by Ramona Finn
“I’m sure you could guess if you really thought it through,” he goaded me.
I only stared, shocked, and finally shook my head in response.
“I was caught providing medical care to people at the bottom of the queue. Ones like your mother, who would have died before getting proper care. Farrow didn’t approve of us cheating the system, even if it meant saving lives. Then again, saving the lives of others has never really been Farrow’s goal.”
Now I knew he was talking nonsense. Benjamin Farrow had dedicated his entire life to finding a cure for the Virus. He’d built the Geos specifically for that purpose.
Listening to him go on, I decided that Wallace’s paranoia was the result of being alone so long. If his herbs hadn’t already been helping relieve some of my mother’s symptoms, I’d have written him off altogether.
“Crazy old man,” I whispered to myself as I left that evening. Still, he was my only hope, and I knew that I’d be back again after another shift.
Except, when I arrived on the fourth day, Wallace wasn’t there. Instead, I found a handful of ragtags scavenging his place. “Hey!” I called out as I approached. The last thing I wanted to do was catch them by surprise. “Hey! You get out of there! That’s Wallace’s stuff!”
A small pot clattered as it fell to the floor, knocked over by the elbow of a kid who could be no more than thirteen as he darted out of Wallace’s makeshift apartment. A few more followed behind them, not eager to take a side in whatever fight they thought I represented. I grabbed one of them by the collar as he ran by.
“Who do you think you are?” I demanded.
“I don’t have to tell you nothing!” he said as he struggled against my grip. He was pretty strong, for a kid.
“Where’s Wallace?” I wasn’t going to let his attitude deter me.
“Gone, duh.” He took a swing at me and I swept my leg under his, knocking him to the ground. It was a move Wallace had taught me as we’d gotten further into our lessons and begun talking about what I might have done in fighting off those girls who’d jumped me on my first visit. I knelt over this boy and pulled my fist back threateningly.
“Okay, okay!” The kid put his palms up submissively. “Look, I don’t know anything. Wallace was here, and now he’s not. Only reason we even came in was because the door was already open. Place was tossed, like someone got here before us.”
I felt the blood leave my face. “Like who?”
The kid shrugged. “Depends. Rejs raid here sometimes. He’s no friend of theirs. Could have been the EFs. Heck, maybe he took off on his own and was covering his tracks.”
There were too many variables. “Okay.” I waved him off. “Go.”
He jumped up and took off, not giving me a chance to change my mind. “At least he’s smarter than he looks,” I mumbled to myself, kicking a stray bulb in frustration. I waited until I heard the glass shatter in the distance and nodded indignantly. Wallace was the only hope I’d had of surviving in the Above. And there was so much more to learn, from what he’d told me. Selfishly, I almost hoped he had been captured, even hurt. That was less painful than thinking that he’d left me on purpose.
I crept toward Wallace’s door, half afraid someone, or something, would be waiting for me. If the Rejs had taken Wallace, there was no way I’d ever find him, no matter what clues they may have left behind.
Like the kid said, though, the place had been tossed. His clay pots had been scattered. Most were cracked beyond repair. A few even looked as if they’d been shattered with a mallet.
I knelt down by the elderberry plant and gathered a few of the smaller branches, shoving them into my coat and salvaging what I could of the berries that had been helping my mom. It was clear that Wallace wasn’t coming back. This would probably be the last time I’d have access to anything that could bring my mother comfort.
I’d only known Wallace a short time, but the thought that he could have met some dismal fate left a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. As I walked back to the elevator, I was surprised to notice that I also felt somewhat homesick, leaving the upper Geos. I’d spent so much time there, more than I’d spent on any activity that wasn’t coding or sleeping. The thought of the Above still terrified me, but it also excited me.
I was not the same Tylia I had been a week before. I would never be her again.
Chapter Thirteen
As I made my way home, I realized that I’d lingered longer than intended. I was cutting it way too close to curfew. As I came through the front door, my dad called from his room. “Ty, is that you?”
