MISSING: ELIAS ALVARN, PREVIOUSLY BLANK SLATE

STORM CELL TEAM SEARCHES FOR 'ESCAPEE' FROM THE VRC

HEROES CALL FOR RUBY ALERT; SEARCH CONTINUES

"WE WILL NOT GIVE UP" STORM CELL'S CITIZEN AFFIRMS HIS INTENTIONS

I scroll past the headlines, my heart a lump of iron in my throat as Edison's serious face stares me down from the multiple holowindows hovering around Wraith's watch. In each and every one Edison is in, he repeats the same message addressed to me: "If you are listening to this, not everything has failed. We're coming for you."

He's coming for me. He's searching for me, just like he did before when I first disappeared from Ten School, just like he has done for the past eight years. And maybe soon he'll find me, just like he found me before.

Or maybe I'll find him this time, if I can get out of here or leave a clue for the heroes. I have Wraith's watch which, unlike my own, can leave comments. If I can think of something non-suspicious but helpful enough to comment, I could leave a clue for Edison. Or maybe a message like, "I'm alive and Deception's got me'—just something to help him. Something to put out there and get help.

It would be easier if I knew what kind of comments Wraith leaves, if any. I press my lips together, setting the watch down in my lap, staring at the headlines hovering over the screen. I could ask her...maybe. Would she help me more? She's already given me her watch, she's warned me several times, and she's obviously not happy to be here. But would she be willing to help me escape? At least, knowingly?

I don't know. I am not sure if I can know for sure if I don't ask her.

With a long, harsh sigh, I let my head fall back on the couch, staring forlornly at the ceiling. It's just so risky. If she tells on me, I might be even more screwed than before. If I don't ask her, and try to do this myself and get caught...I am in the same amount of trouble, if not more. But if I ask her and she, for the same strange reason she has been helping me in little ways, agrees...my chances of escape rise significantly.

"Gah!" I press my palms into my face with a groan, sinking deeper into the couch and sorting through my options for what feels like a millionth time. Edison's serious face stares me down as I do, his message repeating over and over. Not everything is lost. We're coming for you.

I know not everything is lost. I'm still here. I'm still trying to escape, I answer, but his face and answer doesn't change.

With a sigh, I turn from my problems and instead count the seconds that tick past, measuring each one to every wish and if onlys that crosses my mind. Silence hovers around me, making each thought even louder than the last and the rest of the world fainter than before.

So when the silence is broken by my holowatch's ringtone, I let out an involuntary screech, shove Wraith's watch under the cushions, and leap to my feet like the couch just bit me. Winter fangs snap down my arms in a searing rush and I blindly snatch the pack of pens on the coffee table, letting the winter sink into them.

The entire packet clatters to the floor, pieces of plastic, metal and other things scattering around my feet. Closing my eyes, I breathe out a shaky breath, the tips of my fingers chilled to the bone and an icy burn scraping at the nape of my neck like someone scrabbling at a sheer cliff in order to escape a tsunami. "Terabytes," I whisper.

The ringtone sounds again, louder this time, and I grimace, scooping up my holowatch and glancing at the pillow that Watith's watch is under. Would it be excusable if I just didn't answer? Seemingly hearing my question, the call automatically accepts and I stare in horror as Deception's icon of a snake eating its tail in an infinity loop pops over the screen.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" Deception's voice is bright and cheery, with the rounded corners of a smile.

My thoughts explode like glitter inside a blender and it takes me a full three seconds to get them back in order. "There's no windows down here."

She barks a laugh. "Right, right." The speakers crackle as if she is moving fabric near the microphone. "Come upside, then, and hang in the garden with me, will you?"

"Upside?"

"You know, the mansion! You're only in the secret basement. There's lots more to see! Meet me at the Leapers in five and I'll show you my favorite place!"

My mouth drops open. She's inviting me to get out of here? "I— What—"

Deception chuckles, the sound rolling and bell-like. "Don't be silly. You've only been down there for so long so those heroes don't find you. But now things have blown over in my area so it's safe enough for you to explore the inner courtyards."

An invisible fist hits my chest. The heroes missed me. They searched, and they missed me. I wet my lips, glancing at the pillow I shoved Wraith's watch under. All the more reason to get out a clue to the heroes. "Right...okay. Where should we meet?"

"At the Leaper. I'll come get you; there's a password at the top."

She hangs up and I am left staring at the far wall, heart cartwheeling several times in a row. I...can actually do something. I have a chance, an opportunity to get one step closer to getting out of here. Finally.

—01000100—

Despite spending far too long rummaging around in my closet, I end up standing at the Leapers alone with the comfiest and most practical jacket, the least ridiculous pair of socks, and the only pair of sturdy boots that do not have some sort of tracking electronics in them I could find.

It's not long before the Leaper's doors whooshes and Deception lands on her feet with a practiced hop and skip. Brushing back stray strands, she grins at me. "Hey! Ready to see something awesome? Well, besides me?" She winks.

Fighting a swell of unbidden heat, I offer a half-panicked, half-automatic smile. "Uhm, sure."

