The sky was red again. It always was since the o
zone cracked and the filters went offline.
Jace Mercer lit a cigarette he couldn’t afford a
nd watched the hoverdrone pass overhead.
“Still smoking, old man?”
Jace didn’t flinch. He knew the voice.
“Still spying, Nora?”
She stepped out from the shadows like a ghost, b
lack suit, red lips, eyes like steel.
“You’re offgrid. That’s not allowed.”
“I retired.”
“You were deactivated.”
The cigarette burned low. Jace flicked it into t
he wind.
“What do you want?”
“A job.”
“Then you’re in the wrong place.”
“No,” she said, sliding a chip into his hand. “Y
ou’re in the wrong time.”
He looked at her.
“Meaning?”
“The Consortium’s back. And they’re buying memor
ies again.”
Jace’s stomach turned.
“They were shut down after the War.”
“They never left.”
He stared at the skyline. The city looked like a
graveyard with lights.
“I’m not a spy anymore.”
“You are if you take the chip.”
He didn’t. Not yet.
“Who’s the client?”
“A billionaire.”
“Which one?”
“All you need to know is his name’s on every bui
lding in the Suburbs.”
Jace exhaled. He knew the name.
Carter Voss. The man who built the dome.
“He’s dead.”
“Officially.”
Jace looked at the chip again.
“What’s on this?”
“The truth.”
There was always a cost for truth.
“And if I say no?”
Nora smiled.
“You won’t.”
He didn’t.
He slotted the chip into his wristport.
Data streamed in like a flood.
Blueprints. Coordinates. A map to a town that di
dn’t exist.
Midcentury architecture. Cold War layout.
A fake town.
Built to hide something.
Or someone.
Jace stood.
“Where’s the drop?”
“North Sector. Midnight.”
“Who’s with me?”
“No one.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re sending me in alone?”
“You’re not going in as a spy.”
“Then what?”
“As a student.”
He blinked.
“You’re shitting me.”
“The town has a campus. You’re enrolled.”
Jace laughed, bitter and low.
“You want me to go undercover in a fake town as
a fake student?”
“You did it before.”
“In the War.”
“And now.”
He stood, looking at the chip again.
“What’s the target?”
“A girl.”
Jace’s jaw tightened.
“Of course it is.”
“She’s the key.”
“To what?”
“To the conspiracy. To the memories. To everythi
ng.”
Jace sighed.
“Name?”
“Ella.”
Just one name.
That’s all it took.
He boarded the train at midnight.
The Suburbs rolled past like a museum display.
Perfect houses. Perfect lawns. Perfect lies.
He stepped off the platform and into a world tha
t didn’t exist.
Students in letterman jackets laughed like ghost
s.
Girls in skirts and pearls smiled like secrets.
And there she was.
Ella.
Sitting under a tree, reading a book older than
the dome.
He walked over.
“Mind if I sit?”
She didn’t look up.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Neither are you.”
That made her look at him.
“You’re not from here.”
“Not exactly.”
She closed the book.
“What’s your name?”
“Jace.”
She nodded.
“Welcome to Campus 7.”
He sat.
“You know why I’m here?”
“I do.”
“Then tell me.”
She leaned in.
“They’re watching.”
He glanced around.
“I don’t see anyone.”
“You’re not supposed to.”
He studied her. Young. Sharp. Dangerous.
“What’s on the chip?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“That the War never ended.”
Jace’s breath caught.
“It was broadcast as over. Victory declared.”
“Fake.”
He looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I was there.”
He didn’t believe her.
Until she showed him the scar.
Right under her collar.
Militarygrade.
Oldschool.
Before the filters.
Before the dome.
Before the Suburbs.
He whispered, “You’re a soldier.”
She smiled.
“I’m a student.”
He shook his head.
“You’re a spy.”
She leaned closer.
“We all are.”
The bell rang.
Time to class.
He followed her through the halls.
Everyone watched.
No one spoke.
When they reached the door, she turned.
“Don’t trust anyone.”
“Not even you?”
Especially not me.”
He didn’t sleep that night.
The walls whispered.
Not wind.
Not ghosts.
But code.
Deep in the Suburbs, someone was running a loop.
He hacked the system at 3 a.m.
What he found made him freeze.
A list of names.
Hundreds.
All students.
All real.
All dead.
Buried in memory.
Sold like data.
By the Consortium.
Led by Carter Voss.
He slammed the console.
Ella was next.
He ran.
Found her in the lab.
She was downloading files into a black drive.
“You’re too late,” she said.
He didn’t stop.
“Then let’s make it matter.”
She looked at him.
“You’re not supposed to care.”
“I do.”
Her eyes softened.
Then the alarms screamed.
They were coming.
Jace grabbed her hand.
“Run.”
They did.
Through the halls.
Through the tunnels.
Through the lies.
They reached the exit.
The sky was red again.
He turned to her.
“Now what?”
She handed him the drive.
“End it.”
“I can’t without you.”
She smiled.
“You don’t need me.”
“I want you.”
That surprised her.
He kissed her.
Then ran.
Alone.
With the truth.
And the world on fire behind him.
