Jupiter pushes through the troops stationed in the Needle; they are moving through in units to infiltrate the grav modules. Mars is ahead of him, but not by much. A sense of urgency and dread fills Jupiter’s gut: he hopes he is wrong. He really hopes he is wrong.

They take a hard right and sprint through several doors to an outlook point over the End Forest, where they immediately see a part of the shield is down, “Merda.” Mars pulls his rifle and looks through the scope, “Is that why you came, Jupiter?”

“Why?”

“It’s her.”

“No.”

“It’s her. And I’m going to kill her.”

“No.”

“There is no talking your way out of this. She needs to die. Right now.”

“No. It can’t be. It can’t be.”

“Get your head out of your ass for two seconds! She’s not one of us. She’s already gone. She needs to die. And if we don’t kill her now she will cause the death of any Chosen One she comes in contact with when the Council kills her. She needs to die, Jupiter. And I’m doing it right now.”

“No. I’ll do it. She’s my daughter. She’s my responsibility. This is my failure. Give me the rifle.”

“You know the cost if you fail. She’s dead either way. There’s no point trying to save her: it will only cause the deaths of the Chosen Ones.”

“I understand. Give me the rifle. It should be me. I need it to be me.”

Jupiter smiles a mournful thanks as Mars takes his eye from the scope and hands him the gun. He steadies himself on the balcony and finds his daughter through the sights. The range increasing by the second, it won’t be long before she is too far down to strike. He wipes a tear from his eye before finding her in the scope again, “I’m sorry, my sweetheart. I’m so sorry.” His finger squeezes the trigger and an energy pulse fires from the barrel. The energy shield closes again as the two watch the shot travel through the evening sky of the Tube.

She wishes she could feel the wind. The fresh air from the millions of trees below her. The sound of pure air rushing through her ears. The suit keeps her warm and protected though, so right now she accepts her circumstance. The heads-up-display lets her know she has several minutes of free-fall before the chute is to be pulled, and what was at first a terror of falling has become a somewhat comfortable watching of the beautiful scenery beneath her. Siff knows she will have to land beyond the forest closest to the wall: the many creatures that roam there are specifically designed to kill any wanderers who get too close to the truth. The night sky may be an illusion of the Needle, but those monsters are its birthed reality.

Siff flips on to her back to see the sky above her, noting that Macy has managed to keep the forcefield open longer than she thought. A portion of the Needle, with its lights and windows, is clearly visible in the night sky. Macy had better power that forcefield back up, or the Chosen Ones might see it. Chosen Ones…Siff smiles, I’m going to be a Chosen One. I’m on my way to freedom.

A couple more seconds and Siff sees a tiny flash from the Needle before the forcefield closes up. She flips herself back around to admire the view given her by the headset when a sudden massive pain sears through her side. Siff looks down to where it hurts and sees a hole in the front of her body-armor, just below her ribs on the right side. The night air is now pouring into her suit and she is feeling the cold. Sensing something is wrong, Siff’s headset gives the signal to pull the chute. In so much pain she cannot move her right arm she manages to reach with her left and pull the tag. She screams as the parachute opens above her, jerking her into deceleration. She reaches around with her left hand and finds blood on the front and back of her clothes. Shot? I’ve been shot.

Oh shit.

She passes out from pain and shock. Wondering what will become of her now.