Elias felt gray.

  The graying process had gone faster than Holifeld had predicted. Elias could feel it. He knew that by tomorrow, at the latest, he would be entirely transformed and would in all likelihood call up Akiyama and ask to join his cause. (Elias now realized that Akiyama had won every argument the two of them had ever had. Elias had been irrational and Akiyama had made sense.) That’s why Elias had sent Holifeld a message insisting the break-in happen that night.

  It wasn’t bad, being gray. For the first time in his life, Elias didn’t have to think any thoughts he didn’t want to think. His mind did all the work he needed it to—solving problems, predicting dangers—without sidetracking, daydreams, or sudden, irrelevant remembrances.

  Well, only one.

  Honestly, Elias could easily have made the switch already, that morning, driven to Johnston by himself and walked up to the front door of this building instead of sneaking in the back, turned himself in. He would have been a Gray, simple as that, and would never have to go back to anger and anxiety and all that other useless pink clutter.

  But it would have made Kess so sad.

  He shouldn’t put this much value on Kess’s feelings. She was only one person, as irrational as any un-Gray. And she was infatuated with Elias, making her particularly unreliable when it came to deciding what should happen to him.

  And yet he remembered the night they met. It was a warm, bright spot in his cool gray mind. There was her face, relaxing after a burst of laughter, and there were the lights hung all over, shining through her yellow hair.

  He looked at her now. Silver had led them to an elevator with shining mirrored walls and a keypad by the call buttons where she tapped in some code. Kess stood with her back to a corner. In his memory (that memory), Kess’s eyes were brown. Now they were gray and glittering.

  The elevator opened onto a large, long room. Two more Grays flanked the door, waiting for them. At the end of the room were tall, broad windows, and a desk, and a man sitting at the desk. The window frame made an angle. The sides of the desk made an angle. The man’s shoulders made an angle. The man had Asian features and black hair going silver at the temples. He dressed in a suit of the same cut and color as the one Christopher Stone had worn the one time Elias had met him, when he passed him that note, the note from Akiyama, the note that said not to tell Kess.

  “So you’re the boss,” said Kess to Jonathan Akiyama.

  “No he’s not,” said Elias. “The Grays don’t have dominance hierarchies.”

  Kess looked at him with her brown eyes. Eyes are all curves without angles. “Um, what?”

  “You are here,” said Akiyama, “to find something. We are unaware of anything within this building you would want, and so it is likely something we are not aware of. That would indicate something which was erased from our minds by Silver’s memory purge.”

  Standing on the other side of Kess from Elias, Silver spoke up. “It is possible that I commissioned other projects at the same time as the memory purge. Indeed, this would have made the purge a more appealing strategy.” And then, quick and sharp, Silver reached into Kess’s pocket with her black-gloved hand and pulled out the vial containing the Nox. “It is likely that one of these projects is contained here.”

  Kess made a sound and grabbed at the vial, but it was already leaving Silver’s hand, arcing through the air toward Akiyama, who caught it one-handed and set it on his desk. “Given that you knew about whatever is in this vial, and its location in the building, it is likely that the two of you are in contact with Vance Holifeld. Are you willing to disclose any information you have regarding his location, intentions, or capabilities?”

  Informing on Holifeld would make Kess sad. “No,” said Elias.

  “Then we have nothing else to say to Miss Carpenter.” Akiyama indicated the two other Grays in the room. “Black and Richards will escort you to your new living quarters. You will see your Beta friends soon.”

  “Don’t do this,” said Kess, her voice distorted and strained. “The Reds and Blues haven’t

  done anything to you. We haven’t done anything to anyone but each other. Just leave us alone.”

  “You seem to believe we want to punish you. Since we are hoping to keep both your Betas’ abilities and our involvement a secret from the wider populace at this time, punishing you would have no purpose. There is no one whose behavior would be changed by your example. We are simply trying to maintain our schedule for the Beta project.”

  “Maintain your schedule…?”

