Dawn of Dae

by R. J. Blain

  “Want breakfast?”

  Food, apparently, motivated Colby. My macaroni and cheese could move fast, and by the time I blinked, it was in the kitchen hopping in front of the refrigerator. Guilty I had given it such a restrained diet, I followed at a more sedate pace.

  When I opened the door, a new selection of food waited for me, crammed into every bit of available space.

  Well, I’d be making a stop to Kelsie’s place as soon as I got a free moment. If all went well, I could make the hike to her flop before curfew.

  “I’d ask what the hell was going on, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like the answer,” I muttered, pulling out all the fruit I recognized and setting it aside on the counter. Once again, there was a disturbing array of items I simply had no idea how to use.

  Did Colby have taste buds? Would it notice—or care—if I fed it everything I didn’t want? There was no way I could eat everything on my own, not even in a month. Even if I took half my share to Kelsie, we couldn’t eat everything within a month. It would spoil.

  I hated wasting food.

  “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “Mommy!” Colby hopped up onto the counter and jiggled.

  There was something a little unnerving about how my roommate ate; nothing seemed safe from its appetite. I cleaned a quarter of the refrigerator out, and Colby ate every last bite I offered it.

  I ate a few pieces of fruit. My thoughts wandered back to Kenneth, my work at the college, and my growing list of things I needed to finish. I hadn’t put any thought into developing a way to categorize the dae. I’d work on it while interviewing the hopefuls.

  Kenneth was going to blow his top when he found out his precious list had been destroyed. When he found out Terry Moore was dead, he’d be in a mood to kill. After having hoodwinked him, I doubted he would be ready to forgive me anytime soon.

  Until things settled down, I probably wouldn’t have to worry too much about Kenneth. He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid—and interfering with the government was a good way to draw attention to himself and his less-than-legal operations. I’d have to get to work sniffing out where Terry Moore had stashed Kenneth’s drugs and money, though. Having dirt on the dealer wouldn’t save me. Opening my mouth wouldn’t do me any good—and it would give him plenty of reasons to ruin me.

  I grabbed a quick shower to help clear my head. While packing up my things, I considered Colby. Leaving the dae—or whatever it was—alone all day bothered me, but how was I supposed to take it with me?

  “Hey, Colby?”

  “Mommy?”

  “Tomorrow, do you want to go to work with me?”

  “Mommy!”

  I took its excited squeal to mean yes, and sighing, I cursed my guilty conscience. “Okay, I’ll figure something out.”

  I had enough money to buy a good gym bag—one made with mesh so Colby would be able to watch from inside. I also had enough money to buy a good insulated container for it to hide in if necessary. Then again, maybe I could let it run loose at the college.

  What was one more oddity in a world full of them?

  When I reported to the college, I was assigned a guard—one with an affinity with water. The dean was too busy to see me; I didn’t even make it up the steps to the main administration building before I was routed to the main gates to conduct more interviews.

  My new partner looked human enough, which worried me. The man was older—easily old enough to be my grandfather, and he stared down his nose at me. Before the Dawn of Dae, he’d probably been an elite. He didn’t actually say anything, which was probably for the best.

  After last night, I wasn’t in the mood for more elitist bullshit, and if I had a dollar for every one of the problems I’d had since the moment Rob had stepped out of my refrigerator, I’d be rich—and an elite, too. Or would I be?

  I had no idea how the emergence of the weird and wonderful would change the castes. Would the wealthy remain powerful? Would those who had ruled over the lower castes be knocked from their high horses to be replaced by those they had ruled?

  If power meant instant elevation, there wouldn’t be any need for me to conduct interviews. Then again, it was likely what the elite wanted. If the masses figured out they could take rank by force, it’d be civil war.

  Most didn’t even know the United States had been a country born and defined by rebellion. Like the children’s stories I had enjoyed sneaking peeks at in private libraries, the true history of our home was hidden under a shroud of lies. I had seen older texts. I had defied the elite by reading them, but I lacked the courage to tell anyone.

