Aiden stirred from his slumber, looking over to find Zariah next to him, sleeping soundly. Her chest rose and fell methodically as Aiden carefully crawled out of bed towards the door, creeping across the floor as quietly as he could.

It was thirty minutes before oh-one-hundred hours. Aiden knew that Rania would be waiting for him on the rooftop, where the two of them would initiate their plan to break into the radio tower. He glanced at Zariah one more time, resentful to be leaving her. Would he be back before she woke up? Or would she find him gone by the time the morning came, captured by Xylem's Officials? Aiden doubted that being caught was the likely option. He would be lucky if he and Rania weren't killed with what they were planning to do. He'd debated turning his back on the plan just so he could spend the night with Zariah, but had instantly shunned himself for thinking such things. Now wasn't the time for him to indulge in his own selfish desires. The entire world was counting on him.

He changed swiftly and grabbed the backpack he had prepared a few hours earlier before he slid the metal door open and slipped past it. Once he was outside of his bunk, he instantly began creeping along the hallway, avoiding the dozens cameras dotting the walls of headquarters. He felt a pang of familiarity as he moved, being reminded of the time he'd saved Zariah from Eden and Maddox all those months ago. If he could do it then, why not now?

He chose to forget the fact that he hadn't escaped his previous encounter with the former lieutenants unscathed, and was confined to bedrest for two weeks following their assault. He felt his chest tighten at the painful memory of his injured ribs, even though they were long healed now. He willed himself to be more careful this time around, hoping that he and Rania would be able to pull off their plan with little consequence.

It didn't take Aiden too long to make it outside once he snuck by the cameras. The second he pushed his way past the metal doors, he was gripped with the harsh winter cold. He was fortunate enough to have dress warmly, at least. Aiden looked around, finding an old maintenance ladder attached to the wall. He placed his gloved hands on the icy rungs before carefully climbing his way up to the rooftops where Rania would be waiting. He was quick yet silent, careful to avoid any chance of him slipping as he climbed further and further up the wall. The last thing he needed to do was die now. He was sure he would, someday, but until then, he figured that he should do whatever was necessary to keep himself alive and well.

He pulled himself up and over the lip of the building, his fingertips scraping the thin layer of frost that had begun to form as a result of the freezing temperatures. He scanned the area, finding it clear of any enemies. Aiden checked his watch. Oh-one-hundred hours and two minutes. Rania was late, but not by much. He began to pace around the rooftops, being wary of his footsteps and movements. He'd worn his special combat boots that were meant for these kinds of missions, and would hopefully do their part in offering them some concealment from Xylem's Officials. They couldn't afford to make poor mistakes, such as being identified by footprints or fingerprints. Tonight, he wasn't a Programmer; he was an outlaw.

Aiden spun around after hearing a soft thud. He relaxed upon realizing it was Rania. She was decked out in all black, and her blonde hair was tucked into a ponytail underneath a thick black jacket. Aiden had hardly recognized her at first. At least now he knew that he'd chosen well in asking Rania to accompany him on his plan.

"Sorry I'm late," she panted. "I had to dodge a graveyard patrol. If they weren't strict before, Xylem's got them being even stricter now. We should be fine for the moment, though."

"Don't worry about it," he waved. He crouched on the ground, using a nearby twig to draw a diagram on the rooftops. Rania observed him carefully, making mental notes every time he pointed the stick in a certain direction.

"We'll disarm the guards here," he indicated with a circle. "That's where the entrance to the tower is. While I go and send the transmission, you'll be watching my back. We aren't aiming to kill anyone tonight, just disarm or subdue them."

"How are we supposed to know they won't tell Xylem we were here in the first place? They won't keep quiet out of the kindness of their hearts," Rania pointed out.

"That's where this stuff comes in," Aiden acknowledged, taking off the backpack and opening it. Inside were an assortment of ragged clothes, two meager guns, basic body armor, four smoke grenades, black paint and face masks.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Rania awed.

Aiden shrugged. "Some of them are my clothes from missions like Oslua and Laspil City. Not sure why I kept them, but they look ratty enough to pass for rebel clothing. The masks are for obvious purposes, while the guns aren't military grade and could pass for rebel weapons. We're going to pretend that there's been a breach in security."

"And the cameras littered around all our bunks?" Rania raised an eyebrow.

"Theo's got that part under control," Aiden assured her. "I talked to him a few days ago and asked him if it was possible to hack into the cameras and supply Xylem with fake footage. He did some research and turns out, it's possible. Assuming everything is working properly, we're in the clear."

"Alright," she gave in. She looked up at him carefully. "You're sure about this?"

Aiden nodded confidently. "Positive. Come on, let's get going."

