42

MK stands behind a pure white desk of stacked concentric circles. Her desk screen, a thick pane of glass that goes all the way around her, is the biggest I’ve ever seen. A massive door of etched glass looms across from her, and the metal walls curve up to meet at a ringed skylight in the center of the ceiling.

Our footsteps tap against the white marble floors, and she looks up from the dozen or so files open on her desk screen. “Will.” The shine of her eyes rivals the sheen of her hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I missed you, MK.” Glancing down the long hallway, he drops a kiss on her temple.

I hover behind Logan’s shoulder. With my reapplied makeup and the wig, we figured MK wouldn’t remember me if she doesn’t look too closely at my face.

“I thought I’d help you out.” He gestures at us. “I’ve got a couple of interns from a local high school, and I thought maybe they could watch Olivia so you could get some work done.”

At her name, a little girl sticks up her head from behind the cubicle, where she must’ve been sitting on the floor. I immediately recognize the pudgy cheeks and precisely-cut fringe of black bangs. Olivia Dresden. Chairwoman Dresden’s daughter.

“That would be so helpful.” MK drums the desk screen with her fingers. “The Chairwoman wants these files organized by the end of the day, and I’m at my wit’s end.”

“I don’t know why she doesn’t get a child-minder,” William says. “It’s a bit ridiculous, really.”

“She doesn’t like having outsiders poke into her business.” MK ruffles the little girl’s bangs. “And Olivia here is a breeze to watch, aren’t you, dear heart?”

Olivia nods. “MK, I need to tell my mommy about my nightmare.”

“Sure thing, but your mommy’s in meetings all afternoon, remember? So as soon as she gets out, I’ll let her know.” She turns back to William. “Have you heard the news? TechRA thinks they’ve found her. Our Key to future memory.”

I draw a sharp breath and shoot a look at Logan. His muscles bunch, as if he’s about to swim a race.

“It’s my classmate from school,” Olivia pipes up. “I thought we’d be able to play together, since she’s living here now, but MK says Jessa’s too busy taking tests.”

My knees buckle. I would’ve hit the floor, but Logan wraps an arm around my waist, holding me up.

“Hush, Olivia,” MK says. “We don’t know anything for sure. The scans of her brain are like nothing we’ve ever seen, but the scientists need to study her neural activity while she’s in the process of transmitting a message to her Receiver. Problem is, she’s not cooperating.”

William leans his hip against the desk. “How do you even know she has a Receiver?”

“Her scan shows all the signs of a Sender,” MK says. “And when there’s a Sender, there’s got to be a Receiver. One is useless without the other.”

“Wild.” A disarming smile spreads across William’s face. “Well, I’ll leave the politics to you bureaucrats. I’m nothing but a lowly guard, you know.”

“Oh, Will. You could never be lowly.” They melt into gooey smiles.

I was right. My sister actually is the Key. In a way, I’m not surprised. This whole day feels like a puzzle clicking into place, piece by piece. It’s not déjà vu, but something similar. Rather than having experienced this moment before, I feel the compulsion to live it.

It’s Fate’s fingertips at the small of my back. I have to come to the Chairwoman’s office. I have to listen to William talk to MK. I have to find this precog. Because somewhere, in some future world, I already did.

William straightens up. “Maybe the interns can entertain Olivia in Chairwoman Dresden’s office. That way, they’ll be out of your hair.”

MK hesitates. “I don’t know. She doesn’t usually allow outsiders in there.”

“It’s up to you, of course. I thought it might be easier to focus, if they were out of your way.”

She gnaws on her lip. “You’re probably right. I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm. Olivia plays in there all the time, and I’ll be right out here.” She sighs and presses William’s hand. “You’re so good to me.”

William smiles, but I can see the pulse throbbing at his temple. His jaw is clenched so tightly his bones protrude against the skin. It’s killing him to lie to MK.

I steel my heart and turn away. Too bad. It killed Sully to be a part of this system. This is the way it has to be.

William pushes open the etched glass door, and I catch his arm. “Thank you,” I say, hoping he understands the words are more than a formality.

He blinks, and he can’t hide his resentment. Against me and himself. “I’ll be in my office if you need me. You can ask MK how to get there.”

And then he is gone.

Olivia immediately starts running in circles around the office. Behind the glass and steel desk, on top of the white leather couches, narrowly missing her knee on the mirrored coffee table.

I’m not sure what I expected. The white bear, waving its red ribbon from the top of the Chairwoman’s desk? But the answer must be here, somewhere in this room. The bear connects my sister to MK. And the Chairwoman herself must have documents on the precognitive.

Logan heads straight to the desk screen, jerking his head to indicate the blur of movement is my responsibility.

Floor-to-ceiling windows span the outside wall. I suck in my breath as Olivia speeds past. If I don’t slow her down, she might crash right through the glass. On her next circuit around the office, I snag her arm. “Olivia, do you want to stop and talk to me?”

Strands of hair tumble from her twin braids, and her chest heaves up and down. “I know who you are.”

“Well, yes.” I guess my disguise is no match for a hyper-observant six year old. “I’m Jessa’s sister. You’ve probably seen me picking her up at the T-minus eleven classroom.”

“No, that’s not it. I’ve seen you in my dreams.” She takes off running again and hops over Logan’s feet where he kneels in front of the desk, looking for a work-around to the desk screen. She screeches to a halt in front of me. “What’s he doing?”

“Nothing. Do you want to play a game? Or sing a song?”

Olivia looks over her shoulder. Logan’s all the way under the desk now, examining the underside of the screen. “I had a nightmare at school today,” she says. “I need to tell my mom about it.”

