2 – Sibling Unit Secrets

  The front door security panel beeped. With Ruby away, I’d have to answer it. It was about noon, and I had just finished eating some lunch nutriblocks, with a side of pudding and enriched water.

  I didn’t much like the blocks, but I got used to them years ago. The pudding was pretty awful, but it was supposed to keep you healthy. Ruby made me eat a double serving, thinking it would help me recover.

  But I still felt quite pathetic. The bandages on my hands were taken off yesterday, and I saw what kind of damage handling that hot pipe did to my palms. I tried not to look at them as they healed. The important thing was that I could still use my fingers. If you couldn’t use those in this world, what with all of the data tablets and computer terminals you operated on a daily basis, it was hard to be of much use.

  School had been canceled for the remainder of the month, but I didn’t think it would make much difference, as few students would have shown up if it had remained open. There were funerals to attend and houses and families to rebuild. For the time being, all of our assignments were sent directly to us through the network.

  Each house came standard with the basic system: a plate of glass that hangs in the middle of a specified room. I was pretty sure that richer people in the city had more advanced systems with multi-colored screens. The operating table had a key plate, also made from glass, used for typing and navigation. Typically, you’d do major work on the mounted machines, and then transfer the data to your tablet, kept on you at all times.

  I doubted that more than a few of the other students were doing their work, though—I simply did my assignments because I had nothing else to do. We had yet to buy any new books or vids, all stored on our personal tablets, that I would normally spend my time reading or watching.

  I wheeled backwards to leave the room and pushed myself forward to the front door. After pressing my thumb to the side panel, the door slid open to reveal two Terra-Force investigators standing outside, an imposing sight. They were tall, dressed in coats that ran to their feet, and their eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses.

  These were the people you usually did not want to see at your door. Most members of the government wore armor and helmets, aside from officers and the politicians. In a way, the ones that weren’t part of the imperial masses worried you more; they had nothing to hide. These were the people that came to arrest you, and then brought you to the detention center for processing—a place I’ve heard terrible rumors about. The day’s arrests for the city were shown nightly on television, and thinking on the faces of the criminals, I swallowed air and tried to avoid looking nervous.

  “Yes? Can I help you?” I asked calmly.

  One looked down at me. “Vince Belfore. Sir, is your older sibling unit currently within this residence?”

  “Do you mean Ruby?” I replied.

  Imperials were all the same, treating us like a number, a commodity rather than a living thing. I especially didn’t like being called a “unit.” One of the men took out a tablet, looked at it, and put it back in his coat.

  “Yes, Ms. Ruby Sandra Belfore.”

  “No—no, she’s at work… at the nutriblock factory. She’ll be back around ten.”

  This was a lie, though. She was really out shopping today and would be back in a few hours, if the lines weren’t too long.

  “Sir, please contact us when she arrives. I’ve put our information on your tablet. We will check back shortly. Don’t go anywhere.”

  Without hesitation, the two headed back to their black Vyper and departed, flying over houses until they were out of sight. No one else was outside. This was still a new neighborhood to us, but I could barely tell the difference. They all looked the same. When the sun is at its highest, it shines straight through the forcefield, creating small waves on the roads below. And it was cooking the city today, so I quickly headed back in.

  It was obvious to me that my sister was in some sort of trouble, but I didn’t know what it could possibly be. She didn’t seem like the type to go out and commit a crime. Something serious was clearly happening with her, and I wanted her to come home as soon as possible.

  I tried to go back and do my homework, but my thoughts drifted to so many theories about what Ruby might’ve done that I could no longer concentrate. As the hours went on and with no sign of her, I grew anxious and found myself watching television just to pass the time.

  When I was a kid, there were several channels; one with comedies, others had movies or local news. Now there was only one, which had four things: a Terra-Force leader recruiting people to protect Earth, the news, the weather, or most depressing, the daily statistics, which showed how many attacks took place that day, along with the final death toll.

