Chapter 11
The voice on the other side of the doors said my name again and the word continuity made my shoulders lock up. "Nyla Banks, continuity response required. Acknowledge through door. Entry in ninety seconds without response."
I took half a step forward before I realized I'd moved. My hand was already out, not for the lock but for the sound, like I could catch it. The frosted glass panel glowed red then white then red from the SUV outside, and the light cut across the entryway floor in bars.
Zora stepped in front of me.
She didn't grab me. She planted herself between me and the double doors, her back to the wood, her palms flat against it. Her jacket shifted and I saw the brown crop top underneath ride up a little. She was breathing hard but her voice was low and flat.
"Don't open it," she said.
We were inches apart. Her phone was still in her left hand, screen dark now but I knew what it said. ZORA BANKS EXEMPT in green. Mine was face-down on the little table by the lamp where I'd dropped it, SELECTED still lit under the glass if I turned it over.
I looked at her hands on the door behind her. The wood was dark and cold. Outside, boots shifted on concrete.
"Zora," I whispered. I had to make her hear me without the people outside hearing everything too. "If you harbor me, they revoke EXEMPT."
Her eyes flicked down to mine and narrowed.
"What?" she said, just as quiet.
I swallowed. My throat was dry. "That's how it works. You said you're exempt. You're not exempt from helping me. If you block them, they take you too."
She didn't move her hands. The intercom crackled. "Sixty seconds. Nyla Banks, respond."
I could feel the pendant cold against my skin under my black zip top. I hadn't zipped it all the way. The gold bracelet on my wrist caught lamplight.
"Then let them," Zora whispered back. Her jaw tightened. "I'm not letting them take you. That's not a loophole, Nyla. That's the point."
"It's the point for me," I said. "You don't get to burn yourself for me. You stay green. You stay clean. If they mark you too, we have nothing."
She stared at me, and for a second I saw the Panic in her micro-expression again, the quick blink, the way her lips pressed together before she spoke. She was scared too, just holding it better.
"So what, you just open the door and walk out?" she said. Her voice cracked on the last word.
"No," I said. I shook my head small. "We don't open it. We don't give them you. We give them the smallest thing that stops the timer. Through the door. No face, no ID, no bar code. Just voice."
Zora glanced over her shoulder at the doors like she could see through them. The red flash washed her hair and made the reddish tint flare.
"Thirty seconds. This is retrieval. Non-response will be logged as non-compliance."
Zora looked back at me. "What does that even mean? Minimal response?"
I picked up my phone. The screen woke. FINAL NOTICE - NYLA BANKS SELECTED in red, the red record icon solid. At the bottom, smaller text I'd never noticed before was scrolling: CONTINUITY RESPONSE: VERBAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT ACCEPTED THROUGH BARRIER.
"That," I said and turned it so she could see. "We say I'm here. We don't consent. We don't unlock anything."
Her eyes read it twice. She nodded once, sharp.
"Okay," she said. "Okay, we do it together. But I talk first. You don't open your mouth until I step aside. And we stay back here. No hands on the lock."
I nodded. My mouth was dry again.
Zora turned sideways but kept one arm out in front of me, a bar. She raised her voice without shouting.
"We hear you!" she called toward the doors. "We acknowledge continuity request. Subject is present but door stays closed!"
A pause outside. Then the same flat voice, closer now, right on the other side of the frosted panel. I could see a shadow bulk against the glass.
"Nyla Banks must respond personally. Say name and acknowledge."
Zora's hand tightened on my wrist. She looked at me, asking.
I took a breath that shook. I leaned just enough toward the door but kept my feet planted behind Zora's arm. My bracelet slipped down.
"Nyla Banks here," I said. My voice came out smaller than I wanted, but it carried. "I hear you. Door stays closed."
May you like
Silence for two seconds. The red light swept the floor again. Then the voice: "Acknowledgment logged. Entry hold extended. Maintain position at barrier. Do not break contact."
Zora didn't drop her arm. She didn't move away from the doors either. She looked at me, and we both understood we hadn't solved anything. We'd bought time with words through wood, and the SUV was still running outside, and my phone still glowed red in my hand while hers glowed green in hers. But we were still on the same side of the doors, and the locks were still locked.
