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“What do I do?”

“When you got the Nixzin, did you not get a thin black device? You know, a bar?”

Jun squeezed his eyes shut, retracing every step. The farm. Ashley. Two boxes. She’d waved a black metal bar in front of him, offered him a hit. Then shoved a plastic container full of them under his arm—

“Wait,” said Jun. He pinned the phone between his ear and shoulder and dug into the depths of his sweatpants pocket. He pulled out a flat black metal rod about the length of his palm. He clutched it. “I think I have it.”

“Does it look like a black metal bar?”

“Yeah, a girl gave me some. She said it was just in case Covey ran out.” He got to his feet. “Do I just give it to him now?”

“Wait,” said Robin. “Can you check if there is a vial in there?”

“What? H-how do I do that?”

“Calm down. It’s very easy; anyone can do it.”

Jun pressed his back against the wall. The chaos in the foyer hadn’t stopped, but Robin’s voice—even filtered through that digital mask—steadied him.

“Okay,” Jun whispered.

“There is a slide switch, big button, and small button. The slide switch lets you unlock the cap.”

Jun fumbled with the bar’s side, searching for the switch. The corridor was too dark. He crept to the hallway skylight, turning the bar in the thin strip of light until he found the indent.

He slid it. A small pop, and the top extended, revealing a spring mechanism. “Okay, it popped up,” said Jun.

“Good. Now pull it a little bit. See if there’s a glass vial in there.”

Jun did as he was told. Sure enough, there was a small vial. The pink syrup seemed to be filled to the brim. “Yeah. It’s pink. Full too.”

“Great, now close it back and—”

“Give it to him?” asked Jun.

“Give me what?”

Jun whirled. Covey stood at the kitchen entrance, heavily breathing. His unruly hair stuck out in different directions.

“I would activate it,” Jun heard Robin say.

“Activate it?”

“The big button. Push it to activate the vial—”

Covey stormed over and roared, “Connor! Where did you get that?”

“I uh—!”

Covey lunged.

Jun mashed the button.

The bar hissed.

A massive hand clamped around his wrist and ripped the bar free—then shoved him hard. The force flung Jun sideways. His side slammed against the corner of the wall. Pain seared through his side, sharp enough to blur his vision.

Jun blinked the tears back and sucked in air through his teeth.