The morning everything changed started with Benny stealing my drink.
Again.
I was halfway through putting my bag under the table when his hand slid across the cafeteria table.
I caught his wrist.
“No.” He looked at my hand.
Then at me.
“You didn’t even see me.” “I heard you.” “No, you didn’t.” “You do this every day.” “Exactly.
You’re supposed to get comfortable.” “With theft?” “With routine.” I pushed his hand away.
He immediately reached with the other one.
I moved the bottle.
“You’re becoming difficult.” “I’ve always been difficult.” “True.” Threya sat beside me and stole a piece of toast from my tray.
I stared at her.
She took a bite.
“You too?” “Taxes.” “It’s breakfast.” “Morning taxes.” “You can’t invent a new tax every time you steal something.” “I can if you keep paying.” I looked across the table for support.
Nobody cared.
Frank was eating.
Paul was explaining something to Montiro using both hands, which was dangerous considering one of those hands could create explosions.
Kenya had one headphone in.
The other rested against the table beside Toma.
Emi was reading.
Beth was watching Benny attempt to steal my drink again.
She said, “He’s going to reach from underneath the table.” Benny froze.
I looked down.
His hand was already there.
“Beth.” “What?” “You’re supposed to use your powers for good.” “I didn’t use my ability.” That was somehow worse.
Benny slowly withdrew his hand.
“Snitch.” Beth returned to her breakfast.
“You were unsuccessful.” “I was gathering information.” “About apple juice?” “Important information.” The bell rang.
Nobody moved.
Emi closed her book.
“We have class.” Frank kept eating.
“Thirty seconds.” “Twenty-eight.” He looked at her.
“You counted?” “I looked at the clock.” We eventually stood.
Ten trays.
Ten bags.
Ten people clogging one section of the cafeteria exit while everyone behind us became increasingly annoyed.
Normal.
Everything was normal.
I wish I remembered more of it.
Not the important things.
The stupid things.
What Paul was talking about.
What song Kenya was listening to.
What Emi had been reading.
Whether Toma said anything that morning.
I remember Benny stealing my drink because Benny always stole my drink.
I remember Threya taking my toast because Threya always took my food.
But there are pieces of that morning that are simply gone.
At the time, I wasn’t trying to remember.
Why would I?
It was Tuesday.
There would be Wednesday.
Then Thursday.
Then Friday.
Then another Saturday.
That was how life worked.
Until it didn’t.
Professor Renn had a dead monster on his desk.
Technically, it was only part of one.
That didn’t improve things.
Paul stopped at the classroom door.
“No.” Renn looked up.
“Good morning.” “What is that?” “A forelimb.” “I can see that.” “Then why did you ask?” Paul looked at me.
“Why are teachers like this?” “Power.” We entered.
The limb sat inside a transparent containment tray.
Gray armor covered most of it.
Three hooked claws curled inward at the end.
The entire thing was roughly as long as my arm.
I recognized the species from the reading.
“Gravel beetle,” I said.
Renn looked at me.
“Correct.” Frank walked closer.
“That’s from a beetle?” “A juvenile.” Benny stopped beside him.
“How big are the adults?” Renn tapped the wall display.
An image appeared.
Nobody said anything for a second.
The adult gravel beetle was roughly the size of a small car.
Six legs.
Heavy gray plates.
Low body.
A pair of curved mandibles protruding from the head.
The shell looked less like armor and more like several slabs of stone stacked across its body.
“Class II?” Emi asked.
“Typically.” Frank smiled.
“That’s it?” Renn looked at him.
“You sound disappointed.” “It looks slow.” “It is.” “So?” “So trains are also slow compared to you at short distances.
I don’t recommend standing in front of one.” Benny laughed.
Frank ignored him.
Renn changed the image.
A diagram of the beetle appeared.
“Gravel beetles are burrowing omnivores.
They prefer mineral-rich soil and feed primarily on Core-active roots, small supernatural organisms, and certain metallic deposits.” Montiro raised his hand.
“They eat metal?” “Some.” Montiro pulled his chair slightly away from Benny.
Benny stared at him.
“Seriously?” “Protecting myself.” “From what?” “You taste expensive.” “That’s weird.” Renn enlarged the diagram.
“Armor.” Several sections highlighted.
“Extremely dense across the upper shell.
Resistant to low-output elemental abilities.
Strongest here, here, and here.” The dorsal plates lit red.
I opened my notebook.
“Most students make the same mistake when they see something armored,” Renn said.
