We stand together, looking out over the swaying catwalks towards the windows on the other side. That is our goal. It is within sight. ...But no one is moving.

"So...we're really doing this?" Zahra asks.

"I don't see any other way in," I admit.

Murphy whines a little more loudly. I scoop him up into my arms, nuzzling his fur, damp with melted frost.

"...I mentioned my debilitating fear of heights, right?" Grace whimpers. "Because I have a debilitating fear of heights..."

"Heights I'm fine with," Jake says. "Pools of bubbling magma? Not so much."

"...Someone put these catwalks here," Craig says slowly. "That probably means they're safe, right?"

"Yeah, but how long ago was that?" Michelle protests. "Who knows if they're still safe?"

"Guys, we've come too far to turn back now!" Sean says. "Let's just do this."

"You first," Zahra sneers.

"Actually...her first!" Craig points to where Estela is already halfway across the catwalks. Murphy wiggles out of my arms and scampers after her.

"There's still time to turn back!" she calls. "If you're too scared to follow."

Sean sighs. "Well, when you put it like that..."

He takes a tentative step, and then another. One by one, we follow. The catwalk buckles and sways a little under our weight, but it holds firm.

"Heh..." Craig laughs weakly. "Okay...this isn't so bad..."

The ground jerks violently under my feet. There is a loud rumbling that makes the whole room shake. Beneath us, the magma bubbles and seethes, sending massive scorching bubbles swelling towards us.

"You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?!" Zahra cries.

A bubble bursts, sending sizzling rivulets of magma flying at us. Grace screams.

"Run!" Sean yells.

No one needs to be told twice. We're already sprinting towards the end of the shaking, rattling catwalk. A massive geyser of magma erupts behind us, melting the stretch of catwalk we were just standing on. The force of it sends Michelle sprawling behind me. I skid to a halt and turn, seeing a massive bubble building right under her.

"Michelle!"

Without pausing to think, I turn and charge back to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. We dive just as the blood-orange bubble bursts, spraying a jet of magma straight upwards. I clutch Michelle as the blast throws us to the catwalk, my body muffling her scream. She clutches me back, trembling violently.

"It's...it's okay..." I gasp. "...You're okay..." I scramble to my feet, pulling her with me.

"...You...saved my life..."

"Thank me later! We still have to move!"

Hand in hand, we sprint the rest of the length of the catwalk, to where the others are waiting for us. We just barely make it to the platform before the magma below us seethes and rises.

"Through the door!" Zahra screams.

We dive through the steel door at the end of the platform, into a dark room. It slams shut with an industrial hiss as we tumble onto the floor. For a moment, we lay panting, gasping, whimpering, laughing breathlessly and wildly as we realize we're safe. I feel Murphy's soft tongue bathing my face.

"That was WAY too close!" Craig says.

"Is everyone okay?" Sean asks. "Did we all make it? Craig? Michelle? Alodia? Estela? Zahra? Jake? Grace?"

"We're all here, Sean," I assure him. "And I've got Murphy."

"But where the hell are we?" Zahra asks.

Almost as if responding to her question, florescent lights start to flicker on overhead. A control room of some sort slowly takes shape in front of us. Screens flicker to life, consoles blinking with indecipherable code while the volcano rumbles on the other side of a dense glass barrier.

"...I...think we're in the Observatory," Sean says slowly.

"This doesn't look like any observatory I've ever seen," Jake mutters.

Zahra trails her fingertips over the consoles, whistling lowly. "This is cutting edge tech here. Like, decades ahead of anything I've ever seen."

"Rourke International does do a lot of technological innovation and development," Grace muses. "Maybe we've found one of their research facilities?"

"But why would it be here, on a tropical resort island?"

"Because the whole damn place is a front," Jake growls. He shifts from one foot to the other, flexing his fingers. "The rumors are true. This island's just one big playground for Rourke to run his illegal experiments."

"So what does that make us?" Zahra asks. "Guinea pigs?"

"Yeah, well, this guinea pig's gonna kick his ass!" Craig snarls.

Zahra snorts. "Oh, I wish I had a video of you saying that."

"Um...I don't mean to alarm anyone..." Grace says, her voice shaking, "...but does anyone see any doors we can open around here?"

I look around, my heart dropping. The only door I can see is the one we came in through. And it's sealed up tight behind us.

