Location: Temporary Dorm

Time: 10:30 PM, 2/13/08

I was heading down the staircase toward the floor that the boys were staying in. And no, As much as I’d have loved it to be, it wasn’t some kind of late night romantic adventure. It was a strategy meeting.

Why go to the boys’ floor for that? Well, listen here. Emily Evret Evans is a woman of fast action and success. Believe it or not, actually, just believe it, because it’s true.

Anyway, I was going to visit my only other ally here other than Cynthia. You’ll be surprised to hear this, but it only took me a week or so as a member of this augmentation training program to get someone to pledge their support to W. They weren’t ready to commit to becoming a full member, but they did agree to support us.

At first, it seemed like things were going well, but since then I haven't managed to make any headway getting his full commitment to the cause, or getting anyone else to support W.

Devesh Darnal.

Apparently his parents died in some kind of incident when he was a kid, so he doesn’t have much love for the government.

I do feel slightly guilty about essentially taking advantage of the fact that he was orphaned in order to direct his displeasure in a way that advances W’s goals. Still, you gotta do what you gotta do. I’m in no position to turn away any potential help.

After exiting the stairwell I decided to try my best at walking quietly. It’s not like Ms. Kaldsen is the type to set any rules about girls coming to the boys’ floor or vice versa. Still, I didn’t want to make a scene. Best to go unnoticed.

Now, is quiet walking toe to heel? Or was I supposed to just be walking around on my toes? And if I do walk around on my toes, do I have to hold my arms out in front of my body like a T-Rex?

While I was trying to figure that all out, someone walked out of a room; right in front of me.

“Allison?”

“Hello, Emily. Hmm. Yes. A perfectly normal greeting between classmates.”

Allison Albright. Or maybe it’s Allison Liten. I’m not sure either way. Not that it matters to me. After all, my entire name is a fake.

More importantly, what was she doing down there? And whose room was she coming out of? Unfortunately, the two of us weren’t exactly close enough for me to ask about something like that. We were classmates, sure, but that pint-sized number was typically hanging around with her. And even when Hana isn’t around, it might seem a little desperate if I’m always going around trying to talk with the older students in the program.

“Wow, wow, wow! A late night rendezvous? How scandalous! Who’s the lucky guy you heartbreaker!”

Why did I say that? What was I supposed to do if she asked me the same thing back? Emily you idiot!

“Huh? What kind of abnormal nonsense are you talking about? I came down here for a perfectly normal reason. I found a letter in my bag with a note telling me to deliver it to Kazuko. Bringing it down for him was the normal thing to do.”

“Why would your bag have a letter for Kazuko?” It’s not that I thought she was lying, the situation was just too odd to let it end there.

“Because of that completely abnormal sister of mine, no doubt.”

Allison proceeded to complain about her sister for the next fifteen minutes. I was starting to worry that Devesh might come out and look for me, but Allison finished up before it got to that point.

The actual meeting with Devesh wasn’t very interesting, so let me summarize.

Hmm? What? I cut out too many interactions? I summarize too much? Come on, let me be. How am I supposed to remember everything that happens? Trust me, I’ll be better once things actually start happening.

Anyway, let me summarize the strategy meeting with Devesh. Basically, he was in agreement that we needed to arrange the teams in our favor. How were we going to do that? By stealing the current roster of course. Devesh was going to create a distraction that got Ms. Kaldsen’s attention, and then I was going to sneak into the administrative room she was using as an office on the first floor.

Simple, right?

Hmm? Devesh doesn’t trust me with a more complicated plan? No, that can’t possibly be it. It’s just, simple is best.

Assuming everything goes right, and I’d never assume otherwise, this should have been an easy operation. In actuality, the hardest part was figuring out how to organize the teams.

Well, I suppose there were a few people that I knew I couldn’t put on my squad if I wanted any chance at making any real progress.

