I hated the rebellion meetups. I was a fairly inactive UA, so I very rarely ever did them. I ended up privy to a conversation, I reported it, took notes, and dropped the notes in a drop spot. Simple. Over. Done.

This was different. This time Jamie was standing next to me.

"Do you think—"

"Jamie, you're nervous. I get it. Please stop talking to me."

"I feel uncomfortable here. We shouldn't have skipped school."

We were sitting on a bench in a shadow. Of course, Jamie felt uncomfortable. It was a dark street alley. The litter patrols didn't often make it down this far and it showed.

"Jamie, what did I just—"

A hand clapped over my mouth and a body pressed against the back of my head. It would've been scary if my hearing aids hadn't decided to let out a high-pitched squeal in the middle of it.

Ignoring the shrieking device, I put my hands up, palm out like we'd been instructed.

The hand moved away from my mouth.

My hearing aid stopped squealing.

"UA23116 here to report," I said as calmly as I could.

"Welcome," a husky voice said in my ear.

Jamie was practically whimpering next to me. She knew this was coming.

A bag slammed down over my head, and I felt myself getting lifted into the air.

I stayed still until I felt myself being set down. Other than my hair getting messed up, I was unharmed.

I sat down in a chair. Jamie stood looking shocked.

"You're, we're, is this—"

"This is one of the Clan of Agatha's headquarters." The husky voice said.

"Are you ever going to take of that mask?" Jamie asked, regaining some, if not all, of her cool.

"No."

"So you get to see our faces, but we can't see yours?"

"I'm the point of contact for all recoveries within the Clan of Agatha. That's all you need to know right now."

"What should we call you?"

"My code name is Monroe."

"From what I can see, you don't have a mission planned to recover Tyena Luarenz?" The lump grew in my throat. I hoped Monroe would correct me.

"At this time, we do not have a rescue mission planned for Tyena Luarenz."

I nodded. "Could you be convinced to make one?"

"You have a plan you think we should take. Start there."

I turned and looked at Jamie.

"Sonnet's fiancé has high level clearance within the DSUI. He's extended an invitation for her to meet him after work. She'd meet him there. She distracts everyone she can, and gets an ID from somebody. She leaves some article of clothing there and rushes out of the building. She gets the ID to us, and we copy it. We give it back, and she realizes she left something at the DSUI. She goes back to get it, and pretends to find the ID."

Monroe sighed. "This plan sounds like it was designed by a high schooler."

"Should I stop?"

"No. I want to hear the rest of it."

"Right, so the ID is accounted for. Sonnet goes to school establishes an alibi all the next day. You guys, your rescue team, sneaks in using the fake ID. One person gets inside the building, and everyone else is outside in their full terrifying gear. Someone can hack the cameras and make it play on loop for a bit. The soccer team is going to organize a birthday for one of our players, Lola. A whole group of it will get to the party by walking past the DSUI. When you need a distraction to get Tyena, you could totally have a hostage situation with us."

Monroe's voice interrupted Jamie's brief. "But at that point, they know we're there for Laurenz?"

"Yes, but they assume that we're trying with force, not with cunning. So, Tyena is already gone, but they don't know that. So their attention gets draw to the lobby."

"Right. So then whoever has Tyena makes their way to the lobby?"

"Yes. And they leave with a calvary to cover them."

"Whoever goes into the building needs a mask. Preferably the full suit."

"Yes."

"UA, how did you get out of school today?"

"I said I was sick.

"Good. Did you take vomit inducing medication?"

"I did."

"Excellent. You need to be home after lunch today. Eat some foods you're typically able to keep down. Announce to everyone that you feel better and you want to go outside. From there, you'll to meet your fiancé after work. Try to get as close to wherever he has clearance as you can. People up there are likely to have the clearance we need."

"So... we'd get Tyena tomorrow?" Jamie looked at Monroe with excitement.

"If all goes according to plan."

Jamie opened her mouth to say something, but Monroe kept talking.

