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“Does everything taste weird to you?” you say.

“Tastes normal to me,” she says.

“I made it just the way you like it!” Ælita says.

“So that coffee, it’s bitter and inedible like you like it, right?”

“Of course.” Yelena takes a drink and sets it down.

You take the mug and taste it for yourself--citrusy.

“See? It’s all in your head,” Yelena says. “Now stop trying to change the subject.”

“Fine, I’ll be a good girl today, or boy or something.” You stand up and take your bag. “I gotta go.”

“Aydan! Your breakfast!” Ælita says. But it’s too late, you’re gone.

Outside, the world rests quiet under the cushioning snow. You don’t even hear the sound of occasional vehicles in the distance you’re used to. As you walk out to the street, your footsteps in the snow don’t even make a sound. You make your way to school, without so much as another person crossing your path.

“Hello?” you say, just to say something, half-expecting no sound to emerge. But your voice rings loud and echoes back. A response follows--meow! You look all around, but can’t find where it came from.

The flapping of wings echoes from the buildings and houses around. You turn, trying to find the source, when you look up to the white overcast sky and see a black spot. It dives at you--you barely get out of the way. A huge black bird circles around you, flapping its wings vigorously and shouting loud--meow! You try to back off and give it space. It flies up to perch on the power line above you.

You hurry onward. As you reach an intersection, you look up at the labyrinth of cables radiating out from the pole--each with a line of black crows staring down at you.

Mew? Meow. Meow? They seem to be talking to each other.

Suddenly, the sun is in your eyes. The white clouds part to a violet sky, shining a beacon directly on you. The eyes of the birds all zero in on you. You run. They take flight.

You reach the bridge, where you can see Translunar Academy across the Luna river. A black cloud descends on you, hundreds of menacing black birds rushing at you.