Central, 70 years ago...

"Get down!" Sonic shouts at me as my experimental forcefield disintegrates and electrical sparks fly out into all directions. "Yes! I know!" I scream back from the solid artificial granite bookshelf I've tucked myself into. The titanium walls tremble from the energy being expended, and the bioluminescent lights flicker dim and bright as the genetically-engineered bacteria inside focus on their core processes. The grey, supple chair I usually sit in while observing my projects rocks back and forth before tipping over. By pure chance, one of the energy shards from the forcefield hits the fabric at precisely the right angle, and it ignites the chair on fire. Good thing I didn't leave anything else inflammable except for a crude petroleum barrel. Wait, what's a petroleum barrel doing in here? I don't even need petroleum- Just as I've thought that, a cluster of energy shards impacts the barrel, and the thick, tar-black substance spills all over the floor. At least it's on the other side of the room...

Once the forcefield has completely disintegrated, revealing the wire mesh that supplies it power, I cautiously climb out of the shelf and pull the lever that cuts off all power in the room. It's been over 400 years and we still haven't refined the ubiquitous wires that give us electricity, I think. How does nobody pay attention to the start-ups refining the chilled wires that have been around before the Cataclysm?

Oh, right. Because nobody in the Capitol likes change.

I call out, "Sonic! You all right?"

"I'm all right, Doc. Quit worrying about me, I can take care of myself. Heck, I think that most of the time I have to take care of you as well." I softly chuckle when he says this. Despite his snarky remarks, I know that Sonic means well. I reply, "Now, I think that test run was a bit of a failure, so, since I don't need you here, you can go up and play tag with Sonia. I need to have a word with your uncle, Chuck." He eagerly runs out, disappearing from view. Even though he's only 11, he runs faster than my personal hovercraft already. I exit the room and walk down the hall. Despite the drab nature of the bunker, Sonia has already managed to decorate each of the walls with paint and crayon, and Sonic's already sprayed in graffiti all over the place. I think they both have a future in the artistic department.

After the success of my redesign of the hovercraft and my invention of visual cloaking, it seems that Justinian was all too eager to satisfy my every whim, despite the fact that we've been old pals since forever and that I backed him during his rise to power. When I asked for a private laboratory, he ordered the construction of an underground bunker in District Three. Whenever I needed to buy the latest instrument, he wouldn't hesitate to give me sufficient funds and then some, usually enough so that I could slip some money to my family behind his back and spare cash for a few months. But ever since Ian was killed and Agrippa replaced him, now that I have to skimp off of my underground farms for food and save my funds to the last coin, it's been very tough, even though I don't shop and party like almost everyone I knew back in the Capitol. Granted, I have been overly generous, granting each of almost all my colleagues a generous chunk of my facilities... However, with the new restrictions put in place in the Capitol, I believe that it's all for the better.

Speaking of which, our nation truly has an intriguing background. The Great Cataclysm, which wiped out most of our race, was a series of massive nuclear exchanges and volcanic eruptions. These factors caused rampant mutations which led to the evolution of beings that call themselves Mobians. Half human, half animals, these crosses retain both the cognitive abilities of humans and the primal strengths of their animal predecessors. Our nation of Panem was founded after these terrible events as a temporary dictatorial placeholder until most of the threats surrounding us, such as the Mesoamerican Empire, have subsided. However, despite our relative safety, power is a self-feeding force, and the presidents over the years have refused to relinquish their might, turning our only defense into our only threat.

Now, surrounding Panem are regions said by the current regime to be uninhabited, called the Western and Eastern Wildernesses. However, although the Western Wilderness fosters no intelligent life, in the Eastern Wilderness are many villages, mostly inhabited by Mobians. All these towns are united under the United Federation, a democratic republic directly descended from the nation that came before, the United American Federation. Reformed by philanthropist and statesman Albans Prower and led by President Christian Gallagos, it's a better place to be than Panem, if I say so myself. However, even Justinian appeared determined to keep everyone in Panem, so nobody is allowed to leave. I suppose we're all doomed to stay here...

Once I see Charles' office, I knock on his door twice and wait for half a minute. When he doesn't answer, I yell in mock anger, "Dang it, Chuck, it's me, Professor Kintobor!"

