Then will the Great Hero become the Great Traitor…

Vincent rolled his eyes as Lucia crossed out ‘Gamma Theft’ from the board as slowly and dramatically as she possibly could. Danny grinned, then applauded furiously, and a moment later Emi joined him. Lucia smirked, but when she returned to her seat on Vincent’s bed, he could see that she was barely maintaining her composure.

Last night had shaken her, no matter how much of a brave face she was putting on. Vincent understood more than he would have liked. Barely half a month had passed since they’d each Manifested, and already they’d both become killers–or close enough that the distinction was meaningless.

Vincent could at least tell himself that it had been self-defense against two people he had no real connection to, but he understood that Elena had been one of Lucia’s closest friends for years. She would be recovering from this for a long time–if at all–and he didn’t blame her. He just hoped it wouldn’t affect the plan.

“They found her this morning,” Lucia said in a flat voice. “Kristy hid the body somewhere in the trees between campus and the wall. I heard at breakfast that some students saw a cluster of guards hauling a massive pile of Gamma back to storage, so we should be okay.”

“And Kristy?” Vincent prompted.

“I can tell you what I think, but I know how you’d respond…and you’d be right,” Lucia said with frustration. “No matter what else happened, she holds my fate in her hands. So far she’s doing what she said she would; all we can do is get out of here so she’s no longer a loose end.”

There was silence for a moment as they all considered what that meant. While Kristy didn’t know about the escape plan–as far as they were aware–her being able to out Lucia as a Psychic at any time was a disturbing reality. Vincent realized everyone was staring at him, as if waiting for him to disagree.

“I don’t see a better option. You wrapped this up as cleanly as you could, and we’re lucky you were able to do so at all. I’ll try to consider some contingencies, but we’re just over a week from escape–hopefully this is just one more complication we’re leaving behind.”

The crew seemed relatively satisfied with that answer. They didn’t need to know that Vincent planned to watch Kristy personally until they left. “Danny, want to go over the last details on your side?”

“Sure!” he said, standing and holding out his hand for the marker. Vincent sighed, but handed it over. Danny stood in front of the board, then cleared his throat loudly. “We already talked about harvest duty, so none of you should be surprised by anything that happens on the day.”

He waited to see if anyone disagreed, but Danny had been thorough in describing his experiences, and they all felt fairly comfortable. “The good news is that the Radstorms in New Technopolis have been as stable as we hoped, and all the trucks are still going out daily.”

“I think Kristy used up enough of the Gamma she stole that they’ll still want a surplus, so I doubt that will change,” Lucia interjected.

“Right…yeah,” Danny said, flustered. “So, Vincent and I were talking about the last part. We debated just signing him and Emi up for duty, but there’d be no guarantee we’d get on the same truck, or even that there’d be room. You’re going to have to take the places of three regular members.”

Emi and Lucia nodded, expecting this as well. “Glenn is about Vincent’s size, and Becca and Marcus will have to do for you two,” Danny said, shrugging. “Lucia, you’ll probably have to duck a bit since Marcus is super short, but the baggy suits are so hard to see into that you should be fine.”

“What if the other students talk to us?” Emi asked.

“Just pretend to sleep for the trip there. A lot of us do that. If someone starts bugging you I’ll do my best to shut them up, but Becca and Marcus are dating so it won’t be weird if you two look like you’re talking to each other.”

“What about Eric?” Vincent prompted. “He knows us all pretty well, I’d be a lot more comfortable if we took him out instead,” Danny made a face.

“Sorry Vince, but Eric is pretty tall. You’re only a bit bigger than the girls and he’s like…almost half a foot taller than you? Plus if anyone talks, it’ll be him. Best not to replace him with a short, silent dude.” Emi laughed, but Vincent just nodded.

“Fair points,” he acknowledged.

“Wait,” Lucia said. “Did you say ‘take him out’? Exactly what are you planning to do with the students we’re replacing?” There was genuine worry in her eyes, and Vincent figured she was still thinking about Elena.

“Don’t worry, Lucia, we’re just knocking them out and…well we’re stashing them in the change room lockers. So it’s not great, but it’s not…you know, deadly?” Danny shrugged. “We can’t risk them being found until we’re safely away, so we can’t just tie them up and cross our fingers. They’ll be found at the end of the day, and those lockers are pretty big. They’ll be able to sit down and we can leave them some water and snacks.”

