Chapter Text
The new exhibit at the Future of Science Museum had opened three hours ago and, if Allura were being honest, she had to say it was a rounding success. Her entire year had been spent working with her father to open the new space exhibit under his name. To have her name there as well, a brilliant beacon next to her father’s, was more than she had ever wanted. Exhibit created by Alfor and Allura Altea, it read. And Allura had read it a thousand times.
After one last glance at the sign, she looked around again, going up on her toes to try and spot who she was waiting for. Of course, with her height, she didn’t need to extend herself much above the crowd, especially not in the cute new pumps she’d bought just for the occasion, but it helped regardless.
“Where is she?” murmured Allura to herself. She scanned the crowds again, blowing a strand of white-blonde hair from her face. Really, she should have worn it up today, it would have been less trouble. But, with this being the opening, Allura knew all eyes would be on her when the media made its grand entrance later on today. She had to look the part of the picture-perfect daughter. Long, elegant hair, well cut dress, and cute shoes.
That wasn’t to say she didn’t like the outfit, nor the appearance. Allura was more than capable of looking the part of the elegant daughter, just as she was capable of throwing on old jeans, a worn top, and digging into the mechanics of the exhibit. It was simply frustrating that only one of those things was socially acceptable for a woman such as herself.
While Allura was grumbling inwardly, she spotted her friend in the crowd, clinging to her laptop bag and looking more than a little out of place.
“Katie!” called Allura, waving her over. Katie looked up, eyes going wide and shoulders dropping in relief as she spotted Allura. Allura stepped through the crowd, easily parting the people around. Katie waited, bouncing on her heels and rocking back and forth. Her long hair was pulled back into a high ponytail today, and Allura thought she spotted a tiny bit of liner around her eyes. It was rare to see Katie dress up and Allura took a moment to smile at the adorable green and yellow sundress she wore.
“You look lovely today, Katie,” said Allura. She took Katie’s hands in her own for a moment, smiling brightly. “How are you?”
Katie sighed and tugged at her ponytail, looking around at the people. “I’m okay. Little scared of the dress, but,” she shrugged, flashing Allura a tight smile, “you know, I’ll make it work.”
“You’re fine,” said Allura. She rested a hand on Katie’s shoulder and gestured toward the exhibit, which she’d been waiting in front of. “Shall we?”
Katie adjusted the strap on her laptop bag and nodded, following Allura into the exhibit room. It was a massive hall, divided into several rooms for the various displays. Allura had had no small part in creating the exhibits, not to mention helping her father’s engineers in creating them to begin with. She’d worked hard to ensure that everything was in its place, and that the entire exhibit centred on their pride and joy – the electric reactor.
“I still can’t believe that thing is made of space metal,” murmured Katie, staring up at it. Her eyes were wide and bright as she looked over the giant machine. Then, her gaze swung up toward Allura, and Allura smiled down at her. “Were you serious when you said it’s powering the entire exhibit?”
“The entire museum, actually,” said Allura. She gestured to the lights around them and winked at Katie. “And that’s only a fraction of what it can power. If we can get the grant to go through from this exhibit, we can go straight to NASA and back to the asteroid, where we’ll be extracting the rest of the metal to reverse engineer its chemical structure.”
Katie nodded, adjusting the strap again. “Fascinating,” she murmured. Her gaze got that faraway look it did sometimes when she was thinking. Allura waited, watching as Katie stepped up to the edge of the reactor’s exhibit and the low wall that separated it from the patrons, staring up at the great, pulsing energy within its central ring. “It’s such a weird shade of purple.”
“It is,” said Allura. She stepped up next to Katie and frowned thoughtfully at the reactor. The shade of purple had puzzled both herself and her father ever since they’d first seen it. The pseudo-metal, which they’d dubbed asterium, had a strange magnetic signature, causing it to disrupt most conventional power methods. However, the power it generated when turned into a reactor core was unprecedented, and, with it not being radioactive, it stood to be a good solution to the current power situation.
If they could replicate asterium, they had a chance at creating a new age of safe, clean pseudo-nuclear power with little to no downsides.
“You ever wonder why?” asked Katie.
“All the time,” murmured Allura. She sighed and rested her hand on Katie’s shoulder. “How about I show you the rest of the exhibit?”
Katie grinned at her, something cheeky behind the excitement, and Allura narrowed her eyes. She was planning something, though Allura had no idea what. Frankly, she was a little worried as to what it might be. Katie was mischievous at the best of times, and giving her access to some of the most advanced technology in the world probably wasn’t the best idea.
