25

I go to my bedroom and lock the door. It’s not smart—Cadet Waller probably still has people looking for me, since I ran after the injection—but I have to take a minute. I have to think, and I don’t know where else to go.

I throw up in the toilet. My stomach is empty now, so I dry-heave. Mucus and saliva in the water.

I want to find Beechy or Ariadne and ask them to help me stop Charlie, but I’m scared. Ariadne is definitely subdued, and Beechy probably is too. The monthly injection may have changed them, and they’ll think I’m crazy and tell everyone, and I’ll end up marked Unstable.

I’m scared because Logan is going to die if I don’t do something. Everyone up there is going to die. It makes me want to scream and rip my hair out, or curl up in a ball and sob until I have no more tears.

I switch off the lights and drop onto the floor on the other side of my bed, so I’m hidden from anyone who might stand in the doorway. Hopefully no one will think I’m here if they check. I pull a blanket off the bed and wrap it around my body, curling up on my side in the carpet. Every breath sends shivers through my body.

I clench my teeth so hard it hurts. There must be other Core citizens who came from the outer sector camps, who would care about the people up there if they weren’t subdued. Instead, they’ll take the word of Charlie and the scientist as fact and ignore how their reasoning for KIMO and their whole plan doesn’t make sense. The Surface death rate from acid can’t be that high. The shield can’t be that far gone, not in six days.

Yes, the shield’s been responsible for deaths in the past when acid leaked through, but never that many. Even if the acid levels are rising, the shield particles couldn’t corrode that fast. The death rate wouldn’t jump so high.

If Charlie’s lying about the shield not working—and he must be—this is an excuse. He wants to fly the Core away for some other reason. He just wants to keep his citizens from knowing.

I dig my nails into my cheeks, choking back a sob. I can’t let him kill them all. He said everything will be ready in a few days. I have to stop this. But how? KIMO will blast the outer sectors away. It’ll destroy Logan and everyone up there, all those children who are not worthless.

I could pretend to be subdued, that I was okay with all of this until I learned exactly what’s going on here and how to stop it, except Charlie said we only have a few days. And I don’t think I can pretend. When they find me again, they’ll give me another injection. Probably a stronger dose, since the first one didn’t work.

A stronger dose might kill me. It would definitely make it impossible for me to think clearly and figure out what to do and pretend I’m okay.

But maybe if I could find KIMO before they catch me, I could mess with the mechanism somehow, to at least slow down Charlie’s plan until I figure out exactly what’s going on. Beechy’s a mechanical engineer—he might help me.

The sound of the bedroom door zipping open makes my body freeze. It was locked, so only Ariadne or security could unlock it.

There are still people looking for me.

Giggles. Fast breathing. Two bodies fall onto the other bed.

I’m a statue.

“I don’t know why I didn’t want you before,” Ariadne whispers.

It’s not security.

“She’s poison.” Sam’s voice. “You needed a cure.”

Sam is in my bedroom.

“The injection?” Ariadne giggles again. “It made me feel funny.”

“Shh. Stop talking.”

Sam is in my bedroom with Ariadne, tangling in her sheets. My heartbeat is so loud under the blanket, I’m sure they can hear it. This must be a nightmare.

“Be careful,” Ariadne squeals.

Sam doesn’t answer.

I want to drown in the carpet. I want to die. I want to run.

A speaker crackles on in the ceiling. “Attention,” a voice says. “All citizens, please report to your rooms for a mandatory security check. Again, all citizens, please report to your rooms.…”

Sam whispers something I can’t hear. The bed creaks, and laughter follows their feet into the bathroom. Water turns on in the shower.

I throw the blanket off, stand, and get to the door, shaking. Ariadne shouldn’t be with him. He’s just as bad as the boy she ran from on the Surface, if not worse. But it’s not her fault—I bet it’s the injection. I bet Sam tricked her once she was subdued.

I’d help her get away from him, but I don’t think she’d listen to me.

In the hallway, the sound of boots clunking and people chattering reaches my ears. Citizens returning to their rooms because of the message over the speakers.

I have to find somewhere to hide. If they’re doing a mandatory security check and they find me, they’ll find out the injection didn’t work. I can’t let them give me another.

I’m staggering down the corridor when I hear someone shout behind me. “Hey!”

I glance over my shoulder. Sam pushes through my bedroom door with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Even from a distance, it’s hard to miss the smirk on his face. Vrux. He must’ve heard me leave.

“She’s here!” he yells, turning his head away from me. “The girl you want is over here!”

Citizens round the corner, and officials in gray suits and knee-high boots push past them. I see who’s leading them, and I can’t stop my feet from faltering. It’s Beechy. What’s he doing with them? Please don’t be helping them. Please be yourself. Please make everything okay now.

He sees me and slows, staring at me.

Please don’t be subdued.

