See, see. Told you guys I will update soon. Zack finally is the protagonist, sorry it took long. Then again… I like couples so… please, still mind my C&M affection.

Chapter 7

"Just one condition," Zack expressed getting a little serious. Carmen was a bit mad at him but nodded.

"I want to try and save him first. If I can't, I'll kill him."

"Understood, I'll send my scouts to search in this forgotten land for every laptop with a usable battery. I'll have the borders patrolled and scouted. Sara already have some at her disposal, you are free to use the resources as you need. We will prepare all winter for this and strike in spring."

The new constructed family celebrated Zack's decision and kept talking about plans and their abilities all night in preparation for the months to come. Zack and Sara went on to business and Ivy admired the man that was her brother with loving eyes. How proud she was of him.

"Now everyone knows we are lovers," Mike said in Carmen's ears, he knew she liked to get whispers. They had gone up to their quarters for a bit of relaxed alone time after the comment Zack said earlier.

"How embarrassing to be mixed with your kind of low thief," she teased him while leaning against the wall that surrounded their bed.

"In any case, I knew you liked me, I mean, I'm such a handsome man and that is why you let me catch you."

"I let you catch me because I needed a distraction and a focus at the same time. I needed to use someone as a shield and use him for my benefit in order to escape." She started to slide from the wall to the bed and looked out the window near her pillow. Mike started kissing her neck while his hands explored other reaches of her body when they were interrupted by Ivy. At the site of them she stopped, she knew that she had interrupted something important going on and blushed. Ivy didn't remember the last time Josha touched her like that.

"Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to say, Thanks Carmen. I don't know what would have happened if we had never met, I… thank you so much," Ivy smiled and happiness bloomed in her eyes.

"Your welcome, is the least I can do for my family," Carmen smiled back. "Now if you'll excuse us, I'm getting caught." Ivy blushed and quickly got down to the party.

"We need to find a tower for ourselves," Mike said amused.

"The tower wouldn't be able to handle us alone," Carmen snickered.

SCENE 2

Winters in this new era were harsh. Nothing but wind and snow moved outside during this time of the year where once the Earth was filled with songs and festivities. The little food that the packs could gather had to last them all season. Many didn't survive and they in turn became food source for the rest. There was, however, something different this winter, something that made this nightmare more pleasing to some. But to someone in particular, it was like hell.

"WERE ARE THEY!" a strong and menacing voice was heard over the audience.

"The individuals were last spotted in France my lord, but their transition chips were destroyed before we could confirm their exact location." The answer came from a thin but strangely tall human-like being that shivered in the wind of the base. "The destruction of the chips is not accidental. They were manually removed and destroyed expediently. We believe they have come in contact with her." The man tensed saying this because his leader looked at him directly in the eyes. Nonetheless, he continued his report, he had to anyways. "It is not confirmed they have come in contact, however, but they made contact with a group that does know how to destroy the chips. That knowledge is only out there because of her raid to the Doctor years ago. So we presume that they might actually meet. Sir, report finished." He saluted as he has done before and waited patiently for his leader repercussions.

The leader's sigh was long and loud. His distress at the ineptitude of his subjects was eating his insides, if he had insides. He had given them only one task, one simple task and they failed it. They were still only mere humans.

"And can I ask, why weren't they closely fallowed like I ordered?"

"Their course was taking them east just a few days from the vigilance radius of one of our station camps. We retreated, waiting for them to pass the marker and let the soldiers from the camp look into them. The sensors have never picked up any human activity within the area and we assumed they will travel alone until then."

"You imbecile human" the leader shouted and immediately shot a bolt of electricity from a security gun on a wall at his captain. "She is everywhere!" The soldier fell flat against the floor with a dismembered mechanical arm.

"I know what she is capable of because I WAS WITH HER ALL THOSE YEARS!" Chief's unmistakable face turned red with anger on his blue screen. "AND THAT BOY HAS THE KEY TO MY DISTRUCTION. DON'T YOU GET IT!" Chief turned towards his captains.

"IF HE DESTROYS ME, ALL OF YOU WILL DIE WITH ME. YOU ARE PART OF MY MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, YOU ALL BELONG TO ME AND YOU MUST OBEY ME OR I WILL ELIMINATE YOU MYSELF." Bolts of electricity shoot from guns towards them, hurting many and paralyzing others.