Aiden and Rania began to pull on Aiden's old clothes, slipping them overtop of their current garments and fastening the body armor securely around their chests. Aiden equipped himself with two smoke grenades and a simple handgun, leaving Rania with the remaining grenades and leftover rifle. He felt more comfortable giving her the better gun, since she was the one who would hopefully be doing more of the shooting.

Aiden smeared the black paint across his cheeks and pulled the mask over his face. It fit snugly, but it wasn't unbearable. The material was scratchy and grainy, making it passable for one that a rebel might wear. When he next turned around, he found that Rania was looking like she was in good shape. Satisfied with their disguises, Aiden slung the backpack over his shoulder and together they began scaling the rooftops looking for their entrance into the radio tower.

Within a few minutes, they found the small square rooftop structure they were looking for. Beyond the secure metal door, there would be a stairwell leading directly to the same floor as the transmission room. It was unguarded, which Aiden didn't find too surprising. Despite Xylem wanting to keep security even tighter than it already was, access to the roof, especially at night time, was prohibited to any soldiers except for Xylem's Officials. Fortunately for Aiden and Rania, the Officials were often too lazy to organize their own night time patrol shifts on the roof, since there wouldn't ever be anybody up there anyways.

Well, except for tonight.

It didn't take long for Aiden and Rania to pick the lock on the door. It was a simple trick Aiden had learned from Alena during his training, and it would pay off in their pursuit of the transmission room. They snuck down the stairs swiftly, not even a whisper of their footsteps echoing throughout the looming stairwell they found themselves lurking in. Only minutes later had they reached the bottom, thinly concealed by the shadows being cast by the staircase in the dark evening light.

Aiden stopped in his tracks as the faint sound of someone talking neared closer and closer to their location. He saw Rania pause in his peripheral vision, a few steps behind him. Meanwhile, the night guards passed by them, chattering away senselessly despite the late hour.

"...have to make sure that we tell the cooking staff to step up their game with the food. So what if a few rebels ransack some farms? There are more than enough farms to replace them. Just give the agriculture workers a few extra shifts," the first guard scoffed.

"It's getting ridiculous out there. Just shoot 'em up, if they're so much of an issue. Make a few public examples, and no one'll question the Program again. Xylem's gonna have to do something drastic again, if this war isn't enough already," the second guard agreed.

Aiden bristled at the context of their conversation. Were they so willing to fight in a war that they would disregard all sense of right and wrong? The idea terrified him. Was everyone in the Program this reckless?

Now that he thought about it, Aiden hadn't recognized any of the soldiers making their rounds during the evening. The only Programmers that Aiden knew were the ones patrolling the outer perimeter of the Unit; people like Farley, Jace and Imogen. Who were all these extra soldiers? He shuddered at the memory of the mysterious soldiers Aiden had encountered during the laboratory raid. Where were they coming from? They must have had some affiliation with Xylem, otherwise Aiden had no idea what their motives were. The gap in understanding made him anxious, but he swallowed his fear and focused on the task at hand.

Within seconds, the two guards had passed, leaving Aiden and Rania the small window of opportunity they needed to reach the opposite end of the hallway. Aiden flattened himself to the wall once they were on the other side and peeked around the corner. So far, there were no guards in sight, and no cameras. Aiden and Rania inched along the hallway, every one of Aiden's senses on high alert. It felt odd to be out on a mission again, since their last assignment had ended so devastatingly. They were out in the line of fire once again, but Aiden hoped that this time things would go according to his plans rather than Xylem's.

They reached the end of the corridor, where two guards were stationed for a graveyard shift in front of the doors to the transmission room just around the corner. Aiden braced himself once they were just around the bend of the hallway, his heart hammering in his chest. He signalled silently to Rania, who was perched behind him, and she nodded in understanding. Without a word, Aiden lunged at one of the guards and struck him in the back of his head with his handgun, knocking him unconscious before the guard could even comprehend what was happening to him. Rania did the same, and the two soldiers slumped to the ground.

"I've got these two," Aiden muttered. "Is there anyone in the transmission room?" he asked Rania as he began to conceal the unconscious bodies of the two guards in a janitor's closet.

"Just one," Rania reported, peering through the dense glass pane in the door cautiously. "He looks tired. I think we can catch him off guard."

"Okay, good," Aiden nodded to her. He felt relieved at the news. Dax hadn't been lying when he'd said that sneaking in wouldn't be too difficult. If a sixteen year-old trainee could get into the transmission room completely undetected, why couldn't he?

He closed the closet door slowly, and it shut with a soft clicking sound. Aiden turned to Rania, his body thick with tension.

"On my mark," he whispered. Rania paused, ready to move the second he gave the word. "Go."

