Random person's P.O.V. *Don't worry about it, it'll be explained in due time*

*Just trust me, the author*

*This might also be a little bit earlier, like a few days ago from Casey's plot line, seriously. Just trust me*

I had never been one to stick to a routine, my father had once called me "ADHD" but I hadn't really understood what he meant. It wasn't until Abby told me it was a mental disorder where you couldn't focus. I had always done well in focusing, though granted that was when I was kid.

Now as an adult who lives all on my own, I think he might have been right. I could never focus on one task, I had to do everything. I had to be moving, that's why I went through training at a very young age. I was the youngest of my class, the youngest girl too. Not very many girls wanted to walk around the Ark holding a gun and terrifying citizens.

Except Casey. She would've gladly joined me in training, though she wasn't given an option. Instead I taught her everything she needed to know, and she was always better than me. I taught her everything I knew, but she always excelled and learn more on her own time. Sometimes she'd teach me what she'd taught herself, though not often enough.

Now as an adult I was much more sluggish, I wasn't that keen on being a guard anymore. That opportunity was snatched away from me long ago, it didn't matter now. I was always the best, but I would never follow orders. I would never follow the council's orders.

Even now, I was tempted to smash the stupid alarm clock by my bedside. It's incessant buzzing demanded I get up and get ready to clean the toilets of those above me. Those who could follow orders.

I rolled onto my side, temporarily covering my head with my pillow. The sound kept blaring, as if I wasn't a factor in it's daily life. My alarm clock had it's own routine, and sadly it dictated mine.

I rose from my bed, moving to the center of the room. I didn't have a big unit, just one room with a bed and the basics. I didn't have much time to waste, seeing as how late I set my alarm. I hated waking up early, so my alarm woke me at the latest I could get up without being late for work.

I pulled my hair up into a pony tail, pulling it back and putting a cap on top of my head. I wore a standard uniform for work consisting of a white tank top and a jumpsuit, the sleeves were tied loosely around my hips. I looked like a pile of shit, there was literal shit on my uniform. I hadn't gotten to wash my uniform in a while, it didn't matter. I was a janitor, I was always up to elbows in grease and dirt. My uniform was always dirty, though now the pits were starting to wreak.

I didn't bother with breakfast, it's not that I didn't have the time for it I just didn't want to waste it. I saved my breakfasts for my days off, for those days I really just want to enjoy living. I didn't get very much rations as a janitor, thanks to the council just recently passing a new policy.

I made my way outside of my unit, keeping my head down and covered with my cap. No attention is the best option for me at the moment, or anytime during the daylight. Daylight is also a relative term on the Ark, the lights dim and you can't see the sun outside the windows anyway.

Though I kept my head down, it seemed to do nothing against the General himself. He walked with five guards following him, they took up the entire walk way. They stopped a few feet in front of me, forcing me to come to a stop as well. It was still early so not many people were out, and those who were simply turned around and walked away.

I sighed, folding my arms across my chest and looked up at him. "What do you want now, General? I'm already at the bottom of the food chain, the only thing you could do to make my life worse is to float me." I spat, enjoying the grimace that crossed his face.

He said nothing to my comment though. Instead he looked me over, as if inspecting me for enlisting. I hadn't seen him for months, I hadn't wanted to. He was the most self absorbed man I'd ever met, and he knew it too. A smirk crept up his face, like an ugly caterpillar.

"What nothing to say?" I asked, shifting to one foot. "Listen, I have to get to work. If you wouldn't mind I'd like to keep my job. . ." I trailed off, gesturing behind him with my head.

"I already called you in." I froze at his words. He never did anything nice for me, not that this was a very nice gesture. All it meant was I wouldn't be having breakfast on my day off next week. He wanted something from me, I just couldn't think of why. He hadn't given me a second thought in years, why would he need something now?

The man himself chuckled, then continued to explain when I stayed silent. "I need to show you something, though it's-"

I let out a laugh, not a nice laugh either. The sound the emitted through my throat was nasally and very unladylike on my part. "Let me guess. It's top secret council business that I want no part of, right?" I asked, sizing up the guards at his side.