  I didn’t really pay attention to what was on anymore, as it had all turned into noise. One tragedy just blended in with another, every day.

  Around eight at night, the lights of Ruby’s car pulled into the driveway after a squealing hard turn. I had not eaten dinner yet, so I was hoping that she had brought a large case of nutriblocks, but I was more worried about her safety. I turned off the television, making it fold up to the ceiling, and remained patiently in my uncomfortable wheelchair.

  The front door slid open and I saw her, panic-stricken. In her arms she held two large black plastic bags. She set them on the floor and dashed to the blind control panel, activating them so that the windows covered up. She then regained some of her usual calm demeanor and walked up to me.

  “Vince… You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied.

  “Good, good,” she said as she began to walk back to the bags. “Sorry I’m late. There was this, um… scare, shut everything down.”

  “… Ruby, some imperial agents are looking for you… They’ve been here three times today, and they’ll probably be back again in less than an hour. What’s been going on?”

  She stood for a few moments longer and then slid down the wall. She covered her mouth with her knees and swayed gently, fear filling her eyes. Obviously, something was very wrong.

  “Oh, Vince… that’s it, they know who I am.”

  “Who… who you are?”

  “I don’t know how to say this. I really didn’t want to get you involved. But I guess I have no choice. I need to take care of you.”

  “Ruby, what’s going on?” I asked worryingly.

  “We need to leave. I’ve been saving up our money, if this ever happened… I knew that once they discovered me, they would lock my account, so I transferred all of our credits into a safe place. I bet they’ve already been to the factory. If they find me, it’s over. They’ll take me away. I can’t let them have you. Not them. They’ll put you in a foster family and…”

  “Ruby—”

  “Listen, I haven’t worked at the factory for over a month now. I’ve been… working for someone else. Getting ready to leave if we needed to. But we don’t have time to discuss this—we have to get moving.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Where I’ve been working for the past month… But we can’t even stay there for long, since they were smart enough to find me already. Damn it. There is so much you don’t know, that has been kept from your eyes. For now, we just have to get out of the city. I need your trust. Please.”

  “But—”

  “Grab the most important things that you can carry. Hurry.”

  After we lost our second house, I didn’t have much left that was of any value to me other than the family photo. It was partially burned, but it was important to both of us, as it was the only printed image of our family that was around when our parents were alive, giving it sentimental value. I told my sister that it was all I wanted to keep, so she went and got it for me.

  She then handed me a bag to carry. I looked inside to see five cases of nutriblocks, enough to last for that many weeks. I couldn’t see what was in the other bag. She grabbed my crutches and rushed the items out to the car in front, then came back in and turned off the lights.

  “Are we really leaving? And hiding?”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

  I tried to remain as strong and courageous as I could in my frail state, but the fear of what lay ahead and the danger we would be facing, along with leaving home, struck a sense of depression and anxiety in me. Not since the lunar incident had I felt so strange, yet alive.

  “Come on. I’ll push you to the car.”

  “Wait, what happens if I stay here? I’m not the one in trouble.”

  That was a stupid thing to say.

  “Look, I’m sorry!” she almost snapped at me. “I’m sorry, Vince… I—I can’t leave you alone. I can’t have some government appointed idiot take care of you. Or else, you’ll… stay here, and… I can’t even say it.”

  I had never heard her talk about anyone at all with such contempt.

  Ruby got behind me and pushed me outside, locking the door behind her. Once I was by the car, she grabbed the bag I was holding and tossed it in the back.

  “We can’t take your chair with you. We don’t have room.”

  I nodded and lifted myself up with my arms, sliding into the passenger seat and under the curving windshield. I put the seatbelt on and tried to settle in, while Ruby rushed around the front of the car and quickly got in. She started the engine, then backed out and sped off down the road.

  We were headed to the inner city—a place we rarely visited, though I had been there just a few days ago. The giant lit buildings weren’t too far ahead, surrounded by the blue glow of the stronger forcefield. The emerald tower in the center of it all was more illuminated, and prouder than the rest.

