Vace eyed the two orange dots a significant distance away from each other. With a sigh, he accepted his fate. He dropped the crossbow on the ground.

I winced slightly at the casual way he treated the weapon. If I had done that at home, I'd have some serious problems with Otanec. However, I'd do anything to see my father again, and I'd be happy with any scolding. At least that would mean that he was okay.

"Fine, you win," Vace said a bit sourly, "Let me hear it."

"Why?" I asked, before I could stop myself. It slipped out before I could even think of a useful question. My curiosity had taken over once again. Way to go, Tenna.

"Why, what?" He walked over to the back of the room where the targets stood. His flexible boots made no sound over the mats, and, carefully ducking behind the target, he grabbed the bolt from the ground.

I chewed my lip. "Why are you doing this? This rebellion of yours." I made a vague gesture, "I mean, you aren't a regg. I can tell. Why do you care?"

Vace rolled the arrow around in his hand, inspecting it from all sides for any damages. He walked back over the length of the shooting range, and pointed the bolt at me. "You're wrong," he said, "Yes, I'm no regg. However, I'm no upper either."

I frowned.

Vace slipped past me, pressing a hand on the panel embedded in the wall. The targets flickered several times, before shutting off. With a low creak, the targets started to move back into the high cabinet, which closed with a definite click.

He leaned against the bare wall, the crossbow bolt still resting in the palm of his hand. "What do you know about the War of Kin?" he asked, eyeing me, searching for a reaction.

I recalled the lessons I had had when I was younger. Pre-Globe history had been one of them. It was the subject that was the most vague, since all the world's knowledge died together with its people. All technology was wiped out in the beginning of the war by some bomb, so any digital documents they had back then were lost. They had to start from scratch. We've come far since then, though, even if we're not even close to how advanced we were prior to the war. I had heard stories of people which had travelled to the stars—I would love to see that one day.

"I know all the records from before that time were lost, and," I added, "that the Globes were introduced after the war ended."

"Those facts are common knowledge," Vace said, "What I meant was, do you know anything about what happened during the war?"

"During the war..." I mumbled, "You mean the war which bathed the earth in radiation, killing nearly all the vegetation and taking about two thirds of the population with it? The war from which we still haven't recovered: you mean that war?"

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Never heard of it," I said, adding a small smirk.

"Well," Vace explained sarcastically, "the War of Kin was the greatest global war of the history of mankind. It raged between the two Races, the uppers and the regg, from which the latter suffered most. Still, no one knows or remembers why this war happened in the first place; as you said, all records were lost."

Vace crossed his arms, "Ring a bell?"

When I didn't answer he continued. "Moving on," he said, "I have reason to believe that it was the regg who started the war. At least, that they were the spark that ignited the giant pile of injustice and inequality that heaped up over centuries." He made small gestures with his hands while he was speaking, his long fingers moving elegantly through the air. "I don't know how, or why exactly, but it had to be them."

"The regg?" I repeated sceptically. "No way." I couldn't believe that the timid, submissive regg would be able to talk back, let alone start a full-fledged war.

"You do remember the hacker you met just now? Mot? Full blood regg," Vace said sharply. "He used to work in ICT, together with countless others. Day and night they worked on the technology for the Authorities, being hauled off if they didn't reach the day quota. Even then, Mot was the only one who realised that that was not the way it should be. It took him a couple of months to figure out he was the only one who felt that way. After that, he came to us.

"Our bad-tempered Jinx, little Mauna... all the same. They're all regg, and they are slowly realising things should be different. I believe they aren't the only ones. Down in the streets, religions are sprouting everywhere, all claiming they know how to get out. It's all linked, somehow, but I simply don't have enough information to connect the dots."

I lifted my head a bit, processing his words.

"Not yet, at least," Vace said, "It's your job to find out."

"I thought my job was getting that last bit of code."

"That is correct," he countered "but, if you get that last part of the code, you'll get access to the mainframe of the Globe as well."

"Meaning?"

"With just a few simple clicks you'll be able to read everything about the war, including what happened during it."

"Those records were lost," I said.

"They aren't."

I shrugged. "Even then, why dwell on the past? It happened, there's nothing you can do about it now."

"If that doesn't peak your interest..." Vace mused. He tapped the tip of the bolt against his chin. "You'll also get access to the prisoner's records."

My gaze shot up, interlocking with Vace's eyes. "Kael," I breathed, my thoughts whizzing a million miles an hour.

"I'm in," I said, way too quickly. Suddenly, all my doubts about this mission were gone; I couldn't wait until I could get started. Cilen was dying—and Kael could be suffering right now. I hoped Gran could keep him alive until I came back—if I was ever able to get him back.

Vace grinned. "Didn't suspect otherwise."

I hopped from one foot to another, rubbing the palms of my hands against the still-sandy fabric of my pants. "Can we start? I have to get to him."

"Slow down, hotshot," Vace said, holding up a hand. "First things first."

He coughed softly and pointed at my feet. "You have to get rid of those."

"Rid of what?"

"Your shoes. They're not suitable for in here," Vace said, lifting his left foot. "You need these."

I regarded his soft boots, which seemed to be made out of a sort of flexible material. It wasn't leather—that wouldn't be possible. The surface was smooth, with a rough sole providing grip. It didn't have any laces or straps, apart from a strip over the length that I soon recognised as material that resembled a zipper. They were dark brown, and the pair Vace was wearing looked like they had been to hell and back. They closed tightly around his calves, almost like he wasn't wearing any boots at all.

They were the complete opposite of the boots I had. Mine were strong, heavy, and almost indestructible. You might hear them when you walked on a hard surface, but, back at camp, that was nearly never the case. I was outside nearly all the time, so it wasn't necessary. I could climb rock walls, run miles and walk silently over the soft forest floors wearing these. The laces were wrapped around the length of the whole boot, securing them tightly so they wouldn't fall off.

No way was I exchanging them for those thin, sloppy socks he called boots.

I crossed my arms, lifting my eyebrows slightly. "Don't think so."

"Suit yourself," Vace said, shrugging. He pushed himself off the wall, and walked over to the weapons. He carefully placed the bolt back in its place.

"How do you know all of this anyway? That the regg are changing. I gather you can't just walk among them." I gestured at his dark physique and height. He'd stand out like lightning in a crystal clear sky—for how far that would be possible in our ever-cloudy climate.

"I have my ways," he mumbled, "I might show you someday."

"Why not now?"

Vace turned around. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head slightly. He nodded slowly, once. "I shouldn't... but, I guess we can arrange that."

_____________________________

Hello guys!

I'm really sorry for the delay, it's just that I lost this whole chapter.

Yeah, you're reading it right. Lost the whole damn thing. I had to rewrite it from scratch. It's also one of the reasons that it's shorter than usual.

I still hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading :)

The Q&A didn't really go as Tenna planned it would, but I guess she has her curiosity satisfied for the moment!

Are there any questions you missed? Throw them in the comments, and I'll see if I can answer them ;D

Opinions about Vace?

Thanks guys, and don't forget to vote, please <3

xoxo Vivian