For starters, Henry is definitely out. I’m sure he never bothered remembering me, but I’ll never forget him. He’s an aberration from the Northern Territories in the Empire. He made frequent deliveries to that man who owned me. I won’t judge him too much for not bothering to ever save me; that’s just the way it is in the Empire. But he’s definitely working for the Sanguine Princess. Why else would he have transferred to the University branch of Evergreen Academy with such perfect timing?

Olivia and Oakley are just as impossible. I’m not sure how you could ever turn an Oldridge against the Prime Minister.

Same for Kathrin and Kazuko. In Kazuko’s case it’s only a temporary thing, but they both have siblings working in the ARA.

As for Hana, Acht, and Nuen, well, for my own well being it’s for the best that I don’t try anything with them. Those Numbers would kill me the moment they even suspected I was up to anything.

Grant is, not impossible. It’s common gossip that his father and older brother were eliminated by the ARA, so I’m sure he has no love for the current government. But from what I understand the Glaif family is currently trying to restore its honor within the current system. And with his sense of morals it’s probably best to leave him be. If I said the wrong thing he’d probably cut me down without hesitating.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Cynthia and Devesh are already working with me of course.

Who does that leave?

Jacob: I’d really love to get him on my side, but it probably wouldn’t work. He just doesn’t seem like the type that’d ever help a group like W.

Allison: Her older sister helped us out a lot, so once upon a time I thought she’d agree to lend me a hand now or then. Yeah, I was definitely wrong about that. She’d never see a group like W as normal. No point in wasting any time on a fruitless endeavor.

Emelia: Based on what Jaxon told me about her, Emelia was actually my first target. With everything she’s been through, I thought she’d join up instantly. And maybe she would, but that tiny number won’t leave her alone for a second. Honestly, even I’m tired of hearing her go on and on. She’s already black and white, can’t she just take things all the way back to the silent film era? What's with their relationship anyway? With the way she talks I can’t tell if Hana hates her or is in love with her.

There’s also the fact that Emelia seems to have some kind of connection with the ARA. I don’t know enough about her to know if she actually has any kind of real attachment to them though.

That just leaves Nolan and Blake. Both of them have their quirks, all augmenteds do, but I don’t think either of them are involved in anything out of the ordinary. But that normality is part of the problem. Why would someone who’s never known hardship support a group like W? To them, we’re just the terrorists that the government controlled media makes us out to be.

Granted, I’m sure if I showed a little skin I could get someone like Nolan to join in an instant, but without any ideals behind his decision he wouldn’t stay for long.

The other thing I needed to consider was how strong of a team to create. Sure, maybe having a team with Nolan and Blake, plus Devesh or Cynthia to support me, would be the best as far as potentially gaining new allies, but that would all be pointless if we got taken out in the first hour or so.

Some of the students just completely outclass us. As annoying as it is to say that, it’s true. No getting around it.

Then would it be better to get at least one powerhouse on my team? Maybe someone like Jacob. He’s strong enough to keep us safe for a while, and I doubt he’d pay attention enough to figure out I was trying to recruit our other teammates.

The fire alarm going off interrupted my train of thought. So that was his distraction?

Wait, he just activated the alarm, right?

Thanks to all of my previous accidents, I’ve grown fairly sensitive to the smell of most substances burning, and I felt like I was picking something up.

A cloud of what could only be smoke started bellowing out from under a nearby door.

That idiot! I needed something to get Ms. Kaldsen’s attention, but that was clearly too much!

Ah, whatever. I didn’t have time to worry about it. I’d just have to hope the entire building didn’t get burned down.

Without wasting any more time I jumped out of the closest window. I suppose I could have just tried sneaking into the administrative office using the primary door that Ms. Kaldsen almost certainly left unlocked. Instead, I decided to go outside and sneak in through the window that Ms. Kaldsen almost certainly left unlocked.

People like her are too strong for their own good. Why bother locking anything? It’s not like anyone could hurt her anyway. Thanks to those thoughts she always left herself completely open.