“Actually, I had something I wanted to show you,” said Katie. She turned her bag toward Allura and Allura raised her eyebrows.
“All right,” said Allura, slowly. Katie nodded to an alcove in the exhibit and Allura followed her to it, brow still furrowed. What on Earth had Katie come up with this time? Last time she’d wanted to show Allura something, it had been a complicated little device to make toast that had promptly exploded and destroyed part of Allura’s kitchen.
Her father, thankfully, had found the entire ordeal absolutely hilarious.
Katie set down her bag and opened it up. “Okay, Rover, come on out,” she whispered. Allura’s eyebrows shot up. Rover? Oh no. This could only be one thing.
From the bag, a tiny nose appeared, then a head, then the rest of a little puppy. Allura stared as the puppy, she’d put money that it was a beagle – clambered out of the bag and tripped, flopping chin first onto the floor.
Katie smiled and scooped him up. “Hey, little guy,” she whispered, cradling him close. Her gaze went back to Allura. “Allura, this is Rover. He’s my new best friend.”
“Oh my gosh,” whispered Allura. She leaned forward, bending over so she could look closely at the puppy. “He’s adorable, Katie.” Her gaze flicked up to Katie, though the two were almost at eye-level at the moment. “When did you get him?”
Katie shifted her hands as the puppy whimpered. “Last night,” she said. “Matt got him for me. He said I needed a reason to go outside and he always loved dogs.” She shrugged. “I guess this was his idea of ‘initiative’.”
“And your parents, they’re all right with this?” asked Allura.
Katie gave a quick nod. “Yeah, yeah. They’re all for it.” She wrinkled her nose. “I mean, they don’t mind that I like computers so much, but they think I need to go outside too.” She rolled her eyes and tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “I know what I’m about.”
Allura’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “I’m sure,” she said, drily. She straightened up and looked around, biting her lower lip. She may have been one of the primary creators of this exhibit, but that didn’t mean she could break the rules left and right. “Put him away, Katie,” whispered Allura. “We don’t want to be told to leave.”
“Definitely not,” said Katie. She picked up her bag and set Rover back into it, folding it over without zipping the bag closed. “Stay quiet, Rover, okay?” She looked up at Allura, still smiling. “So, what next?”
“The exhibit,” said Allura. She gestured toward the rest of the giant hall, one hand on Katie’s shoulder. “Shall we?”
Katie nodded and double-checked her bag before following Allura into the exhibit. “I can’t believe the Garrison gets to come here for free,” muttered Katie. She folded her arms and scowled. “It’s not fair.”
Allura gave Katie a flat look. “And you get in free of charge because I helped build the exhibit, Katie. Does that seem unfair to you as well?”
“No?” guessed Katie. She shrugged, turning her hands toward the ceiling. “Look, it’s not like I don’t like the Garrison. I guess. I just don’t think this place should have admission at all. Science should be free to everyone.”
Allura nodded. “I agree.” She waited a moment, judging her next words with care. “Speaking of the Garrison…”
Katie went rigid at her side. “Don’t.” Her words were harsh and bitten off, a sharp contrast from the soft, excited tones, and the dry, sarcastic tones that Allura typically heard from her friend. “Just… don’t.”
“I thought you were excited to join the Garrison next year?” asked Allura. She was sure of it, in fact. Katie had spoken of the Garrison, as well as her intention to join it, for almost the entire time they’d known one another. Her study program with the Altean Corporation, the very thing that had brought them together, was often used as a way to take advanced placement exams for the Garrison free of charge.
Beyond that, Katie’s older brother, Matt, had graduated in the same year as Allura. Surely, with her love of her brother, and her love of science, Katie wanted to join.
So, what had changed?
“I did,” said Katie, tightly. Her right hand gripped the strap of her laptop bag so tightly that Allura worried it might break. “Until I found out they require a physical.”
It was as if the curtains had been drawn back from a window. Katie’s hesitation, her lack of conversation about the Garrison as of late, and her tension, now all made complete sense.
“Are you sure you cannot explain your situation to them?” asked Allura.
Katie shook her head. The motion was sharp and ragged, temporarily masking the trembling in Katie’s lower lip and the fear in her eyes. “I don’t want to.” Her voice cracked, albeit only slightly, on the words. “I just want to be normal, Allura.”
Allura paused in the hall and rested her hands on Katie’s shoulders. She smiled down at her friend, hoping that her concern was visible. “Katie, you are normal. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You are a wonderful young woman, and I know that you can do anything you want to.”
