Maddy slips inside of the dingy little internet café on the corner of the monorail stop. A few homeless people huddle in corners here and there, seeking shelter until population control make their morning rounds and kick them out. But it is early, so they still have time to rest and Maddy still has a solid hour or so before anyone notices she snuck out of her bed before dawn.
A man in a wrinkled business suit sits hunched over a plex, rubbing his eyes tiredly, but other than him and the homeless, the grimy counter tops and hard plastic stools are vacant. Taking a shaky breath, Maddy makes her way to a seat in the back, keeping the hood of her jacket pulled snuggly around her and trying not to acknowledge the dead, cold eyes of a man sitting on the floor a few feet away and staring.
Her parents would most certainly kill her if they knew where she is, but the last few weeks have made a difference in her life. Maddy is not the same person that she was before recruitment. She's strong, and she now knows it.
A dark-haired girl enters the café and surveys the small room before walking towards Maddy. "Madelyn," she smiles softly, taking a seat across from her.
"Emilia."
"Did you have a nice walk over here this morning? It's been so long. I'm glad we have this chance to reconnect." Her words are light-hearted, but Maddy hears the double meaning.
"Yeah, the weather was clear which is nice," Maddy shrugs. "I took a longer route, exploring the City Center one last time before we move. Glad I didn't wake anyone else up leaving this morning."
No one followed me, the underlying message is clear to Emily Reynolds. Curran was asleep when I left, and I took a round about way to get here to make sure I wasn't being followed.
Maddy reaches across the table, putting a hand over the older girl's. "Are you okay?" she asks sincerely.
Emily messaged the Shannon girl the night prior. We need 2 talk, she'd written. I messed up. My brother and I had an argument and I think he's going 2 do something stupid. U no how much of a hot head he is. Could use some girl talk. From E.R. Maddy doubted immediately that it was girl talk Emily was seeking out. Careful of what they put in writing over the internet, they agreed to meet up here today.
At Maddy's question, Emily blinks back tears. "You haven't seen him?" she asks instead of truly answering. Her voice cracks, "He hasn't been home since our fight, and his communicator is turned off. The plex is in the apartment, there is no way of messaging him."
Maddy shakes her head, at a loss for where Mark could be. It isn't like him to walk out on his family.
Emily breathes slowly. "Okay," she starts slowly. "Mark can handle himself that's not what we need to be talking about. Maddy, I made a decision. I did what I thought was best at the time, and maybe it wasn't right. Maybe I made things worse. I just want my family to be safe. That's all anyone wants." The wild look in Emily's eyes makes Maddy shift uncomfortably. "So I'm here to warn you that by trying to protect my family, I inadvertently put yours in danger."
"Tell me what went wrong, and we'll fix it," Maddy says with more determination than she feels. This is their last day in this world and then it's all over. Things can't possibly go so wrong that they can't get through this day.
Emily's eyes flicker around the café. The sun is now fully rising and the foot traffic outside is increasing, but their little shop is still sparsely crowded.
"I shouldn't drag you into this anymore than you already are," Emily whispers, her voice thick, "but Mark trusts you like I've never seen him trust someone before. And you're brilliant. I also can't look your mother in the eye to tell her this."
"You're scaring me," Maddy snaps. "How do you know my mom? You work part time in the hospital, right? Are you two … close?"
Emily swallows and takes a shaky breath. "I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen. Okay?"
Maddy nods and ignores the queasy feelings overtaking her stomach.
"In order to support my family financially, and without Mark's knowledge," Emily starts, "I became involved with some not great people." She briefly explains the gambling ring and trafficking organization. "I haven't slept since Mark walked out," Emily's voice cracks, "but I did some of my own research. I think the guy I work for heads a group that moves things. Things and … people. I told myself I was only running information, but the missing persons reports from around the dates I worked … the mass murders that occurred shortly after runs I did … I enabled them, all of them."
Emily squeezes her eyes shut as tears pour out, and Maddy grips her hand fiercely, comforting her while simultaneously pleading without words to explain more, to answer. What does this have to do with my family? Maddy needs to know. She is startled when Emily opens her blood red eyes and looks directly at her. "Curran."
"Excuse me?" Maddy clarifies.
Emily clears her throat before repeating, "The guy I worked for is going by the name Timothy Curran, and Mark said that he was placed with your family by recruitment." Maddy springs from her stool, stumbling back as her vision becomes splotchy. Her thoughts are a combination of I knew that guy was no good to holy shit, we just need to get away from here once and for all. She's ecstatic at being right, again, yet also overwhelmingly terrified.
This doesn't sound like a problem that can be solved with a few strokes of a keyboard.
"I'm so sorry I ever put anyone in danger, and I'm sorry it took hurting someone close for me to realize how messed up all of this is," Emily sobs, but Maddy is frozen in place, staring past her. "Most of all, I'm sorry that you're the ones I hurt," the older girl blubbers.
"Emily?" Maddy tries softly, not taking her eyes off one of the homeless hunched beneath a blanket in the corner. She steps back slowly.
"No," Emily shakes her head violently. Her words garbled by her racking cries of regret. "I owe you all so much and I don't know how to even start but I want you to hear it. I admire Dr. Shannon entirely, and all of this only came up because I was telling Macey, our youngest, that we should give some stuff we're getting rid of to Zoe – that's how Mark found out how that Elisabeth and I were so close, I-"
"What?" Maddy's face is an unreadable mask, but her eyes are blazing with anger. She secures her messenger bag roughly over her shoulder. "I don't know who you're talking about or wh-what you're talking about, you're-"
"It's me," Emily says quietly. "I know, it's okay. I'm the plan to get her into Hope Plaza, I have contacts there. I also helped Elisabeth plan Jim's escape because of who I worked with, and in exchange she's leaving what you guys can't take to me, so I can better support my family."
