32 ‧ (A): Planned Obsolescence

The El-Mahdy siblings wandered down the beachside in the Market District together in pairs of two. The shortest two, Hayal and Ahlam, led their little quartet while the tallest two, Jericho and Sidra, manned the rear.

“So what happened to your club meeting?” Sidra asked, eyes glinting with mischief. She leaned forward, craning her neck to offer her brother an impish grin. “Plans fell through?”

“Oh, it’s still happening.”

“So we’re only going to be here for a little bit? Then what’s the point?”

“Is there a reason why you’re upset?” Jericho arched a brow. 

“I’m not upset.”

“Then why do you sound upset?”  

“You’re the one who sounds upset.”

Jericho raised his camera and—Click!

“Ah-hee!” Sidra whined, covering her face as she swiped at his camera. “Stop!”

The camera spat out a photo which Jericho inspected with exaggerated seriousness. He smiled a second later and showed her the image he’d captured. Sidra’s face fell flat.

“That certainly does look like someone who’s upset,” he said. “And someone who didn’t brush their hair this morning.”

Sidra crossed her arms. “You know who you look like?”

“Who?”

“You look like someone who breaks their promises.” Sidra lifted her chin.

Jericho arched a brow. “What did I do now?”

“You barely brought home any food from your club hangout!” Sidra protested. “You said that you’d bring home a whole box of food—”

“I did.”

“You brought home one cookie! And it was raisin oatmeal!” Sidra complained. “What kind of cruel person does that?”

“I definitely brought more than that. I brought an entire box of sweets and food.”

Sidra squinted at him before she gasped and whipped to Alham who paced in front of her. Without remorse, she smacked him across the back of his head. 

Alham yelped and whipped around—”What’s wrong with you?!”

“You ate all of the food Jericho brought home!” Sidra continued smacking him.

“Well, was your name on it? It’s not my fault you were too busy watching your stupid show on TV to get to it!” He fended himself against Sidra’s lashings.

“Don’t fight,” Jericho chastised although he made no moves  to break them up.

Hayal rolled her eyes before something along the sandbank caught her attention. She jogged over, retrieved it, and held it up over her head. “Look! A kitty!”

The white cat squirmed in her hold. Sidra and Alham stopped fighting.

“Aw,” Sidra cooed. “It’s so cute!” She looked back at Jericho. “Oh, do you think Werner would—”

“You shouldn’t pick up wild animals,” Jericho warned. “Put it down.”

Alham nodded. “You don’t know what sort of diseases it has.”

“You’re a disease,” Sidra snapped back at him. 

“No, you—”

“Animals are living beings just like us and living things need to be treated equally,” Hayal retorted, nearing them with the cat. “You always say that, Ah-hee!”

“Alham’s not a living being,” Sidra snidded as she reached over to scratch between the cat’s ears. “Unlike you, you cute little thing.” 

“Just because I ate some food?”

Jericho smiled and raised his camera—

CRACK!

The squealing and laughing children ran around the playground in circles. It was a game of tag with a child named Kent as the chaser. 

The Foxman family watched the children go up and down the slides and stairs and jungle gyms from a picnic table shadowed by a parasol. At the center of a table was a small radio that whistled out a funky tune. 

“Isn’t this lovely?” Cadence hummed, sipping on a small cup of coffee. “If only this could last forever.”

“The coffee, ma’am?” Feliciano asked from behind her. He placed a hand over his chest. “I’m glad it’s to your liking.”

“No, dumbass,” Carl snorted. “She means us all sittin’ here and enjoyin’ the weather.”

Feliciano startled and cast a glance at Donato who stood beside him. “S-Sorry…”

“Carl!” Cadence chastised. “Don’t be rude.” She offered Feliciano a warm smile. “It’s good, Feli.”

“It really is,” Francis agreed. “Where did you get these coffee beans from?”

Feliciano brightened. “They’re from the Traveller District! I heard a rumor that a new immigrant from that district brought them in when he came over.”

“And what’s his name?” Allen asked.

“Mr. Zahak Akli,” Felciano provided.

“You should give him our business contact information.”

Francis arched a brow. “For the TwinStars? Coffee and a bar? When did those two things go together?”

“You’d be surprised at how much people go for weird fads,” Allen answered thickly. “Aren’t you the one who’s always sayin’ that?”

