Rory snuck toward Theodore's office. She heard Decha talking earlier, so she assumed he must've come home early. She was happy about it because she wanted to ask him a few questions about her father.

She pressed her back against the wall, beside the door frame and waited for him to come out. She wanted to spook him a bit to see his reaction, as she was feeling a little mischievous today.

The moment she saw a black boot step out, she sprung forward and yelled 'Boo!'. But to her dismay, it wasn't Decha, but Theodore Chen himself. He stopped and glared at her.

Rory quickly straightened her shoulders and stepped aside, keeping her gaze on the ground. "I'm sorry, I thought... I just..." Rory stuttered, knowing very well that Theodore was the least patient with her out of all of the Chen household.

"I wouldn't recommend you trying that on N96. He doesn't take kindly to trickery or foolish pranks." Theodore's tone was dark and harsh, but he was very direct. He kept his eyes ahead and marched down the hall, leaving Rory more than nervous.

Decha stepped out soon after, and he almost passed her. He stopped when he spotted her out of his peripheral. "Rory,"

"Hi," Rory smiled at him and waved her hand.

Decha looked at the clock right above her head. "Did you eat dinner?"

"Yeah,"

"I'll be on my way then," Decha nodded, content with her reply. He brushed by her, but Rory span around quickly and grabbed him by his arm.

"Wait!" Rory stopped him, "There's something I want to ask..."

"What?" Decha relaxed his stoic expression.

"I know it's not possible for me to meet with my father. But..." Rory pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket and held it close to her chest. "I... I want him to know that I'm okay..."

Rory grabbed onto Decha's hands and placed the small paper in the palm. "I wrote him a letter. Could you please give it to him?"

"It's not possible." Decha gave the paper back to her. "Criminals with a high threat level aren't allowed to receive or send material while in the Agency's custody. It's a precautionary measure that Sector A takes."

"Oh..." Rory frowned. "Well can you tell him what I have to say? When you go back to the Agency?"

"I..." Decha rubbed the back of his neck, figuring out how to reject her request without telling her what exactly was going on. He had to focus on proving that Jamison was innocent. With only 6 days left, he wouldn't have the time.

Not only that, but Jamison was placed under strict security. It would be hard to approach him without authorization from the Council.

"Not likely." Decha responded softly. Rory clenched her fist causing the paper to become wrinkled and grimaced. "I'm busy with the case, and some of the investigation I have to do won't involve him."

"Is there no way for me to speak with him? Or—"

Decha poked Rory in the head, stopping her before she began endless rambling. "You're worrying again."

"It's... it drives me nuts knowing that he's not that far away. And I can't see him, or say anything."

"I assure you. When I've sorted things out, you'll be able to speak with him and see him again." Decha promised her. He was willing to go all the way to solve this case. It was a heavy weight on his shoulders, but he didn't mind it.

Rory grinned and exhaled softly. "Thank you." She stood on her tippy toes and embraced him. Before Decha could reciprocate, Rory pressed her lips against the side of his face and kissed him gently.

His eyes widened and his face went red. He barely got a chance to make a comment when Rory pushed him away and scurried off down the hall.

Rather than allowing himself to be flustered, he tapped the screen of his watch and dialed a phone number. The line rang for a few seconds before they picked up.

"N9899," Decha called before Jax could say anything.

"N96..." Jax yawned dramatically and mumbled. "That was a good nap."

"You can't afford to sleep when the Sun has barely set." Decha snapped.

"Relax, I was joking. I just wanted to hear your reaction."

"Cut it out. We're not close enough to have such irrelevance in our conversations."

"Still afraid to admit that we're work buddies?"

Decha rolled his eyes. There were times where he could tolerate Jax's younger mentality, but there were some pressing times when Decha wanted to punch him in the throat.

"6 AM tomorrow, be here."

"Why?"

"I want you to look after Rory while I thoroughly investigate Kilos. After what happened to all the Refugees, I don't think it's wise to leave Rory unattended for too long."

"So... are you asking me to do you a favor?"

"I'm commanding you to do your job."