Katie stared down and off to the side, lips pressed tightly together. “And if I’d rather do independent study instead of going to the Garrison?” she asked. Her voice was rather small in the large hall, only barely audible despite their proximity.
Taking Katie’s chin in one hand, Allura turned their gazes to one another. “Then that’s what you want to do,” she said, “and I’d be happy to assist you.”
Katie took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Allura’s middle, pressing her face into the front of Allura’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered.
With a little smile, Allura rested one hand atop Katie’s head. “You are quite welcome. Now, how about that exhibit?”
“Sounds good,” said Katie. She wiped her eyes as the two stepped back from one another. Allura took her hand and led her through the exhibit, even as her mind wondered if there was a way to allow Katie into the Garrison without complication or intrusive questioning.
“Hunk!” Lance’s voice was a hissed shout, louder than a whisper but not by much. “Hunk!” He darted around people in the crowd. “Sorry, excuse me.” His gaze went back to his friend, who was heading through the doors of the museum. Lance broke free of the crowd and sprinted up the stairs. “Hey, wait up!”
As he came through the doors, Lance couldn’t help but gasp quietly. The front entrance to the museum was absolutely massive. It was done up with white and purple decals, marking the various paths to the brand new energy exhibit done by the Altean Corporation. Lance had heard through the grapevine that the daughter of the CEO, a woman who’d gone to the Garrison too, had designed half of the whole thing. He kind of hoped he’d get to meet her.
He knew Hunk wanted to meet her. It was part of why they were here.
“Hunk!” Lance went up on his toes and frowned at the crowd. He could see a flash of white hair in the distance, but that wasn’t Hunk. Hunk was wearing an orange headband and an orange shirt today, which made him stand out.
If Lance could spot him, that was.
It was bad enough the two of them were already on probation – because of Lance – but then Hunk had to drag them off campus, on a campus only day, to visit some super popular exhibit while wearing day-glow orange.
Mistakes had been made. Mostly by Lance, but at least twenty percent of the mistakes were Hunk’s. Maybe twenty-five percent.
The point, Lance thought, as he pushed his way through the crowd, was that this wasn’t totally his fault. It was a fifth, or a quarter, depending, Hunk’s fault. And that meant that if this all went upside-down and he got into trouble, he could also blame Hunk.
“Hunk!” Lance called again. Someone in the crowd shot him a dirty look and Lance wriggled his way out of the admission area, stumbling as he came free of the crowd.
There, he spotted Hunk, staring up at this giant machine with a purple glow around the centre ring. Lance frowned at it. What was this thing?
“Hunk?” asked Lance, stepping up next to him. “What is this thing?”
“The electric reactor,” breathed Hunk. Lance squinted at it. How the heck did that work? Didn’t reactors work based on nuclear power? Wait.
This was the thing Hunk had wanted to see for months. Ever since the first announcement had gone up at the Garrison, Hunk had wanted to come see this thing. He had rambled about it for days on end until Lance finally relented and agreed to visit the exhibit when it opened, even if he didn’t get everything about it.
That, of course, had been before the two of them ended up on probation during an on-campus only day. It had also been before Lance had been warned that if he got caught breaking probation one more time, then Iverson was going to call his parents.
Lance shuddered at the thought. God, his parents would be worse than anything Iverson could ever throw at him.
“Okay, so, you saw it, great, maybe we should…” Lance trailed off, his gaze going to the ship on its stage off to one side of the exhibit. He blinked a few times, eyes sliding over the sleek design. The fins, the exhaust, the cockpit – it was all perfect. He’d never seen a space plane this advanced in his life. The belly of the ship was almost entirely solar panels, allowing for rolls in space to recharge for extra power.
He ducked into the area and stepped under the stage, staring up at the ship. Others were around, taking pictures and studying things, but no one was gaping like he was.
“This is what they used to get to the asteroid,” whispered Lance to himself. He reached out toward one of the wheels on the landing gear, but he pulled up short. Should he really touch it?
There were no signs around that said he couldn’t. With trembling fingers, Lance rested his hands on the wheels. They were rough, the treads almost completely untouched from flying so long without friction.
Lance grinned to himself. This was it. This was what he wanted to do with his life. This was the entire reason he’d joined the Garrison, even if it was a stuffy STEM based private school full of bigots and assholes.
“There you are,” said Hunk, coming up to him. “See you found the space plane.”
“This is so cool,” whispered Lance. He took his hand from the wheel and stared at it, his fingers still tingling from the sensation. “What do you think it’s like, up there?”
