can’t really be the person who broke the bridge—but she’s possibly crazy enough to be dangerous. Aislyn decides to play along until she can get to someplace safe. “Oh. Um. O-okay.”
The Woman in White’s head swivels back to her. “I was asleep,” she explains. “The bulk of me was, that is. Never needed more than a fraction of myself to function in this realm before now. But conditions are right, and I have gained a true foothold at last.” She drapes an arm around Aislyn’s shoulders again, before Aislyn can find a polite way to pull away. “There’s five of you, you see, besides the primary. Five potential allies. Five weaknesses I can exploit.”
The things coming out of the Woman’s mouth keep almost making sense. Aislyn almost understands… but finally she shakes her head in frustration. “Primary what?”
“Primary avatar. Help me find him, and then you’ll be free.”
“Free? But I’m not—”
The Woman has begun to walk, pulling Aislyn along. They’re headed toward the bus that Aislyn needs, astonishingly, so Aislyn still can’t bring herself to shake off the Woman’s arm. “Free? You’re not. Right now, you’re part of him. Well, that’s wrong; all of you are part of each other. I think? That’s the best way I can explain it. This algal colony, this microbial mat, has nuclei… Hmm, no, wait, all of your kind have souls; that’s a bad analogy.” She sighs impatiently. “Well, six of you are more in charge than the rest. And those six are highly attuned to one another, naturally. Which means that finding one of you will help me find the rest of you.” She grins, all teeth. “That one in particular.”
They’ve reached the bus and stopped before its open doors. It won’t pull away for another three minutes, according to the clock on Aislyn’s phone. Aislyn has begun to worry, however, that the Woman in White will want to ride with her, or even accompany her home. She tries to think of excuses to give the Woman for why this cannot be.
“Now, head on back home,” the Woman says, to Aislyn’s great relief. “I’ve got other business to take care of. But until we meet again, here’s a thing you need to consider.” The Woman leans close for a conspiratorial whisper; Aislyn just manages not to twitch away. “Why did the others leave you unprotected?”
The question feels like a slap. In its wake Aislyn is stung, then numb. “Wh-what?”
“Well, I’ve managed to locate nearly all of you by now.” The Woman extends her free hand and examines her nails. They’re very long and curved. “The Bronx is a borough of angry, suspicious people who expect betrayal; she’s canny and will take some planning to approach. Manhattan rolled up on top of a taxi and introduced himself to me, quite boldly; typical. Brooklyn, full of attitude and arrogance, came to his rescue when I tried to introduce myself back. And that damnable São Paulo is still here, somewhere, the rude fellow! He must be guarding the primary from me.”
As Aislyn tries to process this (there are five of you), the Woman slides her needle further under the skin. “But no one has come to rescue or guard you. Manhattan and Brooklyn make powerful allies as they work together to track down the Bronx and Queens… but they haven’t thought about you. Not. Even. Once.”
Aislyn stares back, understanding at last. Five of them, plus some sixth who is primary. She is Staten Island and they are the other boroughs, plus New York itself. And are they like her, these other strangers? Do they feel the needs of thousands, hear the voices of millions in their heads? She wants to meet them. Ask them questions, like How do you get your borough to shut up? and Is it really my friend or am I just that lonely?
But she has not found them, because she chickened out of taking the ferry. Even if she had made it to Manhattan, how would she have located them? If Manhattan and Brooklyn found each other, there must be a way. Some kind of city-sonar or something, which would have activated if she’d tried to go to them. Without that effort on her part, however, the sonar has remained quiescent.
Well, why can’t they come to her instead?
It’s inconvenient, she reminds herself. Coming to Staten Island is always inconvenient for people in the city.
Yes, but this is important, isn’t it? They know the city has five boroughs, damn it. And if they’ve