  No one would believe me even if I did.

  I wondered how many of the educated understood the turbulent history of the United States—and how it resembled the kingdom the early Americans had fled centuries before. In a way, the President was a bit like a king, although a crippled one. He did what the elite told him to if he wanted to stay in power.

  My woolgathering kept me occupied through the first several interviews, which I conducted in the half-conscious daze of a sleepwalker. The first few were shifters who couldn’t shift, and the fire-breathers could barely light cigarettes let alone hurt anyone, myself included.

  While the police were escorting in the next batch, I worked on evaluating yesterday’s numbers. My awareness of being watched intensified, and grinding my teeth together, I considered whether or not I really wanted to antagonize the individual who was supposed to keep me from becoming deep-fried by an overenthusiastic fire-breather lacking control.

  “Interviewing potential candidates is useless without finding out what is actually a rare or unique skill,” I muttered, using the dean’s term for the dae’s abilities.

  “So I’ve been told. Seems rather like a waste of time to me,” my bodyguard replied. Movement in my peripheral vision drew my attention. For the first time since he had started shadowing me, the man decided to sit down instead of hovering.

  “How would you recommend the dae be registered, sir?” I really wanted to get up, stomp off, and tell the man to just do the work himself, but losing my temper really wouldn’t help me reach my goals. I could scream about the system in the comfort of my apartment later.

  Colby, at least, was a good audience. Having it for a roommate had a lot of perks, including its inability to argue with me in a way I could understand. It was a good thing I hadn’t brought it with me, though. I doubted my bodyguard would have approved of my sentient macaroni and cheese adding to the chaos.

  Tomorrow, I’d have to be really, really careful.

  “We don’t need them at all,” he snapped.

  Saying nothing at all seemed wise, so I remained silent. Prejudice would always exist, and I didn’t need a degree to understand I was tolerated instead of welcomed. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

  If the sudden emergence of a magical race of beings who bonded with humans couldn’t force change, nothing would. It was a shame, really, but there was nothing I could do about it.

  Living would be difficult enough. What could I do? The lack of an answer depressed me far more than my unwilling bodyguard’s scorn.

  The dragon was right about so many things, including the fact I was nothing more than a normal woman in a world where normality was a death sentence.

  Ten

  The dae were rubbing off on me, especially the werewolves.

  I was grateful for the elite’s company by the time the day was done. While no one immolated themselves in their desperation to prove their worth, he was forced to extinguish several fires.

  I think the elite’s failure to keep me from coming to harm stung his pride far more than being relegated to watching me conduct the interviews. After my first burning, which had scorched my thin gloves and rendered them useless, he paid far closer attention to the other dae.

  The second burn wasn’t even his fault, not really. Neither one of us had expected a fight to break out in the line. The singe on my back hurt like
hell, but I had saved the laptop and its precious data from harm. My elite bodyguard hadn’t been so lucky.

  The flames had caught him right in the face. The medical staff escorted him away, and he didn’t return. A cop took his place, and the woman didn’t look pleased to be relegated to babysitting duty. The two dae responsible for the fight disappeared. When one of the police reported their names to me for my records, I made a note they were likely deceased.

  At least their executions weren’t public.

  I tried not to think of what would happen to them if the government didn’t kill them. The thought of anyone ending up a test subject for the elite left me nauseous.

  Two hours before curfew, I made my escape.

  Determined to keep my promise to Colby and share my excess with Kelsie, I skipped home long enough to raid the fridge and hit the streets. Kelsie slept without waking, and I filled her fridge, checked her temperature, which had dropped since my last visit, and left her with a note reminding her to make soup, take her medications, and to feel better.

  Many of the stores were still closed, leaving grocery stores and a few general stores open for business. At the rate I kept destroying gloves, I’d need a bag to store my spares. I bought a few extra pairs to make certain I didn’t run out and headed home.

