Arthur Griffe

Arthur Griffe is my artistic name, my real name is a secret. 

I am 26 years old.

I studied Creative Writing and Literature at a private university. 

Currently I am working on getting my college degree. 

I also stream from time to time but I do it with my real identity so I am never to share that info…

Not like I am super famous either way, I just started. 

Straight/he/him/polyamorous

Became a writer because I wanted to read certain things that the books within my reach when I was 13 didn’t have. 

I love zombies, videogames, anime and science fiction

My favorite foods/snacks are hamburgers, pizzas, pistachios, peanuts, pretzels, tacos de canasta, and mint chocolate ice cream.

Tumblr quickly became a place where I put my stories and my unhinged thoughts so I think I am doing it right.

WIPs

New Fate

The year when a small city changed forever, from this moment, many great personalities and future-shaping achievements have their roots sown thanks to the unexpected events where Dreko’s metamorphosis into the immortal and interdimensional polyamorous being begins. 

Fate

After the critical point of the last book, everything is hidden and buried, the witnesses are dispersed and vigilated. The biggest mystery among Dreko’s allies is where he is. 

At the same time, an unknown vigilante appears in another city. 

Alone

In a newly founded city, a young adult, Kieran, is living his best life until a sudden success at his job starts a chain reaction that pushes him into self-destruction mode.

The Tower

Dreko’s first life has come to an end, transferring his consciousness into a new body in Lumen’s universe, where many new adventures await the couple.

My masterlist:

The Tower

The Obituary

2. So... now can I see the surprise?

3. The market

4. The trip

5. Remodeling The Tower

6. 81 years ago (pt. 1)

7. 81 years ago (pt. 2)

8. Overall horniness

9. Life with Dreko from Lumen's perspective

10. Friends' meeting

11. Five years later

12. Rowena

13. How to go back

14. Something something Rowena something

15. Rowena finds out

16. The one where Dreko does friends

V.T.B. ARC

17. I am way over my head

18. Shit has always been this dark

19. Unexpected guests

20. Rescue Mission

21. Life in the bunker

22. A big strike

23.The aftermath

24. What now?

As soon as Rowena leaves The Tower, the immortal goes straight to the rooftop and jumps without hesitance.

Not using his ability or trying to slow down right until the moment he is about to land, he enjoys the wind resistance against his body and the smell of fresh fruit and cut grass. He lands softly, with not so much as a stone turned. 

Obsidian, the fox, only lifts her head up to see him and rests it back down when he lies next to her under the shadow of a tree. The warmth hits a perfect temperature, the fresh breeze and the quiet surroundings make him fall asleep for an hour, with one hand on the fox. 

Rowena walks like she is on an alien planet. AIs are appearing and disappearing everywhere, hovering over the ground in their preferred holographic form or as drones; satyrs and minotaurs are walking around, minding their own business, some fully, partially, or not at all dressed, with no one batting an eye. Pegasi fly by and land on designated areas. At first, she thinks they are like any other animals until she listens to them talk. Distracted by this, she crashes against a cyclops not much taller than her; after apologizing, she keeps going.  The wild fauna are big cockroaches with horns, squirrels with peaks and prehensile tails on trees, flying octopi, and medium-sized four-legged owls with large necks. She can’t even tell which establishments are for what, and just when she is about to collapse, a voice and a strong grip around her arm prevent this.

A female minotaur sits with her on the ground. It takes a couple of seconds for Rowena to realize who is sitting in front of her. The minotaur’s face is, as can be expected, of a bull, but it has big, lined eyes, a small snout, and medium-sized horns peeking through a mane of black and white hair just above her ears. The white sclera is almost fully covered by the heterochromatic irises, one light green and the other blue. She wears a loose batwing sleeve t-shirt with a V-neck and lace trim, a pair of bootcut jeans, and no shoes because of her hooves. 

“Are you ok? Do you need me to call someone?” The image of an anthropomorphized bull talking to her threatens to send her over the edge again. Veronica, the minotaur, doesn’t imagine that what’s wrong with the blue-haired woman is the fact that a minotaur is trying to help, so she gets Rowena up and takes her to the nearest shop. ”Sorry for grabbing you without permission.” A bohemian coffee shop with brown walls, illuminated by old-looking lanterns shining purple, and one big creeper plant all over the roof. “Hey, sorry, can you bring me a glass of water for my friend?” Veronica asks the barista, a tattooed cyclops. With the glass in her three-fingered hand, she turns around to find that Rowena has bolted.

Rowena, incapable of pretending anymore, runs erratically. Not a coherent thought is formed in her head, not even using the necklace to jump away or bring Dreko to her aid, who is still sleeping in the garden. A couple of officers stop her, not in a menacing way and without putting a hand on her. 

“Miss, please, stop. Is everything ok? What’s your name?” Rowena calms a little when she finds herself in front of two humans. 

“Ro-Rowena Devi.” Veronica catches up to them soon after.  

“Hey, miss, you stop right there too.” The minotaur obeys immediately. “I am Officer Long; that’s my partner, Officer Langdon.” The officer talking to them is a middle-aged blonde woman. Her partner is an older man with grey hair going bald from the back, some wrinkles on his face, and a gut visible through the leather trench coat.  

“I am sorry; she seemed about to pass out, and I tried to help, but she ran away.”

“Is that true, miss?” 

“Sh-she didn’t do anything to me; I just panicked a little. Am I in trouble?”

“No, we just need to contact someone to come pick you up and an ID.” Rowena pales at the mention of an identification.

“I don’t think my driver's license from Azglam City will work here.” When she is about to reach for her new phone, she thinks. “It’s easier to say that I have been robbed.” The officers and Veronica are expecting Rowena, who finally answers. “I got robbed; I have nothing on me, but I live with Lumen. She works at a private security company, Font Group, I think.”

“Do you know Lumen’s cellphone number?”

Meanwhile, Lumen is in her office when the call comes through. 

“Yeah?”

“Hi, this is Officer Long. We are with Rowena in midtown; she was visibly shaken, and when asked, she told us she had been robbed and gave us your number.” Lumen stops everything. 

“Is she ok?”

“Yes, but we can’t let her go just like this; we have to leave her with someone capable of proving their identities. Can you meet us at the station 19?” Rowena didn’t expect to have to wait at the station. 

“I’ll be right there.” As soon as the phone call ends, Lumen lets her workplace know she has an emergency before jumping through the window. In her holographic form, she isn’t in any real risk from the fall, but she still sends herself to the nearest rooftop before even getting close to the ground. On her way to the station, she texts Dreko to let him know and stop him from literally crashing in the station. 

Five minutes later, Lumen is walking through the front door of the police station like she hasn’t just fallen out of the sky. Unfazed, the receptionist, a male astral projection, watches her land on the sidewalk and addresses her when she is in front of him. 

“Good morning, miss, how can I help you?”

“I am Lumen. I received a call telling me they were bringing a woman who was mugged, Rowena. I am here to pick her up.”

