"That's what we were trying to tell you!" Camila yelled at the same time the door slammed shut behind Dorian and me.

"Try the door!" Rav cast a worried glance over our shoulders.

   We rushed to do so. It was hard to believe that the door we had just come through was sealed like a steel trap.

"It's locked!" The panic laced with my loud response matched everyone else's reaction.

   We all tried to avoid the glow of the light which emanated from the completely black bite-sized cube box at the centre of the room by backing into a corner. All efforts were in vain, however, when its bright beam began to move across the room, widening into a paper-like sheet as it did so.

"What the hell is it doing?" Dorian murmured from the back.

"Scan completed." An authoritative, masculine voice from the cube engulfed the bunker. "Analysis of biographies available. Aarav Hooda, 16 years of age, 35th Platinum Street..."

   We stared at Rav when the voice went on to reveal his address, race and creed.

"Camila Mendez, 16 years, 21st Term Street-"

"Someone do something!" She shrieked over the electronic voice mentioning her details.

"Beth Simmons, 16 years, the Classic Suburb of Ridgeton, African-"

"Quick, look for something to break this thing!" Rav bellowed.

   After Rav's eyes travelled round the bunker for a short while, he broke away from the cluster we had still formed in the corner. The rest of us looked on as he acquired Camila's infamous head concussioning stick. I let out an audible gasp when he shoved it into my hands in a rushed panic.

   For some reason though, my body was instantly responsive and took action. It was a blur after I laid the first hit on the flashing device. Once I began, however, the only thing that could make me stop was when the room turned dark and the device was finally soundless.

   Knowing hands held mine to slowly pry the battered stick from my death grip.

"You got it," Dorian said. "It's okay."

"Let's get out of here," Camila breathed. Her face, like ours, was coated with profuse sweat.

"The door is still refusing to budge!" Aarav, who had returned to the door, could barely keep his composure as he fumbled with its handle.

"Do you realise how ridiculous you all are?"

   Our worst fears were heightened when we traced the unidentifiable speaker to the shattered cube.

"You actually think your two drones and sorry excuse of a plan is enough to stop the inevitable future."

   I frowned. This recent voice wasn't the continuation from the other that just spoke. It was masculine sounding alright, but didn't have the authoritative huskiness.

"Guys," Dorian did not look or sound good as he revealed, "That's one of my classmates' voices."

"My micro cams have been recording your juvenile attempts from day one..."

   It wasn't the same voice speaking. The other male had now been replaced by a feminine drawl.

"That's a girl from my Alien Studies class," Rav choked, leaving his position at the exit to come closer to the cube. "What the hell is going on?"

"The Yunitides are using the voices of the students to get their message across!" I raved. "They can't speak, remember?"

   How stupid were we to think the Yunies didn't know we were under their noses the whole time? We had been so busy trying to break into the devil's den, we didn't realise we were already in it. Deep.

   They controlled everything and now that they had us all in the same room...

"Guys," I headed toward the door. "We need to leave."

   The adrenaline pulsing through me made me rush toward the sealed shut door and release with each hit by my shoulder against our only way out. My vision was beginning to get misty from the smoke that emerged from the cube and was spreading at wind speed.

"Don't inhale any of it!" My cry was muffled by the part of my shirt raised to my nose.

   Not all of us were that fast though. Dorian was already try to lift Rav in his motionless state off the ground. The gas had already gotten to him.

   I would have run to them if Camila hadn't joined me at the door. She glanced at the door before riveting her stare to me. We nodded in unison and with our combined force, the door was knocked down, detached from its hinges.

"Come on!" Cami yelled.

   We trooped toward the exit.

   For some reason, there were no Yunies waiting to gain on us on the surface. I was pretty sure it was because that gas was too dangerous for even them to inhale.

   Fortunately, Rav was revived when met with fresh air enough to join us on our race to the bus stop. The dominant sounds present were of our repetitive, out of sync, gasps of air.

"Listen, I know we're all drained," Dorian rasped. "But these aliens are going to realise soon enough that we're not dead, unconscious, basically still trapped in there. We need to keep moving."

"He's right." Camila raised her head from the hands on bent knees position she'd assumed.

"Let's order a Ride," Aarav said, crossing the street. "We'll go to my place."

"Beth," Dorian called after joining Rav and Camila on the other side of the street. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you hear that cube thing?" I frowned, not budging from the bus stop, where everyone else originally was. "It knows we're the ones who got away and mentioned our locations! The Yunies'll find us in no time!"

"I can't believe we forgot!" Camila groaned.

"Okay everyone." Rav clapped. "Hand over your phones!"

   I hesitated. As much as I didn't want to be tracked, I wasn't hoarding some miracle treasure where I could retrieve money to buy a new phone if it was destroyed. Also, what was I going to tell Mum or Tali when they eventually found out I didn't have it on me without revealing too much?

"We can't throw them away!" I failed to disguise my anxiety while I placed mine in Rav's hand.

