CYPHER: A Dystopian Novel

by Barbara Winkes

“Okay, thanks.”

  “Inspector Cervantes, I got notice from my boss this morning on how to proceed. I’m a little surprised to learn 51308 has a sealed addendum. They said to give her the choice whether she goes back to Shelton or not.”

  Katlena waited though the thoughts started spinning in her head. A sealed addendum? That meant an electronic file not even Drago had access to. What could it mean?

  “I think it’s better if we keep this between us. First of all, why would she want to go back to being a badly paid secretary when she can have French vanilla coffee with her boss?”

  Katlena bit her lip, vowing she’d be more careful in the future.

  “Don’t worry, Katlena, you are free to do whatever you deem appropriate as long as the work gets done. I trust your judgment.”

  “They are not our enemies,” she said, holding his gaze unflinching.

  “No, they’re not,” he agreed. “Certainly not this young woman. It can’t hurt to keep her close though. If you learn anything that could tell us about the addendum?”

  “You’ll be the first to know.”

  She went back to the desk, stuffing the copies into her bag. 51308 was focused on her typing, so Katlena didn’t try to engage her into conversation, but picked up the phone to start making some overdue calls.

  What other secrets do you have?

  51308 didn’t look up from the screen when Katlena got up to pick up her coat eventually.

  “Where are you going? I don’t think I’m supposed to be unsupervised.”

  “Don’t worry, you won’t be. I’m taking you home.”

  “I’m not finished. I can do this right now, it’ll take just a moment.” There was a slight tremor to her voice. Katlena thought if Adam Shelton had seemed like an agreeable individual, most of his employees hadn’t followed that ideal. None of the secretaries in the IdA were much worried about leaving work for another day.

  “Or you can do it tomorrow, because frankly, I’m starving. I have all your login data for tomorrow. You can turn everything off.”

  51308 looked at her for a long moment as if trying to gauge if Katlena was making a joke. When she realized it wasn’t the case, she did as told, saved the file she’d been working on and turned off the computer. She seemed confused by what she’d been asked to do, revealing more and more to Katlena about what kind of everyday life she’d been used to.

  “I’m serious. You need to understand things work a little different around here. You work, you take breaks. You get paid for what you do. You finish here when I do—and if you don’t come with me right now, I swear I’m going to make you cook dinner for me.”

  51308 chuckled. “I would, but there’s nothing in my fridge. Too close to delivery day.” Delivery day was when the marked trucks delivered food and other necessities to the Cypher Id buildings once a week. Katlena had heard her share of sniping from colleagues on how they wished they could have it so easy. She didn’t get it. She was more than happy to choose food and other products herself.

  “Which reminds me, my own probably looks just as sad, so let’s go shopping first.”

  A few minutes later, Katlena stopped at the first grocery store along the way.

  “Since you won’t get paid until in a few days, and I don’t want you to starve in the meantime—don’t be shy. If you need anything, let me know.”

  51308 shot her an incredulous look. Katlena shrugged, suppressing a sigh. Pride was a fine quality, but it didn’t feed you.

  “The truck’s coming tomorrow. I’ll make it that far.”

  “All right then.” Katlena had other plans. 51308 would learn about them in time. She paid with her credit card and then drove them to 51308’s apartment, the confined space of the car making her all too aware of the beautiful woman next to her.

  51308 kept stealing glances at her, then quickly looking away, her cheeks sporting a rosy blush.

  Katlena smiled to herself. She hadn’t been fooling herself. There would be no argument about food tonight.

  Chapter Five

  “The subject fulfills her tasks with great caution and skills. Her social conduct is impeccable and her success rates beyond average. She has great leadership skills and…”

  * * * *

  …damn, she’s hot.

  Ami felt feverish, knowing that if they didn’t say goodbye at the front door, it would be too late. She wanted to find the words to explain she wasn’t looking for even more favors, or thinking of an inappropriate way to pay back the inspector for helping her. It was far from that. She had no words.

