Rath Nation, New Earth 0015 A.N, 2056 O.E

Last check in before we leave for the Commoners world.

I won't be saying any of that date and time crap. I'm way to nervous to even try to remember it.

I've just finished administering the doses of Neos tech to every soldier in the regiment. The tests on Nico still show positive results and the machine's pull has done little to affect him...

As of the moment.

I've still asked everyone to hold off taking it just before we displace. It might work for Commander Nico but we still don't know if its genome engineered to corrupt with some slight impurity in someone's body.

Today... today I'm leaving this recording for you guys. I mean my sisters and brother in case someone else happens to find this before them, which really shouldn't be the case since I'm going to leave it on their bedside table.

Anyway, Here goes...

Elena, if you don't hear from me in the next hour I want you to take Mihaela and Luca out of this place. There is a vehicle out in the back of the library. Luca knows his way around that place. I've loaded it up with enough supplies to last you for at least a month or two. You don't stop for anything do you hear me? You keep going and keep our family safe no matter what. I know last night I promised you I'd come back, and I will try to keep that promise. It's just... anything can happen.. and I want you to be a big sister to your siblings now. I know I can count on you. You'll do just fine.

Mihaela... I know you'll cry when you hear this in the morning. But I want you to be strong like Mama. You remember what she used to tell you right? Being brave is just on the other side of the coin from accepting you are scared. I don't want you to be scared anymore. I'm going to make sure you guys don't have to be sacred anymore. Oh, man... I can't believe I'm crying here too. I'm sorry I didn't hug you goodbye. But we both know you wouldn't have let me go if I did.

Luca... man, what else can I tell you besides what you already know you have to do. You are smart enough to keep the girls out of danger. I know I can count on you to make sure of that. I know it's a pain but Elena is in charge. That doesn't mean you don't get to say what's wrong and what's right. You're the man of the house now. So you take care of the girls eh? I love you boy.

Well... that's all I had to say. The evacuations will be happening by the time you guys wake up. Remember what I said... get to the vehicle behind the library and get as far away as possible from here.

Alright.

I've given Dani this recorder to take it to you guys. I don't think I can face you and leave. But I have to.

I have to make sure you guys are safe. That's what big brothers are meant to do.

You guys are my life... and I couldn't have asked for a better one than this.

***END OF TRANSMISSION***

Unknown Location, New Earth 0015 A.N, 2056 O.E

They must have been driving for almost six hours straight before Aisle deigned to open her eyes. The rest she had was nowhere near comfortable and it was not because of the cramped up space of the car seat. Her mind was still doing flips at what Anna had told her yesterday. She was pregnant. She was eighteen years old and she was already pregnant.

Talk about wrong turns in life.

"Good morning, ma'am."

Aisle turned to look at the machine driving the road. It had changed its clothes and now truly looked like a person. But perhaps the facial expressions would sell it out to the first person who came looking.

"Where are we?"

"We are about ten kilometers from the Middle Division borders and the wastelands deemed uninhabitable by the Government. There is a vessel there that will facilitate your travels to the Outer Division."

"Wait... Outer Division?"

"That is correct, ma'am."

Aisle was silent as she took this in. So Vance had already known that she had been to the Commoner's world. Was that how he knew about Clew? Possibly. Her husband had been very carefully observing her it would seem.

But Aisle didn't want to go to the Outer Division. What was there for her to go to? She had severed each and every tie with Clew and her family by now. She was not sure that he even wanted to look at her face. And she wouldn't blame him with the current situation she had.

Who's baby was inside of her? Was it truly a baby if she was not exactly what you'd call human? She didn't know how to handle this. It had to be Clew's though. She had enough nights with him to have a valid reason for this. But her mother (or rather the Surrogate who stood as her mother in her life) had told her how it could only take one try to have a baby. So there was still a huge possibility that it could be Vance. So that was the question she wanted to know as of now. Was it Clew's or Vance's?

"Anna," she spoke and the machine turned to face her, "how often do Individuals bear children."

"It has never happened, ma'am. An Individual's body is not meant to bear children as the monthly cycle of womanhood does not function."

"Wait... then why the hell I am pregnant?"

"I do not know ma'am. My system has cross referenced you symptoms and body functions to the files I have on women who are expectant. The match is at a 99.9 percent."

