The Severed Tower

by J. Barton Mitchell

  Ben stared up at her sadly and stuffed the Chance Generator in his pocket. “The Tower is too important. I tried to explain it to you, but you wouldn’t see.”

  “Ben, don’t do this,” Mira begged him. “Your entire team will die. You will die. This isn’t—”

  “I know it seems horrible to rationalize away their deaths, but the Chance Generator will guarantee I reach the Tower. And I have to reach it. Everything depends on it.”

  Mira spun helplessly in the Void. She watched Ben kneel down to her pack and remove something from it. When she saw what it was her heart sank. Her glass cylinder of plutonium, with the Dampener still attached to its surface. The one she’d been carrying all this time, the one she’d risked everything for, the one she needed if she was going to fulfill her promise to Zoey.

  He put the plutonium in his own pack and looked back at her. His face was full of more emotion than she had ever seen on it. “This comes the closest of anything in my life to hurting me, knowing you will never understand why I’m doing this. Knowing you’ll never forgive me. It hurts more because, once I change everything, this reality will be gone. It will be replaced with how it should have been, a world without the Assembly. And I’ll never get a chance to make it up to you. Because we’ll never have met.”

  “Ben, no!” she yelled. “I can’t get Zoey inside the Tower without the plutonium!”

  “That’s the point, Mira. You won’t have a reason to follow me now. I’m saving you this way. You can’t make it to the Tower on your own, you know that. If you’re honest, a part of you is relieved you no longer have to try.”

  “Ben, please don’t!” she begged, struggling in the Void. “Zoey is the one who’s supposed to change everything. Not you!”

  Ben didn’t answer, he just looked up to the sky above them. “I wish I could see the Scorpion, but … I can’t. I think it’s something only you can do.” He looked back at her. “I meant what I said before. I love you, Mira.” Then he turned and disappeared down the ramp back into the Spire.

  “Ben!” Mira yelled mournfully, but there was nothing she could do. The plutonium was gone and so was Ben.

  * * *

  ZOEY STOOD AT THE top of the dam once more, staring down at the flood plain below. The shadows writhed there as before, but there were more of them this time. Thousands instead of hundreds, rising and boiling up out of the still water and reaching for her.

  Why? The suggestion came, projected upward, and this time it was so strong it filled her mind with pain and darkness.

  Why?

  The land wasn’t a still photograph anymore, it was all moving—only it moved quicker than it should, as though time were advancing faster and faster. Only the shadows seemed to move in normal time.

  “Wake up, Zoey.” A voice filled her mind. Her own voice, tiny and low. “Balance must be restored.”

  Everything sped up, faster and faster. The flood plain dried up, the trees and grass wilted to charred blackness, the dam cracked and crumbled and fell apart into dust. The world went a searing shade of white …

  “Wake up!”

  She did … and everything flashed away.

  * * *

  ZOEY BLINKED GROGGILY AS she awoke in a strange place that wasn’t where she remembered being. She wasn’t on the hill anymore, watching the frightening storm. She was in a room full of beds and cabinets and wavering opalescent light that rained down from the ceiling, and no one else was there. Except the Max. He was underneath her, staring up with worried eyes. Zoey smiled and rubbed his ears.

  The movement caused her head to hurt, and she winced. “Ouch…” she said.

  Zoey slowly rolled over and sat up, and the pain blossomed in her head as she did. It wasn’t as bad as before, when she had gone to sleep, but it was still painful.

  Then Zoey noticed something. Sensations. All around her. Filling the air. It was connected to the pain in her head, just like when those strange cubes had appeared at the junkyard city. It was like energy flowing everywhere, but it gave off no heat or feeling, she just knew it was there, and whenever she felt it pulse and blossom, the same happened in her head.

  Zoey stood up and moved for the exit. Max whined and followed her outside.

  An amazing city was all around them, stretching high above on an impossible collection of scaffolding and supports. Buildings, much bigger than they should be, jutted precariously out from the support system that wound and wrapped upward into the sky.

