Nym sat quietly on her bed, tapping her pen against her leg absently as she waited for Kirsi. She hadn't spoken much with Mrs. or Mr. Brook's, not really sure if she should bring up her plans to them. She knew that if she did there was a chance they could help, but there was also a chance they would misunderstand and tell her and Kirsi not to pursue it. She also knew if they did that, her and Kirsi would have to disobey them in order to find 02, and disobedient felt worse in her mind.

Hopefully, the agents will want to speak with Kirsi's parents. Then maybe we won't have to worry about it. I can find ways around them if I have to, though, she thought, watching the pen as it bounced back against the fabric of her baggy jeans.

A strand of ginger hair fell in front of her face and she blew it back. It stubbornly returned, so she stopped bouncing the pen and brushed it back. Lifting her head some, she noticed the door crack open.

Her lips pressed into a worried line as she watched Kirsi step inside, one of the agents--the woman--following her inside. She led Kirsi back to the chairs and turned to Mr. and Mrs. Brooks.

"Would you two mind speaking with us? We want to get as much information as possible," the woman asked softly.

Nym watched Mrs. Brooks turn to Mr. Brooks. A silent exchange followed, then the two nodded and got up, following the agent out of the room.

Well, that worked out wonderfully.

Nym turned and got up, dropping her pen on the bed beside her journal as she shuffled over to sit by Kirsi. "Hey, you okay?"

Kirsi looked up at her some and nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. I'm a little shaky still."

"Want to do something to get your mind off of it?" Nym suggested.

"What?"

"Well, I went looking for 02 while they were talking to you, and another agent out in the hall said they took him. I'm afraid they're gonna scrap him. Do you want to help me find him?"

Nym watched a frown etch itself onto Kirsi's face as she looked down. "Will we have to walk by the bodies again?"

Biting her lip, Nym followed her friend's gaze to the floor. "Um...I don't know. Honestly, I hope not."

She glanced up to see Kirsi nod, but the other girl took a deep breath and looked up as well, looking Nym in the eyes. "I'll help you look for him," she said.

"Thank you."

"Yeah," Kirsi answered, then looked around. "Did you run it by my parents?"

"Um..." Nym paused. "No, I wasn't sure if they'd like the idea...and I didn't want to tell them in case they said no, so we wouldn't be disobeying."

"Oh..." Kirsi looked over and pulled a bit of a grimace. "If we're not here when they get back they might worry. Maybe we should leave a note? It's too late to tell them, but we could at least inform them of where we plan to go."

Nym looked around, pursing her lips slightly. She had never seen Mr. or Mrs. Brooks get mad before, and she didn't really know if they would get mad over this, but Kirsi knew her parents. If she thought leaving a note was a good idea, it was probably their best bet. "Yeah, let's do that."

Getting up, Nym retrieved her journal, tore out a page, and grabbed her pen. "What do we want to say?"

She watched Kirsi as her friend sat there, staring at the wall. Nym frowned a little. 

Finally, Kirsi answered. "Tell them we went for a short walk and wanted to see if we could find out more of what was going on. We don't know when we'll be back, but I have my communicator with me if they need us."

Nym nodded and looked down at the paper, then hesitated. "Why don't we just message them? We could tell them the same thing, and just leave off the communicator part cause if we message them, they'll already be aware you have your communicator on you."

"True," Kirsi said and pulled out her comm. Nym watched her type out the message and hit send. Then Nym put back the paper and pen and got up. She slid off her slippers and put on the actual shoes sitting under the bed instead. Kirsi must have left them for her, hence why they weren't with the clothes.

"Alright. They know we're going for a walk. I told them we just needed to clear our heads but we'd stay close. I imagine most of the government activity will be close to here anyway," she said.

"Perfect," Nym said and looked around the room. "I feel like I'm forgetting something..."

"Your journal maybe? Maybe to make notes?"

"Good idea." Nym grabbed the journal off the bed and picked up the pen, sticking it behind her ear. For a moment she thought it might fall, but it stayed and she glanced over at Kirsi, watching her friend get up.

"Ready to go?"

"Ready."

Gripping the journal in one hand, Nym led the way out of the room. She glanced around the halls some, not sure if they were allowed to go out. Seeing no one except nurses, she slipped out and fell in step beside Kirsi.

"Do you think we need to go outside? I don't see there being much room back here for any kind of government stuff," she said, glancing around as they headed down the hall towards the lobby. She swallowed hard, wondering if there would still be bodies. Please let them have already removed all the bodies. She didn't want to get sick, and she didn't want Kirsi to freak out.

"It would make sense," Kirsi said, her voice quieter again. Nym imagined she was having the same thoughts.

She reached over and took the other girl's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her friend needed the consolation, and personally, she needed it too. She took a deep breath as they approached the airlock style door that led out into the lobby.

Neither girl spoke as they paused at the door and took the time to put on air tanks. Nym still took a cautious breath first, even though she knew these contained clean air. Once the air that rushed into her nostrils and lungs was confirmed to be clean, she breathed easier and adjusted the straps over her shoulders. "Need help?" she asked Kirsi, moving over there.

"I'm okay," Kirsi answered, her soft voice muffled by the mask.

Nym noticed she had the tank on her back cocked, though, so she helped straighten it out and adjust the straps. She could feel Kirsi shaking mildly, and Nym didn't blame her. She just helped her get everything on and took her hand again as she touched the door release.

