August 5, 2009
Two days before the Ares Incident
Soren
[ He twists the sleeve of his army surplus jacket between his fingers, the hard plastic seat digging into the backs of his knees. The air in the lab is pervaded by the high drone of the fluorescent lights and electrical outlets. There's supposed to be more researchers coming, but right now, he's truly alone. They even took Ellie to another room, and the doctor told him quietly that if he tried to run again that she wouldn't be coming back. ]
Soren
[ Hunching over, he rests his head against the cool surface of the table, and mentally recites Ellie's instructions again. A sort of mantra against going insane. ]
Soren
[ 1. Don't talk to the DSC agents. (Easy. He's already overstimulated.) ]
Soren
[ 2. There's a girl coming who can help you. (He will try to keep believing this.) ]
Soren
[ 3. As soon as you see an opening... Ugh. This one was a source of great disagreement, that they didn't resolve before Ellie had to leave. He still maintains that he can't do it, and there's no way he will do it, especially now that Ellie is in another room. ]
Soren
[ And 4. Strictly speaking, he's not certain that there is a #4. But Ellie's parting comment as she was escorted away was strange enough for him to file it here anyway: ]
Ellie
The pocket watch? You'll want to give him that.
Soren
[ It could've just been Ellie psychologically tormenting the agents with scried knowledge again. But he had a strange intuition that it was something else. A message. Something so important that, given the chance for one last sentence, she interrupted herself to convey it to him. He has no idea what it means, though. You'd never catch him wearing a watch. ]
Soren
[ But that's how prophecies work, in his experience. They're stupid until they're not. ]
Dominic
Keep an eye on how you're feeling. If you start feeling faint, or dizzy, you can always tap out.
Terra
I will. [ Self-monitor, that is. The stakes are too high for her to quit on a whim. She squeezes her brother's hand. ] Don't worry about me.
Dominic
[ Impossible. He grips her hand back, but leans in and mutters: ] Just remember that you don't have to do this.
Terra
[ The haggard faces of the DSC agents in the observation room tell a different story. ]
Terra
[ A few hours ago, London HQ went under total lockdown. She and Dominic were shuffled off to a saferoom with the other low-level employees whilst her mentor, Agent Béchir, was called to the DSC's fabled "secure facility." The rumour was that an enormous overground rift tore through Locket Downs and shorted out all of their monitoring equipment in their Toronto outpost. It wasn't until Felix came to collect her for this portentous interview that she learned of the DSC higher-ups' much more complicated and dangerous theory. ]
Terra
[ The DSC wouldn't ask a sixteen-year-old intern to step in unless they had exhausted all of their options, as Felix had explained to her and her alarmed brother on the way to Iceland. She'd needed no convincing. What was the point of her training and her gift if she couldn't use them when it really mattered? ]
Terra
Yes, I do. Someone has to figure out what really happened, and if not me, then who?
Yasmine
[ Stepping over from the intercom table. ] There's nothing to be alarmed about. We believe it will be brief and perfectly safe.
Dominic
[ Of course. Which is why Agent Kepler has been stationed in here for the last six hours. ]
Director Lennox
[ From her chair at the intercom table. ] Alistair, why don't you escort Dominic to the waiting room? His sister will join him as soon as she's done here.
Alistair
Yes, ma'am.
Dominic
[ Before Agent Torvald can lead him away, he pulls Terra into a tight hug. ] I'll be right next door.
Terra
[ She closes her eyes and grips his back. Her bottled-up tension shows in her taut fingers. For once, she doesn't bristle at his mothering. ] See you soon.
Dominic
[ As he's ushered out, he casts a frown back at Terra and the forlorn little figure through the observation room window. ]
Yasmine
All of this, you've done before in our lessons. It's only a new environment. [ She presses a clipboard into Terra's hands, and pools the metal links of the shard in the girl's palm. ]
Terra
[ With her brother out of sight, some of her confidence recedes. She touches her necklace, a small piece of sea glass suspended on a braided cord. Her first time doing fieldwork, and her first time scrying a living subject. In an unfamiliar country, no less. Normally, she’d tell herself “it’s not the end of the world,” but… ]
Terra
[ She squares her shoulders, draws in a sharp breath through her nose, and meets Agent Béchir's eyes. ] I'll get the information we need. [ And I won't disappoint you. ]
Terra
[ Shard in hand, clipboard clutched to her chest, she pushes through the heavy metal door. ] Soren?