Hunk placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned at him. “I have no idea. But we’re going to find out. I’ll be down here, running mission control, while you’re up in space, having the time of your life.” He looked at Lance and Lance smiled back at him. “We’re partners, man. In it to the end.”
“Yeah we are,” said Lance. He slung an arm around Hunk’s shoulders. “Plus, it means I’ll have the world’s coolest space engineer building me ships to fly all over the solar system.” He pumped a fist into the air. “Once I’ve got something built by, you, no one will be able to stop me.”
Hunk laughed. “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Don’t get too confident, I still have to specialize and go through college.”
“Pfft, you’ll do just fine,” said Lance. He nudged Hunk and they started toward the food kiosks. “You’re like, the smartest person I know Hunk. There’s nothing you can’t do.” He patted his back pockets. “Including… not forgetting your wallet?” Lance flashed him a sheepish smile.
Hunk sighed and dug his out. “Just this once,” he said.
“Woo! Food time!” said Lance, laughing. Hunk shook his head, which Lance only barely just saw, and followed after him toward the kiosks.
As Lance walked, a shudder went up his spine, and he froze in place, entire world vanishing for a split second. Hunk bumped into him and Lance wobbled forward, stopped from falling as Hunk grabbed him by the back of his jacket.
“Lance? You okay?” Hunk’s voice sounded far away. The whole world sounded far away. All Lance could focus on, for a few seconds, was the own steady booming of his heart in his head.
“Lance?” Hunk’s voice solidified again and Lance turned to look at him. Then he looked passed Hunk, to the glowing purple reactor. Another involuntary shudder went up his spine.
Hunk’s hand brushed his shoulder. Lance blinked.
“Hey, are you okay?” asked Hunk. Lance looked from Hunk, to the reactor, and back again.
“Yeah,” he said, after a long minute. “I’m good. Just…” He shook his head and shivered, rubbing his arms. “Just hungry, is all. Let’s go.”
Hunk frowned. “If you say so,” he said, but he didn’t push the issue. As the two headed toward the kiosks, Lance couldn’t help but look over his shoulder one last time at the reactor. It lumbered there, a rumbling giant that had him on edge, but he had no idea why.
Weird. He shook it off and followed after Hunk.
He was probably just hungry, that was all.
It was a hot day in late spring, still early enough that the full effects of the sun hadn’t hit Shiro yet, but he remained beneath a shadowy tree regardless. Here, tucked away from the crowds of people streaming into the museum, he could be undisturbed and watch the people around him.
Keith had gone in a few minutes ago to get tickets for them. Shiro waited for him to return, his gaze sweeping from the front doors of the museum to the people streaming into it. He swallowed, trying not to think about the press of the crowds.
Some of the people looked his way as they passed by. Most of them gave him a second look after a second, eyes widening or mouths dropping open. Some of the subtler ones simply furrowed their brows or looked over their shoulders, lips pursed.
Shiro tugged, not quite absently, at the right sleeve of his button up shirt, which had been knotted just below his stump. He told himself he was checking the knot, seeing as it was so high up he couldn’t get a proper angle on it. In truth, he knew why his focus was on the half of his upper arm that remained.
It was a losing battle, trying not to think about it. Instead, Shiro kept his focus on the front doors of the museum and on waiting for his younger brother.
After a few minutes, Keith appeared in his red cut off jacket, ducking under a few raised arms as he jogged over to Shiro. He held up the tickets.
“Got ‘em,” he said, before casting a look over his shoulder. “Can you believe they’re letting the Garrison in for free. It’s ridiculous.”
Shiro opened his mouth to point out that Keith had been Garrison, once. But he realized it probably wasn’t a good idea. Especially not with why Keith wasn’t Garrison anymore.
“Ready to head in?” asked Keith. He shoved one hand in his pocket and held out the tickets with the other. “Unless…,” his gaze swept across Shiro and he frowned, “are you okay?”
Shiro pushed off the tree and took his ticket, ignoring how awkward it still was to grab things with his left hand. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Not great, not even good, after all those looks, but fine was honest enough. He didn’t need to worry Keith. Keith worried enough about him as it was.
Together, the two bypassed the crowds, handed over their tickets, and slipped into the brand new exhibit.
Shiro had been looking forward to this ever since he’d heard of the ship coming back with a new element from space. Asterium, they were calling it, based on the asteroid that was making a circuit through the solar system. From what he’d gathered, it would stay in Earth’s orbit for another three days, then it would be gone for eight months, before it returned for a week long pass through Earth’s orbit again. Then, it would be gone for twenty-five years. Shiro was hoping to get some good pictures of it up at the observatory before it was gone in three days, and Keith had even offered to drive him there.