"And what's with them? Last time I checked, you're not the center of the universe."

One of the guards chuckled, earning a glare from Kane. "You didn't hear?" He answer my question with a question, only he didn't really answer my question. "The Chancellor has been shot, this leaves me in control."

"Temporarily." His eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed.

We sat in silence, my eyes wondering from each guard while their's were glued to me. "It's not very likely he will survive, and I'm sure I can swoon the council."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, cause you're so good at that. That's how you ended up with me, right?" I snickered, brushing past him and the guards. I had tried not to touch any of the guards themselves, but one reached out and grabbed my arm. He prevented me from walking away, and forced me to look at Kane.

"Just come with me, Astrid. Please, I need your assistance." I frowned, looking him over.

"Why would you need me? You have the top scientists at your disposal, I'm not even technically qualified." I snapped, spitting the words out like acid leaving my mouth. Kane nodded, then started walking past me. I didn't expect him to just leave, so I didn't even bother trying to break free from the guards hold.

They lead me away from the main section and towards the more nicer looking area's of the Ark, the type of places I clean. Kane had to stop at a door, pressing his hand to a small touch pad and punching in a four number code. The metal doors opened to reveal a wall full of computer monitors, each one had a different face on it, each tile that is.

I let my eyes widen as I surveyed the faces, each one looking completely done with life on the Ark. They were prisoners of the Skybox.

"What the hell is this, Kane?" I spoke, but the words sounded far away. It was as if I my entire body was shutting down, zoning out as I realized they were doing something wrong. Whatever 'this' was, it was wrong and most likely inhumane like everything else the council does.

I ripped my arms away from the guards, and they actually let me go. I walked forwards, the entire room was silent as they waited for my response. I tried to think of what this was, what was happening. It seemed to click like a switch.

"The dropship. People said they saw a dropship getting launched." I muttered, glancing back at Kane who simply looked to the ground. "You sent them to Earth."

Kane didn't need to answer, I already knew what was gong on. I didn't need this explained to me. I was always a smart kid, I was better with my head than my hands. That's why I never truly got upset with Casey when we were younger, I was the brains while she was the brawn.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked, looking back to the screen.

That when I saw her name, the name of my best friend growing up as child. I never really got along with the kids in my grade, mainly because my father put me through the guard training program. I wasn't a fighter until he made me one, and Casey was the one who helped me.

"You sent Casey to the ground?" My voice rose questionably high, something I hadn't really done since before I was a kid.

I turned to Kane. "You couldn't have given her a painless death, a quick death? No you had to send her to a radiation soaked planet that will make her suffering last." His face remained calm at my accusations, he didn't even flinch.

I scoffed. "I always knew you were cold blooded."

I turned away from him, looking to the screen. "I think I already asked this, but why are you showing me this?"

"You're a smart girl, Astrid, always have been. I wanted to recruit you for this mission in the beginning, but Abby thought you might get too emotional." He paused, I felt his eyes burn into my back but I refused to look back at him. I knew this was a test, it always was with him. "Was she right?"

I looked up at Casey, then turned my back to him. "No, she wasn't. It's not like Abby has ever been right about anything in her life."

Kane smirked, nodding. "Anyway, now that Abby is locked up I thought now was a good time to bring you in. Now that she can't protest against it-"

"And because you don't know how long you'll stay in power, right?" I asked, cutting him off. It was now my turn to smirk, I had always been smarter than him when it came to people. I loved psychology. This man is something I would classify as a power hungry douche who only cares about himself.

Kane was taken aback by my statement, though he was quick to regather himself. He nodded, looking towards the board. "The plan was simple, we'd send the kids down to see if Earth was survivable again."

I followed his line of sight, looking at the monitors. "The dropship crash landed, you lost communication with them and now they're dying, right?"

As he was talking, more lights went out. Of them included none other than Casey. Casey was a strong girl, but she was a delinquent just like the rest. I knew that, so I knew it wasn't correct. "They're not dying."

"Excuse me?" Kane asked, glancing at me.