Francis ruminated on it. “Well, it is worth a shot. Plus, Charite’s told me that people on campus have been voicing a want for a coffee place recently. I looked into it and the closest coffee shop near the university is 15 miles away.” He checked his wristwatch. “Charite must be running late…”

Allen grunted. “Sounds like the plan’s already been made.”

Francis laughed musically as he lowered his wrist. “I guess it has.”

Carl shot up to a stand. “The hell are you sayin’, Allen?”

“Carl!” Cadence chastised again. “Language! The children will hear you!”

Carl waved her off. “Allen, why the hell are you talkin’ about shit like this for? You sound like you’re buyin’ into all this. What’s the deal?”

“If you’ve got a problem with how I’m handlin’ this then why don’t you go join Fortuna in her rendezvous with those doughboys,” Allen returned without looking at him. “Why’d you even accept Cadence’s invite then?”

Carl stuttered. “‘Cause she gave me those damned doe eyes! I mean look at her!”

Francis glanced at Cadence with raised brows and an amused smile. “Sounds like you tortured the poor man, Cadence.”

Cadence huffed. “I did no such thing—”

The radio suddenly cut to high-pitched static. 

CRACK!

The Ariesian prince, the Sagittarian princess, and their guards occupied the tables of the Wibele despite the store sign displaying ‘CLOSED’ at the storefront. 

“So we have samples from the different districts and different area of the districts,” Eunji mumbled, taping her cheek in thought, “but I was wondering if there is any district that has a higher ratio of Ndoto-to-normal vitae… it’s sort of hard to tell just by eyeballing it. What do you think, Olive?” She looked away from the device and vials set up on the table. “Prince Chance?”

Olive blinked and looked up at her. “What was that?”

“Are you… okay?”

Olive rubbed his eyes. “I’m fine.” He sighed. “And, like I said, you can just call me, Olive.” 

Eunji quirked a brow. “But calling you ‘prince’ gets your attention more often…”

Olive’s face reddened and he squinted at her.

Eunji’s cheeks pinkened and she looked away. 

Soha Jaesong and Alexander Charming exchanged looks from where they observed their charges behind the bakery counter.

“Anyway,” Eunji continued, “I was thinking about that and about how this vitae spectrophotometer actually works while conductors don’t. Maybe it has to do with the fact that our vitae is contaminated with that higher-energy-level vitae. Maybe people with that high level of vitae can’t.”

Olive cleared his throat. “Maybe, but I’ve seen a saint candidate use a conductor before. Sag—” He stopped.

“My aunt?” Eunji murmured. “I’ve seen it too but maybe it’s a trick.”

Soha’s eyes narrowed but she said nothing.

“Are you able to use a conductor?” Eunji asked.

“I think my case is probably different because…”

“You can use different conducting types… like my brother.”

“Yeah…” Olive cleared his throat again and picked up one of the vials on the table. He studied the glowing liquids inside of it. “I just wish… I could understand how it’s possible.”

“For Lavi?”

Olive stiffened.

“I feel the same. About Claire.” Eunji played with her hands. “I wish we had more time to understand everything.”

They held each other’s gazes.

Olive opened his mouth. “We could—”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two jumped and looked towards the door. Trystan Carter stood there pressed up against the glass. Olive grimaced and nodded at Alexander who went to open the door. Trystan entered, gaze sweeping the unoccupied space before landing on Olive.

“Did you stalk me here?” Olive asked flatly.

Trystan went red. “N-No, I just was walking by and saw you so I thought it’d say hi—”

The sound of tires screeching and honking resounded from outside before a car bolted down the road. 

The three adolescents slowly turned to face the window in confusion.

CRACK!

The lawns of the park at the heart of the Harvest in the Grainery District were dotted with picnic 

blankets shrouded by trees.  One of those many picnic blankets was occupied by the vestiges of the Waltz family. 

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Nico noted. 

“Of course, I am!” Werner slapped a hand to his puffed out chest. “Your Liebling passed his KM-test with flying colors and we put up a bunch of posters for Kaiser today and now I’m having a celebration party with some of my favorite people!” He nodded. “That’s a lot of boxes checked off.”

“It certainly is,” Viktoria agreed. Her gaze tracked a group of children weaving in-between the picnic blankets and arriving at a swing set cluttered with even more children. 