“Yeah, Dad,” I replied, trying to keep my voice even as I walked to my room. To make him believe there was nothing out of the ordinary. “I’m just going to bed.”
“Okay, see you in the morning.”
I didn’t notice I’d been holding my breath until the door to my room shut behind me. My heartbeat was roaring in my ears, and beads of nervous sweat clung to my face, causing a chill to run down my spine. For the first time, I realized how much warmer I’d been in the upper Geos the past few days. Especially when I’d gone right after work, when the light of something Wallace called the sun had still beaten down through the skylights.
I flopped down onto my bed and stared into the darkness as I waited for sleep to overcome me.
No luck.
Sighing, I rolled and leaned over the edge of my bed, sticking my hand underneath it until I found the cold, smooth metal of the safe. I pulled it out and up, setting it on my lap. It was heavy, especially considering how little was kept in it. I turned the locking mechanism: three to the right, seven to the left, and then right until it landed on the last number, fifteen. Locks like this used to be common in the Above, before keypads and fingerprint locks became standard. This was one of the things I loved most about the antique—it gave me a skill that not many my age had. Who knew… maybe it would come in handy when I was in the Acceptance.
I pulled the game of jacks from the safe, which I stashed back under my bed before settling myself in a seated position on the floor. I spread the jacks out, bounced the ball, and collected the jacks. The repetitive motion was soothing. It always helped me think, and tonight I had a lot to think about.
Wallace was gone. Maybe captured, maybe dead. Or maybe he’d known he’d been made, and had simply left before the EFs or whoever was after him could catch up.
And that meant I was alone. No one but Wallace knew my true plan. Nari had no doubt assumed the healer would give me herbs for my mother and send me on my way.
Whatever happened next was up to me.
My thoughts spiraled one way and then another, trying to play out every option I had. There weren’t many. I’d gone to Wallace on a whim, hoping to avoid the Acceptance. I knew it was an impossible task, and something completely against my nature. I had always been more of the “act first, ask later” type. Sneaking to the upper Geos? That was a Ty thing. Hacking the Acceptance? Yeah, maybe on a whim that first day I’d thought of it. And the training had been fun in its own rebellious way, but was I really going to cheat my way into a situation that would most likely mean my death? The more I mulled it over, the more my fears boiled to the surface.
Another series of coughs wracked my mother’s body in the room next door. She was running out of time. I looked at the digital clock on my wall—time had flown by as I’d sat up playing jacks. Two more hours until it would go off, summoning me for my next shift.
Another cough, followed by a choking sound. My dad’s voice spoke in soothing tones. I could picture him now, sitting by her side, rubbing her back gently. My heart stopped while I waited for Mother to breathe again, which I knew had happened when the coughing and choking subsided.
That was it. I made my decision. I wasn’t going to wait for my shift to start. I was going to hack the Acceptance right now. I bit my lip as I tried to decide the best course of action. Mother was still assigned a home terminal, but hacking into it for this was too risky. The last thing she needed was proof of un
authorized access. Then my father would also be in trouble for clocking in to her shifts.
I stood, tossing the jacks on my bed and opening my door slowly. The benefit of a concrete floor was that it didn’t creak under your feet like wood, but the same couldn’t really be said about the old metal hinges of my door. At the first sign of noise, I paused and waited for Mother to have another coughing fit before I slipped out the door and tiptoed quickly across the house and out the front door.
The hallways in the Geos were dark. Not the normal kind of dark, either. Part of energy conservation meant that the only lights on during sleeping hours were the track lights on the floor on either side of the hallway. They gave off just enough light for me to make my way safely out of the living wings, but not enough to warn me about any of the EFs who might be patrolling after curfew.
Twice, I had to duck around the corner to avoid them. Luckily, their heavy, steel-toed boots gave me advance warning and covered the sounds of my own footsteps. In a matter of minutes, I was down at the shuttle.
The area was deserted except for a few emergency shift workers. Doctors and one plumber. Life did tend to happen outside of working hours. Sometimes death did, too.
