Insight

by Teyla Branton

  Newcali bread drops – small rolls that are very soft and lightly sweetened, cross between a doughnut and a roll.

  Nuface therapy – nanite treatments to preserve youth.

  Nyckelira – a sixteen-string fiddle-like instrument with dozens of keys intersecting the strings. Strings are played with a short bow and the keys are played with the fingers. A modified version of current day Swedish nyckelharpa. A current rage among the youth of the CORE, bought at local furniture shops, though no one seems to know exactly who is manufacturing them.

  Pressure pad – pre-Breakdown tech now utilized only by Newcalians. A thin, clear pad with sensors connected wirelessly to a transmitter that signals whenever it senses pressure, such as the weight of a person stepping on it.

  Punk – person who didn’t finish school, works on the underbelly of society.

  Punk bucket – any job that sucks, related to the buckets of waste a punk had to carry away from the work settlements when the colonies were being built.

  Pus bag – derogative term for a CORE Elite (leader).

  Pus licker – derogative term for a person who does the bidding of a Core Elite.

  Readymeal – a flat carton of mixed processed foods and synthesized food substitutes, similar to current-day microwaveable meals. Usually heated in a microwave or inside a readymade dispenser. Often tasteless compared with fresh food but inexpensive and convenient. Primary sustenance for daily use throughout the CORE. Each carton contains immunizations and vitamins and comes with a plastic fork. Substandard readymeals are distributed in the colonies.

  RealSkin – used as bandages over repaired wounds.

  Reconditioning – psychological therapy for people who have disobeyed minor CORE laws.

  Saca – a mild curse.

  Sauce – a stiff alcoholic drink made of equal parts coarse alcohol and synthetic fillers. The drink of the poor. The taste is tart and the sour smell tends to linger on the breath.

  Sauced or sauce-crazed – drunk.

  Scramblers – enforcer motorcycles equipped with pre-Breakdown tech that uses fuel cells for power. Scramblers are fast, maneuverable, and can be used for a month without refueling. Mostly used in Estlantic (New York in particular).

  Shuttle, or automated shuttle – a roughly tetrahedron-shaped blue car that is a Teev-driven taxi. All CORE residents outside the colonies have a limited monthly allotment of time they are permitted to use the public shuttle without cost. There are also automatic ambulance shuttles people can call for assistance. The doors on all shuttles slide back into built-in door pockets and the windows are normally darkened for privacy. Shuttle use pre-Breakdown fuel cells for power. Unlike the public shuttles that are a calming sky blue color, enforcer shuttles are silver with black and red stripes. They are also larger and faster, and their metal tops can fold back inside the rear compartment for use as a convertible. Instead of only being driven automatically by Teev, enforcer shuttles have optional manual controls.

  Sixers – newly coined word for those with abilities that are from Colony 6.

  Skin – a collapsible membrane with a flip top that can hold water, sauce, juice or other liquids.

  Skin sealant – a powdered substance used in emergency as a temporary fix to slow or stop bleeding.

  Skin tag – a circular patch of indeterminate color that immediately takes on the skin color of the user. Once activated, a tag will distort the wearer’s face on any electronic recording. Activated with one long press of a finger. A two-fingered long press will distort both appearance and override any active CivIDs, including implanted ones. Three short taps with one finger turns it off. Wearer experiences a tingle as it is activated. Skin tags last up to two months and are nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.

  Sky train – free, pre-Breakdown public transport that runs throughout the CORE. Runs on solar energy.

  Smeg – a mildly addictive drug like marijuana that heats the entire body, giving the user a sexual reaction that emulates the flush of sex. Not outlawed in the CORE unless mixed with a harder drug, but use is not viewed favorably.

  Smegger – a person who often uses or is addicted to smeg.

  Sonic cleansing – the no-water cleaning system used by most of the CORE.

  Stunner or stun – a weapon similar to a taser.

  T-link – fringer version of the Teev. Also has holo capabilities and a portable wearable version that is nearly indistinguishable from an iTeev, except for the wireless earbud.

  Cleaner – a boxy cleaning machine with gently rounded edges. Roughly a square meter wide and several meters tall.

