Fairlands... the son... Haco hadn't been sure of what he had heard. For all he knows the message said his son. But Fairlands can impossibly be his father.

But whose son is it then?

It didn't make any sense.

My head started to throb from all the things that were rushing though my brain. My mind was buzzing with questions unanswered.

Who—or what—was this Fairlands person? It definitely had something to do with Kael, but what it was, I wasn't sure of. "Kael Jonah, what have you gotten yourself into..." I muttered, chewing my bottom lip.

"What did you say?" Jinx asked, crossing her arms. "I missed that. What about Jonah?"

In the corner of my eye I saw Haco slowly shake his head.

Jinx shrugged, her brows knotting together. "You know what? Fine. Keep your little secret to yourself. It's not like this could possibly affect all of us," she suddenly snapped, making a harsh movement with her hand.

"Affect what?" I suddenly heard beside me. I turned my head, only to see Vace. He must've walked in while none of us were paying attention. He really has the habit of doing that.

"Hello Vace," Jinx said through gritted teeth. She crossed her arms, her eyes like a storm.

"What will affect us, Jinx?" Vace asked, his eyes trained on her.

"Nothing."

Vace raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He turned around, sighing deeply. 'Nothing' he mouthed, as he crossed his arms and looked at me via the mirror. Our eyes locked for a second before he pulled away his green-eyed gaze.

He let his gaze glide over all the vials set out over the vanity, carefully studying the variety of deadly potions and perfumes. His fingers grazed over the lids, before he grabbed one which seemed to draw his attention. He turned it around in his hands, the blue liquid swishing around in the glass bottle.

Allie, meanwhile, had stood up and started brushing her hair. "Vace, don't touch those please," she said, pulling the brush through the strands, "Drop one of those and you might just fill the entire room with a poisonous fume which will kill us all. And that would be such a hassle, don't you think?"

It was quiet for a second. Then, Vace put down the vial he had been holding in his hands. The glass made a faint clinking sound when it hit against the other bottles.

"Tell him what you told me," Allie said, turning to Jinx and placing the brush on her nightstand. She ran her fingers over the length of Jinx's shoulders, peeking over her own shoulder as she said: "All I know is that I'm no longer needed here. Haco, do you care join me on my way out?"

I saw Haco's eyes widen in my peripheral vision, and him quickly nodding a yes. Without another word he followed her out of the room. The door closed with a soft click, leaving me, Vace and Jinx behind. Jinx followed them with her eyes. She didn't seem bothered.

When Haco and Allie were gone Vace turned back to Jinx. "Jinx, come on," he said, making a movement with his head. "If this is still about you revealing us to the Stripes the other day—none of us got hurt. It's fine."

I saw Jinx cringe as Vace recalled the incident. She snapped back. "I didn't mean to alert them. If I had known—"

"Stop it. You are forgiven," Vace said, holding up a hand. "What did Aliyena want you to say?"

Jinx started fiddling with the hem of her tank top. It was an uncharacteristic move, since I always pictured her as someone who wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind—no matter how cold or harsh it might sound. She twisted her fist in the fabric of her shirt, took a deep breath and calmed herself. She bit her lip, and unable to hold herself any longer she blurted out: "It's her."

"It's you," she said, specifically looking at me. She steadied her voice. "You messed everything up the moment we found you. Everything was going fine. But now, some people—" her eyes briefly darted to Vace "—seem to have forgotten what this was really all about. Saving the regg. Serving them justice."

She huffed, her shoulders relaxing as she was finally able to speak her mind. "Not run around trying to find your Escaped boyfriend who might even doesn't want to be found. You think you know everything, but you're wrong. You need us. But we don't need you. We were fine without you," she said. "You apparently know so well—go find him yourself. Don't drag us down along with you."

Jinx closed her eyes briefly after her last heated words escaped her mouth. "I have to go," she said softly, grabbing her jacket which had been thrown on the floor. She briskly walked out, slamming the door closed behind her.

I turned away from Vace, blinking, trying to force away the forebodes of tears which stung in my eyes. I set my jaw and lifted my chin a little. "Do you feel the same way?" I asked, not wanting to face him. I was surprised by how steady my voice sounded.

