"Listen, I'm not saying we're fucked, but we're fucked," Brigg said. We stood in the entrance of the Adler Planetarium, waiting to be summoned by the Observation Team.

That morning, the Observation Team had seen the first Russian troops para-glide into New York. Explosions soon followed. General Eastford anticipated a full link up would follow shortly.

Lee stood against a wall, arms crossed over chest. She'd been crushed ever since the appearance of City X shut down her greenhouse project. "We'll find a way. That's what life does, right?" she said.

"Yeah, life does find a way. It finds a way to fuck us, over and over again." Brigg said. "Maybe if we had the time to figure out the science behind the Void, but we don't. Moira shut down my expedition to Hiroshima, which is far as I could tell is the only way we'll ever figure out to survive here. How long before Moira takes all of us off Construction and enlists us into the Army? Pretty soon she'll have us building gas masks, not greenhouses."

"And then bombs, and then we're right back into the mess that got us here," I said.

"We're thinking about it in the wrong way," Lee said, "or she is. It's not about defending against the Russians. They're only attacking other cities because they're afraid. They don't know how to survive except by taking over other cities and draining their resources. If we show them another way to survive, then we won't need to fight them. I know it."

"I believe you," I said, "the three of us, if we work together. I know we can figure it out."

Brigg sighed. "That's very sweet. But we better figure it out in the next forty-eight hours, because if we don't, we'll either die of dehydration or need to learn to speak Russian. And then die of dehydration."

"Ha-ha," I said. "Is now the time for humor?"

"I'd like to die with a smile on my face, comrade. Anyways, it looks like Observation is coming for us. At attention, soldiers."

We turned to see a little man with red hair and glasses walking quickly down the marble hallway. It was the shy astronomer that first observed the six new cities the day before.

"Construction Team," the man said. “Doctor Ian Ford, Observation Team.”

"Doctor Ford, thank you for meeting with us," Lee said, extending a hand. Ford shook it but didn't make eye contact.

"I believe I have something that may help you," he said. He led us into the main chamber of the planetarium, towards a metallic-domed roof with a large telescope. "Forgive the mess," he said. "Please, take a seat around the whiteboard."

We hopped into three chairs, and I felt suddenly like a college student about to start lecture.

"As I understand it, your primary goal right now is to solve the water crisis and to find a way to sustainably produce food. Correct? What progress have you made?"

We looked at Lee, who grimaced. "We started a greenhouse. Then City X showed up. We've been in its shadow ever since, and the only thing we can grow are certain types of low-light mushrooms."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Aha!" Doctor Ford said, turning to the board and drawing a crude diagram of City X and London-Chicago. "You said it right there. A shadow. Now what does that tell us?"

Brigg blinked. "That... we can't grow food?"

"That the light has a direction and the direction is down. The light is coming from up." Doctor Ford said.

"And this is... news?" Brigg said.

"Yes, it's news. We have had no clue as to where we are. Now we at least have an idea that the Void has some of the same features as a planet. Gravity goes down, light comes from up. It's basic, but its important. Even though it seems overcast all the time, there is light, and it has a source," Ford said.

"I never saw my own shadow, not once since coming here," Lee said, "I thought it was strange that City X cast one this dark."

"The size makes it more noticeable," Ford said. "But overall the light is still very weak, even on the other cities. But it does have source and direction, a star, a moon, I don't know what. Or something artificial."

Brigg looked at me smugly. He mouthed: aliens.

"But its passing through something. The light is made dimmer because its being obstructed by something slightly translucent. Any guesses as to what that might be?"

"Clouds," Lee said, suddenly realizing. "That means..."

"You guess it. Water. They're not clouds exactly. More like mist. And its not everywhere - the air in Chicago is still relatively dry. Water exists out there in the mist. Harvestable water, if we can get to it."

There was a weighted silence in the room.

"We'll need to fly there," Lee said.

"And some kind of harvesting tech," I said. "People in deserts have been harvesting water from mist for centuries. If they can do it, so can we. At least now we know the water isn't just evaporating off into space, or falling into the abyss."

"That water might as well be back on Earth," Brigg said, "Because we have an equal shot of getting there. We don't have planes."

"There's one at the bottom of the Thames in London. If we can fix it..." I said.

"Good luck dredging that up. Even if you do, the engine's ruined," Brigg said.

"Moscow does," Lee said suddenly. "They have a jet."

"You've got to be kidding me," Brigg said.

"Okay, fine. But we need to figure something out. That's our only option, unless it rains. And there's no guarantee of that, even if we know now that the Void has..."

Lee stopped. She fell silent, staring into the distance.

"...weather." She said.

"What? What is it?" I asked.

"I figured it out," Lee said.

"What?" I asked.

"Everything," she said.

Lee stood up and ran from the room. Brigg and I stood to follow her, but sound from behind us made us pause. We turned to see Doctor Ford staring in shock, looking through the telescope. "Dear God," he said.

He stepped away, and I pressed my eye to the telescope. It was fixed on Moscow-Beijing.

It was the closest I'd ever been able to look at the rival city. I could nearly make out the faces of people standing on the edge: men, women, and children. They stood, arms tied around their backs, toes pressed to the edge of the bedrock. There must have been hundreds of them.

A group of soldiers dressed in black stood behind them. They pressed the prisoners forward, towards the edge. Then small flashes of light erupted from the tips of their rifles and, soundlessly, the bodies started to fall.

I watched them disappear into the the gray and the mist.