"What was that thing?" I asked Christopher as we walked back to the table.

"It's a built in heater. Some of the supplies in the pile have to kept super hot so we place them near the heater." He looked around the floor before pointing at a pile of pouches.

"See those?" I nodded. "Those are a type of chemical that can sterilize any utensil that would need to be used when we're not near any type of technology. So it's especially useful to use here in Sector 12."

"Should I put the pouches by the heater again?" I asked.

"Yeah. But later on after we cleared the rest of the stuff on that particular table. I think that table is the only table with the heater. But just be careful."

I nodded and got back to work. I was surprised to find that my right hand didn't really hurt when I was using it. Magic. That's how Cossette would describe it.

I looked around the room. Cossette was currently helping one person make a bed. She was chatting happily, no doubt rambling about something strange again. I just can't believe that a girl like that would be behind all those bombings. Unless this is all an act. Maybe I should bring someone else with me. I don't know if I should trust my instinct or the government. Which is more reliable?

"You're zoning out again." Christopher's voice cut through my thoughts.

I glanced over at him sideways. "I was thinking." He raised an eyebrow at me in return.

After he placed the tool in his hand onto the floor along with the other tools of the same kind. He stepped backwards, grabbed me by the shoulders and moved me to his side of the table while he took my side.

"I don't want you burning your other hand while working since you keep zoning out." He justified as he continued to work.

I huffed slightly, "I was thinking."

Cossette looked over at me and caught my eye. She gave me a large smile and waved at the person she was helping and pranced over to us. "So, how's it goooing? Wait, Amelia!! Your hand!! How did you hurt it? It hasn't even been that long since we started working." She paused.

"Wait, how long has it been since we started working? I wasn't keeping track of time. But then again I did mean it like in an exasperated way so it probably didn't matter if it didn't make any sense as long as you get what I'm saying -"

"Breathe." I said again, cutting her in the middle of her sentence.

Cossette did some exaggerated inhales and exhales before laughing. I rolled my eyes but felt the corners of my lips turn upwards in the slightest way.

"Oh, I'll be right back I think my dad needs me." Christopher said. He was currently wrapping a cord around itself but was looking off to the other side of the room where Dr. Rau stood. Putting the wrapped cord with the other cords, he ran off to his dad.

"So Amelia..." Cossette started, leaning forwards slightly. I raised my eyebrow at her as my hands continued to work through the pile. Cossette opened her mouth to ask something before closing it again and broke out in giggles. She then shook her head rapidly, her curls flying everywhere. "It's nothing."

I hummed but let it be. I felt the tablet bar vibrate slightly in my pocket. Frowning, I paused in my work and pulled it out. It was a new message from Max.

"Amelia, can you make it back in the next hour or so? It's time for patrol."

Patrol? My frown deepened. Guess I'll head back then. There was a tap at my forehead, I look up, slightly startled, and saw Christopher giving me an amused look.

"You shouldn't frown so much. It'll ruin that pretty face of yours." I raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"I have to go."

"What? But you just got here!" Cossette exclaimed, starting to pout slightly. "Will you be back again later?"

I shrugged a maybe before waving goodbye and jogged out of the tent, heading back towards Cossette's home where I had left my hoverboard. I flew back to Sector 3, our house, as fast as I could. I opened the door and flew into the house.

"No vehicles of any sort within the house." Vanessa said curtly. She sat at the sofas, one foot propped onto the coffee table, a first aid kit by her side.

I got off the hoverboard and rested it against the wall. "What happened to you?"

"That's what I should be asking you." Vanessa replied, staring at my bandaged hand.

I hid my hand behind me, "I asked you first."

Vanessa sighed, putting her foot onto the ground, apparently done with patching herself up. "I was patrolling and got into a fight with a wannabe thief. He had a knife and clipped my ankle after I got him onto the ground."

I frowned. What's this about patrols?

"Now what about you? What happened to your hand?" She took my elbow and dragged me over to sit me down onto the sofa next to her. She took my burned hand in hers and began to unwrap the bandages.

"I accidentally burned myself."

She sighed again, "For someone with quick instincts, you sure are clumsy. Aren't you?" I shrugged. She finished unwrapping the bandages, revealing my burnt palm. There were red patches that were covered with blisters. I winced at the sight. It didn't sting but the sight caused me to flinch.

Vanessa hummed. "Whoever bandaged your hand certainly know their stuff." She pulled out a cream from the first aid box. "Did the person use a kind of spray?" I nodded.

"The spray is a type of new medicine that reduces pain on burns and cuts. It also helps speed up with the healing process." Vanessa smoothed the cream over my palm before taking new bandages and wrapped it up.

"Oh, Amelia! You're back!" Max said, coming around the corner, dressed in comfortable black clothes.

I nodded, "Patrol? What's that about?"

"Oh yeah, you haven't been patrolling yet since you joined us." Vanessa said, shutting the first aid box and shoved it into a cupboard beside the sofa.

Max took a seat on a beanbag near us. "Basically each syndicate is required to have at least one person patrolling all times of the day. A lot of things have happened since you joined so we never brought it up."

I nodded in understanding, my hand tugging at the ends of my hair at the thought of everything that has happened ever since I joined. "So is it my turn to patrol?"

"Both of us." Max clarified. "Syndicate 42 is currently out of commission so we have to have two people patrol to cover for it since there are at least two syndicates in each city. We basically just walk around, help out if necessary and stop any potential crimes that may occur."

