Andrea was calm as she brushed herself off and sat down at her kitchen table with a cup of tea. The room shook now and then, and she was well aware that all the servants in the house were running around in panic.

Reed appeared at the doorway, short of breath and shocked at the sight of her sitting down, so calm.

"For the love of the Colony, Andrea. The System says an E in Cerberus is breaking down. Why are you still here?" The man paused and blinked. "How'd you lose weight so suddenly? But thank the Colony because, honestly, I wasn't going to say anything, but you were getting kinda gross."

Still staring at the table, Andrea drank without regarding him. The room shook again, and the tremor made several things fall from the shelves along the wall.

Andrea sat there even as the man decided to think of his own well-being and sought safer ground. She sat there as the lights dimmed and flashed red, a clear indication that something dangerous was about to hit the Colony. She sat there and did nothing but drink from her cup.

When her tea was finished, she got up and poured herself more. When that supply ended, and she found that the heat and the electricity were shut off to prevent further damage to the Colony, she didn't care. She just sat and waited.

She wasn't sure just how long it took for the power to be restored and the people of the Colony to return. They'd all been evacuated into the System itself, and one by one they fell from the wall and lumbered to their feet. She paid them no mind. All she knew for certain was that Gara wasn't there in the morning like she had anticipated. Gara, who was desperate for any news of Midge, wasn't there bright and early to bang her door down and demand a detailed rundown of the meeting, begging to know how Midge looked, how he talked, and if he had asked about her. The fact that she hadn't come made Andrea curious.

Andrea didn't bother to call for the System. She decided that for the first time in over a year, she wanted to walk somewhere. She walked for hours, and by the time she reached Gara's door, she was just in time to see a mass of people rushing down the tunnel carrying a gurney.

She'd recognize Gara's voice anywhere. "Be careful! Don't touch his skin. Get his head higher. Up, up. It's too low. You, move your arse; you're letting him sag."

They arrived carrying someone, and Andrea awoke from the trance-like state of mind. Midge was huge. He didn't appear to be six-foot-three; he looked like a giant. His body was large and broad, and he was so big that he hung off the thick fabric under him. Since he was lying down, Andrea couldn't tell how tall he was, but she'd wager that the E was well past six-foot-six and maybe even closer to six-foot-eight or six-foot-nine.

Something else was different. Midge's hair was shoulder-length but appeared uneven. In spite of the blue-haired E's size, Gara seemed larger than life as she instructed her servants on what to do and how to carry him. The four men who hefted the ends of the gurney were well built, but that didn't seem to help.

Gara caught sight of Andrea, and although the smaller woman had never ignored Andrea before, today, at this moment, her world only existed and revolved around her sleeping E.

Andrea made sure to slip into the house with them, certain that Gara wouldn't care. Andrea watched as Gara ordered everyone to wear a bodysuit. The suit was similar to the armor that the Colony's ELETE guards wore. It reached from their necks to their ankles, and the rest was taken care of with a pair of black gloves.

After Gara herself stripped naked, she slipped into a large pool-size bathtub to hold Midge up as several people bathed him. Andrea watched as Gara boxed some hands away from Midge while calling for others to pick up the slack elsewhere. And when the E was dragged from the tub bare, a silver chain hanging around his neck, Andrea followed them, much like a silent ghost observing the land of the living.

Midge was washed and cleaned and left to sleep in the kitchen on layers and layers of soft blankets laid out for him.

Andrea wondered why the kitchen, but then she wondered where London had died. If it had been in this house, in the bedroom perhaps, it would make sense that Gara wasn't keen on going there with Midge.

Gara, dressed in a white bathrobe, shooed everyone away after the dinner was prepared and put in various panels that would keep the food edible for a few hours, if not days.

When Midge was settled, the chatter in the house died down. Gara dragged Midge until the man's head was in her lap, and she wore a dreamy smile as she stroked the smooth brow.

"It worked." Gara closed her eyes and exhaled. "It really worked." Though Andrea didn't ask for clarification, the smaller woman smiled and continued, "I went to Red last night and broke down. I begged her to let me come with you to meet them, and she said no. And I lost it and called her every name I could. But she calmed me down and told me...I'm making this for myself. I'm doing all this. My hate, my anger; it's eating at Midge and me. She said that I should forgive myself and apologize to London." Gara snorted out a derisive laugh. "I thought she was crazy."

Andrea didn't have a response. She considered that this might be her own actual story soon enough, but it seemed quite unlikely now. A dagger made sure of that.

