"So, where are we headed to next?" I ask, an edge of curiosity seeping into my voice.

"Aries and Aristelle's house," Key replies, the answer sliding smoothly off her tongue, giving me the impression that she rehearsed it, though I'm rather sure that she did not.

We are back on the hub. Once again. To be completely honest, I feel like we have been living on it since we have stepped foot on this vehicle. It is almost impossible to believe that the first time I have entered, or even heard, much less see, of it, was barely a week ago.

I sink into the chair, trying not to eavesdrop on Key, Aries and Aristelle's conversation as they are conversing, though their conversation is rather loud so it is next to impossible for, at least parts of it, to drift into my ears.

"...sure...authorities are...surrounding..."

"Don't...I'm sure...trap..."

"...take precautionary measures...caught..."

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. Are they trying to lure us into a trap? If so, what was the whole point of busting us out of the facility? If-

I refuse to jump to conclusions so quickly. I'm probably just reading too much into it. I'm sure they're genuinely trying to help us... Right?"

"Miri."

Wil's voice drifts into my ears, drawing me back into reality. Realising that I am still staring at the trio, my eyes wander to Wil's and I swiftly advert my attention to him.

"Yes?" I ask and, for some unknown reason, I can feel my heartbeat quickening, making me nervous and slightly jumpy as well as restless.

"This is so messed up, isn't it?"

"You think? I say, sarcasm so thick in my voice that it would take more than a deaf person to not have heard it.

He doesn't reply.

I sigh, combing my hair with my fingers, pulling them back with the intention to tie it up in a ponytail before realising that I have nothing to hold it in place. Instead, I just let it fall on my back.

I bite my lower lip, rubbing my hands at the same time, both in an attempt to warm myself up and to keep my nervousness at bay. I have not told Wil about my discovery back at the facility. About the report regarding us. It may not be that big of a news, but he'd at least want to know why we were deemed failed experiments, right? Well, who am I to withhold that information from him. He has as much of a right as I do at knowing. I should at least give him that. I just hope that he would react well to it.

"Hey, Wil?" I pause, contemplating ho to phrase my next sentence. "There's something I need to tell you." I shift my body so that I'm facing Wil just as he turns to look at me and our eyes lock for the second time in five minutes. Blood rushes to my face, tinging it a light shade of red. My eyes dart to the floor, embarrassed.

"Yeah? What is it?" he answers, his voice sounding as though he is about to fall asleep. "You can tell me anything," he adds, and even without looking, it's clear that he's stifling a yawn.

"Well... Umm... You see..." For some peculiar reason, I'm stumbling over my words and am not able to form a proper, coherent sentence. I suck in a deep breath of air and try again. "I came across the records room when I was hiding back in the facility and I found something... interesting... about us. Umm... I found out that the reason we are failed experiments is because we connected to the Data Tree. I also found out that we were purposely keep in the labs so that the future experiments wouldn't fail."

After saying all that, although, to be honest, it sounded a bit lame, I feel as though a heavy burden has been taken off my shoulders and I can breathe freely once again.

Wil remains silent for quite a while. Guilt starts to gnaw in my heart. Am I making him feel insignificant or angry or something?

"Oh," he replies, trailing off, his hands balling into fists.

Why isn't he reacting? He doesn't look shocked by the information at all. It's almost like he knows about it. I may have overreacted, but I certainly would have expected a bigger response, especially since this concerns him and that he finally knows the truth about himself.

"You aren't, in the tiniest bit, shocked?" I ask, trying my best not to sound accusing, though I'm sure my eyes betray me.

"Why should I?" he answers, his voice suddenly stone cold and his face hard. "It's not like we can do anything about it, can we? We can't go back and change history even if we wanted to"

Shocked by the sudden change in his mood, I wince. Had I touched a sensitive vein without meaning to? I cautiously place a hand on his arm in hopes that it will calm him down. I feel him stiffen beneath my grasp. Afraid that I had angered him further, my hands go to my lap.

"I...I'm sorry about that," I mumble, referring to both the information and for touching him, adverting my gaze to the ground.

A loud and exasperated sigh escapes Wil's lips. "I'm sorry, Miri. It's just-" he stops, sucking in a deep breath to, I assume, compose himself. "I don't like hearing about that so, please, if you would do me a huge favour and never touch that topic again, that would be nice; I would appreciate it." The tone he uses is not warm and welcoming like I have to come to be more than familiar with. If anything, it's the utmost opposite.

I've always known that everyone has two sides to them. I guess- I had hoped that Wil didn't, that Wil will forever be that one friend that is always kind and caring. Who am I kidding? Looks like today will be the first time I take a glance at his other side and, I'm sure, it will not be the last.

