CHAPTER 54: WORLDS COLLIDING

BANG BANG BANG.

"Open up! Police!"

Marcus jolted awake, his head spinning. For a second he didn't know where he was. Alice's face was still burned into his mind, those tears, those magical spores. The betrayal felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

But wait. This wasn't his bed in the Academy. This was his dorm room. The familiar smell of Tyler's energy drinks and Jake's medical textbooks.

BANG BANG BANG.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Tyler's voice was groggy and annoyed. "Jesus, I streamed till 5 AM, can you please stop with the pounding?"

Marcus sat up in bed, his heart racing. Something was wrong. The knocking wasn't normal campus security knocking. This was serious.

Tyler stumbled to the door in his boxers and a wrinkled t-shirt. When he opened it, Marcus's blood went cold.

The hallway was packed. Campus police, real police with guns, college officials in suits, and what looked like half the students from their floor crowding around trying to see what was happening.

"Tyler Nakamura?" one of the officers asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's me. What's going on?"

"We're looking for Marcus Chen. Is he here?"

Tyler turned around, confused. "Marcus? Yeah, he's..." He spotted Marcus sitting up in bed. "Right there. Dude, what did you do?"

The officer pushed past Tyler into the room. "Marcus Chen, you're under arrest. You need to come with us."

"What?" Marcus felt like he was still dreaming. Or maybe having a nightmare. "I... what?"

"You have the right to remain silent," the officer started, but his voice sounded far away. Marcus couldn't process this. Alice had just betrayed him. General Korot was one of Malachar's people. Sister Korra was in danger. And now...

"Wait, wait, wait," Jake's voice cut through the fog. Marcus hadn't even seen him push through the crowd, but suddenly his roommate was there in pajama pants and a UIC hoodie. "What's going on? Why are you taking my friend?"

"He's being arrested," said a woman in a business suit. She looked like she worked for the college. "Apparently he's been making bombs."

"Lady, please don't discuss the ongoing investigation," one of the police officers said sharply.

"Bombs?" Tyler's voice went up an octave. "Marcus? Making bombs? Are you serious?"

Jake stepped closer to Marcus. "That's impossible. Marcus wouldn't hurt anybody. There's got to be some mistake."

But Marcus couldn't speak. His throat felt closed up. Making bombs. They knew about the gunpowder research. Somehow they knew. But how could they know? He'd only researched it online, and he'd been careful...

Oh god. Campus internet, library computers. The searches. Someone must have been monitoring internet activity.

The officer was pulling out handcuffs. "Sir, I need you to stand up and put your hands behind your back."

"This is crazy!" Jake protested. Somehow he'd entered the room. "He's just a college kid! He plays D&D and studies all the time! He's not some terrorist!"

"Guys," one of the officers said to Jake and Tyler. "If you want to help your friend, call his parents. Tell them to find a lawyer. This is serious. We'll be at the precinct downtown."

Marcus stood up slowly. His legs felt like jelly. Everything was happening too fast. Both worlds were falling apart at the same time. Alice had been working for Malachar all along. How long had she been lying to him? How long had she been feeding information to the enemy?

And now this. Bombs. Arrest. His parents were going to find out. They'd sacrificed everything to send him to college, and now...

The handcuffs clicked around his wrists. Cold metal. Real metal. This wasn't a dream.

"Marcus!" Jake called out as the officers started leading him toward the door. "Don't say anything until you get a lawyer, okay? We'll call your parents!"

Tyler was already grabbing his phone. "Dude, I'm posting this on stream. This is insane. Police state much?"

"Tyler, don't," Jake snapped. "This isn't content. This is serious."

As they walked him through the hallway, Marcus could see his neighbors staring. Some had their phones out, recording. The whispers followed him all the way to the elevator.

"Bomb maker."

"I knew he was weird."

"Always staying up late working on stuff."

"Never hung out with anyone."

The elevator ride down felt like it took forever. Marcus stared at his reflection in the metal doors. He looked tired. Scared. Young.

How had everything gone so wrong so fast?

In the lobby, there were more police cars outside with flashing lights. Students and faculty were gathering to watch. As they walked him out of the dorm, Marcus heard someone call his name.

"Marcus Chen! Channel 7 News! Do you have any comment about the bomb-making allegations?"

Reporters. Already. How did they get here so fast?

The police car door slammed shut behind him. Through the window, Marcus could see his dorm building, could see people pointing and talking. His life at UIC was over. Even if this got sorted out, even if it was all a misunderstanding, everyone would remember this.

The car started moving. Marcus leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes.

Alice's face appeared in his mind again. Those tears. Had they been real? Had any of it been real?

His two worlds weren't supposed to crash into each other like this. They were supposed to be separate. Safe from each other.

But now everything was broken, and Marcus didn't know how to fix any of it.