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in that school room, but as we’ve got older it’s like all my anger has slipped into him.
    “Do what?”
    “I try to help, and you just shut me out.”
    “I don’t need help.” Thewords sound stupid and petulant, even as I say them. “I can take care of myself, thanks.”
    “Really?” he says, jabbing a finger at my face. “Is this taking care of yourself?”
    “Well, what do you want me to do?” I ask, my voice rising. “You want me to stop running? Other gangs are part of the job, Prakesh. You live with it.”
    “It’s not worth it. Not for this. There are other jobs you could do.”
    “Oh yeah? Like what?” I pull myself to my feet. The ache in my arches wakes up, starts growling.
    He rises to meet me, springing off the tree with frustratingly easy grace. “Anything. You’re smart, you could get a job anywhere on this station. But running? For what?”
    “For your information, I actually like running.”
    “I know,” he says. “But there’s nothing else in your life. You run, and that’sit. And if you get hurt like this again? What are you going to do?”
    I glare at him. “There’s plenty of stuff I do when I’m not running.”
    His laugh is bitter. “Riley, come on. After all this time, I’ve never seen you do anything else besides run and play cards. Putting your life in danger for what, a few batteries? Some stolen food? It’s not worth it.”
    “Better than working for nothing in a greenhouseall day,” I say. The second the words are out of my mouth, I want to pull them back. Prakesh, however, absorbs them without comment, simply staring at me.
    After a while, he says, “What we do here keeps people alive. In case you haven’t noticed, there aren’t a lot of us left. And without air, without food, there’d be a lot less. So you can come in here and drink my water, and if you want to getangry withme for it, that’s fine. But don’t ever tell me I’m working for nothing.”
    We stare at each other. Our outburst has attracted the attention of another tech, a timid woman with shocking-red hair who’s walking nervously towards us. “Is everything all right, Prakesh?” she says. “I can call security if …”
    “No, Suki, we’re good here,” he responds, but he doesn’t look away.
    “And I was justgoing,” I say, breaking his gaze and shouldering my pack.
    His hand is on my shoulder. “Riley, listen …” But I shrug it off and break into a run, leaving them standing beside the tree. Before long, I’m outside the Forest, dashing past a startled Dumar. Letting the rhythm of my movement calm me as I run back into the galleries. People are waking up, walking from their quarters to the mess, to school,to their jobs. As I run, my own anger fades, like a handprint evaporating from a pane of glass, and I lose myself in the crowds.

9
Darnell
    The door to Oren Darnell’s office is a slab of thick metal, its hinges ringed with rust. It’s half open when he arrives, and he shoves it to one side. The bang when it hits the wall is loud enough to shake the giant window that overlooks the Air Lab. One of the control room techs has followed him, wanting to ask him something, and he has to dodge out of the way as it bounces back.
    Darnell doesn’t even glance at him. “Get out,” he says over his shoulder.
    The tech knows better than to persist. He scurries out, pulling the door shut behind him. Just before it closes, Darnell bellows, “And tell Reece I want to see him. Now.”
    The door wavers, then snicks shut.
    Darnell turns back to the window. Despite what the tech might think, he isn’t angry. He’s excited. So excited thathe feels like laughing out loud. He smiles instead, his teeth reflected in the window. He flips open the box, upends it, and rolls the eyeball around in his hands. It leaves his palms slightly sticky, but he barely notices.
    It’s taken so long. So many years of watching and waiting, of having to associate with the filth that make up most of the