“OK,” Cassie agreed, not sounding confident.
I sat silently as she closed her eyes. Her head inclined slightly, one way and then the other – as if she was trying to hear someone whispering.
“There’s too many, I can’t pick out anything.”
“Just take your time.” I took hold of Cassie’s hands as they rested on her knees and gave them a gentle squeeze. Her eyes remained shut and she did seem to relax a little more.
Within seconds she was gone. I couldn’t quite explain how I knew, but when I squeezed her hands, stroked her face, she didn’t respond. It was as if she’d fallen into a deep sleep. I waited, it felt like forever, but maybe it was just a few minutes. Eventually, her eyes opened.
“What happened? Where did you go?”
“Nowhere,” she replied, seeming surprised.
“That was so strange. It was as though you were somewhere else or asleep and I couldn’t wake you…”
“When I closed my eyes all the voices became visible, like threads that I could pick out from one another and follow.”
“No!”
Cassie nodded. “When I went along the strand I could see what people were thinking and even what they were looking at. By the way – I found my parents and you should leave now – they’re in the kitchen and lounge from what I could tell.”
“If you’re right, that’s an impressive leap forward in what you can do.” I couldn’t believe her ability was improving so quickly. “But…” I hesitated.
“But, what…?”
“Well…I was thinking. Just in case you’re not completely right, maybe you should go out first…”
“I can’t believe you’re questioning me!” Cassie exclaimed with mock-indignation. “And it’s not a very chivalrous request, either.”
I chuckled as she stood, and offered me her hand, pulling me up from the floor.
“Come on,” she said. “I’ll detour via the bathroom on the way to cover any noise.”
We padded silently across the room, Cassie’s skin was warm against mine, where she still held my hand. At the entrance Cassie ran her palm across the pad and it beeped twice before opening.
My eyes flew to the control panel, and then my wrist, checking that the band was still in place. The door normally beeped once for each person passing through, but I’d definitely heard two. Cassie tilted my arm towards her, obviously checking the same thing as me. But, my mark was covered. The door had scanned her, and beeped twice.
With a sinking feeling, I guessed what must have happened. I didn’t look at Cassie’s mark to check, because I didn’t want to scare her. But, I was confident that once I got home, removed my band and presented my own red mark to a scanner, it would now beep twice. It was a trigger.
Cassie stood still, confused by this new development. I leaned in close to her ear. “I’ll explain what that means later.”
She nodded to confirm she understood. Leaning cautiously through the doorframe, I watched as she peeked in both directions. Satisfying herself that there was no danger, she led the way out.
The hallway was much darker than her bedroom as there were no windows. But, we didn’t need light to find our way, the layout was familiar to both of us. We coasted towards the dark outline of the apartment door, Cassie pushing me in front of her as we drew closer. In a split-second, she had swiped her palm to activate the panel and shoved me outside.
Chapter 18
The apartment was still empty when I got home. Ignoring my empty bedroom, which I’d cleaned before going to Cassie’s apartment, I headed straight to the shower.
I ran the water cold, to wake me up a little. Despite having not slept all night, I didn’t feel too bad.
As the water pounded my head, I ran through everything I’d learned in the last few hours, trying to put it into order. The biggest surprise, in some ways, was how quickly Cassie’s abilities were developing: from hearing random thoughts, to being able to focus and find one person in particular, was a big leap forwards. Without her input, from this unusual ability, I doubted I would have realised what was going on…
The process – if not the purpose for it – was at least becoming clear to me now. The various systems, including the transmitter inside me, tracked the changes The Council (or perhaps The Collective) was interested in. Everything I had found suggested that they were most concerned with our hormone levels and emotional state, leading to the point that these elements came together and caused a change in our marks. Black to red…it seemed like a warning.
I had wondered whether the change singled a maturing of something dangerous in us: that would explain why the removal of people was hidden as elopements. But if that was the case, surely with all the technology they used to track us, they could find a solution to whatever the problem was?
And I had seen Patrick, just a few hours before Cassie had seen him being dragged from his bed and removed from the Family Quarter. He hadn’t seemed dangerous at all…or like he was planning to run away that night.
I sighed. I knew what was happening, I just didn’t know why.
Shutting off the water, I stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Not bothering to dry off properly before leaving the bathroom, I dripped my way across the hallway to my bedroom. As I walked through the door, the sensor beeped twice. I looked down at my wrist, knowing what I would see before I actually did. My mark was bright red now.
I waved it back across the sensor and it beeped twice again. That was the signal, I realised, remembering what had happened in Cassie’s room. I had wondered at the time, but now I knew. Cassie’s mark must have changed during the night: her natural hormone levels, maybe even an emotional change, triggering the mutation.
Whatever the reason for the change, what was most important was what happened next: I remembered Cassie’s nightmare and knew that they would come for us. Both our marks had changed, and both had now registered in the system. Time had run out.
