"On fire?" asked Irgos.

  "Precisely." Aplin's grin only grew wider. "That way, Culex will be stuck on the other side long enough, and we'll have enough time to reach Aquinox."

  Irgos stared at him with his mouth open. His sister did the same.

  "But..." Arada began, after processing his idea. "How are you even pnning to burn down something so massive? Wouldn't you need tons of—"

  "Hold on a second," Aplin interrupted her. "I'll expin it further." He stood up and walked to a dirty wooden crate on the other side of the room. He rummaged through the crate for a few moments, and came back while carrying various items in his arms, dropping them on the mattress.

  Arada and Irgos leaned in curiously. There were five items in total: three mysterious looking belts, a brush, and a small tin can.

  "I've had this pn in mind for a long time," Aplin continued. "But I never had the courage or the right motivation to go through with it. Now that you're here, it feels like the time is finally right. We're going to do this."

  Arada picked up the small, thick-bristled brush.

  "Hey, is this a paintbrush?" she asked. Painting was something she knew well from Overmore, where she often made her own dyes from the flower fields.

  Aplin nodded. "Only a brush, to be precise." He picked up the tin can and tapped it. "I'm guessing you've never heard of ignerine?"

  Arada and Irgos shook their heads in unison.

  "Probably for the best. It's a brand-new chemical compound, highly fmmable stuff. It was invented right before the flood disaster."

  "So, not entirely brand-new then?" Irgos asked.

  "Well, let's say retively new," Aplin corrected himself. "Doesn't matter. We're going to use this stuff to set the bridge on fire." He gestured to Arada for the brush. "Here's the pn: we smear this stuff along the underside of the bridge, creating one long bck streak. And once we're on the other side..." He pulled a small metal stick from the crate and pressed a button. A tiny fme flickered at the top. "Boom!"

  Chills ran down Irgos's spine. Could this really work?

  "Hold on," Arada said. "Did you just say the underside of the bridge?"

  Aplin licked his lips like a puppy excited for a new toy. "Ah, I'm getting ahead of myself. Yes, we'll be going under the bridge."

  What? How?

  Aplin grabbed one of the strange-looking belts. "I made this myself, thanks to some of the old technology scattered around Ebrotown. I call it the 'magnetic belt.'" He grabbed both ends and strapped it around his waist. He clicked the ends together in front of his stomach. "Look, Catsroes has changed a lot. So much so that certain things aren't the way they used to be."

  Thunder roared high above them, almost as if Aplin had pnned it that way.

  Man, this is crazy, Irgos thought. It thundered just like this three days ago.

  "The chaotic weather has ruined the water," Aplin continued. "So many toxins, unnatural bacteria, acids, and junk have polluted the sea and all the rivers in Catsroes—probably the whole world."

  Arada and Irgos nodded knowingly. They'd heard enough stories of people in Overmore getting sick after spending too long in the sea.

  "This pollution has altered the entire water cycle. Storms have become more frequent and severe—like now. But every time lightning strikes the water, which happens more often than you think, the charge can't escape. The chemical junk creates a sort of film on the water surface that traps the electrons. The result: the rivers and the sea become negatively charged."

  Arada and Irgos looked at him, confused at his terminology.

  "Oh, sorry," Aplin said when he noticed their bnk stares. "The bottom line is this: the sea and all water connected to it has undergone a deep structural change. It now repels certain things—what we call negative charges." He tapped his belt. "Like this thing here." He pressed a small button, and a faint sound emerged.

  "Go ahead, put your hand in front of it," Aplin invited.

  Irgos leaned forward and did as he was asked. The result amazed him. The closer he pushed his hand toward Aplin's belt, the more resistance he felt, as if the belt were trying to push him away. "This is just... magic."

  Arada tried it as well and was equally astonished.

  "Cool, right?" Aplin grinned. "Humans are three-quarters water, so you feel it clearly. But the best part is that it's even stronger with sea and river water. Strong enough that..."

  "...it will defy gravity and push us upward?" Irgos asked, slowly beginning to understand Aplin's pn.

  Aplin winked and snapped his fingers. "Exactly. The force will be strong enough for us to walk upside down along the underside of the bridge."

  You're kidding. This is insane.

  Arada also struggled to believe it. "And you're sure this will work?"