Deception laughs, slapping my shoulder gently. "You sound so unsure about it!" Suddenly, she's in my personal bubble, leaning so close to my face her breath fans my cheeks. "Life's too short for that, Blank Slate. It's either in or out. What will it be?"

The skin around her eyes crinkle, cheeks plump with the wide grin she gives me, an offered opening like a hand for me to take. And she waits, waits for me to fill in a pause with the answer she expects, the answer that is a part of a ritual, a banter that we must've once shared.

But we don't anymore. I don't know the answer. I don't know her. So I take three steps back from her, letting the metaphorical hand drop. "Uhm..."

Deception closes her mouth, smile dimming and the shade of sadness, disappointment, and regret across her face. "No, I'm sorry. I just...It's easy to forget you don't remember. You're just so like before..." She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ears, weight shifted to her heels and the light mischief gone from her voice.

I flick my gaze to the side, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "Yeah." So I used to look like a nervous wreck faking through every interaction? Great. Just who I wanted to be.

The mood drops like a stone on a spiderweb and we stand, words caged between our teeth for a few awkward beats.

"Well," Deception says at last, clearing her throat, "let's get going." She flashes a sheepish smile and flicks her wrist as if to dismiss the whole thing. With a nod, she spreads her arms wide, steps back, and falls straight into the leaper. She vanishes, the echoes of her whoop tangled in the rush of wind.

Right. Rubbing a hand through my hair, I step forward into the Leaper. Instantly, it snatches me and launches me up so fast my socks threaten to fall off. It isn't a one and done thing like most of the Leapers at End. This one keeps going for a whole ten seconds, dimly lit silver tunnel rushing past like a stream of bubbles at two-times speed.

Then it's done and I am spit out into a vast, cavernous room with a second floor landing and elegantly engraved pillars curling upwards to the sloped ceiling. Stairs lead to the second floor and on each wall are several entrances and occasionally a leaper, each with two sharp-tipped bushes in Deception-purple planters guarding their mouths like expressionless soldiers.

Deception is already a few steps away, heading towards the far side of the room. I quicken my pace to catch up, my footsteps clacking on the floor of sleek, polished black tiles that reflect the pillars like a still lake does to trees.

Other than the occasional flickering hologram, the only decorations are impressively large banners hanging from the second floor, the walls, or the ceiling, depicting a logo of a starliner hovering over a mansion and the words: Viren's NanoTech Manor in large letters. It leaves the space daunting and empty as unwelcoming as the expanse of space.

As we head to an entrance on the left wall named GardenView, I spot the words, ToFront over a door on the far side. Marking it down, I start to turn back around and catch a hoverbot about the size of a pigeon following us. It is made of two large rings that glow blue and two smaller rings behind them, connected by a small black rectangle.

When Deception sees me eying it, she nudges my shoulder. "Oh, don't mind that. It's an AAS—Assistance and Surveillance—drone; follows anything that moves. They help you not get lost and let Sebastian keep out squatters." She chuckles. "This place is so huge that it's easier to have a guide than memorize everything."

"Wow." End was huge, but it was made to hold thousands of rehab villains like me. A mansion this big for just two people—well, and a secret basement for Deception's gang—was...something else. "And this...is all Sebastian's?"

Deception tsks and waves to the hall we are walking down, the various corridors on either side that open up to foyers, dining rooms, and other pathways—all empty save for the rare scattering of covered furniture or assorted boxes. "This is all of ours. Our Viper Den, home to everyone in our cause. Once Sebastian turned to our side, he was kind enough to make it our headquarters."

A weight settles in my chest, chipped with trepidation. And he just gave it over to be a villain HQ? Sebastian had struck me as a rich person, but this is a whole other level. I don't get to stew any longer as the hall falls away into a room even larger than the first and I nearly stop short, lips parting with a silent gasp. All of it, every inch of space, is filled with plants.

Bushes, flowers, towering leafy plants and delicate groundcover, all of them are here, arranged in artful swirls of colors and shapes around winding stone paths. Even entire trees stretch for the skylight in the middle of the room, some in full bloom and others laden with plump fruits.

Birds soar between them, flashes of movement among the greens and tides of colorful flowers. Their calls ring through the air laden with pleasant humidity, floral scents, wet earth, and the hum and buzz of working insects.

"Wow," I breathe. It's...so much, so green and alive like the biodome in End but with more of everything. I turn this way and that as I follow Deception to the heart of the garden, spotting as many plants I recognise as I can. In the heart is a small waterfall that feeds into a pond. Beside it is a table pre-laden with light snacks and a jug of a carbonated red liquid.

Deception waves for me to sit as she settles into her chair, a grin on her face. "So, what do you think?"

I take my seat, watching as two birds flit through a berry bush behind her. "This place is...beautiful."

She laughs, leaning back and lifting her face to the sunlight streaming down through the open-air skylight above us. "I know right? It's my favorite place." Her eyes slip closed and a smile spreads across her face like melting butter. She basks there for a long moment like a lizard on a warm rock, looking more peaceful than I have ever seen her before with her hair loose and flowing, expression relaxed...