Frank leaned back.
“Hit harder.” “Thank you for volunteering.” A few people laughed.
Frank smiled.
Renn pointed toward the beetle’s side.
“Armor creates protection.” Another section highlighted.
“It also creates joints.” I wrote that down.
Thin seams ran between the overlapping plates.
Around the legs.
Beneath the neck.
Along the rear section.
“These areas require mobility.
Mobility and complete protection rarely coexist.” Emi leaned forward.
“The leg joints.” “Viable.” “Neck?” “Difficult angle.” “Eyes?” “Small target.” I raised my hand.
Renn looked at me.
“Rear plate.” He enlarged it.
“What about it?” “It overlaps instead of connecting directly.” Renn waited.
I studied the image.
The rear-most plate was wider.
It covered softer tissue beneath it, but the shell couldn’t be fused there or the beetle wouldn’t be able to curl its abdomen while burrowing.
“It separates when it turns.” Renn nodded.
“Partially.” He played a short recording.
The beetle turned sharply.
For less than a second, the rear plate lifted.
Dark tissue appeared beneath it.
Then vanished.
“Good.” I wrote faster.
Renn looked around the class.
“That does not mean I want any of you attempting this.” Frank raised his hand.
“How strong are the plates?” “Mr.
Dalton.” “Hypothetically.” “Stronger than your current steel density.” Frank lowered his hand.
Benny smiled.
“Train.” “Shut up.” Renn removed the containment cover from the dead limb.
The smell reached us.
Everyone reacted.
“Oh, God,” Threya said.
Paul pulled his shirt over his nose.
“Put it back.” “This is Monster Studies.” “This is biological warfare.” I moved closer.
Threya grabbed my sleeve.
“Where are you going?” “Looking.” “It smells dead.” “It is dead.” “Exactly.” I approached the desk.
Up close, the armor wasn’t smooth.
Tiny grooves ran through it.
Layers.
Almost like rock formed over something organic.
Renn handed me gloves.
“Don’t touch exposed tissue.” I put them on.
Emi joined me.
Then Beth.
Frank came because he refused to be the person standing farther away.
The others eventually followed.
I bent slightly.
The joint beneath the first plate was visible.
Soft wasn’t the right word.
Softer.
There was still a thick membrane beneath the armor.
“Could a normal knife get through that?” I asked.
Renn looked at the joint.
“With enough force and the correct angle.” “How much force?” “More than you currently possess.” Fair.
“What about a longer weapon?” “Depends.” “Spear?” “Better leverage.” “Sword?” Renn looked at me.
“Still thinking about buying one?” I stared at him.
“How does everybody know?” Threya raised her hand.
“My fault.” “Benny told you.” “His fault.” Benny pointed at her.
“Accountability.” Renn almost smiled.
“Against a gravel beetle, your problem wouldn’t simply be penetration.” “What would it be?” “Getting close enough.” He tapped the hooked claw.
“That limb can break a human femur.” I looked at it.
Renn continued.
“Knowing where to strike is not the same as being capable of reaching it.” I wrote that down too.
I didn’t know yet how important those words were.
The first alarm came at 11:43.
Nobody panicked.
Why would we?
Emory ran drills constantly.
The lights changed from white to amber.
A tone sounded once.
Then an automated voice filled the room.
“EXTERNAL MONSTER ADVISORY.
ALL STUDENTS REMAIN WITH ASSIGNED INSTRUCTORS.” Professor Renn stopped mid-sentence.
The class groaned.
Paul leaned back.
“Again?” Renn looked toward the wall display.
A notification appeared.
MUNICIPAL RESPONSE ADVISORY UNIDENTIFIED CORE SIGNATURE NORTHWEST DISTRICT ASSESSMENT IN PROGRESS Benny whispered, “Class One.” “Probably,” Frank said.
Renn heard him.
“Don’t speculate.” Frank shrugged.
The school continued.
That was normal too.
Monster advisories happened.
Most never became anything.
A supernatural animal wandered too close to a highway.
A migration shifted unexpectedly.
A Class I got into somebody’s yard.
Response teams handled it.
People complained about traffic.
Life continued.
At 11:51, the lights turned red.
Nobody groaned the second time.
The tone changed.
Three short bursts.
Pause.
Three more.
Professor Renn was already moving.
“Everyone up.” The wall display changed.
CODE RED My stomach tightened.
I’d seen those words in drills.
Never like this.
