Celeste

“This is what I have so far.” Celeste said as she kicked her feet around.

She was sitting on an exam room table. She knew better to walk into a hospital with sunglasses and a hat on since that made her more suspicious but she’s been out and about and she didn’t want to risk something happening. Clover had to be somewhere in the next fifteen minutes so he was making this quick, it’s not exactly good when he’s working and can’t be found, but Celeste said she had finished a prototype and wanted to see a theoretical model of how it would function.

Clover didn’t think it was going to work. He saw what it did on the model of the human body, and he pointed it out to her.

“This is not going to work.” Clover pointed to exactly where the damage was going to happen. “If you cut the implant off like this, it’ll be like severing the nerves it’s connected to. You could cause all kinds of damage.”

Celeste has been working all night. She groaned when Clover said it was a failure.

“I haven’t slept in twenty-eight hours, Clover. I can’t do this.” She complained.

He looked at her again, he didn’t think she was tired, but he wanted to know why she was dressed the way she was. “I don’t understand why you have to look like that.” He said, gesturing to her outfit.

He hasn’t seen her in all black in years. It’s like she grew out of the phase. She had a black long sleeve on, and black tight pants she had tucked in her boots. She didn’t want to stand out.

“It’s my aesthetic-why does that matter?”

“Are they actually looking for you?” He hoped it wasn’t as bad as he thought.

“Not yet, but I’m not exactly going to go around and be tracked.”

She only goes to work and home. She hasn’t been able to go anywhere else unless she needs a few parts to modify the implant. She’s been trying hard to come up with something to help and it isn’t working.

She’s exhausted.

Though the energy drinks and coffee was the only thing keeping her awake. Not sane though.

“Maybe I’m thinking about this the wrong way.” She hopped off the exam table. “I don’t have access to their blue prints and let’s say that they changed a few minor details.” She began to pace around the room. “You said I could use a signal but there would be damage. What if I don’t want to damage it but completely turn it off?” She asked.

“The same issue would happen.” Clover didn’t think it was a good idea. “The implant is designed to attach to a specific location. It’s like part of those nerves it’s attached to. If you cut off the implant without removing it, it’ll be like severing the nerves.” He explained, the outcome the same as before.

“Damn.” She was really trying to think this through. “I don’t want to kill people.”

“You won’t as long as your signal is incredibly specific to what’s making the implant function.” He said.

She groaned.

She didn’t want to do this. The amount of time it would take for her to get it right would be too long.

“Paralysis is unavoidable.” Clover said. “But if you’re specific it can be reversible.”

“Um...” She started as she crossed her arms. “There’s one person with an implant from like twenty-seven years ago. I don’t really want to...cause an issue.” She said slowly.

Clover stared at her.

Did he want to know who had it? Did he wonder why she was just bringing this up now?

“It doesn’t have the same...it operates on a different signal.” She said.

“Then whoever has it should be good.” He looked away. “I know you’re not going to tell me what’s going on.” He didn’t want to be upset with her.

“I’m protecting you, Clover.”

“I can handle myself.” He said, though quiet like he didn’t want to argue with her.

She didn’t want him to be upset. After everything, she hoped he would understand.

“Hey,” Celeste walked over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I can’t have you going down for my mistake.” She said. “You’re actually valuable.”

“That’s not the word I would use to describe myself.”

“You’re a genius, Clover.” She meant that. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you, but that’s not a reason for me to let you go to jail.” She wanted him to know how serious this is. “I’ll tell you when it’s safe.”

Clover didn’t want her to go out alone, but he saw that Celeste was fine, that she was holding herself up. It seemed like she had a plan, enough of a plan that she knew what she was doing. He didn’t know how he was going to live with himself if she got in trouble but she would do everything to keep him from everything.

Right now she had to fix her mistake. That’s something she had to do alone.

She left the hospital and went outside. She kept herself hidden as much as she could, avoiding the drones, officials, and officers. She needed to work on how she was going to safely turn off the implant.

But that wasn’t all of it.

She was still trying to find out where Zinnia might be. She couldn’t get a location on her, and that wasn’t by accident.

When she got to her apartment, she turned her tablet on. Immediately she got a call from Dri, who called her more than once today.

“Hey-”

“Listen, I can’t talk long.” Dri looked around him to make sure he was okay. “We know where Zinnia is.” He said. “Write this down because I’m not going to send it to you.” He said to her.

She went rushing to find something to write with. He was giving her exact coordinates of her location within the past two hours. She had to be in the vicinity. Now that she knew, she could go get her.

