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There was no telling what caused the old Pac-Man gaht it fro down electronics that had crossed Electronics did not cross very often True, over the years people loved their gramophones, or Victrolas, or 8-track players, or iPods, but in the end, no one "loved" those things with the kind of soulful devotion that would cause the device to cross into Everlost No love was ever lost on a CD player that broke It was siotten For that reason, Everlost electronics were mostly the result of sunspot activity

Mary prided herself on keeping current on technology, so that arriving Greensouls would feel somewhat at home It had taken patience, and work, but over the years, Mary had gotten herself quite a collection of video games, and had turned the sixty-fourth floor into an arcade There were also countless black vinyl record albums that had crossed, because people did truly love their music, but she had yet to track down a record player on which to play the white ball The hairy things turn blue Eat the hairy things until they start to blink Run away

Over and over The repetition wasn’t soto Lief as it was compulsive He couldn’t stop He didn’t want to stop Ever

In the forest he had surely been a creature of habit He had swung froames day after day--but that was soency to it But the endless stiled machine demanded his focus in a way the forest never did Other kids told hiaht Eat Run

"Lief, what are you doing? How long have you been here?"

He was barely aware of Allie s voice He didn’t even turn to look at her "A while," he told her Up Left Down

"I think you’ve been at that ht"

"So?"

"This is wrong I’ve got to get you out of here! We’ve all got to get out of here!"

But Lief wasn’t listening anys had turned blue

It had been a long time since Greensouls had had such an effect on Mary Lief was not a probles she had for all the children in her care, but Allie, with her incessant questions and her neurosis of hope, brought up feelings in Mary she would s of doubt, frustration, and a sense of remorse as deep as her toere tall

And then there was Nick The feelings he brought out in her were of a different nature, but just as troubling He was so veryfrom his anxieties to the flush of his face in her presence His bodily , Mary could spend every erous as being envious of the living There hispered tales of Afterlights whose envy of the living had turned them into incubuses --souls helplessly, hopelessly attached to a living host This was different, but still, it was a weakness, and she was not in a position to be weak Too th With all this on her mind, she found herself distracted, and uncharacteristically , not even Vari, she descended to the fifty-eighth floor, the place she hen she needed silence and solitude

The fifty-eighth floor had no tenants on the day the towers crossed into eternity For that reason there were no walls or partitions subdividing it, and so, with the exception of the elevator core, the entire floor was nearly an acre of hollow space

And still Nick found her

"One of the little kids said you ht be here," he said as he approached

It surprised her that anyone knehere she went But then, perhaps everyone did, but respected her enough not to disturb her She watched as he drew nearer, his gentle glow visible in the daylight because the floor was so vast it was mostly in shadows, even s on all sides He was clearly not comfortable with the space "Why would you come here? It’s so … empty"

"You see emptiness," she said "I see possibility"

"Do you think you’ll ever need all these floors?"

"There areeveryday," she told him "It may take a thousand years until we need the space, but it’s nice to know I have it"

Mary looked out at the faded world of the living, hoping Nick would go away, hoping he would stay, and cursing herself for not being able to keep her distance

"Is so?"