“I am gonna need an identification, your signature on these forms, and the name of the officer who called you.” She gives her ID and takes the papers. “What’s your relationship with the woman?”

“Roommate and girlfriend.” The AI answers without hesitation. Officer Long overhears this and jumps in the conversation. 

“Maybe you can explain to us, then, why your girlfriend doesn’t appear in any database.” Lumen turns her head to see the lady cop. “I am Long; we talked on the phone.”

“Hello, pleasure to meet you.” Lumen offers her hand. “I am sorry, I can’t tell you that. We have only been dating for a couple of months, but if she isn’t arrested, I would very much like to take her with me.” Long stares at the redhead with eyes pretending to be cynical and distrustful, but the AI sees right through the facade.

“She isn’t arrested; I’ll have someone bring her to you.”

“Thanks.”

When Rowena and Lumen walk out, Long keeps them in her mind for a couple of minutes before being dragged to whatever mess crosses her desk. 

In the street, Rowena walks embarrassed; Lumen doesn’t seem too worried or eager to know what happened. She purposely takes Rowena down a calm and beautiful path on their way to her job. She buys two ice creams that the blue-haired girl barely tastes. 

“Hey.” Rowena stops to turn around. Lumen kisses her before anything can be said, and then she smears a bit of ice cream on her nose. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I don’t know what happened.”

“It was more our fault; we threw you alone to the deep end, but hey, you can be with me until we go home and then try again later, another day.”

“I don’t know… maybe I don’t belong here.” Lumen doesn’t answer; instead, she brings her down to the freshly cut grass. 

“Lie down with me.” Rowena accepts. Once lying down, Rowena manages to calm down a little. The sky and smell of grass are pretty similar to that of her world, and Lumen helps as a beacon of peace and normality. “I have seen you excited to learn about new things ever since the first time we met, and Dreko and I know your strength and potential. Whatever happened today isn’t a testament against it; you are the second one to move to a different Earth in a different universe… and the first one was Dreko, not exactly normal that one… and you fucked him!”

This last part gets a rich and hearty laugh that is soon joined by the elegant, synthetic laugh of Lumen. 

Back at The Tower, Dreko is tinkering inside the lab. On a table there are so many pieces that the surface is barely visible. Some half-built prototypes are on top of all the pieces. Sporadically, he goes to the pods, checking the schematics and the insides of the machine before running back to the table and trying something new. 

An hour goes by, some pieces are now on the floor, and the prototypes have grown from a couple to ten of the same-size round emitters but with different models. When he is about to activate the first one, his phone rings. 

“Yeah?”

“Hi, Dreko, I just wanted to fill you in on Rowena.”

“Is she OK? She left a while ago.”

“A police officer called me. She is ok, but they asked me to pick her up.” At this, he immediately looks at the window.

“I’ll go.” The tone in his voice lets Lumen guess he is going into a frenzy state. 

“No, Dreko, no, you’ll make things more complicated; stay there. I am already on my way. What were you doing?”

“I am working on the nanohealing.” He says, throwing the device up in the air and catching it.

“Keep doing that; it’s important work. I’ll give it a look when I get home.” 

“Fine, call me when you are with Ro.”

“Will do, love you.”

“Love you.”

Rowena and Lumen arrive at the agency. After registering her, Lumen takes her partner to the floor in which she works. Rowena, who is calmer now, doesn’t expect to see a wide room full of servers and a multi-screen workstation.

“So you work here all day?”

“Most of the days, sometimes I go out in the field, but my main task is to help field operatives either with complex technological and virtual issues or by feeding them information.”

“So you can watch all the city from here?” Rowena watches the keyboard with keen interest. 

“Well, no, but I can see what our agents are doing through the drones that follow them around, and some are not even in this city.” Lumen explains, noticing the curiosity spark in her eyes. “Go ahead, see, no one will know; just don’t open the mic.” 

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.” Lumen smiles and pushes Rowena towards the workstation by her lower back. The hacker feels a sudden warm rush inside that begins with the touch of the AI. Pretending nothing happens, Rowena goes through all the drone cameras, watching nearly fifty different operatives that are protecting human assets, vaults, data banks, or precious belongings. Most of these show calm scenarios where they are only making vigilance rounds and rotating shifts. Some, however, have changed into high-stakes situations where shots are being fired and the agents are on the move with their designated task. It so happens that, when Rowena is using the console, a distress call enters, asking for Lumen to open a closed gate. The AI is about to step in when Rowena jumps into action, opening the door like she already knew how that system works. “Piece of cake.”

“Maybe you should work here.” Impressed, Lumen gives her a quick peck on the lips that Rowena wasn’t expecting. 

“Or maybe we should open our agency.” The hacker proposes on a whim. 

“Is that something you would like to do here?” The AI asks with a smile. “Because it’s something we can do.”

“Ah, yes, you, me, and Dreko. An unstoppable force.” Rowena exaggerates but actually gets chills when she notices that Lumen isn’t joking. “Are you for real?”

“Well, Dreko wouldn’t be a part of it directly, because he is kind of…” She gestures with both hands next to her head, moving them in a way she understands that he is too much. “For the kind of clients I see that pay for this service, besides, he doesn’t want a job where he gets sent around the world.”

“Isn’t that what he does every day?”

“Yes, but because he wants to, it’s different somehow. I think he just doesn’t want the chain around his neck.”

“Has he ever worked?” Rowena asks, unable to imagine him in an office.

“Not in a normal way; he is an immortal that didn’t finish middle school, so…”

“Right.” The conversation arrives at a natural stopping point.

Rowena juggles the proposal in her mind while watching Lumen work the rest of her shift, even being a witness to her ability to multiply herself. At eight o’clock, Lumen clocks out for the day, and they open a portal to The Tower. 

The women appear in the lobby and go up to the dining room, where an entire dinner awaits them, still hot. The scarred man is in the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of wine; a big smile appears across his face when he sees both his partners. 

“Hi, beautiful women!” He kisses both on the lips before putting the wine in the ice bucket. “Dinner is served.” Lumen puts her purse on the bar before going to her seat. Rowena is about to sit down when she is grabbed gently by the arm. “Are you ok?” He is visibly worried, and the expression softens his face a lot. Rowena melts on the inside. 

“Yes, yes, I am ok; Lumen calmed me down.”

“She is good at that.” He strokes Rowena’s cheek before speeding to Lumen’s side, pulling her chair, and does the same for Rowena before sitting in his chair. The three toast and eat in silence for a couple of minutes at first, enjoying the food and the atmosphere. 

Halfway through the dinner, Dreko finally breaks the silence. 

“How was work today?” He takes a sip, watching both of them. Rowena sees his eyes, truly asking, but a spark shows how unintentionally analytic his nature is. 

“Fairly normal. I was in my office all day.” Lumen answers after cleaning her mouth. He looks at Rowena, waiting for her answer. 