Soren
[ He sits up, eyeing the new arrival with a hunted look--which evaporates into surprise, when he sees that she's not much older than his sister. ]
Terra
[ They watch each other for a moment. Shoulders hunched protectively, he looks small and alone in this sterile white room far from Canada. She knew he was younger than her, but now that she's on the same side of the glass, those handful of years feel huge. ]
Terra
I'm Terra. [ The soles of her flats click against the concrete. ] I'm just going to scry your magical signature, if that's alright with you. It shouldn't take long.
Soren
[ He frowns at the researcher—Terra. She’s the only “girl” he’s met, and the logical candidate. But is she supposed to “help him” on purpose, or by accident? ]
Soren
[ She's not much taller than he is. He eyes the door behind her... then the one-way mirror. His fingers stretch at his collar. ]
Terra
[ According to Felix, Soren hasn’t spoken so much as a word to the agents, so his silent, wary regard is more or less expected. But she can’t help wondering what he’s thinking. ]
Terra
[ She sets the clipboard and the pocket watch on the table, pulls out the chair opposite with an awkward squeak, and quickly sits down. ] You don't have to do anything. Just, er... sit there.
Soren
[ The object she sets on the table draws his attention immediately, for two reasons. The first is that it's a pocket watch. Point for Ellie. The second is that it shimmers with a light of shifting hue. Terra's necklace sparkles in that same light, as if pocket watch and pendant each reflect and refract the other's aura. ]
Soren
[ But, as has been the case his whole life, he's not sure who else can see it. Maybe that's part of the test. ]
Soren
[ Raspy. ] What's that?
Terra
[ She looks up at these first hoarse words, jostled out of her routine. ]
Terra
Oh, er. This is an overground shard. It doesn't do anything, exactly, but I wanted to have a look at it with you in the room.
Soren
[ He purses his lips. ] …Okay.
Terra
Alright then. So.
Terra
[ An awkward pause. ]
Terra
…Try not to move too much.
Terra
[ With that preamble out of the way, she shuts her eyes. ]
Terra
[ When she opens them, she is standing on a beach. The beach is small, strewn with shells, and shaped like a crescent. Gentle ocean waves, iridescent in the light, roll along the pink-striped sands. A low, verdant mountain cradles the hidden stretch of coastline, and its footpaths and far reaches are swathed in mist. The candy-bright colours and the softened fringes give the beach a dreamlike quality. ]
Terra
[ Her form is mostly unchanged, once her brain asserts she's got one—A-line dress for work, sensible flats, pocket watch in her hand. But violet flames peel freely from her silhouette and curly hair, and her necklace is gone. ]
Bird
[ A tiny svelte hummingbird, violet and teal like the pendant, flits about her head. ] Well, this is a bit outside our bailiwick.
Terra
[ She breathes in deep, filling the diaphragm of her mind with magic-touched air, and relaxes. ] Is it? I guess we're scrying a person instead of, I dunno, a cursed amulet. But the principle's the same.
Bird
So true! I suppose it makes no difference to us, then, whether we're in London, or a magical bomb shelter in Iceland.
Terra
Urgh. [ It's quite faint, but she can still feel the hard seat of the chair beneath her thighs. If she concentrates on it, the radiant beach dims. She shakes her head to dislodge reality. ] Can we please not think about that right now? We've got a job to do.
Bird
[ Perching weightlessly on Terra's shoulder. ] Suit yourself.
Terra
[ They are not the only ones on the beach. The shadowy figure she’s meant to be investigating is directly across from her, about the length of the table away. Before she has the chance to focus, a blinding lighthouse beam sweeps across her. ]
Terra
[ The light is coming from a gaggle of sparkling silhouettes at the base of the mountain. She can pick out Felix's emerald flame, Yasmine's purple mist, and the stone-hewn stare of Director Lennox. The most distracting of them all is a human-sized tower shining a bright beacon in her direction. Now that she's aware of it, the piercing scrutiny of the light is impossible to ignore. She wrinkles her nose and waves her hand to dissipate the shine. ]
Bird
[ Hiding herself in the flames of Terra’s hair. ] Dr. Sebastian is so nosy.
Terra
[ Begrudgingly: ] He’s on the clock, too. Probably has to listen in a bit.
Bird
A charitable interpretation.
Terra
Let’s just ignore him.
Terra
[ She concentrates, and her shining audience disappears. The last to go is the sweeping beam. Its phantom heat lingers on her skin. It would only take an idle reminder of his existence to summon the all-seeing tower back into her space. ]
Terra
[ With that out of the way, she focuses on the last remaining figure. ]
Soren
[ A diminutive shadow, a gingerbread cut-out of a boy. Soren's astral shape is clearly human, but blurry and indistinct, with none of the defining nooks and crannies and lights of a psychic's magic. He would look identical to any other normal person, except for one curious feature: where the feather of white hair sits at his temple in the real world, there is a tiny cinder of residual colour-soaked flame. ]
Soren
[ The light is faint, and oddly difficult to make out. ]
Bird
What is that?
