Mine is ridiculously out of order at this point, so I'll post a chapter once I've filled it up enough. The chapter I posted before is near the beginning but not actually the beginning, so I might post that later. But for now, here goes the chapters right after what I already posted!

And JBE, great story! I can't wait until the next chapters! 

Ciara watched Liisi walk off. Okay, if she’s not ready. But Ciara was sure -- sure! -- that they needed to do this. She strolled down the street, herself, climbing a set of stairs to a second-story balcony. She leaned on the wrought iron, watching the people in the street.

A biker in cycling jersey, sunglasses, and bike shorts, bending low over his bike as he cruised down the sidewalk. A businesslady, talking fast into her phone as she walked, her leather purse over one shoulder, her heels click click clicking on the sidewalk. Three teen girls, walking in perfect sync in hipster black high-top tennis shoes, slurping drinks from takeout plastic cups with straws and lids, talking. A woman wheeling a shopping cart full of garbage bags of aluminum cans, wearing latex gloves and a face mask, who went over to a nearby trash bin and dug for more cans.

How many of these people could we help? wondered Ciara. There are so many things we could do. We need to do this. We can do this.

She took out her sketchbook, leaned it on the railing, and looked over at the second-story window of the apartment building. Who lives there? she thought. How do they feel right now? How can they not be doing this? Why isn’t anyone? She turned back to her sketchpad, flipped to a new page, and sketched a rough outline of the building. She dashed off sharp lines of the fire escapes across the paper, curved the smooth lines of the scrolls in the facade. Ciara looked at her drawing critically, pursing her lips. Then, with her eraser, she slashed through the graphite lines and sketched in new ones, changing the building. She leaned closer over her sketchbook, brushing her hair out of her face impatiently, caught in an inspired moment. Her pencil danced across the paper, drawing as well as jotting notes -- “bamboo? sustainable, smooth finish”; “good spot for a mural here -- bright colors”. She held her notebook away from her, looking at her work: the skeletal-looking unused fire escapes were covered in vibrant green vines, the bricks were covered with a brightly colored mural, the old grecian scrolls and molding were replaced by a sleek modern facade. Near the top of the drawing, Ciara wrote a name: Seguri.

*  *  *

Liisi looked at her tablet and the document she’d filled with writing. Liisi had never been as much of an artist as Ciara -- she was more into writing and researching. Next to her on the floor were open two books, one on architecture, one on renewable energy sources, and her phone was open to her chat with Ciara. Liisi looked over at the phone, the message screen unmoving. Okay, Ciara’s right, thought Liisi, we can try. With a little sigh, Liisi leaned over and typed, Are you still okay with the idea?

Always!

I... I guess we can try.

Chapter 3!

“Fenno!” Ben
exclaimed. “Wake up!” the red-haired man was lying between Ben and the others,
forming a barricade. Despite Ben’s pleas, though, Fenno remained asleep.

“Fenno! You’re blocking my way!” Ben
tried again, this time a tiny bit louder. The red-haired man only rolled over
in his sleep, murmuring something about apples.

Sovi was still
sleeping on the sidewalk in plain sight, and Ben needed to find a way to awaken
the woman without yelling. Since touching her was out of the question, due to
the human roadblock known as Fenno, he knocked lightly on one of the garbage
cans. No one stirred at the sound. He rapped on it harder. This time, the lid
fell off and clattered to the street. Ben winced at the loud noise, but it had
made all three Hummingbirds awake with a start.

Sovi took in her
surroundings, and cursed when she saw the early morning light. “Why didn’t
anyone tell me the sun was rising?” the woman hissed angrily.

“I’ve been trying!”
Ben whispered in reply. “You guys never told me you were such heavy sleepers!”

Sovi ducked behind
the garbage cans, squeezing in next to Fenno and Ben. “There are a lot of
things we never told you, Ben,” she said. “And I’m starting to regret leaving
you so clueless. It might just get us killed out here.”

Eldric was still
leaning unconcealed against the stone wall. When Sovi saw the filthy man was
still in plain view, she sighed. “Eldric, get your backside behind these
garbage cans this instant!” the woman fumed.

 “Oh, I’m sorry,” Eldric sarcastically replied.
“I thought we were going on a nice sightseeing trip. The view ain’t spectacular
behind the cans, lassie.”

“Eldric! This is
no time for jokes! Now get in here!”

Eldric smirked but
complied, scooting over next to Sovi. Now all four of them were squished up against
the wall, making Ben feel like he was in a can of sardines. To make it worse,
he didn’t even know what they were hiding from. The Hummingbirds had always
told him it was dangerous up here during the day, but they had not once given
him a hint as to what the danger might be. Would the city be inhabited by flesh-eating
monsters? Would there be hoard of assassins roaming the streets? Whatever it
would be Ben was certain he wasn’t ready.

“Ben!” Ben looked
over and saw that Sovi was looking at him.

“Yes?”

“What you’re about
to see is unlike anything you’ve seen before. You will be confused. You will be
scared. But I can’t explain anything to you until we get to a safer place,
alright?”

Ben nodded,
swallowing nervously.

“Good,” Sovi said.
“So nobody make the slightest sound. That mans no coughing sneezing, or,” her
eyes drifted to Eldric. “Revolting burping.” The man grinned.

The other
Hummingbirds nodded at this proposal.

Ben watched the
street from the crack between the garbage can and the stone wall. The first
rays of sunshine had just begun to light up the city, giving him a view of the
city he had never before seen in his life with the Hummingbirds.

The sun struck the
skyscrapers, revealing most of them to be a metallic shade of gray, that’s more
or less what Ben was expecting them to look like, but it still felt surreal
seeing them this way for the first time in eight years. However, one building
stood out from all the others. It was in the distance, and seemed to be on a
sort of hill. It was grey like the others, but had a large golden orb on the
top, which seemed to be rotating at a very high speed. Despite that, it was
completely silent. Ben wondered why he had never notice the building’s abnormal
silhouette during one of his any nighttime trips into the city.

The final stars
disappeared from the sky, and the buildings and street were now completely
illuminated in the early morning light. For a few seconds, Ben waited in
suspenseful silence, waiting for something to happen.

And then, the
silence was shattered.

The spinning
golden ball, which had previously been as quiet as a mouse, began to suddenly emit
a loud siren. Ben jolted at the sudden noise, instinctively putting his hands
over his ears. He looked over at the Hummingbirds. They didn’t show too much
discomfort at the siren, which meant they were probably used to it.

Then, as suddenly
as it had started, the loud siren stopped. And what happened next was even
stranger.

The doors of the
buildings simultaneously opened, and people began to flood from every single
one. Parents with children, couples, men and women by themselves, and
teenagers. Every type of person imaginable was gushing from one skyscraper or
another at exactly the same time. This by itself was alarming, but for Ben it
was terrifying. The Hummingbirds were the only people he had seen for eight
years. He had never seen this many
people in one place for as long as he could remember.

Ben looked at Sovi
in distress. She gave him a look that clearly said I’ll explain everything later. The boy hoped she would.

Just when the boy
thought things couldn’t get any more unusual, they did. The stream of people
seemed to be moving in an extremely orderly fashion. Much more orderly than he
had ever pictured citizens of a city to be. It almost seemed…unnatural. The
citizens seemed to have different route assigned to them, and each one seemed
to be determined to get there. Some people walked left, some right, branching
off onto smaller backstreets on each side of antis. And some people came
directly towards him.

Some of the
citizens also seemed to have very specific jobs. Not even a full minute had
passed since the people had exploded out of the buildings, and already antis
was alive with the sounds of construction workers drilling away and police
sirens blaring. To add to that, what appeared to be a garbage truck was also
patrolling the city, emptying trash cans and loading black trash bags onto
itself with a large metal claw. Suddenly, Ben realized that the garbage cans
they were using for shelter were soon to be the truck’s target.

Ben looked once
gain frantically the Hummingbirds. They seemed to know what was going on. They
didn’t have the slightest look of alarm on their faces, which ant that they had
probably been in this situation many times before. Ben was beginning to wonder
what else he was missing out on when the Hummingbirds left on week-long trips
to Mantis.

