“Give me the file right now,” said LRXA701, her black cloak enveloping her body, making her blend into the midnight darkness. The cloak covered all traces of her bright maroon hair. She had agreed to meet her friend behind the convenience store next to UrbanStation 202. The store was dimly lit, with only a flickering neon sign in the front and no light in the back, leaving complete darkness and privacy. It was the year 2101, in what used to be North America. Now most of Canada and at least half of the United States had transformed into desolate land. This UrbanStation was in the northern United States, now known as the central area of the country Fowuorih.

“Lura, I don’t know-” replied SYXA047, her eyes averting the sharp stare of her partner. Lura and Sila knew the rebellion was treason, but they could not keep the corrupt government running. Words, food, and technology were always under control by the government. Even now, being in a public area and speaking about this was extremely dangerous.

“You know what I’m talking about, Sila. We’ve been discussing this for weeks,” LRXA701 said, her blue eyes darting around the dark alley, checking for drones, which reported everything to the government, specifically those closest to the royal family.

“Well- I don’t have it on me at the moment. I have them in the underground base, in my office,” Sila mumbled, stumbling over her words. Their rebellion base was made of many rounded, dark, underground offices. Each office was small. They were connected by a clean tunnel, accessible to any member. The offices led to a central room, entered through secret entrances.

“I’m not dumb. I know you’d never leave the base without the files, especially that one.” Lura pointed at the shrinkable metal file, which Sila grasped even tighter, filled with information about KNYE001. 

“You’re the worst liar I know,” stated Lura. 

Sila backed away slowly.

“Why would you need it? I mean at the present moment?” Sila stalled.

“You know why, stop evading and hand it over. It’ll quicken the mission drastically. Finally, we can destroy the government. I know you want to help the people. Me too.” she said, her voice echoing in the alley walls.

“I don’t want them to get hurt,” Sila said, her eyes evading Lura’s sharp glare and pooling with tears.

“They won’t get hurt,” Lura said as her voice rose, so mad that she almost started to scream.

“No, I could never. You know I can’t. No matter what happens, he’s still my father.”

“A terrible one. You can, Sila, I know you can.”

“Please, please. No,” Sila sobbed, “Not my family. I can’t give you the file.” She added, “I won’t let you,” 

Lura’s face dropped. She said, “This is too important, Sila.”

Lura put the taser to Sila’s side, who instantly fell into a heap. Lura whispered as she picked up the metal file from Sila’s hands, “I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

***

When Sila woke up, she was lying in bed, her blue covers tucked up to her chin. She looked around her room. Strange, why was she home? She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Then, she noticed an open closet door. The spare bed had been pulled out. There was Lura.

“Glad to see you’re up. Sila,” she said, with a smirk, holding the shrinkable metal folder, which could compress itself at a button. Sila tried to grab the file but ended up falling.

“You wouldn't dare,” Sila gritted her teeth as she tried to bolt out of the bed. The file sat on the metal table, with two yellow plush chairs. She was so close yet so far.

“You should get more rest,” Lura said, her eyes slightly shifting to the ground, away from Sila’s scowl. Lura looked into Sila’s eyes and said, “I’m sorry. You know perfectly well that it was necessary, right?”

“Well-, what did you do to me?” Sila said, trying to maintain the fierceness she’d felt when waking up. She was breaking under Lura’s sincerity; kindness broke her far more quickly than cruelty.

“I tried not to hurt you, you know,” Lura explained. “I only tasered you, and added in some hurt-me-not for good measure to numb your legs. Without it, you would have ripped me to pieces this morning.”

Sila snorted. She was less angry than exasperated. “I’m not going to let you take the file.”

“Whatever. Well, at least eat breakfast.”

“No, I feel sick. I’m heading back to sleep.”

As Sila’s vision blurred and she drifted off to sleep, Lura laughed, “That was easy.” 