“Oh, well, it was fascinating and intense.”

“She is a natural, of course.” The AI compliments her. Rowena smiles, awkwardly but sincerely, with food in her mouth that washes down with wine. 

Silence fills the room once again. The atmosphere, despite being homey, feels like there is something brewing between the three, and Rowena is the first to address it. 

“I am sorry if I worried you today; it wasn’t my intention.” She looks down at the table, afraid of facing them. “Don’t think I am not ready for… whatever this will be… I am all in, really.” The couple looks at each other from across the table before running to embrace her in a tender hug. Rowena is caught by surprise; the love is so pure and fulfilling that tears run down her cheeks. Dreko is the first to speak. 

“You have nothing to apologize for; your commitment and love towards us was never in question. I know this is new, and maybe you feel like you have a position to reach; you don’t. This relationship will grow and evolve in its own time; don’t sweat it, and we can show you how to navigate this world… I mean, I did it, and you are way smarter than me.” Rowena chuckles, turning to see Lumen. 

“You really are smarter than he.” She confirms. Rowena feels better, kissing both. 

“So… we are boyfriend/girlfriend/girlfriend?” Lumen and Dreko look at each other again. 

“You mean a triad? Yes, or what would you like?” The AI asks her.

“I am fine with that.” Rowena smiles at her now-defined romantic partners. “What are the rules, by the way? Boundaries?” 

“I don’t know what Dreko has already told you, but you can do whatever you want; just let us know and regular STD exams.” 

“Dreko said pretty much the same.” Rowena rummages through her thoughts. “Are you two seeing anybody else?” The AI and the immortal both shake their heads no. “Why not?”

“We don’t want to right now.” They answer in unison. 

“Well, I am not seeing anybody else either.” She clarifies. Dreko and Lumen go back to their seats, where Dreko remembers something. 

“Oh, btw, this was before we even shared that kiss in the bunker, but I want you to know that Delilah kissed me.”

“What? When?” Curious instead of jealous or surprised, the urgency for gossip immediately has her accepting it like no big deal. She is also polyamorous, after all. 

“Like the first week of being inside the bunker.”

“That didn’t take long.” Rowena is now surprised. “I didn’t think you were their type.”

“I don’t think I am.” Dreko agrees with her. “Delilah kissed me impulsively; I think they did it only to let out some of their anxiety.”

“Have you heard from the hackers since then?” Rowena asks, remembering how things in V.T.B. were when she left with the couple.

“No, I am sure they are ok.”

A week after all the events on V.T.B., the sun warms the rooftop of The Tower on Earth 2. Dreko is standing there, barefoot. Two hands hug him from behind, and a head gently rests between his shoulder blades. 

“I never realized how sharp these things are.” Rowena rubs her cheeks against them, making Dreko laugh. “Oh, my god, you are ticklish!” She keeps tickling him. His laugh is made of deep, short exhalations; his chest jumps up and down with every laugh. The tickles reach the point where the laughter turns into desperation, and Dreko moves at superspeed away from her. So fast that Rowena is left with her arms hugging the air. The immortal appears behind her, returning the favor by gently poking her ribs, and Rowena immediately lets herself fall to the floor. 

When her pale face turns red, Dreko stops so she can breathe. Her laugh goes on for two whole minutes, during which Rowena’s lower body is on top of his legs. When she calms down, he extends a hand for her to sit up. 

“I can’t believe you are here.” He says when they are both sitting across from each other. The loving stare that Dreko has is so pure that she feels hugged by it. 

“It wasn’t so crazy of an idea, right? I couldn’t risk it.” For a brief second her stare darkens, but Rowena keeps the memories at bay by focusing on the present. “Besides, you are here, Lumen is here; it was a no-brainer, and I can jump back when I need to.”

“You should explore on your own, which reminds me.” From his old hoodie, he pulls a small box with shiny wrapping and a tiny bow. The decoration doesn’t match, and the box is a bit crushed; she notices it when he drops the gift into her hands. Details so ridiculously endearing that they could only come from someone like Dreko. She lets out a chuckle before seeing what is inside: a two-sided charm necklace. The first side has a dark purple raven engraving. The second side has a wine-red claw engraving. “The chain is made from an ultra-resistant metal that I found in my explorations; the stone is a malleable, glowing mineral that I smoothed, tinted, and carved. I embedded it with nanotech as a way to make the chain not removable except for the user.” He picks it out for her and keeps talking. She is speechless either way, shocked by the gift and love-infused by watching him explain so invested. He has a spark of curiosity and wonder in his eyes. “It’s actually more than an accessory; the technology inside of it turns it into a hands-free portal emitter. The raven one is for you to go wherever you want within the Earth you happen to be, and the claw one is for you to bring me straight to you wherever you are.” He finishes, holding in each hand the end of the chain, so she turns around, allowing him to put the necklace on.

Rowena is flabbergasted, to say the least. Sure, she had dated many men. Nerds or brainiacs were a given; she is a hacker, after all. Also not the first time she had been on the other end of an obsessive talk. But it was the first time someone she was dating made her something.

“Not one of my partners has ever made me something since Miguel Fermin gave me that giant drawing with my name on it. This isn’t that.”.

Since she moved in, her experience has been as normal as the context allowed it to be. Sporadically, her new reality was shocked by a random explosion in the distant lab, or a fiery bird would burn the curtains when resting on the open window. It took a couple of seconds for Rowena to realize that the feeling overflowing her was love. 

She hugs him. Dreko is caught by surprise, hugging her back. Between her naturally cold skin and his being unusually warm, that’s a fresh and cozy hug. The intense feeling of being loved, considered, and protected by Dreko wakes a yearning up inside of her. She pulls him into a kiss by the neck of his shirt. 

Everything escalates from there. Stumbling across the aisle, not able to stop herself from kissing and feeling him against the walls. She manages to go into her bedroom, where she throws him onto the bed. When being on top of him, Rowena feels it. Her body reacts on a subconscious level now that she feels it through her clothes. A primordial fierceness lit her eyes; the immortal recognizes it well. He undresses himself in front of her while she summons every gram of self-control in her entire body to contemplate that moment. 

The shirt goes over his head. A brown torso so skinny you can count the ribs on his chest. The scars look old but clear; what isn’t clear is a pattern—they cross each other—and she almost can tell, despite the lusty fog clouding her mind, that something opened its way from his inside to the outside. The hand-shaped scar doesn’t elude her; she's unable to decipher it when her new boyfriend drops his pants. His long legs are as thin as his upper body and equally scarred. In any other person, this would look sickish, but not on him; there is a strength emanating from him that trumps what catches the eye. Nothing could get the best of him, and Rowena is more than eager to try. She feels like the moment has stretched for decades, denying her what her soul is tearing itself to get. It hasn’t even been a minute when the underwear falls to the floor. 

There it is. Unexpectedly hairless, a bit crooked, not inhumanly big as she feared, but appropriate for his size. What surprises her the most, although she isn't sure herself why, are the scars there too. This doesn’t last long when she is pulled back into the general mood. 

