(A/N: I prefer to put my author's notes at the bottom where they're least abrasive but I do want people to go into this chapter and all future chapters with this knowledge. Thank you.

This chapter has been under construction consistently over the two weeks I was absent. The prose is still clunky but I must have rewritten about 2-3K words of material because it was not working the way I wanted it too, so this would have been delayed no matter what I did. It was probably the reason I gave up the week before camp, actually. Between that and writing camp, which was a valuable learning opportunity to learn about the craft of writing and my own identity as part of that community, I have learned a lot more about what the process of 'drafting' means and how it pertains in relation to sites like Wattpad.

I was tempted to quit and start again after camp, especially to include details like giving Megan more time with her friends or more scenes between Adam and Will. However, if I stop every time I want to fix something, I will never finish this story. I have decided I'm just going to finish it with full intent that this is a first draft.  This means that things will be a little clunky from time to time (no more so than they currently are, but still). There are small issues with things like say, the siblings' courses, that would be sorted out in a real book, or you know, how fire works. I already have a list of things I want to research and use for revision. I'm not telling you this because my quality has in any way dropped. I'm telling you this because I'm pushing up my standards. I think this might be a project I see through MULTIPLE drafts, and I care for it immensely. Please continue doing what you do best (Comment, vote, share it around- I really do thrive off the support!), and thank you for enjoying this story with me. 

Yours, Chrona) 

I depart around sunset. I practically spring off my bed and past my parents, yelling "Halloween party. Friends. Will be back before curfew." and heck if I know when we'll be back but I trust the alibi to buy me time. I definitely can't pull a Serena and demand we get back at anytime, at least not tonight.

I wonder, though, if Anthem is capable of setting up a portal inside my house. You know, just in case. The moon shines overhead, a skeletal husk of its former self, and I pass from one darkness to another, and find myself right in front of our living area. Evan, Megan, and Serena are already there, leaving us to wait on Harper. My new clothes billow out behind me, complete with that beautiful, ragged scarf about my neck, and I feel the hug of the mask against my skin. The sword and sheathe flickers into existence on my back, and a sense of comfort, ease, and anticipation fills me, not unlike the feeling you get from standing outside at dusk in the summertime.

"Trick or treat," I say, which elicits a quick smirk from Evan.

"That was fast. How'd you get past Will?" asks Serena.

"He wasn't home. Sent me a message first. He's going to some party. I think it's with your friends, actually, Meg." I glance over. Megan is looking down at her hands. "Meg?"

Megan looks up and her cheeks are red and puffy. Even without seeing most of her face, hidden from view by her mask, she looks miserable.

"Woah. You alright?" I ask, immediately feeling like an idiot.

Megan blurts, "It's my friends. I... it's the first time I haven't been able to celebrate with them. I know, it's just a party, but I keep thinking, what if something happens to us? What if we're hurt- and they'll never know- and they'll think I was growing away from them- Forget it, I'm fine. I'm okay. Really."

"You're crying." Evan says, and I can't tell from the inclination of his voice whether he's sympathetic or attempting to restrain himself from saying something slap-worthy.

"It's stupid." Megan sniffs. "Sorry."

Serena stands up. "Look. I get it. It's Halloween. I don't want to do this either, but Megan, this is a big lead. We can't pass this up."

Harper enters the room, rattled, with Anthem behind her. "There was a party. I had to sneak out." she said. "My school is really, really serious about 'spirit events'."

"It's taken care of," Anthem says, cooly fixing us with her gaze. "If you all wouldn't mind, we do have a world to save."

The five of us look to each other, and Evan nods first. Megan hoists herself out of her own leather chair, wiping her exposed face off with one bare arm, and gives us a trembling thumbs up. The portal opens through the entrance, splitting the 'door' in two with a thick scar of darkness, and we file through like clockwork into the portal, together. It's not barbed wire and dusty ground that greets us, but the forest, which is thick with reds and golds. I grit my teeth. We're in a bit of a hurry here.