  “The release of the test animals disrupted our timeline. What’s more, every moment you and your confederates spend outside of our custody threatens to spread the unfinished product, further disrupting our projections. Containing you contains the spread of the product, and also gives us human subjects for an accelerated testing schedule.”

  “Human subjects? So you want us to replace your chimps.” Kess’s face twisted in a way Elias couldn’t quite interpret, not anymore. Then she said, “You don’t think your timeline will be disrupted if you kidnap a dozen teenagers? You don’t think anyone will notice? You don’t think the world will figure you out?”

  “You are trying to persuade me, Miss Carpenter.”

  “Yes.”

  “A Gray, as you call us, can be persuaded by new information. We cannot be persuaded by arguments.”

  “You say that like it’s a good thing.”

  “Miss Carpenter, you come from a cultural tradition that celebrates the ability to be persuaded as a sign of rationality. However, this view is fundamentally flawed. An argument attempts to arrange the facts of the world into an illusion. For example, at the moment I am attempting to persuade you to cooperate with us. I do this because your cooperation will make our plans for you go much more smoothly. However, since your goals are not aligned with ours, I must create an illusion that the world is a different place, one where you want to help us.”

  “Um, explaining that isn’t very persuasive…”

  “Fortunately, the illusion I am presenting to you is no flimsier than the illusion you currently labor under. Alphas, Grays, are not like you in that regard. We know our priorities, and their rank. We cannot be made to see things in a different light because we see things one way—the way they truly are.”

  “Congratulations?”

  Something chimed in Elias’s head when Kess said that. He thought that, perhaps, he’d once had a similar exchange with Akiyama. But his memory of it was unclear, because that was back when he was stupid, and it was difficult to remember what stupidity felt like. And now Kess was stupid, not realizing what would be best for her, what would keep her safe.

  “Kess can make a deal,” he said. “Deals are rational when two parties have opposing goals. Kess will cooperate and encourage the other Beta 2s to cooperate. In exchange, you will provide her with the comforts she wants while in your care, no matter how irrational. No experiments will be performed that might harm or damage her. Those experiments will be performed on other Blues instead.”

  “What? Elias, why would you say that? Elias.”

  But before he could speak, Akiyama answered instead. “He says that because of an artifact. We had suspected the existence of this artifact before, but Kaplan’s behavior tonight confirms it.”

  An artifact… An error in the conversion of Elias’s brain.

  “Silver,” said Akiyama. “Is the analysis from the scan complete?”

  Silver nodded, and Akiyama reached out and touched something on the surface of his desk. The windows behind him went opaque, transformed into flat black screens. On the glass above Akiyama’s head, a human brain appeared. Or something like a human brain. It had clearly been altered in the same way as the chimpanzees’ brains which Elias and Kess had examined in the woods behind Kess’s house, with hints of the original flesh and traditional electronics among the other, stranger machinery. It was all rendered on the screen in semi-transparent gray-ish white, all except for one spot that shone gold.

  The artifact.

  Silver spoke next. “Our theory is that Miss Carpenter infected you with Beta machines when you first met. The shock she subsequently gave you retarded their replication rate, and the urge to consume raw materials never triggered. That changed when you were injected with Alpha machines.”

  Looking more closely at the image of the brain—his brain—Elias saw that the golden spot sent out thin, tentative tendrils into the rest of the machinery.

  “The computer has determined that your mind’s transformation is complete. The components that would allow you to detect and react to Beta allegiance transmissions never developed. In their place, the Beta machines keyed their allegiance coding to those memories formed the night you were first infected.”

  The night he was first infected. Kess.

  Akiyama turned away from the image on the window behind him to face the others. “Your new mind, Kaplan, consists of an almost complete Alpha network with a major artifact caused by the rudimentary Beta network.”

  “So,” said Kess, “Elias is a Gray with a piece of Blue at the center? What does that mean?”

