V: BLACKOUT
Min huddles alone in her room, hugging her knees. She can't sense the surrogate drone anymore, and she can't hear Orren's voice. The entire world has gone black.
"This isn't real," she whimpers, rocking herself for comfort. "The towers are still standing, and my parents are alive. It's a bad dream, brought on by the Dead Empty. All I have to do is wake up."
Traumatic memories flicker through Min's head at a nightmare cadence. She can still see the dome fragment crashing down on her parents' shelter, pulverizing it. Can still hear the titanic crash of a thousand tons of jagged metal embedding itself in the deck plating. But she's hurt and scared and in need of comfort, and lying to herself is less painful than the truth.
"It's a hoax. Has to be. Some kind of temporary power outage, timed to coincide with the Blackout. And Willow knew because she's in on it. Everything will be back to normal soon."
With a sudden jolt of urgency, Min snatches the tablet from her bedside table. She attempts to contact her parents. Nothing. And then her nannies, and then her family's security team. Then Orren, and then his mother, and then the City Enforcer VIP emergency line.
Dead. The lines are all dead, as dead as her heart knows that her parents are. As dead as the entire Gleam must be.
She's alone.
From somewhere outside comes the wail of a siren, and red light streams in through the window—the city's emergency power system, casting the world in crimson.
Rising to her feet, Min gazes out at the fallen city and takes in its bloody skyline. A terrible keening sound fills her ears, and some deep part of her recognizes it instantly. Screaming. A warbling, cacophonous blend of innumerable distant screams. As she stares out over the stricken Gleam, searing flashes of color stab her eyes. Explosions and structure fires, punctuated by the staccato crack of gunfire.
Min's entire body jerks as a metallic snapping sound shakes her from her reverie. A second later, the lamps in her room flicker back to life. Basking in their sterile glow, she allows herself a moment of hope, but it quickly begins to sour.
The building's backup batteries must've kicked in, Min tells herself. They'll keep the lights on for a day or two, three tops. She stares longingly into the nearest lamp, drinking in its radiance. And then they'll go out again. Forever.
In a daze, she stumbles to her bedroom door, pulls it open, and blunders through. Her family's apartment sprawls before her, as vast and empty as a tomb.
She crosses to the front door and presses her hand to the reader. Locked. Of course it's locked, she thinks bitterly, as the hot tears roll down her cheeks. What did you think it'd be? She presses harder, rolling her palm against the glass. Willing the security system to let her outside.
Nothing. She's trapped.
Of course you are, stupid. She slumps against the wall, sobbing openly now. What did you think, that they'd trust you to stay in on your own? You might hurt yourself! The injustice of it brings years of pent-up frustration bubbling to the surface. Never mind that you've never even tried to do anything without their permission. Never mind that your graftware would protect you. You've been sealed away in this vault of an apartment, all alone. Forever, probably. The thought of it fills her with dread, but she twists the knife anyway.
And they did it for your own good.
Grief and terror give way to an incandescent flash of rage. Min snatches a crystal vase from a nearby coffee table and hurls it at the wall, shattering it. She feels a brief swell of satisfaction, followed by a lingering spike of shame. Now there's broken glass in here, idiot, she thinks, cursing herself. All you just did was make things worse.
Maybe you should try to hurt yourself, she thinks, staring at the broken glass. Force your security grafts to kick in. They'll take over until you're safe again, numb you to the pain. She clenches her teeth and squeezes her eyes shut, then forces the idea out of her head.
There's still something she hasn't tried yet. Something she's been dreading since this morning.
Swallowing her apprehension, she turns back to face her terminal. Its screen flickers, then comes to life, filling her eyes with a discordantly cheerful glow.
***
"Willow? Are you there?! Answer me!" Min shouts at the top of her lungs, but in the vast nothingness of the Dead Empty, her voice doesn't echo. It's like screaming into a soundproof wall.
Getting here had been deceptively simple. The Blackout had taken the Academy offline, but that didn't stop Min from connecting to it. She figured that the sync would eventually fail, bouncing her back to reality. But it feels like she connected hours ago, and the Dead Empty still envelops her.
With mounting desperation, Min cries out again, but she hears no response. "Willow?! You were right! Talk to me!" Her voice hitches as she fights to keep from crying.
Nothing. There's nobody out there. Maybe there never had been.
Try as she might, Min can't hold back the tears any longer. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it's already dawned on her that she might be stuck here, trapped in the Dead Empty with no way out—her childhood nightmare come to life. "Please, Willow!" she wails. "I'm all alone and I need your help!"
"It's okay, kiddo," Willow's voice whispers out from the emptiness, as soothing and welcome as a summer's breeze. "I'm here."
Min leaps to her feet and wraps the pale young woman in a fierce hug. Willow holds her as she sobs.
"Where were you? I've been trying to find you forever, and you weren't here!"
"I'm sorry about that. The Blackout's been tough on me, too." She strokes Min's hair. "But I'm here now, and I won't abandon you. You've got my word."
"What do we do now? How do we fix it?"
"We don't," Willow replies gently. She puts a finger under Min's chin and lifts it. "This city is dying, Min. All we can do is try not to die with it."
Through her tears, Min looks deep into Willow's eyes. They're as clear and pale as moonlit pools, and as fathomless as the Arc itself. "The good news is that I can save us, kiddo," Willow continues. "But I'm gonna need your help to do it."
"What kind of help can I give you?" Min sniffles. "I'm just a kid!"
"A tough, smart kid, with a good heart and custom graftware." Willow smiles down at her. "Don't worry, Min. You're exactly what I need you to be."
Clearing her throat, Min wipes the tears from her cheeks. "…What do you need me to do?"
"There's a gate I need opened, a software gate. It's meant to keep unauthorized entities out of the Gleam's emergency systems, but right now, it's preventing me from helping." Willow rests her hand on Min's shoulder. "There's an access point in the city center, about a half day's walk from your family's apartment. If you were to get there and open it for me, I could bring a sanctuary online. You'd be safe in there, protected from… what's coming. And you're going to want that protection, Min. You really will."
"I've never done anything like what you're asking," Min replies in a small voice. "I've hardly ever even left my own bedroom."
"Don't worry, it'll be easy. You'll just take it one step at a time." Willow gives Min's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Believe me, kiddo, I'd do this myself if I could. Unfortunately, I'm locked out. I can't even set foot in the facility."
"Why not?"
"That's a long story, better saved for another time."
Willow straightens, releasing Min's shoulder. Her voice takes on a more serious tone. "Three steps, kiddo. There are just three steps between you and safety. You'll come get the key, then go open the gate, and then hurry off to the sanctuary." Holding Min's gaze, she ticks each item off on her fingers. "You do these three things, and I can protect you forever. What do you say?"
"I'll help you. I'll go."
"Thank you, Min," Willow replies warmly. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."
Min turns away, willing the tears to stop. Dreading what comes next. "I suppose that you need me back in the real world now."
"That's right. I'm pushing a map to your terminal." Willow closes her eyes, and her face flickers with a pale white light. "You'll find a red dot on it. I want you to head there, okay? That's where the key will be waiting."
"Okay," Min says, wiping her nose, "I'll try."
"You've got this, Min. While you're studying the map, I'll unlock the door to your apartment. Just take the stairs down and walk out the front door, and your graftware will handle the rest."
Willow runs a hand through Min's hair, smiling. "Oh, and… bring a coat. I've got a feeling you're gonna need it."
