It ends in pure chaos, it ends with blood in the streets…

Vincent had never seen Danny hold as still as he was right now, while Emi carefully inserted the key into the small slot at the base of his spine. Despite Danny’s excitement and pride at pulling off the theft and acquiring the literal key to their freedom, he still insisted on being the last one to have the explosive device disarmed.

“I’m just going to supervise,” he’d declared. “You know, make sure Emi has everything she needs. Definitely not just waiting to see if any of you blow up by mistake.” Still, as Emi worked late into the night in Vincent’s cramped dorm room, she proved as capable as she’d promised.

No one blew up.

At last there was a small click as a tiny cylinder of metal ejected from Danny’s harness, and Emi carefully removed it and placed it on the desk with the other three. A soft blue glow enveloped her hand once more as she brought it close to the empty slot on the otherwise unbroken square of chrome over the base of Danny’s spine.

After a moment, the small port closed, and the stolen key was ejected from the other side. It was back to looking like every other harness, simply a shining chain of metal running down Danny’s back. “Explosive charge is removed, and tracking software is disabled,” Emi declared.

They both stood up and stretched, the lengthy process being tiring and stressful for each of them. “You’re sure there’s no backup bomb, or anything?” Danny asked.

Emi rolled her eyes. This was not the first time he’d asked. “I can sense the purpose of every circuit in a harness,” she said. “They’re only meant for two things: regulating the radiation we’ve absorbed, and communicating our biometric data to a paired KD. The explosives and trackers are Farm crap. To my Tech-sense, they’re like loose nails sticking out of a pristine work of art–there’s no way I’d miss something else like that.”

Danny still didn’t appear convinced, but at a pointed look from Lucia, he clearly changed what he was going to say. “Uh, thank you Emi,” he said, then reached out for a high five. The far shorter girl resisted for a moment, but there was something about Danny’s earnest smile that seemed to win people over, and she reluctantly slapped his hand.

When they were done, Lucia gestured to the four small cylinders sitting on the desk. “What do we do with those?” she asked. “You said they wouldn’t explode on their own, but it seems weird to just leave them here.” In answer, Emi reached out to grab them, but Vincent was quicker.

She met his eyes, and put on a defiant expression as he held the explosives away from her. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to trust you with more firepower,” he said with open disapproval.

“That bomb saved Danny,” Emi said evenly. “It probably saved his life, and it definitely saved the plan.”

“The bomb you shouldn’t have even made,” Vincent countered.

“I agreed not to use it on the guards,” she shot back. “And that was under protest. I never said I wouldn’t build the thing,” she stepped closer and jabbed a finger into his chest. “How I choose to use my abilities isn’t up to you, Villari,” Emi said, her voice rising.

Vincent stared blankly back at her, “You could have killed someone just to buy five minutes.”

“You told me to use it!” she shouted.

“I trusted you to use a distraction that wouldn’t endanger a bunch of innocent students,” Vincent responded coldly.

Emi threw her hands in the air. “No one was in danger! I planted the device inside one of the buildings that your explodey friend blew up. It’ll look like he damaged a gas line that finally blew, and the guards already had the area blocked off,” she turned and walked away from him, looking satisfied.

“See?” she asked. “No one was at risk with what I did. How about you, Villari? Was anyone in the dorm when you baited that idiot into attacking it?” Vincent frowned. It didn’t matter that he had little choice, or that he was nearly mindless from the danger and adrenaline by then. She was right.

“How did you survive that, by the way?” Emi asked quietly, and Vincent looked at her suspiciously. She had one eyebrow raised, and made an exaggerated gesture to prompt him to answer. “Well? Something you want to tell us?” Vincent narrowed his eyes. He’d told them all about the chase, but left out details he considered…unnecessary.

“What’s she talking about, Vincent?” Lucia asked. Mist, mist, mist! Vincent’s mind shouted by reflex, but he knew it was pointless. Emi answered for him.

“I said I can tell exactly what a device is doing when I’m working on it. Vincent’s harness isn’t set to regulate an adept,” she said while crossing her arms. “His harness is regulating a fully manifested super,” she finished with a glare.

“What?” Lucia said in disbelief, while Danny said “Whoa”, at almost the same exact moment.

“How long have you been keeping this from us, Vincenzo?” Lucia said. Vincent absently wondered if she knew just how much she sounded like their mother when she called him that.

“After you, before Danny,” he answered simply.

“Why would you hide this?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I didn’t ‘hide’ it. I compartmentalized information,” he answered, and for some reason all three of the others groaned. “No one needed to know,” he insisted. “My abilities weren’t a solution to any of our problems,” he gestured at the board, where all four stages of the plan were crossed out.

“What about ‘trust’?” Emi said, and Vincent gave her a confused look.

“I never lied, or held back anything that would be of use,” he countered. Then he crossed his own arms, irritated. “How I choose to use my abilities isn’t up to you, Sato,” he said, but it didn’t seem to have the impact he’d hoped for.

