Chapter 48

I can think about three things at once. Tomorrow, I'm facing a tribunal because they believe I cheated on my final exams. I already know how I'm going to win.

-Diary entry of Robert Jayson, May 25th, 2019 CE

THE WRECKAGE WAS harder to navigate than Lisha expected. Smoke clouded the air, and some of the debris still shimmered with heat.

"Where are you, little brother?" She whispered. "Don't have much time."

The upper floors of the hospital had collapsed completely. Lisha found herself walking over ceiling tiles and exposed wiring. Half-burned bedding and papers fluttered through the smoke-thickened air, forcing Lisha to hold her hands close to her face. There were bodies, more than Lisha expected. Men and women in lab coats, scrubs, loose shifts, and civilian clothes littered the site. Some were still whole, but others were missing limbs or large chunks of flesh. Lisha tried not to look.

"Cade!" Lisha called. "It's me!"

"Help!"