I let out a sigh, turning to him with crossed arms. "Listen, this really sounds like a personal problem now. You sent a bunch of criminals down to Earth expecting them to play the perfect pets. They're taking the wristbands off, basically saying 'screw you'. I have to go to work now."

I hadn't even taken a step away from him before he started shouting, the sound echoing around the room. "Wait, Astrid!" Suddenly I felt like a little kid again, being reprimanded by my parent in front of my peers.

"No, I'm not your little pet either." I snapped. "You abandoned me, and now I have to clean your shit up so I can enough rations cards for the next week. Besides, there's not much I can do from here. They don't have a radio down there, that's your problem right now."

I stomped out of the room and made my way to work. Work was something I didn't enjoy, but I certainly enjoyed it more than listening to Kane talk about himself. Granted I'd listen to girls gossip in the bathrooms I cleaned, mostly about themselves.

Today was a good day too, I was assigned to clean the classrooms while the kids were on a 'field trip' to see the labs. If I was going to take a day off it would not be today, how about any other day? The classrooms didn't need much cleaning either, unless I cleaned for the middle school. I always got to clean up for the preschoolers who were super respectful, oddly enough.

My day went by fast and I was back in my small unit by five that day, much better than on a normal day when I wake up at the crack of dawn and don't come home until after seven.

I wanted to collapse on my bed and take a nap, but sadly my work was not done. I went to make something for dinner, a simple little ration packet I got earlier this week. I went to open it, just when I heard a knock on my door. I was about to shout something quite rude, but the door opened before I could say anything.

Two guards came in, then Chancellor Jaha stepped into my unit followed closely by Kane and Abby Griffin. I frowned, placing my hands carefully on the counter. "Sir, I heard you were shot. Shouldn't you be in bed or something?" I asked, keeping my gaze on him and not on the two standing next to him.

He nodded. "Yes, I should be. Sadly, Kane has given you some information he shouldn't have. I need to make sure you won't tell anyone."

I didn't move, I just thought. I could be sarcastic, but that could end in my immediate death. I was over eighteen so they could float me easily. "Well, you caught me just in time. Any other day I wouldn't have been home."

He nodded, completely ignoring my comment and continued to get down to business. "So you know about the hundred."

I didn't really know how to respond to his statement, so I continued to open my dinner up. I didn't have to admit I knew about the hundred, hell I could just ignore them if I wanted to. I placed my food in my small microwave then sat on the counter.

They stared at me, watching my moves. At first it was annoying, but now it felt unsettling to be watched. I looked at them and groaned. "Yeah, I know about the hundred. Whoop de doo."

"Well, Marcus seems to think you'll be able to help us somehow." Jaha, glanced at Kane himself.

I simply shrugged. "No idea how he thinks I'll help. I could've helped before the launch, like making sure you don't lose communications with them but I guess it's a little too late for that."

Kane stepped forward. "How would you be able to establish communications now?"

Again, I shrugged. "Unless you send someone after them, which I high doubt you'll do, you can't. The problem is not up here, the problem is down there. They do not have a radio, I'm sure someone down there could make one but I doubt any of those delinquents will want to help us."

Abby frowned, looking between Kane and I. "Why exactly would you say that?" She asked.

I jumped down from the counter, leaning back on it and crossing my arms across my chest. "You sent them down to die. You locked them up for how long, some of their so called 'crimes' aren't even much of crimes. Plus they're teenagers. Connect the goddamn dots."

That's when the microwave timer went off and I knew my dinner was done. I was quick to get it out and finish opening it. Again I was just stared at.

I groaned once more. "Why are you still here? I'm not going to go around shouting, 'The council sent one hundred kids down to Earth to die'."

Abby stepped forward, making me slightly claustrophobic. My unit was already small enough as it was, with just me in the room it felt normal but with all these people I suddenly felt like the walls were closing in on me.

"We did not send them to die, we-"

I cut Abby off, I was still overwhelmed with how many people were in my room. "You sent them to test the Earth, see if it was survivable. I'm aware of that, but the chances of them surviving were low and you took that chance."

