Sister Cities

Part 80: Ekko

"Speaking of laws and integrity," I say, "have you talked to any Shimmer addicts lately?"

"Not other than to say hi or to get them out of our digging spot. I didn't think they talked much."

"They don't, but one stopped me yesterday. Their stockpiles are running low all through the city. Some of them have been tapering, but a lot of them haven't, and it's too late to start now."

Her eyebrows furrow. "How do you get addicted to Shimmer, anyway? I thought taking more than you need gave you an overdose."

Sometimes I forget that her time in Stillwater meant she missed all but a few days of Silco's empire. "It does when you take too much all at once. Addicts up their intake slowly enough that it doesn't overwhelm them, and eventually they go Shimmer-dominant. They can still overdose from there, because it's still a poison, but at that point, they need it to live too."

"So they can't quit cold-turkey?"

"No. If you don't taper, you die. Not in a good way. It's... slow."

Her arm tightens on mine, jerking me closer. "But you have the rehab clinics, right? The temporary ones? I've seen them. I thought you could use other drugs to offset withdrawal."

"You can, but the clinics aren't going up as fast as we thought. I don't think we'll have enough in time. I'd give it a week before their stashes are completely gone, two before we start seeing..."

"Seeing what?"

"Mass death."

Her footsteps falter. "What?"

"I know."

"What's the Council doing?"

"Rehab's gone higher on the list of priorities, but we can only make and import so much medicine so fast, and there's only so many people versed in administering it." Even though Caitlyn's pretty far ahead and distracted by Jinx, I drop my voice. "I want to go for harm reduction."

"Why're you making that sound like a bad thing?" Vi asks.

"Because we have to open the factories." We've had them guarded since the revolution, and this is the exact reason why. As far as the other councilors know, it's because I think burning such a large amount at once might do dangerous things to the air— which is a genuine concern I have, just not as big of one as I pretend— so we're removing and disposing of small amounts at a time. There are still barrels upon barrels that can be used.

Not that the Council would ever, ever agree to let that happen.

Vi's quiet for our next ten steps, and all she offers then is: "Shit."

"I'm bringing it up this morning, but they probably won't even consider it for days."

"Do you want me to come with you? Me and Walker and all of them were just gonna keep digging up those tenements."

I do want her to come with me, but she'd probably just upset Lumley and Caitlyn's mom more, and Quartz, Esther, and Xelin know the pros and endless cons of Shimmer better than she does. "No, it's fine. I'm telling you because I need you for something else."

"Yeah?"

I'm fully whispering now, turned toward her with my hand in front of my mouth, like I can trick myself into thinking my demand is smaller if I say it quieter. "Assuming the Council never agrees, if we don't pull anything better together, this will still have to get done."

A long pause. "Right," she says. "Sure. Shouldn't be too hard."

"I'm not asking you to do it," I say quickly. "Or— not at first. I'm going to do it. But if I get caught before I'm finished, I'll need you to find someone else who will take over. And if you can't find anyone—"