Ruination

"I can't believe you dragged me all the way out here."

"Come on, city boy. It's not so bad."

Madison grinned as she and August hopped off the monorail and headed into the funky little shopping plaza called Mooney Court. It was at the most northern part of Arkana, in Sector 13. Madison rarely had cause to come all the way out here, but she thought it might be a good place to find a unique gift for her mom.

"So, this place is only open at night?" August asked. "Is that because the shop owners are all weirdos?"

"If they are then you'll fit right in. Why don't you sidle over to that bar and get a giant cocktail to shut you up?"

August arched an eyebrow. "Are you telling me to put cocks in my mouth? Because that's kind of rude, Maddi."

"You're disgusting," Madison laughed, punching his arm. "Come on, I want one of those watermelon martini things."

She hauled him over to the bar, which was already starting to fill up with people as the sun set. Madison sipped delicately at her drink while August tried to explain to the poor bartender how to make some silly and outrageous cocktail of his own design. When the last of her watermelon martini was gone, she stuck her paper umbrella behind August's ear and steered him back outside.

She bought him some caramel corn to appease his complaining that she took too long to choose gifts. He reminded her of a little kid as he munched happily on it. Or maybe a smart ass chipmunk.

"There has to be something here," August said. "I think you've literally searched all of Arkana by this point."

"I have not, quit exaggerating." Madison bent over to study some small music boxes in the window of one of the shops. They were exquisite in detail, and when she spotted one with a jeweled elephant decorating the lid, she knew she'd finally found the right gift. She darted inside, August following her with a grumble. The kind-faced old woman behind the counter gave them both a warm smile and she wrapped the music box in extra layers of thick paper to make sure it didn't break. Elephants were the sort of animals you didn't see in Arkana; other, smaller creatures existed here but no one had any need for something the size of an elephant.

Being the animal lovers they were, Madison's parents had a deep fascination with all the animals long lost, like elephants and bears and whales. Madison carefully slipped the music box into the pocket of her jacket as they stepped outside.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" August asked. "I'm famished from all this treasure hunting."

"Yeah, sure, we can-" Madison broke off, frowning. An odd, high-pitched wailing sound cut through the din of people shopping and talking. Slowly everyone grew quiet and still, looking around uneasily. The sound grew steadily louder, a horrible piercing shriek that made Madison shiver. She had never heard a sound like that before in her life. And it seemed to be carrying all through Arkana.

"Oh my god," she breathed. "August...it's the sirens."

A few other people seemed to have reached the same conclusion she did; there were shouts and cries of alarm.

"The wall has been breached!" a woman screamed. Everyone knew about the sirens; they had been created back at the founding of Arkana. They were designed to go off if something from outside got in. They had never once sounded in the entire history of Arkana.

But they were sounding now.

People began to panic, flowing forward in a tide of limbs and frightened faces as the sirens wailed on. August tried to pull Madison out of the crush of people, but someone slammed into her and she lost her grip on August's hand. She fell backward, losing her footing and sprawling on her back on the ground. She tried to sit up, but someone leaped over her. The last thing she saw was a booted foot coming at her face, then everything went dark and silent.



When she opened her eyes, Madison was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. There were voices talking somewhere to her right, and she couldn't remember what had happened until she registered the sound of the sirens still blaring outside. She let out a soft moan as she tried to move and pain thrummed through her skull.

"You're awake!" she heard August say. His face appeared above her, and he shoved three fingers in her face.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" he demanded. Madison swatted them away.

"You'll have a few less if you don't get them out of my face," she grumbled.

"She's fine," August said dryly. Madison sat up gingerly, her head pounding. Two men she didn't know were standing off to the side, and she realized she was laid out on a table.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You fell when everyone started stampeding," August said. "Some guy kicked you in the head as he ran by. I grabbed you, and these fine upstanding gentlemen waved me in here. They saw you go down."

"We have a lot of first aid supplies," the shorter of the two said, giving her a friendly smile. "I have a few things that should help with your head."

"Thank you," Madison mumbled, touching her temple and wincing. "We have to find out what's going on out there." She tried to slide off the table and nearly collapsed. August caught her.

"Whoa, easy tiger. I don't think you're quite ready to go charging into battle just yet." He lifted her back onto the table as the gray-eyed boy with the friendly smile came back. He sprayed something on her head and the pain ebbed a little. Bruise-be-Gone. It had a gentle numbing agent in it and helped to reduce swelling.

"I'm Gency," he said. "That's my older brother Pierce."

The other man waved slightly.

"August," August volunteered. "And the concussed warrior nymph there is my friend Madison."

It seemed strange to be sitting here making introductions when the sirens kept up their ominous scream outside. The door of the shop banged open a girl with wheat colored hair and an abundance of freckles came darting inside.

"I wanted to run over and check in with you guys. Everyone is bugging out about the...sirens. Hello."

She had skidded to a halt and was staring at Madison and August.