“And Mutti and O-man should be here in a few minutes too,” Werner continued, “and Otto said he’d bring beer so it’ll be a real party. I just wish Volky and the others could be here too. I wouldn’t have passed without ‘em.”

“They’re training to conduct without a conductor,” Ludwig explained. “It’s important so don’t take it personally.”

“Training… without a conductor?” Werner pondered the idea. “Training like working out?” He flexed his muscles and gave it a pat. 

Nico chuckled lightly.

Werner’s smile brightened.

“Yes, like working out,” Ludwig agreed. He stared off past Werner’s shoulder. 

“What are you thinking about, Luddy?” Werner asked.

Ludwig looked to his wife instead of Werner. “I was thinking I should join them, Gisela.”

Gisela frowned. “And why is that?”

“We don’t know what may come up staying here,” Ludwig said. He held out his hand and clenched it. “Since I’m able, I need to be ready.” 

Vitoria frowned while Nico side-eyed him.

Gisela grabbed hold of his hand. “Ludwig, I know how you feel and what you are thinking, but involving yourself with those kinds of people and things again…”

“Someone in our family has to.”

Gisela squeezed.

“If you’re into it, Luddy,” Werner interjected, “we should totally hit the gym together to train and workout! You look like you can lift pretty heavy. Maybe you could give me some tips! It’ll be fun! Do you wanna do it?”

Ludwig smiled. “Sure, Werner.”

Werner beamed and offered the man a finger gun before he abruptly hopped to a stand and eyed a crowd that had begun to gather at the center of the park just uphill. “I’m gonna see what’s going on over there. Be back in a jiffy!” 

Nico rose. “Mind if I join—”

Werner pushed him back down. “You have to rest and get better, Liebling! I’ll be gone just a sec and I’ll bring back food!”

“I’ll go with him,” Ludwig said before following Werner up to the crowd. 

The two men squeezed themselves to the front of the crowd where a small brick courtyard unfolded.  The courtyard was littered with tiny black moving dots. They moved in synchrony, in one arching direction. Ants marching in a full circle. 

Werner gasped. “I didn’t know there was ant parade today! Do you think it has to do with the tree festival, Luddy?”

“I’ve seen this two times before out in the field. It’s not a parade,” Ludwig informed him. “It’s a death spiral.”

Werner’s brows rose. “Spiral?”

“It happens when a group of ants breaks off from the main army,” he explained. “They get lost and follow each other. In a circle. Until they die.”

Werner’s face fell. “T-That’s awful. Can’t we help them?”

“Yes, an outside force can sometimes get them to realign, but leave that to one of the kids. You don’t know where those ants have been.” Ludwig tugged Werner away. “Let’s go back to the others.”

Werner hung his head. “O-okay…” 

The duo broke free of the crowd and began the descent down a grassy slope towards their picnic blanket. 

“I’m… sorry that I pulled you away from that,” Ludwig said rather suddenly.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I mean that I…” He hesitated. “Let me take care of the complicated things and you can do whatever you want. Well, as long as it’s safe and reasonable.”

Werner chuckled. “I don’t really get what you mean but thanks, Luddy. Viktoria’s real lucky to have a brother like you—”

CRACK!

Werner stumbled forward and fell on all fours.

The remnants of Gabrielle’s peacekeeping alliance sat together in a booth of a nondescript coffee shop at the edge of the Market District. A matcha latte, two coffees with cream, a black coffee, and black tea sat out  on the table between them all. 

Wtorek Izsak took a sip of his half-empty cup of creamed coffee. “Now when’s the last time we’ve all sat together like this?”

Gabrielle’s lazy smile became captured in the reflection of her black cup of coffee. “It’s definitely been a while.” 

Sitting stiffly beside her husband, Elizabeta stared into her own still-topped-off cream coffee. 

“Speaking of which, Talib, how exactly did we get to know each other again?”

Talib choked on his tea before flourishing his hands dramatically. “Well, I’m glad you asked! It was five years ago when you recognized my aptitude for seeing the unseen and requested my services in aiding you in quelling some ruffians in the Child of the World District—”

“Seeing the unseen?” Alice set down her matcha. “That’s a symptom of a disorder.”

Talib shook his head and laughed. “Alice, Alice, Alice, if we were truly to look into disordered thinking then we should look into the machinations of the Organization.” He jabbed his finger at the table. “Is it not strange how we all ended up convening here at the same location and time? Suspicious? I would think so!”

