Young Writers Society

"And what wise advice do you have?" said Aegeas, making fists and gritting his teeth. It was like it was Kartiel's job to be as obnoxious as possible. "All you've done so far is mock us, get stabbed through the legs, and be thrown into a cell. You're an idiot with an ego the size of the sun who'll either leave us all to die, backstab us, or die in the first ten seconds.

But you'd better believe we're desperate, so prove to me you're not useless."

"I never said it was advice," Kartiel countered, strolling over to Aegeas. He looked him in the eyes. "I will admit that the group here has been able to defeat me, which is why I'm certain my plan will work. We have everything we could possibly need here - a shapeshifter, a skilled engineer of sorts and a group of incredibly capable fighters. If I play my cards right, we will survive this."

"I'm not liking the sound of this," Codix commented, the special little note about him being a shapeshifter not escaping his notice. That meant it was somehow involved in the plan, and the only thing he could think of was...

"Codix and I will pretend to be bona fide Wraiths," he said. "I will do all the talking, to assure that he doesn't slip up. We will be presenting them with the supposed leaders of the people who live in this city - that will be everyone but Nadira and Bo. While we distract them with the false leaders, Nadira and Bo will make their way to the power room. Nadira will switch one of the unused ZPM's with the one that's almost depleted. Bo will keep watch, in case any of the intruders break off from the main group and wander in that direction."

Nadira crossed her arms. "So you're going to sacrifice the 'leaders'? Is that your plan? Because no one-"

"No, wait, I think he's onto something," Codix interrupted.

"Of course I am. I'm a god-"

"It's like in Star Wars," Codix elaborated. "You know, that scene where Luke and Han pretend to be stormtroppers bringing Chewie in as a prisoner, only for Chewie to 'break free' from the cuffs and attack the stormtroopers in the area Leia was being held in? They're not expecting it, so it's easy to defeat them!"

Aegeas blinked. Somehow, Kartiel had come up with a good plan. It used the team's strengths, had a good deal of trickery, and, best of all, didn't involving Aegeas doing much of anything. While he didn't have a clue what Codix was talking about, Aegeas nodded along.

That was, until the handcuffs part.

"Fine," the otter said, pointing to Kartiel. "I'll do this, but on one condition. You can't tie me up in any way. If you do, you'd better hope it keeps me restrained, because otherwise this plan will fail before it starts."

Bo raised his brows, nodding. It did sound like a solid plan.

"Sounds good to me. But we ought to act fast," he said, looking over to the screen and the moving red dots. "They're only getting closer and they're on their way here."

"We need it to look convincing," Kartiel argued. "Prisoners with nothing to restrain them is going to look suspicious, and I know that you know that. The restraints would be a high tech version of a regular set of handcuffs. Instead of needing a key to unlock them, all I would have to do is press a button when the time is right."

Codix looked between Kartiel and Aegeas. Aegeas was clearly uncomfortable with the suggestion, but what else could they do? No one had a better plan.

But Aegeas wasn't going to go with a plan where his fate rested in Kartiel's hands. If he was in his place, which he almost was, he would feel the same way. They had to come up with something else. Something that didn't make Aegeas as uncomfortable, but something that still allowed them to complete their plan-

Codix stepped in between Aegeas and Kartiel. "I'll do it," he said. "I'll keep the remote on me. You can give me some kind of signal, Kartiel. Then I'll press the button and let everyone free. And if something goes wrong and I decide that it's best to let everyone go without your cue, I'll press the button and do exactly that."

"That wouldn't-" Aegeas began, but he stopped. If the wraiths could suck the life out of people, they'd probably be good at spotting them as well. He couldn't hide, being handcuffed was more convincing, and at least he wouldn't have to place as much trust in Kartiel.

He stared at the ground, which suddenly looked redder. It vanished in a blink. "It has to. But, if things go bad, don't free me. You might regret it."

Raiden nodded slowly
"So am I also pretending to be a prisoner or...?"

