ROGER (Read Until 7/31)

T W E N T Y - S I X

Two floors beneath the Domes were the computers all Codes once called home. Their tiny screens lined the walls of our main base; motherboards and cables were linked together, powered by chips over thirty-years out-of-date. Roger showed them all to me, pointed out their numbers. He reminded me of the fragile lives they kept inside; of the veracity they secured. If Zara destroyed them all, then we'd lose the minds of every citizen. We'd lose the war. And our task was to keep her at bay.

He made it sound so simple.

I suppose, in a way, it was. We were glorified guards. The training he'd given me in virtual reality wouldn't be used, not once, and all we had to do was wait. Sure, to be on the safe side, Douglas ordered Alex to give everyone Roger kept behind suits they'd crafted for this very moment—black, sleek, bullet resistant suits. If I were going to protect thousands of minds, at least I'd do it stylish, right?

Roger gave us a position within the Dome, and he—seated at the security cameras upstairs—would monitor our every move. Matthews, who stayed behind with us, complained, because if guarding the computers was Roger's job, why wouldn't he be the one to do it?

He'd told him simply, 'This way, I can watch everyone outside, too; kill two birds with one stone. Trying to be efficient here. Wouldn't you?'

No one could argue that.

Which was why I took my place on the lower levels without argument. I walked the right end until I reached a hall where the other three corners met in a cross. Whether I looked north, east, or west, within the dimly lit halls, it was all the same. Grey walls lined with computers, flashing lights from numbered data. Each direction echoed with the quiet sound of footsteps and muttering voices. I knew Erica and Alex were around somewhere, watching their aisles; a few others, too. Roger tried to get some of Bessel's men to join his team, but alas—like the great jerk himself—they hadn't a single bit of regard for the dead.

I, on the other hand, held them to the highest regard. They were my fellow citizens, after all. And I wasn't sure what the others did—aside from, you know, just walking—but I couldn't help myself.

I counted the numbers.

"Are we lookin' for somethin'?"

Matthews' voice came from close behind and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I made a half-turn, looked behind me, and found him leaned against the wall a foot from me. He smirked when our eyes met, and I groaned on the inside. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm offerin' to help." Matthews pointed at his chest. "If you tell me what we lookin' for, think we can get it done faster, hm?"

"We?" I scratched the side of my head before rubbing my face. "We're not looking for anything."

"Oh?" he chuckled. "Then it's just you? Snoopin' around at them computer screens?"

I didn't think I needed to explain myself; I never had to before and I wouldn't start now. Curiosity always got the best of me, but that's all it was—curiosity. It didn't mean a damn thing.

"Now, it's all right, I get it," Matthews said.

I'd turned around and looked at the computers again by the time he spoke. I pursed my lips when he started to laugh. "Get what?"

"You." Matthews followed behind me as I turned left down the joining hall and touched the walls at my side. My fingers slid over the screens with their flashing numbers. All of them were well in the thousands:

2078. 2079.

"I think you tryin' to find where his mind at. Tryin' to see if it's still there, or if it's a dead light."