Glass memory

The first raindrop lands on my cheek before I hear the thunder.

The sky, still bruised from night, splits open above us. Wind slices through the trees, fast and electric. I don't even get a word out before the pulse hits.

Electromagnetic surge. Old world remnants. One of Aerith's stories we didn't believe until now.

The map flickers. Then dies.

Sira yells something I can't hear. The pulse rings like a siren through my skull. Maika grabs her pack and bolts toward the ridge path. Ajay and Venu follow.

Aerith shouts, "Tunnel—this way!"

I don't think. I run.

We slip through a hatch hidden beneath collapsed debris. The tunnel's mouth swallows us whole. Inside, it's damp and echoing. Mold-stained pipes, long-dead lights, the distant sound of water running far below.

We descend a spiral path lit only by Aerith's flickering visor. The EM storm doesn't reach this far, but its memory clings to us — tingling skin, buzzing ears.

At the bottom, the tunnel splits.

One direction slopes downward into darkness.

The other curves upward into what looks like fractured light.

Sira squints. "That one leads to the surface again."

Aerith: "It leads to exposure."

Maika: "And this one?"

Aerith: "It leads to progress."

"Define progress," Venu mutters.

I watch everyone look at me.

Why me again?

Maika steps forward. "We go up. Regroup. Find another way."

"No," Aerith says. "The longer we wait, the worse this gets. The map's dead. The terrain's shifting. There are fewer safe routes every day."

She crosses her arms. "I'm not following you underground."

"Then don't follow me. Follow her."

All eyes fall on me.

I feel it again — that pull.

Maika: "You gonna risk us again?"

Ajay: "Maybe this time, we decide."

I breathe in through my nose. The air smells like rust and decisions.

I close my eyes and picture my brother.

His voice. His warning.

His body crumpled beside our family tent while I shouted at the people who'd never hear me.

I open my eyes.

"I'm not risking you," I say. "But I'm not climbing back up, either."

Maika blinks.

"We came here to fix something," I continue. "And maybe Aerith is part of the fix. Or maybe he's not. But I'm not turning around until I know."

No one speaks.

I look at Sira.

She gives me the smallest nod.

Ajay sighs. "You better be right."

Venu: "Or you better be fast."

Maika doesn't say a word. Just turns and walks toward the dark tunnel.

We follow.

We walk for hours.

The walls narrow, then widen. The floor turns slick, then solid again. The silence wraps around us.

I don't know if what I did was brave or just desperate.

But I chose.

And now I have to keep choosing.