Dear Amber,

If you're reading this, either I'm dead, or in a coma, or receiving treatment for something. It also means you're probably an emotional wreck right now. Amber, I can't promise you you're going to be fine. But I can tell you, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing or going through right now, I'm thinking of you.

Baby girl, firstly, you need to rest. Just close your eyes. I know you may get nightmares, but I know that you're really strong.

Next, eat. Even if you're not feeling well, or you're really angry or scared or worried, eat. You need to live, Amber, your life doesn't stop here. I know you're going to feign an illness or pretend you're not feeling well even though you'll be really hungry. If you don't eat I'm going to be really mad.

Also, you need to open up. I understand that there are some things that you can't really let go of, but Amber, you can't be sticking around with the same people all the time. You deserve to live life to its fullest. You've been hiding, you know. It's not good for your health. (I know I sound like I'm nagging, but it's for your good.)

You're trying to peek now, so all I can write before you see or Carmen ends the meeting is I love you. To the ends of the world. I love you wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, who I'm with.

I love you, Amber, don't forget it, but remember to move on.

With lots and lots and lots of love,
Chance

I fold the letter, clutching it to my heart and closing my eyes, a sob escaping my lips.

Carmen holds out the toast, and for a while I hesitate, but then I take it, and take a small nibble.

________

I'm not allowed to get out of bed, so I spend my time drafting out a plan. Chance is right; I need to continue to fight to take down Edit. I can't stop now. The sensor has been broken, and we're headed towards the Outer Cities. I've heard it's on land, and that's definitely something I'm looking forward to. There's still hope.

Grabbing a piece of paper—and being careful not to tear open my shoulder—I put the pen to the paper, and begin to write. I need to get to the Outer Cities, find myself some allies, and then take down Edit. There's a high risk of failure, however. Who'd want to rebel against Edit, when they could kill them at any moment?

But I have Dakota on my side, and she's the daughter of the person who started it all.

If only I had a recording of the kidnapping, I could reveal Edit's true colours.

But nothing's as simple as that.

Frustrated, I let out a sigh, before placing the pen and paper on the bedside table I retrieved it from.

"Amber!" Someone yells, running into the room. It's Carmen, her dirty blonde had twisted up in a bun.

"Yeah?" I look up, my heart pounding. Carmen offers me a small smile.

"Chance is out." She says, and my heart skips a beat, my breath hitching.

"He's okay?" I whisper.

"He's not very stable...but for now, yes, he's okay." Carmen pulls out a chair and plops into it, massaging her temple. "I'm hoping he doesn't wake up until the doctors have certified that he is a hundred percent fit and well. Or else, there's going to be a lot of trouble."

"Trouble?" I furrow my brows together.

"One, we'll have the Chance-wanting-to-see-Amber problem, two, there's half the world searching for him and once he awakens he's going to try to solve it, and three, there's going to be this emotional reunion with his lovely cousin and her boyfriend. So yeah, there's many problems. Also, we haven't had a plan to take down Edit yet, and no one's in the mood...except you." She nods at the piece of paper on the table, and I blush.

"It's just a draft, really. There's so much to do, and we have so little time. I need to get an army," I start off.

Carmen scoffs. "Like you have the resources to. Be practical, Amber. Who will get the people to rebel against the mighty Edit? When will it happen? Why would they even bother to do it? How will we carry it out? What do we need? Think of those things. It's not so simple."

"Exactly," I say.

"So? What are you intending to do? Your shoulder is completely ruined, and it'll take a few more days to get it completely fixed, and your boyfriend is lying in another room, and he's one of the most important people we need on our crew.

"He is the key, Amber. He's the nephew of the people who started the whole chaos. He can stop it all. But the thing is, he's tethering on the edge of death, and if he falls, our plan goes up in flames and we'll be killed. And then that's 'Goodbye world and Revolution'." Carmen twirls her hand around to make a point.

"But I believe that everyone knows Edit is wrong." I say.

"You're wrong. Take yourself for example. In the past, didn't you love Edit oh-so-much? See where it has taken you. You were willing to do anything, anything at all, to be perfect and beautiful. That's what happened to me, too. The phrases 'perfect' and 'beautiful' blinds people. But you know what? In the end, it's just a frickin' messed up and ruined thing. What's perfection? What the heck is perfection? If you're skinny, someone calls you 'someone who tries too hard'. If you're average, you're 'not good enough'. If you're fat, you're 'ugly'. So what am I supposed to be?" She waves her hands around.

"Which is why, we need to stop Edit," I say.

"I know, but then what? Let everyone return to their own lives where they can still judge others?" Carmen asks exasperatedly. "I'm still siding with you on the fact that Edit has to stop, but even if it does, how do we guarantee it doesn't come back up?" She adds.

