“Bastards,” I mutter, teeth clenched.
The three of us share gazes. This isn’t good. We’re about to land in a sentinel haven, and we have no weapons to fight with, no Resnyx left to barter.
All in all, we’re not doing too well.
But Akron is still alive. Somewhere on Ferän, he is finishing harvesting Earth’s Resnyx. We have to count on him to save our asses. The question is will he actually help us, or will he take off with our riches and let us perish?
We fucked up his bar. Wouldn’t be too surprising if he went with the latter decision.
None of this matters. There is a strong biological urge to fight and live. And the more I try and think of a way out of this, the more I think of Emma’s sweet face. It only makes this harder.
My heart sinks and swells with grief. This is a lose-lose scenario, so I decide to just go with it.
Empire City is shrouded in a rich, purple haze. Argonon lights flash an outline of Slain’s face. Tall, ornate towers loom, but the insides look vacant.
For many moons I have wondered what it might be like to step foot here, and now I’m going to have that chance.
We land at a hanger inside Empire City.
Forced out of the sentinel drone, they push us against the pavement outside. Vehicles arrive at all corners of the road, lights flashing blue and red.
I’m not staring at the sentinels. I’m just looking at the empty streets, restaurants, the old publicly owned transports that look long since abandoned.
No one lives here anymore. It was all a facade.
“I don’t understand. I thought this was an area of riches,” I say to Lök.
He inhales, cheek squished against the concrete. Blood cakes his gums as he smiles. “It was a lie,” he says.
We should have known. Slain was powerful, but he never galvanized his rebellion. Once the wars stopped, he let this place go to waste.
He just wanted power. Whether he intended to keep it is another story.
Another electro-prod is jabbed into my back. Electricity rushes through my spine for the millionth time of the night.
A sentinel barks orders. “Both of you. Shut the hell up.”
I’m limp, and my lips are sealed. The sentinels take us toward a large building, at least twenty stories tall. I’ve seen this place in the holograms before. It’s the Justice Quarters, but it’s nothing like the name implies.
They kick the doors open to an empty building.
Inside, dust and debris covers the floors. Dirtied handprints cake the walls. The place is trashed.
At the other end of the hall, the sentinel leader forces another door open. “Up the stairs.”
I count each floor. One, two, three… When we get to the seventh floor, the sentinels stop at the door. The leader punches in a code and the metal slides open, revealing a very large room full of equipment.
Computers buzz and create a holographic glow that drapes across the room. Cables wrap around the walls like synthetic arms of a foreign plant.
Is this our future? Are we to be consumed by what we’ve built?
There is a space in the center. A blue flash of light circles between two cylinders that keep it stable. At first, I think it’s normal electricity. But as soon as my eyes see the light, I have to look away.
The leader grabs my shirt and points to the others. “Keep them back. I want to deal with this one first,” he says.
Adrenaline jolts my nerves awake again. “Wait, where are you taking me?” I cry.
“Rekker!” Vraik shouts.