"No frickin' way!" Craig cries. "We're stuck here?!"

"Are...are you serious...?" Michelle whispers. "No...no, no, no, no..."

"So that's it then," Zahra says grimly. "We're trapped here. No escape."

"Let's all just stay calm," Sean says. "Let's not forget why we came here, okay? We're looking for a satellite uplink. Now split up and look around. I'm sure we can find something."

Everyone breaks off to explore the room. I take a few minutes to stay where I am, taking a good look at the room as a whole. Zahra makes a beeline for the left wall, where there is a long row of monitors and terminals. Several long pipes run along the wall by the door. On the far end of the room, there is an opaque pod. The right wall is made of a thick, clear material that looks out over the sea of magma.

I wander over to the window, where Craig, Grace, and Michelle have drifted.

"Hey. You guys find anything over here?"

"Not me," Craig says. "Mostly I've just been thinking about magma. Like, what is it? Does anyone know?"

I blink. "Um...I mean...yes? It's...molten rock. From the heat of the volcano..."

"Oh," Craig says sheepishly. "I guess I thought it was more complicated than that. Like with particles or something."

"...I can't stop thinking about the magma, either," Grace says.

"What about it?"

"Well...look at it. It's totally still now. No bubbles, no scorching jets, nothing. In fact...I'm pretty sure it calmed down the second we got in this room."

"...What are you saying? That the magma was...trying to get us?"

"That's crazy, right? I mean, like, even for this island, crazy?"

"It's hard to believe, but you're right." I look down at the lake of magma, which might as well be a still pond now. "There's something very strange happening out there. Keep an eye on it, would you?"

She smiles, looking a little relieved. "Can do, Alodia."

I look over at Michelle, who is curled against the glass, fiddling with something between her fingers.

"How about you, Michelle? Notice anything interesting?"

"Yeah. No. You guys do the whole puzzle room thing. I'm just gonna sit here and watch the magma flow. Call me when you need a medic."

"...What's that you're playing with?"

"Oh, just a bobby pin. I fiddle with things when I'm nervous."

"...That's funny."

"How so?"

"You just...don't strike me as the kind of person who ever gets nervous. Angry, maybe. But not nervous."

"Yeah, well, I guess there's a lot about me you don't know."

"I guess so."

I wander over to the pod by the far wall, a tall opaque cylinder that runs from floor to ceiling. Jake and Sean are looking it over. I circle the pod. It's made of smooth green metal, with no doors, windows, or handles. As far as I can tell, there is no way to open it. It might as well be a pillar, but it doesn't seem to be part of the décor.

"What the hell is this thing?" I wonder aloud.

"I got one idea," Jake murmurs. "But it's kinda crazy."

"So's everything else here. What are you thinking?"

"Back in the military, I had a buddy working at DARPA. He told me about this new tech they were working on called MASADA Pods. These things were the last step in survival. You got into the pod, plugged some tubes into your arms, and then the whole thing would fill up with these specialized chemicals. You'd knock clean out, and the pod would seal shut. And then you'd be safe from anything. These pods would survive being shot, bombed, set on fire...my buddy said they'd be the last things left after a nuclear war."

"...How would you get out?"

"Beats me. My buddy didn't hear that part."

I suddenly feel very uneasy, and eye the pod warily.

"You think someone might be in there right now?"

"Creepy thought, ain't it."

"I certainly can't see any way of opening it," Sean concedes. "Check this out, though. It looks like this thing can go up to another floor."

He points to the metal lining around the top of the pod, where it connects to the ceiling.

"Hey, good eye! Is there another level above us?"

"Beats me."

I look over at Estela, who is crouched on the floor near the the pipes. She seems to have discovered something.

"I'm gonna go see what Estela's up to. Keep looking for a way to get that thing open."

Sean nods, and I wander over to Estela, crouching down beside her.

"Did you find something?"

"There's a cable that runs from the console down here, into this grate," she murmurs, pointing to it. "Look. There's a light down there. I think there's another room below us. But I can't get the grate to open."

I push on the grate, but it doesn't budge, even with both of us pushing. I sit back, shaking my head.

"No good."

"We need a way to weaken it," Estela says. "Make it easier to break."

