Celeste

Celeste wasn’t free to move around. She couldn’t go where she wanted to go, she couldn’t do what she wanted to do.

She might be in army uniform but she couldn’t exactly blend in with army officials.

She was still alone.

She was upset that Aurora hacked her system. She didn’t think her own father would betray her. When she realized how he got in to the system it just upset her. That upgrade he did for Dri, his nice gesture, he was doing it to keep watch.

Aurora knows about the implant.

She just couldn’t figure out when he learned about it. When did Sirus tell him? Celeste couldn’t pinpoint the day he might’ve found out.

But she wasn’t too happy about it.

She grumbled to herself angrily as she worked on her tablet. She was working on something, well trying to get in something. She thought if Aurora can do it, so can I. After all she was already in big trouble, might as well do a bit of hacking. She didn’t exactly have the tools she needed to do this without getting caught, but after she gets what she wants, she can leave everything behind.

She got an exact location on Zinnia.

Again.

This time, they were watching her and they were waiting on her. They can’t make a move as quickly as they would like, considering that they were on enemy territory. It’s not easy to hide thousands of soldiers but they were making it work for now. It’s been two days, they planned to have Zinnia by tonight and be gone.

Celeste could go in and get out freely in that kind of situation.

Would they kill her out in the open?

She hoped not. That would be bad.

From what she read, she figured that things were shifting. Thousands of people with the implant were finding their way around and taking information that wasn’t theirs to take. It was bad right now, Celeste knew that. It was her fault, she knew that, too.

She didn’t find her name anywhere on any of the reports.

She did see what was happening, how many sectors were out fighting back, how many sectors were trying to get Zinnia.

She couldn’t read much more.

She got herself out of Aurora’s system.

People said she was as smart as he was. She used to think she was smarter, then earlier happened and that just proved who was smarter. Then again, she was a fast learner.

And she doesn’t take people messing with her stuff lightly.

It was late in the afternoon. In just two hours, the sun will begin to set and it will start to get dark. She was sitting up against a fountain in a small park. There weren’t a lot of people around her, and she liked it like that. It was still bright outside, but she could see the stars from here. She could map out the constellations if she wanted.

She took a breath quietly.

This was the most at peace she’s been since she was here. She knew she should be anxious, she should be taking this seriously. But with as anxious she’s been for the past two days, she was feeling numb. She couldn’t feel her heart beat in her chest anymore.

It was like she couldn’t feel anything at all.

She had to get going. She took enough time to get herself together, and she knew where one of the sectors were going to get Zinnia, though that report was from five hours ago. Did anything change? If they had Zinnia, Celeste would’ve known about it already.

She was about to leave but her tablet was flashing.

That wasn’t a good sign.

She answered the call, not upset to see Dri since he was a nice familiar face to see, but she made it clear when she said he couldn’t contact her.

“We have a big problem.” He saw the look on her face, but he had to tell her something was going on. “Sector zero mobilized.” He said to her.

He was freaking out, she wasn’t. Her facial expression barely changed. She didn’t know what was wrong.

“I don’t get it.” She shrugged.

She didn’t know what sector zero was. She wasn’t sure if that was something she was supposed to understand. Dri didn’t look too happy about the news so it must be bad. She just didn’t feel the same.

“Sector zero is the only sector that watches where the core is.” he explained to her. She vaguely understood what that meant. “They do not move. Ever." He stressed. “Iris was the one to control them. If they’ve moved it means someone told them to.”

“Oh, so they’re bringing some fire power because I make them scared-”

“No, Celeste!” he couldn’t understand why she wasn’t taking this seriously. Did he not stress enough how bad this was? “They are a team of trained assassins. They protected the core’s building. If someone ordered them to get Zinnia, they will not fail!”

“How did you find out?” She asked, and she slightly shifted cause she was bothered by the information.

“My sector and sector zero are switching places.” He said.

“Oh...” Celeste was concerned. “Oh, no.” She whispered.

Now she got it.

“We might’ve killed her before, chances are we would’ve detained her. But Britain knows we’re trying to get her, and now she’s literally going to die.”

Celeste thought she was going to die, too.

She wasn’t wrong about that. She would be lucky to be put in handcuffs, or so she thought. She got up quickly and took all of her stuff with her.

“Celeste, I think Aurora took Iris’ place.”

Celeste realized what this was about the second that Dri told her what he was thinking. This wasn’t about finding Zinnia, it was about finding Celeste. She thought through the situation. If Britain knows that someone is after Zinnia, they were going to get whoever was a threat to her. After all, they did get a good weapon from her? They should be grateful. Sector zero was coming for Celeste, and she had to work fast if she wanted to make it out with Zinnia.

