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Thomas saret Atmus"

"You already have it" She holds up her hand, betrothal band gleaht "Not that I had any say in the matter And you know I hate when you call me that"

When we make it to the train, I notice that it isn’t very crowded, which is strange for the weekend "Looks like a lot of people decided to walk today," Thoainst her knees, indifferent to his ar a peculiar little story," Tho at me because he knows Pen won’t humor him with interest

"What about?" I say

"It’s about the people of the ground trying to reach us They craft a sort of machine and harness it to birds"

"Birds couldn’t lift so that heavy," Pen says We don’t know very h as Internes of the alone or as beads in a necklace of Vs

"Well then, you’ve figured out the conflict," he says "Anyway, they don’tto reach us So iant rock in the sky Perhaps they think we’re a dusty moon"

"I wonder about that all the tiround," Pen says, rising as the train rolls to a stop "She’ll be lost in thought for the rest of the day, and I need soood"

Basil spots us as we’re stepping out onto the platforht in his brown eyes Pen calls it a shame that my eyes aren’t dominant, but I think it would be nice if my children look like Basil He holds his array suit, ih I know I shouldn’t, I io all the way down the sky until we reach the ground

"How are you?" he asks, so close that his breath reaches the nape of ht the person responsible," I adht with an extra bolt for our door Every tiirl’s face"

"A lot of people inlocks, too" He frowns "They’ll find whoever’s behind this Intern There aren’t many places to hide"

That’s what has me so afraid I’ve always liked the sht and hearing the trains rush by, always on tih every day since Daphne Leander’s es a bitin on me

Even the seats in the theater feel s dimmer

"Are you okay?" Pen says "Your cheeks are bright red"

Basil touches my forehead "Do you feel sick?" His touch is supposed to coet away fro

"I need to use the water rooo with you," Pen says

"No," I say, too quickly "No, youI’ll be fast, I promise"

I can see that she’s wary, but she doesn’t try to stop me as I shuffle down the aisle

With all of the shows about to start, the lobby is empty aside from the ticket vendors, who pay no mind as I stumble toward the water rooms But when I push the door open, I find that I’nize the little girl fro a piece of paper over the mirror But she stops when she sees ainst the wall

"I didn’t mean to scare you," I say

There’s a piece of paper over each of the lance and I can see that they’re select passages from Daphne Leander’s essay All of them are handwritten Typewriters are a rare luxury afforded to those rite for a living; a past king once considered ainst it He said that if words could be easily printed and erased, ould lose our appreciation for rote

I’d like to ask her about the pages, but she runs past h the door