by K. T. Hanna
The woman bows her head quickly and nods as she runs off. Sai moves around the small, far too bright room, stretching as she goes, trying to loosen the tightness of her muscles. Her head still feels fuzzy, but it’s much better than the last time she woke up.
“Miss?” The brunette is back with Sai’s bulging back-pack and hands it over. “Mr. Mathur said to let you know if there’s anything else, to just say.”
Sai nods as she pulls clothing and spare shoes out of her bag. “What’s your name?” she asks without taking her head out of the bag.
“Iria, miss.”
“Please don’t do that. Call me Sai. I might not always answer if you call me something different.” She pauses for a moment, but the negative whispers have been silent since she woke up.
Iria smiles, and it lights up her whole face in a way that makes Sai warm to her. “Sure, I can manage that, Sai. I look forward to working with you.” Iria gives a wave as she heads back out, but Sai mentally follows her progress and notices her stopping just outside the tent to stand guard.
“Interesting,” she mutters to herself as she glances around the small room. There’s a wash cubicle in the corner. Steam wash. Just like the transports. The controls on the outside of it are a little different, and it appears to be timed.
Four minutes worth of a steam shower is heaven. Her skin feels cleaner than it has in days, and it’s easy to dry off, pop her hair up into a ponytail and pull one of her clean suits on. “Finally,” she murmurs. “Human again.”
Aishke stirs on the bed, and Sai’s heart sits in her mouth. She coughs and walks over to her charge, brushing the younger girl’s mind and finding with relief that she’s still deeply asleep, just not really drugged anymore. She should wake up in a matter of hours. The trace she places on Aishke is light enough to avoid alerting the girl, but will give Sai warning when she starts to wake up.
“Mathur has to be around here somewhere,” she mutters and walks to the main door. The movement feels strangely like Mele, just a little smoother, and Sai wonders how they do it.
Iria pops her head around the tent flap. “Hi, m—Sai, did you say something?”
Sai narrows her eyes a little, uneasy at the thought of being guarded so closely that even her muttering is audible. “I haven’t seen this...vehicle. I have no idea where Mathur is, and I might not have much time once Ash wakes up.”
Iria’s smile broadens. “You realized it’s a vehicle! Nicely done. Most people don’t and then get startled when I take them up to the piloting deck.”
Sai shrugs. “She feels a bit like Mele.”
“Mele? The transport? I’ve heard stories about her.” Iria chuckles, all her original uncertainty gone. “Follow me, I can give you a quick tour and then take you up to see Mathur.”
By the time Iria gets around to leading Sai to Mathur, Sai is completely sure the Exiled are marginally insane. So friendly it’s not funny, but definitely insane. They’re not really in a vehicle, although she did see a bay with several of them in it. This is a huge, moving town that Iria calls the Mobile.
As far as Sai can tell, it’s a large circular dome. The outer layers of the town are living quarters and the infirmary, with some training and meeting areas. It works its way through the layers to the center where the commercial block is.
And it’s a true commercial area. There are places to eat, to buy food, to work. Best of all, the very center is home to a greenhouse, far larger than the botanica Sai grew up with. It sits directly beneath a piece of specially treated UV-filtered glass, which allows the sun to help the vegetables grow like they would have before the great disasters.
This Mobile houses over a thousand people, and just like Mele, it almost feels alive. The tent-like material encasing the interior hums softly and emanates a warmth Sai didn’t expect. Her footfalls are cushioned by whatever is used to line their walkways. Even though most of the decor is white, it’s nothing like the oppressive atmosphere inside the Facilities.
Mathur is in what Iria refers to as the control deck. It sits a little higher than the two-story low dome they ride in. Located right at the front, it allows the navigators an excellent view of where to steer the monstrosity. Sai barely notices when Mathur turns to greet her, so engaged is she by the way the world looks through the visor of the city. She gasps in disbelief at the constantly adapting iridescent colors of the hull.
“Wow.” She breathes out the words, not taking her eyes off the view. “It’s not what I expected. You use adrium?”