As the garbage
truck approached, Sovi pulled the hood of her black cloak over her face, and
pulled her arms and legs in until no one would guess there was a human under
the black fabric. Really? They were about to be discovered and Sovi, the brave,
smart leader, was simply cowering in her cloak? Ben was about to say something
when he noticed the other Hummingbirds were doing the same. Ben knew he should
probably follow their lad, but he was trying to find out why. The boy’s eyes
drifted to the approaching truck. That’s when he noticed that the resemblance
between the black plastic bags on the back of the truck, and the black cloaks
everyone was wearing, and he made the connection. The true purpose of the
cloaks was, as odd as it sounded, to disguise Ben and the hummingbirds as
garbage bags. The boy appreciated the ingenuity of the idea for a split second,
until he realized that to get to this ‘safer place’ Sovi had spoken of, he was
going to have to ride in a garbage truck.

It was a strange
plan, but the boy decided not to question it. The Hummingbirds had far ore
experience then he in these sorts of things. And besides, he lived in a sewer!
He was used to bad smells! So, reluctantly, Ben pulled the cloak over his face
and tucked in his arms and legs as he’d seen the others do, and waited to be
picked up.

Ben realized
quickly that it was sweltering under the folds of the robe. He had already
broken into a sweat, and was running quickly out of fresh air. Still, the boy
remained in the position, not daring to move as the sounds of the truck grew
ever nearer.

Finally, the
garbage truck pulled up next to the stone alcove. The fabric of the cloak was
slightly transparent, and Ben could faintly make out a large metal object
extend from the top of the truck. It grabbed hold of the first garbage can, and
shook the thing, emptying its contents. Then the arm did the same with the
second can. Then it began to pick up the Hummingbirds.

The arm first
grabbed Sovi, clutching her by the sides of her body. Ben saw the woman’s legs showing
from out of the robe, and knew that the driver of the truck would notice if he
simply turned her head right. Luckily, though, the driver just stared straight
ahead with an emotionless expression.

The mechanical arm
set Sovi down on top of the real garbage bags filling the truck, making a sharp
crinkling noise. After it had done the same to Fenno and Eldric, it lowered
down towards Ben to finish the job. Ben winced as the arm’s claws clenched around
his sides, fearing for a second that the thing might crush him. He felt himself
being lifted high into the air, and finally dropped him onto the top of the
truck.

Ben lifted the
hood of his cloak just enough so that he could get a breath of fresh air and
not be seen. Unfortunately, being on a garbage truck, there was even less fresh
air than the sewers. The boy saw that the Hummingbirds were doing the same
thing, lifting up their hoods, but not enough to show their yes. Still, Ben
could tell who was who without seeing their faces.

Ben looked at
Sovi. “This is insane!” he whispered. “How does pretending to be a freaking
garbage bag help us in any way?”

The woman began to
open her mouth, but Eldric blurted out before she could. “If yer gonna be one
of us, lad, ya gotta know how to take chances. Learn how to do strange things
without wondering why yer doin’ them.”

Sovi elbowed the
bearded man. “Eldric, shut your dirty mouth. Can’t you see the poor kid is confused?”
the woman turned towards Ben. “Benny,” she said. “Everything we do is for a reason,
whether it’s out of the ordinary or not. Do you remember how I told you I’d explain
everything when we got to a safer place?”

“Yeah, I remember,
that was like five minutes ago,” Ben grumbled.

“Well,” Sovi
continued, ignoring the boy’s rudeness, “That place happens to be the
destination of this truck.”

“The…dump?” Ben
was caught off guard.

“Not the dump, Benny,” Eldric said with a mischievous
grin. “Our dump.”

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This is my entire NaNo right now. I could use some critique if you guys have any comments! Thanks!

Liisi opened her book on her lap and leaned back into her soft beanbag chair. She ran her finger down the paper of the book, thinking, not really reading. The sun was shining through the windows of her room, making the dappled shadows of the leaves of the trees outside bob slowly on the floor. Liisi stretched out and crossed her legs, closing her book.

I can’t read today,  she thought. I feel like... I need to do something else.

Liisi put her book down on the floor, grabbed her backpack from on her bed, and headed out the door. Wheeling her bike from where it leaned against the wall near the door outside to the sidewalk, she decided, I’ll just go down the street and back, maybe head to the library.

She pedaled slowly down the sidewalk, enjoying the springtime day. The birds sitting along the telephone wires and the tree branches squawked a morning greeting to each other and the world. Then, Liisi’s phone chimed the familiar song that meant -- Ciara. Liisi pulled her bike over to the side of the road and looked down at her phone and swiped to the message screen. Ciara’s message popped up.

Hi Liisi, it’s Ciara.

Liisi here. What’s up?, she typed back.

Are you doing anything?

Just biking down the street.

I just had an idea for us to work on. You want to meet up?

Yes! Where?

Some cafe or bookstore or something?

How about Citrus?

Sounds good! I’ll meet you at Citrus. Ciara out.

Liisi smiled. Ciara’s ideas were always good. Putting her phone back away, Liisi got back on her bike and started pedaling.

Ciara was waiting for her, sitting at a table outside the cafe, Citrus. She had a sketchbook open on the tabletop as usual -- Ciara loved art -- and was bent over it, her brown hair dropping over her face.

“Hi, Ciara,” called Liisi, pulling up a chair at the table. She slid two bottles of juice onto the tabletop -- one for herself, one for Ciara. Ciara smiled, nodded, and opened a bottle, clinking it with Liisi’s before taking a sip. Liisi leaned over the sketchbook.

“What’s up?”

“Just sketching.” Ciara turned the sketchbook around so Liisi could see the drawings -- designs for jewelry and clothes. Ciara had even drawn a few designs for vehicles: a cargo bike with a crate that looked like classic red wagon bed, a moped that was made of solar panel plating, a segway with a front-mounted crate, even a wheelchair with a sunshade and a front wheel, which made it a tricycle.

“That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Liisi, tracing her finger over the wheelchair’s outline.

“But they’re just sketches now,” Ciara said. “They could be more. They could help people.”

“How... make them more?”

“We could build them. Look,” Ciara pointed the tip of her pen at the cargo bike. “I bet you, if we went to the dump or a thrift shop, we could find a nice retro red wagon. And then splice a small bike with a large one...” Her pen moved first to the small front wheel, then followed the frame to the back. “...to make this.”

“Yes! A wagon bike!” Liisi put her tablet up on the table and opened a new document. “These are really great, Ciara! Look, you could use solar cells, like this...” With her stylus, she drew a rough rectangle. “... then link them together, with silicone or something else that is flexible...” She added more panels, curving slowly into the fender of a Vespa. “Ta-dah!” Liisi grinned. “These are really great ideas, Ciara.”

“Yes! And they could help so many people, Liisi. Look. The wheelchair? Disabilities could be less hard. The Vespa? Faster, less traffic. The bike?”

Liisi chimed in. “Faster transport of cargo, less cars, more fun!”

Ciara moved to the next empty page of the document. “If the vehicles could really help people, Liisi, what about a city?”

“A... a city?”

“Look, we could see how transportation, speed, disabilities could be changed, and it would help people a lot, already. What about making a community?”

“Really? A whole bunch of people? I can see how you can make the bike, how you can make the wheelchair... But a building, a city?”

“Just a community, it doesn’t have to be a city, not at first. But look.” Ciara drew an top view of one apartment -- a hall, rooms branching off. “Imagine. People working together. People could build these things. People could help each other, share ideas like we are. The design, the science that could come out of a community like this... it would be amazing, really. And I know where it could start.”

Liisi frowned, but she still picked up her bag and followed on her own bike as Ciara led her downtown. The area was pretty walkable, so the two girls pedaled down the block. They stopped in front of Liisi’s apartment.

Liisi and Ciara looked at the apartment building. Ciara leaned back against the pole of the streetlight and crossed her arms.

“Really, Liisi, look at it. We could make it.”

“You really think so? I...” Liisi trailed off. She looked up at the building -- faded grey concrete and red brick, wrought iron skeletons of balconies and fire escapes, grimy glass windows, rusty metal doors, yellowed once-white scrolls and molding. It looked like just an old building, one that would stand there forever. “I don’t know, Ciara. Maybe. But just the two of us?”

“Well, I guess you’re right. We’d need to talk to the other residents, too. And bring in more of my friends: some architects, artists, botanists...”

“That’s not what I meant, Ciara! I don’t know... if anyone’s ready for this! Okay?” Liisi bit her lip, swung her backpack over her shoulder, and stalked down the street and around the corner, heading for her door into her apartment. She ran a hand down the warm bricks, feeling the roughness of the mortar. Punching in the door code, she slammed the door behind her and strode to her room, dumping her bag onto the sofa and crashing.

