Both boys entered the passage and found themselves in a long, narrow corridor. The walls were lined with pipes and conduits. Power boxes were set about waist-high, marked with warning symbols. Further along the corridor was a set of stairs that led below.

"See any bots?" asked Rem.

"Not yet," Will murmured.

They quickly made their way down the stairs. After that was a maze of passageways and channels. Corridors and crawl spaces came and went. They squeezed through areas not meant for people, narrow spaces that were designed for bots.

The true inner workings of the tower were opaque to most people. It was only in these hidden places, these places of in-between, that the secrets of the tower were revealed. Ventilation, air conditioning, water, and sewage ran through here, all controlled by an army of machines. The tower couldn't function without them.

Will and Remy squeezed through a narrow channel and reached a squat door.

"Alright," Remy muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow. He swung the door open.

They stepped into a large warehouse. Stacks and stacks of boxes were arranged in a grid pattern. Lanes were marked clearly, and drones zipped back and forth between the stacks, picking up and depositing crates.

Will tapped his vest twice, and the LEDs embedded in the fabric lit up. Remy did the same. A drone headed their way, paused, and stuttered to a stop. Confused, it scanned them once again and stuttered once more. The chaotic blinking lights kept it frozen in place. Remy and Will stepped past the bot, and the same fate befell any droid that came close to them. Confused, they went back to their previous tasks, as though the two boys were invisible.

A V.D.S attack was of Remy's design. They had successfully spoofed the drone's video recognition software. As far as the bots were concerned, they were never here.

Both boys made their way through the stacks and followed the drones carrying crates. In front of them were five heavy transport vert-trains responsible for carrying goods up and down the tower. These were larger than the regular trains and, though maintained well, looked far older. The drones streamed in and packed their crates in neatly arranged rows. Will and Rem stepped around the bots and climbed into the train. The droids finished their work quickly, and the last of the crates were slotted in place.

The droids streamed out, and Will plopped himself on top of a sack of grain. "Finally."

Remy found a flour pile and sunk himself into it. The produce sections always provide the best seats.

The train door slammed shut, and Will flinched. They were left in pitch darkness when the doors closed. Will fumbled with his jacket, his breathing a little rough. He wasn't fond of trains. Something about being stuck in a metal can hurtling down in free fall grated at his nerves. He found the switch in his jacket, and it lit up once again, only this time it gave out a steady stream of light instead of the pulsating chaotic strobe he used on the droids.

There was another clang and the whole carriage shook as it detached from its docking port. A low rumble filled the carriage as the train began its slow decent. it started slow at first but soon picked up speed and was moving at a steady clip.

Will let out a breath. Across from him, Remy laid languid, sprawled across the sacks of flour. A steady light came from his jacket which lit up his make shift seat. He wriggled into it and patted the gunny sack fondly. "Best seats in the house!"

Will stretched out to find a more comfortable position. The grain sacks under him had some give but remained firm underneath. He poked at a bag beside him. it was nearly as a hard as a rock. "All we need now is some inflight refreshments."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Remy snapped his fingers and started going through the bags around him. "Ah, of course, Monsieur. How would you like some synthetic whole wheat grain?"

Will gave a thumbs-up.

"And next, we have some grain. Oh, look, some more grain." Remy pretended to read the labels. "Wait, this looks promising."

Remy fished out a smaller bag. He unsealed the package and gave a whoop of delight. An intoxicating aroma of citrus and mint filled the air.

Remy held a vividly pink fruit. It was small, round, about the size of a lemon. Despite its size, its smell was powerful. Remy breathed in long and deep. "Oh, that's good!"

Will squinted. "Is that a Hil fruit?"

"Uh huh. I can smell the Hallucia mountains," Remy said, looking at the rest of the bag longingly.

"Don't be stupid," warned Will.

"I know, I know," said Remy. He put the fruit back into the bag and looked around the compartment. "I would say boosting the train would have made us good money if I wasn't sure that we would get caught almost immediately."

Will grunted and shook his head. A low level of missing inventory would be overlooked, but if they went overboard, then there would be an investigation. Getting caught would be a foregone conclusion.

"What I really wanted were apples, but pickings are slim these days," said Remy. "Has the military started transporting out of Novgrun yet?"

"Doubt it," said Will "The embargo's still going strong."

"When is it going to end?"

Will snorted. "The next election cycle, probably."

"Speaking of the military," Remy began, "ever thought about joining the mech operator course?"

"Nah."

"It's the easiest school credit there is," said Remy. "It'll be odd if you're the only one in class not going."

"Easy credit, sure," Will shrugged. "But half the project fund will go to the mech caution deposit."

"Hmm," Remy looked thoughtful.

"Wait, this is not just about the course, is it," asked Will. "You're not thinking of actually joining the military."

"Maybe."

"You serious?" Will sat up. "What about moving up the tower, coder-grower?"

"That's the sane choice," Remy nodded, "but I know myself. I would probably grow bored of it within a week and decide to head out."

Will would have objected, but that sounded exactly like what Remy would do.

"So interested?" Remy grinned. "Join now, serve proud. Be all you can be."

Will chuckled, "Yeah, no."

"Where is your sense of adventure? Come see the outside world."

"The outside world is a wasteland nuked to hell and back," said Will.

"Visiting distant lands, mutants, beasts, and slavers," Remy continued.

"Those all sound terrible," said Will. "The tower for me, please. Don't want to get involved in the politics of the military."

Remy scoffed and resumed rummaging through the fruit bags. "Don't fool yourself into thinking there is no politics in the tower. It is a snake pit."

"Hey, the devil you know—"

"—better than two in a bush." Remy leaned to the side and grabbed another one of the smaller bags. "Oh ho! Jackpot!" Out of the bag, he fished out an apple.

Will grinned. "Nice!"

Remy brought the fruit up and waved it in front of his face. "Yeah, that's fresh." He tossed the apple to Will, who caught it and took in a deep breath. "It's good," he agreed and tossed it right back.

"Now, to select the best one," Remy shifted through the bag, searching for better apples. "If I'm going to take one, it's going to be the best one... Wait, what's this?"

He pulled out a twisted piece of metallic debris.

"Weird," Remy remarked, giving it a once-over before tossing it to Will. "What do you think that is?"

Will examined the unusual item and tapped its scuffed surface. "It looks like a casing of some kind. Check if there is more in the bag."

Remy searched the bag again. "Hold on, I think I got it."

With a determined tug, he dragged out a defunct drone, its metal shell dented and lifeless.

Both boys looked stunned at their find before their eyes cleared up.

"Dibs!" they yelled together.

"Haha, I win," said Remy, who was a second faster.

"Damn," said Will. "Fine, I'll take the ether cube. You're going for the drive, I reckon."

"Yeah, uh," said Remy, excited.

"You don't have to be so smug about it," said Will. "The drive could be broken,"

"No way, cube damage probably triggered the malfunction."

"Sounds like a bet," said Will.

"You're on!"

Remy handed the drone over to Will, who promptly started dismantling it. He removed the bits of casing that were still attached to the main body, but the last few sections were warped so badly that he had to tear them from their frame.

"Careful," said Remy.

"I know," said Will. He was slow and smooth. The internals were removed piece by piece. It was when the ether cube and the control chip board were finally revealed that he froze.

"What is it?" asked Remy.

"It's intact."

"What?"

"Both cube and drive are intact," Will pointed. "You see this? The control board is dislodged. That's how it stopped moving. This is a fully working drone."