Pacing back and forth in my room, I planned out my next actions carefully. The thing with civilizations these days is really peculiar.  You see, the third district, or the underground, isn't exactly the safest place for 1st district dwellers like us. Of course, they hate us, they've been vocal about a fair society for ages, and yet the council wants none of it. So the underground people pour all their hate and blame onto us, the 1st district dwellers. Some of my classmates sometimes head down there to visit their relatives and let's just say that they don't come back with pleasant stories.

That's why I'm not particularly fond of going to that district. Anthony, bless his soul, thinks he can take on whatever thug or criminal that comes his way. He thinks that just because he works out, he can take on the whole world just by his fists alone. 

So, I may not be well-versed when it comes to knowing what goes down...down there.  Nor do I know how we'll cross the barrier, since my brother and I are currently on house arrest, due to our parent's kerfuffle with their marriage and whatnot. But that won't be a problem anymore as I know just the guy we should take with us. If he's willing then everything goes just fine. If he's not then Anthony can deal with it...With his fists. Cause the day the sun burns out is the day that I'll be able to actually take anyone on in a  fight.

For now, all I know is that I have the address of my father, and I want to go there... NOW. Like this instant. Unfortunately, only God knows what's taking that man so long to butter his face.

Finally, after what felt like an entire decade, Anthony shows up in front of my room, looking as clueless as ever. He doesn't even look like he's lost a father. He sits down in front of me, legs crossed, his hand on top of one knee.

"What's up Ash?"

"Don't, 'What's up Ash?', me," I replied mocking his slurred way of speaking.  "We're going to see dad." I say excitedly.

"What? But we can't...we're not supposed to leave till the council says so." 

"Who cares about what the council says, I wanna see dad, I'm worried about him." and I truly am, as we live in this dream home in a safe neighborhood filled with stuck up families, our dad's underground and probably bedridden till hi burn scars are healed. Who knows if his husband and him have food in their fridge right now. The council isn't exactly known for their hospitability towards the people of the pits.

"Look, I'm rarely the voice of reason between us-"

"That's putting it lightly."

Anthony rolled his eyes in good fun. "But this is about our lives, your life. I'll be damned before I let anything happen to you." 

"Ew, I don't know what happened to you but it gives me the shivers." I rubbed my forearms, feeling the goosebumps. Look, it's not like I don't appreciate him looking out for me, but he just was never the type to, you know. "Besides, I have a plan."

Anthony gave it up and smiled. "Fine, let's hear it, genius." 

"As you said, we're not really permitted to leave the 1st district right?"

Anthony merely nodded to what I said, urging me to go on.

"But what if we have Hayden, then-"

"THAT SQUIRT?! NO WAY!" Anthony looked more than appalled at my suggestion, standing up and heading out of the door at the mention of his ex-friend's name.

"He's our ticket down there Anthony, and I want to see dad! I want to!" I said playing with the ends of my sleeves that reached my wrists. "I've had this bad feeling ever since he was taken away."

It was a Saturday morning when all three of us was sitting around the table, without mother (as always). Father was telling us just some random stories from his childhood, when the doors burst open and a dozen androids stormed in. 

"Mr. Davis, the EYE has found reason to think of you as a traitor of our district, you are to remain silent until further judgement." One of the female androids said, her voice as melodic as human but lacks the compassion of one.

Anthony stood there, arms in front of me, as if he can take on a bunch of super human machinery. And I...Just watched. I've...never seen a situation like this, never in my life. So I just sat there and watched as our father gets taken away.

"Ugh, whatever, mom's coming home any minute from her matching. If we wanna visit dad, we leave right now." I said, making it a point to look directly into his eyes. "I know where he is, this is our chance." Our last, if what my gut tells me is correct. Anthony stared at me for a long time, cogs that seemed to have rusted in his brains, started turning once more.

"Fine. Let's go." He said getting up. and heading out towards his room, most likely to change as it's pretty common knowledge that the temperature in the underground is as hot as most places near the equator, which is you know, hot - hot.

We both went and got ready before heading out, making sure that the house is locked just in case we have any unwanted visitors, in the form of envy ugly neighbors . My brother followed suit behind me. 