***

The UrbanStation had pink vibrant neon signs outside and inside. One main sign said UrbanStation in bold pink neon letters. Other signs were arrows directing people to their stations. In general, the tunnel-like structure was dark, usually lit up by the bustle and signs. It was so busy, with urbandwellers running around to catch their speedy metroengine that they didn't see Lura drag a bag shaped like a human, onboard.

***

Lura read a currentstory as Sila slept on.

Thirty minutes into the ride, Sila gasped awake and screamed, “How dare you!”

“It’s only 3 more hours.”

Sila groaned, grasping a metal bar by her seat as she looked around the sparse metroengine for a bilebox. Lura sat in the pink chairs, lined up one by one by the gray metallic wallpaper. After a few minutes, Sila sat down, tired. 

“I can NOT do this any longer,” Sila groaned. She pushed a button on her armrest, and a shelf came out. Then she grabbed a currentstory and started to read, massaging her temples.

Lura smiled out of the corner of her mouth. “Don’t complain, it’s not for too long. Anyways, don’t stay annoyed like that, it’s very unhealthy.” 

Sila snapped, “Says you.” She turned away but suppressed a small smile, which disappeared as she looked outside to see a large fortress in the distance.

“Look, I’m sorry. But you need to get over it. It’s what your mother wanted. It’s what you want. It’s what I want. No one’s going to get hurt. This plan will literally help so many people. It’s why you joined the Rebellion. If you want to leave now, do it,” Lura said.

Sila averted her eyes, “I know, I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s just…”

“Yeah, I get it.” Lura set down her currentstory, closed her eyes, and drifted to sleep, knowing she needed to conserve her energy for the adventure ahead.

The voiceover announced that they were now in Vidsposa.

They walked out of UrbanStation783 and walked the road to the fortress, which loomed ominously in front of them. The tall, steel building towered over them as they prepared to enter. The almost never-ending maze of lush green hedges and traps surrounded the mansion, with three main screens, one portraying the family’s name, Vyispah, and two others that played sponsored ads, capturing the family's wealth. There were windows on the back of the castle but none on the front. Water sprayed into a moat out of golden crests engraved into the wall. 

Right away, Sila and Lura started to scout the area, circling the front perimeter. Lura waved Sila to a large bush put aside by LSXE for them to hide in. They dove into the green leafy plant, hollow on the inside. They crouched down inside the terracotta pot.

“Rope?” asks Lura immediately as protocol.

“Check!” replies Sila, looking in the black knapsack bag and finding a rope.

“Taser?” 

“Check!”

“Gun?”

“Check!”

“Putouter?”

“Check!”

“Best-aid-kit?”

“Check!”

“Emergency cubes?”

“Check!”

“Hanglider?”

“Check!”

“Dark glasses?”

“Check!”

“Now, we just need to wait for Laos,” Lura sighed. “He’ll come soon, I hope.”

The pair waited for an eternity, cramped in the potted plant, until they heard a voice. Laos, the often energetic gardener of the house of Vyispah and a devout rebellion member dropped them near the maze.

“Yes, I got it,” Laos shouted. “Oh, to be PRUNED? I hope that you have a great day.”

“Get ready for a bumpy ride,” Lura groaned as the footsteps grew louder and louder.

“Get ready to be dropped-” Sila said. As she said those words, Laos dropped the pot at the maze entrance, a door leading to a tunnel. After Sila quickly did the combination lock, the two sprinted into the labyrinth. 

Geon, the family’s strict butler and loyal follower of the monarchy, roared his disapproval at the clumsy act.

“Didn’t mean to drop the plant!” The rest of his voice faded into nothing as Sila and Lura sat down in the tunnel and rested before traveling further. 

Sila popped an emergency cube, squares of dehydrated food, into her mouth, and the two drank water. They chatted about their plans, and Sila described the maze. “It’s full of traps, riddles, and dead ends. I barely remember the path. The first obstacle is a riddle.”

Lura and Sila walked up to the riddle. Lura, who solved puzzles in her free time, solved the problem faster than expected.

Click! The lock opened, and Sila sighed. Lura glanced at the crossways, one leading to certain death, the other to the fortress, and said, “Oh boy. We have a long way to go.”

Sila piped, “Don’t go that way, it leads to a lava pit.”

***

After traveling for a few hours, Sila and Lura emerged from the maze. “Ow,” Lura said, stretching her body, tired after crawling through the chute. “It’s lucky you knew your way around here. We could have died.”

The green grass slowly swayed with the wind as they searched the lawn, looking for traps. As they crawled, the two motion sensors, hastily installed, did not pick them up. The two cautiously entered. The sky was dusky, the stars shining.

Lura flicked the putouter, which turned off all the lights, then Lura and Sila crept in wearing nightgoggles. The doors to the mansion were edged in gold. A velvety red carpet led them from the doors to a fountain as they looked into the mansion. On top of the fountain was the centerpiece of the house, an enlarged replica of the diamond they needed. The intricately etched metal floor with gold leaf that spiraled around the fountain and the carved, golden staircase exuded the luxury that only the rich could access.

 They stuck to the steel walls patterned with gold and embedded with gems, making their way up the stairs. As they snuck up, they attracted no attention. They sprinted into a gorgeous hall with walls holding many golden-framed paintings.

“The Hall of Pictures,” Lura breathed, looking at the masterpieces — pictures of everything, from portraits of the family to paintings of food.

 “It should be an apple,” Lura said. They looked around for the portrait. 

“Found it,” Sila breathed. The apple was glossy, almost 3-D, with a protruding, brown stem.

“If we press the stem,” Lura said, holding down the brown stem, “The button!”

The portrait opened to a tunnel, long and narrow.

“So do we just go in?” Lura asked.

“Well, I’m not sure…?”

“It’s your house-” Lura began.

“Well, it’s not like my father told me everything about this stupid house,” Sila snapped. “I guess we enter. What are we supposed to do besides that? Wait for the gem to fly to us?”

Lura sighed and took a step into the tunnel, cold and dark.  Sila was only one foot behind her.

Within ten feet of being in the tunnel, a warm sensation filled the room. 

“Step back,” Lura said. Red, hot lava started to ooze down from the above.

“Run,” Lura commanded. The pair ran deeper into the tunnel, narrowly missing a thick drop of lava. The two panted, relieved that they had not been burned. 

Moments later, Lura dropped an emergency cube to test the next trap. A spike, made of steel, shot up from a hole in the ground. Sila gasped. 

Lura looked grimly at Sila and commanded her, “Give me the rest of the emergency cubes.” 

Sila tossed her the pack and said, “I told you we should have left for Mars when we had a chance...”

Lura snorted and sprinkled the cubes onto the ground. Almost 10 spikes popped up. They wiggled through them and saw a small light at the end of the tunnel. 

“The light better be that stupid diamond,” said Sila.

They crept into the room at the end. Their eyes surveyed the area and fell on a simple metal safe. The safe did not have the intense complexity of the other traps: only a single combination lock blocked them from the diamond.

Sila racked her brain and typed in her father’s birthday. Beep. Only two more tries. Her mother’s birthday? Beep. One more try. She glanced at the detonator. Her mother - Her mother! She typed in her mother’s name, and the safe swung open to reveal the diamond. 

Sila slowly picked it up, her hands wrapping around the diamond, barely the size of her fist. She could feel the electrical vibrations through her gloves. The symbol of oppression and royal power was in her hands. It was so much taken from the people, just so her father could show off. It would provide materials to feed people and build new technology. Yet, for decades, it had been trapped in this house. Her mother, her sweet, wonderful mother, had wanted to share it. Sila and Lura watched it color-change, glittery and beautiful. This colorful, clear diamond would help create a new world.