The automated voice returned.
“CONFIRMED CLASS II MONSTER EVENT.
NORTHWEST DISTRICT.
EMORY CAMPUS ENTERING ACTIVE SHELTER PROTOCOL.” Chairs moved.
Bags were left behind.
Renn opened the classroom door and looked into the hall.
“Single line.
Shelter Four.” Nobody joked.
We entered the corridor.
Other classrooms emptied at the same time.
Teachers directed students toward reinforced stairwells.
Red lights flashed overhead.
I found Threya’s hand without thinking.
She squeezed mine.
Benny was directly behind us.
Frank behind him.
All ten.
Still together.
“How far is Northwest?” Paul asked.
“Couple miles,” Montiro said.
“Then why are we sheltering?” “Procedure,” Beth answered.
A distant sound interrupted her.
Not an explosion.
Impact.
Low enough that I felt it through the floor.
Everyone stopped.
Professor Renn turned.
“Keep moving.” We moved.
Another impact.
Closer.
Students started talking.
Teachers raised their voices.
“Keep moving!” “Do not use abilities!” “Stay with your class!” We reached the stairwell.
Then every light went out.
Darkness.
Someone screamed.
Emergency lighting switched on a second later.
Red strips along the floor.
My heart was beating faster now.
Threya still had my hand.
“Akio.” “I’m here.” A third impact shook dust from the ceiling.
That one was definitely closer.
The alarm changed again.
Not the school alarm.
A city siren.
Deep.
Rising.
Falling.
I’d heard it in tests.
Everyone had.
Monster breach.
Professor Renn’s face changed.
For the first time since I’d known him, he looked worried.
His radio crackled.
“All faculty, shelter breach on west perimeter.
Repeat, west perimeter breach.
Unregistered Class Two has entered academy grounds.” Frank’s skin began turning silver.
Renn saw it.
“No.” “It’s here.” “Which is why you follow instructions.” Another voice came through the radio.
“Response teams three minutes out.” Three minutes.
Not long.
Usually.
The building shook.
A window shattered somewhere above us.
Students screamed.
Renn pushed open the shelter corridor.
“Move!” We ran.
No rule about running now.
Shelter Four was ahead.
Twenty yards.
An instructor held the reinforced door open.
Students poured through.
Fifteen yards.
Ten.
Then the wall to our left exploded.
There was no warning.
Concrete came apart.
Dust swallowed the corridor.
Something hit me.
I went down.
My ears rang.
For several seconds, the world stopped making sense.
People were screaming.
Someone pulled me.
“Akio!” Threya.
I coughed.
Dust filled my mouth.
“I’m fine.” I wasn’t sure if that was true.
I pushed myself up.
The corridor wall was gone.
Sunlight poured through a hole large enough to drive a truck through.
And inside the dust stood something gray.
Six legs.
Heavy shell.
Curved mandibles.
For half a second, my brain refused to connect the image to the thing we’d studied less than an hour ago.
Gravel beetle.
Adult.
Except something was wrong.
Black lines ran through its armor.
Not natural grooves.
They pulsed faintly beneath the shell.
The beetle shook concrete from its back.
Professor Renn shouted.
“BACK!” The creature turned.
Slow.
Just like the video.
Its front leg struck what remained of the wall.
Concrete cracked.
Everyone moved.
The shelter door was still open.
Students rushed through.
Renn stood between us and the beetle.
Light gathered around his arms.
I’d never seen his ability before.
“GO!” We went.
Almost.
The beetle charged.
Slow wasn’t the right word anymore.
Its legs hammered against the floor.
Renn released his ability.
A wave of compressed force struck the beetle’s head.
The shell absorbed most of it.
Its body shifted sideways.
Not enough.
It hit Renn.
He disappeared into the wall.
“Professor!” Emi turned.
I grabbed her.
“Don’t!” The beetle’s mandibles snapped shut where she’d been.
She stumbled backward.
The instructor at the shelter door screamed for us.
“INSIDE!” We ran.
Frank didn’t.
He stepped forward.
Silver spread across his entire body.
“Frank!” He looked back.
“Get them in!” The beetle turned toward him.
Frank planted his feet.
I knew exactly what he was thinking.
Steel.
Armor.
Strength.
The same thing he’d thought in every drill.
The same thing Professor Renn had warned him about.
“FRANK, MOVE!” He didn’t.
The beetle charged.
Frank caught one mandible.
For one impossible second, he stopped it.
