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The glass in his window shuddered after something thwacked against it. Codey pushed the curtains aside and watched the rebel girl pick up four good-sized pebbles before scanning the skyline for Phantoms and moving out of the shadows. She shifted left, under the window to Codey's room and aimed.

If I'd been hooked up, I wouldn't have heard the stones.

She threw. The noise sounded loud in the silence, but not a soul noticed. It didn't matter everyone was hooked up; his heart thudded in his ears, breath rapid.

She flung another pebble before Codey could get the window unlatched and opened. His heart skipped when Wren smiled up at him.

"I hoped you'd come visit me again." He hung his head out, blonde hair falling into his eyes. His long and angular jaw would have been harsh without the warmth of the smile playing on his lips. "I'll be down in a second to let you in. Wait there."

He disappeared and reappeared a minute later in the same white, nighttime garb New Staters favored. The ill-fitting uniform amplified Codey's thin frame.

He shooed her inside the open front door. "You're tense."

"I made it into New State without a problem and found my way back to your neighborhood easily." She fidgeted. "Too easily."

"Was tonight different than other raids?"

"There's something I should tell you."

"Follow me upstairs first." Codey grabbed her hand and led her through the living room and up to his room.

The door shut, and he ushered her to sit near the massive computer screen dominating his desk. "I'm happy you came," he said. "I have many more questions. I need to tell you something too."

"You first."

Codey's face lit up like a child at his birthday party. "Tell me everything about life as a rebel first."

"That's not the question I was expecting. She shrugged her shoulders, exhuming the tension." For most, life underground isn't dangerous or even exciting. People have jobs and families and go about their daily routines."

"But it's real," Codey said. "Most days, my life is a computerized fantasy." He picked up a cable with a diamond plug at the end but let it drop from his hands.

"Your life isn't so bad. Having the ability to hook up whenever you want must be exciting. You can do anything. Skydive, fly a plane, hang-glide."

"You have a thing for being in the air, don't you? You can fly," Codey said, "but I want some answers to my questions first."

"I can hook up?"

"Yes. After you fill me in on the underground? I want details." Codey shifted in his seat. "Do people run around naked and wild? Is it chaotic? Is it dirty?"

Wren scoffed and waved a hand at her outfit. It had a few stains, but she was more than presentable for a raider. "It's like New State with homes and places people live and meet, but it's all in the caves."

Codey ran a hair through his mop of golden hair, but his lips were a bleak line. He was unimpressed with Wren's answer. "Do you live with your parents?"

"I must, but I'm an adult and shouldn't have to. I'm lucky even if they treat me like I'm ten. Not that I don't love my parents," Wren added, almost as an after thought. "People generally don't move into their own residence until they're married. It's overcrowded and tight quarters below. If New State didn't hunt us, we could expand above ground, and when I fall in love and marry, I could have a real house." She eyed his room. "Like you have."