As the festival died down, the seven teens helped clean up and set the cafeteria back to its regular setting.
The festival had gone well into the morning, as it usually does. The group saw the dark black of the sky turn into a deep blue as the sun peeked over the skyline of D.C.
"That's the most fun I've had in a while." Vida chuckled as Hendrix, Akilah, and she moved a cafeteria table back into place.
"Yeah. I feel like I could stay here forever." Akilah smiled at the two. Vida smiled, but Hendrix seemed to retreat into his thoughts.
"Forever?" Hendrix thought about Akilah's statement.
Then he remembered.
"Remember what you've caused." That voice from his surreal dream rushed back into his brain. The images of a bloody Mr. and Mrs. Frewin. The look on Vida's face after he recovered from the fight with Officer 1060. They all flooded Hendrix's thoughts.
"No. Not forever. I'll make sure my friends- No, nobody ever feels like this again." Hendrix's dream had evolved so much since those days in the backyard. He recalled how he used to want to become a musician. Now, he could never think of settling for something with such a small impact.
The morning light cut through the cafeteria windows. To Hendrix, it didn't feel like a new day. It felt like the end of the last.
"Yeah." Hendrix smiled meekly as he agreed with Akilah's statement.
"Alright! All done!" Alex stretched her arms to the sky.
"You guys get some sleep. We'll continue training tomorrow." Bloom smiled as the teens quietly rejoiced, trying to avoid disturbing some of the compound residents that had already fallen asleep.
"It'll come to pass. My dream will come to pass." Hendrix reassured himself as he thought about how he could improve his skills during training.
The teens made their way to their rooms as Alex and Bloom tidied up the last little details.
Bloom noticed as Alex sharply looked past her at the open window.
"What is it, honey?" Bloom glanced at the window, then looked back at Alex.
"Oh… Nothing. I thought I saw a light or something." Alex furrowed her brows as she tried to reason out what she saw.
"Was that light… Moving?" Alex questioned herself.
"Don't get so paranoid! I thought you said you could handle horror movies!" Bloom chuckled as she folded up the projector backdrop from the festival.
"I am NOT paranoid!" Alex laughed back.
"Alright. Let's get some sleep so we can be just as excited as the kids." Bloom showed her signature smile, making all of Alex's worries melt away, just as it usually did.
"Alright. I love you." Alex said.
"Love you too." Bloom reciprocated.
They started the walk back to their bedroom.
At the bottom of the hill, a black SUV shifted into park, looking straight up at the compound.
"Officer 1060." The Correctional Advisor spoke through his mask. He clasped his hands together in prayer as a chain of beads hung from his hand, with a scythe as a pendant. He closed his bloodshot eyes.
"Yes, sir." 1060 looked through the front of the car. He and the Advisor sat in the second row, while the Advisor's Officers were in the driver and passenger seat. Officer 1060's deputies, who were replacing the deputies killed in the last altercation with the rebels, sat in the third row of the black SUV.
"Have you ever seen the face of god?" The Advisor opened his eyes and looked at the Officer for an answer.
"Um… I can't say I have, sir." The Officer hoped that his response was the correct one.
"Well… Don't envy these dissenters, for I will show them the face of the living god." The Advisor closed his eyes once more, pushing his hands together in prayer.
1060 was quiet for a moment, as he didn't understand what the Advisor meant.
Officer 1060 noticed that the red coloring of the beads didn't stay even, as though some red fluid ran through the chain of beads that the Advisor grasped. The beads pulsed faintly, as though something inside them still lived.
"Advisor. If you don't mind me asking, who are these two in the front?" 1060 looked at the two other Officers in the front seats.
"Do not fret, Officer 1060. They do not outrank you, in fact they are the same rank as you, they are Officers. In the driver seat is Officer 9045, Officer of the western coast of the American Prefecture. In the passenger seat is Officer 1168, Officer of the eastern coast of the Canadian prefecture." The Advisor unclasped his hands as he continued.
"As you are the Officer of the eastern coast of the American prefecture, I hope that one of you will be chosen by the living god as my successor. That's if you don't continue to give lackluster results. I cannot be the Advisor of the state of North America forever. I'm assuming these two deputies in the back are under your command?" The Advisor stuck the chain of beads into his pocket.
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Officer 1060 grit his teeth as he prematurely chose himself for the position.
The Advisor looked at his gadget-fueled watch.
"0600. Mission commences now." The Advisor's words made the three Officers and two deputies jump into action. They ran up to the compound sneakily as the Advisor walked calmly.
1060 held two black boxes, as did Officer 9045 and Officer 1168. All three of the Officers placed the boxes on the four walls of the compound.
"They're ready, sir." Officer 9045 spoke to the Advisor through his watch.
"Commence infiltration in three… Two… One.. Go." The Advisor spoke through his watch calmly.
The seven teens inside the compound were all fast asleep, except Vida.
"I wonder what that face was about." Vida thought about Hendrix's face after Akilah's cheery comment.
"What was he thinking about-" Vida's thought was interrupted by a sound.
Boom
The ground shook beneath Vida, making her roll out of her bed. As the shaking subsided, she scrambled to her feet.
Hendrix swung open her door.
"You okay?" Hendrix asked, out of breath.
"What was that?!" Vida asked Hendrix, panicking out of her mind.
"I'm gonna go get dressed. Let's meet in the cafeteria." Hendrix ran back down the hallway towards his room. The other teens overheard Hendrix's plan, beginning to get dressed as well.
The seven teens rushed down to the cafeteria, joining a crowd of what looked to be every compound resident forming a crowd around an enormous hole in the wall of the cafeteria.
