What I wouldn't give for five minutes with that traitor…

Anomaly tried to shake the thought from her mind. It did her no good to remember the past, especially not THAT past.

She sighed as she typed something into the keyboard on the ADD. But her eyes couldn't quite focus. They were glazed over, and she looked… dazed.

She sighed and kept typing. Things were how they'd always been. She'd been betrayed by her brother. She was used to that. She'd spent a long time in that cold desert, trying to come to terms with that. She thought she'd managed it.

Oh how wrong she was.

She couldn't handle it. She couldn't handle the fact that her brother had, once again, voted against her. A guilty verdict. Only this time, he'd sentenced her to…

She didn't want to think of the word. Death.

But the problem was, part of her HAD died the day Sam had voted against her for the second time.

The problem was, if he'd voted for her when they'd sentenced her to banishment, he wouldn't have done much. Maybe there would have been some time. She could have stayed there while there was a 'full investigation.' Or, until the council had faked enough evidence to send her away anyway.

But he could have helped. There would have been some time. The problem was, he'd become an outcast. Like her. They wouldn't punish HIM, not like they did her. He wouldn't be banished. He wouldn't be killed.

But he would be an outcast. And that was why he had done it.

But there was one more secret Anomaly told no one. And would never tell.

She'd forgiven Sam.

Before his second vote, she'd forgiven him. She'd understood what she'd been asking, and she realized that Sam just made a bad choice. She couldn't be furious at him for that.

So, even after his second decision had been made, the one where he'd sentenced her to death, she didn't hate him. She didn't despise him.

But then he'd just stood there and watched. And for that, she could never forgive him. There was no excuse. He didn't help her. She could understand if he didn't know they were going to kill her if he voted guilty. She didn't care about that so much anymore.

But he should have helped. It was his job as a brother. And he'd destroyed that.

Tears started to form in her eyes. What I wouldn't give…

She looked away from the ADD, and just started running. The others ignored it. After what she'd been through, they would run too. But they didn't know about Sam. They just knew that she was still running for her life. They didn't know that she was running FROM something so much bigger than that.

Once outside, Anomaly allowed the tears to run down her face. She wiped them away, disgusted with herself. Artalis had a problem with those who were weak. And, much as she hated to admit it, parts of Artalis still lived in her.

What I wouldn't give…

She wanted to kill Sam. She wanted to look him in the eyes and demand to know why and how he did it. Why he hated her. Why he refused to help her, even when the blade of a knife was at her throat.

And how he could ever live with himself.

She snarled and started to run again. She didn't want to think about it. And, sometimes, running was the only way she dealt with things. Because when she was running, she couldn't think of anything else.

But there was one problem. She had to stop.

She had to stop for air. She had to stop to rest. But Anomaly could run for hours without either of those.

It was when he heart broke that she had to stop.

Anomaly stopped on a dime, and would have been able to keep upright had she cared. Instead, she let herself fall to the ground, rolling over and over in the grass and dirt. She landed on her back. She said nothing and did nothing. She just sat there.

The pattern above her eye went purple around the edges. She reached up and touched it. When she pulled her hand away, something that looked like purple ink covered it. It disappeared after a moment.

"I'm dying, Kierto." She whispered. "Without you there to kill me."

It was something she always did. After her banishment, she often ran into Kierto in the vast, cold desert that became home. So she would think of what to say to him if he were there, even if he wasn't.

Only this time, he was.

"So I gathered." Kierto responded. "When?"

Anomaly swallowed. "Last year. My thirteenth birthday."

"And you've held on this long?"

Anomaly nodded. "Some days I wonder why." She replied. "And then I remember. I promised to come back." She looked at him, her eyes locking onto his. "And I'm keeping that promise."

Kierto nodded slowly. "I always wondered about you, Rouge Child. You were always so… hidden. Secret." He looked at her. "That was why I wanted you to replace me, young one. Because you could do it. You could stay quiet. You could run, and you could fight. You have already taken on the mighty city of Artalis. What COULDN'T you do?"

Anomaly chuckled humorlessly. "I couldn't talk to my brother, Kierto. I couldn't survive. And I can't stop RUNNING." She sighed. What I wouldn't give…

Kierto chuckled as well. "But, Anomaly…" He reached down and gently touched her cheek. "You already have."

Kierto transformed in front of her eyes. Her father looked at her. "You've lived. You've breathed. You've stopped running, here and now."

"But I can't keep going." She replied. She had long stopped trying to make sense of the world. Things happened as they did. "I can't live if I don't run. I can't run if I don't live. I can't stop. I have to keep going. But I can't anymore."

She lifted her fingers to her pattern, now completely purple, save the edges, which were black. The purple and black ink stained her fingers. "This is my life now. I have to keep running."

Her father looked kindly at her. "Anomaly…" He whispered. "You have so much to learn. You have challenged the city of Artalis itself. The most powerful city in the world. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Not anymore." Anomaly whispered. "I can't keep this up." She lay down on her back. The black edges on her pattern were slowly creeping in, suffocating the purple. "I'm dying. My brother hates me." She sighed. "I'm a criminal. I have nothing."

"You have the ARC. You have your promise. You have the hope that your brother will say he's sorry, that he will regret everything he's done."