Terra
I don't know. [ The flame is so out of focus she has to squint. ] If it weren't for... whatever that is, I'd say he hasn’t got any powers at all.
Bird
Is the pocket watch doing anything?
Terra
[ The pocket watch looks like it always does when she scries it: an ordinary thing of battered pewter, with wisps of sky-blue magic that waft away from its surface in little gusts. In Soren's presence, it remains as inert as always. ] Nope.
Terra
What about you, anything off?
Bird
[ She swoops in an elegant loop-de-loop. ] Right as rain.
Terra
[ Sharply. ] No, wait, look there!
Soren
[ The shadowy shape of his head shifts, following the bird's trajectory. ]
Terra
[ Awe mingles with a trace of unease. ] He's watching you.
Bird
[ She circles the shadow and hovers at eye level. ] So he is. Now that's unusual.
Terra
I think he's perceiving the presence of an overground shard. An active one, anyway. [ Which is unnerving—and promising. ]
Terra
[ She tilts her head, trying to get an angle on the smear of light at his crown. ] I need a closer look.
Soren
[ But as soon as Terra attempts to focus on it, the rainbow light is lost in a powerful spotlight of plain white light from above, making it impossible to discern any detail. ]
Terra
[ The sudden glare pierces her eyes. She flinches. ] Ow.
Bird
Terra! Are you alright? What was that?
Terra
[ Blinking furiously. If these were her eyes in the material world, they'd be watering. ] Someone doesn't want us peeking.
Bird
Soren doesn't?
Terra
I'm not so sure that was him.
Terra
[ Through splayed fingers and narrowed eyes, she concentrates on the smudge of magic again. The white light glances off the flame from above, like sunlight on a shiny car. ]
Terra
Hm… Can we try something? [ Without moving her head, she indicates the air just above his crown. ] Fly up there a moment?
Bird
[ She flits just above the figure’s head, intercepting the ray of light. ]
Soren
[ The spotlight refracts through the bird's glass body, dispersing and resolving itself into a multitude of distinct images, silhouettes that vaguely resemble a young boy. The one closest to Terra has a colourful flame at its temple, but another figure draws more alarming attention. ]
Soren
[ It would be impossible not to notice this figure, approximately human in shape and ablaze, lit up like an aurora. Its indistinct form gives the impression of clawing at its throat. From the figure's eyes, nose, mouth, streams every colour from alizarin to zaffre. ]
Terra
[ Transfixed, horrified, she lowers her hands. The little figure look like it's in pain. ]
Bird
Oh.
Terra
[ In grim agreement: ] Oh.
Terra
[ They're on the right track. It's clear which of the refracted outlines she should examine. She lingers in her spot on the sand. ]
Terra
[ With a calming breath, she steels herself and crosses the beach towards it, passing the innocuously lit, mismatched forms. Their faces are trained on the glass bird. ] Do you remember what Felix said the theory was?
Bird
[ Bobbing in an imperceptible breeze, shining like a prism. ] About the rift opening and then erasing itself?
Terra
Not exactly. It didn't erase itself. [ She stops in front of the bleeding figure. ] His sister, a seer and a higher power, undid it, to protect her brother. The white light we're seeing? I think that's her.
Terra
And this is what she was trying to hide.
Bird
Wait!
Bird
[ The second she soars away from the light, the Sorens wink out of existence. ]
Terra
[ Inches from her fingers, the leaking colours disappear. ] Oi! What was that, we’re in the middle of something!
Bird
[ Fluttering in the space where the shade’s contorted face used to be. ] Do you think this is the best approach?
Terra
What other approach is there?
Bird
You could talk to him. Just a thought.
Terra
[ A scoff. ] This is much easier. Trust me. No one's gotten him to talk about what happened. [ Or about anything at all, except for the two words he said to her. She stalks back to the first figure. ]
Bird
[ She dives in front of Terra, diverting her. ] You don't even want to try? Don't you think that'd be less intrusive than picking apart his aura?
Terra
[ She flaps an irate hand. ] This isn't a game. Yasmine told us to figure out if he could have opened the rift, and I'm going to do that.
Bird
[ Recovering into an elegant swoop. She flutters near Terra's shoulder. ] Have you considered what the DSC might do once you find out?
