With the light off, the storage room was almost entirely dark. I went to the viewport, which had been covered in black tape. The edge of the tape was peeling, and I tugged at it a bit more, making a little opening to the outside.

  I needed to see the void. Needed to know it was still there. I didn't know why the people of Voidhold Two blocked out the view, but I was missing Mosogon's violent skies.

  Through the gap in the tape, Mosogon's eternal storm put on its usual display. Streams of gas twisted like violet ribbons, caught by the voidhold's beacon lights. In the distance, deeper purple vortices swirled, their edges crackling with static discharge. A sudden flash of lightning illuminated a vast wall of clouds, revealing layers of color from deep indigo to pale lilac.

  "Cedar, what's that spiral formation?" I asked, watching the gases coiling into a tight funnel shape.

  That's a resonance helix. They're a fairly common phenomenon when void streams intersect with charged particle fields. Though this one's rotation suggests it might develop into a minor maelstrom within the next few hours. Nothing to worry about, we're well outside its influence radius.

  Cedar's commentary cut off abruptly.

  Movement detected in the corridor, it said. Someone is approaching.

  "Hello?"

  The voice came from the doorway. I quickly patted the tape back into place and crouched down against the wall.

  Light flickered. The beam of a torch.

  "Shade? Are you there?"

  Who is it? I can't see. The eyes in that section are cracked.

  Light flickered by the door. The beam of a torch.

  "Shade? Are you there?" said the voice." Chio sent me. She said you could use some company."

  The male voice, low and rumbly, was familiar, and I slowly rose from my crouch. The torch beam briefly fell on my face.

  "There you are," he said. "Don't be afraid, I'm just going to come in and sit over there."

  The speaker moved the torch to illuminate his face. He looked old and wore spectacles. I recognized him from Two's Waygate.

  "I'm Fron," he said. "The chronicler."

  "Oh." I remembered. "You came to the medical room and asked about my family. Back when I first arrived."

  His torch-lit smile was eerie. "Yes, that's what I do. Families interest me." He held up a datapad. "May I come and sit with you?"

  I nodded slowly, then eased myself back onto the couch. He pulled up a seat and sat within reaching distance.

  "I'll admit," he said. "I've never been down here. I usually hang around the archives." He leaned back. "Plenty to read there without looking in other places. Although..." His bushy eyebrows hopped and his smile deepened. "I now have something very interesting to read."

  "Oh?" I pointed to the storage container beneath the couch. "I think there might be reading material in there."

  "Ah, I doubt it. No, I meant you."

  "Me?"

  "Yes." Now he leaned forward and looked at me intensely. "You are the first person from Voidhold Zero we've met in living memory. The other voidholds often hold exchanges, but Zero? Never. Well...nearly never."

  "Aren't they all the same? I mean...Two is very different." I paused, remembering what Larkin and Aster had told me. "Although Four and Five are too."

  Fron grinned. "You're getting the idea." He held up eight fingers. "Eight is lofty elitists, heads in the clouds. Seven is pugilists...don't mess with them. Six have their own odd beliefs, best not look too closely."

  He lowered one hand, leaving him with five fingers. "Five is a place of suffering, an unfortunate accident. Four...well, you might say they brought that on themselves." He shook his head, but the smile was still there. "It's the opposite of here, functionary rule! No wonder Chio's man has been trying to leave."

  He laughed, and I forced an affirming chuckle.

  "Then there's Three," he continued. "Your mother comes from there, am I right?"

  "Yes. She came on a craft, traded for my aunt, Alyce." The words felt strange in my mouth.

  "Barbaric practice, but I understand how it came about. Anyway, Three has their setup and it works for them. Strongest voidhold, some say. Then there's us, Two. One is long gone, of course."

  I thought of the locator hidden in our Stillness. "Larkin said finding One was important."

  Fron chuckled, but it wasn't an entirely happy sound. "Ah yes, the eternal quest for One. Every generation has its dreamers who think they'll be the ones to find it." He shook his head.

  "You don't think it can be found?"

  "Oh, it exists somewhere in the storms, I'm sure. Or what's left of it." He adjusted his spectacles. "But One vanished for a reason, Shade. And Zero - your Zero - was there when it happened. Your Commander Sentix was there."

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  My breath caught. The White Room suddenly felt very close.

  "But the young ones, they see that mural in the thren and dream of unity, of all voidholds joined together in perfect harmony." He sighed. "But they don't study the records. They don't read the old reports. If they did, they might question why anyone would want to find One at all."

  He shook his head like a parent disappointed in a child's foolish enthusiasm. "But they are determined to chase storms and fairy tales."

  I kept my face blank. "And you don't believe in fairy tales?"

  "I believe in records, my dear. In documentation. In history." He patted his datapad. "And here I find myself with a daughter of the most interesting of voidholds: Zero, the silent vastness!"

  Your heart rate just spiked, Cedar said in my ear. Are you alright?

  "I...I can't tell you much of Zero," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "We're nothing special."

  "Ah..." Fron shook his head. "Shade, don't be so modest. Zero is pivotal. It is our center, and has a fascinating history."

  "But it's so small...so few people."

  His eyebrows rose. "Four individuals is actually quite high, by Zero's standards."

  "You mean when Heshi Tan was the only one."

  "Yes..." He tilted his head. "How interesting that you know about her. Is it common knowledge? Passed down from your parents no doubt."

  "Oh...um. I never really learned much about here. Never cared to listen." I tried another forced chuckle. He seemed to appreciate it.

  "I understand completely. My daughter can be a bit like that. Always Today and the Present! Not so much stories of the past. Now that she's older, she's started showing some interest."

