Another hard day of work was done at long last. Even as a half day it was extremely painful as Mara's body hadn't fully recovered from working the previous evening shift. But, in spite of that, Mara's day was significantly better than the previous one. No one died, and again, it was only a half shift. Though it certainly would’ve been better had she gotten any sleep. The trauma of Jose's death was still fresh in Mara's mind. She had nightmares all throughout the night.

After punching out, Mara changed out of her work uniform and got herself ready for the rest of the day. She went to one of the sinks in the locker room to fix herself up. Mara grimaced at the sight of herself in the mirror, she looked like crap. Her skin was cracking, her cheeks were gaunt below her pronounced bones, and there were nice bags under her eyes. And there was little she could do about any of it, makeup was so expensive. Mara couldn’t do much to make herself look presentable which was depressing. Mara eventually decided to leave well enough alone as she packed up her and moved on with the rest of her day.

Mara left the Wakefield Factory, with her bulky oxygen bag at her side, physically and mentally exhausted as she fought her way through the Wakefield Crowds to get to the Transit-Terminal. Only, this time, home wasn't her destination. No, Mara's day was only half over. There was a reason why she forced herself awake to get to the morning shift, she had somewhere else to be during the afternoon. A place that Mara was actually excited to visit. And, with an actual smile on her face, Mara swiped her credit-card at the entrance of the Transit-Terminal to book her trip to the other side of Wakefield.

She didn't care that the Transit-Car was so crowded that she needed to keep the heavy oxygen tank on her lap. She didn't care how long the ride took, nearly 2 hours with all the steps. She didn't even care the cost to make the trip was an expense that she really couldn't afford to make. All she care about were the looks on all the kids' faces when she got there. She never grew tired of them.

Eventually, the Transit-Car reached Mara's stop. She climbed over the passenger who was sitting next to her, apologizing as she did so. The oxygen bag made it difficult to get around as she fought through her aching muscles. She stepped off the Transit-Car, swiped her credit-card again, and moved on. The walk wasn't as long as it was when she traveled home which was a relief. Mara felt downright relaxed when she arrived at the Wakefield Orphanage.

Mara had been here many times. In fact, she had lived at the orphanage for 6 years. She hated it for the longest time but, by the time she had left, it was home. And now it was the only place in Wakefield she could find any happiness.

She entered the Orphanage and was immediately greeted by it's head-mistress, Elizabeth Lowell. "Mara, so good to see you."

She gave Mara a hug. Liz, well into her fifties, stood more than a foot shorter than the tall Mara, had short blonde hair, glasses, and generally had a bookish appearance. Liz looked at Mara's face. "You haven't been sleeping."

Mara shrugged. "I've been very busy."

"I'm sure you have." Liz sighed. After the loss of her parents, Liz had become a bit of a surrogate mother to Mara. Just as she did for all the orphans who came into her care. Liz dedicated her entire to the care of the lost children of Wakefield, and she never stopped worrying for them. "You can always not come here, Mara. Get some rest."

Mara shook her head. "I would prefer to spend as little time at home as possible."

"Ok." Liz said with a smile. "Well, the kids are always happy to see you."

The Orphanage, one of four facilities in the city, was the home of several hundred children of various ages. The youngest kid there was 5 years old and the children were housed there until the age of 18. Though, Liz did everything she could to bend the rules for those who needed a little help getting on their feet out in the city. Mara had actually stayed at there until she was 20 when she decided to leave to make room for new orphans. But to this day Liz did whatever she could to help Mara out. As much help that Mara would accept.

The Facility was large but mostly plain in design. With it's grey walls, long hallways, designated living areas and cafeteria, it was a rather sterile environment. It was lightened up by the drawings and paintings done by the orphans over the years. They were mostly of extinct animals and images of Earth-Bound cities and forests. Things that were once real but now were the stuff of children's fantasies. Mara spotted one that had been done by her when she was 14. it was a Lion, a recent addition to the extinct-list.