"That's a LIE!" She hissed. "I don't have the ARC, don't you see? That's the only thing left! I gave up on my promise, long ago! I gave up on SAM! And now those in the ARC hate me. Can't you see? I have NOTHING!"

Her father placed his hand on her cheek, and her tears rolled onto it. "You have life, Anomaly. Don't waste it."

And, with that, he disappeared.

Anomaly took several deep breaths. The darkness was suffocating her. She couldn't hold it back. The real world HURT. Everything HURT. She just wanted the pain gone.

But her father was right. She had the ARC. She had life, and she wasn't going to waste it.

She resisted the crushing darkness, the black in her mind. She resisted the burn of the microchip in her pattern. The infected microchip.

Slowly, surely, the black on her pattern began to disappear. Then the purple. Finally, it was blue again. Her eyes darted about. Now she was alert, and could think again, she realized what must have happened.

Kierto and her father were an illusion, a hallucination. This had gotten worse than she'd thought. She stood up slowly.

She started to run again. What I wouldn't give to be alive again. What I wouldn't give for Sam to tell me what I've always wanted to hear. What I wouldn't give to have those at the ARC trust me. What I wouldn't give to take Artalis down.

What I wouldn't give…


Sam looked at the floor. His mother looked in, worried. He'd been like that for so long, ever since the secret council meeting. The one no one knew anything about.

She was quietly furious, but she was also very shy. Her whole life had been her children, and both of them had gotten so much farther in life than she had. Even… Rouge Child. That was her name now.

The old wound burned against her heart. But her husband had assured her that this was what Rouge Child had wanted. This was what was meant to be.

Part of her wanted to march up to the council and tell them to make everything better with Sam. They had no right to make him… like this! This madman, this tortured person in front of her, ashamed of everything he'd done.

As well he should be. But he'd had no choice. The law was the law, and the law commanded Rouge Child to be banished. There was no way around it.

Unfortunately, she was far too shy to tell the council anything. That was one trait Rouge Child had never inherited. She was always the brave one, battling Predators and taking on Artalis itself.

Sam's eyes were glazed over. His face was emotionless, yet pained. He had said nothing for days. His hands slowly twisted his knife, around and around, gently, softly. Like he was remembering a battle, long ago, where someone was lost.

The council member came in. So, Sam's father must have told him. Very well, if that was how it was to be. The council member laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He smiled, that smile that said everything would be ok. She smiled back, and he walked over to Sam.

He placed an arm around the boy's shoulder. "You did well, Sam. Very good. Not everyone has your loyalty."

"It's my duty, sir." Sam replied. His tone was dead, his eyes blank.

"Indeed, and you do it well." He looked at Sam. "You love Artalis, don't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"And you want it to be strong?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you did the right thing." The council member concluded, a smile on his face. "Your sister was… a handful. She had to be stopped. For the good of the city. For the good of…"

"The people?" Sam's voice was still blank, but a flicker of a flame burned behind his eyes.

The man smiled. "Indeed. For the good of the people."

Sam looked at him. For a long moment, their eyes locked. There was nothing in Sam's eyes. Nothing but death. Nothing but a cold, hard abyss. Nothing at all.

Slowly, Sam laid a hand on the council member's shoulder, who smiled. Sam let it slide down limply, accidentally catching on his pocket. His hand kept sliding, and fell limply down to his side. His eyes stayed blank.

The council member laid a firm, reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're a good man."

Some said nothing, his eyes dead. The council member left the house, followed by his mother. He was alone.

Slowly, he turned his hand over. In it, the key he'd pick pocketed from the council member glinted gold in the light. Perhaps part of his sister had rubbed off on him.

His hand wrapped around the key again, with new resolve. He was going to find out what the council member was hiding. He was going to see if his sister was correct.

He was going to destroy Artalis for destroying her.


Anomaly walked back into the ARC. Her tears were long gone. She was fine. That's what she told everyone. She just had something to take care of. Being the people they were, the ignored the whole thing, trying to leave her some sense of dignity.

Her metallic blue eyes darted about, taking everything in. Whatever happened, she had to stay alive. She had to keep her promise to the city of Artalis. It was her one goal. And she would stick to it.

Ikesa came up next to her. His different colored eyes looked deeply into her, as though he could see straight through her. His head tilted to one side. She felt his confusion at her emotions.

"Itara norfallok." She told him. Those two words said it all. It was basic enough for him to understand.

'Itara norfallok.' Running away.


"You ok for tonight?" Abby asked.

"I'm good. Just get out of here." Anomaly smiled, trying to get Abby out of the ARC, and stop worrying.

"She's fine, Abby." Connor continued. Abby looked at him, and he back down. She looked at Anomaly, sighed, then walked out. "See you tomorrow!" She called.

"See ya!" Anomaly called back. She would not say when. She had no reason to scare Abby further.

As soon as she figured Abby was gone, Anomaly was out the door. Where she was going, she knew. Why she was going, she had no idea.

As she raced, the wind blew back her hair and stung her eyes, causing the tears to fall again. But this time, it was not fear or sadness or anger. It was simply nature, working against her like everything else was.

Whatever happened, she had to find the council member, the one she would not name.