From the top of the roof, the city looks so beautiful. In history books, they showed us what planets like Earth looked like before their sun became a red giant. The wars and arguments didn’t seem real; it’s like the schools make up conflicts to keep us engaged. There’s something about the city our facility looks over. Exciting, glamorous, but it’s dark and full of secrets.

I’ve read books from the library. Most of which were written centuries ago. My favorites are those that focus on dystopian futures. All of them seemed like an alternate timeline to those who lived there. However, Earth grew peaceful. There’s no way that those stories were true. No viruses that killed off humans, no nuclear wars began, and no space battles occurred. There was something that mirrors our reality. We go to war for land. Specifically, the planet we call Urbem. The City.

My friend, Sailor, is the only person I know who remembers it and talks about it willingly. His life before leaving Urbem was rough, but he likes to tell his story. A malicious father who was never around, a loving mother who sent him away to have a better life. Sometimes I think he'd be happier there, though. We're alike in the way that we hate being forced to be here all day, every day.

Our trainers must feel the same way about the lack of freedom. They were members of the Urbe palace guard. Free to come and go as they chose. While Empress Zaera was alive, at least. They rarely give information about their experiences. Tristayne especially. At night I used to ask him questions, but he’d dodge every single one. Milo has only told stories so Sailor would learn lessons. No more, no less. I never press them on the issue of what happened to them there, but I know there must be things that are hard to think about. There’s a reason they left. No one forced them away.

I hear the door to the stairwell open and look over my shoulder.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Sailor says. “I have something for you.” He walks over and sits down beside me. I can tell he just got back from a late training session. His hair is still dripping wet from the showers. He sits down next to me on the ledge, and I raise an eyebrow. He holds a rectangular box in front of me.

“What is it?” I ask, eyeing him cautiously.

“It’s a surprise.” He shakes it, prompting me to take it from him. When it's in my hands, I realize that it’s heavier than it looks. The box is rough and has silver glitter all over it. Around it, an elastic string tied into a bow keeps it closed. I hesitate for a moment.

"Sailor, I—"

“I know you don’t like gifts, but it’s your birthday. Seventeen is a big number. You have one year left.”

I give him a small smile and remove the string. When I lift the lid, I see a silver knife sitting snug inside surrounded by a blanket of silk. I carefully pull it out and inspect it. As I observe all the details of it, I see there are things engraved near the base of the blade. Detailed roses, and right in the center in cursive letters it spells out my name.

Yve.

“Where did you get this?”

“One of the guys in my group helps build the training weapons, and I gave him some univs to make it. He spent a couple weeks on it.” He takes the box out of my lap and places it on the other side of him. “Your blade got bent in training, so I thought you’d like a new one.”

“I didn't mean to throw it as hard as I did... but thank you, Sailor,” I run the metal along my palm, testing the blade. “But I can’t use this in training. It’s too sharp.”

“Yeah, I know. There’s another box I asked Tris to leave on your bed. It's less glamorous. Nothing engraved, duller blades, better for training.”

“I really hope they’re cheaper than this one.” I twirl it around in my hand and pretend to throw it at a sign that’s in front of the ledge we’re sitting on. It’s perfect. Evenly balanced and the weight is just right.

“They are. Most of the money went into the stuff that’s engraved.”

“So,” I lie back and continue fiddling with the knife. "What's the catch?"

“No catch. I just figured you got tired of money and candy I stole every year.” I laugh softly and nod. Sailor is thoughtful, but I think he fails to forget that birthdays here don't mean much. I'm thankful for him. It makes me wonder if there’s something that he’s not telling me, though. Before I can ask, he turns his body to me. “I want to take you somewhere.”

“What does somewhere mean?” I ask, tucking the knife away into my jacket.

“We’re sneaking off of the property.” I stare at him. We haven’t left late at night since we were kids. Back then, we were just out past curfew. Now, we don’t have a designated time to sleep. We just have to rise and attend class at a certain time. Sneaking out of the facility is a whole different thing.

“Oh? And how are you planning on doing that?”

“Don't' worry about it. Just follow my lead.” I sigh and stand up. We both walk to the stairwell, but when Sailor tries to open the door, it won’t open. He hangs his head in defeat. “It’s past ten, isn’t it?”

“First thing they teach us in training Sailor—”

“Yeah, yeah. Think of everything that could go wrong.” I huff.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to leave?”

“Absolutely.” He smiles sheepishly. Rolling my eyes, I walk back over to the ledge.

“I know what to do,” I tell him, looking back toward the city. Sailor sets down the box for the knife near the door and slides it into a crack in the cement. After he's done hiding it, he comes back over and stands next to me. “First, we have to figure out which cameras we have to take out.”

“Actually, Ty has that handled for us. I have a route, so he turned off specific cameras.” I sigh.

“How long in advance did you two plan this?”

“About a month. I didn’t expect to get locked on the roof, though. If you have a plan, I’ll go with it.” There is a brief pause. “As long as we get off at building M. That’s where we took out the ground cameras. It’s just classrooms, so no one is going to be watching.”

“Alright, genius,” I look around us. “What are we going to do about the cameras on the roof?”

“Couldn't hack them. We have to stay in the dark. It's a pretty easy area to navigate, though.” I sigh and throw the hood of my jacket over my head.

“We're going roof hopping.” I also lift a mask over my mouth a nose. I hear him groan.

“Why?”

“If you didn’t notice, we’re the top of building E. Some buildings don't connect on the roofs.” He huffs.

“Do we have to?”

“Any better ideas?”

“No.”

“Well, let’s go then.”