I really don’t know, she thought. I really want to do it, make what Ciara and I have been thinking a reality. But I don’t know if I can carry it through, if Ciara can carry it through. Liisi took a deep breath. She set her tablet on her lap and twirled a stylus in her fingers.

Ciara watched Liisi walk off. Okay, if she’s not ready. But Ciara was sure -- sure! -- that they needed to do this. She strolled down the street, herself, climbing a set of stairs to a second-story balcony. She leaned on the wrought iron, watching the people in the street.

A biker in cycling jersey, sunglasses, and bike shorts, bending low over his bike as he cruised down the sidewalk. A businesslady, talking fast into her phone as she walked, her leather purse over one shoulder, her heels click click clicking on the sidewalk. Three teen girls, walking in perfect sync in hipster black high-top tennis shoes, slurping drinks from takeout plastic cups with straws and lids, talking. A woman wheeling a shopping cart full of garbage bags of aluminum cans, wearing latex gloves and a face mask, who went over to a nearby trash bin and dug for more cans.

How many of these people could we help? wondered Ciara. There are so many things we could do. We need to do this. We can do this.

She took out her sketchbook, leaned it on the railing, and looked over at the second-story window of the apartment building. Who lives there? she thought. How do they feel right now? How can they not be doing this? Why isn’t anyone? She turned back to her sketchpad, flipped to a new page, and sketched a rough outline of the building. She dashed off sharp lines of the fire escapes across the paper, curved the smooth lines of the scrolls in the facade. Ciara looked at her drawing critically, pursing her lips. Then, with her eraser, she slashed through the graphite lines and sketched in new ones, changing the building. She leaned closer over her sketchbook, brushing her hair out of her face impatiently, caught in an inspired moment. Her pencil danced across the paper, drawing as well as jotting notes -- “bamboo? sustainable, smooth finish”; “good spot for a mural here -- bright colors”. She held her notebook away from her, looking at her work: the skeletal-looking unused fire escapes were covered in vibrant green vines, the bricks were covered with a brightly colored mural, the old grecian scrolls and molding were replaced by a sleek modern facade. Near the top of the drawing, Ciara wrote a name: Seguri.

Liisi looked at her tablet and the document she’d filled with writing. Liisi had never been as much of an artist as Ciara -- she was more into writing and researching. Next to her on the floor were open two books, one on architecture, one on renewable energy sources, and her phone was open to her chat with Ciara. Liisi looked over at the phone, the message screen unmoving. Okay, Ciara’s right, thought Liisi, we can try. It is a good idea. I just... I don’t know if we can make it real, make it work. But if she wants to try. With a little sigh, Liisi leaned over and typed, Are you still okay with the idea?

An answer flew back almost immediately. Always! There was a pause. Ciara was probably getting some information. Then, an image filled Liisi’s screen -- one of Ciara’s sketches. Bold lines across the page, curves just right, not frilly, just graceful.

What... what is it?

Seguri. Liisi, this is what we can make.

Liisi could feel the ideas almost jumping out of her brain.

Guys, I will not be posting chapters for several days. I am still working on it, though!

chapter 4!

The garbage truck sped down the
streets of Mantis, filled with broken furniture, dozens of black trash bags,
and four stowaways.  Ben watched the city
whizz by, trying to decide which was worse: the stench of the sewers or of the
surrounding rubbish. What was happening on the sidewalk, however, was almost
enough to distract him from the putrid smell.

            The
citizens were walking in one direction on one sidewalk and in the opposite
direction on the opposite sidewalk, almost in single file. Now that he was
closer to them, h noticed that each of the citizens was wearing almost
identical clothing. Males had on grey polo shirts and pants, while females were
wearing blouses and skirts of the same color. What was even more mysterious was
that that the each person’s face looked as drab and expressionless as the color
of their clothing. The citizens looked straight ahead with blank eyes, their
only goal in life seeming to be to get to their destinations.

But what really
caught Ben’s attention was the young children. Although they wore the same
clothes as the older citizens, they had life in their eyes. Most of them looked
overcome with anxiety, as if they could become like the zombie-like adults at
any second. Ben would pity the poor things, but he himself probably knew less
about this strange world than they did.

Suddenly and
unexpectedly, a little girl on the sidewalk glanced casually in Ben’s
direction. When she saw the boy’s eyes peeking out from under the robe, her own
eyes widened, and she tugged on her mother’s sleeve. Ben cursed and ducked
under his hood, although he knew the truck had already zoomed out of the girl’s
range of vision. He had been spotted. Luckily it had been a very young kid, so
her mother would not believe her. But anything was possible. It was even
possible he had just revealed himself and the Hummingbirds to the entire city.
And he still didn’t know what the danger of being discovered was!

Eldric looked over
when he saw Ben pull the robe over his face. “What’s wrong, lad?” asked the an,
with a serious tone for once. “Someone spot ya?”

“Um, no,” Ban
lied. “I was just going to… take a nap.”

“A nap?”  Eldric chuckled. “In a garbage truck, eh? And
you thought I was weird. Either way, they’ll be no time for napping now, Benny.
We’re almost there.”

Ben peeked back
out of the black cloak, this time cautious not to catch the eye of any nosy
citizens.

What the boy
assumed was the dump was looming up ahead, but it looked nothing like what he
had imagined. There were no mountains of trash at all. It was simply a massive,
silver cylinder with a ramp coiled around it, making it look like a giant
screw. There was another garbage truck already circling up the ramp, and when
it got to the top, it empted it’s contents into the cylinder where they fell
into the bottomless pit below.

Ben realized that
the giant cylinder acted like a giant waste basket. It probably lead to the
sewers, which is why there was always so much trash floating round down there,
But as neat as it was to find out where all the refuse down in the sewers came
from, he really didn’t ant to be dropped down there,

“Um, guys,” Ben
commented, “You do realize that the truck is going to drop us into the sewers, right?
I really don’t feel like falling fifty stories today.”

“Ben, remember
what I told you,” Sovi replied. “Everything we do we do for a reason. Follow my
lead and you won’t get hurt, alright?”

“I don’t see how
you can’t get hurt in this situation…” Ben mumbled.

The garbage truck
began to scale the cylinder. As it grew closer to the summit, the Hummingbirds
got out of their crouched positions and removed their hoods, now apparently
oblivious to the threat of being spotted. They moved into a tight circle, and
began conversing hurriedly without Ben.

“Alright, guys,
you know the drill…”

“AHEM.” The
Hummingbirds looked over at Ben, who had just loudly cleared his throat.
“Actually, no. I don’t know the drill.”

Sovi’s brow
furrowed. “Oh, shoot,” the woman said. “We’ve never done this with an extra
person before…” her eyes began darting over the surface of the cylinder, making
frantic calculations.

“I thought you had
a plan!” Ben cried.

“I do! I just
forgot to add an extra person to the equation!” Sovi shouted. She thought
harder, hr face becoming flustered.

“Lassie? Sometime
today?” Eldric chimed in.

“You’re not
helping, you skunk!” Sovi cried. She pursed her lips, thinking even harder
while the truck was all the while making its way up to the dangerous abyss.

Finally, the
woman’s face lit up. She looked at Ben. “Just… jump when I tell you, okay? I promise you won’t fall. You ready, Ben?”

Ben looked at the
woman’s eyes. They seemed sincere.

“As ready as I’ll
ever be.”

They were now so
close to the top of the cylinder that they passed the garbage truck which had
previously been emptying its load and was now headed back down. The two drivers
exchanged bored glances, but still neither one noticed the four stowaways.

At last, the truck
reached the very top of the cylinder. Ben gazed into the hole. It was about
twenty feet across, and so deep the bottom was swallowed by darkness, although
Ben suspected that if he fell in he would land not to far from the camp. But
Ben saw virtually nowhere that he and the Hummingbirds could land. The rim of
the giant waste basket was to thin to stand on, and there were no secret ledges
or alcoves in the metal that he could see.

But he had to
trust the Hummingbirds.

The garage truck
began to turn around until the dumping bed was facing towards the drop. Then it
began to tilt forwards. A few trash bags and a broken table immediately toppled
forward, tumbling soundlessly into the sewers.

