The rooftop opened up around me like the first breath after surfacing.

Bright. High. Vast.

The city stretched outward in all directions, glass and steel catching morning light until it hurt to look at. For a second I felt dizzy. Real vertigo, not the kind you flirt with at ledges, but the kind that reaches in and flips your depth perception inside out. My knees buckled. I crouched. Then I lay down.

Smooth concrete met the length of my spine. Warm already. My chest rose and fell. Sweat cooled against my skin. Above me the sky was clean, pale blue fading into light gold.

No one knew I was here.

This roof hadn't seen footprints in years.

I was completely alone.

And for once, that didn't feel like absence. It felt like safety.

I pulled the water bottle from my pack, unscrewed it with trembling fingers, and took a long, shaking sip. The plastic creaked. The water hit my throat sharp and cold, better than I remembered. I drank slowly, deliberately. Let my pulse come down. Let the afterburn of the climb settle into something steadier.

Then I sat up. Took stock.

The antenna was where it was supposed to be. Old model. Hardwired and dumb, which made it brilliant. No remote shutdown. No smart integration. It would take a few hours to reprogram, but it was doable. Once I connected, the entire grid north of the district would hear us again. Clean. Off-map.

I turned, scanning the rooftop.

The view was a wide-angle secret, the kind of panorama they reserved for execs, now long gone. Dozens of rooftops in jumping range. Maintenance bridges. Rusted skyways. But no clean exit lines.

Until I saw it.

Behind a ventilation stack, tucked under a warped panel, exactly where we'd stashed it long ago: the zipline kit. Camouflaged. Sealed.

Still there.

Still ours.

I crawled to it, pulled it loose, ran my fingers over the gear. Tension clips. Hooks. Harness. Crossbow. All intact. All in place.

And me.

Alive.

Present.

I lay back down.

Closed my eyes.

For the first time in days, sleep didn't feel like a risk.

It felt like permission.

Character: Aurora

Released on February 28, 2026 (26_3)

License: CC-BY-NC-ND / UDL