The steel scaffolding that makes up Babel's sky rattles beneath my feet. I adjust my tread, cursing the unfamiliar boots and the rest of the unwieldy Enforcer uniform. The armour lays awkwardly across my shoulders and chest, throwing me off-balance and adding a noticeable lilt to my approach of the airship hangar.

In sharp contrast, Luca wears the armour as though it weighed nothing. He strides silently ahead of me, navigating the narrow walkways seamlessly.

Remaining a couple steps behind, I scan our surroundings to make sure that the only suspicious activity occurring is our own. This close to curfew, our sole company upon these rickety paths is our fellow guardsmen. The Enforcers are countless but seem to be sticking to their sectors, tracing patterns in the elevated cityscape that Luca memorized long ago.

I tear my eyes from the scene for a moment to study Luca. His posture is as straight and his footsteps as soundless as ever, but there is an undeniable friction between us. We've barely spoken a word all day; a difficult feat when you're confined to an enemy flat. The silence and extended time spent caged between roofs and walls splintered my nerves into fragments and when Geoff finally showed up with an Enforcer uniform roughly my size, I nearly hugged him.

The lift comes into view as we make a sharp right and sidle our way past a pair of courtesans flirting with some guards. The girls' shrill laughter sets my skin to crawling and I flinch involuntarily, quickening my pace in an effort to distance myself from the memory. Arriving at the entrance to the lift a few moments later, we join the throng lining up before the great glass tube. Luca stands a few feet off, his gaze carefully averted from mine as he stares up at the illuminated chamber gradually making it's way towards us. When the light overtop the gate blinks to life we board with the dozen or so other guards, jostling for position in the cramped capsule. The last person to enter makes to slam the gate closed when he's halted by a sharp whistle. More shuffling and I have to bite down a grunt of pain as someone trods on my foot. Two Brutes are ushered inside, their steel-plated implements and deathlike stares at once filling what little space remains.

As the floor rumbles and sways, I continually steal sideways glances at the pair. The Brutes appear much the same as they always have: unfeeling, hollowed-out shells with uncannily familiar features. Despite Geoff's horrifying recollection of what they are and are most decidedly not, I can't keep from searching their unseeing faces for some humanity, some inkling of a soul.

The light above us blinks again and the lift shudders to a stop. There is a mass exodus and we are left behind with only the Brutes and their keeper. I catch the lone Enforcer eyeing us with some curiosity so I lead Luca past him, lagging a beat behind the rest of the group We turn purposefully but blindly to the side, not sparing a glance back as the gate closes and the lift continues it's journey.

Luca catches up with me once the Brutes and Enforcers have sufficiently dispersed. Reclining back against the guardrail he directs his question to me but not his eyes.

"You wish to continue on foot?" He indicates the shaky flight of stairs further along the catwalk.

"I'm not sure yet." I chew on my lip thoughtfully, watching the shadows overhead. The ominous scrape of boot against metal indicates more Brutes up above. We listen for a spell, simultaneously counting and gauging our odds.

"Were the airships always this heavily shielded?" Luca asks, speaking low.

I shake my head. "No. When I was last here these paths were all but deserted."

"Perhaps your visit changed that practice."

"Perhaps." I say doubtfully. I lean out over the rail, craning my neck. The dome's steep pitch and scant amounts of sunlight effectively hide the hangar's entrance, but I am nonetheless granted a view that raises the hair on my skin. The remaining levels are patrolled by layers upon layers of Brutes.

"We should go." Drawing my head back in, I catch Luca staring at me. He blinks, then nods and spins on his heel, forgoing the lift for the nearest stairwell and leading us on a looping route back down to the street. We keep our pace decidingly measured as we stride down cobblestone paths before darting beneath the first of Babel's many bridges.

As Luca checks our cover, I pull my scarf down off my face. The dust from the long-dry river rises up to greet me and I bat it away impatiently, breathing out a sigh of frustration.

Determining that our position is safe for now, Luca states the obvious. "There are too many of them."

"More than I expected." I admit. "A lot more."

"I don't imagine that you wish to abandon this plan."

A smile nearly escapes me, until I remember that his intention isn't to tease. I focus on the more manageable problem of accessing the hangar in order to quell the disappointment fluttering in my stomach and eventually the old steely resolve returns.

"We just have to find another way in." My mind flips through a few possibilities, handily dismissing each one. Looking past Luca, I notice that the underside of the bridge is plastered with images of my face and that the words Wanted, Reward and Capture boast a stark shade of red. Hastily, I pull my scarf back up above my nose and curse when it become entangled in my hair.

"You already know another way."

It takes a few moments for his meaning to dawn and I look up slowly from my struggle with the scarf.

He's right. Babel's original entrance was always the one overhead. We might not have an airship at our disposal but Luca and I were fortunate enough to be born with much stealthier tools.

We could scale Babel's outer shell.

