"It was the nod, wasn't it?" Ray mused. "I saw that nod and thought, oh no, she's gonna flip."

This was no time for jokes. Maddie watched the floor, body feeling heavy; head feeling heavy; heart feeling heavy.

"Our air is poison. It's killing us. But I can't understand why."

Ray, uncharacteristically quiet, cut her a glance. Maddie yearned for that blind trust Ray always gave—the one that led her to attack a politician to ensure she'd be arrested, too. Now they shared a cell and Maddie couldn't endure another bout of being called crazy.

"And nobody believes me."

"Because you can't answer that question why." Folding her arms, Ray leaned against the cell wall. "And I believe you."

Maddie sat up. "What? I don't mean you mimicking everything or just obeying orders."

Rather than shoot back a sassy response, Ray sighed. "Mad, you follow the rules, I don't. You take your A-CAN supplements each and every single day. I haven't taken one in fifteen years, and before that, I'd only take it for a few days. You wear your mask religiously per protocol, I snatch mine off in the Outer Limits and no, I don't always hold my breath. And you know what happened? You got the tumors, and I didn't." She kissed her teeth and looked up. "So yeah, of course, I believe you. And I believe my mah now, too. And all this time I thought she was insane."

Despite the thick walls, Maddie felt her world crumble. "Why? Why would they do this?"

"Why would they? Why wouldn't they? Power. The family who runs the air, runs our world. You can't avoid air. Land, water, air. Sure, you can rent a spot and you lose your home, head to the Outer Limits. Go for days without bathing, months. You won't necessarily die. Hell, it even rains now and then for those brave enough to trust untreated water from the sky. But air...no air? Come on. And what's gonna happen if everyone's got tumors except the poorest of the poor—the Volunteers? And every time parts of us don't work, that's money to be made repairing or replacing it. Didya know people used to wear some sort of small goggles to help 'em see?"

Maddie'd seen old pictures once.

Feeling queasy, she closed her eyes.

"When any part of us stops working, sweets for our teeth, bone density, hell; they all know the UA-CAN supplements cause hair loss. But that's wigs, isn't it? That's treatments, that's a fattening industry now. Especially since it's Volunteers that give their hair for free. I mean, you never thought about that? Why we get the regular A-CAN sups that didn't cause hair loss but everybody got the Upper A-CANs that did?"

This time when Maddie closed her eyes and sat back on the small cot, she felt too foolish to speak. She hadn't doubted it. Not even once. No Volunteer did. No one but Ray.

"Laura knows by now probably. Since she's fooling around with Andy."

Maddie's head snapped up. She thought to plea for mercy; Laura had her reasons.

Ray stared out the cell door.

"That's how I realized all this stuff. I got to see firsthand what the upper crust do. Andy's family's one of the biggest suppliers of air. They also supply the organs that fail because of said air." She shuddered. "And the way he plays...with people. With parts of them.... No. I was glad when he lost interest in me."

"But...I thought...."

"Thought what?" Ray met her gaze. "That we were a couple? Gah. No Mad, don't even say that. I follow orders. Do you hear? I don't follow rules but I follow orders, the way Laura does. The way we all do. The man is ill. He says to call him darling, I'll call him darling. It's my job."

This time when Maddie focused on her friend, she had trouble hiding the shock.

Ray pressed her face against the wall. "We follow orders. And he makes his way through and we're lucky that he loses interest fast. He took a special liking to me and it was far too long."

"Follow orders?" Maddie asked, doubtful. "Nobody follows orders like me. How come I never got on his chopping block?"

"Who says you didn't?" Ray cut her a glance and snorted. "Why do you think I got Priest talking to you about reproducing? Andy does what he wants with the female squads, but he fears our alphas. If a pairing happens, he tends to take the path of least resistance."

"And why not do that for you?"

Ray raised her shoulders and let them fall. "It's been two years, Mad. A two-year courtship? How long did you two need to make this work?"

Maddie closed her eyes. Two years but...she hadn't made much of an effort. "I didn't wanna turn out like mama. So I told Priest to wait."

"I wouldn't think he's the one to wait."

But he was, and maybe because he didn't want the disappointment of trying but not succeeding, either.

"I'm sorry, Ray. I wish you'd have told me."

"And then what?" Ray asked. "Then what?"

Then nothing. Other than talking to Laura about it, there wasn't much else to do.

"Maybe find you somebody, too."

Ray scratched her cheek and said, "Yeah. People look at me and figure strong female Volunteers don't like men, not realizing that strong women just want stronger men. But you know, it wasn't like I didn't get no offers. It's just...after Andy, I knew I didn't want a kid raised like everyone, and not raised like me, neither. Finding someone'll understand's near impossible. So I guess I didn't try hard enough, neither."

Silence filled their cramped space until Ray said, "And since we're going for confessions.... I'm sorry. Sorry about...about that mutt you found."

Maddie's heart ached but there was no sense in talking about that.

"I didn't tell you when Andy used the new helmet to deactivate the language chip in your new suit."