  “It means, Miss Carpenter, that he is devoted to you, and will be indefinitely. This is somewhat inconvenient for our plans, since we believed he would make a suitable Alpha. However, this experience has been useful in identifying a hitherto unknown failure mode to guard against in the future.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  While Akiyama was talking, Elias looked away from him, back at Kess. Her eyes were round as coins, and she would never sacrifice another Blue for her own safety. He wanted her to be safe. He wanted her to have what she wanted. She did not want to be safe. He felt conflicted, which was not a Gray feeling. It came from that warm golden spot in his brain.

  “Let Kess go,” he said. “And leave the Beta 2s alone.”

  “Your artifact also causes you to make arguments you know are useless.”

  “A Gray can only be persuaded by new information. I have new information.” Elias pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Silver. “Look at the pages I have opened there. That forum post shows a photo of someone climbing on a wall in a city an hour away from here. And there’s a report of a man found dead, seemingly electrocuted but with no apparent electrical source available. His fifteen-year-old daughter is missing. That’s the next state over. There’s more. The Beta machines have already spread. I assume you took this long to move against the Reds and Blues because you were developing Beta-neutralizing technology, like that electricity-proof clothing Silver’s wearing. But you’re too late. Taking the Reds and Blues in Greenlake into custody won’t contain the spread; you’ll be expending effort and risking exposure for no use.”

  For a moment, Akiyama was silent. And then he said, “If the Beta machines have spread, the need for Beta test subjects is even more pressing. What’s more, this original hive of Betas are the only ones who know of the Alphas and our involvement. Our plans to contain ythem were based on faulty information about the pace of their advancement and the likelihood of spreading Beta machines. With better knowledge, we would never have shown ourselves to you and your sister, Miss Carpenter, or tried unsuccessfully to take you into custody. However, our new plans must take these failures into account. You must be contained after all. Silver, Black, Richards—”

  He must have meant for the other Grays to escort Kess and Elias away, but he was interrupted by the ring of a phone. He picked it up off his desk and listened quietly. Then, without saying anything, he held the phone away, ended the call and dialed another number.

  “Miss Carpenter,” he said into the phone. “My name is Jonathan Akiyama.”

  #

  Priya landed on her feet. A moment later Connor landed beside her.

  Stone turned and fired his gun.

  But Priya had expected this and was already in the air. The bullet or tranq-dart or whatever it was whizzed below her feet. She touched down and immediately launched herself at Stone. He stepped out of her way, and it was annoying how quick he was, and Priya hit one of the cop cars with a jolt. She turned around to see Blues all around her, struggling with the (fake) cops. But they didn’t seem to be using their electricity. Why not? What were they—Right in front of Priya, that Blue, Samuel, planted his palm on a cop’s chest.

  Nothing happened. No spasm, no electric jolt, and he must have been trying. These people were Blue proof.

  The cop grabbed Samuel and flipped him around in some sort of karate move and he was down on the ground, and the cop was kneeling over him doing something to his hands. Priya ran to them, narrowly avoiding Stone, yanked the cop off Samuel and threw him to the side. He flew several feet through the air and hit the edge of the cop car’s hood. The arm that hit the car hung strange and Priya was sure she’d broken or dislocated it, even though the cop made no sound. His face didn’t even lose its steady expression.

  And all the while Samuel lay prone on the ground at Priya’s feet. She had the sudden urge to kick him, stomp him, make sure he couldn’t get up. That’s how you stayed safe from a Blue. Don’t give them a chance to shock you.

  Why hadn’t he gotten up already? And then she noticed there was something on his hands, some sort of sticky, gluey clear stuff. He was freaking out, trying to pull the stuff off his fingers, but it refused to come off, and now it seemed to be hardening, freezing his hands into a twisted mess.

  Something else to stop electricity, probably. These guys came prepared to fight Blues. But not Reds. They didn’t expect Reds here.

  Everything was chaos, noise. Connor punched a cop in the face, turned and tackled another to the ground. One of the Blues was lying on the ground with an arm stretched out in front of her and her hair in her face. Unconscious? Others were struggling with the sticky stuff on their hands. Two cops were trying to force Lorraine into the back of their car, but she was kicking and scratching and lashing out with bright blue lightning that made the whole thing hard to look at.

