She huffs, frustrated with me. But then decides to simply answer my question. “No. He’s not in there, it’s just… like… it’shim, but not him. I don’t know how to explain it. But he’s not in there.”
“If that’s not him, then why is it asking me questions?”
“Maybe… it needs… prompting? To continue? Maybe it needs to hear your voice?”
“So I should answer it?”
“Well, it stopped talking so I think it’s waiting for you. Just tell him you’re listening.”
“I’m listening.”
My father’s confused look changes to satisfaction. “Good. This was a security check.” Jasina makes a noise of satisfaction in front of me, but doesn’t remark about her good guess. “When I ask you questions from now on, you will be required to answer. Your voice is the key to the truth. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. In addition to unlocking the truth, your voice is a key to all Looking Glass rooms. You are an Extraction Master and your security protocols were automatically programmed into the mainframe upon my death. Remember this for later.”
“That’s it, I’m taking notes.” Jasina forces her way out of the circle and then starts tapping on the glass until she finds whatever the hell she’s looking for. I don’t even bother asking, because my father is still talking.
“The first thing you need to know is that the gods are real. There is no god in that tower but they do exist in other places. Spark Maidens are food for these gods.”
My head starts spinning. There is a terrible, awful ache in my chest, and for a moment, I think I might actually pass the fuck out. Because he just said…food.
I fed the woman I love to a god. I really did. And I knew this was a possibility, but it was something far-fetched. Something inconceivable. Something…impossible.
And now it is not only conceivable, it isreal.
“Finn? Are you paying attention? I’m trying to write as fast as I can, but it’s taking too long to find the right letters!”
I turn and realize Jasina is the tapping out words on the glass. She is frantically trying to write down everything my father is saying by tapping on letters that are lit up on the glass.
She yells at me. “Pay attention!”
I turn back to my father and force myself to listen.
Something about trains. Something about tunnels. There are other places outside of Tau City. And men who aren’t men, but something called augments.
“And the bookshelves, Finn,” my father continues. “The ones outside this room. They are hidden doors to secret passageways that lead to towers. One to the Maiden Tower—it opens up into the Little Sister dorm—but the other one leads to the God’s Tower. This is the important one and here is what you need to do…”
I listen and Jasina taps behind me. My father goes on at length, taking great pains to give me details, most of which I can’t make sense of. But I trust him and I know that if I do as he says, one day I will understand.
When he finally stops, after he says a final goodbye and the triangle ceiling tiles return to the view of the night sky and a clock appears counting down ten hours, I let out a long breath and turn to look at Jasina. She’s still tapping on the glass, trying to get the last of his words down, so I wait until she stops before asking, “Can we watch it again?”
She looks bewildered for a moment. Her hair is a bit messy, her face is pale, and she’s slightly out of breath. “Let me try.”
If she wasn’t here, I’d be lost right now. There’s no way I’d have figured out this glass top, not the way she did. I’d have missed the message. Hell, I’m fairly certain it would’ve never occurred to me to takenotes.
“I don’t think so, Finn. I think the clock up there?” We both look up at the countdown. “It was a signal that the message was over.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“But I need a notepad and a pencil. Oh!” She holds up a finger. “In your desk.” Then she’s rushing to the door and pulling it open. The night sky disappears and so does the countdown, but we know that’s because the door is open and that seal has been broken.
I follow her out. “How do you know what’s in my desk?”
But she’s not at the desk. She’s staring at the window. And when I turn my gaze to the window, I realize why. There is a bright cyan-blue light floating up from down below.
“What the hell is that?” I walk over to the window and look down, squinting my eyes, because…
