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pointed to Dr. Dimbali. “You’ve got the floor, Dr. Dimbulb.” The other Bang Boys tittered.
    “It’s, ah, Dimbali,” said Dr. Dimbali, as though believing Lio had genuinely misspoken.
    “Thanks, Doc.”
    Dimbali stood before the group and mumbled something that Deedra had trouble understanding. He gestured a bit wildly and smiled.
    “Louder,” Lio said.
    “Oh, yes, right,” Dr. Dimbali exclaimed. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth. “We are looking for very specific materials today!” he shouted, much more loudly than was necessary. The acoustics in L-Twelve were earsplittingly good. “Today I need nonrusted metals, preferably unpainted. Also, glass. You will run in pairs. Volunteers, please step forward.”
    No one moved.
    “Quickly, now!” Dr. Dimbali clapped his hands twice. “We need to get the belt going again.”
    A few volunteers stepped forward. Deedra shrugged at Lissa.
    “Don’t do it, Dee. The air’s getting worse out there. You’ll burn through your mask cartridge in no time.”
    “At a hundred and fifty percent, I can afford to burn one. I need to ration up.”
    Lissa shook her head. “Not me. Not today.”
    “I’ll see you later, then.”
    She stepped out of line into the group of volunteers. A moment later the belt started up again, and Dr. Dimbali began dividing the volunteers into pairs. He came to Deedra last and frowned; they both realized at the same time that she was the only one left. An odd number had volunteered.
    “I can go alone,” she offered. “I go all the time. It’s okay.”
    Dr. Dimbali looked her up and down. She had the oddest feeling that his SmartSpex gazed right through her. “No, no. That won’t do. Too dangerous. And you’d miss the opportunity to bring back larger or heavier pieces.” He
hmm
ed and tapped the side of his SmartSpex.
    “Dr. Dimbali!” The voice came from above. When she craned her neck she saw that Jaron was still on the catwalk, now standing right above them. “What seems to be the problem? Get the materials teams out there.”
    Dr. Dimbali grumbled under his breath and adjusted his SmartSpex. “Yes, Mr. Ludo. We seem to have a, well, a mismatch, as it were. An odd woman out. Never fear, though—I will find a—”
    “Don’t waste your time,” Jaron called down. “I’ll go with her.”

CHAPTER 3
    R ose watches the building labeled
LUDO TERRITORY PRIDE FACILITY NO. 12
from a nearby rooftop. A cluster of people emerge, then break up into pairs and split away in different directions. He has seen facilities like this in the past, during his travels. The word
pride
seems odd to him, though. Do they actually manufacture pride within those walls? The idea seems absurd, but he can think of no other reason for the word to exist on the sign. He purses his lips and whistles soft and low so that only he can hear.
    The last pair exits the building. Rose recognizes the girl—Deedra—and for a moment loses his tune. It has taken days, but he’s finally found her again, followed her to this building. He settled in on the rooftop, ready to wait a long time for her to come out. And here she is.
    With someone else, though. Not the other girl he’d seen her with by the river. Together, they head off to the west.
    Rose begins to whistle again, a song no one has heard in years.

CHAPTER 4
    N ormally while scavenging, you kept whatever you found. That was what made it worth doing. But on a factory-materials run, there was no putting something aside for yourself, and no snatching up anything not on the list. People had tried, but the Bang Boys paid attention to what you carried or had in your pockets when you left L-Twelve, as well as what you had when you came back. Stuffing a chunk of some unwanted material into your pocket could lead to a ration demerit and a reminder that the pocket space could have—and
should have
—been used for that tiny bit more of the needed materials.
    Deedra couldn’t have tried to sneak something even if