Terra
[ She pauses, and levels a baleful glare at her helpful fairy companion. ] Now you sound like Domi—
Dr. Sebastian
[ A voice crackles from over the intercom. ] Ah, ah, ah. Remain seated, if you please.
Terra
[ The beacon floods the beach. Dr. Sebastian's voice reverberates from the tower, from the beacon, and in her eardrums. She thuds back into her body and opens her eyes crossly—to see a hand an inch from her face. ]
Soren
[ Startled by her sudden awakening as much as the intercom, he jerks it away. Sits back down, more sheepish than afraid. ]
Terra
[ The boy in front of her looks tired and wary, but he isn’t hemorrhaging magic. It must’ve felt pretty awful to get his powers like that—or whatever happened. ]
Terra
[ She could go back. Keep investigating. She hesitates. ]
Terra
... Do you know what I was doing? Just now?
Soren
[ He gives her a dubious frown. ]
Soren
…Scry your magical signature. [ Not that he knows what that means, precisely. ]
Terra
[ Four more words, in that same effortful rasp. Is talking difficult for him? Is that why he’s said so little? ]
Terra
Yes. That's right.
Terra
[ She shuffles her feet. ] But I didn't really explain what that meant... Would you like me to?
Soren
[ He rubs the flat of his palm against his mouth, head bowed, but peeps over his fingers at her, enticed against his better judgement. People don’t typically offer to explain the inexplicable things they do at him. ]
Terra
[ She'll take that as a "yes." ]
Terra
Well. [ She rests her fingers on her chest. ] Like almost everyone else at the DSC, I'm a psychic.
Terra
[ With an instructor's cadence. ] As I said, I can scry magical signatures—of people, but of objects as well. Anything or anyone the overground has touched, directly or indirectly… I can observe them and figure out what kind of magic the overground has given them.
Soren
[ Fingers fidgeting towards his fringe. ] The overground?
Terra
That's right.
Terra
[ Unless… was he asking for clarification? Has the boy who may or may not be able to open the overground at will had the talk about the realm of magic? She eyes the white strand in his hair doubtfully. ] You… do know what the overground is, yeah?
Soren
[ He tips his head onto his shoulder, with an attitude like he’s prodding a stick through a pile of leaves to check for bear traps. ]
Soren
[ After a moment, he scoffs. ] Uh. Yeah.
Terra
[ Well, lots of psychics aren’t aware of it. Who knows what higher powers teach their kids? ]
Terra
I go there. [ She swipes her hand in front of her face. ] When I close my eyes.
Soren
[ Forehead wrinkling like an old washcloth at this. The brief glimpse he had of the overground, the rolled ball of buildings, the pink sky... it was harrowing. Seems like it would be distracting to see when you closed your eyes. And how does that allow her to see magic power, anyway? ]
Terra
[ Emboldened by his curiosity. ] Not physically. The DSC calls it "astral projecting." My magic separates from my body and goes into the overground, where I can examine the magic of the people and objects around me.
Terra
Though, it isn't exactly accurate to call it "separation," because that implies the overground and the material world— [ She taps the table. ] —this one—are two separate places you can go to instead of two different ways of looking at the same thing.
Terra
That's what I was doing. Looking at you a different way.
Soren
[ Everyone knows about the overground, but he'll admit that his schooling on the subject wasn't as thorough as he just implied. Mostly, it consisted of stern instructions and proscriptions containing the words "shouldn't" and "never" and "you won't need to". ]
Soren
[ Terra's explanation makes total sense. Cracks are everywhere, after all. Even this magic-proof building has some anemic splinters of light hanging in the air. Obviously you can't really disconnect the two. ]
Soren
[ He nods in furious epiphany. ]
Terra
[ He gets it? He must have some intuitive understanding of how it works, the way any psychic would about their powers. It's a relief not to have to wade through a tangled bed of jargon just to get her point across. She smiles at him from across the table. ]
Terra
—Oh, er. [ She clicks the pen and draws the clipboard near. ] Sorry, give me a second.
Soren
[ Instantly honing in on her clipboard. He curls a hand against the table, warring with himself. ]
Terra
[ Pocket watch: no reaction, she writes. No magic, except for— ]
Soren
Hey. Uh.
Terra
[ —the streak in his hair, and— ]
Soren
[ She doesn’t look up. He must have been modulating his voice too quietly. ]
Soren
[ What feels like much too loudly. ] Hey.
Terra
[ She looks up quickly, pen hovering. ] What is it?
Soren
[ He summons all his reserves, despite anxiety and exhaustion. ] Can I—uh. The, uh. Your. Can I have...?
Soren
[ Frustrated, he gestures at her pad of paper. ]
Terra
Oh!