“Ok,” Sovi
murmured. “We gotta aim this exactly right, or we’re toast. When I say jump…”
the dumping bed tilted even further, more trash sliding out. Soon, it would b
at a ninety degree angle and Ben wouldn’t be able to cling on anymore.

“JUMP!”

Ben pressed off
against the surface of the trash bags, launching himself into the abyss. Ben
was barely aware of the other airborne Hummingbirds beside him, he was only
aware of one thing. The fact that there was no place to land. What they were
doing was basically a suicidal div. Ben squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for
the long fall. Then, out of nowhere his feet landed on something.

The boy opened his
eyes in surprise. He was standing next to the inner wall of the cylinder. He
looked down at his feet, alarmed at first because it looked like he was
floating.

Then he realized he
was standing on a nearly invisible platform jutting out from the inside wall of
the cylinder boy crouched down and felt his hands along the platform. The
surface felt wet, like it had just been rained on, but when he looked at his
hand it was perfectly dry. Even though it was virtually invisible, though, Ben
could still tell that the platform only extended a few feet out from the inside
wall, so if he took just a few steps toward the center of the cylinder he would
fall into the abyss.

The other
Hummingbirds had landed their jumps a few feet to the left of him, also on the
invisible platform. They were panting as if the jump had given each of them a
massive adrenaline rush. It had certainly given Ben one.

After Eldric had
caught his breath, the dirty man burst out laughing. It was a rich, hearty
laugh which made everyone wants to smile in spite of themselves. “That never
gets old!” the man exclaimed. “I thought for sure we weren’t going to make it!
But you pulled through, lad! You pulled through!”

Ben grinned as
Sovi walked up to him. He couldn’t get over the fact that it looked like her
legs, as well as his own and the others, looked like they were moving over thin
air.

The woman patted
Ben on the back. “That was very brave of you, Ben,” she said softly. “Any normal
person would’ve rather got caught than jump down here without any visible
landing spots. But you’re special, Ben.”

Ben knew the woman
had been complimenting him, but for some reason, the way she had chosen to do it
was a bit unnerving. He was… special? Why did he find that so creepy?”

  Brushing
off the creeped out feeling, Ben turned his attention to the strange platform. “So,”
Ben asked. “What the heck is this
stuff anyway?” the boy tapped his foot lightly on the black surface on the
platform. The surface shimmered and warped lightly.”

“We’re not
actually sure, really.” Fenno replied. “We’ve nicked named this place the
Chameleon, because the platform seems to take on the color of whatever is near
it. See how it’s more silver towards the wall, and gets blacker further out?”

Ben saw that the
platform did indeed look more silver closer to the silver interior wall, and
got blacker as it moved out into the black abyss. It even acquired the color of
his skin when he moved his hand closer to it. It was unlike anything he’d ever
seen before.

“How did this get
here though?” Ben asked. “I mean, you didn’t…?”

“Oh, no! No, we
didn’t build it, Ben!” Fenno laughed. “This platform was placed here when the
city was. We have no idea what its purpose originally was, but no one in Mantis
seems to remember it exists. All we can do is thank the inventor for crating
such a nifty hiding spot.”

“Yeah, remember
when we first found this?” Sovi sat down, implying that Ben and the others do
the same. “This was before we adopted you, Ben. We thought the cylinder was
solid, and rode on the garbage truck to get a bird’s eye view of Mantis at the
top. By the time we realized it was a garbage chute, we were too high up to
jump off the truck. So, we jumped as the truck was emptying its load, hoping to
jump over the entire hole and land on the spiral road on the other side.
Obviously, we missed it by a long shot. We thought we were dead for sure. But
when we discovered this place, we immediately knew that it had to be our
hideout. We’ve been using it ever since.”

“There’s even a
handy way to get out, see?” Fenno stood up and pressed a certain point on the interior
wall, apparently pushing a hidden button, and a hatch opened, like a window in
the metal. Ben glanced down out of the opening. It was a short drop down to the
spiral ramp, and they could walk back to the street fro there. But it was still
a long enough drop that they wouldn’t be able to get back up.

“Of course, we won’t
go down right now,” Fenno spoke Ben’s thoughts aloud. “We’d have to hop on
another garbage truck and do the whole dramatic leaping thing again just to get
back. So for now, let’s just relax and enjoy some lunch.”

Fenno sat back
down, taking off his cloak. He spread it over the Chameleon, looking almost as
if he were riding on a magic carpet. The red-haired man removed his backpack
and removed some food from it. He put a few apples leftover from the previous
day, a hunk of cheese and some bottles of water on the cloak, creating a makeshift
picnic.

Ben and the others
enthusiastically chowed down. It was barely a snack, but to the boy it felt
like a feast fit for kings.

“This is
definitely the strangest place I’ve ever eaten,” Ben commented between bites of
cheese and apple. “And that’s saying a lot.”

“Well, there are
far stranger things about this city, Ben,” Sovi remarked. “And I’m not about to
break the promise I made earlier. It’s time I explained everything.”

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Here's chapter 5!

“Don’t expect me
to go into too much detail,” Sovi began. “You’ve already seen far too much than
we’d wanted you to.”

“Or at least,
before you came of age,” Fenno added. “We were originally planning to have this
little trip into Mantis when you turned eighteen.”

“Wait, what?” Ben
interjected. “You were going to do all this when I was just a little older? Why
didn’t you wait just a few more years?”

“Because, Ben,”
Sovi’s voice softened. “I’ve noticed how much you’ve wanted this. For the past
few years, you look crestfallen when you didn’t get what you really wanted for your birthday.
Remember, we are your family, and we only want you to be happy.”

“And if givin’ ya
knowledge about this blasted city is the only way to make you happy, then so be
it.” Those words, surprisingly, cam from Eldric. Sovi looked over at the filthy
man with an expression of mild surprise on her face.

“That’s the first
thing you’ve said today that’s worth repeating,” she said with a smirk.

“Well, I’m gonna
hafta disagree with that, lassie,” Eldric replied.  “But this day is about Benny, not us.” The
bearded man grinned back at Sovi, the two of them looking almost like a couple
for a few seconds, despite their drastic differences. It was weird.

            “So,
Ben,” Fenno said, breaking the awkward silence. “Ask us anything. What do you
want to know?”

            The
boy didn’t know what to ask first. All of the questions he’d ever had about
Mantis were just sitting right in front of him, waiting to be answered. Not in
much detail, of course, as Sovi had said, but it was still pretty incredible to
have access to knowledge he’d been trying to get his hands on since he’d first
arrived at the sewers. Finally, Ben decided on one question that had been
nagging him the entire day.

            “Well,
um,” Ben said hesitantly, almost afraid to ask the question. “I want to know… I
want to know what’s so bad about being caught. What happens if we are?”

            “That’s
a good question,” Sovi replied, “But I’m afraid the answers will not be as
straightforward as you’d like.”

“That’s fine,” Ben
said. “I just want an answer.”

The woman smiled.
“Alright then. Well, have you noticed that the people in city seem, a little
different than you and I?”

Ben nodded. “You
mean how they all look like sleepwalking robots?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. You see, the people in this
city, they have a strict routine. A very strict
routine. They have something done to them at a very young age so they don’t
forget. An operation of sorts. And if they catch anyone older than that age who
is disobeying that routine, they’ll know straight away it’s somebody who hasn’t
received the operation. Outsiders, they call us. And after that…” the woman’s
eyes drifted downward. “Well, let’s just say you’ll be lucky to get away
alive.”

A million thoughts
rushed into Ben’s head at once. This was why the Hummingbirds had been keeping
him in the sewers? Because of this routine everyone needed to follow? Was that
why they had brought him to the sewers to begin with? To escape this operation?

“Was I going to…
get the operation before you adopted me?” Ben asked, starting to put the pieces
of the puzzle together.

To this question,
Sovi said nothing. Eldric, on the other hand, stroked his dirty beard
thoughtfully and stared at Ben with piercing eyes. “I always knew it, lad,” the
man said. “I always knew you’d figure out your past before we had a chance to
tell ya.”

Ben stood up
abruptly, knocking over his water bottle. “So it’s true!” he cried. “This is why you adopted me? Just to keep
me from getting some stupid operation?”

“Ben, I don’t
think you understand,” Sovi said. “The operation is irreversible. Would you
really want to live like that for your whole life? Confined to one routine?
Unable to think for yourself?”