His shoes tore across the floor.
Metal screamed against shell.
Frank yelled.
“SEE?” Then the beetle twisted.
Not forward.
Sideways.
Its second mandible caught beneath Frank’s arm.
His steel skin held.
The point slid.
Found the gap beneath his ribs.
And went through him.
Everything stopped.
Frank looked down.
The mandible protruded from his back.
His steel vanished.
Blood ran down gray armor.
Threya screamed his name.
The beetle lifted him.
Frank made a sound I had never heard from another human being.
Then it threw him.
He hit the floor.
Didn’t move.
Something inside me went cold.
Not fear.
Not yet.
There wasn’t enough room for fear.
Emi ran to Frank.
Beth followed.
Paul raised both hands.
Orange light formed between his fingers.
“No!” I shouted.
He looked at me.
“IT JUST—” “Frank’s there!” The orb vanished.
Paul’s hands shook.
The beetle turned.
Toward us.
Three minutes.
How long had it been?
Thirty seconds?
Forty?
Where were the response teams?
Renn was moving near the wall.
Alive.
Barely.
The shelter instructor was dragging students inside.
“GET IN HERE!” Threya grabbed my arm.
“Akio!” I looked at the beetle.
Then Frank.
Blood spreading beneath him.
Then the broken corridor.
The beetle took one step.
Its rear plate shifted.
My brain supplied the image from class.
Overlap.
Mobility.
The plate lifts when it turns.
“Akio!” I looked around.
Broken concrete.
Metal supports.
A section of railing had torn free from the stairwell.
One end was jagged.
Not a sword.
Not a spear.
A piece of iron.
Long enough.
Maybe.
The beetle stepped toward Emi.
She stood over Frank.
No lance.
No training hall.
No controlled scenario.
Her hands were empty.
The beetle lowered its head.
I ran.
Someone screamed my name.
Probably all of them.
I grabbed the metal bar.
Heavy.
Too heavy.
I nearly dropped it.
The beetle moved.
I remembered Professor Renn.
Knowing where to strike is not the same as being capable of reaching it.
I knew.
I knew.
But Frank was bleeding.
Emi was trapped.
Threya was behind me.
Benny was behind me.
All of them were behind me.
If something happens, I’m probably going to do something stupid.
So you figure out the smart part.
“HEY!” My voice cracked.
The beetle stopped.
Its head turned.
Toward me.
Good.
Terrible.
Good.
I hit the metal bar against the floor.
Once.
Twice.
“COME ON!” The beetle turned away from Emi.
Its body followed its head.
Slowly.
Rear plate.
I saw it.
Lift.
Drop.
Not enough.
I backed away.
The beetle followed.
“Akio, what are you doing?” Benny shouted.
“Get Frank inside!” “We’re not leaving you!” “BENNY!” He stopped.
I looked at him.
For once, he wasn’t smiling.
“Get him inside.” Something passed between us.
Maybe he understood.
Maybe he didn’t.
Benny ran to Frank.
Threya stayed.
Of course she did.
“Go.” “No.” “Threya.” “No.” The ground beneath her feet cracked.
Stone rose around her arms.
The beetle noticed.
“Don’t attack the shell.” “I know.” She looked at me.
“What are you doing?” I looked at the rear plate.
“Making it turn.” Her eyes followed mine.
She understood.
Of course she did.
“What do you need?” I tightened both hands around the iron bar.
“Time.” Threya stepped beside me.
“That I can do.” The beetle charged.
She slammed her foot down.
Stone erupted from the floor.
Not a wall.
An angle.
Like the training construct.
The beetle hit it.
Its left legs rose.
Its body shifted.
Turned.
Rear plate lifted.
“NOW!” I ran.
Three steps.
Four.
Too slow.
The bar was too heavy.
The plate started dropping.
I thrust.
Metal struck shell.
The impact tore through my arms.
I missed.
The bar bounced away.
The beetle’s rear leg caught me.
Pain exploded across my side.
The world spun.
I hit the floor.
Couldn’t breathe.
“AKIO!” Threya raised another barrier.
The beetle smashed through it.
She flew backward.
My vision blurred.
Move.
I tried.
My body didn’t listen.
Move.
Frank was being dragged toward the shelter.
Emi had his shoulders.
Benny had one leg.
Beth had the other.
Paul stood between them and the beetle, hands shaking with orange light he couldn’t safely use.
Kenya’s fox appeared.
Larger than I’d ever seen it.
