He’s trying to turn me against my brother, convincing me of something I’ve always disliked—his work for the AIS, his siding with this government that is crippling its people. And if he were saying this to someone else, maybe it would even work. I see Daniel’s face, his worried expression. I think of the way he’d argued with the director, how he’d railed against this system. He doesn’t support the Level system, either. But it doesn’t matter. He still works for the AIS.

Hann sips from his glass. “So you see, Eden,” he says as I hesitate, “I’m not trying to force you into anything. But what I am saying is that I think you’re a better fit down here than you think. Even if you left—even if I let you go or you escaped … you’d come back. You belong here.”

You belong here. A part of me wonders if this is what he tells everyone before he kills them. But another part of me … knows he’s right. Because I do keep coming back.

“What is the machine that you’re building, then?” I finally ask him. It’s the question that has been waiting on the tip of my tongue. “What does that have to do with anything you’ve just told me? What exactly am I helping you to do?”

Hann gives me a pointed look. “Finish installing your engine today,” he says, “and we can run a blank sample test. Then you can see for yourself.”

* * *

When we head out after dinner to the construction site, there’s no hint at all on Dominic Hann’s face that he had revealed any weakness to me. Instead, he seems cool, almost cold. There’s none of the weight and the anguish that he’d let me witness when he told me about what happened to his family. I wonder whether he’s genuinely confiding in me.

“How much longer?” Hann asks me now as he walks over to where I’m working.

I look up at the structure. The new engine I’ve installed is mostly in place now, the new pieces expanding on top of the original drone engine I’d built so that it can conduct enough power for the whole machine. The rest of Hann’s workers are already securing the final pieces.

I point at one end of the machine, the portion that’s supposed to send some sort of signal out. It’s all I’ve managed to puzzle out about what the whole thing does. “They’re installing the last piece now,” I say to Hann. “This signal needs to be amplified more than you thought if you plan on making it hit the entire city. So I needed to make sure it gets that boost.”

Hann studies the engine I’ve made closely. “And this will work,” he says, lifting an eyebrow at me.

I wish it didn’t. But everything else about the machine was already in place. All it needed was enough of a power boost. And my engine has given him that.

My silence is the answer that he needs. He smiles in approval at me, then straightens. “I want to see a demonstration of it, then,” he says. “Send out a blank sample of a signal.”

Of course he wants to test it. I glance to where his guards are watching us, then back to the machine, where one of his workers comes over to start programming in a blank sample to test the signal.

“You look nervous, Eden,” Hann says to me as I watch them work. “It’s as if you don’t believe in the capabilities of your engine.”

“It works,” I reply, but there’s a slight tremble in my voice. Is he really going to free Daniel if this works? I think back to everything Hann had told me about himself. If I fail at this, will Hann kill me? It’s all part of his business, after all.

We wait until the programmer has finished inputting a sample signal. It’s fast, the work of a moment. I watch carefully as he does it, observing the chip he places on the machine and then the info he swipes right onto the system. He steps away from the machine, then nods at us.

“Ready,” he says.

Hann nods. “Good.” We all take a step back from the machine. “Send the signal out.”

The machine’s coil begins to glow. At its bottom, my drone engine, now with its power amplified, glows a bright, brilliant blue.

Maybe everything I’d calculated is incorrect, and my engine will fail the machine. If that happens, what will he do with Daniel?

For a moment, nothing happens. I hold my breath, waiting.

Then a pulse comes from the machine. It ripples out in a wave of vibration that tingles through my body. On the machine’s monitor, the entirety of Ross City lights up with green dots, millions of them.

When I look over at Hann, his eyes are bright and focused. A smile plays on his face.

The signal works. I can see it written all over his expression. And in spite of myself, I feel a wild surge of pride at what my engine is capable of. This is the first real test of something I’ve made, and Dominic Hann—of all people—is the one who gave me the chance to do it.

My delight makes me recoil in horror.

Hann glances at me and nods. “You’re pleased,” he says. “And it goes beyond your desire to protect your brother.”

I’m too afraid to say anything back.

He studies me curiously. “Could it be because, deep down, you believe in everything that I’ve told you before?”

“You promised me that you would release my brother if this worked,” I say through clenched teeth. “How good is your word?”

“Don’t ever question my word.” Hann looks to his side and nods once. Two of his guards don’t even hesitate for a breath. They bow immediately, then leave without a word.

“I want to see it,” I say. “On a live feed, like you told me.”

“Done.” Hann turns back to me. “Any other requests?” he asks.

My palms are slick with sweat, and my heart shivers with each beat. There’s the final question I have, the one that Hann hasn’t answered up until now, and that I’m almost too scared to ask.

“What’s the signal for?” I say, my voice coming out like a hoarse whisper. “What does your machine do?”

Hann smiles sidelong at me. I look back up at the machine. My gaze settles on the screen full of green dots.

And suddenly, I know. The Levels that had crushed his family, the system that had forced his mother’s hand. The points, the game that runs this city.

I know what this machine is going to do.

It’s going to take down Ross City’s entire Level system.

DANIEL

 

Maybe it’s still the same night as when I was having my illusions of memories about June. I can’t tell.

My lips crack from thirst. My eyes can focus only on a gray line of sparse embroidery along the edge of the floor’s rug. The guards near the door shuffle their boots against the floor.

They sound like they’re about to switch out. The two women are still here. There are other guards now too, just arrived, and in the exchange between them, I listen for clues.

“The boy’s been working on the site,” one of them says in a low voice. “He’s good, from what I hear.”

“Yeah?”

“It sounds like Hann has really taken to him.”

Another sighs. “Great. But what about us? How long are we going to sit around with this one?”

The woman shrugs. “As long as it takes.”

As long as it takes. Through my thirst-induced weakness, I attempt to concentrate. Are they trying to break Eden? Has he not already offered his help?