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"Sis? Open up." The voice came through the elevator speaker as the doors buckled inward.
Nia's knife rose before she could stop it.
The voice was Kellan's. Same rough little laugh. Same pause before he said her name. But the speaker dragged each word through static, stretching it until it sounded like a recording being torn apart.
"Don't answer," Elias said behind her.
"I wasn't planning to invite him in."
Something slammed into the doors again. The metal bowed around a handprint, then pulled flat.
"Sis, please. I'm cold."
Nia's grip tightened. "You knew this district was infected."
"I knew something was wrong."
"You opened the gate."
"You held my hand over the reader."
"Because you said it was the only way."
"It was."
She shoved him against the elevator wall and pressed the blade under his jaw. His injured shoulder struck metal. He hissed, but his good hand stayed at his side.
"You don't get to use that word anymore," she said. "Not after what happened to Kellan."
The speaker crackled.
The voice outside changed.
For one second, it sounded like Kellan. Then Elias. Then Nia's own voice whispered through the grille.
"You pulled the lever."
Elias went still.
"What did it say?" Tavi asked through the dead intercom.
"Nothing useful," Nia said.
"That wasn't my question."
The elevator jerked. Gears shrieked above them. The doors stayed shut, but footsteps scraped across the concrete outside. Some came from the ceiling. Others stopped directly beneath the floor.
Too many.
Elias's eyes tracked the seams in the doors. "Tavi, status."
"Bad news."
"You always say that like there's a good version waiting."
"Enforcement locked the upper transit line. All three routes into District One are sealed."
Nia pressed the knife harder. A bead of blood slid down Elias's throat. Black veins had crawled past his collarbone and climbed toward his jaw.
"How many units?" he asked.
"Forty-two armored officers. Maybe more behind the signal wall. Their orders are official." Tavi paused. "Shoot Nia Calder on sight. Detain Elias Rook if possible."
"If possible?" Nia asked.
"Yeah. Weird, right? Rich boys usually get the soft wording."
Elias's mouth tightened.
Nia noticed. "They want you alive."
"My mother wants me alive."
"The system wants you erased."
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
The speaker clicked.
"Elias," the voice outside said.
It had stopped pretending to be Kellan.
Now it spoke in several voices at once, layered so tightly that Nia couldn't tell where one ended. The sound crawled under her skin.
"You pulled the lever. You left him below."
Elias stared at the doors. His breathing turned shallow.
Nia lowered the knife a fraction. "What lever?"
"I don't know."
"Liar."
"I don't remember."
The pounding stopped.
A small emergency panel popped open near the ceiling.
Tavi's voice snapped through the speaker. "Climb. Now."
A maintenance ladder dropped with a metallic bang.
Nia grabbed Elias's coat. "You first."
"I'm bleeding."
"And I'm furious. Move."
He climbed. His left arm hung uselessly, and black fluid dripped from his fingers onto the elevator floor.
The doors groaned behind them.
"Faster!" Tavi shouted.
"You try climbing with one arm!" Elias yelled.
"I have both arms, thanks for noticing."
Nia caught his belt and hauled him higher. He twisted, seized her wrist, and pulled her onto the ladder beside him.
His palm burned against her skin.
Too hot.
"Let go," she said.
"Not happening."
"That wasn't a request."
The elevator doors split open below them.
A woman crawled through the gap on all fours. Her jaw hung loose, but her eyes were empty. More infected bodies pressed behind her, climbing over one another without making a sound.
Nia kicked the woman's hand away.
It snapped back toward her boot.
"They're not stopping," Elias said.
"Then climb faster."
The woman's fingers closed around Nia's heel.
Nia kicked again. Teeth scattered across the elevator roof. The thing didn't flinch.
Elias pulled Nia up with a burst of strength that shouldn't have been left in him. They rolled onto the elevator roof as the creature's fingers snapped shut inches from her boot.
The roof shuddered.
"Left tunnel," Tavi said. "There's a service bridge under the transit line."
Nia got to her feet.
Elias didn't.
He sagged against the wall, face gray, blood soaking through his shirt. The black veins had reached his throat.
"No," Nia said.
"No what?"
"You don't get to pass out."
"Wasn't planning to."
"Good. Because I need you."
The words landed between them.
Elias lifted his eyes. His face was pale, but his crooked smile survived.
"That's almost nice."
"Get used to disappointment."
"I was hoping for gratitude."
"You opened the gate."
"There it is."
The ceiling hatch on the far side blew open.
A rifle barrel came through first.
Nia dragged Elias down as bullets tore through the wall. Sparks jumped over their heads. They rolled behind a ventilation block.
"Enforcement!" someone shouted from below. "Nia Calder, step away from Elias Rook!"
"You can hear them too?" Tavi asked.
"I'm busy."
"Just checking."
Boots struck the elevator roof. The officers wore white masks with blue lines across the eyes. Their armor carried the Rook Industries seal, but their rifles were government issue.
The lead officer aimed at Elias.
"Rook heir, surrender your credential and come quietly. Your family has authorized protective custody."
Elias laughed once. It sounded painful. "Protective custody? Is that what they're calling deletion now?"
The officer's mask tilted. "Your mother requests your return."
Nia looked at Elias.
He looked away.
"Your mother requests a lot," Nia said.
"You saw the recording."
"I saw you pull the lever."
"You saw thirty seconds."
"Long enough to know you left people behind."
"No. It wasn't."
The officers advanced.
Nia raised her knife. It looked ridiculous against rifles. The officers knew it. Elias knew it.
He reached inside his jacket.
Nia caught his wrist. "What are you doing?"
"Buying us a door."
