The wind outside the sector 22 airport was dry. It razed at Luce's jaw and blew out the lapels of his blazer as he stood gazing at it from the parking lot.

"You're sure this is a good idea?" Tracy said, looking at him nervously.

He just nodded. "This is the perfect place to start."

"Um, since Command is already arrested, there's a strong chance the Clandestines have sent a word about you being a wanted man too," Tracy said. "You know that right?"

Luce rolled his eyes. "Yeah I'm a fugitive now. So what?"

Tracy shrugged. "Nothing. I just hope you didn't use up all your fancy talk at Erik Koehlwin's place. The operatives in that airport probably would be happier to shoot you than the Last Hand people. Main reason being there's probably a big bounty on your head by now."

"Don't worry, Tracy," Luce said. "I have enough fancy talk to rile up every operative in there."

"Well, go knock 'em dead, tiger."

"You're coming with me." He grabbed her hand and pulled him after her.

Tracy squealed, "This is the worst idea!"

#

Luce walked through the main gate. The lady at the first security checkpoint was bewildered to see him.

"Y-You?!"

Luce held back a groan. "Yes, it's me. Apparently Clandestines sent a memo, huh?"

Tracy grimaced. "Luce, this won't hel–"

The checkpoint lady smacked the emergency alarm button. The tiled floor rattled as stampeding feet rushed closer. Within the next four seconds, two dozen operatives were aiming their guns at the man and the girl.

Luce raised his hands in surrender. Tracy balked but knowing there was no way out of the situation, she did the same. Soon the chief of airport security arrived wearing an icy cold glare on his face. His piercing gaze examined Luce with disdain. "Everything you did that day when the truck was stolen proved that you were reckless. But after today there's no doubt in the fact that you are also an idiot," he said.

Luce remained quiet. The chief just scoffed and snapped a pair of handcuffs on both of them. "Bring them into the lobby and keep a close eye on them. I'm gonna go make a call to the House of Operations."

Tracy grit her teeth as the operatives escorted them to the lobby. "I told you, it won't help!" she snapped at Luce.

"Shh, this is all going according to plan."

#

They put the man and the girl at the center of the lobby. Still in handcuffs and surrounded by armed operatives. Tracy kept shaking her head, regretting her decision to come along with Luce. While the man barely let his stoic mask slip off his face.

"How are you planning on bullshitting your way out of this one?" Tracy asked.

"I'm gonna speak the truth."

The girl rolled her eyes. She looked at the operatives standing guard around her. "You really think any of these people are gonna appreciate the so-called truth?"

"They will. It's in their best interests after all." Luce nodded.

Tracy bit her lip. She hoped he knew what he was doing.

"Hey, by the way, what was the airport security chief's name again?" Luce asked.

"Ian Harper."

Almost as if summoned by the mention of his name, chief Harper arrived and he wasn't alone. The head of the House of Operations was with him. He wore a navy blue overcoat with the government insignia and his name tag read: Dulvers.

Luce nodded at the two men. Dulvers' look of disdain was even stronger than the one Harper had given him.

"Ex-agent Luce," Dulvers said. "Even after knowing Command was arrested for whatever you two were scheming you still show up here. Harper told me on the way here how that one move solidifies our opinion on you as an idiot."

"Before you go on with more compliments, I wanna ask. Do you even know why Command was arrested?"

"Why do you feel like you are in a place to ask questions, Luce?" Harper said.

Luce scoffed. "I'm finally in a place where I feel like asking questions. That's not the same for you anymore, though."

"Don't listen to his ramblings anymore, sir," Harper said to Dulvers. "The order was to arrest him if we see him. I followed the orders. You are free to take him with you now. Take the girl too."

"Thank you for your swift action against the seditioner, chief Harper." Dulvers nodded.

Tracy nudged at Luce. Do something! she mouthed.

Luce nodded. "The Vigilant Squad is gonna be dissolved!" he snapped.

Dulvers and Harper paused. They looked down at him, eyebrows raised. "I beg your pardon?" Harper said.

"You heard me," Luce said. "Soon, the entire division of Vigilant Squad is gonna be dissolved."

"Nonsense," Dulvers said. "You are just blathering to buy yourself more time."

"But more time for what?" Luce said.

"To do whatever you plan to do." Dulvers shrugged. "Admit it, Luce. You are running out of tricks."

"No. You are running out of time. You've almost run out completely," Luce said. "The Operative Livelihood Services is already detracting aid for the families of fallen operatives. They'll soon start cutting back on your perks before you lose your jobs." He looked around at the operatives surrounding them. "All of you!"

Dulvers and Harper were still incredulous yet they were curious. "Do you have any evidence to back that claim, Luce?" Dulvers said.

Luce nodded. "Wendy Marllowe, Greg Marllowe's sister, is still living in Grifftown. She was ready to come back to C3 because she was low on funds and the O.L.S won't answer any of her inquiries on why they canceled her monthly cheques."

"Greg Marllowe?" Harper frowned. "The same Greg Marllowe who was suspected of being a part of an anti-government group? Another seditioner?" he scoffed.

Luce turned to Dulvers. "Why don't you go and make some phone calls to the O.L.S and ask some questions? You run a House of Operations. You have enough clearance to demand answers and actually get some. Do it now, Dulvers. You'll see it wasn't just Wendy Marllowe but multiple other families of fallen operatives who got kicked to the curb without any warning."

