Episode Six, Part 4:
Implant

In my defence, I have none for digging up the grave
another time. But it would have been fun
if you would have been the one. 

As Wynn and Dreea followed into the map room, Sol was quick to shut the door behind them, careful at being discreet about their meeting place. 

"Where's Kodiak?" Sol asked, twisting the lock behind her.

"I think he's with Joren working on inventory," Wynn answered, taking a seat at the table.

"Good," Sol murmured, "I think it's best if he doesn't know this."

"What's going on?" Dreea asked, sharing a puzzled look with Wynn as she sat down at his side.

"Atlantis and I have been working on a plan to secure the bunkers in our possession," she said.

"By moving into them?" Wynn asked, nudging Dreea's elbow as she rolled her eyes at his comment, amused by his teasing.

"No," Sol shook her head, baring a smile for him. "As you know, Atlantis' bunker is a lot more technically advanced than yours," she said to Wynn, "so we have more options both with getting it to function and also creating security for it."

"Go on," Dreea encouraged, eager to hear what Sol was so intent on telling them.

"We've managed to create a seal for the entrance," Sol explained. "Like a password; it won't open without it."

"So even if Riders do find the location of it, they won't be able to get inside?" Dreea clarified.

"Correct," Sol nodded. "It doesn't mean they won't put up a fight if they find it; they could camp outside or kill any of us who try to approach, but at least we know that their people can't take it from us."

"Why didn't you want Kodiak to know this?" Wynn asked, preparing himself for an answer he knew he wasn't going to like.

"Because of the implant," Sol said. "We don't know enough about it, but we know that he's being controlled: I don't want valuable information to get into the wrong hands, especially not the hands of certain people who could snitch to Riders in exchange for-"

"Quill," Wynn cut her off, realising that Sol had raised a valid point; if Hannah found out the password to the bunker, she could make a deal with Riders that would get her and Quill inside, leaving everyone else to perish.

"Yeah," Sol breathed out, seeing how quickly Wynn managed to retreat into a state of misery. "But that's not going to happen," she assured him. "And I think it's best that for now at least, we leave Kodiak out of most things. I hate to do it, but I'm sure he'd understand. He did say he knew about the implants after all, so he was obviously working on that by himself - to protect us."

"Good idea," Dreea sided with her, trying to detach all emotion from what she had to agree with, barely able to fathom the idea of being Sovereign without Kodiak by her side. "Once the implant is out, or we're all in the Bunkers, then maybe everything will go back to normal but for now, this is how it has to be."

///////

Liam sat close to Fenn's side, keeping his torch shining brightly on the device Fenn was working on. He had managed to secure an extra implant from Hannah's tent without her noticing, so they now had two to work on in case one went wrong.

"Any luck?" He asked, hoping that his friend had managed to get the chip to activate or even respond to some of Fenn's digging.

"Nope," Fenn sighed, halting his actions and setting everything down on the table. "This is hopeless. I'm never going to be able to get this thing to work."

"Maybe you don't need to get it to activate," Liam said. "You just need to figure out how it connects to someone. That way you can figure out how to take it out."

"Yeah, but I need a live host for that," Fenn pointed out, once again emphasising his previous statement: it was hopeless.

"You could... You could put it in me?" Liam hesitated for a moment but as he locked eyes with Fenn midway, his doubt seemed to fizzle away.

"That's not an option," Fenn shook his head, not even considering it.

"Why?" Liam asked. "It's better you try it out on me. You can't risk killing one of your Sovereigns, and you can't exactly figure it out on Chessca; from what I know, Sovereign Riverly would kill you if you even thought about it."

"That's definitely true," Fenn laughed, recalling how defiant Sol had been about her protection on Chessca. "But I'm not willing to put you at risk, either."

"Why not? It's better you figure this out now than end up in the bunker with these things still inside your people's heads. We don't know what long-term effects they might have on them. Worse comes to worst, you try it out on me and you kill me, but there's a flood coming after all, and I know I'm not going to be one of those people who gets a spot in the bunker. I'm not even a Basilisk... But for what it's worth, I believe in you."

Fenn softened at the boy's words, feeling a twinge in his chest at the boy's words; an ache. He reminded him of someone; brought back a feeling that Fenn thought he would never feel again.

"I don't-" Fenn cut himself off, nervous how to phrase it, not wanting to scare Liam away. "I don't want to end up being the reason you wound up dead," he said, shifting his gaze away as tears brimmed in the corner of his eyes. Deep down, he still blamed himself for Ares' death and his words implied so much more than Liam would ever comprehend.

"I don't want to lose you... I like having you around."

Liam beamed the warmest of smiles over in Fenn's direction, reaching his hand across the table and resting his over the boy's, curling his fingers tight around Fenn's palm.

