Free False Future by Dan Krokos Page B

crumble, it was worse than before. I couldn’t explain it to the others without admitting what I’d done—it was all my fault. I knew they’d never forgive me.
    “Things got worse and worse, and eventually there was no unity. There were power grabs. There were secret wars.”
    Her voice is thick with emotion. And regret.
    “So I went back again. To try again.”
    Something buzzes inside the car. I hear her take off the mask, and I do the same.
    “I have to go,” she says, looking at the readout on her arm.
    “You promised you would tell me everything.” I know I’m still missing something crucial. It’s like a missing piece of lung.
    “And I will. Just stay out of trouble.”
    She reaches into the pouch on her waist. The distrustful part of me, the part that will never, ever go away, tenses, preparing for the possibility of a weapon. Of course there is none, just a small disk, like the one adhered to the base of my skull.
    She drops it into my palm. “Use this when you’re in a quiet place, a safe place. Do you understand? It may disorient you—I don’t know how much, or for how long.”
    I nod, staring at her bloodred eyes, like the ones I now have after using the machine. I was hoping I’d be able to keep my green ones for a while.
    “Are the other Originals here?” I want to know how many enemies I have.
    “No. They’re busy trying to take control of a world in shambles before it’s too late. We no longer control True Earth the way we did. Now, please, get out.”
    I actually listen to her without putting up a fight for once. But before I shut the door, I have to ask, “What will releasing the Black do? What happens if the director finds the Key and uses it? I mean, that’ll affect True Earth, won’t it? Hurting us hurts you.”
    The look in Olivia’s eyes erases any leftover warmth from the Thorn. “Anyone who possesses the Key when they enter the Black will go to a specific room between universes. There they are able to control and direct the Black as they choose.”
    “You didn’t answer my question.” But I tattoo that information into my brain—possess Key, control Black.
    Her grim expression somehow becomes more grim. “Upon releasing the Black there will be darkness. Few will survive. But in time, you will flourish again.”
    I try to wrap my mind around the idea of my genetic twin thinking— You know what? Screw it, let’s try again. We can just wipe most of their world out! Did she come to that conclusion during dinner? While she was showering? Or perhaps over drinks with some friends. Does she even have friends?
    “Why don’t you do something?” I say very quietly.
    “Because it needs to happen. It all needs to happen. Use the disk I gave you, and you will understand.”
    “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
    “Stay alive,” she says.
     
    Olivia zooms down the ramps to the street, and I take the stairs, thinking about Keys and clones and the end of the world. It doesn’t seem real. It needs to happen, she said. I rub my thumb over the disk in my pouch, wondering what it can possibly show me to convince me that this needs to happen, that many need to die. I don’t buy it. For so long I thought she was on our side.
    On the street, the wind is blowing, and darkness has fallen. At the nearest intersection, two cars are smashed together, their windshields frosted with snow. I jog to a truck that looks like it’s in better shape, and get inside. The keys are still in the ignition. I start it up, then head in the general direction of “home.”
    Maybe they found Peter and everyone is there.
    The idea is so good it hurts. I hold on to it, as if wanting it hard enough will make it real.
     
    The mood in the apartment is semi-relaxed when I come out of the elevator, and I’m immediately filled with relief.
    Rhys holds up his hands. “No worries. They handed their comm units over to Noble after we left. They’ve been very cooperative. Noble was out of contact