“That could’ve gone a whole lot worse,” Holly says, trying to make small talk on our way to Nautilus Tower.

“I couldn’t be happier with that, honestly,” Sola comments. We walk down the street, the three of us all carrying the heavy cargo, regularly setting it down to take a break.

“Still not sure how we’re supposed to carry this all the way to the top. I’m struggling just carrying it down the street.”

“Yeah, I’ve been mulling it over. You’re not gonna like this, but I have an idea. We’ll have to take the elevator.”

I look at them with sorrowful eyes.

“The only reason I’m suggesting it is because I have the anti-galvaknight gun. It probably doesn’t have that many charges in it, but it will hopefully be enough to get us to the top and turn the engine on.”

“And what if it’s not? Or what if the engine doesn’t do the trick?”

“Then we’re out of luck. Simple as that.”

We shuffle our feet in silence for the rest of the trip to Nautilus Tower. There are a lot of complicated steps in this plan, and if even one thing doesn’t work, we’re doomed. As much as I’d like to not think about it, there’s nothing else to occupy my mind except for the uncomfortable weight of the engine.

Nautilus Tower is the tallest thing within view for half an hour, but it’s still breathtaking once we’ve reached its base. I’ve lived in San Francisco most of my life, but I’ve never seen a building this monstrous. And it’s surprisingly intact compared to most of the places we’ve passed.

Maybe that spells out something good for us. Less chance of falling through the floor, at least. Played plenty of that game on the Hindenburg, and I’d rather not do it again.

“Here we are,” Sola whispers at the base of the building. “Our first step is getting the coal, and our second step is getting water from the fountain on the first floor. I shouldn’t have to tell you how incredibly quiet we need to be.”

“I’ll start with the coal,” Holly says, as we carefully set the generator down. “Not afraid to get my hands a little dirty.”

She walks up to one of the many petrified trees lining the front of the tower and breaks a branch off. The crack echoes off the sides of nearby buildings, but doesn’t seem to cause any stir.

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“Nice to see these old trees still have some use to them,” Sola says.

“What turned these trees to chalk like this?” Holly asks.

“I’m not totally sure, but every single tree I’ve seen is like this. Maybe something’s happened to the atmosphere to wreck the foliage. That would explain the lack of, well, anything alive.”

Holly places the branch on top of the generator, and together, we step through the shattered front door of Nautilus Tower. The first thing any of us notice are the bones scattered about. It’s hard to tell how long they’ve been there, but judging by the degradation of the clothes fitting loosely around them, it wasn’t recent. With as big a target as this tower is, it’s possible these were some of the first victims.

Sola charts a path across the messy first floor to a long-dormant fountain in the center, doing their best to silently scoot debris out of our way. Then, we carefully tip one end of the generator in, which chugs a couple heavy gallons of water, and we’re off to the elevator. All the while, my anxiety is through the roof. All it takes is one wrong noise or one wrong step to alert an unknowable number of galvaknights to our location. It’s too much to bear.

“Are you crying?” Sola whispers, looking at me. “It’s okay, Tes. We’re nearly there. We’ll get the two of you home soon. I promise.”

I try to reply with a smile, but can’t find the heart. This isn’t going to work. I can feel it.

The elevator, which is a metal box suspended in the open with no protection, is almost not big enough to fit the four of us and the engine. We’re pressed against the walls, but at least we have a chance to set the engine down for a moment.

“Going up?” Sola asks, brows raised dramatically, before they press the button to the top floor. The elevator groans as it moves, much louder than any of us would’ve liked.

“That’s bad news,” Sola says.

“As long as there are no galvaknights in the building, we should be fine, right?”

The signature metallic roar of a galvaknight pierces the air. We all three stare at each other, the emotions on our faces spelled out in a range from expecting to fearful. Aurora’s expression, of course, doesn’t change.

“It’s just one, it sounds like,” Sola says, unearned confidence in their voice.

A second screech replies to their foolish comment. And then a third. And a fourth. Soon, a chorus of the mechanized monsters greet us with their horrifying voices.

“You had to say something, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, that one’s on me.”

Large metal claws scrape the closed door of the elevator, sending us rocking a little as we continue our ascent. I let out a bloodcurdling scream, which the galvaknights excitedly respond to.

“Please, no,” I say on repeat, as my knees give out below me. Holly and Sola are trying to say something to me, but I can’t hear it anymore. It’s over. We’re done. We’re going to die suspended in midair, being brutally gored by killer robots from the future. I’ll never get back home. I’ll never see my dad. Nobody will ever know how I died.

Throughout the building, the noises of the galvaknights harmonize into one constant beeping pattern. The strange action even seems to upset Aurora, who until this point remained completely motionless.

“Oh, God,” Sola says, staring blankly at the wall. “They’re calling the galvanaught.”

A couple of seconds later, the rattling roar of the galvanaught impacts the tower, followed by the faint thump of the first earth-shattering stomp in our direction.