Rage began to boil
up inside of Ben. “Well, I’d rather do that than live in the sewers! With rats!” when Ben said the last word, he
stomped on foot down on the Chameleon so hard that a few apples rolled off the
platform and tumbled into the abyss.

At that, Eldric
began to lose his temper. The bearded man stood up and walked towards Ben until
their faces were inches apart. “Listen, lad,” the man boomed, poking Ben’s chest.
“Every stinking day, we work our backsides off to keep you alive. And we don’t
appreciate you givin’ us cheek in exchange for all the good we do for you. So
why don’t ya stop your complaining, and be thankful for once!”

Eldric stopped his
rant and stomped off to the edge of the Chameleon. He sat down on the edge of
the platform, his back to Ben, and started grumbling to himself.

All of Ben’s anger
had faded to shock. He had never seen Eldric like this. The man always had a
cheerful atmosphere about him. If that was gone, something had to be seriously
wrong.

“I’m sorry,
Eldric,” Ben sighed. “You’re right. You’re all right.” The boy looked around at
the Hummingbirds.  “I know I have it
better off then the people in this city, I just don’t understand why you picked
me. You could’ve saved any person in the whole city from getting that
operation, why’d it have to be me?”

“We accept your
apology, Ben,” Sovi replied gently. “I don’t blame you for wondering, it’s only
human. And I know that constantly having to hide from the people in this city
has, and is going to, make life very tough. But I think we’ve explained more
than enough to you for now. I promise one day you will understand everything. Maybe that day isn’t as far
off as you think.”

The woman pulled
Ben into a hug, seeming ore motherly than ever. Fenno joined the embrace, and
finally, Eldric gave in. “I can’t stay mad at you, Benny,” the bearded man
said. “Bring it in!” the dirty man completed the group hug, nearly lifting the
others off the Chameleon.

Finally, the
Hummingbirds broke the embrace. “See, Ben,” Sovi said, “We may fight sometimes,
but we’re still a family. So, what do you say we head home?”

“I second that,”
Eldric replied. “It’s been a long day.”

”It’s only noon, Eldric,”
informed Fenno.

“Ah there ya go,
ruining the moment!” Eldric cried, though he said it good-naturedly.

“It’s okay, I
agree with you,” Fenno said. “There’s only a certain amount of excitement a man
can take in one day. Let’s go home.”

The Hummingbirds
began to back the food -what was left of it- back into the backpacks. Fenno
picked the cloak off the ground and put it back on. The red-haired an then pressed
the button on the wall, and stuck his had through the opening, observing the outside.

Fenno pulled his
head back inside. “The coast is clear,” he said. “I think the garbage trucks are
done making rounds for the day.”

“Alright. Let’s
go, then.” Sovi was first to squeeze through the exit, landing gracefully on
the spiral ramp. Fenno and Eldric were next, and finally Ben squeezed through the
exit. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly paying attention to where he was landing
and ended up falling on his back.

“Oh, you okay man?”
Fenno asked when he saw Ben’s failed landing.

“I’ll be fine,”
the boy groaned, picking himself up. “Probably nothing more than a bruise.”

“Okay. Well, we
can’t let a bruise stop us. Let’s go.”

The four cloaked
figures sped down the ramp, Ben noticing the exit hatch closing as they ran away.
It must’ve been programmed to close a few minutes after it had been opened.

When Ben and the Hummingbirds
reached the bottom of the ramp, they were in a parking lot. About a dozen garbage
trucks were parked in a line, but what Ben saw almost made him scream.

At least ten
machines were moving along the ground of the parking lot. The machines were
shaped vaguely like humans, with a single wheel serving as their feet, a metal
cube as their torso, and two claw-like appendages as their arms. Perched on top
of each machine was a small red dome made out of glass. Each one produced a stream
of scarlet light which was constantly sweeping back and forth across the parking
lot. The machine’s eye.

Judging by the
reactions of the Hummingbirds, these things were not friendly. Eldric’s eyes
grew the size of saucers when he saw the robots, and the bearded man dashed
over the pavement until he was behind the garbage truck furthest away from the machines.
Sovi gestured for Ben to do the same, and he did, in a wave of confusion.

Once they were all
behind the truck, he glared at Sovi. “I thought we were done with the surprises
for today!”

“I thought so to!”
the woman whispered. “These things aren’t supposed to be here!”

“Okay, first of
all, what in the name of Eldric’s beard are
those things?” Ben hissed. “I know you said you weren’t going to tell me
anything else about this city today, but you have to give me this one.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll
tell you,” replied Sovi hurriedly. “We call those machines ‘Choppers’. They’re
sort of like Mantis’s police department. They’re the ones the citizens alert if
an Outsider is spotted. But they’re never in this section of the city!”

Ben quickly surveyed
the lot, looking for a route back into the street that didn’t involve the Choppers.
The trash cylinder was surrounded completely by a wire mesh fence, except for
an opening where the garbage trucks had driven through. But the opening was
completely surrounded by the scary machines.

“We could climb
the fence,” Ben suggested. It was a random and probably terrible idea, but Ben
had not exactly come into Mantis prepared to sneak past mechanical police officers.

“Are you off yer
rocker, lad?” Eldric exclaimed. “That fence is electric! The only way out is
through that gate and it’s covered in Choppers! It’s hopeless!”

 A look of despair cam across the filthy man’s
face, but it was replaced with another look. A desperate look. The man glanced at
the other Hummingbirds knowingly. “There is a way,” he said quietly. “I wasn’t
wantin’ to hafta use it, but there is a way.”

“Are you saying we
use the backup plan?” Fenno asked. “I don’t think Ben can handle it!”

“He can handle it,”
Sovi said. “He’s been through a lot today. I think he can handle it.”

Ben was a little irked
that the Hummingbirds were talking about him while he was right in front of
them, but as thy kept talking, he began to grow nervous. What were they
planning to do?

“Um, guys? What
are you talking about?”

Fenno extracted a
small, folded piece of paper out of the pocket of his cloak. “Ben,” he said, “I
didn’t want to have to do this, but it seems to be our only option. Take this
paper. When we tell you to, run out of the parking lot. Don’t stop running
until you’re positive there is no one following you. Then, read the paper.”

“But what are you…”

“Ben. You’ve
trusted us before. You have to trust us one ore time.” Fenno stared directly into
Ben’s eyes. The boy grabbed the slip of paper, but said nothing.

“Okay, guys, it’s
now or never,” Fenno looked at the other Hummingbirds. They nodded at each other,
and then stepped out from behind the truck.

Straight into the
Chopper’s fields of vision.

At last, Ben realized
what the Hummingbirds were doing. They were going to create a diversion. They
were going to sacrifice themselves for him.

A scream tore from
Ben’s throat, but it was already too late. The Hummingbirds had been spotted. The
Choppers were blaring in robotic voices, and they were all saying the same
thing.

OUTSIDERS! OUTSIDERS! OUTSIDERS!

The Hummingbirds didn’t
even struggle as the robots closed in around them, wrapping their claw-like
appendages around each person’s body. Ben watched in horror as needles then extended
from the Chopper’s bodies, probably designed to tranquilize their victims.

Then, just before
the Hummingbirds were injected by the needles, all three of them yelled at once.
“BEN, RUN! NOW!”

Ben didn’t want to
run. He wanted to curl up in a ball on the pavement and stay there forever. But
he had no choice. Tightening his grip on the slip of paper, the boy dashed out from
behind the truck. He ran, fueled by sheer terror. Narrowly dodging two Choppers,
the boy never lost speed. He sprinted out of the parking lot. Across the
street. He didn’t even notice that he was being pursued by five Choppers, or that
every single pedestrian nearby had noticed him, probably calling for even more
Choppers.

All that occupied
his mind were
four words.

The Hummingbirds
were gone.

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Let's see if the text gets all funky...

Needler

The library makes its way into my view, its many books flung into piles surrounding the windows. I creak open the door, wincing at the sudden noise of its bell. Gee, I wish libraries weren't so quiet. It gives me the creeps.

I gasp in surprise as I hear the librarian, her voice sounding like a creaking stair.

"Hello, dear. What kind of book would you like?" she whispers slowly. What, does she even know how to talk?

"Um… Nothing really." I reply rather sheepishly. The lady smiles.

"Children’s books are in the back corner." She jutts her crooked figure to the back. I thank her and inch away.

