Despite the icy bite of the evening air, the streets of New London were bustling with shoppers still piling into stores for the last of the winter sales. Dyo normally took the tube to the theatre, but he'd met Athena in Downing Street and she'd been strongly adverse to any suggestion of the Underground. "I'm boycotting it," she told him with perfect sincerity. "I refuse to pay for something which runs so far behind schedule. Walking gets me where I want to go on time and for free."
"But it's cold!" Dyo complained, jokingly pulling his coat around himself more tightly and shivering. "I can't feel my fingers any more."
"Maybe I'm squeezing them too tightly?" Athena suggested, letting go of his hand.
"Definitely not," he told her, recapturing it in his again. "Your hand is the only thing preventing me from frostbite. I am absolutely not letting it go!"
She giggled and let him pull her along the street, weaving in and out of the shoppers.
The meeting was just beginning when they arrived at the doors to the theatre. Athena would have entered quietly and slunk round to the back without attracting attention, or a glare from Bree. But Dyo had other ideas, noisily announcing their presence with a loud call of "Evening, all," and marching them straight to the front of the space.
Athena could feel the hot blush that was burning across her cheeks. She tried to tug her hand from Dyo's so that that at least wouldn't stand out so much, but Dyo was having none of it and refused to let go. "Sorry we're a little late," he continued, either oblivious to her discomfort or enjoying it. "Athena has an aversion to public transport."
"Right. Getting back on topic..." Bree said as she rolled her eyes. She didn't look surprised, suggesting that this was typical Dyo behaviour.
"As expected, the budget renewal has been announced and the Freedom Institute are already taking a hard line. Employees from their Public Relations department spoke at fifteen NLUP campaign meetings alone this week and there will have been more of them speaking around the capital and country."
"Jason Leighton is expected to give a speech this weekend, extolling the virtues of a strong public security force..." Percy said, nudging his glasses further up his nose.
"Where did you here that, Perce?" Orion asked. He and Sephy were standing close to Dyo's left, but Sephy seemed to be spending less time listening to the discussion than she was shooting glances in Athena's direction.
Percy Ashraf, a recent NLUP graduate who now worked in the business sector, smiled grimly. "The business feeds are buzzing with it at the moment; everyone is seeing it as a money-grabbing scheme and they're wondering how best to either sabotage it or join the bandwagon. My office, unfortunately, is on the bandwagon side; I have spent the day lobbying Leighton's office for a meeting." He sighed, sounding weary. "It's soul destroying. Our democracy is right back where it started!"
"But you're doing us so much good by staying where you are," Bree said, sympathetically. "This information, for example, we would never have got hold of without you. We all really appreciate what you're doing."
Percy smiled, but he still looked utterly demoralised.
Bree sighed. "Let's take a break. There are drinks and snacks over by the concessions stand. Help yourselves." She jumped from the stage and walked towards Dyo and Athena.
"Dyo, can I have a word? I trust your new girlfriend will be alright alone for a moment."
"No need - she can come with me."
Bree stared him down. Athena wasn't sure whether she was merely glaring at him, or sending him a message over the feeds. After a tense moment, Dyo relented.
"Why don't you go and catch up with Ajax - he can fill you in on that lecture we missed most of."
Athena nodded, although she would have preferred to stay where she was; what was so important that Bree couldn't discuss it while she was nearby? Athena headed over to the refreshment booth reluctantly.
"Athena!" Ajax smiled at her as she approached, bringing her into the group he was standing with. "It would be unfair to expect you to remember all our names, so I'll re-introduce you everyone: Artemis Barakat is a Justice lecturer at NLUP - you'll probably be seeing more of her next year. Penny Asmonti and Thalia Sinha are both second years at NLUP. They've already survived my beginners's course."
"Survived sounds far too negative, Ajax. We loved every minute of it!" Penny told him, smiling.
"Just wait until he starts detailing the Dark Years. It's gruesome, but fascinating," Thalia added.
"And makes you appreciate how important it is for us to fight for what we have now. Or what we would like to have, at any rate," Penny sounded as weary as the rest of the group. Where was their passion? Their drive? It was by no means the revolution Athena had been expecting. They were in desperate need of a Cress-like figure to kick them into action and boost their morale. There was no one Cress couldn't cajole into enthusiastic protest.
"Your real success so far, Athena," Ajax added, "is getting Dyo to show up at a lecture - I honestly didn't think it was going to happen and I was dreading having to fail him."
