Corax keeps an eye open while Cassie drives. I don’t try to push her into talking again, and she never tries to make conversation either.

  The hours pass in silence, only occasionally broken by Corax reporting a car on the horizon. He even reports cars that are miles away and only getting further by the minute, not wanting to risk another one intercepting us.

  After Corax spots the first car, Cassie puts the car in park so she can put on all her armor. The head covering and cloak I made her easily hides everything, the hand she uses to drive being the only skin she’s showing.

  I put on my helmet and head covering too, just in case. I can’t put on my cloak fully without impacting my cooling too much, so instead I just bunch most of it up around my shoulders. The cloth only extends just past the bottom of the window, it should be impossible for anyone to see my metal skin.

  The distant light and tips of skyscrapers crest the horizon far too soon.

  “I’m going to turn off the generator.”

  Cassie puts the car in park, and I pull my cloak down to cover my entire body. Let’s see just how long I can handle limited cooling. I step out to smother the fire, and Corax nds silently on my shoulder.

  “How does it look?” I ask.

  “Busy.”

  “Great.” I didn’t expect anything else, but I couldn’t help but be a little hopeful. I haven’t heard anything about a storm yet, I thought there might be a chance of us finding a quiet hour to sneak in. “You should stay in the car with us. If anyone sees you nding before we go in, there could be trouble.”

  Corax’s eyes narrow unhappily, but he doesn’t argue.

  “Sorry, I hope you got enough time flying. Hopefully we won’t be in the city for long.”

  Once the fire is out and the water has been recovered from the boiling chamber, I return to the driver's seat. Cassie accelerates before I’ve even finished sitting down and closing the door.

  I know she’s stressed, I’m not going to make it worse by saying anything.

  Corax climbs into my cloak and settles in my p. I keep my hands gently on him, reminding myself constantly that he’s here. He’s safe.

  The closer we get to the city, more cars come into view with each hill we crest. What starts as just distant headlights resolves into entire convoys. It’s not long before the base of the skyscrapers reveal themselves, and the line into the city with them. Twenty cars are waiting to enter, and those are only the ones we can see. Who knows how many are already beneath the sand, or hidden in low points of the dunes?

  “Zero better fucking let us in.” Cassie’s voice mimics my own thoughts.

  I don’t say anything.

  We reach the city far too quickly for comfort. The line stretches far into the horizon, but we drive right past, ignoring the eyes following us. We descend down the VIP ramp, beyond the garage everyone else is trying to get inside, and to a small, thick metal door. Cassie parks in front of it and removes her head covering just as a camera descends.

  “I’m sorry, who are you?” The same voice that welcomed us the first time asks.

  “I’m Cassie, Vince’s daughter.” Cassie responds as confidently as she can.

  “I’m terribly sorry, without Vince present we cannot provide you a room. You’re welcome to enter through the public entrance though.”

  “Fuck that!”

  “Zero, please!” I remove my covering and stare into the camera. “We’re not going to survive in the public entrance.”

  A few ptes in the ceiling retract, and something begins to descend.

  “Please! We just need one question answered! That’s all!”

  The contraptions finish descending from the ceiling, leaving six automated guns pointed directly at us.

  “You have three seconds to leave.” The voice says.

  “We just need to find a quantum AI named Clover!” I speak as fast as I can while still remaining legible to the microphone. Cassie and the person on the other side may not understand, but I’m certain Zero does. “We just need a lead and a pce to wait out the storm!”

  “Two seconds.”

  “We won’t cost you anything! We’ll eat our own food! Our own water! Please, we can’t save Vince without it!”

  “One.”

  “Fuck!” Cassie throws the car into reverse and accelerates back up the ramp. Once out of range of the turrets, but not yet visible to everyone else in line, she stops the car. “Fuck.”

  “We have another pn.” I say quietly.

  “No, we don’t.” She doesn’t bother to hide while she wipes her eyes and puts her head covering back on.

  I put on my covering, and Cassie carefully turns the car around, returning us to the surface. We follow the seemingly endless line of cars to the edge of the city before finally taking our pce in line.

  Everything moves agonizingly slowly, waiting minutes to move forward a single car length. I end up having to drape my cloak over the dash to let the air conditioner blow directly into me to stop from overheating.

  Plenty of people are just hanging out in line. Walking over to other cars to talk or stepping out to cook a midnight snack on the cold sand. One of those men walks up to Cassie’s window.

  “So, I heard you tried your luck at the VIP entrance?” He asks despite the closed window.

  Cassie’s pistol appearing from under her cloak is all the encouragement he needs to go talk to someone else.

  “Do you want to try to talk to Eight when we get inside?” I ask.

  “I don’t want to do anything.”

  “We’ll find a pce where you can rest.”

  She gives a small nod, and we return to our shared silence.

  Hours pass while we wait. It’s almost dawn by the time we finally reach the ramp, and well past that by the time we reach the bottom.

  A checkpoint has been set up here, with several turrets mounted to the walls and ceiling, and a few heavily armored guards stationed around.

  Each person in every car is pulled out to have their picture taken while the rest of the guards ransack the car’s content. Every bag is opened, every can scanned with some handheld device, even the floor and underside are closely inspected for something.

  “We’re fucked.” The pile of cloth that is Cassie goes limp, letting her head rex against the headrest.

  Where we are, there’s no possible way to turn around, there’s just not enough space.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Hey Blue?” Cassie lets her head turn limply towards me. Her emerald eyes shine from beneath the fabric, glistening from tears welling in them. She stays silent for a few long seconds. “If we can’t get past this, just… Thanks for everything.”

