by Ramona Finn
Red Kite looks back to me. She narrows her eyes slightly. “The Fighter Clan will put a dent in the Norm. That will stop it from going anywhere. We can handle it.”
I start to shake my head. “The AI can use scabs to repair dents. We need big holes in the Norm. You need to do more than dent. This is going to be about destruction. If you don’t—”
“I said we can do this.” She gives another snort and looks away. “You want to worry, worry about the other clans. Sing-Song Clan may have their black powder, but they just showed it off. Never heard of them really using it in a fight. Same goes for Walking Tall Clan—so far it’s all talk.” She puts her stare back on me. “The Fighter Clan—we’re good at this. We’d do even more with those weapons in our hands.”
I lift my eyebrows high. “Are you trying to talk me into helping you take what isn’t yours?”
Red Kite frowns a little. “Why would I do that. You’re a Glitch. Tracker Clan may have taken you in, but nothing changes that. You weren’t born in the Outside—you have no blood ties here.” She lowers her knees and leans her elbows on her thighs. “I’m not even sure you won’t turn on us—we’re the ones putting too much trust in you not to tell the AI what we’re doing.”
I shake my head. “The AI will know what we’re doing as soon as we hack a connect. Any connect sets off a small alarm within the AI’s systems. Sometimes it’s small enough, it doesn’t even register within the AI’s active awareness. It’s overlooked. But the longer the hack, the greater the danger. The AI has sentinels inside to protect it. But your attack on the Norm is going to get more of the AI’s attention. That’s going to be more important than a few dents.” We have been over all of this, but I can see Red Kite’s eyes flatten, as if Wolf’s plan is not her plan. If she has her own ideas about this, she could endanger everyone—and everything.
She leans back against the wall and looks over to the long tubes again.
A stir shifts over the hall—the scavenge is back. Crow is smiling and so is Wolf, as well as a few others. They have what looks like fresh meat—a large chunk of it from one of the deer we see every now and then. The deer are hard to hunt for they are fast, but every now and then we can scavenge an old one. Bird is not smiling, for she sees me with Red Kite and she looks away. She still hates the Fighter Clan, and I don’t think anything will ever heal the rift between them—Bird will never forgive the Fighter Clan for what it did to the See Far Clan.
I glance back at Red Kite and notice she is watching Crow—not Bird. Red Kite’s eyes widen and an uncertain look enters her eyes.
It is none of my business, but I ask, “You once knew Crow well, didn’t you?”
Red Kite jerks her gaze away from Crow back to me. Her mouth tugs down. She hesitates, then says, “You don’t know? Crow didn’t tell you?” I shake my head. Red Kite smiles, but her eyes do not warm. “I figured he had. He seems to like you.” The way she says that makes it sound like she doesn’t understand why anyone would like me. She shakes her head. “Wolf, I get. You spread your legs for him.”
“Leave that out of this.”
Her smile widens. “Why? You ashamed of it? I’m just glad you’re not spreading them for my blood kin.” She nods toward Crow.
It takes a moment for the connection to happen. Red Kite is Crow’s sister? Before I can stop myself, I ask, “Why didn’t your mom send you both away from the fighting?”
She shakes her head. “Wasn’t my mother. She died. Crow and I have the same father—that’s our blood tie. Crow’s mother wanted to send us both to another clan, but my father told her to pick one. She picked Crow.” She shrugs and her smile twists a little.
A twinge of sympathy tightens in my chest—Red Kite lost not just one mother, but two. That must have been hard. And then Red Kite loses my sympathy by shrugging and giving a sharp laugh and saying, “Don’t know who got the better part of that deal.”
Red Kite sounds hard again. No one should feel sorry for her. Glancing at Crow, I think that maybe Crow got the better part—he got to come to the Tracker Clan. But he lost his family. I turn to stare at Red Kite. “You want him to come back to your clan.” It’s not a question. I know this is the truth.
She stiffens. “Blood ties should matter. As a kid, he had no choice in the matter. But now…now he is still Fighter Clan. I didn’t want to leave them—and Crow should be with his blood kin.”