  “You okay? We’re almost out of the neighborhood. Just hope we’re not being followed.”

  As we passed an electronic billboard at the edge of the neighborhood, something caught my eye. I looked back to see the same flying vehicle the investigators were piloting—now tailing us, hovering a few meters off the ground.

  “Ruby, that’s them!”

  “Yeah. Hold on.”

  She slammed her foot down, and the car accelerated with a jolt. I looked at the speedometer and couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.

  “I didn’t know cars could go this fast,” I exclaimed.

  “They can when you know how to remove the limiter. Otherwise, it won’t go past sixty in the area.”

  The limiter was a device put in civilian vehicles that controlled the maximum speed allowed in certain zones, and cities reduced the top speed to thirty-five. But I never knew you could remove them without damaging the vehicle. A new side of Ruby was suddenly coming out of hiding. She had to be a criminal of some sort, but I didn’t want to believe it.

  Our followers reacted by speeding up themselves. Then, to my complete surprise, they shot at us. Two heavy blasts hit the road behind us, just barely missing. I jumped in my seat from just the sound.

  “They have a rail-gun. We get hit by that, and we’re done. Vince, I need you to take the wheel.”

  I acted automatically, leaning over to the left and holding onto the steering wheel. Ruby turned and got a case from the back. She opened it to reveal a large rifle split into two segments.

  And that was the breaking point—then and there I realized that she had more than just a few dark secrets. Civilians were not allowed to own any such weaponry, and the rifle she had was standard issue for Terra-Force police units—they always looked so intimidating holding them.

  She took the two pieces and screwed them together as if she had been using such a weapon for her whole life

  “Watch the road, but if you see a green dot anywhere on the car, swerve to the left or right immediately. It’s a target painter that hits us just before they fire. Don’t wait for the sound. The impact is immediate.”

  “Yeah—yeah, I got it,” I mumbled.

  But it was hard to keep my attention anywhere else than on the performance that was happening in front of my eyes.

  I realized the simple truth, that my sister was a fugitive and was actually fighting the government. She was committing an act of treason; going against those who protected us. I couldn’t make any sense of it, but there was no time to—everything was acting out so very quickly.

  Ruby rolled down the window and poked her head out, aiming the rifle back at the pursuer. A beam of green light suddenly swept across the rear window, and I reacted by turning the wheel halfway to the left. A blast hit the road just to the right of us. Ruby nearly tumbled backwards as our car shook from the impact.

  “Hold it steady, I almost have a clear shot.”

  I grabbed the wheel and aligned it so we were again driving down the center line. The city was approaching. We would soon be out of the neighborhood and into heavy traffic.

  A shot rang out from Ruby’s weapon, followed by the sound of exploding metal. I turned around to see one of the vehicle’s repulsors in flames. The craft began losing balance and wobbled uncontrollably, and we made some distance as the Vyper slowed to prevent a crash. Ruby took the wheel and stuck the rifle near me in an upright position.

  “I knew they’d be waiting for us.”

  “Were they really…?”

  “Yes. They’re with the T-FIB.”

  Terra-Force Investigation Bureau. I already knew that, but having my sister affirm it just further cemented all of this as reality.

  “And why were they after you?”

  “Many reasons. But I guess the latest would be destroying half a shipment from one of their weapons factories in the area.”

  “W-what are you, a terrorist!?” I demanded, without thinking first.

  “No, I’m not. Look, pretty much everything the Empire has told you is a lie. The people they’ve killed, lives they’ve ruined… They aren’t protecting us,” she replied calmly. “You’ll learn much more later.”

  “I don’t want to learn later—you need to tell me what’s going on right now. You know what they do to people like you. Why are you doing this? Who are you working for? I need to know!”

  “This just isn’t the best place to—”

  “Just tell me who you work with. Is it that Resistance group?” I went on with a rising dread.

