A/N: A bit of planning, a tiny bit of ferret bashing and a bit of Max and Joshua. Hope you guys like it.
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Chapter 3: Hopes Release
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'You shouldn't leave your window open if you don't want visitors'
-Zack (Blah Blah, Woof Woof)
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'Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free'
-Shawshank Redemption
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Max felt like she was going insane. She'd been up for 4 hours and she still couldn't focus! She kept going back to that same dream over and over again. There were too many 'what ifs' running around her brain. What if she'd handled the Jam Pony situation differently? Would they still be here in TC? What if her siblings had seen her on TV? What if they came to help her? What if the end of the world came and went and she was stuck in here? What if the dream was real? What if it was a vision of the future? What if? What if? What if? Damn it! She needed to pay attention!
HQ was the usual hub of activity, people coming and going, looking for jobs to do. Max stared over Logan's shoulder as she reclined in her chair, looking passed the doorway of her office to absentmindedly watch her family and friends move about their business.
They all seemed fine with the situation as it stood right now. So why did she feel so restless? Maybe it was because she was more confined than she was used to- being an 09er meant that she'd had more freedom on the outside obviously. No, that wasn't it. Max felt herself frowning.
Logan stopped mid sentence about how much he needed his computer when Joshua walked through the door.
'Oh yeah, Logan' Max tried to feel guilty about ignoring him but couldn't seem to find the energy to. Instead, she smiled up at Joshua tiredly. "Hey, big fella"
Joshua smiled down at them both.
"Joshua and Sketchy finished with the sectors and street names" he smiled proudly. He was finally part of something good. The fight for freedom.
"That's good, Josh. Put the maps on my table" Max smiled up at him, lowering her feet from the desk littered with papers, to the dusty floor.
"Already done. Sketchy's gone to watch Alec teach. Joshua wants to talk to little fella" Joshua smiled down at his little fella in a 'I know something you don't' kind of way.
"We're kinda in the middle of something here, Josh" Logan sighed in an annoyed 'I'm talking to a child' way.
Joshua was beginning to dislike Logan. Logan treated him like he was incapable and Joshua didn't like that. Logan also thought that he had control over him and everyone else, especially Max. Joshua didn't like that either. He stopped himself from baring his teeth at him.
"It's important" Joshua pulled himself up to his full height which was incredibly high and very imposing, "this can't wait. Computers can." All the guy did was talk about computers.
"Really? Okay, then I'll talk to you later Logan" Max stood up abruptly and left before Logan could say a word.
Joshua couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.
Max practically ran out of Headquarters and into the streets of their city. She was itching for something to do besides paperwork. Slowing down, Max thought about how different her life was since coming back from Manticore.
They walked out onto the streets of Terminal City, full of transgenics relaxing or doing their jobs. It was good to see Joshua in the daylight and it was good to be out of her office.
"So what's so important?" Max swung her arms at her sides as they walked together. Transgenics nodded to them as they passed.
"You" Joshua grinned broadly, "I thought that Max looked like she needed rescuing."
Max grinned up at her big friend, "Now Josh, don't tell me you lied?"
He grinned, "Good lie. Max looked bored." His smile disappeared, "Little fella needs to get more sleep, stop worrying so much."
He'd noticed how red her eyes were, how her skin seemed pale and how she seemed to be losing the energetic attitude that she'd started this crusade off with.
"I got shark in my cocktail, you know I don't need to sleep much. And I can't help but worry about everything. This whole situation's my fault!" Max sighed and looked down at her feet, the smile leaving her face.
They stopped walking.
"It's not Max's fault. Everything will be fine. Don't need to worry, we fight good and not give up. This a good thing- freedom for people like me. That's the plan. Max's plan- and everyone agrees with it, our choice. We want to stay- not hide away in the dark." Josh put a huge hand on Max's small shoulder, trying to make her see the truth in his words.
Max sighed again, "I know, I know- Alec keeps sayin' the same thing. But then there's this whole end of the world thing! I even dreamt about it last night!"
Joshua cocked his head to one side, curious, "Tell Joshua about it."