"You know...I think I may have an idea on that. Hey, Murphy!" At the sound of his name, Murphy, dozing by the pipes, gets to his feet and trots over to me. I stroke his head. "You wanna help us out, fella? Can you use your ice breath on the grate there?"

I point to the grate. Murphy trots over and looks at it for a moment, cocking his head. Then he looks up at Estela. He draws in a deep breath and aims at the grate again, exhaling frost and encasing the metal grate in ice. I hear the metal groan as it weakens.

"Perfect!" Estela says. "Well done!"

Murphy trills proudly, putting his paws on my knees. I take his head in my hands and rub vigorously behind his ears.

"Who's a good magic fox thing?" I coo. "You're a good magic fox thing!"

"Gimme a hand here, Alodia."

I move over to the grate. Estela and I kick it a few times. While the metal buckles slightly, it still doesn't break.

"We need a tool. Something big and sturdy to hit it with."

I glance around, my eyes landing on the pipes that run along the wall beside the consoles. I move over to examine them. I press my ear to one of the pipes, and I don't hear anything running through them. I suppose it's worth a try. I grasp the pipe and pull experimentally. It has some give, but I can't shift it.

"Hey, Craig!" I call. "Think you can give me a hand here?"

"Hell yeah! Watch the master at work!" He wraps his beefy hands around the pipe and pulls, groaning with the effort. Then suddenly, with a roar, he rips the pipe clean out of the wall. "Yeah, baby! That's! How! I! Do!"

"Damn, Craig!" Sean laughs. "When we get back to school, you have got to teach me your weight-lifting techniques!"

"Hey, Craig," Estela says, waving him over. "Come here with that for a second. Think you could help us with this grate?"

Craig grins, clearly enjoying himself. "I was put on this earth for two reasons: helping Sean on the field and smashing things with pipes."

He winds up and brings the pipe down on the frozen grate. The metal shatters and plummets down, clattering against a metal floor beneath. Estela blinks, mouth open. Shaking her head, she looks appreciatively at Craig.

"Got it in one. Nice work, muscles."

"Craig one, stupid grate zero!"

"...So...what's down there?" Grace asks.

"Only one way to find out," Estela replies with a shrug, and drops down into the hole before anyone can stop her. I slip in after her, quickly followed by Jake. I land carefully on the floor of a cold, sterile room with a long metal table in the center. At the far end of the room is a bulky metal locker. On the floor beside it is a small waste basket with a single crumpled piece of paper inside. Harsh florescent lighting casts cold, eerie shadows. I shiver.

"...Woah...is this...?"

Estela nods. "An interrogation room."

"Okay...I can maybe see why Rourke would have a research facility. But why the hell would he need an interrogation room?"

"I can think of a dozen reasons," Jake says grimly. "None of them good."

I walk over to the locker. Jake follows close behind me. He frowns, running his fingers over the cold metal door.

"...Any idea what this is?"

"Oh, yeah. I know a weapons locker when I see one."

He experimentally tries the door. To my surprise, it pops right open.

"...It...wasn't locked?"

"Guess not. There's a recipe for trouble right there." He peers inside, and his frown deepens. "What the hell...?"

"What is it?"

He pulls something out of the locker and shows it to me. It looks like some sort of gun. Though it doesn't look like any handgun or pistol I've ever seen. It more closely resembles a pricing gun from a retail store or one of those handheld speedometers police use on the side of the road to catch leadfoots in the act. It's encased in a white shell made of some lightweight material that resembles plastic. The barrel is arch-shaped, but the casing descends into a prism shape under the length of the barrel. Two rods that glow with a blue light are faintly visible under the barrel.

"What...is that?"

"I don't know. I've never seen a gun like it. And I've seen plenty of guns in my lifetime."

"Do you think it's...loaded?"

"I don't really feel like pulling the trigger to find out." He shudders. "Guns...interrogation rooms...I am liking this whole place less and less. ...Mind if I hold onto this?"

"Be my guest."

He tucks it into his jacket. "Find anything, Katniss?"

Estela looks up from the waste basket. She's picked the paper out of it, and carefully smoothed it out.

"Just this. It might be important, though. It says, 'RESET SEQUENCE: 3-1-2'."

"Might have something to do with the computers. Zahra would probably know if anyone would."

