The Master Class Tower in the central square hadn't been the end of their struggles, but it had marked the beginning of a profoundly different era.
For six months following the Shepherd's defeat, Nathan Cross and his party kept climbing. They cleared that Tower, and they cleared the ones after it. Only now, the frantic, suffocating desperation was completely gone.
The Babel system wasn't threatening to rip the sky apart anymore; it was just a fixture in a world that was finally allowed to breathe. And for the first time since he had opened his eyes in this strange world, Nathan was allowed to breathe, too. He realized that fact with striking clarity the moment he woke up to the quiet, domestic smell of sizzling bacon and perfectly browned toast drifting down the hallway of his new apartment.
He lay there in bed for a long moment, staring at the ceiling, just breathing it in. He smiled. Lucy had gotten much better at cooking.
