know. He never really showed any knowledge of what went on in the Onyx Organization, even regarding himself. Alyssa knew that he had been told some things just as a fair warning, but he was never particularly interested.

There was only one condition regarding Milo being in Alyssa's care and it was one that typically changed her work days. Milo wasn't allowed to be on the fourth floor at all unless he was summoned by Isaac or Luke. Alyssa was told that it was because he knew a fair amount of people there and they didn't want to risk him starting trouble. Usually, Milo would remain in the lobby while Alyssa worked. There was never an issue with it because he knew better than to try and make an escape at the headquarters or interfere with other people’s work, knowing it could easily cost him his life.

2.4

The Diamond Organization was the strongest that there was and the first country organization to be founded. Other organizations were having difficulties with resistances, but the Diamond Organization ruled Norway without any problems.

Jade Organization rarely reported problems with resistance movements, but everybody knew that they had them. Their resistance members worked in silence and often planned heavy attacks at one moment, rather than multiple attacks. Members of the Jade Organization were told to always stay on guard since they never knew when they were plotting an attack.

Despite the Diamond, Jade, and Onyx Organizations each having a fair amount of power, there were other places that had bigger problems with resistance movements.

The Aquamarine Organization, located in France, was in a terrible condition. Their citizens believed in revolution more than they did civility, causing the revolution to overthrow the organization faster than reinforcements could arrive. While the organization itself had crumbled, the country seemed to be doing fine without it. Other organizations covered up what happened to the Aquamarine Organization in fear of inspiring a revolution in their own organization territory.

Besides Aquamarine and Ammolite, the rest of the organization leaders kept in contact fairly well, having a monthly gathering to discuss the state of the organizations and any updates on their revolutionary movements. Most organizations kept a careful eye on their movements and tended to think one step ahead of their revolutionary group.

The same could be said about the revolutionary groups themselves.

They were stationed each in a country and had been tasked with their own jobs with their own members, they were checked on their status, but they only met twice a year due to the risk it was to have the higher-ups in the same location at the same time for too long.

It was often a question of how the Crusaders managed to turn over their organization, but never a question as to why their leader was recognized as the overall resistance member.

Nobody knew his real name, but he always explained that he had chosen the name Pierre for himself because it translated to stone and nobody could really argue that he was weak or easy to break.

Pierre had visited the Voyagers himself a few times, mainly because he figured they were in the most need of help. They had the fewest numbers and the least effect on their organization, however, there were times where they refused to cooperate with Pierre, making him wonder where their faith really belonged.
Each time he had visited, there was an unspoken hostility between him and a few of the members who were present. Over the course of his visits, he noticed that each time he was there, only three members were constantly accounted for. He never asked those three where the others were, but the next time he saw one of the four current members who was usually gone, he confronted him about it.

If he was remembering correctly, the man he confronted was named Cyrus. When confronted about it, Cyrus admitted that there were three scouts and another member who was constantly on the move, but most of the other scouts that Pierre knew had either passed on or were captured.

It wasn’t difficult for Pierre to travel by plane since he assumed the identity of the Aquamarine Organization’s leader after their takeover. Nobody really knew who Pierre was or what happened to the previous leader because nobody knew anything had happened except the organization leaders who weren’t usually around airports, giving Pierre a chance to get to where he was going before the leaders were notified.

This time Pierre went to the Voyagers, there was someone new. He had been the one to let Pierre into the bunker, but he didn’t seem like he knew who he was. Afterwards, he disappeared, leaving Pierre to roam at his free will.

He went through the bunker, noticing how quiet it was until he went into the common room where the leader’s wife and her friend were. He believed their names to be Eris and Lecia, but the names would never instantly hit him. They seemed a little shocked to see him, but the leader’s wife quickly took to her feet, whispering something to her friend. Her friend quickly left the room and Pierre’s view as Eris approached Pierre. “Pierre, it’s been awhile, how have you been? Actually, what brings you here? That’s a more important question.”

Pierre scanned the room before answering anything. “Your group has neglected to send an update once again, I’m here to talk with Joseph and see why that is.”

A man’s voice spoke up from behind Pierre, causing him to jerk his head to see who was speaking. “There hasn’t been much of a change to report. We’ve had the same seven people since you were last here.”

“Joseph, that’s false. I was let inside by a new man who ran off today, who is he?”

Pierre had a monotone, nearly robotic tone of voice that not many people could listen to for long, making Pierre develop a direct way of talking. “A new man?” Joseph looked to his side, Filip on his left and Cyrus on his right. Lecia had gone to the kitchen after she retrieved the men and Eris was a few feet in front of Pierre. “Are you talking about Ethan?” Joseph quickly leaned over to Cyrus and lowered his voice. “Go find him.”

Cyrus left the group, causing Pierre to look at the remaining two with suspicion but his tone remained confrontational. “Where are all of your people, Joseph?”

Eris knew better than to get involved with Pierre’s conversations. The entire group knew that Pierre only came around to speak with Joseph and occasionally Elizabeth, but even she wouldn’t talk to him for long.

Joseph looked to Filip and sighed. “The man you met is named Ethan Rikard, he’s our newest member who’s still getting used to the bunker and the group. Elizabeth Neil and Marshal Kennedy are in the city right now and Cyrus Capello just went to look for Ethan.”

When Joseph gave last names to Pierre, it was an act of submission and was meant to tell Pierre that the people he named were the only ones Pierre could mess with. “And your wife’s friend? Where did she run off to?”

“Lecia Albero went to the kitchen to make lunch.”

“Out of the five names that you just gave me, you could only give me the exact location of one of them. I know for certain that Ethan left this bunker right after he let me in, which can only make me assume that Cyrus is outside of the bunker as well.” Pierre paused, his face growing red. “And having two people based in the city at once? We’ve instructed every group against doing such dangerous things countless times! Four of your members could be in extreme danger right now and you’re not out there yourself. That’s what I’m getting from our little chat right now, am I correct?”

“With all due respect, Filip was in contact with one of the two in the city. They’re based together and they’re both safe.”

Eris took her seat again with a quick sigh. “It was a distress call from Elizabeth that made Marshal go, she was the only one out at first.”

Pierre took mental note of what she said but kept his vision set on Joseph. “If it’s true that Filip spoke to one of them then he knows how to use the computers. Elizabeth explained that much to me last time we spoke and she mentioned a tracker.” Pierre focused on Filip. “You’re going to take Joseph and myself to that computer and give us the coordinates. We’ll head into the city and get them back ourselves.”

Filip sighed, seeing no real choice. He led the men to the lab and watched the monitors for a moment. He put in Cyrus’ coordinates instead of Marshal’s, causing the map to glide to where Cyrus was located. He considered leading Pierre to Cyrus, but knew that Ethan would be at risk if he did so.

’If I send them to the city, they’ll be caught, for sure. Elizabeth and Marshal will probably be caught too.’ Filip looked at the dot on the monitor. ’Cyrus might actually need help right now. I’ll go with them to protect whoever they go after. I can tell him that they left the city and they might actually need help considering the location is far from the city and a fair distance from the bunker. What are the chances it’s my location, though? What about Milo’s tracker? Nobody ever found that.’

Pierre seemed to be growing impatient. “Filip, the coordinates, now.”

A choice here decided that Filip would give Pierre Cyrus' coordinates.

Marshal Kennedy

Marshal took the ring from Elizabeth, holding out his other hand as she retracted her own. She looked a little confused. “What are you asking me for here?”

“One of your hands, preferably your left.”

She put her left hand in his open hand, still looking confused. “Okay, now what?” Her look of confusion traded for a look of shock when he put the ring back on her. “It’s yours, though, I don’t want to take it from you if you want it.”

Marshal quickly took his own hands away, not giving Elizabeth the chance to give it back. “I don’t need it. I was told to give it to someone who made me happy in hopes that it would make them happier in return and you’ve lightened up a lot since yesterday, so I can only assume it played a part in that happiness, right?”

She nodded slightly, looking at the ring, a small smile forming on her face. “Right.”

“I don’t want to take it away from you.” Marshal took to his feet, leaving the living room for the kitchen. “If you’re up for it, we can check out that envelope that Isaac gave us.”

Elizabeth took after him, only responding when she took a seat at the kitchen table. “What do you think is in it?”

“I’ve got no idea. I stuck to my word that I wouldn’t look at it before you.” Marshal pulled an envelope out of a drawer and took a seat next to Elizabeth, setting the envelope between the two of them. “I’ll let you open it.”

“I’m just going to assume it’s because you’re too scared to do it yourself.” Elizabeth opened the envelope without pulling out the contents.

“I’d say it’s more nervousness than being scared.” Marshal took the envelope, pulling two notes and a picture from it. He gave one note to her and looked over the other one himself, the picture remaining face down on the table. “He’s personally thanking us for watching over the venue yesterday and being so polite to the guests.”

“Go us.” Elizabeth added sarcastically with a snicker following. She read over the note she had, trying to think of how to summarize it. “I think they were supposed to be read as one. He’s wishing us congratulations and whatnot. The usual things you say to a newlywed couple.”

They put the notes back in the envelope, Marshal forgetting about the picture for a split second until Elizabeth flipped it over, taking a look at it. He didn’t pay too much attention to it until he realized she went silent, causing him to look over it a bit more. It was a picture of their ceremony, one where they both seemed happy. “You should wear your hair down more.”

“Why do you say that?” Elizabeth had a habit of messing with her own hair when she got nervous. Most days she would have to braid her hair first thing in the morning to keep from getting distracted.

“It’s only my opinion, but you look absolutely radiant in the picture. Your entire look pairs so well with the dress, I just don’t know how you pull it off so well.”

“Ask any geneticist and they’ll tell you it’s good genes.” Elizabeth smiled as she continued to look over the picture.

“I don’t know, Milo has those same genes and there’s no way he would be able to pull any of that off.”

Elizabeth leaned closer, looking like she was getting ready to point something out in the picture. “I can’t help but enjoy this picture. There are plenty of pictures in the bunker, but I feel like we’re both happier in this one.”

“I thought the same thing, actually, but I don’t know about any pictures in the bunker. I’ll just act like I didn’t hear that and distrust you a little bit more.”

“Not cool.” Elizabeth turned her attention from the picture to Marshal. “You’ve got some major thinking to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re turning thirty in thirteen days and instead of taking some time to yourself, like I know you’ve been recommended to do, you’re in the most dangerous location possible trying to help me get my brother back. You didn’t have to do that and you have every right to tell me to leave and not get involved.”

Marshal chuckled before propping his elbow up and resting his chin on his hand. “You do understand that on a technicality you are my wife, correct? I didn’t have to do that either. I didn’t have to respond to your distress call, let you stay the night here, and then marry you the next day. Just remember that.”