Dulvers was clearly skeptical. But he seemed like he could spare a few minutes to dig in. He shrugged and turned around and walked away. Luce spotted him pulling out his cellphone and already dialing a number.

Tracy leaned towards Luce. "Are you sure there are other operatives' families whose aid has been cut off?" she whispered.

"No."

She looked at him. "Then why did you–?"

"My instinct tells me Wendy Marllowe isn't alone in what she is going through," he said. "In fact, I think none of the families related to the operatives of Sector 25 prison even heard anything from the O.L.S."

Tracy worried her bottom lip with her teeth again. "I hope your instincts prove right."

Dulvers and Harper came back in a few minutes, frowning. "Stand up," Dulvers said to Luce.

"First take our handcuffs off," Luce said.

Harper raised an eyebrow. "You're in no position to make demands, Luce."

"I know what you are gonna say next," Luce said. "You'll take off my handcuffs. Call me back into some office and discuss what Dulvers just discovered on the call with O.L.S. Let's not pretend like that's not gonna happen. If we are gonna go to an office and talk, We'd rather do it without the metal biting into our wrists."

Harper grit his teeth and turned to Dulvers. The head of House of Operations just gave a single nod.

One of the operatives standing guard stepped forth and relieved Luce and Tracy of their restraints. Luce smoothed out his blazer and ran a hand through his silver blonde hair. "Let's have that chat now, gentlemen." He nodded at Tracy to follow him as the two officers led them into the monitor room.

#

"Let's cut to the chase," Dulvers said. "You were right. The O.L.S was mostly dodgy with their answers but the Livelihood Aid given to the operative families is indeed being detracted."

"But why is that?" Harper said.

"O.L.S is just a subordinate office to the Vigilant Squad Division. They're not doing this on their own. It's the Emergency Law Office that is pulling the strings," Luce said.

"And why are they doing this then?" Harper asked.

"For the same reason Clandestines arrested Command and declared me fugitive," Luce said. "For hiding information about the Sector 25 prison massacre."

From Harper and Dulvers' expressions, it was clear neither of them knew what he was talking about. So Luce gave them a brief version of what the Last Hand had done at the prison.

"Hold on a second." Harper held up a finger. "So you're telling me, Command withheld information about the Last Hand's resurgence and now the Emergency Law Office will stop aiding the families of dead operatives? So basically they are gonna punish the rest of us for the mistakes you higher-ups did?"

"No," Dulvers said, shaking his head. "They aren't scrapping livelihood aid because of what Command did. But they are using the Sector 25 prison massacre as an excuse to show how helpless they are. So they'll cut back on livelihood aid to direct that money into funding more weapons."

"Yes," Luce said.

"But that still doesn't prove your theory of the government getting rid of the entire Vigilant Squad Division." Dulvers frowned.

Luce let out a sigh. "That's where Command's 'sedition' becomes relevant," he said. "This is what Command and I speculated--but because of what we did, the Vigilant Squad falls in a vulnerable spot. The Seat of Authority is just looking for places to siphon more funds from. If they disband an entire division then that would bring a lot of money they could send off to feed the soldiers or make more weapons. And if the V.S division is dissolved then the Clandestine division would become the strongest law office in the country."

"Which means the Clandestines would really try to persuade the Seat of Authority to do away with our division," Tracy said. "And with our government, they won't even need to try all that hard."

Dulvers cocked his head. "Then what are you suggesting?"

"A coup d'etat," Luce said.

The skepticism of both the officers was palpable.

That's when Luce shot his next idea. "It can be possible if we join forces with the Last Hand."

That's when Tracy buried face in her hand, embarrassed.

#

Luce and Tracy were leaning back against the wall in the hallway. The girl couldn't stop tapping her feet. Luce hadn't taken his eyes off the door to the monitor room.

"You think they bought the idea of teaming up with the guys in Mathesdale?" Tracy asked.

Luce shrugged. "Up to them. I gave my best practical pitch." He glanced at his wrist watch. It had been fifteen minutes since they'd sent them out to wait in the hallway.

Tracy looked down at the floor. Her face was grave. "I don't know, Luce," she said. "You are asking them to make a decision while they are the kind of people who have gotten used to following orders. I feel like they'll never come out of that door." Then she looked up at the end of the hallway. "And instead a bunch of operatives will come from that way and haul us away to answer for our sedition at a House of Justice."

"I used to think the same way, Tracy," Luce said. "Hell, I was one of those people myself. Who had gotten too comfortable following orders. Yet here I am." He sighed. "If I can do it, so can they."

Tracy frowned, reaching up to press her hand to her right pectoral, feeling the gunshot wound she'd got back in this same city when Erik Koehlwin had shot her. "Did Command really do it for us?" she asked. "She hid that information about Last Hand's involvement because she knew the Seat of Authority would dissolve us for our incompetence. It was her own decision, right?"

Luce's lips became a thin line but not quite a frown. "Yes. She didn't want to see this division get thrown aside."

"I don't wanna lose this job," Tracy said almost helplessly. "This is the only way I have been able to support my family since dad passed away. And I don't wanna die on a mission just for the sake of letting them go out of this hellhole state. I wanna live, Luce. I wanna live with them."

Now the man's stoic mask had slipped. His otherwise callus features softened. "You will live, Tracy. Once we stop this war. We'll all live the life we want."

That's when the hinges squeaked. The door swung open. They both stood straighter as Harper and Dulvers approached.

Luce hoped for the best.