// ζ ─── ＺＥＴＡ .

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

yuuuup lol

and seriously if you want depressed, catch up with Swindle
basically the last two chapters I wrote until the end of the book will rip your heart out
More so than any ideas I have for this so far xD

[Asherwy]

eep
I'll try to catch up
for the sake of your amazing writing and talent with ripping hearts out
-whispers- i will catch up

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

lolokee x]
How far did you get, even?

[Asherwy]

only like, chapter 7
I SERIOUSLY NEED TO READ

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

GASP THAT WAS SO LONG AGO OK YEAH
the last one is chapter sixteen -cough-
but theres a lot of GASP- NO's and OHMANOHMANOHMAN's between seven and fifteen xD

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

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Maggie was pale and trembling when she stepped out of the tube, the building surrounding her taking a moment to register. When it did, however, her brown eyes widened as she craned her neck back to look around in awe.

High above was the hexagonal glass ceiling, sunlight streaming straight through the entire building. There were multiple levels, but the only sign of them from there were the balconies that wrapped around the six-sided walls that fell in line with the ceiling. On the first level there were archways leading to different rooms, the one directly across from the tube seeming to be the largest. Everything was white from the railings on the balconies to the square tiles on the floor, leading to a very sterile look that made more than Maggie quite uncomfortable.

However, the decor was the last thing on her mind.

She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder from behind. "Well this is all very lovely," Electra stated, "but I can already tell I'm going to be bored as hell in less than three seconds if I don't find something to do." She paused and glanced around. "Think there's a library in here somewhere?"

The group of them simply stopped their staring to look at her, but none were more surprised than Maggie. She stepped forward and turned to look at the taller dark-haired woman herself, only to be met by a sharp green gaze that said don't say a word.

"Well, if there was one, the interface would know," Azure pointed out. Hesitantly, he walked back towards the tube, where another keypad was located. He slowed when he passed Maggie, brushing her hand with his fingers and offering her an oblivious smile. She returned it, but it faded the second he walked away.

Azure approached the keypad and looked down, pushing his glasses up when they began to slide and carefully flicking things around on the screen. "Uhh... Interface?" He asked cautiously, unable to access anything on the keypad and assuming she was voice activated.

Please call me USI for your convenience.
How can I assist you?

He looked up when her voice sounded and cleared his throat. "Alright, Usi... Is there a library around here?"

Affirmative.

"Where is it?" He asked curiously.

The library is located in the central building.

"... And where is that?" Azure asked.

Would you like directions to the library in the central building?

"Yes, yes I would," Azure confirmed, fascinated rather than unsettled by the device.

There was a pause before Usi continued.

Please follow the indicated path to the library in the central building.

Momentarily puzzled, Azure glanced around until he noticed a glowing blue line had appeared on the floor, shining on top of the seemingly solid tiles. He smiled with satisfaction and wandered back over to stand beside Maggie and looked at Electra with a nod towards the path. "There you go."

"Thanks, braniac," Electra mumbled, glancing at Maggie before making her way along the path, the line behind her disappearing as she walked along it.

"I think I'll go with her," Maggie said suddenly.

"Oh, alright- I'll come too, then," Azure said casually.

"No," Maggie answered too hastily, turning to face his innocently confused expression. "I mean- I know you'd rather look around," she said with a small smile.

The smile returned to his face, along with slight excitement at being able to explore the high-tech structure after being stuck in primitive barracks for near two years. "Alright, well, I'll catch up with you later then."

"Sounds like a plan," she said with a mile, then turned to walk away. She was stopped, however, when he gently took her hand and pulled her back to kiss her cheek before she wandered away. "Just ask Usi if you need me," he told her before glancing around. "I'm sure it won't be hard for her programming to keep track of everyone here."

Maggie nodded, but couldn't bring herself to say another word to him without blurting what "Usi" had told her in front of everyone. She hastily turned and sped up in order to catch up with Electra. The other woman picked up the pace once Maggie was by her side and she kept the pace. "Why are you helping me?" She whispered.

Electra grew rigid by the question, but quickly shook it off. "Why wouldn't I?"

--

It had not taken long to figure out what all the rooms were. The one Electra and Maggie had disappeared into was a lobby-like room with double doors to what was assumed to be the larger cell in the center. The other four were a kitchen, a room with a great deal of tables, a sitting room, and a media room. Nothing too extraordinary.

Azure had asked Usi to list off all the rooms and the locations. Their unit only held essentials and recreation, but he was surprised to find that the central building held not only the library, but an art room, a workout room, a shooting range, a music room, and levels and levels of others he couldn't dream to memorize the way they were listed off. The list included an observatory, which nearly made him squeal in delight like a child. He had a higher knowledge of a great many things, but he loved nothing more than astronomy. He promised himself he'd visit the second night fell. Upon a bit more exploration, he noticed more keypads and cameras in other rooms. He brushed off their presence, assuming Usi used them for some undiscovered reason.

While everyone else seemed to slowly grow accustomed and gradually relaxed, Ezekiel remained on-edge. His mind swam with questions of the situation they were thrown into with less than a twenty-four hour notice, but his thoughts only kept hitting walls. He couldn't help but feel as though there was something they were all missing.

