The kitchen sat in a strange silence, thick and loaded—like the air before a storm breaks loose. Maya stared at the crystal in her hand. It wasn’t blue anymore. Now it burned gold, bright enough to hurt her eyes. It made this thin, piercing noise that somehow only she could hear.
“Maya, answer me.” Julian grabbed her shoulders, shaking a little. He looked terrified. “What did the clone give you?”
Maya’s eyes flicked from the golden stone to the TV in the corner. The news was on, but the anchor wasn’t talking. She just sat there, her eyes glowing this weird, pale green. Out the window behind her, cars zipped down the highway in perfect sync, like some kind of hive mind.
“It’s not a battery, Julian,” Maya said, barely above a whisper. Her voice shook. “It’s a key.”
On the floor, the blac