  Somebody grabbed Priya’s shoulder from behind and there was the prick of a needle in her neck. Priya spun around and kicked the cop in the stomach and the needle fell to the ground between them and hopefully she hadn’t gotten the full dose of whatever it was but she was getting a little woozy, woozy, and she stumbled, almost fell.

  There were three cops on her, one of them Stone, one a woman, grabbing at her, and she thrashed her arms around but she was too unsteady to aim or even think.

  Something flew out of the shadows beneath the trees and struck the head of one of the cops. He collapsed to the ground. Stone immediately heaved Priya around, putting her in between him and the direction the thing had come from. But that didn’t stop another rock from whizzing through the air, missing Priya by an inch, and making a solid sound as it connected with Stone. He let go of Priya, and she was able to grab the woman and twist her arms behind her back.

  The world around Priya whirled and roared and in the confusion she realized—

  They were winning.

  Stone made some sort of gesture with his hand and the cops retreated, shoving and kicking Blues away as they ran back to their cars. Priya let go of the woman she was holding and she belted towards the others. They piled into the cars, managing to look professional, almost military, even as they ran away. The cars roared off.

  And there they were, Priya, Connor, and the Blues. Three Blues were on the ground, seemingly sedated, but the other Blues helped them up and propped them on their feet. They blinked with bleary, stoned-looking eyes.

  There was something on the dirt by Priya’s feet, something that must have been knocked away from one of the cops. Priya picked it up. A glossy, dark cellphone.

  “Why are you here?”

  It was Lorraine, her voice thick with disgust.

  For a moment no one said anything, just stared at the blue-haired girl.

  “We helped you,” said Connor finally.

  “That’s not why you came.”

  “Rod’s gone,” said Priya. “We already let him go.”

  “How could you?” Lorraine snarled. “We had a deal. He killed Danny.”

  “No,” said Connor. “We told Samuel and Bradley that he did, but it was a lie. I killed Danny.”

  Lorraine blinked. Priya hoped she was realizing what she’d done, that learning Rod was innocent changed her as much as it had changed Priya.

  “We were fighting,” said Connor, “like we have before. I didn’t mean to. But it was still my fault.”

  Lorraine lunged at him. Her hands grasped at his neck, but nothing seemed to happen. She was out of charge. Connor pushed her off him and she went flying back, hitting the ground with a splash of gravel. In an instant she was on her feet, but the other Blues grabbed her arms and restrained her.

  She screamed.

  “Danny’s death was a terrible thing,” said Priya. Connor knew she felt the same thing he did when she looked at a Blue, the same rush of distrust. Yet she kept it out of her face and her voice as she made eye contact with each in turn. “Ever since I learned about it I can’t stop wishing I could turn back time and make it not have happened. I know Connor feels the same way. But it did happen, and none of us can bring Danny back, not me or Connor or Red or Blue. Please, let’s decide now that no one else has to die and we don’t have to go through this again. Come on, Lorraine. Just let it be over.”

  “It’s over,” said the freckled girl Priya had tackled earlier behind the house. “It’s over. We’re going to leave each other alone now. Right guys?”

  The other Blues nodded, all but Lorraine, who looked from face to face, trying to find someone who would stay with her, Priya guessed, who would keep fighting. Then she collapsed, hanging off her friends’ arms with her blue braids straggling across her face.

  And then the strange phone in Priya’s hand buzzed, vibrating against her skin.

  Everyone stared. After three rings, Priya answered. “Hello? Who is this?”

  “Miss Carpenter,” said the voice on the other end. “My name is Jonathan Akiyama.”

  #

  Kess’s breath was cold in her throat.

  “Miss Carpenter,” Akiyama had said into his phone. That had to be Priya. If Akiyama was talking to Priya something must have gone wrong with the Grays’ plan, there must be hope, there must be something Kess could do…

  She ran to Akiyama’s desk.