"My Job is to protect the Sectors and study for my upcoming trial to become a member of the Council. Babysitting Rory isn't in my agenda or my responsibility. So it SOUNDS like you're ASKING me to do you a FAVOR." Jax teased.

"N9899, what difference does it make?" Decha grumbled.

"Friends ask for favors." Jax hummed. "Close friends."

"We're not friends. We're colleagues. Rory is the last Bracket refugee alive and— why am I having this conversation with you? Get your arse here by 6 AM or else." Decha barked and brushed the bangs out of his face, frustrated.

"I'll be there by 5:30 if you say please."

Decha felt his lips quiver with rage. But he leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.

Jax knew that Decha wasn't an open book. He was doing it on purpose. The reality was, the two were close in some way. Decha wasn't going to acknowledge it to his face though.

"Please." Decha uttered quicker than the sound of a pin dropping.

"Huh?" Jax chuckled, pretending not to hear him.

"Puh... lee... zuh." Decha clenched his teeth and repeated the word, much slower and the syllables were further separated than the first time.

"Puh—what?"

"Please. Be here at 6." Decha said one more time, wanting to take his watch and toss it out of the nearest window.

"Aw, I'll do anything for you, Buddy!" Jax snickered, and Decha rubbed his forehead in embarrassment. "How is she holding up?"

"She's..." Decha sauntered down the hallway, and peered into the living room. Jessica and Rory were by the TV, in a deep conversation together. "She's stable. For now."

"I heard about your chip. And... well, you know."

"That's not something I wanna get into tonight." Decha shook his head, not wanting to talk about him attacking Rory. Decha walked back into Theodore's office and sat on the chair.

"What happened wasn't your fault."

"I know it wasn't." Decha snapped. "I knew that once I heard that a bomb went off by the border again and killed the refugees. Rory was the only one left alive. Deliverance probably couldn't get to her, so he used me to try to kill her off." Decha huffed. "It's so obvious, and Chen still refuses to issue a warrant to search Kilos."

"That day when we were standing guard at the Council Hall, I felt something in my wrist click. Or more like, buzzed or something."

"Like a small vibration?" Decha asked.

"Something like that, yeah."

"I felt it too." Decha groaned. "When I came home, my mind went blank and I started to hallucinate. I wasn't aware of anything outside of that. All I saw was Deliverance, the hologram of him."

"I didn't remember anything I did when I went home either." Jax admitted. "Our ID chips are surgically implanted and installed by Kilos, right? Maybe you'll get a warrant if you tell Director Chen—"

"Already tried that. He still refuses."

"Then I'll tell him my experience." Jax reassured Decha. "You'll get a warrant by tonight. Don't stress about it."

"I'm not stressed." Decha shrugged. "I was going to investigate Kilos even if I didn't get a warrant approved by the Agency."