  The Resistance was a chain of traitors and terrorists operating all over the world. We knew that they were supporting our unknown enemy in some way, but it was also possible that they were actually the enemy themselves, working in disguise. They increasingly made it onto the news, following the daily reports on the war.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I’ve also heard about a sort of ‘other’ kind of people they sheltered, mutants or something. It was drastic asking Ruby the question, but it was the first thing that came to mind. I knew she would deny helping them.

  “Yes, Vince. I guess I’m a rebel,” she replied with some hesitation and a nervous smile. “Do you think Mom and Dad would be angry?”

  I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t think of anything to follow up that confession with. How could Ruby have done this—to support the enemy? But I still trusted her. I’ve trusted her all my life. Surely there must be a good reason, at least in her mind.

  “Don’t say anything yet. There will plenty of time for explanations. For now, we just have to get to a safe place.”

  I looked longingly out the window, a million thoughts running through my mind. My parents both worked for the Terra-Forces, and now their daughter had betrayed all their efforts, maybe their entire lives. But what if she was right? What if the Terra-Forces were only making things worse? I had already forced an answer out of her, the one adult in the car. Out of respect, I would just wait and see what would happen next.

  As we entered the city, Ruby slowed the vehicle to the speed limit.

  “The only way to go faster would be to not have a limiter. If I go even a little over, traffic sensors will tag us and police will be all over us.”

  We soon found ourselves surrounded by swarms of other vehicles, and towers that disappeared into the dark clouds above. Fawloc copters, with the assistance of lower altitude Vyper craft, flew over us as they patrolled. Elsewhere, robotic blue-eyed drones were scouting around, sometimes hovering in front of people for a few seconds to take their picture. Giant displays lined many of the buildings.

  Each had an image of Inkens, the leader of the empire’s Chicago sector. His face was well known, his ego even more so. One could easily pick up on his intentions to climb the imperial ranks. He was ambitious, feared, and headstrong. Most of all, he was respected, and it had become a popular idea that he’d one day succeed the current emperor. The screens were currently on a loop, so his discussions about the city’s place in the Empire, loyalty, the war, and whatever else would repeat every half hour.

  As we stopped at a light, the track was suddenly interrupted and replaced by live feed of a top-ranking officer. This made the people surrounding us very quiet, as everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up as if they were awaiting a command.

  “People of Chicago, we have an urgent message regarding the Resistance network. They have recently destroyed a major section of our weapons factory in order to inhibit our strength against our enemy. We now believe that they are planning a terrorist strike in this area. Please remain calm. We have identified their vehicle. Its occupants are considered armed and dangerous. Please be patient while we run our scans. I repeat, remain calm until the scan is complete. You are in no danger.”

  “That’s not us, is it?” I asked quietly.

  Ruby’s breathing hastened. Outside, everyone was trying to remain still and be cooperative, but clearly many were already filled with fear. Then I saw several groups of Urban Guard soldiers file in through the streets and form human barriers. Their black armor was an ominous sight among the crowds, but they were designed to instill a sense of order, not panic.

  Robotic sentries organized above and hovered above vehicles, running a quick sweep on each car and continuing to another. The soldiers kept everything flowing, promising that the search for the terrorists would be over with quickly. There was nowhere to go; we were stuck in a motionless gridlock, and in the middle of an intersection.

  “We have to get out of here,” I whispered.

  “Wait a sec, I have to get a good idea of what to do next,” she replied, trying to stay cool-headed. “We have to do this right.”

  “We don’t have time for thinking. I’m not sure I support the group you belong to, but I support you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “I know… We’ll get out of here. Okay. How much does your left leg hurt when you use it?”

  I pressed my left leg, still in its cast, onto the car floor and felt pain—but it was bearable.

  “It doesn’t hurt much.”

  “You’ll have to do some walking with your crutches, all right?”

  “Yeah, sure. I can handle it.”

  “And we’re going to have to… use the sewers.”

  “Oh. Um…”

  “I know. We have to hurry, they’re coming over. I can’t think of any other way out. See that manhole under the vehicle to our right?”