  “I don’t think I did much right.” I say.

  She only shakes her head, and pulls us forward another car length.

  Each car repeats the same routine. They park, get told to step out, get their picture taken, and get their car ransacked.

  I need to calm down. We have names we’re going to use. Maybe we can bribe them? How much is all the water we brought worth? Less than what Zero can pay them. Of course he would pay them a lot, it only makes sense to completely negate the possibility of bribery.

  There’s a chance, but my mind continues to heat up. How do I calm down?

  I begin to once again recite Cassie’s favorite book quietly.

  Cassie pulls us forward another car length.

  Another.

  Again.

  We stop, next in line and watch the people in front of us stop and step out. They’re tense as their pictures are taken. A small collection of guards step forward, surrounding the group, their rifles in their hands. A door opens behind the group, and one of the men gestures with his rifle towards it.

  A tense, silent standoff takes pce before one of the men suddenly reaches for his pistol. Before he can raise it, one of the guards tackles him to the ground, forcing his hands behind his back and roughly putting him in handcuffs. The rest of the group puts their hands on their heads, and the guards lead them through the door.

  “I’m faster than that.” Cassie says to herself. Her eyes flick between the four remaining guards at the checkpoint.

  “I’ll take out the turrets.” I can see a few small weak points in their armor. Even my pistols might be able to disable them.

  Cassie gives a small nod. Neither of us bother to try making a pn past that. We both know we won’t get that far.

  A guard moves the car in front of us, leaving an open path towards our death.

  Cassie doesn’t hesitate to drive forward.

  She rolls down her window, and a guard steps up.

  “Step out.” He commands.

  “Is there anything we can work out to make sure we don’t have to remove our head coverings?” Cassie asks.

  “Either step out, or we’ll force you-” His eyes unfocus for a few moments before snapping onto me. Long seconds stretch into an eternity while he stares at me.

  “Go home.” Zero’s voice comes from the man's mouth. Even outside the digital world, his words carry a strength that hits me physically in the chest. “You can’t keep running from your family.”

  “Vince and Ivy are my only family. I’m not going home without them.” Despite my fear, I manage to keep my voice confident.

  “Expect no help.”

  The man retracts from our window and puts his hand in the air, tracing a small circle with his finger.

  The barrier in front of us opens, and Cassie nearly instantly sms on the accelerator, jerking us forward.

  “Was that…” Cassie lets her question trail off into nothing.

  “Zero.” I confirm. Whatever confidence I had when I spoke to him has melted away immediately. “Apparently he has a friend with a connection to me.”

  “Right.”

  Screens built into the ceiling direct us through the parking garage, through the endless rows of cars, and into a designated spot.

  The garage is busy, and Cassie steps out to quickly survey the area. Her eyes settle on a caravan that is busy at work unloading their supplies.

  “Wait here, protect the car.” She shoves her battery into her backpack and walks off without another word towards the caravan.

  I don’t stop her.

  “We made it, Corax.” I pet the bird beneath my cloak.

  “Had bad feeling.” He says.

  “Me too.”

  In addition to watching the car, I keep a close eye on Cassie. She walks up to the man who seems to be in charge of things, has a minutes long conversation, and is followed back to the car by him and a few other men.

  Cassie opens up the back door and grabs a three gallon container of water.

  “Rest is yours.” It’s easy for me to tell that her confidence is fake.

  The men start unloading the barrels, and the one in charge passes Cassie a small bundle of poker chips. I wait until the workers are long gone before I speak.

  “Did you get a lot?”

  “I got fleeced, but what the fuck was I supposed to do?”

  “I’m gd we got anything.” I doubt that’ll make her feel better, but it might help a little.

  “Sure.” She starts to pack up our remaining supplies, and I do the same. We don’t leave anything behind, and are sure to lock the doors before we leave.

  People are flooding towards a collection of booths built into the wall. All forms of cash and coins are exchanged for more of the poker chips.

  At least these lines move quickly, or quick compared to getting into the garage. It’s just a transfer of money, a few short words, and everyone heads towards a rge open door leading to the streets of the city.

  We’re not the only ones hiding our identities. Masks and coverings are an uncommon, but ever present sight. Somehow, we don’t even get that many looks.

  It only takes a few minutes for the line to shrink, and for us to approach the counter. Cassie drops our small pouch of coins and a cy tablet onto the desk. The woman behind it scoops them up possessively and talks as she begins to count them.

  “Have you been here before?” I can barely comprehend her over the loud chaos coming from the street behind the open door.

  “No.” Cassie answers ftly.

  “Alright. Parking costs 50 chips a day, due when you leave. Failure to pay means you forfeit your car and everything inside it. If your tab is still open at the time of your death, that counts as a failure to pay. Do you have any questions?”

  “We need suggestions for a cheap pce to stay.”

  “The Oasis is your best. Cheap rooms and cheaper beer.” She finishes counting and pces a miniscule collection of chips in front of us. “Exchange rate comes out to 97 chips. Enjoy your stay.”

  “There’s no way it’s only 97!” Cassie says loudly.

  “These coins are easy to counterfeit, and their value reflects that. You may cancel the transaction if you wish, but any further compints will need to be taken up with security. Enjoy your stay.”

  Cassie’s arm fshes out of her cloak for only a moment to grab the chips. She turns towards the street, and I follow, cradling Corax in one hand, and the other on my pistol.

  JanePtinum