As they finally staggered into the Hollows, Warabi set Paul on the ground. The only thing he could do was take deep, heaving breaths to try and recover his energy; there was no time to waste on a proper recovery. The other musicians, having beat them back by a fairly large margin, were scattered everywhere, all of them moving with urgency and purpose.

Warabi weakly shuffled them both towards their rooms. The kid's was right next to his on the left, so they'd check them both quickly. Just before entering, Warabi managed to catch Ito's eyes, the musician in the room to his right, and exchange a thankful nod. A quick inspection of their respective rooms revealed their bags properly packed up and ready to go.

"Ok kid, head to the A stage. I'll meet you there in a second."

Paul looked up at him, concern in his eyes. "Where are you going?"

Warabi hesitated for just a moment. "I'm going to check if Ahato is here, ok? I'll be right back."

Hearing the familiar name, Paul nodded quickly, and scampered towards the A stage. Even without fully grasping the full extent of their situation, he understood the urgency of it.

The straps of his backpack weighed heavy on his shoulders, but he couldn't afford to be slow. After a quick sprint, he shoulder checked Ahato's door. In the doorframe, he took deep, desperate gulps of air as he scanned the room.

Inside he found... not what he'd been hoping for, but also not the worst case scenario. Ahato wasn't inside, but neither were her bags. She'd been here, then, long enough to get her things, but the question was, when? It could have been mere minutes ago, just barely ahead of the other musicians, or she could have taken her bags some time before the show, or hell, even during it. No one had seen her since the night prior, so there wasn't any way to know for sure.

The only thing he could conclude was that she was going to meet them at the exit. Hopefully. With a huff, he closed the door and quickly jogged to meet everyone else.

On the fringe of the crowd, he found Paul waiting with Pix, Nix, and Ito. They all shared a quiet, worried glance, but no one said a word

"Is that everything?" Numi, an A stage musician, soon called out to the crowd. A chorus of affirmations met him. "Let's go."

No one left empty handed. The night prior, everyone had prepared their bags for the worst case Scenario. The bulk of their fare was music equipment, but every third bag was loaded full of rations and water. Musicians wore backpacks, toolbelts, and holsters on their body, solely to carry as much as they were able. Many carried larger pieces of equipment in their arms, in addition to their bags. Warabi thankfully only had to contend with his own things, they were moving slower on account of the luggage, so the kid would be walking this time.

Unfortunately, even with 49 of them in total, they couldn't take everything. The speakers at each stage were far too big to be carried out, and most of the Hollows' underlying infrastructure wasn't removable to begin with. After debate, most of their military equipment was left behind as well, the weapons being sacrificed for more instrument space. The general consensus was, if they were going to be slaughtered or imprisoned on the surface, 20 octoshots wouldn't make any kind of difference in that outcome.

As they walked out of the Hollows one final time, Warabi couldn't help but feel a small twist in his hearts. This raggedy, scrapped together place had become like a home to him. But still, it was better to leave it behind than watch it be destroyed.

As they made their way between the domes, they didn't swim or take the kettles due to their luggage. The lone exception was a punchy B stage musician named Dominic, who would swim ahead to scout for any soldiers or officers in the way. Predictably, progress was much slower this way, but that was the cost of escaping with their equipment.

Tensions never lowered, despite nearly an hour and a half of travel time. The absence of anyone in the domes, usually so bustling, didn't do anything to help the feeling. Every trip around a structure's edge felt like walking through the open, just waiting for someone to spot them and call out. Each transition felt like it was funneling them into a trap. Yet, despite the fear plaguing them, they never saw another soul.

There was only a single wrinkle in their collective plan: no one really... knew how to get to the surface. It was obviously possible, given Agent 3's presence within their home, but knowledge of the caves was hardly common knowledge, outside of the very basic routes that even the school children visited.

Originally, the plan had been to just chance it, hoping their supplies lasted long enough for them to find the exit. Surprisingly, just the day before, Ahato had actually given him some information that would help. Apparently, in the sky above her old apartment, there was an entrance to a cave system that would for sure lead to the surface, somehow. According to her, Agent 3 had used it right in front of her during the early months of his attacks. It was the best lead any of them had, so that's where they were going.

Finally, the musicians filed out of the transition into Residential Dome B. Their already paranoid pace quickened further as they approached their exit. They were looking for the second tallest building in the dome. Somewhere above it was a gap between the screens that led to the cave. Everyone craned their necks as they approached, trying to catch a glimpse of their supposed salvation.

"I see it!" Someone from the group called, and a gloved hand pointed towards the ceiling. For a brief moment, everyone paused, following the callout until they too could see their escape. Seeing confirmation that the exit was real ignited a frenzy in the group. Everyone surged forward with renewed determination, weaving through the streets towards the building's front door.