  I looked and saw it—under a large car.

  “Take the rifle. It only has one shot left. Shoot the cover. I know you have good aim—I watched you play those military training sims when you were a kid, thinking they were just games.”

  “Okay, I’ll try. But won’t the gun make a loud burst?”

  “Yeah, so we have to be quick about it. I’ve got the family photo and the other bags. After you hit it—and I know you will, open the door and crawl on the road until you get to the hole, then slip in. I’ll be right behind you with your crutches. You ready?”

  “Yeah,” I replied nervously. “But why can’t you do it?”

  “I won’t get a clear shot from here,” Ruby replied, grasping the steering wheel and looking straight ahead.

  “Oh, yeah…”

  I bit my lip some, and then picked up the rifle. It was heavier than I had expected. If memory served from all of those reports on new advances in the army, I was pretty sure it was a Terra-Force concussion rifle, which fired high-impact rounds. It should destroy the cover, as long as I didn’t miss. I rolled down the window and kept the gun inside the vehicle as much as I could, hoping it would take at least a few seconds before anyone else noticed it. I lined up my shot, closed my eyes, and pulled the trigger.

  The manhole separated into small, molten bits following a loud burst, alerting all of the people around us. The explosion damaged the underside of the car above it, shaking it so much that the driver froze in place out of fear. I jerked back and let go of the gun.

  Almost immediately, people began to signal to the police and guard units of our position. The flying drones stopped in midair and locked onto the area of commotion among the large group of vehicles.

  “Look! Over here! Police, it’s the terrorists! Get them! Hurry!”

  Parents on the sidewalks with children grabbed them and ran from us as quickly as possible, while others abandoned their cars. Were we really that terrifying? A crippled kid and his sister? A few men—ignoring orders not to get involved—hopped onto vehicles and threw garbage at us. If they reached us, they’d pin us down, immobilizing us. I was terrified.

  “Vince, go! Crawl into there!”

  I braced myself and hit the road, making my way to the sewers by pulling myself forward with only my elbows. Time slowed and my heart raced as I got closer and closer, but eventually I managed to crawl under the car. The driver, still fearing for his life, watched as I dropped into the sewer, avoiding the hot fragments of the cover. There was a ladder that I hung onto, and I was able to look over the hole enough to see Ruby still on the ground, the rifle strapped to her back, dark figures right behind her.

  “Hurry, they’re closing in!” I shouted.

  She sped up her pace. When she was close enough, I grabbed her arms and pulled her down. She fell to the ground—though luckily it was a short drop. A group of Urban Guardsmen surrounded the car, but couldn’t get into the sewer themselves. I could see that they were trying to get the car to move, but to no avail; there was simply nowhere for it to go.

  I climbed the rest of the way down and joined Ruby. After she brushed herself off, she gave me the crutches I needed for walking. The two of us hastily got away from the light of the hole. Each time my left leg hit the ground, I tensed up for the following pain. I couldn’t go very fast, and I stumbled often, but I managed to keep up nonetheless.

  The sewer resembled an empty, old factory, but likely smelled much worse. It had rusted metal walls, nailed down with huge bolts. The only lights were the eerie glow of red bulbs that ran along the ceiling, but it was enough to let us see where we were going. Our walkway was thin and at times slimy, and if I fell into the flowing water, I likely wouldn’t come back up. The sound of traffic and panicked people faded, but we both knew that it was only a matter of time before soldiers would catch up with us.

  After about twenty minutes of walking, we stopped at a junction for a brief rest where the sewer split into four different directions.

  “How are you hanging in?” Ruby asked.

  “I’m okay,” I panted. “But my legs are really swollen…”

  “We should be getting close to the base. We have medicine.”

  “Don’t sentry bots use the sewers to move around sometimes?”

  “Yeah, but there shouldn’t be any the way we’re going… unless they discovered the location of the hideout.”

  “Ruby… I want you to know that I’m willing to help you, or at least stay with you, but I just feel… confused.”