Mara and Liz walked up to the entrance to one of the classrooms in the orphanage. One of the tutors, Hillary, was finishing up the days lesson for preteen kids. "And so, it was after the Rhea-Dredar Accords were agreed to that the Madralen Nebula become the official border between Human and Madralen space."

Hillary pushed the button on her remote to trigger the screen on the wall in front of all the desks to update it's image. A simulated display of the large Madralen Nebula zoomed out to allow a red-line spread out from forming a wall between the areas of Space labeled as 'Human' and 'Madralen'. Hillary then continued. "No human vessel may cross the red line. Same for the Madralens."

"What about the nebula?" One of the kids asked.

"The Nebula." Hillary answered. "Is a neutral zone. Neither side can build anything within but they can send scout ships to ensure that terms of the accord are followed."

"I heard no one has ever seen a Madralen." Another Kid chimed in. "How did we sign the accords?"

"That's true. There was no middle ground for us to meet on and neither side would agree to meet each other on the other's ships. And that was after the days it took for us to translate each other's languages so that we could negotiate the accords to begin with."

"But why would the Madralens even agree to the accords if they are so strong?" One of the boys asked. "And why didn't the Union want to fight back after what they did to Rhea? How many planets do they actually have?"

Hillary shrugged. "We don't know. And they don't know how many planets we have?"

"But we don't have any planets."

"They don't know that. And does anyone here know why?"

"Mutual-Assured-Uncertainty'. Several of the kids answered in unison.

"Very good, Mutual-Assured-Uncertainty. The distance between Human and Madralen space is massive and it takes so long for light to travel between the stars. Even with the most powerful telescopes, any pictures from Madralen space or human space would be hundreds or thousands of years old. Because of this, the Madralens simply don't know how many of us there are or that we don't have any planets."

"So, we're bluffing them." The boy asked.

"Yes." Hillary answered. "That is why the Union has taken such measures to protect the flow of information."

Mara could practically feel Hillary's frustration at using the word 'protect' instead of 'control'. The Union-Government used the Madralen threat to seize complete control of the flow of data within the United-Sector, control they quickly used to their advantage. But Hillary carried on with the government approved lesson. "It is the duty of the Union to ensure that the truth about the state of the human race doesn't leak to the Madralens. A job that we all must trust in their ability to do so."

From the back of the classroom, Liz held up her arm and motioned to her watch to signal to Hillary it was time to wrap the lesson. Hillary, having just then noticed Mara standing there with Liz, nodded and said to the kids. "Alright everyone, that's the end of today's class. Remember, next Monday, After Rhea Day, we're going to be visiting the Memorial at Wakefield Central Park."

The kids all stood up from their desks and immediately took notice to Mara. The bulk of them cheered with excitement. Mara was the favorite tutor of many of the kids in the orphanage, though she wasn't technically one of the tutors. They all rushed over each other to try to give Mara a welcoming hug but Liz quickly put an end to that. "Alright, everyone. She just got here, so go put you school stuff away and you can see her in the cafeteria."

The kids all left the classroom, a few sneaking in a few hugs on Mara as they did. She returned all the hugs. Once all the kids were gone, Hillary came over. "Sorry about that, they're always so happy to see you."

"It's fine." Mara replied. "The feeling is mutual. So, how did today's lesson go?"

Hillary gave a rather sarcastic snot, pulling back her long red hair as she did. "You mean my 'Trust the Union if you want to live' lesson I have to give every Rhea Day week. It went very well. Very well, indeed."

"Oh, stop it." Liz chimed in. "It didn't kill you did it?"

"I would have preferred it did."

The three women then made their way to the cafeteria, where all the children were gathering for dinner now that the day's classes were done. The other tutors in the orphanage worked patiently to get them into an organized line to grab they're dinner. The food wasn't really anything special. It was called 'stew' but it was mostly just a bowl of slop. It was made mostly of artificial ingredients to give the orphans the basic nutrients they need to survive. Most of the kids had gotten used to it but they were always overjoyed when they were actually able to eat something delicious.

Mara sat herself down at one of the tables and chatted with several of the kids. Mara loved kids, she found it relaxing to sit down and talk to them. They would always share what they were learning about in class, the art projects they were working on, and what they hoped to do once they got out of the orphanage.