This time, it is my turn to sigh, though I try to do it as subtly as I can, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention. "Okay," I reply, attempting not to sound too sharp.

My gaze travel out the window across from us, watching as the hub speeds by the many different landscapes. I watch as the grey, black, red and brown of abandoned buildings and ashes blur pass. I guess they aren't that different after all.

I have read about the theory of what happened in our world, or, to put it simply, our history, somewhere in my spare time back when I was at the facility, back when they bothered to keep us entertained with books.

Many years back, datas were free to do whatever they wanted. There was no such thing as being deleted or even such thing as being connected to the Tree. They were bounded to a set of rules they call 'laws'. If they fail to uphold to the requirements of the 'law', they would be punished. It's their way of keeping the peace. The authors of the book called them 'humans'.

Apparently, in this human world, the humans, as they call it, have been given way too much freedom in everything they do as the system that we have is nonexistent. These humans were greedy and selfish. All they wanted was to do things that benefitted themselves and themselves only, even if it was at the expense of hurting others. This freedom had led them to their own downfall. This freedom had led them to their own destruction. This freedom eventually and inevitably led to the extinction of their kind. There's an old saying for these kind of people, though we do not really use it anymore. I think it goes something like... These humans were 'digging their own grave'.

Of course, all this is merely a myth.

The myth also states that this human world is, in fact, the very same one that we, datas, are currently living in. They used to call it 'Planet Earth'. We, datas, do not have a name for the world we live in though. Perhaps it's better this way.

There is no proof whatsoever that humans actually used to exist before us For all we know, it is just a tale our ancestors told when they had nothing better to do, or as a bedtime story to their children.

According to the legend, the abandoned buildings and ruins that are located on the outskirts of town as well as those long stretches of land between two cities are remnants os that human world.

Then again, it's all just a theory. No one really knows what the history of our world is. Sometimes, to be honest, I would really like to know the truth about our history. I feel like someone is trying to erase the knowledge of our past from existence. I wonder what happened. I always have.

The hub slowly comes to a complete halt. I jerk forward slightly due to inertia, hitting my head softly against the hard chair, effectively jolting me from my dazed state back into reality.

The twins and Key exits the vehicle soundlessly, not bothering to wait for us, leaving Wil and I behind. What's the rush? I stand up, my arms dropping to my sides. I step out of the train and onto the port's platform, Wil following closely from behind, not uttering a single word.

I take a look around, momentarily shocked by the unfamiliarity of the port before realising that I have never actually seen this particular port before, the one near Aries's house, I mean. I have not even been out of their house to explore the surrounding area, for that matter. For all I know, they could be living in some sort of apartment, though I highly doubt that.

This port is not as grand as the one at FireWire. The two tracks cut through the centre of the port. There are exits at all four corners as the port though, this time, the stairs lead up, as the port is located underground.

The whole area is lit by wall lights that are distanced equally from each other in order to provide an optimum amount of light for the passengers on the platform. Unlike the previous time, there are datas scurrying around their business in the port, either boarding or exiting both public and private hubs.

The pillars that keep the ceiling from collapsing on us are not particularly tall and are painted white with not even a single, minuscule dot or stain on them. There are several wooden benches on both sides of the port on both platforms, probably to allow people a place to whit while waiting for their ride to arrive. There is no surprise that all the benches in the station are full.

"Miri. We should hurry before we lose sight of them," Wi says, referring to the trio, his face less tense now, pointing towards Key merely seconds before she disappears up the stairs and out of sight. Since the twins are nowhere in sight either, I am assuming that they have already left the port.

I nod my reply before taking off after my other companions. I weave through the increasing crowd of people, muttering 'excuse me' occasionally and glancing back ever so often to make sure that I do not lose sight of Wil either. When I reach the foot of the stairs, I pause for a moment to allow Wil to catch up with me before proceeding up the flight of stairs.

I emerge out of the underground and into the open, half expecting it to be daytime. However, only when I look up into the vast sky, observing the dark blue, orange, red and yellow of it, did I realise that dusk is approaching rapidly and, for some reason, I feel disappointed and let down. Perhaps it is because I have not been under the warm sun in quite a while. I haven't had the chance to feel and savour the heat from the large star on my skin. At the rate things are going, the last time might as well be both my first and my last.

It always seem to be dark out. It's almost like the sun hides in my presence.

Wil grabs my hand and tugs me forward. I stumble straight into Wil's arms. He catches me and, as I compose myself, I look up, catching his brown eyes; the warmth has returned to it and I sigh in relief. I could not bear to imagine what I would do if it didn't.

"What is it, Miri?"

"What?" I reply too quickly, confused.

"You sighed just now."