Aisle was confused. This entire situation was not making any sense to her at all. She was supposed to be unable to have children yet here she was with one in her? So was that why the Government wanted her? It must have been because she was different from the other Individuals in the world. She was probably the one exception they had been hoping would appear in the system.

That was when the reality of things finally hit Aisle. She was about to have a child. A new life was building inside of her. She didn't want to jump the gun, but she hoped that it was Clew's. Even if she would never see him again, just having his baby would forever make him a part of her life now. She clutched her mid section when she remembered that the Government was after her. She would not let them take her baby from her. She would find a way to make it to the Outer Division and go looking for Clew. He might not want anything to do with her anymore, but he was the father of her unborn child.

"MA'AM!"

Aisle was roused from her thought process when Anna screamed at her. She was about to glance her way when the explosion rocked the entire car. She didn't know what was happening until she was hanging upside down. Her seat belt was the only thing that had stopped her from probably breaking her neck. She groggily turned her head to the side and almost collapsed with fear.

Anna's head was completely gone. Wires that were at the base of her neck were shooting sparks everywhere. Aisle looked around until she saw the dismembered part of the machine's body on the dashboard. There was a gaping hole in its forehead, exactly as Vance's had been.

"No..." Aisle didn't want to believe it. The machine was the only one, no, the only thing that was on her side. Now it was killed. How did they even find her? That didn't matter. She had to leave before they came for her. She tugged at her seat belt for a while until it gave way and she landed hard on the roof of the car. She felt pain in her left arm and a quick glance at it revealed why. It was at a very awkward angle, probably because it was dislocated.

She didn't have time to think about it. She was kicking the door open and dragging herself out of the car. She had never seen this part of the world before. It seemed that the vegetation here had withered and died out. Aisle was on all fours when she heard the vehicles coming. She didn't know what else to do but run. But her body was paining all over. There was no way she would outrun the cars even if she was in optimal conditions.

But she had to try. She had to save that new life in her. She had to make sure she did not lose Clew's baby.

She was probably only two steps from the car when she felt the world spin and the ground coming up to her real fast. She wanted to run but she couldn't. Her legs were as heavy as lead. She had nothing left in her to even begin contemplating how to walk. But she noticed that she was next to a cliff. This was crazy. She could easily die if she rolled right off it. There were just about as many rocks that could do more than just dislocate her joints at the very best.

But that was better than being a lab rat for these people. If they really wanted her alive, then she was going to put a huge dent into their plans. Every inch she crawled towards the cliff was a torment to her mind. The pain was increasing, if that was possible.

But she kept going. She had to keep going. She thought back to her luminous blue hazel eyes. The way she would love it when they looked at her like she was the only girl in the world. The way they looked when she would bring her eyes closer to his. She was going to die with her love being the last thing on her mind.

"I love you Clew," she whispered to her memory as she lost consciousness just after she felt the ground disappear from below her.

* * *

The displacement worked to perfection. Nico and Clew were positioned at the very entrance of the Capitol building with almost ten thousand men in toe. Clew had never imagined he would set foot in the Capitol of the Upper Division. He had dreamed of it of course. He had imagined it to be the perfect place for anyone to live in. A heaven of sorts. Now that he was here, he wished for nothing more than to leave.

There was nothing beautiful about the place. It looked worse than the Outer Division if that was even possible. There were machines everywhere. The only location that was beautiful was the Capitol itself. Nico had explained that the Controllers had never been as comfortable as everyone was led to believe. Clew had thought he was just saying that to boost the morale of his men, but he was actually right.

Another thing that Nico had been dead on about was the layout of the lands. Clew had files and blueprints about the building, but the way Nico knew each and every nook and cranny of the area was impressive. It was almost as if he had studied the files by heart now. Clew didn't question his insight at all though. The man had been preparing for twelve years how he would infiltrate the building.

"This is it, men. The future of our race depends on this last mission we are on. If you fall today, know that we will all make sure that your death was not in vain. Remember to stand fast in the face of the machines. Fear is not an option."

Everyone on every station communicated their acknowledgement of this information from their Commander. Nico turned to Clew and handed him a firearm, "For the cause."

