Resurgence Read Online Free

hand.
    ‘You’re still real,’ I call after him, unable to hide my relief.
    He’s touching his arms, his chest, making sure he’s real. ‘That seemed easy. Why didn’t you try it on an object first?’ I’m confident again now. It worked
– it actually worked.
    ‘It doesn’t happen like that – it’s for organic, living matter. Anyway, open spaces are simple – I don’t think we could ever risk teleporting into a building
or somewhere with tight walls. It’s like Xyalis said; it’s too easy to jump into the wrong location. Only one thing can occupy a particular spot at any specific time. You and a tree or
a building can’t be in the same place. The device needs an exact location from the dial on the side. The only way round it is how Xyalis had it working – building two doors to walk from
one place to another.’
    Opie begins to walk back towards me, taking each step slowly and deliberately as if to make sure the ground is solid. ‘Is that what you’re going to do?’
    I shake my head. ‘I don’t have the materials. Even if I could build a door here, where would we build the second one? We’ll have to make do with this for now. If I use
coordinates from the map on my thinkwatch, we might be able to travel some decent distances in a short period of time. It will save a lot of walking.’
    ‘Can we try again?’
    The box is heavy but small enough to fit in my pocket. From using it the first time, the underside feels warm and the coordinate dial isn’t working.
    ‘It needs time to cool down.’
    ‘How long?’
    ‘An hour? I’m not sure. It could depend on how far we travel.’
    After a few small adjustments it cools more quickly than with my first attempt and we try again five minutes later. This time, Opie jumps from one side of the camp to the other. Afterwards, it
takes closer to half an hour to cool down.
    Opie is almost giddy with excitement at the possibilities but I calm him enough to stop him revealing it to everyone else straight away. The last thing I want is for people to think this is a
toy. I should be more excited at what I have created but it feels like I have stolen someone else’s idea.
    Opie suggests that we try the device together, so we hold hands and walk through the shimmering air. With Xyalis’ version, it felt as if something was on my skin, scratching and tickling
from the outside in. This is different. At first there is a loud popping in my ears and then it is as if someone has their fist clenched on the skin at the centre of my chest. They are pinching and
pulling as an orange haze clouds my vision until there is a second pop. Suddenly, I am blinking rapidly, trying to clear my vision. I am stood almost a hundred metres away from the spot next to the
car bonnet where I had been standing.
    Something is squeezing my hand tightly and I have to look down to realise it is Opie. ‘Are you okay?’ he asks.
    ‘It feels different to last time, when we escaped Windsor.’ Opie’s eyes widen and I peer over my shoulder before realising he is staring at me. ‘What?’
    He touches my top lip, showing me the blood on his index finger. ‘Did you get a nosebleed last time?’
    I shake my head truthfully but don’t tell him about the nosebleed I had after travelling up the lifts in the North Tower with Imrin. As his brow furrows deeper, I slap Opie’s hand
away and tell him I’m fine. It isn’t actually a lie; unlike after my journey in the lift, my head is clear and I don’t feel dizzy.
    To stop him fussing, I re-examine the transmitter box, which doesn’t feel any warmer than it did when I sent Opie this distance on his own.
    ‘What does that mean?’ Opie asks when I tell him.
    ‘That the cool down is not affected by how many people it transmits, simply by how far we travel.’
    ‘Samuel and I could have done with that when we were searching for your list of scrap parts.’
    ‘Why?’
    Opie sits on the floor and uses his finger to draw a giant oval in the