Ian woke up one minute before his alarm. He looked at the ceiling and shook his leg for
one minute before the alarm went off. He turned off his alarm and got up and went to the
bathroom. Inventors really had the best dorms between factions.
He brushed his teeth in front of the mirror and looked at his face and slapped his cheeks.
"work time" he said and dried his face. he opened his closet and picked up a dark blue button up shirt. He tried three ties before deciding not to wear a tie. He grabbed his jacket and went out. he walked down the stairs instead of using the elevator.
He reached the glass door of the inventors' section headquarters. The door opened when he stood on the spot and his eyes were scanned. He went inside and saw the room was filled with people talking in groups.
'Not what I was expecting'. He thought and walked slowly towards his desk.
The head of the faction was there talking to some of the inventors. They seemed angry. Ian sat down and
looked at his desk intertwining his fingers. He put his hand on the touch pad and the
computer started working. He gave the computer a satisfied smile and started going through
the latest invention of the faction.
A girl walked in with jeans and a buttoned up shirt with glasses and a sport coat and went
directly towards the head of the faction.
"sir I think something is wrong with the androids" she said and he didn't turn around. she
rolled her eyes and sighed.
"sir, we can't operate in front of a leader watching over us" a boy said to him. the man was
going crazy. Everything was chaotic. Ian kept shaking his legs and he suddenly got up and
wanted to leave.
"hey" the head of the faction said. "Mr Palmer do you have anywhere to go?" he said and
the whole place got silent.
"no sir. Tomorrow I will have to work in front of people that misuse our inventions. I am
going somewhere to work in peace for the last time" he said and the head chuckled and
went close to him.
"get back to your desk Ian." he said and patted his shoulder. Ian sat down embarrassed.
"I know you are all distressed after what happened yesterday. But never forget. The leaders
need the warriors and the warriors need us. I won't let anything stop any of you. so get
back to work" he said and everyone sat at their desks."Ian can I talk to you for a second?" the head said in a low voice to Ian at his desk and Ian
nodded and walked after him into the room.
He sat down at his desk and Ian closed the door behind himself. Mr Gilbert was tapping
his fingers on the table waiting for another person to come in. someone knocked on the
door and opened it and came in. Ian looked at her and saw that girl from earlier.
"you wanted to see me sir?" she said and he nodded.
"Iris, you are the best coder in this office. Ian, you are the mind behind the androids. Those
androids aren't just turning on us. something serious is going on and we need to find out
what"
Ian looked at Iris and she sighed. "I think they have a bug. Someone is messing with them"
Iris said.
"my prototype wasn't made to accomplish a mission. It wasn't even for military purposes.
Yes, I have made things for the warriors' faction in my life but androids were not one of
them. that LED on their head shouldn't turn red." Ian said.
"someone is helping them in this office. Maybe not one person in particular. I want you
two, to be super careful and dig the problem." He said and Iris nodded and looked at Ian.
Ian bit his lips and looked at him and nodded after some moments.
Ian and Iris went out and to their desks. Ian looked around carefully. Everyone suddenly
seemed so suspicious.
If anyone was working for the leaders, they would have me under control or maybe they
didn't know about me being a captive for 6 months. What if letting me take the test was a
way for them to end me.
He was thinking that Iris snapped her fingers in front of his face. "hey genius boy. Focus"
Iris said and Ian smiled weakly and started working on their not so small android problem.
Thea was waiting in the elevator. The elevator door opened and she walked out in her heels
sternly towards her office. They were in charge of control. She walked in her gray pantsuit
and went to a meeting between the best leaders of every generation. Thea was the 3rd
generation of their family that became a leader.
"Madam president, the factions are not okay with us controlling them" a man said sitting
in front of the large TV that was connected to the president's office by video call.
"the factions are going towards chaos. It is our duty to prevent chaos at all cost" Mitchel
answered.
"not at all cost. The factions are independent. We need to live in harmony not above each
other" Tobias said and Thea looked at him. everyone was saying their opinion on this
matter and they weren't getting anywhere with it.
"let's ask our youngest leader. Miss Handerson, what do you think?" Madam president said
and Tobias sat still and looked at Thea worried.
"I think that if we want to do it, we need to do it the right way. not with androids pointing
guns but with being in the role of a leader trying to put some chaotic things in order until
something happens that needs retaliation. If we enter with threats, the order that we want,
won't be accomplished" she said looking directly at the screen. Tobias was smiling
secretly.
"alright then. We will send one leader and two directors to each faction. We will retaliate
when we have to" she said looking at Thea.
Thea could sense that she didn't like her so much. The meeting ended and they went to
their offices. Thea was working overtime that Tobias knocked on the door.
"how is my girl?" he said kindly and Thea smiled.
"how are you, father? You almost had a heart attack in the meeting today" Thea chuckled
and Tobias kissed her head.
"you reminded me of your mother. In this suit and hair. your attitude. She would be proud
of you" he said and Thea smiled.
"would she be proud of you knowing your ex is in our apartment right now?" Thea said
sarcastically.
"she isn't my ex. Just a friend" he said laughing and Thea took his hand. "be careful out
there dad." She said worriedly and he nodded.
Thea closed her filed and her laptop and went to her dorm. She took her clothes off in the
middle of the room and jumped in bed.
The factions were chaotic the next day. Everyone was on edge. Especially Ian. being
controlled by the people that killed her sister wasn't going to be okay for him. everyone in
the inventors' faction stood still when the elevator stopped in front of the class door. Two
men and one woman with 3 androids came out of it and stood in front of the door and it
opened.
Ian and Iris looked at each other when they saw the androids in suits. "at least they dressed
better before" Iris said and Ian chuckled but his smile vanished when he saw Thea as one
of the leaders."you know her?" Iris said.
"um… yeah" he said before going towards Thea. Thea motioned him with her hand to stop.
He frowned and saw the two men and nodded and went back to his desk. The leaders were
going through the legal stuff about the faction and also controlling the line of work.
"holy… Ian" Iris said all of a sudden and shared her screen with Ian. it was the code of the
person controlling the androids. It was Ian.
"what's going on?" Thea said and Iris closed all her tabs and looked at her.
"Ian" she said looking at Ian and he sighed. Suddenly a wire made a huge bullet sound and
Ian stood up. Iris and Thea both looked at him. He couldn't catch his breath. He went
outside and in the stairs. Thea wanted to go after him but the others were watching her.
He opened his first button and he couldn't breathe. Iris opened the door and saw him there
trembling trying to breathe.
"Ian?" she said with a low voice and Ian's breathing worsened. She took his hand and
started to breathe with him. "what has happened to you?" she thought and rubbed his back
until he could breathe again. "thanks" he said and she patted his back and went down the
stairs to the cafeteria.
Ian went back to the dorms and he saw Thea sitting in front of his room. She lifted the
bottle in her hands.
"thought you could use a friend" she said and he smiled weakly and opened the door.
"my dad told me why…" she said and Ian took the drink from her hand. "yeah" he said and
sighed and poured two drinks.
"what happened today?" Thea said and Ian looked at her with hesitation.
"I'm here to help. Your mom is literally living in our basement and you don't trust me?"
"It isn't about me it's faction thing I can't share that. But I do trust you" he said and she
drank. They sat there in silence for a few moments and Thea grabbed her bag and gave him
a photo frame. "thought you could use something from home" she said giving him a photo
of Ian and Astrid dressing up as tornado twins. He smiled looking at the photo. Thea got
up and put her hand on his shoulder and was going out. "hey Thea" Ian said and she looked
at him. "thank you. for everything" she smiled and went.