Extras by Scott Westerfeld Page A

following us? Or a different something?" Miki shrugged, and moved ahead.
    In the next room, the path of metal studs led to a large opening in the wall and a set of stairs leading down. There were no orange worklights below, only blackness.
    Aya came to a halt. "Maybe we should call the others."
    "You want Kai to think you're scared of the dark?" Miki snorted, and headed down the stairs. Aya sighed, then followed.
    As they descended, the echoes of their footsteps began to lengthen, a larger space opening up around them. Aya's flashlight played across high arches, like the stone roof of the giant reservoir below the city. For a moment she wondered if the entire mountain had been hollowed out to capture runoff during the rainy season—but why would people building a storm drain look so weird?
    Then her flashlight found the cylinders. The room was full of them, in neat ranks like hulking metal soldiers on parade, stretching into the darkness.
    "Okay, we found them," Miki whispered. "But what are they?" Aya shook her head. She walked up to the closest cylinder and pressed her palm against it: cold metal, its surface seamless. When she stood on tiptoe to look at its top, she found no sign of any seal.
    "Looks like solid steel to me."
    Miki walked past her, a host of shadows wheeling in unison to avoid the beam of her flashlight. Aya followed her deeper into the army of cylinders, looking for any clue as to what they might be. But the metal forms were unmarked and featureless, like giant pawns in an endless chess set, all exactly the same.
    But wasn't there a metal shortage going on? This was enough steel to double the size of the city. Miki came to a sudden halt. "There it is again."
    "What?"
    Miki turned and pointed her flashlight past Aya. "I saw a reflection in the metal. Someone's back there!"
    Aya spun around, sweeping her flashlight across the ranks of cylinders. Shadows leaped and darted from its beam, but she saw nothing except the reflection of her own half-lit face, warped across the cylinders' smooth sides.
    "Are you trying to scare me?" Aya hissed.
    "No, I mean it," Miki whispered, her eyes wide in the red glow of their flashlights. "I'm going to get some help."
    "Are you sure? Maybe we should…," Aya started, but Miki was already dashing toward the stairs, calling for the others.
    Aya squinted into the darkness. Something flickered in the corner of her eye, but when she spun to face it, she saw nothing but shadows scattering from her wavering flashlight. She took a few quick steps to the side, peering down the next row of metal cylinders. Still nothing.
    Cries echoed down the stairs—the other girls answering Miki's shouts. They were coming, but not fast enough for Aya.
    She began to walk back toward the stairs, checking nervously over her shoulder. Her flashlight swept from side to side, but that only made the long shadows dance and swivel around her, filling the room with furtive movements.
    Then she saw it reflected in a row of smooth metal sides: a black silhouette smeared across them, darting through the shadows.
    Aya froze, trying to work out which way the shape was moving, but it was like playing tag in a hall of mirrors.
    "Miki!" she called. "I think it's …"
    Her voice faded. The hovering shape had floated into view directly before her, the red flashlight reflecting a familiar pattern of tiny lenses.
    It was Moggle.

    ESCAPE

    "Miki!" she shouted. "It's okay! I don't think there's anything—"
    "Don't worry, Aya-chan," Miki's voice called from halfway up the stairs. "They're almost here!"
    "Crap," Aya muttered. She knelt, beckoning to the little hovercam. "Come here!" It wavered for a moment—this new command contradicted its old orders to stay hidden. But when Aya called again, it scooted down the row of cylinders and shot into her arms.
    "Hey, Moggle!" she whispered, stroking its sprayed-black plastic shell. "Good job finding me. But you need to be more careful."
    "Are you okay?" Miki's shout came from