​The rain didn't stop; it just broke like glass.​PING—​The last dark purple drops hitting my vest turned into tiny hard beads before shattering against the wet stairs. They made a ringing sound as they hit the wet vellum stairs. The morning air was crisp. Above us the moon didn't just go back to its position. It split in two and two dawns rose on opposite horizons. One was a icy silver that lit up the sea behind us. The other was a burning orange that spilled over the high stone ridges ahead.* The silver light made the sea sparkle.* The orange light made the stone ridges glow.​"The script is changing the seasons " Maeve said. Her boots made a crunching sound as she stepped onto the first part of the coastal path. She had her hands deep in her pockets. Was staring at the horizon. "We're not on the calendar anymore Mikhail."​"The calendar was a way to keep track " Mikhail growled.​He walked on my left. His big frame was a bit tilted to protect his hurt shoulder. His stride wa

The cup did not make a clicking sound when I put it down. Instead it made a snap that seemed to make the room feel more real.TINK.Mani Mayox slowly turned around from the window. He was wearing a suit that caught the light of the sunrise. He looked just like he did when we were on the Albatross VIII. He seemed fine but his eyes looked deep and thoughtful like he had just figured out a big puzzle."The place we're in needs a special kind of writing " Mani Mayox said, looking at the two empty thrones in the middle of the room. "It needs to be strong enough to keep the computers in Cape Town from bothering us but flexible enough to let us change our minds. You three have brought both of these things.""The person in charge of the records did not want us to rewrite anything " I said, walking into the room with my hand in my pocket holding the gold pen cap. The lines under my skin had stopped glowing. Now they just looked like faint shiny lines on my arm. "He wanted to start over from th

The stone didn't break; it vibrated with the power of a machine that shouldn't exist.THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.The beat was faster than the noise of the Albatross VIII. It was a high-pitched sound that shook my bones. Outside the dark purple liquid in the fountain stopped moving; it turned into a crystal-like column and then broke into thousands of sharp purple glass shards."Thats not printing " I growled, grabbing the supervisors shoulder and pulling his frame into the throne room. He felt lighter than before his mass disappearing into the mist coming from the door. "That's a deep-bore terminal. Someone is digging a pipe through the foundation.""The blue smoke " Maeve said, coughing as she moved away from the entrance her eyes watering from the smell of burned insulation. "It’s not ink. It’s a cooling line break. Like a computer system overheating."Elara didn't move back. She stood over the gold pen cap on the armrest her arm shaking at the frequency as the neon-blue light pulsing in

The steel did not slide into place it slammed down with a lot of force like a knife cutting through everything.CLANG—The sound of the metal door locking into place was very loud it was like a big metal plate closing off the room. The floor was shaking and I lost my balance my boots slipped on the floor."Elara!" I shouted, my voice was hoarse from yelling I was in a lot of pain from my injured shoulder.I scrambled back into the room trying to see what had happened to Elara.The floor was now a surface the hole that Elara had fallen through was now covered with a big metal plate. The plate had a line on it that was filling up quickly."She is gone Mikhail " Maeve said, she was very upset her face was white. Her hands were shaking. "The suction was too strong it pulled her down through the floor and the countdown did not stop."Behind me the corridor was making a noise.The big metal robot that I had fought earlier was getting up it was hissing and making a lot of noise as it stood u

The iron did not just make a sound it made my bones feel it.BOOM—The huge gates of the Twin Thrones made a noise that made everything shake. The thousands of purple glass pieces that were once a beautiful fountain broke into tiny pieces and rose into the air like a cloud.I quickly moved back to the edge of the balcony. Held the cool marble rail so tightly that the stone felt wet.The two suns that were rising in the sky were now being pushed together by a black wall that was not a storm cloud. It was like a wave of black code coming from the northern sea.I screamed, "Mikhail! Elara!". Pointed towards the coast. "The border is not getting bigger something is pushing a path right through the northern grid!"Elara stepped off the lift platform her boots making a noise on the black and white marble floor. The silver lines in her arm were flashing quickly and irregularly like they were trying to defend against something."The four paths were a circle " Elara said, looking past me towar