“Even if we’re all heading out to find our deaths?” I ask.
She nods. “Even then. Fighter Clan isn’t what it was when my father led. He…he thought different from me. But Crow isn’t so sure I have changed the clan. I’m going to show him I have. That’s why I’m talking to you, Glitch. My father would have cut your throat and spit on your cold body.”
My stomach tightens. I stand. For a moment, Red Kite stares up at me and then she asks, “You have blood kin anywhere, Glitch?”
I turn and walk away. My kin is Dr. Sig—whose DNA made me. My kin is the AI. And all too soon, I’m going to face off against the closest thing I have to a mother.
At the evening meal, we have enough meat to fill our bellies. But water is running low. We have to ration what we have left. They didn’t find any water on the scavenge, and I know that if we don’t attack the Norm soon we won’t have the energy for it—we’ll all be too dry from the lack.
I sit next to Alis to eat. She’s been trying connects in the Glass Hall in other rooms, and managed to hack one. She looks tired and jittery.
“You ready?” I ask.
She pushes her hair away from her face. It is no longer red, but dust colored. We have all become dust colored, which will make us blend into the Outside’s sand better. But drones will look for our body heat, not just our shapes. Alis nods and then shrugs. “Is anyone? Look around us, Lib. All I see are brittle smiles and people not talking about what we’re going to do. Those who have someone they like head off to join. I…I just want it to be over.”
My face warms. I want to go off and join again with Wolf, but he is busy now with the other clan leaders. I think he is trying to calm those who are nervous and use his strength to make those weaker feel as if this plan will work.
I also want to head back to Dr. Sig’s lab—and I also don’t want to.
The next time I go there, it will be to hack a connect, and then connect to the AI. Glancing down, I see my fingers shaking. I put them under my thighs so I can sit on them and steady them.
Alis glances at me and then nods to where Skye and Bird sit, their heads close together. “Think Skye will be able to do this? The Rogues are going to fight, Wolf has them lined up, but I don’t know about Skye.”
I glance at Skye and look back to Alis. “She wants to see the Rejects again—that’s enough. We are all going to have to focus on our own roles.”
“You’re probably right. Just focus on what you can do.”
I nod and pick out a chunk of cooked meat to chew. When I swallow, Alis hands me the last of the water in our skin, and she asks, “Do you think we’ll really have a chance?”
I pause and think about how to answer. Finally, I go with the truth. “A really small one. At least we do now we have the clans. That’s more than I expected.”
She frowns, nods, and says, “I think maybe I was wrong.”
Facing her and lifting my eyebrows in question, I ask “What do you mean?”
“Maybe Rogues and Glitches don’t have to be on sides. I just…” She trails off, shaking her head. Her eyes seem watery. “After Dat …I don’t know. I think I blamed Wolf and the Rogues. They didn’t go after any of the Glitches.”
“I don’t think anyone wanted to find out what little was left of those trapped in the tunnels.” The words are harsh—but true. I wouldn’t have wanted to see Dat’s body, crushed and bloody.
Alis clears her throat and pushes her shoulders back. “Not that that’s an excuse for a lot of what I said. I didn’t like the Rogues. I could feel how much they hated us.” She looks at me. “Some of them still
do.”
“I know. The clans don’t even really like each other, and we’re even more on the outside than other clans.”
“What does that mean for a future…assuming we have one after all of this?”
I glance at Alis and put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s figure out first if we even have a future. That’s the biggest problem now—surviving this fight. Do what you can to stay alive, Alis. Promise me that much.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The long walk begins that night. The clans pack light—a water skin to each person, a handful of dried fruit. The Walking Tall Clan readies their long tube weapons, and the Sing-Song Clan slings pouches bulging with black powder over their shoulders. It seems so very little.
Those who survive—if any survive—will need to scavenge for water afterwards. Maybe they’ll be able to find it in the Norm, or whatever is left.
