Events occur between Chapters 33 and 34 of AUP.

CHAPTER 3: THE IVANOV HOUSE

"Careful," Mara hissed as they headed towards the dimly-lit house.

Timmy gazed at his device, the one which had falsely told him that Mirta was a witch, that day when the Trix attacked. The device that Tecna had reprogrammed for him. Using what she'd taught him, he'd done some modifications, and now, it was ready to go.

This device was not only useful for detecting enemy-presence; with Rasputin's help, he had spent the past week trying to use it to sense Tecna's location. He had programmed it with details about her, including her height, physical characteristics, and other relevant information.

But we need her serial number. He knew that, in order to be fully accurate, he needed to find more information about her. And the best place to look was Tecna's old house.

Ahead of him, he saw gleaming metal. His eyes widened.

"Hide!" he hissed, shoving Rasputin into a bush. The robot scanned around, clearly suspicious of an intrusion. Sensing nothing, it continued to walk around the perimeter of the house.

"Get up, you idiots," Mara snapped. Clad in black, she seemed to blend in with the night itself. A belt of tools was around her waist, which Timmy knew she was very dexterous with handling. "We don't break into a house just by standing around here."

"I know that," Timmy snapped. Over the past week, he and Mara had been at somewhat of a stalemate, with both refusing to acknowledge the other's point-of-view. Why should it matter to her why I joined the Resistance? Getting Tecna out was his highest priority. I have no obligation to serve her. I'm not a Zenithian! He headed towards the house, staring up at the security.

An electric forcefield was around the house. There was a keypad at the front of the door, meant for a passcode. It looks like Vasiliev recently installed it. He frowned.

According to Flora, when she'd gone into Tecna's house, the entire place had been unguarded. Of course, that had been intentional; Vasiliev had lured her into a trap. But now, it was obvious that he didn't want people getting in.

There must be something important in here. He carefully walked up to the house, so as not to get caught up in the electricity. Connecting his device to the keypad, he began to hack into the system, trying to figure out its encryption.

Immediately, robots turned towards them. They know they're being hacked! In alarm, he typed furiously on his device.

"Aah!" Rasputin screamed in fright.

"I'll handle this," Mara said, drawing her blaster. She leapt into the air, landing atop a robot's back. Effortlessly, she sliced into its wiring, disabling it completely.

Timmy watched with admiration as she fought the robots. She's good… Turning back to the keypad, he continued to type furiously, trying to figure out how to circumvent the navigation.

"Rasputin, protect Lover Boy!" Mara ordered. "Make sure the robots don't get him!"

Timmy clenched his fists as he continued to type, coding around the system block. Why can't she just call me Timmy, like everyone else? Rasputin nervously drew his sword, feebly pointing it at a robot. He let out a shout as he was hauled into the air.

"Heee!" he shouted in fright. He was thrown into the electricity, squealing as it zapped through his veins.

"Ugh!" Mara's look was one of utter disdain. "Are you competing with Lover Boy to see who can be the most useless?"

Timmy glared at her, turning back to the device. Wait, I've almost got it… Typing in a sequence, he watched as the electric forcefield around the house disappeared. The robots stopped working and fell to the ground.

"Good," Mara said brusquely, picking Rasputin off the ground. She didn't even glance at Timmy. "We've got about ten minutes to scour the house before Vasiliev's bots come after us." She sauntered into the house.

Do the words "thank you" mean anything to you? Annoyed, he followed her inside, gazing around at the house. He shivered.

"Is it just me, or is Zenith cold?" he said to Rasputin. "Colder than normal, I mean?"

"Yeah," Rasputin said, grinning to reveal crooked and broken yellow teeth. "There's a legend amongst those of us in the Lower District. Ya ever heard the story of the Crystal of Zenith?"

"No," Timmy asked, immediately intrigued. "What is it?"

"According to legend, it's this awesome metallic crystal," Rasputin said, his eyes wide. "It is owned by each of the kings of Zenith. Rumor has it that it was removed from the Infinity by Josef Sokolov, the first premier of Zenith."

"What's the Infinity Room?" Timmy asked.

"A room that stretches on for forever," Rasputin said, his eyes wide. "It's this room located at the heart of the old Zenithian Palace, and has all the magical spells of this realm. It's amazing. Anyways, so the Crystal is supposed to keep Zenith's seasons in balance, but ever since it was removed, it's been getting colder and colder every year. It's been almost a thousand years since the dictatorship began; in Year 12, the communist insurgents cut off King Nikolai's head and started their regime. And now, things are going to get worse."