"Did Anthem screw our entry over?" I ask.

"No." Harper says. "Look. In the trees."

There's unusually dark branches on some of the surrounding foliage. Nope, not branches- definitely robots. They're not the sleek silver of most of the Delegation's work, but rather a grimy, disgusting black-ish tint that begs for polishing. The robots themselves are almost bird-like, thin to the point of being skeletal, and where their heads would be is a singular orb glowing with red light.

One of them makes a high beeping noise and the others follow its lead until the forest begins to glow, revealing about twelve- eleven. Evan hurls a fireball into a tree and a whole branch, laden with heated metal, comes hurtling to the ground. Megan puts it out and the two of them are whirling around, hitting everything that moves an inch, and it seems like the birds, living and otherwise, are fleeing now. The air becomes alive with natural and artificial noise, and one robot is hit through the sensor with a shard of metal. Serena waves to me, holding several throwing stars and her pole, and a singular bird makes it out of firing range and begins flapping off at a clip.

Scouts.

"I know the way," I say. "We should get there before it does."

The team follows me at a frankly impressive pace, given that Evan and Serena are the only two of us wearing clothing anywhere near practical. I'm surprised by how little my sword hinders my ability to run. I could be wearing an empty backpack to the same effect, but trust me, when this thing swings around, it feels like heavy metal. It feels incredible.

We don't have to go far. It's only a few minutes when we emerge into the perimeter of the abandoned facility, looming overhead in all its titanic glory. I slice the barbed wire open with a few deft strokes and the front door, usually padlocked (and now sporting a 'pesky teenager' sized hole) is wide open. Inside lurk a pack of walkers, prowling the area like guard dogs, and a few have already perked up in our direction.

"So, security for the party, or do you think they know we're gatecrashing?" Serena asks.

"Doesn't matter. Let's do some damage." Evan's fists clench and Serena's pole grows a large blade, becoming a sleek battle axe. Harper and Megan are at the ready, and the second the first walker lunges, it's gone. As usual, it's hard for me to get some hits around the long-range fighters, especially with just a sword at my disposal (suffice it to say I don't have the confidence to throw it around yet, boomerang or no) but Serena gets a few hits in. I watch her stick the axe into a walker's metal jaw with a weird kind of pride.

The walkers fall off within minutes, leaving scrap behind, but I get the weary feeling we haven't seen the last of them. The others dust themselves off, and Serena looks to me with a faint smile.

"Not bad, uh... did you ever think of a name?" I ask.

"Gen. Short for Lady Generator." Serena smiles, holding herself over her axe.

Evan crows, "Wow, that's good. Looks like you can create anything except for a good superhero name."

"I can create large, metal objects, and if you don't shut up, you're going to find one down your throat."

Evan yells in the background, apparently excited by the prospect (or at least the prospect of fighting Serena one on one), and Serena rolls her eyes so hard I'm worried she might get whiplash.

"Guys." I say. "We're wasting daylight."

They fall back in line. The five of us, in something akin to a loose V-formation, take the front door, only to find the front warehouse even emptier than usual. The paints on the wall have faded, there's not a robot in sight, and the room smells of sawdust. It's so quiet I can hear my teammates breathing.

In the distance, I hear the rattle of shoes on metal, followed by a pause, after which the noise picks up. Someone emerges onto the singular overhead beam, barely visible in the distance. They wear dark clothing, in stark contrast to a white scarf with dyed red ends that hangs down around them on both sides. Their face is obscured by a gleeful mask, complete with a smile so large I can see it from all the way over here. It pulls enough at the smooth mask features to be unsettling.

"I take it you're not here for the meeting." The person says, dryly, now identifiable as male. The voice rings in my ears, familiar, but I dismiss it as coincidence, my fists already tense around my sword as I draw it from the scabbard.

"As a matter of fact, we are." I say.