“You’re right about the other stuff but you said the marriage was my choice, I’m going to disagree with you on that one.” Elizabeth was trying to start a distraction, which was clear to tell by the blush that took over her face.

“You can disagree all you want, but don’t just look at a situation and think you have it all figured out, that’s probably the worst thing you can do for yourself. Anyways, whether you’re my wife, my best friend’s sister, my own friend, or just a fellow Voyager, I’m not sending you away that easily.”

Elizabeth sighed, a small smile crossing her face. “We’re going to have to address that title issue you’re having sometime, aren’t we?”

“Preferably sooner rather than later, for the better of us both.”

---

Luke Lowell

Luke had left the Onyx Organization headquarters close to ten and took to walking the city, scanning each alley he passed and each person he passed as well.

The reason he had chosen to walk and scan was simple. Isaac knew that by bringing Milo to the weddings there was going to be attention from the Voyagers and the chance that they would attempt to get Milo back was a high one.

They had only kept Milo alive for one true reason and it wasn’t information anymore. It was a chance to bait any unlucky Voyager into ending up in the hands of the organization.

Luke’s walking had led him to the top floor of an abandoned skyscraper that resided in a rundown part of the city, which was once said to be home of the organization’s most famed donors. The skyscraper belonged to a “Hunt Enterprise”, a company older than Luke himself that had disappeared over the years. Luke didn’t know what they did in the first place, so it didn’t really bother him.

The view of the rundown neighborhood was one that could entrance anybody for days. The skyscraper easily took the best view, the morning sky gathering a bundle of pastel colors. A quick glance down would show nothing but a gray, bleak sight. Torn down buildings that were once either houses or businesses. Luke would consider it metaphorical if he didn’t know any better.

He left the skyscraper a quarter before he was expected at Steven and Sara’s apartment. He had told the agents that he would help them with any moving Sara needed to do, which she had told them wasn’t much, but it wasn’t something she and Steven could do alone.

There was something about the two agents together that Luke couldn’t figure out. Was it a bond? He didn’t know.

He knew Sara fairly well on her own and considered her to be a very well known acquaintance, but how she acted around Steven made Luke really reconsider the well known part. It always led to Luke questioning if he actually knew her at all. She seemed to pass every scan, being true to herself and others, but there was always something about her that Steven almost mirrored, something Luke could never figure out. However, he wouldn’t think too much of it since neither of the two were around often and he knew better than to spend his time accusing people he should be recruiting.

Luke was pulled out of his own mind when he ended up in front of the apartment. He took a look at this watch and adjusted his beanie. ‘Snap out of it, Luke, it isn’t important.’

He knocked and waited for a few seconds before someone taller than him opened the door, Luke immediately being able to tell who it was based on their height alone. “Good morning, Steven.”

Steven stepped aside and opened the door to allow Luke in, which Luke took as a signal that Sara wasn’t ready to leave yet. “And a good morning to you as well.”

Luke and Steven didn’t talk often, in fact he only knew Steven through Sara. He did know that Seven wasn’t the one to go out far out of his comfort zone or his way to make conversation happen. It was something Luke could respect and something he wished Sara would pick up from the both of them.

Luke did a quick reading on Steven, picking up on a negative aura once he entered the apartment. “Why exactly are you nervous? I can understand her being nervous, but I didn’t expect you to be nervous in the slightest.”

Nervous, tense, and concerned were the three current feelings running Steven, being more prominent than any positive emotion he had. “I’m just busy and on a tight schedule, I’m sure you’ve been in the same place before.”

“I figured you didn’t know anybody around here, what could possibly be keeping you busy besides Sara?”

Steven snickered. “I don’t know many people, you’re right about that, but you’re also right that she’s mainly what’s keeping me busy. She’s all over the place and I’m trying my best to keep up with her.”

“If you aren’t used to it now, you’ll never to be. That’s what I’ve learned through working with her.”

The bedroom door opened and Sara left, heading straight for the open front door. “If you guys think I’m hard to keep up with now, just wait until I clean up the apartment when someone points out the clutter.”

Luke and Steven followed Sara out, leaving the door open. “Are you sure it’s smart to leave the door open while we’re downstairs?”

Steven shrugged, continuing to walk. “You’d have to do some major looking to find anything important and since you and I will be going back and forth, I’m not too worried about it.”

The trio went downstairs in silence, Sara only talking after she unlocked the door to her old apartment. “Luke, thank you so much for helping. It’s unlikely that Steven will admit it but we’re extremely grateful you decided to help.”

Sara excused herself from the living room and went into the bedroom, Luke assumed it was to pack whatever she left in there. Luke and Steven started off by moving lighter things from the kitchen deciding to work their way up.

It wasn’t until they were carrying a table upstairs that Luke decided to make some conversation, noting that Steven’s nervousness had eased away while they were working. “How’s the first day been treating you two?”

Luke was carrying the top half of the table and Steven the bottom, which Luke thought in retrospect, it should have been switched. “It’s been pretty well, I guess. I’m just glad I knew her beforehand, otherwise it would have been unspeakably awkward.”

“I hear you there. Has Hampton talked to either of you about the child laws for agents?” Luke noticed there was a spike of anxiety in Steven when he said child.

Steven focused on getting the table through the door without breaking something, waiting until it had touched the ground to answer. “Nope, nobody has talked to us about that, but I really don’t think it’s a good idea for Sara and I.”

The two left the apartment again, Luke waiting until they had to bring something else upstairs before he asked anything else.

They went up again carrying some boxes that Sara had left in the living room after they left with the table. “Why exactly wouldn’t it be a good idea?”

The anxiety that had subsided after they went back to Sara’s apartment returned once again. “I have no idea what the child law states, because I’ve had no interest in having a child and I still have no interest in doing so, but I don’t think it’s morally right for Sara and I to have a kid when we’re away from home for months at a time and when we’re here, it’s only for three days.”

“You’ve had the chance to leave on-the-field work for a better job in headquarters, I know you’ve been offered plenty of times and chose not to do it. I presume it’s because you don’t enjoy staying in one place for too long, correct me if I’m wrong.”

The two put the boxes in their hands in the bedroom to keep them from prying eyes, then went back on their way. “You’re right about that.”

“Then it’s best you don’t have a kid. Any agent responsible for a child is pulled from their line of work and reassigned within the city as soon as headquarters finds out.”

They continued going back and forth with idle chats as they did so until Sara left the bedroom and began putting away things from the bathroom and the living room, going back and forth herself.

At some point she decided to take a break on the couch that Luke and Steven had to move. Steven tried convincing her to move so they could finish moving the heavier objects before he or Luke got too tired to commit to moving the couch. “I’ll move and get back to work if you’ll make lunch.”

“Right now?” Steven checked his watch before turning his attention back to her. “Sara, it’s not even noon yet.”

“I’m used to an early lunch, earlier than noon at least.”

Steven realized that in order to finish the current task, he’d have to agree. “If I make lunch, I’m not coming back to help move, I’ll go to headquarters afterwards instead, deal?”

Sara seemed to think it over for a moment before taking to her feet with a smile. “Only if Luke agrees.” She took that as her answer to lunch, giving Steven a kiss on the cheek before returning to packing.

Steven waited until they got the couch upstairs without either of them getting hurt before he consulted Luke about the plan. “Are you going to be alright if I work on lunch and then go to headquarters?”

He thought for a moment before nodding. “I’m sure we got most of the stuff we needed to either way, we should be fine.”

“I don’t know if you want anything, but I’m just going to go ahead and make some for you as well. If I’m not back before Sara comes up, do me a favor and make sure she doesn’t eat alone.” Steven didn’t wait for an answer before going into the kitchen, leaving Luke to go downstairs.

Luke went back to Sara’s apartment to find her in the near-empty living room, packing away some books from her bookshelf. He joined her in front of the bookshelf and started clearing out another shelf into a box separate from hers.

The two worked in silence until she turned to him with a smile on her face. “Luke, I really can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done for us.” Performing a quick scan on Sara, Luke could tell that she seemed overwhelmed with happiness. There didn’t seem to be a negative feeling that she had in the current moment. “You really have to scan me to see if I’m being sincere, huh?”

Sara and Amanda were the only two who could always tell if Luke was scanning them, mainly because they knew what to look for. “You’ve had your fair share of dishonesties, it’s best I test my eyes and see if you’re being truthful.”

“Says the one who isn’t being scanned.”

The two sat in front of the bookcase for a bit, sometimes stopping just to have a talk about whatever they felt like talking about.

They stayed around packing until noon, which was when they decided to call it quits and go to lunch. Taking what they already had they went upstairs and put the boxes where they needed to be, heading into the kitchen.

---

Alyssa Kowalska

Alyssa was required to spend her break and lunch in the lobby with Milo, which wasn’t that bad considering he knew better than to start any problems in a building where he was on everyone’s list.

She ate her lunch then cracked open a book, which would often cause the time to fly. Despite that, she would always watch the clock to make sure she wasn’t late back to work.

The two normally sat in the far corner of the lobby in order to stay out of everybody’s way and keep Milo from talking to anybody. Alyssa didn’t mind the quiet, though, she rather enjoyed the time to observe the lobby and read.

The lobby was normally quiet either way, with very few people coming through just to talk to the woman at the front desk. She seemed to like the quiet just as much as Alyssa did.

There were some days, particularly rainy days where the sun didn’t provide enough light to read, that Alyssa and Milo would have a conversation together, with the woman at the front desk, or with someone passing through.

Alyssa lost herself in thought until someone took a seat across from her. She jerked her attention from her thoughts, to pinpointing Milo’s location, to the person across from her. “Good afternoon, Steven, how can I help you?”

“I know your lunch is about to end, so I’ll make it quick, don’t worry. Sara and I were talking last night and we know you’re extremely busy and you’re likely very stressed out considering you’ve been here for such a short amount of time and you’re already tasked with the most important job on the fourth floor.” He gave her a moment to think, before continuing on. “We were wondering if you’d like to go to dinner tonight just to get out of the house.”

Alyssa thought for a moment before turning to Milo, who immediately looked offended. “Do you really think I’m dull enough to try anything when he alone could take me? I may be taller but the agents go through some really tough training, there’s no way I’d fight one of them.”

“I didn’t say anything to you, you’re just making assumptions.” Alyssa turned back to Steven, addressing Milo once more. “But it’s good to know that you know how to act in public.”

“That’s called having manners, thank you very much.” Milo went back to what he was reading, allowing the two to continue their conversation.

“Are you sure Sara would be okay with it? I mean, you guys just got married, I’m sure she wants to spend some time with you alone.”

Steven smiled slightly. “She’s actually the one who had the idea to invite you to come along, so of course she’s fine with it.”

“And she knows that Milo would have to go as well?”

“I’m sure that’s a given.”

Alyssa paused for a moment, thinking about her options, knowing she only had two.

A choice here decided that Alyssa would go to dinner with Sara and Steven.

