For several seconds, Elias didn’t move.
Neither did Mara.
The radio sat on the table between them.
Silent.
Dead.
Then Elias reached for it.
“Anna?”
Nothing.
He adjusted the frequency.
Static.
“Anna?”
Still nothing.
Rowan stepped closer.
“Who is Anna?”
Elias didn’t answer.
Selene did.
“His sister.”
Rowan looked at Elias.
“I thought she was dead.”
“So did I.”
Elias’s voice was barely audible.
He changed frequencies again.
Nothing.
Mara watched him.
His hands were steady.
His face wasn’t.
“Elias.”
He looked at her.
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t going to tell you to calm down.”
“Good.”
“I was going to tell you that if she’s alive, we’ll find her.”
His eyes stayed on hers.
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
Mara’s voice softened.
“But neither do you know that she’s dead.”
He looked away.
For seven years, he’d carried certainty because uncertainty was harder.
Now the certainty was gone.
And somehow that was more frightening.
They spent the next hour trying to recover the signal.
Dr.
Vale searched the Meridian records.
Selene checked the radio equipment.
Rowan climbed onto the roof with a makeshift antenna.
Mara sat at the farmhouse table with a notebook.
She wrote down everything they knew.
ANNA BLACKWOOD
Environmental science
Missing after The Falling
Possible transmission
Then beneath it:
Frequency?
Location?
Why now?
Who transmitted?
She underlined the last question.
The voice had sounded real.
But Meridian had already shown them images that shouldn’t have existed.
The system could reproduce voices.
Memories.
Images.
That meant the transmission might not have been Anna.
Mara didn’t want to say that aloud.
Not yet.
Elias finally spoke.
“Dr.
Vale.”
“I’m listening.”
“Can Meridian imitate a person’s voice?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
Elias closed his eyes.
Mara felt her heart sink.
“But,” Dr.
Vale continued, “not like that.”
Elias opened his eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“The system can reconstruct recordings.”
“That’s different.”
“Very.”
“Then what did we hear?”
Dr.
Vale looked at the terminal.
“I don’t know.”
At noon, the radio came alive again.
Static.
Then a voice.
“Elias?”
He stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.
“Anna?”
Static.
Then:
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“Yes.
I can hear you.”
Mara watched him.
The radio crackled.
“I’m sorry.”
Elias froze.
“Anna?”
“I shouldn’t have left.”
“Where are you?”
Static.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“I can’t see outside.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Not anymore.”
Elias looked at Dr.
Vale.
She was already working.
“Can you tell me where you are?”
The voice returned.
“There are trees.”
“Trees?”
“Too many.”
Elias frowned.
“That’s not helpful.”
“I’m trying.”
Mara almost smiled.
Even after seven years, he still sounded like her brother.
Then the voice became quieter.
“There’s a building.”
“What kind?”
“White.”
“A symbol.”
“What symbol?”
“Four circles.”
Dr.
Vale stopped typing.
Mara looked at her.
“That’s Meridian.”
Dr.
Vale nodded.
Elias gripped the radio.
“Anna, listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Stay where you are.”
“I’ve been staying.”
“I’ll find you.”
Silence.
Then:
“Elias.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t come alone.”
His expression changed.
“Why?”
“I don’t think I’m the only one here.”
The radio went dead.
Nobody spoke.
Finally Rowan said:
“Well.”
Selene looked at him.
“Don’t.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“You were.”
“I was going to say that sounds bad.”
“That was exactly what you were going to say.”
“Yes.”
Elias looked at Dr.
Vale.
“Where was that signal?”
She shook her head.
“Too weak.”
“Try again.”
“I am.”
“Can you locate it?”
“Not yet.”
Mara stood.
“Could the Meridian network locate it?”
Dr.
Vale looked at her.
“Possibly.”
“Then use it.”
“It isn’t that simple.”
“Nothing is.”
Mara walked toward the mirror.
“If the system can connect worlds, it can find a signal.”
Dr.
Vale studied her.
“The network responds to you.”
“So?”
“You may be able to direct it.”
Mara looked at the four symbols.
Aurelia.
Veyra.
Meridian.
Unknown.
“Without choosing?”
“Maybe.”
Elias stepped closer.
“How?”
Dr.
Vale pointed at the iron key.
“Use the custodian interface.”