"When I grow up, I'm going to be a pilot." One of the boys said.

"Are you?" Mara asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to join the Union-Security force and fly fighters."

"Well, I'm sure they'll be happy to have you."

One of the other boys stood up from the other end of the table. "I would never join Union-Security. I'd rather join the 'Hoods'!"

"The hoods aren't real." One of the girls at the table shouted back."

"There are so. I heard that they rescue people with no home and take them to the rogue-sectors to be free from the Union. I heard that they steal from the rich and give to the poor. I would join them in a heartbeat."

"Oh, would you?" Liz stated playfully. "Well then you better sit down before I report."

The boy at the end of the table sat down as responded. "Go ahead, I can take them."

"I'm sure you can."

Mara laughed at the whole along with several of the other orphans, but she had heard of the 'Hoods' before. They were as real as the Cyber-Underground though she had never met a hood before. She often considered finding one to take her away from the Union when she was growing up in the orphanage but the stories about them became a lot less romantic once she went out into the adult world.

"I don't want to take it." Mara heard another boy say. She turned to see one of the other tutors, Martin, talking to the boy, she thought his name was Kenny, who was refusing to take all of his pills.

"Look, you have to take it." Martin diplomatically said to Kenny.

Kenny shook his head. "I don't like that one, it makes me feel weird."

"And what happens when you don't take it?"

"I get hyper."

"And what happens when you get hyper?"

"I use up all the oxygen and we all die."

After that Kenny relented and agreed to take the final pill. The scene put a pit in Mara's stomach. It was one thing to require pills to fight off the kind vitamin deficiency that life in space can lead to. But the Union had a standard on how people were supposed to behave, on what was 'normal'. Any deviation was considered an illness to be treated and United-Pharmaceuticals took great pride in their ability to help people 'Become Better'. Mara remembered Liz being resistant to the policy while she was growing up in the orphanage, but that clearly didn't last. The Wakefield Administration probably threatened to fire her if she didn't comply. Liz would do anything to protect the kids, but she would sometimes have to bend to keep herself in a position to help her. So, Mara decided to keep her mouth shut and trust Liz's judgement.

Mara continued to sit and chat with the kids at her table for about another half hour before Liz and a couple of the tutors wheeled out their surprise. Suddenly, just about everyone in the room was singing 'Happy Birthday' to Mara who turned around and saw not one, but 4 large cakes out. Mara had a big smile on her face. She had completely forgotten that today was her birthday, she had just started thinking of herself as 24 without much care. Her birthday wasn't really a day she was fond of celebrating anymore. But she couldn't help but be touch but what Liz had organized for her.

When the song was done, Liz announced to the room. "Everyone who had a birthday this month gets first slices."

"Yes." Mara yelled to the room. "But first they're going to get a special birthday hug from me."

And that was exactly what she did. Mara stood up from the table and proceeded to give all of the birthday kids a hug before giving each of them of slice of cake before treating herself to a slice. There were 11 kids with a birthday this month. One by one, Mara exchanged 'Happy Birthdays' with each of the kids. One of them was little girl she had tutored before named Joanne. "Hey, Joanne. How old are you know?"

"I'm nine." Joanne answered.

"Are you?" Mara said playfully. "What did you do for your birthday."

"My friends all made me a card and Hillary set up a party in the classroom."

"Oh, that's sweet."

"Do you remember what you did for you're ninth birthday?"

Mara paused for a moment, struggling to maintain her smile. "No, I don't."

That was a lie of course. Mara remembered exactly what she did for her ninth birthday...

Mara could remember being woken up in the morning by her mother, Marissa Hardsand. "Wake up, sweetie. We have a big day for you."

That was certainly the case. Once the young Mara got herself up from bed, she went down to the kitchen where her parents had prepared a big breakfast for her. It was big pile pancakes, Mara's favorite. She didn't have to worry about food back then. The Hardsand Family lived pretty well back then in the higher levels of the Central-Station, back then the Hardsand family was 'respectable'.