"You're not getting that far." he responds, and the door shuts behind us. Unfortunately, the hole we wrought in it is gone. However, on the other side of the warehouse, a door opens, thin sheets of metal clicking as they fold into the back wall. I can't see what lies beyond, because out from the depths comes the largest beast we've fought yet. In shape, it resembles the walkers, but it has eight frighteningly complex legs instead of four. The head is on a long neck, so that it can swivel about at will, and there are three sets of metal jaws on its face. A tail, with a sharp edge to it, slices the ground. Though it has no traditional eyes, when its head swings our way I can feel hate emanating from it.

Evan's hands alight with fire. "Now this is what I call a Halloween party."

"How many parties have you been to?" Harper asks.

"None! I'm a recluse!" Evan shouts as the dragon- heck, no other word for it- speeds towards us, metallic joints clinking all the way.

I yell, "Onyx, Siren, you know what to do. Gen, we're on back up. Let's try to not die."

"Sounds like a plan," Serena says, though she's watching the dragon instead of me.

"Umbra! Recon."

Harper shoots me a thumbs-up, and the team leaps into action. One shadow beast soars into one of the vents, Evan is racing right into trouble with no regard for his own safety, and the rest of us move out of the way as the dragon tries to fit us in those fancy mechanical jaws. I hit it across the head with my sword, which is halfway to full heat, but it strikes and reflects right off with no visible indentation. Evan doesn't seem to be having any luck, either- the metal heats, but not much.

"Well, there goes our plans." Evan shrugs. The tail swings around and he barely slides out of the way. Megan doesn't seem to be having any better luck.

"Okay, so that's not working." I yell, attempting to keep the panic down. Serena, staring at the beast with utmost concentration, is sticking to the walls, avoiding the jaws. She has one of the long, metal poles in both hands. "Serena, any chance you can, I don't know, create something besides a pole? Maybe a assault rifle? Grenade?"

"I don't know, do you know how grenades work down to a chemical level?" she asks. "Because if so, then goddamnit, it would be a good time to explain so I can figure out how to create one out of thin air."

"Why does your power involve so much thinking?" asks Evan.

"I don't know, why does yours come so naturally?" she yells back.

"Maybe because I'm not a freaking-" The dull side of the dragon's tail sweeps the room again and Evan hits the wall. Whatever he was going to say is choked out of his throat and he clutches his stomach, winded.

"Holy crap." I run his way, trying to help him get to his feet, and the dragon rounds on us, all three sets of jaws clicking. Overhead, the man in the mask watches us, head craned in an inhuman fashion, his arms loose at his side. I see him out of the corner of my eye and his ominous presence only builds the adrenaline coursing through me.

"Evan!" Megan concentrates her power into enough of a blast to successfully avert the dragon's attention. I can almost feel how dry the room has become, all that moisture sucked into that singular pulse, and now the dragon's gears creak with water.

My sword clatters to the floor as I help Evan up, and though his breath is still ragged, he smirks like he's just told an incredible one liner. "You look so scared right now."

"Are you okay?"

He doesn't respond, but the hesitance with which he gives me a thumbs up says enough. He tries to struggle out of the grip I have on his shoulders, pushing me away with one hand, and he stumbles up onto his feet. I hear a slow, ominous screech, and turn around to see the dragon inches from my face. My eyes widen, far too late, and I lunge for the sword. The head lunges sideways around where I would have been three seconds ago, and as the dragon draws back, returning to its normal orientation, I feel the humming of its innards, so loud that it shakes my body. The dragon, content with an easier target, dives for Evan, and then its second jaw slides open as my sword, so hot it glows white, cuts through it, and its maw and innermost mouth is wedged open by a large metal pole. Serena's eyes glimmer with fear and rage, and we share a moment of mutual relief before the dragon headbutts me to the side.

