FOUR YEARS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK...

"Seriously?" Atlas said as he and Ares made their way through the corridor. "After all this, you're still gonna try and get what you want?"

"Atlas, shut up!" Ares hissed. "Unlike your little brother, wherever the hell he is, my daughter has actually managed to send letters back. And I feel bad for Artemis since she's our only link."

"So that's how you're gonna justify stealing a laptop?"

"You don't have to join me. I don't even know why you're here. You're not a part of my family. Hell, you're not even my friend."

Even though Atlas's expression didn't change, Ares could sense in his eyes that he was hurt by that comment. "You're right, mate," Atlas replied. "Or should I even call you that anymore?"

"Call me whatever the hell you want. Call me Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth if you want. You're just the wanker I'm bunking with until I see Sarah again. Your feelings don't mean much to me anyway. I'm just here to get this science shit done with and I'm out of here."

Ares walked away, leaving Atlas standing in the middle of the hallway with a broken heart. Atlas was never good at making friends. Nothing discouraged him from making friends, but both this facility and the military project made it difficult for him to care about other people since they always seemed to be a bunch of pricks. He only wanted to join the British Army to leave his parents behind, not his brother. And sometimes he felt like his brother was his only friend, the only person in the world who would acknowledge his existence.

"I understand why you're a cunt, y'know!" Atlas shouted from down the hall. "When you're separated from the one you love, anywhere can feel like a prison!"

"Shut up, lad," Ares replied, not bothering to look back as he continued to trek down the hall. "You've got a way with words, y'know. Seriously, I prefer that last quote over any of Shakespeare's plays. But you're not gonna change my mind."

"But can I at least change your heart?"

Ares chuckled. "I'm gonna need a heart first before you can change it."

Not another word followed. Atlas had given up on Ares and trudged back to the quarters while Ares continued his journey down the corridor to the facility's electronics storage. If everything went as planned, Artemis would be there waiting for him.

"Evening, miss!" Artemis's voice echoed around the next corner. Ares paused for a moment. The two of them were no longer alone.

"Artemis, what are you doing?" another woman's voice replied, more mature and less amicable. Hera. "The supervisors are in bed. Even Colonel Schae—er, Zeus, I mean—is asleep, and he never sleeps."

"I could ask you the same thing, ma'am. Why aren't you asleep?"

"Abigail, don't manipulate the situation. I asked you a simple question."

"Actually, Zeus says we can only call each other by our codenames, remember? So I'm not Abigail right now. I'm Artemis."

"Don't make me remove you from your position. You wouldn't want to become part of the test subjects, would you? Or worse: the garbage men who have to clean the corpses out of the sub-level?"

Artemis paused for a moment. "You make a good point, miss. Plus, every time a janitor goes down to clean out the rubbish, I never see them again. Why is that?"

Ares raised an eyebrow. He knew many of the test subjects would disappear without a trace, but the custodians? It seemed like hardly anyone cared about the test subject deaths, but no one would ever bat an eye if something happened to the custodians. Or at least until now.

"It's dark, creepy, and smells like rotting corpses," Hera replied nonchalantly. "They're either barfing their innards out or getting lost in the darkness. But they'll be fine."

"As long as they're safe," Artemis added in her usual friendly manner.

"So please just tell me what you're doing here," Hera said, now sounding more bored than annoyed.

"Fine."

Don't say it, Ares thought to himself. Don't betray me. We've been doing this for months.

"I was feeling homesick," Artemis explained. "I know Zeus highly discourages communicating with the outside world, so I hide in the electronics storage to email my family back in Cambridge."

"I'm very disappointed in you, Abigail," Hera sighed. "We were supposed to keep the Ambrosia Project a secret, and you're making it harder to do that."

"Please don't tell Zeus! And call me Artemis!"

"You do realize he lets his chums Poseidon and Hades call each other by their real names, right? Can't we do the same?"

"Why are you so calm about this?"

"Because...unlike Schaefer--and yes, I didn't use his codename--I sympathize with those who are separated from their families. Granted, I'm not as heartbroken as you are, but I still pity them."

Ares slowly approached the corner, peaking his head over. He caught a quick glimpse of Hera and Artemis guarding the door to the electronics storage. Luckily for him, Hera was facing the opposite direction toward Artemis, who quickly shriveled up in worry once she noticed Ares staring at her.

"I'm...not sure how I'm supposed to react to that," she told Hera. But a part of that message was also meant for Ares.

"You should say thanks since I'm letting you go unpunished," Hera replied. "At least until Schaefer or Bennington find out. Those two have a bad habit of taking things out on their enemies' families."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm telling you to make sure neither of those two find out about this. Otherwise, they'll go after your family, your friends, and then save you for last."

"What about Simon?"

Hera chuckled. "Just bribe him. Either pay him loads of quid or strip for him. He should leave you alone after that."

"What an arsehole."

"Well, I'll be on my way then. And remember: watch out for Schaefer and Bennington."

Hera slowly turned toward Ares before Artemis stopped her, grabbing onto her arm with urgent force. "Wait, miss! The lift is this way."

"Artemis, I've been here longer than you have," Hera replied. "I know where I'm going."

"But the lift you came out of earlier will get you closer to your sleeping quarters. At least according to the building's layout."

Hera paused for a few seconds to think about it before concluding, "Good point, Miss Artemis. Have a goodnight."

"Cheers," Artemis replied with a forced smile. She and a still-hiding Ares watched as Hera disappeared into the darkness of the corridor, eventually entering the elevator.