“Well, I did invite you all for breakfast,” Izsak said, leaning forward on the table with an amused smile, “but maybe I’m just a tool of the Organization or a sleeper agent.”

Talib shook his head. “No, no, no, Mr. Wtorek. That can’t be the case. I have fully vetted each and every one of you before agreeing to this alliance.” He nodded. “I’m very careful, you see.”

Gabrielle and Alice exchanged looks.

“You two seem tense,” Izsak noted. “Is it work? The VNW?”

“Can’t work much on account of the VNW branding,” Gabrielle replied, leaning back in her chair and throwing arm behind Alice’s headrest. “Can’t think of it much of a vacation on account of the VNW.”

“That’s how it goes, Gabe. But the system is in place for a reason. Of course, if you’ve ever got an idea or two about revolutionizing the system again, I’m all ears.”

“So I’ve revolutionized the system before?” Gabrielle eyed Alice. “Seems my counterpart was much more successful than me.” She paused, studying Izsak with thinly concealed moroseness. “You’re always on my side even here, huh?”

“Why does it sound like you’re about to butter me up and sell me on something?” Izsak joked. “I wouldn’t go along with your initiatives if I didn’t think they were good ideas.”

“So I’ve only had good ideas here? Nothing overly ambitious?”

“Not that I ever saw,” Izsak replied before tapping his glasses, “or I just might be blinded by our friendship.”

“We were friends because you were never the type to be blinded by relationships,” Gabrielle said while looking at Elizabeta. “You always told it to me like how it is.”

Elizabeta’s gaze narrowed.

“Were? Now that’s hurtful.” Izsak chuckled. “Is it so bad being blinded by relationships? Being blinded by Liza’s beauty was what eventually led us to getting married.”

Elizabeta let out a breath but her gaze softened.

“And we wouldn’t have had our darling little Csilla.”

The group looked across the room. There at a separate table sat Wtorek Csilla and Lavender Chance playing board games. Gabrielle’s eyes glinted at them while Elizabeta watched her carefully.

“And all of that probably would have never happened if you hadn’t introduced me to Elizabeta,” Izsak continued, “and you wouldn’t have introduced me to Elizabeta if I weren’t so blinded by all of your gusto and charming monologues.”

Gabrielle gazed at Izsak wanly. “I’m sure you would’ve eventually swooned over Elizabeta even without me getting involved. It’s good to see everything working out now.” She held Elizabeta’s gaze and then smiled slyly at Izsak. “But I’m sure everything would’ve worked out a lot smoother for you if you didn’t get blinded by me.”

Izsak leaned back and studied her. “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, Gabe,” he eventually said. “As great as you are—and not to take credit away from you where it’s due—you’re not the center of the universe. I make my own choices. So does Liza, so does Alice, and so does Talib. And all things result in good and bad. ” He smiled. “So don’t let that recent promotion get to your head now.”

Gabrielle stared at him for a moment before she let out a half-laugh. “Promotions, huh—”

“I didn’t expect you all to be here!”

Half of the group fell silent as a shadow spilled over the table. Yuseong Claire stood there with a smile on his face and a book tucked under his arm.

“Claire!” Izsak greeted him. “What brings you here?”

“Just trying to find somewhere lowkey to catch up on assigned reading,” Claire answered. “You guys on an adult VNW coffee date—” The corner’s of his eyes crinkled. “—oh, hey, Csilla, Lavi. What’s up?”

Csilla and Lavi had approached the table together. While Csilla stood now only a foot away from Claire, Lavi lingered behind, eyes sharp and watching. 

“What are you doing here?” Csilla asked, smiling sweetly. “Claire.” She eyed the book under his arm and shared a look with her mother. “I thought you hated reading and studying and staying in one place.”

“Still jumping to conclusions, I see.”

There was a beat of silence. The pedestrian traffic outside meshed with the bustle of the cafe and leaked into the quiet between them all.

“What’s that book you’ve got there, Claire?” Gabrielle broke the silence with a yawn. “I’ve actually been meaning to get in a word with you, by the way.”

“With me?” Claire’s brows rose in innocent surprise. “Why? I’m not in trouble, am I, Officer Law..?”

“Nothing big,” Gabrielle said lightly. She nodded. “The book?”

