Given my disordered state, it took several moments for me to piece myself back together. I limped outside of the interrogation room while the guard behind me placed handcuffs on my wrists. Rather than going back to my cell, this guard led me further into the prison complex. When I started to slow down, I hissed in pain when my captor zapped me with his stun baton. A few moments later, however, I frowned when I felt softer shocks arc through my back. Some were longer than others while some were clipped.

Wait...Is this guard speaking in Morse code? I thought in confusion. While Morse code was a long dead language, Boreas still taught it to me in case we were in deep shit...

Focusing on the shocks, I was able to decipher the message: "S-T-A-Y  S-T-R-O-N-G."

My facial features remained impassive, but I was freaking out on the inside. There's no way in hell the guard behind me is Boreas.

As if to prove me wrong, the guard tased another message into my back. "E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E  I-S  S-A-F-E. T-R-U-S-T  M-E."

I felt my shoulders fall in relief, and I allowed the guard to lead me to...wherever he was taking me. Turns out our destination was a janitor's closet, which was thankfully vacant.

When the door was closed behind us, my mystery guard took off his helmet...And I was greeted with a wild head of curly white hair.

I fell to my knees. It...Was too much to take in. My...Brain couldn't process what was going on at the moment, so...I was at a loss.

"Hey, stay with me, damn it!" Boreas hissed, kneeling before me and undoing the handcuffs he had put on me, "I didn't spend a week infiltrating this shithole just to have you break down on me."

"H-How?" was all I could manage to say.

"I'll try to explain myself as we go, but we really don't have time to do this," Boreas responded, helping me to my feet, "All I'll tell you for now is that I really had to flex my technological muscles to pull this off."

"Wh-What are we doing now?"

"Simple: I'm staging a prison riot," Boreas chirped as an alarm blared overhead.

"Warning! Warning! Prison riot on sub-level seven in blocks one through six! I repeat: Prison riot on sub-level seven in blocks one through six!"

"You hacked the system, didn't you?"

"I made the entire prison mainframe my bitch," Boreas responded, chuckling to himself, "Y'know, for a max-security system, I was able to bust into this shit box in no time at all."

I loosed a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Shit, Boreas...What would I do without you...?"

He chuckled. "We're not outta the woods yet, my dude. To give you a brief overview of my little rescue mission, we're going to have to get to the roof of this prison so Alannah can pick us up."

I cringed. "Ali...Probably hates me, doesn't she?"

"We'll worry about that later, mater. The little stunt you pulled mowing down those guards bought Alannah enough time to get back to your ship. If...You didn't send out that message when you did, we would've all been fucked."

"I know...That's why I did what I did..."

"I understand that, but we're wasting precious time," Boreas continued, grabbing my hand after putting his helmet back on, "So up and at em', sunshine! We gotta move before the guards get this riot under control!"

I nodded and allowed my partner to steer me out of the janitor's closet. Thankfully, no one paid us any attention since there was currently a prison riot going on.

"H-Hey man," I gasped, "Please, c-can we stop by a med bay? I'm...Not doin' too hot..."

Boreas turned to regard me, and I saw his hands shake ever so slightly. "Yeah...Yeah we can do that."

"You...Okay?"

"I am going to slaughter Mayfield for what he did to you," my old friend growled, "I almost lost my cool when he started dunking your head into that tub."

"I'll...Be fine." I wasn't fine.

Boreas studied a holo-computer mounted onto his right wrist before taking a left down a four-way intersection. A few moments later, we entered a small med bay. He sat me down in a padded chair and got to work patching me up. After more than a few painkillers were administered, he applied a healing salve to the open wounds on my arms.

"That bastard really did a number on you, huh?" Boreas mused to himself, "I swear, I'll get you out of here."

"Why...Did you come here?"

"You're my friend Cylus–My brother, even. You saved my sorry ass at a time when I was about to blow my brains out," he replied in a soft voice, "When you broke into Xarga Corps, the company I used to work for, the big wigs had already figured out I was protecting the workers they deemed 'expendable.' They were on the cusp of throwing out their best tech head, and you managed to kill the bastard who made my life hell. You gave me the chance to start a family and be happy, so I'm going to return the favor."

It may have been from exhaustion or sheer mental distress, but sobs started wracking my chest. I covered my face with my hands and started rocking back and forth in my seat.

"Oh, come on man..." Boreas murmured, gently shaking my shoulder, "Don't cry..."

"S-Sorry..." I breathed through my hands, "I'm just...Overwhelmed...L...Let's go with that..."

"I need you to stay with me, Cylus. We're far from being in the clear, so I need you to piece yourself back together."

I took several deep breaths and allowed the killer in me to come back to the surface. If I want to get out of here and see Alannah again, I need to focus. The instant I had that thought in mind, I forced my mental state back together. Thankfully, I came to my senses a few moments after that. I stood up from my seat and beckoned for Boreas to hand me his stun baton.

"Oh, sure mate." he replied, handing me the weapon. "I still have a stun gun, so that'll come in handy."

When I was sure I wasn't going to have a mental breakdown, I allowed Boreas to lead me back outside.

"Okay, we need to find the main lift that'll take us back to the first floor," I heard him say as we ran through the white hallways, "Currently, we're on the seventh sub-level, so we have a lot of ground to cover before we even reach the ground floor.

