This is becoming a pattern, Eluvie thought.

  She was lying in a bed, slowly returning to consciousness. The sound came first, sounds of people breathing, shifting, and speaking indistinctly. Then, she became aware of her body, of the awkward position of her neck and how uncomfortably hot she was. True consciousness followed. She realized that she was awake and there was no reason to keep her eyes closed. And, last of all, came the memory that the world was ending.

  She immediately sat up. That over-exertion brought on a wave of exhaustion that almost forced her back down, but she persisted and her light-headedness eventually eased.

  Amu reacted first. He rushed to the bedside and then stood, as if uncertain of what to do next. Her other guards rushed forward as well, abandoning their various lounging postures.

  "You woke up," Amu said. His tone was a mixture of relief and disbelief. He also sounded as if there was a lump in his throat. Eluvie thought that if she didn't seem so fragile, he might have hugged her.

  She was still in Zaniba's residence, but something about the place looked different. She focused on Amu's face. He seemed different as well.

  "I think I know you," she said.

  Amu's expression changed to stark terror.

  Eluvie barked a laugh. "Not like that," she said. "Of course, I know you. I mean, I think I remember you from before." She seized a memory. "When you were trying to become my mentee, you used to sneak into my residence, tidy it up, and leave cakes on the bed."

  Amu fell back a little as his eyes clouded with thought. Then, a smile spread over his face. "That happened, didn't it?"

  Another memory forced itself on Eluvie. "And when I finally agreed to pick someone, you snuck in and moved your application to the top of the pile."

  Amu's smile changed to one of embarrassment.

  "And you kept doing that, every day," Eluvie said, "until I was sick of it. I had your supervisor double your duties, but you still found the time."

  Amu scratched his head awkwardly.

  "That wasn't the only time," Eluvie said. "You're a troublemaker. How have you been pretending to be an upright person this whole time?"

  Amu looked offended. "You only remembered old things! I haven't done anything like that in ages!"

  Eluvie glanced at the room's other occupants. They no longer seemed like strangers. They were not friends, but she knew them. Yira had been one of her students and one of the male Illrum had shared a dining table with her for years. Even the room held a wealth of memories.

  She suddenly felt embarrassed. She must have looked so silly in her ignorance.

  "How did you wake up?" Amu asked.

  "Oh." She adjusted the blankets around herself. "The next time you use this memory technique, you should first make sure that the person is mentally stable."

  Amu frowned. "How are you not mentally stable?"

  Eluvie tilted her head and stared at him.

  He pondered the question for a moment and then nodded. "Fine," he said, "I can think of a few ways."

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  "It's also not advisable to use it on anyone recently back from a trial," she said. "There are some identity issues wrapped up in that. And just don't use it on humans. It helped that, underneath, I'm still an Illrum. Otherwise, I think the final rush of memories would have killed me."

  She recalled the urgency of their situation. "Where's Zaniba?"

  Amu pulled a stool to her bedside and made himself comfortable. "He's supervising the evacuation."

  "Evacuation?"

  Amu nodded. "We couldn't convince Mirab to tell us what she did, and she won't give up on being made an Illrum. It's been difficult. It's not just the sky that's unstable now. We've been having minor earthquakes. We're evacuating whoever we can."

  Eluvie's heart jumped. They were abandoning Arra.

  "I need to talk to Zaniba," she said.

  She didn't know what she would tell him. An evacuation was clearly the right choice, but the thought that they would leave Arra to die disturbed her.

  Against Amu's protests, she climbed out of bed and pressed a hand to the ground.

  "What are you doing?" he asked.

  "Arra," she spoke in a low voice, "can you hear me?"

  There was no response. She worried that her effort to communicate would be a distraction, but she needed to know how to help him.

  "I know that you know what's going on," she said. "If there's a way we can help, you need to tell us."

  She felt silly after saying that. If they could help, he would have supplied that information sooner.

  Frustrated, she returned to her feet, fighting another wave of dizziness as she did so. She found Amu watching her with a mixture of curiosity and concern.

  "Send someone to Zaniba," she said. "Tell him that this world is not a construct. It's an Illrum." Amu's eyes widened as she continued. "I don't know how useful that information will be, but he needs to know it."

  "It's an Illrum?" Amu repeated.

  "He won't talk to anyone and I don't think it'll be helpful to try to talk to him right now, but maybe that will give Zaniba some ideas. You." Eluvie pointed at one of the guards. "Find Zaniba and tell him that."

  The man looked for confirmation from Amu, then ran off when he received it.

  "I also need to speak with Mirab."

  Amu's face took on a strange expression.

  "What?" Eluvie asked.

  "The humans were evacuated with the first batch," he sounded apologetic. "It's -"

  "It's protocol," Eluvie said, disappointment filling her. "I remember. But how will we speak with her? Has Zaniba actually given up?"

  "Mirab wasn't going to help us. In fact, as insane as it sounds, it seemed as if she was stalling. So, Zaniba decided that our efforts were better invested elsewhere. We'll evacuate everyone except the youngest and the oldest. Since the others can't all survive on the other worlds, they'll make extra seeds to send along with the evacuees. We'll still have the backup caches of seeds here." His brow creased with worry. "The only problem is the embryos."

  He was referring to the Illrum seeds that had not yet begun growing.

  "Why is that a problem?" she asked.

  "They won't survive if we move them off this world, but we don't have any backups for them. So far, the plan is to distribute them evenly among the three caches and pray for the best."

  Eluvie didn't like that plan. "If this place is destroyed, the caches won't survive, will they?"

  Amu shook his head.

  Eluvie's memories of the caches were vague, but she knew that each was as large as a house. They could not be moved through whatever portal was being used for the evacuation. The entire situation seemed terrible, but she felt helpless to fix it.

  "Don't get that look on your face," Amu said, putting on a smile. "All the best minds in this place are on the issue. Your job is to rest and recover."

  "And then you'll evacuate me to the same world you send Mirab to?"

  Amu had no response to the question, so he sat in stunned silence.

  Eluvie realized that she had been standing for a significant amount of time, which meant that she was strong enough to explore.

  "I'm going to take a look outside," she said.

  Amu tried to stop her, but she danced out of his reach.

  "Fine," Amu hurried along behind her. "A quick break for air, and then you'll come back inside. You might feel strong, but that's due to the medication we've been feeding you for days. Strain yourself, you'll fall, and I won't catch you."

  His words proved accurate. Several steps later, Eluvie was already wishing that she had remained in bed, but pride kept her moving forward.