I don't know why I hadn't considered it before. Fresh air and open skies call out their welcome and I berate myself for having ever forgotten them. As the idea takes root the same energy begins to percolate off Luca, the undeniable spark of a new challenge igniting between us.

Following Luca back into the city, I don't miss the distinct lightness betraying him. Whatever eagerness I feel to get out from under this roof he must feeling a thousand times over, considering he is trapped here with the likes of me.

Had I been leading, I may have taken us straight to the old farmhouse and the entrance to the service stairwell where Geoff is stationed. With Luca at the head, we instead aim for Simon's flat in the heights of downtown. While I begrudge the extra stop, I am grateful for his foresight; tigger-happy Tawny cannot be left adrift during our sudden absence.

Our destination is waylaid when the shouts of a crowd pull us into one of the shopping districts. I brush aside the dead leaves of a hanging plant before angling my shoulders to carve a path through the throng, stopping short when we come up against a pack of Brutes. Immediately on alert, I resist the urge to reach for my weapon, remembering that in this I am a spectator, only.

A Brute emerges from the doorway of one of the stores, dragging a hapless Babelonian by the scruff of his shirt. He chucks the man to the ground before the rest of the Brutes and an official-looking Enforcer. The Enforcer taps his foot impatiently but appears pleased as the man blubbers in front of him. Yet another unwelcome memory prods at me and I shake it off, adopting an impassive expression.

"Identification?" The Enforcer asks, holding out his hand expectantly.

"Please," The man shuffles forward on his knees, glancing fearfully around him. "I can conscript voluntarily. I would be humbled to join the Madam's ranks."

"Identification, now."

"Do not do this, sir. I would like to do my duty. I may look past my prime but I would be a fine Enforcer, just like you. I'm strong, you see."

"I will not ask again. Identification." The Enforcer barks and I flinch along with the man. With a shaky hand he withdraws the small card from his pocket, offering it up.

"Don't do this." He gasps as the Enforcer reads the card over. "Don't turn me into... into..."

The Enforcer snaps his fingers before the man can finish his thought. At once two Brutes step forward, seizing the man roughly.

"And now the other one." The Enforcer makes a gesture and another Brute obediently stoops his reinforced shoulders through the narrow entryway of the shop while the man erupts in frantic screams.

"No, no leave him be!" The man struggles uselessly as the Brute reemerges clenching the arm of a boy only a little younger than myself.

"Dad," The boy and his father trade terrified expressions as my hands curl into involuntary fists. "Dad, what's going to happen?"

"I'll go with you!" The father shouts at the Enforcer. The guard takes his time studying the boy's identification and shoves both it and his father's card into the pocket at his chest. "Leave my son be and I'll do whatever you—" The father's shouts are cut short when a Brute steps forward and drives an elbow into his face.

My impulse is to fly forward, only some remnant of sanity managing to keep me rooted in place. Alarm bells ring, telling me to leave at once but the crowd pressing in behind me keeps me pointed towards the merciless scene. I cast furtive glances among the faces of the spectators, urging one of them speak up, step forward, do something, anything.

But the citizens of Babel just stand there, as blank and unfeeling as the Brutes, themselves.

Blood splatters the ground at my feet. The man's head rolls loosely on his shoulders, his protests weakened as they are dragged off towards the Tower. A shuddering beginning in the fringes of my mind grows louder the longer I stare at the bloodstained stone and hear the son's cries.

Something nudges my elbow, then nudges again. A single, firm tug and I am jerked back into motion, pulled along with the tide of the dispersing mob.

Go back.

Go back.

Go back.

The voices persist for the entirety of the journey to Simon's flat, only dimming to a hum when we arrive indoors and I can finally rid myself of the suffocating armour.

"Why didn't any of them do anything?" I throw my scarf aside and spew the question to no one. "Why do they never do anything?"

"What happened?" Tawny and Simon have appeared from one of the doorways and now stand with Luca in the corridor while I pace the front room.

"The Enforcers seized a man and his son." Luca explains. Their faces blur in my peripherals as I pace. Wall. Wall. Yet another wall. The boy's phantom cries grow louder and I bring my hands up to my ears to block them out. Firm hands cover my own and my eyes are forced into Luca's, their familiar depths gradually urging me back home.

"They didn't do anything." I hear myself say, anger causing my voice to waver.

"To try and help would be foolish." Luca's tone is calm, jarring in contrast to the whispers. "They could no more help those people than you could."

"This cruelty is happening every day." Tawny speaks up from her place near the hall. "So long as the laboratories live on, she'll continue to shovel people into them."

Luca ignores her, his hands easing mine away from my ears and coming to rest on my shoulders.

"There was nothing to be done." He speaks slowly and clearly, forcing his voice above the whispers. "We cannot save all of them. Tell me you understand that."