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Everything was ready. She'd found a backpack in a cupboard and put the lock pick stuff in it. She'd been practicing using it on all of the doors and windows of the house and Erin had gotten it down so that she could unlock a normal kind of lock in less than 30 seconds. She really didn't need anything else. There was even a mini torch in the set so Erin didn't need to steal one. She figured that Alec kept it in case of emergencies or something, even though he could see perfectly in the dark.
When she'd walked passed the front doors of the library earlier that day, she'd seen through the windows a large board listing each floor and what they contained. The records for construction were on the second floor.
Erin only stopped to grab her jacket and bag and left through the back door, keeping in the shadows and hiding from hoverdrones. It was dark now, probably around 9 or 10 at night, so that wasn't a problem. The library shut at 10:30 and the security cameras wouldn't be on until the security guard locked up. Strange thing that, but it's exactly what happened. She'd watched them do it as she cased the joint. Wow, she was beginning to sound like she was actually used to this stuff. That, or she watched too much TV. It was probably the latter.
Erin picked up her pace and came to the first sector point between her and the library- there were two. She'd forgotten about the sector points. She was gonna be cutting it close. She waited until a car came along and the cops were distracted. There were 2 cops to a sector gate. One to check the sector passes and one to open and close the barrier. Another thing about cops in America- they had guns. She managed to sneak through the fence. The second one was trickier because it was lit up better. Erin solved this problem by entering an apartment building next to the fence. She walked silently through the ground floor corridor and climbed through the window at the end. The idiot cops didn't even see her walk out of the alley. She jogged quickly to the library.
Okay, now this was the tricky part. Erin climbed up the fire escape to the second floor and looked at the window. All that security and some crappy window locks. Erin grinned as she pulled out the torch and lock picking gizmos. This wouldn't be tricky at all, hell, she could probably pick this lock with a paper clip! She slid up the window and climbed in, shutting it behind her. That was when she noticed the weird sensor thing on the inside of the window.
'Shit' Erin looked around her quickly for someplace to hide, 'silent alarm!'
She heard the ding of elevator doors opening and the hurried footsteps of the guard. Erin ducked down below the level of the filing cabinets, once again liking the fact that she was small. She crept away from the window, crouching down as she moved and getting away from the window before the guard came to check it. Half of the huge room was filled with filing cabinets and tables dotted between them. The other half of the room was filled with large bookcases that Erin managed to get to before the guard turned around. The window had already relocked itself when it slid shut. The point of that she had no clue. The thing had locks on either side so you could open it from either side. The wonders of modern security. Apparently, the Pulse effected people's brains as well.
Keeping her eyes on the guard, she crept between the stacks as he began to check the other windows. He then began to check everywhere else, his flashlight flickering over cabinets and shelves. He walked towards the shelves now and Erin made a dive for the cabinets again, ducking under a table and sitting there, listening to him check everywhere. Damn, he had to be a good one. Why did she have to get one that actually gave a shit about his job? Who cared about construction anyway? Obviously the guard didn't care that much because he left once he gave the room a once over with his flashlight.
Erin waited until she heard the elevator doors close before moving. Her trainers making squeaky noises on the floor, she pulled out her mini torch again and began searching for the things she needed. She found the maps for the sewers under S for Sewage And Drainage. Once again, a simple lock picked and the maps were rolled up neatly and put in her backpack. She shut the cabinet and went looking for maps of Seattle. This was in another cabinet further away under C for City Construction. She got maps of the streets and maps for the actual buildings. Now, all she needed was to find maps for Terminal City. This was more difficult thanks to TC being off limits thanks to the whole toxic chemical incident. Thinking about that, Erin looked under T for Toxic, F for Forbidden and N for No Admittance. Finally, she found what she was looking for under C for Contained Chemical Treatment.
She left as quickly as she entered, making sure to close the window after her. Technically, the job had taken her 15 minutes and she'd delayed the guard from putting the cameras on. The whole thing had taken her 1 hour 15 minutes. Erin grinned to herself as she checked the maps back at Joshua's house. She was good.
