Mag-log inJune dropped her book. The heavy book hit the ground of the Umuahia market with a loud thud.. She didn't even notice. Her eyes were locked on the sky.The two giant glass moons hung there. They shone with a fake light. They weren't shapes. They were containers. In the moon she saw her luxury apartment. She had just eaten breakfast there. In the moon she saw the red mud and the broken library of the university."Benson don't move " June whispered. She reached out. Her fingers shook as she gripped his shirt. He felt warm. He smelled like the dust of the wind and the oranges in his grocery bag.. In front of his face a glowing blue screen floated in the air.* The Doctor’s Dream (Restart & Forget)* The Rebel’s Ruin (Return to the Crater)* The Architect’s Mercy (Delete Everything)"June I can't breathe " Benson gasped. He dropped his bag of groceries. The oranges rolled across the dirt. They moved between the feet of the women selling food in the market.The strange thing was that the wo
June did not take the silver box. She backed away from the door. Her heels clicked on the wood floor of the apartment.The little girl in the dress stood still. Her smile did not move. Her eyes did not blink. She held the box out in the hallway. The ceiling light seemed to bend around her body. It was as if she were not really there."June, who is at the door?" Bensons voice came from behind her.June turned around. Benson was standing there. He looked healthy and strong. He wore a doctors coat over a nice suit. He looked like the man June had always dreamed he would be. He was successful, safe and happy.When June looked past him at the large mirror in the hallway bathroom she felt scared. A bright glowing green bar was floating in the middle of the mirror glass. It said: LOADING LEVEL 101... 12% COMPLETE."Benson look at the mirror " June whispered. Her heart was beating hard.Benson looked at the mirror. He did not scream. He did not look confused. He just. Moved his glasses. "June
The glass floor just disappeared into a million sparks that looked like diamonds.June felt the pull of gravity as she fell toward the dark ocean below. The weight of the girl in her left arm and Bensons strong grip on her right hand were the only things keeping her alive.The clean white office and the man in the suit were being sucked into a hole above them. That hole used to be the "Exit" door.Benson yelled at June. "Do not let go June look at me." His voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the universe tearingThey hit the water. It was not water. It was a cold liquid that felt like melted computer parts. It tasted like metal and old memories.June struggled to keep her head above the surface. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. The little girl, 04 was very light. Her golden eyes shined beneath the waves like two glowing coins.June gasped. "I have got her I have got you." Her voice was thin and tired.She kicked her legs hard. Her muscles screamed in pain. Every movemen
The ground beneath Junes feet was not just shaking it was disappearing. One moment she was kneeling in the mud of Umuahia holding Bensons hand tightly. The moment the mud turned into a grid of glowing green lines. The broken bricks of the Engineering building were flickering like a television screen during a storm. One second the wall was solid the second it was just a hollow frame made of light.June screamed, "Benson do not let go of my hand!" She jumped forward her fingers locking around his arm. Her heart was beating against her ribs like a trapped bird. She could feel the metal of the chip at the back of her neck pulsing. It was not a piece of machine it was like a bug living on her body. It was drinking the reality around them pulling the world into itself.Benson roared, "I have got you June I am not going anywhere!" He dug his heels into the disappearing earth. His muscles grew large under his skin and his jaw was set in a hard line.. Even his great strength seemed useless now
The golden sun was dying. It was not setting slowly like it did on an evening. Instead it was being eaten away by something. The giant red sun from the world was spreading across the sky. It looked like a drop of ink in a glass of clear water.June was lying flat in the red mud. Her fingers were digging into the earth. Every breath she took felt like she was breathing in ash from a fire. The black marks on her arms were glowing like coals in the dark. They were pulsing with every beat of the Red Queens heart.June said "stop, please" in a groaning voice. She tried to crawl towards the Engineering building. That was where Benson was lying. He was not moving. Her muscles felt like they were made of stone.The Red Queen said "the time for saying please is over Sister". This was when June planted the Heart.The girl who used to be the child, 04 was floating in the air. Her feet were an inches above the ground. The air around her was shaking with a heat. She reached out a hand. The mud und
The photograph in Junes hand felt really heavy like it was made of stone or something. Her fingers were. The paper was making a soft noise under her grip. The picture showed her and Benson standing on a balcony looking out at a city that was made of stone and had floating gardens. They looked a lot older like they were in their forties or something. Benson had grey hair and June was wearing a fancy robe.. What really caught her attention was the sky behind them. There were three suns. One was red one was gold and one was a blue color. It made her feel sick to her stomach."June what's wrong?" Benson asked, stepping closer to her. His boots made a squelching sound in the red mud.Before June could answer the ground under the library started shaking violently. It was not an earthquake or anything it was like a countdown. A secret door in the center of the crater slid open. Several silver pillars rose up into the air. They were not guns or anything they were like projectors or something.
Rain hammered New York like it wanted to drown the city. June tore down a dark alley, barely dodging puddles and piles of trash. Her lungs burned. Boots pounded behind her—loud, angry voices echoing off the brick.“She ran this way!” someone barked.She didn’t dare look back. She shoved past overfl
The warehouse doors exploded open with a bang, slamming against the wall. Night wasn’t dark anymore—flashing blue and red lights painted the wet ground, flickering like wild dancers. June just stood there, frozen. Her hands shook, but she didn’t drop the heavy black gun. Her white dress was a mess,
The big black ship let out a noise that tore through everything—a sound like metal shattering, but also pure fear, raw and echoing. The three Architects—the Circle, the Square, and the Triangle—stood frozen, more like statues than people, as if someone had carved them from ice. Out in the garden, t
The helicopter’s searchlight swept over the grass, hungry and restless, turning night into a harsh, blinding white. “Get down! Don’t move!” Dante hissed.He yanked June and her mom into the deep shadow of a giant iroko tree. The wind from the blades was brutal, thrashing the leaves so hard they r