  Silver would have stopped her, but Elias grabbed Silver around her middle. Good—he wasn’t giving up anymore. The other two Grays, Black and Richards, moved too, but Kess was already across the room. She scrambled onto the desk, her knees banging on the hard edge, and grabbed Akiyama around his exposed neck. Electricity roared from her hands, and Akiyama spasmed as he dropped his phone to the desktop with a clatter. She grabbed it up and shouted into it.

  “Priya! Listen to me, the man who attacked you, Stone, this is how you beat him—you tell everyone about him okay? Tell the police and the FBI and the news. Some of them are in on it so tell everyone! Show them your powers, tell them he’s involved. I know you don’t want to. Do it anyway!”

  Either Black or Richards was on her, pulling her off of Akiyama’s desk. He pried the phone out of her hand, but she kept shouting. “And spread your Red machines as far as you can. Kiss people, bite people! Tell Danny to have the Blues do it too! You’ve got to! Priya!”

  Black or Richards tossed the phone onto the desk in front of Akiyama, who was recovering from his shock, breathing deeply and leaning over the desktop. And then they were still, all of them. Akiyama at his desk, the Gray holding Kess painfully tight with one hand over her mouth now, Silver and the final Gray each holding one of Elias’s arms. The only sound was Priya’s voice coming through the phone’s speakers. Kess couldn’t make out her words, only her confused tone.

  “The Betas have somehow rebuffed Stone and his team,” said Black or Richards.

  “They will be able to follow Miss Carpenter’s counsel before we can stop them,” said Richards or Black.

  “Remaining relatively unknown is more important than obtaining human test subjects,” said Silver.

  “We will see what the other Miss Carpenter has to say,” said Akiyama. And then he reached out and tapped his phone. Priya’s voice filled the room. “Are you there? Please, Kess, just talk to me. Are you still there?”

  “Your sister is here, Miss Carpenter. She’s come to make a deal with us. We have agreed to leave her Blues alone. In exchange, she’s agreed to help us take your Reds into custody.”

  Kess struggled and tried to scream against the hand over her mouth. For a horrible long moment there was silence on the other end of the line. Priya believed him. Of course she did. She was a Red, and Reds were so full of hate it made them stupid. Kess had almost saved them all and Priya was going to ruin it, because Reds ruin everything, because—

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” said Priya’s voice through the speaker. “I’m with the Blues now. You people just attacked them.”

  “That was a feint, to improve our negotiating position with Kesenya. We have completed our deal with her, which is why our operatives retreated.”

  “I don’t think…” Priya sounded unsure, almost wobbly. Kess didn’t remember her ever sounding like that.

  “If you do as she says, and try to inform the police of our existence, you will not find the experience pleasant. You will be arrested, or perhaps more likely, the government will come for you in the night. Kesenya tried to trick you because she is a Blue, and thus avoids straight-forward dealing. I, however, am a Gray. Consider that we have only moved against you and your Reds once, Miss Carpenter, when Stone tried to take you into custody on the road. Consider how straightforward that encounter was, how un-Blue. It would be much better to make a deal with us now.”

  There was another pause, and the hand over Kess’s mouth was hot, and her heart beat. (She thought suddenly, randomly, about how it takes electric signals to keep your heart beating, about how electricity keeps you alive.) And then Priya’s voice sounded through the room again.

  “You, what’s your name, Breanna, call 911. And Connor, look up the number for the news. No, never mind, call Steph, get her to do it. And is there, like, a tip line for the FBI? Somebody look that up. Everybody else, make social media posts. Connor, tell Steph to get the Reds to do that too. Call your parents, call—”

  “Miss Carpenter,” said Akiyama. Kess realized, with a jolt of surprise, that this time he was talking to her. “Call your sister off and we will make a true deal, all of us.” He pushed the phone across the desktop towards Kess. The Gray holding her let her go, and she pulled in a deep, cool breath.

  “Priya,” she said. “It’s me. You—you— Thank you. I think we can get them to leave us all alone, at least for now, if we leave them alone.”

  Silver had, apparently, let Elias go, and was now standing beside Kess. “You are not our highest priority. We know our priorities, and their rank.”

  “These,” announced Akiyama, “are our conditions.”