  My apartment reeked of paint. Colby greeted me at the door, and to my relief, it was alone.

  “Mommy!”

  “Hey, Colby. I got bags,” I announced, holding up the gym bag and the soft-cover cooler I had purchased for Colby’s use. “You, too, can enjoy what it’s like to have flames spewed at you tomorrow. It’ll be fun. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to watch the elite posture and lord over the peons.”

  “Mommy?” Colby jiggled, and the way it shifted its noodle and cheese mass reminded me of a confused child.

  I locked my door, doubting the precaution would stop any dae if they decided to visit again. I carried the bags to the kitchen and set them on the counter. “Do you not know about the elite?”

  Colby bounced into the living room and, moments later, returned with two sheets of paper. I still wasn’t quite sure how the dae managed to carry anything. I recognized the sheets as the ones I had written yes and no on.

  It sat on the sheet with no written on it and waited.

  “You were never human, were you?”

  Colby remained silent.

  “It’s not a bad thing, Colby. You’re different from me. I’m not like the elite, who absolutely cannot handle when people are different from them. They have no use for people like me, people from a lower caste. I shouldn’t complain. I got out with two mild burns today. You should have seen my so-called partner. He got a face full of fire and lived to talk about it. Elites. The ones born into it are all talk. They believe they’re entitled to everything and shouldn’t have to work for it. They’ve had everything they needed in life handed to them. They don’t know what it means to work. They don’t know what it’s like to be the lowest of the low. They eat the shit the other elite feed them, and that’s that.” I clacked my teeth together.

  The dae were rubbing off on me, especially the werewolves. I had picked up their habit of growling when annoyed. I had to admit it was pretty satisfying. I’d never have a deep voice; I was a soprano—or would be, if I could carry a tune in a bucket.

  My bucket had a lot of holes. I thought my speaking voice was pleasant enough, a little smokey, and with a good range. Who needed to sing?

  Music, like most things, belonged to the elite.

  “Mommy?”

  Woolgathering was becoming a bad habit. I sighed and showed Colby the cooler. “I got this so you can hide in the bigger bag if you need to. It should keep you nice and cool. It fits with plenty of room to spare. I don’t think anyone will go looking through my stuff, but if they do, hide in here for me, okay? It’s important, Colby. They’re collecting the more unique dae, and you are definitely not like most of the ones I’ve seen.”

  If the dean found out I was hiding an exotic dae from him, I’d probably be expelled—or worse. My fate would be far kinder than the one my macaroni and cheese would face.

  “Mommy,” Colby whined.

  “You will hide in the bags or you don’t go tomorrow,” I said, setting the cooler inside the other bag and tossing them into the corner of the kitchen out of the way. “That’s final. I’m not letting you get turned into some stupid test subject for the elite.”

  “Mommy.”

  I decided it agreed so I wouldn’t have to try to have a very one-sided argument with it. “The elite run everything. They’re the bosses. People like me do what they say. Usually, you’re stuck with whatever caste you’re born into, but it can change. If you’re an elite because you’re rich, you better stay rich, or you’ll be kicked out of the caste. If you’re born into the elite caste, though, you stay that way for life. They’re the ones who really rule the roost.”

  I still wasn’t sure if Kenneth had earned his wealth or if he had been born into it, but if Colby was going to be going with me, it needed to know about my boss. All things being equal, confessing my sins to a dish of macaroni and cheese ranked fairly low on the strange scale.

  “It won’t necessarily be safe coming with me. Right now, the college has me interviewing dae who want an easy ride into the elite caste. Dae who are strong enough are being elevated. If the elite have all of the strongest dae, no one will be able to fight them, I guess. To make things even worse, I’m supposed to be doing some work for Kenneth, but once he finds out his stupid list burned yesterday, he’s going to be pissed. He’s not a nice guy, Colby. If Kenneth’s around, I don’t want him finding out about you.”

