The paper was still on the table.
Daniel had thought about putting it away.
Then about throwing it out.
In the end, he had done neither.
RESONANCE: 0
PATTERN: —
RESULT: UNCLASSIFIED
Three lines.
He had been staring at them for several minutes when Lina came into the kitchen.
She opened the fridge.
Took out a bottle of water.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Daniel looked up.
“What are you looking for?”
“I don't know.”
“Good start.”
Lina finally found a yoghurt.
She sat opposite him.
Her eyes went straight to the document.
“Have they told you anything?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
Daniel pointed at the paper.
“Seems appropriate.”
Lina didn't smile.
Daniel did.
Or tried to.
His phone vibrated.
He picked it up.
STATE ETHER AGENCY
Daniel stopped smiling.
He opened the message.
FILE: DANIEL RODRÍGUEZ
PREVIOUS RESULT: UNCLASSIFIED
SUPPLEMENTARY EVALUATION REQUIRED.
A time and an address appeared beneath it.
Lina put down her yoghurt.
“Again?”
“Again.”
“I'm coming with you.”
“You don't need to.”
“I didn't ask.”
Daniel looked up.
He recognised his own words immediately.
“That's mine.”
“Now it's mine.”
Daniel shook his head.
But this time he did smile.
The State Ether Agency still didn't look like an agency.
Not quite.
The building had belonged to another government department. Some of the old signs were still visible beneath the new ones.
There were boxes in the corridors.
Cables temporarily fixed to the walls.
Technicians carrying equipment.
Medical staff coming and going.
Soldiers unloading containers.
But there was already a name above the entrance.
STATE ETHER AGENCY
A.E.E.
Daniel looked up.
“They've been quick.”
Lina kept walking.
“I suppose when half the country starts doing impossible things, you start to feel rushed.”
Daniel followed her.
“Well, they're taking their time with me.”
Lina glanced at him.
Daniel kept walking.
There weren't hundreds of people this time.
There were about twenty.
Daniel noticed immediately.
This wasn't another general registration.
Everyone there had a folder.
Some displayed codes.
AE-01.
NE-05.
SY-06.
Others displayed a different word.
INERT.
Daniel stared at it.
A girl roughly his age held one of those folders against her chest.
She didn't look ill.
She didn't look different.
She was looking at her phone.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“What does it mean?”
“I don't know.”
A screen lit up.
SUPPLEMENTARY ETHER EVALUATION PROTOCOL
A researcher stood in front of the group.
“Over the past few weeks, we've managed to identify stable patterns of response to Ether.”
The seven codes appeared on the screen.
Then disappeared.
Four words replaced them.
RESERVE
FLOW
CONTROL
SYNCHRONY
“Identifying a pattern isn't enough,” she continued. “We need to understand how each organism responds.”
She pointed at the first word.
“Reserve represents the amount of Ether we can detect.”
The second.
“Flow measures its circulation and transfer during the tests.”
The third.
“Control estimates the stability of a manifestation.”
And the last.
“Synchrony measures the response between the individual, their pattern and the materials used during the evaluation.”
A hand went up.
“And what does Inert mean?”
The researcher paused briefly.
“It's a provisional category for valid evaluations in which we detect no affinity.”
Daniel looked at the girl again.
INERT.
Lina, meanwhile, looked at him.
Daniel raised his hand.
“And if you can't classify someone?”
The researcher consulted her tablet.
“The file remains open.”
Daniel lowered his hand.
Looked at his folder.
UNCLASSIFIED.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
Daniel took it out.
FLORA: Have you gone in yet?
DANIEL: No.
The reply came almost immediately.
FLORA: Nervous?
Daniel typed:
No.
He stared at the word.
Deleted it.
DANIEL: A bit.
A few seconds passed.
FLORA: Good.
Daniel frowned.
Another message.
FLORA: I was beginning to think they'd replaced you with someone emotionally functional.
Daniel let out a breath through his nose.
Lina looked at him.
“What?”
Daniel put his phone away.
“Flora.”
Lina nodded.
That explained enough.
The evaluations began.
Daniel and Lina could watch part of the procedure through a pane of glass.
A man went in.
PATTERN: NE-05
The values appeared one after another.
RESERVE: 32
FLOW: 28
CONTROL: 19
SYNCHRONY: 35
Then a woman.
PATTERN: SY-06
Different numbers.
Then another person.
More.
Daniel folded his arms.
“Looks like an exam.”
“It isn't.”
