Author's Note:

Another late wait. Apologies, I went to camp a few days ago.

For the next few days, I did not see Mercury. It is fine with me. Nothing happens this week until another visit to Coin where something goes horribly wrong.

Once again, Marlin and I am squished in the chair in Coin's office again. Today, Coin goes straight into buisness, looking straight in the eyes of Marlin. Her bony fingers are tied around each other and she speaks to us in a manner that one would use in fragile peace negotiations with terrorists.

"Chamberlain, I have been informed that you dropped a smoke bomb today in class. Is this true?"

A smoke bomb? I sniff Marlin's hair. It smells like smoke. Marlin squirms nervously in his chair.

"Umm... Yes?" he says.

What?

Coin shows no signs of agitation or frustration. A complete mask. Then she launches into a speech.

"We are in the verge of war, Chamberlain. You listen too, Rooba," Coin starts, as if lecturing a four-year-old. "Wars are expensive and it won't work if we have uncooperative citizens. They get in the way of the war effort. Citizens must abide by the rules and nothing else is tolerated. Everyone, no matter age nor status, must take the consequences they deserve. Chamberlain, I am sentencing you to level one Alcatraz for a week."

What? Alcatraz? She wouldn't, would she?

"There are guards in the elevator. They will escort you to the Crime Department."

"B-b-but you can't!" Marlin sputters.

"Yes I can."

Well, she has a point. Level one Alcatraz? How bad could it really be? I've heard rumours but surely it wouldn't involve poisonous snakes or anything of that sort, right?

Marlin sits back down and buries his head in his hands. I hear some mutters from him. He's probably cursing underneath his breath. How he came to know some particularly colorful words, I don't know. I pat him in the back, unsure of what else to do. Coin gives him a minute and then says, "Why are you still here? Go on, punctuality is important."

We rise to our feet but Coin stops me. "Not you Rooba. You stay."

I sit back down. The chair seems empty and huge now that Marlin's gone. I watch him as he enters the elevator and closes on his terrified face. The next time I'll be seening him is a week from now. Hopefully mentally intact.

Coin shuffles some papers until she found one she was looking for.

"Ah, yes. This week's Juvenile Detention List. Usually, these things are below my attention but this is a special circumstance. You see, the name at the top of the list is Horus Carter. I believe, your classmate."

My stomach churns uncomfortably. Stupid males, I think, though I feel a twinge of guilt as I say this. What's Horus up to now? I've got Marlin to think about.

"What about Horus?" I ask through a lump in my throat.

"Oh, nothing much. He just broke in the main armoury. He almost got killed," Coin says.

Wow. I am buffeted with feelings of wonder and awe.

Did Coin just utter something sarcastic?

Oh, and some part of me deep down is wondering about Horus's fate.

"Is he in Alcatraz?"

"Yes. Technically, if he stole anything, he'd get a level six, but adding to the fact that he is, indeed, just a boy and he didn't get to steal anything, we have decided to put him in a level three, unfortunately." She says this in a relaxed mood, as if discussing our days.

Like a real mother.

Psh. I don't need any mothers. Just like Zee. We can survive.

And as far as I can see, there's no trace of love in Coin's expression. It's like she decided one day that she's going to give up motherhood, even though she still had a girl and a baby boy to raise.

Man, if Marlin hears my thoughts, he's going to go outright ballistic that I called him a baby boy.

"Now, Rooba. Mr. Carter is under interrogation," Coin continues. "Our phycological experts are in the job but the boy is a tough nut to crack. He's not telling how or why he broke in the armoury. My reports state that he's not even talking. Not even with truth serum. That takes a lot of will power."

I nod slowly. Horus has always been a peculiar kid but he's not, like, mentally disturbed or anything. He doesn't deserve to be injected with what I picture as literes of strange drugs.

"I see. What do you need me for?" I ask.