Gara watched the path of her fingertips as she traced Midge's stern jaw. She shook her head and admitted, "I started bawling. And then it hit me." When her index finger reached Midge's pink lips, it lingered there. "I was sorry this all happened. I was so sorry. And as soon as I said it, the System gave an evacuation notice because some E was about to lose control and rip through."

Gara waited but Andrea had nothing to offer. The smaller woman sounded more content than she had in the past month and a half.

"I thought my heart would stop when I saw Midge holding onto Tan. Red said Midge had given all his energy to Tan, to help him keep control. Then the Colony debated what to do, and they decided that if both E's were drained then the Colony would be gawed, so they kicked out the weakest one and left the amped-up one for the rest of the term."

Gara smiled as she looked up into Andrea's eyes.

"Three months. He's out now, and he's here, and...." She sighed, the calmest Andrea remembered ever seeing her. "We're free, and I have training as an Assist. I can take care of him now."

Andrea spoke for the first time in twelve hours. "You're still bound by your section. You're wasting your time."

The smile grew wider. "Before I sat down here, as soon as I felt his pulse steady, I registered him as my husband with this section. By morning we'll be out on our asses, but that doesn't matter. With the combat training Red's given me, I can sign up for a Colony job as a guard. That'll give us room and board. As for the rest...well, to hell with it. I don't mind working the mines. Just so long as I'm with Midge."

It had been more than a year since Andrea had felt dislike for anyone. Her past animosity for Gara came back in full force, and Andrea despised her at that very moment. Something else caught her attention, though.

"And Tan?"

"He's got another nine months to serve." Gara said, "And judging from the way you left him, I'm guessing he's safer right where he is." Gara was gentle when she pushed the sheets back to reveal Midge's stomach and the star-shaped scar on his right abdomen. "So you stabbed Tan with a Slave-Driver? I'd know because that's how I forced Midge to come with me when he said no." She traced the scar. "And you made Tan give you your image back, even though you knew what it'd do to him." She looked Andrea over and sighed. "The Colony won't hunt you down for injuring your E...isn't that gawed up? They won't bother you, if that's what you're worried about. I can't say the same for your conscience, though. We all have to live our lives, Andrea. And you've got to live yours and make your own mistakes, too. I just wish you wouldn't be so hell-bent on making them."

Andrea chewed her bottom lip as she stared through the happy couple, not really seeing them at all. "I...I'd decided to just leave him alone, but he did something unforgivable, and I...I snapped. Next thing I knew, I put my hand on his forehead, took the image there, and left. I didn't care what happened next."

"You put the lives of people in the Colony in danger. What could have possibly been that awful?"

"He insulted my grandfather." When Gara's lips parted in surprise, Andrea was grateful for the understanding. "So you see—"

"Don't you dare." Gara's eyes glazed. "Don't you dare tell me you put that piece of shit Abraham over the Colony?"

It was Andrea's turn to be surprised, but that surprise turned to anger. "Watch what you say."

"No," Gara said, sympathetic. "You live your life in a bubble, Andrea. You only see what you want to see. Your mother's been through hell, your brother is borderline wicked, and your father is a distant memory. Yet you refuse to acknowledge any of it. Anything that's bad or negative, you just run, and you keep running till you go right off the edge without noticing you were even headed for a fall." She paused and shuddered. "That very name makes me sick. Abraham was by far the worst person ever born, and it amazes me that you can't admit to that."

"You piece of impshit...."

"Andrea." Gara shook her head. "You ever asked your mother what she has against you? I mean, seriously opened your mouth and asked 'why do you hate me?' Well, I can tell you what it is; it's the same reason you hate me right now."

Andrea leaned away as if she'd been struck. "I don't hate you."

"Sure you do. You hate me for nothing but jealousy. I'm lying here with the man I love, who loves me. I have something you can't get, and now you know you'll never have. And you don't have it in you to be happy for me, so you do the only other thing you can do to something you can't have—you hate it. And you direct that hate toward the one at the center of it, me. And that's what she did to you. She's jealous of you, beyond jealous of you, and it's so bad that it's driving her crazy."

"Jealous?" Andrea asked in awe. "Of what?"

"The fact that you got away. And the fact that she couldn't."

"Got away from what?"

"From the monster."

Twelve Years Earlier...