I let thoughts of my new life carry my mind as the shuttle bus pulled out of the station. The Acceptance happened every hundred days, with candidates chosen the morning before. I counted backward on my fingers to the day that Viv had been at the doctor and gasped at how close I’d come to missing the nearest opportunity. Candidates would be selected today, with the ceremony happening in the evening. This time, there would be no backing out if I changed my mind.
Once I got off the shuttle, it was easy to get to the coding room. There was no need for EF patrols in this part of the Geos. People often came in early or left late—not this early, admittedly—trying to earn more ticks on their shifts in hopes of better meal vouchers. I drew no suspicion as I walked through the doorway and made my way to my terminal.
The room was quiet, and empty. “Welcome,” the AI’s voice greeted me as I booted up my terminal. I quickly pulled up the terminal settings and shut the AI down. I didn’t want her recording what I was about to do.
I opened the encrypted folder I’d created earlier in the week, pulling up each past candidate’s information and comparing it to my own to see what changes would have to be made to increase my survival score. My first few guess had the opposite effect—reducing my chances from 60% down to 35%. I cursed under my breath. I didn’t have time for delays.
Shakily, I tried again. Maybe it wasn’t about the health history or IQ scores I’d fiddled with before. I opened another file, this one involving genetics. I wasn’t a doctor, but I understood basic biology, and most of the program offered multiple choice options. I changed a few and brought my score back up to its original 60%. “That’s what you think,” I muttered, trying to amp myself into believing that what I’d learned from Wallace would increase my score enough to save my life.
It took three more attempts before I was able to find the right combination of adjustments to bring my score up into the 90s. Satisfied, I wiped the terminal’s short-term memory and rebooted the system. There was no way anyone could trace the hack back to me. At least, that was my hope.
Chapter Fourteen
I spent the rest of the day terrified. What if my name wasn’t called? What if it was, but the hack was traced back to me? I tried to busy myself with the monotonous task of fixing small bugs in Hydro’s intake system. They were low-priority errors, so if I got distracted and messed something up, the glitch wouldn’t cause any real damage. But they were also worth less ticks on my shift. Doesn’t matter, I thought. After tonight, there won’t be any more shifts, ticks, or waivers.
That evening, all of the lower Geos’ occupants gathered in a special room in the Union Hall, one reserved solely for these events. The stone in this area was a deep black, a different kind of stone than what was found in most of the Geos. That was because it had been installed specifically for decoration after the lower Geos had been drilled. Black had been the color of mourning in the Above, and this sentiment was honored in the way we gathered to reflect on those who’d been lost, once every hundred days. The ceremony would begin with a speech from one of the most recently inducted Elites—a girl by the name of Lyria who had completed the Acceptance before I was born. Even as I watched, she walked to the end of the balcony that served as a stage for the event, preparing to call the meeting to order.
Below her, each of the Unions stood in rows reserved specifically for them. This event was the one great equalizer—any one of us could be chosen (or so we thought), regardless of job or status. Still, they had us segregated by title. I looked around, trying to spot Viv. I knew she would be here, even with her concussion, hoping for a chance to catch a glimpse of Benjamin Farrow. Kev caught my eye from across the aisle instead, flashing me a huge smile as he waved. Acceptance night had always been something he looked forward to. Once, when we’d been younger, he’d confessed to wanting to be chosen.
“I want a chance to prove that I’m more than just a farmer,” he’d said. “What better way than to devote my life to finding the Cure?”
“Devote your life?” I’d asked, “Or sacrifice it?”
He’d just shrugged. “Same thing, isn’t it?”
No, I thought to myself now as I recounted our conversation. It wasn’t the same thing.
I forced a smile in his direction and waved half-heartedly just as Bree made her way down the aisle arm in arm with Viv. She bumped my shoulder lightly as she settled in. “Did I miss anything?”
“No,” I said as the speaker’s voice announced the start of the ceremony. “What took you so long?”