They both stepped into the airlock as the door closed behind them. Air rushed around them. Then the other door opened.

Nym felt Kirsi squeeze her hand tighter as they entered the lobby a second time. Nym herself held her breath until she saw the whole room clear of the bodies and body bags. Even the ambulances were gone now.

Exhaling quietly, she squeezed Kirsi's hand back and swallowed hard. "Okay, it looks like there are a few agents at the desk," she half-whispered. "I don't see anything set up in here except guards. Why don't we check outside."

She didn't hear an audible response from Kirsi but saw her friend nod. Gripping Kirsi's hand tighter, she led the way outside.

Outside the sun peeked out of the grey clouds from the morning, casting a faint light on everything as it sank on the horizon. Nym tried to focus on that instead of the other morbid thoughts attempting to invade her mind. Nerves still writhed in her stomach and she felt mildly shaky. She was too afraid to stop, though. Glancing around the hospital courtyard, she spotted a few vehicles that were definitely government issue. The license plates and symbols on the back's gave it away. There were also a few tents set up, taking up the space of the courtyard.

"What do we do if they see us?" Kirsi suddenly asked.

Nym glanced over. "Um, tell them we're looking for someone...I don't know. Let's just try not to be seen," she said and pulled her friend out of the doorway towards the back of one of the tents. "We probably need to split up if we're going to find 02," she said, crouching down and facing Kirsi. "Can you do that?"

"Yeah," Kirsi answered. "You?"

Looking down, Nym inhaled deeply. "Yeah," she said, mustering what strength she could. "Let's wait until it gets a little darker, though, so they can't see us as well. 02 has to be around here somewhere if they didn't already transport him to a factory. Hopefully, he's in one of the tents."

"Okay...I can look at the tents on the other side if you want to check this side," Kirsi offered, her voice shaky, but staying strong.

Nym nodded. "Can do," she promised. "Let's meet back up in the lobby once we find him, okay?"

"What if they see us taking him somewhere?"

Biting her lip, Nym tapped her finger against the outside of her journal. "Then we tell them...that he was...wandering around and we didn't know what to do, so we were taking him inside."

"Will they buy it?"

"I don't know, but I hope they will." Nym sighed a little. She didn't know what she was doing, she was desperate. She just wanted to get 02 back and return to safety, but nowhere felt safe anymore.

"Should we just tell them? Ask if we can see him?" Kirsi asked.

"No," Nym said curtly. She'd seen the reaction of the agent earlier. They didn't seem happy about her looking into one of their androids. This was better done covertly. "We'll just work it out as we go, okay?"

"Okay," Kirsi answered.

Nym glanced up and noticed that the light was starting to dim, so she straightened up a bit. She looked over at Kirsi. "Let's head out." 

Watching as Kirsi slipped off, Nym then turned around herself, glancing at all the tents. It looked like most of the agents were occupied over near the vehicles, talking to each other and unloading equipment into the tents at that end. Nym made sure to stay close to the courtyard wall, trying to remain hidden.

She slipped around the corner of a tent and pulled to an immediate halt, voices flooding around the corner. Skittering back behind the tent, Nym let out a breath as the voices passed. She didn't see anyone step past her and relaxed mildly.

That was too close, she thought. Glancing up at the sky, she saw it was now a blue-black color. She unconsciously reached up and touched the end of the pen behind her ear before looking back at the courtyard. Her eyes tracked the two agents now lugging a heavy machine into the center. It looked like a mini oxygen refill tank. Were they going to provide clean air for those that were left? Or was this just for them?

Another voice floated around the corner and Nym stiffened. She watched a faint shadow growing on the ground and looked around for somewhere to hide. Around the corner, she'd be seen for sure.

Looking at the tent, she noticed that it was devoid of silhouettes, so she slipped under the cloth and into the interior. For a moment she dared not lift her head but after a minute or two, the silence remained. The coast appeared clear. Slowly she looked up and relaxed to see the tent was unoccupied. 

It wasn't empty, though. Equipment and notebooks sat on top of the tables. It appeared there was some kind of detecting equipment inside this tent, and a few emergency tanks stacked against the back wall. They had the government emblem stamped onto them, as did everything else.

Nym crept over to a table and looked over at one of the notebooks that lay open, scanning the page.

Safe toxin levels, air composition...

It was all numbers and percentages. She shifted it to the side and saw another notebook closed beneath it. She flipped open the first page and scanned the title.

The O2 Operation. Hmmm, interesting. She flipped to the next page. This proposal made to the following companies in charge of regulating oxygen and air composition levels for the refill stations... a bunch of names, yadda yadda...This Operation will benefit our supporters by providing a release of rations on food and oxygen for the domed cities in which they reside. This contract is made directly between this party and the other's listed...

Frowning, Nym scanned the rest of the legalities and hesitantly turned to the next page to keep reading. Dear supporters, We are aware of the oxygen and food rations affecting the domed cities and the rest of the world, and our proposal is to cut and replace the least necessary part of the population. With your cooperation, we can covertly eliminate the working population and replace their jobs with androids. This will free up oxygen, food, space, money, etc...

Nym reached for the next page but couldn't bring herself to turn it. She hesitated, her breath caught in her throat as the oxygen trying to enter her lungs became cold and inert. She felt the blood rush from her face, her mouth drying. Hesitating, she closed the notebook, her heart dropping.

The official seal of the government was stamped on the front.