The impact is not as hard as I expected, and I pick myself up, wiping sweat and Megan's water attack from my face. It's not just adrenaline- something is filling me, power like light flowing through my veins, the sword, an extension of my hand, begs to be thrust through wanting flesh. The body does not cleave open when I almost fall back towards the beast and hit the neck in a slanting line down the side, but it exposes machinery, and when I begin to hit legs, a flurry of attacks at a speed I didn't know I was capable of, Megan finishes up. Water seals the molten metal into new, dysfunctional shapes, and the beast, unable to stand, falls. It hits one of Harper's shadows and clatters to the side, staring without eyes up at the ceiling. Another thrust through the 'chest' ceases its movement.

I look up. The man is still standing there, shocked, unaware that Harper has done far more than 'recon'. He crumples to the ground, mask and all, and she appears by his side, visible and concerned. One of the shadowbeasts, which is little more than long, snakelike body extending from her hand and large jaws, picks up the body in its mouth and carries it down to us. Harper tiptoes back down the steps,and springs back out towards us. "I almost screamed." she says. "I almost screamed when E- Onyx, sorry, got- you know." Her dark eyes probe us all. "You all are lucky that you're not dead."

Evan winces. "I'm fine."

"You could have had a bone broken. Look, I know you don't give a shit about your personal safety, but how would we explain it to your parents-"

Evan's teeth grate against each other at parents. "I said I'm fucking fine, Ser."

"Gen. We don't know who's watching." Serena says, sternly.

Evan, who is clenching his side still, lets out another long breath and says nothing.

"That aside." I say. "We did a good job- especially you, Umbra. Did you get anything from the vents, by the way?"

"They closed them halfway through the meeting. They know we're here. Besides that, I got the layout, and I know how to get out of this circuit around the edge. We should probably come back when they're not holding a meeting, though. Security is insane."

"Halfway through the meeting." Megan says. "That's still plenty."

"Not really." Harper holds a hand to her head. "They weren't talking. They stood in a circle and this person, spellbound, stepped forwards and one of them pressed a mask to their face and sealed it with their fingers..." she applies the gesture to her own face, running her index finger down both sides of her face in turn. "Whatever this is, it's not natural. At all."

"Understatement of the century." Megan says, voice prickling with unease. "We should probably deal with him, though."

We look to the incapacitated man on the floor. He's curled into a fetal position, cleanly knocked out. "Right," I say. "That's... he's really out of it."

"I took self defense classes and five years of martial arts as a child." Harper quips. "It was the easiest sport to fit around coursework."

"What if he wakes up?" Megan asks.

"Lady Generator can handle that, right?" Evan elbows Serena in the ribs.

Serena catches his hand before it gets there and fixes him with a furious glare. "Obviously I can't create sleeping powder. I can start researching the chemical composition of certain sleep inducing pills or dusts... I guess? Sleeping powder in real life would probably knock everyone in the area out. We're going to have to do it the old fashioned way." She makes a swinging motion towards the now incapacitated man below them.

"Talk about hitting a man when he's down," Evan says with a whistle.

"He'll be okay, right?" Megan asks.

"I hope so." I mutter, bending down to take the mask away. to my surprise, despite some suction, it gives, leaving only a sweaty, familiar face behind. My heart freezes. "I think I recognize him." I say, "There's this guy- he lives-" I pause, uncertain of who's listening. I can't give away my location here. Instead, I continue, "I know him. He's an engineer- Mr. Gray. He goes to barbeques. There's no way..."

"Cult member." Evan says. "Take a look at this." He takes the mask from my hand. On the back is an innate pattern of circuitry, all hooked into a miniature crystal carved into a regular square, only noticeable due to the texture and refractive light. It's almost opalescent, but instead of hints of other colors, this thing shines like it wants to be every gemstone at once.
"This is so small it's practically dust." Evan says, holding up the shard of crystal. "Are you telling me they're all practically inhaling this stuff?"

"Let's hope not." I say.