---

Naomi Dumont-Richardson

Naomi had spent the rest of the day before with her family, talking with her mother and Veronica about how their lives as wives were different from before. She took the information they gave her and tried to apply it to herself, knowing her new life would take some adjusting to.

She had also spoken to Anthony’s mother a lot the day before and taken some time to get to know his sister before they left the venue the night before.

Anthony had to work today, despite it being a Saturday. Most people did in order to make up for any progress lost because of the day before. It was an option for people who had married, but many of them chose to return to work the next day. Naomi had been told of a few people that stayed home that day, since Anthony was normally the first to find out who was going to work and who wasn’t.

Naomi and Anthony themselves had plans to go to dinner later that evening and have some people from the organization move whatever Naomi had packed up into the house that she now shared with Anthony.

She ended up leaving the house after a while, deciding to go on a walk. During her walk she decided to visit Sara, knowing that the two of them were going through the same exact situation and she would pose some sort of help to Naomi.

The worker’s apartments were right across the street from the Onyx Organization headquarters, which was a smart move on their part. Nobody who lived in the worker’s apartments were late and they were often more willing to work extra hours since there was no worry about travel time home.

Even though they were so close to Anthony’s work, Naomi had never known anybody who lived there herself and she never visited anyone there before, so she admittedly knew very little about the layout of the apartments and the residents of them.

Naomi got lucky enough to run into someone leaving an apartment. She asked them if they knew where Sara lived and they pointed to an apartment before heading on their way.

She went to the door of the apartment that the worker had pointed out and found the door was slightly ajar. She pushed it open before cautiously heading into the apartment herself.

It was empty, leading Naomi to believe that it was Sara’s old apartment and she was in the wrong place.

As she turned to leave, she ran into somebody standing behind her, causing her to panic. “You’re not supposed to be in here. What can I do for you?” The person speaking was man, but Naomi had yet to see his face in her panic.

She took a moment to recollect herself, hoping she didn’t seem too in a hurry. “I’m sorry, I think I was directed to the wrong place. I’m looking for Sara Jacobson.”

Naomi realized after she spoke that the man she was talking to was a co-worker of Anthony’s that she had spoken to once or twice before, Luke Lowell. “Yeah, you got the wrong directions. Third floor, fourth door to the right.” Luke didn’t leave the doorway, causing Naomi to look at him with suspicion. “I have to wait for you to leave so I can lock up and return the key to headquarters so feel free to leave.”

Naomi took her cue to leave the apartment and went upstairs as Luke locked up the apartment she was in before. She went to the third floor and hoped she was counting the right way as she stopped in front of the fourth door. She knocked and wondered if she was in the right place at all until the door opened and Sara greeted her with a smile. “Naomi, it’s so nice to see you, what can I help you with?”

“Oh, I just needed someone to talk to, are you busy?”

Sara stepped aside, allowing Naomi in before closing the door behind her. “Of course not, welcome.”

Naomi looked around, noticing quite a number of boxes lying around. “Are you sure you’re not busy? You seem to have a lot of unpacking to do.”

“Steven and I agreed to unpack together later since he knew he wasn’t going to be around for lunch today.” Sara took a seat on a couch that looked like it was recently moved into the apartment. “I wasn’t expecting a guest, I’m sorry, I have absolutely no topics ready.”

Naomi chuckled, taking a seat next to her. “At least you’re honest enough to admit that. I wanted to talk to you and see how you’re taking to things recently.”

“By recently, I can only assume you mean since yesterday, right?” Naomi nodded. “Well, things are different, that’s for sure. I learned things about Steven that a lot of people would miss about him when they first met him and I’ve learned a lot about my own patience levels, which haven’t really been pushed far. What about you?”

“I’m still kind of in shock over it, honestly, I didn’t expect to get married for at least a month, but a few days after we finally set our own wedding? Yeah, it totally threw me for a loop. Anthony has been really kind and he understands that I need some time to adjust, but his sister is already talking about a family vacation and it just blows my mind how active their family is compared to my own. We talk to each other but there’s never been a time where one of my siblings had just up and said ‘let’s go do something’ right after something huge in the family happened. It was two months after Benjamin was born that someone in the family mentioned going to visit him.” Naomi couldn’t help but laugh about it.

“I’ve been there before. My brother used to be the most active person I knew, always wanting to get out and do things and try any new thing he could get his hands on. It drove me crazy, but I never thought I would miss it.”

“Are you and your brother not talking or something?”

Sara shrugged, a smile still on her face. “We’re just distant. I already know if I were to go to him and tell him that I got married, he’d be furious that he wasn’t invited. That’s my only regret with the wedding, if you want the truth. Steven and I were approached at the venue, so we had no time on our own beforehand.”

“This is why I’m glad I talked to you.” Sara looked a little confused a Naomi continued. “You’re the only person I know that would actually have an issue with all that went on yesterday. My parents and Anthony’s parents were so excited about it, but I really wasn’t comfortable with being told when I was going to get married.”

“Steven and I feel the same way. We talked about it earlier and we’re happy together, but we just didn’t like the timing.” She seemed a little upset now. “We especially didn’t like how we were put on the spot by Isaac.”

Naomi could tell that Sara needed someone to vent her frustrations to, just as she needed herself. “Where is Steven anyways?”

“He had something to handle in headquarters.” Sara took a look at the clock next to the kitchen door, seeming to become a little worried. “But that was an hour ago, it shouldn’t have taken an hour.”

“Would you like to walk over there and see if everything’s okay?” Naomi quickly thought of an excuse as to why she would need to go to headquarters. “I should probably check in with Anthony either way.”

Sara quickly took to her feet, waiting for Naomi to join her by the front door. “We might as well go together.”

---

Ethan Rikard

Ethan had snuck out of the bunker a few hours back, only intending to look around the immediate area before he ended up lost.

If there was one thing he could credit the Voyagers for, it was for their very well hidden base. Hidden to the point where one of their own couldn’t even find it.

After wandering for a few hours, Ethan ended up close to a road.

He was about to go across the road until someone grabbed his shoulder from behind, covering his mouth as they pulled him away from the road.

Ethan pulled away from the person, remembering when he first met Filip and Marshal. He threw his elbow back, hoping to hit whoever it was. The shot didn't hit anybody and it didn't stop the person from pulling him farther into the woods.

The person eventually stopped and hushed Ethan, pointing to the barely visible road ahead. Four people walked the road. Ethan couldn’t tell who they were or their purpose, but he could rightfully assume he knew the person holding him back.

As the four people walking the road went on, the person uncovered Ethan’s mouth and took a few steps back. Ethan looked behind him to see that it was Cyrus who kept him from going ahead. “You could have just told me to stop.”

“It’s doubtful that would have worked. Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste, we’re not safe here.” Cyrus walked on, not stopping to make sure Ethan was with him.

Ethan followed Cyrus, despite being a bit curious as to what he meant when he said it wasn’t safe. It was apparently safe enough to allow three people, occasionally four out of the bunker at once, so what made it unsafe now? “Cyrus, could you explain to me what makes this place unsafe?” Cyrus hushed him and continued walking in response. “Really? So you’re not going to explain this to me? I feel I have every right to know what’s going on around here.”

“You don’t understand what shush means, do you? That’s the only reason I can think of why you’re still going on.”

“Very funny, but I seriously need answers.”

Cyrus stopped in his tracks, holding out his arm to signal Ethan to stop as well. “Get down, don’t move, and for the sake of your own life, don’t say anything from this moment forward.”

Ethan followed his orders, taking cover behind a nearby bush.He didn’t understand why Cyrus told him to take cover or why he wasn’t taking cover himself until the four men who were walking on the road approached Cyrus. “Sir, it’s getting late, why are you all the way out here?”

“I was just going for a walk and I lost my way. I’m not in the best state of mind, so could you be kind enough to direct me back to the city?”
The man who spoke before didn’t seem to buy the story and continued to push. “Really? You got lost from a giant city? I don’t believe it. Why are you really out here?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say, I have no reason to be out here other than what I’ve told you.”

The other three men seemed to form a semicircle around Cyrus, not looking like they had any intention to let him get away. “This is our territory and we have every right to take you in and in fact, that’s what we’re going to do. Let’s go start walking.” Cyrus didn’t move, prompting the man to get more upset. “I said let’s go, this is your last warning.”

'This is my chance.' Ethan started. 'I can run back and get help. If I can find the way.'

A choice here decided Ethan would intervene.

2.6

Alyssa looked to Milo, expecting him to protest only to be greeted with silence. She took it as his okay. She turned to Steven with a quick smile. “Sure, I don’t see why not. What time were you guys thinking?”

Steven answered without hesitation, making Alyssa more confident in the idea that he and Sara had already talked it over before now. “We were thinking of meeting you guys outside the apartments around seven and going from there, is that okay with you?”

Alyssa nodded before taking to her feet. “Sounds great, we’ll see you guys then.” She turned to Milo. “My break’s over, do not move an inch.”

Milo could tell there was something Marshal wanted to say to him, but something was keeping him silent. “I’ll see you later.” Milo watched him get up and leave in a hurry.

He sighed and looked over the back of the couch at the secretary. “You saw that too, right? They totally ignored me.”

“Oh no, you’re the ugly girl now? I’m so sorry.” The secretary shook her head. “They weren’t ignoring you. If anything, you were ignoring them.”

“Of course you’ll take your coworkers side.” Milo faced the front once again, taking back to his book.

The secretary chuckled at her desk, a chuckle that sounded tired but lovely at the same time. “Are you gonna tell them I was ignoring you too?”

“You can count on it.”

Milo had a friendly relationship with a few workers in headquarters, most of the ones who weren’t chipped and Alyssa. He figured they got along because they were in their right mind and he was in his.

There were times that the secretary would allow Milo to get up and do things because she believed it was better for the heart and mind to be active.

The only problem with his friendships is that he didn’t know if they were who they said they were, Marshal taught him that it was easy to fake an identity.

---

Elizabeth Neil

She and Naomi had gone to headquarters, only deciding they would split up soon. Naomi knew Anthony would be in his office in the sixth floor, but Elizabeth was admittedly pretty confused as to where Marshal could be. She was going to follow her second best guess only because her first best guess wasn’t near headquarters.

Elizabeth dismissed herself from the elevator on the fourth floor, freezing for a moment outside the doors until someone put their hand on her shoulder. She turned back to face them, finding it was still Naomi with a smile on her face. “Thanks for hanging out with me.” Naomi pulled her hand away, letting the elevator doors close.

There was a feeling of nervousness that grew as she walked through the fourth floor, knowing she didn’t know exactly what to expect.

Going through the halls, she saw plenty of people that she used to know. They looked at her like she was a criminal, though they weren’t entirely wrong.