Claire brought the book out underneath his arm and put it on the table. “It’s called Takers.”

“Takers?” Izsak arched his brow. “Very creative name. What’s it about?”

Claire thrummed his fingers on its nondescript cover. “You know the usual. Aliens. Invading the world as we know it. But this time the aliens take over people’s bodies. Sort of. In the book, they’re small little spore things that attach themselves to their host. Then they drain their host until the host becomes a husk and become perfect copies of their host down to the hair, nail, tooth. Except they don’t have the person’s memories. They’re just evil doppelgängers. Cue mass conversion and world domination.”

“I feel like I’ve read something like that before,” Izsak noted, rubbing his chin.

“Yeah, it’s a trope. The bodysnatcher thing, I mean.” Claire nodded. “This isn’t the first book I’ve read with a premise like this one. Makes you think where people are getting all these ideas from. I mean. Mr. Stein—before he got VNW and went crazy—used to say fiction draws from reality.”

“Verily true,” Talib agreed.

“But bodysnatchers don’t exist in real life, right?” Claire continued.

There was a pause.

“Of course not,” Izsak answered. “Well, I hope not.” He glanced back at Elizabeta. “You would know if I was a fake, wouldn’t you, Liza?” He faced forward again, marking the question as rhetorical.

“Right, so if that’s the case,” Claire continued, “I have an idea. I think that this trope comes from people trying to cope and understand and process what they perceive as unexplainable changes in their loved ones.”

“Unexplainable changes?” Talib inquired.

“Like when you haven’t seen someone in a while and you meet up with them and think they’re acting like a completely different person.” 

Claire explained. He tapped his temple. 

“You can’t bridge the gap in your mind of how they changed so drastically and you miss the person they used to be—how your relationship used to be.”

Elizabeta stared at the back of her husband’s head. 

“You want to go back to the way things were before. You think your relationship with that person means enough to them to bring them back to their old self, but it doesn’t.”

Csilla’s smile twitched. 

“You can’t comprehend the fact that people just experience things, people just change, people just become other people, people just won’t stay the same just for you—so you rationalize that some sort of external force just has to be involved. A person or thing, maybe. Or something in between.”

“Now that’s essay worthy.” Izsak broke the silence with a few claps. “If you were my student, Mr. Yuseong, I’d pass you with flying colors.”

“Can you tell that to the guy who’s subbing in for Mr. Stein?” Claire thumbed behind him. “He gave me a 70 last time on my report.” 

“Did you actually write it yourself?” Lavi asked, arms crossed. 

Claire gasped. “What are you trying to say? Of course I did!” He turned back to Izsak. “Since you mentioned it, Mr. Wtorek, you must teach literature, right?”

“Just the basics,” Izsak answered. 

“Then”—Claire picked back up his book— “What do you think of this: there’s a character in the book that gets ‘taken’—aka, taken over by an alien. That alien eventually goes through a redemption arc and becomes a good guy and bonds with the main characters.”

Csilla’s hand twitched now. 

“But then that alien gets ‘taken’. And—for some weird reason that’s not explained—the alien that takes over that alien has most of the memories and personalities of the original guy.”

“Really?” Izsak hummed. “Interesting direction.”

“Yeah, and the crazy part is that the guy’s family that bonded with the original, redeemed alien Taker accepts the new Taker because he’s so similar to the actual taken guy.”

Gabrielle’s gaze flitted between the Wtoreks. 

“The author makes it seem like that’s a good thing,” Claire continued.  “But, Mr. Wtorek, is it really a good ending if a fake takes over the role of another fake?”

Izsak stared and laughed. “I don’t get what you mean.”

“I mean even though the fake is closer to the real thing, is it really any better?”

Izsak stared and laughed. “I don’t get what you mean.”

“What don’t you get?”

 Csilla stiffened  and whipped to face her father. 

“I don’t get what you mean.”

Elizabeta paled. Gabrielle’s brows furrowed and Alice’s lips thinned. Talib, meanwhile, appeared completely unperturbed.

Claire smiled. “Why don’t you get what I mean?”

“I don’t get what you mean.”

“Well, that’s too bad.” Claire took a step back, glancing at Csilla. “Isn’t it—”

CRACK!

Claire, drenched with creamed coffee, stumbled back clutching his cheek. With her father’s now empty cup of coffee still raised above her head, Csilla stood across from him panting. The other coffee goers around them began to point and whisper.