If Aurora took Iris’ place, then Celeste knew without a doubt that Sirus was with sector zero. They were coming for her.

She had to find Zinnia first, and she was so close to doing that.

“We’re gonna have to talk later, Dri.” She said abruptly and turned off everything she had.

She shoved all of her stuff into her bag and put it on. She turned on the armor to the uniform she wore and took off. She knew where she had to go and she had to be there as quickly as possible. She didn’t know how much time she had but she hoped that she wouldn’t be too late.

She’ll have to be careful.

Celeste expected to find herself in a crowded area again. She thought she would be around people and shops, but that’s not where she ended up. It took her two hours to reach the coordinates, and she was in a secluded area with just a few buildings and drones around.

There wasn’t a single soul.

Celeste had set a timer on her tablet. She caught a glimpse of something when she looked up.

She was hidden because if she looked closely, she could see someone on top of the building. She couldn’t see their face. Their face was covered by a black mask, she couldn’t tell who they were just from their eyes. They were wearing dark clothes, but the gleam on their chest, it wasn’t a gold badge that the other sectors wear. The low sunlight was being reflected off of this person’s badge.

If she lets it get too dark out, she won’t be able to see them.

But she couldn’t move.

She was terrified.

The person was holding a gun, and they had it pointed at their target building. She wouldn’t be able to just run in there safely. She was expecting to be shot. She didn’t know how well the armored uniform will be able to protect her but she expected not much if it was an entirely different sector.

Her heart was racing in her chest as she watched just that one person.

When she peaked around the corner she was hiding behind, she saw three more people waiting. They were in the same uniform as well, keeping watch of the building the other was looking at. They also had large guns in their hands.

She told herself that they probably weren’t trigger happy, but one of the drones ran into the side of the building, and that made one of them flinch. They were quick to shoot the drone in that second, under the impression that someone was there.

Celeste cursed to herself and took a step back.

She should give up now. Any sane person would give up now. Even if she had a weapon on her, she would’ve given up. She’s a smart girl, she knows the odds of getting into that building.

She also just now found out that sector zero is a paranoid sector. The demonstration was enough to make her sweat. She almost took off her hat because she was much hotter than a second ago.

Fear can do that to people.

If a drone so much as makes a noise or hits something, it would get their attention quickly. There were five drones wheeling around quietly. They weren’t fully functional because no one needed assistance, but Celeste had an idea that may work.

If it doesn’t, well there were going to be different issues.

She took off her bag slowly so she wouldn’t make too much noise. She didn’t need the weight of it slowing her down. She turned on the screen to her tablet.

There was a button to press to have a drone come over.

That’s what she pressed.

All five of the drones began to glow blue, a computerized voice coming from them, asking if she needed help. They were coming in her direction as well.

She dropped her tablet and ran like hell just as she heard the first shot, a green glow of energy blowing up the first drone. She tried to not get scared when she heard multiple shots firing. A rush of adrenaline drowned her as she pushed her body towards the building, trying to make it to the glass doors.

She had this sense that all the drones were blown up and now the four of them had their guns on her. Her heart raced harder in her chest because she heard more than just four guns.

It was the sound of a large group of people charging their weapons and firing within a few seconds.

Just as she touched the door, the glass shattered.

She rolled on the ground and kept herself covered from the falling grass, but when she looked up in the silence, she wasn’t near where the glass broke. She was inside, and away from the door, enough that the soldier from sector zero wasn’t going to take a shot.

Celeste got up on her hands and knees, brushing the glass off her. She felt sick, though. She had this wave of nausea that made it hard for her to get up. The adrenaline was still pumping through her veins but it was making her tense and feel dizzy.

She was almost killed.

“Stay back!”

She looked up sharply to see Zinnia pointing a gun in her direction. But when Zinnia saw her face, she started to put the gun down, her hands shaking.

The lobby of the building wasn’t empty. There were people inside and they were hiding along the walls. They were all innocent, they didn’t do anything wrong. They were just unlucky when Zinnia ran inside.

“What are you doing here?” Zinnia asked abruptly.

“We need to leave-”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Zinnia already knew what was waiting for her outside.

“You have to answer for what you did, Zinnia.” Celeste said aggressively. “They are going to kill you if you resist.”

Zinnia didn’t take Celeste’s warning lightly. She held her hands up, holding the gun pointed at her. Celeste had this ache in her chest as she watched the woman she loved decide that she might as well kill her here. She went through so much just to bring Zinnia back safely.

She knew the consequences.

She knew what was going to happen.

Celeste chose to come get her anyway, hoping that they might be lenient.