While she was walking and looking around, she ended up walking into someone ahead of her. She pulled back a few steps to see who she ran into and got ready to apologize when they looked to her.

A woman with dark brown hair turned around, seeming a little upset. “Proper etiquette is to apologize when you’re in the wrong.”

Elizabeth knew the woman from pictures, but she didn’t remember most of her time with her. She knew the face and the hair color all too well. She felt pressure building up in her chest as she took a few more steps back, keeping her vision focused on the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

The woman didn’t say anything back, making Elizabeth think she had just left. When she looked up, she found the woman was closer than she was before. “Look me in the eyes when you’re talking to me, do you understand?” She huffed in frustration. “I swear, none of you people are raised with an ounce of decency in you. You should be ashamed and your mother should be ashamed of how she raised you.”

Elizabeth looked to the ground once again, now fighting tears. “I don’t have a mother, I’m sorry.

Someone put their hands on Elizabeth’s shoulders, turning her the other way and pushing her along. She didn’t look up until they were in the elevator, tears streaming down her face. “Milo, why is she here?! She’s not supposed to be here!”

“The better question is why are you here? Are you seriously stupid enough to be in headquarters by yourself?” Milo looked slightly annoyed but Elizabeth couldn’t tell if that was his only defense now or if it was just how she was perceiving him. “Where did Marshal go?”

“I came here to look for him, what do you mean where did he go? You should know.” Elizabeth had put herself against the wall in an attempt to regain her control and calm down.

Milo’s look of annoyance was traded for one of concern. The elevator stopped on the lobby floor and Milo was the first to step out. “He’s not here so please leave before you get us both in trouble.”

Elizabeth regained herself before she cleared her throat and left the elevator, a feeling of embarrassment following her as she left headquarters.

Her search took her to a bar that was only open to workers of the organization. She was worried that her hunch would lead her here, only because she knew Marshal was supposed to be recovering.

She knew very well that everyone in the bunker had their flaws and some of them continued to indulge in their problems. Joseph was a violent man when the group first got together but he eased up after getting to know his new companions and trust them more. Eris was much more of a gossip than she was now. Lecia was less likely to take blame for what she did and often got aggressive in matters regarding Morgan.

Elizabeth and Milo didn’t find out about Marshal’s problem until he admitted it to them a few years back. They weren’t much help to the cause, but they eventually got Cyrus involved, only to find he knew exactly what he was doing.

Why he was the most helpful in recovery, Elizabeth still didn’t know. The two never had much of a personal relationship, only a professional one.

She decided to stop stalling and go into the bar. Not many people were there because it was a work day, but she quickly recognized most of the people there from the day before. She spotted Marshal, sighing as she walked to the bar with false confidence.

He looked at her, quickly spotting the look of disappointment on her face. “Why are you here?”

“I could ask you the same thing but I know you’re going to lie about it.” She turned her attention to the bartender who stood across the counter from them now, speaking before he could offer her a drink. “How much does he owe?”

The bartender looked around the bar, seeming to count glasses. “He’s been paying while he drank.” The bartender stopped looking, then redirected his eyes back to Elizabeth. “But I can tell you that his pockets are empty now.” He finished talking with a sleazy smirk before looking over Elizabeth again, his smirk not fading. “He can’t, but could I offer the lady a drink on the house?”

Elizabeth saw Marshal look up, seeming a bit annoyed with the bartender. Her false confidence hardly lasted her to the bar but now she had no show to put on. “No, I don’t drink.”

The bartender leaned on the counter, getting closer to her. “Why would you come to a bar if you had no intention of drinking?” He cupped his own hands, obviously prying. “Is it just to get a look at the pretty faces of rich men?” He motioned to Marshal. “If a broke man’s your taste then you must be pretty desperate.”

Marshal got out of his own seat, tapping Elizabeth on the shoulder. She figured it was him telling her that it was time to leave so she got out of her seat and started for the door. She only stopped when she realized that Marshal was still talking to the bartender. “I get it, you’re upset that you’ve been reduced to trying to pick up women in a bar that you work at, probably making less than I do and I’m supposedly broke. You do understand that the only reason your bar hasn’t been shut down is because it’s only serving organization workers, right? Put two and two together and realize that you, a bartender, have no right to criticize me or my wife for any reason.”

The bartender looked on as if he was being amused. He stayed leaning over the counter, though his eyes were now on Marshal. “I must have missed the law that gave you the right to treat me this way after I’ve served you. Say, do you treat her this way at home?”

Observing the situation a little bit more, Elizabeth realized that Marshal wasn’t drunk in the slightest bit, not even tipsy, he was normal for himself and he surely wasn’t acting like Steven, even though there wasn’t much of a difference. “Don’t reference her again, you’re talking to me, not her.”

She looked around the bar, noticing that not many people were batting an eye, making her believe that they weren’t paying attention because they didn’t want to be placed in a bar, knowing what prohibition laws stated. She shook her head before looking back to the situation, catching the bartender’s eyes again, immediately making her uneasy. “All you gotta do is say if he’s beating you, you don’t have to stay a victim.”

“I’m not a-” Before Elizabeth could defend anybody, Marshal ended up punching the bartender, obviously as hard as he could, sending him straight to the floor behind the counter with a loud thud as he hit the ground.

Marshal left the bar before Elizabeth, knowing she would follow behind. She eventually joined him on the sidewalk, panic all over her face. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Her voice was just as panicked as her face let off, if not more. “What happened to you? What’s going on? You’re acting like a completely different person.”

“I’m not acting like anything. We’ve never been put into that situation before so you have absolutely no idea what it would be like up until this point.” She had to admit, he was right about that. “And what’s wrong with me? That can’t be an actual question.” He stopped, Elizabeth stopping in front of him. “You can understand how he was treating you was wrong, right? I was talking with another man in there and I was the one to pay for his drinks, I didn’t drink anything, while we were talking the bartender was listening the whole time and when he decided to talk to us he was talking about how long it had been since he was with a woman. He was trying to use you by lying to you and insulting me until you saw his way.”

“Do I really seem that easy to you? What part of me seems like an idiot who would fall for any of it? What he said and what you’re telling me right now don’t correlate.”

Marshal rolled his eyes with a frustrated sigh. “Look at that, it doesn’t correlate because he was lying to you. If you don’t believe me then I’ll comply to whatever tedious activity you want to prove that I’m telling the truth. You went to the bar because you figured I would have relapsed, right? Did you even consider the fact that I know people in the city and I had plans to talk to someone?”

“No, I didn’t…” Elizabeth crossed her arms, accepting the fact that she was in the wrong. “Whatever, I’m sorry, okay? What did Alyssa say?”

Marshal started walking again, Elizabeth following him. “I can really tell that you’re sorry, I have to commend your attitude.” Elizabeth found it odd that Marshal could joke around after what he had just done but she wasn’t going to let it phase her. “Alyssa and Milo are going to meet us in front of the apartments.”

---

Milo Neil

The two were getting ready to leave the lobby when Milo stopped, his book still in hand. He waited until Alyssa faced him before he said anything. “I know I’m not supposed to ask you this, but can you take me to the fourth floor? It’s going to sound ridiculous, but I want to see my mother again.”

Alyssa glared at him with suspicion but faced him either way. “Why is that? You know she doesn’t know you anymore.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that I remember her and she’s the only family I have left.” Milo could feel pressure building up in his chest as he pleaded to Alyssa. “I need to see her again, please.”

Her suspicion changed to a look of pity as she checked her watch and started a walk to the far wall. “You’ve got five minutes to get up there and get back down here and you can’t tell anyone that I let you go.”

Milo took off to the elevator, heading up to the fourth floor immediately. He knew the layout of it fairly well, so he knew who was in what room. His search took him to an unmarked room that everyone knew belonged to his mother.

He knocked, waiting until she gave him permission to enter. When he went into the room, he was greeted by the smell of alcohol and a cold glare from his mother. “You again, what is it?”

Leah was never a drinker, she’d never smoked, and rarely swore in front of her children but now when Milo looked at her, he saw a different person. Regardless, he put on a brave face and held back the emotions inside him that made him feel like collapsing on the floor. “The stranger from the lobby again, yeah. You don’t remember me and that’s okay, I just wanted to tell you that you’re going to be so proud of Elizabeth one day for what she’s done.”

A frown crossed her face. “Who is Elizabeth?”

She had long since given up on trying to get Milo to tell her who he really was, considering he’d always given her the same answer. “You saw her today, your daughter but I won’t tell her you said that.”

She shook her head in response and pointed to the door behind Milo. “You know you’re not supposed to be here so get out.”

There were tons of things that Milo wanted to say to Leah, lots of things that he wanted to say to his father, but they were both long gone, one mentally and the other physically. He may have told Alyssa that Leah was all he had, but in truth Elizabeth was all he had and probably all he would ever have.

He left the room and stood outside the door for a moment, gathering himself once again before he went back to the lobby.

Alyssa looked at him with a bit of concern before she scrunched up her nose and regained her normal emotionless face. Milo knew the nose scrunching and the twitching she sometimes did was an effect of the chip and that whoever was watching saw something that they didn’t like and they delivered a shock to her.

They left headquarters and quickly crossed the street to the worker’s apartments where Marshal and Elizabeth, or as Alyssa knew them, Steven and Sara, were waiting for the two just as they had said they would.

Milo looked over the two for a moment, noticing Elizabeth still looked upset from their earlier encounter but she was trying to put it off. Marshal, however, didn’t seem upset in the way she did, but he seemed a bit irritated.

They started a walk, Alyssa starting a conversation before either of them could. “When are you guys planning to go back out there?”

“After dinner, actually.” Milo could tell that Elizabeth had a dramatic change in the two years based on her attitude in their conversation earlier and how she was acting now. He knew she was upset but that she wasn’t going to show it easily. One thing the Milo knew would stay the same is her choice in clothing. She wasn’t a fan of dresses because they lacked pockets, so it would take a lot to convince her to wear one.

Alyssa seemed to react with shock, which surprised Milo since nothing seemed to phase her often. “So soon? You guys must not like it here then.”

“I’d be lying if I said I adored it.” Elizabeth chuckled softly before putting her hands in her pockets. “As nice as it is here, you can’t really count on the junior agents out there. Most of them are very quick to react in a harsh manner, which will get us nowhere near what our goal is.”

They continued a walk to the diner, Elizabeth and Alyssa doing all of the talking. Milo couldn’t help but find a rift between himself and Marshal that wasn’t there earlier or the day before.

He could tell Elizabeth didn’t notice whatever change had occurred until after they all sat down at a table together, to which she finally acknowledged the silence of Milo and Marshal. She whispered to Marshal, but knew exactly why Milo was being quiet.

Milo and Marshal had known each other fairly well since they met so it was easy for him to tell that Marshal was annoyed with someone, but Milo didn’t know who it was. He didn’t think there was a problem with Alyssa or himself but he seemed to be okay with Elizabeth, which was what was confusing Milo the most.