I stare at him, heart racing as I come to realize just how much I miss him. The brief moment of clarity allows me to remember Cade's lessons and little by little, I pull myself free. Through it all Luca remains constant, steadying me until I can get a foot back in Simon's flat and the present.

"Is she alright?" Tawny's intrusive question is enough to break the spell for good and I step free of Luca's grip.

"I'm fine." I snap, peeling off my gloves and tossing them onto the nearest settee. "There's been a change of plans."

"Colour me shocked." Tawny says. "I take it the state of the airship hangar was not to your liking?"

Disregarding her, I speak to Luca. "There's something going on up there. We need to see what it is."

"We will." He assures me. "We can leave tonight."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Tawny inserts herself between us, "You can't just take off again."

Still shaky from the cloud, my first instinct is to remind the insolent Babelonian that we can do whatever in the Burn we please. Biting back the retort, I instead consider our options. The last time we left Tawny and this rebellion to their own devices they collapsed the tunnels and crippled our only means of escape; they can't be trusted to lay low for even a few days.

I cannot leave, but staying is impossible. That leaves only one option: something, a piece of me will have to be left behind.

Again.

"This isn't like before." I say carefully, not wanting to play all of my cards at once. "We're not going to disappear. We're leaving tonight but will return in one week."

"You're leaving for an entire week?" Her brows rise nearly to her hairline. "Doesn't your army get here in just nine days?"

I bristle, glancing at Simon lingering nervously in the doorway,

"Simon knows who you are, if that's what you're wondering." Tawny has a special talent for testing my patience tonight.

"Well then, welcome to the party." I wave my hand in an exaggerated motion, speaking a little too loudly.

"It's not as though he wouldn't have guessed." Tawny says. "Your face is plastered on every wall."

"My compliments, then to the artist. I take it Geoff knows as well?"

"That one's actually harder to say," Tawny looks genuinely thoughtful as she glances over at Simon, who shrugs. "Geoff's been half in the bag since he lost his wife. I'm honestly not sure what he notices."

"Marvelous." Restless and exhausted all at once, I pull the heavy breastplate off of my shoulders before leaning back against the nearest wall and rubbing my face.

"This is all the more reason for us to leave." Luca presses on. "It is no longer safe for Kay to be here."

"It's not safe for any of us to be here." Tawny counters. "Not so long as the labs are operational."

"Gods, again with the labs." I wrench my face free of my hands. "The labs aren't your problem, Tawny. Your problem is sitting up in that Tower."

"Sure, but my bombs are a lot more effective underground."

I play another card. "Give us six days."

"And then what?"

"And then I will plant those bombs of yours in every corner of the lab, myself." I make the promise grimly.

She recrosses her arms, disbelieving. "And how, exactly are you going to do that?"

"We know a way in." I look to Luca, who nods. "Luca, here has ingrained himself with the laboratory Enforcers. We know precisely who to bribe and what turns will bring us straight to the heart of it." Taking a breath, I wait for my words to sink in. "And if you can refrain from any more grand displays for a scant six days, I can come back and help you end that place for good."

Tawny's eyes narrow as she considers my proposal.

"Well?" I ask, impatience getting the better of me, "Do we have a deal?"

"I need supplies." She says bluntly. "In order to do the job properly."

The air leaves the room and I suddenly miss the comforting weight of the Enforcer's armour.

She wants me to break into one of Babel's most secure vaults.

Deep underground, there exists a room packed to the gills with kegs full of unstable black dust. Tawny has mentioned the vault and it's contents repeatedly since revealing her checkered past, so it's no secret that she has been fixated on this den of sleeping dragons for a very long time.

An irritating little smirk shows that she knows she has me cornered. If I wasn't so annoyed at being played, I might be impressed.

"I need you to get into the vault and score me some kegs of material so that I can recreate my gunpowder." Tawny continues, watching me carefully. "If you can do that and help to plant my bombs in the labs, then I promise to sit tight for the next three days."

"Five."

"Four."

"Deal."

She nods, smiling triumphantly as the pit that's been steadily forming in my stomach widens further. I steal a glance at Luca, who has retreated to a safe distance now that I have regained some semblance of control. The few feet that exist between us may as well be a chasm for all the destruction I've wrought.

We pack our bags quickly, trading our Enforcer uniforms for dark, lightweight clothing. At the last instant I remember to grab a handful of coins for when we find Geoff at his post in front of the tunnels. Luca and I stand shoulder to shoulder before the window, staring down at the lamplit streets and tightly-packed buildings. With curfew settled upon the dome, the Brutes and Enforcers are out in spades. I know that even if we manage to evade them past the city and farmlands, we still face an infested, mile-long mess that is Babel's tunnel system before breaking free of it's walls and attempting an improbable climb. Nonetheless, anticipation courses through me as I lift my chin in response to the call of the Wastelands beckoning us back home.

One at a time we slip through the window and disappear into the night, making our way down deadly streets without leaving so much as a shadow behind.