It screamed at the beetle.
The creature turned.
Toma froze the floor beneath its right legs.
Not enough to hold it.
Enough to change its footing.
Montiro manifested a gun.
Fired at the wall.
Not the beetle.
Concrete exploded beside its head.
The beetle turned again.
They were doing it.
All of them.
Making it turn.
For me.
I got up.
My side screamed.
The iron bar lay six feet away.
I grabbed it.
The beetle turned toward Montiro.
Rear plate lifted.
Too far.
It dropped.
Kenya’s fox struck from the opposite side.
Not attacking.
Distracting.
The beetle snapped at it.
The fox vanished before the mandibles closed.
Turn.
Plate.
Up.
Down.
I watched.
One second.
Less.
But the turn wasn’t random.
Head first.
Front legs.
Middle.
Rear.
Plate lifted when the abdomen compressed.
I didn’t need to be faster than the plate.
I needed to move before it lifted.
“Threya!” She was on one knee.
Blood ran from her forehead.
She looked at me.
“Left!” No question.
She struck the floor.
Stone erupted to the beetle’s right.
It turned left.
Head.
Front.
Middle.
I moved.
Before the opening.
Before I could see it.
Three steps.
The bar came up.
Rear plate lifted.
I drove the jagged end underneath.
Something gave.
The bar sank.
The beetle screamed.
Not like an animal.
Like metal being torn apart.
Its body convulsed.
The bar ripped out of my hands.
Black fluid sprayed across the floor.
The beetle spun.
Its rear leg hit me again.
I went down.
But this time the plate didn’t close properly.
The iron bar had wedged beneath it.
Dark tissue exposed.
“EMI!” She was already there.
She had found another piece of broken railing.
Of course she had.
Her hands slid into a lance grip.
One step.
Perfect.
She drove it into the opening.
The beetle shrieked.
Paul moved next.
He looked at me.
“Small!” For once, I didn’t have to explain.
A tiny orange orb formed.
He sent it beneath the raised plate.
Pop.
The explosion was barely louder than a gunshot.
Inside the wound, it was enough.
The beetle collapsed.
Its legs struck the floor.
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Nobody moved.
I stared at it.
Waiting.
For another leg to twitch.
For it to get up.
For Professor Renn to tell us the scenario wasn’t over.
Nothing.
The city sirens continued outside.
My breathing sounded too loud.
Then Threya hit me.
Not hard.
Her fist landed against my chest.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I looked at her.
She was crying.
I hadn’t noticed.
“Threya—” She grabbed me.
Arms around my neck.
So tight my injured side screamed.
I didn’t care.
I held her.
Behind us, Benny shouted.
“FRANK!” Everything came back.
We ran.
Frank was alive.
Barely.
The mandible had entered beneath the right side of his ribs and exited through his back.
Emi pressed both hands against the wound.
Blood covered her fingers.
“Akio!” I dropped beside her.
First aid.
Things I could do.
“Don’t move him.” “No shit.” “Pressure around the wound, not inside.” “I know.” “I know.” My hands shook.
I hated that.
I opened the emergency kit mounted inside the shelter corridor.
Gauze.
Seal.
Bandages.
My fingers slipped.
Benny grabbed my wrist.
I looked at him.
“Akio.” “I’m fine.” “Your hands.” I looked down.
Blood.
Not mine.
Frank’s.
My hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t tear the package.
Benny took it.
Opened it.
Handed it back.
I nodded.
No words.
We worked.
Emi listened.
Beth called out Frank’s breathing.
Toma kept everyone else back.
Paul stood against the wall, staring at the dead beetle.
Kenya’s fox pressed against her leg.
Montiro’s manifested weapon had disappeared.
Threya sat beside me.
One hand stayed against my back.
Sirens grew louder.
Real ones.
Vehicles.
Voices.
Response officers flooded the corridor.
After that, adults took over.
They pushed us away.
Medics surrounded Frank.
Another team reached Professor Renn.
Someone checked my ribs.
Someone else asked questions.
Species.
Direction.
Abilities used.
Number injured.
I answered automatically.
“Gravel beetle.” “How do you know?” “Class this morning.” “Did anyone penetrate the shell?” “Rear plate.” “What?” “Rear plate separates during turns.” The officer looked toward the corpse.
Then at me.
“What did you use?” I pointed.
The iron bar was still embedded beneath the plate.
His expression changed.
I didn’t care.