  It was Polestar, Zoey knew, because she had seen it all in Mira’s mind, and it was beautiful. But it was also different. Zoey saw what was left of the Orb shattered on the ground below. A hundred or so kids moved over it, like worker ants, disassembling what could be salvaged and laboriously cleaning up the rest. At the very top of the city, Zoey could see where the thing had once rested, as well as the twisted metallic supports that had ripped loose when it came crashing down.

  The ground below was ablaze in prismatic, reflected color, which must be from the Gravity Well, but she couldn’t see the Anomaly. The twisting spiral of buildings and walkways was blocking her view, so she started downward, following the path as it wrapped around and in between the city’s multisurfaced buildings. She moved through throngs of kids, none of them really paying her much mind, they were too busy talking about the Orb and the Antimatter Storm and whether or not they should leave while they had the chance. Even so, very few were headed down to the exits—they were all climbing back to their homes and lofts and workshops.

  Zoey realized they were all wearing the same colors as the kids in Midnight City. Looking upward, she could see banners fluttering out from some of the buildings, each with different symbols and colors. The factions from that place were represented here, apparently, which made sense. Freebooters came from Midnight City, and this was a Freebooter outpost.

  She stepped onto a colorful stairway that curved to the ground, and when she reached the concrete-covered Mezzanine, Zoey followed the light reflected from it back up into the air, and finally saw it.

  A giant, massive column of pure bright, flickering energy that streamed upward into the sky. The Spire of Polestar wrapped around it in a dizzying corkscrew. It was strange to look at. It felt like the entire thing should come immediately tumbling down, but somehow it didn’t. It just hung precariously in the air, and she could see a thousand kids climbing up and down its ladders and twisting paths.

  But mainly she looked at the Gravity Well.

  She could tell it was the source of the sensations she was feeling. The pain in her head ebbed and flowed to its rhythmic pulsing. And there was something else, something probably only she could really see. It was growing dimmer, the time between its flashes was lengthening. As it did, the pain in her head seemed to lessen.

  Zoey saw a brick wall erected in a circle around the base of the Gravity Well, where the energy exploded out of the ground. But it wasn’t sealed. An archway allowed entrance inside, and Zoey moved for and passed under it.

  On the other side was a circular courtyard with benches and tables for people to watch the Well as it pulsed upward. Zoey could see why; from this close, it was staggeringly beautiful.

  Max whined as she moved toward it and stood at the very edge of the concrete, the Well itself just a foot or two away. Oddly, it didn’t give off any heat, Zoey noted, and barely emitted any sound, just a strange, fragmented hissing that wasn’t at all unpleasant.

  Instinctively, Zoey closed her eyes and concentrated on the Anomaly—and when she did the pain in her head lessened.

  She sighed in relief, grateful for the reprieve, even though she didn’t know why it happened. She could feel the giant column of energy, feel it streaming upward, feel it gathering the weight of the world and absorbing it into itself.

  It felt amazing. It felt like—

  Zoey opened her eyes. Something was wrong.

  The Gravity Well flickered in front of her, and not like before. It flashed violently, the hissing intensifying, cut off and th
en returned. Next to her she heard Max growl, but she was too focused on the Anomaly.

  It flickered again—and this time it didn’t come back as bright.

  Zoey took a step back, realizing the truth. The Well was about to die. She could tell, because the sensations around her were slowing and becoming fainter. It had been weakening before, but now it was doing it much faster. Somehow the Well was the source of the pain in her head, and that pain was lessening. In horror, she realized it had all started when she moved close to it.

  The Well flickered again, seemed to fade, the hissing dimmed, it was almost indiscernible now. She heard the city above groan deeply as more weight settled onto its supports.

  Zoey’s eyes widened in fear. “No…” she moaned. The idea of what she might be responsible for chilled her like nothing else in her life. If the Gravity Well went out the city would fall, and everyone on it would die, including Mira and Holt, and it would all be her fault. All of it.

