The meeting was silent after Billy, Edgar, Abe, and Albert finished their report on what happened at their interrogation. Marie sat back, her mind alive with anticipation and ideas. It was very dangerous ground her friends had found themselves on, and she was trying hard not to blame herself for putting them there. They did, after all, volunteer to join the underground. They could have said no.

Charles had his fingers stuck in his hair, his elbows on the table, and gazing at something in the distance no one else could see. He lowered his hands and straightened.

“Okay. Let’s make a list of all the problems facing us, just so we can see it,” Charles said, an obvious waver to his voice. He pulled out a notebook and a pen and took a deep breath. “Right. Josef Mengele is a mad scientist and not to be trusted,” Charles said. “And all the problems that are included with that, mainly that he has amassed a following willing to go to war for him.”

Sam nodded. “Same thing can be said for President Arnold, except his following is a whole lot bigger and we live on his side of the wall.”

Charles nodded as he wrote.

“Our underground has a whopping twelve members in it. Though, on a positive note, it has tripled from a month ago,” Harriet said.

Alice gave a lame smile at Harriet’s attempt to look on the positive. “The other positive note is that President Arnold has no idea how small this group is.”

Harriet nodded at that.

“Four of our members are going to be deep in the S.E.A.’s territory,” Marie said.

“War is coming,” Charles said, finishing up his writing and tapping the pen on the notebook. He looked over at the group. “Does that about sum it up?”

Marie knew Mr. Edison had the whole history with Nik, but she doubted he would tell everyone that. It was too dangerous for people with chips.

“Sophie,” Albert said.

All eyes fell on him.

“What about Sophie?” Charles asked.

“Just…” Albert made a gesture with his hands. “Sophie. You’ve got to admit she’s her own category on issues we’re facing in the future.”

Marie winced, hating that she agreed with Albert.

“Alright,” Charles said as he finished writing down Sophie’s name. “This is a lot. But let’s break this all down into more manageable pieces.”

“How?” Harriet asked.

“You four, be safe at your internship,” Charles said, pointing at the four boys.

“That’s your advice?” Alice asked.

“Do you have any ideas?” Charles asked.

“I do,” Marie’s dad said. He turned to the four of them. “Stay silent, stay quiet, don’t make too many ripples. The more you do what you’re supposed to, the more you’ll be invisible to them. Only gather the information they accidentally spill. Don’t go looking for it. Believe me, the S.E.A. will spill plenty of information if they think you’re not important.”

Billy gave an impressed nod. “That’s actually pretty sound advice.”

“Okay. So, the war,” Charles said. At this he set down his pen. “What can we possibly do?”

There was silence, then Marie sat up a little straighter. “We prevent it somehow,” she said.

Charles turned his tired eyes toward her. “Any ideas on that ‘somehow’?”

Marie felt her eyes bounce over everyone in the room. “I still think there’s hope in getting the hobos' memories back somehow. They must remember Josef is bad.”

“We can’t break into the basement anymore, Marie. It’s too dangerous,” Alice said.

“We can’t risk it,” Charles said.

“Getting the syrophil is the only way we’re going to win this,” Harriet said. “Maybe an opportunity will present itself.”

Charles gave a heavy shrug. “As long as it’s not another basement break-in. Okay, we’ll pin that idea and come back to it later.” Charles’ eyes fell on Sophie’s door. “Any ideas about our situation with Sophie?”

Billy turned to Marie, a slight frown on his face. “She’s your friend, isn’t she?”

Marie gave a nod because it was instinctual, but she didn’t meet Billy’s eyes. “Of course.”

“Marie, do you think you’ll be able to befriend her? Again?” Harriet asked.

“I’m… I’m sure I could.” It felt hallow the moment it left her mouth. She’d been with Sophie for a while now, and they still felt like strangers. As much as Charles seemed to feel relaxed going through these issues, Marie couldn’t help but feel like they were getting more cloudy and unclear. Could they possibly do this?

“What do we do about Josef?” Harriet asked.

Charles gave a sigh before looking at Sam. “What are the latest messages from him?”

Sam was staring at the table. “Josef has been wondering lately why no one else has crossed over the wall. If you want my opinion, I think one of us should cross over and spread ideas about the kind of man Josef actually is. From Marie’s story, it seemed like there were a few who already knew what kind of man he was. If we can get the people to no longer listen to Josef, if we could give them another option, we can have the numbers of both the clearing and the hobos to go to war against President Arnold. And I’d like to volunteer.”

