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In the days and weeks that followed, life in Ca turned into stoic resolve The luxury of movable auras had basically vanished, and with supply shipular at best, the area within the Elevator’s aura became very crowded Skyler found his frorew faster than he could fill it

Of the two hundred original aura towers, only thirteen re toas found on what had been Mercy Road That "road," along with Water Road, had to be abandoned

With so feers left, Tania and the others were hypersensitive to any request for use Unless absolutely necessary, the toere held in reserve So it fell on Skyler, and his group of newfound iered, one that Skyler found hi about despite the willful denial exhibited by the rest of the caone? Only one such group was accounted for--"red circle" as it had come to be called These were parked in an area around the Builders’ crashed ship near the reservoir, a place now labeled off-liht, , or at least those he spent in caht through trees and buildings, the scars left behind by the tower groups felt like an invitation to seek theone

It didn’t take a lot of ied other crashed Builder ships But only four groups had vacated Beléh her telescope, spread out from the main vessel when the second Elevator arrived So where was the fifth? And why didn’t it need a group of towers around it?

Perhaps that one would be the easiest to explore, he mused

As of yet, the colony had no capacity to link into old ery they continued to compile Anchor Station used to have that capability, but it came froe that no longer existed

With each passing day Skyler felt the desire grow to follow the creatures at each, but perhaps one would be easier to assault than the others Fighting creatures that , but add the rainforest to thethem seemed impossible

Often, in the dark of night, with only the songs of nocturnal curassow and the occasional cry froht heron to keep hi a child’s school slate He’d found the devices by the dozen in a Catholic school not far frorahly detailed map of Earth, replete with satellite photos from as recently as 2260 He’d traced three lines across it, radiating out froroups: purple, eht" The red towers near Belém he’d marked as well

Certainly the exercise provided no clue as to where the towers had stopped He even went so far as to draw the lines all the way back around the planet, reconnecting with Beléht he calculated how long it would take the their speed remained constant He doubted they’d return that way, but it passed the ti tool also proved useful for scouting Belém He could zoom in on details as fine as five et some sense of perspective

Each time the sun rose, Skyler dreaded the hours that would folloo things happened eachin carowing scavenger wish list, a list the man now curated at Skyler’s request Karl had become his Prumble, in that sense, and life became a bit more bearable when Skyler could tell people to talk to Karl if their request didn’t make it onto the day’s priority list

Second, Skyler would seek out the other immunes and casually invite them to join hi, the firstafter they tried to reach the Builders’ ship, when Skyler gave the ih, and forgotten that no for they would stay, or if they would even help They were free for the first ti them around, Skyler had to dance around the subject and take care to avoid giving orders

So he would ask, nice and casual, over breakfast "Going over to that plumber’s supply today, for more PVC pipe and pumps Anyone up for a hike?" A different question each tiree to co around only because they hadn’t come up with a better idea yet

As for Ana, well, Skyler suspected he could not get rid of her if he wanted to She went everywhere with him, and if he hadn’t insisted that she move into Vanessa’s APC, he sensed she would want to continue sleeping on the bench across froossip that would cause

For thewoht, alert, and could hold her own in any conversation Good company, on the whole The erratic reckless actions seeo with no rhyme or reason, but with each day that passed since Davi died she seeet herself a bit more under control Once in a while she would descend into a state of deep depression, lasting hours or even days Skyler quickly learned a delicate balancing act for such times: Leave her alone, andhe found hie of the river, each with a fishing pole in hand She’d been quiet the entire day, since Skyler had chastised her for shooting at a snake that had surprised her in the slums Not ten minutes before she did that, they’d spotted evidence of recent subhuman presence in the area, and he’d ordered absolute silence as they trekked through the cruh the streets like thunder, and though no subhuet the better of hi the trancelike state brought on by watching a lure bob on the rippling water

She glanced up at hiht defiance still in her eyes

"I’m sorry I spoke harshly earlier I shouldn’t have said what I said"

"You called ned confusion "I don’t remember the specific words--"

"Specifically," Ana said, "you said it was a stupid fucking et my ‘shit’ under control"

He winced "Like I said, I’m sorry I just … I’d appreciate it if you tried to follow my orders e’re out there That wasn’t the first ti in a squad is keeping everyone in mind when you act, not just yourself"

Her eyes flared and she cae, but then, remarkably, she backed down She visibly deflated, and after a few seconds of staring at the dazzling twilight sun that glinted off the river, she began to nod "Davi used to say the same Well, not exactly the sary"

"I’ht, and for you I will try I’ll try to get rinned as she recited the line

Skyler found hi, too