When she stepped back a huge part of his being was torn away, leaving him raw, empty, and broken. His arms fell limply to his sides as she turned back for one last look. He wanted to return her smile but he couldnâ€™t. His eyebrows furrowed and his head fell forward, weighed down by the rain that began to pour. Lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and she was gone.<br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/>Aiden found life in the city much like he left it â€“ a bustling, unforgiving and mostly anonymous affair. Fortunes were being made downtown, people died on the streets of alphabet city, and hearts were broken at the bus station every day. No one seemed to notice that Aidenâ€™s was one of them, so he tried not to as well.<br/><br/>He didnâ€™t dare go to any of his relativeâ€™s homes, so instead he spent the night on the street. The next day he bumped into an old friend who was still in â€˜the businessâ€™, and the day after that Aiden was invited to a gathering. Deep below a subway station Aiden entered the place that would become his new home. The 9th Street Crusaders was an anarchist group much like the one he had been involved with in years past. They were young, idealistic, motivated by the unfairness of the light-band system and willing to act. Although they hadnâ€™t ventured as far as personal violence, they were not against damaging peopleâ€™s property. Aiden blended into the background, trying not to take a spotlight in the organization. He took on an assumed name and did his best to blend in with the shadows. The fewer people knew his story, the better.<br/><br/>Even though he had a purpose again, Aiden struggled to find any appreciation for it. He had dreamed about escaping prison nonstop for a year, romanticizing how wonderful it would be. Now free, living like a rat in the sewers, life felt awfully anticlimactic.  Making matters more complicated, his thoughts constantly returned to Carina and the feelings that had come out of nowhere. He dreamed about her almost every night. In most of those dreams she was running away from him as fast as she could. In others she passed him in the street and ignored him. Only once did he dream of them sitting together on the bus. Waking up that morning alone, the next day he felt even worse than the day before.<br/><br/>A week went by, and then another. Still, though, he found no relief from his malaise. The service tunnels he lived in became his new prison. This prison, though, was without the occasional visit from Carina. The place was becoming worse than his old cell.<br/><br/>Then came the news â€“ Archduke Ferdinand had been assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. War had been declared, but what was worse â€“ the interlocking treaties between the great European powers had been honored. Everyone was mobilizing â€“ everyone was going to fight. This was an unprecedented development. In all the wars that have wracked Europe since Homerâ€™s time, never had so many people been about to fight so many others all at once. The war would certainly spread out to the colonial holdings of the great powers in Africa, and perhaps even the Pacific. The entire world had been set on fire.<br/><br/>There was no indication that the United States was going to be involved at this early hour. Some Americans were going to Canada to volunteer to fight for the British Commonwealth. This sounded ideal to Aiden â€“ a new start, in a country that didnâ€™t know who he was and most likely wouldnâ€™t care. After serving as a veteran he would be welcome to stay for sure in Canada â€“ no matter what his light band was. He could form a new identity, and start over. It wasnâ€™t New York, but anything was better than the purgatory he found himself in.<br/><br/>Aiden made up his mind, he was going. He packed up what few belongings he had and made the trek to Penn Station. Through the bustle he stared up at the train board and tried to figure out a way to get to the Canadian border. Unfortunately, the coins in his pocket werenâ€™t enough. Realizing this, his whole body seemed to deflate. Once again, despite all of his grand plans, he had been defeated by the unfairness that had saturated his life from birth.