Chapter Three: Ninety-Three Lives and One Drop of Metal

Zhou jumped last as floor fifty-two collapsed behind him. When firefighters forced their way in, they found seven soot-blackened people and a heap of burned drone parts. [SURVIVING INDIVIDUALS: NINETY-THREE.] [FIRST CIVILIZATION MISSION COMPLETE.] [REWARD: FABRICATION ACCESS INCREASED. ENERGY TWO, MATERIALS TWO, MEDICAL ONE. VESSEL REPAIR: +7%.] [WARNING: COMPLETION PULSE RECEIVED BY TWO OTHER AGENTS.] Zhou sat against the wall. Every breath tasted of smoke. He watched firefighters carry the researchers downstairs, and his hands finally relaxed. Lin found him in the safe zone on floor forty. She did not hug him or celebrate. She crouched, pinched a strip of silver fabric from his burned sleeve, and studied it.