Both of her parents were respected journalists in the Wakefield Press, though they were very different kinds of journalists. Marissa Hardsand was a opinion-journalist, often giving stern critiques of the actions of the Government. Mara's father, Javier Hardsand, was an investigative-journalist, constantly digging to discover the truth. The Hardsands came from a long line of reporters dating all the way back to Earth. It was actually a Hardsand who originally broke the story that Humanity's oxygen supply was beginning to drop. A fact that the Union Government initially tried to cover-up. It wasn't a mystery why Mara's father chose the field he did or that he ultimately ended up marrying a fellow journalist after he did.

But at the new age of nine, Mara didn't care about any of that. She didn't think much about the Oxygen-Crisis, she didn't understand most of what her parents said to each other when they 'Talked Shop', and she didn't think much about family legacy. She did care about where they were going for her birthday though. She scarfed down her breakfast and she led the way out of the home. Mara's parents teased her a bit about whether or not they were still going but she was not having any of it, she wanted to see it. She had to.

Finally, her parents dropped the games and left the home with Mara who was basically bouncing for joy during the Transit-Car ride. She was so excited, none of the other kids in her class had been able to see it yet. They were all going to be so jealous of her. Her parents could hardly contain her when they arrived at the Wakefield Observatory. The Observatory had always been a popular destination, young couples would go there and look out among the stars. But, on the day of Mara's ninth birthday it was the hottest place to be.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Ever since the discovery was made after City-Stations of Humanity had made their most recent Light-Speed jump into the sector, it was the only thing anyone wanted to see. And, in the week before Mara's birthday, when the City of Wakefield had finally moved into a position where it could get a good glimpse of it, the waiting list at the Observatory had become months long and was only getting longer. But Mara's father had an in at the Observatory, an old friend who was able to get the Hardsands to the front of the line for their daughters birthday.

Javier thanked his friend who greeted them at a side entrance to avoid the crowds and led them through the facility. The Wakefield Observatory was huge, home to many telescopes of various sizes and purposes, along with many platforms with seating where people could look out at the stars. Mara had never seen the stars before, they were beautiful. The giant red cloud was massive and enchanting. She could've just stared at them all day and been satisfied, but the stars weren't the main event. The Nebula wasn't the gift her parents had taken her there to see.

Her father's contact took them up to the Observatory's primary telescope. By far the biggest of them all, the telescope was twice the size of an entire Transit-Train. On the platform where the viewer was were several computers meant to study the signals of what the telescope was looking at. Javier's friend double checked everything before motioning to the Hardsand to look through the viewer. "Fourth dot from the star."

Mara's father looked first before his wife and then back to her father. They went 'ooh' and 'awe' to tease their daughter who was bouncing up down with excitement. "Oh, just let me see. Let me see!"

"Ok." Javier picked his daughter and held her up to the viewer. "Do you see it? Remember, fourth rock from the sun."

Mara held her right eye on the viewer of the telescope and looked at the star system it was pointed at. It had a beautiful blue star and, around it, there were about nine dots. Nine Planets. In her head, counted out the planets starting from the blue star and going out. One. Two. Three. And four. There it was. It was just a dot in the telescope but it was still the most amazing this anyone had seen. Mara smiled. "That's it? That's Terra-Nova?"

"Yep," Mara's mother answered, "That's Terra-Nova."

It was the only thing anyone was talking about. After over three centuries in space, Humanity had finally found a planet they could live. A planet they could call home. For a girl who had known nothing but the sterile environment of outer-space, it was the stuff of fantasies. But, for Mara, that was a chance that fantasy could come true. "How long until we can move there?"

Javier's friend answered. "Not for a while. Based on the readings, the planet's atmosphere is nearly identical to Earth before it's decline. Mostly Nitrogen, with a mix of other gasses but there is one thing missing. Oxygen. But the Union has already launched the first wave of the terraforming. Machines that can convert it's CO-2 to oxygen, begin planting algae, and pumping water particles into the. It'll be many decades before any human could hope to live there but the early signs seem promising."

"Your father and I will never be able to live there, Mara." Marissa explained to her daughter. "But, if everything goes well, You might be able to build a house for your children."

