Everyone left from Ember, right? Wrong. People still live there. They live in the system of large pipes that Doon had to work in before everyone immigrated to Sparks. They call their city-inside-a-city The Tunnels. Only its secret. Nobody can find out it exists. They act as guardian angels, making sure that the people don't get themselves into too much trouble. That would ruin the Plan.

I was deep in the Tunnels, away from anybody. I was kind of lost, but you know, whatever. If you run around enough in the Tunnels, you end back up somewhere. It was before curfew, but time to be doing our assigned jobs. I was supposed to be over at the Surveillance Center, to learn how to keep an eye over the Emberites and Sparkies. I decided that I had been doing enough learning for the day and that secret tunnels were more fun. I didn't see why we needed to look over the Emberites and Sparkies; we were the Tunnels, they were not our people. Why would we need to care about them? Something about a Plan, with a capital "P".

It was supposedly the best job you could get, but I would rather manage the finances, or rebuild the Generator, or something. Even painting the ceiling would be more fun than that.

I was finally not lost anymore, but way too close the Generator. People were all bustling about, doing their jobs. My friends and enemies all followed adults around, soaking in their every word. Somebody was bound to see me. I tried to sneak away without being noticed. I just turned the corner and thought I might get away.

"Lyn! Get over here!" Someone shouted my name. I quickly ran over to where the voice was coming from. I scrambled to the Generator- it was just down the next tunnel, slipping slightly on the wet ladder rungs. It wasn't possible for me to sneak away this time- I had been spotted. There was Mrs. Burleigh, tapping her toes impatiently. I smiled sheepishly up at her- she was almost six feet tall.

"What," she demanded, "is the meaning of this?"

She gestured to a pair of worn out shoes she was holding. I looked down at my feet and frowned. Crap. I had hoped nobody would notice. My feet were filthy from the grime of the Tunnels and scraped from rough edges. There was a smear of blood on my ankle where I had been sliding through a tiny shaft and had gotten a splinter.

"Well, Mrs. Burleigh, um, well--" I started and then started to run away. I did this every time I started to get into trouble with her because there was no weaseling out of her punishments.

She seemed prepared this time and had two men waiting for me. They grabbed my arms and dragged me back to Mrs. Burleigh. I struggled in their grip but they were really strong. I recognized them as En and Clued, two guys who were in high school when I was in elementary school. They were my friends' regular suppliers of beer, but only in secret.

"This is the last time you sneak off. You are supposed to wear your shoes at all times and never leave your station unless it is after curfew or you are in school," Mrs. Burleigh snapped, reciting the Rules almost directly from the book, "You have violated all and more of these rules, and finally we have you caught red-handed."

En and Clued nodded brusquely. I wriggled again because they were still holding me. They didn't want to give me even a second to be able to move around. They knew I would try to run away. They knew me well.

Mrs. Burleigh was going on, "And as for your punishment…" I zoned out again, paying attention when she announced to everyone within earshot, "You are to clean out the passageways that have become grimy from the sewage pipe leaks."

Eww! Now I really would have to wear my shoes all the time! If I didn't, sewage would get into the cuts in my feet and make me sick. She chose just the right, or in my case- wrong, punishment. I would have to be much more careful and less frequent in my escapades. Ah, the workings of Crime and Punishment.

It would hold me back, but not stop me. I had a Plan, too. And it also had a capital "P".