James Zhang was near his sixties and there was utterly nothing special about him. He was not especially intelligent or physically fit. He was not a handsome man and frankly he wasn't very good at conversations. And yet he had still found a way to be happy on a harsh place like the Ark. He had found love and married the most beautiful woman in Space or Earth (he didn't give a damn if other people described her as short and stocky with a pudgy face. He knew her beauty) and together they had the loveliest most precious child.

Unlike him Rei was extraordinary. She had been in charge of maintaining all Ark weapons. She could spot the smallest flaw and fix it and she could disassemble and clean a rifle faster then anybody. And she was brave. So brave. She had walked up right to Mountain to help free these kids and was one of the first to fall when the Mountain Man had opened fire at the gates. People talk a lot about Clarke but for him the true hero of the mountain was his wife. She had no stake in those kids. She didn't even know them but she still went there because she knew it was the right thing to do

His daughter Jenny had been a hero as well. Even though she was only twelve she had taken to looking after all the smaller children in the Ark. And she had died a hero just two weeks after her mother when she pushed a six year old out of the way of a poisonous snake and got bitten. She died almost instantly from the venom of the mutated creature which had been far stronger then the files of old Earth had shown

Every since then James life lacked even a semblance of happiness. The only thing that had kept him going was the memory of his beautiful family. That is until Jaha came and changed everything. The City of Light had given him peace and purpose. Made his life bearable for the first time in months, so when ALIE came and said it was time for him to be a hero he didn't hesitate.

He put down the clipboard for the last time his life. He smiled as he remembered how hard he had fought to be in charge of inventory. All so his office could have been near Rei's. He was not going to do anymore inventory ever again but it felt good to finish it one last time. Instead of the clipboard he picked the last claymore mine. The other had been set around the room already. With a smile on his face he pushed trigger. And then 348 rifles, 400 pistols, 3 machineguns, fifteen boxes of bullets two boxes of explosives and four canisters of toxin were vaporized in a flash of light

Bellamy couldn't sleep. Tomorrow there would be another massacre. He felt his stomach turning at the thought of going through this again, of dealing so much death but he clamped down hard on these emotions. He had to do it. For he safety of his people

His eyes turned to clock in his room where the angry red numbers indicated that it was three o'clock in the morning and that's when he felt as if a giant fist hit him as the shockwave from the armory went through all of Arkadia. Blinking away the dizziness he grabbed his rifle and headed towards the source of the screams. He would not fail his people

Jaha watched as part of Arkadia burned. Thankfully the area had been deserted and only two guards had been caught in the explosion

"They were good people" said Jaha with sadness in his voice. Even with ALIE's help it was not easy to lose good people " and only James will join us in the City of Light"

"The loss of life is always regrettable but sacrifices have to be made for the greater good Thelonious "responded ALIE in her usual calm demeanor" We cannot afford to let them go to war. This would make it impossible to find the last piece of me and would leave us exposed to the Threat"

Jaha nodded. He had been shocked when ALIE told him that someone had hurt the City of Light. Shocked and furious which were emotion he hadn't experienced since accepting the key. Not only was the final part of ALIE here on the ground but by all accounts someone had used it to attack the City of Light.

" We must have peace" continued ALIE " Peace will provide us with the mobility and resources we need to find the threat . It is time to take your proper place as Chancellor again . Pike is weak and the people are scared. You will be their salvation"

" We have a lot of work to do" agreed Jaha as he began making plans. He had vast experience with the law but it was not an easy thing to call for a vote of no confidence He would need support and not only from his brothers and sisters in the City of Light

Raven grabbed a handful of painkillers and swallowed them. They sure as hell didn't work as well as the City of Light but they helped her cope. She still didn't understand exactly what had happened. She could still access the City of Light but now it didn't have any of it's splendor. Now it just seemed like a videogame simulation. She had a thousand questions but zero answers.

At the beginning the rage had been almost uncontrollable. She wanted to rip ALIE apart but her brain prevailed. Apart from the fact that it was generally a bad idea to smash a device crated from a modified nuclear warhead this was also likely to get her killed. ALIE had dozens and dozens of followers in Arkadia. Many of them having joined because of Raven

So sheplayed along for now while looking for a weakness. The first few minutes of this charade had been the most dangerous one. Raven had clutched the device as her fight of flight instinct went g into overdrive while wondering if ALIE would know that she is free but she didn't seem to notice. She barely even acknowledged Raven and when she finally did Raven was in for quite a surprise

"Someone has damaged the City of Light Raven" said ALIE as she turned her full attention on Raven who was sweating . "I felt like a lost a part of myself. A small one but a threat like this can't be tolerated

"What? The module has been in me the entire time" said Raven playing dumb while her mind was going a million miles a minute. What the hell had happened? Lexa had somehow managed to infiltrate the City of Light and free Raven but how did she do it? The Grounders didn't have technology. And you would need some insanely serious technology and skill to infiltrate ALIE virtual world

"Not in this world. In our Raven. Somehow someone has managed to hurt us. And you must find them. Is it possible that there are other Ark stations out there? Could some Mount Weather outpost still work? You must find them Raven. Find them before they destroy our Paradise" she finished with something close to actual emotion. A very unusual trait for the stoic ALIE

" I will do my best" lied Raven through her teeth and headed back to her own room. Thankfully everybody had the option of shutting ALIE out. For a mind raping AI she had been rather courteous. The option was to prevent awkwardness when they wanted to have some private time. No matter how much they like the City of Light and were ecstatic about ALIE nobody really wanted her all seeing eyes on them while they were on the toiler, in the shower or you know masturbating

Shutting off ALIE didn't stop the bliss from City of Light. It just dulled it a bit that's why few people kept her out for long. Raven bean taking her clothes as she concentrated and shut ALIE away from her mind now. Raven had constructed herself a bath from scarp metal and she made regular use of it so ALIE wouldn't be suspicious if she shut her off for the usual half an hour. Now that she was alone she tried to think. She couldn't believe how easily she had been led around like a drugged puppy. Self loathing began to pool in her soul as she remembered how she had ignored everything around here. She had let a freaking dictator take over Arkadia. She had let Bellamy go crazy all just because she had been helpless to resist ALIE. Seriously what the fuck had happened to her people? Why hadn't anyone killed Pike yet? Or beaten some sense into Bellamy?