Needless to say, things did not go well. Terra-Nova was long gone. It was nothing but a fantasy. And, as happy as Mara was back then, Twenty-Four year old Mara didn't like to think about that day much. She would much rather just sit down and eat cake with all the kids of the Wakefield Orphanage. She wished could remain at the orphanage forever and chat with the kids about their days, about their art projects. It was always much better than going back out into the adult world, which cast off so many children into the orphanage to be forgotten about. They deserved better than that.

"Let me see that bowl." Mara heard Liz say. She turned and saw her speaking to one of the kitchen staff who was taking the dinner bowls back to the kitchen. Liz looked at one of them.

"She needs to eat more than that."

"I don't know what to tell you." The kitchen hand responded. "She takes a few bites and then she just sits there."

Mara looked around the cafeteria and soon spotted the kid they were talking to. She was sitting alone at a table in the far corner. Mara didn't recognize her.

"Alright." Liz conceded to the kitchen hand. "We'll give her a slice of cake and she if she eats. But then I want a fresh bowl of stew in front of her. The girl is far too thin."

"Of course." The kitchen hand returned to the kitchen as Liz stood there and shook her head as Hillary went over to talk to her.

Mara excused herself from the table she was sitting at and joined them. "New arrival?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah, she showed up here alone a few days ago."

"What's her name?"

"We don't know. She hasn't said a word since she got here. She had no ID, and had nothing but the clothes on her back and a bag make-up products. Probably stolen."

"Make-Up?"

"It's cover-up make-up." Hillary explained. "She has it all over her face and arms. She's not letting anyone see her."

Mara's heart dropped as the realization hit her. "Somebody beat her up?"

"She's certainly traumatized." Liz answered. "She wouldn't even bath the first day she was here. I had to guarantee complete privacy for her while she showered and reapplied her make-up while Hillary stood guard outside the bathroom. And, even after that, she still won't say a word."

"Maybe she's mute." Hillary suggested.

"Maybe." Liz thought about. "Mara, why don't you give some cake and try to talk to her? You have a way with kids."

"Of course." Mara grabbed a piece of cake and walked over to the new arrival.

When she got there, Mara took a good look at the girl. She seemed to be about thirteen years old, had dirty-blonde hair, and was short. Very short. And Liz was right, the girl was far to thin. Mara stepped to the table. "Hey."

The girl, who didn't see Mara walk up, shuddered at the sound of her voice and turned away.

"I didn't mean to startle you." Mara said softly. 'I just wanted to give you some cake."

Mara placed the plastic plate on the table and slide it over to the girl who looked down at the slice. Up close, Mara could see the Liz and Hillary were not exaggerated. The girl had completely covered her face and arms with make-up. She had applied it very well, from a distance there didn't seem to be anything wrong. But, while standing next to her, Mara could see something was very wrong. She didn't even want to imagine the kind of bruises she was covering up. She sat down next to the girl. "My name is Mara. What's yours?"

The girl didn't answer.

"It's ok." Mara reassured. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I just want to say that you're safe here. You can take it from me. I was about your age when I first came here, after my parents died. I was scared and alone. But Liz and tutors they helped me. And they can help you...you came to the right place."

The girl turned slightly to look at Mara through her hair. It was then that Mara noticed that she had yellow-green eyes that were so lovely they seemed to simmer. "Oh, your eyes are beautiful."

The girl had a sudden fit of panic. She turned back away and allowed her hair to cover more of her face.

"I'm sorry." Mara tried to calm the girl. "I was just trying to complime...never mind, How about you just eat some cake."

Mara slid the plate further and set it right in front of the girl. "Go ahead. It's a birthday party, you have to eat some cake. Those are the rules. It's very good."

The girl lifted her trembling hand to grab the plastic fork. The poor thing seemed so scared and confused but she ultimately did try some of the cake. She didn't give much reaction to the taste of it though.

"I hope you liked it." Mara smiled. "I'll leave you alone. But before you do, can I have your name. That can be your birthday present to me."