Izsak shot up to a stand. “Csilla!” He turned to Claire. “I’m so sorry—are you okay?”

“Just wet.” Claire shrugged.

Izsak returned his attention to Csilla. He let out a breath and asked gently, “Csilla, why would you do something like that?”

Csilla turned to her father as her cheeks burned red. “I-I…”

“Whatever the reason, you should apologize, Csilla.” Izsak crossed his arms. “That’s not how we behave.”

“I—but he—”

“Izsak.” Elizabeta clicked her tongue as she stood. “You’re being too hard on her—yelling at her in public like this.”

“Too hard?” Izsak did a double-take. “Liza, honey, she threw a cup of coffee at the poor boy’s face! I’m barely even yelling. Aren’t you always telling me that I spoil her too much?” He rose from his seat and faced Claire again. “Here, let me get you some paper towels.”

Izsak headed to the back counter of the cafe. Elizabeta tailed him, and Csilla tailed her. 

The remaining five stared after them—

Honk! Honk!

A horn blared just outside the store.

Gabrielle shared a look with Alice before moving over to the windows of the shop. Alice joined her as did Talib. The sidewalks were mostly empty as was the road—that was, until a bright blue car hurtled down the road while blaring its horn. The car stopped only when it collided with a lamp post. Smoke sputtered out from its hood.

“Oh my gosh!” someone shouted. “Someone call a guidance officer—”

Another car swerved down the road and crashed into a flower store just across the street. Someone screeched. More honking blared down the road and blended with the screech of rubber against asphalt. Pedestrians began to stampede up and down the sidewalk.

“W-What’s happening?” a waitress who had drawn to the window beside Gabrielle whispered. “What’s going on?”

Gabrielle glanced at her. “Don’t panic—”

The waitress’s panic-stricken expression abruptly fell flat. Then she snapped forward, collapsing onto the ground with a—

Thud.

Gabrielle immediately fell to her knees beside the woman as Alice rounded her. She tapped the woman’s face lightly. “Hey, wake up—” She froze.

The woman’s skin was cold to the touch. Her eyes were like marbles. Shining, but lifeless.

Alice’s hand moved to the woman’s throat. The woman’s eyes widened. The message was clear: no pulse. 

Thud.

Thud.

Thud, thud, thud.

Shrieks filled the air.

“Cover your mouth and nose!” Gabrielle shouted to Alice and Talib who stood behind her. “There might be something in the air.”

Thud.

A familiar cry rang out—“Izsak!”

Gabrielle’s gaze snapped up. 

A handful of men and women and children all around the shop were now slumped in their booths, over their tables, on the floors. Those she assumed were their family members or friends gathered around their bodies, shaking them helplessly. Cries for help filled every corner of the shop.

If it was something in the air, she thought, then why wasn’t it affecting everyone? Was it targeted? No, it had to be something else—

Past the chaos at the back of the store Elizabeta was on her knees cradling an unmoving Izsak. Wide eyed, she looked up, meeting Gabrielle’s gaze. A confirmation. 

Csilla who stood just a step away from her mother took one, two, three steps back before she whipped around. Her eyes were wide, her fists balled, her target—not Gabrielle, but—the one who stood beside her.

The girl charged forward, her feet, her legs, her torso, and then her arms becoming coated with more and more russet light with each step she took. When the light was up to her neck, she let out a roar and hurled herself at Claire. The adolescent launched himself back as a gust of wind swirled around the shop. The glass behind the two shattered and they spilled out onto the street.

Csilla landed on top of Claire and straddled him. She brought up a righteously burning fist of dark orange and brought it down—but Claire sent her back with a kick to the chest accompanied by a whirlwind speckled with blue light. The force of the torrent was so great that it sent Csilla crashing back into the store. 

Csilla immediately pulled herself back onto the street, but Claire had already retreated to the roof of the building across the street.

“What did you do?!” Csilla shrieked. 

Gabrielle clambered out onto the street after the two and took a quick sweep of the area. She felt her blood run cold as she took in the bodies, the people crying over the bodies, the smoke, the fire. Sights she had not seen since stepping foot in Ndoto. Sights that she was all too familiar with. 

Csilla grabbed a stray shard of glass on the ground and hurled it at Claire who immediately swiped his hand up and set an arc of wind that shattered the glass to dust.  

