Young Kitianna has always been curious about what life is like on the other side of the wall that divides her war-scarred country. When her actions draw the scrutiny of the authorities, Kitianna’s parents realize the only way to keep her from being forced into a re-education camp is to send her away. But while they may have secured their daughter’s safety, at least for now, the underground protest movement against the government is getting stronger, and the regime’s reaction has been to double down on draconian security measures. It seems no one is safe from the droids and the drones and the surveillance that is everywhere. Disruption asks how much freedom we’re willing to relinquish for the sake of security. And when the government is secretly controlled by oligarchs, how can ordinary citizens fight back and reclaim their liberties?

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Kitianna stares at the towering metal wall. One panel flanked by another and another and still another, no beginning or end in sight, each one rammed into the ground with such force that the earth at its base lies splintered. At the top of the Wall, barbed wire is coiled, its spikes silhouetted against the cloudless blue sky. The Wall runs the entire length of her country, separating the northern state from the poor southern one, where she lives. Once north and south were united, but that was before she was born. Now the Wall cuts through her city like a knife.

The thin tongues of light waver and beckon her.

“Stay back.” Daniel says, his voice sharp and low. “Don’t get any closer.” He’d had to run to catch up to her, and stands beside her now, bent over, hands on his thighs, sucking air.

Daniel wants to keep her safe. But she doesn’t want to be safe. She wants to know. She wants to see. Just a peek. She finds herself wondering what life is like for the people on the other side whenever she catches a glimpse of the Wall over the buildings or back alleys in her city.

She has thought about them since she was a child. Now, in her last weeks of high school, she knows for certain what matters to her. The truth.

She must have been about six years old the first time she noticed the Wall. She’d been jumping on her bed, with her stuffed bear named Felix, a birthday present from her aunt, who lived far, far away in Amisk. She was measuring how high she could jump by the frame of the window when suddenly, the mist dissipated and she saw, clear as day, the top of the Wall with its barbed wire extending as far as she could see. There was a man standing in one of the Wall’s towers. The bed shuddered as she stopped.

She propped Felix on the windowsill while she scrambled to get a better look, stubby fingers clutching the grime of the cold ledge.

Her father yanked open the bedroom door.

“What are you doing?” Her father almost never raised his voice, but he was shouting. “How many times have you been told not to jump on the bed? We can’t afford to fix it. Things must last.”

She pointed out the window.

“What?” Her father peered over her shoulder.

Kitianna poked the air with her finger. “There.”

“It’s just a wall.” Her father’s voice sounded strangled. He wrenched the curtains closed over the window.

“There was a …” Kitianna tried, but her father turned to leave the room. “No more jumping on the bed.”

Kitianna edges closer to the Wall now, looks up. The metal glints in the sun. She can feel the sun’s reflected warmth radiating off the steel. When was the last time the sun had been this bright? The sky so clear? She puts her face up to one of the cracks between the slabs and says, “Hello. Is anyone there?”

Daniel grabs her arm and wrenches her away, checking over his shoulder.

She tugs her arm back. “Stop it.”

“Why are you so stubborn?” Daniel’s breath has calmed. His voice remains restrained. “You act like you’re in one of your make-believe stories. This is real life. They are watching. They always are.”

Kitianna looks around, shrugs. “There are no guards around.” She knows about the cameras, the drones and the droids. Her parents warn her constantly that the droids are everywhere. Usually, she ignores her parents’ concerns. Why would the droids care about her? If her mother is right, the droids, like the Wall, are simply there to protect everyone.

Daniel lays his hand on her shoulder. “The guards won’t come the minute they see you. They’ll watch, then pounce when you aren’t expecting it.” He takes a breath. “Let’s get to school,” he says. His voice is pleading. “We’ll be late. I’ll hear about it from Dad.”

She slips out of his hold, and starts to explain her curiosity about the Wall, but he’s already walking away.

Kitianna watches him disappear between the blackened trees of the wooded area separating the Wall from her school. His father is the General. That’s why Daniel worries about security, about who is watching. She turns, lifts her hand to place it flat on the steel wall. It’s hot, but she keeps her hand in place until she can’t stand it anymore. When she pulls away, the metal has left a scalding imprint on her palm.