Three days had passed since the incident on the coast of the Blue Sea, on the outskirts of Asterion City.
Three days during which Thomas had remained locked inside his house, under a kind of improvised quarantine.
Dylan had been clear.
"No one in. No one out. I'm sorry. It's for your safety… and for theirs."
During those three days Thomas did very little.
Sleep, think, and watch the news with his aunt.
The news channels spoke of nothing else.
Every day new reports appeared about the discoveries inside the new Impossible City. But what people discussed most were not the discoveries.
They were the irregularities.
The city had appeared six years earlier than expected. And, as if that were not enough, it had appeared almost in the same place as the previous one.
An unprecedented event.
For one hundred and fifty years the Impossible Cities had followed an almost perfect pattern. They appeared every twelve years, somewhere random on the planet, remained for one hundred days, and then disappeared.
It was the only predictable thing about them.
But now something was changing.
The last two cities had appeared almost in the same place: Asterion City.
Thomas thought those were not the only irregularities.
He remembered conversations with his father.
Scattered memories. Stray phrases overheard in the kitchen or in the basement among open books.
According to him—and according to many researchers—never in history, since the first city appeared one hundred and fifty years ago, had any living being originating from an Impossible City crossed its borders.
Not one.
Ever.
The creatures always remained inside the perimeter.
That was why what had happened on the beach had no precedent.
Or did it?
Thomas wondered whether the government had been hiding similar incidents for decades.
It wouldn't be the first time.
He felt disgust when he watched the reports.
The news spoke enthusiastically about the new flora and fauna discovered inside the city. Scientists proudly announced that the bestiary of the Impossible Cities had expanded once again.
The media turned every discovery into a spectacle.
People seemed fascinated.
The cities had become part of the world's entertainment.
They sold collectible figures, cards, clothing, documentaries, series, films.
Explorers were celebrities.
Some citizens had even founded religions around the cities.
Thomas also knew that many of those fanatics ended up doing something worse.
They tried to disappear with them.
His father had been one of them.
He was thinking about all of this while riding in a government car toward the Explorer Academy.
He watched the city through the window.
People walked along the sidewalks. Cars moved and stopped, traffic lights changed.
Everything continued functioning as always.
Consume and discard.
Repeat.
He felt that bitter sensation in his stomach again.
But now there was something else.
Twice he had put Sunny's life in danger.
He couldn't allow his stubbornness to hurt her again.
And there was something more.
Something he was not used to feeling.
Someone was expecting something from him.
He remembered Dylan's words.
"I need you to help me understand what your father discovered."
Now someone needed him.
Thomas looked at the city once more.
The feeling was beautiful.
And also a little terrifying.
The government car slowed down and Thomas leaned toward the window.
The Explorer Academy slowly appeared behind a row of dark trees.
The first thing he thought was that it didn't look like a school.
It looked like a fortress.
The building occupied almost an entire block.
Gray stone walls rose several stories into the sky, cut by tall windows reflecting the afternoon light.
There was nothing decorative in its design.
Nothing unnecessary.
Everything about the construction conveyed a strange sense of precision.
As if the building had been designed to resist something.
In front of the main entrance lay a circular plaza.
At its center stood a metallic structure that took Thomas a few seconds to understand.
It was a map of the world.
But not a normal map.
Small blue lights marked different points across the planet.
Some shone brightly.
Others seemed dim.
Thomas understood what they represented.
The Impossible Cities.
And there were more of them than he expected.
The car stopped in front of a wide staircase made of dark stone.
Two enormous columns guarded the entrance to the building.
Above the archway was an inscription engraved in metal.
Thomas had to lean slightly to read it.
INTERNATIONAL EXPLORER ACADEMY
Below it, in smaller letters:
"To enter, one must first get lost."
The phrase reminded him of something.
He wasn't sure what.
Perhaps one of the many things his father had once said.
The Academy doors opened.
They were too large to be ordinary doors.
They looked more like the gates of some ancient installation.
When the car stopped completely, Thomas remained seated for a few seconds.
He watched the people entering and leaving the building.
Explorers.
Some wore dark uniforms.
Others wore civilian clothes.
Many had visible marks on their skin: metallic lines, strange scars, implants shining under the light.
People who had entered the cities.
People who had returned.
Thomas felt something strange in his stomach.
He thought of Sunny.
Of his father.
Of the beach.
The driver opened the door.
"We're here."
Thomas stepped out of the car.
For a moment he had the strange sensation that the building was watching him.
As if it had been waiting for his arrival for a very long time.
The inside of the Academy was far larger than Thomas had imagined.
The lobby rose several floors upward.
Light entered through a glass ceiling and fell onto the dark marble floor, where footsteps echoed softly.
People were walking in every direction.
Students in gray uniforms.
Explorers in field gear.
Scientists carrying tablets and folders.
But Thomas barely looked at them.
He had noticed something on the walls.
The lobby was surrounded by portraits.
Dozens of them.
Large frames of dark metal aligned in perfect rows.
Each portrait showed a different explorer.
Some young.
Others much older.
Some smiling.
Others looking at the viewer with an expression that was difficult to interpret.
Below each portrait was a small plaque with a name.
And a date.
Thomas approached one of the frames.
Captain Elena Carter
Impossible City Nº6
Missing
He walked a few steps farther.
Jorge Nakata
Impossible City Nº7
Missing
Then he realized something.
All the portraits had something in common.
None said "dead."
They all said the same thing.
Missing.
He felt a slight chill and continued walking through the gallery of faces.
Some portraits looked very old.
Others relatively recent.
Then he stopped.
It was not immediate.
First he looked at the painting without fully recognizing it.
Then he read the name.
And something inside his chest tightened.
Dr. Alexander Lych
Impossible City Nº9
Missing
Thomas did not remember ever seeing a photograph of his father so young.
In the portrait he stood in front of a landscape Thomas did not recognize.
He wore a dark explorer's coat and held a notebook in his hand.
He had the same focused look Thomas remembered from his childhood.
The same slight frown he made when he was thinking.
Thomas felt a knot in his throat.
He stepped a little closer to the portrait.
For a moment he had the absurd sensation that his father was about to say something.
Behind him, someone spoke.
"Many people stop to look at that portrait."
Thomas turned.
Dylan Clarck stood a few meters away.
He was observing the painting with an expression Thomas could not quite interpret.
"Your father was one of the best explorers we ever had," Dylan finally said.
He paused.
"And also the only one who managed to scare the entire Academy."
Thomas looked at the portrait again.
"Why?"
Dylan took a moment before answering.
"Because just before he disappeared, he said something no one here could explain."
Thomas felt his heart begin to beat faster.
"What did he say?"
Dylan looked at him.
"He said the Impossible Cities weren't appearing."
He pointed to the portrait.
"He said they had always been here."
The lobby of the Academy suddenly seemed quieter.
Thomas looked again at his father.
And for the first time he thought that maybe he hadn't disappeared.
Maybe he had discovered something.