She honestly hated working here - she felt like her brain could be better occupied. There wasn't much "mental stimulation" in wiping thousands of glasses every day, and her teachers had always told her she had enough brain cells to go around the moon a couple thousand times.

She thought her teachers were stupid. It didn't matter how many brain cells she had, it mattered how she used them. Didn't they know any Einstein whatsoever?

It was all because that stupid organization, the Sanitarium had taken over everything in Subskies a couple of years ago, made their headquarters there, and then lifted everything else into the sky. And now they were working endlessly to stupefy the students in collegiate years now. (Yeahyeahyeah. Sure you're working to preserve our mental health and all the progress we've made as an advanced society over the years. Insert sarcastic eye roll here. It's all propaganda.)

Frustrated, she wrung her towel out. She swept it under the old-fashioned sink again, rinsing it out. She wrung it again, harder this time, and slapped it on the counter a couple times to dry it out, and also partially to try and relieve her pent up irritation.. A couple of giggly, new, low-level Sanitarae girls sitting in the bar jumped at the sudden sound. Arlenne rolled her eyes. The newbies, the small fry. They were startled by a towel, how would they hold up against the Opposition?

Arlenne hadn't fallen for the Sanatarium's stupid, stupid little excuses. Anybody who observed carefully enough could tell that they were dumbing them all down so they would be easier to manipulate. It had mainly worked, too. Prime example: said giggly, obnoxious, imbecilic girly-girls that were probably just hired.

Arlenne rolled her eyes again in disgust. She felt a stir of pity for them - they wouldn't last a single second out there. In fact, she predicted that they'd probably be dead within months, if not weeks.

To the Sanitarium, human and civilian lives were dispensable. Why wouldn't they think that? They had the entirety of the (now incredibly stupid) population at their command. The amount of sadism that radiated from their headquarters was sickening. It had literally become a physical substance that floated from the Subskies. The Opposition, on the other hand, only had so many fighters. So each of them were highly trained and often specialized. Good thing too, because that meant they could afford to send fewer people on each mission, minimizing risk of detection.

She carelessly flicked a drink at a regular. A civilian. He came here every night. A quick dip of the head had informed her he wanted his usual. He always looked tired, and somewhat less brainwashed than everybody else. It must've affected him, since the zap affected almost everybody. And the only ones not zapped had either been killed, or had enough balls and common sense to flee to the Opposition.

Only she and her some of her close friends had continued studying after The Takeover, and now electrolysis was like breathing to her. Thank God, too, because it meant that she was good at dancing the Tripwires. Of course, it meant that she had to watch out, because once the water in her feet and fingers had separated to allow her to get through the waterproof barrier, both she and the hydrogen could catch fire on the stinging cables that swept under her, under everything - holding it all up in the sky.

Dodging them, however, was the only way to drop back down to the Subskies. And most, if not all, of her missions were in the Subskies. She had taken up with the Opposition - they had, actually, recruited her for her Tripwire skills. It was harder to duck out of the Sanitarium's realm through the suspended, electricity-charged cables when it was day, on account of them being much less visible. But Arlenne could do it without much of a problem. Out of the five of them, she had been the best Dancer, although she was only third most powerful overall.

Her friends had followed quickly to the Opposition. Why wouldn't they? They would have been killed if it was found that they hadn't been zapped. Now that the Sanatarium had mobilized their plans to dumb everyone down, the mainstream world held little promise for them, unless they joined the Sanatarium's most powerful group, the Seniors. And that was a cruel world.

Not that the Opposition wasn't cruel, but at least they were fighting for something they believed in, even although it was dangerous as hell.

She liked the danger. If life had no edge to it, what was the point of living? She lived for the rush that it brought when that edge cut into her.

And if her love for that cutting edge ever ran out, she would know that it was her time to go.

She allowed herself one last sardonic sigh before she shook out her thoughts and turned back to the hooded figure at the end of the counter. That sagging, medieval-like monks' hood was the trademark sign of a Senior, which piqued her interest. Well, it seemed like she had a powerful customer. She wasn't on duty or a mission right now, but maybe she could probe around a bit with this obviously-inebriated member of the Sanitarium's uppermost ring.

She was bored here, in the bar. Compared to the precise and speedy mental calculations that dancing the Tripwires required, pouring drinks was repetitive and tedious. The serum smoke was heavy in the air and she gagged for the nth time. But a woman her age without a job was suspicious, and of course, she would be instantaneously shot through with The Laser if they found out she was Opposition. And a dead Dancer was not a useful Dancer.

At least this Senior could relieve some of her boredom. This girl is only a level below the Monarch itself. I should... Several scenarios ran through her head like calculations for a Tripwire, incorporating her past experience and wisdom from encounters with Sanitarae. She had only ever had one encounter with a Senior. She lifted a foot and with her big toe slowly traced the tapered, wavy scars stretching from her heel upward towards the back of her knee.

Only a Senior would think of wiggling their fingers when clawing someone. And Arlenne knew exactly why they did that. Simply put, it was agony.

