The air crackled with a tension thicker than the smog. Every shadow felt like an NWCO drone.
We didn't slow down until the monolithic headquarters building was just a cold, ugly memory behind us. Our destination was the Outer Perimeter, the massive, reinforced wall that separated the City of Compliance from the unknown.
We've got maybe ten minutes before they trace the energy spike from that green stone. I pushed myself harder, the faded green residual glow on my palm feeling less like a symbol of freedom and more like a glowing bullseye.
"I need to know your plan, Kira," Benny wheezed, clinging to my collar. "Because running in a straight line toward the biggest fence in the world is usually filed under 'Bad Ideas' in my personal database."
"The maintenance access," I gasped. "Level D-4. It's rusted shut, but the green stone... my mother said they're catalysts."
"A catalyst for what?" Benny demanded. "A really expensive funeral?"
We skidded to a stop in front of the wall. It wasn't just metal; it was pure, colorless obsidian, shimmering with latent power. This was where the city's monotonous hum originated.
I reached into the rust-locked panel. I didn't have the stone anymore, but the faint green energy still lingered in my hand. I pushed the glowing palm against the lock mechanism.
A soft, almost musical ping echoed in the silent alley. The lock clicked open.
I knew it. The color is life, and the NWCO's power is nothing but a dampener.
We squeezed through the gap just as a blinding white searchlight swept over the alley.
"That was too close," I whispered, pulling the heavy panel shut behind us.
Benny didn't answer right away. He was listening to the speaker mounted on the perimeter wall.
The NWCO broadcast voice, usually used for hourly compliance reminders, was booming, strained with something that sounded suspiciously like anger.
"WARNING. Citizen 447-9KIRA is now designated Class One Fugitive. Associated with the spread of UNHOLY COLOR."
Benny whistled, a rare sound of genuine appreciation. "Class One Fugitive. You're moving up in the world, kid."
But then the broadcast changed. A repetitive, colorless image flashed on a small screen above the speaker: a perfect, pixelated rendering of the tiny, glowing green stone.
"REWARD for information leading to the recovery of the CORRUPTED POWER STONE is one year of full nutrient rations. The stone is a threat to the Purity of Uniformity."
They didn't just label me a fugitive. They labeled the stone. My stomach dropped. They're not looking for me to punish me—they're looking for the catalyst.
"We need to get far away from this wall," I muttered, looking out at the featureless, empty landscape beyond the city. "If they think that Noblewoman took it, they'll stop looking for me in here. But out there..."
Benny shrugged his little banana shoulders. "Out there is called The Wastes, Kira. It's called that because it's a waste of time and life. No food, no shelter, just dust and disappointment."
"Out there," I corrected him, looking past the gloom, "is where my mother hid her things. If the Garden of Eden is real, it's not going to be in Sector 7."