ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE: Ripples, II

ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE: Ripples, II

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The bus was less than half full on the way back to campus, so Alden had taken two seats. The lights were off, and he was letting himself sprawl, watching the city pass by as they approached the north shore of F and The Span.

Anesidora is starting to look familiar in a lot of places.

A motorcycle zipped through traffic, its rider accelerating to pass the bus before they reached the long bridge, and a police drone up ahead flared yellow in warning.

But some of its still crazy.

Behind him, Haoyu was leaning out of his seat to talk to Kon. Jeffys standing in the parking lot with Reinhard right now," he was saying. "Theyve been looking for the bus.

Kon turned his head toward the front, where Instructor Klein was sitting in the drivers seat with his arms crossed over his chest like he was having critical thoughts about the road instead of just monitoring it. There was a touchscreen and a wheel if he needed to take over as the vehicles operator. I feel kind of bad for them, but he did warn us not to be late.

They were both whispering. Beside Kon, Everly had already fallen asleep. Her head was against the window, pillowed by one of her silver buns, and her mouth was hanging open.

The bus doors had closed at 12:05 AM. Alden was pretty sure Klein had timed their departure down to the second.

They were having too much fun racing some boys from Reinhards old middle school on the slide and lost track of time, Haoyu said. Then they accidentally followed signs to the parking garage instead of the lot where the bus was.

What a shock, Lexi murmured.

Tell them they should try to meet up with Astrid, said Maricel from a couple of rows in front of him. She was sitting by Tuyet. She should still be there. She was with us, but she went back in to get a pair of pants she saw in a commercial on the way out the door.

Alden hadnt bought anything. Hed tried to find something for Stuart, but he wanted a gift that somehow said, Thank you for the learning cushion and also good luck with that irrevocable life choice youre about to make.

Scented candles and lamps with bugs in them felt way too shallow.

[The Filipino food was great,] Alden texted Maricel. [Im still stuffed.]

That seemed better than reminding her about the days troubles. He assumed she wouldve updated him if shed heard anything over the past hours.

Near the front of the bus, Marsha was drinking a can of strawberry milk and occasionally bothering Ignacio with questions about his knives. She and Mehdi were the only members of their team whod stayed to ride the bus back to campus. Even Vandy had left as soon as dinner finished.

Alden thought it was a fifty-fifty split between her being embarrassed about her teams performance and her being unwilling to compromise her personal schedule and stay out late.

While everyone continued to murmur around him, he started mentally drafting a letter to Kibby. It would make a nice addition to his usual video messages, and taking the time to translate it into logograms for her would be good practice. Plus he didnt want to fall asleep like Everly.

Having a nightmare on the bus would be unfortunate.

They were coming less often, but the last one had bothered him enough that he was more worried about a repeat than usual.

Hed been on Thegund, wearing his coat, trying to make it to the lab on the first day of the disaster. Hed heard the whistle, and hed run as fast as he could to the car to get her, only to find she wasnt there. It was just the bodies of her father and sister.

The sound of the whistle had called to him again from the endless plain, and hed chased it for what fell like hours, with the tall grass withering around him and turning to dirt as if its death had been put on fast forward. Then the last blades had rotted away and hed stood there alone.

Just him and the chaos. No more whistling.

And he realized he was going to have to go through the whole thing again, without her. Without another living soul.

Thank you! Im going to wear mine on Monday, Haoyu said.

Alden refocused and realized Njeri was passing around temporary laurel wreath tattoos that she'd bought for their team at the mall in celebration of their victory. He took the small square of paper from her with a thanks.

Theyre supposed to last a week, she told him. So make sure you stick it somewhere you like it.

She went back to her seat, and he smiled at the little circle of dark green leaves for a second before he tucked it into his bag.

Instructor Kivb-ee, he typed on his interface with a thought, Id like to tell you about the team I worked with this week and what we accomplished together. Im also including some video of my skill in use, so you can see what Ive learned

A minute later, the bus bumped slightly beneath them as they hit the bridge.