We passed by mansion after mansion, with opulent trees and fields of the all year round, green grass. We spotted a few of Anthony's friends along the way, but the moment they spotted us, they went back into their little snob nests. After that, Anthony stuck to scrolling through his phone. Before we left the neighborhood, I stopped by a certain someone's patrol route.

"And where do you think you're going" Hayden, a small blonde boy, stopped in front of us and spoke with his hand on his hip, another on a tablet. Just who I needed to see. 

Hayden is an heir to a position in the EYE council, something that his father is training him tirelessly for. We barely get to see him outside of school as he's not really our friend anymore, But Anthony, who gets in trouble 5 out of 7 days a week, see him practically everyday. You'd think that after spending so much time together, they'd mend old bonds but nope, I'm pretty sure that their relationship just gets worse and worse with each disciplinary meeting.

Can't say I blame him though. Hayden's incredibly annoying and Anthony just makes it worse by spouting useless insults at the guy, which prompts a retaliation, and then an argument ensues. After sometime of listening to them bite back at each other, you get pretty bored of it. They're just both irritating to listen to. I understand something happened when we were kids, and now the two of them just can't stand each other's presence, but it's been years . TIme to grow up. Both of them.

"We need an escort to the underground. It would be in your best interest to come with us." I said, pulling all the confidence I can muster, let's hope this works. If it doesn't then I'm just gonna have Anthony knock him out, steal his card, and think about the consequences later on. Hell maybe we should just live in the third district in hopes to escape.

"And why the hell do I owe you anything? Ashton James Davis, you and your brother are not part of the 1st district anymore. " Hayden took in a shuddering breath, he hates confrontations, if anything he just hates talking to people in general, at least that's what I observed. "If anything, you two are awaiting your trial facing the council. You'll be sent to 2nd District at best and thrown out at worst. So sorry I don't take orders from losers."

He paused to gauge my reaction, while Anthony was obviously preparing to have an all out brawl with the guy. "You little shrimp-ass, noodle-built, daddy's boy-" Toning them out, I gave them a moment to themselves, hurling insults at each other. "What?! What?! Come at me you ass-licking-dwarf!"

"Shut up! You good for nothing drop-out!" Technically true but false at the same time. Anthony COULD be considered a drop out at this point, but for some reason he never gets that far into trouble with the principal, he always found a way to come back to class.

"Does it taste good, Hayden?" I interrupted their, What I'm sure is pretty interesting, conversation. The moment I spoke, both of their heads turn towards me, a blank look on both of their faces.

"What-" 

"MJ, does mj taste good, I have it on video if you want to see?" I said looking for the video on my phone, not really. I don't really have the video of him smoking illegal substances from the 3rd district, but I saw him do it, and I might as well use all I can to "convince" him to come. Peeking at him through my lashes, I half expected him to call out my bluff. But he just stared at me, as if expecting me to back down and admit that I was lying. I'm not about to lose this last chance we have to seeing our father.

"What do you mean MJ-" Anthony was about to start when Hayden cut him off. 

"Fine! let's go, you losers. A bunch of wusses. I swear you both are such a pain in-" He kept on grumbling incoherent insults under his breath I looked at Anthony and smiled innocently.

"What do you mean by "MJ"?" my brother whispered catching up to me as we walked  behind the grumbling man striding quite quickly.

"Nothing you have to stress about, just some girl." Smiling innocently towards him once more, I didn't bother to entertain the rest of his questions.

"Holy shit! You?! A girl?! Who was unfortunate enough to even-" Anthony caught up to Hayden, who returned Anthony's berates equally.

Taking the fastest train available to the barrier, I took in the sight of the 1st district for what felt like the last time. It's nothing exciting to be honest, just a bunch of mansions with rich convenience stores, malls, police station, fire station, a park here and there, etc. The space though is what separates the 1st from the rest, there just seems to be so much space artificially created, just so they can accommodate all the "wealthy" people.