The girl's eyes shifted around, as if she was trying to think of what it was she was going to answer with. "Sa...Si...So-Sorena."

"Sorena." Mara stood back up. "I love that name. It was nice to meet you, Sorena."

Sorena took another bite of the cake as Mara slowly walked away. She went back to Liz. "She says her name is Sorena. But, I'm pretty sure she made that up."

Liz sighed. "Well, it's a name at least. I'll run it against the missing children list along with her description and see what comes up."

"Ok." Mara looked back at the traumatized girl sitting alone before stating to Liz and Hillary. "Somebody definitely needs to get their ass kicked."

"We'll let you know who just as soon as she tells us about them." Hillary said firmly as Mara returned to the other kids to resume the party. The party went about another hour before it was time for all the kids to go to bed. Mara said goodbye to them all before being brought back into the kitchen by Liz. She grabbed some food and placed it in a bag. Mara shook her head. "No, you don't have to do that."

"I insist." Liz tied off the bag and handed it her. "It's the least I can for all you do here. I just wish I could put you on the payroll."

"No, I get it." Mara put the bag of food into her large oxygen bag. "You can't have a 'Traitor's Blood' on the payroll. People will think I'm 'corrupting' the children."

"Yeah, but I can buy you a drink. Have a little grown-up birthday celebration."

"If you insist."

"I do."

With all the kids settled into their beds, Liz took Mara out to a nearby bar. Mara knew this last detour was more than celebrating her birthday but she would cross that bridge when Liz brought her to it. The bar was close enough so that they didn't need to walk far from the orphanage and it was late enough in the day where there weren't too many people walking about in this part of Wakefield, though the screens were still blaring obnoxious nonsense. When they arrived at the steps of the bar, to door suddenly opened up with someone being tossed out. Liz and Mara made sure to get out of the way before the man tumbled all the way down the steps.

The man slowly stood back up, quickly reaching into his plain dark coat to grab a flask that he had tucked so he could get right back to drinking. The man then stumbled off, presumably to another bar. Mara just shook her head as she followed Liz up the stairs. They entered the facility as Mara attempted to make conversation with the largely silent Liz. "So, it was cute how that one boy wants to join the 'hoods'."

"Yeah." Liz responded as they reached the bar. "I don't quite have the heart to tell him that most hoods are just conmen who would probably sell him once they finished smuggling him to the Rogue-Sectors. There are exceptions, of course."

"Yeah, a few exceptions maybe. Though, I don't really know much about it myself. I don't even know how to find one."

Liz and Mara each took a podium at the bar and were quickly greeted by the bartender. "Welcome back to the Serenity. How can I serve you tonight?"

"Hey, Mal." Liz said back to the man. "Just a couple of beers for me and Mara here."

"No Problem."

"Oh, hey." Liz quickly added before Mal could make the drinks. "Just out of curiosity...You wouldn't happen to know any 'hoods', would you?"

"Sure." Mal answered by pointing to the door. "We just threw one out."

Liz and Mara looked at each other and laughed. Liz then jokingly said. "We'll wait for the next one."

"Smart choice, my lady." Mal went back to getting the drinks.

Liz looked at Mara, "So, how is life?"

"It's fine." Mara answered.

"You seeing anyone?"

"Like I have time for that."

Mal set the drinks on the bar. "Enjoy, Ladies."

"Thanks, Mal." Liz swiped her credit-card on a sensor near her and turned back to Mara. "You would have time for a relationship if you didn't spend so much at the orphanage. Especially since I can't pay you for it."

"I like helping with the kids."

"Then meet someone and make your own. Or adopt one, make my life a little easier."

"I'm not really in a position to start a family right now." Mara drank her beer, she really didn't want to have this conversation.

"Well, again, if you didn't spend so much time at the orphanage-"

"I don't want to talk about this right now."

"I just want what's best for you, Mara."

"Well, I'm not allowed to have what's best for me. I'm 'Traitor's blood', Liz. What few jobs that haven't been automated won't hire me and.." Mara suddenly began to feel ill.

"Are you ok?"