  "Your daughter?"

  "Chio."

  "Oh! I didn't know."

  "She doesn't like to make a fuss of it. Her mother and I...we didn't always get along. But it's interesting that you were talking about Heshi earlier. Are there any traces of her on Zero?"

  I thought for a moment, considering the sealed quarters and the lost archives. Oren's hand sometimes tightening as we passed by.

  "Some, perhaps. Nothing tangible."

  "I see." He shrugged. "What of Cepphus? Have you heard of him?"

  "No. Who is that?"

  "A young man from Two." He smiled wryly. "A bit of a troublemaker here, actually, always restless and never quite found his place. It was believed that he could make his mark on Zero. Give it the life it needed. Did no one mention him?"

  "No," I said. "I've never heard that name."

  "Really?" Fron tapped his datapad. "Well, that's fascinating. Because he left quite a record with us." He adjusted his spectacles. "Two sent him to Zero upon Heshi's request."

  "Because you needed pure metals," I said.

  It wasn't the right thing to say. Fron's smile faded and his brow wrinkled.

  "Yes," he said slowly. "Just as Four sent Larkin to you, I believe. But unlike Larkin, Cepphus never left Zero, although he did manage to send messages back."

  A chill ran through me. "What kind of messages?"

  "At first, they were quite mundane. Reports about Zero's systems, notes about Heshi's demeanor." He held up his datapad. "Would you like to see?"

  I nodded, though something in his tone made me uneasy.

  "These are his early messages," Fron said, scrolling through the datapad. The faint blue glow illuminated the deep lines in his face. "See how optimistic he was?"

  I leaned forward to read:

  Zero is vast and empty. H is nothing like they warned. There is something about her...not the quiet ghost I expected. Yes, she's reserved, but...I don't know. Anyway. Everything is very well maintained. There is so much potential here! Perhaps this is the fresh start I need.

  "He wrote a lot about their early interactions," Fron continued. "I think that they developed genuine affection."

  H showed me the garden today. It's small but perfect. She speaks rarely, but the functionaries respond to her slightest gesture. I want to understand this place better. I want to help her remember how to smile.

  I thought of our garden, of Turq's steady movements among the plants. It was a nice image.

  "But then things began to shift," Fron said, scrolling on.

  The functionaries watch constantly. Not just monitoring, which I could understand. This place is a warren! So easy to get lost and not see another soul for days. No. They are WATCHING. H says this is normal but nothing here is "normal". The silence feels alive.

  H has these...habits. She looks to the functionaries for everything. Eating, sleeping, even speaking. It'll be breathing next! When I try to take her hand, she glances at one of them first. They've shaped her. I think I want us to leave.

  "And then he started to get curious. His troublemaker self couldn't lie still."

  I found a hidden archive terminal. Zero is not what it seems! There are secrets here, buried deep. H knows something about Voidhold One's disappearance, I'm sure of it. When I asked her directly, Yellow appeared and "suggested" I return to my quarters.

  I touched my throat where Pine had gripped me. "Yellow," I whispered. "I think it's still there."

  Fron leaned forward. "You know it? The same one?"

  "Yes, I think so. It..." I stopped myself. I couldn't tell him about the White Room, about Commander Sentix, about how Yeller's eye flashed when humans strayed from their assigned paths. "It maintains order," I finished lamely, hearing Heshi's words in my own voice.

  Fron's expression changed, becoming sharper, more focused. He made a quick note on his datapad. "Fascinating. Anyway, that was his last message for nearly a month," Fron said softly. His torch beam wavered. "When transmissions resumed we got this l..."

  She's pregnant. The functionaries announced it at breakfast like a system status report. When I tried to embrace her, she went rigid. Said that physical contact was limited to her night protocol. But later, I saw her in the garden. She was smiling, touching her stomach, whispering to Yellow-2. When she noticed me watching, her blank mask slipped back into place.

  I felt my throat tighten. "Did they have the child?"

  "Yes." Fron's voice softened. "That was your grandfather, but we never learned his name. I don't suppose you do?"

  I shook my head, feeling unexpected pain like a tight ball in the chest.

  "Ah well." He motioned for me to continue scrolling. Soon after, Cepphus' messages grew... darker."

  They're teaching H how to raise the child. Everything is scheduled, of course. When I object, she looks at me with empty eyes. "They know best," she says. This is insane! I'm never alone anymore. There's always one with me, almost touching me...I want to leave. Can't leave.

  "And that was it." Fron's eyes glittered in the darkness. "His messages stopped shortly after."

  My heart was hammering against my ribs. "What happened to him?"

  Fron sat back. "We received a death notice saying that he had an accident during routine maintenance."

  "What do you mean?" I asked, but the old chronicler was already tucking away his datapad.

  "You should rest," Fron said, moving his chair over to the doorway. "I am to take you to see Vessa early tomorrow." He pointed to the gauze at my throat. "She can give you professional care, and the council has ordered a psychological assessment." He looked at me with the same uncomfortable frown that Chio had worn. "You might want to have a good night's sleep for that."

  After he settled into his watch position, I curled up on the couch, my mind racing with thoughts of Cepphus and Heshi, of traded humans and watching functionaries.

  Shade, Cedar's voice was unusually gentle. These psychological assessments he speaks of... I've seen Vessa's methods. Please be very careful tomorrow.

  I pulled the borrowed uniform tighter around me, wondering if Cepphus had felt this same creeping dread while wandering Zero's halls. This sense of being caught between two worlds that both claimed to know what was best for their humans.