His silence gave me my answer.

I had to get out of here.

Following Jinx's path, I made my way out of Allie's room. The middle room was empty. The world became blurry as I forgot to blink away the half-formed tears in my eyes. In a haze I found an open air vent in a corner of the room and climbed into it.

Out of here.

Somehow I found my way through the labyrinth of tunnels. A gush of air blew in the back of my neck, making me look up. Above me was a raster which seemed to lead to the outside of the building. The next thing I knew I was sitting on the edge of the building, my feet dangling over the edge of the roof. I glanced behind me, faintly recalling myself kicking open a raster. Its remnants were now only pieces of scrap metal.

I turned back, my eyes gliding across the view. Below me the faint sounds of life and machinery echoed up, hidden by the brown fog which lingered between the high buildings. Far below under my feet I saw several bridges with numerous regg walking over them, crossing over to the other buildings. This building seemed to be the highest structure in this part of the Globe, for I was able to look over every other building. They were all set up in rings, and in the middle stood the brightly lit Spiral, which I could see pulsating from here.

Funny, it almost seemed like home.

You'd only have to replace the enormous buildings with small tents and the Spiral with the old cabin. A pang of homesickness stung in my chest as I found myself blinking away tears again.

I never should've come here.

I closed my eyes and laid my head in my neck. I took a deep breath. The stench wasn't that bad up here. The sounds of the Globe itself seemed muffled as well.

Regardless of Jinx's harsh words, I hadn't felt this free in days. It felt good to not be confined by four walls anymore.

Well, if I'd ignore the fact that I found myself in an enormous fish bowl.

I couldn't believe how everyone could live here, all packed together. There never seemed to be a moment of rest, life always rushing on and on inside these walls. Never being able to breathe real air or feel the sun warm your skin seemed alone, and cold.

I could see that the creators of the Globes had tried to make living in a glass cage as pleasant as it could ever be. Even though the artificial lights made it seem like the sun shone, it still felt different. The faded and broken pictures of trees in the streets never resembled the real thing. The real ones—if there ever had grown real trees here—had died decades ago.

All the Globes were now, were enclosed capsules with survivors. Survivors of the war, survivors of the earth itself. And someday, maybe, the survivors of the Globes.

I had heard that in the cities of old people could go outside whenever they pleased, but still decided to remain inside. What a wasted opportunity.

Maybe those tendencies had remained ingrained into our minds—that we didn't mind being confined. I knew for a fact that I would never be able to live like that. People were meant to be free—not locked up in a glass prison.

I opened my eyes when a speck of light fell on my closed eyelids, making my vision blur red instead of black. I looked up, up to the ceiling of the Globe.

At first I didn't know where the light came from, seeing that the glass panels above me weren't transparent at all. It was veiled by oxidation from the outside, and by soot and grime from the inside. Blue and greenish veins ran through the glass, from which I knew would capture the weak sunlight and warmth and turn into energy, which could then be used by the Globe.

As my eyes glided across the murky panels, a lighter part caught my eye. It was clear. I strained my eyes to be able to see what laid behind it, and when I recognised what it was my eyes widened in awe.

I could see what were the last rays of a sunset, vibrant orange and purple against the dirty grey. The colours were exceptionally bright—which may be because I hadn't seen any bright colours in days. I soaked up the warm rays as long as they lasted, before they were replaced by jet black. A single star appeared in the sky above the small part of clean glass. A feeling of peace settled in the pit of my stomach, as I took in the view from behind that small window, briefly taking me back home.

"It's much more beautiful out there, isn't it?" a voice sounded next to me.

My hands shot out next to my body, gripping the edge of the building. The images of home disappeared as I snapped back to reality. My knuckles whitened and I gritted my teeth. I cursed. "Vace, dammit. Do not scare me when I'm sitting on the edge of a damn building."

"Oops."

I turned my head. Vace was sitting next to me, his neck craned and staring at the sky as well. A faint look of amusement was thrown across his features. Did he want me to plummet to the ground and die?