Eventually Marshal put his arm around Elizabeth, finally breaking his silence. “You tire me out, you know that, right?”

She responded with a quick smirk. “I’ve been told that same statement many times.”

Alyssa and Marshal started talking with each other, Elizabeth seeming to zone out over the course of the meal.

They ate in peace, which threw Milo off but also confirmed his suspicion that they were following Marshal’s plan, giving him a little more hope in whatever it was.

On the walk back to the worker’s apartments, Milo noticed Elizabeth messing with her watch. He didn’t know if she purposely took Alyssa the way she did, but they were all following her at this point.

Elizabeth looked up from her watch and at the buildings around, looking for people or cameras. She then looked to Alyssa before giving off a kindhearted smile. “Forgive us for what we have to do.”

Before Alyssa could question her, Elizabeth rushed to cover her mouth. Marshal waited until she gave him the okay before he did anything and MIlo knew better than to get in the way.

It took Milo a minute to realize that they were forcing her chip off of her. Despite her pushing away, Marshal disconnected the chip and Elizabeth smashed it. Alyssa collapsed into Elizabeth’s arms the second the chip disconnected.

Elizabeth had Marshal pick Alyssa up before turning to Milo, a look of concern in her eye. “We need to go.”

---

Alyssa Kowalska

Alyssa had regained the feeling in her body before she was able to open her eyes.

Feeling a terrible headache, she wondered what all had happened the night before. She recalled having one drink, but knew that wasn’t enough for her to be feeling this way the next day.

She took a deep breath before opening her eyes. The room she was in was pitch black and cold, not like any room in her apartment or in headquarters. She knew she was in a bed but raised her hand to her neck, feeling gauze wrapped around it.

There was a moment of panic before the door opened and three people entered.

One of them turned on a lamp to allow the room some light before realizing Alyssa was awake. The people that had come into the room she already knew as Milo, Sara, and Steven.

“I’m very sorry we had to do that.” Sara spoke in a manner different from what Alyssa normally knew. “I want to introduce my real self. My name is Elizabeth Neil, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

’Finally meet? We’ve already met. Unless she means her “real self”’ Alyssa observed her for a moment before looking to the man next to her, once known as Steven. “And I assume you’re someone else as well?”

He nodded. “Yes, Marshal Kennedy.”

“I’ve heard about you both before.” Alyssa gave off a soft smile, trying her best not to panic as much as she wanted to. “Milo talked about you both a lot, in a good way, of course.” She directed her eyes to Marshal. “Your dad had a lot to say about you.” Alyssa looked over to Milo, noticing he was quieter than she would have expected. “Milo, you’re finally home now, right? This is your base?”

“I’m surprised you remember anything but we’ll talk about that later. It’s most of our base, there is someone around who isn’t normally here.” Elizabeth had her eyes fixed on the door for some reason unknown to Alyssa. “You’ll surely know him if you meet him, just don’t worry too much about what he says.”

“You shouldn’t worry about that right now, though, you should focus on getting better while you’re around.” Marshal spoke up, dropping Elizabeth’s topic and Alyssa’s from earlier. “You’re probably going to feel pretty bad for the next day to come, at least that’s what Elizabeth has said, but you’re going to get better.”

Milo gave a genuine smile to Alyssa when their eyes met. “They’re going to take care of you and I’m going to help since I kind of owe you.”

Elizabeth went to Alyssa’s bedside, crouching to get on eye-level with her. “It’s okay to be scared, confused, or even mad, but know that your talents are going to be put to use here more than they ever would have at the organization. You won’t be under any chip control and you don’t have to worry about impressing any superiors.” Alyssa felt like Elizabeth was getting a reading off of her while she was there but her words oddly calmed her a bit. “I remember you mentioned at the wedding that you don’t like liars, so we wanted to apologize to you for lying about who we were and tell you that from now on, we’ll be one hundred percent honest with you.”

She couldn’t help but be taken aback by the entire situation she was in. She knew fully well that it would take her some time to get used to it and understand what exactly she went through at the organization with the few memories of it she had remaining, but she had the feeling that the three people in the room would support her through it and try to help her as well. “How do you know the Organization won’t find us?”

“I blocked the transmission from your chip pretty early into the evening and even did it again after dinner just to make sure we were in the clear before we disconnected you and broke it. We checked Milo for any chips when we got back and found nothing, surprisingly.”

Alyssa looked to Marshal, Elizabeth still at her bedside. “What can you say about the safety of this place?”

“Elizabeth’s in charge of security and she puts her all into it. Ask anyone else and they’ll call her a workaholic, but I can tell you she’s just working to get it over with now so she doesn’t have to do it later. We’re in a pretty safe place and the location is currently unknown to the organization and far beyond planned expansions.”

Alyssa closed her eyes, trying to ease her headache. “There was a man that went missing recently. Ethan Rikard, was it? Is he here?”

“He is and he’s actually offered to help you get used to this place since we know this place better than anything and sometimes we can get ahead of ourselves.” Elizabeth’s voice sounded farther away than she was before but Alyssa didn’t want to open her eyes, knowing the light would only further spur her headache.

“Unless you need anything right now, we want to let you reset. You won’t be able to tell, but it’s very late in the night and it seems that something’s really irritating you right now.” Marshal spoke soon after Elizabeth, having the same distance as before. “There’s a glass of water on your nightstand if you need it. Oh, and something else that we’ve been told you might like to have back.”

Alyssa heard the door on the other side of the room open and the switch on the lamp click, she figured the three were on their way out and the lights were off. “Thank you all.”

2.8

It was during lunch that Cyrus saw Marshal or Elizabeth again, though he’d neglected to explain a thing to anybody. He was quick to notice the concerned looks he’d been getting from Lecia and Marshal after he managed to startle them earlier in the day.

After lunch, most of the group went their separate ways but Marshal and Lecia remained in the dining room with Cyrus, both looking ready for answers. “Listen, guys, I didn’t mean to get you guys worked up because I couldn’t find someone.”

“That doesn’t matter, why were you so freaked out this morning?” Lecia was the first to respond, seeming like she was actually concerned about him.

Marshal didn’t speak but Cyrus could tell he was interested in what managed to set Cyrus of all people off. “Alright, but this stays with you two. Yesterday was a strange day and I had some things to handle when I woke up today, just like everybody else. I needed to talk to Elizabeth and when I went into the lab, she and Milo…” He got chills by even talking about it. “They were dead. Everyone was, except for Eris, Alyssa, and Ethan and even then, they were missing. It felt so real until Morgan showed up. She said she did it all and that everyone who died because they had done something wrong.” Cyrus quickly reminded himself of what else Morgan had said. “Marshal, I’d recommend being cautious if I were you. She said you got a particularly bad fate and two children.”

He could tell his wording just barely made enough sense based on the look of confusion he got back from Marshal. Lecia now looked as if she was in shock. “You don’t believe that she would try to hurt the group if she’s ever found, do you?”

“There’s no if but when she’s found, I don’t think she’d try to hurt anyone or even be capable of it.” Despite looking like he was about to faint, Marshal chose to ease Lecia’s worries before his own.

Cyrus knew exactly why Marshal originally wanted nothing to do with Elizabeth or children and that was because of Kyle. It was normal for a father to leave a lasting impression on his son, but it wasn’t difficult to see that Kyle left an awful one. He also knew that the idea of children was what was bothering Marshal right now. “I think he’s right. It was just a dream. There’s no way Morgan would be physically able to overtake any of us.”

Milo had done the dishes for Lecia when she mentioned she wanted to talk to Cyrus, though Cyrus was grateful when he returned because he knew Milo would talk to Marshal and he could talk to Elizabeth about the day before. All he had to do was sneak by Pierre, Joseph, and Eris without gaining acknowledgement from any of them.

Cyrus waited until Milo, Marshal, and Lecia were each talking before he left the dining room, trying to think of a way to the lab that would avoid the common room, coming up with nothing.

He realized he’d failed to a certain level when Pierre waved to him, which was relatively passive considering Pierre’s latest statement. Thinking back, it was actually Pierre showing kindness before he left.

When he reached the lab, Cyrus let himself in. Even though he knew it was a nightmare that he’d had the night before, he felt relieved seeing Elizabeth and the lab in one piece. “Do you have some free time?” She didn’t face him, but nodded. “Good. I wanted to talk to you about Filip, it’s extremely important.”

She pushed her chair out and turned to face him, giving him all of her attention. “I can’t really do anything about that, but go ahead.”

He figured that her response had something to do with her contract with Pierre, but he wasn’t going to question it right now. “Filip knows that he was a member of the organization and he’s furious with you. He seems like he’s going off the edge now that he knows and I’m worried he’s going to do something to hurt himself, you, or the group in a whole. We’re lucky he didn’t tell Pierre yesterday.”

Cyrus could tell there was something wrong with Elizabeth by the fact that she smiled in response to everything he had just said. He knew that if he told Elizabeth before she had gone to the city, she would have lost her mind. “It’s already in the records that were sent to Pierre, so he already knows. Don’t worry, though, there’s nothing he can do to hurt me that I can’t do right back.”

Looking to the far wall, Cyrus saw the wires that had been used to kill Elizabeth in the nightmare. “Is that so?” He walked to the far wall, taking the wires in his hand and pulling as hard as he could. “How do you know your own equipment won’t be used against you?”

After pulling for a bit, Cyrus realized the wires weren’t coming loose any time soon because of a metal plate welded to the wall. He turned back to see a smirk on Elizabeth’s face. “You, Marshal, and Milo are super weird. Milo had an issue with those wires years ago and freaked out about them but never got the chance to do anything about it. Marshal only recently helped me out with getting the wires themselves out of the way.”

“I had no idea Marshal knew how to weld, but at least somebody here can.”

Cyrus looked to the monitors, noticing a graph on one of them. Elizabeth’s eyes must have followed because she seemed to grow more serious. She rose from her chair, standing next to Cyrus. They looked over the statistics from previous years that had been recorded. The only place the line seemed to be going was down. “We're not in this for the long run and we're lucky to have held on this long. The Organization knows too much about the people involved with the group so they know who to expect. They don't know about you and that's all we have going for us.”

Cyrus could already tell that she had an idea but was waiting for the right time to admit it. “What are you thinking?”

“I want to send you, Filip, and Marshal back into the city. There’s some valuable information that was left behind in Alyssa’s apartment and we might be able to get closer to our goal if we can recover it before the organization does, which isn’t a very long time from now.” She turned to face him now. “If you guys are going to do this then you need to act quickly.”

“Have you talked to Marshal or Filip about this?”

She looked away, making it clear that she hadn’t talked to anyone about it. “Not really, I wasn’t thinking about it until now.”