"Some questions regarding Mr. Carter and his unidentified accomplice. He was seen in the scene of the crime but escaped our forces. Blonde hair, had the look of a refugee about him. Foreign, that's the word. No one had a clear look of him. Do you know who he is?"

My heart starts hammering and my palms is slick with sweat. That is obvioulsy Mercury. Another choice between truth or lies. Lying seems like the better option now.

"No, never heard of him before," I say, hoping my voice sounds steady.

Coin smiles, showing her pearly whites. She leans forward. "You're lying."

I shoot to my feet in panic. I'm not a very good liar, am I? I take a step to the elevator but suddenly, my feet won't obey my commands. I trip and end up sprawled in the floor face-down. I crane my head around to look at my shoes and see that my legs has turned a metallic silver, the same color as the floor. I can't move it at all, as if it has actually turned into a metal. It felt cold and numb. I am petrified. Literally.

I look at Coin and see that she is infuriatingly still calmly looking at me. "Using thiopental and truth serum on my daughter would be inhumane. Count yourself lucky that you're just under house arrest, not even in Alcatraz." She gives a tiny huff of a laugh. "Once you're ready to tell me who the boy is, I might consider letting you out. When you're ready-" She drops something in the floor next to me. It lands with an almost inaudible ping. It's a metal bracelet with a sky blue button as a sort of crude centerpiece. "-press the blue button."

The numbness in my legs dissolve. I watch in amazement as the metal that trapped my legs melts as if it is liquid. I scramble to my feet. My legs still feel like jelly and I stumble in my first steps. I feel like an awkward toddler in the eyes of my mother. Weak and easily corrupted. I just have to get out. I reach the elevator and it brings me to the lobby. Inevitably, I see two guards. One small and one big. Probably to take me to my room. They sieze the bracelet and lock it into my arm. The bigger one takes out some sort of tazer. I thought he was going to zap me but he taps it gently to my bracelet. An electric currrent runs through my wrist and the blue button lights up for a fraction of a second. I suppose it's on now?

I touch the bracelet. I run my fingers around the smooth surface, trying to find cracks or seams that shows where the bracelet opens and closes.

"Don't try to open that, little girl. It's made out of Alloy 1090. Strongest metal in the world. You'll injure yourself trying to get it out." He laughs, his belly vibrating like a laundry machine.

I stare at the ground and try not to look at other people but I can still feel their gazes trained on me, burning my cheeks. Guards weren't seen a lot walking on common tunnels to invoke fear and rumours about how they look like and what they can do.

"Psst." I hear someone whisper behind me. I glance back and see the smaller guard. At first, I thought I was mistaken. He looked straight ahead like any good soldier would do but then I realized that his hair was dyed blonde sloppily so that it looks like his hair is more brown that blonde. And his dull blue eyes look familiar.

I realize that I'm staring and turn around again, but not before I recognized his face. Surprise almost makes me shout but I wrestle the impulse away.

"Your brother's in Alcatraz," Merury whispers.

"I've heard. You were right after all," I hiss, remebering what he said in the closet.

"Am I always?" he jokes.

"My mother locked up Marlin," I say, ignoring his vibe. "She locked up Horus too. Says she's looking for you."

Mercury looks surprised. I have no idea why I am being nice to him. Maybe because I'm tired of trying to face all my problems. Suddenly, I feel old and tired, as if I just realized that I was holding up the sky on my shoulders. While trying to stop Marlin and Flyer from creating a cave-in in District 13. Not fun.

"Rooba, District 13 is not your home. You've known it from the beggining," Mercury starts.

I say nothing. He presses on.

"Your mother doesn't love you. Your father is dead. If you stay here any longer Marlin would probably die from numerous visits to Alcatraz."

I wince. Mercury backtracked.

"What I mean is-"

"Hey, I'll do it."

"What?"

Mercury says this loudly and the bigger guard turns around and waves the taser-thing threateningly. I speak in even smaller voices.

"I'll come to New Brooklyn. Anything is better than District 13."

