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A sense of loneliness crept over her despite being in the crowded little chamber She couldn’t believe people lived this way once, with nothing but the real Savages on the outside still lived this way

"It worked," Soren said "We’re off! We’re strictly meat!"

Bane hopped up and down "We’re like the Savages!"

"We’re Savages!" Echo yelled "We’re Outsiders!"

Paisley kept blinking over and over Aria wanted to reassure her, but she couldn’t concentrate with Bane and Echo blasting around in the small space

Soren spun a manual release bar on the door The chamber depressurized with a quick hiss and a rush of cool air Aria looked down, stunned to see Paisley’s hand clasped to hers She had only a second to absorb the fact that she hadn’t touched anyone in months, since her mother left, before Soren slid the door open

"Freedom at last," he said, and then stepped into the darkness

In the shaft of light that spilled out of the airlock chamber, she saw the same smooth floors that ran everywhere in Reverie, but these were coated with a layer of dust Soren’s footprints staloo 6 craith outside dangers? A ht be swi suddenly felt like suicide

Aria heard beeps frohts flickered on with a series of loud clicks A cavernous space appeared Farh above, pipes and bea hole or other signs of wreckage With its dirty floors and solelected

Soren ju the frareatest night of your life"

The food grew fro fruits and vegetables spread out around her in endless lines Like everything in the Pod, they were genetically designed for efficiency They had no leaves, and needed no soil and little water to grow

Aria plucked a withered peach, cringing at how easily she’d bruised the soft flesh In the Realrow virtually, on farms with red barns and fields under sunny skies She rean, Better than Real It was true in this case The real food in Ag 6 looked like old people before aging-reversal treatments

The boys spent the first tenover the fara one another with produce Aria played for a while, but Soren kept ai for her and he threw too hard

She took cover with Paisley, ducking behind a row as Soren changed the gaainst the wall execution-style and then fired grapefruits at the brothers, who just stood there laughing

"No more citrus!" Bane yelled "We’ll talk!"

Echo put his hands up like Bane "We give, Fruit Reaper! We’ll talk!"

People always did what Soren wanted He had priority in all the best Realms He even had a Realm nahteenth birthday a o Tilted Green Bottles played a special concert During the last song, the stadium flooded with seawater Everyone had transformed intowas possible, that party had been spectacular It had set off the underwater concert craze Soren had made caudal fins sexy

Aria rarely meshed with him after school hours Soren ruled the sports and combat Realms Places where people could compete and be ranked She normally kept to art and music Realms with Paisley and Caleb

"Look at this e so away"

"It’s called a stain," Aria said

"What’s the point of stains?"

"There isn’t any That’s e don’t have them in the Realms" Aria studied her best friend Paisley wore a pinched expression, her brow overlapping the edge of her Sht?"

Paisley waved her fingers in front of her Eye "I hate this Everything’s , you know? Where is everyone? And why do I sound so pseudo?"

"We all do Like ed aphones"

Paisley lifted an eyebrow "A what?"

"A cone people used to make their voices louder Before ress," Paisley said She scooted around, squaring her shoulders to Aria "Are you going to tellon? Why are ith Soren?"

Now that they were shut off, Aria realized she could tell Paisley her reason for flirting with hiet infor"

Paisley’s expression softened "The link is probably just down You’ll hear from her soon"

"The link has only dropped for a few hours before Never for this long"

Paisley sighed, leaning back against the plasticto hiht you’d broken into your mother’s medicines"

Aria s strictly between herself and hera sultry ballad to Soren in a Cabaret Realm In minutes that Real to hear her sing again Aria had left And just as she’d hoped, Soren had been chasing her since When he’d proposed the idea for tonight, she’d jumped at the opportunity