"I like being around you, too," he said. "But it's like I said: I'm not one of your people; I'm not getting a place in that Bunker. I came here with Hannah and I know that's all anyone sees in me."

"Not me," Fenn said. "That's not what I see in you."

"Thank you," he squeezed on his hand, "but that doesn't change anything."

"No, but I can."

"Fenn-"

"Wynn - the Sovereign - he's pretty much family. His-" He cut himself off again, choking on his words, not sure if he was hesitant to reveal to Liam about what he had lost or if he just wasn't brave enough to say Ares' name at that moment.

"His brother..."

"Quill?"

"No," Fenn shook his head. "His older brother, Ares; he was...mine. The boy I loved, my best friend, my... My fault... He died right before Riverly became Commander of The City," he explained. "And I've felt a duty to be there for his family since he passed. Wynn's done the most incredible job at providing for Quill and Elara, but he sometimes forgets to look after himself, so that's when I step in... Anyway, I'll talk to him and I'll make sure you get a place in that bunker."

"They need to prioritise farmers, engineers, doctors like you! Don't worry about me: I've accepted what's going to happen."

"Liam," Fenn smiled, moving his other hand to rest on top of his so he was now holding Liam's palm in between both of his own. "It's the least I could do," he said. "Without you, we wouldn't know what was going on with Kodiak or Chessca, and I know that makes us in debt to you."

"In debt?"

"Yeah. It's a tradition our people have," Fenn said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal all the sets of initials he had stained on our skin. "A recognition that someone has done something for us that we could never repay; saved our life; the people we're in debt too."

Liam smiled again, nodding in acceptance of what Fenn was telling him, but not fully allowing himself to believe that he would survive. For now, false hope was enough, and he would hold onto it blindly.

"It's a shame we can't figure this out," he muttered, turning his attention back to the implant as he picked it up from the table. "I know there's gotta be a way to remove it, or even deactivate it. I'm pretty sure the kids Hannah brought with us all have one of these. Maybe it'll eventually run out of power and-"

"Woah, woah woah, wait a minute," Fenn interrupted, backtracking to what Liam had just said. "Say that again."

"What part?"

"The kids that came with you guys - they all have an implant!?"

"...Yeah," Liam mumbled, suddenly realising what he had said. "Maybe that could be the key to us figuring it out!?"

Fenn sighed, clearly apprehensive. "Maybe..." He agreed. "But they're kids... If anything goes wrong-"

"Hey, it won't," Liam assured him. "Remember what I said? I believe in you. Aeryn and I will work this out with you and we can finally get these implants removed once and for all."

///////

"Come on you guys, you're not really saying suggesting we experiment this on children!?" Sol snapped, trying to keep her voice a whisper whilst still letting her anger be made clear.

"Not experimenting," Fenn corrected her. "Aeryn, Liam and I - we're confident that we know how to remove it, but we can't do that unless it's actually in someone's head and since you're not letting us try it out on Kodiak or Chessca - the two people we know for sure have one - then we don't exactly have much choice. Liam's said that these kids have an implant; for all we know, Hannah and her friends could be putting their lives in danger. We might as well try this out."

Sol sighed, unable to make the decision on her own. With her arms folded, she turned to face Wynn and Dreea, wanting to know what they were leaning towards.

"What do you guys think?" She asked, her voice tired and defeated.

"I think Fenn's right," Dreea said, barely letting a moment pass by before she gave her answer. "If these kids already have an implant, then we need to get their's out too, but I also stand with what you said: I'm not willing to put Kodiak or Chess in any danger."

Sol wanted Dreea to tell her she was wrong, but the more anyone spoke, the more Sol knew that there wasn't any other option. Still, there was more one person she was waiting to hear an answer from; one person who's decision could sway everything for her.

"Wynn?" Her voice was instinctively softer. "What do you think?"

Wynn let out a deep breath, leaning against the table for extra support. "I think if we don't do something about this, then something might end up happening to Quill if it hasn't already," he said. "I have to save my brother... If doing this is the only way to make sure he's safe from Hannah, then I'm in, no matter the cost."

Sol nodded, realising that the implants were probably just another attempt from Hannah to take Quill away from his family, and she wasn't going to let that happen to Wynn after everyone he had already lost.

"Okay," she agreed, giving the overall decision as Nobel. She was full of doubt and fear over what it said about her, but what mattered the most was Kodiak and Chessca and Wynn. She couldn't let them down.

She couldn't ever lose any of them. 

Six // Part Four
Mine; my best friend, my fault.

Ahhh, I loved this scene between Liam and Fenn! Can't wait to explore more between them!

07/09/20