I press a red button on the lower portion of the screen and everything retracts. I step onto the floor and turn my attention back to the small display. A green light is flashing in the upper corner, requesting if production should continue. My finger hesitates in pressing Accept. I tap the screen and the room is flooded by light coming from the back wall by the storage closet. Large machines sealed behind thick glass begin to dance. I’m surprised at the lack of noise being made, but thankful that it won’t alert the others to what I’m doing. I go over towards the lifts and notice a security panel next to the center lift. It’s a biometric reader. I put my palm onto the flashing panel. The device scans my hand, turns blue, and flashes lockdown commencing. The lift door opens, I step inside, and another biometric reader appears by the floor selections. I repeat the steps, only this time the device tells me the floor is secured. The reader disappears into the wall and I ascend.
I get off on the forty-ninth floor, enter my room, strip down, and crawl under the covers. I fall asleep quickly, feeling somewhat relaxed by the notion that Lok will not find what he’s looking for, and that none of them can get to the technology without my knowledge.
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Twenty-Five
I know Garrett is next to me before I even open my eyes.
“Why didn’t you stay?” he asks, pulling me into his arms.
“I was having trouble falling asleep.” I roll over so my face is buried into his chest. “Has Lok managed to break through the system?”
“Not yet. I sent him to bed about an hour ago.” Garrett kisses the top of my head, pulling me in closer. “I do have some good news for you, though.”
I lift my head so I can see his face.
“We’re going to Icarian today.”
“Seriously?” I ask, sitting up. “How do you know?”
“Lok has been able to lower some of the building’s security defenses, so the Patrician are able to send a stronger signal into the building. It’s still not enough to get them inside without your assistance. You just need to get dressed,” he says, caressing my bare arm. “Once we’re back at the plaza, the Patrician will loop us there.”
“Why can’t I do it?” I ask, sounding offended. Which I am.
“You don’t know where it is, and neither do I, so they have to be the ones to loop us.”
I lean into him and brush my lips over his. I then swing my body over his to get out of bed, but he grabs me and wrestles me back under the covers. It takes an hour for us to finally emerge. We shower together, but get dressed separately. I put the suit on under a long sleeved beige top and my black pants from the day before. I slip on the boots as well as my sheath, securing it around my waist. The suit blends into the colors of my outfit, affirming what the Dracken told me about it being easily concealable.
Garrett knocks on my door as I finish running my fingers through my long hair, trying to work out the knots. He hands me a hairband from my dresser so I can secure my hair behind my head. We take the lift down and find Troy lounging on one of the couches, waiting for us. I grumble at the idea of him coming with us, but Garrett tells me he has to go, so I loop us outside and towards the plaza. Troy isn’t used to looping quickly and rapidly, so he almost gets sick several times. I grin inside. The moment we’re next to the fallen statue, I remember that I wanted to ask Lok about the academy. I can’t believe I totally forgot about that, but with everything that’s happened it’s not surprising.
We don’t stay long in the plaza when the Patrician begin looping us. The void is longer than any I’ve been in before. Just when I feel as if all the air has escaped my lungs we land on a stone-paved road. Tall grasses that line the road blow gently in the breezes as the sun shines brightly behind us, rising from its sleep. The sky is nothing like anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a translucent purple, not the normal blue in the Outer Limits, the Dead Zone, or even Tarsus. I begin to wonder if Icarian is even a part of the same world.
Troy and Garrett begin walking, but for a few minutes I’m too caught up in the landscape to move. I go to catch up with them, but then stop.
I wonder if my ability works here also.
I visualize myself several feet in front of Troy and Garrett, close my eyes, and loop. I’m successful, much to their surprise.
“What’s with the look?” I ask both of them. “If I can do it in the Dead Zone, why wouldn’t I be able to do it here?”
Our wristbands begin to glow red. Shouts fill the air in front of us. We draw our weapons and begin to retreat. A mob rushes over the ridge at full speed towards us, their weapons drawn, but they immediately stop when the see us.
“Who set off the censors?” a tall man with thick muscles and scraggly brown hair asks. He’s clearly the leader of the group, since everyone is now stepping back.
“I must have,” I answer. “Why? Is there a problem?”
“No problem, Max,” the man says. “We thought perhaps it was the Dracken finally invading.”
“How do you know my name?” I ask, my Kopis held firmly in front of me.
“From watching The Litarian Battles,” the man says. “We know who you all are.”
“Well, I should fucking hope so,” Troy says, stepping towards the man. He puts his Deer Horn knives away and embraces the leader. “It’s been too long, brother.”
The leader – introduced as Jack – hugs his brother Troy as the rest of the mob