Apex, and what would hopefully be a good nights sleep, were just a few miles away.

******

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Riley cried out and dropped the lantern shed been holding aloft. Jacob leaped back.

The girl who had just appeared between them and the door to the cabin waved her arms. Dont be afraid! Dont be afraid of me!

Where did you come from?! Jacob shouted.

She looked strangely familiar to him, though. Her sudden presence was somehow startling and not at the same time in a way that made him feel disoriented.

Im sorry! Im so sorry! Ijustdidntwanttogetthrownofftheship! She was still flapping. But somethings wrong and I cant open the door and I cant target the captain anymore and I think something bad is going on and I cant fix it by myself!

Who the hell are you? Riley demanded. And what in the name of Boomtowns Backside are you doing here?

Mina, said the girl, taking a step toward them both. Im Mina. But listen to me. It doesnt matter who I am. The Systems not here. Where did it go? And the door to the cabin is locked. Why arent the people inside talking anymore? The blinds on the windows shut themselves all of a sudden. I think that Object Shaper I have trouble controlling did it. Somethings not right. Its not right at all.

You! Riley exclaimed.

Are you listening to me?! Minas voice was so high it was piercing. The Systems GONE!

She sounds crazy, thought Jacob. But a moment later, he realized that she wasnt.

He hadnt been doing anything with his interface while he listened to Riley talk about Superhumans At Large, but there were supposed to be a couple of surreptitious lights in the corner of his vision that he could gesture toward to call it back up since he hadnt mastered a mental command. Those lights had disappeared.

He waved his hand in the area they shouldve been in, feeling odd.

This is what everything used to look like.

The last System notification had been the warning.

Is it just because we crossed the blockade? Is that what happened?" Mina asked in a frantic voice. "Isthatnormal? Doyouknow?

Riley was staring at the space in front of her own nose with a perturbed expression.

I was only a little worried when it first went away, but Ive got a bad feeling now, Mina said. Like somethings out there in the water watching over my shoulder. We have to get out of here.

Outof here is two miles below the Pacific Ocean, said Jacob slowly. Sowhere did you come from?

Are you a Sway? Riley hissed, stalking toward Mina threateningly. Are you doing all of this to us? Give me my interface back!

Mina staggered away from her until she smacked into the wall of the cabin. ET! she shouted. System, ET me! Emergency Teleport. I would like to be teleported immediately! Please! Please!

Nothing happened; Mina kept babbling.

Jacob realized he was starting to breathe heavily. I dont understand why the System is gone," he muttered. "How can it just be gone?

Nobody had had an answer for Mina, so of course there wasnt one for him either.

Maybe I should call for an ET, too. Maybe I should. It might still hear me

Riley had frozen in the act of reaching for the terrified girl. Changing her mind, she suddenly spun toward the cabin door. She grabbed the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened. The handle wasnt even budging; it was like it had been cemented in place.

Hey! she called, slapping the door with the palm of her hand. Hey! Let us in! Captain Adi! Mr. Belasco! Will!

No reply.

Jacob, do you have any Wright gear that can open doors or?

A huff of laughter escaped from him even though none of this was funny. I took talents to help me make detector flashlights. Im useless.

You know what? Riley said. Fuck this. It's getting uncomfortable. Im a Brute, and its just a door.

She took a step back, lifted her leg, and kicked the handle hard. There was a popping sound, and the handle flew off.

Ha! she said.

But when she threw herself at the door, it still didnt open.

Pressed to the wall nearby, Mina said, I told you its theObjectShaper! Hesprobablystabilizingthedoorandwindowsfromtheinside

Jacob jumped as Riley reached over and slapped the other girl lightly on the cheek.

Talk like a normal person! she commanded. We are members of Superhumans At Large. We arent going to panic. This is not a time for us to panic.