"Where to headed with these trespassers, Sir Pierce?" An android officer pointed his arm gun at our heads, and by us I meant me and my brother. Anthony, who was visibly shaking, and I shared a look, worried about the plasma gun pointed at our faces. 

"3rd district, I'm with them so put those guns away." Hayden commanded as the android's arm transformed back into...well...normal, I guess. 

"My apologies sir, have a good day sir!" The android said with a un-faltering smile, actually I don't think their smile faltered even once, even while threatening us with their plasma guns. Hayden walked by first, Anthony and I followed closely behind him. Anthony kept a close eye on the android as we passed, who only smiled at him, that blank , and what I also think is unblinking, smile.

"Afraid of an android Davis?" Hayden jeered, teasing my brother who was still taking quick glances behind him as if the android will follow us to continue what it had started.

"Can it Peirce!" Anthony barked, which elicited a mocking laugh from the other guy. Stepping through the barrier, the fake sky of the first district gave way to show the bustling 2nd district. Most say that the second district is the place that looks most like the urban cities of the old world. Sky scrappers taller than one can imagine, with flying cars and high platforms for other civilians and commercial stores. 

The 2nd district is what one can consider "exciting" bars, clubs, theaters, bigger malls, a ton of other fast food places, but with more android guards, there's like one stationed in front of every building, whether residential or commercial. We stopped by in front of a plain white building, it stood out amongst the rest as the others were made out of brick or painted . SO being the lone pure white building made it stick out like a sore thumb. A card reader was mounted on the wall where Hayden scanned his, which emitted a beep. Upon entering, we were hit with a strong scent of vanilla, something sweet. The interior were also painted white, with large plain white glossy tiles, warm grey rugs, couches, and coffee table. A single person sat behind a desk, the same color of the couches, Infront of their laptop tapping away on the keyboard.

"Greetings Mary, I'm escorting these two to the underground," Hayden walked up the desk and handed the lady, who didn't bother to look up at him, his identification card. She began typing away again. The woman behind the desk didn't ask any questions, just looked at us time to time and was continuously typing away on her keyboard. The two other guys with me were strangely silent, for once, but the silence was eating away at Anthony. I could tell by how his feet started thumping and he kept moving around impatiently. 

I glanced at Hayden, who was suppressing his anger for the oaf. He held his anger back well, commendable, but I could feel him about to burst. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I moved away from them. Turning my attention to the coffee table and the tablet perched on top to serve as a time-waster, I assume.

"CAN'T YOU SIT STILL?!" I heard Hayden snap and turned to look and saw that his pale face turned a comedic shade of red. His full body was turned towards Anthony, hands balled into fists at his sides. Anthony stared at the boy quizzically and then smirked as he found what can entertain him for the next few minutes. Sitting down on one of the soft cushions of the gray sofas.

"Really Hayden," I heard my brother respond mockingly. "what has got your little panties in a twist this morning?" 

"Seeing your ugly ass," Hayden spat, which is nowhere near the truth. Girls from our school, no matter how stuck up and annoying they act, always fawn over my brother whenever he so much as breathes in their direction. He enters a room and the attention immediately falls to him, whether positive or negative, his presence just calls for your attention.

"You want me, admit it."

"No thanks."

"Really? But it feels like you've been thirsting for me since forever."

"Ugh please, Even if you were a woman, I bet you'll still look ugly as satan's boots."

"As if you'd be any better as a gir-"

"The lift is here," The receptionist, who looked worse than when we first got here with her more prominent frown, interrupted the two debating idiots in front of her. The elevator chimed it's extremely reflective doors parted to reveal a similar toned interior. White walls, white floor with a band of warm grey that you can hold onto. The three of us got in as the two continued their bickering, on normal days I would back up my brother, but I'm dreading what's coming next, the undergrounds. Truth be told, I've never been down there for all my life, there was no need to, but now, things have changed. 

The elevator lurched before it started it's smooth descent, silencing the other two that were with me. The void only filled by the elevator music as both Anthony and Hayden figured that they were wasting their time.

As the elevator continued it's descent downwards, the walls turned from solid, to translucent, revealing the see through walls of the lift's building. And there lies before us.

The Underground.