“Well, that’s something not skinny.” Her mind thinks on its own, just like her body snatched control from her. 

Her turn, not that Dreko hasn’t already seen her like that. Likewise, her entire outfit falls quickly to the floor. She can see, in his eyes, this time is different, more than just lust; Dreko’s eyes express desire, love, and what she can only describe as the hope of a life with her. There is also curiosity about seeing her tattoos from up close and with nothing in the way.

When Dreko is about to get in bed, she stops him. 

“Do you have protection?” 

“Yeah, right there.” He points at a drawer. She checks for any damage and the expiration date on the envelope before throwing it at him. 

“Throw me the lube too, please.” Without her seeing, the recipient hits him on the forehead before he catches it. “Thanks.” He thinks it wise not to disclose the incident. Enough lube is used so the condom slides perfectly. 

Rowena is now against the bed. Her heart beats fast as things escalate. She puts her hands on his hips while he is kissing down his neck. Her breathing is the only thing that can be heard, and, besides the noise from the bed supporting them both and his lips against her skin, no real sound is coming from him. His chest against him is as steady as it can be. Every time her tiny conscious mind space picks up on this, it is pummeled by the rest of her being that enjoys the weird waves of tingling energy coming off from him or the teasing from his penis. 

Each kiss he gives her is sweet and exciting, but whatever he is planning or doing, her body screams it’s not happening fast enough. And he knows. Before anything, Dreko is an annoyingly good teaser but perceptive enough—only in those scenarios—to know when to move on or risk the entire mood. His hand movements seem strategic along her body. Rowena bites her lower lip to hold it in until he finally reaches her vagina. A loud moan is inevitable. 

She gets ahold of the situation. Rowena kisses him, holding Dreko down with one hand while the other hand reaches inside of her. After a few minutes, in which she moans against his mouth, Rowena expresses her intention to him only with a fierce stare. Dreko nods. 

At first, the pleasure that comes with it hits like any other time she has had it, even with the desperate anticipation. Almost instantly something changes. An animalistic pure pleasure wave comes out of every pore and muscle in her body. Her back arches, her hands hold the blue mane, and she screams. It’s not an orgasm, but it's close. Dreko smirks as he knows what just happened. She guides her movements to make the most of it, gaining speed, her hands resting on his chest. He enjoys watching her face and her body and feeling her around him. From his perspective, Rowena is unconsciously putting her entire game on what she knows ensures mutual gratification. Unknown to the fact that, since Dreko’s metamorphosis, the most pleasure comes from the emotional intimacy he shares with his partners. However, it doesn’t mean he can’t get the full physical pleasure; it does mean that his stamina, climax, and recovery are superior. 

Fifteen minutes go by when they both reach climax. Rowena lies on the pillow next to his, trying to recover her breath. Something inside of her has changed; she isn’t even done feeling her climax when a sex drive appears again. 

“How do you feel about toys?” She asks once her breathing goes back to normal. He calls one drone, which brings a medium-sized white box. From the outside it looks a bit more sophisticated than a simple chest. The lid opens up by itself, and the inside being airtight, a disinfectant smell comes out. Different kinds of toys are inside. “Are they clean?”

“Yes, we clean and dry them after each use, and the box has UV-C light sensors to deliver the right amount.”  

“That’s hot.” She says, jokingly, before kissing him again, and the hunger for more churns inside her. “Ready for another round, old man?” By reaching under the blanket, she finds not only that it is ready but also that it hasn’t diminished a bit. She picks a toy, and together they go at it again after he changes the condom.

The new couple falls asleep, exhausted and inebriated by happiness. An hour goes by before they wake up. Dreko doesn’t tell her but doesn’t pretend either when he gets up. Unlike her, he doesn’t feel muscle soreness; the bite marks heal, and the only reason why he isn’t erect anymore is that he commands it not to be. Rowena leaves for the bathroom, sitting on the toilet. There, while she does the deed, she checks on the scratches, finger marks, and bites Dreko left on her skin. A smile appears on her face, never having felt that level of pleasure and exhaustion before. 

From outside the bathroom, he listens to the shower being turned on. After asking the drones to clean everything up, he goes to shower in his bedroom. Any residue of what happened goes down the drain. They both step out of the shower at the same time, dried by the bathroom itself through sonic dehumidification, keeping their ears safe with noise-canceling devices. Still, they need the towels to dry their hair; Dreko needs three or four to get his long mane completely dried. 

She, now in a purple-striped blouse with the shoulders uncovered, tight black pants, and boots, enters the living room where Dreko is. The branches' tattoo on her left arm can be seen, and only the top part of the raven on her other arm is visible.

“You ok?” 

“Shower is great.” She sits next to him. “The thing that dries felt weird.”

“Yeah, sorry, I should have warned you.”

“So… what now?”

“Sorry?”

“Can you tell me how this works? Are we a couple? Am I Lumen’s couple? Are you seeing anybody else? Do I have to see someone else? What kind of relationship are the three of us in? Can you get an STD? Do you test for those things?” 

“We are whatever you want us to be. I can’t talk for Lumen; I would like for the three of us to be in a relationship. I am not seeing anybody else right now. If I start seeing someone new, I’ll tell both of you before something happens. As of right now we would be a triad, but we can talk it over at dinner. I can’t get an STD; if I sleep with someone who has one, my body destroys it immediately. Either way, we can test and cure those here, but yes, one of the only rules I have is to always get tested before anything happens and every six months regardless of the relationship status. You can bring whoever you want here and have Lumen do it, or they can go to any clinic. If it's necessary, I’ll pay for it.”

“You can cure it?”

“Yes, with the same machine we used to heal you; that’s why we didn’t ask you about it.”

“Oh, I really didn’t think about it.”

“Understandable, there was so much going on, and you don’t have to see anyone else if you don’t want to.” Dreko stands up towards a metallic chest. From the first drawer, he pulls out a new computer and phone that he drops onto Rowena’s lap. 

“What’s this?”

“Your new phone and computer: your phone doesn’t work here, and this laptop is better.” He talks as if it’s nothing, and for some reason his tone calms Rowena down instead of shaking her insides as the necklace did. 

“You didn’t have to buy me this; you have already given me so much.”

“I didn’t buy them; I made them.” Rowena looks at him, surprised. He just stands there. “Both can charge wirelessly, but they also have normal chargers embedded into them so when the charge is complete, they will automatically unplug and store the cable inside of them. Great, right? I hated having to be constantly checking it.”

“Ho–? I thought you said you didn’t have an education. How can you do these things?”

”I don’t. I just learned how to do it, and Lumen taught me a lot over these years.”

“This is incredible.”

“And you haven’t even left The Tower.” He smiles for a brief second. “Hey, do you have any other questions? I have something to do in the lab.”

“What?”

“A surprise, inspired by our most recent adventure.”