"How?" Timmy asked in worry.

"Well, regions of rural Zenith are already practically uninhabitable," Rasputin answered. "It's been averaging one-hundred degrees below zero for the past two years! But soon, the whole planet will suffer the same fate. Having been separated from its life-force for so long, the Crystal will soon die. And when it does, the Apocalypse will soon begin. A destructive blizzard will rage all over Zenith, killing everything and everyone." His eyes gleamed with madness. Timmy felt a horrific chill slither up his spine, one that he hadn't imagined before. "And then, all of Zenith will be destroyed" –

"SHUT IT!" Mara snarled, and Timmy jumped. "Why are you scaring Lover Boy with urban legends? We have a mission here, in case you've forgotten! Already Lover Boy doesn't need an excuse to leave us! So stop talking about things that don't exist!"

"Well then, how do you explain the fact that we don't have seasons anymore?" Rasputin pressed on.

Mara laughed bitterly. "How do you know there were ever seasons in the first place? It sounds like something our ancestors made up, a bedtime story for foolish children such as you. Thanks to your prattling, we have only seven minutes left." She glared at Timmy. "You have five minutes to find the information you need."

Why do I always get the blame? He stared around the house, and frowned. "We need to get to her bedroom." He headed up the stairs, running until he reached a set of three rooms. Entering through her room, he let out a gasp.

The room was bare. All of the things that Flora had said were there were no completely gone. There was no desk, no chest-of-drawers, nothing. He stared, completely shocked.

"So let me get this straight." Mara glared at him. "You risked all of our necks for a harebrained mission, in the foolish hope you'd be reunited with your girlfriend? How useless can you" –

"I'm not useless!" Timmy exploded. "I'm sick and tired of you always breathing down my neck! Just because things aren't happening immediately doesn't mean I won't find a way! You – I'm sick of you acting like" –

"Like what?" Mara retorted. "Like a responsible leader? You're acting with zero regard to all our lives! Just because you're willing to lay down your life for her doesn't mean the rest of us are."

"At least I'm not selfish!" Timmy snarled back. "I would do anything for her! You don't care about any of us! All you care about is your stupid agenda!"

"Hey, guys!" Rasputin shouted. "I sense something here!"

Mara immediately shut up. Turning around to him, she demanded, "What do you mean?"

"There's some kind of monitor in here," Rasputin said, an impish grin on his face. "It's gotta be connected to her internal wiring!"

"How do you know?" Timmy asked. Mara rolled her eyes.

"Because he's a cyborg himself," she answered. "He can sense things like that." Rasputin walked up to a vent on the side.

"Here!" he shouted triumphantly, pulling out a device. Opening it, Timmy stared as he read the words.

CYBORG IDENTIFICATION SCREEN, it read. ALL USERS MUST CARRY DURING TRAVEL. SUBJECT TO RANDOM INSPECTIONS.

Cyborgs have to carry this around with them on Zenith? Timmy thought in horror. The screen had all of Tecna's personal information on it. Even worse, any government-official could hack into it! He stared at it in amazement.

"What's her serial number?" Mara asked.

Timmy scanned the screen, seeing there were two numbers: her citizen ID, and her serial number. He found it.

"10242048," he said. "Okay, let's bring this whole thing with us." He was about to pocket it, but Mara slapped it away.

"Put it back," she hissed. "That thing will trace the Resistance's hideout!"

"But it could help me find her!" Timmy insisted. "It could" –

BANG. The sound of a colossal cannon filled the air. Timmy jumped in horror, staring forward. Mara grabbed a rope out of her belt; in a matter of moments, she had tied one end around her waist and the other on the curtainrod.

"Hold onto me!" she hissed.

Unbeknownst to her, Timmy shoved the screen into his pocket. He grabbed onto one of her arms, Rasputin grabbing the other. "Can't you just transform?" he asked, his teeth chattering with fear.

"It'll attract too much attention," Mara responded. "Come on!" She leapt off the windowsill.

The three of them screamed as they free-fell to the ground. Eventually, they dangled over the side. Timmy stared at the Zenithian ships, now bearing a flag with a 'V' insignia embroidered atop. In the distance, he thought he heard a chilling laugh, one with the intent to destroy all.

For that day, Zenith changed forever.