He actually had no idea if she was in her right mind. He was still left in the dark about what happened the day before because he never talked to Marshal about it. “Elizabeth, what happened yesterday? You weren’t acting normal and you’re still not acting normal.”

“Nothing happened, I just needed a break.” She froze, looking to the ground before she sighed. “Okay, it was more than a break. I kind of lost it after Pierre mentioned our contract, expected to be called a traitor, and left before that could happen.”

He crossed his arms, obviously not buying what she was saying. “Kind of lost it? When I came into the lab you were at your worst. You were crying to the one person who is the least in touch with his own emotions and then you just disappear for the entire night without a second word. Why were you upset?”

“I wasn’t.” She seemed to grow nervous and look around the room for an excuse to change the topic. “Who said Marshal is out of touch with his emotions? That’s just insulting.”

“To be fair, you’re both extremely out of touch with your emotions. He’s under expressive and you’re too expressive, how’s that for insulting?”

“It’s surely not nice.” She seemed to pour for a moment before she regained her usual smile. “When Milo first went missing, I was vulnerable and stupid and I made a bad choice. The consequences of that bad choice was a series of bad choices that put me where I am right now.”

Cyrus rolled his eyes, knowing her game all too well at this point. “Could you be any more vague?”

“Of course I can, but I’ll take that as a hint that I need to be more in detail.” Cyrus nodded. “After I spent two weeks out there looking for Milo and Morgan, I felt weak, like everything that had happened up until that point was my fault. I didn’t really know if anybody could understand because Milo was as hostile to some people as he was so I went to Marshal. He was having a tough time with it and neither of us knew what to do at that point, we spent some time together and we talked it through and we somehow ended up together that night, I’m not really sure, it’s been some time.”

While Elizabeth’s face continued to grow red, Cyrus knew at this point he could only try to talk her through it. He had no idea what they had talked about the night before and with how vague she tried to be, there was a limited number of answers he could get. “Whatever happened was two years ago, why are you still letting it mess with you?”

“It wasn’t affecting me until we were in the city but even then, I think I’m just confused.”

“That’s your problem, Elizabeth. You don’t understand any emotions other than the basics because you weren’t allowed to express yourself growing up, you had to work all the time and if you weren’t working then you were wasting time.” He paused. “I don’t think anyone in this bunker has proper control over their emotions, you’re just a little on the extreme.”

“Like usual.” She sighed, putting her hands in her pockets. “Now that Milo’s back, there’s no reason for Marshal and I to even talk.”

“Aren’t you still having to sleep in his bed because of Joseph’s little law?”

Elizabeth chuckled, finally cracking a smile. “Yeah, I do.” She looked up for the first time during their conversation, the small smile she had remaining. “I’m going to guess he already told you what happened in the city, didn’t he?”

“He told me tons of things when you guys came back so it’s very possible he did, it just depends on what you’re willing to pay to find out.” Cyrus could tell she actually wanted to know what was talked about, but he wasn’t so sure he could reveal all of it. “I know what happened in the city, the story behind the ring, and what happened two years ago. I’m sure you’ve got some work to do so I’ll leave you with a little piece of information. You’re not the only one who’s missing what you and Marshal had.”

She seemed to be thrown off but nodded, heading to the door. “I see… I have somewhere to be, but I enjoyed our talk.”

The two left the lab, going their separate ways. Cyrus went to the common room where Eris sat on her own, Pierre and Joseph having left, though it also told him that Lecia was still with Milo and Marshal.

She acknowledged him with her usual welcoming smile and a sigh, closing her book as he approached her. “It’s been a while since we’ve talked, which is kind of surprising considering the close quarters we’re required to live in. How’ve you been?”

“The same as usual, thankfully.” Cyrus knew exactly what she meant by that, but it also reminded him that he needed to talk to Alyssa sometime. Eris’ condition had been worsening in recent months to the point where the ‘same as usual’ was surprising, but extremely welcome for anyone. “How about yourself, stranger?”

“As busy as ever. You know, prior to Pierre mentioning our lack of progress, I actually thought we were making a lot of progress and actually getting somewhere closer to our goal.” Eris was normally the one Cyrus would vent his frustrations to. He knew Joseph wouldn’t really care to listen, he never told Marshal and Elizabeth a lot of things because their reactions varied heavily, he was never particularly close to Lecia, there were some things he couldn’t tell Filip or Milo, and he hardly knew if he could trust Ethan or Alyssa yet, that only left Eris.

“I think Pierre was exaggerating a bit at the meeting, don’t you agree? If we were really in danger then we would know and we wouldn’t have gotten new members.” Eris seemed to be contemplating on if she should continue or drop it. “Elizabeth has a disaster plan set up for if we’re ever in more danger than we can fight off and she monitors all of that by herself. I’ve been told that if something were to happen outside of the bunker, the system would send itself into lockdown.”

Eris normally took Elizabeth’s side just because she felt Elizabeth’s actions were hardly defended, but Cyrus could tell that this time she was defending her because she believed in her and the system she had set up. “Do you know what the lockdown function does?”

She shook her head, looking towards the lab. “No, but she’s mentioned that if a lockdown ever seemed imminent then we’d be in serious trouble but we’d be more likely to leave before it happened.” Eris shrugged. “It’s extremely confusing to me and she’s not the best at explaining things so that gives us a double negative. You could probably check into the files at the lab for details on it.”

“The plain sight rule.” Cyrus groaned. “I think there’s more likely to be a lockdown than to find details on one with the mess she has.”

“You could have the program sort through the files for you.”

The two couldn’t help but laugh before Cyrus answered. “Considering that program has the ability to end lives, I’m going to make the justified decision of not touching it.”

Eris smiled before reopening her book. “I don’t blame you.”

Before Cyrus could leave the common room, most of the group rejoined. Ethan had been showing Alyssa around and they eventually ended up in the common room, with Joseph coming back to spend time with Eris. Cyrus couldn’t help but be concerned that Filip was the only one that hadn’t been seen that entire day, but he knew he needed to stay alert while Joseph was around the new people.

Eris welcomed Alyssa just as she had welcomed everyone before her and then went back to her book. Alyssa herself looked to be scanning the whole area, not leaving any area unseen. “This place is really fortified, definitely beyond expectations.”

Ethan chuckled, looking around the room and then nodding. “That’s the work of the entire group. From what I’ve been told, the scouts worked on getting this place as secure as they could before they handed it off to Elizabeth. What you have here is the final product.”

Cyrus looked over to Joseph, noticing a spark in his eyes. They had both noticed the same thing, but Joseph was going to be the one to say something. “Ethan, what do you know about Final Product Four?”

“Final what?” Ethan seemed legitimately confused, which many people were when confronted with a question about Final Product Four because nobody knew anything major about it. “I don’t know anything about that.”

Joseph stood, walking away from Eris and closer to Ethan and Alyssa. “Is there anything to prove that?”

Cyrus could see Ethan grow a bit nervous but remain in place while Alyssa took a few steps back. “There’s nothing to prove that because I don’t know anything about it.” Ethan looked over to Cyrus, as if to ask for help. “What is he talking about?”

“Final Product Four is something Elizabeth made that she’s particularly secretive of.” Cyrus knew better than to approach Joseph right now.

Eris left the room, heading towards the kitchen. While paying attention to his surroundings, Ethan now stood face to face with Joseph, who looked just about ready to handle Ethan himself until someone pushed Joseph back, putting herself between the two. “That’s enough.”

While Joseph seemed shocked for a slight second, he didn’t step away. “You have no right to order anyone in this bunker around, it’ll only make us more wary of you.”

Alyssa now had no choice but to face Joseph and she had no intention of backing down. “But you have the right to throw accusations around? He said he didn’t know about it time and time again before Cyrus said Final Product Four was a secret. The point of a secret is that not everyone knows the details of it.”

“Can we take a moment to calm down? I’m worried somebody’s about to get hurt and it’s not going to be Alyssa or Ethan.” A voice drew their attention to the hallway that connected the common room to the kitchen. Eris had gone to get somebody to help and now that help had a gun drawn on her husband. “Joseph, you already know I’m not going to pull the trigger but don’t abuse that knowledge, please just back up.”

Ethan looked to who Eris brought while Alyssa kept her eyes on Joseph. “Every action you do convinces me less and less that you’re considered the smartest person here.”

“Unnecessarily rude, but this is actually a loophole.” Elizabeth cleared her throat before looking to Joseph again. “I’m not going to tell you to back up again, Joseph, don’t make me do it.”

Joseph took a few steps back, obviously livid, before turning to Elizabeth. “How is pulling a gun on somebody a loophole?”

Elizabeth pointed the gun to the ground before passing it back to the owner, who would turn out to be Marshal, then entered the room with Milo, Marshal, Eris, and Lecia. “It’s a loophole because according to my contract with Pierre, I’m not allowed to intervene with something unless it’s really bad. You don’t assume something is really bad unless a gun is involved, but it never said who had to be holding the gun.”

Alyssa stepped away to give Ethan some space before she thought about what Elizabeth said. “Do you even know how to shoot?” Elizabeth shook her head in response, making Alyssa speak before she could. “You’re lucky you didn’t have to use it then, it would have broken your arm.”

Cyrus could tell Alyssa was trying to draw attention away from the previous situation and she needed help to do it. “She’s got a point, though I’m glad we’ll have a way to know if you turn out to be a culprit.”

Elizabeth scoffed, catching onto their plan pretty quick. “Am I still considered a culprit if there’s a hit-man involved?”

Eris quickly looked to Marshal and Milo, seemingly unaware that Elizabeth was joking. “She’ll still be the culprit but please don’t carry out killing orders, it’ll only make you both culprits as well.”

Marshal looked to Elizabeth, then shrugged. “Sorry, she’s got more authority than you do, don’t come to me with any hits.”

“That’s fine, you traitors.” While Elizabeth was trying to keep busy, Cyrus could tell she was still a little nervous by the look in her eyes. He was watching as her smile turned to a frown and her nervousness was replaced by pure anger.

Cyrus had to look around to find out what made her angry, but he didn’t have to look long until he found out that a Filip decided to make an appearance.

The room went silent until Elizabeth feigned a smile as if to excuse herself from the group, then grabbed Filip’s arm, leading him towards the lab.

Alyssa looked over the group, noticing nobody seemed shocked besides Ethan and herself. She ultimately decided not to say anything about it, excusing herself from the group, Ethan going with her.

One by one, the rest of the group had resumed their previous activities.

Cyrus stopped Marshal before he went anywhere, having a few different topics for him. “Did Elizabeth talk to you about her latest plan?”

He nodded. “She came around while Milo and I were talking with Lecia. Lecia suggested it might be better to take Milo with us because of how Filip’s been acting lately. I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you have any idea what’s wrong with him?”

“I do, but I think it’s best we don’t talk about it here, I’ll tell you whenever I can.”