  There had been a moment of sobering up when she watched Cervantes put boxes and jars in her cart, as it seemed, without calculating. The past five years, Ami had lived on food deliveries from the cheapest discounter, and what little extra money the government thought she was fit to handle, which wasn’t much. She’d needed years to overcome the urge to break down crying in the middle of a supermarket, because it all seemed too overwhelming. Here she was though, observing a woman who compiled her purchases without care about the price, as if her mind was on something else entirely. Credit cards were issued to few people these days—none of them to cyphers.

  Ami could feel Katlena’s gaze following her, trying to figure her out.

  Can’t you see?

  People were staring at them. Maybe it was the combination of an IdA inspector and a cypher, identifiable by their clothing, apparently spending time together. Maybe they could sense the tension between them, some of them appalled, some intrigued. It was an affront. It was exciting.

  When Ami opened her front door, her hands were trembling.

  “Can I come in for a moment?” Inspector Cervantes asked, her voice warm, promising.

  Ami looked up at her, aware she might jeopardize all the progress she’d made today. For a brief, selfish moment, she didn’t care.

  “I think I’d be offended if you didn’t,” she said.

  There was a split-second of shock at seeing her apartment for the first time after the search, but Ami didn’t have all that much time to care about the chaos. In an instant, she found herself with her back against the wall and Inspector Cervantes leaning in to kiss her, her hands impatiently pushing the fabric of her blouse aside. Their kiss was hungry, desperate, a chance that might come and go within moments. Ami had known why she’d signed the cypher contract and what it meant, mostly. Cyphers were expected to stay abstinent. If they strayed from the rules, they had to pay for the consequences, in every way.

  Ami hadn’t known she’d agreed to live in a constant grey, the colors leeched from her life. Emotion. Affection.

  Desire.

  They were all coming back at once, with the touch of warm hands exploring her body, teasing, caressing, finally finding the clasp of her bra.

  Ami had a moment of irrational shame when she remembered the numbers 51308 were stitched even into the underwear. Katlena didn’t seem to mind, so Ami leaned back and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the pleasant sensations.

  She was surprised how easy it was, nothing she would have expected after the last time she’d been seeking company. Or the time before which had actually gotten her into the predicament of the cypher program.

  This was different, a secret unveiled to her, and the realization how lonely she had been. Cervantes moved her lips to Ami’s neck, making her gasp with surprise, the hand on her waist sliding lower to caress her hip. She couldn’t stay quiet anymore. She hadn’t even known that she could feel this much.

  The sound of the zipper made her shiver, and then her pants and slip were pulled down in one swift move. Ami couldn’t spare a moment of feeling exposed or awkward. All she wanted was those gentle hands back on her body, keeping her in this impossible fantasy turned real. She bit her lip, not out of self-consciousness, but because her voice had been rising with each brush of Cervantes’ skilled fingers. The walls were paper-thin in this building. If somebody called the guard…That would have been awkward, because the young government empl
oyee standing guard might remember what had happened in his office four and a half years ago.

  She strained towards the touch, and Cervantes used her other hand to brush it over Ami’s hair lightly.

  “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “You’ll get there.”

  Ami shivered at the undisguised lust in her voice, heightening her own to a point where she thought she might faint.

  “I’m not worried.”

  “Good.”

  For a moment, the teasing touch of her fingers was sheer torture. Finally feeling them inside of her made her whimper with relief. Ami had barely time to catch her breath, and she could feel her legs starting to tremble.

  “You’re so passionate,” Cervantes whispered. “I like that.”

  I like what you’re doing, Ami thought. Even if you fire me tomorrow, I’m sorry for being cheap and easy but you feel so good. She didn’t quite know what to call her, since they’d never made it to a first name basis, and “Inspector” seemed weird when referring to someone who was about to give you a wonderful orgasm.

  She cried out, her body tensing in anticipation.