Clew had heard the catchphrase that his godfather had inspired this entire army with to follow him. He had never known how accurate it was until right now.

"For the cause."

There was a loud explosion and the attack on the machines commenced. Nico had once again been right that the machines would be waiting for them. They had closed ranks and just as much, if not more, machines to fight them back. Clew was not a very good soldier, but he had managed to cover the Commander's back long enough for them to make it to the main laboratories. It looked like he had stepped into the future. There was technology here that Clew had only heard about. Some that he had only seen on the television. And few that he had actually touched with his own hands.

"Bravo unit, we have breached the inner part of the Facility. Prepare the men for evacuation," Nico spoke into

Copy that, Alpha unit. Extraction procedure is under way.

Clew and the other men in the unit were already setting up the charges when the door to the furthest left of the hall opened and Individuals poured in.

"Incoming!"

The warning from Clew was not sufficient enough to save the three soldiers closest to the door. They were shot in the head before the machines sprayed the hall with green laser beams. Clew and Nico had only made it behind the desk before the beam passed right over their heads.

"There weren't supposed to be machines in the lab, Nico!" Clew was almost chewing his head off. He knew that they all relied on Nico's in depth knowledge of the building too much and it would come to cost them if there was even a slight change in protocol.

"It only means that the General is here!" Nico gave a command and they all shot back at the advancing army of machines. Clew was just about to tell him that this was not part of the plan when he saw the green beam go straight through Nico's shoulder.

"NICO!"

Clew saw red. He was shooting all over the place trying to provide enough cover for them to recover Nico back to safety.

"Cover me!" he yelled at a soldier and darted out of his hiding place to where Nico lay groaning in pain. The shooting match lasted for almost a full five minutes before they had the upper hand on the machines and decimated them all.

"Aah... I'm messed up pretty bad..." he groaned on as Clew administered some first aid on the wound. It didn't look fatal though, and that was what deflated the tension building in his chest.

"We need to get him... it the only chance we'll have."

Clew didn't understand this. They were here to destroy the Individuals labs so they wouldn't make more machines. That was the plan. Killing the General was supposed to be next after they had secured the base. But Clew could see what the Commander was getting at. It was a chance to cut the head off of the snake. They should take it before it was too late.

"For the cause," Nico spoke and Clew nodded. He left someone with the Commander before he, together with the soldiers advanced through the door the machines had come from.

The room was dark, save for the one table at the end of it that was glowing blue. Clew could make out two people, one standing over the other who was laying on the table. He instructed his men to stay sharp as they advanced closer to the Individuals.

"It's over General."

The man standing next to the glowing table did not answer him as he turned to look at them. Clew still couldn't make out much from his features but just that he looked old... almost the same age as Nico.

"You've kept me waiting, Clew."

That voice! Clew couldn't believe it. There was no way that he was hearing that voice again. How long had it been? Sixteen years? He didn't even know. He was too small to remember. But he had constantly been hearing not to recognize it these many years he had lived now.

"I see you brought Nico as well,"

Clew turned around to see Nico, in no apparent pain, standing at attention behind them. But he had just been shot not one minute ago. What was going on here?

"Area is secure, sir."

Sir? Clew turned to look at the Commander but was met with a scene he was not prepared to witness. Every single one of the soldiers was dead. They all looked like they had just had blood poisoning. But that had to be impossible. Nico had survived... Nico had... Nico...

"You're a machine too."

Nico was showing no emotions at all as he stared straight ahead. Clew couldn't believe it. But then again, why was he still alive then. He was not a machine. He was human just like all the other soldiers. Why in the hell was he not dead from the Neos tech he had injected into his body?

"You seem confused, Clew," his attention snapped back to the General, "Allow me to shed some light on the situation."

There was a snap of fingers from the General and the room was bathed in a brilliant white light. Clew was almost falling back with surprise. The body on the table was visible enough for him to see who it was. But that to be impossible. How was this possible? This was beyond mind bending. He was sure he was completely crazy. It was the only convincing theory that ran through his mind that he was standing here, watching himself lay on that table. But that was still not a sufficient enough answer to explain the face of the General. He spoke the only word he could to the face whose voice he had been hearing for almost twelve years in his own head now.

"Papa?"