She's right. "So you're suggesting we begin some other campaign or system to prevent...Edit?"

Carmen nods.

"That's not going to be easy," I say.

"Nothing is," she rolls her eyes.

That has a point, but I just want to take everything one step at a time, and cross that bridge of uncertainty when I come to it.

"Okay," I breathe in and out, trying to clear my head. "Okay. So right now, we need to get to the Inner Cities. How long will that take?"

Carmen considers this for a while, biting her lip, doing the mental calculations. "Around two days," she says finally.

"Alright. Then we'll have to locate the camp, and hopefully we'll be able to blend in." I say. "Do we have disguises or anything of the sort?"

"We don't need it," Carmen shakes her head, "we just need to get in, but we need to look defeated, or else they'll get suspicious."

"Won't they recognize us?" I raise my eyebrows.

"That's the point. So they'll think they've won." Carmen taps her temple with her finger.

"They will hurt us." I say slowly, like she might not understand.

"Sacrifices have to be made, Amber. By going in there and trying to undermine them, we're literally waving the flag that says 'war'. And in wars, people die. Lives are lost, but it's all for the cause, isn't it?" Carmen sends me a grim smile.

My heart clenches. You'll be the death of them all.

"Fine. So after that, we'll find allies. People who have been broken by Edit before. They need to be able to keep mum about the..." I search for a right word.

"Revolution?" Carmen offers.

"Revolution." I nod slowly, although that word sends tingles shooting up my spine. I'm starting a revolution.

"And after that, we'll plan a strategy to take Edit down." I say.

"You're missing details. Where can we hold it? There are cameras everywhere. And when? Surely they'll try to separate us." Carmen says, and my head wants to explode.

"When we discuss it, they will find out. There's no denying that. So when we do, we have to be prepared immediately." I take a deep breath. "And lives may be lost."

Carmen nods gravely. "Lives will be lost," she corrects, her voice hollow.

I close my eyes. "I really hope not."

Carmen laughs bitterly. "If you do, you'll just end up being hurt in the end. Always prepare yourself for the worst. Don't be naïve, either. There will be people who will take bullets for whoever they love or want to protect."

"I know," my voice is small and scared.

"Anyway, you should write everything down, so that we can show the others later on. If Chance ever awakens, we'll inform him about everything too." Carmen says.

I reach for the pen and paper again, my shoulder aching slightly.

"Did you guys do stitches on my shoulder?" I say. If they did, I'd probably want to lie down for the rest of my recuperation.

"Nope. Chance said you had HealStrips in your pocket, so we used those. But if you ever sit up or overexert yourself, there's no doubt your wound will reopen. And by the way, it's just a bullet wound, so no one should be fussing over you." Carmen adds sarcastically.

"Yeah, I know. But it's the first bullet I've ever taken, so don't blame me," I give her a one-shoulder shrug, using my uninjured shoulder.

She nods, then looks into my eyes. "You know, Dustin told you that I was just like you, right?"

I flashback to that day momentarily. "Yeah. He said you thought you weren't worth anything."

"There's a difference between you and me, though, Amber," Carmen says.

"Definitely. The height, the eye colour, the hair colour, the sarcasm—I make comebacks, but I don't use it as often as you do." I say, counting off my fingers.

Carmen laughs. "No. I was suicidal. You're not. It's part of life without Edit." Carmen's smile disappears. "I was was naïve and stupid back then, and I developed something like Depression. I closed the gates to my heart, to the true Carmen.

"I still didn't use Edit, despite the situation I was in. There's a fine line between crazy and suicidal, and I guess one day, I just broke."

"But you're amazing," I say, "you didn't bother to use Edit."

"Amazing?" Carmen scoffs. "I had nothing back then, Amber. I was just this crazy girl locked up at home like some prisoner. My parents didn't give a heck what I did. They didn't care. They gave me money for whatever I wanted, like hospital bills and different things. I even think if I told them I was going to do drugs, they wouldn't mind.

"That's why. I had nothing to do at home, nowhere to go, and nobody would speak to me. And there's that stupid, messed up Edit machine over there in the corner...it drives someone crazy. I don't think it's that bad for you. You have Chance. You have friends. You have your brother. You have something to do, someone to look out for. I didn't. My life was a tornado, one that kept going—I had some anger management issue, too." Carmen shakes her head.

"But now I have a purpose to live on," Carmen smiles, "and I'm going to do everything I can to achieve it. Heck cares if I lose my life while fighting for that worthwhile thing. It's a direction, a...motivator that gets me up everyday. It's something chanting at the back of my head twenty-four seven. I need to take Edit down. I need to destroy it. Why? Because that's my goal in life. I have nothing, you know?" Carmen's eyes brim with tears.

And in that split second, I wrap my arms around Carmen, my heart breaking for her, and she hugs me back slowly.