  “It will make sense soon. Come on, this way.”

  Without any further hesitation, we proceeded through the west tunnel. Conditions got worse in this direction. The pipes and walls showed more signs of decay, and the red lights that had guided the way were mostly flickering or out completely. The only sounds were the light tap of my crutches and the slow gurgle of water. Eventually, when my legs couldn’t take much more, I saw a dim blue light at the end of the sewers.

  “So where is this place?”

  “In the old industrial sector, before all of the heavy projects were moved to the other side of the city. It’s a giant junkyard now, but it’s the perfect place to hide. I just hope that we’re not leading them he—” Ruby suddenly stopped and turned around.

  “What?” I whispered.

  “Get down.”

  “Why—”

  “Get down, now!” Ruby demanded in a low growl.

  I lowered myself to the metal grating and slumped against the wall. She stood still and looked around, as if waiting for something to appear. Her hand made its way to her backpack, where she proceeded to take a small flashlight-sized object out of one of its pockets. I noticed that the red bulbs toward the back of the sewer had flickered out of existence.

  Suddenly, she sprung into action. With the object in hand, she pushed a button, and two glowing blue pikes came out of either end that became bright within seconds. She jabbed the weapon at the air a few times before slamming one of the points into seemingly nothing.

  But to my surprise, a sound of pierced metal and shattered glass came from the air, followed by electrical fizzes and pops. A robotic drone the size of Ruby’s head suddenly appeared and crashed to the ground.

  “A cloaker drone,” she explained. “Never thought I’d see one—they don’t usually send them out because they’re so expensive. Oh well, a few million credits down the drain,” she said as she used her foot to shove the robot into the water with great effort.

  I gasped. “That thing was following us?”

  “Yeah, would have figured out where the base is if we got a little closer, I’m sure. Good thing I caught it.”

  “What if there’s more?”

  “I wouldn’t worry. Cloakers create a large, disruptive electrical field. The other one would have to be about a hundred meters away, at the very least. We shouldn’t stick around, though.”

  Ruby pressed another button to compact the twin pikes back into the hilt. She certainly did know a lot about whatever she had gotten into, and someone had been giving her weapons training.

  “That’s a plasma pike, isn’t it?” I said as we got closer to the exit.

  “Yeah, sure is. How’d you know?”

  “I’ve heard about the Resistance using them.”

  “Well, it’s hard to get any decent firearms. So pikes are our best weapons. Do you know much about them? They’re filled with superheated gas, which makes them pretty deadly. And the casing is actually just a durable plastic material that can endure such temperatures.”

  “I kinda want one now…” I said blankly, like a child who thought such a thing was ‘cool.’

  “Heh. I don’t know. Seeing you twirling one about would make me nervous. But I’m sure we have an extra. Let’s just get out of here first.”

  At long last, we were at the exit of the sewer. Beyond was a sea of fog, and beyond that veil were the enormous ruins of the old factories, all of which had closed before I was born. Fractured pillars and toppling chimneys rose above the water vapor and into the moonlight.

  “That fog isn’t caused by water. All that’s down there is a large aqueduct, but it’s dried up,” Ruby explained.

  The taller towers of Chicago loomed in the near background, the city’s sounds existing as a raucous melody of the activities of twelve million people. We were about to continue when we spotted a hovering airship overhead, with four searching spotlights. They often floated far above the city, keeping surveillance. Seeing them so low was rare.

  “We’ll never get past those,” I said. “They’re searching for us.”

  “We’re fine. See, we don’t have to actually cross the aqueduct. The fog is created from our simple vapor generators underground. It doesn’t provide much protection, but it does mess with their thermal imaging and keeps the area covered, hiding anything important, like an entrance. I’ll show you the underground tunnel we need to use.”

  After only walking a dozen meters through hills of rubble and scrap chilled by the cold fog, Ruby stopped at a large toppled girder. She stuck her hand under it and felt around for something.

  “Got it,” she said as she audibly flicked a switch.