Aiden and Rania burst through the doors, the single soldier in the room snapping to attention and staring at them with wide eyes. He reached for an emergency coms button, but before he could press it, Rania had him in a headlock, a gun firmly pressed against his skull. She muffled her voice, but made her directions very clear.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot," she hissed. "Are you alone?"

The soldier nodded slowly. Rania promptly hit him across the head with the butt of her handgun, and the guard fell back in his chair. Rania moved to the other side of the room, where the door was, and crouched by it, cocking the gun for safekeeping.

"Good job, Ran," Aiden praised her. He couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like she was smiling underneath the black face mask.

"I've got us covered," she promised. "Go send your transmission, and do it quick."

Aiden approached the control panel of the transmission room, his eyes flying over the milliard of computers and buttons that lay scattered before him. He fought back the rising bile in his throat, remembering the all-too similar scene of escaping the gas chamber and leaving Jayda behind flooding his memory. He forced himself to abandon the thoughts and took a seat at one of the computers.

His fingers flew over the keys, unsure of what he was looking for specifically. He'd learned the basics of telecommunications during his time in the youth centre, and majority of it had stuck with him. He had to choose where exactly to distribute the message, then recite it into the mic provided. He looked over to his right where, sure enough, he found a dusty, charcoal-colored mic attached to the control panel with a button on the side. It was there where he would be able to send his message out to all of the cities in Second Unit's sector. Hopefully, Roman would be able to get his message and agree to meet with him, assuming he didn't already want to kill Aiden.

On the computer, Aiden was in the process of opening up a program when he heard the sound of a struggle behind him. He whipped around to find Rania wrestling another soldier on the ground, the gun slipping from her grasp. Aiden made a dash for her, weaving his way through the multitudes of servers and scrambled for Rania, throwing the soldier off of her and punching him in the face. The guard's eyes rolled into the back of his skull, and he grew limp. The sound of the gun firing made Aiden jump, and he looked to the side to find Rania holding it, her eyes wide. At first, Aiden was afraid that she'd gotten hurt, but eventually came to the realization that she'd accidentally fired it in the struggle. They exchanged quick glances before Aiden sprinted back towards the computer panel, his heart pounding.

Within seconds, there would be more soldiers filing into the transmission room; too many for him and Rania to take on alone. If they weren't already racing against time, they definitely were now.

Sirens began to blare throughout the entire floor. Aiden jumped into the chair so fast, he nearly crashed into the control panel. He turned his attention back to the screen, selecting as many cities as his finger could click on. Once all of them were highlighted, he approached the microphone, pressing a square green button and speaking urgently into the microphone.

"Roman," he said quickly. "I need to-"

"Halt, civilian!"

Aiden threw himself out of the way as a shower of bullets rained in his direction. He rolled, getting to his feet and withdrawing his handgun. He pointed it at the soldier, but before he could shoot, he remembered his cover story. A real rebel would lack the military training that Aiden had grown up using. He had to make any shots he fired sloppier than usual, and make his combat moves less precise and refined.

He fired a few loose bullets at his attacker, who avoided them easily. Aiden charged at the soldier, slamming into him at full force and striking him hard across the face. His fist seared with pain as soon as his knuckles connected with the soldier's jawbone, making him cry out slightly. He was able to disarm the soldier and knock him unconscious by smacking him across the head with his handgun.

Aiden spun around to check up on Rania, but before he could even move, he saw a dark figure move out of the corner of his eye. He'd spotted the soldier too late, and he could see the man's finger move to the trigger.

Suddenly, the man crumpled to the ground. Aiden stared at him, dumbfounded, before looking up to find a girl dressed in dark, tattered clothes and a camouflage bandana wrapped across the length of her face. If it weren't for her piercing blue eyes, Aiden wouldn't have recognized her.

"Zariah, " he breathed.

She glared at him from where she stood. It didn't take Aiden long to realize how furious she was with him. However, he didn't have the time to worry about it now. For now, the transmission room was clear of enemies. Rania looked okay from what Aiden could tell. She was currently grabbing as many sturdy furniture items as she could gather and forming a barricade between them and the onslaught of soldiers headed in their direction.

"Whatever transmission you plan on sending, send it now," Zariah growled. "I've got it under control over here."

Aiden nodded curtly and darted for the control panel once again. The setup still looked untouched, despite a few bullets having taken out a few computer monitors. He erased his previously interrupted transmission and started fresh, keeping it short and simple.

"Roman." He spoke clearly into the mic, pressing down on the recording button firmly. He disguised his voice slightly, in order to stifle any suspicion. "I need to talk with you. Remember the Outpost where revelations were made."

He ended the recording and sent it off to the cities of Second Unit's sector just as the flood of soldiers entered the transmission room.