Bree smiled impishly. “Oh, you know… we just wanted to place a few bets before names were called.”
I rolled my eyes. “Really, Viv?” Viv produced a fake smile, clearly trying to keep up appearances around Bree, but somehow it only made her look more sickly.
“Hey, you have no idea what’s at stake this time!” Bree leaned in so close that I could feel the warmth of her breath on my chilled ears as she whispered, “Rumor has it the list has been hacked. The halls are swarming with EFs ready to take IDs.”
I tried not to let my fear show. There was no way they could trace the hack back to me, I was sure of it. I wasn’t sure if that was more or less reassuring than the idea of getting away with the hack and being part of the Acceptance, though. Even with everything I’d learned from Wallace, my training had been cut short. What if I didn’t know enough to survive? The thought made my mouth dry up.
“There he is!” Bree pointed to the balcony where the handsome Ben Farrow and his father were preparing to announce the next participants—the hopeful saviors of our people. The two men glanced over the crowd with wide smiles as they thanked Lyria for her introduction. Beside me, Viv and Bree hung on their every word.
“Before we begin,” R.L. Farrow’s voice sounded out, bouncing smoothly on the obsidian walls, “I’d like to address the current rumors regarding the selection of this round’s participants.”
The crowd broke out into nervous chitters which soon escalated to a static roar in the enclosed space. Farrow raised a hand, and silence fell. “The rumors you’ve heard are true: Someone has hacked into the system and altered the list.”
I tried to keep my face stoic, to dampen my reaction, but it didn’t matter. Expressions of shock had begun spreading through the crowd like an electronic pulse.
“The Acceptance, hacked? But how?” The same question was asked in several overlapping voices. Farrow raised a hand again.
“Please, maintain order,” he commanded us. “I know that this is very concerning to all of you, but rest assured, we will get to the bottom of this. But the question remains, do we delay the selection, or move forward as planned?”
An entire population held their breath as they waited for his answer.
R.L. looked over the crowd and smiled. “And the answer
is yes, we will proceed as planned!” A cheer rippled through the crowd, snapping me back to reality. My heartbeat pounded in my ears with such force that I was afraid I’d miss my name being called. The rush of adrenaline made everyone’s voices bleed together, and the first few names were unfamiliar to me. A couple of doctors and a tough-looking guy made their way to the stage as the audience cheered them on. I wanted to yell at them all to be quiet. I was still waiting for my announcement. That is, until they called Kev’s name.
I stared in shock as he pumped a fist into the air in celebration. Around him, others from the Farming Union patted him on the back, congratulating him. My heart sank. I knew I should be excited for him, and yet the opposite was true. I hadn’t thought to look up who else would be selected. Maybe if I had, I’d have had a chance to change Kev’s profile so he wouldn’t be a match.
That’s ridiculous, I chided myself. Kev deserved a shot at the Greens just as much as I did. Still, I couldn’t help but wish they hadn’t called him. Even if his profile had been more favorable than mine, I just couldn’t imagine sweet, easy-going Kev going up against all the dangers that Wallace had warned me about.
“And, finally, the Union worker with the highest compatibility score this cycle: Tylia Coder!” A wave of dread had washed over me as Ben Farrow read my name from the list. I swore under my breath. How could I have done something as stupid as assigning myself the highest compatibility score? Panic rose in my chest as I scanned the line of contestants and realized that I was the only coder. Surely, the two things combined made me their number-one suspect. But what could I do? It was too late to confess now.
Bree squealed. “Did you hear that? BEN friggin’ FARROW just said your name, Ty!”
The wall below the balcony opened up to reveal a recessed stage. On either side was a staircase that I was to ascend with the others. On the far back wall, center stage, was an elevator that the Farrows would ride down from the balcony. It was meant to be symbolic—the Farrow family and those who’d been chosen for the Acceptance meeting each other halfway. I’d seen it more times than I could count, and yet this time was different in a way I never could have planned for.