Once the coast was clear, Ares made his way out of his hiding spot. "Thank you, Artemis," he said. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all--"

Ares was interrupted by a slap to the face from Artemis. Even though he didn't feel anything, he was still knocked back by the surprise attack. Once he had regained his focus, he found himself standing in front of a miffed young lady, his only link to the outside world.

"You're an arsehole, too, y'know," Artemis said. "Both you and Simon. You're just lucky you're redeeming yourself by reuniting with your daughter."

"I know," Ares replied, slouching with shame. "Atlas was telling me that a few minutes ago."

"Then there's that, too! Why are you being so rude to him? I could hear you two arguing down the hall! He's basically you, but more innocent and proper."

"You're just saying that because you fancy him."

Artemis wasn't amused. "I'm twenty-three years old. He's seventeen, I believe. And while I don't harbor any romantic feelings for him, I do admire his noble attitude. You're supposed to be the father here. Why are you the one without manners?"

"I came here for the computer, lass," Ares replied with the same level of tediousness as Hera during the beginning of her conversation with Artemis. "I didn't come to be lectured by a youth about another youth just because he had the maturity beaten into him. I came here to improve my life, not his."

Artemis gave Ares one more agitated glance before opening the door to the electronics storage with a key. The door slid open like an elevator, revealing a closet full of black metal shelves. Each shelf contained either computer parts or laptops, and each row emitted a dim blue glow like servers in a server farm. Artemis leaned into the room and slid a laptop out of its slot, brushing off some lint and dust.

"Here you go, you wanker," Artemis said halfheartedly as she handed Ares the laptop. She pulled an envelope out of her pocket and extended it out toward Ares. "You're gonna need this, too."

Ares happily took both of those items out of her hands. "Thank you so much, dear. How can I ever repay you?"

"You can't. Lack of freedom, remember?"

"Still. What would you like? Money? Food?"

Artemis snickered. "You don't have either of those."

"But once the Ambrosia Project is finished, I will. And then I'll return the favor."

"I appreciate it, but no thanks. I just wanted to reunite you with your daughter. I know you were only able to communicate with her through letters for the past year, so I figured you'd be happy to see her face again."

Without thinking, Ares threw his arms around Artemis like if she was family. He held her as tight as he could, and she couldn't help but smile at the kind gesture. She awkwardly hugged him back before the two separated.

"That was...sweet," she said while blushing.

"Hope you enjoyed that," Ares replied. "You're one of a few people in the world who has ever experienced one of my hugs. You should consider yourself special."

"Your daughter must be one special girl if she has a father like you."

Ares chuckled. "That's not what you thought a minute ago."

Artemis rolled her eyes, a smirk still plastered on her face, as she jokingly punched Ares in the shoulder and took her leave. "Have a goodnight, Ares."

"Sweet dreams...Abigail," Ares replied before leaving in the direction he came from.

He went through the same twists and turns he ventured through to meet Artemis before finally arriving back at his quarters. Tonight's meeting with Artemis put him in a good mood, something he hadn't felt in years. Even in the halcyon days where he accompanied Sarah to her favorite places, his happiness never seemed to last long. Feelings of failure would always return to haunt him. But tonight he felt like he had finally accomplished something.

Once he arrived at his sleeping quarters, he knocked on the door. "I'm back," he greeted. "Would you kindly open up the door for me?"

"Fuck off, old man," Atlas groaned, assumably waking up.

"Fuck you, too, lad," Hermes replied, equally as tired as Atlas. "I've never had a thing for the younger folk, and I feel like you're one of the reasons--"

"Not you, you old fart. The other wanker that's practically close to death. Arse or whatever his name is."

"It's Ares, you idiot! Now open up the door!"

"Show us the laptop and maybe I'll consider," Atlas replied groggily.

"Why, you little..." Ares grumbled under his breath. Before he could take his anger out on the door by knocking it off its hinges, he slid the laptop underneath the door and waited, rapidly tapping his foot on the floor to blow off steam.

"Oh shit, you actually brought it," Atlas said. "Okay fine. Unlocking the door now."

"Thank you," Ares replied sarcastically. "Such a kind soul."

"Aren't you one to judge," Atlas added as he approached the door.

After several clicks and snaps, the door opened up. Atlas stood at the entrance to the quarters. He wore a plain white T-shirt and pants and his hair was already messed up by the pillow his head was smothered in. "So...you actually did it?"

"It was actually pretty easy, especially since I didn't even need to steal it."

"Let me guess. You're borrowing it, as thieves would say."

"Surprisingly, yes. Artemis helped me out."

"She helped you steal the computer?"

"More like willingly handed it over. At least with a little bit of reasoning."

Atlas stood by the side of the door to let Ares in, closing it soon after. He picked the computer and letter off the floor and handed it to Ares.

"What's that?" Atlas asked, referencing the letter.

"Sarah was in on the whole laptop theft plan, too," Ares grinned. "So she wrote down my old work computer's account information and email address so I can access my old files from this new computer."

Atlas nodded in astonishment. "Wow. You two really planned this stuff out."

"Yes, sir, we did."

Ares placed the laptop and letter down on the bedside table. He plopped down on his bed and sunk his head into the pillow. Atlas did the same with his own bed.

"When are you gonna call her though?" Atlas asked, his final question of the night.

"At exactly four o'clock tomorrow," Ares replied. "It takes her a few minutes to get from her school to our flat, but I'll be ready for her. In fact..."

He glanced over at Atlas and Hermes, both of them now sound asleep.

"I've been ready to see her again ever since I got here."