Terra
[ She looks down at her half-finished note. There’s nothing wrong with giving him something to write with, surely? It’s clear now that he doesn’t speak because it’s difficult. Maybe he’d have an easier time of it if the circumstances were different—but this is the situation they’re in, so he ought to have some tool he can use to communicate. ]
Terra
[ She snaps open the clip, removes the notepad, and tears the top sheet along the serrated edge. This she puts face down on the board, which she sets aside. The notepad she slides across the table, pen wobbling on top. No stern announcement from the intercom interrupts the exchange. ]
Soren
[ Hope flutters in his heart. He seizes paper and pen and launches into a ballistic scribble. ]
Soren
Okay. Here. [ Thrusting the sheet back towards Terra with a tap. ]
Soren
Where's Ellie right now?
Can I have my flute back?
Are you here to help me?
Terra
[ She leans over the notepad with a deep frown. These questions aren't curious—they're desperate. Of course. The conundrum of what to do with Soren matters most to Soren himself. ]
Terra
[ She opens her mouth. Clicks it shut. ] … Would you like me to…? [ She mimes writing. ]
Soren
[ He shuffles his feet against the floor, deliberating. It would be slower, but far more equitable. The alternative might involve pre-empting what he was about to say, which would be completely intolerable. ]
Soren
[ A shrug. ] Mmhm. I guess.
Terra
[ She takes the pen and addresses them one at a time, writing slowly so her scrawl is legible. ]
Terra
She's in one of the dormitory rooms.
Your flute?
Terra
[ The nib hovers over the last question. She's here to help the DSC by determining the cause of the explosion. But the longer she's with Soren, the more certain she is that he's an inquisitive kid who didn't intend for this to happen. Couldn't she help both? That's what the DSC does. ]
Terra
Yes. I'd like to.
Terra
[ She passes the notepad back to him. ]
Soren
[ He scans her answers. Whatever Ellie told him, he's not foolhardy enough to grant Terra his implicit trust. She does work here. But she's been okay so far. He's willing to believe Ellie's safe, for now. ]
Soren
[ As for the flute, he draws it: an egg-shaped ceramic instrument with four holes of varying sizes, hatched to indicate depth. ]
Soren
This. They confiscated it for no reason. It's not valuable or anything, but it's mine. [ He passes this back rather plaintively. ]
Terra
[ His quick sketch isn't half bad. She's not surprised that the flute was confiscated. Dr. Sebastian wouldn't have taken kindly to intermittent whistling. ]
Terra
Want me to ask about it?
Soren
[ A sharp, hopeful nod. ]
Terra
[ The chair scrapes against the floor. She collects the notepad. ] Be right back.
Terra
[ She marches to the heavy steel door and raps her fist against it. ]
Felix
[ The field agent on duty is the one to open it, giving Terra the once-over. ] Everything okay, fledgling?
Terra
[ Thumbs-up where Soren can see. ] All good. Can I come back in for a minute? I've got a question.
Felix
[ He glances to the director for confirmation. ] Uh, yeah, sure.
Terra
[ On her way out, she gives Soren an encouraging smile. ]
Soren
[ He watches her leave, wringing out his hand. ]
Yasmine
[ The atmosphere in the observation room is tense and expectant. All they know of the conversation inside are the emotional impressions of her former teacher. ]
Yasmine
[ She approaches Terra with a tight-lipped smile and touches her shoulder. ] How is it going? Were you able to scry anything?
Terra
Er... a bit. There was no response from the pocket watch.
Yasmine
That's good. [ Ruminating, she glances at Dr. Sebastian. ] You're doing a good job. Was there anything else?
Terra
[ Of course. That mysterious glowing figure—which she neglected to investigate, thanks to a certain meddlesome shard. ]
Terra
It’s hard to say. There was… another source of magic interfering, like you thought. But I didn’t get the chance to fully pick it apart.
Dr. Sebastian
[ From the console, he observes their bright young intern over his glasses. ] No? Did the boy make your task too difficult to carry out? Or did you take it upon yourself to ad-lib?
Terra
[ Her face heats. Tersely: ] I wasn't ad-libbing. He wanted to talk.
Dr. Sebastian
You are in a very dangerous situation, young lady. We'd simply like you to think carefully before going off-script.
Director Lennox
[ She pushes off from the wall and claps the doctor's shoulder. ]
Director Lennox
I think we're all feeling a wee bit tense at the moment. Let's just take a deep breath.
Director Lennox
You're handling yourself well, lass. You've not done anything wrong. [ She juts her chin at the notebook. ] What did Soren have to say?