The crowd waited silently, muttering to each other about what could have possibly caused such an odd occurrence.
"Was there an earthquake?"
"That wouldn't happen on the east coast. At least no one got hurt."
"Maybe it was a pipe bursting."
"I'm sure Alex and Bloom would have caught something like that."
The crowd murmured, desperately trying to find an answer.
As the dust settled, the crowd watched in horror as they made out the silhouette of a Correctional Forces uniform.
The Correctional Advisor along with his three Officers and two Deputies walked through the wall. The Advisor raised his arms, making himself known through the dust.
"Good morning dissenters, rebels, and revolutionaries. I am here to shut down this scum operation. If you will kneel before me at this moment, I will show you a quick end, as opposed to the slaughter that will ensue." The Advisor's words kept the crowd silent. He waited for anyone that would willingly kneel before him, but no one moved.
"That is your loss. Either way… Tonight… You will see the face of god!" The Advisor's bloodshot eyes widened through his mask as the crowd began to murmur to themselves.
A loud stomping was heard through the compound, but this time, the Correctional Advisor seemed just as confused as the compound residents.
Suddenly, some kind of robot jumped over the crowd of rebels, landing a few feet in front of the Advisor.
"Milo!" Bloom yelled as her and Alex made it to the scene.
"I've been preparing for this moment." Milo's voice came from inside the robot as the mechanical being's head split into two, revealing Milo inside the iron suit.
"There's no better robot than one that runs on Spirit. I'll hold them off, you guys run!" Milo turned to the crowd as he yelled the instructions.
"Oh no you don't" The Advisor muttered as he turned to his colleagues.
"Officer 9045 and Officer 1168, you will hunt down the seven known Spirit-users. Eliminate them on sight. Deputies, you will focus on crowd control, do not let a single inch of rebel scum splatter past this building's perimeter. Officer 1060, you will stay with me. Make sure that pink-haired boy doesn't leave our sight. Disperse." The Advisor waved his hand and turned back to the iron man in front of him.
"Yes sir." The group jumped into the air, moving in different directions.
The crowd began to panic, running away through every hallway and corridor in the compound. The two Officers searched for the teens through the crowd of rebels. The two deputies searched for a hallway to cut the crowd off before they could exit the building.
"Your gifts could have been used in the Forces. Such a waste." The Advisor shook his head at Milo's face, which was still peeking out the top of the robot's neck.
"I'd never give my inventions to you. You people killed my parents!" Milo screamed at the top of his lungs as his eyes began to water.
"As we will kill you. 1060." The Advisor waved two of his fingers.
"Got it." Officer 1060 manifested a dagger out of his sleeve, quickly jumping at Milo's head with intention to kill.
He dodged the direct hit, but the dagger still sliced a cut into his cheek.
"Shit. That won't happen again." Milo began to close the helmet of the iron suit.
"Like you'll have a second chance." The Advisor reached out for 1060's dagger as the Officer handed it to him. The Advisor wiped the blood off of the blade with his glove, and smeared Milo's blood onto his mask. The sight had both the Advisor's colleagues and enemies confused.
After his wooden mask's lower cheek was stained red, the Advisor raised his hands in the air, as if grasping the unseen. He then violently closed them into fists.
When the Advisor closed his fists, Milo's helmet stalled halfway down, as if someone had yanked the mechanical hinge.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Milo screamed out. He could feel his skin ripping as he tried to put a hand over his cut.
"Milo! What's wrong?!" Bloom tried to zoom towards him but Alex held her back, she didn't have any idea what was going on either. They were the only residents to stay at the scene with Milo.
Alex and Bloom watched in horror as blood began to pour out of Milo's tiny cut. The blood seemed to levitate towards the direction of the Advisor. The Advisor stared at the sight through his blood smeared mask.
"Crimson fluid, come to me filled with the energy of life." The Advisor mumbled to himself.
As the blood continued to flow, Milo's eyes began to roll back into his head. His skin began to lose color.
The iron suit that he was in dropped to its knees.
"Is this how I die? Oh god. Please. No. Don't leave me behind, guys. I don't want to die. Please." Milo's mind began to race with the energy it still had left. He looked around to see the only Alex and Bloom left to help him.
"Just like when you brought me here. Do you remember? I was so little. Please don't let me die like this, Bloom. Alex, please." Milo thought as he reached his hand out towards the couple.
"As you have kneeled to me, I will make your journey into sweet silence painless. Goodnight." The Advisor opened his fists once more.
The blood that was once flowing quietly, now exploded from Milo's head, ripping skin from bone and leaving him lifeless.
A wet crack rang through the halls of the compound. That crimson red splattered across the tiled floor like spilled juice. Milo's head, whatever was left of it, hung with no balance.
The iron suit crashed to the floor, and silence followed, except for the sound of blood dripping across the tables.
"MILO!" Bloom reached out as she began to cry. Alex's tears were visible as well, but she would not let go of Bloom.
They remembered vividly when they first got Milo.
"You were such a snarky kid. Now look at you, all grown up." Bloom's last words to Milo at the concert rang through her mind. She was just congratulating him on sharing his inventions with Hendrix, and now he suffered a painful death for him and the others.
Down the hall, Vida and Amora heard Bloom's cries.
"No… Don't tell me…" Vida's eyes widened as she realized what the tone of Bloom's voice could mean.
"Come on, Vida. We have to catch up with the others." Amora tried to hold back her tears to no avail.
"And where are these others?" Officer 9045 jumped down in front of the two girls, cracking his knuckles and fixing his gloves.
The girls fell down as they tried to stop their momentum in time.
"Give up now and tell me where your friends are. Then, maybe I won't torture you before I kill you." Officer 9045 grinned.