“Help me,” I plead.

He narrows his eyes. I can’t see them clearly from this far away, but I bet they’re covered in film.

“Is that her?” an official says.

Beechy nods. “Get her.”

I flee.

*   *   *

There’s nowhere safe in the Core, now that I’m alone. There’s nowhere to hide.

I take the stairs and follow them down, as far as they go. They’re empty, though I hear voices through the doors on the stairwell landings. Everyone still has to report to their bedrooms for the security check. I guess I’m the only one who ignored the announcement.

I trip and fall; I pick myself up, ignoring the fever raging inside me and the sounds of the officials’ boots pounding on the steps above. If only there were a building, then maybe I could climb high enough to escape them. But I’m not on the Surface anymore.

I go to the lowest point instead: Restricted Division. It’s the most dangerous too, but maybe they won’t expect me to go there.

The stairs end at the lowest deck accessible to the average Core civilian. I hesitate in the stairwell, wedging my hand into the door frame to open it a crack. Two men in lab coats hurry down the corridor outside, talking fast. I can’t understand them.

For a second I think they’re coming right at me, and panic rushes through my body. But they turn a corner, and I breathe out in relief.

I count ten seconds. I wait to make sure the corridor’s empty. My heart hammers in my chest.

Nine, Ten.

I stumble out of the stairwell. Blue lights dot the ceiling, along with blurry white dots, though those might be in my head.

I don’t know where I’m going, so I just keep moving.

I pass a few branches into other corridors—glancing quickly to make sure they’re empty—and reach the end of one. The hall breaks off and turns to my left and to my right. In front of me stands a pair of double doors. They’re black, each with a dark blue X over circles of white that could be window holes. But they’re not windows; there’s no way to see inside. Somewhere beyond them, the Developers reside in safety and comfort. Beyond these doors, they control everything.

About five feet down the corridor to my left, another door leads into the same side of the wall. There’s no X on that door, but there’s small red lettering: RESTRICTED PERSONNEL ONLY.

KIMO must be somewhere near here. This division is the only place no one’s allowed to go without Commander Charlie’s permission.

Possibly I could trick the security system and get in. I could find KIMO and its blueprints and see if I recognize any of the mechanisms. It sounds impossible—I don’t have much skill with mechanics, after all—but they’re going to catch me soon anyway. I can’t hide down here forever.

What else do I have to lose? I might as well discover what I can.

My heart beats fast. I pull my arm back into the sleeve of my suit, as if I’m taking it off, and cover my thumb with the fabric. I touch the lock-pad in the wall—

All the lights in the hallway turn red.

“Unidentified human,” a voice blares from the walls. “Unidentified human.”

I stumble back.

“Unidentified human.”

A metal door clangs shut. Shouts and footsteps come from the corridor behind me. The officials must’ve realized I went all the way down the stairwell.

“Unidentified human.”

I run down the left-hand corridor.

“Unidentified human.”

There’s a drain hole in the floor that might be big enough for me, but there’s a metal cover over it.

“Unidentified human.”

I grit my teeth, grab the bars, and tear the drain cover loose. It loosens easily. I stumble back and nearly hit the wall.

“Unidentified human.”

The officials are close now, too close. I check that the drain hole will work—there’s a horizontal passageway a few feet down, which will be wet but should hide me. I drop down until my feet hit the floor, slick with water, dragging the cover with me and securing it in place. The fever makes me disoriented and clumsy.

“Unidentified human.”

Crouching to fit, I crawl farther into the passageway so I’m no longer visible through the drain cover. The scent of rusty metal tickles my nose. I plug it to keep myself from sneezing.

“Uniden—”

The alarm stops blaring.

“Where’d she go?” someone yells.

“Check everywhere,” I can hear Beechy say.

Even Beechy is subdued. Even he abandoned me.

Please don’t look in here, I beg.

“She can’t have disappeared.”

“I don’t think she’s down here,” Beechy says. “I think she set up a divergence.”

“How the vrux—”

“She’s smart,” he says. “She’s the smartest girl you’ll find here. Trust me on that. Come on, let’s check somewhere else.”

The clunking boots fade away, along with the voices. Part of me wonders if he knew I was still down here, and pretended I’m not because he’s still trying to protect me.

It’s a nice thought, but I don’t think it’s true. I’m sure they’ll come back if they don’t find me elsewhere. They’ll check the security cameras and realize I crawled inside here.

If I want to do anything about KIMO, I’ll have to find out where it is tonight.

But I can’t fight sleep anymore, so I let my body slump on the wet ground. If I close my eyes, I can pretend I’m not in a hole in the floor or even in the Core. Not stuck underground, while Logan and all the other people far above me unknowingly await destruction. I can pretend I’m safe and they are too.

I shiver as the sweat of fever overtakes me. I stop fighting.