Mara looked down.
She had forgotten she was still holding it.
The key fit into a slot beneath the mirror.
Mara hesitated.
“Are we sure?”
“No,” Dr.
Vale said.
“That’s becoming a theme.”
Mara inserted the key.
The mirror lit up.
The farmhouse disappeared.
A vast network appeared.
Hundreds of points.
Most were dim.
Four were bright.
The fifth moved.
Mara focused on it.
“Show me the signal.”
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
“Show me Anna.”
The network shifted.
A line extended from Veyra.
Across mountains.
Across ruined cities.
Across forests.
Then stopped.
A single point flashed.
Elias leaned toward the mirror.
“That’s her.”
Dr.
Vale stared.
“How do you know?”
“I know.”
Mara looked at the location.
“Can we get there?”
Elias studied the map.
“Not easily.”
“How far?”
“About four hundred kilometers.”
Rowan whistled.
“That’s not exactly a day trip.”
Elias ignored him.
“What is the location?”
Dr.
Vale zoomed the map.
An old research designation appeared.
MERIDIAN BIOLOGICAL OBSERVATION STATION — M-04
Mara frowned.
“Biological.”
Dr.
Vale nodded.
“One of the original four.”
Elias looked at her.
“Was it abandoned?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Then how is Anna there?”
Dr.
Vale didn’t answer.
“Maybe it wasn’t abandoned.”
The next decision was easy.
They were going.
Elias packed supplies.
Rowan checked weapons.
Selene prepared medical equipment.
Dr.
Vale gathered old Meridian documents.
Mara watched through the mirror.
“You should stay.”
Elias looked at her.
“No.”
“You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
“Neither do you.”
“I’m in Aurelia.”
“Exactly.”
Mara frowned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“If something happens to you, I can’t reach you.”
“And if something happens to you?”
He smiled faintly.
“Then you’ll complain about it.”
“I will.”
“I know.”
Mara looked down.
“Elias.”
“Yes?”
“Bring her home.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
They left at dusk.
The road stretched ahead.
For the first few kilometers, everything was quiet.
Then the Aether meter climbed.
LEVEL 2
Elias slowed.
“Something’s wrong.”
Rowan looked at the display.
“It was fine five minutes ago.”
“Exactly.”
Selene checked the sky.
Clouds were gathering.
Not normal clouds.
They were too dark.
Too still.
Elias stopped the vehicle.
“Storm.”
Mara heard him through the radio.
“How long?”
“Maybe an hour.”
“Can you go around?”
“No.”
“Then wait.”
“We can’t.”
Mara frowned.
“Why?”
Elias looked at the navigation display.
The route to Anna’s location had changed.
The Meridian network had drawn a new line.
Straight through the storm.
He stared.
“It wants us to go through.”
Mara’s expression hardened.
“The machine wants a lot of things.”
“Agreed.”
“Don’t follow it blindly.”
“We won’t.”
The fifth point appeared on the map.
Closer.
Moving toward them.
Elias saw it too.
“That’s not Anna.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
Mara stared.
The point moved across the map.
Then stopped.
Right beside Anna’s location.
Two signals.
One stationary.
One approaching.
Dr.
Vale whispered:
“She’s not alone.”
The storm arrived.
Rain struck the windshield.
The sky flashed white.
For several seconds, the entire world disappeared behind sheets of water.
Then the radio crackled.
“Elias?”
He grabbed it.
“Anna?”
Her voice came through.
Weak.
Panicked.
“You need to turn around.”
“Why?”
“They found me.”
“Who?”
Static.
Then a whisper.
“The people who built Meridian.”
Elias looked at Dr.
Vale.
She went pale.
“Anna,” he said carefully.
“Yes?”
“Who are they?”
A long pause.
Then:
“They’re not dead.”
The radio went silent.
Mara stared at the mirror.
The fifth signal began moving again.
Not toward Blackridge.
Not toward Meridian.
Not toward Mara.
Toward Anna.
Elias started the engine.
“We’re going.”
Rowan looked at the storm.
“Through that?”
Elias nodded.
“Through that.”
Selene tightened her seat belt.
“Why?”
Elias looked at the road.
“Because my sister is alive.”
He shifted into gear.
“And someone else knows it.”
The truck disappeared into the storm.
END OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN