This content is available to subscribers and issue purchasers.
The moment arrives. She begins to wake the City. Mechs crawling through the millions of miles of conduit and piping on eternal inspections come to a halt. She whispers to them. If they had memory, they might shiver with anticipation. Instead, the multitude sits motionless until She is silent, then in the same instant, they scatter in a thousand different directions, each consumed with its anointed task. Deep below the streets, her words stir the more sentient monitors, who in turn bring the small reactors out of standby. Energy flows upward into dormant labs and processing facilities. Immense vats churn