“I was supposed to talk to Milo yesterday, but I haven’t been able to get him alone and I really don’t feel like telling the entire group.” Marshal glances Milo’s direction, then looked back to Cyrus. “I should probably do that while he’s free.”

Cyrus looked over the remaining members of the group, looking Lecia’s direction just in time to see a look of panic rise in her eyes. She looked around before seeing Cyrus was already looking at her. She pointed down the hall in a panic and mouthed the words. ‘Go quickly, do not alert the others.’

He moved as quick as he could, making no attempt at stirring up trouble with the group. Once he turned down the hall, he saw the problem and completely understood why Lecia said not to alert the rest of the group.

Filip wasn’t taking well to whatever Elizabeth had said to him and he was done listening to reason, while she had nothing but reason.

Cyrus left the hallway with Lecia following closely behind.

Just one look at Filip could show that he was furious, but one look at Elizabeth would tell that Filip had the upper hand. Her face was red with embarrassment, his was red with anger.

Filip knew he had the upper hand and he was using it to his advantage, backing Elizabeth into the wall. Cyrus could only wonder what he did to earn the upper hand, considering she seemed pretty upset earlier.

Cyrus looked around, noticing a nightstand had been broken and one of the legs taken off of it. The leg couldn’t be seen anywhere, which made Cyrus believe that Filip had it and that was how he gained the upper hand.

With every step closer to Elizabeth Filip took, Cyrus took two closer to him, trying to remain quiet and not get hit with the leg of the nightstand.

When he got close enough, he realized that Elizabeth had already been hit. Cyrus turned back to Filip, grabbing him from behind and pulling him away while trying to avoid getting hit himself.

“Lecia, grab one of his arms and hold on. He won’t hit you, it’s me he’s mad at.” Elizabeth waited until Lecia took her order before she did anything. She froze with some minor shaking, until Cyrus stopped moving, grabbing Filip’s right arm while Lecia had his left. “You had a choice, Filip, and you chose to abuse my trust and try to blackmail me.” Cyrus noticed Elizabeth’s grip was tight enough to cut off feeling to Filip’s arm, but he didn’t know why until he noticed Elizabeth had a syringe that she was going to use on Filip. She administered the shot before letting go of his arm and looking up at him. “I would have gladly talked to you about it and I tried to, but you pushed my patience for far too long.”

Lecia let go of Filip’s other arm and pulled out a chair behind Cyrus, letting him set Filip down. Cyrus took the nightstand leg before he collected the rest of the nightstand to hide from the rest of the group. It was bad enough that Lecia knew now.

Cyrus left the room, Lecia and Elizabeth looking over a now unconscious Filip. “What do you give him?”

“Nothing he hasn’t had before. He won’t remember the past two days, but I will.” Elizabeth seemed spiteful with her tone.

Lecia looked over Elizabeth before she called her attention to a cut on her left cheek. “You need to go see Alyssa.”

“It’ll only be a bruise, it’s fine.” Elizabeth had a high pain tolerance, unlike Milo, so most times she couldn’t even tell she’d been hurt.

“Elizabeth, you’re bleeding, that’s more than a bruise already.” Lecia took a step closer, lifting Elizabeth’s chin to see the cut better. “It’s pretty deep too. If you don’t go find Alyssa, I’ll have to find her myself.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms, looking away from Lecia. “It’s not important, I need to get back to work to fix the damage he caused.”

“I don’t understand you. You’ve changed since Morgan disappeared, but you’re on the same self destructive path. You seemed pretty happy earlier while we were talking with Milo and Marshal and I can understand that getting hit by anything would ruin a person’s day, but most people wouldn’t hesitate to get checked up on after being hit, especially when it’s bleeding.” Lecia went to the kitchen, grabbing a washcloth and dousing it in water before returning to Elizabeth. “It looks like we’re going to have to do this my way.”

Lecia covered the cut with the cloth and started walking, expecting Elizabeth to follow until she noticed the lack of balance Elizabeth had. She fixed it by holding the cloth with one hand and holding onto Elizabeth’s waist with her other hand, having visible trouble holding her up.

When they went through the common room, Lecia noticed all of the conversation stopped. “Milo, I need you to go in the dining room and watch over Filip. Marshal, pick Elizabeth up before she falls.” The two took their orders and Lecia now led Marshal through the halls. “There has to be more than one cut.”

“It’s possible, but you know how when Milo gets a cut it’s no big deal, right? That’s because he bleeds pretty lightly, she’s the complete opposite. That being said, I’d recommend putting more pressure on the cloth.”

Lecia put more pressure on it, which clearly bothered Elizabeth even though she looked completely out of her own head at this point. “Do you know where Alyssa went?”

“I’m thinking she went back to her room, but I have no idea.”

Lecia ran ahead, knocking on Alyssa’s door before going back down the hall. “She can’t do anything without supplies, so I need to go get the kit, just stay with her.”

As Lecia turned the corner, Alyssa looked around the doorframe, her eyes widening as she rushed over. “What happened?” She ushered Marshal into the room, shutting the door behind them. “Put her down, I’ll see what I can do.”

He put Elizabeth down and backed away, letting Alyssa look around the cut. “Lecia is getting you some supplies to work with. She knows what happened, so please just wait until she gets here.”

Alyssa shook her head, looking a little frustrated. “I can’t wait until she gets here, I don’t have the time to wait.” Alyssa took the cloth, wiping some blood away before it was quickly replaced with more blood. “I think that proves my point, I need you to go get her now.” Marshal left, leaving Alyssa with Elizabeth, who was barely conscious and looked like she was about to start a mindless tantrum at any minute. “Elizabeth, can you hear me?” She nodded. “What happened?”

“Can’t say.”

Alyssa looked around the room for something to use before Marshal and Lecia returned, both of them looking nervous. “There’s another cut.”

Lecia handed Alyssa a box before stepping to the side. “Where’s the other cut?”

Alyssa only noticed some blood gathered on Marshal’s shirt when he got closer. He lifted the left side of Elizabeth’s shirt exposing a deeper wound that couldn’t even be classified as cut. “How did nobody notice this until now?”

“She didn’t notice because she has a huge tolerance to pain, Lecia didn’t notice because there was no blood gathering on her stomach but on her side, and I didn’t notice because her left side was facing my body.” Marshal was quick to defend those involved, knowing there would be trouble if nobody gave an actual reason.

Alyssa looked over Elizabeth, noticing her skin had gone pale and had turned cold, despite her sweating. “Lecia, keep pressure on her cheek, I need to fix this right now.” Lecia moved to hold the washcloth on Elizabeth’s cheek again while Alyssa started to dig through the box, pulling out a needle and surgical thread, as well as some other supplies. “Marshal, you need to keep her calm. There’s nothing I can use to numb her and she can’t move an inch or it’s going to risk everything.”

There was a knock at the door while Alyssa was threading the needle, leaving her unresponsive to the door. The person let themselves in, that person being Cyrus. “Milo’s still watching Filip.” He looked to Alyssa while trying to keep himself from looking at Elizabeth. “Do you have a plan?”

“I did until we found the real problem, but I’ll have a plan once we all get situated. Can I ask why you’re here?” Alyssa kept her eyes focused on her current task of threading the needle, tying the end of it.

“To keep Joseph from being here. You’re supposed to have someone with some authority here, which is either Joseph, Elizabeth, or myself and I hate to say it, but Elizabeth isn’t really in the condition to monitor right now.”

Alyssa hushed the room, putting a pair of gloves on and taking a deep breath. This had to be done and it had to be done fast.

2.10

The bunker had been oddly quiet that night. Joseph had been told that Cyrus and Marshal took Milo back into the city for reasons unknown but that Filip had stayed behind. His main concern was with Alyssa and Ethan.

No matter what he had to do for his position, he couldn’t help but feel pity for the two. Alyssa was dragged into the Voyagers with no explanation and Ethan had no idea what he was getting himself into.

The state of the Voyagers had slowly been declining and even the most faithful of the group showing doubts in their current situation, Cyrus himself once suggesting those who could return to the city should do it while they still had the chance. Even though nobody took the offer, it only dragged the group’s integrity further down.

It had been hours since the three left and due to Pierre’s latest rule, Joseph had to stay up and wait for them. The night seemed to be going by fairly slowly until he realized Lecia had been going back and forth between the common room and the rooms.

Growing suspicious, Joseph followed her to find out where and what she was doing. She went into Alyssa’s room, which only raised his suspicions.

The last time Lecia left Alyssa’s room, she carried a bundle of blankets with her, completely ignoring Joseph as she walked. Lecia normally walked with no reason, just for entertainment, but now she was walking with a purpose and a sense of urgency.

Joseph knocked on Alyssa’s door after Lecia disappeared for the last time, getting a response very quickly.

Alyssa looked hopeful when she first opened the door but her hopes were replaced with a look of fear and guilt once she realized who it was. “I’m not here to get you in trouble, I want to know if everything’s alright.”

She shook her head, knowing better than to lie. “Not in the slightest. I need help.”

Alyssa opened the door further, allowing Joseph into the room. He entered to see Alyssa’s bed lacked any covering and the reason behind that. “What happened in here?”

“She got hurt earlier and I… was told to help her and I tried to, I did my best. She’s not doing good at all but she’s not dead yet and that’s what matters.” She paused, looking over Elizabeth for a moment. “Marshal mentioned that the lab might have some medical supplies that can help her and I need to know if that’s true or not.”

Joseph felt a brush of cold air hit him as he looked at Elizabeth. She deserved better but she earned the condition she was in right now. He shook his head and turned back out the door, Alyssa following after him. “There’s various supplies in the lab that were meant to help Eris’ treatment that never really worked out.” She looked like she wanted to know more but didn’t ask, likely out of respect. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“No, not really. Nobody knows the full story behind it and she fell out of it before we could even talk.” Alyssa seemed a little frustrated now. “All I was told is that she was stabbed. I don’t know with what or by who, just that it happened.”

The two entered the lab, Alyssa quickly taking to going through the contents of it. Joseph let his eyes look to one of the monitors that showed the vitals of the scouts and Elizabeth herself, it only made him worry more to see her status compared to the others. “Who brought her to you? Last I saw, she went to the kitchen, so how did she end up in your room?”

“Lecia and Marshal had her. I really don’t know who would want to hurt her because I was under the impression that you guys got along most of the time.” She shook her head, a look of disgust on her face. “It’s cruel to want to harm somebody else so badly that when you actually get the chance to, you try to kill them.”

“So you think they tried to kill her?”

“It’s obvious they did. Just looking over her, it’s clear she wasn’t supposed to be stabbed through her side and she wasn’t meant to live.” Despite speaking clearly and staying focused, Alyssa was continuing to look through every part of the lab. “Don’t ask me if that’s a good thing or not because I’m not really sure.”