"Probably." Tucking the paper into her pocket, she grabs the table and drags it over to the spot under the broken grate. Climbing up on it, she calls up, "Someone wanna give me a hand here?"

After a moment, Sean and Craig put their hands down to pull her up. As Jake is climbing up onto the table, something catches my eye. A flash of something beige tucked behind the weapon's locker. Looking closer, I realize it's a file folder. ...And there is a picture clipped to the front. A picture of Jake. Blood fizzing with anxiety, I fish the folder out and open it. Sure enough, inside are three more dossiers, just like the ones in Rourke's office. One for Jake, one for Zahra...and one for Diego. I scan his first.

Target Analysis

Clearance: Epsilon

Surname: Ortiz Soto

First: Diego

Middle: Ricardo

D.O.B: 1996 Mar 12

Birthplace: Riverside, CA

Background: First in his family to attend college. Hides much of his true personality from conservative family. Just like he hides his blue-collar roots from friends. Reinvents himself to meet the situation.

Psychological Profile: Hides troubled feelings behind humor. Sees himself as a plucky sidekick to his friends. Unclear why he was included.

Threat Assessment: 2

Stamped on his profile in red is a dog sigil, but I don't take much note of that. There is nothing in his dossier that I don't already know, but it puts furious tears in my eyes to see it all laid out this way. Cold. Uncaring. Dismissive. I quickly flip to the next pages: Zahra's, stamped with a sigil that looks like a crow or a raven, and Jake's, clearly marked with a wolf's head sigil.

Target Analysis

Clearance: Epsilon

Surname: Namazi

First: Zahra

Middle: Yasmin

D.O.B: 1995 Sep 13

Birthplace: Tehran, Iran

Background: Daughter of a structural engineer and a novelist, she displayed tech prowess at early age. Affiliated with hacktivist group AZRA3L responsible for 2015 Wall St Leaks.

Psychological Profile: Acerbic, sarcastic, self-interested. With her hacking skills & lack of loyalty, we should consider her for recruitment.

Threat Assessment: 7

Target Analysis

Clearance: Gamma

Surname: McKenzie

First: Jacob

Middle: Lucas

D.O.B: 1991 Feb 5

Birthplace: Shreveport, LA

Background: Joined Navy at 18 quickly rose to be one of their most decorated pilots. But after the Incident with the stuff incident, he struck his superior officer and went AWOL. Detected in Costa Rica.

Psychological Profile: Independent to the point of recklessness. Years on the run have broken the soldier in him. Now loyal only to himself.

Threat Assessment: 9

$750,000 BOUNTY?!

"Hey, Princess! You coming?"

I start, leaping to my feet. Quickly, I fold the three pages and tuck them into my hip pocket with the pictures.

"Yeah! Sorry, I was just making sure we didn't miss anything." I climb up on the table, holding my hands up so that Jake and Estela can grab me and pull me up.

I head over to the computers, where Zahra is tinkering, and look over the terminals. I notice one with a bizzare symbol carved into it that looks like three snakes wound together. Or...one snake with three heads. The terminal doesn't seem to have any buttons, but there is what looks like a large scanner, a simple flat pad with a soft glowing light under it. I lean closer.

"Biometric signature found!" An electronic voice barks at me. I yelp, leaping back. It continues, heedless of my surprise. "Rourke DNA detected! Present match now!"

"Rourke DNA?" Jake repeats.

I suddenly remember something else that I've been carrying in my pocket since the other day. I reach in and pull out the cufflink Lila found in the office.

"...This thing, maybe? Lila says it's Rourke's."

I press the cufflink to the scanner. The light glows. The monitor in front of me flickers to life, showing an image of Everett Rourke, standing in the same interrogation room we just left.

"Playing final recording," the electronic voice declares. "Timestamp: ERROR."

Rourke scowls into the camera as he speaks.

"Another attack on the northeastern research complex. The whole place was trashed, and they stole an entire supply shipment. Three of my security personel are hospitalized. And my chief scientist...well, it's like they did something to his brain. He won't stop talking about magic orbs and lion masks and time loops. Total gibberish. Who the hell are these hostiles? And what are they doing on my island?"

The monitor flickers off, and the scanner shuts down. I glance around and realize that the others have gathered behind me to watch the screen.