“Celeste, the hell are you going to do when you find her? You won’t exactly be able to just bring her here.” Dri wasn’t sure why she wanted to find her badly.

“I’ll beg everyone not to kill her.”

“We have engineers literally recoding our system, and we’ve had to redo all of our codes and identifications. This is not something you can negotiate.” Dri wanted to be sympathetic, he really did for Celeste’s sake, but he couldn’t be when everything was going to hell. “They’re bringing back information that can destroy us, Celeste.”

“I get it-”

“If you get in contact with her, they’ll hurt you, too.” He warned her. “You’re going to be a fugitive.”

“They won’t kill me-”

“Celeste, you won’t be able to hide behind your parents. I know you want to save Zinnia, but with your blue prints in Europe’s hands, you shouldn’t be adding to your problems.”

He was trying to reason with her. He wanted her to not do something stupid. Giving her the coordinates was a bad idea but he had a feeling she wouldn’t stop until she found her.

Celeste picked up her tablet and rushed to her room. She got a bag and went into her closet to take down some of her clothes. She picked anything that wouldn’t make her stand out.

“Who’s going to get her?” Celeste asked.

“My sector and sector five, which is trained for long distances attacks, Celeste.” He emphasized. “They’ll be hiding everywhere and can shoot from anywhere.”

“When I was fourteen, I played around with those toys they use to kill people.” She didn’t see how serious it is. “Trust me, I’m not concerned.”

“Oh my God.” Dri was going to have a heart attack. “Celeste, you’re not going to force me to bring you in, are you?” He asked.

She stopped putting clothes in her bag and turned towards her bed where her tablet was. She could see him, she knew he asked a serious question. He was not joking with her. He’d do his job. And he would safely bring her in instead of threatening her life.

“Dri, let me do this.”

“If I find you-”

“Please, Dri, I still love her.” Her heart still ached. “I know she played me, but that’s still not enough for me to want her dead, okay.” She was getting anxious.

She has to find her.

Dri released the breath he was holding. Celeste stressed him out. He saw the look in her eyes, how desperate she was, how stubborn she was. He couldn’t change her mind. “We’ll be there in three days. The bigger sectors are going over there first to set up a large perimeter where we can get in without being spotted, so expect a lot tension. They’ll be looking for her, too.” He explained to her.

She didn't like those odds. She only had a short amount of time to get to where she needs to be and find Zinnia. After that, she'll be up against thousands of soldiers.

“I’ll try to bring a few things for you if you don’t find her in time, but I’m telling you Celeste, when Aurora finds out you’re in Britain, and you know he will, it’s fair game.” He warned her.

“You don’t have to compromise your job-”

“You think I want you to get in trouble?”

“No, but...”

“I’ll protect you as much as I can, but if you won’t let me bring you in, I can’t do anything else.” He shook his head. He was doing his best to keep this as safe as possible.

But he couldn’t stop her.

He wasn’t going to anymore. The least he can do is give her some help.

“I got this, Dri.” She went to grab her bag and zipped it up. “Call me if something happens, okay. I’m still working on trying to shut the implant down.”

“How’s it going?”

“Not well at all. So there’s that.” She wasn’t too hopeful. “I’ll get it together, though. Don’t worry about me.” She said.

That was easier said than done.

Dri was sweating. He was so worried that he couldn’t do much else. He was choosing between the nation he wants to fight for and the girl he was in love with and both options would lead to a terrible outcome. He was so stressed.

He needs a vacation.

Celeste knew how she was going to get to Europe, but she wasn’t sure if she could leave undetected.

Lucky for her she knew someone that could help, well hopefully they would help her.

She thought it would be easier to look like she wasn’t doing anything wrong if she was in her uniform. She worked at the Watch Tower for the city.

It wouldn’t be odd for her to be at an airport.

One of her cousins passed his exams recently and now he’s a licensed pilot.

She knew where he was going to be and at what time. She ambushed him.

He was five years younger than she was. He was fresh in his field. He had this pale look on his face and that’s how people knew he just got out of school. He was in his uniform.

“Celeste.” He backed away from her. She was known to play rough. “What are you doing here?” He was cautious.

“Congratulations. I wanted to tell you in person.” She was in his personal space and she did it on purpose. “How’s life, Gemini?” She put her arm on his shoulder.

He was nervous, more so because he wasn’t sure if she was going to wrestle him like they used to when they were kids. Clearly he has some issues with her.

“I’m f-fine.” He answered slowly.

“And Aunt Alara?-”

“My mom is also fine.” He said quickly. “What are you doing here?” He asked again. “I mean, Gericho isn’t here.”