I took a deep breath, following his gaze. I relaxed my shoulders, but still held onto the edge.

I sighed. "It is beautiful," I whispered, closing my eyes. I was taken back by a memory. "Especially if you're standing atop the rock formation. The rays sometimes managed to cut through the clouds and through the forest. The light would scatter across the river, reflecting in all directions. It's amazing. Like you're standing on top of the world."

"You'll see it again."

I opened my eyes and turned to Vace. "Yeah, I don't think so. For all I know I'll die tomorrow. No thanks to little miss sunshine back there."

"Sorry about that."

"Well, sorry don't sit first watch does it," I said sharply, turning back. I stared at an opened window a few storeys down in the building in front of us.

Nothing special happened, but I saw a set of green coveralls being hung out of the window. I knew now they were from the cleaners, who every day squeezed themselves into the air vents to clean them. The gods knew what else they had to do. I looked back at Vace when he started talking.

"You can't blame Jinx for verbally attacking you. You took her spot," Vace answered. He shifted his gaze from the ceiling to me. "Jinx was initially the one who was supposed to infiltrate the Higher District. But you came along and proved to be a better option, so we chose you instead."

That seemed like a good explanation. I bit my lip. I understood Jinx now, why she acted so differently around me. I had never known I had taken her spot. I realised something. "But what about her arm scan?" I asked.

Jinx had a working arm scan just like the rest of the regg. It didn't work well when they were in this particular sector of the Globe. Mot had said something earlier about interfering frequencies and some kind of magnetic field which jumbled up the signals sometimes. That was also why the base was located here, probably.

Vace sighed. "That was a risk she was willing to take. She would try to join the servants, stay unnoticed and maybe even succeed to become the maiden of a Lady. If she was lucky the Lady might confide in her, and that would be our intel." He rubbed his thumb over his lower lip. "But, the catch was that we wouldn't be able to communicate properly. Servants only return to their homes once every fortnight. A Lady, however... she would be able to come and go as she pleases."

"Me."

"You," Vace agreed. "Even though you're much less qualified than either Jinx or a regular Lady, and you're definitely being thrown into the deep end, I believe you'll make a fair chance. You've adapted quickly to their ways."

I frowned. Thanks? I guess?

"Well, let's hope so," I sighed, chewing my bottom lip. "It's just that all I can think about right now is that I want to know what's happened with Kael. Even if nothing sketchy is going on, I have the right to know." I shrugged and threw my hands in my lap. "I mean, a lifetime of friendship has to count as something, right?"

Sometimes even a little bit more than friendship, I caught myself thinking.

Vace interrupted my thoughts. "You are entitled to answers, yes," he said. He was quiet for a second. "But you do know you have to be prepared for the worst, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He shifted to turn to me, his legs dangling dangerously far over the edge. A small push and he would topple over. Although I strongly believed that if someone would ever attempt to do so, they would in the end be the one plummeting down.

I twisted myself as well, still holding on to the edge but my knees turned his way. Our legs were only separated by a thin slice of air and warmth.

Vace locked his eyes with mine. He leaned in closer, a dark twinkle appearing in his eyes. He took a deep breath, and said: "I mean, for all you know he's dead."

Without a second thought I slapped him.

The palm of my hand still stinging from the slap, and a red mark slowly appearing on Vace's cheek I leaned in closer, looking into his wide eyes. "He's not dead," I hissed, "I will refuse to believe so until I am holding his cold, lifeless body in my arms. I won't stop fighting until I do."

Without another word I stood up, making my way back to the air vent. Before I climbed back into the labyrinth, I turned around, giving a shocked Vace a last glance. "Don't you ever dare say something like that about my best friend again."

I disappeared into the depths of the vents, both my mind and heart heavy. I refused to believe Kael was dead.

But still, I couldn't silence the nagging voice in the back of my head saying that he was.

______________________________

Pheew...

Long chapter! (FYI: 2605 words :o)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to press that cute little star to vote! (And I always love to hear your thoughts. Comment what you liked—or hated, of course!)

xoxo Vivian