"...What was that all about?" I wonder aloud. I look around at the others, but they're just as confused as I am.

"We'll figure that out later," Zahra mutters after a moment, and returns to what she was doing, getting onto her back under the terminals.

I crouch beside her. "Have you had any luck?"

"Yeah, right," she scoffs. "I've hacked some pretty sophisticated systems, but nothing like this. This tech is way above my paygrade. There's no keyboards, no mouse, no touchscreen. If this thing has an interface, I'll be damned if I can see it."

"Could it be a voice command or something?"

"That's what I'm thinking, but it's almost like the whole system's in lockdown. We gotta find a way to reset it." She points to a panel on the underside of the console. "I'm thinking there might be a hard reset switch in there, but I can't get the damn panel open. I need something small and flexible to jam in the keyhole."

A smile spreads across my face as an idea hits me. "You mean like a bobby pin?"

"Yeah, actually. That could totally work. You got one?"

"Hey, Michelle! Come over here for a second, would you?"

Michelle wanders over. Seeing her prize, Zahra reaches up and snatches the bobby pin out of her hands.

"Hey!"

"Relax, lady. I'm getting us all out of here."

Zahra jams the bobby pin into the panel's lock and twists it around. It swivels, but it doesn't click.

"Come on...come on...dammit..."

"Um..." Grace wanders over timidly. "If you don't mind...could I try?"

"You got a lot of experience picking locks?"

Grace slides over and takes the bobby pin, snapping it in half. She inserts the two pieces, and carefully twists them once...twice...three times...and then the panel clicks open. Zahra stares at her, open-mouthed.

"When this is over, I have a lot of questions," she finally says. She turns her attention to the panel. "Well, this is definitely the reset panel. Says so right at the top. Got three switches here, but no idea what order to flip them in."

"Actually, we do know that. Estela found the reset sequence written on a scrap of paper in the trash can."

"It's like they knew we were coming," Zahra mutters. "Okay, Alodia, what's the order."

"It should be 3-1-2."

Zahra flips the switches. Suddenly, the whole room seems to hum. Every monitor flickers with strange symbols.

"Well, that did something, all right!"

A tiny hatch pops open on the terminal in front of me, making me jump. A spherical drone, the size of a golf ball, flutters out of the hatch.

"What the hell?!"

"What is that thing?" Craig gasps. "Zahra?"

She shrugs. "Don't look at me, man. I've never seen anything like that in my life."

It hovers in the air over the center of the room, whirring like a beetle. A beam of blue light appears from a flat bulb that looks like an eye on one side of the drone. The beam widens to spill over the floor, and a form begins to take shape in it: the holographic image of a pretty, sweet-faced young woman, made of blue light.

Michelle yelps, but Zahra looks delighted.

"Shiiiiiiiiny," she purrs with a grin.

The hologram flickers. Her expression is calm and placid. She smiles a Mona Lisa kind of smile. I approach her...it...her...cautiously.

"H...hello?"

"Database corrupted," she says. "Access denied. Self-identity input needed."

"Um...can you...help us? We're trying to access the satellite uplink..."

"Database corrupted. Access denied. Self-identity input needed."

"Save your breath, Alodia," Michelle says. "Something's clearly wrong with her."

"Self-identity input..." Zahra muses. "It's almost like the software's having trouble figuring out who it is."

"You saying that thing's alive?" Craig yelps.

"In a sense, sure. I bet we could make progress if we knew what its identity was."

"You mean, like if we guessed its name?" Sean asks.

"Kara!" Craig says loudly. "Megan! Jennifer! Jessica! Kathleen! Coco! Wendy! Beyonce!"

"Rumplestiltskin!" I add.

"Oh god, Alodia, don't encourage him!" Zahra whines.

"Uh, guys?" Jake pipes up. "Anyone notice that?"

He points across the room. A door has opened in the side of the pod. I hurry over to it, and the others follow. The pod is empty, except for a soft light. There are two circular grooves in the floor inside.

"What do you guys make of this?"

"The shape of these grooves makes me think that two people are supposed to stand inside it," Sean says thoughtfully.

"And then what?"

"Maybe it will let them access the satellite," Grace suggests.

"Or maybe it'll drop 'em straight in the magma."

"Zahra!"

"What? I'm just saying."

