It took all the energy within me not to claw Rav's eyes out when I woke up the next morning.

   That and the feeling of forks being stabbed through my skull a thousand times per minute, of course.

   I was still pretty close to killing him though. Especially when he, who miraculously didn't seem to feel or look like hell, kept saying, "Damn..." —Not in a good way— and "I could have sworn we hydrated first!"

   If Talise, Camila and Dorian believed my appearance was similar to that of a washed up demon doll, they did a good job of masking it. Or maybe they didn't, who knows?

   I was more focused everywhere else but their glances anyway.

   My hazed out state didn't change the fact that there was still a leg brace to be built. Fortunately, before I could sneak into Cami's bathroom and have a psychotic break at the thought of doing everything by myself, Dorian suggested we all pitched in.

   That was the only good thing about this dumb hangover. And of course, also that my mind was a lost cause in the memory department. Aside from my recollection of Rav and I downing shot bottles and edibles like amateurs, the rest was a blur. At least I didn't have to relive that dreaded night.

   One thing I was certain about from all this, though, was that you'd have to kill me before I consumed alcohol and edibles purchased from the trunk of a shady motel staff member's car (Rav's confession this morning) again.

   Thank God for the painkillers Tali brought from Ridgeton at my request.

   Right after breakfast, we got to work in the basement. After Dorian and I worked on the sketches to put the kind of leg brace I envisioned to paper, we assigned everyone else a role.

   Tali and Cami were to focus on acquiring the right measurements for the brace. It involved measuring the various parts of Talise's lower limbs, particularly her leg and foot. This was going to be the basis of Dorian and I's construction.

   Rav, on the other hand, found the most qualified tutorial videos on the manufacture of leg braces. Since the videos were more than we anticipated, he began jotting down what he believed were key things to note.

   Dorian and I, while the rest carried on, tended to the machine parts we'd picked up at the junkyard and the tools Talise acquired from my home. Our main intent involved separating the tools and parts we actually needed for the brace from the others. By the time we finished, the measurements and notes were ready for us to begin.

   The next couple of hours were spent on the construction of the brace. After Dorian and I had marked and sawed the measured machine parts, hammered, sharpened, shaped, welded and glued, my vision was brought to life. It took the sudden awareness of people's presence in the room for me to stifle the tears that arose at the sight of the leg brace.

   The curved plastics that were to accommodate Tali's leg and feet were surrounded by a boot-shaped metal covering. The tiny spaces between the plastic and metal at the heel area was what was going to serve as the hideout of some of the cameras. The rest were going to be placed into one of the tubes we used to make the metal parts. There was a temporary covering at the bottom of the tube which could hold the cameras and be removed easily for the devices to fall out at the right time.

"Dorian," I turned to him beside me.

   He had the same look of awe while staring at the leg brace. I couldn't have any of this without him and he had to know that.

"Yeah?" he replied, shifting his eyes toward me.

"I just wanted to say good job," I gestured to the brace. "This wouldn't have been possible if you didn't help out. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Beth," Dorian said, giving me a nod and warm smile.

"What about us?" Rav grumbled, before I could react to Dorian's reply. "Talise, Camila and I have been playing the roles of being your wonderful assistants. Handing you the right tools is not easy, you know."

   I faced the trio who were currently packing up the remaining devices strewn about on the floor.

"I was getting to you guys," I laughed. "None of this would have been made possible without you three. And I'm not only saying that because my hangover constantly distorted my ability to differentiate between similar tools. Thank you."

   We finished clearing up the messes made and successfully hid the brace in a safe place just in time for a late lunch.

***

   The day was still not over though. After a two hour break, we converged in the basement once more. Now that everything involving Tali's safe entry into Zavlon Academia for Visitation Day was taken care of, Camila, with the help of Rav relayed the plans earlier discussed in relation to Talise's role as a Zavlon visitor.

"As far as we know," Camila began. "Visitation Day is our safest, most reliable way into Zavlon and we have to keep it that way. If Talise goes according to plan, we won't have to worry about a thing."

"We'll have to rent a van— don't expect anything fancy since we're on a tight budget— which we'll use to drive Tali to Zavlon and linger around the area until Visitation Day ends at five pm," Rav continued. "Cami will text her our location so that she can easily find us and we drive back here."