“We didn’t even know you had abilities!” Danny said, looking hurt. “I came straight to you, man. I thought we told each other this kinda thing. I thought…” he turned around, and Emi put a hand on his shoulder.

Vincent was looking back and forth between them. Why were they so upset? He noticed Lucia staring at him and met her gaze. She looked curious, but finally just shook her head in resignation.

“He genuinely doesn’t get it,” she said with some disappointment. The other two looked at her. “We can all be pissed, but he’s not going to understand why. This is one of his Vincent moments…for better or worse,” she finished.

Danny looked at Vincent again, then finally shrugged. “Right,” he said sadly, “a Vincent moment.” Emi’s face screwed up, and Danny turned to her. “We’ll explain later. Let’s not let this ruin our night. It’s our last one on the farm, right?”

That simple statement seemed to shatter the awkward atmosphere that had built up, and Vincent watched with confusion–and some envy–as the other three quickly shifted to joking and laughing. It seemed that there was simply too much relief and emotion surrounding their impending escape to stay angry.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

In truth, Vincent’s own anger wasn’t particularly strong either. He’d felt the need to confront Emi over the explosion, but she was right that no one had been hurt, and Danny had escaped. That was paramount. Vincent was ready to risk trying to break in alone if he needed to, but not to lose Danny to some detention center–or worse.

That grim thought in mind, Vincent resolved not to bring the crew down further. They had an enormous day ahead of them, and they all deserved to celebrate. It had always been a desperate plan, with a multitude of points of failure, but they’d pulled it off…so far. When they started talking about sneaking up to the roof for a final farewell to the Farm, he didn’t object.

A few minutes later they were on the flat rooftop, leaning against the waist-high ledge that surrounded it. “From up here, it’s almost beautiful,” Lucia whispered.

“That’s only because it’s dark enough that you can’t see all the concrete. Nothing but stars and trees,” Danny responded, his tone wistful. It was nearly three in the morning, Emi having needed the hours to ensure their harnesses were taken care of, and the darkness was almost complete.

Vincent tried to see what they did, but as always, his eyes were drawn upward. It was fitting, somehow, that the Watcher was out tonight. Its soft greenlight stood out in the cloudless sky, like an emerald sparkling in a dark pool. If Vincent stared long enough, it was like he could reach out and catch it in his hand.

“It’s hard to believe that sparkling wonder is the cause of a hundred years of suffering,” Emi said. Vincent looked at her, surprised to see her eyes upward as well.

“It was just the catalyst,” Vincent whispered back. “The Invasion came, and it brought destruction, but humanity did the rest.” She glanced at him, then turned skyward once more. He noticed she didn’t disagree.

Lucia and Danny were whispering back and forth as well, and Vincent let it go on a little while longer. He let his gaze wash over the darkened campus that had been so many things to him over the years. A refuge, a school, a prison. He reflected that he didn’t hate it, not the way the others did. He’d simply outgrown it.

At last he stood up. “It’s late. I know we’re not likely to get much sleep, but even a few hours will be better than nothing,” the other three didn’t object, just stood up quietly, each still lost in whatever thoughts had been pulling at them. “Emi, Lucia, you know the route to take to avoid cameras. I’ll meet you in front of the change rooms at six. Danny, business as usual.”

He took a moment to look at the three. Emi, the unexpected addition, yet crucial in giving them a real hope at escape. Danny, his closest friend, and perhaps the only person who ever truly liked Vincent after getting to know him. And Lucia, his sister. Self-righteous Psychic, and likely the only family he had left in this world.

“We’re going to make it,” he said with all the passion he had. Surprisingly, the simple statement seemed to get his meaning across, and all three smiled broadly. They were going to make it, he resolved.

***

There was only one bathroom stall, and it was certainly not meant for three people. Lucia and Emi were squished into the back, with Vincent leaning against the off-white door. The toilet didn’t have a lid, and there was an…aroma, that made it all the more uncomfortable.

Worse, someone could still come in, so they had to be prepared to make it look occupied by a single person. With the door leaving a sizable gap at the bottom, that meant the girls had to be ready to put their feet up while Vincent was supposed to drop his pants and sit.

In all his imaginings of the challenges and threats they might face in their escape, Vincent realized this particular situation was one he hadn’t let himself think much about. It had already been over a half hour, and keeping silent in this unusual situation as they counted the minutes wasn’t helping anyone’s anxiety.

The three of them alternately avoided eye contact, then looked to one another for sympathy. Emi let out a deep sigh, then made a face when she breathed back in, and the mix of chemicals and poorly cleaned washroom assaulted her senses. Lucia stifled a laugh, and Vincent just shook his head.

After an eternity, they finally heard the sounds of students entering. Danny had told them everyone was always in a rush, as Captain Donovan had no patience for tardiness. As such, there was little chatter as the sounds of eight people racing to get dressed echoed through the concrete building. The first clear sound was Danny, intentionally speaking loudly. “Hey, Glenn, hold on. I have to show you something,” he called.