I shook my head, turning to meal and started eating. I wasn't just going to sit here and listen to them talk down to me. "Astrid, this isn't just about the kids. You're right, we need someone to go down and establish communication with them. What if we sent you?"

This had me frozen to my spot, carefully looking over my food. Jaha was quick to shoot Abby down though, saving me from an embarrassing moment.

I was just as quick as Jaha, turning towards them and snickering. "Let me get this straight, you want to send me down to Earth with a radio so you can keep an eye on a bunch of delinquents, according to that monitor almost half of them are dead."

"Not necessarily." Abby was protesting, and although I hated the woman I admired how she always had hope. Abigail Griffin was a strong woman who stood up for her beliefs, and she passed that on to both her children. All I got was an asshole who didn't know what emotions were. "You said something earlier that sparked an interest in one of my colleagues. They're taking off their wristbands, right?"

I frowned, looking to Jaha and Kane. "It's a dumb idea." I stated. "Now can you leave so I can eat my dinner in peace?"

Jaha gave me a nod, saying a quick goodbye before he left the room. The guards following. Kane didn't leave though, neither did Abby. "Astrid, I still think you'd be useful on this mission."

"How so?"

Kane didn't answer, instead he left my unit. He left me alone with Abby of all people. I glanced at her, then to the door as it slid shut. We sat in silence, I wasn't sure how to talk to Abby. The fact that I hated her and admired her made this whole thing a little awkward, at least for me.

"It's not a stupid idea." I finally said, making her look directly into my eyes. "It's actually not half bad, if you had something stable enough to launch from this hunk of junk.

"That was the initial problem, the Ark wasn't meant to last this long that's why we're having problems with life support systems. The dropship most likely was too old to make the trip, but it shouldn't have cut off all our communications. It's probably something to do with the Earth itself, something new in the atmosphere that we didn't anticipate."

Abby nodded. "Do think, if I could find another shuttle, you could find a way to make sure we don't experience the same problem?"

I honestly didn't know. I was smart, always had been, but I was no engineer. All I could do was tell her what to do and that was about it. "I could fix the problem, most likely, but I'd need help. Mechanical help that is, nothing you can do doctor."

"In that case, will you follow me?" Abby asked, gesturing to the door. I furrowed my brows, glancing down at my food.

I didn't want to just leave it here to get cold, and I couldn't really save it. I sighed, picking it up and taking it with me as I followed Abby out into the Ark. We walked to a section of the Ark I had never been in, I'd never had the clearance.

Once we got to a certain section, another girl arrived. I had never been one to assume, but she looked nice enough. She had dark hair and darker skin than most, a red jacket adorning her arms. She knocked on the door, "Someone call for a mechanic?"

Abby let her in then lead both of us into a section I was sure Raven had never been in, lord knows I hadn't. "Look, I don't know who she is, but I told you I won't tell anyone." She said as she entered the room.

Abby stopped, glancing at her. "I believe you, and you're not in trouble." She told her, proceeding to lead us away from the door. "Follow me."

I glanced at Raven, who looked at me with an equal amount of curiosity and confusion. I gave her a shrug, following Abby through the small area. "Not it trouble yet, you mean." Raven muttered as she put down her bag.

"This place is off limits to people like me." Raven continued, forcing Abby to stop and look back at us. I nodded in agreement, I was just Janitor. From what I gathered Raven was a mechanic, much high than I and she wasn't even allowed in this place.

"Not anymore." Abby told her, glancing to me. "For both of you. You know we sent one hundred kids to the ground. What you don't know is why."

I snickered. "I've got a good guess."

Abby raised one eyebrow, gesturing with her arms for me to continue. "I said it earlier, the life support system has been having problems. That's not news, my guess is there's a problem we can't fix. You sent them down for more oxygen."

I paused, glancing at Raven. "The Ark is dying, but that seems a little obsolete right now. What I want to know is what this has to do with us? I highly doubt you need us to fix it, you probably already have your top dogs on it."

"I have ten days to prove that Earth is survivable, or they're going to start reducing the population." Abby stated. "Three hundred and twenty innocent people will be killed."