"Oh, all right," he concedes, opening the door and letting me in. The velvet carpet covering the floor, the plush gold-lined couches, the rust-brown mahogany desk, and the flickering candles on the desk illuminating the room all give his office an antique quality. Especially the mahogany. "So, Doctor Kintobor, what would you like to discuss with me?"

"Oh, quite a number of things have plagued my mind lately," I reply. "First of all, what do you wish of your Roboticizer? A powerful contraption, no doubt; however, it brings many consequences to the user, first and foremost, the loss of one's free will. Also, the process to reverse Roboticization is hazardous with no guarantee of success."

"Well," he responds, "since the internal CPU takes control of all neural functions, thus resulting in said loss of free will, I believe it could be possible to allow the brain to somehow connect to the robotic parts of the body. However, all pre-cataclysmic research in this field seems to have been lost to time, and the original Archives have been all but destroyed during the recent wars. So I'd have to start from scratch on that, and even then, it would be years before I can do anything about it."

"After I finish my Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, it's certainly something I could help you on," I agree. "Anyways, now for the second problem.

"Charles, you know as well as I do that we're stretched tight on funds, and that, accounting for inflation and current expenditure, we'll be broke in about two years. As my old pal, what's your advice that we should-"

Head of Security, Doctor Samira Assaf, opens the door to the office, intoning in her slow, calculated voice, "Doctor Kintobor, we have bad news. You-know-who's hovercraft is approaching from her" - she coughs before finishing her statement- "diplomatic talks in West City and is due to arrive here in approximately two minutes. From what Yin told me, she's here to shut everything down." Goodness... I make no attempt to mask my anger at the president when I bellow, "THAT RUTHLESS PRESIDENT IS NOT ORDERING ME ANYTHING! I'LL BE UP TO THE RESIDENCE AREA RIGHT NOW! GOD- GOD- GOD-! THAT ARROGANT, PAIN-LOVING, BRUTE IS GOING DOWN! DOWN, DOWN, DOWN- DOWN!"

I rush through the halls as my colleagues open their doors and yell at me to chill and calm down, but there's no keeping me back. I don't bother waiting for the pressurized glass chute to power up and practically fly up the stairs. Passing by security and snatching a blaster from one of the guards, to their protests, I stand in the middle of Pine Way, impatiently waiting for the presidential hovercraft to materialize at any moment. Ahh, good old Ozark Central. Nice old houses; self-repairing asphalt roads, instead of the impractical literal gold alloys they use in the Capitol; bountiful, lush green trees providing fresh air and shade to anyone passing by... Just to be safe, I retreat to under the entrance building's roof instead of out in the open, and I hide my blaster in my coat. Well, at least it's stuffed enough so that hopefully, Agrippa can't tell the difference.

Finally, after I hear a mockingjay's shrill chirping and the subsequent rustling in the leaves, I catch sight of Agrippa's hovercraft. I see her through the clear glass window and flip her off. In reply, she just smiles and turns to the pilot, who in turn almost lands the hovercraft on me. At the last moment, though, he slightly nudges the hovercraft to my left and lands it there. The exit chute opens, and Agrippa chirps in an oh-so-sweet voice, "Oh, hello, Julian. It would have been a shame if you were crushed by a careless pilot, wouldn't it?"

I return no pleasantries, replying bluntly, "What the heck do you want, Saffron?"

After briefly scowling upon hearing me refer to her using her old name, she cheerfully replies, "Oh, look, Julian here's getting feisty with his language. Tsk, tsk, bad Julian. Anyways, Julian, it seems like you have been violating your recent orders from the Capitol."

"You mean your orders," I spit out. "And I believe that, under the Ten Laws of Romulus, the President must rule with a fair and just hand."

"Oh, please," she scoffs in response. "If you'd seen what the proles" - just as a side note, I hate the word prole. It comes from the word proletariat and was first penned in the dystopian novel 1984 - "did during the Dark Days, then you would see that I'm not nearly doing enough in return. And besides, if I recall correctly, the stele these laws were written on was destroyed by a prole. But enough dwelling on the past. I, President Agrippa Snow, hereby declare that Julian Ovi Kintobor is exiled from the Capitol, District Three, and all of Panem on the grounds of treason."

"Tr- treason?" I stammer. "All it takes is to ignore a single order from the Capitol-"

She interrupts, "I commanded you repeatedly to abandon your ROCC and-"

"Just because you demanded me over and over doesn't make it multiple orders."