I dressed without noticing what I was doing and then went rummaging through Father’s office. It didn’t take long for me to put together a collection of essential tools, and I placed the bag into a dark corner once I had finished. I guessed we had today and they would come for us tonight, so we had to behave as normal a possible.
Walking out of the apartment, I forced my racing heart to slow, not wanting to give The Council any reason to come for me more quickly. I was going to ask Cassie to leave with me today, but I wasn’t planning on eloping…
* * *
Cassie bounced through her apartment door a moment after I activated the panel.
“Hello stranger!” I laughed, as she virtually fell on me. “You certainly seem happier to see me than you did first thing this morning.”
“I was expecting you this time, rather than being scared out of my wits. Maybe if you had told me you would be hiding under my bed, I wouldn’t have hurt you!”
“Maybe next time I won’t be hiding under your bed,” I teased back.
“Yeah, well – I might have told you that was the first time I’ve had a boy anywhere near my bed…if I didn’t mind sounding like a loser.” Cassie’s cheeks flamed, as her attempt at a joke stumbled into the truth.
“That just makes me like you even more,” I said, leaning in close and letting my lips brush her neck.
“Let’s get going,” she said. Cassie took hold of my arm and steered me away from the apartment, trying not to sound flustered.
“Are you OK?”
She nodded, dismissing my question. Glancing at the apartment door, I guessed we were still too close to her parents for her to say anything more. I let her lead me away.
“So…?” I asked, once we reached the end of the avenue and turned onto the main Green Zone road that led towards the station’s central hub areas.
“So…My parents think the change is close, very close. They’re completely focused on it now.”
“Focused?” I frowned, that didn’t sound good. “Focused how?”
�
��It’s hard to tell. There were a lot of thoughts jumbling around and I didn’t get the impression they were actually talking about it between them, it was more a mixture of individual ideas than a conversation. There was definitely excitement though, underpinning everything they thought about. And there was the indication that they would let others know, but that the system would have already tracked the change…I remember that clearly. Other than that, it’s hard to pull anything coherent together.”
I grunted unhappily. Normally, I loved being right, but confirmation that the change in our marks would be tracked immediately was not what I wanted to hear. It would make it even more difficult to get out, as I imagined they would be monitoring us more closely than ever now.
Cassie seemed to have no idea that her mark had actually changed, so I thought it would be best to keep her distracted. I kept up a stream of conversation as we walked, and again as we ate breakfast together near The Clinic.
Several times we joked about skipping placement altogether – imagined ourselves escaping to some park or another using our bands so we couldn’t be tracked. But, it was too soon, and would raise suspicions. The only comfort I got from this, was that Cassie was desperate for a way out, just as I was. I felt sure that she would agree to come with me today. I had already decided that I would leave immediately after placement. It was the longest period of time we ever had alone, and would give us a head start.
We arrived late, dawdling too long over breakfast. Several times I thought of running now, but it wasn’t the right time: we would be noticed faster if neither of us came to The Clinic today. We needed all the time we could get.
I timed our entry to the building with a group of Medics, hoping that Cassie wouldn’t notice the double-beeps our marks elicited from the scanners. It seemed to work.
Splitting up we headed for our respective changing rooms. I dressed quickly, trying not to notice the crimson patch glowing dangerously on my arm. Joel was already there, just fastening his clinic whites, and we ended up leaving together.
Joel remained silent as we waited in the reception area. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied with my own thoughts, I might have noticed the difference in him.
“No sign of Karl and Rachel yet?” I observed, trying to make small talk.
Joel shook his head. “Medic Karlina said they eloped last night.”
“Rachel and Karl?” I was shocked.
“I know – I always thought Karl had a thing for Olivia – guess my judgement isn’t great when it comes to romance.”
I couldn’t help but feel that there was some message, hidden in Joel’s words, but I didn’t have time to really consider what it might be. Cassie appeared by my shoulder, followed by Olivia a moment later.
Medic Karlina gave us no opportunity to talk between ourselves as she briskly briefed us on our assignments for the day: the four of us would be working alone, and not in pairs today. I immediately sensed Cassie’s apprehension at this unexpected change to the routine.
We were dismissed from the orientation reception and made our way out to the main hall. I took the lead, wondering how I was going to tell Cassie what I had planned – we would be apart all day.
Each of us had a Medic dedicated to us today – another change – and they walked ahead of us in a small group, leading the way to our individual work locations. Cassie sneaked up to me as we walked.
“You were right about what the change they’ve been talking about is,” she whispered. “I heard it in Medic Karlina’s thoughts just now.”
“You mean the mark?” I slowed my steps to keep pace with Cassie, but didn’t turn my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I scanned her face and saw how scared she was. She had not looked like that before she went into the changing room, and I guessed that while she was in there, she had seen that her mark had changed. “Yours too?”
