The silence in the room was broken only by the sounds of printers, constantly pushing out never-ending pages into empty boxes on the floor next to them. The damp room was lit by the many screens that filled the entirety of one wall, and the rows of computers facing it. In the darkness, a figure crept towards one of the computer chairs occupied by a young woman. Her head was propped up by her fist, and her other hand was laid across a keyboard that was lit with neon colors. The man steadied himself as he drew near, and he slowly reached towards the woman in front of him. In one quick motion, he swiped the woman's elbow off the desk and her head flew down into the keyboard.

Her head shot up, causing her shoulder length emerald curls to bounce in disarray. The silence was broken by laughter and swearing. "What the hell, Rick! You could have broken my neck!" Her blue eyes glared into the man next to her while he finally caught his breath. "No one ever sneaks up on you. I've finally done it. I am the champion! Wait until the guys hear about this. I'm gonna be a legend!" His bulky arms lifted above his head in a victory stance, leaving him wide open for the punch she sent to his ribs. As she was still sitting, there wasn't a lot of power behind it, but Rick's arms shot down to rub the wound.

"I was sleeping. It doesn't count." She growled out as the corners of her lips turned into a small smile. Her eyes glanced to the bottom right of her computer screen. "Damn. It's not even 3:00 yet." Rick sat down in an empty leather chair next to her. "Luna, our great fearless leader, saving the day once again when us lowly peons call off. Was it Harper again?" Luna stood up and started stretching before she answered. "She thinks she has the flu. For the third time this month. Whoever she's hooking up with better be hot as hell."

Luna rubbed at her stiff neck and let out a sigh. She didn't mind being in leadership. She had formed strong bonds with many that worked underneath her. You couldn't lead an army without having their trust. But there were times like these when she hated her job. She was eight hours into a twelve-hour shift monitoring the wall. It had been too late to call anyone else in when Harper had called off, and she was one to just do things herself. She prided herself on knowing all the jobs she required others to do. Luna felt that she had to be willing to do the things that she asked of others. But she disliked this one the most. The screens always showed the same things, just a massive wall, and no one had ever gotten out in the two hundred years it had been up. This was the job she gave to those she couldn't trust with a gun. And apparently, she couldn't trust them to show up either.

Luna pulled her original chair back out and was about to sit down, when something new happened. A siren sounded and emergency lights started flashing red. Rick turned to her with his mouth gaping open, his intake of breath audible. Luna's eyes widened for an instant followed by a frown. This was unexpected, but it had been prepared for. The red lights caused her normally sharp cheekbones to stand out and her green hair looked dark, almost black. When Rick later recalled this moment to his friends, he swore the lights made her look like an angel of death.

Luna clicked a few buttons on her computer to shut down the lights and noise while Rick sat there staring. Luna shifted closer to him and reached her hand out to his shoulder. "They opened the box. Prepare an emergency meeting with the other leaders." When Rick made no movement, Luna's calm demeanor slipped. "Now, Rick!" Her voice was raised, and her glare seemed to wake him out of his shock. He jumped out of his chair, sending it flying backwards, and ran out of the door. Luna took and deep breath and rubbed her temples, trying to ease the incoming headache. This was going to be a long day.

When she reached the double doors to the meeting room, Luna took a deep breath to steady herself. At seventeen, she was the youngest leader. Luna's father had been high ranking in the military but was killed in World War Three when Russia bombed the capital. She had been hardly old enough to walk. Her mother had a mental breakdown and was nothing more than a shell of a person. So, Luna had been raised in the barracks, and from a young age, she excelled in combat and military operations. When she was fifteen, The Russian War broke out. She shouldn't have been able to join the battle until she was sixteen, but they had made an exception for her. She had led the troops to victory time and time again, until her tactical planning won the war. When she came back to the United States, it was to commendations and this year she had been voted in as the military leader, even though she had never asked for it.

She always had to remain cool and calculated. If she ever showed the slightest weakness and her army saw, they would fall apart. She had been trained for this emergency, along with many others, when she accepted the position. But as a bomb threat was more likely, this was one she had never paid much attention to. It had been two hundred years since the experiment had begun, and at this point, people used it as a ghost story. Teenagers would dare each other to take selfies with the wall in the background. The few that made it through Luna's guard did come back with a picture. But more often than not, they ended up in a jail cell for a few days.

Luna placed her hands on the cool, gold door handles and pushed hard, making the doors swing wide open. There, at a long mahogany conference table, sat the eight other leaders. The leader of technology grinned and eyed her up and down as she strode over to the empty seat next to his. His green eyes were mischievous, and he leaned over to her once she had taken a seat. "You sure know how to make an entrance, Luna." She worked closely with him, and if he wasn't ten years older than her, she might have given in and let him take her on a date. She couldn't let him distract her, so she cleared her throat.

"I have gathered you all here because the box has finally been opened. As the military leader, it is my job to go into the experiment, and see if they have evolved enough to rejoin society. If they have genetically overcome the first of the experiments that were done to make them hold to a single personality trait, then we are to welcome them back with open arms. But if not, we will continue with the experiment. As I will be gone for the next few months, I appoint James, leader of technology to temporarily replace me. He knows all of the defense strategies as we have been working closely to develop new military projects. I plan on leaving tonight. Are there any questions?"

Luna looked each leader in the eye, and when she found nothing, she turned and left the room. She had to move quickly if she was going to be packed and on her way to Old Chicago by tonight. She smiled to herself as she loaded up a truck with the meager belongings she was taking with her. If anything, it was going to be a new adventure.