He stood by my side, stoic and rigid, until the doors opened. He motioned for me to proceed him, which I did, and then he climbed in behind me and hit the button that would take us to ground level. I looked at the list Jessup had given me as I listened to the quiet whir of the cables that were pulling our car toward the surface. The list named the eight spirits that had been freed from Atlas and the order in which they were released. Like me, Jessup could only assume that we would see them in order. The atmosphere surrounding Atlas caused a delay for anyone traveling to or from the city, a delay that would turn seconds into a day, maybe two. In some cases, it could be even longer. For the first time ever, I was able to see the delay as a good thing. I smiled when I thought of the many trips my family and I had taken to the surface over the years. At some point during our ascent, I would begin to complain about the delay and my parents would gently scold my impatience.