"I have no remorse in doing so. I can create thousands more like you and better yet, I can create upgrades from you." He turned his blue screen away from them contemplating the panorama he could see from his base. Something deep inside of him had never considered the possibility of killing his foes. He wanted them close enough for spying, but never dead. But she had crossed the line, and he is now with her.

"I will abort your mission Captain Moorey."

"Please sir, give me another chance. I will find them." Moorey was carrying the mechanical arm.

"I SAID ABORT YOUR MISSION, CAPTAIN!"

"Yes, my leader." Moorey knelt waiting for the final blow from his leader that would end his life.

"I have a new mission for you," Chief said this in a dry way, but Moorey's spirit lifted a bit, he wasn't going to die.

"Your mission: Search and Kill," Chief said in a low tone. "I want the heads of Sandiego, VILE and ACME on stakes outside my window so I can spy them myself for eternity."

Moorey smiled at this new mission. "It will be done, my leader," and quickly exited the suit of Chief.

"LEAVE ME ALONE ALL OF YOU!" His captains retired and went on directing the base. Chief continued contemplating his view. He smiled at the though of having his old friends back at his view, even if it were only their heads.

SCENE 3

"Brrrr." …

"Bbbrrrrrrrrr." …

"BBBBRRRRRRRRR."

"Stop it Zack," Ivy threw a snowball at Zack. "Please be serious. Play times are over, we must continue practicing your defenses."

"I know Iv, but come on, a little fun is always good. Relax." Zack prepared himself for another session with Ivy.

"He has improved," Tatyanna said to Jasmine. Both girls were on an outcropping watching the siblings practice and keeping an eye on the horizon.

"Are you ok with this?" Jasmine asked Tatyanna. She had wanted to ask her this for sometime now, but couldn't find the right moment to. The first weeks of winter after the Retaliation Call had been busy. The Regina's plan called for some very specific articles and demanded some specific skill from people at their disposal. Everyone in the Lair had a job, and for the most part they were all doing it great.

The Regina's plan consisted more on defense than offence. If there was offence it must be done quick and precise. Many individuals were in charge of creating diversions and standing ground while the main force continued up the spire. The only ones that didn't had to work were infants, everyone else had something to do. Regina liked the ambition mustered in every ones heart for this vengeance. Everything had to be close to perfect for her to approve and of course for the good of the mission. This war was not going to be easy, not because they were somewhat starved or nearly dead, but they were going to fight non-human things.

Carmen directed here and there, over there and over here. Day and night all through winter they prepared. Each day her people grew more confident in the plan and started to taste the freedom in their horizon. Carmen's main focus was Zack's training in her area of expertise. She refused to tell him all her secrets, but she had been teaching him everything she knew about not getting caught, about how to stealth your presence, about how to commit illegal entries. Zack now admired Carmen, how can someone like her exist in this world. Zack became the Lair's thief. Carmen commanded him on interesting missions through out the Lair to test his skills. He had been getting good, but Carmen always found out mistakes. This was beginning to take a toll on Zack, but he notched it away, he knew that he couldn't out master her.

"I'm Ok with the Retaliation Call," Tatyanna sighed. "What I'm a bit confused is why learn from Carmen. I mean… why must Zack learn how to steal? It just don't' make sense that after all this years that we all have kept our word in being agents of law, he turns his back on it."

"Well, from what I know the ways of the thief keeps him safe while the ways of the cop keeps him on the edge."

"I know that… its just… why must Zack go himself? Why can't it be the other way around?"

"You mean, why can't Zack teach Carmen the way to safe/kill Chief and she does the rest?"

"Yes, why can't she go herself? It's true we are under oppression, its true we are slaves, its true we are in a society that crumbled with this Earth. But look around you Jas. Look what this entire people have done and what are they doing. Don't tell me we don't have the potential to raise a new Earth by ourselves far from the Pillar on the other side and live our lives in peace." Tatyanna pointed out at the massive defensive structures and the mass of people working on supplies, food and training on the camp below them.