  I watched as a hidden door opened within a mound of old cars. It was very cleverly disguised; I would’ve never seen it.

  “It shuts by itself in about a minute, so you go in first.”

  I walked through the door and onto a solid concrete floor in a large room with broken tile walls, Ruby following before the door slammed shut. A few bulbs lit up, and I noticed that there was an old rail track in a trench. It ran down a large tunnel, and there was a small, crude transport atop it.

  “An old subway line?” I asked.

  “Yeah, our ride. Carried factory workers,” she said of the machinery, which was simply a large plate of metal on wheels.

  “It doesn’t really look safe…”

  “We’ll be fine, since it doesn’t go very fast. Okay, listen. We’re about to enter the local underground rebel cell. Our force is small in this city, as most of us of moved out, including the felile themselves…”

  “The felile? Have I heard that name before?”

  “Maybe. The felile are… a special people that control most of the group. You may be meeting one of them soon. Are you ready?”

  “Yeah… let’s go,” I replied, there being no reason to argue now.

  I scooted aboard the craft, sat down, and grabbed onto a guardrail. Ruby took out a card and swiped it through a scanning device. The craft lurched forward, and we were quickly going at a very tepid top speed down the tunnel—with a door coming up ahead.

  “Won’t we hit that?”

  “Don’t worry, it’ll open.”

  And it did so right before we went through, promptly closing afterwards. After two more automatic doors, we began to slow down.

  “This is the final one.”

  We hit a crawling pace as the last door opened and bright lights flooded the transport. After my eyes adjusted, I could see that we were in a laboratory, or something similar to one. A group of five people observed us as we entered and docked at the end of the line.

  The first thing I noticed about them was that they were wearing the kind of clothing that I hadn’t seen since I was very young. They weren’t dull, unified coveralls—instead, most of the fabric actually had color, history, and even some personality. Behind the group were the computers and monitors that filled and lit the place with a shade of blue.

  “Ruby! We were getting worried about you after that news alert,” a darker-skinned girl about my sister’s age greeted.

  “And I see you brought your brother,” another said, this person a tall, well-built older man wearing a large, worn coat.

  One of the group members had turned around and went back to typing at his computer station without saying anything. Another was a child, who couldn’t be any older than I was. The last person of the group was a pale, thinner girl a little taller than Ruby.

  “Yeah, I told you he’d be dragged into this mess eventually. I just wish there was some way of protecting him without bringing him here.”

  “That’s okay, Ruby,” the man on the computer replied. “We can take care of him. Can’t believe they’re just slapping casts on people these days. We’ll try to patch those up.”

  “In any case, congratulations on your success at the factory,” the tall, balding man said to Ruby.

  “For all the good it did. I don’t think it will be long until they discover us here after the mess I left behind. Plus, my brother and I—our faces are all over the network now after that charade downtown.”

  “We’ve overstayed our welcome here as it is. I’d prefer leaving.”

  “Ruby, why don’t you introduce us?” the taller girl asked.

  “Right… well, this is Vincent,” she said, pointing and smiling at me as I gave a small wave back to everyone.

  “Hello, Vince,” the taller girl replied warmly.

  “Vince, this is Sasha,” Ruby pointed to the darker-skinned girl, who was wearing faded and torn blue pants and a black vest.

  Aside from the unique clothing, what was really striking was that she had a small pink bow in her flowing black hair. It struck me that the last time I had seen such an accessory was in that picture of our family, in Ruby’s hair. Had decorative items been outlawed, or were they just no longer sold? I had never really noticed. She also had a small bracelet, with an emblem imprinted on a piece of plastic. It looked like the flag for the South African region; quite far away, and a place I knew little about.

  “Hiya, Vince,” Sasha replied. “I’m one of the senior members, part of the founding four with Martin and Rupert over there.”

  “And the old guy—that would be Martin. He’s our commander, the boss, so listen to what he has to say,” Ruby said with a small laugh.

