Chapter 160 -Kaysi- I reached into my pocket and showed him the edge of the supervisor's card—just enough to be unmistakable. His face drained of color. "No," he whispered. "You don't understand. If you mess with my assignment—" "We already looked," I said gently. "You were assigned here because your debt crossed a threshold. Sector C accelerates sentence completion." His mouth twisted. "That's what they told me." "And it's true," I said. Mostly." Jakeh let out a humorless breath. "This pce is killing me faster. But it ends sooner. That's the deal here." He met my eyes again, hard and steady. "If I leave wrong, they look at Mary and the kids. I won't risk that." I felt it then—the same crushing logic Shell City relied on. This wasn't a resignation. "We're not asking you to run," Evan said quietly. "We're offering to change the record." Jakeh's brow furrowed. "Change... How?" "There's an office on this level," I added. "Restricted access. If we can get in, we can reassign you to home-bound work. Same debt. Same compliance. You work. You report. Just this way, you go home with your family. Silence stretched between us, only broken by the roar of the turbines in the back. I could tell he was thinking long and hard. "And what if someone checks before it propagates?" Jakeh questioned? "Then it looked like a system correction," Evan said. "A supervisor error. It happens all the time in big pces like this." Jakeh shook his head slowly. "You're just kids." Becky pushed through us and opened her hand at his injured leg. Healing it in a quick flick of her wrist. ' A sharp pain fshed across his face. "That was cold, but I don't feel..." He said, pulling up his pants leg to see nothing but the dry blood left. He looked up at me, completely dumbstruck. "Maybe," I said. "But I believe the divine brought us here for a reason. Right now, your family is our mission. The system doesn't care how old the hands are—only that they can type. A warning tone sounded overhead. Workers began to move again. Jakeh looked toward the turbine and his line. "If I walk away now," he said, voice low, "they'll notice." "Yes, that's a chance, and if you don't, your wife will go into bor alone," Becky said softly. We have 2 of our friends there to protect her, but I have a feeling they'll come back while you're gone." Jakeh closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, there was a bit of fear there—but also resolve. "Come, let's move fast." Relief hit me so hard I could feel my knees buckle. He was a hard one to convince, but with no time to rest, we had to get Jakeh out quietly. Jakeh led us through service corridors only workers knew—narrow paths behind the turbines where heat scorched the walls and the noise dropped to a dull roar. We ducked into an unmarked door just as footsteps echoed behind us. The office was small and cramped. A terminal flickered on a metal desk, unattended. Evan didn't hesitate; he grabbed the access key from my pocket before I could think, slid into the chair, and pced the card into the reader on the desk, all within one fast, fluid movement. Fingers flying over the keys. "I need thirty seconds." Jakeh stood watch, tense as a drawn wire. Josh positioned himself by the door. Becky hovered behind him, eyes closed, breathing slowly. "Someone is coming," she murmured. "I'm almost—" Evan said. The door handle rattled. "Now," I hissed, looking back at him just as the screen fshed green. "Done," Evan said, yanking the card free and stuffing it into his pocket. The handle stopped; they must have just bumped it. Footsteps moved on. No one spoke until the sound faded. Jakeh sagged against the wall, one hand over his mouth. "Ha, you really did it." "For now," I said, but we can't stay. Come with us, and let's leave this pce now. "And what if they ask?" "You're reassigned," Josh said. "Just...early." Jakeh nodded once and was back on his feet. We merged back into the flow of workers, moving upward this time, away from Sector C. No arms sounded, or voices called out. The pnt swallowed our absence without noticing. As we reached the outer corridors, I gnced back once—at the endless machines, the lines of bowed heads. Life draining, I thought again. But not tonight. We slipped out into the city just as the light shifted for the next cycle. Jakeh breathed in the open air like he'd forgotten what it felt like, even though this time he was only there for a few hours, not days. I can only imagine a minute there passed as hours compared to out here. "I don't know who you are," he said quietly. "But I won't forget this." "You don't have to," I said. "Let's just get you home!" We started toward the residential levels—toward Mary. None of us noticed the dark figures above, moving silently along the upper walkways. Not until one of them spoke. "Maxwell residence. Debt reassessment approved; Mary Maxwell questionnaire still needed for completion." Our blood ran cold as someone pulled me backward, and we ducked under a tree, hoping they wouldn't see us. The words echoed in the cool artificial night of Shell City. The silent police voice wasn't too loud. It didn't need to be. It slid through the air as if it belonged there, waiting for the right moment to surface. Jakeh was frozen. "That's—" His voice broke. "That's my home, my wife, my family? Josh's arm wrapped around his shoulder before he could step. "Not here," he whispered. "Not yet." I forced myself to breathe, to think past the current panic. Shell City didn't move fast unless it wanted something. What changed—or had someone noticed the absence? Jakeh's breath came fast now. "They told Mary...if I finished my assignment early, they'd stop watching us." My stomach twisted. "They lied," I said. "They always do." "Wait, debt reassessment," Becky murmured. "That's not a collection." "Nope." That's leverage. A girl from behind me stepped forward. "Oh my," I caught my voice before it could rise. "Hi, my name is Elia, and I pulled you into the shadows so those twits don't see you. The figures above us moved again, cloaks blending into the architecture as they crossed the sky bridge. Their faces were hidden, but I didn't need to see them to know what kind of expression they wore. Polite. Certain. Hungry. "They're not going to take money; your time in the pnt should pay that," Evan said quietly. "They're looking for something else of value." Elia interrupted, "You're not from here." Josh stiffened. "Keep walking." More Silent Police passed overhead. The woman followed my gaze and went very still. "...That's not good; they're coming in with extra heat." She said. "Looks to me they are looking to intimidate your wife," I believe I heard you say. What do you do if they want it?" "Nothing other than our home. It's just my wife and I, one son, and one child on the way." Jakeh replied without thinking. "You should go home," Josh told her. "Ha." She fake-ughed. "I don't have one worth running to." There was something unsettling about her, but steady—not bravery, exactly, but a practiced facade like someone used to making choices when no good ones were avaible. "They don't do reassessments unless they're about to take something." She said the one thing we were all fearing. "The baby," I whispered. "They are going to use your child for credit towards your debt, I bet you." "No," Jakeh swallowed. "They're going after my wife and unborn." Elia's jaw tightened. If you want to come, stay close. Don't speak unless we do." She smiled—not happily, but with grim satisfaction. "Already pnned on it." I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but she seemed to have knowledge of things that I hope could help us. But one thing is for sure: I will make sure not to let her out of my sight.