"Seventh sub-level...How many floors are there to this prison anyway?" I prompted him.

"Overall, there's fourteen levels." Boreas answered. "From what I've been able to glean from the other guards, this floor is the worst."

"It was referred to as the seventh circle..." I murmured.

"Ooof course it was." he grumbled, shooting a guard in the chest with his stun gun. "I swear, we need better weapons."

A grunt was my only answer.

We continued scrambling through the seemingly-random arrangement of hallways, incapacitating any guard who got in our way. When one of the fuckers trained a very-real handgun at us, I got in close and walloped the poor bastard upside the head with my stun baton. When the guard was knocked out, I tossed the baton aside, picked up the pistol, and blew his brains out.

"Damn..." Boreas murmured as I pilfered spare ammo from the guard's corpse, "That was a little...Overkill..."

I shrugged and rose to my feet. "You've seen nothing yet."

When we had made sure we weren't going to be surprise-attacked, Boreas and I booked it. We rounded a corner, only to catch sight of one of the double doors leading into a cell block. The windows were stained with blood, and one of the doors opened suddenly to display a grisly sight: inmates and guards fought to the death, and one such guard stumbled toward us after a prisoner walloped him in the head with a stun baton.

"U-Um...Wrong turn," Boreas stammered, grabbing my sleeve and tugging on it, "We need to get the hell out of here!"

I allowed my friend to drag me away, but not before I killed the guard that had stumbled out into the open.

"Rein in your bloodlust for more than five minutes!" Boreas snapped at me, "We can't go around killing every guard we set our sights on."

"We'll have to do that regardless if we want to get out of here alive."

"I rest my case! Just move!"

And so we continued on our journey. All the while, the sounds of chaos gradually grew in volume: gunshots could be heard every now and then, and screams echoed through the halls. Somehow, Boreas wasn't affected by any of this: he merely referred to a holographic map that was displayed on his handy device and continued to lead us through the confusing hallways. I also heard him speak into what I presumed was a commset, which made sense. I did cripple mine, after all.

I followed Boreas until we reached a large elevator. My friend worked away on his computer for several moments before the elevator doors cracked open.

"What all can that thing do?" I asked him as we stepped into the lift.

"This beauty is my window into the prison's mainframe. While it took me killing a guard, stealing his armor and badge, and sneaking into the prison itself to gain access to the mainframe, I was still successful in the end."

"You...Killed a guard?"

"Indeed I did! All it took was a simple knife to the throat, and the fucker was good as dead!"

"Geez...You weren't fucking around..."

"Of course I wasn't," Boreas retorted, turning to face me as the lift lurched to life, "My best friend got himself thrown in jail, so of course I was going to pull every single trick out of my sleeve to bust you out."

"Why...How was the system so easy to break into?"

My old friend shrugged. "Beats me. My best guess is that the UTF has done such a good job keeping this place a secret that it never dawned on them to set up a more sophisticated security system to ward off hackers. The only way I was able to learn this place even existed was through a friend of mine. He told me a few buddies of his had been sent to this hellhole for trying to raid a UTF freighter, so he assured me I'd have the best chance of finding you here."

My face fell, and I felt my back hit the wall behind me. "Was...Was one of your friend's buddies named Lance?"

"Oh yeah, he told me about that kid. Were you able to run into him?"

"I made his acquaintance, but...but the poor guy was executed on Mayfield's orders."

Boreas slammed his fist against the wall and growled in frustration. "Damn it...Mayfield's really trying to wear you down, isn't he? If it'll make you feel any better, I heard from the other guards that you've been making Mayfield's life hell: he hasn't managed to get anything from you, and his superiors are apparently not pleased that he's spent an entire week trying to get you to talk."

"That makes me feel a little better," I murmured, closing my eyes. "Boreas...Is it possible for me to talk to Alannah? For a few minutes at least?"

"Yeah. You'll have to wear this helmet, though. There's a commset built into it–No, that wasn't directed toward you Ali. Yes, yes I know we have to hurry. Try to fly by the rooftop in about an hour."

He paused, then nodded. "Alright Alannah. Hey, listen: Cylus wants to talk to you real quick. That sound like a plan to you?" he cringed, "Okay, you're right: that was a stupid question. Give me a hot minute."

Boreas took his helmet off and passed it to me. Once I put it on, I couldn't get myself to speak when I heard Alannah respond. Apparently, she still thought she was talking to Boreas: "Stupid question? That's the understatement of the fucking century! I swear, Cylus better be okay!"

"...I'm...Hanging in there," I managed to get out.

She fell silent so quickly I could've heard a pin drop. Since she didn't respond, I forced myself to continue: "I'm...Sorry you had to see me get taken away. When I realized I had backed myself into a corner, my first thought was to get everyone away so they wouldn't be dragged down with me."

"I...Understand, love. If you didn't send out that message, Boreas and I wouldn't have been able to fall back. Before you ask, Janet and Daniel are with an old friend of mine."

"I'm guessing this is the friend Boreas mentioned before?"

"Yeah. He was an old colleague of ours. His name's Jackson, and don't worry, he's a good guy. When I pick you and Boreas up, we'll be going to a ship of his. I promise we'll be safe with him."

"Alright...Sounds like a plan..."

I heard her huff out a chuckle. "Come back to me in one piece. We'll figure out everything else from there."

"I promise you I will, mijn sintel."