Kurt is excited and anxious. He tries to remember not to drum his fingers against his leg, a nervous habit. It is important not to draw attention to himself. It is important to look like everyone else. The button at the neck of his tan shirt feels too tight and constricting, but he ignores it as he walks down the sidewalk of Principle City.

Kurt has been to big World Government cities before, but the WG capitol is even more unbelievable than Kurt expected. Everyone has the routine down perfectly here. He stands at the shuttle stop and watches men and women exit their buildings almost in unison. They walk down the side walk, turn corners, stop at shuttle stops like it's choreographed. Everyone perfectly on time. No one out of sync as the men in their tan shirts and slacks and the women in the tan shirts and skirts head off for a day that will be like every other day of their adult life.

Kurt suppresses a shiver. He doesn't understand how people live like this. His family had escaped the rule of the WG before he was born, he grew up in the resistance. He'd been trained for this, told what life in Principle City would be like, but still it unnerved him. He had never been so grateful for the freedom he grew up with. Two men and a woman came to stand next to him at the shuttle stop, they barely gave him a glance, he wasn't yet part of their routine.

The Purple Shuttle pulled up to the stop. A shiny gray shuttle with just a faint, dull looking purple trim. One of the men and the women boarded.

The man left at the shuttle stop turned to Kurt.

“Good morning. How are you?” He asked in monotone.

“I am well.” Kurt answered, remembering how most people in WG cities answered that question. “And yourself?”

“I am well.” The man answered before The Yellow Shuttle stopped in front of them, this was Kurt's ride it would take him to his new position downtown at World Government Central.

Kurt's stomach tightened at he rode into downtown. The monitors on the bus chattering reminders from the Leaders to stay on routine for a happy healty World Government. Outside the windows everything was gray and stark and clean. The people walked the streets like robots. Kurt wondered for the millionth time if he could really do this. Was he really the right choice for this mission? So many of his fellow rebels have more experience living in WG cities, they would fit in easier. Kurt feels like he was made to stand out. No one in the Resistance is better at computer hacking than Kurt though. So here he is.

Kurt watched the people around him on the shuttle staring blankly ahead and only every once in a while making benign conversation with each other. He couldn't help but wonder, do these people even want to be saved? Will they welcome freedom? Is this risk worth it for people who choose to live like this?

Kurt thinks back to the conversation he had with Tina when they first settled down in their secret Resistant Headquarters in Principle City. 

“Kurt, someone has to help them.” Tina said with tears in her eyes. “You keep talking about people under WG control like they have a choice, but they don't know better. They don't understand how much more life they could have. That freedom has been taken away from them. We have to do this to help them.”

“Yeah man!” Puck joined in, “I know it's harder for people like you and me to understand. We haven't spent that much time under the thumb of WG. But this is our big chance to bring down World Government, don't you want that?”

Kurt sighed as much as he had with Tina and Puck. It was a conversation they'd had too many times. Of course Kurt wanted to bring down the WG. He just didn't know if the people living in Principle City would feel the same way.

The Yellow Shuttle stopped outside of World Government Central. A tall intimating building that shone silver in the morning sun. All the other buildings in Principle City were a drab gray, but World Government Central was a slick shining silver.

The Resistance had worked hard and gone through a lot of danger to get Kurt his position here. His cover was that he transferred from another smaller WG city because the WG thought his skills would be of better use here. Transfers from one city to another were rare, but not unheard of, especially in the Capitol.

As Kurt exited the shuttle he took a deep breath and braced himself, joining the drone-like people entering the headquarters for the very organization he and so many others wanted to take down.

Kurt's day was monotonous. Actually, it had only been half a day of this continual routine and already Kurt didn't understand how people living under the routine didn't just pull their hair out in frustration. They all seemed so content and resigned. Did they even deserve to be saved? Kurt hated the thought as soon as it crossed his mind, but he couldn't help thinking it.

Lunch break was a blessing Kurt was very grateful for. He walked to the large cafeteria and waited in an orderly line with other World Government employees to get his assigned food. A small woman nearby was struggling to get her tray of food to a table. She also was carrying a large stack of papers that she was reading so she wasn't paying much attention to what she was doing.

Some people had a harder time keeping up with the strenuous routine, keeping up with expected project due-dates and the heavy work load. She must be behind and trying to catch up to everyone on her lunch. She weaved her way towards a table and then accidentally ran smack into someone.

The tray in her hand fell to the ground with a loud clatter, the papers slipping out of her fingers and floating to the floor in a mess.

“Pardon me.” The man she ran into said and continued with his routine, he didn't spare her a second glance. The woman looked stricken as she scrambled to gather her papers, she'll be even more set back now. No one moves to help her. Kurt swallows, knowing he can't draw attention to himself, but he so wants to help. The woman looks like she might start to cry.

Kurt is about to help when a young man in front of him steps out of line and walks to the woman and kneels down, smiling at her as he helps her stack papers and clean up the mess. She stands and wipes her eyes a little as the man dumps the tray. They talk for a moment before the woman takes a seat at a nearby table and starts to organize her papers.

Kurt takes a seat with his lunch and watches as the man gets two lunches, bringing one to the woman before heading off to sit with another group.

Everything in the cafeteria returns to normal and Kurt eats his lunch alone watching the young man who went out of his way to help the woman everyone else ignored. He sits at his table sending a soft smile back at the woman and continues like he wasn't the only person in the room to help a crying person.

It hits Kurt then. This is what he is risking everything for he realizes. For people like the woman who is so afraid of getting out of routine she cries over a spilt lunch, for everyone in the cafeteria who is too desensitized or too afraid to help, and for people like the young man with the dark curly hair and the bright eyes who stopped to help her even if it was a risk.

Kurt feels a smile tug at the corners of his lips as he watches the man eat with his colleagues. He has golden eyes and a light smile on his face. No one else is really smiling. The man turns and catches Kurt's eye, who quickly looks down at his food like it is the most interesting thing in the world. Maybe being in Principle City wouldn't be that bad after all.