Inside the Data Analysis room.
"Sir, one vial of Composite V and Vivex has been stolen from the laboratory. Duncan's tracker has lost connection, which makes him the primary suspect."
"WHAT?!" Dean exploded. "Who was the dumbass night guard last night? Call him in!"
"Yes, sir." One of the analysts quickly searched through the employee records and work shifts. "The name is Sterling Finch, male, twenty-one years old, five foot—"
"I don't care who he is! I ordered you to bring him in!"
The analyst nodded frantically before calling Sterling in.
A few minutes later, Sterling stepped into the room and entered Dean's office. "Sir?"
"What happened last night?" Dean asked, staring directly into his eyes.
"I…" Sterling stammered. "I was gonna stop him, but he just flew off!"
"You let him into the laboratory, idiot. We saw it on the cameras."
"Yeah, because I thought he was a night guard and my shift was over!"
"Your shift ends at 2:00 AM. It was 12:30 AM at the time of the robbery, you fucking moron!"
Sterling lowered his head in shame and fear as he realized he never checked the time.
"Maybe if you'd checked the time like a normal person, none of this would've happened!" Dean shouted, slamming his fist against the table.
Dean rubbed his forehead and slowly shook his head. "Oh God… Sovereign's gonna kill me…"
He groaned in frustration. "No. I am not taking accountability for this. This is your fault."
"Oh… right." Sterling nodded nervously. "So am I going to jail…?"
"No. You're gonna confess to Sovereign about what you did and remind him that nobody screwed up except you," Dean declared.
Sterling had never faced Sovereign in person before.
---
Knox walked into Nixon's room. "Nixon."
"Yeah?"
Knox sighed. "It's been nine days since we've done anything useful around here."
"What do you mean? We work, don't we?" Nixon chuckled.
"That's not what I mean. You said we were gonna be kings of this world, but we're serving under the feet of our enemy."
"You still remember that conversation?"
Knox smacked his lips. "Were you lying?"
"No. I really do wanna be king, but taking Sovereign down is impossible. Besides, if we're gonna commit to this, it's obviously gonna take time."
Knox nodded. "So we play the long game?"
"It's not the long game. It's the only game we can play."
"Alright. So what do we do?"
"First, you need to overcome your fear of Sovereign." Nixon set his cup down.
Knox sputtered. "Okay, that's easy."
"No, it's not. It's almost impossible — not just for you, but for nearly everyone on this planet. You think you're brave until you actually meet him."
"So how did you overcome that fear?" Knox asked.
Nixon exhaled slowly. "It's hard to explain, but you basically need to forget everything you love."
Knox frowned in confusion. "What? That made no sense at all."
Nixon groaned. "I sounded really stupid there, didn't I?"
Knox laughed. "Yeah. You did."
"When you face Sovereign, you need to stop giving a shit about whether or not you live. You understand?"
"But what if I have a family that I care for?"
"That's the problem, brother." Nixon leaned forward. "You can't let Sovereign see that you still care about your life."
Knox nodded slowly.
"Billions of people put on a thin shell of bravery when they stand before Sovereign. The problem is, he sees right through it. He forces the real you to surface. But if that shell is hollow… then what's left to threaten? What's left to kill?"
"I understand…" Knox muttered. "So the point isn't to be brave. It's to be empty."
"Yes. That's exactly what I mean. But that's only the first stage."
Knox raised an eyebrow. "First stage?"
"Yeah. The first stage is emptiness. Then eventually, your emotions turn into real bravery. At least… that's what happened to me."
Knox silently absorbed everything Nixon had just said.
---
"It's a shame John didn't bring some kind of drugs," Diego groaned.
"Drugs?" Mitch looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean something to help us stop being scared or paranoid. And maybe I could make something out of… something."
Mitch scoffed. "I thought you were just a drug smuggler."
"Sí, and I never said I didn't take drugs."
"Cunt's an addict," Benjamin added. "But he knows his limits, so he ain't a crackhead."
"Okay…" Mitch scratched his head. "Are you actually good at making drugs or whatever?"
"Sí, of course. When I was a little boy, I used to read hundreds of books on chemistry. I love chemistry!"
