It had been a few months since Mayor Parsell had ordered the capture of Lazarus Leighton. A city-wide search had been started, despite the doubts the Enforcers held that he could even gotten into another block. The gate guards all said not a single person had passed through the only way out of the city. That had left only the sewers then, but there was not a single sign of him there either. The artist was simply gone without a trace. Things were finally starting to calm down and return to normal; if he really was gone, well then, that was the end of that. It still bothered him though.

He had started receiving letters. He didn't dare tell his colleagues. They had finally started to relax after the city-wide panic and exhausting searches, they didn't need to be burdened with news of a possible stalker. Though the letters were never signed, he knew it had to be Leighton. He was still in the city somewhere, or at least had access to it. They had started out simply taunting him about his failure to catch one man, encouraging him to keep looking, but the most recent one was... somewhat personal.

He was being watched. The man had written, with excruciating and embarrassing detail, the Enforcer's nightly activities. "Are you haunted by the soft curves of the women I painted?" the letter asked. "Or is it images of me that drive you to such extremes?" It was humiliating. "I certainly cannot forget the feeling of your hands on my body."

Blushing furiously, he tore the letter to pieces and dumped them into the waste bin beside his desk. It was just wrong for a man to think of another man that way. Disgusting. He sighed and glanced up at the clock; it was almost time to go home. He didn't want to go home, if it meant he would get spied on again. How in the world had the man even found his house anyway? But he didn't have much of a choice. He needed sleep, and if it wasn't in his own bed, he'd never get any.

Abel unlocked his front door and stepped inside, shutting and locking the door once more. He went into his bedroom and drew the curtains shut. That pervert would not be getting a peep show that night. He tugged off his uniform and hung it neatly on the door for the next day. He jumped as the windows rattled slightly. He pulled out his gun and crept toward one of them, slamming it open only to find the cause was a breeze. He sighed in relief. "Get it together Abel..." he grumbled.

After a simple supper and a bath, he climbed into bed, ready to sleep. He was just dozing off when his bedroom door clicked open. It didn't even register that someone was in his room until it was too late. A gloved hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of bed. With a pained yelp he crashed to the floor, trying to tug the sheets with him to keep covered up. Something was tossed in his lap. His bedside lamp was lit, casting a soft orange glow through the room.

He dared to look up at the intruder. It was a man, standing at around six feet, with long curly black hair that was tied back, black and green robes with some sort of emblem sewn onto the right breast, and a large pair of tinted goggles that covered his eyes, giving him some amount of anonymity. "Put that on." The man growled at him.

"Not while you're watching!"

"It's nothing I haven't seen before."

He blanched. "Impossible... you can't be him."

"Get dressed already!" Abel rushed to obey, putting on the clothes he'd been given. They were the same black and green robes the other wore, minus the emblem. He grabbed the Enforcer's wrist once more and dragged him out of the house, running straight for the solid metal wall.

Before Abel could protest the very idea of running through a wall, the man pulled something from his pocket and pointed it at the metal. A panel swung open just long enough for the two of them to run through, then closed once more behind them.

It was pitch black inside the wall. The sound of a match being struck, and then there was a small bit of light. His kidnapper found a lantern sitting nearby and lit it. "Come." He said, shoving the lantern into Abel's hand and started off at his hurried pace again. As they rushed down the path, the man reached up with his free hand and lifted off what turned out to be a wig. A familiar blond ponytail dropped to hang down the center of his back. It was only a disguise?!

"Mr. Leighton, you have just kidnapped an officer of the law--"

"Yes, I am quite aware of that." He turned back to the smaller man, grinning at him. "Exciting, isn't it?"

"I hardly call this exciting! What are you bringing me here... for..."

They were suddenly in a well-lit room. Abel blinked, shielding his eyes. When his eyes adjusted to the light once more, he saw it wasn't merely a room, it was as big as a warehouse. There were people all over the place, most of them dressed in the same black and green robes he and Lazarus wore. "What is this place?"

"This, my dear Enforcer, happens to be the Underground." Lazarus replied. "What do you think?"

Abel glared. "You really want to know what I think? I think I want to get out of here and tell everyone what you’ve just shown me and throw every last one of your sorry asses into the Cage!"

Lazarus raised an eyebrow at him. "One, cursing is very unbecoming, and two, I know you've received the reports of my escape from the other Cages."

"How did-"

"I had them with me when I came in."

"But we searched you!"

He grinned. "That you did. You were particularly thorough with it too." He winked, causing the other man to splutter furiously. "I have a contact within the Enforcement Agency, obviously."

Abel froze, staring at him. That meant... One of his own colleagues was a spy. One of the two people he trusted the most in all the world. "Who?" he barely managed to get out.

"One Miss Akane Ito." The Enforcer was floored. It was all so hard to believe.

"Then she was how you knew to get out during Inspection Day..."

"Mhmm!" Abel sat down, staring at the floor. "Oh, buck up, it's not all so bad is it?" When he didn't respond, Lazarus kneeled down to look him in the eyes. "Change isn't a bad thing, Abel. And in the case of Steam City, I'm afraid it's something very much needed. You're stagnating in there, wasting away. Five hundred years is far too much time to stay sealed away from the rest of the world." The Enforcer still made no response. "You asked me once how I thought to make the sky blue in my painting... I've seen it with my own eyes. There's more to our world than smoggy skies and metal walls, and the people who built the cities want to keep it all locked away. Our ancestors were afraid of change, of progression and they sought to keep things the same for always with such strict order."

"Lazarus..."

The artist silenced himself; Abel had never called him by his first name, choosing instead to regard him with cold politeness. "Yes, Abel?"

"Who are you, really? Where are you really from? Amaranth City was destroyed before you were even born."

"You know who I am." He replied. "Everything in my papers was the truth. Just because the walls were torn down, doesn't mean Amaranth City no longer exists. It is simply no longer recognized by the organization. Now come on, we can't just sit here for the rest of the night. I'm supposed to bring you to meet someone."

"I'm expected?"

"Oh yes! Quite eagerly so. Come, let's not keep her waiting."

"Her?"