Daniel looked around.
Several people were comparing results.
“Forty-one.”
“How much Control have you got?”
“They repeated my Synchrony.”
Daniel discreetly pointed towards them.
“Well, they don't know that.”
Lina looked around the room.
They had only been learning what Ether was for a few weeks.
And people were already turning it into numbers.
A door opened.
“Lina Rodríguez.”
Daniel turned his head.
“You too?”
Lina raised her folder.
AE-01 — FOLLOW-UP
“They've called me in to repeat some measurements.”
Daniel made a solemn gesture.
“Good luck, zero one.”
Lina hit him on the arm.
“Don't call me that again.”
She went in.
Daniel moved closer to the glass.
The sensors activated.
A gentle current moved through the chamber.
Lina's hair stirred.
This time she didn't flinch.
She breathed.
The air turned around her arms.
The sensors reacted.
One.
Another.
Another.
Another.
Numbers.
Daniel watched his sister.
They didn't seem extraordinary.
But they were there.
Lina came out minutes later.
She looked at her sheet.
Then at Daniel.
Looked at the sheet again.
“Well?” he asked.
Lina took a moment to answer.
“Fine.”
Daniel pointed at the paper.
“Is that all?”
She showed it to him.
Daniel scanned the values.
“You've got numbers.”
“Great analysis.”
“My rates are low.”
Lina didn't take the sheet back.
“Dani...”
Daniel knew what she was going to say.
“No.”
“I haven't even said anything.”
“Exactly. We're improving.”
Lina looked down at her results.
Daniel handed her the folder back.
“They're yours.”
She looked up.
“I know.”
“Then stop looking at me as if you have to apologise for them.”
Lina stayed silent.
Daniel smiled.
“Besides, someone in this family has to turn out well.”
This time Lina didn't smile either.
Daniel looked away first.
A voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Daniel Rodríguez.”
The smile disappeared.
Lina looked at him.
Daniel left his folder on the counter.
“Well.”
“Dani.”
“I'm fine.”
“Nothing's happened yet.”
Daniel looked at the door.
“Exactly.”
He went in.
The chamber was different from the one used for registration.
More sensors.
More cables.
More screens.
In the centre stood a fragment from the Fall, protected by several transparent layers.
A researcher opened his file.
“Daniel Rodríguez.”
“Yes.”
She read.
Then read it again.
“Previous result: zero resonance. Pattern unassigned.”
Daniel placed his hands where they told him.
“That's me.”
“Don't try to provoke any response.”
“I'm not very good at that.”
The researcher looked up.
Daniel stopped joking.
The system activated.
A low hum.
First measurement.
The bar advanced.
RESERVE: 0
Daniel watched the number.
Second test.
FLOW: 0
Behind the glass, Lina stood motionless.
The researcher changed several parameters.
“We're going to try a controlled response.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Breathed.
Tried to feel something.
He thought of that street.
The creature.
That fraction of a second he had never managed to remember properly.
Nothing.
He opened his eyes.
CONTROL: 0
The researcher said nothing.
Final test.
The fragment remained still.
The bar advanced.
SYNCHRONY: 0
Four zeros.
Daniel waited.
Looked at the researcher.
Then at the screen.
Then at the researcher again.
No one asked to repeat the test.
That was worse.
“Is that it?”
The researcher examined the data.
“We have to review the procedure.”
Daniel pointed at the screen.
“But that's a result.”
“It is a result.”
“Then I'm Inert.”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel frowned.
“You just said that...”
“An Inert classification requires a valid evaluation with no detectable affinity.”
She pointed at his file.
“In your case, we still can't close the evaluation.”
Daniel looked at the four zeros.
“I don't understand the difference.”
The researcher was silent for a few seconds.
“Neither do we.”
Daniel gave a small laugh.
Without humour.
“That's very reassuring.”
The researcher wrote.
FILE OPEN
UNCLASSIFIED
Daniel picked up his folder.
Before leaving, he looked at the screen again.
The four zeros were still there.
This time he made no joke.
Lina was waiting outside.
She didn't ask straight away.
Daniel handed her the sheet.
She read.
0.
0.
0.
0.
“Dani...”
“I'm fine.”
Lina looked up.
Daniel took the document back.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, that face says quite a lot.”
Lina watched him.
“You took longer to come out.”
Daniel folded the sheet.
Once.
Then again.
“They were being thorough.”
Lina looked at the folded paper.
Daniel noticed.
