The guard led us towards a small room in the corner of the warehouse. There were several soldiers stationed there, but the prisoners didn’t seem like they were interested, so the place was a lot quieter than literally everywhere else.

However, I saw from a distance a prisoner running towards the small room. He was immediately shot down by the stationed guards. The prisoner started spasming on the ground as if electrocuted.

Stun gun? I thought. I suppose that’s pretty humane.

“Lieutenant!” The guards all saluted as we passed through to the small corner room.

Oh, shoot. He’s a lieutenant?

When we entered the room, the lieutenant told us to sit down. There were a few chairs and a coffee table in the center. “Please bear with us. We had to use our staff lounge as a temporary command center.” Then he glared at Mark. “And you! Come with me.” He gestured with his index finger to come follow him out.

“Wait, I—”

“No excuses. Come with me.” The lieutenant was about to pull Mark away, but a new voice suddenly rang out from the corner of the room.

“Leave him.” A bookshelf suddenly slid open to reveal the owner of the voice.

“Ada?” Mark and Dans both asked in unison.

“Captain!” The lieutenant saluted.

“Leave ‘em be. I’ll deal with ‘em, lieutenant.” She shooed him away. The lieutenant quickly left us and closed the door behind him.

Ada? “Wait, you’re the receptionist!” I exclaimed. “The one from the inn!”

She gave me a quick, haughty glance before returning her gaze back to the others. “Ya got yourselves in mighty trouble, haven’t ya?”

Weird. She just ignored me, didn’t she? It kind of felt like there was a bit of hostility there. Her eyes seemed much sharper than when I had first met her.

“Captain?” Dans asked. “You never told me you were a captain, Ada.”

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“Never asked, have ya?”

“Ada!” Darrell ran up to her and gave her a hug.

“Still alive and kickin’ aren’t ya, honey?” Her voice softened when she saw Darrell. She hugged him back tightly. “Now, you, young man.” She pointed at me. “Come over ‘ere.”

“Mel? Why do you need him?” Dans asked.

“Y’all wanna leave this place, right? Then follow me.” Ada walked back through the secret tunnel behind the open bookshelf.

I shrugged and followed her through. The bookshelf entrance led into another levitator. A secret exit, I thought. Nice.

“Alright, boy. Get in.”

I walked into the levitator. Darrell tried to follow, but Ada pulled him away. Darrell looked up at her, confused.

Mark sauntered over. “Is something wrong? What’s going on?”

“Saving ya butts, that’s what.” Ada pressed a few buttons on a panel to her side and clear, see-through doors slammed shut in front of my face.

“Ada, what's the meaning of this?” Dans tried to walk up to the panel, but the last thing I saw was her being shoved away by Ada before the levitator started to move.

“Uh…” I stared blankly at the door. What just happened? I looked around the cramped levitator for any emergency buttons. There were none. Maybe I should’ve tried to get out. I leaned back on the wall. Well, too late now. Guess I’ll just roll with it.

The ride, as expected, was smooth. But it took a few horizontal turns which I had never expected. And then after a while, it started to move up again. It surfaced, popping out from what looked like the center of Sakoria.

I gasped. I was awed by the view. As the levitator raced to the top of the world, I could see the entire city of Sakoria span out in front of me. The wondrous skyscrapers and buildings that seemed to twist and turn in strange ways looked way more impressive from up here. It almost felt like I was flying above the city. The feeling was oddly quite nostalgic.

Then my view was suddenly stolen away from me. Everything became dark except for the dim light glowing from the levitator ceiling. I assumed that I had entered another tunnel of sorts; I was probably getting close to my destination. Exhausted and bored, I sat on the floor, drawing imaginary circles on the ground. And before I could finish my second circle, the levitator started to slow to a halt.

I heard something rumble behind me. When I looked over my shoulder, I noticed the levitator had opened up from the other side. And when I got up to take a closer look, I saw the back of a chair. It was bright and golden in color. Wait a second…

Two soldiers walked over and held me by each arm. Then they pulled me around to the front of the chair. A gleaming black crown sparkled in the bright sunlight. And a familiar bald head shined just as brightly as the crown.