"Hi, Jennifer," Gency said. He sprayed a little more of the cold Bruise-be-Gone on her face and Madison finally started to feel clear headed instead of woozy.

"What's going on?" the girl, Jennifer, asked. Her voice had a faint whiny quality to it.

"Madison fell and hurt her head when everyone started freaking out," Pierce explained. "We brought them in here before she got trampled. It was insane out there."

Jennifer eyed Madison with a weird look on her face, edging closer to Pierce. Feeling almost normal again, Madison slowly slid off the table.

"The Net isn't working," August said, holding up the slim little pad that allowed you to make holo-calls and play games or transfer silvers. Madison pulled out her own and saw the bright red "Network Unavailable" message on the screen. The feeling of dread in her stomach worsened.

They all jumped as a flickering holographic image of a woman in a crisp dress suit appeared, smiling brightly.

"Hello, citizens of Arkana. We have been declared in a state of emergency. At this time, we ask that you remain calm and stay indoors. Do not try to travel between sectors at this time. Please await further information. Thank you."

The holograph repeated her message serenely once more before disappearing.

"Why do the holo messages still work if the Net is down?" Jennifer asked.

"The messages come from the Chancery," August said. "They can still project holo messages offline."

"Wait, I know you," Jennifer said, looking more closely at August. "You're Chancellor Beckett's son."

"Thank you."

"There's no way I'm staying here and waiting to see what happens," Madison declared. "My family is all the way over in Sector 30. I can't just sit here twiddling my thumbs."

"You heard the emergency message," Jennifer said, still giving her the stink eye. "They have protocols in place. The Chancellors will handle everything."

"The Chancellors don't know what they're handling," Madison argued. "They might know the procedures we were all supposed to follow in the event of a breach, but it's never happened before. They probably don't even know more than we do right now."

"Pierce, Dad went to Sector 5 to go to the market for some supplies," Gency said quietly. Pierce ran a hand through his copper hair, looking troubled.

"We're supposed to stay here," Jennifer insisted. A loud thud made all of them pause and go quiet. Madison and Pierce were the first to move toward the window and peer out. At first she couldn't tell where the thuds were coming from, then she looked up and gasped. The small towers that lined the top of the wall were opening, and people were jumping out of them.

No, not people, she realized. They were made of shining metal. They were droids. Nothing like the little round helper bots that cleaned up trash in the streets or were kept around for housework, these were tall and humanoid, marching in formation as they spilled out of the towers all along the wall.

"What the hell are those?" Pierce muttered. Jennifer, August and Gency crowded in behind them to look out too. Madison could see her own confusion and fear reflected back at her in all their faces. The droids fanned out and marched around Mooney Court, some of them heading further away into Sector 13.

"See?" Jennifer said. "The Chancellors are taking care of things."

"And yet they couldn't give us a heads up about creepy robots dropping from the sky?" Madison said sarcastically. A man came running out of one of the other shops and approached one of the droids. He was gesturing wildly and Madison figured he was trying to ask what was happening. The droid's robotic voice carried over the court, telling the man to get back indoors for his own safety.

"I need to take the monorail to Sector 2!" the man shouted frantically.

"The monorail is not in use at this time. You must remain indoors for your own safety."

The man tried to push past the droid and make a mad dash toward the center of the sector, apparently with the goal of running all the way to Sector 2. The droid raised its arm and a beam of light burst out of a contraption on its wrist. The man screamed as he fell, convulsing slightly. The droid grabbed him by the leg and dragged him back to the shop he had run out of, literally throwing him back inside and slamming the door against the protests of the people gathered inside. Then the droid shot at the door with the thing on its wrist, and a force field shimmered to life over the building.

"Remain indoors for your own safety," it repeated, and marched away from the door.

"Jesus," August muttered and Jennifer had already reeled away from the window, practically hyperventilating. Gency was pale and Pierce looked even more troubled than before, slight horror mingling with the shock on his face. Madison had barely blinked, trying to comprehend what was happening before her.

"And you want to go outside and deal with that?" Jennifer asked. She shook her head, making her ponytail swish. "Uh uh, honey, no thank you. We'll be staying right here."

"We can't really sneak past those things," August said, though he didn't look happy about it.

"Yes we can," Madison said. "If we go underneath the city."

She was met with stares.

"There's a network of tunnels under the sectors," she said. "I don't know what they're used for, if anything. But we can follow them and come up in other sectors. My brothers and I found them in Sector 30 when we were kids. They must run the length of the city. There's probably an entrance for one near here."

"We'd still have to get past the metal men out there," August said. "But I already know you're going to try it, and I can't let you go alone."

"Dad's out there," Pierce said, eyes still on the window.

"You can't be thinking of going along with this?" Jennifer squawked. "Pierce, it's suicide. Something breached the wall! We don't know where it is or what it is!"

"If things are getting through the wall, then this is probably the worst place to be," Madison said. She pointed to the wall right outside, casting its formidable shadow over them. "If there's more of whatever it is, it could make another breach right under our feet."