  "Trust me," Aplin assured her. "I've tested it before, and it works. All we need to do is leave a trail of ignerine."

  A loud cp of thunder rumbled above, stressing the energy behind his pn.

  "The only thing we have to be careful about is keeping our belts far enough apart," he warned. "Otherwise, the magnetic fields—the force emitted by our belts—will interfere and shut down."

  Irgos felt a surge of anxiety. He tried to imagine how it would turn out, traveling ten kilometers with water above their heads. It sounded absurd.

  "Wait a second," Arada said. "Didn't you say that Culex could sense us? Won't he know where we are once we're under the bridge?"

  Aplin nodded. "Yes, there's no way around that. But since we'll be on the underside rather than the top, I hope he'll think his senses are off. That should buy us some time. But we still need to move as quickly as possible to the other side."

  Irgos had another concern. "And what if Culex waits for us on the bridge?"

  Aplin turned back to the map of Ebrotown, and flipped the paper. It had a strange pencil sketch on it.

  "In that case, we'll have to switch to pn B," he said. "Midway across the bridge we will find a station for these things." He turned the drawing so Arada and Irgos could see it. "This here is a hydrohover. A hovercraft designed for flying above water."

  What they saw resembled an oval bowl with a fttened bottom. A small tube extended down into the water from the far end.

  "A hovercraft is like a flying boat," Aplin expined. "Or a flying horse, if you prefer. It sucks up water here," Aplin pointed at the tube, "and converts it into fuel. The underside has an electromagnet that works just like our magnetic belts."

  "A what?" Arada asked.

  Aplin waved his hand dismissively. "Never mind. The point is, like the belt, the hydrohover repels the river water—causing it to float—and draws energy from it to reach incredible speeds."

  Irgos was intrigued. "How fast exactly?"

  "Hydrohovers once broke all speed records. At their peak, they go 400 kilometers per hour."

  Arada and Irgos's eyes grew wide.

  If only Alexander had been with us, Irgos thought sadly. This would've fascinated him.

  "Unfortunately, they haven't been used in a while, so I expect they're only about half as fast now."

  Only half as fast? Those things still exceed a horse by far.

  Aplin pointed to the lower half of the sketch, which was a detailed drawing of the inside of a hydrohover.

  "This is the control," Aplin said. "This green button here starts it up, the red one shuts it down." He pointed to two button on the left side of the paper. "This slider next to it controls the speed. And the wheel in the center determines the direction you want to go. Turn left to go left, and right to go right."

  It sounded way too simple to be true.

  "Finally, these things go so fast that you have to strap yourself in before setting off. There are belts here at the front for your seats. If you don't, you'll literally be blown off."

  Irgos imagined what it would be like to control one of these hovers. It was certainly a way to escape Culex and the rest for good. But at what cost?

  "So," said Aplin, folding his hands together. "In the case—which I hope won't happen—that Culex does see through us and waits for us on the bridge, we'll escape with one of these." He tapped the sketch. "But only in an emergency. I don't know how reliable these things are after twenty years, and I'm very afraid they might not work anymore as intended. Moreover, our priority is to burn down that bridge. If all goes well, and we indeed make it safely to the other side, we win. It's not far to walk from Ebrotown to Aquinox."

  The storm outside hadn't let up yet. It added an extra yer of cleverness to Aplin's pn.

  "You're only forgetting one thing," Arada said. "Once we're in Aquinox and have found the person with the other amulet, how are we going to defeat Culex? He'll still be stuck on this side."

  Aplin held up his hand. "One problem at a time, please. It'll be hard enough just getting into Aquinox and finding them. We'll deal with what comes after when we get there."

  Arada let out a big yawn. She was still tired, even after sleeping the whole day.

  Aplin and Irgos yawned along with her.

  "Arada, maybe it'd be wise to get some more sleep," Aplin suggested. "Your body hasn't fully recovered yet, and you could use all the rest and energy you can get. We'll need it badly tomorrow."

  Arada nodded in agreement. "I'd like nothing more." She y down and pulled the bnket over her. Even though it was July, it was still necessary in the sewer.

  "We'll wake you tonight when we leave," Aplin said. "Try to rex as much as possible until then."

  Aplin and Irgos waited until she was sound asleep, which didn't take long.