"You are," Kartiel said, already pushing past him. He went past Bo as well and placed his hand on the pad beside the door. The door immediately opened. He stepped out into the hallway, looked both ways, and then gestured for the others to follow. "We need to stop in my room."

"Why?" Nadira questioned. Despite her wariness, she followed him out of the room.

"I have the supplies in there."

Codix exchanged a look with Nadira. "Why do you have that in your bedroom?"

"It's best to be prepared," Kartiel replied with a shrug, already walking down the hallway. "Especially when my current subjects seem to have a habit of outwitting me."

We were moments away from meeting the Wraiths, moments from staking our lives on Kartiel's improvisational skills, and potentially, Aegeas' patience.
That was mildy disconcerting, considering that his mood as of late (no thanks to my ill-advised intervention) had been a little volatile.

I was somewhat torn over how to feel about him. I believed what he said about self-control, and I was inclined to continue on that thread, but he himself expressed doubts regarding it in this situation specifically. I evicted the thought from my head.
I wanted to trust him, so today, I would, and that was the end of it.

As for Kartiel, there was no reason to disbelieve him. It was in his best interests to keep us alive, and he could be trusted to serve those interests. Of course, I would continue to judge his trustworthiness on a strict case-by-case basis, but at present he was firmly on the safe side.

That of course did not rule out memorizing the location of his room and attempting to mentally map out the best nooks and crannies for hiding poisonous substances in.
That past-time was doing wonders for my nerves.

Raiden followed with a smirk on his face.
"Kartiel's showing us to his room I see," he wiggled his eyebrows, "mmmm, I wonder what's inside there," he spoke, his eyebrow wiggling getting more intense. One could compare him currently to the lenny face.

The room was only a minute or two away from the room with the clones; he had likely chosen the place between it was conveniently close to his secret lab. Codix wasn't sure what he had expected to see when they entered Kartiel's room, but it looked relatively normal. Just a bed and a couple of desks. If he hadn't known the owner, he would have thought that it was owned by a completely normal person.

Kartiel went over to the dresser and dug through the clothes. He pulled out a somewhat large metal box from underneath what appeared to be a pile of shirts and opened it. He turned back to the others, holding the box out in front of him.

"If you're anyone but Codix, Nadira or Bo, take a pair."

Well, this was the moment of reckoning. Getting here had been an exercise in restraint. As much as he knew about the plan and how safe it'd probably be, especially without Kartiel controlling him, Aegeas had not stopped focusing on the fact that he'd soon be in handcuffs. He'd be in restraints for however long, in front of dangerous and volatile creatures, and he'd somehow have to keep himself from trying to kill all his friends and enemies.

But there wasn't any other choice.

He took a deep breath and pulled out a pair of handcuffs from the box, slipping them on. Aegeas focused on the room, noting the lack of color, the few decorations (his kind of room), and the metallic taste in his mouth. His vision turned red again, this time for a second.

Stay calm, he thought. Stay calm.

Raiden silently took a pair from the box.
That's a lot of shirts. he thought to himself, letting his hands work themselves into the restraints as he stared down at the dresser full of clothes. He swore he saw a few Star Wars shirts in there.
This dude likes Star Wars?

It had to be done. Time was running out, and frankly, this pervasive feeling of impeding dread was beginning to tire me. We might all die horrid bizarre deaths, or we might not, and despite the fact that this was among the more eldritch deaths I had risked, I felt as though facing this fate with anything less than impeccable calm would be disgraceful. I held together, and I put on the cuffs.

''We're relying on you.'' I reminded Kartiel.
As strange as it may have seemed to him, coming from me, this was not a taunt.
It was an expression of faith.

Bo stood in the doorway, watching as the others put on their restraints.

At the moment, he wasn't entirely focused on their reactions or their commentary. He was focused mostly on his and Nadira's mission, the imminent danger, and their desperate need for success.

He silently waited for Kartiel's signal that they were good to go.