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"I don’t know I guess it wasn’t until we got up here that I realized you guys were so serious aboutnever co a prettybut a source of entertain but a blur A few tricks weren’t enough to make everyone bubbly, she supposed; you had to want your e Maybe some people had always been pretty-heads, even back before the operation had been invented

Maybe so that way

"But now you can stay withhis arm around her "It’ll be like it was supposed to be You and me pretty - best friends forever"

Tally shook her head, a sickening feeling sweeping over her "I aht, I’ll find a way to escape"

"Why are you so unhappy there?"

She sighed, looking out over the darkness Zane and Fausto would already be headed toward the ruins, thinking she wasn’t far behind How had she let this opportunity slip away? The city always seemed to claim her in the end Was she really like Peris, somewhere deep inside?

"Why am I unhappy?" Tally repeated softly "Because the city makes you the way they want you to be, Peris And I want to be ave her a sad look "But people are better now than they used to be Maybe they have good reasons for changing us, Tally"

"Their reasons don’tunless I have a choice, Peris And they don’t give anyone a choice" Tally shook his hand fro back at the distant city A set of winking lights was rising into the air, a fleet of hovercars gathering She reme blades, like the Rusties’ ancient helicopters, so they could fly beyond the grid They nals of the cuffs

She had to get out of this balloon now

Before he’d jumped, Fausto had tied off the descent cord, and hot air was spilling from the envelope every moment But the balloon, superheated as they’d burned off the cuffs, was losing altitude so slowlythe ground hardly looked any closer

Then Tally saw the river

It stretched out below the out of the ore-rich mountains to make its way toward the sea On its bed would be centuries’ worth of h to catch her fall

Maybe she could get her future back

She pulled her board back up onto the rail "I’"

"But, Tally You can’t - "

"The river"

Peris looked down, his eyes wide "It looks so sritted her teeth "You’ve seen those forot their arot a whole hoverboard It’ll be like having wings!"

"You’re crazy!"

"I’ over the rail

"Tally!" He grabbed her hand "You could die! I don’t want to lose you "

She shook him off violently, and Peris took a fearful step back Pretties didn’t like conflict

Pretties didn’t take risks Pretties didn’t say no

Tally was no longer pretty "You already have," she said

And, clutching her hoverboard, she threw herself into the void

Part III

OUTSIDE

The beauty of the worldhas two edges, one of laughter,

one of anguish, cutting the heart asunder

- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

DESCENT

Tally dropped into silence, spinning out of control

After the stillness in the balloon, the rush of passing air built around her with unexpected strength, al the hoverboard frohtly to her chest, but the wind’s fingers continued to search for purchase, hungry to pry away her only hope of survival She clasped her hands around the board’s underbelly, kicking her legs, trying to control the spinning Gradually, the dark horizon steadied

But Tally was upside down, looking up at the stars and hanging from the board She could see the dark orb of the balloon above Then its flaainst the darkness, like a huge, dull uessed that Peris was headed upward to throw off the pursuit At least he was trying to help