I run. The breath catches in my throat, but I don't stop. Ground flies by under my feet. I have never run this fast in my life. There isn't much room for running inside the Fuge. But I'm not there anymore. The ground beneath my feet is new, and old. It is the streets of the city, and the blurs whizzing by on either side of me are the buildings. The goal for my sprint comes into view – the Great Ring – and my feet halt before it. My chest is empty on air and full of anticipation. I've no idea why. The sight of the Ring up close fills me with joy and dread. Something extraordinary is going to happen – soon.
I wake in my bed with my heart pounding against my ribs, winded as if I had really been running. The images of the dream are still clear in my mind; the Great Ring looming over me and the churning amalgamation of feelings in my chest. Darkness and silence presses on me. There is no light in the Fuge at night. No point spending power when everyone is sleeping. I can't stay where I am.
Silently I slip out from under the cover, tip toeing through the sleeping hall by memory. I've been up enough times in the night to find my way around the beds even in pitch dark. I know how to keep from waking any of the other children.
I meant to go to the bathroom and then return to bed, but something else is calling me. I climb the stairs to the roof. It's still dark when I reach the top, but out the east window there's a hint of pink on the horizon. I only barely notice it. My eyes are called by the Great Ring. I have to see it. Just have to. It looks small from up here, sitting in the park a few blocks away. It's only the distance, in actuality it is supposed to be just as big as its name suggests. No one knows anymore what it once was for. There are many theories; the most popular being that it was a statue. It's a novel thought, for something so big to have been made solely for decoration.
The rosy light spreading from the rising sun reveals details of the world. In the morning light it doesn't look nearly as dead as the elders would have us believe. It may be gray and void of plants or animals, but it just looks empty – not dead. My eyes find the Ring again. In my mind I add the details distance has erased. The symbols, the red beacons… The beacons! Was that imagination? A trick by the reflected sun?
A bigger light erupts – blue – and this time there is no doubt even though it is still hard to believe. I rub my eyes. It is still there; a disc of shimmering blue inside the Ring. Pressed against the glass pane I stare at it, every inch of me trying to reach out towards it. Then there is movement. Something appears from the blue. I squint and manage to make out its gray color, and that it's rolling like some kind of vehicle. There are plenty of vehicles sprinkled on the streets throughout the city, but I have never seen one of them move.
The gray vehicle comes to a halt a short distance from the Ring. For a while it sits there and I watch it breathlessly. Then all of a sudden more figures appear from the blue. These are smaller, greenish – and they are walking. They're people! Four people come out of the blue before it disappears. They mill around the Ring and their vehicle for a while, then they set out into the city.
I watch them until they disappear between two high-rises. When they're gone I stare at the spot where they disappeared. I can't think. There aren't supposed to be anyone out there. All I've ever known says there can't be. And yet they are. I should tell someone.