  He greeted me with a nod. He was clearly the leader—he was muscular, had a bold expression, a few small scars, and was the only one of the group standing perfectly upright. He had thinning hair and large eyes. He wore a large, heavy coat that hit his ankles and had a collar that went up to his ears, with a thick, gray jacket underneath.

  “The small guy, who’s a few years younger than yourself, is Pelter.”

  The kid had a large, baggy shirt that covered his knees, also made of material very different than the norm. But there was still something familiar about what everyone was wearing.

  “Um, hi,” he replied meekly, looking at my casts.

  “That’s Jess.” Ruby pointed to the taller young woman, who had on a small skirt over dark green pants.

  She looked like an older Ruby, but with brown hair and a more girlish face. Maybe that was an odd way to describe someone, but there was a kind of lingering innocence about her. She could’ve blended in with any of the girls a few years older than me that lived in our neighborhood.

  “Hello, again, Vince,” she said rather modestly.

  As she greeted me, something squirmed in her front pocket. She patted it and walked away to the corner of the lab.

  “And the one on the computer that would look like some eccentric scientist—if he ever turned around—is Rupert. He’s our technician and engineer. He’s usually busy maintaining this place and looking for aliens.”

  Rupert gave me a small wave without looking back. I could tell that he had glasses on, was tall, and had well-kept jet-black hair. The white lab coat that covered him looked imperial in design; probably stolen.

  “Yes, Ms. Belfore, hilarious,” he sighed and continued his work.

  So the newest member of the group was my sister. Unlike my messy, dirty blond hair, hers was clean, black, and well-kept. She was friendly and had piercing, strikingly green eyes. She was always a bit of a tomboy—but that wasn’t something that was obvious on the surface.

  With the introductions over with, I stood up and walked to a chair in the corner, not really knowing what to do next.

  “So, you two hungry?” Martin asked.

  “Yes, and real food would be nice, if you have any.” Ruby replied.

  “I’ll see what I can do. Meet us in the dining room in about five minutes—we have plenty to discuss. Oh, and be sure to give Vincent his gift, now that he’s here.”

  Martin walked away through a door. Ruby opened a drawer in the corner and pulled out a piece of clothing—a coat. It was brown and obviously quite old, with a smokey smell and many wrinkles and folds. There was some worn lettering on the back that I stared at curiously.

  “Here. This is for you. It’s all we have left right now that fits you, but when we get out of here, we can get more.”

  I took the clothing and moved it around in my hands. It felt smoother and softer than anything I had ever worn.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  “It’s cloth. It’s made from cotton.”

  “Cotton?”

  “Yes… real cotton. From plants. It doesn’t grow in the wild anywhere near here anymore, so people have to synthesize it in factories.”

  “This is… like what rich people wear.”

  “It wasn’t always like that. We do have some relics left from the old times when cotton was still a common item. Now, yeah, only the wealthy can have it. Well, them… and the people who know how to get it. Put it on. It feels much better than stretched rubber. And I better change out of these nasty things, too,” Ruby said as she tugged at her cold, drab coverall.

  I went ahead and pushed my arms through the coat. It covered my hands as it was slightly larger than my size, but it felt very nice. The feeling of this cotton material was a small thing that seemed to lift my spirits. A wave of nostalgia overcame me in an instant. I had worn clothes like this before. How could I have forgotten?

  “That was your grandfather’s. I kept it here for safekeeping. His name is even on the back of it… although you can barely read it anymore. If the Terra-Forces discovered it, they would have thought that we stole it. There’s so much more ahead, but for now, let’s get some food.”

  Ruby proceeded through the same door Martin went through and waited for me. I was starving, and after feeling cotton, I couldn’t wait to try some of this “real food.”

  I sat there for another minute, still a little dazed. The lab must’ve been underground. It was windowless and operated almost without sound. It felt as if the vast power of the Empire had no control here, and even though I had yet to know why they were “evil,” or whatever Ruby was trying to prove, I felt relieved. And I felt… alive again.