Erica O'Rourke - Dissonance

“Maybe we shouldn’t bring Simon with,” I said. “When we were in music, he triggered a Baroque event without leaving the Key World. Why can’t we do it that way?”

“There’s no time,” Monty said. He pointed to the map in front of us. Addie and Eliot had circled several thickets of black lines, unstable but strong, that we would target today. “Lattimer’s coming. Your parents are close to finding Simon. The branches are growing more unstable by the day. The longer we wait, the greater the danger.”

“He makes worlds stronger,” Addie chimed in. “By bringing him into the Echoes, we can place the Baroque events exactly where we want them.”

She handed Monty a six-pack of pop and a package of chocolate bars, our defense against frequency poisoning. “Can you put these in the car, Grandpa?”

He took the bag and shuffled outside.

“It’s a Band-Aid, not a cure,” Eliot said, gathering up the maps and shoving them in his messenger bag. “There’s no way to change Simon’s frequency. He’s going to keep inverting the Key World. We should tell the Consort.”

“How can you say that after the horrible things they’ve done? They tortured Simon’s dad. They steal Walker-Original kids.” I folded my arms. “I don’t trust them.”

Eliot and Addie exchanged glances. “Del, there’s no proof any of those things happened. I’m not saying Monty’s lying . . .”

That’s exactly what he was saying.

“. . . but you know how easily he gets confused. A few weeks ago your mom was ready to put him in a home. Now he’s got this elaborate conspiracy theory. . . . It doesn’t add up.”

“I believe him,” I said. “And you do too, deep down, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“I’m here for you,” he said. “That’s it.”

“Even if there’s some truth to it,” Addie said, scattering the awkward silence with trademark efficiency, “the fact remains that the Key World trumps everything else. If it falls, the entire multiverse unravels.”

“I know.”

“Okay, then. If this doesn’t work, would you let the whole world crash to save your boyfriend?”

“This will work,” I said, heading out to the car. It had to work.

“I hope so,” Addie called after me. “Or I’ll turn him in myself.”

I threw my bag in the backseat of Addie’s car. Monty patted my arm reassuringly. “Don’t listen to her,” he murmured. “We’ll figure something out, you and I.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder, breathed in the scent of shaving soap. “Thanks, Grandpa.”

“You carry too much with you,” he said, his usual complaint. “A good Walker does more with less.”

“I like to be prepared.”

“You’re heading into infinity,” he said. “There’s no way to prepare for it. Did you bring the necklace, though?”

I fished the pendant out from beneath my shirt. “Why did she leave it behind?”

Monty reached out a gnarled finger and tapped it lightly, the high, clear tone carrying through the air. “You hold tight to it.”

Which was not an answer, and I was about to say so when Eliot and Addie appeared, Addie buttoning her coat, Eliot bobbling the rolled-up maps. I tucked the necklace away and tried not to worry about what they’d discussed when I was out of earshot.

We drove to the school in silence. The parking lot was empty except for Simon’s Jeep. He met us at the doors to the gym, freshly showered from practice.

“Everyone else is gone?” Addie asked.

“Yep. I hid in the equipment room till they left,” he said, and I blushed at the memory.

We moved through the field house in a loose knot, Eliot monitoring frequencies on his phone, Addie consulting the map we’d drawn up last night, Monty as nonchalant if he were out for a stroll. But his eyes were sharp and his hands were steady as he felt for vibrations in the air.

Simon hung back, his arm around my waist. “What are we looking for, exactly?”

“Listening,” I corrected. “For the pivot we need to go through.”

“I can’t hear it,” he said.

“You don’t need to. I’ll bring you across.”

“We have a problem,” called Eliot, his voice echoing through the room. He pointed to a banner at the top of the bleachers. As we watched, it flickered rapidly, popping in and out of sight.

I swore, and even Addie looked worried. “An inversion?”

“Two birds with one stone,” said Monty. “We bring Simon through to the inverted Echo, trigger the Baroque event, and tune the entire branch while you fix the inversion.”

Eliot tapped his screen. “You’d have to nail the timing. Tune it too early, and it won’t carry over into the final branch. Too late, and the inversion will have taken root permanently.”

“Fabulous,” Addie muttered. “Let’s get moving. The Consort’s monitoring for inversions, and this one’s big enough to grab their attention.”

“Why sports events?” Simon asked as we started up the bleachers. “First the trophy case, now the conference banners. Why is it always sports?”

“Sporting events form strong pivots. You form strong pivots. Put them together, and this is what you get,” Addie said.

Monty groaned from exertion. Simon and I helped him up the last few steps, and Eliot trailed behind, muttering about rates of oscillation and dampening effects.

When we reached the top, directly under the banner, I left Simon near Monty and placed my palm against the heavy felt.

“I can do it,” Addie said.

“I can do it faster.”

She looked like she was going to argue, but I closed my eyes and shut out everything except the frequency before me, isolating the bad string and following it back to its source, moving parallel to the wall. I was dimly aware of people fumbling behind me, but I kept pushing until I was through, gasping like I was coming up for air.

And nearly stepped into empty space. The bleachers were pushed in, and I bobbled on the ledge, fighting to keep my balance—only for Addie to knock me into the metal railing as she crossed. I tipped over empty space, my center of gravity too far off to compensate. My arms windmilled, trying to break my fall.

Addie caught my hand and hauled me upright. “Great start.”

“Your timing’s good, at least.” I clutched the railing so tightly my knuckles turned white.

An instant later Eliot appeared, and we steadied Simon and Monty as they came through, the five of us balancing on the top row.

Simon shuddered. “Am I ever going to get used to that?”

“Let’s hope you don’t have to,” Addie said. The pitch clashed with the buzzing of the giant fluorescent lights in their wire cage. I rubbed at my ears, feeling as if something were crawling inside them. On the floor below, the girls’ basketball team was practicing, oblivious to all of us.

“We’re invisible,” Simon said wonderingly.

“Welcome to my worlds,” I muttered. “Eliot, how long will the Baroque event take?”

He held his phone up to Simon, checking the readings. “Less time than I thought. It’s like we’re picking up momentum. I’m guessing three or four minutes, tops. Go ahead and isolate the inverted threads, Addie, but don’t tune them till you hear my signal. Be ready to move.”

“As long as there’s no pressure,” Addie said. I wondered if she was having second thoughts about helping me. But she simply closed her eyes and reached back into the inversion.

“How does it feel?” asked Eliot after a minute. Addie’s face was pale and strained, but there was a hint of triumph at the corner of her mouth.

“I’ve got the threads. Can I start?”

“Not yet. The Baroque event hasn’t progressed enough.”

Monty nudged Simon. “Move closer. It’ll speed things up.”