Chapter 1

The whole world is about to end because a jealous bitch just smashed my collectible with her boot.

The apocalypse hit three years ago. Aliens started pouring in from tears in the sky.

I never awakened. No powers. Not a single Tier. My body's actually weaker than a regular person's.

But the Commander of the Bureau himself walked me into the Tier-SSS Safe Room.

Because I'm the only Reality Anchor on the planet.

As long as I stay calm, the dimensional Rift over this city doesn't crack open. As long as I stay calm, millions of Void horrors on the other side stay on the other side.

So everyone tiptoes around me. Nobody raises their voice. Nobody upsets me. Ever.

Until today.

Today, the new lieutenant kicked in the reinforced glass of my Safe Room. She awakened Class-S Destroyer powers last week. And she ground my limited-edition figure into powder under her boot.

"The boys on the front line are bleeding out for this city."

"And the Bureau's spending taxpayer credits keeping you in a palace?"

"You? A girl who can't even load a gun?"

"You think you earned any of this?!"

...

"Ping. Warning. Subject Zero heart rate abnormal. Emotional variance exceeding critical threshold."

The cold mechanical voice of MAINFRAME echoes through the domed ceiling of the Tier-SSS Safe Room. Red alarm lights strobe across the white walls. On. Off. On. Off. Cutting the whole pure-white room into jagged pieces.

I sit frozen on the reinforced sofa. I don't move.

I just stare at the floor.

At what's left of my limited-edition Seraphine figure.

An armored black combat boot is grinding it. Slow. Deliberate. The alloy sole crushes the resin into fine white dust.

"What? Was that special to you?"

The woman standing over me tilts her head.

Sharp chin-length bob. Silver star on her shoulder. Class-S insignia. It glints cold under the red light.

I remember her now.

Sloane Vega. Just transferred in from Central. New rising star of the First Combat Zone. Awakened one of the rarest gifts on record. Class-S Destroyer.

Assigned to Captain Kaiden Vance as temporary lieutenant three days ago.

Which is the only reason her clearance chip cracked my door.

"Are you out of your damn mind?!"

The shout comes from the kitchen.

Marnie storms in with a mug of warm milk. She was heating it for me. She's my live-in aide. She always heats my milk.

She sees the mess on the floor. She sees Sloane's boot. She sees my face.

The mug hits the tile and shatters.

Her Class-A enhancement kicks on. That awful grinding sound of bone reinforcing under skin. Her bare arms turn cold and gold, alloy plating pouring over the muscle.

She plants herself between me and Sloane.

"This is Sector S. Absolute restricted zone."

"Who the hell cleared you in here?"

"Get out. Now."

"Restricted?"

Sloane laughs. Doesn't even glance at Marnie. Her eyes go straight over Marnie's shoulder and land on me like I'm trash.

" She deserves a restricted zone?"

She flicks her wrist.

My snack cabinet flips end over end and crashes.

Cases of nutrient serum. Uncontaminated fresh fruit. Real apples. Real peaches. Rare out-of-print consoles I collect.

All of it, scattered across the floor.

"The Third Defense Line got ripped open by a Rift-Born surge yesterday."

"Thousands of our boys are out there in the irradiated wastes."

"No clean water. Their wounds are growing maggots because we're out of meds."

"And you?"

She sweeps a hand at the mess.

"This base burns through thirty percent of its power grid every year. Just to keep this climate-controlled greenhouse running."

"Just to keep you fed. A Tier-E null. A girl who can't even rack a slide."

Her eyes are red-rimmed. Her chest is heaving. She just came off the front. She still smells like Rift-Born blood. That sour, rotten copper stink.

"Ellie Shaw, right? I honestly don't get it."

"What are the old men upstairs smoking?"

"They treat you like a goddess. What. You eat a slice of cake and the Rift stitches itself back up?"

" Shut your mouth. You don't know a damn thing."

Marnie's teeth are gritted. Her right fist is glowing. A second away from putting Sloane through the wall.

"Marnie. Don't."

I take a shaky breath and grab the hem of her uniform.

The regulator chip at the base of my neck is heating up. Tiny pulses of current running down my spine. A warning.

Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.

I can't get angry.

Three years. Only five people at the very top of the Bureau know why I really live in here.

Marnie knows. Kaiden knows. Commander Reyes knows.

Not Sloane.

She has no clue that I have no powers. That my brainwave frequency is the only thing on this dying planet holding the dimensional coordinates of this city in place. That the invisible field around me is what's clamping the Rift shut over our heads.

That every second I stay calm, tens of millions of Rift-Born on the other side stay on the other side.

That if I cry too hard, acid rain falls on this city.

That if I fall into despair, the Rift comes apart. All of it.

I breathe in. I force my face into something calm. Something empty.

I look up at her.

"Lieutenant Vega." My voice comes out steady. Even surprises me.

"Look. The figure's broken. Whatever. It's done."

I hold her eyes.

"You just came off the front. You're not thinking straight. I get it."

A beat.

"Just walk out that door right now. And I'll pretend today never happened."