The ice creamery is dark when I arrive. I can make out the outlines of my friends at a table near the door. Cody's laptop illuminates his face, which is full of worry. As they all turn their heads towards me, I pull out a chair and plop into it. My hands clasp in front of me while nerves attack my stomach.

"Alright," Cody breaths, swiping his hair out of his face. "I filled them in on the situation."

My heart migrates to my stomach. This is real; this is inevitable. "So, what's the plan?"

"Yeah," Eva pipes up from beside me. "You're gonna save Autumn, right?"

Cody stares straight into my eyes, his hazel ones a sea of indescribable emotion. "Yeah. I have some ideas."

Slowly, he turns his computer around to face us. I nearly gasp, my mouth hanging open. It's part of the 'cookbook' I downloaded to his computer. However, this page is full of statistics and information of Chips. I can make out a bold headline proclaiming 'How to install Chips'.

Jared jerks the computer in his direction. "Whoa. This information must be highly classified."

"It is," Cody sighs. "If we're caught, we're all good as dead.'

My head bobs up and down. "I know, but it's worth the risk." Nerves cause my fingers to shake as I pull the laptop in my direction. "How is this information supposed to help me?"

"Patience," Cody teases, gently pulling the laptop back towards himself.

A bit of moonlight enters the shop. It illuminates slivers of wooden tables and even reflects off Jared's inky hair. The streetlights have already been shut off, the moon our only light. Sweet smells of varied ice cream flavors linger in the air. I deeply inhale, smiling to myself. This has become the normal; meeting in an ice cream shop late at night. Oddly, I love this practice. I love hanging out with these three individuals.

"I have no patience," Jared jokes. A moment later, I hear him groan in pain while Eva sniffles a laugh.

"Who invited the crybaby?" Eva sighs, leaning her head on my shoulder. Her chocolate hair brushes against my cheek. "Autumn, be my pillow. I'm tired."

Jared sharply exhales. "Geez, take a joke. Who invited you?"

I roll my eyes, laughter bubbling within me.

"I wish you'd drown in your pool!" Eva suddenly exclaims, jerking her head from my shoulder.

Silence follows her outburst. The sounds of our breathing mixes together into one magnified noise. Someone sucks in air as I loudly blow some out, disturbing a piece of my hair. The tension in the air is almost palpable as Eva goes rigid beside me.

"Anyways," Cody quickly exclaims, his eyes shining under the light of his laptop, "I need to tell you guys my idea."

Jared coughs. "Alright. Let's hear it."

"What if I reinsert the Chip into Autumn's wrist?"

Gasps follow his suggestion. My heart hammers in my chest. If he did, no one would be after me anymore. Yet, I wouldn't be special, either.

"You can't be serious," Eva nervously laughs. Her hand bumps into my shoulder as she runs it through her hair. "The whole point of the Chip Busters is to get rid of Chips! But yeah, no, that totally makes sense."

"Did you drink some of that juice from the party?" Jared groans, prompting a light laugh from me. "No, really, Autumn. He sounds as delirious as Eva was after she drank it."

"Hey-"

I clamp a hand over her mouth, growing weary of their constant fighting. Either hook up or shut up.

"No!" Cody whines childishly, his fist lightly banging against the table. "You wouldn't even let me finish. My plan is genius, trust me."

Eva shoves my hand away from her lips. "Well, if you're related to that-"

I press my palm back against her mouth. "I trust you, Cody. Please continue with the plan."

"Thanks, Autumn," he grins as I slowly remove my hand from Eva's face.

I proceed to wipe it on my pants. "Now, Jared, Eva, can you not fight for five minutes?"

"If she-"

"No, if you-"

Cody rolls his eyes, holding up a hand to silence them. "Now, you know that if install it the regular way, your Chip will electrocute if you extracted."

I bob my head up and down, smiling at the spark of hope in my friend's eyes. The glow of the computer causes his skin to seem pale and his irises to look almost white. A smile stretches across his face and the computer's light seems to whiten his teeth even more. He almost seems to glow all by himself, and a warm feeling gathers inside my chest. For some reason, I really like watching him smile. It lights up his whole visage. It's almost like the sun rising after darkness has settled for too long. It brings me a sense of hope, a bit of solace.

"Well, if I install it a certain way, it should be easy to extract once the check is over. It won't electrocute you when removed, and the Etchers will never be able to tell it's been tampered with. Simple as that."