"I'm a president, not a rhetoric teacher," she dryly remarks. "Now, I'll be on my way. I'm sorry that I had to be this blunt, but oh well. Have a pleasant day, Julian." She snickers and re-enters the hovercraft, which takes off. Through the audio speaker outside the craft, I hear her hiss, "You will be gone by 9 today, or you will pay with your life." At this, the hovercraft whizzes away into the setting sun. Now that we're so glad that's over... I sigh and turn around to go back into my lab and pack everything up. But I freeze in my tracks when I see Sonic, Samira, and Charles in front of me. "I heard everything, Julian," Sonic sneers.

"Just pack everything up, Sonic. I'm not in the mood," I inform him. "I trust you overheard as well, Charles." After he nods, I say, "We leave for Soleanna as soon as possible. The locals there have been expecting my arrival for years. I'm leaving Mayor Ridgewell in custody of the facilities in my absence. Scientists and guards alike will continue their duties in defiance to the Capitol. It would be in our best interests to offer refuge to any and all capable scientists in the Capitol, so that when it crosses the minds of the Capitol to obliberate us, we will have become completely indispensable to this nation."

Charles, to his credit, interjects, "But, Professor, what if the Capitol - God forbid -" However, I cut him short: "They've got a three-layered forcefield surrounding the above-ground settlement, anti-aircraft deployments around the entire district (some of them nuclear as well), and underground farms and provisions for ages. I'm sure they'll be fine.

"Now I must go and retrieve the one and only Hovercraft T50."

Several hours of packing later...

"Where should I put this crate of platinum ingots?" chirps Sonic. "The metals or the precious materials?"

I respond, "Either will do. At any rate, organization isn't the key here; spatial efficiency is."

Perplexed, he raises an eyebrow: "In English, Doc?"

I smile and reply, "Put it where ever you want. I'll sort it either way."

"Got it, Doc. Also, when should I get my parents and sisters?"

"About now would be a good time. Oh, yes, thanks, Sonic. I would have had much trouble packing everything, between me and Chuck here." At this, Sonic takes off to the entrance building. Charles, who's rearranging a few crates beside me, exclaims, "Hey! I may be old, but I'm strong as ever," but I can see a grin form on his face.

However, our mirth abruptly ends when we both see the presidential hovercraft materialize next to ours. God- dammit- My initial response is to take off immediately, but not only is Sonic and his family absent, a few boxes are hanging off the edge of the cargo latch. Agrippa, ever the charismatic one, enters the hovercraft and initiates this conversation that is probably unwanted for both of us, facing away from me. "So, Doctor Kintobor, it is nine o'clock, is it not? Usually, I'd start off with a more amicable greeting, but I did make a promise." She suddenly turns around and draws her revolver, shouting, "YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!" She fires a few rounds at me first, then Charles. Fortunately, we both duck in time, but I do end up with a bullet in my hand. So this is the end. Not in Soleanna. Not in a hospital. Here and now, in a hovercraft, alone with my best friend and my worst enemy... I really wish that I could have helped out more with securing the future of Central before I left. However, some things are just beyond our control...

Suddenly, I hear a shriek as Agrippa falls flat on her face, bringing me out of my bullet-induced stupor. Next to her is the squat, blue figure of Sonic, who picks her up and throws her off the hovercraft onto the ground. "S-Sonic?" I stutter. "My pleasure, Doc. Now I'mma deck her schnoz, kick her butt, and-" I stop him, ordering, "No. Stay here."

But before I realize what's happening, I hear Agrippa howl, "Kill the traitors! Kill them all! Destroy! Exterminate!" In reply come the ecstatic shouts of the guards: "YES MA'AM!" Right away, Sonic starts charging his Spin Dash in the direction of the guards, but I stop him, "Stay here. We don't need them to make an example out of you."

"But they're gonna kill us!"

"Let them. This time, I've got an answer." I take a moment to draw my blaster from my coat.

But they don't come over to us. To the contrary, they actually run away from our general area. However, they're all still armed with their blasters and appear to be aiming at something... No... Please not... the facility... Against my better judgement, I crawl closer to the nearest window so that I can see what exactly they're shooting. However, as soon as I see what they've done, I instantly regret it.

They killed Sonic's family.

Real men don't cry. However, my voice falters as I resign, "Charles, close the hatches and initiate take-off."