  “Ami.” Names meant power. Just like that, Ami was slipping back into the boundaries of an existence she didn’t even known she’d lost, at home in her body for the first time in a long time.

  * * * *

  It took a few minutes for reality to sink in, that she was standing half-naked in her ransacked apartment after getting down and dirty with an IdA inspector.

  Cervantes gave her a smile somewhere in between affectionate and smug.

  “Been a while?”

  “You too, Inspector, I’d think?” Ami pulled her slip and skirt back on but discarded the stockings.

  “I guess you can call me Katlena now,” Cervantes said with a shrug. “Sorry for the mess in here. I should have warned you.”

  “Too little, too late.” Ami’s heartbeat hadn’t slowed down much, on the contrary, the images on her mind made it speed up again. The other woman was still fully dressed in her black uniform, but the tight bun she’d wound her hair into was coming undone. Ami reached out to carefully remove the remaining hairpins, or maybe it was just an excuse to touch. Cervantes shook out her hair with a relieved sigh.

  “Thanks. God, that feels good.”

  “I haven’t even started yet, Inspector—Katlena. Thank you, by the way.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ve been told I’m not so bad at that.” Her expression was definitely smug.

  “So funny. I mean…my name. No one has called me that in a long time.” Why would she care anymore about revealing this longing, needing side of hers to the woman? Katlena Cervantes had pretty much seen it all in the span of minutes. Ami felt herself blush.

  “It’s fine. I just can’t do it at the department…you know. It’s against the law.”

  “Yes, I do. I get it, really. It’s a power thing. Like the cuffing…and you keeping your clothes on.”

  “That’s how you see it?” Katlena seemed surprised. “You can tie me up if you want to, clothes or not.”

  “You wouldn’t…” The mere idea made her falter, and her more or less irrational anger vanish. She wasn’t mad at Katlena, on the contrary. Her act might be a power play, but it was giving Ami a break from her life she hadn’t imagined possible.

  “Try me. That is if we can find a suitable surface in here.”

  “That wasn’t my doing. I could pull down the bed though. It’s more comfortable.”

  Ami didn’t want her to know what the image of her tied up did to her. She didn’t want Katlena to go either.

  “Wow, it’s up against the wall? How much space will be left in here?”

  Up against the wall. Ami wiped a hand across her warm face.

  “Not much, but why would I care when I sleep at night? Anyway.” She hastily bent to move cushions and an overturned chair out of the way. What a foresight to have changed the sheets the morning she’d been arrested.

  “You know this. All cypher units look the same. You were in this apartment before.”

  “Yes, but—” For an instant, Katlena’s confident posture wavered.

  “Don’t worry about it. Just…stay here with me for a bit?” Maybe hope was really just a foolish delusion, and if that was true, she’d been falling for it for the past five years. Ami didn’t care. She couldn’t continue to resent Katlena for seeming to honestly care for a system she hadn’t invented in the first place. Chances were, many of its representatives didn’t know so much about the everyday people living in it.

  “We’ll see about the tying up. As hot as that uniform looks on you, I’d like you out of it.”

  Time changed its pace, kisses and touches soft and gentle. Together, they were lost in a dream from which there could be a rude awakening at any time.

  There was vulnerability in Katlena’s eyes that Ami hadn’t seen before, a willingness to allow the shift of power. Ami welcomed it. For a little while, they could be equal after all.

  * * * *

  “I’m sorry I can’t offer you anything,” Ami said when the silence seemed to have stretched on too long. “No alcohol until the next delivery.”

  “You know there’s wine in the car,” Katlena whispered, kissing her shoulder softly. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll go get it.”

  Ami would have preferred to turn off the light and go to sleep like this, but maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. Cyphers were allowed a bottle of wine a year, or a beer every two months. If you didn’t drink, there was nothing you could gain from it, in theory, but some might sell their beer or wine on the black market.