“Csilla!” Lavi called out as she hopped out the window. She eyed Gabrielle but did not address her. “Calm down!”

Csilla whipped to face her. “Calm down?! He—”

“I didn’t do anything,” Claire shouted down to her. “You really need to stop jumping to conclusions.”

“Then what—”

“I’m guessing someone actually just went ahead and cut a root…” Claire ruffled his hair. “And I’m guessing all these people lying around were connected to that root. Roots give a plant nutrients but they also keep the plant anchored in place. So, if you cut a root, it makes sense that everything connected to it withers away.”  

Gabrielle’s heart hammered furiously. 

Alice, who had just stepped out onto the street, tensed at this and called over her shoulder. “Talib!”

“Yes, yes, I’m coming!” the man called back. “I’m alright! But the people in here—”

Alice visibly relaxed—that was until she too registered the chaos unfolding on the street.

Claire rolled his neck. “Anyways, chasing me won’t do anything about it, so stop throwing stuff at me.”

“What can we do about it then?” Gabrielle shouted up at him. “Sagittarius?”

Claire eyed her and grinned. “Well, you can try to graft these poor people onto a new root. But that seems backwards, doesn’t it? Since you all want to cut the roots to skedaddle out of here?”

Csilla stared bullet holes into Gabrielle before she rushed back into the shop. A second later and she emerged towing Izsak over her shoulder and with her mother at her side.

Gabrielle held Claire’s gaze. “And how do you know all of this?”

Claire just smiled before facing the opposite direction.

“Where are you going?” Lavi asked.

 Whether she’d asked Claire or Csilla that question was unknown but both answered:

“To find—”

“—the cut—”

“—another—”

“—root.” 

Nico rushed up the hill to Werner’s side as soon as he saw the man stumble. Ludwig was already crouched down beside him. 

“What’s wrong?” Nico asked, kneeling and taking his temperature with the back of his hand.

Werner doubled over holding his stomach. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“Where does it hurt?” Nico pressed gently.

“Everywhere, Liebling…” Werner muttered, leaning into the man. “I think I ate something bad.”

Nico could barely hear him about the squeaking iron chains of the nearby swing set.

“I’m here,” Nico reassured him. “Can you try to describe the pain to me?” 

Werner’s brows met. “It feels like… the time with the chlorowheat… when I took too much…”

Nico went white. “You remember—”

“What?” Ludwig cut in, eyes narrowing. “Chlorowheat? What do you mean?”

Werner mumbled something before falling back on his rear. “It’s going away… the pain—”

Thud.

Cries and shouts of alarm filled the air. The people around the three men began to stumble around erratically in a panic. 

“Help!” a woman shrieked, words blurring together. “Someone please help my daughter! Please!”

Nico immediately snapped to the sound. Across from them on a picnic blanket, a woman sat cradling in her arms a limp young girl no older than ten. A man paced around them in a circle, flipping between ringing his hands and running them through his hair.

Nico started forward before pausing to look back at Werner.

“I’ll take care of him,” Ludwig assured Nico.

Nico’s gaze flitted between the two before he nodded and dashed to the panicked family’s side. “I’m a doctor. Let me help,” he said as he sank down beside the mother. “What’s her name?”

“S-Samantha,” the mother stammered.

Nico eased the girl out of the mother’s hands and onto the blanket. “Samantha,” he tried, “can you hear me?”

No response. 

The first thing he noticed was how cold to the touch the girl was. The second thing he noticed were the girl’s wide-open, dilated eyes. The third thing he noticed were her pale blue lips.

An obstruction in the airway?

He pried open her mouth and inspected her nostrils.

Nothing.

Her pulse?

He checked.

Nothing.

He considered beginning compressions—

The girl’s eye twitched.

Nico froze.

Something was moving under her eyelid and it wasn’t her eye.

The squeaking of the swing sets fell silent.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Around him, people began to drop like flies—folding forward without resistance. 

Nico looked around in confusion as the cries around him intensified.

What was going on? 

Was there something in the air? Food poisoning? No, whatever agent that was involved was acting too fast—

Nico was abruptly jerked back by the shoulder.

A heavy-set man stood behind him with a frail and pale woman cradled in his arms. “Y-You’re a doctor?” the man stammered. “Please help my wife! She’s not breathing!”

