Page 9 (1/2)

The phone calls The unknown caller ID My heart seizes, andon the couch I’d slept for a few hours, and no one had coht before eases, and the shock of standing in thewill actually happen The events even feel like a dreaain It came from my phone Suddenly I remember that it’s Wednesday I’ es still make a sound on litch to the danger of losing the onlythat I have

I leap out of my chair Keira stirs in her corner, partially hidden from view behind the cardboard divider I rush into the bathroo a quick co the saht They’ll have to do No tiunder the weight of the world

Ding

Ding! Ding!

"Oh, for the love of--" I snap under noring it and hurry out of the bathroom "I’rablist of texts

Eighty-four

Ms Emika Chen, please call

212-555-0156 i settles in my sto through the blinds Only now do I hear the sound of voices co from the street below

"Emi," Keira says "Coht cut through the blinds, painting yellow stripes against my arms Keira’s lips are folded into a puzzled frown I pull two blinds apart, and look outside

A cluster of people ja up to our aparte cameras with them I see call letters printed on the sides of their microphones--it’s the local news stations

My sto on?"

Keira turns to face me, then fumbles in her pockets for her phone She quickly types so to the buzz of voices outside

Keira reads the search results on her phone The color has drained from her face, and her eyes are wide

"E at a list of news articles, each one displaying the same photo: a screenshot ofinside the Warcross opening game, with Asher turned toward o on and on, their headlines ether

Audience Me Game

WARCROSS HACKED!

HACKER TEMPORARILY DISRUPTS WARCROSS OPENING

Who Is Eht of ht would have attracted anything less than a spotlight My identity’s been blown Not only blown, but with those blown bits plastered all over the internet like stickers It’s too late to run I stay frozen as Keira continues to search, her expression turningabout me," I stammer "They can’t I must still be asleep"

"You’re not asleep" Keira holds up her phone again I read a feed littered withtopic"

Over by the dining table, ain We look at it in unison

"Keira," I say, "do me a favor and look up a nu table, where I pick up the phone and scan the endless string of identical texts "212-555-0156"

Keira types it into a search A second later, she ss and looks at me "It’s the nu sensation of dread travels down hty text er, letting the commotion outside fill the silence in our rooht-headedness hts flash by: police sirens; handcuffs; courtrooation cha to sue me"

"You better call them," Keira replied "It won’t be any better for you if you wait"

She’s right I hesitate for a second before finally grabbingso badly that I can barely dial the nu in front of me

"Put it on speaker," she adds I do, then hold the phone between us