Monty tried not to breath but his chest was heaving from the sprinting he had just done. Luckily, there weren't many people who knew the Ark like he did. He was currently hidden in a forgotten vent that had been blocked off years ago, way before the Ark fell back to earth. But Monty knew he wasn't going to last much longer here. It had been over two hours since Kane had told him to run. No one had pursued him at the time, but he could hear them looking for him now.
The first option was to remain in the Ark and try to free Kane and the others. But after seeing how scared they were and whatever had happened to them before Monty left, he was unsure that was a good option. It was as if something had been trying to possess them and Monty left before he knew if that had been successful. And if it was, he knew he didn't want to try to find them.
The second option was to find his mother. However, this option presented many problems. The first problem being that Monty had no idea if his mother had made it back to Arkadia. Hannah had plenty of time, but she may have been scared to return after Kane had confronted Pike. The second problem was finding her. Monty had the sinking feeling that everyone here had taken that chip. The third problem was that if he did find her, had she already been taken over by whatever had possessed Raven and the others?
That left the third option: go to Polis. Of course, this option came with its own complications. He had been stuck in the vent for going on three hours now. He still had to figure out how to get out of Arkadia. When he and Kane had first arrived, there had been no one patrolling the perimeter, but that may not be true now. But there was one thing that Monty did know: he couldn't stay here. If he could get out of here, he could go back to Polis and get help.
A thought raced across his mind; something that Raven had said. She needs more minds. She needs the grounders. Monty still didn't really know who 'she' was. But Raven was obviously distressed and had been trying to warn him. Whoever or whatever ALIE was, she and Jaha were going to go after the grounders and that meant going to Polis. With Pike in custody, Lexa and her coalition would not be expecting an attack from the Sky People. That made up his mind- he needed to get back to Polis. It was the only way to protect his mother, Kane, Raven, and everyone else. Clarke and Lexa needed to know what was going on.
Quietly flipping himself onto his stomach, Monty rearranged his rifle on his back to make sure it didn't bang against the metal of the vent. He used his arms to slowly crawl along the vent until he found himself over a hallway that led directly to the shower area. It was a bit of a risk, since anyone could be in the hallway or the locker room where the showers were. But this was the quickest way to make it outside, following the pipes that brought in the water.
Peering down and listening closely, Monty took a deep breath and a great risk. He leapt down from the ceiling into the hallway, rifle at the ready. Swinging from side to side, he breathed out a sigh of relief as there was no one to shoot. Cautiously, he stepped silently along the hallway. The door to the shower room was closed and he tentatively pushed it open. Silence met him on the other side. Monty hurried to the back of the room where there was a small hatch.
Taking one last hesitant look back into the Ark, Monty spun the wheel and pushed against the hatch. The sunlight burst into his eyes and he blinked quickly, knowing that if there was anyone waiting outside, he was completely defenseless. When his vision finally cleared, Monty wasn't sure if he was lucky or if he should be worried that there was no one there to confront him. He slipped easily through the fence and sprinted towards the tree line. After a few minutes, he paused to catch his breath. As he tried to get a bearing for his surroundings, a voice caused him to jump.
"Monty!"
Monty fumbled blindly as he whipped around with his rifle raised. Just because someone knew his name, didn't mean they were friendly anymore. That was obviously from the earlier conversations with Raven and Abby.
"What are you going to do? Shoot us?" Octavia stepped out from behind a tree, her head cocked to the side mockingly. Lincoln appeared behind him, his dark eyes unreadable. Neither had their weapons drawn. Why would they? They wouldn't know that he could have been possessed by Jaha's mysterious chip.
"We've got to get back to Polis. We've got to warn everyone!" Octavia's eyes narrowed at Monty's rushed shouting.
She held her hands up defensively, speaking calmly, "Whoa. Hold on. Pike's in Polis and Lexa has cleared the rest of the Arkadians. We're just going to Arkadia to find Kane…we need to talk to Jaha."
"No! No…it's too late. They have Kane now." Now that he could finally tell someone what was going on, Monty felt his heart beating faster. The panic that he had refused to acknowledge while in the Ark was boiling over.
"Start at the beginning," said Lincoln.
"Kane and I got to Arkadia to look for my mom and check on the others. You know, to tell them that Pike had been captured. But there was no one guarding the perimeter and when we finally got in…" The words were flowing quickly. It was finally dawning on Monty that he wasn't exactly sure what he saw. "We found Raven, Abby, Sinclair, and Wick. They were trying to do something…I'm not sure. But they told us to leave, that she knew we were here and that-"
"She?"
"I don't really know... They acted like she was there, inside their heads or something. And then Jake came in and then something took them over. Like suddenly Abby was talking to Kane, begging him to leave and then there was someone else there talking to us. It was scary. Kane told me to run…"
Octavia shifted uneasily on her toes and exchanged a look with Lincoln. "This is what Murphy was talking about. That chip…Jaha must have given it to everyone in Arkadia."
"You know?" Monty asked, taken slightly aback.
"Murphy showed up with one of the chips. He says it's some sort of A.I. named ALIE, but we didn't realize that everyone had taken it. What do you mean it's taking them over?"
"I don't know how to explain it. When we got there, I think they were trying to get rid of it somehow…"
"How?" asked Lincoln. From his memory about the flame, it was only removed from a Commander upon their death.
Monty shrugged. Thinking back, he tried to remember what Raven and Sinclair had been working on. There had been monitors, computers, and keyboards scattered across Abby's sickbay. Raven had set up some sort of contraption that involved an electrical circuit. But other than that, his memory was blurry and he relayed the information to Octavia and Lincoln.
"Did they say anything about how to help them?"