Until then, however, he wanted to look at what they’d built out of the asterium they’d found on the asteroid. Apparently, it was a reactor. One that, he noticed, had been built almost entirely by an old classmate of his.
The thought made his chest hurt. He and Allura had never known each other – he’d been going into the air force; she’d been a mechanic – but he’d known of her. To know that she was off in the world, creating new, clean technology, while he wasted away at home trying to figure out how to do things one-handed while fighting off nightmares and panic attacks… well, it was a little disheartening, to say the least.
Keith waved a pamphlet in front of Shiro’s face as the two walked through the exhibit. He bit his thumb nail as he read the words, brow furrowed and lips slightly pursed around his thumb.
“What do you wanna check out first?” asked Keith. His eyes scanned the pamphlet and he dropped his thumb, looking up at Shiro. “Looks like there’s a lot here.”
Shiro’s looked over the exhibit, his gaze finding a pair of guys standing beneath the space plane, people gathered around the various screens to watch how the asteroid and asterium had been discovered and mined, and then, in the centre of it all, he saw what he was searching for – the lumbering beast of the reactor and its glowing, purple, centre ring. The ring wrapped horizontally around the reactor, which itself looked like a lopsided sphere, and Shiro took a step toward it before he could stop himself.
There were people all around it, milling about and chatting, and his left hand clenched into a fist at his side.
“We can come back,” said Keith, behind him. “It’s not a big deal.”
Admission was thirty dollars a person. The exhibit was going to be packed for weeks, if not the full time it was in the museum. If he left now, Shiro didn’t know if he’d ever convince himself to come back. The stares, the noise, the crowds – it all pressed close to him, making his heart beat hard in his chest and leaving him struggling to control his breathing.
But he wanted to see. He couldn’t let the past, this trauma, control him forever.
“The reactor,” said Shiro. He swallowed. “Let’s go look at it.”
Keith nodded. There was concern in his eyes, but Shiro ignored it and started toward the reactor. He also ignored the slight unevenness to his steps and the way his heart beat hard enough to pound at his ears and making his head ache in time with its beats.
Keith followed after him, frowning slightly.
The reactor was more than Shiro had expected. The purple energy that glowed around it reflected across the hall, giving the white and purple decals a sort of eerie light that only intensified the strangeness, the newness of the whole thing.
Part of him, the part that liked answers, wanted to crack it open and root around its insides until he understood what it was. He was no engineer, but he and Keith were mechanics to some extent – or at least, he had been, once, and Keith still was – and the idea of finding out what made this thing tick was incredibly appealing.
“What do you think?” asked Shiro, looking to Keith.
Keith faltered. He opened his mouth, closed it, frowned, squinted, then offered Shiro a sheepish smile. “It’s… purple?”
Shiro snorted. People turned and looked at him. He shrunk back down until they looked away. In a low voice, he said, “Yes. The Altean Corporation doesn’t know why it’s purple, but it is. I was more talking about the design. You always liked machines, didn’t you?”
Keith nodded. “Yeah, but I’m more into cars and bikes not… this.” He gestured to the reactor before stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I mean, it’s cool, Shiro. I’m glad you like it.”
Quietly, Shiro said, “Me too.” He studied the reactor closely, stepping up until the low barrier wall stopped him. It was unbelievable, the idea that something so powerful could be so harmless. Traditional nuclear reactors had to be put behind feet upon feet of protective barriers, isolated and kept watch over. If something even went slightly wrong, it was mass panic and protective measures.
Here, it was completely different. This reactor was harmless in its typical state and stable enough that security measures were minimal. Largely, it was simply keeping the reactor at a distance from everyone else. As long as no one touched it, nothing would happen.
Keith stepped up beside him, leaning against the barrier with his arms folded against it. “Pretty cool, actually,” said Keith.
“You? Admitting something is cool?” teased Shiro.
Keith bumped his left shoulder, shaking his head. He was smiling, however, so Shiro didn’t think he’d said anything wrong.
“Sometimes I can,” admitted Keith. He stared up at the reactor and, for just a moment, Shiro saw the purple reflected in Keith’s dark eyes. “Even if you are a kind of lame.”
“I’m your brother,” said Shiro.
Keith shrugged. “Half-brother.” His words were soft.
“Keith.”