I had just moved into this neighborhood, and I already didn’t like it. My school was about 5 miles away from my house, and I had the walk the full distance. Back at my school, my dad drove me… Now, things are so tough my parents have no time.

I look around the library. Most of these books are childish, filled with many pictures and few words. Back at my- No. I must be glad with what I got. Complaining brings me nowhere.

BANG BANG. BANG BANG.

What is that noise? Sounds like a book being threw to the floor. I rush toward the noise, eager for some excitement… But this is way too much.

A book sits in the middle of the room, with a slightly sparkly edge to it. And… It’s slamming itself against the bookshelf. Writing is carved on it, writing I can't even read. I pick up the book, frowning at every inch of it. Letters of a strange language are worn out and hard to read, though you probably couldn't read it anyways. I open up the book and then drop it back again.

Monsters of all sizes curl up on the pages, moving and snarling. I touch the page, feeling it’s scratchy surface. This is not possible. Books are not alive. I must be dreaming… I pinch myself. Nope. Then again. Nope. After many tries, I finally agree with myself that this is not a dream. Grabbing my wits, I flip through the pages. One drawing catches my eye. It’s not moving. But then, the item drew is not alive either. It’s a small needle, laid on a little cape made out of random clothes. I touch it, realizing the words below the cape are in English.

“Needler,” I murmur, feeling the crumbling pages with my finger.

I manage to cover my scream as the needle and cape jumps out of the book. Why is this happening? Pinch yourself, come on, pinch yourself… It’s not working.

What if I take the book? It’s definitely not part of the library, and it might make my life a bit more… Adventurous. I always read about people, who escape to unknown lands… I could be one!

My hands fumble with needle and cape and as I stuff it into my pocket. I glance at the book again, and finally lift it up. Umph! This thing is even heavier than it looks! I run out the back door, wincing as I knock down a few books. The librarian screams and I run harder.

Finally, after dropping the book a bunch of times on my foot, I reach the door of my house. I kick it open, and then run through it. Why I am so frightened at this moment? I’m too relieved to answer. My bedroom sits near the entrance, ever so welcoming and cheerful. I drop the book, falling on my bed. The needle clinks in my pocket, and I sit up straight to pull it out. It’s glistening edges sparkle even more brightly than my neon wallpapers. The wind sings, and my book’s pages dance along with it. Mysteriously, it lands on the page that used to have a needle and cape.

“Needler,” I say again, waiting to see if the book does anything. Like any other normal, non magical thing, the book just did nothing. I reach toward it. The pages still hold the moving pictures, in all it’s glory and, in some cases, gore. Disgusted, I flip toward another page. I frown slightly, noticing that there aren’t any moving pictures anymore. And the pictures are not even pictures of monsters… just mice. I touch one of them, wanting them to move, to walk, or do anything. To my surprise, the picture responds. But not in the way I wanted it to. It comes out of the pages.

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Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long, I've been busy... Also, sorry for any spelling errors. The m, a and e keys on my keyboard don't work too well for whatever reason.

Lightning. The
only thing Ben was comparable to was lightning. As the boy sprinted across the street
pursued by a stampede of angry robots, tears began to stream down his face.  How had things changes from so good to so bad
in such a short period of time? He had just shared a hug with the Hummingbirds,
the only family he had, and now they were all gone.

 Ben knew that he couldn’t outrun the Choppers
forever. They were, after all, machines, and he was only a human. But no matter
how hard he looked, he couldn’t find anywhere to hide. He kept turning down
side streets, running through alleys, his number of pursuers increasing all the
while.

Eventually, the
boy dashed into an ally and came face to face with a brick wall about ten feet
high. His head darted from side to side, but there was no way out. It was a
dead end.

The Choppers
advanced towards him, their claws reaching out menacingly. Ben looked
desperately for a way to escape, but there was nothing in the alley he could
use to his advantage. Nothing but a few dumpsters.

Dumpsters… an idea suddenly entered
Ben’s mind. Desperation giving him wings, the boy climbed on top of one of the
cans. He took a deep breath, focusing on the top of the brick wall, and jumped.
Rocketing upward, Ben just barely managed to grasp the edge of the wall. The
Choppers clustered below him, tearing the ends of his cloak with their razor
sharp claws, but he held fast. Slowly but surely, Ben pulled himself up until
he was on top of the brick wall. He was out of the Choppers’ reach.

The robots
continued to reach for him for a few seconds before they realized they couldn’t
get to him. Then, they just stood there for a few seconds, their red lights
blinking. Finally, one of the machines looked up at Ben and spoke to him in a
spooky metallic voice.

OUR MASTER WILL GET YOU, OUTSIDER. YOU CAN
BE SURE OF THAT.

The horde of robots turned away and
wheeled away from the wall, turned a corner and disappeared from view.

            Ben
sat on top of the wall, panting for a few seconds. His legs felt like jelly,
and his lungs were on fire. He had to have been running for at least fifteen
minutes straight. The boy removed his cloak and examined it. The thing was nearly
ripped to shreds. H decided it best to toss it in the dumpster, since it was
now useless at concaving him. Besides, half of the city had seen him sprinting
down the street in that cloak. Everyone was probably on the lookout for a
hooded figure now. He would blend in better without it.

            Parched
on top of the wall, Ben’s thoughts drifted back to the Hummingbirds. He was
still shocked that they had abandoned him, but he was too exhausted to cry any
more. What were the Choppers going to do to them? And what was that note Fenno
had given him?

The note! Ben had
completely forgotten about in! He looked down at his hand, seeing that the slip
of paper was stuck to his palm with sweat. He carefully peeled it off, hoping
it was still readable, and held it up in front of his face. A few words were
hastily scribbled on the paper.

FIND SAM PROMINO.

Find Sam Promino?
That was a strange request. Especially since the Ben’s main priority was to
avoid the people of this city. Now it was to find a person? Perhaps the Hummingbirds had allies in Mantis. Spies
who pretended to be citizens.

Ben pocketed the
note, too tired to think about who Sam Promino was, or where the Hummingbirds
were, or if they were okay. I’ll just
rest my eyes, he thought. Ben lay on the stone surface of the top of the
wall, staring up at the blue, cloudless sky for a few seconds. He could see the
building with the golden orb from where he lay, spinning in an oddly lulling
way.

The boy closed his
eyes, only with the intention to take a short nap to restore his strength. He
slowly drifted away from the world of reality.

And into the world
of dreams.

It was the same
dream as always, but this time it was incredibly detailed. The scene played out
like a movie inside his head. He saw himself seated in that same waiting room,
gripping his expressionless mother’s arm. Then the doctor opened the door, and read
the names of Ben and a few others off of the list.

The mothers of the
listed children stood up, leading their children over to the doctor. One child,
though, a little boy with blond hair named Tim, wouldn’t budge. His mother
pulled his wrist, trying to convince him, but Tim still wouldn’t move from his
seat.

“Tim, it’s going
to be fine. I promise you it’ll only be as painful as stubbing your toe, and
you won’t feel a thing once it’s over.”

“No. I’m not going,”
Tim replied stubbornly.

The doctor sighed.
“I don’t like to do this with kids, but everyone needs this operation.” The man
took out a communication device from his pocket and spoke into it. “Can I get a
Chopper down here?” there was a brief pause. “Yes. In the waiting room. Thank
you.”

Almost instantly
after the doctor had finished speaking, a Chopper appeared in the doorway
behind him. Just seeing the robot was enough to get Tim on his feet, the little
boy’s face turning pale. Ben didn’t like to think what would’ve happened if Tim
had continued to refuse.

There were five
pairs of mothers and children besides Ben and his own mom, and the doctor led
them all down a seemingly endless corridor lined with doors. Occasionally, he
directed a pair to go into one of the rooms, until only Ben and his mother were
the only ones left.

The doctor led
them all the way down to the very end of the corridor, and directed Ben and his
mother to wait in the very last room on the left. “I’ll be with you shortly,”
the doctor said, and walked out.

The room was
illuminated by an eerie red light emitted by LEDs on the ceiling. It was filled
with all sorts of awful looking machinery, and half the room was taken up by a
large, glass tank. Poor young Ben was so confused about what was to come. He
looked to his mother for guidance, but she avoided his eyes, staring blankly
ahead.

Finally, a sound
came from the corridor. It was not the sound of the returning doctor’s
footsteps, though. It was the sound of yelling, and furniture being knocked
over. Ben’s mother glanced confusedly towards the noise, but before she could
do anything, six people burst into the room.