He stopped folding it.
Around them, other people came out with codes.
With numbers.
With something they could explain.
A couple were comparing results by a vending machine.
Daniel looked away.
“At least we know one thing.”
“What?”
“That the two machines agree.”
Lina looked at him.
Daniel started walking.
This time she didn't respond to the joke.
She just walked beside him.
The following days brought new words.
Ether.
A.E.E.
Inert.
And they also brought something no official body had announced.
Comparisons.
Screenshots began circulating on social media.
RESERVE 52.
SYNCHRONY 61.
WHAT PATTERN HAVE YOU GOT?
WHAT DID YOU SCORE?
Videos.
Jokes.
Improvised rankings.
People who barely understood those numbers using them to decide who was strong.
Who was weak.
Who mattered.
And one word began to be used differently.
Inert.
No longer always as a classification.
Sometimes as an insult.
The girl tried to get her folder back.
“Give it back.”
The young man raised his arm.
She couldn't reach.
His friend burst out laughing.
“What do you want it for?”
“I said give it back.”
The boy looked at the document.
INERT.
“Look.”
He showed it to the other one.
“Zero.”
The girl tried to snatch it away.
He moved it out of reach again.
“It doesn't say zero.”
“Same thing.”
“Give it back.”
“Hey.”
The voice came from behind them.
The two young men turned.
Armando stood a few metres away.
He had come out of another building in the complex.
He didn't know the girl.
Or them.
He approached.
“Give it back to her.”
The young man lowered the folder slightly.
“And who are you?”
“Someone telling you to give it back to her.”
“Stay out of it.”
Armando looked at the girl.
Then at the document.
“Give it back to her.”
He didn't raise his voice.
He made no threatening gesture.
He simply waited.
The young man's smile disappeared.
The girl took her chance.
She snatched the folder from him.
“Thank you.”
Armando nodded.
“Go.”
She hesitated.
“It's all right.”
Armando smiled.
“Go.”
The girl walked away.
“What a hero.”
Armando turned.
Darian was leaning against one of the railings.
He didn't look angry.
Or even particularly interested.
He had been watching.
One of the young men pointed at Armando.
“We were only joking.”
Darian looked towards where the girl had gone.
“Well, that's that.”
Armando relaxed his shoulders slightly.
“Exactly.”
He turned away.
“Though there's one thing I don't understand.”
Armando stopped.
“What?”
Darian gestured vaguely in the girl's direction.
“Why it bothers you so much.”
Armando looked at him again.
“They were humiliating her.”
“And you decided it was your business.”
“Yes.”
Darian smiled.
“Why?”
Armando frowned.
“Do I need a reason?”
“She can't do anything.”
Silence.
Armando understood.
“And?”
“Nothing.”
Darian shrugged.
“I find it curious that some of you keep pretending everything's still the same.”
Armando stepped forward.
“A month ago, we were all equal.”
Darian held his gaze.
“A month ago.”
“She's still a person.”
“I haven't said otherwise.”
“You didn't need to.”
Darian's smile faded a little.
Some distance away, another door opened.
Clara came out with a folder under her arm.
She stopped when she heard voices.
People were gathering near one of the outdoor areas.
She didn't know what was happening.
She moved closer.
From there, she could see two young men face to face.
She knew neither of them.
“Leave it,” one of the boys said.
Armando didn't take his eyes off Darian.
“I'd already finished.”
“Then go,” Darian replied.
Armando looked towards where the girl had gone.
Then looked back at him.
“No.”
Darian tilted his head slightly.
“No?”
“I want to know something.”
“Ask.”
“Do you really think like that?”
Darian took a second.
“I think the world has changed.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
“It answers it perfectly.”
Armando slowly shook his head.
“No.”
Darian stepped forward.
Armando remained still.
A bottle of water stood on a nearby bench.
Clara saw something.
The bottle trembled.
Very slightly.
Then another.
The water inside rose up the neck.
Without Armando looking at them.
Clara's eyes widened a little.
The liquid came out.
One stream.
Then another.
The water moved through the air towards Armando.
It didn't come from his hands.
It didn't come from his body.
It responded to him.
The two streams turned around his forearms.
Compact.
Stable.
Armando breathed slowly.
Without unnecessary movements.
Clara looked at the empty bottles.
Then at him.
She had seen phenomena since the Fall.
But this was different.
It didn't look like an accident.
Armando knew what he was doing.
Or was beginning to.
Darian looked at the water.
His expression barely changed.
