Standard disclaimer: the universe and its characters are owned by Mutant Enemy and Fox. 'The Train Job', from which one line of dialogue is quoted, was written by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear. No money made, no disrespect intended.
Written for Altariel's prompt, 'Book and Simon'.
Exodus
"He gave up everything to free his sister from that – place." Long practice let Book swallow the impulse to be specific – official – in the designation and name, and the pause went unnoticed by the captain.
He could picture the academy and he could picture the journey away, riding the concentric circles of the Core as the government offices grew less thick and the guards grew less vigilant and the people more ignorant. The boy had made it with different tools: his money, his medical bag.
The captain remained dismissive, and Book understood that. Most could not appreciate what it meant to depart from the ordered heart of the world: the ranged bars, eyes and regulations that shut the gates; and the hands, turned to serve another purpose, that opened them again.