"Well, either way we've done just about everything else we can in here. I'm going in." Sean steps forward into one of the grooves, but nothing happens. "...Um...I think I might need a partner..."

"Awfully snug in there, Captain America. We'd pretty much be in each other's arms."

"Yeah," Craig says. "I don't really think I'd fit..."

"Ah, what the hell." I step forward. "I'm tiny. I can squish in."

"You...you sure...?" Michelle asks, frowning at me.

"Come on in, Alodia," Sean says quickly.

I do as he says. Even small and slight as I am, it's a tight fit. I'm pretty much chest-to-chest with Sean. Well...closer to chest-to-forehead at his impressive height. He slides his arms around my waist. I look up at him, my heart threatening to hammer out of my chest.

"Kinda...cozy, huh?"

"Yeah..." I grin stupidly, feeling myself blush. "Pretty cozy..."

"I think we sh-" Before he can finish, the pod door slams shut, leaving us in total darkness. His grip on me tightens. "Hang on tight!"

I cling to him as the pod shoots straight up, feeling the g-forces push down against me. We stop abruptly, jolting us both. I hear the hiss as the door opens, but the room outside is as dark as the pod inside. I tentatively reach out with one hand to find the edges of the door.

"W-what's happening?"

"I don't know. Keep hold of my hand. We'll check it out."

I grip Sean's hand as we step out into the darkness. I grope for the walls and find them, tracing them around the pod in a smooth circle. Sean turns back to me and winds his other arm around me, drawing me against his chest. I can hear his heart pounding behind his ribs.

"Any guesses as to where we are?"

"No...but I'm kinda thinking this is the part where the lights come on and everyone shouts, 'Happy Birthday, Alodia!'"

"That'd be nice, huh? Big party...good drinks...and a whole lotta cake."

"It's like you're reading my mind."

"Gotta say, Alodia. If there's anyone I'm happy to be trapped in a dark, creepy, maybe-deathtrap with...it's you."

"You mean that?"

"I do."

I can almost feel him smile in the darkness. Then he gasps. My heart leaps.

"What is it?"

"Turn around."

I turn. At the far end of the room, small lights have started glowing along the edges of the wall. Gradually, they start to grow brighter. And brighter. And then a dazzling holographic display appears, projected into the air around us. Stars swirl in mesmerizing clusters and galaxies spin and whirl. Shooting stars streak by and distant supernovas pulse and burst.

"Oh my god...it's..."

"...The most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

I glance at Sean, and realize he's not looking at the stars. He's looking at me. I feel heat rising in my cheeks. On a sudden, irresitable impulse, I rise up onto my toes and pull him down to press my mouth to his. It takes him by surprise, and when I feel his hesitation, I pull back.

"...Sorry...I...I thought..."

I am interrupted when he pulls me back towards him and kisses me fiercely. There is heat in his kiss. Passion. Hunger. I answer his hunger, pressing into him, moving with him as the cosmos shimmer around us. We rock together, our bodies warm, our lips moving softly against each other. He pulls back just a little.

"...Alodia..."

"Shh..." I kiss him, and there is a command in it. "Stop talking."

The urgency in my own voice surprises me. I slide my hands along his waist, pulling up his shirt to feel the hard muscle underneath.

"You sure about this? Now?"

"I'm tired of waiting," I whisper. "Please stop talking..."

Suddenly, I realize that I am afraid. I am afraid that if I stop, I will not be able to start again. If I let go of him now, he will slip away. His broad, warm hands caress me, sliding up my back.

No...If I let him go, he'll linger...but he won't be mine...

I crane my head to kiss the side of his neck. His hips press against mine.

...If I let him go...I won't call him back...

"Huh?" He pulls back slightly. His hands stop moving on my body.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry, it's just...well, look..." He is gesturing to the holographic stars orbiting around us. Reluctantly, I pull back and look. "There's something that's been bugging me this whole time. These match the stars over the island. I was looking at them on the way here, and...something seemed off. Something I couldn't put my finger on. But now I get it."

"What is it?"

"Well, I spent six years in the boy scouts..."

I smile a little. "Of course you did."

"That meant a lot of time camping out, staring up at the sky, learning all the constellations. But...that's what's wrong on the island, Alodia. There's no Big Dipper. No Scorpio, no Taurus, no Gemini. We're in the Caribbean Sea, which means the stars should be pretty much the same as back home, but...all the constellations are different. The sky above the Northern Hemisphere probably hasn't looked like this in a million years."