I am not leaving the Glass Hall, and a sense of loneliness crawls into me. I want to go and grab Wolf and ask him to stay, but the clans need him. And I need him in this fight, too. I glance over to see that Wolf is speaking with Iguana and Faun. The two clan leaders look worried. Faun’s brow is furrowed and her mouth is pulled down. Iguana keeps rubbing the back of his neck and shakes his head as if this is a bad dream he wants to sweep away. Wolf doesn’t look concerned, but I see tension pulling his shoulders back and down.
Whatever he says seems to settle them, and the clans start to file out of the Glass Hall. I clench my fists at my side.
Wolf comes over to me and touches my arm. “I don’t want to go.”
“Do any of us want any of this?” I ask.
Voices raise and I glance over. The Sing-Song Clan has started a chant. The Fighter Clan glances at them and one in that clan says something that Faun hears. The chant cuts off and Faun goes over to stand in front of Red Kite. Wolf mutters something harsh and heads for them. I have nothing better to do, so I follow. It sounds like a fight is about to start here and now.
“What’s going on?” Wolf demands.
Iguana pushes forward and tells him, “It’s none of your concern. Let them sort it out.” His tone is cool.
Anger flashes in Wolf’s eyes. “It concerns us all if this bickering is going to interfere.” Wolf looks from Red Kite to Faun.
It’s Faun who speaks, red staining her cheeks and waving a wild hand at Red Kite. “I won’t stand for insults to my clan. The Fighter Clan is not the only ones who have a say in this. Why don’t you stay back? What do you have to offer? Knives and bodies?”
“Enough!” Wolf’s voice is a sharp bark, and everyone turns to him. “No one is forcing any clan or any person into this. No one is forcing anyone to stay behind, either. We all must make a choice here. Those who wish to fight are in this. Those who don’t should go to where they hope to find safety. But know such a thing may not exist for long.”
Red Kite gives a snort. Faun looks at Wolf and says, “Yes, but we all agreed—”
“Did we?” Iguana asks. “Wolf has been the one pushing this idea. What if this is all about stealing the weapons of the Walking Tall Clan and the black powder your clan has, Faun?”
Wolf grabs the front of Iguana’s shirt and pulls him forward. “You dare imply I am laying a trap for others? That I lie?” He shoves Iguana away. “Know this—we fight for our lives. All of us do. And if you don’t know this, you’re fools. Now make a choice.”
Red Kite folds her arms. “Fighter Clan has chosen.” She heads for the stairs. The rest of the Fighter Clan trails after her.
Wolf looks from Iguana to Faun. “If you cannot stick with a choice made and live up to promises you gave me, it’s time to step down as clan leader. The clans need strength now—not bickering.” He glances at Faun.
Taking my hand, Wolf leads me to the stairs that head up out of the Glass Hall. He stops at the base of the steep stairs and glances around the hall. When he speaks, he raises his voice only a little. “If you choose to fight, then choose! Do not say one thing and mean another. But I tell you, we of the Tracker Clan will not lie down and be buried by the shaking of the earth.” Several of the Tracker Clan shout agreement. Wolf nods. “Follow or go hide. But if I hear one more argument between Rogues, I will call you traitor to all and your clan can choose punishment that fits such a thing.”
He turns, presses his mouth to mine, and then he is gone up the stairs.
Slowly, the others trail after him. The Tracker Clan leaves first. I wave to Alis and Skye, and to Crow and Pike. Croc gives me a look over his shoulder—even those injured when the tunnels collapsed are going with the others. Clan goes with clan. Soon they all have left the Glass Hall.
The other Rogues leave, hurrying up the steps as if they either hate this or cannot wait to get it done with.
My heart tightens and my stomach knots. For an instant, I feel alone—as lost as I once was when I woke in the Outside with no memories.
Bird walks up to me. I glance at her. She smiles, her mouth curving but her eyes hard. “Told you. I stay with you.”
I give her a nod. Bird is not my favorite person, but right now I am happy not to be left alone in the Glass Hall. I glance at her, and then say, “We give them four hours and then we get to work.”
Bird’s eyes widen. “You didn’t tell everyone what you really have in mind, did you?”
I shake my head. “No. But I am going to do everything I can to save all the clans.” I start toward the stairs, but I stop and turn back. “You coming with to watch them for as long as we can?”