I nodded again. Vanessa stood up and stretched, balancing her weight onto her left, uninjured, foot. "Kyle should be back from patrol soon too. The two of us went to opposite sides of Aestrea. I'm going to rest up a bit. Try not to injure yourselves out there." She waved us goodbye and trudged upstairs.

"Shall we go then?" Max asked. I nodded and stood up. "Since this is your first time patrolling, let's go around the city together so you can ask any questions if you have any."

"Okay."

Max shot me a smile and we left the house. We walked along the street in silence.

"Is this really the best way to patrol? What if something happens somewhere else and we're not there?" I asked, flicking my eyes from side to side.

Max hummed in thought. "I suppose that's why there are more than one syndicates posted in each city? And even if we're not there when it happens, the police can usually handle it. Us syndicates only come in if it gets too out of hand and they can't do anything, becomes very threatening, or needs to be hidden from the general community."

Huh. I never really thought about what syndicates really did. I suppose that makes sense.

"Oh, hold on." Max said in a rushed voice before running forwards to the edge of the street. There was an old lady standing by the street, staring at the oncoming rush of vehicles with a sullen expression. How long has she been standing there wanting to cross?

There were no stoplights nearby and no crossing paths either. There was a slight break in the rushing current of cars. Max took this chance and rushed out onto the road, stood in the middle of it and took something out of his pocket. I stood there staring at him, shell-shocked. What is he trying to do?

He held the object in front of him and a hologram of a stop sign showed up, multiplying and spreading out until it created a holographic barrier in front of him. The cars slowed to a stop and Max motioned to the lady that it was safe for her to cross. She shot Max a grateful smile and began to cross the road.

Once the lady was safely across, Max ran back towards our side of the street and deactivated the hologram, the cars speeding away almost immediately. I was still staring with my jaw agape.

"You could have been run over by those cars!" I exclaimed when he walked back towards me.

He gave a shrug. "I wanted to help the lady cross the road. She seemed like she had been waiting to cross for a while now."

"You would risk your life for that? What if you didn't get that hologram out in time?" I said in an incredulous tone.

Max shrugged again. "I would still be satisfied because I had tried to help." I blinked at him in a mixture of surprise and shock. He is the most selfless person I have ever met. And I respected him because of that.

Max started walking again and I had to speed up my pace to catch up with him. It was then that I noticed that Max walked with a slouch. I frowned. "Is there something wrong with your back?"

He visibly stiffened up a bit before relaxing again and replied. "Yeah... I suppose you can say that. I have some wounds on my back that hurt me when I straighten my back."

I frowned. "Wounds?" Vanessa had told me that Max was abused as a kid but how much was he abused that he has wounds that would affect him even now?

"Uh yeah." Max scratched his cheek in a distracted manner, looking to the side before noticing something. He rushed forwards again and jumped up. He scaled up the tree and untangled a balloon from the tree. He jumped back down and handed it to a little boy was tearing up until Max returned the balloon to him.

Max waved goodbye to the boy and ran back towards me. We continued down the street in silence until Max continued to talk. "My parents whipped me when I was little. It left a lot of deep gashes on my back that never healed completely. I spent a lot of my time with my back hunched over and the wounds sort of got used to it. Now whenever I straighten up, they still hurt."

A frown appeared on my face again. Is that the reason he is so selfless now? I began to notice a change in the buildings. "We've entered another Sector." Max said, noticing my surprise. I nodded in understanding.

A vibration came from my pocket again. I frowned and took out the tablet again. Max took out a tablet from his pocket too. So he got a message too?

It was a message from the Syndicate Management Team. "Bomb attack in the west of Sector 12. Debris broke heat compressor that power the built in heaters. Medical tent has caught fire and is now spreading uncontrollably. All syndicate members currently available please proceed to Sector 12 to provide assistance."

A jolt shook through my body and I felt like the world suddenly tilted out of balance. Colors merged together and I think my breathing sped up. Max shook me slightly to bring me back into focus. "We need to get there as soon as we can." I gasped almost desperately. Max nodded and began running in a certain direction. Why do I feel so desperate to get there? That thought circulated around my head as we ran towards what seemed to be a police station.

Max ran into the building and ran out a second later, motioning towards the back of the building. I followed him behind. There was a hovercraft parked in a large field. The hovercraft was the size of a basketball court. Max ran into the craft and sat in the pilot's seat and I made my way into a seat behind him. He knows how to drive this thing? Two police officers and a medic followed us onboard.

"Amelia, do you know how to drive a hovercraft?" Max asked as we took off and flew towards Sector 12. Black smoke rising into the sky was already visible. The horizon was already dominated by the black smoke.

"No."

Max cursed under his breath. "One of us needs to go down into the Sector to find people and bring them into the ship. But someone needs to be piloting."

"Max, I can do it. You pilot." I countered, turning to him. Max shot me a quick glance.

"Fine. There's a fireproof suit back there. Put it on, cover your head too. There's also a cord near the exit. Wrap it around yourself. We're doing this crane style. We'll lower you down to the ground and every time you find someone, let me know and we'll pull you guys back into the aircraft. Once they're in, you're going back down and so on."

I nodded and ran towards a lineup of cupboards along a wall. I grabbed a suit that was in a cupboard labelled "fireproof". I hope we're not too late.