She had to be cautious. Even such a slight girl was still a Sanatarium, and a Senior was still a Senior, no matter how drunk. So she poured a shot of hard alcohol and slid it over the metal bar. "On the house," she whispered through the murmuring silence.

The girl nodded, and lithely dipped the miniscule porcelain flask beneath the shadow of her hood and handed it back to Arlenne without a single drop of silver liquid. Although her training had suppressed physical manifestations of her emotions, Arlenne was still shocked. How much alcohol could this tiny girl hold? "Is the work tough?" she asked smoothly.

"It goes as usual," her faceless customer replied, in an equally guarded tone of voice. "You don't normally seem like the one to talk without being spoken to."

Arlenne came up with a quick response. "You seemed in need of some conversation, alone at the bar."

"Ha. Conversation? I thought you of all people would know that Seniors have no need for conversation."

Startled, Arlenne racked her normally-quick brain for a rebuttal. How did this girl know who she was? In either way, she was in serious danger if the Seniors knew who she was.

"A bit tongue-tied, hm?" the girl chuckled, before throwing her head back to laugh. Only one girl could hold that much alcohol... the hood fell back with the sudden movement and fiery curls spilled from the dark void of the shadow, and the girl's face came into view.

Not even her training could suppress Arlenne's shock. "Hello, Arlenne."

Slightly panicked, Arlenne snapped, "My name here is NINA."

"Whoawhoawhoa. You're using your Opposition alias in civilian life? Are you crazy?"

"I'm not a civilian. My four-letter alias suits me just fine, Mikabelle."

"Hey. Be quiet, will you? My name right now is LELA."

"So you're using your Opposition alias too, then."

"For different reasons." Mikabelle shrugged indifferently.

"And those would be?" Arlenne shot back.

"Why do I need to disclose to you?"

"Of course you need to tell me everything. You're one of the five of us, and my partner." emphasized Arlenne.

Mikabelle smiled wryly. "But not anymore."

Arlenne could no longer smother her anger. In a heated whisper, she lashed out at Mikabelle. "Oh, because you're a traitor now? Now you're a Senior? Just like HANS? You've found power among the Sanatarium?"

Mikabelle coldly fixed her mismatched eyes on Arlenne. "I'm undercover, NINA."

"Oh yeah? Then why are you six months late back from this solo undercover mission of yours?" Arlenne challenged, glaring back at her green and golden eyes.

"Listen. I came to find you and talk to you. I don't like this outburst you're having." Mikabelle said irritably.

Arlenne knew that she was referring to her failure to suppress her emotions, "You're just like HANS," she hissed.

Now even Mikabelle's hands tightened momentarily around the edge of the bar. The orange butterfly on her Senior ring glittered. "What?" queried Arlenne. "Something touchy, LELA?" she mocked.

"Just shut up," muttered Mikabelle, staring at her ring. "HANS was undercover too-"

"Oh," interrupted Arlenne. "I see. Well, LELA," she said sarcastically, "both your excuses seem awfully similar."

"They zapped him. He got trapped as a Senior." said Mikabelle impatiently, before a crash sounded from behind her.

"Shit," cursed Arlenne. "Don't you dare leave, okay?" she called back quietly as she ran to stop the bar fight breaking out. To her surprise, Mikabelle stood up too. "Didn't you hear me, LELA?" she yelled back, rushing towards the two fighters.

They two arguing males were middle level Sanitarae, Chrysalises. Inwardly, Arlenne cursed again. Even though Mikabelle, who was a Senior, now knew her true identity, she still couldn't afford to let all the patrons know by using her Opposition training to stop the fight. She hoped she wouldn't have to use her Dancer skills to stop this one, or she'd have to change jobs again to stay under the Sanitarium's radar. But before she could intervene, Mikabelle materialized with a flicker in between the two charging males, and stopped each of them with a tap of the finger. "What are you doing?"

"The Monarch wanted me to keep the peace." Arlenne's eyes fluttered towards Mikabelle's ring. Sure enough, the Seniors' ring, which sealed the Seniors into the Monarch's service, was scrolling rapidly through a multitude of patterns. The butterfly in the center pulsated.

The Monarch, who had only ever appeared in public as a silhouette of a large butterfly, was relaying her instructions.

Mikabelle's voice shook her out of her awe. "Are you going to help me drag these two pathetic excuses of Chrysalises out of here?" she spat.

After they threw them out of the building, Arlenne walked back behind the counter and Mikabelle settled into her stool. "You ever hear its voice?" Arlenne asked curiously.

"I don't even think it has one. I just read its instructions off the Seniors' Seal."

Arlenne was shocked. "You can read that?"

"Why else do you think they seal us? They don't want anybody outside of the Seniors to be able to read it, so they can't afford one of us breaking loose."

Arlenne had already been contemplating how useful it would be to have the ability to read a Seniors' Seal. It could've saved her from getting her scars.

Mikabelle continued, "Which is why as soon HANS broke free from the Seal, they zapped him. Brainwashed. Gone. He was completely out of it. Didn't remember anything. He was the strongest one out of the five of us, but even he couldn't resist when all the Seniors ganged up. And the Monarch didn't want us to kill him, because it wanted to keep his powers. I had to comply."