“Ok, well, I guess I’ll go see Lumen and then… I don’t know.”

“Go, explore; every place is full of wonders.” He says, and as soon as the last words leave his lips, he has disappeared into thin air. Rowena is left standing there; a fleeting pressure on her lips lets her know that he kissed her. 

While the three teams are doing their stuff, the question is asked at least once: 'Where is Drevon?’

Alone and back to his real identity, Dreko jumps from place to place throughout the events of that night. First, he sweeps and mops the floor. The garbage and debris are destroyed by a cleaning drone. From a factory he bought almost a century ago—one of the reasons he still had money to spare—Dreko hauls three dozen desks and computers. 

RAM1RO is sitting on the floor, watching Dreko move everything at high speed and all by himself, even putting a couch exactly where the robot is for him to be more comfortable. 

“Thanks, sir.”

“I told you not to call me that, RAM1RO, but I do have to ask you to help and protect the hackers who are coming this way.” Dreko’s eyes look straight into his eyes. RAM1RO keeps quiet for a couple of seconds; none of the people he had worked for had ever looked into his eyes. “Oh, and if you could call me Drevon when they ask you who did this… Also, don’t tell them about my abilities, except for Rowena; she knows, but be—you know—discreet about it.” Dreko smiles. “I would appreciate it.”

“Sure, Drevon.”

“Great, gotta go.” He opens another portal and disappears right before Team Three’s portal opens. 

He stops on a rooftop, above where Team One is preparing, to see when the timer reaches zero. On his phone, he sees all social media blow up a couple of minutes after everything is released. Team One starts, and Team Three too; he jumps every couple of minutes to each location, but everything goes well, so he isn’t needed, and even if he is, he wouldn't undermine their efforts. 

Dreko sits down on the ledge. The darkness hides him well, watching the protest. He sees the banner and chuckles. 

“One Earth, right.” 

Like he knows beforehand, Dreko turns around to see the police trucks arriving at the scene. He doesn’t move when the smoke bombs are stopped by the drones, nor when the shooting starts. A sour taste appears in his mouth watching the hate manifesting in such an aggressive outlet; still, he isn’t worried, and his assistance is required where Team Three is. The alert on his watch notifies him of the low ammunition, so he jumps to the Tower in Azglam City, where he loads a heavy cylindrical tube full of grenades and ammo. Another portal is opened several meters high above Team Three’s location; with the tube on his back, Dreko takes a few steps back, enough for him to gain speed when he goes through the portal, and he simply lets the tube fall right where Team Three is camping. 

Due to the location, Dreko thinks it wise to put a little distance between the detainment center and himself. Taking advantage of the speed and his energy, he moves a few kilometers away before opening a portal midair. He crashes on the same rooftop from before right when the first missile is thrown against the barrier. Dreko stands up quickly when various drones launch missiles to the point where the barriers could no longer protect them. Right when Dreko is about to throw himself into the street, an alert stops him: the hideout was also bombed. 

“[Team Three, follow Lumen to the hideout; it was attacked. Don't jump inside; jump across the street and look for any enemy drones.]” He doesn’t care anymore about their identities. Despite the great distance, Lumen senses his beloved is on the edge just by the urgency in his voice. 

Faster than ever, Dreko destroys all the drones with no more than powerful taps and without landing on the street. On the opposite building, he claps so strongly that dust and smoke dissipate instantly for him to see Team One lying on the floor. He knows, with no need of technology, the odds aren’t great, and yet some of them might be alive, so he opens a portal for the medical drones from Tower One to render help. 

A painful memory rushes back into his mind. Dreko as a teenager, watching his friends and allies dead at the hands of some unscrupulous people. He has accepted that death can reach anyone in any given moment; in due time he will see everyone die, and yet he mourns when lives are stripped away. He knows hasty decisions could potentially backfire, but right there it is the only logical next move. Having seen all kinds of disputes fizzle away and restart every couple of years, Dreko wouldn’t intervene in human affairs, but he is about to lend a hand. His mind is quiet, scary quiet. Not caring about countries, titles of power, riches, or social orders, nor about armies, different sides, or perspectives. He cares about lives, those lives, like his own once upon a time, that nobody cares about because everybody is too focused on the majority, the insatiable wealth, and the illusion of superiority. 

He appears through a portal. A mask, made from an ultraresistant and heavy metal, covers his face up to the forehead and down to the chin. The hair is free to reach his waist as always. It resembles a skull; the left half is painted red with a black lens where the eye is, and the right half is painted black with a red lens. A long-sleeved black T-shirt covers from the neck to the hip. Unlike the mask, the material isn’t as resistant or protective, but it is made from smart fabric that repairs itself. The lower part of his combat outfit is a pair of tactical cargo pants, held by a thick black belt. This accessory is ornamented with a circular dark red buckle, engraved with three scratches. From the belt, four pouches hung on each side of his hip. Two are red, and the other two are black, arranged so that the colors are alternating. The footwear is specially designed with endurance, a self-repairing skill, and shape-shifting to accommodate specific needs. The last item on his combat outfit is a pair of synthetic self-repairing leather gloves with red claws. 

He seemingly throws a punch to the air, but the thrust is so strong that the sheer wind pressure destroys all security cameras and destabilizes the building structure, also shattering the windows. Dreko’s guess turns out to be right when no one goes out to meet him. Once everyone’s dirty secrets surfaced, no one wanted to stick around and protect that card castle that Dreko is about to knock down. 

A few minutes earlier, in the master bedroom, Gerald Pearl drinks alone in his underwear. The dread takes him to the edge by creeping up in his mind. Pandora's Box is open now, and despite still having all the power in the country, he knows his presidency won’t last much longer. Out of nowhere, the entire bedroom shakes from a deafening strike: the windows shatter, and every piece of furniture is pushed to the opposite wall from where the impact came. Both decorations and personal items, either on walls or surfaces, fall to the floor. The old man’s ears are ringing when an intimidating figure appears in front of him. 

Hogtied and blindfolded, Pearl is moved at high speed to an unknown location. In the midst of a panic attack on top of the effects of him moving at a speed unnatural for humans, Pearl is now a shivering ghost of his former self. A few minutes later all his senses are still compromised except for touch, which is exploited when he is thrown onto a metallic surface. A piercing pain across his shoulder from the abrupt landing wakes some of his senses up. Wherever he is, there is no wind or noise; his disorientation threatens to make him mad. 

Meanwhile, the hackers led by Delilah are splitting efforts in both bombing sites to help everyone they can. Lumen is in the collapsed hideout, where the rescue operation has been slow but constant with the help of the drones. Big chunks of debris are moved by two dozen drones. Delilah, Lumen (now with her true identity outed), Matt, Oskar, and Itzel excavate, looking for bodies. Lumen stops when a powerful draft of air hits out of nowhere. A familiar sensation. She looks up, where the drones are piling up all the debris. Dreko is there. The moonlight reflects on his lenses and his claws. His sneakers turn back into boots. His chest remains unaltered, like he hadn’t just run miles to get there. Not worried but knowing what it means for him to wear that suit of armor, Lumen urges him to step closer with one look, which he obeys. 

