"Brother, you should leave now. They're going to be here soon."
Rosen stared at me, his expression tightening.
"I keep asking Uncle what's wrong, but he hasn't told me anything. Why are there so many people in our house? Why are they all here? Where are they going? What's happening?"
He paused, his eyes searching mine.
"Is something wrong?"
I remained silent.
"The only answer I got was that I should go back to my room and that Rose would tell me everything. But you're avoiding it too. Why?"
"Brother, listen to me. It's District 1. They're coming."
His expression changed.
"But it's okay. I promise everything will be fine. We'll get through this, and afterward, we'll go back to living the way we always have."
I stepped closer.
"Now, please listen to me. Don't make this more difficult than it already is. You need to go."
"I don't trust them." His eyes narrowed. "And neither you."
He knew me too well.
"I need to go downstairs and check on things. Please, just leave for now."
I glanced toward Jackson. "Besides, Jackson already knows what needs to be done."
"What do you mean by what needs to be done?" His suspicion deepened.
"There's more, isn't there?" That look again. I know you're hiding something from me. Look.
"Jackson, take him."
I turned toward Jackson.
"Don't wait around here. Keep him safe, and don't let him come back until I say so."
I looked at Rosen one last time. "Now scram."
Brother looked like he wanted to argue, but Jackson was already moving toward him. I turned and followed Uncle downstairs, but before leaving, I made absolutely sure they had both entered the tunnel.
A connection had already been established between Brother's room and the underground passage. To make things easier for him.
At least he would be out of here soon.
I hurried downstairs with Uncle.
"What's happening?"
"Our first line of defense is holding." He spoke as I looked toward the screens.
Several indicators were flashing across the map.
"They've taken a serious hit. Their advance has slowed, and all their ships have come to a standstill."
I watched the display for a moment.
For the first time since this had started, I felt a tiny flicker of relief.
Our first defense line was working.
But it was only the first.
The scene in front of me was a little pleasing, I must admit.
For them, our first defense line had been nothing short of a sneak attack. Their ships had come prepared to march straight into our territory, and instead, they had been stopped before they could even properly begin.
"What about the second one?"
"All the bots are ready for them."
I think I smiled, but that brief moment of satisfaction disappeared.
Oh no.
They might have those evaporating guns with them. If they had been willing to use them at the army base, why wouldn't they use them here?
Those bots wouldn't stand a chance against continuous hits. Eventually, they would end up like Jackson's bot, barely recognizable.
I quickly told the information that I should have told them when I had returned here minutes ago.
"They have those guns with them. The evaporating ones."
I turned toward the scientists. "Tell every bot rider to avoid taking a direct hit from those weapons. Warn them now."
Scientist 2: "But those guns are banned. They shouldn't even have them. It's against District law."
I knew that.
The irony was that those guns had originally come from our own district.
One of our head scientists had invented them under Father's supervision. Father had intended to sell them to whichever districts were interested. Our district needed large-scale improvements, and the money could have helped us tremendously.
Orders had even started coming in.
Then District 1 stepped in. They argued that the weapons shouldn't even be considered. They were too inhuman, too destructive. Eventually, the guns were banned, and their production was completely forbidden.
And now District 1 was using them against us.
Of course.
"I don't care where they got them from. Don't let anyone get in contact with those weapons. Warn them immediately."
Scientist 2: "Okay."
Which was the room again that I was interested in... I forget which room it was.
"Where's the room with all the cameras?"
Uncle pointed toward the corridor.
I followed his direction and entered the monitoring room. Every wall was covered with screens. Different angles. Different locations. Different sections of the district.
More than twenty people were already monitoring them, each keeping track of several screens at once.
Still, I had to see it for myself.
I moved from one screen to another, scanning the district.
Nothing.
Then another.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
Until someone suddenly pointed toward one of the screens.
"There's someone there."
I looked up.
The person leaned closer to the screen.
"Not just one."
I moved toward it.
There he was. And he wasn't alone.
Four more people were moving with him.
Five in total.
My eyes narrowed.
If they had made it past the first few defense lines, then they weren't ordinary soldiers. They had to be highly trained. And that meant they were probably not here just to test our defenses.
I left the monitoring room. There was no point standing around watching screens while they were already inside.
I went to my room, changed, and prepared my weapons. This was necessary now. Whatever happened next, I needed to be ready.
I had barely finished when I heard something.
I froze.
A noise.
It wasn't coming from outside. It was coming from the right side of my room.
Brother's room.
That made no sense. He had already left half an hour ago.
I walked toward the door and listened again.
There it was.
Someone was inside. I knocked.
No answer.
I knocked again.
Still nothing.
Fine.
I kicked the door open.
The room looked empty.
My eyes swept across every corner.
Nothing.
But I had definitely heard someone.
"Who's here?"
I stepped inside.
"Show yourself."
Then I heard a familiar voice.
"Oh. It's Rose. Now get off of me."
I stopped breathing.
No.
That sounded exactly like him. I slowly closed the door behind me.
I think I should start panicking now.
"Didn't I tell you to leave?"
I stared into the room.
"That was an order."
"You can't do anything about it, and you can't order me, remember."
I really had a serious kind of urge to smash my head at him, but how can I? It's my brother after all. I had a very serious urge to smash my head against the nearest wall.
Unfortunately, that would require more energy than I currently had.
And it was Bro, after all.
Best to give them both some news...on what's happening.
"They're taking casualties, which is good news for us. It's been almost an hour, and if we keep fighting them like this, the battle should be over soon. Everything is going according to plan."
I looked between the two of them.
"So why the hell are you both still here?"
"Jackson told me everything."
What? Oh...I stared at him.
Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful. Both of them needed a good smack to the head.
I turned toward Jackson.
"Why couldn't you keep your mouth shut for five minutes?"
Jackson opened his mouth.
"No. Don't even start with me right now."
I pointed toward the door.
"You're ruining everything. Both of you. Leave. Now."
"Why do you always hide things from me?"
"Because you ask too many questions. "I'm frustrated when people don't listen to me well. And right now my own brother is irritating me.
"I'm your brother. I'm supposed to know what's happening."
"And I'm supposed to keep you alive. We both have responsibilities."
He went quiet.
I softened slightly. "I don't have time to start another battle with you here. We finally have the upper hand, so just trust me this once."
He looked at me for a moment before sighing.
"Go back inside that box and, please, don't come out no matter what happens."
I pointed toward the tunnel entrance.
"And lock that damn door first."
"Rose…" He was about to start again...
"No arguments."
He hesitated.
Rosen, "Be careful."
I gave him a look. "As if I were planning on doing anything else."
I nodded toward him, then turned to Jackson.
Jackson received nothing but a glare. A well-deserved one.
He had absolutely earned it.
They finally left, and I waited until I was certain the door had been locked before returning to my room.
I closed the door behind me and looked down at my left arm.
The pain had gotten worse.
The bandage I'd put on it earlier was barely worthy of being called a bandage. It was more like something I'd wrapped around the wound in a moment of desperation and then decided to pretend was medical treatment.
Perfect.
Exactly the kind of first aid I'd expect from myself.
I ignored it.
There were more important things to worry about.
I picked up my mask and secured it over my face.
Better.
Now I was ready.
The district was under attack. The enemy was already inside.
And somewhere outside, a welcoming party was probably waiting for me.
How thoughtful of them.
I took a breath and stepped toward the door.
Time to meet them.