" . . . And don't forget to call. I want to hear all about everything, okay?" Theodora said. Lukas could see the worry in her eyes. He knew how much she liked being in control of things, and being able to watch over things in her life, him most of all. Slowly, she revealed what she's been keeping in her pocket. "Here," she says, extending it out to him. "Dad took an extra shift at work. Last week, he was able to scrape up enough money for this." Lukas couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was a smartphone. Used, beat-up, and a few generations past, but a smartphone nonetheless. Tentative, he reached out and took it.

"I promise," Lukas said. He pulled Theodora into a tight embrace. This was turning out harder than he had imagined. No amount of preparing could ready himself. For the first time in his entire life, she would not be the first thing he sees every morning, preparing his breakfast and lecturing him about his grades. Mom worked the graveyard shift in a small-town bank, and would usually be passed out in bed when he was going to school. He felt her arms wrap around him.

"Relax, it'll only be what, six weeks?" she said with a smile. "You'll be back home in a flash. And when you do, it's my turn on the DS, got it?" He nodded, cracking a small smile. "Alright. I'm going now . . . try to have fun." With that, she got back in her rusty old car, and with a puff of smoke and a series of ghastly grinding noises, she was gone. Lukas looked up at the entrance, the gate separating the camp from the rest of the world. Oh well, nothing left to do but go in. He took one nervous step forward, not really wanting to, but forcing himself. Then another. Before he knew it, he was inside.