"Of course not," he responded. "My parents have prototypes of this privacy chip their company's been working on for quite a while. That's what I've been using on my phone for some time now and it hasn't let me down yet. I could use the share option so that its features are wired to your phones. If there are any interferences, it's being eliminated by now and replaced with a nearly impenetrable security system. So... yeah. Our phones are taken care of."

   The sombre expression that overtook Rav's usual smiling, playful face was foreign and unnerving as continued, "But what about not being able to go home? What are we going to tell our parents? The Zavlonians are still in the school. Our friends. The plan was damned from the beginning. The Yunies knew and probably still know everything. They're probably tracking everything else. We might as well just turn ourselves in."

The silence that followed Rav's rant ignited a stronger feeling of dread I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one experiencing. No one made the attempt to argue or make the situation less of the hell that it was.

"Rav." Camila sighed. "This isn't over. We can sti-"

"Are you kidding me?" I jerked at the yell that sprung from him. "Am I the only one who almost just died in the bunker? Or did you have to pass out like me to realise that these creatures tried to kill us? Not even try to make us succumb to their mind control crap. Kill us!"

"Liberation Week was the perfect time to do this." Dorian's hands entwined in his hair as he let out a scoff. "They've probably given other parents solid reasons why the week has been extended. Every one of them thinks their kids are safe. By the time they find out, it'll be too late. What Mr. Sacury said is coming to pass and there's nothing we can do about it."

   Hopelessness was spreading fast. I felt my heart drop with the seat Camila took on the bare ground, eyes lowered and lost.

"I would say we could hide out at a hotel, but they all take cards now. It will be impossible to use one of ours without being tracked." She snorted.

"Assuming they don't suspect and shun us for being teenagers." Rav joined her on the ground.

"So what are we going to do then? Where are we going to go?" I asked.

"You get to go home." Dorian pointed out like I should know. "I don't recall the cube mentioning your actual location."

   The device's words now hit me. It never included my home address in the analysis' results. What was only called out was the Ridgeton. Ridgeton wasn't popular for its zonal orderliness. Far from it actually.

   The haphazard nature of the home address system made it difficult for digital maps to locate places that weren't landmarks, like houses. If your home was lucky enough to make it onto the maps in the first place.

   If I had learnt anything, it was not to underestimate the Yunies' tech, but it'd take a miracle for them to find my home in less than two days. At least based on the times Tali had attempted to do so.

And even she had had help–if you know what I mean–during those times she tried.

"Why did we even consider the bunker as our hideout in the first place?" Dorian sighed. "That was our first dumb move."

"I wouldn't say 'our'." My eyes went wide at the quick glance Rav cast to his side while saying so.

Camila, however, was fast and smart enough to notice that discreet dig he made my way. She was not happy.

"You have got to be kidding me! At least I was the one who made the initial move. I reached out to everyone I didn't see in the hallway that day the moment I got the message! Yes, I was the one who found the bunker, but don't forget I didn't just connect the dots, I created them! And who read my message but didn't reply until two days later? You know what Aarav, FU-"

"Whoa, Camila." I chimed in, backing up when a sharp thrust with her hands lifted her from the ground. "Calm down. This is not the time to come at each other. Let's all just-"

"Oh, give me a break, Beth. You of all people should just shut up! Figuring out the connection between the Virtuo glasses and mind control doesn't change anything! For all we know, you got the message earlier than we did. You swooped in a whole WEEK after this mess. Because you were the only one amongst us that feared for her life, right? Or is it because this entire situation wasn't wrapped with a big red bow that screamed SCHOLARSHIP?!"

   I had to take a step back to regain my footing. The impact of her words had the effect of an inferno within me. The uncertainty as to whether the sting each word carried was yet another Zavolonian's lie against me or laced with truth restrained my outburst.

"So what are we going to do then?" Dorian quipped.

   Camila seemed way too exhausted to give Dorian his share of a reality check as she flopped back to the ground with a scowl.

   His question hung in the air unanswered.

   The serene environment, which hardly matched any of our moods took over and loitered until the sound of an engine blared from a distance.

   After inhaling a few gulps of air, I began walking to the other side of the street we had just crossed, where the bus stop was situated.

"What are you doing?" Dorian raised his head.

   I stopped in the middle of the road and shrugged out my response, keeping my head down and kicking the dust beneath my feet.

   The approaching vehicle, though far, was at a visible distance by now. Rav and Camila maintained their unwavering stances on the ground, refusing to face each other and anyone else.

"I'm leaving," I said. "To Ridgeton."

   That caught their attention.

"Are you serious?" Rav stood up with wide eyes.

   The bus was at a closer range. Like him, Camila was on her feet but not ready to make eye contact with anyone just yet.

   I sighed. "We can't stay here."

"So you're just going to leave?" The proximity between Dorian and I was increasing as he walked toward me asking.

   I nodded. "Yes."

   The horn erupted from the bus that was parked at its usual spot in front of the stop. It was just a few feet from where I was standing.

   I had barely walked toward it seconds before turning back to add,

"But only if you come with me. All of you."

A/N: 600 guyss🥳🎉💃🏽!! Welcome new and forever loved readers🔥❤️!

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