"I don't think I can take all of the credit for that one. I had no more idea than you that he was going to arrive."
"That may be true, but he definitely wasn't there for me." Ajax's eyes glinted as he spoke.
Artemis opened her mouth, but before she could get any words out the lights in the theatre were extinguished, plunging them into darkness.
"What's going on?" Athena heard someone ask, although she had no way of knowing who.
"Did one of us do that?" another, slightly more panicked, voice said.
"I don't think so."
"Bree, are you there?"
There was no answer. Nor was there any sign that the lights were about to come back on.
The next voice Athena heard belonged to Ajax. It was calm and authoritative. "We need to leave. I don't think we should be here any more." The hidden meaning in his words was clear and cold panic gripped Athena, ice flooding her veins. But before she could panic too much, she felt a hand on her arm and Ajax's voice close to her ear. "Don't worry, Athena. I'm going to get you out of here."
He led her forwards through the darkness. She could hear the shuffle of footsteps behind her as the others fell into line. Unable to see and with no way of orientating herself anyway, Athena had no choice but to follow.
Where was Dyo? Had he already made it out?
Athena's feet nudged the steps at the foot of the stage and she climbed cautiously. They'd made it as far as the door into the right wing when they heard the first scream. Ajax's grip on her arm tightened. Keep going. He sent across the feeds. Ares? Can you double back - try and see what's going on, the next message said. It came through on a private group chat that Ajax must have added her to. Ares didn't respond, but Athena heard the thud as he jumped from the stage and ventured back into the stalls.
The diminished group moved along the narrow corridor to another door, then another, then another. As they slowly edged further away from the centre of the theatre, Athena heard a crash behind them and what sounded like feet. Lots of them.
A shiver of panic went through the group and they started to surge forward, until a furious message kept them in check:
Don't be foolish. A panic is exactly what they want. The only way we are getting out of here is by staying calm. - Nestor
Heeding the wisdom of Nestor's words, the column slowed. However, a few moments later it came to a complete and unexpected stop.
The door is locked Ajax sent across to them. Athena's heart was racing; she didn't know exactly what was going on, but she could tell from the others' panic that it wasn't good.
What now? Penny wrote back.
Is there another way out? Orpheus queried. Athena was pleased that the messages were coming across the feeds, otherwise she would have no way of knowing who was speaking when.
Behind them, closer now, they could hear more footsteps and the crashes of people moving with enough confidence not to care that they were being overheard.
Because she'd been led by Ajax, Athena was at the front the group, with the locked door before her. Acting on instinct, she reached out and tried the handle for herself. It definitely wasn't opening, but it didn't feel locked. I think it's jammed. She sent to Ajax. If someone with enough strength pushed it, I think it will open.
It's worth a shot. Ajax wrote back, before sharing the message publicly. Orion, can you come and try the door?
There was a bit of commotion in the line as Ori - the strongest in Ares' absence - pushed his six foot frame through to the front.
Once there, Athena could hear him feeling for the handle. When he found it, he pushed down, hard, shoving his weight into the door. It opened with a crash.
Messages of celebration shot across the feeds and the group surged through. As they moved through the doorway, Athena's feet connected with something solid, which rolled off to the side at the contact, but there wasn't time to stop and investigate further. Another corridor met them, followed by another door, on the other side of which was Dyo.
Thank god, I found you. He sent across. We need to get out quickly. The theatre is swarming with Freedom Security guards. Behind them, they could still hear the pounding of footsteps. Run! he ordered.
Dyo gripped Athena's hand as they sprinted along the last two corridors and out into the chilled air.
They were now at the back of the theatre. The streets were deserted save for Bree and Don who were both looking shaken and anxious.
"Come on," Bree said quietly. "They haven't come round this way yet; they must be assuming that they have us all trapped inside." She counted heads anxiously as they passed her. "Where are Penny, Ares and Hermes?"
"We heard a scream. Ares went back to help. I don't know about the other two." Ajax shook his head. He looked pale.
"We need to split up," Bree told them. "Don and I will keep an eye on the theatre. We'll watch for the others and message you all later with more info. Dyo," she added, seeking him out in the crowd. "What we were discussing - it needs to happen tonight."
"Got it," Dyo replied, his face set. He tugged Athena's hand and they started to run along the road, turning off onto the busier main street where they quickly blended in with the crowd.
{What do you think is going on? Why was the theatre stormed and what are Athena and Dyo off to do next? Please vote/comment to let me know what you think!}