Page 121 of The Amber Sunburst

Alexander shrugs like he shares Bios’ confusion. “Yeah. Our professor is probably trying to work off the momentum from the Trials to prevent us from falling asleep in class.”

Zeno laughs a little too hard, and Alexander wants to elbow him. “Doesn’t stop this guy,” Zeno jokes, patting Alexander on the back.

Bios snorts.

After a few more seconds of sizing them up, Bios shrugs. He goes to his desk and returns with a pencil and paper, then throws both at Zeno, who catches them with a yelp.

“Take notes,” he instructs. “I can only tell you what I know from having participated in the Trials as a teenager and from my limited involvement in setting up this year’s.”

He and Zeno nod in sync.

“From what I understand, security in the Arcs is lax on Trial days. The main concern is maintaining order, not monitoring exit points from the city.” He gives them a pointed look, and Alexander feels caught.

“As for the Trials themselves, Auxiliaries no longer participating are assigned guard duty in the three viewing towers, not in the city. Uber-wealthy Producers have a propensity to drink, bet, and fight, hence the increased security.

“Inside the Trial, there are always two hidden emergency exits that lead into the city. The exits are only meant to be used if there’s a threat of living participants falling below twenty, since that’s how many are necessary for the Council.

“If someone tried to use them without permission from the higher-ups, they would almost definitely fail. There are two triggers inside the challenge and one in a viewing tower’s operations room. All three of them need to be activated at the same time in order to open the exits. But if by some miracle the exits were opened, an Auxiliary could leave without triggering any alarms.”

“And what about the broadcast? Wouldn’t they watch us open the exits and leave the challenge?” Alexander asks, no longer concerned with subtlety. He doesn’t understand why Bios is so willing to help his son run from the Academy, but he’s not going to question it.

“You’d have to find a way to cover the cameras without being detected.”

“They couldn’t just be… shut off?”

“The cameras can be controlled from the broadcast room,” Bios says. “But it’s in a different viewing tower than the operations room for triggering the exits.”

“So we’d need two people outside the challenge.”

“Exactly.”

“And if we, hypothetically, requested your assistance in the broadcast room, could we count on you?”

Zeno’s breath hitches and he turns to Alexander like he’s lost his mind. Asking a member of the Council to help them escape is probably the worst idea he’s ever had, but he’s never let that stop him before, so why start now?

“No. You could not.”

A heavy silence falls. Alexander breaks it. “May I ask why, sir?”

Bios smirks at the overpoliteness. “I have important work to do here. Work I cannot do from outside my position on the Council. Risking my job has consequences for a much greater cause than just myself.”

“Morality is not Justice, and Justice is the jurisdiction of a Guardian. You said that once,” Alexander argues. “So what greater cause are you supporting if it’s not for the sake of morality?”

“It’s not for Justice, I’ll tell you that much.”

“But you said⁠—”

“There are a lot of rules up here at the Academy, Alexander. And one thing I’m sure you can gather about me? I don’t follow the ones I don’t believe in.”

Oh, this guy is so badass.

“Okay, Dad,” Zeno butts in. “This has been really helpful. For our project. We’ll leave you be.”

Alexander wants to ask more about Bios’ ‘greater cause,’ but when Zeno grabs his arm and pulls him to the door, he makes no effort to stop him. Best not to press their luck.

“Boys,” Bios calls after them. “This isn’t going to be easy, but no matter what happens, you can’t give up.” He looks to Zeno. “You have so much life in you. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be allowed to live it.”

“Dad…” Zeno says.