"We brought some phones back from the other apartments," Min told them. "Use them and turn your own off. And stay off the ground line. I’ll set up a monitor and alarm in the lounge for the webcams – there’s a program I can use to make them motion sensitive. It’d also be best to go silent on any web identities, and mask our IP for any family contact."
"You’re starting to depress me," Noi said. "But more smart thinking. And I’m sure everyone can resist the temptation to give out details. If you have to tell them something, tell 'em we’re out near the zoo."
Without a clear decision on what to do next, they finished up dinner, attention shifting to the television as it showed scenes from earlier in the day – Blues being chased, Blues shooting at balls of light which didn’t seem to care about bullets, Blues force-punching and hurting each other far more than their pursuers, and no other instances than Madeleine’s of anyone even momentarily saving themselves with a shield.
The gatherings of Blues near the Spires seemed to be breaking up, and there were signs of movement among the Greens, some of whom had at least walked out of range of cameras observing them. Others were still standing, waiting, whiles Greens more than two hundred kilometres from Spires didn’t seem impacted at all by the Spire song, even if it was played for them.
Fisher and Nash stacked the dishwasher while everyone else shifted bags and tried to rearrange the pantry so it looked a little less obviously stocked for a siege – difficult given the industrial-sized sacks of sugar and flour. With the boys taking all the downstairs rooms, the parents' room was left for Madeleine. It was decorated in dark wood and another beautiful lamp, but she felt uncomfortable, an intruder.
Folding her clothes into piles in the wardrobe, Madeleine hesitated over her backpack. She’d bestowed most of the packets of condoms on Noi, but had kept a few, vacillating between thinking this very bloodless and unspontaneous, and acknowledging that she was not only keenly attracted to Fisher, but also in a situation where she was more than ordinarily inclined to act on that attraction.
Or not. Shaking her head at the thought of successfully advancing anything with Fisher, she tipped the contents of the backpack into a bedside drawer and went to find Noi.
Pan had done so just before her. "You meant it about the Wonder Woman bedroom!" he was saying, standing in the doorway.
"It’s the floor-to-ceiling gaming consoles which put the cherry on the cake," Noi said, nodding at the only wall not papered in an enormous wrap-around mural of Amazon princess against a silhouetted landscape of temples and stars. "This is one little girl who wants to kick ass."
"You or her? But you’re pretty much Wonder Woman already," Pan said, stepping forward to examine the array of games available, and missing Noi’s sudden, painful flush. Noi had backed off from Pan after learning that he was indeed only fifteen, and even the news that it was his birthday soon hadn’t changed her mind. Since Pan didn’t seem to have realised Noi had been pursuing him, her decision hadn’t made a great deal of difference to their interaction, but moments of vulnerability broke through.
"Did you see the lightsabers?" Madeleine asked, to give Noi longer to recover.
"Wai! Guys! Get down here!"
Min’s summons sent them clattering down the stair. On the big television was an Asian woman wearing a strappy top which showed arms with only the occasional patch of non-blue flesh. Her tone was sedately calm, her posture relaxed, and the effect was one of casual conversation. Madeleine guessed the language to be Japanese.
"Why are we excited?" Noi asked.
"It’s one of the possessed. They said she–"
The image flickered and jumped back to a point where the woman was just sitting down. She turned to the camera, and a man began translating in voiceover as she spoke.
"Listen now. I am the Core of the Five of what you may call the Clan Taiee. The Taiee are First in this cycle of primacy among the En-Mott. We come to this world to settle primacy for the next cycle, and to conduct business of our own."
The woman smiled warmly. "Meaningless things to you. Deliver up to us all who are Blue, unharmed. Do not interfere with those who are Green. Neither hinder nor disturb us. Those who do not comply will be reprimanded." The idea of reprimand appeared to delight her. "Should insufficient Blues be delivered to us, the Conversion – the dust – will be released until a sufficient measure achieved."
"Fuck." Pan, beyond Shakespeare, sat down heavily.
"Our business will take a matter of two of your years. When it is complete, we will depart."
The translation ended, and the screen switched to a non-stained woman. "Further transmissions have been made from four other Spire cities. São Paulo, Mumbai, Shanghai, and New York."
They crossed to the New York transmission, where a skinny black teenager with a shaved head told them that he was the Core of the Five of Clan Na-uhl, who were Fourth in this cycle of primacy.
"We are so completely screwed," Pan said.
"No leaving the city." Noi exchanged a glance with Fisher and Nash, who both nodded.
"People wouldn’t…" Emily began, then shook her head. "I guess they would. I guess…I guess people might even expect us to turn ourselves over."
"They can live in hope." Min waved a tablet computer. "These cities aren’t quite an exact run-down of the most populated cities in the world, but it’s pretty close. And they’re the locations of the tallest Spires. This primacy they’re talking about – they took over our planet to decide on a new pecking order." He was incredulous, losing the mildly-entertained calm he’d displayed till then.
"And business of their own." Nash ran a hand over his eyes. "How very unspecific."
"Two years." Noi tapped the lid of the box the Take Him Away Lady had given her, then absently began to pull loose the bow.
"If they leave in two years, what happens to the people they’ve taken over?" Madeleine asked. "Do they keep them? Or unpossess? Dispossess?"
"Not a gamble I’m willing to take." Noi lifted the lid off the box, revealing a colourful array of cupcakes, exquisitely decorated. She held one up, studying piping work so delicate it was like lace. "Well, she knew just the thing to give to a Blue. And it’s a nice illustration of our primary problem – we all eat like horses. We’ve enough food for a few months, particularly if we collect everything in the other North Building apartments, but two years is going to mean a lot of scouting forays."
They debated longer-term options. Staying at Finger Wharf. Finding another location in the city or outer suburbs. Trying to hide in a countryside fearing a second release of dust. Getting out further, to an island, or Spire-free Tasmania. But for now, not knowing the abilities of the things calling themselves En-Mott, or the position the uninfected would take, they could only stay and watch.
Pan reached suddenly and turned the sound up on the television and they all turned to see freckles, strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes.
"…the Clan Ul-naa," a familiar voice said. "The Ul-naa are Hundred and Fifth in this cycle of primacy among the En-Mott. We come to this world to settle primacy for…"
Pan muted the sound again, and then threw the remote at the television. It bounced, and the batteries flew free, but no-one made any move to rescue it. Noi’s shoulders had hunched, Emily was trembling with anger, Fisher withdrawn, and Min uncertain. Nash–
"Are you okay?"
A grey tinge marred the warmth of Nash’s finely cut features, and his usual grace had leached away. Pan turned sharply, and sucked in his breath: "Damn, it was Gav’s day, wasn’t it? Why didn’t you say anything?"