Jax's laughter rang and even made Decha's lips curl into a smirk. "Why am I not surprised?"

~~~

"Good morning!" Jax stood at Rory's door with a wide smile. It was noon. The sun was out and most of the snow had dried up outside.

Rory slept in. And since Jax wasn't used to her schedule, he worried that something happened to her. Several hours had gone by and she hadn't come out of her room. So he went to check for himself.

Rory stood at the frame with her shoulders hunched over and her hair a mess. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times.

She wondered why the General was standing there. More importantly, why was Decha's colleague pounding on her door like an animal?

"N9899..." Rory started, but Jax held a palm up and stopped her.

"Call me Jax." He leaned in closer to her with a cheesy grin. "Whenever N96 isn't around, you don't have to be so formal."

Rory yawned.

"Are you surprised?" Jax tapped on the frame and straightened his posture. Rory shook her head.

"Not surprised... just... confused."

"Ah, yeah. I don't blame you. I'd also be perplexed if someone I wasn't expecting showed up at my door to wake me up."

"Where's Decha? I mean..." Rory shook her tired head and corrected herself. "N96."

"Decha put me in charge of looking after you for a few days."

"I don't want to be rude. But Why?"

"Because... um..." Jax thought long and hard, trying not to give too much information about the case. "To protect you. You know... you're the last Bracket refugee. I think keeping a close eye on you is wise, especially since you're an easy target."

"He overthinks too much." Rory muttered under her breath. Decha already had plenty of Generals stationed outside that wouldn't allow her to go anywhere. Now he was putting a babysitter in charge of her.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," Rory stepped out of her room and brushed down her messy hair with her fingers.

"You missed breakfast, but I asked the head chef to make you lunch." Jax placed his hands in his pockets and followed Rory down the hallway. "And Decha already told me about your routine. So you'll also be taking your medication when you eat."

"Jax," Rory stopped at the bathroom door and turned to face him. "Why are you following me?"

"Am I?" Jax raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I was just reminding you about the schedule he gave me."

"I know what to do. Eat, drink the bitter tea, go to the infirmary, eat again, study and then free time." Rory frowned. "You don't have to watch me like I'm a child. And Decha doesn't hover over my shoulder all the time."

"I don't mean to come across that way." Jax chuckled nervously. "I'm not really used to... well..."

"Is it because I'm a Bracketer?"

"No, not at all." Jax refused but Rory wasn't fully convinced. She examined his uniform and looked at her feet with a sad expression.

"... You have a lot of star pins, so I'm sure you've been used to keeping your guard up around Bracketers."

"That's... true... but..." Jax sighed.

"I don't have any hate for Astell or Astellian people." Rory stated.

"I didn't think you did." Jax crossed his arms.

"Good, so please... can I have a bit of privacy?"

Jax nodded and Rory closed the door. Sometime later, Rory finished eating lunch and drinking the bitter tea that was treating her illness. Jax wasn't too far when she got up and went to the infirmary.

He stayed very close to her from that point on. Jessica noticed that Rory walked in and smiled, but she saw Jax enter too and the curl in her lips sank.

"N9899," Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. "Please step out."

"Why?"

"Patient confidentiality." Jessica poked his shoulder. "Privacy is very important for Patients."

"It's okay, Mrs. Chen." Rory grumbled. "As long as he stands outside it should be okay." Rory could tell that Jax was just going to do everything Decha probably told him.

Jessica eyed Jax strangely and gestured for Rory to move. "Very well. Sit there and we'll get you scanned."

Jessica tapped a button and the device began to scan Rory's entire figure the moment she sat on the examination table. Rory laid flat on her back, and Jessica helped fixed her position by placing Rory's arms at her sides.

As the data began to load on a holographic display beside the table, Jessica began tapping different buttons on the screen.

"How do you feel?" Jessica looked at Rory.

"Fine,"

"There's no pain in your abdomen, right?"

"A little... but it's not as bad as it was a few days ago."

Jessica turned off the scanner and continued typing. "The good news is that there's nothing new. No new health problems or issues that are detrimental. Just keep taking it easy."

While Jessica spoke with Rory, Jax noticed her frown. The explanation seemed so simple, but he could tell that Jessica wasn't being completely direct with Rory.

Rory thanked Jessica and pushed herself off the table. Jax followed her out of the infirmary and down the hall, back into the living room before Rory finally said something to him.

"I'm going to study."

"You mentioned that earlier, but Grandell is closed isn't it? I've heard that you were a student there."

"Although classes have stopped, I still have to study so I won't be behind when I go back."

"Engineering is your main course of study, right? How long have you been studying it?"

"In Grandell? 6 years. But overall? Pretty much my entire life." Rory played with her fingers.

"What made you... uh... interested in Engineering? It's a draining course of study. I heard it takes a lot of energy out of inventors."

