The last shred of hope I'd been clinging to crumbled to dust.

It was a hereditary trait in our family.

Dad had it. My brother had it. So did I.

"How... that's impossible... it can't be..."

Tears poured down my face. My lips trembled around words that wouldn't form. I couldn't breathe.

I tried to check for other marks on his body.

But his arms were gone. His legs were gone.

"AHHH!"

I collapsed into the heap of corpses and screamed until my throat tore.

This was fake.

This had to be one of Muriel's schemes.

I had to get inside the Bastion.

I had to confirm my brother was alive with my own eyes.

Drums and gongs echoed from within the walls. Celebrations. Humanity had reaped a bountiful harvest from the battle.

Brilliant lights flickered above the Bastion, painting the sky in garish color.

Outside the gate, corpses blanketed the ground in every direction. A wasteland of the dead.

I stripped a jacket off one of the fallen zombies and swapped it for my blood-soaked shirt.

People were celebrating inside. Not a single guard at the gate.

I pulled out my communicator and brought up my identification. Swiped it at the scanner.

A harsh red light. Entry denied.

I swiped again.

Red.

This was the credential Piers had registered for me, backed by his highest-level clearance. He'd told me once:

"You hate humans, but you'd never hurt them. I'm giving you top-level authorization. You can enter the Bastion anytime, anywhere."

But now I was locked out.

I stood at the gate for a long time. Silent.

My heartbeat grew heavier, louder, drowning out the drums inside.

I sent Piers a message, expecting nothing.

To my surprise, he replied almost instantly. A fresh verification code, followed by a text:

"The Information Division's been running a credential audit lately. Old passes got deactivated. Use this one for now."

That reply hit me like absolution.

I sucked in air, gasping, and felt reason flood back into my skull.

Piers was alive. He always handled my problems the moment they came in. Always.

The streets inside were packed with people, shoulder to shoulder.

No one noticed the gate crack open just wide enough for a body to slip through, then seal shut again.

And no one noticed the zombie disguised as a human trailing close behind me.

I called up the layout map Piers had sent me once and made straight for the laboratory. Room by room, I searched, until I found him in a sealed glass chamber at the end of the corridor.