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  Chapter 3 – Newsight

  They came to a stop in front of a dome between the first and second rings. In a calmer setting – one without screams and smoke – Vincent would have had the presence of mind to be impressed. The prices of domes this close to the Center were astronomical. Typically, these properties had the best view of the upper levels of school, but now, the red haze of flickering flames that lit the horizon provided a view for which no one had paid.

  The girl pressed her right eye up close to a palm sized screen on the door, and the screen shined green a second later. The door opened automatically. She grabbed Vincent’s hand and started to tug him inside, but Vincent held firm. His attention had been drawn back to the horizon. When the girl saw what he was looking at, she stopped her tugging and turned around to watch. There was a streak of gold splitting through the sky. This one was brighter than the rest, with a thicker tail, and it was heading straight for the school’s main dome. It moved with lethargic slowness as it fell down at an angle from above, lighting up the whole sky with a blinding, Armageddon-like glow. The object at the helm of the thing seemed to cut through the sky like a giant blade, its tip pointed resolutely at the last remaining remnant of the school.

  In one final flash, it pierced its mark.

  The dome hesitated for a fraction of a second, as if unsure what would happen, then shrank in at the sides and exploded outward with a giant pulse. The red haze above turned bright pink as the dome was engulfed from without in the same blinding white that had once decorated it within.

  The sound reached them a second later, then the vibration. Vincent hardly noticed. His eyes were still locked on the cloud of smoke rising up from the Center.

  “Vincent.” The girl’s voice was soft, but its edges had lost their usual calm. “We need to get inside.” She tugged on his arm again. “Come on.”

  With his eyes still on the horizon, the pinnacle of which now seemed eerily empty, and with the image of the fire-tailed missile still seared into his mind, Vincent let himself be towed inside.

  “My dad said he’ll be here soon.”

  They were cast into darkness as the girl closed the door behind them.

  “He told us to go to the cellar.”

  “The what?” said Vincent. He felt in a trance. His eyes were still trained on the horizon, though all he could see now were the unlit walls of the dome.

  “The cellar,” repeated the girl, as if that explained things. “This way.” She tugged on his hand yet again, but he stayed where he was. The last hour seemed to register in his mind all at once.

  “I need to get home,” he said. “I need to find my mother. She works in Incubation in the school. She could have been–”

  The girl caught his wrist when he tried to turn away. “Incubation is right next to the generators,” she said. “It’s underground. She’s safer than we are.”

  Vincent pulled free of her grip. “I just need to – wait,” he looked around them, noticing the darkness for the first time – the lights were automatic. “The power is–”

  “We don’t run off of the Center generators,” said the girl, withdrawing, as if making a confession. “We have our own. They probably just shut off from the blast. Besides,” she continued, sounding eager to change the subject, “the domes in the first ring had lights. The ones in the second did, too, other than ours. The generators haven’t been hit.”

  Vincent tried to think back to their run here, but he had been too preoccupied to take in the sights. And he remained too preoccupied to think of anything but getting home. “I should still go,” he said, and he turned away, starting for the exit. The girl didn’t stop him this time.

  “Where do you live?” she called after him.

  “Just a few paths over.” He was almost to the door.

  “Really,” said the girl. It wasn’t a question. “I know for a fact you live on the other side of the Center.”

  Vincent stopped with his hand on the knob.

  “You won’t make it there for hours,” pressed the girl. “If you make it at all. They’ll send in the Guard. The whole Seclusion will be blocked off.”

  Vincent stayed where he was. Everything she said was true – even the parts she shouldn’t have known.

  “Wait a second,” said Vincent. “How do you know where I live?”

  The girl opened her mouth to answer, then paused, rethinking. “I…I’ve seen you leave school before. You always go in the opposite direction as me.”

  Vincent lifted his brow. “So you’ve been watching me?” he said.

  Even in the lack of light, he saw the girl’s face grow a shade darker.

  “Walk home if you want,” she said, turning from him. “I’m going to the cellar.” Her body was cast into shadow as she started deeper into the unlit dome, but Vincent didn’t follow. Not yet.

  “Wait.”

  The girl paused where she was, sighing as she looked back at him.

  Vincent spoke once again. “What is your name?”

  The girl seemed taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting this. “Jessica,” she said. “Now are you coming or not?” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and started deeper into the dome. Vincent watched her for a moment, then followed.