[h3][color=lightblue]The Highrise[/color][/h3] Silence hung like cobwebs from the cracked ceiling and settled in the grimy floor. Something [i]clattered[/i] and fluttered on the other end of the hallway, where a pigeon disappeared through an open twisted door. [color=59de3e][i]"Oh... Oh, no. They got you, didn't they? They got you, too."[/i][/color] [i][color=gray]...hteet ruo neewteb sluos rieht ward...[/color][/i] A sussurus of hissing voices shimmered inside the open room where the pigeon had just gone. The bird now lay shivering among shards of fallen drywall, its eyes gleaming black then chalky white. [color=59de3e][i]"It's dark in here. It's always going to be dark. I'm so sorry, Vern. I wish I'd been there to warn you."[/i][/color] The wall beneath Rose's fingers was crackled and peeling, full of burrow holes from insects and pecking birds. There was a rectangle impression, almost imperceptible, where a door had long ago been sealed shut and painted over. "YOU'LL NEVER LOCK ME UP!" a familiar voice roared on the floor above. "I KNOW THE TRUTH! THE NOX, THE RAVEL, AMALGAM, THE END OF THE WORLD! YOU WON'T KEEP ME QUIET, DEVOURERS!" Ruskali's voice roared as if he were charging the enemy. A resounding [i]BANG[/i] rattled the ceiling and rained bits of dust and drywall down on Rose's head. [h3][color=lightblue]The Alley[/color][/h3] [i][color=lightgray]{Signal's lit}[/color][/i] A metallic voice buzzed almost inaudibly inside Iris' pocket, where the ring lay dormant. Iris would hear it clearly, like an echo inside her head. Listener would hear it like a distant staticky radio, the words barely understandable. Cedar would not hear it at all. [i][color=lightgray]{We've got the preacher}[/color][/i] said a second, feminine voice. The rumble of the motorbikes faded in the distance. [i][color=lightgray]{Is Damari with you?} {Why would he be with me? He was supposed to recruit the preacher and meet you in the square.} {Well he wasn't there. Just a bunch of Ze. It's fine, they didn't even look at us.} {That doesn't explain why Damari's not saying anything! Damari!} {What if someone else--} {Shit. I'm out.}[/color][/i] Iris, Cedar, and Listener would all hear the skid and [i]clack[/i] of an opening window high above. A skinny young man leaned out of it, bald and draped in orange robes. He didn't look down, didn't see the group of Ze gathered in the narrow alley -- instead, he braced a sandaled foot against the windowsill and [i]leaped[/i] like a cat across the alley. He caught himself on the edge of the next roof and swiftly pulled himself up and over, disappearing onto the flat rooftop above the spice shop.