Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Well, now we’re getting somewhere. “What other place?”
“That place.” She points off to my right. At the ruined foundation of what used to be an ancient tower, opposite the ruined tower she was previously referring to.
I look at the foundation, confused. “I don’t get it.”
“It’s there. Can’t you see?”
“What’s there?”
“The tower, of course.” Then her gaze lifts up and she stares at the sky.
My gaze lifts up to the sky too. The… empty sky. “There’s no tower there, Anneeta. It’s just air.”
“You can’t see it because you’re not me. But there’s a tower there, Tyse. And when I climb the stairs and go all the way up to the top, there’s a secret room too. A room where people go to see me the way I see them.”
I look up at the sky and replay those words in my head. Because I know exactly what she’s talking about. She not only sees the veil—which presents to augments as a kind of shimmer. A break in the fabric of reality. Or, rather, the possibility of one—but she interacts with it too.
In Sweep, I could see what she’s describing. I could also travel across the veil and visit places where the spark was still very powerful. Everyone on my team could. That’s the whole point of being augmented. And the whole point of having augments in the Omega Outlands was to manage these places. The details of which are complicated, but not specifically important at this moment.
But there were no people there. At least, that’s what we were told. I certainly never saw any, though. It was just a place. A bad place, even for augments because it’s gone ‘amok’. Which is actually a technical term in the Sweep, stupid as that sounds.
I turn back to Anneeta, place both my hands on her shoulders, and wait until she’s looking me in the eyes with her full attention. “Anneeta. Can you see that tower? Like actually see it?” I nod my head at the empty air where the tower used to be, but isn’t now.
She nods.
I let out a breath and stand up. Then I let my gaze wander up to where the tower would be if my augments were still working. There’s not supposed to be any veils left outside the Omega Outlands. They were cleared hundreds of years ago.
Did they miss one?
No. That’s not even possible. That was the whole point of augments in the early days. To clear the veils in all the tower cities. And even if they failed back then, the augments ran the cities for decades after sweeping. Someone would’ve seen it. Even now, plenty of augments come to Tau City for leave. Someone would’ve seen it.
Hell, seven years ago, I would’ve seen it. I still had some vision when I was discharged. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to see an actual tower, like in my prime, but I would know something was there. Even if I couldn’t see the overlay, I would’ve felt it, at the very least.
It cannot be here.
But it is. I know it is. And it’s got something to do with Clara.
“Anneeta, could you see this tower before you saw that first lady?”
“No. But I could feel it. And I couldn’t see other ladies before her, either. She was the first one I ever saw. But then, after she disappeared, when I turned back to the ruin, it was all like this.” She shrugs and opens her arms to indicate all the things I cannot see.
“How many towers do you see?”
She looks around, her lips moving a little as she counts. “Five. But not all of them are tall. Just this one”—she points to the empty space we’ve been talking about—“and that one.” She points across the canal, to the other side of the Ruin District.
Two towers on either side of the God’s Tower. Just like Clara described to me.
“Sometimes”—Anneeta points to the space in front of the God’s Tower now—“there’s a lot of people out there. That night we found Clara—well, the night before that, actually—there were a lot of people out there. And the night before that, too.”
“What kind of people?” Because this… I don’t understand. “Like… that kind of people?” I point to all the people in front of the tower right now.
Anneeta shakes her head. “No. Those are real people. The people I see are ghosts. And that night before Clara came, I saw ghosts. I saw her.”
“Wait.” I stare at the tower, trying to picture this. Then I look back at Anneeta. “Did you see her, the ghost Clara, walk through the tower doors?”
Anneeta nods. “I did. I followed her—I always follow them—but she wasn’t inside when I got there.”
“You always follow… who?”
“I mean.” She turns away, not looking at me. “I don’t see them.”
“But you just said you saw the lady last year. And the crowd—”