Terra
[ A short inhale through her nose, and she flips the notebook to show them the drawing. ]
Terra
He'd like to know where his flute went.
Yasmine
That? [ She retrieves the flute, a ceramic egg on a nylon cord, from a plastic basket at the other end of the intercom table. ] It's here.
Yasmine
I wanted to run a few tests on it, just in case. But the flute is perfectly ordinary; I see no reason not to give it back to him. [ Except for the noise. ]
Terra
[ She holds her hand out, relieved. Knew Yasmine wouldn't let her down. ] Thanks, Agent Béchir.
Yasmine
[ She hesitates, still holding the flute. ] ...
Felix
[ Stepping in. ] Hey, how about I do that?
Felix
I mean, great work, Terra, you softened him up. But we can take it from here, eh?
Terra
[ Her fingers wilt. Behind the one-way glass, Soren looks smaller than ever. ] What?
Yasmine
Terra. [ Her tone is both practical and sympathetic. ] We all appreciate what you've done, but... you are sixteen. If you want to continue scrying, perhaps you should do it out here, with us? There is no reason for prolonged contact.
Felix
Yeah, c'mon, fledgling. Don't give your brother a heart attack.
Terra
But— [ Her head whips between her mentor and the only other fey at the DSC. ] But I was making progress with him! If I have just a bit more time, I know I can figure out what really happened. Without tests or scrying.
Dr. Sebastian
We already know what happened. What more you can discover now, Miss Harlow, is irrelevant. This insistence on prolonging the inevitable—
Felix
Oh we are so not doing this again! Director Lennox already said—
Director Lennox
[ With a word, she cuts through the chaff. ] Terra.
Terra
[ The observation room feels primed to explode, and not from anything Soren's done. They're all terrified. She seizes to the one voice of authoritative calm. ] Yes?
Director Lennox
Can you do it?
Terra
Yes. [ The notebook paper crinkles under her fingers. ] I can. Absolutely, Director.
Director Lennox
[ She nods to the door. ] Then go. Find the truth, and then we'll decide. Yasmine, give her the flute.
Yasmine
[ She shields her reluctance, handing Terra the instrument with what she means as a reassuring face. ] Be safe.
Terra
[ She holds the egg-shaped flute to her chest. With a final, resolute nod to her mentor, she pushes back into the laboratory. ]
Terra
[ The door closes behind her. She hurries to her chair and sets her spoils on the table. ] Got it.
Soren
[ Just when he thought Terra wasn’t coming back. ]
Soren
[ Despite the tension in his spine, he takes his possession back with muted cheer, wiping it off on his T-shirt. ] Thanks.
Soren
[ He blows a puff of air, a wobbling whistle, just to see if it still works. ]
Terra
[ A relieved smile curves the corners of her mouth. See? No explosions. ]
Terra
Sorry that took so long. There was… [ A quick glance to the one-way mirror, catching her own grimace. ] Well, never mind. You’ll have more time to play once you’re out of here.
Soren
[ At that, his complexion turns sickly. He wilts over the flute, balling it against his ribcage. ]
Terra
[ Her eyes pinch at the corners. ] What?
Soren
[ He darts a glance at the one-way mirror. Licks his chapped lips. Takes the notebook. ]
Soren
I don't think they're going to let me out of here.
Terra
[ She scans this grim sentiment with unease. ]
Terra
Of course they will. [ Writing quickly and defensively. ] I've known Director Lennox most of my life. She's reasonable. We just want to make sure you're not an immediate danger first.
Soren
[ Glowering, he rolls the pen back and forth between his hands before he responds. ]
Soren
What if I am an immediate danger?
Terra
[ The roof of her mouth is dry. Sweat from her palms dampens her knees. This, from the boy with no powers who supposedly ripped open the overground, is almost a confession. ]
Terra
Can you tell me what happened?
Soren
[ He hisses a laugh and leans back in his chair, legs splayed. Graces Terra with a cynical smile. No. He’s not that stupid. That was rule number one, wasn’t it? Anything he tells her will go back to the DSC. ]
Terra
[ She bites her tongue and taps the pen on the notepad. They're so close to the truth! If he clams up now, Director Lennox won’t be able to stop Felix and Yasmine from dragging her out with cries of danger. ]
Terra
[ She stares at Soren for a long, unbroken moment. ]
Terra
[ Abruptly, she bows her head and scribbles beneath her previous question. The pen hurries across the page and down the light blue lines, but still too slowly to keep up with her thoughts. ]
Soren
[ She's writing a lot. His blunt look softens into uncertainty as he watches her pen move. ]
Terra
[ She finally breaks the silence with a conclusive tap of the nib at the end of a sentence and spins the notepad to face him. ]
Terra
I'm from a fey court. Most of us are shapeshifters–huge animals made of fire. Shapeshifting is an incredibly volatile form of magic. They are immediate dangers.
