They couldn’t go as they were, being criminals and outlaws and all, to the surface. It would’ve been too conspicuous. They no longer had the luxury of letting shadows hide them. So Brandy did her best to wash off blood, and Airin sacrificed her brilliantly dyed hair in favour of covering it in black. Temporarily, of course, but still, it hurt to see the vibrant streaks in her hair disappear under a coat of paint. She gave a longing look at her tattoo gun, then placed it gently where the old cookie jar used to be.

The two still didn’t pass for surface kids, with their too-pale skin and clothes a decade out of date, but it would have to do.

“Don’t you have a spare jacket stashed in your book bag or something?” Brandy asked.

Jayden grimaced and pulled out an actual string of christmas lights. “I have just about everything except anything useful.”

Brandy shucked off her leather jacket and threw it on the couch on top of Jayden. She looked down at her ripped, blood-stained shirt. She frowned. “I’m going to need your blazer.”

They were supposed to be headed to the glass clocktower. It was the tallest building, gleaming and covered in flashy solar panels, and directly in the center of the city, but somehow, the team had gotten turned around twice after reaching dead end after dead end. Jayden had even crashed into a glass wall once. Even if she had lived on the surface for most of her life, her directional senses left much to be desired.

Brandy could see the tiny girl ahead of her now teaching Airin how to walk like they do on the surface. “You can’t be meek or unconfident. You have to throw your head back, walk with a swagger. You’re the center of the world, and all eyes are on you.” She looked like a monkey. “Not like the underground. There, you keep your head down and walk fast. Here, you keep your head forward, arms swinging, and no crossed arms or hands in your pockets.”

Airin locked eyes with Jayden and slowly put her hands in her pockets.

Brandy looked down at her scratchy blazer, sleeves ridiculously short and buttoned tightly around her waist to hide her destroyed shirt. She considered ditching the shirt entirely and just wearing the blazer, but she was sure she’d have to answer a lot more questions if they’re caught.

The trio stuck to the ground and the shadows, actively avoiding the glass walkways that spanned the sky. Bulbs of light, like the lures of deep sea fish, hovered above every surface, and the team would certainly be scrutinized if they came under light.

As they walked, they passed tall, winding spires of glass and steel that reached for the sun. All around them, so different from the dirt and bricks of the underground, walkways were ceilings and walls were windows. Through them, you could see businessmen typing away at their notepads, teenagers listening to music on ariamps, children dancing in a circle at school. The city was utterly see-through – impossible to hide in, impossible to navigate, but oh, so beautiful.

Brandy had suggested they hide in the alleys, and Jayden had given her a weird look. “You do know the surface doesn’t have alleys, right?”

“Sure,” Brandy lied. “I was testing you.”

Now, Brandy didn’t care who sees them. She just really wanted to get on an express walkway to the clocktower. She was getting burnt just from being under a sun, never mind the midday sun. She had lost track of how many layers of glass there were between her and the sky, and from down here, she couldn’t tell the clocktower from a coffee shop. Brandy grumbled. “I swear, if Jayden crashes into ANOTHER building…”

She did. Right into the clocktower. One of the watchmen standing under the glass arch that marked the entrance came over to investigate, and they all simultaneously snapped out of whatever trance they were in. They were about to get caught.

Brandy did some quick thinking. If they wanted to reach the councilman offices, located on a floor so ridiculously high she’d forgotten the number, they’d either need to climb a wall or travel by shadow. Since they could do neither in the next thirty seconds, they’d need to waltz through the front doors.

She noticed Jayden shaking beside her. Brandy put a hand on her shoulder and felt her flinch. “We’re fine,” she signed quickly.

“That’s not it.” Jayden took a deep breath, and a smile crept its way onto her face. The same thoughts already ran through her mind. “I’ve got this one,” she signed.

As Brandy and Airin watched, she changed before their eyes. Her shoulders straightened and filled with confidence. Her lips moved slightly as if practicing her lines.

The watchman stopped in front of them. He seemed to take issue with the three straggly kids standing in front of him, but couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

Jayden took a step forward, feet as poised as a dancer’s. She flipped on a pair of golden-rimmed glasses and ran a hand through her hair. She was at once sheepish yet confident, a perfect paragon, a statue carved in ivory and gold. Her brace was snug against her arm, and her little golden key hung from her neck, all part of the legend she weaved around herself. She was yet again Announcer Underground, and everything she ever was.

She faced the watchman with tired but kind eyes. “Good morning, sir. Or should I say afternoon? Noon! Good noon, sir!” She laughed and adjusted her blazer ever so slightly. “I just got my glasses yesterday. I’m still utterly disoriented. You must understand,” she added.

The watchman didn’t look convinced, but the short little girl wasn’t particularly threatening. There wasn’t much he could do except let them through to the concierge. Jayden smiled back at her friends. Bureaucracy always assumed that if someone was there, they were supposed to be there. After all, it would be rude to assume otherwise.

“Good morning sir. We have an appointment with Councilman Helios on behalf of Professor Ming from the University of Stanford.” Jayden smiled broadly at the concierge, a middle-aged woman who looked down at them through her dented wire-rimmed glasses.

The woman licked her finger and thumbed through a small manual. “Do you have a signed note and identification?”

Brandy and Airin were ready to spring to action if anything happened, but nothing did. Jayden’s smile simply grew broader as she pulled her notepad out from her bag. It was finally working on the surface.

“Sorry, one moment, please,” she said apologetically. She brought up the seal from the last Helios job. “We don’t have a signed note, but Councilman Helios gave us a copy of his seal, and I have my school id and my dean’s card, if you want to confirm with her.” Jayden continued pulling out documents from her bag and laying them out on the counter. She prayed the concierge wouldn’t actually call her dean; she’d kind of… antagonized her, to say the least, the last time they met. She quashed the memory.

“And what is your purpose here?” The woman very much wanted to be free of these meddling kids and go back to her crossword. Jayden sneaked a look. Paper newspaper. Good. She didn’t know their news yet.

“We’re here to install a virtual bookshelf on behalf of the city council. They feel such an influential and necessary council member shouldn’t be able to lose all his files in a single disaster.” Jayden gestured to Brandy and Airin, who suddenly snapped to attention. “My associates are an interior design consultant and her interpreter.” Airin gave a small nod and Brandy waved.

“Of course, Ms. Mach,” the concierge said, passing Jayden back her files. She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll just let Councilman Helios you’re here.” She reached for a phone.

“Of course,” Jayden said. “Thank you.” Behind her back, she was signing, “what now?” Her face betrayed no panic, but her arm had started shaking again. Somehow, they’d forgotten to check whether Helios was home or not.

“Good morning, Councilman Helios,” the concierge said as soon as the call connected. “Three young women from Stanford are here to see you about your virtual bookshelf. Mmmhmm. Of course. I’ll send them up.” She looked up, a smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. “He’s delighted you’re here. Go on up, floor 43, first door on the right. There are signs if you get lost.”

The three exchanged glances and headed up via the elevator, but they couldn’t appreciate the view of the city under these circumstances.

“He’s onto us.” Jayden pressed her key to her palm.

“Yes.” Airin’s hair colour was flaking away.

“We can’t just leave now. It would look suspicious.”

“Yes.”

“But we shouldn’t go. It’s a trap.”

“Yes.”

“But he didn’t have time to prepare a trap.”

“Are you done?” Brandy tugged at the hem of her blazer. “We’re here.”

“So we are,” Jayden announced obviously, and stepped out of the elevator.