“Snack,” Emi said in a disbelieving tone.

Danny threw his hands up, “I dunno! Lucia looks worried, and those kids are nice. It’s bad enough we’re knocking them out, at least we can cater.” Emi smiled and shook her head in amusement. Danny continued.

“So you guys will sneak into the bathroom first thing in the morning, and hide in the stall. I’ll convince our three ‘volunteers’ to hold back after everyone leaves, then you guys pop out, then pop them. Then all you need to do is put on their gear, and off we go!” He turned back to Vincent, “That’s it, right? Supplies tied under the truck, we wait for your distraction and we’re good?”

“Yes, that’s it,” Vincent said with annoyance, knowing what was coming. Sure enough a huge grin spread on Danny’s face as he turned and crossed out ‘Escape Method’ from the board even more slowly than Lucia had. When he finally finished, Vincent started the applause, drawing surprised expressions from the crew. What? I’m funny too, he thought.

Vincent took the marker back and tapped the final point on the list, ‘Harnesses’. “That just leaves our last goal. Danny, have you been practicing?” In answer, the Dean was suddenly sitting in his desk chair, though dressed as a student.

“Couple of problems,” the Dean said in his typical, flat voice. “I can copy mannerisms and appearances, but clothes…not so much.”

“Are you sure about mannerisms? Your voice may be right but you’re still talking like a–like you,” Emi said. “If anyone who knows the Dean speaks to you, this will be over.”

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“If anyone who knows the Dean speaks to you, this will be over,” the Dean repeated, except it was said in Emi’s voice, and precisely the same intonations and rhythm. Emi looked understandably creeped out, and Lucia’s eyebrows went up in surprise.

“It’s the Mimic passive,” Danny said, this time back in the Dean’s voice. “I don’t even really need to think about it. As long as I’ve heard someone speak, I can copy them almost exactly.”

“Almost exactly?” Vincent prompted.

The Dean shrugged. “It doesn’t give me any new knowledge. I can’t speak in another language or use words I don’t know in English–though I think I get that later.”

“So the Dean will have to be terse when the day comes,” Lucia said. “That won’t be out of character, at least.”

Vincent spoke up, “Emi, we need to improve Danny’s chances as much as possible. You’ve managed to see inside before, you’ll tell him everything you know?”

“Of course. I’ll also tell him about Denise, the secretary. It’s not likely he’ll manage to get in without going past her. The whole building is locked tight at night, so it has to happen during office hours.”

“Then we know what we’re doing for these last few days,” Vincent said.

“We need to shadow the Dean and find the right time to break in, or otherwise figure out how to get him out of his office.” Vincent paused, looking at the copy of Dean Allister. “We’ll also need to find something for him to wear.”

“That part is relatively easy,” Lucia said. “I’m on Laundry duty, and I’ve seen his clothes come through regularly.”

“Perfect, I think we have everything covered. Danny do you…Danny?” his friend was shaking, and spasming, and suddenly he was back to himself.

“Ugh…right. There’s still that,” he said, breathing rapidly. “I don’t seem to have a problem taking a shape, and I’ve been practicing as much as I can…but I can’t always hold it as long as I want. Or sometimes it’s the opposite problem, and I’m stuck for a few hours.”

“We’ll have to risk it,” Vincent said firmly. “There aren’t any other options. We’re almost out of time and this is all for nothing if we can’t disarm our harnesses.” No one denied the uncomfortable truth, so he nodded and began erasing the board.

“One more thing,” Emi said, in a strangely serious tone. Everyone turned to look at her, and Vincent noticed her expression was dark. “I know you think you have the distraction covered but…well I had an interesting opportunity the other day.”

“I do have the distraction covered, but I’m always open to new opportunities,” Vincent replied with curiosity. Emi still looked serious, but a touch of hesitation entered her tone.

“I was in the garage, I think I mentioned that I take scrapper duty to find old components. Well, something came across my desk that should have been disposed of in another way, but I got lucky. It was an old power cell, and still has a charge.”

Danny was clearly getting impatient, “Emi, no one is going to understand your wacky tech-talk. Just tell us what cool device you can build.” Emi glared at him, but answered.