Terra
In courts, we have a lot of rules to protect us from dangerous magic. But we care about protecting the shapeshifters, too. Magic is dangerous, but it's also a gift. It says something about who we are. It exists to be used.
Terra
I know that you're scared. I am, too. But whatever happened to you can be controlled and understood. I believe that. The DSC believes that. But I don't know how to help you if I don't know what happened.
Soren
[ He sinks into reading, pulling his T-shirt over his mouth. He doesn't know all that much about fey, apart from their turning into animals, and that they travel through the overground. He didn't know that they were made of fire. How careful you would have to be! Magic exists to be used, even if it is dangerous… it's a novel idea. Anathema to everything his dad ever told him. He wasn't supposed to get any magic because of how destructive it would be—was. But his dad doesn't talk to many shapeshifters, either. So maybe there's another option, where he isn't so destructive, that his dad never even thought of. Terra doesn't look out of control. ]
Soren
[ The collar drops, and his hand creeps towards the pen. ]
Soren
If I tell you, do you promise nothing bad will happen? You'll protect me?
Terra
I promise.
Soren
[ He gives Terra a long, solemn look, assessing her expression. Then, he begins to write. ]
Soren
Doubtless you already know that my dad is a higher power. He can scry the future. He knew that Ellie would be a seer, but when I was born, he prophesied that if I ever got powers, it would be catastrophic.
Soren
Mom didn't think it would be that bad, though. Her powers can be pretty destructive, too, she said, but she learned how to control them after the flood. I was mostly instructed in staying calm, though, not about using magic at all.
Soren
But I've always been able to see it. The overground, I mean. There's a crack a bit above your head. Can fey see them, too? It's greenish. Viridian-heliotrope. [ He realizes he is getting distracted, and moves on—but leaves the question where it is. ]
Soren
Anyway. I was in the park. Ellie and I had a fight because she was getting on my case.
Soren
So I was there alone, just playing my flute to calm down. But Tyler and them from school showed up. He's my mortal enemy. He steals my stuff, and snapped my shoelaces one time, and he's always calling me slurs, but Mrs. Lombardi never gave a shit about it because I hit him, even though he does too. I hate him. [ His pen gouges into the page. ] I hate him. I wish he'd just d
Soren
[ He stops, queasily, the hot current of anger draining as quickly as if you'd pulled the plug. He draws a box around the last words and hatches it in so carefully that it's just an inky black shape, stricken from the record. ]
Soren
That's what happened again. They said some stuff. Pushed me. Tyler took my flute. I was so pissed at him. Ellie showed up. I imagine she saw it coming. And she almost got the guys to listen since she's older.
Soren
But when she told Tyler to give my flute back… [ The pen is squeezed hot in his hand. ] He pretended to do that and threw it on the ground and it broke. And I felt more angry than I'd ever felt in my entire life.
Soren
I wanted to leave or for Tyler to leave, and I was thinking that so loudly that I couldn't think about anything else. That thought was so enormous that it pushed out of me and hit something else that was enormous, and one of the cracks in the vicinity broke. But Ellie fixed it.
Soren
[ He concludes, humbly: ] I am very sorry about what I did. I promise that it won't happen again.
Terra
[ Soren writes for so long her foot starts to cramp. His words fill up the rest of the top page and the one beneath it. She wants to look at the mirror, at the beach, but she keeps her eyes on the steady pen, beads of sweat building on the back of her neck. When he's done, she takes the novella from him carefully, but quickly, her heart racing in her throat. ]
Terra
[ Taciturn Soren has a great deal to say. And what he's told her, she realises, is everything. Everything she could possibly want to know about the setting, the build up; about his relationship to his parents and his sister, and how those relate to the event; and about things she didn't ask for, like the cracks in the air and his feelings about his bullies. She stares at the solid block of ink guarding his words and dents the corner of the page with her thumbnail. He wanted out. One way or another. Can’t begrudge him that. ]
Terra
[ And he did get out. He found his way. This confession, beyond a shadow of a doubt, confirms exactly the DSC's theory. He really can open rifts. ]
Director Lennox
[ The heavy door creaks open. ]
Director Lennox
Terra. [ A relieved smile that does not quite meet her tense eyes. ] Excellent work.
Soren
[ His chair clatters away from him. Was it a setup? ] Tch…
Terra
[ There is a skid mark on the page where she stopped writing. She rises. ] Director?
