"we's tryna plan our first course o' action," spot explained to the boys. ever since spot's first visit, jack had the misfortune of breaking the news to the other boys. despite some reluctance from them, they all eventually agreed to work with the looking glasses. after all, they felt they might as well do some good since they were all unvaccinated anyways.

davey, however, wasn't too keen on joining, but jack had convinced him to at least hear what spot had to say.

"it ain't gotta be big," spot explained, "but it's gotta be enough to draw attention from the media. any ideas?"

the boys were silent, glancing around at each other where they had gathered on the stage at irving hall. spot looked around before his eyes landed on a certain member of the crowd. "jack. you got somethin'?"

jack slipped his hands into his pockets, trying to hide the tension in his muscles. "i got nothin'."

spot seemed discouraged but quickly masked it with a determined expression. "well, we still got time."

"say," davey began, looking around in puzzlement, "how come it's just us meeting? don't the looking glasses have millions of followers?"

spot's brows furrowed, and he looked down at davey. "yeah, we do. but you think we'd have a whole crowd meet at once?" he looked around, and davey seemed somewhat satisfied with his answer. "right now, as our movement is just beginnin', we gotta be careful. one slip up, and the whole future we's plannin' for is down the drain."

jack exhaled sharply, though he knew spot was right. these first stages were the most important because they were the most vulnerable. once things started gaining momentum, then more risks could be taken.

he stepped forward, ready to put an end to this meeting. "we'll let you know if any of us come up with somethin'," jack told spot, signaling that it was time to wrap the event up.

once a few final words were exchanged and spot had stepped out to make his exit, davey walked towards jack, an uneasy look on his face. "i'm not too sure about this, jack."

"yeah," jack murmured, "i ain't either. but it's better than sittin' still and lettin' the government control us."

davey sighed, rubbing his forehead in an attempt to ease the tension in his mind. they both fell quiet, unsure what else to say up until the moment jack excused himself to find a quiet spot where he could think in privacy.

he settled for a spot backstage where a short stool sat between several props. he took a seat on the stool, leaning his elbows onto his knees as his thoughts consumed him.

was he doing the right thing? was fueling the campaign of the looking glasses good for him and the boys, or would it lead to trouble for all of them? jack felt somewhat responsible for the boys, and worried that if anything happened to them due to their association with the looking glasses, then it would be his fault for getting them involved in the first place.

he rested his head in his hands, trying to drown out the bad thoughts. after all, he did tell davey that it was better than doing nothing. still, jack simply wished this battle didn't need to be fought at all. he wished for a society that accepted emotions, whether rational or irrational.

he was torn out of his thoughts at the feeling of something vibrating in his pocket. he pulled the object out, finding the source of the vibration being an incoming call from an unknown number.

he sat up a little straighter. could it be...?

he didn't allow himself to finish that thought, for he had already accepted the call and was holding his phone up to his ear. "hello?"

"hey, is this jack?" a familiar voice asked, and jack became somewhat hopeful.

"yeah," he answered, waiting for a response.

"oh good!" the voice expressed. "this is katherine."

jack grinned to himself, chuckling beneath his breath. "so you decided to call?"

"yeah," katherine said softly, and jack could tell from the tone of her voice that she was smiling. a few moments passed before she spoke up again. "so how are you?"

"fine," he responded, "just, y'know, getting some stuff done."

"a project?"

"somethin' like that," he answered, glancing up to make sure no one was nearby. "what about you?"

"oh, i'm good!" she replied. "i just got out of my last class for the day."

an idea grew in jack's mind, and he sat up even straighter, trying to decide how to phrase his words. "hey—uh—you got plans right now?"

"um..." katherine drew out the word in thought. "i don't think so. why?"

jack sucked in a breath. "you wanna meet up? grab a coffee or somethin'?"

there was a short moment of silence, and jack grew slightly nervous by her hesitation. then, after a few more silent moments passed, he heard her voice speak up again, "sure!"