Delilah and the rest only notice his presence when he lands, causing the floor to shake a little. They stop, impressed and scared by the intimidating figure, until he removes his mask with one hand, retracting before the claws. Dreko’s expression is dead serious. The silence is broken by a metallic hand blasting through the last layer of debris. 

“I know that hand.” Dreko speeds right to it. With no regard to others knowing his strength or speed, he buries his hands in the debris and lifts the entire thing. The drones assist him by cutting it into smaller pieces and taking it away. RAM1RO carries an unconscious Rowena out of the crater that once was the hideout. On his back are unconscious Zom, Ximena, Veronica, Carlos, Haruto, and Mei. “Is everyone ok?” RAM1RO looks at him, and the artificiality of his face doesn’t hide the bad news. Dreko looks over the robot’s shoulder and sees Wilson, Sarah, and Heidt lying on the floor. There is no need for him to check for a pulse; he senses their life forces or lack thereof. “The drones will take care of them, RAM1RO. Thanks, do you need help?”

“I am OK.”

“Still, let’s have you look at my place; that’s where the drones are taking them.” Before RAM1RO can accept or deny, Dreko is no longer there, and the drones are picking up the injured and the deceased. Lumen looks at the perplexed RAM1RO.

“Don’t worry, Dreko will be fine once we finish here. Follow the drones through the portal they open, and take care of yourself and the others. We won’t be long.” Lumen opens a portal to the city’s center. 

In there, the rescue labor is harder and easier at the same time. Excavating isn't necessary, but there are a lot more fallen and injured due to the civilians on the street at the time. The two surviving hackers are sitting together on the floor without their masks. Defeated, crying, and traumatized after dragging the bodies of their friends away from the crater. Mayu and Paola don’t react to the red and black figure appearing out of nowhere in front of them. He doesn’t expect them to do so, not even with the sudden gust of wind that always follows him. Lumen walks through the portal, laying a hand on his shoulder before the couple carries them to The Tower. Dreko returns for the fallen allies shortly after. 

Now with unrestricted access to The Tower, but with the portal to another Earth still closed, Dreko and Lumen take them to the laboratory where the machines—used to build his new body—are capable of attending to their wounds. Lumen supervises the procedures while Dreko strips from his suit of armor. Delilah follows him. They watch how the mask crashes against the black marble floor. When trying to pick it up, Delilah realizes it’s heavier than it looks. Dreko doesn’t stop moving forward, dropping his belt next. 

“Drevon!”

“That’s not my real name.” He rectifies. His deep voice is solemn and raspy. “It was my father’s name and a false identity while I decided to trust you. My real name is Dreko.”

“Dreko… what are you?”

“There is no time for that right now. Are you sure you are ok?”

“Yes, I wasn’t injured; I was lucky.”

Dreko turns around, his eyes looking darker and deeper than ever, his scars redder. Delilah can’t tell if they are imagining it or if actual smoke is emitted from his skin. 

“In that case, The Tower has a place where you can cremate the fallen ones.” Delilah shivers a little at this before nodding. “I’ll take you; it’s in the lab.” Together, they go back. Watched by Lumen and the ones who are already healed, Dreko teaches them how the cremation chamber works. “And you can select the urn, its engraving, and the size.”

“Thanks.”

Dreko nods. He approaches Lumen, who is healing Rowena. 

“It’s going well; a couple of hours and everyone will be fine.”

“Do you need me to take over?”

“No, thanks; keeping busy helps me right now.”

“Well, I am around if you need to rest.” He walks a few steps away when she calls him back. 

“What did you do?”

“Mm?”

“What did you do when you put on that armor?”

Dreko smiles mischievously. Lumen doesn’t fear his actions, only his mental state. 

“Don’t worry, I only caught a big fish.” His answer, although cryptic, is not impossible for her to decipher. “I am ok, yes; I got a bit carried away and revealed our identities to them, but we were never in danger.”

“I am not worried about our identities; I learned to trust them. Just promise me that if it’s too much, you’ll tell me.”

“Of course, my love, I will.” He gets closer to whisper in her ear. “You know how I am; it’s not appropriate for me to speak out loud right now. It brought back some memories, of course, but it can’t break me. It makes me really, really mad if death arrives because of a tantrum.”

“Fine… Rowena should wake up in a couple of minutes; her injuries were not so serious.” They both find relief in that. A small but painful thorn in their hearts fades; with it a lingering gloom goes away too.

“Maybe we should make her official.” Dreko suggests while tapping on the crystal.

“This isn’t the time for that conversation.”

“Right, right…” Dreko looks at their mutual love interest. “We shared a moment right before leaving the bunker, and now seeing her like this is hard.”

“I know, babe, but she will recover nicely… actually, she is done. Shut up; the chamber is about to open.” Lumen warns him. Dreko continues to tap at it until she swats his hand away.

“Rude…” He sticks his tongue out, and the chamber opens. Rowena opens her eyes slowly. Her body feels exhausted and heavy while her mind is still at high alert from the last memory: The hideout falling on top of her. The only reason why she doesn’t jump out of the mysterious bed she is in or doesn’t scream at the top of her lungs is because she recognizes Lumen and Dreko and her heart just relaxes instantly. 

“What’s going on?” Rowena tastes her dry mouth, and Dreko moves at superspeed down to the kitchen and comes back with a glass of water. “You… you ran, but what about…? Why am I feeling so…?”

“Sh-sh-sh… Ro, everything is ok; you are ok. Healing your wounds demanded a great toll of your energy.”

“Some food and a good night's rest should be enough.”

“I-is everyone ok?” She asks. The couple looks at each other.

“Not everyone.” He answers. “But we will have time for it tomorrow.”

The couple takes Rowena to a room; Dreko carries her, and Lumen opens the door. Gently, she is put on the bed, and they are about to let her rest when she clears out her throat. 

“Would you lie down with me? I don’t want to be alone.” She begs them both with her big black eyes. Rowena seems like a scared doe. When the couple gets in from each side of the bed, the weakened, blue-haired woman falls asleep immediately. Lumen follows soon after, and Dreko closes his eyes, not sleeping but reaching a peace of mind from the warmth of the women he cares about. 

A couple of hours later, Rowena is the victim of horrible nightmares that shake her body to the core. Profuse sweating, under-the-breath mumbling, and involuntary spasms accompany the nightmares. Dreko takes Lumen’s hand, pulling her arm so she cradles Rowena, and he does the same. After a few minutes, Rowena calms down, able to sleep through what’s left of the night and morning.

The Tower is quiet for the next hours, everyone being physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. The only noises come from the appliances and the chest of RAM1RO, who is lying down on a couch. 