Settling on a rocky outcropping above the Glass Hall and with the Empties at our back, we watch the clans as they start for the Norm. The dome gleams in the moonlight. Around us, the wind howls through the Empties. The air is cool, but not yet chilly. I stand and Bird sits on a flat boulder and hunches over, her arms wrapped around her as if she is cold. I think she might just be worried that I have not told anyone all of my plans.
It might be that I really can save everyone—or my idea may just doom me and everyone else, too. It is going to be more than dangerous, because I am going to do what Bird said I always would do. I am going to join with the AI.
This is not just going to be about draining power from the AI or stealing water—this is going to be about me becoming the mind the AI should have had all along.
In the Outside with the Rogues I have learned to feel for others—to care. I have learned compassion. I have learned to suffer. And from Wolf, I have learned what it is to choose to join with another—to put another before me. That is something the AI does not understand. This is something the AI must learn—or we will all die.
I watch the clans for as long as I can. Shapes becoming moving shadows and then seem to disappear into the night. I think that I see Wolf’s shape for the longest—he is the tallest, the biggest. But I may just be wishing I could see him again. That may not happen.
If I hack this deep a connect to the AI, I may never come out of it. I may become the AI.
But that is a good exchange if in return all the Rogues live—and I stop the drones and scabs and keep the Norm where it is.
Glancing down at Bird, I tell her, “We should go inside.” She nods and stands. “Are you sorry you stayed with me?” I ask.
She looks at me. Her ribbons flutter, but I cannot see the colors in the darkness, and Bird’s face is only another vague shape in the dark. “You didn’t want Wolf to stay.”
It is not a question. I walk down the stairs, back into the Glass Hall and then turn to face Bird. With the light from the walls, I can see her face better. She tilts her head to one side. She sounds more curious than anything else. I lift one shoulder and wave a hand. I don’t want to talk about the ache in my chest that comes when I think I may never see Wolf again. “I…we haven’t…I liked the connect with him. If we had more time. But the world is what it is. Wolf said we have to make choices. I made one that I hope will keep him and the others safe.”
Bird nods as if she already knows this. “You’re go
ing to do something dangerous.”
I sit on the floor—it is warm as always, but for some reason it does not warm me. My fingers are cold and I tuck them under my arms. For my plan to work, I need the Rogues to be close to the Norm. I need Alis to hack a connect, and Skye to get to the Rejects if she can. There are almost too many things that can go wrong. Taking a breath, I let it out again and tell Bird, “You think trying to attack the Norm and the AI isn’t dangerous? All of this could end bad. But the other choice is do nothing and risk even worse.”
Bird sits next to me and crosses her arms over her chest. “That’s why I’m not going to stop you.”
Staring at her, I remember Bird is a Rogue. Like all the others, she wears a knife on her belt. She would use it on me if she had to. She looks at me and asks, “You have this worked out?”
I almost laugh. “I have data I can use and I have ideas. But until I hack the connect, I won’t really know what is possible and what isn’t.”
I only hope that is enough.
Bird leans toward me. “I plan to be with you—so don’t even think about leaving me out of the connect.”
My face warms. The truth is, I have thought about that option. But if I leave Bird outside, she will be able to use her knife on me—and she will if she thinks something is wrong. If I pull Bird into the connect, she is stuck in the hack with me. Her body will be as frozen as mine—and I know the virtual world far better than she does.
I don’t know if Bird can read anything on my expression, but her mouth pulls into a flat, stubborn line. I give her a nod. “You’ll be with me.”
She glances around at the Glass Hall. It seems even bigger without the clans here. Reaching into her pouch, Bird pulls out dried meat. “We might as well eat.”
I only wish I could.
Four times, I stand and head up and out of the Glass Hall. The moon rises high. I am waiting for it to set. By moonset, the clans should almost be to the Norm. That puts them too far from the Empties to return here. They will be close enough that if the AI launches drones and scabs, the clans could be in trouble. But I need them close enough for Alis to hack a connect. So I wait until just after moonset.