Much like a puppet pulled by a string, Maddie sat up. "What does that mean?"

"It wasn't your translator that made him talk, it was one of Andy's machines. I didn't hear him at first, but...towards the end. I mean.... I was the one who moved his cell before his harvest."

Maddie caught her by the throat and hoisted her up against the wall.

"What are you saying?"

"Andy wanted him. I followed orders. And you were going crazy for the guy. So I moved him. I moved him for your own good."

Grip tighter, Maddie slammed her again. "That's a lie. You wouldn't do that to me."

"Look at you. What did you think you were doing? You spent one week with some dirty jungle animal for what? To throw your career away? Of course, I moved him, and it was for your own damn good. But he stayed there, right in those kennels until you signed that death release." Ray stood on her tiptoes. The redness of her face came less from the suffocation and more from anger. "And now you're putting hands on me for some mutt? What did you expect to happen? If he could talk, then what? Then we'd have to explain to each and every Volunteer that they can all talk? And then what? You take him home where you'll settle down and eventually take each other for granted? Grow up, Maddison. You caused this trouble. I cleaned it up."

Maddie let go and Ray crumbled to the ground, coughing.

Eyes closed, Maddie trembled. Each attempt she made at closing her fists did little good. She wanted to kill her—her best friend. The one she was sharing a very cell with. She wanted to kill her.

"Did he go quietly?" was all Maddie could whisper.

Ray held her throat, chuckling as she shook her head. "Listen to yourself. Whatever you brought back with you, whatever he was...whatever he was, Andy took an interest. There's nothing left by now, not even his eyes. He was strong, he was healthy. And Andy's been pushing to go deeper into the Old City but the division's resisting.

"So think about that. It's only a matter of time before we find ones that can talk. They can't turn off our universal translators—we wouldn't be able to communicate even with each other. So they'll just shoot first. So think about that. Think about the destruction we've caused there. We should have let that sicko just harvest at the site."

Maddie punched her.

Ray jumped up at the second one. She didn't hit back, she wouldn't, but she blocked each blow that followed.

"I didn't sign his death warrant, Maddie. You did."

There wasn't enough strength after that verbal blow to even wipe the sweat away. Maddie had. She had. She cleared him. She sent him on.

Her body dropped but Ray held her up. "Whoa. Whoa."

One sob came then another, leaving Maddie confused.

"Hush," Ray soothed. "Hush. Whatever you think it was, it was just in your head. Look at you. Crying? Crying for what? For who? You wouldn't even cry for me when I'm dead, of that I'm sure. So stop."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Laura.

The woman opened the cell with a sigh. "Both of you get up."

As simple as those instructions where, it took Maddie a good ten minutes to comply. By then an armed escort of five hundred block Volunteers filled the observation area.

"The disgrace both of you idiots caused is pretty insane." Laura led the way into the main station to sign them out.

"Efforts have intensified for Augustus Butler with Volunteers stating they are willing to go deeper into the old cities to find him. In other news...."

Maddie paused in her stride. She shared a glance with Ray and said, "That picture, that wasn't Gus."

Ray scoffed. "He's good and dead. Trust me on that." She grumbled and held out her hands for the cuffs. "I told you, look what they're trying to do...go deeper in. In politics, you're not dead till they want you dead."

Hearing her own name, Maddie looked at the broadcast screen high up against the wall. Cyble wore her best wig for her heartfelt plea.

"The situation with Sentinel 555 only serves to highlight the dangers of being left in the Outer Limits to fight too long. Her case is sad for many reasons but it's also educational. I've joined with Mr. Richter and together we've set up a donation fund to hopefully provide mental health counselors for rogue Volunteers suffering delusions due to the pollution of the Outer Limits."

"Delusions, huh?" Ray scoffed. "Man, they are good. You gotta give them credit for that."

"Of course, our wigs do not come from Vagrants," Cyble assured them. "I won't even dignify that with an answer. It is absurd."

"This is absurd," Ray muttered.

One push from Laura had them heading out of the office. Maddie glanced at Ray finally to see her helmet reading, "232."

Ray looked at her and chuckled. "You're 115 now? How'd you like that?"

"It's temporary so no one'll recognize you," Laura grumbled. "Now get your stupid backsides into that vehicle. Take a long hard look; you won't be seeing the Inner City again."

"Good riddance," Ray said. She ducked her head and climbed into the hover car which bobbed and steadied.

Maddie was next. Their departure from the Inner City was eventless after that but on their way back through the great passage, the car wobbled.

Laura, sitting beside them, leaned close to the autopilot and said, "Disengage. We'll take it from here."

The cylinder top rotated until a smile faced her. "That isn't recommended at this speed, ma'am."

Ray kicked it. The lid spun and fell. With all eyes on her, she shrugged, hands still cuffed.

"Maybe I'm a little paranoid but I'd think property damage is the least of my offenses. So do me a favor: climb up there and drive us before someone remotely suicides us before we reach home, all right?"