They were all
wearing black vests, gloves and pants, and were all armed with tranquilizer
guns. Three of them were recognized by Ben’s subconscious mind as the
Hummingbirds, although Eldric’s beard was significantly shorter. The other two
people, however, Ben did not recognize. He had never even seen them in a dream
before. One of them was an elderly man with a goatee, the other a woman with
short blonde hair.

At the sight of
the sudden intruders, Ben’s mother opened her mouth to yell for help, but all
five of the black-clad people pointed their tranquilizer guns at her before she
could. “You keep your mouth shut or it’s lights out for you, lassie,” Eldric
growled. He looked at the others. “Tie her up. We can’t risk a crop o’ Choppers
comin’ in here because of this one pesky woman.”

The goateed man
and the blonde woman bound Ben’s other with ropes while Sovi and Fenno blocked
the exit. Young Ben shrunk into a corner, trembling and confused.

When they had
finished tying Ben’s other up, the goateed man and blonde woman glanced around
the room. “Are there any little ones in here?” Eldric asked.

The blonde woman laid
eyes on Ben. The little boy shrieked when they made eye contact. “There’s a kid
in the corner,” the blonde woman informed Eldric.

“And did he get
the operation?”

“Definitely not,”
the woman answered. “The operated ones never wimp out like this.”

“Then take him
with us. We need as many intact ones as we can get.”

The woman grabbed
young Ben’s arm. The boy wiggled out of her grasp and scurried over to where
his other was tied up. “MOMMY!” he cried. “HELP!”

“Kid, we’re the ones trying to help you!” the
blonde woman said irritably. “Now get over here!” she lunged at Ben, the young
boy screaming again and retreating to another corner of the red-lit room.

“Natasha, that’s
no way to act around a kid,” Sovi spoke for the first time in the dream,
revealing the blonde woman’s name. Natasha.

“Fine!” Natasha
growled. “If you’re so good with kids, you handle him.” Natasha walked back to
stand with Eldric, Fenno and the goateed man.

Sovi slowly approached
young Ben, almost like an animal trainer approaching a frightened creature.
“Hi, sweetie,” she said softly. “Can you come with us? I promise your Mommy
will be okay.”

The little boy
timidly looked over at his mother, who hadn’t said a word since she had been
tied up. He looked back at Sovi and gave a slight, timid nod.

“Good,” Sovi
smiled. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Ben Rain,”
the little boy responded in barely a whisper.

Sovi looked back
at the others. “Did you hear that? His name is Ben!”

“You can tell me
his name later, lassie,” Eldric replied impatiently. “But right now we need to
get out of here before the place is swarming with Choppers.”

“Alright, alright.
I’m coming.” Sovi grasped young Ben’s hand, leading the small boy over to the
others.

“Okay,” Eldric
said. “You two,” the bearded man pointed to Natasha and the guy with the
goatee, “Get yer laser blasters and try to take out as many Choppers as you
can.” They nodded, switching out their tranquilizers with larger, more
dangerous looking guns.

“Sovi and Fenno, get
the kid out of here,” Eldric instructed. “At all costs, protect him. Once you
get back to the waiting room, there should be a few more young ones sittin’
there. Take them all outside.”

Sovi squeezed
Ben’s hand. “Come on,” she said. The boy took one last look at his mother, and
allowed Sovi to lead him back into the hallway.

In the corridor,
it was absolute madness. There were at least a dozen Choppers at the end of the
hall, rolling quickly towards the group. Natasha, Eldric and the goateed man
were firing lasers out of their guns; several met their targets, the robots
collapsing in a shower of sparks. But there were still too many.

“Get the kid
outside!” Eldric roared, narrowly dodging a needle projectile shot by one of
the machines.

Fenno took out a
laser gun of his own. “Follow me!” he yelled to Sovi. The red-haired an dashed
down the hallway, shooting blindly, somewhat clearing a path through the sea of
Choppers; Sovi scurried after him, never letting go of little Ben’s hand. At on
point, one of the robots unexpectedly moved to block Sovi and Ben’s way, but
the woman rammed her shoulder into it, sending it spinning uncontrollably into
a wall. Finally, they reached the door to the waiting room at the end of the
hall. Fenno kicked open the door, and he, Sovi and Ben entered the room.

There were several
adults, including a few doctors, tied up in a corner as Ben’s other had been.
There were a few kids in the room, too, but significantly less than there had
previously been in the waiting room. They were clustered in another corner of
the waiting room, and most of them were crying, but when Ben and the two adults
burst in, all eyes were locked on them.

Fenno shot a laser
at a window, shattering the glass. Then the red-haired man turned to the kids.
“Get outside!” he yelled. The children stared for a few seconds, not moving.
“GET OUTSIDE!” Fenno pointed to the broken window, this time almost screaming
the words. The children hastily obeyed, scurrying through the window and out
into the city. Fenno followed directly after, and finally Sovi and Ben jumped
out of the hospital.

They landed softly
on a patch of grass outside. A van was parked next to the hospital, its driver
wearing the same black clothing as the other adults. It was nighttime, so
nobody was outside to stop them.

Fenno had herded
the children over to the van. H opened the back and told them to get inside.
Then he started speaking to the driver.

“How many of them
did you get?” the driver asked.

“There are six,
counting the kid over there,” Fenno gestured to Ben

“That should be
enough for the plan,” the driver replied.

”Do you really
think the plan will work?”

“It has to, Fenno.
This is the only way to save Mantis. As long as they don’t have control over
one hundred percent of the population, there’s still a chance to save this city
from tyranny.”

Fenno sighed. “I
don’t know. Is six enough to save a whole city?”

“There not the
only ones, Fenno. There’s always us to give them backup. And even if it’s not
enough, we still have to try.”

Sovi and Ben reached
the truck. “Oh, good,” Fenno said. “You made it. Now just put the kid in the
van with the others.”

“Fenno, I want to
keep Ben.”

“You want to…
what? “ Fenno exclaimed. “Sovi, we’re taking the kids out of town.”

“We could raise
him, Fenno,” Sovi exclaimed. “He could live in that hideout in the sewers with
you, me and Eldric. Nobody ever goes down there. Come on, Fenno, maybe it’s
smart to keep at least on of the kids inside the city.”

“I don’t know,
Sovi,” Fenno said. “We have a busy enough life already. I don’t think we can
make that big of a commitment.”

“Come on,” Sovi
pleaded. “I promise it won’t be that hard. He’s already six!”

Fenno pondered for
a while. Finally, h gave in to Sovi’s proposition. “Alright, fine. We can keep
him. But none of the others. And I don’t know how Eldric will react to this.”

Suddenly, there
was an explosion from the hospital. A huge portion of the building instantly
went up in flames, smoke seeping out of the windows. A few moments later,
Eldric, Natasha and the goateed man leaped out of the building, their faces
illuminated by the orange light of the fire. They were covered with various
scratches and burns, the goateed man having a particular serious gash above his
right eyebrow.

“What’s going on
in there?” Sovi exclaimed when the trio reached the van.

“We couldn’t risk
being followed, so we set off two bombs,” Eldric responded a little too
casually.

“BOMBS?” Sovi
cried. “You can’t set bombs! I promised these children they’d see their mothers
again!”

“Well, it’s a
little too late to tell me to stop, lassie. Besides, if these kids are supposed
to save Mantis, you should be prepared to make a few sacrifices.”

Before Sovi could
reply, the second bomb exploded and the dream ended.

Ben’s eyes snapped
open, his mind flooded with sudden clarity. The dream had been so elaborate,
and had revealed so much, that it was almost unnatural.

What was the most
unbelievable was that Ben was not the only child who had been saved from the
operation. If his dream was right, there were others, and they were located somewhere
outside of Mantis.

But what had Fenno
and the van driver been talking about? This whole thing was a plan, and the
kids were going to save Mantis? But what did Mantis need to be saved from? They
had said something about the operations turning Mantis’ government into a
tyranny, but from what Mantis had seen of the city, things didn’t seem too tyrannical. Yes, the people were
freakishly orderly, but they hadn’t seemed to be under too much control…

Then the boy’s
thoughts drifted to the end of the dream. The explosion. Ben realized with a
twinge of sadness that he would probably never see his mother. She had most
likely died in the blast. That one last fleeting glance young Ben had taken of
his tied up mother was probably the last time he would ever look at her again.