  “Please, no…” Zoey closed her eyes again. Maybe she could save it somehow, maybe she could stop it. She reached out with her mind and the Gravity Well was there, she could feel it like before, but it was noticeably weaker.

  Zoey called out for the Feelings—and they rose from the recesses, filling her with confidence and strength, almost enough to forget what was about to happen. The Feelings blended and merged with the Well through her mind, and she saw what they intended, what they suggested. She knew what she had to do.

  Zoey concentrated on the Anomaly, pouring her own energy into it.

  Golden light flared and blossomed like fire all over her and streamed into the Well, filling it back up, replacing the color and light that was bleeding out of it. The pain in her head returned as the Well grew stronger again.

  But it wasn’t going to be enough, she could tell. All she could do was delay the inevitable.

  “Please…” she moaned again. She had to slow it down, give Holt and Mira and everyone else above time to escape.

  The supports of the Spire groaned again. Max barked wildly in alarm, trying to get Zoey’s attention.

  But Zoey didn’t move, as much as she might want to. She could run and escape, maybe, but she didn’t. Tears streamed out of her closed eyes as the pain slowly increased in her head.

  Please let them escape, she thought. Please.

  All around her the world began to fall apart.

  30. THE FALL

  HOLT WASN’T SURE WHAT HE’D HEARD, but whatever it was woke him from a deep, dreamless sleep that he would have much preferred to remain in. He glanced around, looking for any sign of—

  It came again, the sound. A deep, mournful groan that filled the air outside the sheriff’s office. It sounded like metal bending and shifting under stress. A lot of stress.

  “You hear that?” Ravan asked next to him. Her men were all stirring in their cells. “I think—”

  A new sound, this one from hundreds of sources, and one Holt recognized immediately. Screams.

  Everyone got to their feet instinctively, trying to peer through the windows at the other end of the building, but all they could see was the flickering, prismatic light from the Gravity Well outside.

  The groaning again, but stronger, a deep, violent rumbling that shook the building. The Menagerie murmured nervously.

  “The time is now.” Everyone turned to the lone White Helix in his cell. He rolled his shoulders, stretching his arms, preparing for something. As he did, he looked up.

  Holt, Ravan, and the pirates followed his gaze. There was only the skylight and the old exposed air-conditioning ductwork along the ceiling—and it was almost thirty feet above their heads.

  “You’re kidding. Right?” Ravan asked skeptically.

  Chase didn’t answer. His eyes moved from the ceiling down to the cell bars, studying them, planning, then he grabbed two and scaled them like a spider, straight upward. Even without their rings, it seemed the White Helix were still very agile.

  “Um. Yeah.” Holt’s eyes widened at how effortless he made it look.

  When Chase reached the top there was no hesitation, he lunged backward into the air, spun and grabbed hold of the exposed ductwork at the top. It creaked badly, but it held. The Helix’s legs flew outward, swinging him back and forth on the ductwork, gaining momentum and speed. When he had enough, Chase swung one last time, flew upward …

  … and crashed straight through the skylight, feetfirst, shattering it to pieces.

  Seconds later another skylight broke apart, and Chase fell through it, landing outside their cells in a crouch that absorbed his weight.

  Everyone stared, dumbstruck, as the Helix moved to the lockers at the far end of the office. He opened one and grabbed his things—his goggles, his mask, various pieces of equipment, the three glowing crystal rings, and finally his double-pronged weapon.

  It was the first time Holt had seen a Lancet. It looked pretty much like how the stories described it, but it was still a hell of a sight. He could see the two glowing crystals on either end, one red and one blue, and the dual triggers on the shaft.

  More rumbling echoed outside, and a violent crash filled the air. Screams followed.

  Holt felt a desperation build in him. Whatever was happening out there, it was bad. And Mira and Zoey were right in the middle of it.

  “Stand back,” Chase said as he approached, the double-pronged spear spinning in his hands in blurs of blue and red.