Maddy leans very close to Emily, tears garnishing both of their faces now. "You need to take a breath, and get a grip," Maddy says shakily. "And for the hope of humanity, shut up!" Both girls are surprised at the outburst, and they attract the attention of the businessman who turns, evidently disgruntled. But it is the attention of another man in their vicinity that tears Maddy apart.
One of the homeless huddling under a blanket tosses the cover up, leaving Maddy looking into the dark eyes of Timothy Curran. "P-please," she blubbers, staring at Curran but reaching blindly for Emily. The two girls grab each other's arms, maneuvering around the counter and backing away, putting as much distance between them and Curran as possible. "You don't need to do this," Maddy pleads with the person who now has the power to take away everyone she loves from her life. "This is my family. Don't you have a family?"
"I don't care what you think you heard, Tim," Emily says sounding braver than she appears. She composes herself and steps in front of the younger girl, holding her protectively toward her back. "You know nothing."
"I know enough. Finally," he says solemnly. He shakes his head and mutter to himself. "The jailbreak I didn't even see coming, though I should have expected it." With a glance toward the peering eyes from around the room, Curran flashes his recruitment badge and unholsters a weapon, announcing that everyone else must leave.
The sight of the firearm sends the businessman scurrying but doesn't rush any of those hardened to street life. An older man, his back hunched over and several teeth missing, pauses and rubs a hand across his dirty face as if trying to confirm what he's seeing. "You're a criminal with a badge kid," he tells Curran gruffly who doesn't take his eyes off of the two girls.
"You regret our good times together, Em?" Curran asks instead.
"Yes, and that's between the two of us. Maddy doesn't have anything to do with it. Do you know what's funny?" Emily asks with absolutely no humor in her voice. "You are great at being a screwed-up human, and if you weren't such a shitty gambler, you'd have gotten away with it."
"Madelyn Shannon has everything to do with it!" Curran snaps. He starts pacing, his movements erratic. "After I traded info to get out of the gambling charges, recruitment wanted me under their thumb, and I've been following her and her boring life ever since. For your information, I have gotten away with everything else."
Maddy gasps slightly. "You were the once who took those pictures," she realizes. "You've been surveilling me for years."
"You tested at a high IQ as a kid," Curran replies. "Recruitment cares about people like that. When the commander requested assurance you'd transfer with your family, they cared more."
"But why?" Maddy asks, desperation creeping into her voice. "I just want to know why I'm being targeted. I just want to be left alone!" She shakes her head. "So every time you disappeared when you were supposed to be guarding me, you were off running a trafficking ring. You were destroying people's lives."
Emotionless, Curran only says, "Let's get this over with. We all know I have to escort you back to recruitment offices now, Maddy. You'll be detained until the pilgrimage and then sent through while population control deals with your family here. Instead of meeting Commander Taylor, recruitment is having a contact named Mira handling you upon arrival. It's already time to hold up your end of the contract. For what it's worth, I am sorry about what will happen to your sister."
Emily scoffs. "So snooping on third kid rumors at the Shannons was your own pet project," she realizes with disgust. "Your get-away-from-recruitment free card so you can go back to trafficking full time? You want to send a renowned doctor who gives her time and skills to the less fortunate, her teenaged son who has an entire life ahead of him, and a six-year-old illegal child who, again, is six and has no control over her life, you want to send them all to work in a factory with no air filtration until they die for your own convenience? Keep a good man in prison and separate a teenager from her family by 85 million years?"
Curran merely blinks, devoid of any true guilt. "Dr. Shannon is high profile. And the detective was just all over the news for his one-way ticket to Golad. Not to mention a recruited family? That's big payday. They say money can buy you anything, but cash is nothing on cold hard information. 'Snothing personal."
Maddy yells at him that it is all personal, and Emily tightly grips her arms. Being anything other than calm certainly won't help at this point.
"Not my fault it's a small world," Curran fiddles with his communicator before pulling out a pair of handcuffs. "Em works for me. Her brother used to work for you. You're in love with her brother or something." Maddy no longer allows Curran to get the rise he's looking for. He's another John, a bully, and she's had experience dealing with bullies. "He really was pegged for assault before. You know that, right?" Curran has moved closer so that he is right in front of them. He touches Maddy's arm lightly. "What, then? Do you like it rough?"
"Get away from her!" Emily tries to shield Maddy, but they're pinned against the wall. Curran shoves Emily down and she skids on her back across the dirt-caked floor. She manages to raise her head slightly, somewhat dazed. "My brother was a scapegoat. He's innocent, and he's always been. Mark is so much more the man you will ever be – someone who stands up for others at his own expense, instead of targeting the weak."
"Where does that leave you?" Curran asks her. "You're sure as hell not innocent. You're a liability." He's pressing his body against Maddy now, leaving her completely trapped between the solid soldier and the solid wall, while his gun is pointed directly at Emily.
Emily looks her in the eyes, nodding, and instantly Maddy understands what is about to happen. She can't breathe. "It's going to be alright," Emily's voice crack. "J-just check in on my kids for me, yeah?" Tears flow uninhibited down her face. "My brothers and sister. If you can …"
Curran's finger moves to the trigger, and Maddy squirms against him, kicking and screaming. She yells for him to stop, but he only looks into her watering eyes, weapon still trained on Emily. "Business is business."
Maddy wonders if the passersby can see through the grimy windows or if they at least hear the high-pitched notes of her echoing scream as the shot is fired.