  "I'll go ahead and pack," Aplin said, standing up and grabbing his backpack. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to take the food with me. So if you want anything else, now's your chance."

  Irgos didn't need to be told twice. Aplin handed him the st bit of pigeon, and Irgos devoured it hungrily.

  "I might as well try to get some sleep too," he said when he was finished eating. He y down next to his sister and tried to fall asleep.

  * * *

  With an emphasis on trying.

  Where he had fallen asleep yesterday, he now y tossing and turning even after two hours. Aplin had already turned off the light. He'd said he would keep watch, but doesn't he need to sleep too?

  Irgos opened one eye, gazing at the sleeping mass of red hair beside him. He turned over, looking across the room where he saw Aplin's silhouette. He sat completely still on a pile of cushions, eyes closed, with two bck half-spheres over his ears, attached by a headband across his head.

  What is he doing?

  Irgos rolled off the mattress and sat up for a better look. Aplin noticed and opened one eye slightly.

  "Uh… I can't sleep," Irgos whispered. "Too much tension, I guess."

  Aplin gestured for him to come sit next to him on the cushions.

  Aplin took the strange headband off and handed it to Irgos. "Listen to this," he said. "It'll help you."

  Irgos put the things over his ears. A strange humming sound came from the half-spheres.

  "These are binaural waves," Aplin expined. "A specific vibration that your brain responds to, putting it in the same state as when you're sleepy. "

  Irgos closed his eyes and focused on the sound. It was strangely soothing, and it took him no time to get used to the vibration, as if he could feel his brain resonating with it.

  "Some of your things seem like real magic," Irgos said.

  "How ironic. People from before the flood thought it was totally normal for this kind of technology to exist. But still, they used it every day. They even grew dependent on it." He paused. "No wonder things went so wrong when there was no more electricity and all their devices had no fuel to work anymore."

  Irgos frowned. "Then how is it that your things still work?" he asked.

  Aplin smiled and pointed upward. "The sor panels on the rooftops are connected to this bunker. They basically give me an endless supply of energy." He gestured to all the other Old World technologies in the kitchen area benefiting from the electricity.

  "And who taught you about these binaural waves?"

  Aplin thought for a moment. "One particur man came with us to Ebrotown, one year after the flood. I was still a kid, so I don't remember all the details. But this man made an impression on us, teaching us a lot about modern technologies. It's thanks to him that these sor panels are still working today, and that we could live in Ebrotown with electricity. This very man also taught us about brain waves and how they can be used to improve the self."

  He sighed deeply. "It was only a shame that he stayed with us so briefly. A few months after we arrived, a tornado paid us a visit."

  Irgos could hardly believe his ears.

  "What? A tornado?" He tried not to speak too loudly, not wanting to wake Arada. "In Catsroes? Those things only exist in books… or in distant nds."

  Aplin nodded sadly. "They don't occur here naturally, indeed. But as I said, no one anticipated the ripple effects of the flood disaster. It ruined the weather and local ecology."

  When Irgos was at a loss for words, Aplin continued.

  "One evening, we were out hunting when the thing came out of nowhere from the sea. It destroyed much of the eastern part of the city. We all got out of the tornado's path just in time, but our technology man—who wasn't exactly young anymore—was no longer able to run fast enough. He stumbled in his rush to escape. The tornado swallowed him up, carrying him who knows where. When it was safe again, we came looking for him at the river's shore, but couldn't find his body. That was the st night we ever saw him."

  Irgos would hardly have believed the ridiculous story if they hadn't encountered giant mosquitoes earlier that day. It proved just how much hidden chaos lurked in this nd.

  After listening for ten minutes, Irgos began to feel the effect of the brainwaves. He felt totally rexed. And he had an overwhelming urge to sleep.

  Irgos stifled a yawn. "Don't you need to sleep?" he asked Aplin as he handed the half-spheres back.

  "I'll have keep an eye and ear out," Aplin said, putting the headphones back on. "In case Culex finds us, we need to be gone by then. And these waves—" He tapped one of the ear covers "—will help me to rex more, yet keep me alert."

  Irgos had immense respect for the man. It was as if he were a guardian angel, watching over him and his sister.

  With his eyes drooping, Irgos crawled back to his mattress. He let himself fall, and before he knew it, he was fast asleep.