"We're out of time," Caohdan whispered. "The perimeter alarm is going off."

Tristin nodded, surprised at how many safety systems his cousin's family had. His uncle was an engineer so he shouldn't have been surprised, but he learned something new every time he visited. He felt the mental tug as they both logged out and opened his eyes to the pale green room they rushed down to earlier.

Caohdan stood up and listened. "Dad must have known about the Scandroids. He told me they couldn't detect this room. It's not on our house plans."

"But what if they come inside to check?"

Caohdan shrugged. He began to disconnect his legion box. The nondescript box now houses a thousand AI inside. The cables snapped off and he picked it up. 

"Thousands of souls in this one box," he whispered. He pushed it into the corner and covered it with a blanket. "We'll need to figure out how to get them back inside, or something esle entirely. I don't know if they can go back once the mainframe is back up."

"Wait, it's going back up?" Tristin pulled himself out of the chair slowly. His back ached from sitting in the position too long. He stretched, the muscles taught as he waited.

There was a thud as something crashed upstairs against the wall. 

Both boys looked up, startled. 

Caohdan shrugged. "They are likely here for me. They don't know you are here, stay here and don't come up."

"But--"

"I'm serious T, if they come down here, we're both screwed."

Tristin could only nod. 

"When they leave, you can run, but be careful."

Caohdan squared his shoulders and gave one last meaningful look at the box as he walked up the stairs closing the doors behind him.

----------------------------------------

There was no knock at the door. It simply burst open. The hinges shattered upon impact.

Men ran in, their gray uniforms marking them as security. But Aaron Korbel had never seen this branch before. A seven star insignia marked their shoulders. They had no names on their chests, certainly no identifying marks. Aaron did not know what to do. He simply stood with his hands up.

"Where is your son?" The first one barked.

"My son?"

Aaron went cold. He'd known this was coming, knew it would happen to other people. Some augments would be taken. But those who simply had augments to go into the mainframe? But never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that it would come to his own house, in his upper-class neighborhood. He worked on this project for crying out loud.

"I don't understand," he said slowly rising.

The man lifted his visor, his piercing blue eyes nailed Aaron in place where he stood.

"Fortunately for you, your son's augments have been deemed removable. He is going report to Newland for the procedure."

"Procedure?"

This was happening too fast.

"Consider this a mercy, Mr. Korbel. You've been working on the project, and have been a great asset. This is the only mercy you will have extended to you. Voluntarily bring him in, now or it will happen by force and a labor camp will be his final destination."

Aaron swallowed.

"He's not here right now."

The man nodded.

"No others are detected in residence," another uniformed official came up beside the first. There were no rankings and Aaron had never seen their uniforms before.

The first uniformed officer nodded. "Bring a scandroid, just in case. Scan the neighborhood."

He looked over at Aaron. "Stay in place while we look around."

Aaron's blood ran cold as Caohdan approached him with his hands up. "Dad?"

----------------------------

Tristin waited for what felt like an eternity. He stared at the two boxes in front of him. He had no idea the fate of Atticus and his brother Caleb. Had they made it?

It was quiet for a long time. Longer than it should have been. Where was his uncle? His Aunt? The long seconds ticked by and Tristin lost track of time.

He looked at the second box that Caohdan had left plugged in. It wasn't the same size as legion one. He could fit it into one of his pockets if he wanted. But it was enough to house two AI with room to spare. He hurried disconnected Legion 2 and slip it into his pants pocket. He had no idea if they were inside. He could only hope that was the case.

Slowly Tristin crept up the stairs, his body tensed as he listened.

"If you're in there," he whispered to the box. "I'm making a break for my house. I don't know where they took Caohdan."

The house was silent, sirens wailed in the distance. He heard a few sounds but it was eerily quiet outside. The silence was deafening. Broken dishes were on the floor. They must have gotten what they came for as none of them had come down the stairs.

"The room wasn't in the house plans, idiot," his cousin's voice flooded back to him.

He walked to the front door, which was still cracked open, and peered out.

The sun was going down, casting an ominous shadow over his cousin's house. Long shadowy fingers claiming his family as their own. He stepped outside listening and began walking.

He doubted the bus lines were working still. It was going to be a long walk home, but he had to know about his own parents and their home.

He ignored the scandroids in the distance. He had no viable augments, at least nothing dangerous.

It took him an hour to reach the first bus stop. At this point there were many people milling around, the confusion on their faces. Some were standing in lines, others were being rounded up. He kept his distance from the big machines, unsure of their purpose. It was slow going but he managed.

Several fires had been started. Tristin managed to navigate his way through the shadows. No one was looking for one lost twelve year old.

When Tristin saw his house, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was intact. the lights were on, his parents were home.

"Mom! Dad!" He burst into the house.

"Oh my god!" His mother swept him into an embrace. "Where have you been? I thought, I--"

"Where's Dad?"

"He's out looking for you, T! I was so worried."

"They took Caohdan."

His mother released him and looked down at him. Her eyes closed and her mouth worked but nothing came out. She simply pulled him in for another hug. She shook around him, and Tristin realized she was crying. He felt himself break down as well.

"Go pack your things," his mother said after a moment. "We're leaving."

"But--"

"Go!" She pushed him to his room. "The outer worlds might harbor us if we have enough money..."

"I don't understand."

"You," she said. "You're considered an augment. They were here looking for you."

"Me?" He looked up at her. "Why? I'm not augmented like Caohdan, I'm not even dangerous."

For the first time, Tristin took a good look around the house. It had been ransacked. Their household goods were spread out and smashed all over the house. He nodded and ran to his room. It was only a matter of time. Anger rippled through him.

Once in his room he removed the small box and sat it next to an outlet. The cables dangled next to it, and he plugged them into his computer. The computer was old, but in theory, Atticus could escape from the box and get into his pc. Caohdan had had this all figured out. Tristin wished he could talk to him. He wasn't as adept at the tech stuff.

He turned the computer on but before he could do anything else he heard his father's voice downstairs.

"He's here?"

"Yes," his mother said. "Oh God, they're coming."

"T!" his father yelled.

Tristin ran downstairs just in time to see a large scandroid up close. It hovered, its gleaming white surface, impeccably shined as if it had just rolled off the assembly line.

"Surrender, Augment," its loud voice boomed into the house. "You will be spared and sent to Helion 7."

"He's not an augment," his mother shouted. She stood between him and the machine. His father moved next to her.

"They're medical, not dangerous."

"Surrender, Augment," the mechanical voice came again. When neither of his parents moved guns popped from the arms of the scandroid. His mother gasped and his father tightened his fists but it never occurred to either of them to move away.

Tristin cried out as the machine opened fire, never losing pace. The scene unfolded in slow motion. Bullets flew and ricocheted. One hit the Scandroid, denting its newly polished armor. But it did not stop until both of his parents lay on the ground. Tristin didn't look away, he couldn't fully understand what had just happened.

"Surrender augment."

Tristin simply stared at his parents laying on the floor. He couldn't register what just happened.

We failed, he thought as the tears came. He slipped into blackness, never noticing his small body hitting the floor. The scandroid accepted his surrender, hovering over the bodies of his parents, it lifted him in its arms and carried him outside, depositing him into a waiting vehicle before carrying on into the night.

(1508)