Joseph started looking through cabinets that were against the far wall, hoping to find something of use. “All life is good, it’s the intentions that can be bad. Elizabeth has always been a rather difficult person to get along with because she’s so used to keeping secrets that she doesn’t know the difference of something that can be told and something that has to stay hidden so she keeps it all under wraps in hopes of doing something right. Her intentions are good but she’s a mess.”

“I agree, life is something that should be taken care of and respected by all, but it gets difficult to understand and care for the people who don’t let you know what’s going on. Now, I’m not saying she deserved what happened to her, I’m saying someone might have gotten the wrong impression and held onto their spite for too long and decided that if Elizabeth wasn’t around then there would be no secrets, so they tried to kill her.”

As much as Joseph disliked the idea of his people being against each other, he had to admit that what Alyssa was saying was extremely possible and probably the most likely. “She’s going to have to report it to Pierre unless we can find a loophole.”

“Isn’t a loophole the same as lying?” Alyssa sounded concerned with the idea.

“Nope. It’s not lying if there’s no rule explicitly telling you not to. Exploiting a loophole is difficult with Pierre because he likes to think of every single possibility, but I’m certain I’ll be able to find a way.”

Alyssa knew Joseph wasn’t looking for a loophole to protect Elizabeth, he was looking for a loophole to protect the entire group.

She found some of the tools she was looking for, quickly leading Joseph back to the room. The condition of the tools wasn’t ideal, but it would have to work. “I need you to help me move her to Marshal’s room.”

“Why his room?” Joseph knew it would be better to follow orders without questions but he wanted a reason as to why he’d have to go into somebody else’s room if Elizabeth was hardly in a stable condition in Alyssa’s room. “What would a change of scenery accomplish?”

“I need to get her set up on what I have. It won’t accomplish anything but some comfort in her case.” Once they reached her room, Alyssa checked up on Elizabeth once again, seeming less hopeful than before. “She’s used to his room and her stuff is in there as well, so I think it would be better for her to be in a place where she’s at ease.” She started putting what she had in a bag, obviously in a rush. “It’s possible that she’ll go into shock and it’ll be too late to move her once that happens, but I’ll be better equipped to handle shock in his room since I don’t really have anything to cover her with in here.”

“What are her chances of survival from this moment on?”

Alyssa looked as if she had been waiting for that question but she didn’t want to deliver the answer. “Extremely low, even with help. I’m eventually going to be faced with a choice to continue trying to help her or just let her go, I already know that, but that’s a choice I can’t make alone so the best I can do is keep her alive until Milo gets back. If she is to die in between now and Milo’s return, at least she’ll be in a familiar place.”

Alyssa looked upset with her own diagnosis and at this point, Joseph couldn’t blame her. He took a quick moment to think, heading towards the door. “Keep getting your stuff together, I need to get a key to let you in.”

---

Kyle Kennedy

Kyle pulled his gun out, taking aim at the intruder. “Drop what you have in your hands, stand up, and slowly turn around.”

The intruder seemed to sigh, putting their hands in the air. As they turned around, they quickly reached for their own gun, drawing it on Kyle. “That’s not how it’s going to work.”

“Who are you to say how this is going to play out?” Kyle looked over the man, feeling like he’d seen him before.

“Someone who watched you murder your own wife. You might have meant to kill her or you might have meant to kill me, but it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

Only three people were around when Dawn was shot. Dawn herself, Marshal, and the Voyager that took him. Marshal was among those presumed dead, missing for years without a trace. “How do you know my wife?”

The intruder scoffed. “You were hardly a husband.”

Kyle took a few steps forward, knowing he couldn’t shoot the intruder because they were likely to be a Voyager. “You talk like you know me, who are you?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to remember me anyways. You were barely a husband but you were no father, especially no father of mine.” The intruder lowered his gun, but refused to holster it. “It’s kind of strange that nearly all of my advice in life came from a waitress in some way or another, I cannot remember a single piece of advice you’ve given me and it’s crazy considering we lived in the same house for fourteen years. You put everything else before your wife and son and because of that you got left alone. It’s terrifying being on your own, isn’t it? I’ve known the feeling for far too long. Sure, you made mistakes and mom would take your side whenever she could because you still meant so much to her, but I’m not willing to look past your mistakes because they extend as far as murdering your wife instead of something so simple like oh, I don’t know, counseling? You sure needed it.”

The man was his son and he surely wasn’t happy to see him. “I didn’t kill her.”

“That’s what they all say. Besides, there’s no proof you didn’t do it. You were tasked with taking her out because she was openly against what you did with the Onyx Organization and like every other worker who has lost any ounce of self respect they might have had, you did it. Does that sound right?” He didn’t let Kyle answer. “I can tell you one thing that you’re not going to remember, you have set yourself up for the worst punishment possible and I won’t give up until you get it.”

“Your pride is still keeping you from seeing the truth.” Kyle realized his hand was shaking, but he knew it was because he had come to the certainty that he was aiming a gun at his own child. Marshal might have come to despise every part of Kyle, but Kyle couldn’t bring himself to hate his own son. He sighed, lowering his gun. “I’m not going to fight with you. Not anymore. Get out of here.”

Marshal holstered his own gun, looking at his watch which had started ringing, before reaching back into the box he had been looking through, pulling out a booklet that Kyle was supposed to get from the apartment. While he seemed sad after looking the watch, his tone was still as direct as possible. “Let’s be clear.” He faced Kyle after taking the booklet, then holding it in the air. “I am going to take this and you are not going to get involved.” He walked away from Kyle before giving him the chance to say anything back. He stopped in the hallway, calling for someone’s attention. “We’ve got company and by the rules, I’m not allowed to handle it because of a bias, so do what you want with him, it doesn’t matter to me.”

‘It doesn’t matter to me.’ Huh. Kyle knew there would be extreme trouble once his chip got reviewed the next day, but for now all he could think of was what he had done wrong. He was never there for his son and because of that, his wife was dead and his son couldn’t even stand to look at him, at least that’s what it seemed like. ‘You bring a kid into the world and this is how he treats you.’

While Kyle was thinking about the encounter, another man came into the room. Marshal seemed mad earlier, but this man looked sad, if anything.

Milo followed behind the man, gaining a sadder look than the man before. “Kyle, what did you do?”

He shrugged, ignoring the man he didn’t know. “Raised a kid to the best of my ability and nearly had a shootout with that same kid, the usual of parenthood.”

Milo shook his head, a small look of anger rising in his eyes as he left the doorway, leaving the apartment.

The other man remained, looking more disappointed than sad. “I’m not sorry that you had to deal with either of them because you brought on some complex feelings in your son.” The man crossed his arms. “I hate to defend him, but he had no interest in making mere acquaintances with most people in our base, he’s shown no interest in a relationship until this year, but he wants nothing to do with her because of your actions. He’s afraid of ending up like you so he’s cutting people out of his life.”

“I messed up, I get it, but I won’t be lectured by someone I don’t know. If you’re under the same rule that he is then it sounds like none of you can deal with me because you all have the same bias.” He knew he had to defend himself. “You people are just like each other, reckless, unruly, and ignorant in nearly all matters. You follow the word of VE without a second thought. Marshal and Milo haven’t returned, how do you know this isn’t a trap and your buddies haven’t been caught?”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose before sighing. “First, VE isn’t why we’re here and they’re surely no leader of ours. Second, I know this isn’t a trap because you’re at a disadvantage and I know that even though Marshal couldn’t care less about you, you don’t want him to get hurt and you know that he could be killed by the organization or by me.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes, stop talking now because I have the decision on what to do with you.”

Cyrus figured that Kyle would stop talking after that, but he kept going. “Who is VE?”

He also knew that no matter what he chose, Kyle at least deserved to know the person who unintentionally set him up. “You were familiar with her, why are you asking me?”

“Why did you use a past tense?” Kyle looked confused and a little scared, which told Cyrus that he was getting his way.

“Because she’s dead. Is it really that difficult for you to understand? VE is dead at the hands of another Voyager, not the Onyx Organization. It’s a shame the organization couldn’t catch the one person they needed for answers.”

“How many of you are there?”

“There’s only one of me, but if you’re asking about the Voyagers then too many.” A shameless lie is what it was. The only truth to the statement was the two new members and the one returning.

Kyle had gathered very limited information from the talk and anyone who reviewed the chip would get even less information. “One more question. What are you going to do with me?”

Cyrus already knew Marshal wanted Kyle dead more than anything because of his personal opinion but he also knew that Kyle had a special circumstance that encouraged the organization to keep him past the age of sixty-five, which was a rare occurrence. He didn’t know the special circumstance but Kyle himself probably did, which would make things easier without Elizabeth.

He looked over Kyle one last time. The man wasn’t physically capable of a lot, which meant that he was considered intellectually well off, enough to be kept at the organization well past the cut off age.

‘What would the others think of it?’ Cyrus shook his head. ‘I doubt Ethan knows him and I don’t think Alyssa wants to be involved with the organization just after getting released from them. Alyssa, the chip. What are the chances Kyle will be any better of a person without the chip?’

“Kyle, do you remember your life before the Onyx Organization?”

Kyle looked away, avoiding the question.

“Tell me about what happened to Leah and David Neil.”

He seemed to hesitate for a minute before speaking. “David Neil is dead, he has been for nearly twenty-four years. Leah’s memories have been manipulated to forget everything about David, Milo, and Elizabeth. She only knows about herself. An attempt was made at manipulating Milo’s memories to try and locate his sister but he was resistant. They wanted to kill him because they couldn’t get into his head, but I took him in after giving them my word that he’d cooperate.” Kyle looked up. “He’s damn lucky they didn’t kill him when he tried to run.”

Lucky, that’s one way to describe the Neil siblings. “What information do you have on the Voyagers?”

“Only the basics. We knew about four members, now apparently up to seven. The families of suspected Voyagers are taken to headquarters and their memories are erased, the suspected Voyager is killed, and the family is sent back home once every physical and mental memory of the suspected Voyager is gone. Milo couldn’t be sent home because of how long he had been missing, the higher-ups figured that someone would come for him. It’s sad that it took you guys two years to come back for one of your own.”

“What about the confirmed Voyagers you’ve caught?”

Cyrus saw that Kyle seemed to be more sensitive to the Voyagers now that he knew Marshal was one. “They’re questioned before their memories are accessed, once the organization gets what they want they keep them on the fourth floor to use against the Voyagers. I’ve never done it, but I know that some members of the organization will use them to satisfy their needs without reprimanding.”

Kyle looked down, a guilt look in his eyes. He knew he was risking his life right now to give Cyrus the information.

They both knew that Kyle would be dead the second his chip was reviewed for giving away classified information and refusing to apprehend three Voyagers.

Currently, Kyle had three chances at life but Cyrus only had a say in two.

A choice here decided Cyrus would take Kyle back to the group.