Mathur nods and smiles at her reaction. “In a sense. We use an Adrium-woven net that sort of fills in the blanks as it goes. That is why, unless we are perfectly still, it is not quite camouflage.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
Mathur shrugs. “Not really. When we need full camouflage, we stop. With the sensors, we know with plenty of warning when we need to do that.”
Sai smiles and glances back out as the Mobile slowly covers ground. She shades her eyes and starts at the faint flicker in the distance—there one second, gone the next. “There are more?”
“Many more. We are the vanguard of our city. Right now we only have eighteen of these vehicles. Our cities are made up of two or three Mobiles. Provides safer transport. Far better than living like a nomad, although some of our settlements are still stuck out there. This one here...” He pats the wall affectionately. “She is our biggest.”
“You built this?”
He nods. “I built this one first, using Mele’s plans as a model. Sadly, I can only work so fast, and the components take a while to develop. In a few years, all of our encampments will have Mobiles to carry them.”
Sai smiles at him. “I love Mele, she’s beautiful. This is beautiful.” She closes her eyes for a second, startled by the tears that threaten. “How do you know where each other will be if you need help?”
“We meet once every quarter and distribute supplies amongst ourselves, discuss the state of events, and generally have a good time. The Exiled use a specific branding. Once taught our branding system, it is easy to navigate to the meeting places even out here on the plains. For now, let us just say we have our ways.”
Sai nods. It’s easy to understand that she still needs to earn their trust. The feeling is mutual. She still isn’t quite ready to accept everything.
“So...” He looks at Sai expectantly. “What do you think?”
“Of the Mobile?” Sai asks, still watching the passing landscape out the window. She continues without waiting for an answer. “It’s breathtaking. I wish I’d had the chance to grow up here, though I probably would have leveled one of these. Such a nicer place to grow up.” She shakes her head trying to clear that train of thought. “Sorry, thinking out loud.”
Mathur rests a hand on her shoulder. “No, I am sorry. You have been through a lot in your young life, but Bastian was so sure of you, so proud of how far you have come. We all believe in you, because if he says you can do it, we know you can.”
Sai can feel the heat rush to her cheeks. No pressure or anything.
“What do you think of the rest of it—us and what we stand for?”
Sai shrugs. “I’m still not one hundred percent certain I know what it is you stand for. But if the people here are the vicious Exiled we get taught to fear and hate? Then it’s already a more humane place to be than the UC I grew up in. The world is what we make it, right?” She studies her hands, still clean from the shower and murmurs without really thinking. “Maybe we should make it somewhere people want to live.”
She looks up at Mathur to smile, but a wave rocks her head and she clutches it, disoriented for a moment. “The trace just activated. Aishke’s about to wake up.”
Sai arrives at the room on the second wave of her mental alarm. Leaving Aishke to wake alone in a strange place after everything that’s happened is probably a very bad idea. If Bastian’s instructions are correct, she has three more. Plenty of time to prepare. Sai deconstructs her shields and rebuilds, binding
them tighter. She checks over her outer shields and glances up at Mathur and Iria sitting there, waiting eagerly.
“Could you two wait outside for a bit? This might be wiser with fewer people.”
Mathur nods, gets up, and motions for Iria to follow him out of the room just as the third wave hits.
Sai wastes no time protecting the door and the entire room. She readies a shield to clamp down on Aishke should the girl wake in a panic and makes sure to sit far enough away that she’s not threatening, but close enough that she’s there should Aishke break down. It’s a tough line to tread, and Sai isn’t sure she’s got the ingredients right. All she has is theory.
Aishke’s eyelashes flutter open to reveal amazing violet irises. Sai blinks to get the bright color out of her head. The girl murmurs unintelligibly, rubs her eyes, and stares at the white ceiling.
Suddenly her expression crumbles as memories hit home, and she curls into a ball toward Sai, rocking herself silently as tears drip onto the pillow. Sai waits patiently so as not to startle her.
“Who...” the girl croaks out, her voice as parched as Sai’s had been.
