I didn’t know how these TOS updates worked, but they weren’t a security concern because there were standardized systems and those systems couldn’t be used to inject new code into a computer. They’ve been around forever. They’re a secure and stable technology. Except that nothing at Altus was proved to be secure or stable because none of this technology had even existed a year ago.

Best of all, I knew someone who worked on Altus user interface stuff. And if we were lucky, he’d pushed TOS updates before himself.

The run to the dorms was short, only minutes, but then I realized that I had been thinking too much of the big picture. It was the middle of the night—the whole campus was locked down. I stopped running, trying to think how I would get through the door, when something blurred past me and my heart leapt into my throat.

But then I made out the shape: It was April. Her fist connected with the door right where the bolt met the frame and it flung open.

She turned to me and said, “You thought I was going to let you do this alone?”

I ran inside, a little surprised to find that no one was up and awake. It seemed inconceivable that the whole world didn’t already know what was going on. Usually when something big was happening, we all found out together. But I guess that’s not really how it works. Actually, there’s always some person who knows first. This time, it was me.

“Why did that thing let me go?” I asked through my panting breaths as we moved into the dorm. My nose was throbbing, and talking made it worse.

“Because Carl attacked them, I think. I think they are fighting right now. I think we don’t have much time …” It sounded like she was going to finish that sentence, but then she didn’t. We didn’t have much time before Carl couldn’t protect me anymore and I turned into a bag of grape jelly.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Peanut answered his door.

“Diggles!” he said before registering anything else. “What happened to your face!?”

The moment he mentioned it, the pain, both sharp and broad, came back to me. I had forgotten about it.

“It’s a long story,” I said, but “story” came out like “sdory” thanks to my blood-plugged nose.

“Also, where the hell have you been?”

Oddly enough, that was a shorter story, but I didn’t want to tell it twice. “Is Sippy here? I need you both, badly.”

He looked … well, confused. It was the middle of the night, my face was swollen and smeared with blood, and he hadn’t seen me in over a month. He’d probably assumed I’d washed out. Maybe Altus even told them that.

He let me into the room and went to nudge Sippy—April hadn’t showed her face yet. Sippy blinked as he pulled off the VR headset and then looked down to check and see he was holding it in his hands, presumably because he was making sure he wasn’t still in the Space.

“Can you push a fresh TOS update?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Sippy said. “I mean, I’d need the identifier of the experience, but yeah, I’ve done it like twelve times.” And then he settled more into reality. “Where have you been?”

“Peter put me in the Altus Space with no way out, and I’ve been inside the whole time I’ve been gone. I figured out how to get a message to a friend and, well, here she is!” April walked into the room.

I saw her with their eyes, small, wearing a gray blazer over an off-white blouse, with a face made half of human skin and half of opal iridescence. Even to me she looked a little frightening.

“He took me because I guess he thought I was a threat and I’ve been inside the Altus Space and unable to disconnect for weeks.” I was rambling, but I couldn’t stop myself. “I don’t even know how long because they made it so that it felt like I was leaving, but I was really just sitting in a room on a chair peeing into a bucket and …”

“We have to go now,” April interrupted.

“What?” Sippy said.

“We have to go, we can explain somewhere else, security is coming.”

Now it was my turn to ask, “What?”

“I’m getting … updates on the security situation. They’re going hall to hall knocking on doors. They’re coming this way.” Her voice was getting more and more tense.

“Do you guys trust me?” I asked them.

Sip looked at Peanut and, before Peanut could answer, said, “Yes.”

“Sippy, bring your rig, we’re going to the server farm.”

We hustled down the hall toward the common area, but then April signaled for us to stop.

“There’s two of them in there,” she whispered.

“How the hell do you know that?” I asked.

“I … I can’t explain it right now,” she said, a little angrier than I thought was necessary.

“So, what are we supposed to do?” Peanut asked.

“We’re going to run. I’ll go first,” April said, “and all of you need to follow me as fast as you can. On three. One. Two. Three.”

And then she shot out into the common room. She was tiny, but she was going so fast when she slammed into the two security guards. The three of them toppled over in a heap as the guys and I ran past and through the busted door. I wanted to look back to see what had happened to April, but I kept moving. The sky was starting to lighten over the mountain in the predawn. I slowed my pace to let Sippy and Peanut keep up with me.

We were around halfway through our run when April flew past us. I heard shouting behind me. I looked over my shoulder but couldn’t see anyone except the guys—it was too dark.

“Faster!” I shouted to Nut and Sip.

“Running … isn’t …” Peanut said, but then didn’t finish.

I could see the door to the high-security building up ahead, and I moved to full speed, leaving the guys behind. April was already holding it open for us. I piled through and then turned around to see Sippy and then Peanut and then two men in uniforms just meters behind them. The guys tumbled through the door and April slammed it shut behind her. But the lock was busted.

“Go,” April said, pushing her back into the door.

The two men’s bodies crashed into the door, and then pounding came from the other side. But it didn’t move, not even a little.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

“I’m going to make a video,” she said quietly, seriously.

“But … the lock’s broken.”

She looked up to me, her face as solid as her feet on the carpet. “I’m stronger now. You need to do your thing, and I’m going to do mine. Go.”

TRANSCRIPT:

“LET’S END ALTUS”

YOUTUBE VIDEO

April May: Hello, everyone, it’s April. We find ourselves in a situation. I don’t know a ton about Altus, but I have been watching it with interest. The potential of that technology is massive. It could bring people together, make us more empathetic, educate people, and decrease inequality. At the same time, I have been concerned about it.

<banging noise from behind>

I’ll explain about the banging shortly. I’m worried that one company having control over this massively useful and powerful thing is a recipe for disaster. I’m worried about people who don’t have access or cannot access the Space. I’m worried, as I have been for a long time, that we’re simply moving too fast. But I was quiet about those worries, because I don’t know any more about these things than you do.