She never imagined how much Newt's departure could affect her. They hadn't known each other very well. They mostly talked whenever they met to share their findings and not a lot of time was left to talk for fun.

She didn't feel the same way when it was Minho's turn to leave, nor even Gally nor Winston. With Newt it was different. Even if he had spoken harshly to her the first time they talked—he did trust her the most. He stood up for her when his friends were rude to her. He wanted her to be safe, and he valued every little effort she made to get answers even if it wasn't much.

The only thing that comforted her was the thought of Newt wearing the scented hoodie. He would be able to feel that she was closer as if she were personally reassuring him that she was trying her best to fix the whole situation.

❀❀❀

For a whole year, Sara didn't ever hear anything from Newt nor Sonya, nor anyone else she'd ever talked to during that time. Kids kept getting taken away, one every month. Sometimes a small group of them would be taken at the same time, yet the system continued. The kids that still remained in the building were kids she never really talked to, so she didn't go out into the lobby as much as before.

She never received any letters from Newt.

Whenever she would ask Janson or even Rebecca to give her any news from any of her friends, they would immediately change the subject, trying their best to distract her. She constantly wrote letters to Newt, Sonya, or Harriet; letters that she handed to Rebecca to give to them but got no response.

She even started to think Rebecca simply wasn't sending any of her letters and just kept them.

Rebecca had decided to suspend her investigations for a while since Janson was keeping a better eye on Sara. Basically, everything came crashing down all of a sudden and she was left all alone once again.

Sara was becoming even more apprehensive and irritable each day. Sometimes she simply refused to eat, getting angry and yelling at anyone who approached her. She'd never felt a stronger urge to avoid people and not have to see any of their faces. Not even Rebecca's. On that measure, she also refused to train.

Had her friends forgotten her that quickly? Had Newt?

All the possible answers to the questions that kept her up at night were somehow locked away in a Pandora box. It was like she wasn't even allowed to get answers—all was strictly forbidden. No one would tell her anything. And she was tired of doing her own research because it always led to a dead end.

Back at it again with nothing making sense.

It had been at least a whole year without her being exposed to natural light.

And the Wiseman air.

Despite the scorching heat that settled in her hometown following the solar flare catastrophe, she missed the beautiful breeze that caressed her cheeks as she sat out on her porch at home.

Her father would always tell her to go outside and get some fresh air whenever she was upset. And she kept remembering her mother—how she would always have to call her name so she could get back inside the house right as the sun was setting.

The sunsets were beautiful. Sometimes all three of them would sit out and watch it hide behind the snowcap mountains in the distance. The last traces of snow in Alaska could be seen only in the mountains after the disaster, which added all the more beauty to the white mystery that snow had become.

But now the four walls of her room at HQ were windowless. Not even a simple sunset could be appreciated there. Home was incomparably better, and she couldn't understand why she couldn't get her doubts cleared up at least. She even came to think that with so many questions left unanswered, that was the cause of her slowly going insane, losing herself in her own misery.

Or maybe—she thought—she was being selfish. Here she was, complaining about her life in the complex and hating on everyone she knew for failing to maintain contact with her, but were they even okay? What if something serious happened to them that they really couldn't reach out to her?

And her home, well, she simply couldn't go back anymore.

Rebecca hated seeing the girl, whom she'd considered a daughter by now, sulking in her room. Out of fear, she had decided to wait to act, but the whole situation was slowly killing Sara, and that was certainly not part of the plan.

She lightly knocked on her door but after receiving no answer from Sara, she opened it carefully and peered through to see the girl lying on her bed, facing the wall.

"Leave, Becca. Please," the girl mumbled.

"Hey, Sarita, listen. I'm so sorry." Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed while stroking the girl's soft hair.

Sara swatted the woman's hand away. "What are you sorry about, huh?" She suddenly sat up on the bed, facing Rebecca. "That I lost everyone in my life? My mom, my dad—are you sorry that all my friends are gone, and I haven't heard a thing from any of them? I didn't even get to say goodbye to them, Becca! They simply left. They left me." Tears welled up in her eyes and started falling down her cheeks.

Rebecca sighed. "Did you not get to say goodbye to Newt? I thought you did. He did smell a lot like Rosemary right before he left." Rebecca gave her a small playful smile. Sara only looked at her, taken aback.

"How... how did you know?" she asked, feeling shocked as she suspiciously stared at Rebecca.

Wait... oh...

"It was you, wasn't it?" Sara asked, bewildered. "But then why couldn't you give Newt my letters?"

Rebecca smiled at her, then looked down at her own lap. "I asked a few of my colleagues to let him stay longer so you both could have a proper goodbye. I'm sorry I couldn't do the same for your other friends. They would've suspected of me. And as for the letters... the kids are repeatedly getting tested—the letters would put him and us two at risk."

"Thank you anyway," Sara whispered, feeling foolish for her behavior. "And I'm so sorry. I should've known," she gave her an apologetic, yet grateful smile. Rebecca smiled back reassuringly before Sara threw her arms around her, and Rebecca hugged her back while holding her close.

As they pulled back, Sara tilted her head to the side and began, "By the way, you've never really shown me what your job is. What does Rat Man make you do exactly? And don't you dare keep this from me again. I'm pretty sure I deserve to know if we're actually gonna continue with the plan," she warned. Rebecca nodded knowingly.

She had already gotten used to hearing Janson's nickname the more Sara spent time with the boys. It was an innocent joke—all fun and games until the day Janson would find out. Rebecca hoped it wouldn't happen at least for now.

"You're right. Time for some truth," said the woman as she stood up from Sara's bed.

The girl took Rebecca's hand, which was already stretched out to help her up.

❀❀❀

The main laboratory was empty. The employees were all at lunch and there were no security guards around, probably because Janson was in another meeting with Ava Paige. Rebecca made sure the security cameras leading to the lab were either frozen or shut off, even though the carelessness with security given the absence of everyone else was that tangible.

Sara contemplated every inch of the room in awe. She'd never imagined WICKED could get so technical. What did they even do with all those screens and monitors? The experiment that they were planning was far from simple. It wasn't new to her that all the kids were being used for that experiment, but she desperately needed to know the details—what it all encompassed.

She looked over at Rebecca for answers. The woman sat her down on one of the chairs nearby.

Sara just wanted the truth more than anything. She was tired of people beating around the bush anytime they wanted to tell her something, or anytime she dared to demand more than an evasive response.

"Sara, what I'm about to tell you... I understand it's something hard to digest, and I probably should've told you sooner. But I just can't risk things going the wrong way. If Janson finds out, we're done for." She had never seen Rebecca this nervous, and it actually awoke a dreadful fear of getting caught within her chest. "Listen, I have a feeling he's kind of getting suspicious even though he hasn't done anything to prove he has, really."

"Just tell me. I would've found out on my own sooner or later. I need to know, come on," Sara pressed on. The opportunity presented itself, and there was no way she was going to let it go this time.

"The project we're working on, it cost WICKED millions of dollars to carry out. Our goal, supposedly, is simply to find a cure to the Flare. But when you look at what it takes it's not actually that simple. The kids, they've been found to be immune, and their brains are being studied." Rebecca paused and took a deep breath. "We don't send them away..." Sara's eyes widened, "...we send them up, but they're still here in HQ," Rebecca continued and Sara frowned in confusion. "The Maze—"

"The Maze is something I'd love to tell you about, my dear."

Sara and Rebecca whipped their heads around and abruptly shot up from their chairs at the sound of the all-too-familiar voice.