“I am,” said Keith. His gaze swung back toward Shiro, the purple of the reactor remaining for a moment. “You can’t even deny that. We both know what I am. Just… leave it.”
Shiro frowned. It had been almost a year since Keith had last brought up that little detail. Since he’d snapped at Shiro’s father – not his, Keith had argued at the time – for treating him like some kind of plague on their mother’s side of the family.
It wasn’t that his dad disliked Keith – he loved Keith with all his heart – but Keith was the odd one out in the entire family, and that meant looks at family things. Shiro didn’t blame him for snapping, even if he’d based his argument on a bad, out of context statement from his father.
“What brought this on?” asked Shiro, frowning. He reached up and rubbed the scar across his nose. It’d been bothering him for a while now, but he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was unseasonal humidity. It was bugging his stump too. Both had been hurting almost nonstop since he’d woken up. He’d just taken an extra dose of pain meds before coming to the museum, but even that didn’t seem to be helping.
“Nothing,” said Keith. He stared at the reactor, his eyes soft. “Just been thinking.”
“Hey,” said Shiro. He reached out and rested his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “You know if you need me, I’m here, right?”
“Yeah,” said Keith. “Thanks.” He looked back to the reactor, squinting, then brought up his hand and rubbed his head, eyes closed. “Damn it.”
Shiro frowned. “Are you all right?” he asked.
Keith nodded, but his eyes were still squeezed shut. “Yeah, just a headache. A bad one.” He grimaced and stumbled back the reactor, letting out a low curse again. Shiro reached toward Keith, but a light caught his attention.
His gaze swung back to the reactor as the glowing purple ring started to pulse. Shiro stumbled back half a step and grabbed Keith’s jacket, yanking him back. The pulse brushed the edge of the barrier, sending lines of purple electricity dancing down the glass. It cracked, shattered, and fell to the floor in an explosion of noise and light.
“Oh my god,” breathed Shiro. The ring kept expanding as it pulsed and, a second later, the alarms started going off, their noise drowning out everything else in the museum.
Allura’s head swung toward the reactor the moment the alarms started. The barrier’s glass was shattered on the floor, purple electricity dancing across it. The ring itself pulsed beyond its containment ring, dancing toward the rest of the museum.
“Allura, what’s going on?” asked Katie, holding her bag close. Allura stepped in front of Katie, holding out an arm to keep her from trying to check it out.
“Please evacuate the museum immediately,” said a voice over the intercoms. “Please remain calm and head for the nearest exit.” People went running for the doors, dropping things as they went and screaming all the way.
But Allura’s gaze was locked on the two boys standing in front of the reactor. The shorter one was gripping his head while the other was trying to get his attention. With every passing second, the purple energy ring drew closer and closer to them.
“Katie, get outside. Now.” Allura’s voice was hard, commanding. She started toward the boys, jogging as best she could in her heels.
“Allura, wait!” called Katie. Allura kept moving. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two guys running from the space plane toward the other two guys.
“Hey, watch out!” called the lankier of the two. Allura darted sideways around some of the broken glass that had expanded far passed the barrier.
The purple ring shrunk back for a moment before pushing forward faster. Allura did some quick math. They had roughly thirty seconds before the reactor fully overloaded. They needed to get out.
“Keith?” asked the man with one arm. “Keith, talk to me. What’s going on? We have to go!” The panic in his voice sent Allura’s mind into overload.
They needed to get out.
Keith groaned and dropped to one knee. Allura kept running.
“Get out! I have them!” she shouted to the two guys running toward them. They didn’t listen. They hit the other two just as she did. The two grabbed the one named Keith and pulled him toward the door. Allura caught the other one’s shoulder and pulled him toward the door.
“We have to go.” They had less than ten seconds. They weren’t going to make it. The thought struck her like a punch to the stomach.
They weren’t going to make it.
“Allura!” Katie’s voice. Allura’s head snapped up and she saw Katie running toward her. The museum was almost completely empty now. Just the six of them.
The reactor gave a great hiss behind them. Allura abandoned the man and leaped for Katie.
“Get down!” she shouted. She hit Katie and tackled her to the ground, throwing her arms around her just as the reactor screamed.
Purple exploded across her senses, drowning out almost everything else. Vaguely, she could hear screaming, but whether it was hers or someone else’s she didn’t know.
Electricity ripped through her veins, pain following after. So intense, so hot, that Allura thought her very blood had been boiled from her veins.
Screaming, hissing, electricity in her veins. And pain. So much pain that Allura didn’t know where she ended and it began. And then, nothing.
Absolutely nothing.