  No one argued or questioned him, they just backed up. The weapon spun faster—and then gracefully struck outward straight through the lock on one of the cell doors in a shower of sparks.

  The lock mechanism exploded. The door opened. The pirates inside were free.

  Holt was impressed. Those doors were solid steel, and whatever those spear points were, they passed through it like it wasn’t even there.

  Chase repeated the move for each cell in the office, plunging his weapon into them, blowing them apart. But when he reached Ravan and Holt he stopped. “We have to move fast, there isn’t much time.”

  “Why?” Holt quickly asked.

  “I can feel the Gravity Well fading outside. It’s going to die, and this place is going to die with it.” He stared pointedly at Ravan. “If you want to live, your men must do exactly as I say.” Ravan and Holt nodded without hesitation.

  Chase punctured the lock to their door, freeing them. Ravan and the last of the Menagerie exited and moved for their things.

  So did Holt. He slipped his pack over his shoulder, and it felt good there. He hadn’t had his things in a long time. Holt grabbed his shotgun and rifle, slipped them over his back, and reached for the Beretta.

  From around the room came the clicking of a dozen guns being primed.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Ravan asked. Holt slowly turned to look at her, carefully slipping the Beretta into its holster as he did. Ravan’s gun wasn’t raised, but six or seven others were.

  “Mira and Zoey are out there,” Holt said.

  “Don’t be an idiot, it’s suicide,” Ravan replied. “It’s all about to come down, and you’ll be buried with everyone else. It’s survival. You know that.”

  “It’s more important than you think.” Holt stood his ground, neither moving for the door nor surrendering his guns.

  “No.” Ravan drew her sidearm, a Beretta 9 like his own, and aimed it at his chest. “We had an agreement. You’re not going anywhere.”

  Holt didn’t move or react, he just stared at her evenly. “Zoey can heal the Tone, Ravan. She can stop it from spreading, reverse it.” The Menagerie all around him hesitated, unsure they’d heard him correctly. “And she has other powers, amazing ones, powers the Assembly are hunting her for.”

  “The Prime…” The soft, musing voice behind everyone grabbed their attention. It was Chase, leaning against a wall and staring at Holt. “The Prime … is with you?”

  Holt stared back in confusion. “You mean Zoey? The Librarian called her the Apex, is that what you mean?”
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  Chase stood up straight, studying Holt in a new way. “Avril’s Arc has been searching for her for days. When Gideon said she was here, I didn’t believe it. It seemed so … impossible. We have waited for her return a very long time.”

  Holt was even more confused, but Ravan interrupted them both.

  “This is insane. The Prime? Magical powers? This is why you’re here?” Ravan looked disgusted. He wasn’t surprised. If he hadn’t seen everything he had with his own eyes, he doubted he’d believe it either.

  “What happened to you, Holt?” Ravan continued. “You never would have gotten involved in anything as hopeless as this. Never would put something intangible above survival. It isn’t you.”

  “It’s not intangible,” Holt said. More groaning from outside. He had to get out there. “I’ve seen it.”

  Ravan stared back at him like a stranger. “So the little girl has powers, so what? She’s one little kid. What can she possibly do, save the world? Is that what this is all about? I mean, really? Look around you, Holt.” She stared at him intently. “There’s nothing left to save!”

  Holt held her gaze. “I used to believe that, but not anymore. If you’d seen what I’ve seen, you wouldn’t either. I have to go, Rae. If you need to kill me—then that’s what you should do.” Holt took a step toward the door. The guns tensed all around him. “But I’m going after them.”

  “After her,” Ravan said. Her voice was ice.

  “After both of them.” Holt took another step. The Menagerie looked between Holt and their Captain, unsure. Holt, for his part, just stared at Ravan. He could see the pain there, but there was nothing he could do. Things were the way they were, regardless of what he felt for her. “You wanted me to trust you, to think you might be more than I believed. That’s what I’m doing right now.”

  She stared back silently. The gun shook in her hand. Holt took another step. The building shook again, there were more screams outside.