"STOP!" A commanding voice shouted at them. Everyone froze, but soon relaxed into only a tense hesitance as they faced their opposition. A lone soldier sat on the ground, octoshot raised towards them. She was in an incredibly awkward position, with one leg splayed out in front of her in a way that wasn't natural.

"Stop!" The soldier repeated, the bravado in her voice quickly fleeting. "I can't— You can't go! No one else can go! You have a duty!" Her breaths came in staggered bursts, and her face was flushed, like she'd been crying not long ago.

Clyde, their main bouncer, stepped forward without a sound. "Ma'am, put down the octoshot." His voice was low and steady, almost exactly what you'd expect from someone built as sturdy and big as he was. Those were probably the two best traits to have as the Hollow's primary bouncer. With a cold glare, he leveled a charger, one of the few weapons they had brought with them, right at the soldier.

"No!" The soldier begged more than she objected. I can't let anyone else betray the domes!"

"Oi! We ain't betrayin a thing!" Riza, an A stage musician, stepped forward. "This place ain't done shit for us!" She hissed.

"Besides, this way we won't be a drain on resources anymore!" Baby, A stage legend and arguably the most risqué act in the Hollows, stepped forward. "So if anything, we're doin you a favor!" They gave an exaggerated smile, hoping that'd be enough to sway the soldier.

The soldier didn't lower her octoshot.

"Last chance." Clyde refused to break eye contact.

The defiant glare in the soldier's eye only sharpened in response.

Without another word, he pulled the trigger, and splatted her where she sat. Several musicians shouted in shock. "The respawner at the transition had a charge, she'll be fine." He grumbled, already slinging the charger onto his back. "Now, let's go."

The group charged ahead, stepping through the puddle of magenta ink without hesitation. A winding staircase took them to the roof of the building, where Ahato was unfortunately not waiting.

The gap between the screens was much more apparent from up here. One of the musicians set her bags down, and superjumped towards it, disappearing behind the gap. A few moments later, a rope ladder dropped down, barely a meter short of the rooftop. It shook once, and a second person jumped up a moment later. After a brief pause, it shook twice. It was time to climb.

Things were handled orderly, directed by the A stage musicians. The most capable of them were going up first, hefting the heaviest bags so they could take time to recover before coming down to get whatever bags the weaker musicians couldn't lift. Warabi wasn't nearly that strong, so he stood off to the side with about half of the other musicians.

While his eyes worriedly scanned every surface they could come across, he spotted something out of place. Near the edge of the roof was another piece of mixing equipment, though it was in no condition to be used. It was SEVERELY damaged, clearly having been dropped from quite a ways up, but even through that, Warabi was pretty sure he recognized what he was seeing.

It was one of Ahato's turntables, a clear sign that his friend had been here. Still, an uneasy feeling rested in his gut. If she were here, where the hell was she? Both her backpack and provisions bag were taken, had she jumped up, set one down, and then dropped down for the other? Or, perhaps, Ahato had actually convinced her 'totally not her girlfriend' girlfriend to run with them. If that were the case then a few more things made sense, but something told him he wasn't about to see his friend up in that cave.

With nothing else to do, he simply waited until he was waved over. He led Paul to the ladder, and raised the kid high enough to grab it. "Think you can handle this?"

"Mmm... Yeah..." the kid said, hesitantly.

"Give it a few tries, I'll be right below you to catch you." Warabi gave him a nod.

Slowly, Paul reached for the next rung, and then the one after that. Once he was a few rungs above, Warabi hoisted himself onto the rope as well, and slowly followed behind, shouting encouragement up anytime he saw the kid's spirit falter.

After what felt like an eternity, they made it to the top. What he found was a nasty looking gash in the metal, like a wedge or rock had been drilled into it, and then subsequently chipped away until it was large enough to fit through. Of course, Warabi had to fight his overstuffed bags through the same holes, which proved to be a unique kind of hell while holding onto a rope ladder, but eventually, he managed.

He and the kid stepped away as the members holding the rope ladder rotated out. The space wasn't at all like he'd been expecting. He'd anticipated thin, narrow corridors of cold stone and darkness, and while the chill, the dark, and the rock were all very much present, the space they were in was much larger than he thought. The dull clang of every step only served to remind him that they were walking on top of a dome.

Ahato wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Hey, hey! There's an arrow etched into the stone here!" Someone shouted. Half a dozen flashlight beams clicked on and quickly trailed towards the voice, with murmurs of agreement soon following. "Maybe it's a marker made by Agent 3!"

Soon, the last person made their way up with the last bag, and the rope ladder was drawn up behind them. They'd done it. They were actually outside of the domes. The cluster of musicians shuffled towards the cave entrance.