Water in Shaft 37

Lin only needed one glance to feel cold. The full load map did not show a city at all. It showed a set of zones being deliberately drained of power and water to push people toward a handful of cooling points. The real evacuation window had been reserved for the inner two rings. “You were going to turn the city into a funnel,” he said. “We were going to keep it from blowing apart.” The machine room shuddered. All the lights went out. Then only the monitors remained, blue in the dark. A burst of static came through the headsets, followed by the sound of distant screaming. It was loud enough to carry through concrete. The bridge had failed. Harper closed his eyes as if he had finally heard the one outcome he dreaded most.