Just then, the hologram fades away, leaving the two of us in darkness again. For a moment, I just stand still, numb. The heat is fading from my cheeks...from my body. The passion drains out of me, leaving me exhausted. Sean takes my hand and leads me back to the pod. As we climb into it, he kneels down.

"Huh. There's some kind of card or something. I can't see it in the dark."

"Let's head back down to the others. Unless..." I force a lightness into my voice, "...you wanna stay up in the dark..."

I know what his answer will be before he says, "Another day, Alodia. Soon."

...And I already know what mine will be when that day comes. I can already feel the loss of him as he heads back towards the pod. But worse is the knowledge that the loss will be entirely my own doing.

We climb back into the pod, and it streaks down. When the door opens again, the lights from the main observatory feel incredibly bright. I shield my eyes for a moment, blinking to clear the spots from my vision. I realize everyone is staring at us expectantly.

"Did you find anything?" Grace asks.

Craig grins. "Did you guys kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss?"

"Shut up, Craig!" Michelle snaps.

"We saw...a hell of a thing," I say at last. "Stars and galaxies and the whole universe."

"And we found this."

Sean holds up the card he found. In the light, I can see it clearly. On one side, there's a picture of the hologram-woman's face. He turns it over, and I can make out four words: Intelligent Reactive Imaging System.

"What does it mean?"

"Not sure. But I have an idea."

I walk over to the hologram-woman. She stands in the same spot she stood before, her expression still placid.

"Database corrupted. Access denied. Self-identity input needed."

"...Iris," I say.

The hologram flickers. Then she blinks like a baby doll and her smile widens.

"Identity match established," she says. "Scanning databanks and establishing backup connection..."

"Nice work, Alodia!" Sean says.

"Yeah, good thinking," Grace agrees.

"Never doubted you for a second," Jake says with a grin.

"Database link established. Downloading partially reconstructed historical fragments. Island history: not found. Rourke International archives: not found. Personal identity fully recalibrated." She blinks a few more times, then turns to us with a warm smile. "Greetings, travellers. I am a backup of Iris 1.0. I apologize for any inconveniences you may have experienced. My software has been corrupted, so my archives are incomplete. How may I help you."

"Um, how about getting us the hell out of here?" Zahra suggests.

"Done."

Behind us, a hatch slides open, and a ladder descends from the ceiling, leading up to the surface.

"No way!" Craig cries. "It was that easy? Come on!"

"Wait! Let's not forget the whole reason we came here in the first place!"

"Iris," I say, "can you access the satellite uplink?"

Her eyes flicker for a moment. "...Satellite uplink established. Communications are now available."

"Ha!" Michelle crows. "Yes!"

"We did it!" Zahra cries. "We actually did it!"

"Put us through to someone who can help," Sean says. "Like the Coast Guard."

"Scanning...Locating...Frequency found. Connecting to Saint Lucia Naval Base..."

There is a crackle of static, then the sound of a connection being made. Like the sound of an old dial-up modem connecting to the internet.

"Hello?" I say. "Can anyone hear us? We're on the island of La Huerta, and you won't believe what's happening..."

I pause, expecting a calm, helpful response. ...That is not what I get.

"My god..." A man's voice replies, desperate and panicked. "It's...it's erupting...the volcano's erupting...And there's something else...not just ash, but...oh, no...oh, no...!"

There is a blood-curdling scream, and then the line goes dead. For a moment, there is dead silence. Michelle is the one to break it.

"...What the hell was that?"

"I...don't know..." Sean admits. "Iris, can you connect us to someplace else? Like the U.S.A maybe?"

"Connecting to...South Florida Coast Guard."

It is a woman's voice that we hear this time. "This is unbelieveable...the La Huerta volcano is erupting, but...it's not like anything I've ever seen! There's some kind of...energy discharge...and it's...spreading...so fast...burning everything...no...No! ...It's coming right at us! No!"

Again, the line goes dead.

"...Another one..."

Every frequency is the same. Gasps. Prayers. Screams. In the end, all we're left with is one old man's gravelly whisper: "...God help us all..."

