Athena lay shivering on the ground, clutching her right shoulder. Cooper knelt at her side, testing her vitals. Gavin restrained a hysterical Jess from leaving.

“Not good.” Seth surveyed Athena’s gray pallor and knelt at her side. “Evan, get me the diodes inside the I-Beam’s Trace-47 cell. Wires attached. Hurry!”

“NO!” Jess screamed. “I won’t let her go too!”

Evan lingered another moment, watching Athena’s quaking figure. Bitter memories begged to emerge. He’d witnessed PolyMorphic’s attack before.

“Go!” Seth ordered, giving him a firm push. “Time is of the essence.”

Jess’s wails haunted him as he entered the crumpled remains of the cockpit. Although he’d never seen the inside of a cursor before, it only took him a moment to gather his bearings. Good thing the Board taught me how to salvage parts. At least they did something right.

He pried off the engine compartment cover and set to work dismantling the diodes. How Seth planned to use the diodes to cure Athena of PolyMorphic was beyond him. In his experience, PolyMorphic was 100% irreversible, restructuring the person’s entire DNA to serve the purposes of its creator, the mysterious Kaitlynn. How one caught PolyMorphic also remained a mystery, as it never seemed contagious.

“Evan!!” Seth hollered above Jess’s commotion. “Where are those diodes?!”

Evan shook himself out of his train of thought. Snatching the two diodes out of the engine, he yanked out the wires and dashed back outside.

Athena’s skin was paler than ice. She drew in each ragged gasp with extreme effort. Gavin had finally managed to carry Jess away, leaving Seth and Cooper to work in silence.

“Here.” Evan said, panting.

Seth snatched the diodes, examined the frayed, crackling wires, and attached them to Athena’s right shoulder. Already, her shoulder was starting to blacken from the heat. Seth grounded the other wire in a bowl of what looked like liquids pixels. Whatever it was, the substance glowed a sparkling, pristine white. Purer than any other substance he’d ever seen in the whole Inner Circuits.

“What is that?” Evan asked.

Seth didn’t even glance up. “Best for you not to know.” He cranked the p-n junction to forward-biased. Crying out, Athena jolted upright, eyes flashing open in pain, and her entire body shuddered as the Pixels entered her system.

“Come on, honey,” Seth said. “Don’t leave me yet.”

Evan watched in a mixture of awe and terror as the Pixels spread throughout Athena’s body, illuminating every cell in a fascinating glow. Ever so slowly, the PolyMorphic began to subside, and Athena settled back into a blissful slumber.

Seth released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in. He stared across at Cooper. “Let her rest. I’ll keep first watch.”

“She’ll be okay?” Evan burst in, tears flooding his voice as the memories of PolyMorphic PTSD replayed in his mind.

Seth arched his eyebrow curiously at the implications but didn’t press any further. “Yes, she will. We leave here in twelve hours time when she’s healed.” He nodded towards the wreckage. “You might want to let Jess know the good news, hmm?”

Evan groaned inwardly. Seriously? You know she hates my guts. But he didn’t argue. He could almost hear Seth’s unspoken demand.

He found Jess sobbing near the base of a tree, arms folded across her knees. Gavin stood at a distance, awkwardly unsure what to say but keeping her within sight.

Evan swallowed the lump of rancor in his throat. “Seth says she’ll be okay.”

Jess nodded. Evan was uncertain what to say next. Gavin attempted his best older-brother impression and rubbed his beard.

“See, Jess? I told you everything was fine.”

Jess nodded again. Unsure about the ensuing awkward silence, Gavin cleared his throat and increased his distance.

Jess sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Evan was taken aback. “Sorry for what?”

Jess gazed into the horizon through red-rimmed eyes. “I overreacted. It’s nothing.”

Okay. Here’s your chance to get back on her good side. “Nothing’s nothing.” Perhaps if I shared a little bit about my experience… “PolyMorphic has taken some of my closest friends. Made them into monsters.”

Jess sniffed, loud and long. “I lost M.”

“Who’s M?”

Jess fingered a hemp bracelet around her wrist. “My twin sister.”