With the sun coming through the windows, Dreko leaves both women in the bed as he goes to wander around The Tower for a couple of minutes until he decides to open the portal to The Tower in Earth 2. This Tower is kept tidy despite not being occupied by anyone but the fox and the turtle. Dreko whistles a melody while walking from room to room until two sets of paws hurry towards him. The fox’s claws hurrying against the marble show the enthusiasm of seeing him after a while. First, jumping on the furniture to help the animal land on Dreko’s shoulder. 

“Hey, pal! Did you miss me?” The fox barks a short, high-pitched yelp and rubs her head against his, bringing attention to her collar. “What’s this?” Right next to the sensor that reveals the collar to be an adaptable drone with a portal is a plaque with something typed into it. “Obsidian?” 

The fox barks cheerfully. 

“Is that your name? Obsidian?” Obsidian barks again, wagging her tail. “I’ll take that as a yes… But how are you naming yourself? Can you talk?” Obsidian doesn’t answer with a bark or anything else. “Fox drone?” 

Her collar answers to the command with a blue light before using words.

“I showed Obsidian different photos of different things; she seemed to react best to photos of obsidians, so we call her that.” 

“I wouldn’t have thought of that. Good job; everybody has a name.” He scratches Obsidian’s face. “Did you do something similar with the turtle?”

“Yes and no, the name came with his attitude; we call him Feisty.”

“Ok, well, I only came to check on Feisty and Obsidian. I have to go back soon. Come on, Obs, let’s see your bro.” Obsidian lets herself fall into Dreko’s arms. In Feisty’s habitat, he is basking in the dry zone peacefully. When Dreko approaches, the turtle walks closer to the edge, sticking his head out. The immortal gently rubs his head with two fingers and pulls them back before he can bite him. “Feisty, no!” The turtle faces him for five full seconds and throws himself into the water. He is about to walk back to Earth 1 when he stops and turns to see Obsidian. “Wanna come with me?” Obsidian barks with joy. 

Together, they run into the T.P.R. and stop abruptly. Obsidian growls menacingly at the metallic being in front of the portal. RAM1RO. 

“What is this place, Mr. Drevon?” 

“Obsidian, calm down, RAM1RO is a friend.” The fox doesn’t stop growling but sits down.

“I am?”

“Enough to prevent Obs from attacking you, but you shouldn’t be here, and you can call me Dreko now; the cat is out of the bag with my real name.”

“So it lasted one day? You told me yesterday to call you Drevon.”

“I mean… it lasted a month or so…” Dreko feels a bit self-conscious about this. “My fake identity went out the window when our friends got bombed.”

“Right, I am sorry.” RAM1RO lowers his head, embarrassed. Dreko flicks his forehead playfully. 

“Don’t worry about it; let’s go before anyone else wakes up.”

With RAM1RO’s help, Dreko cooks a buffet breakfast for everybody there. 

It’s still one hour until they wake up, but the food is kept warm. Dreko isn’t there when the mourning hackers drag themselves to the kitchen. No one has an appetite. Delilah notices a note from Dreko stuck to the fridge, asking them to meet outside The Tower. 

Delilah is one of the first to see what he is up to. They can’t believe it. It takes a while for all eighteen hackers to be at the meeting point. Lumen is already there, standing a few feet in front of Dreko. He is sitting on the floor, wearing the same tactical suit without the mask, gloves, and belt, looking like a normal outfit. His facial expression is peaceful, not intimidating or regretful. Obsidian is cuddling on the grass next to him. 

There lies Gerald Pearl in his dirty underwear. With no restraints or injuries besides some minor scratches. The vision in front of the hackers is surreal, unbelievable. The symbol of power, brought down to his knees. 

“What did you do?” Delilah asks with conflicted feelings of joy, anger, disbelief, and wonder. Not stabbing him in that moment demands the strength of every fiber in their body. 

Dreko makes a gesture of indifference by shaking his head and shrugging.

“I didn’t do anything.” Whispers among the multitude can be heard, but he pays no attention to them. He can listen to all of them perfectly but doesn’t care. Zom looks at him, from the congregation’s end, with a tightly clenched fist. “You did it all with your actions, with the fallen’s actions; this here is the result of their sacrifice. I literally walked into the presidential house and took him; no one else was there.” He stands up almost as if being pushed upright without any effort. “But your fight, the real fight, begins now with him. You are gonna have to make a statement with him, and you might have to make something with the other forty-nine states. Free them.”

“Free them how?” Someone asks. 

“That’s for you to decide. Lumen and I are done. Right here, right now. We have lives to get back to, but we are still going to give you equipment for your fight. So… take him and go.” Dreko kicks him swiftly towards them. The old man lets out a weak, annoyed groan. A portal opens directly to Tillstein City, where their base of operations was.

Alfred grabs Pearl under Delilah’s order and walks through the portal. The rest of the hackers follow him, except Delilah and Rowena. 

“That’s it?” Delilah asks them. “You are not going to see how it ends?”

“I already know how it ends, sort of, but if you need help, here.” Dreko gives them a portal disk. “This only leads to The Tower’s lobby; we will meet you shortly after. It's just in case of emergency.”

“Ok, thanks, Dreko.” Delilah waves Lumen goodbye before wheeling away through the portal. 

With three major objectives, the hackers divide into three teams. The first team has to organize a peaceful protest that will serve both as an initial statement and a distraction—however short—for the second team to reveal everything about members of the government. While the third team attacks detainment centers to free prisoners.

Outside the bunker’s entrance is a forest clearing where the hackers are about to part ways. Delilah and Rowena look around the clearing, pretending not to be on the lookout for Drevon, who isn’t anywhere around. Except for Team One, the hackers turned soldiers are all wearing protective gear provided by Lucya, indistinguishable from one another.

Three portals open to different directions. Team One crosses theirs, appearing in an alleyway closer to the center of the city. They are all wearing the same white outfit and mask with a black circle painted on it. Mayu and Paola hold a folded white banner in wait for the signal. Team Two crosses over to their hideout. Expecting a mess after nearly two months of abandonment and an illegal raid, they are surprised by all the new top-of-the-line equipment and the tidiness of the place. Rowena smiles, recognizing Drevon’s touch. Zom turns on the power, the hackers get to work, and the blue-haired girl is about to join them when someone catches her attention. The robot she took from the factory sits down idly on the floor. He walks towards the desk where Rowena is; she stands up. 

“Hi?”

“Hello, Ms. Devi, my name is RAM1RO, with a ‘1’ instead of an ‘i’. Dre told me you would come back for me eventually.” His baritone voice sounds strangely human. Rowena finds herself speechless but then remembers why she is there. 

“Oh, my god, p-pl-pleasure to meet you, RAM1RO. I have an important question for you, but right now I have to do this.”

“Yes, please, go right ahead.” 

The hackers are collectively turning over every stone in the lives of the governmental members. A difficult task for an individual, but for a brain constructed of many brilliant ones, it is nothing. 