  She might as well make use of the occasion, especially when she had no chance yet of assessing the damage. They wouldn’t find anything on her laptop, but the IdA officers might have found it and wondered how she could afford internet access in the first place.

  She didn’t want to think of it. She wanted to stay here forever. Ami couldn’t remember the last time somebody had held her. She wondered if it had never happened before other than in her imagination, not like this. She could feel herself coming down from the high of endorphins. Even with the new job, she was still facing an overwhelming amount of problems. Having a taste of what life could be without them could be cruel rather than helpful.

  “What’s wrong?” Katlena asked. “I’m not looking for a way to sneak out. Actually, I bought that wine in the hope we could share it.”

  Ami almost laughed at that. It was true that she still expected her to wake up and bitterly regret what had happened, but a possible broken heart was the least of her problems at the moment.

  “Of course. I hope they didn’t break all the glasses.”

  Katlena drew back the sheet and reached for her clothes. Fortunately it was only a short trip to the car, because with her hair down and the shirt of the uniform slightly wrinkled she looked exactly like she’d just gotten out of bed.

  “I won’t be long,” she promised.

  Watching her walk away, Ami wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into. Five years, and instead of having her identity back, she was lucky to have avoided ending up on the streets. She was skating on thin ice. In those five years, she had survived by shutting herself off from her emotions. Ami had thought she wouldn’t even know how to let anybody in.

  She leaned back into the sheets, inhaling the scent of Katlena’s perfume. She was in so much trouble. Before facing that, she’d do some quick cleaning up and then enjoy a drink with Inspector Cervantes. Well, she might enjoy her once more too.

  By the time Katlena returned, Ami had managed to straighten some furniture and papers and to find that the laptop was still in its hiding place. Thanks to the IdA for incompetent employees.

  She had also found two glasses she’d cleaned. There were no candles, but the small lamp on the wall—the space was too small to actually hold a nightstand—created as much of a romantic glow as was possible.

  Katlena had brought some cheese, baguette, grapes and strawberries f
rom her groceries, each of which Ami had envied her for earlier. The standard deliveries weren’t that fancy.

  “If you have a knife and a couple of plates too? I was kind of hungry.”

  “Look, it’s true what I told you the other day. I’m not starving, and I don’t want you to think I expect…anything.”

  “Right now, I think I’d like a little food. It’s been a long day.”

  Usually, Ami would be happy to be home at this hour, but she didn’t say anything. Yesterday, however…She shuddered at the memory of the holding cell. She’d fallen asleep on the narrow cot from sheer exhaustion. It hadn’t been so much the surroundings that caused the nightmares, but her own fantasies of what was going to happen to her. Some of the stories going around were that once a cypher was accused of a crime, the authorities could do anything to them. Except for Katlena, she had only seen a female officer who brought her some food. It could have been much worse.

  Ami took a sip of the fruity white wine, the pleasant taste inexplicably a trigger to let loose an avalanche of emotion, all the stress and fear she’d been exposed to lately. Add to that the unfairness that with all the hours she worked, she couldn’t even buy a bottle of wine if she damn pleased to do so. She couldn’t stop the shaking, and this time, it wasn’t of the good kind. The tears finally fell.

  Katlena took her glass and set it on the counter together with her own, then she pulled Ami close without any words.

  “I didn’t think it was that bad,” she said after minutes had passed and Ami had almost gained her composure. They both laughed. Ami found herself once more struggling for words.

  “I’m sorry. It’s not like I’ve spent every day of the past years crying. I don’t know what’s up with me.”

  “It’s okay,” Katlena assured her. “It’s a lot to take in.” She sounded like it was a lot to take in for her too. Ami thought that she probably had never gotten this close to a cypher’s every day life. It looked pretty good on paper, everything taken care of, a daily structure.

  Katlena took another sip of her wine, looking uncomfortable.

  “In any case…” She hesitated. “Thank you for everything. You’ll find the way tomorrow?”