Then, as he was walking across the marble tiles, something caught his attention and he stopped to backtrack. The semi-transparent wall with the tube in the middle flashed blue, and he peered closer to see shadows moving behind it. Before he had time to react, the tube twisted around, the few seconds of anticipation freezing him to the spot.

Soon enough, the figure of another woman appeared. She stood with confidence, hands on her hips and a smug expression on her face, caressed by dark spirals that reached her shoulders. Her skin was dark with light eyes, the contrast startlingly beautiful. Once the tube stopped, she put on a wide grin and sauntered forward with an exaggerated sway in her hips, her five inch heels clicking against the tiles underfoot.

"Hiya, handsome," she greeted in a tone that made Ezekiel believe she was all too familiar with saying those two words together.

"Uh- Hello," he greeted cautiously, clenching and unclenching his hands at his sides as she circled him.

"You're the alpha, aren't you?" She asked, her words colored with a British accent.

"Yes- at least, that's what the interface said..." he confirmed, trailing off as she stopped and spun to face him. He cleared his throat and reached out a hand in greeting. "Ezekiel Lewis. And you are?"

She raised her eyebrow and looked down at his hand before looking back up to him. After a second, she smiled and took it, her rings pressing into his hand as she pulled him closer. "Kay Porter. Alpha."

He looked at her in surprise before something else took both their attention. They looked over at the tube, which began to twist once more. At this point, the rest of Ezekiel's group began slowly filing into the foyer.

A young man with dark red hair stepped forward, looking down and brushing his arms as if to brush off laser particles from being scanned. He had piercings on his nose, lip, and eyebrow, gauges in his ears, and tattoos coating his arms. This made his reaction when he looked up rather unexpected. He stopped dead when he saw all the people that had gathered, a violent blush reaching his face before he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. He pulled a hand out and gave a small wave. "Uh- hi?" He offered.

"Hi!" Arvie shouted from the back of the crowd, bouncing forward and taking his hand in both of hers, shaking it furiously. "I'm Arvia but you can call me Arvie."

He offered a nervous smile. "I'm Eli," he said, glancing at Kay, who held a deviously amused expression.

Arvie glanced over her shoulder following his gaze, seeing Kay standing beside Ezekiel with her hands on her hips. Her gaze then drifted across her own friends. "Well, what are you guys waiting for?" She asked them innocently. "I'm sure they'd like to know your names too."

"Uh-" Eli interrupted, pulling his hand from her grip and holding up a finger, "You should probably wait for the others." His voice held the same accent as Kay's.

"Others?" Arvie asked excitedly.

As if to answer her question, two more people arrived after Kay and Eli, Arvie introducing herself to both. The other boy, Khoda, was quite casual and offered Arvie a smirk, more amused than anything at how much he towered over her and she wasn't intimidated in the slightest. The girl was much closer to her height, and immediately picked up on her excitement.

"Call me Fawn, doll," the girl said with a wide grin.

"Arvie," Arvie giggled. "I love your hair!" She gasped, referring to the beads and feathers wildly tangled in it.

"Oh please, that dress is the cutest!" Fawn responded.

"Maybe they should have been paired together," Kay snickered loudly.

"Is that everyone?" Ezekiel asked curiously, still processing the entire day.

Kay scoffed. "Hardly."

Ezekiel shot her a sharp glance. "What do you mean?"

"We're only the British unit, honey," she told him.

"How many are there?" He burst.

She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. "Did they not tell you anything?" He merely shrugged and shook his head, bordering on frantic. Kay heaved a sigh. "Each country is sending their best, yeah?" She began. "This," she continued, gesturing to the building, "Is the English-speaking unit of this complex," she explained. "We should be getting more people from Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, and... Canada? I think that's it..."

Ezekiel looked at her expectantly. "And?" He pressed.

"And what?" She asked.

"What else do you know," he burst, gesturing with his hands.

She looked at him like he was going crazy. "We're going to live here until we die and leave another generation behind," she said bluntly. Then, her expression softened. "And by the way," she cooed, brushing dust off his shoulder, her fingertips lingering on his chest. "If you ever need help with that second part, you let me know."

A deep blush reached Ezekiel's face and he let out a nervous laugh, pushing her hand away. "I thought we were already assigned to someone," he said, stumbling over his words.

"Rules were made to be broken," she murmured quietly before giving him a wink and wandering away.

Ezekiel stared after her, jumping when a hand touched his shoulder. He looked over to see Eli watching her with an entirely different expression before looking up at him. "Don't to it, man," he warned, patting his shoulder and shaking his head, adding one last thing as he walked away. "Just... Don't."

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◄ l a s t

n e x t ►

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

WOO finished chapter delta x]
I think I like these new characters.

[WilloweWolf]

*drools* poor Ezekiel. You really do like torturing you characters, don't you, captain. I mean, Vin gets stabbed twenty times a day, Scarlet is very much emotionally compromised, though she hides it, Electra has a plain misrable background as far as I can tell, and now Kay is flirting with Ezekiel, making him totally awkward and...
Yeah. You're sadistic.

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

Aww you're too kind c:
Gotta admit there's always a little fun in other peoples' misery
Otherwise AFV wouldn't be a thing

[ʞ ɔ ǝ ɹ ʍ d ı ʞ s]

That's what you think