Sorry I'm posting so infrequently. Like I said before, life's busy.

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Darkness had
fallen on the city. Ben had only intended to take a short nap, but apparently
he had slept for quite a long time. There was not a light on in all of Mantis,
just like the first night Ben had spent in the city, but Ben noticed something
that he hadn’t picked up on the previous night he had spent here with the
Hummingbirds.

It was bitterly
cold.

Of course, he’d
known that winter was approaching, but this was much fiercer cold than he had
ever experienced in the sewers. Already, the stone surface upon which he lay
had become so chilled that he could barley lay on it without feeling like he
might get frostbite.

I wish I hadn’t thrown out my cloak… Ben
thought miserably. It might’ve lost its ability to be a disguise, but it still
would’ve been a handy blanket. Finally, Ben decided to leave the alley. It was
too cold to sleep, and it was dangerous sleeping out in the open anyway. In
fact, he was lucky he hadn’t been caught.

Ben took off his
backpack, which he had gone to sleep wearing, and took out his flashlight, He
lowered himself down onto the top of the dumpster, thinking for a split second
about rummaging through it to find and retrieve his cloak. Nah. I’ve had a pretty bad experience with trash already. So the
boy leaped down to the ground and began wandering aimlessly through the city,
holding the flashlight in on hand and wrapping his opposite arm around his body
in an attempt to warm himself up a bit.

Another thing Ben
hadn’t noticed the previous night was how quiet it was. Literally, there was no
sound. No distant dog barks or radio music like in the tales of an old city the
Hummingbirds had told him once. It was a dead silent ghost town.

As Ben wandered
past the lifeless skyscrapers and lampposts, worrying thoughts began to enter
his mind. How am I going to survive here?
He wanted desperately to find this ‘Sam Promino’, and even more desperate
to find the Hummingbirds, but what if he didn’t? Sure, he could go back to the
sewers, but how would he get food? All of the supplies were gone from the
chest, and the entrances of Mantis’ buildings all looked identical;, so there
was no chance of easily finding a grocery store. The citizens seemed to know
exactly where they were going, but that was probably just part of the routine
the operations had hammered into their brain.

If he was going to
last another day out here, Ben was going to need to prioritize. I’ll spend the rest of the night looking for
food, he decided. Then I’ll spend all
of tomorrow searching for Sam Promino, whoever he is. Ben nodded to
himself, satisfied with his plan. Unfortunately, he had become little too
absorbed in his planning and accidently walked into the lamppost.

CLANG. Ben cried out when his head collided
painfully with the metal pole. Fortunately, he wasn’t seriously hurt. “What’s
the point of a lamppost anyway if it’s never lit?” Ben muttered furiously to
himself. He grabbed his flashlight, shining it on the pole. He was prepared to
walk right on past it, but there was a piece of paper stuck to the pole that caught
his attention.

It was a picture
of him.

It was just a
rendition, not a photograph, and it was a hooded figure with hidden eyes.
Nevertheless, Ben knew this was supposed to be him. The wild dirty blonde hair
around the ears. The black cloak. This is exactly what he had looked like when
he had been running from the Choppers. This was a wanted poster. Shining the
light on the next lamppost down, Ben saw that it also bore the poster of him.
In fact, every lamppost on the city seemed to have his picture stamped onto it.

Ben ripped one of
the papers off a lamppost and took a closer look at it. Sure enough, there were
words on the paper below his image.

WANTED FOR THE ACT
OF TREASON

If you see anyone
who looks remotely like this person, immediately report him to the Choppers.

So they are looking for me. Ben had
expected the city would be on his case, since he basically revealed himself to everyone,
but they got these posters up fast. And
treason? Well, if the city counted not having the operation as treason, then
that’s a crime Ben had been committing his whole life.

Luckily, he no
longer had the cloak. Just to make sure he was unrecognizable, though, he
looked into the reflective surface of one of the buildings, holding up one of
the wanted posters to compare it to his own face. Besides having similar hair,
they looked nothing alike. Ben grinned in relief. Blending in would be easier
than he had thought.

Suddenly, a crash
resonated behind him. Ben nearly had a heart attack when the random sound
shattered Mantis’ silence. He whirled around to face the direction from which
the noise had come from. Across the street. His heart pounding in his ears, Ben
pointed the flashlight towards where the sound had come. The beam pierced the
darkness, but there was nothing there. Nothing but an empty alley.

A feeling of
uneasiness began to creep over the boy. He continued to make his way down the
silent street, but he didn’t get far before there was another crash. This time it came from directly behind him. It was a
metallic sound, like pots and pans falling to the floor. Ben picked up his
pace, not daring to look back.

The next crash
came directly in front of him.

 The source of the noise was a dark object
which fell onto the street, down from who knows where. Ben yelled when he saw
the shape, stumbling backward and dropping his flashlight. It flickered and
went out.

Not bothering to
pick the flashlight up, Ben backed away slowly from the dark shape. Even
without a light, he saw it begin to advance on him slowly. Several more crashes
sounded from every direction, the large objects raining down left and right.

Ben backed up
until he felt his back press against a cold metal surface. He turned round to
see another dark figure, but this close up he could tell what it was. Metal
claws were silhouetted against the night sky. It was a Chopper. And from the
number of crashes he had heard, it probably wasn’t the only one.

Ben remembered the
promise the robots had made to find him before he had fallen to sleep. I should’ve taken them seriously, Ben wanted
to slap himself for thinking he could just stroll down the streets and expect
not to get captured.

But at the moment,
there wasn’t time to think about that. Wasting no time, Ben sprinted away from
the robot. As soon as he made the sudden movement, the Choppers whirred into
action. Their claws snapping, mechanisms whirring inside them. The red lights
on top of each robot lit up, revealing their positions. And to Ben’s horror,
there were at least a dozen, positioned in a circle with him almost in directly
the middle. The boy desperately tried to dash out of a gap between the robots a
few times, but every time another light flickered into existence, revealing a
new Chopper. Soon, he realized he was completely surrounded.

Things were
looking bleak. The Choppers began to tighten their circle, snapping their claws
menacingly. The horrible metal sounds grew louder, closing in, until…

“You fools! I said
I wanted him ALIVE!”

A scratchy male
voice came out of nowhere, causing the Choppers to freeze in place. WE’RE SORRY, MASTER, bleeped one of the
robots.

“Well, you should
be.” The voice grumbled. “Come, on, let me in.”

The Choppers made
a gap in the circle, making room for the owner of the voice to move into it. It
was a tall man, so tall it was almost unnatural. Ben couldn’t see his face, because
it was hidden by a hood, but the man sounded almost like a Chopper himself as
he moved towards the boy. With every step the man took, there was a mechanical
hissing sound, as if his legs were filled with machinery. He must’ve been the ‘Master’
the Choppers had spoken about earlier.

The master of the
Choppers strode towards Ben until he was only a few feet away from Ben. “So,”
the tall man said, “You’re the rebel, eh? Didn’t expect you to be so young.”

Ben tried to say
something, but the words caught in his throat, coming out as a croak.

The stranger
laughed. “I see. You’re a coward. Probably
because none of your friends are here to save you.”

“N-no,” Ben
managed to speak. “Please, sir. I don’t know anything about this place. I don’t
even know who I am.”

“Don’t try to play
dumb.” The man growled, pacing around Ben. “You were sent here to ruin this
city. One war wasn’t enough for you?

“War?” Ben said. “I
don’t know anything about a wa…”

“LIAR!” the master
screeched, casting off his hood. Ben gasped when he saw the man’s face. Half of
it was covered by silver metal, glinting in the faint red light of the Choppers.
It was as if he were half human, half robot. What was the term Sovi had used
once? Cyborg.

“You’re a liar!”
he repeated. “And you did this to me!”

“I don’t…” Ben was
horribly confused.

“Don’t try to save
yourself, boy!” the master smoldered. He turned to one of the Choppers. “Take
him to city hall. I want to collect my reward before he dies.” After giving his
order, the tall man picked up his hood and crept back into the darkness.

YES, MASTER. The Chopper extended one of
its claws and clamped it round Ben’s middle. The boy squirmed, trying to get
out of the robot’s hold, but it had a steel grip.

So much for not getting caught… that was
Ben’s last thought before a needle pricked the back of his neck and everything
went dark.

To the top with ye!