- It’s over. - Shabe said, a tinge of regret on his voice. - Had I known things would end up this way, I may not even had begun on the first place.

Samanta hugged him strongly.

- It’s fine. Let me go.

Shabe’s voice was full of resolve.

- Will… will you give yourself over?

As for Samanta… she had some hopes left. The one thing she didn’t want was for Shabe to choose the other option.

- Look at them. I have no real other option left. You know what will happen if they get me.

Shabes’ eyes were full of concern, whilst the military prepared to explode the outer city walls.

- We had good times together.

He wouldn’t make her follow him. That would be too much.

- Your back is so large…

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Samanta said, in a final moment of hesitance. Then, silence issued for painful five minutes. Five minutes of awkwardness in which the military outside threatened Shabe yet again. Five minutes in which Shabe forgot about it and let himself enjoy, and only enjoy, the arms of his loved one.

- I will go with you.

And so, she decided. Shabe said nothing. Truth be told, she had no other option either. People on the higher echelons of Squeam would definitely be hold and interrogated. Torture and pain, maybe for years to come. Could someone chose that instead of a life of freedom?

Maybe only those like Katagary, Dew and Marcio. Those three had found “important matters” to take care off weeks ago.

Their names and faces had probably been changed already.

- Then, stay aside for a moment.

Samanta accepted, waiting a little anxiously as Shabe went to his desk. His burly arms moved the heavy table to the side, while exposing a small compartment. Inside one could see a single lever.

Shabe pushed it.

At that moment, the windows in the entire last floor of Squeams’ Headquarters Central Tower closed and became pitch-black while a sound of glass being shattered issued.

Heavy steel frames dropped from above the glass windows, which seemingly were fifteen centimeters thick.

In reality, the glass in those windows was only five centimeters thick, while the ten centimeters gap between the actual glass and a fake glass sheet on the inside of the building was meant to hold the thick tungsten alloy metal frames that now covered the whole floor.

The military soon noticed the changes, and the field commander begun contacting his superiors.

Shabe had only a few minutes left.