“I’m not looking for your brother, though, it’s still kind of hard to tell you two apart.” She said, more to herself.

Gemini was a twin. Celeste teased them both.

“Anyway, I need to ask for a huge favor.” She said as she pulled him forward with her. “How does one fly to a different country without using identification?” She asked.

“Uh...” He laughed nervously, and got her to remove her arm around his shoulders. “That’s not going to happen. You literally cannot get past check in without showing identification.” He said to her.

“There has to be a way-”

“The hell did you do, Celeste?” He asked her abruptly.

She didn’t want to answer the question.

“Ah, no. Celeste, whatever you did, you still won’t be able to leave without showing anything that can identify you.” He warned her. “I can’t help with that.”

“If I were to cut off all the power-”

“It’s people like you that give people like Gericho a job.” He said to her. “The amount of back up power generating to prevent a system malfunction will make it seem like the power never went off.” He said. “One light might flicker but that’s it.”

“Tell Gericho he has his work cut out for him.” She sighed.

She was going to let Gemini leave.

If she had to identify herself for two seconds then that’s fine. Though she knew those two seconds would let anyone know that she would be leaving the country.

“Whatever you did, Celeste, I’m going to hope you aren’t running to another country to hide.”

“I’m trying to fix a mistake I made.”

“Wish I could help.” He would if he could, but there’s not much he could do. He was just a pilot. “Where you going?”

“Britain. You?”

“China.” He said as he fixed his tie. “Should be a few hours.”

“You passed your exams on the first try. You got this.” She believed in him. “Tell Aunt Alara I said hi.” She continued walking.

She was on her own but she planned for it to be like that. She was in her uniform for a reason. Anyone would think she’s working or going to work. That’s not going to be hard to believe.

Dri told her they weren’t leaving for a few days. She had time to get herself settled. She knows where Zinnia was and might be able to locate her. Celeste needed to get herself to Britain, and she hoped she won’t be stopped the second that she gets there.

Celeste was staring in the glass of a store. There were shoes that she was looking at.

She was in Europe for three hours and the first thing that caught her attention and kept it were a pair of black knee high boots.

Sometimes she was scatterbrained.

She couldn’t help it.

She had already changed out of her uniform, and did her best to look like she wasn't trying to find someone who just about started a war. She was wearing a black hat, more to cover her face because she had her hair pulled back. She wore all black, but she wasn't the only one to do that. Right now, she was lucky.

She should be working on how to shut off thousands of implants at once, but she was looking at the boots instead. There were many things that she wanted and she tried to restrain herself.

Dri was calling her, and she answered, turning the sound on to her ear piece. She was too busy looking inside the store that was already closed. She would have to come back in the morning for them.

“Does contributions transfer over?” She asked as a genuine question.

“What-”

“I found boots that I like but I’m not sure-”

“Celeste, are you kidding me?” Dri just about shouted. She winced at the sound of his voice in her ear.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized. “It’s my first time in a different country.”

“We can figure out souvenirs later.” He needed her to focus. “We know you left the country, Celeste.”

“It’s just a coincidence. They don’t know I’m coming for Zinnia.” She said as she continued walking. “No one can pin that yet.”

“That’s not the argument being made here.” He said. “You came up with the blue print, Britain got it, now you’re suddenly there? That’s not looking good for you.” He said.

“I’m heading right over to the coordinates right now.” She said. “Give me an hour and it’s all done.”

“I don’t know about that one.” Dri wasn’t so sure about that. "The bigger sectors already left, so there's that." he said, not particularly happy that Celeste was about to be up against thousands of soldiers. “One of the sectors is pushing for us to go in now, but some things have been happening and I think there’s going to be a shift in command soon.” He was worried.

Celeste didn’t see the issue yet.

“Aurora’s not here. I mean, when I gave my report earlier, Commander Libra signed off on it.”

She thought for a second, pausing in her step. She looked around. She didn’t know what to expect, but she thought through the scenario, multiple scenarios but she wasn’t worried.

“Relax, Dri. I’ll have her before morning.” Celeste thought she’d find her.

All she had were coordinates. There wasn’t much more she could go off of, but it was a start. Zinnia couldn’t be hiding. She did Britain a service, she expected them to thank her.

She was probably safer here.

But Celeste was coming to get her, and she was coming fast.

“Be careful, Celeste.” Dri warned her again. “Now you’re on the list, too, and there's a no tolerance law for rebellion.”

If she worried, she would get anxious. She considered this a rescue mission. Sure Zinnia was going to end up in prison but at least she won’t turn up dead.

Celeste was going to take care of it, because if she didn’t, Zinnia won’t be the only one in danger.