Lumina strode to the command center of Ground 2's base. It was located within the basement where there were no windows, the expensive equipment protected from prying eyes. Usually, you would think of a basement as dark and musty, but there, the room was covered in metal panels, high tech computer monitors, modules, and backup power cubes. Hexon lights – little hexagon shaped lights that form a honeycomb looking grid and give off a bright green light – slowly swing from the ceiling as people pass by beneath them.

Lumina stopped in front of the thick metal door that lead into command. She pressed a thumb to a dark screen. A red laser scanned it. Then, another screen revealed itself upon the metal slab – of – a – door. Lumina placed her chin upon the railing, and then a HoloDial appeared. With her eye, she turned the five rows of the dial until they formed the secret entry code. A light flashed twice. There was a click and whirr of locks disengaging. Then, the door hissed open.

People in white lab coats milled around the room, Holo's and HoloPad's in hand. Lumina briskly walked in, trying to make sure she looked important. She did have important news to break. So why not act the part, she thought.

She brushed past many lab technicians who were occupied with other things, and then stopped, taking a seat at a desk in the middle of the room. Lumina propped her feet onto the white desktop. She habitually adjusted her feet; side to side, back and forth. A small smile appeared on her lips as the metal soles of her boots reflected light onto the walls and into people's eyes. People looked away from their screens and glanced at her for a moment before straightening their slouched figure and putting on an expectant look.

Attention caught.

Lumina cleared her throat, her feet falling to the tiled platform. "First," Lumina said, her voice booming off the metal walls, "there is some news I must break to you guys."

A small, female technician stepped forward. Her hair was parted to the side, glasses pushed to the tippy-top of the bridge of her nose, and her teeth nervously bit at the bottom of her lip. She hugged a HoloPad to her chest, her fist white knuckled around the glass edges. "Excuse me ma'am," she squeaked. A hiccup followed. A nervous reaction.

Lumina's eyes fell upon the woman, her face growing concerned. "What is it Harper?"

The woman beckoned Lumina towards her with a twitch of her index finger. Lumina stepped towards her, leaning just a little so Harper could whisper into her ear.

"Before you go on with your announcement ma'am, I would like to inform you of a conversation that we had intercepted from Ground 1 just an hour ago."

In the background, the other technicians began to shift in their spots, some whispering harshly to others among them. Lumina silenced them with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Go on," she whispered back to Harper.

"I need to tell you in private."

An exasperated expression came over Lumina's face. She sighed, squeezing her eyes shut, and wiped a palm down her face to clear her annoyance. Without even looking, Lumina swept a hand into the direction of the door. Harper took the lead, Lumina following after her.

Once at the metal door frame, Lumina turned around. Quickly, she announced, "I'll be back in to inform you. For now, you can return to your duties.

The door shut behind Lumina, the metal clanging in her ears. She looked to the corridor stretching out before her. The metal tiles where no more, just the old, cracked, paint splotched drywall. The floor's familiar stickiness clung to the metal soles of her boots. With a sharp intake of breath, Lumina smelled the old, moldy air. It's not as pleasing or as comforting as it used to be. Lumina exhaled. A shame.

"Are we going or not ma'am?" Harper asked from down the stretch.

Lumina shook herself from her thoughts, a distant sadness drilled into her facial features. "I'm coming," Lumina replied.

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Lumina settled down into the ratty, leather chair that sat behind her desk. The puff of air that escaped from the holes torn into the upholstery smelled of old perfume and aftershave. It was all thanks to the people who sat there before her – her mother and father. It reminded her of home every time she sat down in the spot.

"So, why's this-" Lumina used her fingers as quotation marks, "- 'interception' so important that it needs to be kept secret?"

"It involves the reason you should change your mind about taking off that oxygen mask of yours."

Lumina placed a hand to her upper lip where the small oxygen tubes used to linger. But, of course, they were no longer there.

Lumina cocked an eyebrow. "What's the matter with being free from that dreadful oxygen mask?'

Harper quickly tapped at her HoloPad. "Take a gander at this ma'am." Harper handed over the thin, glowing, square of glass over to Lumina.

Lumina looked at it. She squinted to make sure what she was looking at was real. Then, astonished, looked up, shooting a questioning glance at Harper. "Is this for real?" Lumina asked.

"As real as it gets ma'am. Why would your longtime friend from Ground 1 send you a fake transcript along with this?"

Harper reached into her lab coat, removing something small from one of its interior pockets. She set it down on the desktop. Lumina stared at it, still in disbelief as to what she was seeing.

"I think she wanted you to open this one first," Harper politely pointed out.