A sick churning began in Marie’s stomach at the word ‘war’. She glanced again at her guy friends.

“You are the only one who knows how to work the telegram that keeps us in contact with the clearing,” Charles said.

“Maybe we want it to not work,” Sam said. “Josef is evil, and if it’s not working, you won’t have to feel obligated to lie to him.”

“And what if you get in trouble over there and the telegram is down on our side?” Charles asked. “You will have no way to contact us.”

“There’s not really much way to contact anyway, considering Josef keeps a close watch over the communications,” Sam said. “Besides. It’s pretty simple. I could teach someone else how to use it.”

Charles’ eyes narrowed. “And you’re sure this isn’t because you want to go back to your family?”

Sam groaned. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say they were the main reason. I need to protect Saca and Little Sam. Every moment I’m away tears my soul. But I honestly think if more people are aware of what Josef does, we could overthrow him. Then the entire underground, both here, the hobos, and those outside the wall, could all help in the war. It needs to be done.”

Charles nodded. “Alright. You’ve convinced me. I’d like it more if another person was with you. If Josef is truly as insane as we all suspect, I’d feel better if you had more people to help.” His eyes were bouncing between Alice and Harriet when Abe raised his hand.

“I’ll go.”

There was a long second of silence.

“Absolutely not,” Marie said. “It’s way too dangerous for someone in the arts to enter the clearing. Josef is the textbook example of a mad scientist. He likes to torture and kill people like you. For fun.”

“You’re already interning at the S.E.A. this summer. If you mysteriously disappear, that will immediately throw suspicion on Albert, Billy, and Edgar,” Charles said.

“I told you guys, and you had no problem believing me,” Marie said. “We only need one person.”

Sam rubbed his chin. “I think, as harrowing as your description of what Josef did, it just scratched the surface of who Josef is, Marie. Sure you just told us, but Josef wasn’t there, breathing down your neck. He also wasn’t there being usually charismatic and making people second guess themselves.”

“Saca will believe you,” Marie said. “She can help.”

“Saca will help,” Sam said. “But I need someone outside my family to spy and go undercover. It’ll be difficult enough with two, but two who are living under the same household will bring way too much suspicion. Someone else helping would benefit immensely.”

Marie looked at Abe, who was making a point to not look at her. A silly moment of vanity hit her and she wondered if this had anything to do with her, but she tried to push it away. It did make sense to have another member of the underground be there, but it made her sick with nerves to think about anyone going back to the clearing to face Josef. Especially someone who once expressed interest in working at the S.E.A.

“There’s still the issue of Abe’s disappearance making Albert, Billy, and Edgar look bad. I’m not sure we could pull it off,” Charles said.

There was a pause, then Edgar leaned forward. “There are ways to make a disappearance look like a tragic accident.”

No one said anything as all eyes fell on Edgar. Charles cleared his throat. “So, do you have any ideas, Edgar?”

Edgar turned his black lined eyes toward Abe. “Several.”

Abe shifted uncomfortably under Edgar’s gaze. “See?” he said, turning to the others. “It’s possible.”

Charles scratched his head with the back of his pen. “I’m not in love with it, but I’ll talk with Edgar after and see. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

Marie bit her lip, then raised her hand just a little. She needed to get her thoughts out there, or else she’d feel guilty about it.

“Yes, Marie?” Charles asked.

“I think we should ask Billy, Albert, and Edgar to do the same thing at the S.E.A. that we’re asking Sam and Abe to do in the clearing,” Marie said.

Charles frowned. “What do you mean?”

Marie glanced around the table. “Look at us. We’re a bunch of scientists, mathematicians, and writers and singers. If we just overthrow Josef and President Arnold, we could do that without starting a war.”

Charles frowned. “I don’t think this war can be avoided.”

“I think it can, and we’d be doing a huge disservice to ourselves if we don’t try. Abe, Billy, and Albert were my first friends at a prestigious school of the arts, and I didn’t just get lucky that they also wanted to join the underground. I mean, no offense, Edgar, but I didn’t think you’d want to join either, but you did. I think if given the option, a lot of people would rather avoid a war. There has to be a peaceful way to get what we want. Most of us aren’t evil at heart.”

“Just our leaders,” Alice grumbled.