“Actually, Becca, you and Marcus will get a kick out of this as well, I swear,” footsteps rang out as people started leaving. How many was that? One, two? “Get out of here, Eric, this isn’t for you.”

“Like I care about anything you do, Mackenzie. Ever,” came Eric’s voice. “Come on Jenkins, it’ll be more fun to watch Donovan scream in their faces,” he finished, before the sounds of two more people exiting the building could be heard.

“What the hell do you want, Danny?” came a male voice. “Eric is right, we have like a minute before Donovan makes this nightmare duty even worse.”

“Just right here,” Danny called out. “It’s time,” he said, and Vincent nodded at the two girls.

“That’s the signal, move!” he whispered, throwing the stall open and charging out. Eric truly was right: they didn’t have much time before their absence would be suspicious. Vincent raced into the room, and the three students turned to look in his direction, confused.

Marcus and Becca dropped almost immediately when Danny pressed the small rods Emi had built into their exposed necks. The electric charge was supposed to be just enough to render them unconscious, and they appeared to do their job well. As Glenn turned to look at them in shock, Vincent pressed the third device into the younger student, and a moment later he joined the other two on the floor.

“Hurry!” Danny whispered as he pulled open two closed lockers. Lucia and Emi were there as well, having only been a step behind Vincent, and they were all desperately pulling hazard suits off of people who had become cumbersome dead weight.

Danny was already pulling Glenn into a locker before Vincent managed to get the suit completely off, and a moment later the boy was squished inside. A water bottle was tossed after him before Danny slammed the door closed, and moved on to Marcus and Becca.

Vincent managed to get his suit on first, and hastily moved to assist Danny with the other two unconscious students while Emi helped Lucia to zip up Marcus’s suit. It was slightly too small, as Danny had warned, and her long, black hair kept getting caught. Still the whole group was geared and ready, with victims stashed, in under two minutes.

Without waiting another moment they all left at a full sprint, hoping to make up for lost time. It was hard to see through the small plastic window in the helmet, but they were fortunate enough not to trip as they joined the others, lined up in front of the harvester.

Captain Donovan was already arming their harnesses, but he paused to glare at the four late arrivals. Danny hurriedly forestalled any questions that might force the three imposters to have to speak up. “My fault, Captain Donovan! I was showing them this hilarious video I found,” he called out.

The Captain looked at him with remarkable disappointment, but apparently this wasn’t so far out of character for Danny that the man questioned it. “You can make up the time by skipping lunch, Mackenzie,” he said before turning back to the device in his hand.

Vincent slumped and breathed a sigh of relief, but was careful to keep the floppy helmet in the right position to hide as much of his face as possible. He didn’t really look anything like Glenn, but their skin tones were similar, and only his lower jaw was visible through the small screen.

The Captain’s eyes were locked on his device, however, which let out a high pitched beep as he passed it over each student in line. Vincent realized his muscles were almost locked solid with nervousness as the device was used on Danny in front of him, but Emi’s talent was proven once again as the beep rang out on queue.

His own harness began beeping a moment later, as promised. The explosives were gone, but the Tech had ensured the device would produce the same feedback it always did, as silence would be an obvious giveaway. Vincent’s relief was cut short however, when he heard the Captain grunt behind him.

There was no third beep.

Vincent risked a look back, and saw the man slapping the device against his hand as Lucia–face conspicuously turned away–was shaking slightly with worry. Vincent barely noticed Emi lean forward so her hand was resting lightly against Lucia’s back.

When the Captain tried the device again, the beep rang out, and Vincent had to hold his breath to stop himself from celebrating out loud. Few situations truly damaged his calm, but this day was the exception.

The beep sounded a final time as the device waved over Emi, and the Captain spoke out. “Alright, in the truck!” he called, and the eight students obligingly began to shuffle forward. As they did so, another vehicle rolled by, drawing their attention.

It was as large as a harvester, but instead of the compartment to house students and the massive steel cylinder for the collected Alpha particles, it instead had a singular, metal box, secured by massive chains to the truck bed. “Keep moving!” the Captain bellowed as several students slowed to watch it pass with curiosity.

Vincent followed Danny closely as they entered the truck, grateful that the dark interior made it even less likely for his crew to be recognized. A few moments later all the students had boarded, and the heavy doors closed behind them. The vehicle began to shake beneath them as the massive engine turned over.

Vincent risked a glance across the aisle to see Emi and Lucia huddling together, trying to look involved and a little intimate. It was working, as the student next to them–he couldn’t tell who it was–appeared to be trying to look anywhere else.

Soon they all rocked to one side as the harvester began to move out, and Danny was surprised by how loud it was inside the compartment. But they’d done it. This was the moment. His crew was about to leave the Farm. No bombs, no tracking software, just an uneasy path to freedom. They were nearly free.

Danny leaned over to him and spoke just loudly enough to be heard above the roar of the engine and tires crunching gravel beneath them. “Any idea what that other truck was?” he said. “I hope it doesn’t mess with the plan.”

Vincent shook his head slowly, as a smile touched his lips. He whispered one word back: “Distraction.”