My eyes widen as hope blossoms within me. "Really? If you can do that..." I trail off, unsure of how exactly to express my giddiness.

"I wouldn't have to disown you," Jared jokes, bringing back the light and airy atmosphere.

Cody laughs, wiping away an imaginary tear. "Wow, that's such an honor."

At that, we all burst out guffawing. I clutch my chest as laughter vibrates through me. It's an oddly fulfilling feeling. It's like a heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It feels good to freely laugh and joke around. It's almost like before I learned that people could hurt you and also leave you; like when I was younger and carefree. It's just so uplifting to laugh with my new friends, with the Chip Busters. We're here, we're okay, and we're gonna win this fight. Well, I sure hope so, anyways. Sitting here and listening to laughter ring through the air, watching a breathtaking smile light up Cody's face, I feel like nothing can steal this moment away from me.

"Alright," Cody sighs, hand over his heart as he attempts to catch his breath, "this meeting is over."

Immediately, I hear Eva and Jared fly out of their seats. Their chairs scrape against the ground before their footsteps echo into the distance. The door opens, allowing extra moonlight to flood in. Eva walks out first, posture straight and hair swishing at her waist. Jared follows, his shoulders slightly slumped and his dark hair a rumpled mess. Finally, the door clicks shut behind them.

Silence seems to echo off the walls. I'm not sure why my body refuses to move. Maybe I feel as though my gratitude to Cody should be expressed a little more privately. It's just me and him; no bickering friends. Not that I despise Eva and Jared. Actually, it's quite the opposite. They can just be a handful sometimes. Eva stepped over a major boundary marked in gold.

"So, aren't you gonna leave?" Cody queries, breaking the silence as he slams his laptop shut. His face is now a faint silhouette, the moonlight highlighting a sliver of his hair.

I shrug before remembering he probably can't tell the difference between a shrug and a nod. "I- I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?" He whispers, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"For helping me with this whole Chip thing. For forcing me to have some self confidence."

He chuckles lightly. "I didn't force you to have anything. Plus, you should have self confidence. You have no reason not to."

"Ash is alive!" I suddenly blurt. My hand smacks against my forehead as a groan escapes my lips.

He gasps before bursting into laughter. "Very funny. No, really, that's gold. If the government wants someone dead," the laughter comes to an abrupt halt, "they die."

Knowing he can't see me, I shake my head. Maybe the action and the feeling of my hair whacking against me offers a little comfort."Have you been wondering why Kaylee and Harper are absent? Simultaneously?'

"Um," he breathes, "I don't know what that has to do with this. But, to answer your question, a little."

"Ash came and got Kaylee."

"Autumn, I think you're the one that drank the juice."

I proceed to confide the whole story to him. From the notes to the conversation in the bathroom. All of it. I don't spare a single detail. By the time I'm done, it's almost like I've done a week's worth of exercise in one hour. My breathing is heavy and my vision is obscured by tears. I deeply breath in and squeeze my eyes shut. Not even the smell of ice cream can add solace to the situation. Gosh, what have a gotten myself into? Now, I broke my word to Ash. I'm such a horrible person.

My chest heaves up and down as tears pour down my face. It hurts. The pain of everything bluntly hurts. It feels like my chest is about to explode. I want to jump out of my skin and begin again; lose all of the pain and jump back to a simpler time. Stupid Ingrid. Stupid Chips. Stupid government.

Suddenly, arms wrap around me from my side. "It's okay, Autumn," Cody soothes. "Let it out. You'll be okay."

I attempt to shrug out of his grasp, but it tightens. "We'll figure everything out, okay?"

"I-I wasn't supposed to tell you," I hiccup.

There's a short pause before he speaks again. "Well, now that you did, I can help you."

I shrug, my eyes popping open. "Why can't anything go smoothly for me?" I stare into the darkness as I await his answer.

"Because hard work pays off?" Cody states, but it sounds more like a question. I don't think he's quite sure of how to comfort me.

"Thanks," I sniff, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand. "For everything. Really. You're a great friend."

I feel him nod into my shoulder before he lets go. "If you need anything, anything at all, let me know."

"Okay," I whisper, "Same with you."

Then, I lunge at him and wrap my arms around his neck. He stiffens for a moment before relaxing and wrapping his own arms around my waist. I bury my head in the crook of his neck. My tears stain his shirt, but I don't think he minds.

For right now, I've found my solace.