Mitch blinked in surprise. "I did not expect that from you. What school did you go to?"
Diego raised an eyebrow. "School?" He chuckled. "I didn't go to school. I got the books by stealing them from the library!"
"Wait, what?"
"I had a friend from that school who owned three uniforms. He used two of them, but the other one was too small for him. Luckily for me, I was the perfect size." Diego grinned. "He gave me the uniform, and I'd walk into the library pretending to be a student and read all the chemistry books I could find."
"That's not stealing. That's just sneaking in," Mitch said.
"Then, when I got a job as a drug smuggler for a gang, I started experimenting with the stuff and sometimes created new chemicals. But I never told anyone because I was scared I'd get in trouble."
Mitch stared at him. "You are a severely interesting person…"
"So where's your friend now?" Emma asked quietly.
"He's dead," Diego answered casually.
The group fell silent, caught off guard by how casually he said it.
"The military were massacring the poor on the surface. I escaped, but my friend got caught and killed."
"I'm… sorry?" Mitch said awkwardly.
"No need."
---
Duncan constantly glanced around the room in panic. He hadn't even taken a single bite of the bread John gave him.
Hannah noticed and walked over to him. "Hey, you don't have to worry about anything. We're safe here."
"Yeah," John added. "We cut your tracker out and dumped it somewhere far away. You'll be fine."
Duncan nodded hesitantly. "Alright…"
"We were thinking maybe you could go to the surface and grab some stuff for us," John said.
"Absolutely not," Duncan replied immediately. "The moment I peek my head out, I'm fucking dead."
Hannah sighed. "Yeah. We know."
They sat against the wall in silence. Hannah and John couldn't stop scratching themselves after going so long without showering.
"It's not rude for me to say you guys smell and look like shit, right?" Duncan asked awkwardly.
John chuckled. "We know that too."
Hannah grunted as she stood up. "I'll do it."
"Do what?" Duncan asked.
"I'll go back to the surface. You've already done too much for me and them, John. It's time I repay you."
John opened his mouth to object, but eventually accepted her offer. "Okay."
---
Dean and Sterling stepped onto the 200th floor of HEX, both visibly nervous.
"You wanted to see me, Dean?"
Dean inhaled deeply. "Yes, sir. I bring bad, yet valuable information."
Sovereign stood in silence, staring out at the city skyline while listening intently.
"A vial of Vivex and Composite V has been stolen. Our lead suspect is Duncan because his tracker has lost connection and he's nowhere to be found," Dean explained.
"Lead suspect?" Sovereign scoffed. "Come on. We all know it's Duncan. Stop trying to sound professional."
"My apologies, sir." Dean lowered his head.
He nudged Sterling forward.
"It was me, Sterling, sir. I let him into the laboratory because of a stupid mistake I made." Sterling stepped forward nervously. "I thought my shift was over… Punish me so others can learn from my mistake, sir."
Sovereign slowly turned around. "That was a bad speech, Dean."
"Me?"
Sovereign smacked his lips. "I know you told him to say that. It's obvious."
After a long silence, Dean finally nodded. "You're right, sir. I'm very sorry."
"I'm not surprised Duncan would do something like this," Sovereign said calmly, turning back toward the skyline. "Honestly, it was probably the most expected outcome imaginable."
Sovereign looked toward Sterling. "I saw him stealing those vials that night. But I did nothing because I didn't want to interfere with the natural order of your jobs."
Then, in an instant, Sovereign appeared directly in front of Sterling, one hand already gripping his shoulder.
"If you can't do your job properly… then what use are you to me?"
"I-I'm sorry, sir! I swear to God I'll never mess up again, please!" Sterling begged.
Sovereign's face twisted with pure rage.
Then he spoke calmly.
"Get out. Now."
Sterling immediately turned and sprinted for the doors, but before he could escape, two high-intensity laser beams sliced through his head.
His skull exploded apart, fragments of bone and blood splattering across the walls and all over Dean. A steaming scorch mark sizzled against the wall.
Dean flinched in horror and slowly looked back at Sovereign's glowing red eyes.
"Clean it up."