Arlenne was tempted to hit her head on the counter. This wasn't news she had wanted to hear, and she had a feeling she knew what was coming. "He didn't even stand a chance, did he?" she whispered.

Mikabelle confirmed her suspicious with a shake of her head. "From then on out, he was completely Senior. No trace of Opposition left in him."

Arlenne's eyebrows arched delicately. "Was?"

"He's dead, NINA. KIA. It was a routine mission, to route out the Opposition, actually. That was the day I was planning on returning and relaying info. I had figured out how to break my own Seniors' Seal. But somehow, the zap slipped when I got careless and he saw my blood. He managed to remember the Opposition through the brainwash. And that's when he got hit. He remembered you, and he remembered me for those last two seconds. God, NINA, I'm not supposed to have emotions, but it felt so good to see the recognition in his eyes for those final moments."

Arlenne stood without response, only closing her eyes. "Is this what you came to tell me?"

"Partially." Arlenne had learned to read Mikabelle well over the years, and she could see her friend - ex-friend - was struggling to maintain control over her emotions as well. HANS, one of the only five friends of hers who had continued to study after The Takeover. He had been the most powerful out of them at one point too. Now even Mikabelle had fallen to the Seniors. Who was next? Ipaak? Flitter? Herself?

Arlenne walked around the counter and sat on a stool next to Mikabelle, in the now-empty bar. "Whoever thought that out of us five, only ELII, AMAU, and I would be left in Opposition? I never thought you and HANS would get captured this way." Arlenne said nostalgically. "You two were always the strongest."

"There's no need to use Ipaak and Flitter's code names anymore, Arlenne. Nobody's left here."

Silence engulfed them. Arlenne closed her eyes again. Despite her training, her eyes were tearing, and she didn't want Mikabelle to see.

"He stayed conscious long enough to tell me he loved me." Arlenne's eyes shot wide open.

"Imagine - the most powerful Senior, a former Opposition, telling this stupid little Russian newbie that he's in love with her. I wasn't even sure of my feelings for him until he went cold."

"Mi-belle..." Arlenne whispered, using her childhood nickname. Any trace of anger towards Mikabelle dissipated in that instant.

"Seniors still have needs, you know. HANS and I had slept together before but neither of us ever thought of love. I can calculate Tripwires almost as fast as you, but I can't figure out these ridiculous things called emotions? I'm not even supposed to have them. He wasn't supposed to have them. I can't face his sister, can't look her in the eye," Mikabelle shook her head, curls flying.

"They were going to zap me, you know. Keep me from rebelling, keep my emotions under control so I wouldn't break free like he did." Mikabelle rambled.

"Arlenne," Mikabelle started after an unsteady breath. "I'm pregnant. And the Seniors will take the baby and kill it because it'll be a liability. I can't hide it from them."

Arlenne said nothing.

"I've stayed among the Seniors and the Sanitarae for only two reasons: I don't know what to do anymore, and because they won't let me leave. They suppress emotions even harder than Opposition. It's the stupid Seniors' Seal - it strengthened after HANS died. Now I can't break free like I knew I could before. I don't have any feelings left about HANS. I don't even remember his real name anymore." Mikabelle was losing it quickly. Her seal throbbed in an attempt to smother her emotions, but it seemed to be losing.

It was then that Arlenne realized that true, genuine emotion was the only thing that could break the Seniors' Seal.

Arlenne reached out and touched Mikabelle's hand, who flinched. "Anthem. That's what it was." sighed Arlenne. And just like that the tears were rolling down Mikabelle's cheek. Nobody spoke for a few moments as Mikabelle's tears cascaded onto the worn wooden bar. They both jumped when the Seniors' Seal cracked, just a little bit.

"I feel...heartbroken?" Mikabelle mused. She looked at Arlenne's hand. "You burned yourself on the Tripwires? Were you distracted? Or... did you let feelings bother you during a mission?"

"I was...worried, about you, Mikabelle. It's not that hard to break free of the Seniors' seal. You were trained to do so. Look," whispered Arlenne, wiping away a few tears on Mikabelle's face as her old teammate hiccuped, "you're coming back already."

Fear was not something Arlenne was used to seeing on Mikabelle. "But if even Anthem couldn't break it, how can I?" At the sound of Anthem's name in her own voice, a true sob racked her small frame. Bitter love shattered her heart and cracked even more of the ring.

"You're now stronger than he was, Mi-belle." Arlenne said in a hushed tone, rubbing circles on her back. "And you know it!"

"I never even told him...before he died...Arlenne, I think I loved him too." Mikabelle wailed softly.

"That's probably why they spared you the zap. They thought you wouldn't rebel. Mi-belle," said Arlenne urgently, "this'll all be over soon - we'll get you out. Now just tell me about the Seniors. For your sake, and the Opposition's. You need to let it out. You can do it."

They sat until the serum smoke had faded away, and Arlenne managed to slip the Seniors' Seal off of Mikabelle's finger and send its now-shattered pieces to Opposition's leader for inspection.

They sat until Mikabelle was Opposition again.