“Please calm down,” Nico told the man calmly. “I need to help this girl first then I’ll help her. I promise—”

“No!” the man snapped. “She’s dying! Please—A-Amelia? Honey?” He stared hopefully into his wife’s pale face. “I think she’s okay!”

A chill crept up Nico’s spine as he saw the pale woman’s eyelids begin to twitch.

“She’s waking up!” came a cry of relief from behind him.

Nico turned.

Samantha was being embraced tightly by her mother while her father stroked her long dark hair. But—Samantha’s lips were still blue, her face still devoid of color. The only sign of life about her were her eyes which rolled around unnaturally in their sockets. Then, they began to bulge.

Nico slowly stood up. 

Something pushed itself out from beneath the girl’s left eye, nearly popping it out from its socket. A glowing, pulsating tendril. A vine-like tendril that sprouted luminescent flowers. It began to extend its reach across the girl’s face and consumed the girl’s entire eye in the process.

“A-Amelia!” the man behind him cried.

Ears ringing, Nico turned.

The woman that had once been in the burly man’s arm was now entirely enveloped in light. The area that was once her head sprouted branches full of blossoming petals; and from those branches sprouted those vine-like tendrils that began coiling around the burly man’s face and digging into it—no, melting into it.

Anguished and pained wails resounded over his shoulder.

Slowly, Nico craned his neck.

In the place where the family of three once lay stood a tree-like mass. The heat the thing emitted reminded him of the vitae spill that had occurred in Die Hauptstadt during the Week of Blindness. It groaned just the same—except he could see the source of the groans: a barely distinguishable trio of faces twisted in agony.

The sight of those faces held him so tightly that he barely had the time to register the tree-like being’s ever-growing, ever-reaching vines and branches hurtling towards him. 

In an empty street alleyway at the heart of the Market District, a scratching sound emitted from the brick walls.

Scritch. Scritch. Scritch

The sound intensified, intensified, intensified, until a small crack in the brick wall appeared where the sound emanated from. That crack grew and grew and grew, emanating a soft white light, until it spanned the entire wall.

From that line of light a pale white hand emerged. It flailed around, searching before finding purchase on the ground just below. Its nails dug into the cement there before pulling, dragging. Another hand emerged, digging its nails into the cement and repeating that pulling, dragging motion. Next came arms, then a head, then a torso, legs, and finally feet, all snapping into place—a full body spilling out onto the ground with no one to witness its arrival.

Altair slowly picked herself off the ground, brushing the dust from her toga and fixing the circlette on her head. She scanned the alley and did not pay any mind to the man and woman who clambered out of the crack in the wall behind her.

Reaching into the folds of her pocket, she pulled out a handful of silver chains. From each chain hung a knife-like pendant with a clear glass handle. She fisted them and let out a breath.

“Here we go, darling.”

In another district in another alleyway, a single scriiiitchhhh emanated from an alley wall. A slender line of dark pink grew straight up from that spot on the wall. The line grew wider and larger until it consumed nearly the entire thing.

Flannery Caertas, hair and clothes in disarray, stepped out from this gaping hole and glanced back at callously as it sealed shut. She exited the alley and took note of the men and women dashing madly down the road as if running from something.

A small body collided with her.

It was a young girl with teary blue eyes and short blonde hair. The girl stumbled back and blinked up at Flannery. Flannery smiled at her.

The girl blubbered, “I-I can’t find my mom—”

Flannery drove her vitae-coated knife through the girl’s abdomen before the girl could finish. She did not stay to see the girl disintegrate into nothing. No, instead, she headed in the direction all the others were running away from—all while cutting the weeds.

“Was this how it was like when you did it, Miss?” Nia asked, voice barely carrying above the blares of the sirens.

Atienna looked down the left and right wings of the hospital and took in all the panicked doctors and nurses running back and forth to attend to their fellow coworkers and their charges.

“No, it wasn’t like this at all,”Atienna murmured. “I wonder…”

Atienna didn’t elaborate any further. Shrugging her green raincoat tighter, she crossed the hall, stepping over a man who had fallen either unconscious or dead. She stopped in front of a door with a side panel labeled, Sefu Imamu.

She pushed open the door.

With purpose, Chief Guidance Officer Maria Gloria-Fernandez and her fellow vice chiefs exited the guidance council building.