Then she waited.

A few seconds later, she heard voices in the hallway.

“Is it out everywhere?” a woman asked.

“I think so,” someone answered.

“I’m sure it will be back on in a minute,” a third voice, a man’s, said. “Let’s just stay put.”

The voices retreated. Six heard doors opening and shutting. She reached out and tried the handle of the door to the room she was in, but it remained locked. She started to fear that maybe nothing was going to happen after all. But then she heard the sound of someone rattling the handle from the other side.

“The main panel sensor shows the short came from in here,” a man’s voice said.

The handle turned again. Then Six heard the sound of a key being inserted into the lock. She readied herself. She had no idea who might come through the door, whether they were Mog or human. Whoever they were, though, she wasn’t going to wait and ask questions. A moment later, the door opened. A flashlight beam cut through the darkness. The pieces of glass on the floor sparkled.

“Whoa,” said a second male voice. “What the hell happened in here?”

“Looks like the fixture fell somehow,” said the first man. “Well, it’s easy enough to fix. Come on.”

The men stepped into the room, leaving the door open. As soon as they weren’t blocking it, Six slipped out from behind the door.

“What the—” one of the men exclaimed, jumping back.

Six didn’t stop to offer an explanation, pushing past the men and darting out into the hallway. She saw a flashlight scan the hall behind her as she ran, but nobody followed her. Whoever the men were, they didn’t seem to be interested in finding out who she was, which puzzled her. Had Magdalena just left her there without a guard? If they were in yet another Mog stronghold, why had the men come into the room so casually, as if they expected it to be empty?

She reached the end of the hall, which went off to both the left and right. As she stood there in the dark trying to decide which way to go, the lights came back on. All of a sudden, Six was looking at a giant poster depicting a woman who looked strangely familiar. Then she realized why—the woman resembled her. Not enough that anyone would confuse them, but enough that it was an obvious likeness.

The woman was standing with a group of other people, all of them dressed in what looked like black leather uniforms. Several of them had their hands raised, and they looked like they were holding glowing blue stones. At the top of the poster was written CIRQUE DES ÉTOILES PRESENTS: BATTLE FOR EARTH.

Six had no idea what this was. She scanned the poster, looking for more clues, but there were none. Now she was even more confused. If she wasn’t in some kind of Mog facility, where the hell was she?