The silence fell across the table. Charles’ eyes fell on Harriet. “What do you think?” he asked.

Harriet looked at Charles, then at Marie. “I think Marie is right. Those guys should recruit secretly at the S.E.A. too. If anything, it will add to our numbers in case a war does happen.”

Tom shifted in his seat, getting a more comfortable position before folding his arms. “We need to focus on one goal. We either work for a war, or work towards peaceful revolution. And if you want my two cents, I’d rather not live through another war.”

Charles watched Tom. “Is a peaceful revolution really possible, though?”

Tom shrugged. “Do you want to kill your neighbor, Charles?”

“I’m sure if I have to I-”

“Do you want to?” Tom interrupted.

Charles went back to tapping the pen against the notebook. “Of course not.”

Tom gave a sad smile before he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the chair. “War is ugly. There’s no other way to describe it. It starts with disagreements, then drawing lines in the ground and demanding people separate into groups. Then begins the lies and the dehumanization of the other group so you don’t feel as guilty pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger. And there is fighting, and killing, and hatred, and screaming, and there comes a point where you just want it to end. You don’t remember why you started fighting in the first place. When it finally does end, there’s no real peace. The end only continues the separation between the winners and the losers. The losers, those who are remaining, are rounded up and placed in an environment where they can be controlled and watched. The ideals they held onto will eventually be twisted and skewed by the winners so that future generations will see them as the evil group that needed to be stopped, that deserved to be killed. And the winners will continue on as they are, haunted by the ghosts of the men, women, and children they killed out of the hatred they used as a crutch to survive the war.” Mr. Edison opened his eyes. No one moved. No one breathed. Marie didn’t even realize she was trembling until her dad placed a hand around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “If there’s a peaceful way to go about this, please, I implore you, try that way first.”

Marie looked at Abe, Billy, Edgar, Harriet, and Albert. People who, on paper, would be her sworn enemies. They looked just as terrified of the idea of a war. Marie could not imagine killing them.

Charles reached out and pulled the notebook closer to him. “Albert, Billy, Edgar, try and find people in the S.E.A. who would be sympathetic to our cause. We don’t want a war.”

Marie was in her bed, staring at the ceiling with her arm braced under her neck. The meeting ended hours ago, but Marie couldn’t calm her brain enough to go to sleep. Sophie tossed and turned in the bed across from her and knew she wasn’t the only one having a hard time sleeping. Did Sophie overhear anything during the meeting? Marie was struck with paranoia that she hated having. It wasn’t like this place gave them much privacy. There was a good chance Sophie overheard everything they talked about. Even the part where the underground collectively agreed Sophie being there was an issue.

Marie felt a sense of terror at the future before her. She jumped from situation to situation, all possibly ending horribly. She covered her eyes with her arm, trying and failing once again to shut her mind off.

Sophie’s heavy breathing indicated that at least she had won the fight of getting some sleep. Marie waited another fifteen minutes before she pushed her blankets off and tiptoed out of the room. She came to the central room where they had their meeting and slid into one of the chairs.

“Couldn’t sleep either?”

Marie turned to see her dad in his room. He had kept the door open, and was watching something boiling in a beaker over a burner. Sleep seemed to be the farthest thing from his mind, too.

“Must be a hereditary thing,” she said.

Her dad smiled as he turned off the burner and walked over to her. He sat down next to her, giving her a weary smile. “So, Albert?” he asked.

Despite anticipating the question, Marie still felt her face grow hot. “Is still just a good friend.”

“Is he?” her dad asked.

“He let me know that he made things right between him and Abe. And,” Marie turned away so she wouldn’t see him. “I told him about my unsure future.”

“Ah,” was all her dad said.

“I figured he had a right to know,” Marie said.

“Of course. He likes you a lot,” her dad said.

Marie said nothing. She still couldn’t quite place where her feelings were about Albert, but it seemed such a weird, normal conversation to be having in the basement of a museum where they were hiding because President Arnold hated what they studied.

“We’re going to be okay, right?” Marie asked.

Her dad didn’t answer. She remembered the promise they made to each other before she crossed the wall, what seemed like eons ago, that they would be honest with each other. Her dad stood up and helped her to her feet. He kissed her forehead before hugging her tight, something he only did after her mom’s funeral.

“It’s certainly something we can strive for."

End Of Book Two