But she’s been reminded there’s a no tolerance law for rebellion. What Zinnia did was worse than that. Celeste couldn’t grasp that fact. She came all the way here just to have a gun pointed at her. She had multiple panic attacks and her life threatened just to have a gun pointed at her.

And Zinnia was doing it.

“I’m not negotiating.” Celeste wasn't going to let Zinnia get away this time. She was here for a reason.

Right on schedule, the implant turned off.

Thousands of them turned off.

Zinnia fell on the ground within seconds, her body paralyzed. She couldn’t pull the trigger, her gun fell out of her hand when she couldn't clench her fingers. She couldn’t get herself up. She couldn’t move. She laid there, glaring at Celeste because she knew this was her fault.

Celeste was going to get her but one of the people sitting against the wall yelled at her, warning her to look out, but it was too late.

Someone hit Celeste, and it was hard enough to knock her down on the ground. She felt the dull pain on her right flank that kept her down. It buzzed through her body, even as she tried to lift herself up. She caught a glimpse of someone walking by her.

It took her a second to move.

She grabbed their ankle and yanked hard, bringing them down on the floor.

If it was sector zero, she expected them to execute Zinnia right there without so much as a blink. Celeste got lucky, but she had to pick herself up to go and get Zinnia first.

She scrambled to her feet to run by the soldier that was on the floor, but she didn’t get that much farther when she felt another blow to the back of her leg. It brought her down on her knee, but she could no longer feel the pain pulse through her body.

She was fast enough to keep them from passing her.

She would do her best to guard Zinnia from them. That's why she was here. She couldn't let anything happen.

Celeste turned to see who it was that was trying to keep her on the ground. As she lifted herself, blocking Zinnia from their view, she could recognize who it was.

Her heart was already racing, but this was different. This made her scared. She was absolutely terrified.

Sirus was standing in front of her in sector zero’s uniform.

And he was supposed to apprehend Zinnia.

He was going to do that even if Celeste was in his way.

She couldn’t speak. She tried to find her voice but she couldn't.

She thought maybe she could reason with Sirus, but the cold look in his eyes showed her that he wouldn't listen. Then she thought it would be better to get Zinnia to a safe spot with enough time for her to flee. That would be a safer option.

She had just a second to think of a plan because Sirus was coming for her, and he was not slow.

I can take him. Celeste repeated that to herself in her mind as she clenched her fists. I can take him. I can take him. I can take him. If she doesn’t believe it, then this was going to be difficult.

He didn’t think this was going to be much of a fight.

He had one job to do, and Celeste wasn't going to be the one to stop him.

He already knew that he was going to have to deal with her. He knew she was here, he knew what she was planning. Even when she blocked him from getting closer, when she stopped him from hitting her, when she just about kicked him down enough to almost keep him down, he didn’t think it was much of a problem.

Celeste was getting more frantic by the second because Sirus’ eyes didn’t change. He wasn’t surprised, he wasn’t scared like she was, he was angry.

If she wasn't here, this would be much easier.

He drew his guns and as much as that frightened Celeste, she kept him back from her. He couldn’t get a good shot on her because she continued moving. She was just as fast as he was, if not faster, and she could hit hard, too.

But he never stays down, a trait he taught her.

When she knocked his weapons out of his hands, it agitated him. He had something to do and this was supposed to be over fast. Celeste was a distraction. She was keeping him from doing his job.

Now he was over it.

He exploited Celeste’s weakness, her left side, which she so desperately tried to work on. She knew what he was doing, but by the second she realized it, she had already lost her balance.

Something gripped her left wrist, and immediately her left arm was brought down to the floor. She didn’t take a chance to let that stop her, but as she brought her right arm up to grab him, another cuff wrapped tightly on her wrist, her arm brought down on the floor just as fast as the first.

She couldn’t move.

The cuffs she wore were heavy when turned on, and the weight was enough to keep her on the ground. She couldn’t lift her arms up, she couldn’t take them off, she couldn’t do anything.

She looked up desperately, seeing Sirus pick up Zinnia and carry her over his shoulder. She couldn’t fight it, she was paralyzed. He walked by Celeste who was wiggling on the floor against her cuff to try and get out of the strong hold.

It didn’t work.

Now Zinnia was in their custody and she didn’t know what could happen.

Tears filled her eyes, her frustration bubbling over. After everything, she couldn’t get Zinnia. She couldn’t make her plea. Even at the last second, she would’ve help Zinnia flee because she knows what the outcome was going to be. She couldn’t save her. Celeste sat miserably on the floor as more soldiers from sector zero filled the room. They surrounded Celeste and picked her up.

She was in their custody as well.

If anything, she’d have the same outcome happen as Zinnia. Celeste was a criminal, and she was going to be charged for her crimes.