Monty shook his head. "No, Abby just kept telling us to leave and Raven…Raven said that they needed more minds."
"They're going to go after the grounders," murmured Octavia.
Lincoln frowned and replied, "But we have the Skaikru Army. There's no way they would be able to take on Polis and the Coalition."
"Still, we should warn the others," insisted Monty.
"We should try to rescue Kane and some of the others. Maybe they could tell us more, if they've really taken the chip. Maybe Kane hasn't yet!" argued Octavia and Monty was about to protest when Lincoln shook his head.
"No. We report to the Heda. Our orders were to find out why there was no longer any contact from Arkadia. We have done that."
"We can't just leave them!" she protested. "We don't even know what we're really up against. We should try to at least get Raven or Abby or even Sinclair out. If they had a plan to stop Jaha and the A.I., we need to know what it is. Maybe they know something we don't."
"Abby said that ALIE was there with them…in their heads. She would know everything that Raven did. She would know where we are if we took any one of them."
Octavia placed her hands on her hips and paced slowly in front of the two men. Suddenly she stopped and asked, "But if Raven doesn't know where she is, then neither does the A.I."
"I guess that's true, but we'd still need her to talk to us."
"Maybe. But we can't risk someone else taking the chip. If we're going to figure out how to defeat Jaha and his City of Crazies, we're going to have to figure out how to get that chip out of their heads."
Monty mulled over Octavia's words. She did have a point. If they were going to mount a rescue for all of Arkadia, they were going to need to know how to overcome the chip and ALIE. And what Lincoln said was also true- Arkadia's army was being held by the grounders. And as far as they knew, none of them had taken the chip.
When he looked back at the couple, Lincoln and Octavia seemed to be arguing silently. Clearly his throat, he decided to weigh in on the conversation. "I think Octavia's right. If we can get one person out…"
"Raven. We need Raven," insisted Octavia.
"Ok, but that may be harder than you think. And it's not like we can go in their guns and swords blazing," he said, motioning his arm to the blades that hung on both Lincoln and Octavia's backs. "I won't let you kill our own people."
"Good thing you've got two excellent hand to hand combaters here," smirked Octavia.
Lincoln still didn't look convinced, but he also realized he was outnumbered and that Octavia was going to do whatever she wanted. In a low voice, he asked, "How do we find her?"
A grin spread across Octavia's face.
THE 100-BREAK-THE 100
Jaha sat up straight and spoke calmly to the entourage in front of him. To his right was Astrid Rolston and to his right was Darius Marlowe, who was rather handy with a gun. Both were floaters who had been rescued by ALIE and he knew he could trust them. Jaha had left Jake Griffin in charge of Arkadia while he went out for this meeting. ALIE was present as well, of course.
ALIE was ready to move forward. The City was filling with people, but they needed more. And they needed to make sure that no one stood in their way. Pike's crusade had been a nice distraction while Jaha made his plans. But the few soldiers who had accepted their way into the City of Light had allowed ALIE to see Pike's capture. They needed to act before anyone got back to Arkadia. Right now, they had an advantage: Polis would not be expecting them.
"Together we can get what we all want. I can promise you that," said Jaha and he clasped his hands in front of him.
"Skaikru only serves Skaikru," spat a man's voice.
A single, thin hand rose up in the air to silence him and the grounders in the tent stopped pacing and murmuring. Ontari had made her decision. Jaha saw ALIE smile from across the room. He had been surprised when ALIE had told him that her plan was to approach Azgeda after Queen Nia's death. But Ontari was hungry for her throne and her people were hungry for their revenge.
"I know that my people have been a problem before, but I assure you, those people have been taken out of power. The people I lead do not wish to impose themselves on your way of life. We will help you take your rightful place as Heda and allow Azgeda to rise to power," reassured Jaha, going over what he had said before. Ontari's dark eyes were attentive. "All we ask in return is the freedom to remain in Arkadia."
"You do not ask much for what you offer," stated Ontari.
Jaha nodded and replied, "As I said before, you will need to embrace the City of Light before we can help you. This will help me as well. The City will make us strong and connect us in a way you can never imagine."
"There are concerns that your Skaikru 'key' will hurt us," retorted a tall man standing directly behind the young nightblood.
"I understand and I realize that telling you that all of my people have taken the key would not reassure you. Perhaps one of you would like to take it before your queen?" The challenge was subtle, but he saw the man bristle.
A young woman with a shaved head pushed forward and took a knee before Ontari. "I will take it. We must defeat Lexa and fulfill Azplana's dream for you."
Two other grounders came forward to kneel beside the woman and offered the same. Jaha tried not to smile as ALIE grinned broadly. They had done it. Once these people found the City of Light, they would convince Ontari to take it as well. And with Ontari came the Ice Nation. Beside him, Astrid produced the silicon key from her bag and held out her hand.
A breath seemed to leave the room and whispering began. Jaha wasn't sure why, but Ontari's eyes widened at the sight of the little blue object. The young woman who had knelt first rose and whispered, "It is a sign. The sign of the commander for the commander. You will become Heda."
Ontari gently took the chip from Astrid's outstretched hand. "This is your key?"
"Yes."
"This is the sacred symbol of my people."
Jaha stood quickly, thinking fast and replied, "Then it is meant to be. This union, the success of the City of Light and of your ascension, it is meant to be."
Ontari turned once more to look at her people and then back to Jaha. With no hesitation, she placed the chip on her tongue and swallowed. Hands raised, she spoke confidently, "We march on Polis! I will remove Lexa from her throne and Azgeda will reign once more!"
Cheers filled the air and Jaha looked at ALIE triumphantly. The City of Light would fill with more minds. And then they would encompass them all.
