Icarus

I tail it back home as quickly as my boosters can go without sucking up water. It's a bit of a trip, since I was all the way down at Diverside, but it's not too bad since I get to go past all the buildings and ogle window displays. There's not much to see usually, since things have to be sturdy here and that usually doesn't mean pretty, but sometimes some artist ups and grows algae on a wall somewhere and makes this beautiful mural out of it. The darkness makes it difficult to see without a really strong headlamp though, so I might have to skip it for today.

No one navigates by sight anymore. We're all sound, now. Headlamps are for emergencies - and pussies, no one uses theirs unless they have to or they're a pussy. I'm no pussy, I can make it alone.

Main is desolate. That's odd; it's close to five now and work lets out at half four. I decide to ring Neo again, just so I have someone to speak to.

You can see someone's name when you call them, but you can't ever see who's trying to call you. It's dumb, but at least we have communication. I dial Neo and hold my breath, half in suspense and half because my oxygen's getting a tad low. Nothing dangerous, but not worth wasting.

"Whozit?" I hear. Definitely Neo.

"It's Lars," I tell him nervously. "Are you still in school? Main's empty and work let out half ago, where is everyone?"

He pauses. I think he's asking someone else. "They let people home early because of the accident at school," he says, "work too, even though Corp ain't in danger. That's the only building anyone gives half a spit about, you know that, but they let everyone out at half to instead. I think it's cos parents were leaving to check on their kids and Corp decided it wasn't worth trying to keep them in."

I've been nodding absentmindedly the entire time, caught up in my own thoughts. "Yeah," I murmur. "Hey - who all got hit? Anyone we know? Knew," I correct myself. "Knew. Anyone we knew?"

"Mars," Neo says, "him and Jones and Tess. Key and Hope and Jem. Art, Polly, James and Lee." His voice cracks on Lee's name. I wince. Lee was his closest friend - closer than myself. "Lee's gone, man. He's gone."

I don't have anything to say. "I'm sorry," I tell him honestly. "I have to get home and refill. What are they doing with the cor... people that died?"

"Tanking them. It's the only thing we have." His voice is hollow. "I'm going to ask them to put some flares in with them when we're floating them up. That way everyone can see. To honor them, y'know?"

"Yeah. Good talking, Neo. Take care." I hang up. I can't take this conversation anymore; dismal moods are contagious and if anyone starts crying he eats up oxygen like a human vacuum.

I didn't know any of those people. I guess I'm lucky. But the nineteen guys that Neo didn't name - seven gone, twelve critically hurt - what if they were my friends? What if they were family? I have two younger sisters at training school, what would I do if it were one of them?

Home is a wonderful relief. Inside, I shed my suit in tempered glee, casting the already drying fabric to the corner of my bathroom and sinking to my sofa in only boxers. No one in this flat gives a choke if someone else walks around half naked. It's a freedom to wear less than fifty pounds of sub-suit down here, so nudity's not considered taboo.

"Lars boy!" exclaims the wall to my right. From behind it pops my roommate: Keller. One of fourteen. It's not a small flat, but fifteen's a lot of sweaty nasty guys to squish together on one place. Keller's entire face is taken up by his mouth, so when he grins that stupid relieved grin, his eyes go crinkled into his head and his nose is practically gone. Good dude, but a little odd.

"Hey Kel," I reply, exhausted. "Tell the guy I'm back. Hey, did you know anyone who's in the clinic now?"

"Only Toby," says Keller. "My primary-training buddy. He's doing alright, minor glass damage, minor brain damage from the pressure change - hey! Val, your brother's home!" He waves to someone behind the wall.

My brother's been house-stuck since his accident a few months ago. Spinal injury. Lost control of his legs, and you sort of need those to get around down here. He spends his time in a wheelchair or just sitting in bed staring at the wall, and it breaks my heart, but there's nothing I can do. Not now. We don't have the resources for it.

He rounds the corner, hopeful. Our eyes meet: gray, matching, the only fraternal identifier. "God, Lars, I was scared you'd be dead," he gasps, wheeling over to me. Out of habit, I stand up to help, maneuvering his chair until we can face each other comfortably.

"I skipped class," I admit. "Never woulda heard about the collapse except Neo rang."

Val gives me a little half-smile. "Never thought your natural rebel would save your life, kid," he says, reaching over to ruffle my hair. Val's five years older than me, so he was already out of training when he got hurt. Sharp as a tack, is Val; I trust his judgement over anyone else's.

My younger sisters don't live here with me. We can't risk expanding too far up or wide, so everything we build is down, and since that takes a hell of a long time, we have a handful of cramped apartments organized by gender. No one's allowed to have kids until Tanking Day. Peony and Lily live closer to school with a Matron and eighteen other little girls, a few miles west of my flat. I don't have the energy to go now.

"Can you ring Peony and Lily's Matron, Val?" I ask. My ringer's about out of juice. He nods, wheels back, and is gone into the next room to place a ring.

Suddenly the ground shudders as though suffering an explosion. Keller starts, backing into a corner. I follow.

One, two, three. Still. It's over.

"Earthquake?" he asks. I shake my head. It wasn't a deep-rooted rumble - more a surface impact, like a boulder falling from a cliff.

My ringer goes off, augmented with higher tones to alert me that its battery is low. I pick up. "Yeah?" I say, not expecting anyone but the answer I receive.

"Lars," says Neo frantically. "That was an apartment. 3M." I feel a jolt in my chest: 3M. Keller and Val and I are staying in 3L, just beside the collapsed building. "3M's down. The entire of the building. Get out of there, Lars, get out of there now."

And that's when I feel the walls shudder round me, the ceiling caving.

The end.