The Boy in the Alley

Breaking the Glass

The sound of shattering glass fills the room.

I do not stop. I draw my fist back again and punch the giant observation window with all my weight. The cracks spread like black lightning across the transparent wall. On the other side, the people in white lab coats scramble backward, tripping over chairs and dropping clipboards as panic takes over.

Zara pushes himself up from the floor, wiping blood from his lip. He does not look calm anymore. His face is pale, and his eyes widen in pure fear as he watches the glass give way under my hands.

"Stop him!" Zara shouts, pointing at me. "Do not let him break the primary containment seal!"

Heavy security doors slide open at the back of the control room. Four armed guards rush in, wearing heavy black armor and carrying heavy energy rifles. They do not hesitate. They level their weapons straight at my chest.

"Step away from the glass, Simeon," the lead guard commands, his voice hard and cold. "This is your final warning. We will turn your code to dust."

I look down at my hands. The black fire is burning hotter now, pulsing with every beat of my heart. I am not a computer program. I am not a lab rat they can reset whenever things get difficult. I am the boy who bled in the alley, and I am the king they were too terrified to let live.

"Try it," I say.

I swing my arm back and punch the glass one last time.

The wall shatters completely. Shards of thick glass rain down like diamonds into the lab beyond, mixing with the smoke and sparks flying from the blown-out computer banks. Alarms wail louder, screaming red light across the entire floor.

Before the guards can pull their triggers, I leap straight through the empty window frame, landing hard on the metal floor of the real-world laboratory.

The scientists scatter in every direction, screaming and running for the exit doors. I ignore them. My eyes lock onto the central control console at the front of the room, where a massive digital screen displays the entire architecture of the Neo-Chicago simulation.

Footsteps pound behind me as the guards jump through the broken window frame.

"Target is loose! Shoot to disable!" the lead guard yells.

A bright blue beam of energy shoots past my ear, melting a metal chair into slag. I drop low, rolling behind a heavy computer terminal just as a second blast hits the desk, sending a shower of sparks over my head.

I need to stop the loop. If they reset the system, I will wake up in that alley again, bleeding out under the neon lights, with Ifeoma and Kanmi playing their parts in the lie. I will not go back.

I place my hand flat against the main control console.

The black fire on my skin jumps from my fingers into the computer wires. The machine hums violently, sucking in the energy. Lines of red code on the main monitor turn instantly to a bright, burning gold.

System override initiated, a robotic voice announces overhead. Administrator access granted.

A sharp pain shoots up my arm, but I do not pull away. I push more power into the console, feeding the code my anger, my pain, and every fake memory they forced into my head.

"Get away from that terminal!"

I look up to see the lead guard standing just a few feet away, raising his rifle right at my face. His finger tightens on the trigger.

Suddenly, a heavy steel wrench flies through the air from the side of the room, hitting the guard hard across the side of his helmet. He stumbles sideways, his weapon firing wide and blasting a hole in the ceiling tiles.

I turn my head in surprise.

Standing near a row of supply lockers is Ifeoma.

She is not wearing her pack uniform anymore. She wears a plain gray lab jumpsuit, and her breathing is fast and heavy. Her hands shake slightly, but her eyes are fierce.

"Ifeoma?" I say, my voice catching in my throat. "What are you doing? I thought you were part of them."

"I am part of them," Ifeoma says, stepping closer while keeping a careful eye on the groaning guards. "Or at least, I was supposed to be. They wiped my memory, too, Simeon. They put us both in the simulation to test how long a human mind could hold the core code before breaking."

The words hit me like a physical blow. "You are real?"

"As real as you are," she replies, her voice tight with anger. "And they plan to wipe us both right now to cover up the system failure. Look at the main screen."

I turn back to the monitor. The golden code has stopped scrolling. A new window pops up in the center of the screen, flashing a countdown timer in bold red numbers.

System format in 60 seconds. All user data will be permanently deleted.

"They are wiping the lab," I say, my blood running cold.

"No," Ifeoma says, stepping up beside me and slamming her hand onto the secondary keypad. "We are wiping them."

She types a fast sequence of commands into the backup terminal, bypassing the security locks with a speed that proves she knew this system long before the simulation started.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Giving us a way out," Ifeoma says without looking at me. "The simulation was just the testing ground. The real world is outside these walls, and the people who built this cage are waiting for us in the upper levels."

Before I can answer, the heavy steel doors at the front of the laboratory blow open with a deafening crash.

Smoke pours into the room, and a tall figure steps through the haze.

It is Uncle Kanmi. But he is not holding a gun this time. He wears a heavy military coat, and a cold, dangerous smile stretches across his face. Behind him stand dozens of armed soldiers, all wearing the emblem of the real-world corporation that built Neo-Chicago.

"Well, well," Kanmi says, his voice echoing off the metal walls. "It looks like the lab rats finally figured out how to chew through the glass."

I stand up straight, pulling my hand away from the console. The black fire flares across my skin once more, casting dark shadows against the bright emergency lights.

"You are not my uncle," I say, my voice cold and steady. "You are just another program they gave a face to."

Kanmi laughs, a harsh, grating sound. "Think what you want, Simeon. But you cannot leave this room."

He raises his hand, and the dozens of soldiers behind him level their rifles, locking their sights directly on us.

"Kill them both," Kanmi orders.