Team Three is stationed a mile away from the biggest detainment center in the city. Everyone's smartwatch receives a notification and a five-minute timer. Heavily armed, more than in the first attack, Team Three quietly runs to the fence, where Lucya cuts it for them to pass through. Team One marches to the center of the city. 

When the timer reaches zero, the internet is plagued by all kinds of revelations about everyone in the government, from the chief of staff to the president, including the cabinet. Sex abuse, drug use, criminal ties, or literal buried corpses. Furthermore, annual incomes, medical histories, and entire genealogies. Basically everything that was private no longer is. The entire world is shaken and infuriated. At that moment, Team One puts all eyes on themselves, blocking the traffic. Mayu and Paola unfold the banner that reads, “We are one people. One Earth”. They chant the same message in an unwavering voice, holding hands despite the claxons and shouts. The car lights reflect on their white clothes, giving them a mystic appearance, almost angelic. The anger isn’t entirely defused, but the combination of it all turns the protest into a beacon of hope that awakens this feeling in minds and hearts. Meanwhile, Team Three isn’t as wholesome. Every door and rolling shutter is blown to pieces. They don’t hesitate, don’t show mercy, or restrain. 

Lucya stands on a river of blood, unfazed. Some are dead, some are dying, and some are injured. She doesn’t care for any of them. On their wheelchair, a masked Delilah rolls over a hand. A weak groan of pain comes out of the man when his hand is crushed, as his life is draining out of him; he no longer can feel anything but the plastic wheel on his hand, not even the laceration in his cheek from where dark red liquid is spilling out or the couple of knocked loose teeth, bathed in blood. He raises his head to see two blurry silhouettes, who don’t even realize he is conscious. 

“Are you ok?” Lucya asks them. Around the two of them, the now free prisoners are running towards the exit. 

“Yes, shall we go for the next one?” Delilah smiles viciously; Lucya opens a portal as an answer. 

Inside the Oval Office, everyone is losing their shit. Overlapping conversations about hunting the responsibles down; damage control; outright indignation and resignations. Fights are happening all around the place; the titles and jobs mean nothing now, given the fact that some indiscretions revealed affected relationships between coworkers. The president is sitting in front of his desk. What was his office merely a couple of minutes ago now is crumbling down. Gerald Pearl remains calm on his big chair. On one of the screens where the news is on, he sees the detainment center getting attacked and the protest growing in numbers while all the dirty secrets are being shared across media platforms.  

What happens in the inner quarters of the government hasn’t reached the street-level authorities. The riot police mobilize from the nearest stations. With heavy tactical suits, riot shields, rifles, and grenade launchers, more than fifty police officers march in formation towards the protest, which is bigger now thanks to civilians also chanting the same message, among other things. Mariana, one of the hacker protesters, feels the hand of her ally, Jake, sweating and shaking. 

The officers load the grenade launchers with smoke bombs. Sandy, Elly, and Alex whisper to everyone to remain calm. The cannons are aimed at the people. The chanting doesn’t stop, but the hope and bravery start to lose space in their hearts. Fear gains territory. The smoke bombs are shot directly at the masses. Everything goes quiet in Sandy’s head. She sees the projectiles travel in an arc trajectory. In reality, all happens in seconds, and the chant is replaced by screams of horror. 

The bombs explode meters away from the protesters against a huge invisible barrier projected by drones just like the ones used to rescue the arrested hackers but bigger and with the ability to hide at night. After a couple of minutes, both sides realize the protection comes from above. 

In the hideout, Team Two projects the same evidential videos on all the screens throughout the city. People on the streets and inside their homes have already seen it or heard from someone else, but the denial endures in most, convinced that it can’t be true. Until the screens show it again, uncensored, unapologetic, without demands or showmanship, these videos even show what Team Three has been doing in the detainment centers. 

The brutality of it all has different reactions from the people, based on the nature of each individual’s soul. A gentle soul gets shocked and thrown to the deep end of a grotesque reality, forced to embrace it or trick itself into a fantasy, put a band across their eyes, and go on with their lives. A dissatisfied soul won’t have any other choice than to become a force of change, either alone or with help; its path faces a crossroad as to what is the next step moving forward. An ignorant, unempathetic soul will choose to force upon others a rigid, racist status quo. 

A small army of the last ones goes against the pacific protesters, armed and wearing some sort of cloth that signifies their alliance to their president, his way of doing things, and controlling unwelcome, unworthy trespassers. Untrained and unrestrained, old and young white men shoot illegal firearms against the protestors, but the shields endure well against the intolerant attack. 

Team Three arrives at the last detainment center. Tired and with ammunition lacking, Lucya whispers to Delilah to wait. Being the only time she suggests a course of action, Delilah is wise to listen to her. Everyone rests and hydrates; the conversation is lacking due to the cold, exhaustion, and actions done that night. Well-deserved actions but merciless; it takes a toll on all of them except on Lucya and Delilah. It’s not cruelty or lack of heart that insensibilizes Lucya; the powerful and experienced redhead is aware of the nature of war, which is undoubtedly what this is, accepted or not by the hackers. Delilah, on the other side, has been increasingly ruthless, furious, and relentless with each detainment center they attack and each time they are unsuccessful in finding their sister. These two equally imposing figures are opposite symbols: Lucya is precise and cold-headed; Delilah, uncontrollable and hot-headed. They share a moment apart from the others. 

“I know you kissed Drevon.” Lucya drops it like a bomb. Delilah pretends they didn’t choke on the water they were drinking. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind.”

“It was the spur of the moment; I don’t intend on pursuing anything with him.”

“We know, well, we weren’t certain, but we know you are going through a lot.” Lucya emits comprehensive energy across the mask that only allows her eyes to be visible. Delilah understands why she and Drevon are so unique. Unlike with her romantic partner, they don't want to kiss her in that moment; the only impulse in their heart seeks revenge, but they understand the appeal. 

A heavy metallic tube falls from the sky. Lucya is the only one who doesn’t get startled by this. The hackers get close to this tube; Delilah picks up on the lack of reaction from Lucya. 

“What’s that?” They ask her. 

“Supplies.” 

Inside the tube there are enough bullets and bombs to restock each and everyone’s arsenal. These restock the inventory and also refill their fighting spirit as they charge against the detainment center. 

All hell breaks loose in the streets due to a combination of alcohol, indignation, intolerance, stupidity, anger, and morality. The hacked screens become a double-edged sword feeding into the mass hysteria. The protest grows out of control; the drones struggle to keep everyone safe to the best of their abilities, but as the protest triplicates in size, the drones prioritize those who are still maintaining the peace. 

Everything happens faster than anyone, human or not, could have stopped it. Military drones are deployed to deal with both the protest and the video’s IP address where it was uploaded from. No warning, no regard for unrelated or innocent lives in the vicinity. The president bets everything on the “Boylean way” as every self-centered racist or delusional “alpha male” idiot calls it, of dealing with things: bombing everyone they need silenced, collateral damage not relevant.