"When you first enter the school," Camila told Talise, "as Beth said days ago, your things will be searched and your body subject to a metal detector. Fortunately, the leg brace has already handled that problem. So when you make it through the examination, the next thing to do is try to mingle with the other visitors as much as possible. We don't know where these Yunitides could be hiding, so you have to act natural. But you can't afford to be too sociable. You'll need to be alone when the self-tour is permitted to distribute the cameras around the school, which is what our next topic of discussion is going to be based on. Rav?"

"The cameras, like we've discussed, are to be placed in several areas of Zavlon Academia." He took over instantly. "This will help in our search for Mr. Sacury's lab, the place where the answer to stopping all this mind control horror show resides. Tali, we've taken into consideration your exceptional ability to sneak around but we also couldn't ignore the fact that you don't really know the school well. According to Zavlon's website, each visitor is given a map of the school for their self-tour but we can't risk using routes the other visitors might take. We'll need to direct you to a less crowded area. Which is why Camila and I pulled some personal money to purchase a pea-sized, colourless earpiece which we'll sync with our devices in order to communicate with you."

"We could only afford the cheapest one since we're, you know, broke now," Camila whispered those last words like they were sinful to utter. "The earpiece is used and we got some unpleasant feedback when we tested it out, but we've made sure to sanitise thoroughly and the feedback comes and goes."

"But you know I can just call you guys on my phone, right?"

   Camila replied to Talise's question by explaining how it wouldn't be the best idea if she was on her phone all the time. Especially since we didn't know who was watching.

"Out of the cameras to be distributed around, one camera will be following you around at all times," Rav proceeded. "This is so that we can get eyes inside Zavlon as well. It will be easier than making you describe where you are."

"So in order to get the cameras out, you can hide in the bathroom," Camila said. "We'll select one of the ones known to be secluded of course. For the places where the cameras will be, we've chosen locations where the cameras are difficult to detect. Even though they'll eventually be moving around the school, we need to make sure that they are around long enough to do so. Besides, these cameras cannot go up the many stairs Zavlon has. The six cameras—well, five if you don't count the one following you— will be placed in the teachers' lounge, assembly pod, two classrooms we'll direct you to and... We're still deciding on the room for the fifth camera. For the sixth camera, our eyes, you'll have to figure out a way to leave it on Zavlon's courtyard. We can't limit ourselves to only getting a visual of the school's interior."

"What makes this part of the plan very important is the high risk of getting caught, but I suppose this still applies to the plan as a whole." Rav chuckled. "Seriously though, Talise, nothing but subtlety. The Yunies could strike from anywhere. One wrong move and..."

   I glanced toward her at that incomplete statement, ignoring the way my heart kept threatening to leap out of my chest. This wasn't about how I felt. I had to put my best friend's response to everything that was said above mine right now.

"I'm not going to lie, all this is a little overwhelming," Talise released a shaky breath while speaking. "Do I feel like running for the hills? Absolutely."

"Tali, there's still time," I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. "You don't have to. We can't figure something else ou—"

"You didn't let me finish," she held up her hand. "Yes, this is terrifying, but I don't recall anything else similar to this situation—remotely similar, of course—being otherwise. I get to be a part of something I couldn't have ever possibly imagined. None of us could've. I'm just glad I get to do it with my best friend and her schoolmates, people whom I've realized are actually not so bad."

"She's talking about me," I heard Rav whisper.

   Trust him to take a compliment like 'actually not so bad' and own it.

"Whatever the outcome," Talise carried on, "it doesn't change the fact that I'm doing something to stop this mind control issue. Every single one of us is. And that can't be denied as worthwhile, whether it works out or not. So, yes, I'm scared, but...let's do this shit."

   Everyone knew no other speech could top that.

   I could only give her my biggest smile as a comforting warmth overtook my chest. I'd never been prouder to call Talise Lightning my best friend.

"Thank God you're not backing out," Rav wheezed out relieved breaths. "Because I certainly wasn't going to replace yo—OW!"

   He glared at Camila, eyes stayed trained elsewhere. Like she hadn't just kicked him in the shin.

   Everyone knew no other speech could top that... except Rav. 

A/N:  QOTD: Like Talise, what's one thing that you were scared to do, but did it anyway?

  For me, I would say sharing 'Free Minds'! It was not easy for me to post my first chapter and even though that we're on the fiftieth chapter, it's still hard for me to believe I'm doing this😂😂

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