Her silence told me what I already knew.
“What now?” she asked, eventually.
“I don’t know. But, you’ll be pleased to hear that Rachel and Karl eloped last night.”
“What?!”
I just nodded.
Cassie’s voice was a whisper. “I don’t believe it…” She stumbled forward, nudging into my back.
With one hand I reached out to steady her – fearful that the four Medics around us would notice something was wrong with her. I turned around, to check that she was OK. She wasn’t. Cassie’s mouth hung open, in a small ‘O’ of shock. My suit had pulled up my arm as I reached for her, and Cassie was staring at the red mark on my wrist.
Our small procession halted then, so there was no opportunity to say anything more. The leading Medic opened a door to the right of us and directed me inside. I let go of Cassie – with great effort – and walked inside ROOM 7.07 BIOCHEMISTRY. Entering the room, the scanner beeped twice as it registered my mark. I looked back at Cassie and saw that she had connected all the pieces now. My own fear was reflected in her eyes, as she stared at me.
We had no more time for questions. Today I would make my plans, and tonight we would get out. We would get out, any way possible.
* * *
When Medic Jones re-appeared in the biochemistry lab, I’d had no choice but to get on with the task I had been set that morning. Whenever I was alone, I was resolutely ignoring the tests taking place around me, and running through various options for getting Cassie and I out of the Family Quarter.
The door to the lab opened, but I didn’t bother looking up, expecting another Medic dropping something off.
“Medic Jones?”
Hearing Cassie’s voice was a complete shock. I turned around and found her intent on the Medic, not looking in my direction.
“Hello Cassie,” the Medic replied.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Medic Karlina asked me to bring Balik to the orientation reception.”
My confusion deepened. What possible reason could Medic Karlina have for bringing Cassie and I together at this time of day? Whatever it was, I was sure it would not tie in with my plans – perhaps we could make a break for it now?
“Of course,” I heard Medic Jones say. He turned to me then. “Please go with Cassie.”
I was already on my feet before Medic Jones even spoke, responding directly to Cassie’s words. She nodded politely to him as we left the room. Only I noticed that the scanner at the door only sounded a single double-beep instead of two. The Medic didn’t react to the fact that it didn’t detect Cassie at all.
Cassie led the way along the corridor, until she paused outside the doorway to the emergency stairwell. She looked over my shoulder, apparently checking the corridor behind me.
“Do you have your band with you?” she whispered, lifting her sleeve to reveal a pale flash of silver at her wrist, before letting it fall back into place.
I nodded and pulled the matching band from my pocket, slipping it onto my wrist. Cassie nodded back, and opened the door to the stairwell. The scanner made no sound at all as we passed through.
We walked down the stairs, our footsteps echoing quietly. The sound rebounded against the hard resin walls, before being muffled into silence.
“What’s going on?” I whispered, as we hurried along.
“Father came to see me today, to tell me to go straight home this evening. His mind told me there would be a welcoming committee waiting for me to fall asleep. I checked in with your mother as well – just to be sure – there were identical arrangements for you.”
“So, what are we doing?” I asked, half-realising that we were about to run away.
“We’ve no time left for working this out: we need to get out of the system and then decide what options we have.”
I couldn’t agree more.
We had reached the ground floor entrance level of The Clinic. I pulled Cassie back, just as she was about to lead the way out of the stairwell. Keeping her hand, I guided her back towards the stairs, which continued down another level, to the basement storerooms of The Clinic.
“If we�
�re getting out of the system then we’re going to need some supplies,” I told her. And where better to equip ourselves with clothes, medication and equipment than here?
Cassie shrugged her shoulders, silently asking me what the hell I was talking about.
I grinned back. “This is where my irritating habit of wanting to know how things work, actually comes in useful.”
Chapter 19
I felt better dressed in the dark medic suit, with my band secured around my wrist. For a very short time, we would be safe in full view, while we worked out our next move. Right now, Cassie and I were moving swiftly along the pavement – but not at a speed that would draw attention to us – on our way to Park 42.
“Wait a minute,” Cassie pulled on my arm, slowing my steps and turning me to face her in a single movement.
“What’s up?”
“Park 42 – I heard my parents last night. They were going to report the blind spots in the system there to…” Instead of saying The Collective, she raised her eyebrows to emphasise what wasn’t said out loud.
“Do you think that will already have happened?” I was afraid to hear her answer. Right now, Park 42 was the only solution I had and felt like the safest place we could go.
Cassie nodded her head. “It sounded like they were concerned about where we’d been going – I think they were going to report it this morning.”
“Great,” I muttered, immediately deflated.
Wait a minute!
I had the stolen handheld viewing screen from The Clinic in my bag. It should be a simple process to get into the scanner system and track any activity in Park 42. As long as The Council or Collective, or whoever they were, hadn’t already figured out that I was inside their systems.
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