"great," jack said, her response lifting his mood slightly. "i'll meet ya at the the campus in ten minutes."

"okay!" she expressed. "i'll be waiting."

the call ended, and jack stood, not wanting to waste a single moment. he grabbed his belongings, rushing out the door that led to the alleyway so none of the boys would stop him.

~•~•~•~

katherine sat at the same table she sat at when she last talked with jack, scrolling through her phone absentmindedly. surprisingly, katherine felt a twinge of excitement at the thought of spending time with jack. she enjoyed talking to him, because she felt the two of them shared the same open mindset that wasn't commonly accepted.

then, at exactly ten minutes, jack came rushing into the courtyard. katherine looked up at the sight of movement, smiling softly as she rose from the table. the two approached each other, with katherine shifting her bag on her shoulder. "so," she began, "there's a cafe just a few blocks down. does that sound okay?"

"yeah," jack nodded, unable to suppress his crooked grin. "sounds great."

~•~•~•~

"we're just a few weeks away from completing the trials for the new model of the lmd," the head researcher said to joseph pulitzer, who was standing with the woman in front of a windowpane that looked into a test subject's room. "depending on how these final trials go, the device should be made available to the public within the month."

joseph hummed in response, gazing into the room on the other side of the glass with a keen eye. in the room was a white chair that held a young girl, staring emptily at the wall in front of her. joseph turned to the head researcher, a brow arched, "and she was given the device?"

the head researcher nodded. "last night. she and her lover were convicted a few weeks ago, and they were given to us to test on. so far, our tests have gone well. today is the first of our final tests; this time with actual subjects who have experienced fervoria."

joseph nodded once, looking back at the young girl. "let's see it then."

the head researcher said something to a staff member behind them, who quickly left the room. a few moments later, a door inside the test subject's room opened, and the staff member dragged a young man into the room, who appeared to be trying to resist the staff member's grip. he was strapped into a chair behind the girl, and then the staff member stepped forward, turning the girl's chair so she was now facing him. then, the staff member left the room, leaving the two alone.

"clara?" the young man said, his eyes wide with concern.

she looked up at him, blinking slowly as if adapting to new surroundings. the dime-sized metal tab on her temple blinked to life, glowing blue: a sign that her emotions were not trying to fight against her.

"oh god..." he murmured, "god... clara, what did they do to you?"

"they fixed me," she breathed, her voice frail and soft. "they made sure what happened would never happen again."

"what are you talking about?" he expressed, fighting against his restraints but failing. "this isn't you talking right now."

"it is," she responded monotonously. "what happened between us wasn't natural. look at the trouble it caused. they've fixed the problems in my mind."

"that's not how you really feel—"

"exactly," she interrupted. "which is why i needed to get help. thanks to the lmd, i can live a normal life."

he gaped at her, his face falling in defeat. "n-no. i refuse to let it end like this."

"you need to." she said softly, her voice wavering slightly. for a moment, the blue in the tab flickered to red, but quickly returned to its normal state. "you need to leave it all behind."

he shook his head, silent for a moment before looking back at her and tugging on his restraints again. this time, he managed to loosen the strap around his wrist just enough to get his arm loose. clara looked at him, her eyes emotionless as he attempted to use his free arm to remove the remaining restraints. however, the staff member swiftly entered the room, shoving him back into his seat.

the young man fought against him, shouting words of protest and clara's name as a second staff member entered the room, a syringe in hand. the first staff member held the man down as the second inserted the syringe's needle into the man's arm, sedating him. gradually, the man slipped into unconsciousness, falling limp into the chair.

"it seems the results are as we hoped," joseph said, his eyes travelling to clara whose empty eyes watched as the staff members carried the man out of the room. "the girl held her ground well."

the head researcher nodded curtly. "all that's left is to monitor her for the next few weeks and ensure the device as as foolproof as we expect it is. without a doubt, the improved lmd is the most effective form of fervoria prevention to date."

"just as we had hoped."