Academy of Secrets (original version)

Not Here

The strangest sensation overcame me after the Havoc Rift closed. I couldn’t feel, couldn’t think, or do anything at all. I could only run and hold on to Drake’s hand. He hadn’t stopped crying, but he was moving. I heard the Havoc Rift explode behind us. It rocked the station for a moment and the electricity vanished. Everything came to a standstill, finally. But only one thing occupied my thoughts: Tami was dead. The words repeated over and over in my head. Tami was dead. Tami was dead. They didn’t register. They painted a reality I couldn’t accept. I couldn’t even cry.

We kept running across ARATO. Everything felt like a dream. Each motion came without any thought. Every image blurred past me. I noticed ARATO in ruins. Soldiers plucked remaining tentacles out of walls. Repair drones bustled to and fro. Wounded lied everywhere. I approached a med bay and asked for Carmen and TJ. The words just came from my mouth automatically. The doctors looked them up and said they checked out a while ago. I knew where they went. For a moment, I started thinking again. What were we going to tell them? They’ll ask about Tami. They’ll ask how everything happened. Drake seemed to read my thoughts. We hadn’t stopped holding hands.

“Ali, how’re we gonna tell them?”

“I don’t know. We just tell them. How else? Tami’s—”

My voice trailed off. I couldn’t even say it out loud. I shook my head.

“Let’s just get to the H-chamber first. TJ got the last of the inscription. They might already know.”

Drake nodded. He wiped his eyes. For a second I almost envied him. He could react. He could cry. This numbness I felt was starting to scare me. We continued on to Reevus’ office in silence. After stepping into the elevator, I tried to figure out a way to explain ourselves. Each phrasing of the story sounded worse than the next, so I gave up and decided to just wing it. The elevator landed, popping open. I was surprised it even still worked. The room was a mess, like the rest of the place: circuits everywhere, pieces of the wall sticking out, and most of the glass from the test tank lay in shards on the floor. We found Reevus, Carmen and TJ hunched over a piece of paper. Each of them looked deep in thought, like they couldn’t figure out what it meant. Not shocking; the inscription never made sense. TJ’s arm and Carmen’s ankle were wrapped in a meck unit. Reevus looked up and grinned.

“We were successful! The Havoc Rift’s closed.”

Then he saw Drake’s tearstained face. His expression fell.

“Did you—use the Hyrion?”

“What’s the inscription say?” I said.

Reevus narrowed his eyes. He picked up the paper anyway and read it aloud.

“When six arrive, bathed in red

The Rift of Havoc will make new dead

They will face a painful choice

Caused by the boy with more than one voice

When the sealing takes place

A man will lose his face

New enemies will come by

Green will fill the sky

New plans will fall in line

And power will leave this world behind”

“Oh god.”

My voice came out as whimper.

“You know what it means?” said TJ.