Mario's tone of voice was usually gentle, and this time was no different. "Johann Andreas Amund A., Johann Andreas Artur M., Johann Andreas Askel L., and Johann Andreas N. There are four of us. Your grandfather is Johann Andreas Amund. I looked it up once after I got prepped about the family and the titles. I searched the archive and it said Amund meant 'protector.' Artur means 'brave,' Askel means 'father of peace' or something like that, and Andreas...well." Mario crouched down to meet his daughter's gaze. The girl's big blue eyes widened, and she was given a small smile because her anticipation was sure to end with a big letdown.

"It just means 'man,' or 'warrior' or something." When the child's posture sagged, Mario hurried to recover. "But a warrior's good, Andrea, isn't it?"

The girl was small for her eight years. Although her arms and legs were rather thin, her round face radiated joy whenever she smiled. Like everyone in her family, she had jet black hair and blue eyes. She was being prepped by her father, a young man in his early thirties. Her father was Johann Andreas Artur M., and the boy of fourteen beside the small child was Johann Andreas Askel L.

While the other Andreas were called by different call names, Johann Andreas was simply Andrea.

Andrea's voice was soft. "Mario?"

Her father smiled. "Yeah, hon?"

"What's my name gonna be?"

Mario was the only one Andrea knew who wore glasses. Thin round frames that hung from his nose. He was crouched down before the children, fixing Askel's hair. Andreas Askel's call name was Lars, but sometimes Mario called him Kel for short, mostly when he was in trouble.

"I don't know, cutie. We'd have to see about that."

Andrea wasn't given the same care and treatment that was going into Lars's hair and eyebrows, but she watched with interest, her knees pressed against her chest, her eyes wide.

"Tell me about the Colony again, please."

Mario sighed. "I don't have the time right now, Andrea."

"Please...."

That whine didn't come often, but when it did, Mario always gave in.

"Fine. The Colony where we live was founded generations ago as a research facility."

"Why?"

"To study stuff. They kept people in cages at first, then in designated areas, then in sections, and it just kept expanding to hold as many different types of people as possible."

"Why?"

"Andrea." Mario sighed in frustration, but he made the mistake of looking into the girl's eyes, and the onset of tears made him hurry to recover. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to make that scary voice." Andrea didn't cry, and Mario waited a moment before trying to explain. "To find E's. They wanted to find E's, so they gathered people from all over the world. A small amount but then more and more. They found some, but then things got a bit...messy. You know?"

Andrea looked up to see Lars guided into a short waistcoat.

"Messy? You mean we lost the sun?"

"Yes—" The man hesitated but continued, "Sorta. They say an E sunk the Colony deep underground to punish us. To punish everyone."

"And E's are magic, right?"

Mario smiled; the enthusiasm warmed his heart. "Yeah. They're magic, and you can make a wish if you find one."

"Did they find any E's in the research fac...facility or whatever?"

"Sure. Tons."

"So they got tons of wishes then?"

Mario looked down to his child and crouched down to meet her. "Not really, hon." Upon hearing a soft voice cry out from the other room, Mario looked up to Lars, his eyes pleading. "That's Dom. Could you get him?"

Andrea stared up at Mario, confused. "You said they found E's. If they found them, didn't they want their wishes?"

Mario sat down, folded his legs, and propped his elbows on his knees. When the toddler was brought in and sat down beside Andrea, Lars put a toy car in the boy's hands to keep him busy.

"Look at Dom for a sec. You see him?"

Andrea did as she was told and watched as the boy banged the toy, trying to open various parts of it that weren't designed to be opened.

"People are kinda like big kids sometimes. When we find something, we have to take it apart to see how it works. Even though doing that will break it, we do it anyway, you know?" When tears swelled in Andrea's eyes again, Mario asked, "What's wrong?"

"They took E's apart?"

The grim reality of his own words took Mario's power of speech. Lars touched his shoulder, and he remembered himself and looked up to his eldest son.

"Is it time?"

"Yes." Lars's blue eyes settled on Andrea. "What about Andrea?"

Mario shook his head to answer him and gave Andrea a small smile. "Andrea, sweetheart. You remember what I said? When you're asked to sing, what should you do?"

Andrea raised her eyebrows. "Make a funny sound?"

"Show me."

The girl opened her mouth to sing, and Mario's eyes darkened.

"Not like that. I told you, you make it sound...sound like when Dom cries or something. Do you hear?"

"She can just do what she always does and not say anything." Whenever Lars spoke, it was careful and controlled. People often thought he was exhausted or uninterested because his voice held little power to it in normal speech. "But maybe it'd be better if she sang. She's really good, and we could probably get some more food for her. Look at her; her ribs are sticking out."