I felt my stomach clench at the idea, Raven must've gotten the same idea cause she shifted awkwardly. "I don't get it, why are you telling us this?" She asked, her voice cracking.

"I looked up your file. You're the youngest Zero-G mechanic in fifty years." Abby answered simply, as if it was enough.

It wasn't enough for the 'youngest zero-g mechanic'. "Fifty-two. But, so what?" Raven asked, glancing to me. "And why exactly is she here."

Abby glanced at me. "I've know Astrid since she was a child and she has always been the smartest. She tutored both my children, and she was the youngest in her class. Could've gone so far."

"Both?" Raven asked. Neither of us answered, I was shocked she had admitted that. I had tutored both Clarke and Casey, mainly Casey though because she wasn't even allowed to go to school. There weren't even any records of her, except for her criminal records of course and even that was incredibly guarded.

"So. . ." Abby trailed off, turning around and pulling down a curtain. Behind the curtain, that I hadn't really paid much attention to, sat what seemed to be a small shuttle. "You have nine days to get this ready so I can survive a drop."

I let out a snicker, not even giving it a second glance. Raven on the other hand approached it, giving it a few bangs on the sides. "God, what a piece of junk." She muttered.

"They must've found it when they salvaged MIR-3 in 2102." I added, giving it a small glance.

Raven nodded in agreement. "You want us to get a hundred and thirty year old escape pod ready to withstand the inferno of re-entry in nine days?" She asked Abby, earning another unladylike noise from me.

"Can you do it or not?"

I sighed. "Well, I don't know about you Raven, but I know I'm not going to be much help. I'm no mechanic or engineer. There's not much I can do here."

"You said there was something in the atmosphere that affected the drop ship's landing. Figure out what it was and fix the problem." I let my eyes widen, then glanced at Raven. She simply shrugged, looking to Abby for help.

I threw my arms up, turning my back to them. "Sure, I'll just 'fix the problem'. It's so easy. I can just go right up to Kane and demand all the mission information and somehow figure out the problem and somehow fix the problem."

Half way through my tantrum, I realized that's exactly what I could do. Kane wanted me on the mission and he'd gladly give me a full mission report.

I sighed, turning back to both of them. "Yeah, I can do it, but I have one condition. I want to come with."

Abby didn't say a word, simply glancing to Raven. Raven smirked. "Hell yeah I can do it, but I don't know if this thing will hold three people." Before Abby could protest, Raven continued. "You're not the only one with someone you love on the ground."

I took a step forward, standing next to her. "Those are our terms, take it or leave it."

Abby raised an eyebrow at me, though she didn't say no. Instead she nodded. "All right, you can come with me." I smirked, glad to have won this little battle. I took a bite of my dinner to celebrate this victory.

Heyo, it's ya boi (actually I'm a girl but I'm making a joke so leave me alone). So after I got such good feedback from the last chapter y'all made me the happiest girl in the world. I'm not kidding, some of you are the nicest people in the world and it made my day to read the reviews and see y'all were enjoying what I was posting.

So instead of making you wait months for an update I've been inspired to write again. I do not want to get your hopes up though with regular updates though cause I'm not the best at that (if you couldn't tell by my track record).

So this is Astrid, you've finally gotten to know her a little bit. I'm interested to know what y'all think of her, as she is still a new character to me as well. I had the idea to write her in for season 2, but with this re-write I thought it would be better to bring her up now instead of just dropping her in at a random point.

Tell me what you think of the new character, and the next chapter will be Casey's POV. She's gotta help save Jasper.

Just to be clear, this will not be an every other chapter sort of thing. It's more like the important parts will get chapters, so the introduction to her character and I have like four other chapters planned for her character in season 1.

But seriously, tell me what you think and I hope to update soon.

-mistysherwood1

P.S. - I would like to make a shout out to mariannewrgt for the great comments. She has commented on every chapter and has really inspired me to keep writing this story, that's why ya got a chapter so soon after the last one.

P.P.S. - letonlee, me too. I used to do that so often, it feels good to know other people get hook on my story as much as I have with others. Thank you so much.