“You fell asleep? Are you tired now? You could take a nap on the couch, if you wanted.”

She rolls her eyes. “No, I didn’t fall asleep. You don’t have to be asleep to receive dreams, stupid!”

She dashes away again. Figure eights this time. Around the desk, behind the table. I watch her, the skin at my neck prickling.

“Olivia.” When she stops again, I crouch down so I can look into her face. Her round cheeks are flushed, and she squints at me as though she might need laser correction. “You’re not actually talking about dreams, are you?”

“My mommy says I should call them that, so people don’t get suspicious.”

My mouth is suddenly dry, and I lick my lips. “Suspicious of what?”

The loose hair flops around her face. “My mommy says I’m not supposed to talk about it. But I’ve seen you. You’re nice. You try to help me, in the future.”

“Olivia, when you say dreams, are you actually talking about visions? Visions from the future?”

She peeks at me. Something in my features must reassure her because she nods, slowly.

I let out a breath. My heart’s thundering so loudly I’m surprised it doesn’t send vibrations across the room. “Logan,” I call. “Can you come here, please?”

“What is it?” He crosses the room and squats down next to me. “The Underground scientists have developed a back door to these desk screens,” he murmurs in my ear. “I’m almost in.”

“Forget about that for a moment.” I turn back to Olivia. “We’re looking for a precog. Someone who can see years and years into the future. Do you know anyone like that?”

She picks at a hole in the knee of her jumpsuit. “I don’t like that word. It sounds like a bot, when really, a precog is just a person, like anybody else.”

“Well, of course, a precognitive is a person,” I say. “A person who can help others, by preparing them for the future, or warning them about what might happen.”

She stands abruptly. “It’s so boring being the only kid here. I thought if I gave Jessa a teddy bear, she would come play with me. But I haven’t seen her. Maybe my mom forgot to send it.”

My mouth drops open. “That was you? You sent Jessa the teddy bear?”

“Yeah. MK gave me the bear, but I already had one.” Her lower lip sticks out. “I thought Jessa would come by for a visit, but she hasn’t.”

Regaining my composure, I lean forward. “I’m sure she would play with you if she could.” I rub her shoulders, like I might do with my sister. “I’m trying to help her, Olivia. But I can’t do that unless I find this precognitive. Something bad happens in the future, and I need to find out what it is. Do you understand?”

She nods. Her narrow shoulders rise with her next breath. “I’m the precog. And this bad thing you’re looking for? I think it’s my nightmare.”

I rock back onto the marble. I can’t believe it. We found her. The source of the prophecy, the information being fed to an entire team of scientists. It was the Chairwoman’s daughter all along. A six-year-old girl. And we found her.

Logan’s hands close over my arms. I can’t tell if he’s supporting me or holding himself up. “Can you tell us about your nightmare?” he asks Olivia.

She shakes her head. “Too hard to explain. You’ll have to watch it yourself, the way my mom does.”

“How do we do that?” I ask.

“On the same machines they use to read your future memory.”

We wrench open the glass door. MK has her hands on her hips, studying the open files projected above her desk screen. Looking up, she blows a strand of hair off her forehead. “Just think how worse off I would be if you weren’t here right now. How’s it going in there?”

“Not bad,” Logan says. “We were hoping we could take Olivia on a walk. To visit William, maybe? It’s getting a little rowdy in there.”

“Yeah, I can hear the thumps.” She laughs. “I suppose that should be fine. Make sure you stay in the building, though, and have her back in an hour.”

He thanks MK, and then we’re on our way. As soon as we get to William’s office, we’ll hook Olivia up to the scanner. The machine will read the images in her mind, and I’ll see her vision of the future. If my theory is correct, I’ll finally know why a future Callie decided to kill her sister.

If, if, if. Nothing’s definite, and yet, the muscles in my neck and shoulders turn to stone. This is the answer. I can feel it.

The halls are mostly empty. Olivia skips ahead of us, her braids unraveling a little more with each bounce. The few people we see give her indulgent smiles, letting us pass without question.

“No wonder the Chairwoman doesn’t have a child-minder,” I murmur to Logan. “She doesn’t want anyone to find out.”

Olivia starts racing down the hallway. “Hurry up!” she calls over her shoulder. “We’re almost there!”

“Olivia, be care—”

A uniformed employee comes around the corner, carrying a potted plant. Olivia slams into him, knocking him to the ground. The pot flies out of his hand, smashes into the wall, and breaks into a million pieces.

The ceramic remains scatter across the floor. A trail of soil leads like breadcrumbs to the broken plant stalk.

The cool wind of Fate blows against my spine. I’ve seen this image before.

Logan helps Olivia to her feet and apologizes to the man.

The man frowns, his mustache twitching. “I don’t have time to deal with this. I’m late for a meeting.”

“Don’t worry, sir,” Logan says. “We’re interns here. We’ll call a bot to clean it up.”

Grumbling about out-of-control kids and their irresponsible child-minders, the man strides down the hall. I wait until he’s out of earshot, and then I turn to Logan.

“That broken pot was in my memory,” I whisper. “It looked just like that. The trail of soil, the broad green leaves. My memory’s coming true.”

All of a sudden, I’m not sure I’ve made the right decision. Maybe I don’t need to know the future. Why am I tempting Fate? Maybe I should just grab Jessa and run.

Logan takes my hand and repeats my words back to me. “Knowing the future doesn’t take away your free will. Only you can decide what you will do.” He grips my hand. “We’ve come so far, Callie. Let’s finish this.”

I look at him, the person who’s been by my side almost this entire journey. “I’m scared.”

“Me, too,” he says.