Twenty days … so much has happened since then, and yet it feels like nothing has changed at all.

I look out over the city, to the bend in the river where me, my sister, and my parents used to go on sunny days. I look to the horizon, where the morning sun blazes as it climbs ever higher.

When is it going to happen? I wonder.

All of this—this burned-out city, this burned-out planet—it’s all futile, the human race rising up out of the rubble seems impossible, and yet, it doesn’t matter. It’s not real.

This is not real.

I breathe in deeply, feeling the warm air in my lungs, and make my way back through the narrow doorway, down the wooden steps, and back into the corridor on the top floor of the Vertical.

I walk down to floor 177 and back into my old home, the place where I grew up.

Kina is in the living room, writing in her journal. She looks up when I enter the room.

“Hey,” she says.

“Hi,” I reply.

“I’m writing again,” she tells me, looking almost guiltily down at her words. “I think it’s important—people should know what happened, future generations, you know?”

“Yeah,” I say.

She looks at me and smiles. “Luka, I don’t want to bring up bad memories, but I want to make sure all of this is accurate. Can you tell me—”

“Wait, Kina,” I interrupt, “please don’t.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, frowning.

“Don’t ask me, please.”

“I don’t understand,” she says, half laughing, as if I’m being unreasonable.

“Kina, if you ask me that question, then this is all over.”

“Luka, I don’t know what you’re talking about; you’re scaring me a little.”

“Yes, you do understand,” I say. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, because you’re not really Kina, we’re not really in my old home, the war isn’t over, and I’m still in the Block.”

“That’s crazy. Luka, that’s crazy! You can’t really believe that?”

“It’s not a question of belief,” I reply, “it’s a matter of fact. You’ve been meticulous this time. You’ve planned it out, played the long game, and there were moments that I almost let myself believe it was real, but it’s not real. It’s all a mirage, a ploy to get vital information out of me. So, you know what … go ahead, ask your questions.”

The look of concern on Kina’s face turns to one of vacancy, but there is anger deep in her eyes. “Where were Pander, Pod, Igby, and Akimi hiding on the day of the Battle of Midway Park?”

I sigh, take one last look around, and shake my head. “I’ll never tell you.”

And, after twenty days, the simulation ends.