“So you do have something.”
Armando didn't answer.
Darian advanced.
The first movement was fast.
Armando reacted before Clara understood what had happened.
One of the streams spread out in front of him.
The impact struck the water.
Its surface deformed violently.
But it held.
Armando turned his wrist.
The second stream shot out.
Darian had to move aside.
Armando didn't pursue him.
He kept his distance.
Waited.
Darian came back.
Again.
Armando used less water.
Faster.
Deflected.
Stepped half a pace back.
Turned.
Counterattacked.
Darian blocked.
Clara watched.
Armando didn't seem stronger.
He seemed calmer.
Every movement had a purpose.
Defend.
Deflect.
Wait.
Respond.
He wasted no water.
He wasted no movement.
Darian attacked again.
Armando was waiting for him.
The water compressed.
Struck.
Darian stepped back.
One step.
Just one.
Silence.
Armando didn't speak either.
Darian looked at his own foot.
Then looked up.
For the first time, the smile had disappeared completely.
Darian advanced.
This time Armando didn't see him coming.
The blow broke through his defence.
The water lost its shape.
Armando was thrown against a railing.
Clara instinctively stepped forward.
Several people shouted.
“Hey!”
“Stop!”
Armando fell.
One knee against the ground.
He breathed.
The water trembled around him.
Darian walked towards him.
Armando raised a hand.
The stream responded.
More slowly.
Even so, it responded.
Darian attacked.
Armando managed to deflect part of it.
He got up.
Darian struck again.
This time Armando fell onto both hands.
Blood on his lip.
Clara looked around.
“Isn't there any security?”
Someone was already on the phone.
“They've been told.”
Clara looked back.
Armando was getting up.
Again.
Daniel and Lina came out of the building.
Daniel carried the folder under his arm.
“I need something to eat.”
“You've just found out you've got four zeros and you're thinking about food.”
“Exactly.”
Lina was about to reply.
A dull impact.
Then shouts.
Daniel turned.
People were gathering.
“What's happening?”
Lina looked.
“I don't know.”
Daniel started walking towards them.
“Dani.”
“I'm only going to look.”
Lina followed him.
Armando got to his feet again.
The water no longer turned cleanly.
It fell in drops.
His breathing had changed too.
Darian was untouched.
“You could have left,” he said.
Armando spat blood to one side.
“So could you.”
Darian advanced.
Armando gathered what water remained.
The stream shot out.
Darian went through it.
The impact struck Armando in the chest.
He fell.
Tried to get up.
One knee.
Then the other.
He couldn't manage any more.
Darian stopped in front of him.
“That's what you don't understand.”
Armando looked up.
“The world's already decided we aren't equal.”
“No.”
Armando struggled to breathe.
“You decided that made you better.”
Something changed in Darian's expression.
He took another step.
Daniel reached the circle of people.
He didn't know the boy on the ground.
He didn't know the one standing in front of him.
He only saw the blood.
The water scattered across the ground.
And, a few metres further back, a girl holding a folder against her chest.
INERT.
Daniel understood enough.
“Hey.”
Darian didn't react.
Daniel stepped forward.
“That's enough.”
Lina caught his arm.
“Dani.”
Daniel looked at the stranger on his knees.
Then at Darian.
“Leave him.”
Armando raised his head.
He didn't know who this guy was.
Neither did Darian.
“Stay out of it,” Armando said.
Daniel looked at him.
“Can you get up?”
Armando tried.
He couldn't.
Daniel looked at Darian again.
“Thought so.”
He stepped in front.
From the other side of the crowd, Clara stopped breathing for a moment.
That profile.
That voice.
She stepped forward.
Someone crossed in front of her.
Clara moved aside.
Looked again.
And then she saw him clearly.
It was him.
The boy from the Fall.
The stranger who had come back for her when everyone else was running the other way.
Clara tightened her grip on the folder.
“Wait...”
He couldn't hear her.
Darian studied the newcomer.
There was no recognition in his eyes.
“Who are you?”
Daniel pointed at Armando.
“Someone telling you to stop.”
Armando looked at him.
This stranger had only just arrived.
He didn't know who Armando was.
He didn't know how any of this had started.
And yet he was there.
“You don't know what you're getting into,” Armando said.
Daniel didn't take his eyes off Darian.
“Yes.”
He looked at the blood.
“More or less.”
Darian smiled.
“Move.”
Daniel didn't move.
“No.”
“It's none of your business.”