I made my way along the side of the building, trying to create the building’s layout in my head. If I wasn’t mistaken the outside wall of the administrative office should be near where I landed after jumping out of the window.

After making my way around the corner of the building I was met by an unexpected sight. I saw the open window I was planning on sneaking through. That part was expected, my mental mapping isn’t that bad.

The unexpected thing was Acht, approaching the same window from the opposite direction, surrounded by a gentle glow that pushed back the darkness. His eyes that matched the stars burning in the sky bore a hole straight through me.

Figuratively of course.

The rest of his gentle features were at odds with the intensity of his gaze.

Okay, stop and think for a minute. It would definitely be for the best if I tried to handle this situation nonconfrontationally.

“Hey! Acht! What do you think you’re doing? You were definitely trying to sneak into the administrative office!”

Why?

Why did I aggressively accuse someone of something that I was trying to do as well?

“Figured that out, huh? And here I thought I was the bright one.”

Acht took a moment to laugh at his own pun.

“Listen, girl number four, don’t cause a scene. Yes, I was going to break in and edit the team roster for tomorrow's game. And yes, I’ve also pieced together that you were probably trying to do the same thing. But here’s the thing: I don’t care what you’re planning. Who you want on your team, why you want them, I won’t think about that for a moment. I just need to make sure that Nuen doesn’t end up on my team.”

“So, you’re saying we can work together?”

“Together? No. I’m just willing to overlook whatever it is you’re trying to do as long as you don’t put me with Nuen.”

Considering the circumstances, the deal he was offering me was pretty much perfect. But still, for some reason accepting his conditions so quickly made me feel like I lost.

“Ah! No, it isn’t what you’re thinking!”

A man’s screaming voice escaped through the open window.

Acht and I lunged forward from opposite directions in order to look inside.

Seriously?

Come on.

The one screaming was Nolan.

He was looking toward Olivia, who had been attempting to slide inside, past the partially opened door.

And it seemed like the two of them noticed Nuen sneaking out of the shadows gathered in the corner of the room.

They must have heard Acht and I rush over as well, because the three of them turned in unison to face us.

Before anyone could think of what to say Henry jumped out of the second floor window directly above where I was standing. He turned around and briefly surveyed the scene.

“Hey, ah, it looks like you guys have some sort of stand off going on, and right now, it probably looks like I’m also going to play some part in this. But trust me, I’m not involved in this one. I’m sneaking out in order to cover a shift. I’m just going to make a quick trip back into the city, work my shift, and I’ll be back by morning. So, definitely, definitely, definitely don’t try to involve me in whatever you people have going on.”

Henry turned back around and started running with an inhuman speed.

And what was he talking about? He’s definitely the most suspicious out of all of us. Covering a shift? It took us an hour by car to get all the way out there, and he was trying to say he was going to run back just to work for a few hours? That doesn’t make any sense. He must have been up to something for his bloodsucking mistress.

That wasn’t really the immediate issue though.

What was I supposed to do in that situation?

Then one of the ceiling tiles slid to the side and a head popped out.

“Oh, hey, how's it going?”

Kazuko was talking to us while hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“Just thought I’d let you guys know, I already replaced the original team roster with the one I made up. And don’t bother trying to change it again. I made sure that Karen took it with her to investigate that fire.”

“What, seriously? So I did all this for nothing?” I was the first one to respond.

“Sorry, sorry. I would have made an announcement if I knew so many of you were going to try and steal my thunder by sneaking around. But also, you guys really should have known, you know? Not to brag, but I’m pretty much a ninja, you know? It’s kinda on you guys for not realizing from the get go that I was going to be the one to pick the teams. Anyway, sayonara.”

Kazuko flipped himself back up into the ceiling with a single smooth motion.

The rest of us were left standing in silence before shuffling back to our respective rooms. Each of us completely aware of our failure.

The one bright side was that because there were so many of us trying to change the team lineup no one would find my actions overly suspicious. At least, I hoped so anyway.