Mina held a hand to her cheek. I thinkI think

RELAX DAMN YOU, thought Mina, slamming her shoulder into the door, imagining herself reaching out with her mind to scream the words into the face of the man inside.

And then, finally, the door broke open.

They fell through it.

Several miles from Anesidora, aboard a ship that served as a low-security housing facility for Avowed who were best kept away from the larger population for a variety of reasons, a dark-haired man sat alone in a billiards room. He was curled up in a chair, a quilt wrapped around him, and the lights were off save for the one over the large table. A few balls had been left behind on the baize from an unfinished game.

A woman poked her head into the room. Youre up late, too! she said. Do you want to come on a walk around the deck with me?

He didnt seem to hear her. His mouth was moving quietly. The word relax was the only one loud enough for her to make out.

Bad night? the woman said. You havent had one in a while. Do you want some coffee? I dont make it as well as you.

She waited for a reply that didnt come, then said, Ill make us both a cup.

The captain was dead. Blood from a large head wound saturated the bunk below him. Hed died fast enough that his paperback was still resting on his stomach. As for the thief, his body lay in the kitchenette where blood spray stained the cabinets and a red pool spread out to cover some of the stickers left on the floor.

Ohnononono. Mina turned and ran. Her feet pounded the teak deck behind Jacob, then they stopped.

Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. It was a small boat.

Jacob's own mind was nearly blank.

Will squatted on the floor beside the Submerger. He was holding the holographic cube sticker hed picked up earlier in one hand, and with the other, he was pressing the stylus to one of the logograms on the Submergers control dial. The metal bead in the tank was sunken still, but it was no longer in the center of the device. Instead it was battering itself against one of the glass walls of its container, like a tiny fish trying to break free of the aquarium that protected it.

Sorry, said Will, his eyes looking right through the teens. You cant feel it, can you? I can feel it. Its right there, scratching and scratching at the door. Why does everyone on Earth pretend it isnt there?

Okay, said Riley, her voice remarkably calm as blood dripped from her hands onto the floor. Sir. Will. Were all friends. We all want the same thing. Give me the Submerger. Lets talk about this.

He blinked at her for a few seconds, then the stylus that controlled the device lifted into the air and snapped cleanly in two with a tinkling sound. The Shaper didnt even have to use a gesture to do it.

No! Riley shouted, arms lifting as if she wanted to stop what had already happened.

Just outside the cabin door, Mina let out a sob.

Were almost there, Will said, dropping back onto his butt and staring down at the sticker in his hand. Almost there. Sorry. Sorry about the trip. I changed my mind.

He picked up something from the floor that Jacob hadnt noticed because of all the other horrific things there were to notice in the cabin. It was a potion injector, probably taken from the supplies the dead thief had stolen.

Will pressed it to his own neck. He spoke a word in Artonan then slumped to the floor. Unconscious or dead. Did it really matter?

Riley ran over to the Submerger and tried to lift it, but the control dial came with it. Help me! she said, fumbling with the broken stylus. You two! Do something to help me!

Theres nothing I can do, thought Jacob.

But he found himself dragging his getaway bag out of the corner where hed stashed it. He reached inside and pulled out one of the few things hed made as a Wright.

Some components, a spell impression that had to be cast a ridiculous number of times on the lens, a skill that fed it power if the battery ran outa weak detector flashlight.

Jacob preferred the open complexity of wires, pipes, and circuits. Magically created items functioned in ways he didnt understand, even if hed made them himself. So hed chosen the talents needed to make a magical gadget that might help him inspect nonmagical ones.

Some nonmagical ones anyway. His detector flashlight only worked on objects, and parts of objects, that had been crafted by hand or by spell. It didnt help at all with mass-produced, machine-made parts.

I doubt the Submerger came from a robotic assembly line.

Jacob held his finger against the switch and pointed the dull red beam at the Submerger. He was surprised his heart could sink further, but it did.

What is it? Riley said. What do you see?