He pulled out a thin black card edged in gold. A silver R marked its center.
Every officer stopped.
Tavi whistled. "Oh, that's not just a credit card."
"Inheritance credential," Elias said.
Nia stared at it. "You still had one?"
"I didn't know the key would break."
"You knew this could open the route."
"It can open every route."
The nearest officer lowered his rifle by an inch. "Lord Rook. You're protected under corporate succession law. Hand over the courier, and we'll escort you to the summit."
Nia's grip tightened around her knife.
There it was. The choice.
Elias could give her up, walk into his mother's hands, and keep the one thing that could unlock the upper districts. Nia would be shot, buried, or dragged below to join the infected.
"You should take the deal," she said.
His eyes snapped toward her. "What?"
"They want you alive. Me, not so much."
"I'm not handing you over."
"You're not a hero, Elias."
"I know."
"You caused the blackout."
"I know."
"Your family owns half this tower."
"Less than half."
"That isn't the point."
"I know that too."
His fingers closed around the credential.
The officer stepped forward. "Lord Rook, this is your final warning."
Elias stood.
Nia caught the back of his coat. "Don't."
He turned his head. "You told me to choose."
"I told you to stop pretending you're better than this."
"I'm not better." His voice dropped. "That's why I have to do it myself."
He stepped into the open.
The rifles rose.
Elias held the gold-edged card between two fingers. His face went blank, the way it did when he entered a room built for his family.
"Open District One transit access," he said.
The card lit.
A blue seal appeared above his hand: the Rook crest, a crown split by a vertical line.
The officers froze.
Behind them, the service bridge unlocked with a heavy clunk. Far below, sealed doors rolled open through the dark.
For one perfect second, the system obeyed him.
Then the blue seal changed.
AUTHORIZED USER: ELIAS ROOK.
STATUS: PRIORITY MEMORY ERASURE.
The officers saw it.
So did Nia.
The closest one whispered, "They marked you already."
Elias stared at the words.
"You didn't know," Nia said.
"No."
"Your own system was hunting you."
"Apparently it got tired of waiting."
He struck the credential against the metal rail.
Once.
Twice.
The card cracked.
"What are you doing?" Nia shouted.
Elias dug his thumb into the split. Blood welled from his skin, and the card screamed.
Not beeped.
Screamed like a person.
Every officer stepped back.
Elias shoved the broken credential into the maintenance flame beneath the rail. The gold edge caught first. His name burned across the card in bright letters.
ELIAS ROOK.
HEIR OF ROOK INDUSTRIES.
The words peeled away in strips of light.
"Elias," Nia said.
He didn't look at her.
The last thing left was the Rook crest. He pinched it between two fingers and held it there until his skin smoked.
The credential died.
Every light on the bridge turned red.
The officers' masks flashed a new order.
TRAITOR STATUS CONFIRMED.
"Fire!" the commander yelled.
Nia moved before the rifles did.
She slammed Elias down and threw a metal tool across the bridge. It struck the emergency panel. The panel exploded, showering the officers with sparks.
Tavi whooped in her ear. "That was almost elegant."
"Get us out!"
Nia grabbed Elias by the collar and dragged him toward the service bridge.
Bullets punched through the rail behind them.
One tore into Elias's thigh.
He stumbled.
Nia caught him under the arm. "Stay up."
"I'm trying."
"Try harder."
They reached the bridge as the infected poured from the elevator roof. The officers opened fire, but the creatures didn't slow. They climbed over armored bodies while the officers screamed.
Nia and Elias ran.
The bridge shook beneath their feet. Below them, District One stretched through sealed platforms and dead trains. Red emergency strips lit the tracks. Every screen showed Nia's bruised, blood-streaked face beneath a terrorist warning.
Then the screens changed.
Elias's face appeared beside hers.
WANTED FOR CROWNSTACK SABOTAGE.
PRIORITY: CAPTURE ALIVE.
Nia glanced at him. "Congratulations."
"Feels premature."
"Your family just made you the most expensive man in the city."
"I'd rather have the money."
"You burned it."
"Apparently I have a type."
She almost laughed.
Almost.
A pulse rolled through the bridge.
The ember under Nia's ribs flared hot enough to steal her breath. She caught the rail. Metal warped under her fingers.
Elias stopped. "Nia."
"Don't touch me."
"I'm not."
The red screens flickered.
Static crawled across every platform. Tavi's voice cut out. The emergency lights blinked once, twice, then died.
A damaged broadcast pushed through the speakers.
At first, Nia heard only clicks and rain-like static.
Elias went rigid beside her.
A boy's breathing came through the noise. Young. Frightened. Familiar.
Nia's fingers slipped from the rail.
"Kellan?" she whispered.
The speakers popped.
His voice came through, thin and shaking.
"Sis... don't trust him."
Elias caught her arm.
"Kellan? Say that again!"
The screen nearest them flashed white.
A live image appeared: Kellan, bruised across one cheek, blood crusted beneath his nose, his eyes open and clear.
Nia took a step toward him.
"Where are you?"
Kellan looked past the camera. Fear tightened his face.
"District One. Sub-level morgue. They have the core, and they—"
The feed snapped to black.
A woman's voice replaced his.
Cool. Elegant. The kind of voice that signed execution orders over lunch.
"Ms. Calder," she said. "My son seems to have misplaced something that belongs to me."
Nia pulled against Elias's grip. "Put him back on."
"Bring Elias Rook to the sub-level morgue before the next transit pulse. Come alone, or Kellan dies with the core inside him."
Elias's hand tightened around Nia's arm.
The woman gave a soft, humorless laugh.
"Now, Ms. Calder, which one are you planning to save?"