Daniel glanced towards the Inert girl.
Then at Armando.
“It is now.”
Clara heard those words from a distance.
And something inside her went back to that street.
Dust.
Glass.
Pain.
A hand reaching towards her.
Come on.
He hadn't known who she was then.
He didn't know this boy now either.
And yet...
Again.
Darian took a step towards Daniel.
“What have you got?”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“Your pattern.”
Daniel stayed silent.
“Which one is it?”
Lina came up behind him.
“Dani.”
Clara heard her.
Looked at the girl.
Then at him.
Dani.
Daniel.
At last, he had a name.
Daniel didn't answer his sister.
He felt the folder beneath his arm.
The screen.
The four results.
RESERVE: 0
FLOW: 0
CONTROL: 0
SYNCHRONY: 0
Darian waited.
“None.”
Armando lifted his head.
Clara heard it too.
Darian studied him more closely.
“Inert?”
Daniel took a moment.
“Not even that.”
Armando looked at Daniel.
Then lowered his eyes.
Daniel's hands were empty.
His own were still wet.
A drop ran down his fingers and fell to the ground.
He looked at Daniel again.
Darian gave a small laugh.
“Then this has nothing to do with you.”
Daniel held his gaze.
“I've already told you to stop.”
“And I'm giving you a chance to move.”
Lina took hold of her brother again.
“Dani.”
Daniel looked at her.
She was afraid.
So was he.
Lina knew it.
That was the worst part.
Because Daniel wasn't there because he didn't understand the danger.
He understood it perfectly.
Daniel gently drew his arm out of her hand.
“Stay back.”
“No.”
“Lina.”
“I'm not going to...”
“Please.”
Lina stood still.
Daniel looked at Darian again.
Armando pressed a wet hand against the ground.
Tried to get up.
“No...”
Daniel turned his head slightly.
“Stay there.”
Armando gritted his teeth.
“He'll tear you apart.”
Daniel looked at Darian again.
“Yes.”
Armando went still.
Looked at his own hands.
Then at Daniel's.
Empty.
He said nothing more.
Clara began making her way through the crowd.
“Excuse me.”
She moved someone aside.
“Let me through.”
Someone else.
The area was partly sectioned off by barriers and checkpoints.
She looked for an opening.
Too far away.
“Wait!”
Daniel didn't hear her.
Or didn't have time.
Darian raised a hand.
Something changed around his feet.
There was no name.
There was no code.
There were no numbers.
Only a darkness that seemed too dense to belong to an ordinary shadow.
Armando saw it.
So did Daniel.
Clara stopped.
Darian looked at the stranger who refused to move.
“Last time. Move.”
Daniel didn't move.
“No.”
Darian narrowed his eyes.
“No?”
Daniel first pointed at Armando, still injured on the ground.
Then he looked towards the girl, who was still clinging to her folder.
“Not until you apologise to both of them.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Armando looked up.
Darian looked at the girl.
Then at Armando.
Finally, back at Daniel.
“You want me to apologise?”
“Yes.”
“To them?”
“To both of them.”
Darian gave a small laugh.
Daniel didn't.
“You apologise and it ends here.”
Armando watched Daniel.
Then the girl.
Then Daniel again.
Darian stopped smiling.
“You're in no position to demand anything from me.”
Daniel held his gaze.
“Then I'm not moving.”
From the other side of the crowd, Clara watched him.
Again.
The same boy.
The same decision.
Only now she knew his name.
Daniel.
“Dani...” Lina murmured.
Daniel didn't answer.
The darkness around Darian began spreading across the ground.
Armando pressed a hand against the ground and tried to get up.
“No...”
Daniel turned his head slightly.
“Stay there.”
Armando gritted his teeth.
“He'll tear you apart.”
Daniel looked at Darian again.
“Yes.”
He didn't smile.
Clara kept pushing through the crowd.
“Wait!”
Too far away.
Darian raised a hand slightly.
“You asked for this.”
Daniel clenched his fists.
He thought of the machine.
RESERVE: 0
FLOW: 0
CONTROL: 0
SYNCHRONY: 0
Nothing happened.
Daniel looked at his hands.
Only for a moment.
Then clenched them harder.
Darian advanced.
Daniel stood in front of Armando.
“You can still move.”
Daniel looked up.
“Apologise.”
The darkness lunged towards him.
Armando tried to get up.
Clara's eyes widened.
Lina screamed.
“DANIEL!”
CUT TO BLACK.