Mercury fell silent for a while, shocked at the venom in my voice. He regains his swagger shortly.

"Excellent. We can-"

"Wait, Aerolous. I have a condition."

"What is it, lice?"

I ignore him. "I'll go if Marlin goes. Which means breaking him out."

I can practically feel the grin developing in his face. "All part of the plan. Zee and Horus has decided to go. Marlin... well, Marlin goes wherever you go. Just leaves you. Now that you've said yes, I'll bust Horus, Marlin and you out. Tonight, actually."

I nod. Zee agreed already? She never told me. My heart shrinks to a size of a walnut. I just said yes to a stranger. I have no idea who he is and I don't even know the purpose of this Evacuation. Why are they taking people out of District 13? The gears in my head are working to no avail. I should just go with the flow. I can always come back, right?

I am quiet for the rest of our journey. We shortly arrive at the door of my compartment. I see Flyer's room and wonder if she's also suffering punishments with Marlin. I look away. The last I need is visions about Flyer and Marlin getting whipped or something horrible like that.

It's just Level One, I think. It's alright.

I obediently walk in and sit in my bed. Amazingly, Marlin's bed is gone. The wardens must have taken it away the moment they were notified of his absence. The big guard reaches to close the door and, underneath the other guards' arms, I see Mercury mouth, tonight.

So I sit there. I don't do anything. I wait for the night. It's a very long wait and I sometimes find myself lying on my bed in an awkward position. I glance at my smudged schedule out of habit, though I'm most certainly cannot attend my classes. By four, rumors should probably already travel about Marlin's and my absence. They all know I'm Coin's daughter. The possibilities are endless.

I wait. And wait. I lie on the cool floor and hum some songs. Still waiting.

Tick tock. I am staring at the clock as it blinks its green numbers and a new minute replaces its predecessor. I think of how little sounds it makes now and compare it to the racket it makes in the morning. It doesn't look so innocent right now. Now, it looks like a lion, waiting for when the prey is unaware before pouncing on it and shocking them awake with its vile speakers. I wait.

I take a shower to pass the time, though I don't need it yet. The water soothes me. I watch the black ink in my arm disappear and stay there for a few more minutes. I come out wrinkled like a prune. I resume my seat in the bed and wait.

I realize that I should have been doing my homework all along. I grab blindly under my bed for my bag to find empty air. "Shoot," I say. I left it at Coin's office.

I hear the door creak open, the first noise I heard other than the shower, my hums and my swearing. I look up and see Zee rushing in. At least, I think it is.

Zee wears a soldier helmet, which she tucked her dark hair under and her eyes were a stunning blue. She has a messenger bag banging against her hip and she looked like she was ready to take on a whole army. And a fleet of fighter airplanes. Her urgent manner brings me to my feet.

"Who, what, when, where, why?" I ask. I think isolation is getting to me.

Thankfully, Zee acts like she didn't hear me. She hands me a dark backpack similar to my old one except this one weighed much heavier.

"What's inside?" I ask.

"Stuff," Zee says. "Supplies, medicines, food. All you need to survive outside. Now come on! Merc's waiting."

Merc? I infer that this is Mercury. "Are we going to… you know?"

"Break into Alcatraz? Yes we are," Zee says with a mischievous grin.

For some strange reason, I am excited. I'm practically shaking with anticipation and excitement. Maybe it's horror. Or terror. Either way, I've already said yes and turning back would make me look weak. Add the fact that I can't stand another minute in this room.

Zee leads me out of the room where I see Mercury waving a hand at me, still wearing the soldier uniform.

"How did you break in?" I ask Zee. "I thought this place was supposed to be guarded twenty-four-seven."

"It is," she says. She points to the ground and I see the fat guard on the floor. A metal dart sticks out of his temple. I suddenly feel that there is more deadly weapons in this bag than Zee is letting on.

"Quickly, now! The cameras will get footage of us if we stay here any longer!" Mercury hisses.