The girls both sat silently for a while admiring the ingenuity of human beings. They indeed had potential of accomplishing great things in a short time. They hear some footsteps approaching them and turned to look to their backs. Josha and strangely enough Moe came towards them.

"Hello girls, ready for your break," Josha said sitting next to Tatyanna watching Ivy with hungry eyes. Moe stayed standing up overlooking the horizon.

"You have no idea how much we want to get out of this frosty wind," Jasmine threw him some snow and he laughed at this. Few moments of relax time were felt in this regimen, and when they come everyone enjoyed them. Both girls got up and started walking towards the Lair, they had nightly jobs to start getting ready for.

"Actually, I understand why it isn't the other way around Taty," Jasmine started to say as they approached the Lair's entrance. "If we didn't do what we are special in doing, if we gave up and let others do for ourselves what we can do, if we just hang our arms and wait for others, we would be no different from THEM."

"How come? I just want everyone to be safe, fighting is not the solution always. Fighting is the reason we all ended up here."

"They fought, we survived. Don't you get it Taty, what differentiates humans from machines is that we human beings can do things without asking for help, while those machines need help for doing things. We are superior in every way possible and if we don't stop them, we will become like them. We have so much going on for us that we can't afford to loose what little we have gained. Look at Carmen and Mike, they lost who they were but found each other, and they are fighting to not lose again. We are fighting for what we still have and have found again. Taty, we have love, intellect and potential for being humans, for returning to who we were. Please Taty, don't lose hope, believe in what we, ourselves by ourselves can do for ourselves." Jasmine wanted so much to change Tatyanna's lost expression that loomed over the girls face.

Tatyanna didn't like to admit that what Jasmine was saying was the truth. She was so proud of the man Zack had become, but she didn't' wanted to loose anyone else close to her life. Especially now that Zack had decided to find a quarters all for themselves inside Carmen's tower. She was afraid of loosing her lover. She contemplated the horizon and saw Ivy shouting at Josha. Ivy and Josha had gone steady way before they came to the Lair and they both lived happy despite their unknown future. Moe had begun to hit on Jasmine but only when she was alone, he was afraid of the ACME detectives and Jasmine teased him about it. Jasmine also had a lover and she wanted to continue even though she was afraid as well. Hugo and Paige were married by the time they came to the Lair and they both relished fighting alongside each other. Sara and Lars had a strange relationship, they were neither together nor far apart, it was funny to see the brilliant scientist battle it out with the low quality thief, and they still wanted to get their hands on the action.

Lastly there was Carmen and Mike, the epitome of love in this new era. Two completely dissimilar and at the same time equal people that found love in the most unexpecting way. Everything was unexpected between the two. You could never know if they were mad at each other or they were just teasing. Fighting, kissing, shouting, whispering, laughing and crying at intervals that were impossible to comprehend. They were so mixed in each other that Tatyanna couldn't even imagine how can either one of them could recover if the other one was lost. How can they be so serine in gambling with their love in this manner?

"Aren't you afraid?" Tatyanna finally asked.

"Of course I'm afraid, its natural," Jasmine smiled back at her. "But I'm more afraid of never expressing my love out in the open. Look at them, secretly in love, the torture of not being able to express it is killing them slowly. Don't you feel the same?"

Tatyanna reflected on this for a moment. She concluded that being able to love was better than being afraid to love.

"Promise me you will look out for him when the time comes."

"With my life," Jasmine said hugging Tatyanna as they both started going into the Lairs entrance.

Today was a day for sentiments to be expressed. Today was a day to relax indeed. Today was a day for families to do things together and to create stronger bonds between them. Few times like this one came around, and fewer will come in the next months.

This was one of the few times Ivy and Zack had to improve their skills.

"Stop throwing snowballs, AAAHHHHH!" Ivy launched snow with her foot at Zack, and they started laughing and playing like little kids. The siblings battled on until the twilight.

End of chapter 7

Uff… Chief as bad $$ = the win! I will have to rewrite some notes about the story's next issues. I wasn't counting on writing about Chief until much later and I didn't count on the evilness of portraying Chief as a murderer. This changes some things and I'm asking the muse for some big help here. Don't fret, I'll update as soon as I fix the events for this adventure.