.She couldn't fake her way forever. ALIE was an AI and Jaha was quite smart as well. They would see through her ruse. Taking a deep breathe she contemplated her options. A part of her wanted to just smash everything and try her luck with ALIE nuclear powered case but she suppressed this part hard. Another option was joining Kane's least subtle resistance on the planet but as much as she respected Kane and his efforts she couldn't see this passive resistance winning. Kane should have killed Pike when he had the chance. There was of course the possibility of going to Pike but he was insane and unpredictable. For all she knew he could just kill everybody who taken the chip or actually ally himself with Jaha

So that left only one option really she thought as her lips curled in distaste. She would have to find Lexa. Somehow she seemed to have been the only one capable of hurting ALIE for now. As much as she didn't enjoy the thought of working with the woman who tortured her and betrayed them she knew this was the best out of many bad options. Hopefully Clarke would be there to help. The girl seemed to get on freakishly good with the Commander. Now the question remained. How to escape Arkadia? And that's when the whole bathroom shook from an obvious explosion and a ceramic duck courtesy of Lincoln fell on her head.

"Ouch" she winced in pain and a bit of an outrage. How dare they? Explosions were her thing.

Quickly running out of her room she saw the armory or more precisely what was left of it burning. Almost all the guards were gathered around it looking for an attack

"Well this is very convenient" thought Raven as she quickly headed for the concealed hole in the now unguarded back wall

"FIND THEM" yelled Pike as he nearly foamed at the mouth with rage. All his plans have turned into dust. Arakdia's future was bleak now." Give me a report on our resources. NOW"

Pike took a deep breath and tried to calm himself after Hannah shot him a murderous look. She was a loyal soldier but she didn't let anyone fuck with her son. He nodded at her slightly conveying his apology. She was his right hand and she deserved the respect

"Ehh'' said Monty as he swallowed hard" well we have pretty strict norms when it comes to guns especially after you took office…Sir. Outside of your people and the Guards on duty everybody else had to lave their guns in the amory so…."

" I require numbers " said Pike with great restraint

" Well we have 70 rifles with one spare clips, 80 pistols with one spare clip, a dozen smoke and stun grenades, two machine guns fixed to the towers and that's pretty much it…"

" The toxin?'

"Gone. Thakfully it burned instead of being released in the camp. I don't have the materials to make more" responded Hannah while gritting her teeth. She had been really looking forward to seeing the grounders choke on their own lungs. Her hatred had increased a hundredfold after her son was nearly killed at the village

" This cannot go on anymore. I am declaring a state of emergency. You are to arrest Kane. We will not stand for treason anymore"

" But you can't….." said Monthy weakly

" Oh but I can Mr. Green. It's time to send a message. And get a grounder as well. Miss Blake deserve a message of her own"

Monty was paralyzed as he saw the death warrants of his two friends being issued without even getting any proof. He couldn't be part of this. He never could but now even his mother couldn't convince him to stay with this mad despot. He had to convince Bellamy that they were on the wrong side. There had to be another way

Lexa was stirring awake. The past two weeks had been a mixture of ecstasy at having Clarke so close to her and utter humiliation. Not just humiliation at the fact that her once proud warrior body had failed her but also humiliation that Clarke was here to see all of this. In the books they talked about how romantic it is to take care of your lovers but there was nothing romantic in your girlfriend having to help you relieve yourself.

She took a deep breathe as she swallowed carefully. Yesteday she had finally regained her ability to actually form full sentence but she was still treading carefully. She winced as she carefully turned in the bed with the intent of kissing Clarke awake only to find herself slapped in the face by a furry tail and then literally stepped on as the cat used her head as platform to jump from the bed and run to …..Clarke who was awake and seemed to be trying to restrain herself from laughing

"I see that your beast has climbed on the bed again" said Lexa with her driest tone. The cat had appeared four days ago. Clarke had been fascinated as this was the first cat she had ever seen and immediately began to feed it and pet it. It took less then two day for the little fiend to go from cautious stray to a parasite that couldn't detach itself from Clarke. As if to confirm her thoughts the cat raised it's front paw on Clarke's knees and of course the mighty Wnaheda immediately obeyed and picked her up. The cat quickly snuggled into Clarke chest and seemed to give Lexa a satisfied and superior look of pure evil. What a bitch

" She can't help it Lexa. She loves us" said Clarke with her stupidly radiant smile "Isn't that right Chara? You love us right? Yes you do'

" This is a ridiculous name for such a raggedy creature" stated Lexa as she returned the cat's smug look with a threatening one

"Is someone jealous of the Charming Chara?|" asked Clarke in a mocking voice

Lexa sighed. She really should get better at saying no to Clarke. It looks like she was stuck with a cat now

Notes:

1. In case you are wondering James didn't lose the memory of his family because these memories didn't bring him pain. The memories are what kept him going. It was the rest of his life that was painful

2. Clarke and Lexa getting a cat. I know this came out of nowhere but my own cat is in a bad condition. The doctor says she has maybe a month. I am not really dealing well with it so I thought I would write her into the story where she can never die. Here is a picture of real Chara if you are wondering what she looks like

tinyurl com / ClexaChara