“Frank.” “Medics have him.” “Is he alive?” “They’re working on him.” “That’s not what I asked.” The officer hesitated.
“Yes.” That was enough.
For then.
The beetle should have been dead.
I know that because I watched it stop moving.
I know that because three licensed response officers scanned it.
I know that because one of them said the words: “Confirmed neutralized.” Maybe that’s why nobody stopped me.
Maybe that’s why I walked toward it.
There was something glowing beneath the broken rear plate.
Faint.
Blue-white.
I thought it was Paul’s explosion at first.
Residual Core discharge.
Then it pulsed.
Once.
My chest hurt.
Not my ribs.
Deeper.
I stopped.
The light pulsed again.
Something inside me answered.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
A pressure behind my sternum.
Warm.
Then freezing.
“Akio?” Threya.
I barely heard her.
The black fluid around the beetle’s wound had started moving.
Not flowing.
Pulling inward.
Toward something beneath the shell.
The officer beside me frowned.
“Back up.” I didn’t.
I should have.
The rear plate cracked.
A piece of gray armor slid away.
Something fell onto the floor.
Small.
No bigger than two fingers.
Not metal.
Not stone.
A fragment.
Clear at the edges.
Dark in the center.
Blue-white veins moved through it like frozen lightning.
Every alarm in the corridor went silent.
Not stopped.
Died.
Lights flickered.
Kenya’s fox vanished.
She gasped.
The fragment pulsed.
My heart pulsed with it.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“Akio, move.” I couldn’t.
My hand lifted.
I don’t remember deciding to do it.
Threya grabbed my sleeve.
“Don’t touch it.” I looked at her.
She looked terrified.
I wish I’d listened.
My fingers reached the fragment.
The instant I touched it, I heard something.
Not a voice.
Not words.
More like the memory of a sound.
A crack spreading across a frozen lake.
Then cold entered my hand.
It moved faster than pain.
Fingers.
Wrist.
Arm.
Chest.
I couldn’t breathe.
“AKIO!” Threya pulled me.
Her hand slipped from my sleeve.
Ice formed between us.
Not on the floor.
On me.
I looked down.
White crystal covered my fingers.
Climbing.
“No.” Someone grabbed my shoulders.
Benny.
He pulled.
The ice spread over my arm.
“GET IT OFF HIM!” People shouted.
Fire.
Heat.
Core suppression.
I couldn’t tell.
Everything sounded far away.
Threya was in front of me.
Her hands were on my face.
“Akio.” I tried to answer.
My jaw wouldn’t move.
Ice climbed my neck.
Her eyes were wide.
Brown.
I knew that.
I knew her eyes.
I wanted to tell her I was okay.
Stupid.
I wasn’t.
“Akio, look at me.” I was.
“Please.” The cold reached my face.
For one last second, I could still see everyone.
Benny behind her.
Blood on his shirt.
Emi standing near Frank’s stretcher.
Paul frozen in place.
Kenya crying.
Toma beside her.
Montiro shouting at an officer.
Beth staring at the ice like she was trying to understand it.
Frank being carried away.
Threya.
And beyond them, Professor Renn on a stretcher, awake just enough to see what was happening.
Then the ice closed over my eyes.
Darkness.
No sound.
No breath.
Nothing.
I thought that was death.
It wasn’t.
That would’ve been easier.
I don’t know how long passed before sound returned.
Maybe seconds.
Maybe minutes.
At first, it was only vibration.
Then muffled voices.
“…temperature isn’t…” “…don’t break…” “…Core reading…” I tried to open my eyes.
Nothing happened.
I tried to move.
Nothing.
Breathe.
Nothing.
My body didn’t breathe.
And somehow I was still there.
Panic came so fast I couldn’t contain it.
MOVE.
Nothing.
OPEN YOUR EYES.
Nothing.
SCREAM.
Nothing.
I threw everything I had against a body that no longer answered me.
No fingers.
No mouth.
No lungs.
No eyelids.
Nothing.
Then, through layers of ice, I heard someone crying.
Close.
A hand struck the outside.
Once.
Again.
Again.
“Akio!” Benny.
I knew his voice.
Another hit.
“Akio, come on!” I tried to answer.
BENNY.
Nothing.
“Please.” His voice broke.
I’d never heard Benny sound like that.
“Please wake up.” I was awake.
I was right there.
I screamed his name with everything I had.
No sound came out.
Outside the ice, my best friend kept calling for me.
Inside it, I finally understood.
Nobody knew I could hear them.