"Try not to be too distracting if you can help it. Just get the ID, leave something behind that there there's reason to immediately get. Then, get out of the building with your fiancé. I'll have someone waiting on the street by the DSUI. You need to say that you think you recognize them, and try to chase them down. If they say they don't know you, but they like your headband (wear a nondescript headband) then you give them the stolen ID. You go about your day, but at some point you'll get sick again. After that, you'll get a notification on your rebellion issued phone on the status of the ID. You'll reply with an emoji of someone throwing up. That'll trigger a response that will have directions you need to follow."

I nodded. Jamie was still starting at Monroe with wonder.

"Follow those directions and get back to bed before anyone knows you were gone. From there, we'll be reaching out to a few people to fill the other jobs. The less you know about those, the better. UA, you'll still be acting sick. You won't go to school again tomorrow. You'll be well enough for school on Monday. Tell someone who cares about you that they should set up a camera in your bedroom to check on you after you get back to bed tonight. Imitate all the things that should be catching to build an alibi for tomorrow. If you need help with that contact us. Tomorrow morning when everyone leaves your house, sneak out and go to a drop point. You'll be notified which one tomorrow morning. There, there will be a suit that should be roughly your size. Be careful to avoid security cameras, and find Laurenz. We'll give you a map with the most recent information on cameras and wings of the building. Once you've found Luarenz, text us. From there, get to the lobby with as little attention as possible."

I stared at Monroe, taking it all in.

"Do you understand," the low voice asked impatiently.

"Yes."

"Give me your phone."

I surrendered it so Monroe could punch in something.

"This is your contact. Do you have any questions now?"

Jamie tried to speak, but Monroe spun around. "Only her. We'll talk after this."

"No questions."

"Text the contact if you have any issues or think you might have any issues."

I nodded.

Monroe slid the phone back into my pocket, and leaned in like I was about to get a hug. Instead, I got picked up again.

I couldn't see much other than Monroe's back. I was dumped back out on my bench in a couple minutes. I caught my breath for a couple seconds before I wondered back down the alley. I didn't take the train. No one was supposed to know I'd been out. I took the same route I had in coming. It was better to go through the poorer districts that were less likely to have surveillance. I picked my way through the streets until I saw Ifine Manor. The place had security that'd been installed specifically to have a blind spot.

Mr. Jim and Mrs. Whiney had made sure we could walk in that blind spot as though we'd been doing it our whole lives. I made my way to the unremarkable window that served as an entrance. I opened it, stopping it just before the spot where it squeaked. 

I slid in, barely making it without touching the grime of a window that was never cleaned. I could barely stand in the space behind the window. I slid the window shut, involuntarily taking in a breath as it slammed shut.

There was a trick door in the little box. I took a deep breath and gently tapped the clean-cut stone in front of me. It popped out toward me and slid back. I knew the keypad was old, made sometime just after the Florida Floods. Chase guessed it was from about 2080. But the fact of it was that we didn't really know.

When Jim and Whiney had moved into the house, they hadn't even told them this room had existed. It'd been found on accident from one of their earlier adoptees.

My fingers ran over the keys. 73235. Or more simply, rebel, using the older style of keyboard.

The walls hissed. I turned to my right. I slid down hallways and up ladders in a sort of nervous haze. Nothing had changed since I'd been there last. It was an abandoned hallway that lead to servant's bedrooms. Bedrooms that hadn't been full in centuries. From there, I knew the serious of store closets like the back of my hand.

No one was by the great stairs. I darted up them.

I slunk down the hallway. I ripped off my over clothes and stuffed them down to the bottom of my hamper.

I rearranged the blankets from the old humanoid lump. I climbed into bed. I checked the time. Just before lunch.

I laid in bed and let myself absorb what'd just happened. Not only had my plan gotten approved, but we were going in tomorrow. We were going to get T the next day. 

I groped at my nightstand. My hand hit the button I was looking for. I pressed it down.

Mr. Luarenz's voice came presently.

"Miss Alam, how are you feeling?"

"I feel much better. I just woke up and I feel like I could eat a horse."

"Do you want us to bring up some soup?"

"I would love that."

The line disconnected and I let go of the button. Mr. Laurenz came up with a tray and a bowl of steaming hot soup.

I pushed myself up to a sitting position.

"You look much better."

I nodded. "Yeah, I think breakfast just disagreed with me. I took a little nap and I feel all better."

Mr. Luarenz slid the soup onto my lap. "Take care of yourself."