Mara stood up from the bar and ran to the bathroom. Once there, she started puking her guts out. Liz was right behind her, she pulled Mara's hair back as she continued to throw up. She then grabbed some toilet paper for Mara after she was done. Mara apologized. "I'm sorry. I think I ate to much."

"You barely ate anythi...what's that?"

"What?"

Liz pointed to a red spot that was spreading on her shoulder. "That. What the hell is that?"

She pulled back the collar of Mara's shirt to see that the skin that had cracked from her lugging around her oxygen tank had split open and started to bleed. Liz became angry as she grabbed more toilet paper. "You've been selling your vitamin-D pills again haven't you? And you're Vitamin-C packs."

"I was low on oxygen, what am I supposed to do? Suffocate."

Liz pressed the toilet paper down on Mara's shoulder. "So, you just to do some drug deals in the Wakefield Sewers. You're lucky those sewer gangs don't just take your meds, rape you, and leave you for dead down there."

"I don't need a lecture."

"Like hell you don't."

Mara shoved Liz's hand away, fixed her collar, and stood up. Liz reached into her purse and pulled out her bottle of Vitamin-D pills. "Take these."

"I'm not taking your pills."

"I'm healthy. You're not. Take my pills or I'll just throw them down the drain and you can feel guilty about me wasting them."

Mara took the pill bottle and attempted to leave the bathroom. Liz stood in the way. "You need to get out of those Sewers, Mara."

"I don't have enough money to live anywhere else. I don't have any choice."

"Yes you do. Hillary told me she offered you a couch and that you turned it down."

Mara scoffed. "Yeah, just take advantage of my friends until they all hate me."

"You'd rather just suffer and die down there."

"I'm not having this conversation." Mara shoved pass Liz and stormed out of the bathroom. She grabbed her giant oxygen tank, rested it on her other should and left the bar. She went out onto the platform and began to make her way to the nearest Transit-Terminal when Liz came out after her. "Hey, so this all you want in your live. Just to slowly wither and die."

Mara turned and fired back. "Hey, I'm not the Hardsand that crossed the wrong people. I'm not the one that turned me into a stigma in my own city. I'm 'Traitor's Blood', Liz. I have no future. The Union made sure of that."

"Just because you are a victim doesn't mean you have to play victim, Mara."

That got under Mara's skin in a bad way. "Oh, piss off."

Mara turned and stormed off, ignoring everything else Liz was yelling to her. She went up to the Transit-Terminal, swiped her card, and got onto the train that would take her home. She sat in her seat fuming, which wasn't helped by that damn screen in front her switching back on. More news about 'Rhea Day'. Mara couldn't handle that right now. She quickly switched the screen back off. She didn't need help remembering that Rhea Day was just a couple of days after her birthday, how could she ever forget it. It still burned in her mind like it all just happened. The day that everything went wrong...the day Humanity learned to fear the stars...

Nine year old Mara could her mother crying. She went downstairs to see what was wrong. Her mother and father were watching Chancellor Sinclair on the screen giving an address. An address that hand sent out to all the cities. "...We do not yet know the identity of the attackers or where they came from. We do not know how extensive their territory is or how many of them there are. But, their attack on humanity was a clear statement. We are not alone in out here anymore my fellow citizens, a lesson we have learned in the worst way possible. The City-Station of Rhea has been destroyed. Of its four million residents, only thirty-thousand are confirmed to have escaped alive. I have authorized the Union-Security forces to open negotiations for a truce..."

Thirty-Thousand out of Four million. Even at the age of nine, Mara understood the significance of that number. The number of people who died. Humanity's punishment for trying to claim a world that wasn't there's....

And now, Fifteen years later, Mara stormed her way through the Wakefield sewers and returned home. She plugged the oxygen tanks back into her life support system and then...something went wrong again. The machine suddenly went down and red lights started flashing on it. Mara quickly pulled one of the oxygen tanks back off and plugged her mask back into it before she suffocated. She looked at the life support system, it was flashing 'Error' 'Maintenance Required'. Mara broke down into tears and collapsed onto the floor. She then said to herself. 'Happy Birthday, Mara."