  To Kenneth, Colby would either be in the way or a bartering chip against me. It was bad enough when he threatened me, so I tried to keep my relationships with others to a minimum.

  I didn’t want to make manipulating me easy. I lacked the courage to tell Colby that, however.

  Growling at my cowardice, I shook my head. I held my breath to cool my temper. “Kenneth deals drugs, and I find people who owe him money. I sniff out dirt for him. I’m one of his stupid little hound dogs.”

  In so many ways, by ruining lives at his command, I was just as bad as my boss. No matter how often I said I didn’t bite at his command, I still barked and flushed out his prey. Most of his victims walked away with their lives, but enough didn’t.

  My hands weren’t clean.

  Sometimes, I wondered if my allergies were punishment from some god for my sins. Many people believed in one god or another—usually one of the ones the elite approved of, although a few other religions still existed within the United States.

  The smart believers, however, didn’t make a fuss about their spirituality. I certainly didn’t. My lack of faith was as much of a crime as a Catholic discussing their beliefs to the wrong person at the wrong time.

  “Mommy?”

  “Damn it. Sorry, Colby. My head is in the clouds today. Kenneth is the biggest problem. He doesn’t have much in the way of patience, and I’ve been tied up with the college work. Once things quiet down, he’s going to be after my ass for trying to change castes under his nose. It’s not really a good idea to be associated with me right now.”

  “Mommy.” The scorn in Colby’s voice surprised me.

  “What? It’s true. If I push many more of Kenneth’s buttons, he’ll probably get rid of me one way or the other. I was supposed to sniff out information on Terry Moore to get his stupid drugs back—and his money. But, Terry went and got himself eaten by a bloody werewolf. Now I don’t have any idea where to even start looking for Kenneth’s drugs, and with how things are going, I’m not going to be able to sneak off long enough to find out. He’ll ruin me if I don’t get the job done.”

  Whining wasn’t going to help me, but the words bubbled out of me. “If ruining my chances to get out of the lower castes isn’t enough, he’ll end up leaving my body in an alley somewhere. That’s just how it goes. If I play the game bette
r than him, I win. If I don’t, I lose. If I’ve outlived my usefulness, I die. I’ve known things would be that way for a long time. If I can get through my Bach studies, I can transfer to a different city and start over. Kenneth only works the Baltimore drug circuit. Sure, he could hire out a hound to chase me, but what’s the point? If I do well enough in my Bach studies and get accepted for Master studies, he won’t be able to touch me at all.”

  I’d be too valuable to other elites if I became a Master. It didn’t matter what subject I was assigned. As long as the dae didn’t completely overturn society, there’d always be a need for the highly educated. I wouldn’t be easy to replace, and not even Kenneth would escape punishment if he pursued me at that point. If I proved I was smart enough, it wouldn’t matter if I couldn’t breathe fire, change shapes, or do anything else powerful dae could do.

  “Just avoid Kenneth Smith,” I warned Colby, hoping my accidental macaroni and cheese roommate would listen. Maybe it was weird, but I liked it.

  I didn’t want Colby to be hurt because of me.

  I regretted my offer to take Colby with me to work long before I wrangled the casserole into the cooler and stashed it in my gym bag. While packing the laptop, extra gloves in case my first pair was ruined again by a dae’s demonstration, and my various medications, I tried to figure out a reason to leave my roommate behind.

  I delayed until I was late for work, which I’d shamelessly blame on yesterday’s burns. It wasn’t that much of a lie; reaching the middle of my back to apply the cream had been tricky, painful, and frustrating. Sighing my surrender, I picked up my bag.

  Colby wasn’t all that large, but damn was it heavy. I grunted, settling the bag’s strap over my shoulder. Normal women didn’t talk to their bags, so instead of complaining about how much it weighed, I trudged out of my apartment.

  Rob was waiting for me, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. When I froze in the doorway, he checked his wrist. “If you take the steps two at a time and dive across traffic, you’ll only be five minutes late.”