  Teev (capitalized) – television, Internet, and phone hardware/software combo. You can view, search, call, or read on the Teev. Teevs provide holographic feed indoors through holograph emitters embedded in the walls and are found in every household. Hand motions are used to activate or deactivate. Guests can normally access a certain feed on any Teev, but to access all the abilities, a password can be required.

  Teev Aided Dispatch Alert System, or TAD-Alert – an enforcer system that tracks callers, prioritizes calls, and suggests names of enforcers to respond to any emergency. It can link to most home or work Teevs to have immediate eyes on any situation where enforcers might be called.

  Teev feed – the connection between all Teevs and iTeevs, owned and controlled exclusively by the CORE.

  Temper laser – mood altering laser that will calm most people. Effects last about fifteen minutes. However, 1% of people in the CORE are immune.

  Ultratemp – larger, more powerful temper laser.

  Underground, or the underground (not capitalized) – black market organization that skirts CORE law.

  Undergrounders (not capitalized) – people who live underground in old metro tunnels. They usually work for the underground leader and trade on the black market.

  Viribus (not capitalized) – the experimental drug placed secretly in the water at Colony 6 over a period of fifty-two years, about twenty-two to seventy-four years after Breakdown. Viribus enhances inborn psychic and physical abilities. The hope was to create stronger, more resilient humans, but if a person with abilities is exposed and left untreated, the universal side effect is madness and violence.

  Voice modulator – a device worn at the throat to disguise your voice.

  Whore wrangler – someone who visits a prostitute, which is illegal in the CORE.

  X-Fang – a popular band in the CORE.

  About the Author

  TEYLA BRANTON grew up avidly reading science fiction and fantasy and watching Star Trek reruns with her large family. They lived on a little farm where she loved to visit the solitary cow and collect (and juggle) the eggs, usually making it back to the house with most of them intact. On that same farm she once owned thirty-three gerbils and eighteen cats, not a good mix, as it turns out. Teyla always had her nose in a book and daydreamed about someday creating her own worlds.

  Teyla is now married, mostly grown up, and has seven kids, so life at her house can be very interesting (and loud), but writing keeps her sane. She thrives on the energy and daily amusement offered by her family, the semi-ordered chaos giving her a constant source of writing material. She grabs any snatch of free time from her hectic life to write. She’s been known to wear pajamas all day when working on a deadline, and is often distracted enough to burn dinner. (Okay, pretty much 90% of the time.) A sign on her office door reads: DANGER. WRITER AT WORK. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

  She loves writing fiction and traveling, and she hopes to write and travel a lot more. She also loves shooting guns, martial arts, and belly dancing. She has worked in the publishing business for over twenty years. Teyla also writes romance and suspense under the name Rachel Branton. For more information or to sign up for my newsletter, free books, and subscriber exclusives, please visit TeylaRachelBranton.com.

  You can also write to Teyla at Teyla@TeylaBranton.com.

  BOOKS BY TEYLA BRANTON

  Unbounded Series

  The Change />
  The Cure

  The Escape

  The Reckoning

  The Takeover

  Unbounded Novellas

  Ava’s Revenge

  Mortal Brother

  Lethal Engagement

  Set Ablaze

  Colony Six

  Insight (Colony Six Series Prequel)

  Sketches

  Visions

  Imprints

  First Touch (Imprint Series Prequel)

  Touch of Rain

  On the Hunt

  Upstaged

  Under Fire

  Blinded

  Short Stories

  Times Nine

  UNDER THE NAME RACHEL BRANTON

  Lily’s House Series

  House Without Lies

  Tell Me No Lies

  Your Eyes Don’t Lie

  Hearts Never Lie

  Broken Lies

  No Secrets or Lies

  Cowboys Can’t Lie

  Finding Home Series

  Take Me Home

  All That I Love

  Then I Found You

  Nobles of Beaumont novellas

  Royal Kiss (coming soon)

  Royal Quest (subscriber exclusive)

  Royal Dance (coming soon)

  Royal Time (coming soon)

  Lisbon's Misadventures (Picture Books)

  I Don't Want To Eat Bugs

  I Don’t Want to Have Hot Toes

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Note from the author

  Map

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Sneak Peek! Sketches

  Bonus! Preview of First Touch

  Glossary of Terms

  About the Author

  Books by Teyla Branton

  Under the name Rachel Branton