The journey is a blur to me. It only consists of running through corridors, sticking to the shadows and the occasional turn. I realize that I am hungry. I haven't eaten anything and the only thing keeping me up is adrenaline. This is exciting.

Suddenly, Mercury stops. Zee and I bump into him. He's looking at the ceiling. I follow his gaze and see a vent.

"Oh no. You expect us to climb through this vent?" What is this? An old spy movie?

"I suppose you can stay here. Unless you want me to leave your brother. Come on, I'll give you both a lift."

We get into the vent with a few punches, grunts and shuffles. The vent is so tiny, it is impossible for you not to crawl. The entrance to the vent was strangley not guarded. Coin has some bugs in her system. Our luck at not having been spotted yet is incredible. Almost unbelivable. I must interrogate Mercury about this later.

The walls seem like they are crushing me. It doesn't help that we are sweaty and sucking the air out of the vent. I worry about our oxygen supply. If somebody happens to cut the cheese, it would be quite a disaster.

"So," Mercury says breathing heavily. "This vent leads to a network of rooms of Alcatraz. It's easy get lost. We need a map."

Shock!

"So our first stop is the control room," he continues. "The vent will go up and we'll come out of the floor, behind some computers. We then snag a map of this place. I can navigate through the vents but I still need a map. I've seen the vent. It's too small for me. Any volunteers?"

No way it's going to be me. I'm clumsy. But I don't need to worry.

"I'll do it," Zee whispers. "Where do we find this map?"

Mercury thrusts his hand on his pocket and fishes out a bronze rusty key. "Find a cabinet with the code SAF948. Don't worry, it's close by."

If he couldn't fit through the vents, how does he know about the cabinets?

We keep going forward and we see that the vents branch off to the sides. Finally, the vent went up and we find ourselves staring through slits. We see the back of a white metallic desk. I can hear some people speaking in tight, smart voices, several phones ringing and an orchestra of computers typing. There is also the unmistakable sound of heavy combat boots marching in measured distances. Soldiers. Possibly with guns.

"You don't have to do this, you know," I whisper to Zee.

She shrugs her shoulders as if she didn't have a care in the world but the dull light coming from the vent reveals sweat streaming down her forehead. Mercury reaches out to the edges of the vent, but instead of trying to pull it open, he unscrews the screws as if they weren't even drilled there in the first place. It falls out easily. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. You'd think that secret headquarters would have more security. Mercury motions for Zee to go. I can feel her inaudibly gulp beside me but she dissapears into the light. Now, all we have to do is wait. I sit on the floor, hugging my knees to my chest and not daring to breath for fear of discovery.

"Should we close the vent?" I whisper.

Mercury shakes his head. "No. Too risky."

The wait is longer than I thought. My breath echoes inside my lungs and every move Mercury makes sends my blood rushing in my veins. Finally, my patience is awarded by Zee leaping lightly leaping down the vent with a yellowed paper crumpled in her right fist.

"Got it."

Mercury refastens the vent and we crawl back safely in the middle of the vent. He carefully opens the map and studies the lines. I peek over his shoulders. All I can see his massive lines with codes on them branching off boldly and spiralling dizzyingly. Mercury glances back and sees me staring.

"Do you want to read this?" he asks.

I avert my eyes. "That's what I thought," Mercury says.

After a while, unable to stand the tension, Zee bursts out. "Well? Where is it?"

Mercury's eyes flashed. "Right under us."

Author's Note:

As you might have picked up, a mystery centering around Mercury is unfolding. Ha. I know some of these things are far-fetched, but in a later chapter, all will be revealed, so don't flame me or stuff. I'm extremely paranoid.

Oh, and if you want to see a weird spoofed version of the end of this chapter because you have nothing to do, go to my profile and scroll down until you reach the bottom. Me and my friend (sorry, my friend and I. *eye roll*) wrote this up in class because we were bored.

Till next time! Review!