"It... does. But... I feel satisfied when I build or program something that helps others. It's the only way I can give back to the Sectors."

"Don't know if that's the only way," Jax snorted. He stopped chuckling when Rory stopped and turned to him.

"I've been sick for a very long time. I'm not able to go out and contribute like other people. Sector B is full of manual laborers. They keep our country running. And since I'm not able bodied, I can't... accomplish certain tasks." Rory sighed.

"Most of my childhood was spent in a hospital room. Technology in the Brackets isn't as good as it is here. I guess when I found out about the efficient ways Sector A handles resources, I wanted to know more about it."

"Your illness..." Jax started. He felt hesitant because he wasn't sure where the line was. Did Rory feel comfortable enough to talk about her health with him? "It's pretty serious, right? How do you cope with it?"

Jax realized that his question sounded too direct. "I'm just curious. I feel like endurance is one of your strengths."

"IDS can be cured. I just need to get a kidney transplant. The more I think about it in a simple way, the more hope I have." Rory smiled. "Decha—N96, um... I appreciate him for helping me think like that."

"So have they found a donor?"

"I'm not sure... I don't think so." Rory shook her head. "Actually, I wanted to talk with N96 about it. But I'm afraid of what he'll say."

"Do you want to tell me?"

"Um..." Rory shifted her gaze away from him.

"I'm not as intimidating as he is. Don't worry. What questions do you have?" Jax joked with her, but Rory was still concerned. She decided to lower her guard.

"I wanted to ask if it would be possible to ask my father to donate one of his kidneys... he doesn't really know the severity of my condition. But eventually I'll have to let him know. And I know he'd be more than willing to support the surgery."

"Impossible." A voice sneered from their right. Rory and Jax turned their heads and watched as Theodore Chen came inside the room. "Criminals aren't allowed to donate their organs to anyone. It's against Sector A law."

Rory clenched her fists. "My father isn't a criminal."

"Oh? Who do you suppose is the one behind all the bombings that's been happening all around Astell?"

"My... my father was falsely accused and arrested." Rory insisted. She was trying to be respectful, but the anger within her was boiling over.

"Get your facts straight, Bracketer." Theodore stepped forward and glared at her. "Jamison Clarke was the one who turned himself in. He admitted to the crime himself."

"That's not true." Rory denied it. If that were the case, Decha would have told her.

"Believe what you want. I don't have to answer to a Bracket woman." Theodore rolled his eyes. "If you're going to get a kidney, you'll receive it from a Bracketer."

"Why not from an Astellian?" Jax challenged him mildly, and Theodore huffed.

"Because the Astellians who are sick have top priority. Why waste a kidney coming from a healthier body on a Bracketer who lives in poverty?" Theodore explained. "That's like taking a brand new battery and putting it in an old rusty toy."

"Just because the living conditions in Sector B aren't as fancy as here doesn't mean we don't deserve the treatment Astell gets." Rory spat, having enough of holding in her frustration.

"I won't argue with you. You'll just have to wait for a donor." Theodore shook his head and brushed by her. The shove was harsh and almost knocked Rory down. At that point, she lost all self control.

"Is it too much for me to ask to live? I don't want to be kept in a hospital for all my life. I don't want to go through any more treatments!" Rory snarled at him, causing Theodore to stop. "You look down on me. For what? Because my family wasn't built on wealth? I didn't ask for my life to be like this!"

"Talking back to a General in that kind of tone won't end well for you, Bracketer."

"My name is Rory!" She growled.

"Not that I care."

"I didn't ask to be born with this illness. Or to be born in the Brackets!" Tears streamed down her face. "I just want to live. I didn't do anything wrong, I think that's a reasonable ask." Rory wiped her tears away as much as she could. She stormed off toward her room, not wanting to deal with him.

Jax stood there, appalled by the Director's words. That was a side of him that he never knew existed. Jax was able to understand why Decha was so upfront with his father.

"Director Chen, I don't mean any disrespect."

"Then don't bother saying anything."

Jax swallowed hard but continued to talk. "She's a Bracketer... but she's still a human being. And she doesn't seem like the usual types of Bracketers we meet. She's...shes..."

"Decha's bad influence is rubbing off on you." Theodore scoffed. "Now you're defending her."

"Rory hasn't done anything wrong toward you, sir." Jax shook his head.

"Aren't you in the process of completing your trial to become a member of the council? You should watch your words. Taking a Bracketer's side during these times won't end well for you."

"My process has nothing to do with this." Jax narrowed his eyes at Theodore. "Even if it did, you should do some research. Everyone who goes through the process learns the real history behind the 5th War. Astell wasn't all that great as it is now."

Jax knew the truth about the 5th war. Astell stole almost everything from The Brackets. It left them in severe poverty. Astell flourished and kept it a secret by covering up the whole thing with a peace treaty. It was a secret every council member had to keep.

Jax finished what he had to say and went to check on Rory.