"You think they might all be guys?" Serena asks.

"I don't think so." Megan says.

"Imagine it though. The cult of middle-class suburban parents. They who disobey will be subjected to relentless torture by dad jokes." Evan says.

"Onyx. Stop." Megan puts a hand on his shoulder, and Evan, almost delirious at this point, leans onto her side. She grips him tighter.

"That doesn't answer the real question, here." I say, though I'm itching to get out of here.

"Which is?"

"Who would want something like this?"

Mr. Gray awakens, eyes fluttering open, and he runs a hand through his silver and black hair. "I can't feel anything." he says. "I can't feel them." He clenches my arm with one large hand, and I struggle to tear myself out of his desperate grip. "You need to get out of here. Whoever you are, you can't be more than fifteen- when they come out, they have so much worse than these. Than this."

"We can handle robots." Evan says, squinting.

"Not the machine." he says. "Oh, God, I just came out with the boys for a beer, and the next thing I know they've got the masks on- and then they had me- and this- Oh, God. Oh, God."

"What are you?" I ask. "What is this?"

"Part of the machine." he says.

"It's okay, sir, we'll get you out of here."

"They know everything about me. They will not let me go. Can't tell- can't stop it- Get out of here, they'll be out as soon as the meeting is over-"

"Who's in charge?" I ask, practically spitting out questions now. "What machine? How did they get that mask on you? Why come back here at all? How do you-"

There's more footsteps in the distance, so many that the air seems to shake with them.

The spectacle of seeing this grown man break down in front of us has rattled the team. I look to them, watching Serena, Harper, and Evan eye the door beside the walkway, and I say, "He's right. We need to leave."

"We can't leave him." Megan says, but it's not a statement. It's a question.

"We can." I say. "We'll be back."

Mr. Gray grasps for the mask like a drowning man looking for a life raft. He holds it in his hands, staring into the dead eyes and awful smile, and my heart pounds inside of my chest. He gets up slowly and begins walking towards another exit before breaking out into a desperate run.

We don't wait up for him. Evan is a mess, and Harper, surprisingly, is even more winded than the rest of us. Megan and Serena throw some walkers out of the way just long enough for us to make a dash for the portal, and the five of us collapse in the lair. My adrenaline is replaced by a heat that fills my brain, pain burning in hot patches all over my body, and I can't even make it to a chair. Evan throws himself in one, Harper wipes herself off with the hem of her cloak, and Serena is still clutching her pole, muttering to herself.

"We didn't get the fucking shard," Evan yells to the air, then coughs, then launches into a stream of profanity.

Megan watches Anthem descend from her roost, looking shrewdly disappointed, and in a silent glance between them Anthem's ears tilt like a sunflower towards the light and she nods. "I see. It has happened before, a fracturing, but this will be a dangerous case. I would not consider the mission a failure- you got information, did you not?"

"It's something." I say, thinking about ice packs and sleeping forever.

Anthem squints. "It's a start. You'd best be careful to get that next time. They can't generate more Diosite, but you can spread it pretty thin. It could be hundreds of people before they run out, and then there are certain cerebral implants that could be utilized to the same effect. No doubt the Diosite, if it senses a need, will guide them." There's an alarming lack of concern in her voice as she says it.

"Those people could be in real danger," Serena's voice is shaking. "We could- we could tell someone."

"No human force is going to be able to resist Diosite unless it is, itself, Diosite-empowered. Unless you'd like to be living in a communal hivemind in a few years, in a world ravaged by nuclear war and attempted- likely failed- quarantines- I'm afraid you're all you have." Anthem explains. "Infinite source of energy, a mirror which refracts the most dangerous desires of the human mind." My heart pangs not just with fear but immediate, protective concern for the team, and I feel guilty for even jumping to that instead of worrying about the world, or hell, my brother, seconds later.

"But there has to be something we could do." Megan insists.

"You'd better work faster."