At a Crossroads

I took the lift up to the observation deck, stepped outside, then looked around. I had looked everywhere else, she had to be...

There she was.

I don't know why I bothered to search anywhere else. More often than not, she was up here.

Walking over, I stopped beside the bench, looking down at Mirele. In her long, flowing gown, she was a vision... but I couldn't bring myself to tell her that. She hadn't moved a muscle, hadn't looked at me, her eyes firmly fastened on the sunset. "Mind if I join you?"

She shook her head. I sat beside her, looking out over the landscape.

A year had passed since the tenth control key had been placed... and my nearly lifeless body had been dragged across the world to Central Control, where Dr.