….

My legs dangle from the top of the skyscraper. I look down at the busy city below which I've nicknamed “the cage.” I can faintly hear people talking, cars honking. The people down below are so small, they look like ants. “They act it too,” I think to myself, only because it's true. They're all just mindlessly following “the supremes,” they think they know everything about this world, they don't question a thing. I'm smarter though, smart enough to realize that this place is harsh and cold and fake and none of it is real. I'm smart enough to realize  the “all knowing supremes” are just a clever ruse they have taught us to believe. I'm smart enough to realize that free will doesn't exist anymore, every choice you think you make, every decision, every “fork in the road” is all a lie. They control it all. This reality that we're living in is designed to keep us happy, happy enough so that no one ever questions it. They dangle opportunities and the “perfect life” right in front of our faces like a carrot on a stick. They keep us content. But glitches happen, that's how I lost my parents all those years ago. In a way, it freed me, I woke up to reality. 

After the incident happened I was empty. I had nothing. Grief was eating me up from the inside and I couldn't do anything about it. That's when they came. All I could do was run. I ran for days, city turned into county and country turned into desolate plains. Until I reached it. “The end.” But it's not the end. My 10 year old brain couldn't fathom what it was at the time. I was lost, lost in a world without happiness, so lost that I couldn't see what was in front of my own two eyes. Not the end, as I thought it was, but a forcefield, a forcefield, trapping us all in. I don't know what happened out there but something did because when I returned to the city it was like nothing had happened, no one was chasing me, I was off their radar. They wouldn't have given up that easily though, I was a virus in their system, about to mess it all up. With all their tech I'm sure they could have found me. My best guess is that something happened when I hit that forcefield, and to this day I don't know what. And to other people in the city it's like I'm not even there. I've tried to get their attention, waving my hand in front of their faces, screaming and yelling, but it's like they can't see me.

I don't know why they do it. but I will take down this lie. I’ll do whatever it takes. Because I'm not going to live in a reality where I'm being controlled and manipulated, I won't…  

The wind blows, thrashing my hair around. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I take it out. It's Finch. “Hey” I answer, “What's up?” 

“Kea wants you.” 

“On my way.” I reply. 

    I stand up and look to the sky. If you’re high enough you can see the faint sparkle of the forcefield that traps us. I scowl for the last time as I jump off the building.  

~End of chapter one~

    I'm falling, the ground gets closer and closer, wind rushes through my hair and I can't seem to catch a breath. I'm within feet of the concrete now. I don't even brace for impact and there's almost no adrenaline in my body, I've done this too much. Right when I should hit the ground, I fall through it. Warmth spreads around me and I'm floating in bright, blue light. The machine whirrs and clicks off and I'm suddenly dropped to the floor. I attempt to plant my feet but I slip back at the last second. I hit the floor with a hard thud. I hear a voice in front of me.

    “And she falls… again” 

    “Oh shut up Pigeon, we all know you can't do any better!” I respond embarrassed.  

    “Just teasing you Raven,” he says calmly, “here.” Pigeon reaches out his hand. I take it reluctantly and he pulls me up.

 “Jeez, what have you been eating lately?” he asks, jokingly. I punch him in the arm. “Ow, hey! I was just kidding, I was just kidding!” He says laughing. I huff. We walk in silence for a while, following the maze of white hallways. The lack of windows and all of the fluorescent lighting makes the underground hideout appear almost hospital-like.

How did you know I was coming?” I ask.

“I looked into my little glass ball and saw the future this morning.” He says, waving his hands dramatically in the air. 

“Sure.” I roll my eyes. 

“Yeah, you're right, Finch told me.” 

“I figured.” 

“And also,” 

“Yeah?” I ask.

“Kea told me to come as well.” 

“Must be another mission, I'm surprised she gave us one so soon after our previous one.”  I say, giving him a look. 

“Hey! Don't blame me! Yes, I’ll admit that I “forgot” to tell her that the wings were just prototypes but I never expected her to tell us to ACTUALLY use them!” Pigeon is probably the smartest one on the team, even if he doesn't look it- or act it. He’s got a brain for mechanics and is always creating something new. A couple weeks ago he made mechanic wings for all of us but only about half of them worked. The night ended with Finch visibly shaken, Gannet yelling Pigeon's ear off and Lyre laughing like a maniac after they almost plummeted to their deaths (via the wings.) I shudder.

We continue through the building. Around us are the invisible, the “viruses” that found out the hard truth about the world, one way or another. We're here because we all share something in common- we want to be free, free like the birds outside the forcefield- not caged ones. 

Back when I first became “invisible” I had nowhere to go, no home. I wandered the streets for days, alone, cold and hungry. Until I was kidnapped. I was knocked out and when I woke up I was alone again, In a white room with a plate of food in front of me. I stuffed my face with that food, I was scarfing it down when she came in. Kea. I remember seeing her and immediately knowing she was powerful. She was tall. Her brown hair was cut straight and clean, resting on her jaw. She was wearing an orange suit and her eyes seemed to pierce me. She didn't smile, nor frown, she told me I had one of two choices. 

“You may return to the surface if that's what you desire.” She told me. “Or you can stay here with us, never having to worry about food or a place to sleep. You can make a difference here with us, you saw it yourself- the forcefield, it cages us, traps us in. You can help us to create a better world. You can help us make sure that no child will ever have to go through what you did. You can be free.” 

Once I agreed Kea renamed me. “You will now be known as Raven” She said and I have been Raven to this day. She also assigned me a team, a team I would go on missions with, a team that  I would risk my life with, a team that essentially became my family. That's how I met Pigeon. I trained so I could please her. After all, she saved me and gave me a family, she was going to be the reason that we would all escape. I owe her my life. 

Pigeon and I take a turn, we know this place by heart, we have lived here basically  our whole lives. We reach a tall door. 

“You ready?” He asks me, cocking his head to the side. 

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He approaches the door and pushes it, a voice calls out to us. 

“Welcome children!”

~End of chapter two~