Sai hands her a glass of water before retreating to an unthreatening distance again and answering. “My name is Sai. Your uncle sent you with me to make sure you’d be safe.”
At the mention of Bastian, there’s relief in Aishke’s eyes as she sips the water. “You’re sure he meant for me to be safe or so others are safe?” Her tone is bitter.
“Pretty sure he meant you to be safe, Aishke.” The girl cringes at the sound of her name, but the tension in her shoulders loosens slightly.
“I don’t even know where to start...” she whispers, a lost look creeping into her expression.
“It’s okay.” Sai smiles and means it. “That’s sort of why I’m here.”
Tentatively, Aishke smiles back, but it only lasts briefly before her eyes glaze over and she starts shaking. Everything in the room shakes, too, and before Sai manages to clamp her shields over the girls mind, she’s already sporting a nice cut on her unscarred cheek.
“Great,” she mutters as she lays the unconscious girl down on the bed again, and works on making sure she’s secured. “Just when you least expect it, right?” She sits on the bed across from Ash, head in her hands. “I have no idea how to deal with someone who just had everything they’ve ever known taken away.” She whispers to the room, hoping it might have some answers for her. But the walls stay silent, like walls usually do. They’re not much for talking.
Sai laughs softly, feeling slightly unhinged, but as long as she can remember what her own ordeal was like and how she was helped through it, maybe this will work. Although she’s dubious as to whether or not GNW actually helped anything, it’s worth a shot.
When Aishke wakes up again, Sai takes her slender fingers and guides them to the girl’s temples. “Close your eyes,” she tells her. Slowly, so as not to startle the girl into violence, she reaches in and guides Aishke’s mind. “Do you see me with you?”
Ash nods.
Sai demonstrates by building shields, showing Ash the areas most important to block off, and how to deconstruct, reconstruct, and fuse the blocks tighter and tighter.
She’s not sure how long she spends showing Ash how to fashion a rudimentary shield and how to build it, over time, into a better and stronger one. It’s the foundation of everything Sai was ever taught, and until Bastian took her though this different method, she’d never been aware of the fact that the original was lacking. In a way, Aishke is lucky to learn the right way first.
The memories Sai glosses over in Ash’s mind are horrifying. No wonder she awoke when she never should have. Pushed through that amount of stress—thinking she was going to die—it’s surprising more dormant carriers of the gene don’t explode in such a way. If Johnson taught Sai anything, though, it’s to gloss over other’s memories, not invite them into her own head.
After a long while, she withdraws from Aishke’s mind to find the girl wilting into slumber.
“I did not want to interrupt.”
Sai jumps at the voice and turns around to see Mathur standing behind her.
“I am sorry, my dear. I did not mean to make you uneasy.” He looks at her apologetically when she stands and helps catch her as she sways precariously. “You sit down on your bed. This is the infirmary, but for tonight, it will do. I have food on the way. It was remiss of me to not offer it earlier. Eat, and rest. Tomorrow you will receive your own quarters, and meet the Council.
Sai sits bolt upright in bed, shields up, ready to move. She blinks and turns around, certain someone is watching her. Aishke sits in her own bed, watching her.
Sai draws in a very steady breath and smiles. “Morning, Ash. May I call you Ash?”
Ash nods slowly. “You’re the one who helped me?”
“Not too clear on yesterday?” Sai asks. The girl shakes her head, a look of mild surprise on her face. “I helped you with your shields.”
“Thank you.”
Those two words are so heartfelt Sai feels the exhaustion is worth it. “They have a steam shower here if you want to go first. Only on a four-minute timer, so if you want to do your hair, you’ll have to be quick.” She gestures to the girl’s strange pinkish hair, cut to a bob, but with two really long pigtails on either side of her head.
Ash glances around, locates the tiny cubicle, and raises an eyebrow. “That’s a shower?” she asks dubiously.
Sai laughs and stands up, happy to find she’s not as sore as she assumed she was going to be, but surprised to realize she’s still wearing yesterday’s suit. “I’ll go first then.” She grabs her spare and heads for the shower, smiling at Aishke as she walks past.