"Iris..." I whisper, feeling tears trickle out the corners of my eyes. "...Turn off the satellite uplink."

"...Turning off satellite uplink."

"I don't understand," Grace says in a small voice. "What does it mean? What happened out there?"

"The volcano hasn't erupted!" Michelle insists. "But...everyone thinks it did?"

Sean shakes his head. "I don't know what happened out there. I don't know what's going on. But I do know one thing. ...No one's coming to rescue us."

I swallow hard. "...We're on our own."

Not very long ago...

The Celestial

Everett Rourke throws open the doors to the V.I.P. Lounge. He walks quickly, confidently. He is a man on a mission.

"Status report, Iris. Now."

The tiny drone hovers after him, projecting a holographic image.

"All guests have been relocated to the sub-shelter," she says. "They are currently being processed."

"Good, good. Survival rate estimates?"

"Conservatively, I would expect sixty-five percent of them to survive."

"Better odds than Vegas. Anything else?"

"Significant activity detected in the dense jungles to the northwest."

"The Hostiles," Rourke sneers. "Scurrying for cover as soon as danger hits."

"Perhaps an opportunity to engage with them..."

He waves his hand dismissively. "Don't bother. It's not like we have any security personnel left."

The ground jolts violently. All the glasses rattle, and the air shimmers a faint, glittering green. Rourke smiles.

"Well. That's a new one."

"The chronoquakes are intensifying in frequency and impact. At this rate, they'll force a full-scale eruption."

"Oh, I know. That's why we have no choice but to enact the Endgame Protocol."

Rourke crosses to the bar and pours himself a glass of whiskey. He reaches into his coat pocket and with some surprise, pulls out a napkin with a bit of writing on it.

"Satellite uplink codes? Won't be needing those..."

"I've always encouraged you to routinely empty your pockets, sir."

Rourke scowls sternly at the holographic woman. "You are my personal assistant, Iris, not my mother. Know your place."

"Yes, sir."

Rourke takes a sip of whiskey, savoring the alcoholic burn as it slides down his throat.

"Did I ever tell you about this bar, Iris?"

"I don't believe you did, sir."

"It was the very first part of the hotel I designed. Long before I knew I'd have my own island. Before Rourke International, before the Hostiles, before all of this madness. I was just a bored young man dreaming of having his own private lounge. Every other room is for the tourists. But this lounge? It's just for me. And my friends." He takes another sip. "It's strange, you know? This whole resort is just a front to cover up the real work we do on this island. But all the same...I'm going to miss it."

"As will I, sir."

He sets down his drink and steps away from the bar.

"Well. Time for the endgame to begin."

A few minutes later, he is strolling through his office, Iris hovering after him.

"Sir, may I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"The plane will be landing shortly after the chronostorm is expected to break. With the guests in processing and you departing, there will be no one here. The students...they'll be stranded. On their own."

"Yes. Yes, they will. I'd hoped to greet them in person, but..." The island rumbles again. This time, it is hard enough to make him stumble. A current of red light shimmers through the room. "It seems the island has other plans."

"I calculate their odds of survival at less than 6%."

"If I was the kind of man who believed the odds, Iris, I never would have sailed into that strom twenty-five years ago. And I never would have found this island. Which means I never...well...you know the rest."

"If I may offer a suggestion...perhaps I could remain. Provide them with assistance, perhaps explain the situation..."

"No. Absolutely not. The risk of you contaminating them is far too great. They must be pure. True. Themselves. In fact...I believe the time has come. Iris, could you do me one last favor?"

"Of course, sir. Anything you ask."

"Delete yourself."

There is a look like surprise on Iris' holographic face. He can almost detect something like fear in her projected eyes.

"...Sir..."

"I gave you an order."

"Yes...but...sir...I would cease to exist. It would be as if I were killing myself."

"That's the idea, yes."

"But..."

"Do it."

Her face does a marvelous impression of anguish. "...Iris 3.0 initializing self-destruct sequence. Purging all archives and databases. Deleting all memories. Self-destruct in 3...2...1..."

Her light sputters out. The little drone crumples to the marble floor with a puff of black smoke. Rourke looks at it for a moment before crushing it under his heel.

"Well then. Nothing left to do." He removes his shoes, his belt, and then his cufflinks. "Time for one final adventure."