Director Lennox
[ Palms up. ] Let's not panic. I'm only here to collect my intern.
Director Lennox
Terra, lass. You did your job, we're all very proud.
Director Lennox
Now let's you and I discuss what it is that Soren told you. Bring your clipboard and the pocket watch too, if you please.
Terra
[ Frozen in indecision. Her eyes find Soren's. ]
Soren
[ With a sharp thumbtack of fear, he jerks his head 'no'. ]
Terra
[ She swallows and gives him a tiny nod. ]
Terra
Actually, Director Lennox. Could we talk in here? Now?
Director Lennox
Certainly. [ Hands tucked into her pockets, she takes a step into the room. Her eyes move between Terra, the notebook, and the boy. ] What would you like to discuss?
Terra
[ She subtly blocks the page with her palm. ] Let's say—let's say that Soren did open the overground, and that it was an accident. What was your plan, ma'am?
Director Lennox
Is that what he told you?
Terra
It's a hypothetical.
Director Lennox
[ Nearing Terra, she keeps the panicked boy in the corner of her eye. ]
Director Lennox
I hear that you're concerned. So let's rejoin the others, share all that we know, and come to a decision as a team. Hm?
Terra
[ That would be the sensible thing to do. The DSC wouldn't forsake their mission to protect the average psychic just because they're afraid. And they are, terribly afraid. The suffocating tension from the observation room followed the director into this one. ]
Terra
[ But Soren isn't an average psychic. And he asked her not to leave. The paper crinkles under her fingers. ]
Director Lennox
[ Impatience cracks through the mask of calm. ] I'm not going to ask again.
Dr. Sebastian
[ The intercom comes suddenly to life. ] Lennox, the boy!
Soren
[ While the director's attention was focused on Terra, he was creeping towards the table, where the pocket watch sits. His eyes linger on a spot just behind Terra's head. Viridian-heliotrope. ]
Soren
[ This was instruction #3. ]
Ellie
When they're distracted, you leave. Now, I won't be there to—
Soren
No way.
Ellie
Yes way! You'll only have the one opportunity.
Soren
[ At the missive from Dr. Sebastian, he is propelled into decision. He flings his palm towards the crack in the air. Help me, he thinks with all his might. Help me, I need to leave— ]
Soren
[ The room wobbles like an image projected on a loose tarp. Not two places, but two ways of looking at the same thing. The barrier is as thin as can be. With a jolt of static feedback that sends pins and needles throughout his body, the crack tears, there is a metallic smell, and suddenly, there is a hole hanging in the air, bound by a ragged edge of light. ]
Terra
Ah--! [ She lurches back with a sharp gasp, throwing her hand up. Time slows to a crawl. The rift casts the corner of the sterile laboratory in an oily, iridescent film. Refracted colours play through her fingers. It's as beautiful as all the stable rifts she knows. ]
Terra
[ A shrill alarm pierces through the suspenseful moment. The fluorescence dims and a red light in the corner of the ceiling flashes urgently. ]
Yasmine
[ A scanner in the observation room—off—abruptly turns on and shorts, with a pop. She jumps. ] Merde!
Felix
[ He holds up a hand against the kaleidoscopic light from the lab, the ends of his hair sparking with green fire. ] No fucking way—!
Director Lennox
[ In the brilliant light, her irises flash amber. Rumbling tremors rattle the table and chairs. ]
Director Lennox
Terra, I need you to get behind me, now!
Soren
[ The ground trembles under his feet. Whatever might be lurking in the overground, he’ll take it over this. ]
Soren
[ With a yelp, he leaps for the table, rolls over the surface, scoops up the pocket watch, and disappears through the rift, into the great unknown. ]
Director Lennox
No! [ Too late, she lunges. Her fingers close over air. The boy is gone—and with him, all hope of containing this mess. ]
Director Lennox
[ Her eyes land on the notebook. ]
Terra
[ Before the director can move, she snatches it up. ]
Director Lennox
Terra. [ Stepping forward, hand outstretched. ] Don’t—!
Terra
[ Director Lennox looks as she's never seen her before, wild and wide-eyed. Through the door she can hear the flurry of panicked voices. There's a ringing in her ears that has nothing to do with the screeching alarm. ]
Terra
[ She stumbles back and flings herself through the hole in the air. ]
Soren
[ The rift swallows up a pair of sensible black flats, and with one final sizzle, twitches closed. ]
Soren
[ A sheet of paper, blown about by the phantom breeze, gusts into the space just in time to be bifurcated by the last gasp of energy. The two halves, the last remaining evidence that there ever was a rift, flutter to the floor. ]