Nothing. The detector was supposed to show you places that were disordered on crafted objects. Loose screws, broken enchantments, malfunctionsalmost everything had a flaw. They were supposed to turn hot pink under the light. Theres absolutely nothing.

And the flashlight was working fine; the snapped stylus was shining brightly. When Jacob swept the beam around the room, he could see all kinds of disorder. Even the thing under the tarpthe thing he was sure was some kind of a Wrightmade bombwas giving off a small pink glow.

But the Submerger

That thing is really well made, he said. If its got weak points, theyre too small for me to see them. Itll keepitll keep doing whatever he told it to do. I guess we could try breaking it. But

But then well die. If we break it, we die. If hes set it to crash into Matadero, we die.

Weve got powers, Riley said in a faint voice. Weve got powers. There must be something we can do.

Mina stumbled into the room. She was pressing her hand to the front of her sweatshirt, right over her heart. He said it would be soon. He said we were almost there. Did that mean a minute? Two? An hour?

Neither of them answered her.

She stared at Wills body. He wouldnt have knocked himself out would he? If it wasnt reallyreallysoon. She took three breaths so fast that the air whistled between her lips, then she smashed her hand over her chest even harder, her fingers sinking into the thick fabric. Ihopethisistherightthing. Activate Fragile Atmosphere!

Oh my god, said Riley. Her voice was shaking. Thisthis is really happening.

She pressed a hand to her own chest. Activateactivate Fragile Atmosphere.

They both looked at Jacob. There was a layer of something like silver glitter covering their skin.

So thats what it looks like, Jacob thought. It looks like that when you use your once-in-a-lifetime Contract signing bonus.

Did you? Riley asked.

I took a device identification offering. Jacobs voice sounded distant in his own ears. Everyone said it was so much more useful. For a Wright.

A gasp from above drew a portion of Esh-erdis attention. He glanced up with one eye. The sound had come from the messenger.

Her only function in this place, at this time, was to maintain a mental connection with another Avowed who still stood under the Contracts shelter. A much surer form of communication in this environment than technology.

What is it? he asked.

A message, she said in one of the human languages.

A message when no word is expected, he thought while he watched her face and the demon below him at the same time. The news is never good.

Relax, damn you? The words didnt really go with the questioning tone, and swearing--even in a perplexed whisper--sounded odd coming out of Tuyets mouth.

Alden looked toward her curiously.

Tuyet? Maricel asked.

Sorry! Im not talking to you. I just got a message from my brother. The oldest one. Hes a Sway, and hes notcompletely well. He lives on a residential ship. Sometimes he does strange things. He must be having a difficult time right now. Let me text him back.

The bus was halfway across the bridge. The traffic was surprisingly heavy for the hour, but it was a Friday night.

If Lutes in the tub when we get home, Lexi was saying to Haoyu, then I think we should

An ear-splitting wail filled the air.

Alden was out of his seat in an instant, ready to move without any clue where or why he should move. And he wasnt the only one. The siren was hideously loud. Everly, startled from her sleep, screamed and shoved Kon away from her like she thought she was under attack.

He staggered sideways a step and didnt say anything about it. His eyes were fixed on Lexi, who was standing up from his seat, too.

At the front of the bus, Instructor Klein had also risen.

Whats the siren for? Kon asked.

> Ignacio asked from the front of the bus.

We have a chaos siren? Alden demanded.

Nobody lose your heads, Klein said. Notices should be coming in any second. Stay calm.

Notices appeared. Aldens nerves were suddenly so bad he could barely make sense of the words the System was sending him even though he could read them fine.

[Disaster Alert: Attack on Matadero]

[Disaster Alert: Low Probability of Chaos Exposure]

Nobody had time to say anything about the two shocking Disaster Alerts before a third arrived:

[Disaster Alert: Oceanic Anomalies - Imminent

Avoid seawater. Seek high ground. Beware of possible tsunami.]

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