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the sphere remote on her wrist and the sphere walls turned permeable. She stepped out of the sphere to the springy grass below, invisible to the world around her. A second tap locked the craft and sent it one hundred feet into the air. She felt a light gust of wind generated by the sphere as it rose noiselessly to its temporary resting spot.
    Her backpack felt oddly heavy, which was puzzling as she’d deployed the largest pieces of technology before she’d left Eden. Only the squeezable tubes remained. Perhaps the excessive weight was purely psychological, the manifestation of the Atlas’ globe in the form of a bag of toothpaste-sized tubes. She frowned, then reformed the nano-bag into the form of a shoulder purse. That made more sense. If, for some reason, she needed to appear in her altered form, the purse would look more appropriate than the large backpack. The tubes took up little space, and the large bag was excessive.
    She surveyed the village as she walked through. The walkways were simple and narrow and the cottages small, a layout intended to encourage the single life for residents just as Arthur had decreed back in the old North Village. Hope couldn’t help but reminisce—though not fondly—about those days and the clear ties to what she saw before her here today. Keep people separated. Prevent the development of close relationships. Ensure that business was central and preeminent in their lives. Dissuade and discourage any efforts to resist his persuasions and ideas and commands, whether offered in kindness or through force. She shook her invisible head. Only the scale had changed from those days in the old North Village.
    She moved through the grass toward the monorail station. The springy turf muffled her invisible footfalls. She wondered what the human residents of the village might think if they watched foot-shaped indentations appear. The monorail line connected the human village with the primary Headquarters region of the island where work, entertainment, food, and shopping opportunities abounded.
    She used the nano exoskeleton to float atop the monorail train. Gena, who’d frequented the Island in disguise on a regular basis to gather intelligence, had recommended this mode of travel. It provided the quickest mode of travel that didn’t use Energy, and didn’t require the mental focus required to fly via nanos to the far side of the Island. Much as she preferred teleportation, she’d not risk it with Porthos just a few miles away.
    Thirty minutes later, she dismounted the top of the train at Headquarters Plaza. She watched the human riders flow from the cars and move toward the single gate, some murmuring, most just walking with purpose. Once beyond the gate, though, the chatter and energy increased. Humans became more alive with greater freedom, even in the most mundane possible examples.
    Hope waited for the human crowds to disperse. She then slid toward the gate that enforced the Aliomenti security system for the monorail. The Aliomenti didn’t actually need a security system for their transportation system. The human passengers wouldn’t cause trouble unless her father commanded them to do so, and no security system would prevent the residents—human or Aliomenti—from carrying out the decrees of Arthur Lowell. The Aliomenti never rode the monorail, having no desire to travel to the human villages or social spots and having no need of mass transit even if they did. As such, no Aliomenti hand print would generate a positive identification from the scanners. Hope knew her father. He’d set the system up to control the humans and provide a system of social shame. Their spying efforts revealed that every few months, a human would have travel permissions revoked and be unable to board the train. Most stayed behind at Headquarters to await whatever public punishment deemed appropriate by the Aliomenti. A few decided to try to walk to the human villages.
    The latter group were never heard from