I nodded, putting a spoon of soup in my mouth.

"You need anything else?"

I shook my head. He nodded. "Ring if you do."

I swallowed the soup and smiled. He closed the door behind him.

I wolfed down the steaming hot broth. I put the try to the side and sank back into bed. It felt kind of wrong not to tell Mr. Luarenz about the plans. Even if he had said he didn't want to know.

I did genuinely feel tired. It wouldn't hurt to sell the sick thing as much as I could. I had a couple hours.

I snuggled into my blankets. It felt like I'd been asleep a couple seconds when I opened my eyes. I lazily looked at the clock.

Two hours until Rob normally got home. I sat up.

I slowly got out of bed, even more slowly walked down the hallway, and made it to the bathroom where I splashed water on my face.

In about 15 minutes, I was in normal clothes, complete with the headband and a necklace Mrs. Whiney had gotten me. One that had a weak clasp and could fall off. The small gray band made my green hearing aids just barely visible. I tucked a tuft of hair behind one of them.

Mr. Luarenz walked by me.

"Feeling better already?"

"Yeah. It turns out I just needed a whole lot of sleep."

"Good."

"I actually think I want to go see where Rob works."

"Are you sure you're rea—"

"I'm going to go catch the train."

I got up, smiling. Mr. Laurenz looked defeated. He got me a coat and I got on the train.

I made it to the DSUI without incident. I walked inside.

The check in robot had a slot for a chip. I closed my eyes and slid mine into it. Hopefully Rob was as devoted as he professed to be.

The robot was unamused.

"Requesting human assistant."

I stood, trying to look as put off as possible. A security guard found me.

"Oh, hey," he said. He had to be a bit older than Chase. I nodded at him.

"Hi. I was trying to visit my betrothed, but it seems that he didn't actually have the authority to invite me to visit."

"Oh, who's your fiancé?"

"Robert Quillen."

The security guard looked at me. "I'll ring up."

"Thank you." I murmured, trying to flash a cute smile.

The guard lounged over the counter that held up the machine that'd sent for him. He put a little device in his ear.

"There's a really pretty girl down here asking for a Robert Quillen."

He nodded. "Can I have your chip, Miss?"

I handed him my chip. He looked at it and spun it in his hand.

"Yep, she's Sonnet Alam."

He paused and waited for a bit.

"I'll bring her right up."

He put the earpiece back in his pocket. 

"So everything's good?"

"Everything's good. Come with me."

I closed my eyes before forcing a smile. I was with a chatty guard. He did his assigned job of bringing me up to the top floor.

I noticed everyone had an ID hanging from their waistband that they used to go into various doors.

"What do you keep over there?" I pointed.

"Oh, just boring stuff."

"Seems like it's awfully secure for boring stuff."

He leaned close, uncomfortably close to my ear. "There's a rumor they keep rebels behind these doors."

"Ooh, now see? That's exciting."

I didn't want to dwell on that attitude too much.

"What are those?"

He was staring at my hearing aid.

"My hearing aid?"

"Yeah. Geez. I didn't think anyone had those anymore."

Luckily for me, Rob came up.

"Sonnet!"

Rob didn't have an ID. Chances were he didn't even know.

I kept up some uninvolved conversation with Rob. He was navigating me down. Toward the lobby.

I needed to stop, to stall. "My shoe's falling off. Can we stop to fix it?"

"Oh... uh... yeah."

I stopped to mess with my show. Someone came out one of the forbidden doors. I lifted my leg and messed with my shoes that were not falling off.

I waited until they were right next to me and expertly lost my balance. In my profuse apologizing and their inconvenience, they didn't notice the ID missing.

I slid it into my shoe and went on walking with Rob. When we got to the lobby, I slipped off

In the street outside the DSUI, a girl was milling around.

"Hey, I think that's one of Chase's old friends."

I left Rob to go meet her.

I don't remember much about the conversation other than that I passed the ID along after I got a compliment on my headband. My necklace ended up somewhere in the lobby. I got the message to go looking for it, and I got the jewelry back, leaving an ID in a corner of the main desk. The rest of the night was spent stressing and relapsing back into being sick (which was only half a lie.) I fell asleep just after I got my list of instructions.