Clearing my throat, I avert my gaze to the table. I really need to stop staring. To distract myself, I pick up one of the small, triangle sandwiches held together by edible toothpicks and nibble on the edge. It's the perfect blend of meat, sauce, and vegetable, and it's gone in two bites.

As I lift another to my mouth, Deception props her chin up with one hand, eyes on me. "You know," she says, "we've always imagined that, when we take over, we'd make the city streets filled with green. There's no need for all those holograms and the ad drones scare away the birds! Just imagine it, the whole city covered in green. Wouldn't that be nice?"

A city draped in as much green as the biodome flickers into my mind's eye and it eases a tight itch in my skin I didn't know was there. "Yeah. It would." It's...not a bad dream to have for a city; green is nicer than endless gray or a sea of neon lights. It's not an evil plan, either. I swallow a bite and scan my surroundings again. It's just us and the plants, the AAS bot nowhere to be seen. "What other changes did...we talk about?"

"Affordable homes instead of private entertainment centers, more parks, a point-based judging system, help centers, everything." She grasps one of the sandwiches, waving it at me with a quick flick of her fingers. "Now with your stronger power, we can take down hero strongholds in a flash—just like what you did to West Quarter—and scavenge the parts to make shelters and tools! We'll revamp stores and make more options for getting food. We'll focus resources into the poor instead of the heroes."

I furrow my brow and test my glass of red liquid. It turns out to be a raspberry punch of sorts, leaving a pleasant tingle on my tongue. "The heroes take that many resources?" Well...End must've taken a tremendous amount of resources. But isn't that okay? I'd be in some jail or worse if that program didn't exist.

"Of course they do." Deception rolls her eyes. "Didn't you see how flashy their headquarters are? And they have all the up-to-date tech, huge salaries, and we can't forget about Ten Schools and all their indoctrination."

Picking up her drink, she swirls it, the liquid shifting from a raspberry-red to a dark ruby purple. "What about the poor, hmm? The homeless? The unfortunate? What about focusing on giving better jobs to everyone and living wages instead of grabbing the latest tech for the heroes to zoom around in?

Her voice lowers with her eyebrows, and she sets down her glass with a thump, leaning towards me. "We started on the streets, Elias, fighting for every scrap of progress we could make. And what did the heroes do? Nothing. They would do nothing but take us back into the system and convert us to heroes.

"That's why we dream of overhauling the system. Instead of pouring resources and money into the heroes, we would put it into affordable housing, food, and living expenses.

"We'd make shelters for the homeless and living-wage jobs for the poor. We'd make a city where there would be no villains because there would be no need to be one. That's our dream. That's our goal with the Viper Gang." Her eyes flash purple and with a decided huff, she grabs her glass—which has returned to the raspberry red—and takes a long drink.

Looking down, I fill my mouth with another sandwich and chew slowly, giving time to digest her rant. It...sounds like she's trying to do something good, just like Edison. Just like the heroes are, if Edison is correct.

But who's right? Her story isn't the same as Edison's. I bite the edge of my lip, fingers tightening around the glass in my hand. Something isn't lining up. "What about the heroes? Where do they fit in?"

"Oh, they'll be slowly phased into our building teams or task forces or wherever they fit best." Deception shrugs, running her finger around the rim of her glass, gaze flickering towards a frog hopping along one of the rocks lining the edge of the pond. "We'll give them jobs that fit their powers best instead of just throwing them at the Villains willy nilly."

A furrow forms in between my brows. Edison told me each team was matched to the call for help by skill and availability. "And what about Villains?"

She looks at me, one eyebrow cocked and a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "It'll be a delicate task, but we'll infiltrate their ranks slowly and transform them from within." Leaning forwards, she flashes me a grin that looks closer to a wolf baring its teeth. "I've already started with the Noir gang and Cyclone's gang."

"Oh." I force a ridged lump down my throat, skin prickling. That look is...dangerous and cunning, the look on some of the newcomers in End, the one in her file that I snooped on so long ago. I brace myself for a twinge of fear, a tingle of unease, or something of the sort, but all that comes is an empty slosh of confusion.

What she says isn't an evil monologue about blowing up the city and killing thousands of innocents for revenge like those ridiculous ancient stories I read as a small kid. It isn't obviously evil, and it isn't obviously evil, it's...almost...good?

It is almost eerily similar to what Edison told me the Heroes worked for: a city of peace and fairness where everyone is given the means to live well and a second chance. Deception wants that, as well, but instead of the Heroes—with all their faults and strengths—at the head, it's her.

And is that bad? Does it make the dream inherently evil if a villain such as her wants equality? Or does it make her good because she wants something good? It can't. It can't be one or the other because if I choose either one, the Heroes are inherently bad (which I know they are not) and villains are inherently good, or the Villains are inherently bad (which I know they can't be) and the Heroes inherently good. They are neither inherently good or bad, one side of a coin or the other, but frighteningly gray like the world is increasingly revealing itself to be.

But if neither are good or evil, and everything is a blend of both, then which gray side am I on?