"Oh that." I pause. "It's nothing, Wil. Forget about it."

Wil helps me back to my feet and we continue on the cement path, our shoes clicking as they come in contact with the hard ground. I take in my surroundings, panicking ever so slightly when I could not find Key, Aries or Aristelle.

"Where are they?" the question escapes my lips. I hope it did not sound too desperate.

Wil lifts his arm and points at something up ahead. My gaze follows it and it lands on the back of Aristelle's head. My shoulders relax instantaneously. I had not realise that they were tensed in the first place.

"Let's hurry before we lose them like we nearly did," I say, my pace quickening, Wil swiftly following from behind.

To the left and right of this pavement are nothing else but flowers, trees and well-trimmed bushes, hedges and grass. It does not take a genius to figure out that we are in a garden of some sort. The scent of a mixture of freshly cut grass and sweet smelling flowers wafts into my nose. My lips curve up into a smile as I relish the odour that I have never experienced before. At least, not in real life. The only reason I recognise this odour is because the simulations sometimes contained them. But even then, the scent is made out of artificial chemicals.

By the time the both of us finally caught up with the trio, we are standing outside what I assume to be the twins's house. The building is more wide than tall. It seems to be a two storey building or, at most, three. It is painted a sleek white and the middle of the building has a large stretch of glass, though they reflect too much light from the outside to allow us to peer into it. The rest of the windows on this side are shielded from prying eyes by dark, heavy curtains.

"This is the back of the house," Key tells us without even so much as glance at us. "The twins have went to the front and confirmed our suspicions of authorities guarding every entrance of it."

Confirmed? So they knew, or at least had the slightest inkling, that there is a chance of them being here and yet, they brought us here, right into their midst? Are they trying to lead us them or something so that we'll be caught once again?

Though, if so, that would be redundant as they told us about it instead of directly bringing us to them. It would also make their rescue attempt futile. I'm probably just overthinking all this. I still feel like something doesn't add up though.

"There is a back entrance but it's locked, as always, and unfortunately for us, the only people who know the code to unlock it are our parents," Aries informs us, a grim look on his face.

"I've checked," Aristelle adds. It takes me a while to realise that she was referring to whether or not the door is locked.

For a while, no one says anything. "So, what are we going to do?" Wil voices; the exact same question is running through my mind as well.

"Remember the tunnel that you escaped through?" Aristelle asks. Both Wil and I nod.

How could I forget? I feel like asking, though I keep my mouth shut, not intending to disrupt the flow of the conversation.

"We are going to sneak into the house through there. There is an entrance to it in the gardens," Key says simply, almost as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"But, wouldn't it be risky?" I question, my heartbeat accelerating from the fear of getting caught once again.

"Some things are worth the risk," she replies with a bored tone.

"Why do we need to go in anyway? Aren't there better places to hide instead of in plain sight?"

"Let's just say that we need to go in because there is something of utmost importance that I have to confirm if we are to go any further," Key answers, completely ignoring my last question.

Something of utmost importance? If so, why doesn't she just go in alone? Why the need to drag Wil and I into it?

"Okay then," I reply, sounding unsure of myself, which I am.

Key turns to the twins and nods. They walk towards a hedge just to the left of us, gesturing for us to follow. The hedge is o tall that when I stand before it, it towers above me by at least two feet, the leaves as green as green can get. I wonder why they even bother to keep such a giant hedge. Wouldn't it be difficult to maintain?

Aries parts the centre of the hedge and reveals a passage. As I go past the opening, my bare arms brush against the tiny leaves. I feels rough and hard, not smooth and soft as I had expected, and that is when I realise the hedge is, in fact, a fake.

The short passage leads to a small clearing right in the heart of the hedge. My eyebrows furrow in confusion as my eyes land on a tunnel that leads underground. It's too dark that I can barely see what's in it. My heart skips a beat, slightly reluctant to go.

"In here," Aries tells us. "I'll go in last so that I can close it."

As I descend the stairs that will ultimately lead to the twins's house, I hear Key say something softly behind me, almost like she did not want anyone else to hear it but me.

"We are not trying to hide this time."

I'm just going to take a moment to fangirl over the new Wattpad app. OMG THE 'CREATE' SECTION IS NOW SO COOL OMG I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE YOUTUBE LINKS I PUT ON EACH CHAPTER. IT'S JUST SO COOL. Though, I have to say, the words are really small. It's fine though, It's just a small price to pay.

Now I really want to apologise for posting late. I've been rather busy in school. That and I had a major writer's block. I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please vote and comment your opinions and follow me :)

PS If I got the dates wrong, do tell me. I have a feeling I might have.

PPS, go follow my friend iBeRissaxx. She's a super awesome person and super cool :) Go show her the love