"No!" Mario seldom snapped at them, but he was getting fed up. "If she sings like that, he'll...." His drive faded from him as he looked down to Andrea with a heavy heart. "Father'll break her. She won't be able to leave. It's better if he throws Andrea away. She can get away that way." He looked Lars in the eye, finally. "Somebody has to leave. Someone has to." He was gentle when he reached down to Andrea and helped her up. "We're going now."

The child planted her feet and tried to pull away, but Mario's grip was firm.

"I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go," Andrea cried.

"I know, sweetie. But it's only for a minute. I promise. And I won't leave your side. I'll be holding your hand the entire time. Please just don't be difficult right now. We have to go. Please." When Mario crouched down, he held the girl's shoulders and looked like he himself was in danger of getting upset. "Look at me. I promise we'll be all right. You know I'd never break a promise."

The girl's stomach growling caused Mario to sigh, and he stood, holding her hand.

"Be brave. Your name means 'warrior,' remember? So you gotta be tough. Come on."

They emptied from the room into the expansive hall flanked by pillars. Andrea dragged her feet while Lars carried the small toddler. They came to a stop in the courtyard, and Andrea hid herself behind her father when she heard the slow and deliberate scraping sounds she dreaded. She never knew which direction the sound was coming from because she always had her eyes shut tight. She tried to be good, though, knowing Mario didn't want his suit crushed or dirtied. She had to stand on her own. That idea was short-lived as soon as she saw the bony hand coming out to touch her head.

The skin felt cold and clammy on her face as the soft voice spoke. "She is handsome. But useless otherwise."

Mario swallowed hard before bowing his head. "I know that, Father, but...but if we could get a little more food—"

"Everybody earns their keep here. If she does nothing, she gets nothing. That's all. Did you teach her yet?"

With a slight nod, Mario patted Andrea's head. "Go on, Andrea; can you do that dance I showed you?"

Andrea looked up at him, her eyes wide. "The liber dance?"

Mario almost smiled. "River dance, sweetie. Could you do that one?"

The demonstration was the best one Mario had ever seen, but when it ended and he didn't hear a word of praise or even a slight sound of approval, he frowned.

"And the singing?" the screechy voice asked.

Andrea's stomach growled as she met Mario's careful gaze. The child did something then that she'd never done—she lost faith in her father and thought of her own gut.

Her voice was soft at first and rose higher and higher with such a powerful force that it echoed even after her singing had ended.

Mario was aghast, and Andrea shrunk away from him in fear.

Later, in their room, Lars and Mario yelled while Dom cried. Mario paced back and forth. He gave Andrea a look filled with disgust and disappointment, and Andrea, still eating the cookie she'd gotten for singing so nicely, welled up with tears and opened the door and ran.

She still had the bag of cookies in her hand as she found herself slowing to a walk. A sudden sound made her freeze, but she wasn't afraid because the only monster she knew was the one who always came by and asked that she dance or sing. Then it would go back into that awful room with the faces carved into the steel—the ones with the funny letters.

"Hallo."

The cookie fell from her lips as she looked up to the ceiling and froze. A blond boy was sitting there, defying gravity right before her eyes.

"Wow. How can you do that?"

The boy studied her. Then he jumped to the floor and bowed, his voice reverberating as he talked a mile a minute in a language Andrea couldn't understand.

"A sound," the boy said in English. "I heard a sound." His short blond hair was all the more prominent against his lightly tanned skin. His eyes were brown, and he wore black from head to toe. He extended his gloved hand with a smile. "Royce."

Andrea blinked. "Royce? Your name is Royce?" The boy nodded, and Andrea wiped her cookie-crumbed hands on her dress before shaking the hand offered to her. "I'm Johann Andrea."

"Oh." Royce looked around her to the hall. "I heard a sound. A nice sound. It was a song about a Tannenbaum."

"Tannenbaum?"

"Yes. Did you hear it?"

"Huh?" Andrea's gaze traveled up to the ceiling once again then she smiled. "Are you an E?"

The boy blinked, surprised. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

***

Mario nearly flew out of his skin when the door opened and Andrea's excited chatter erupted.

"Mario, Mario! I found an E!" The girl rushed in. "And I made my wish already. I made it!"

After catching her, Mario put Andrea to stand and crouched beside her. "Sweetheart, slow down. What are you talking about?"

"I told him about the monster in that scary room with the words, and I told him I wish the monster would go away, and he said he'd go to get rid of it for me."

Mario narrowed his brow, but then his eyes widened in doubt and fear. "Are you saying someone else is here, Andrea?"

"Yes! An E. He's going to save us!"