The clean suit is soft, and Sai shakes her hair out around her shoulders, not caring if the moisture drips down. She walks out of the shower to find Aishke huddled on her bed with her knees up to her chest. Her dark eyes have a strangely tired and haunted look about them. Sai doesn’t blame her for trying to pretend, but makes a mental note that she’s probably not actually dealing with the situation.
“Someone came for you, for us, I think? I asked them to wait outside.” She speaks so softly into her knees, Sai can barely hear her. She’s much younger than Sai feels.
“That’s okay. I’ll go find them.”
Aishke reaches her hand out to clutch Sai’s good wrist. “Can you wait until I’ve showered? Please?”
“Of course.” Sai watches the girl as she wanders over to the shower and steps in.
Ducking her head through the door flap, Sai catches Iria’s eye. “Mornin’.” She’d been hoping to find the friendly guide there.
Iria grins from ear to ear. “Morning. Do you want me to tell Mathur you’re ready?”
Sai shakes her head in response. “Could you get some clothes for Ash? Her old ones are putrid and should be burned.”
Iria nods and runs off, leaving a male guard on duty Sai hasn’t met before. Sai nods at him, ducks back inside, and waits for Ash to finish. She doesn’t expect Iria to make it back so fast with a set of charcoal-colored training gear. “Thanks.”
“For speedy delivery, just call for Iria! Here.” She hands a small bag to Sai. “It’s got bands in it. They’ll deal out your pay and do a few other neat things, like access areas of the Mobile.”
“I get paid?” Sai stammers out.
Iria raises an eyebrow and laughs easily. “Of course. I’ll dash off and let Mathur know you’re almost ready. You have so much to do today!”
She’s gone before Sai can blink. “That girl has far too much energy.” Sai is pretty sure she hears the other guard at the door snort with laughter.
“Sai?” Ash’s voice carries through the room, scared and on edge.
Sai steps back from the flap to be more visible. “I didn’t leave. I had them fetch you clothes.” She walks up to the cubicle and hands Ash the soft training uniform. “Get dressed. We have a lot to do today. It’s worse than school.”
&
nbsp; Aishke emerges from the cubicle, pulling at the material with a frown. “I’ve never seen this stuff before, and my mother...” She stops as her voice catches. Tears spill down her face almost immediately.
“Breathe, Ash. Just breathe. You can do it.”
The girl listens, breathing in and out in a slow rhythmic pattern. She raises her chin to look at Sai. “Sorry about that. I...”
“I know,” Sai says gently, just before Mathur knocks on the doorframe.
When he walks into the room, Aishke positions herself behind Sai and grabs her hand, ineffectively hiding herself. Mathur blinks at Sai, and she shrugs back at him.
“Breakfast and then a meeting,” he offers with that strange jovial nature of his, holding out a tray of food much more appetizing in appearance than anything Sai ate back in the cafeteria.
It’s enough to coax Aishke into eating.
Sai’s fingers appear to have a mind of their own, and more than twice she catches herself twisting her hair so hard it hurts.
“You okay?” Aishke whispers.
Sai shrugs and tries to work the kinks out of her shoulders. “Nervous.”
“Why?” Aishke asks, louder this time.
Sai shrugs again, unsure of how to answer. That her stomach is in knots or that she fears they’ll laugh at someone her age teaching them anything—neither seems to be a good reason anymore. “I don’t like crowds.”
“It is not a crowd.” Mathur comes to a stop outside a closed door. He motions to the viewing window to the side of it. “See, not a crowd, just some people.”
They all seem normal, chatting and laughing, or sitting and staring at the table. Sai lets out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” Mathur smiles and leads the way into the room.
The walls are more of an off-white than the rest of the Mobile, making it distinctly warmer, more welcoming. The furniture is made of sturdy plastics and steel, although the desktop is fashioned to look like wood.
Mathur clears his throat and motions for Sai and Aishke to take a seat to the left of him. The rest of the room’s still-standing occupants settle into their seats, and Iria waves to the girls, her infectious smile bright.