“A bomb.” The room grew quiet, and everyone exchanged uncomfortable glances. Finally Emi continued, “It won’t be a large explosion, but if we tucked inside the cab of our harvester it would definitely take out the guards. I’m sure I can figure out a way to get us out of the back–”

“No,” Vincent said, and the crew turned to look at him.

“Just ‘no?” Emi said with obvious irritation. “How about some discussion? You won’t even tell us what your little distraction is. I’d prefer to bet my life on my tech–you know, the same tech we’re trusting to keep ourselves from exploding?”

“No,” Vincent repeated. “We’re not killing anyone, that isn’t the plan.”

“They’re just guards!” Emi yelled back. “The ones keeping us here! The ones who let children get tortured and turned into weapons!”

“I know who they are,” Vincent said calmly. “But I also know who we are, and we’re not the NGG. We have a way out, and I promise it will work.”

“Then tell us what it is!” Emi yelled again, standing up and getting right into Vincent’s face. “Convince us! Don’t make us put our lives on the line for some god damned mystery!”

“I’m asking you to trust me,” Vincent answered quietly. Then before Emi could say something else, Danny spoke up.

“Emi, this bomb…can you be sure how big the explosion will be? Can you be sure it will only get the guards and not us?” Emi turned her fury on him, but then she hesitated, clearly seeing how earnest he was.

“I…I can’t be certain but–”

“What about the other trucks?” Danny asked. “You realize it’s a convoy right? If the bomb explodes while we’re still all together we could drive into one, right where the students are sitting. Or if it went off when we were still on the speedway…it could crash us all.”

Emi looked more irritated than convinced, “I wouldn’t let that happen. I’d program the bomb, make sure the timing was perfect.”

“The timing is different every day,” Vincent interjected. “The teams follow the storms to different locations around the city. You’d need to program the bomb so that it went off after we arrived in the city, but before we exited the truck, and we’d be in the back of a windowless box.” Emi finally seemed to have run out of steam.

“I could solve all those issues; none of you realize what a tech is capable of,” she said stubbornly.

“If it was our only option, we’d be with you,” Lucia said, speaking up at last. “But there’s been enough killing. You can trust my brother. He’s put his life on the line to get us out of here, and he wouldn’t bet it all on something he wasn’t sure of after everything we’ve done.” She looked at Vincent, and her eyes were pleading, “Right?

Vincent paused before answering, knowing that his own plan had a level of volatility he wasn’t entirely comfortable with, but also not ready to take the step Emi suggested. There would be six guards in that cab, and while he might have been willing to defend himself against the madman who’d chased him across campus, Vincent wasn’t ready for premeditated murder.

He was barely hanging on to a shred of morality as it was.

“The plan will work. I’ve made sure of it,” he said with confidence he didn’t entirely feel. Operation Matter had never been intended for this purpose, but it would work. It had to, and for more reasons than just this escape.

“Okay, then we trust you, Vincent. You’ve gotten us this far, right Emi?” Lucia said pointedly. The small Tech huffed, then threw her hands up.

“Fine. We’re all trusting each other, so I’ll trust you now. I just hope you’re not wasting this chance,” she said bitterly, then stormed out of the dorm room.

“She’ll cool off,” Danny said.

“Give her some time,” Lucia agreed. “We’re taking a lot on faith here, and with stakes that keep us all up at night. Besides, I can’t blame her for wanting to take out some guards–or at least being willing to sacrifice them. They’ve kept us in this prison for years.”

“I understand,” Vincent said. “Now, let’s focus on what needs to be done. Danny, keep practicing. Lucia, get him those clothes. We need to be ready…the big day is right around the corner.”

***

Emi was still fuming as she got outside into the cool evening air. She hated being in the dark about anything. She had an overwhelming desire to know things. To understand them, and it had intensified to an alarming degree when she’d become a Tech.

Sometimes she thought it might be why she’d Manifested Tech powers in the first place, whatever Vincent claimed about balance and attributes. Either way, it was driving her crazy that she didn’t know how this elaborate plan was supposed to end.

She did trust them, or at least she was trying to. She had her own reasons for wanting off this horrible Farm, and she was willing to take some big risks to do it. But trust only went so far. Emi smiled as she came to a decision and there was one fewer horrible unknowns in her life.

She went to build a bomb.