The Watchers of Eden (The Watchers Trilogy, Book One)

by Edge, T. C.

  I search to the left and right with my eyes, expecting to see a couple of Leaders step forward. One for me, one for Ellie. Or perhaps just one for the two of us. But I see no one approach. People continue to bustle forward, stepping eagerly on trams as they shoot at speed from the left and right. They're so fast I can barely see them coming, suddenly appearing in front of me as if out of thin air.

  “There are crossing points beneath the tracks,” says Leeta, pointing to a section of tunnel that descends under the tramlines about 30 metres to our right. “Don't ever consider trying to cross over at this level or you'll get hit.”

  As she speaks, another tram quickly materialises in front of us. Its doors open, and Leeta steps on. “Come on,” she says, ushering us frantically with her hands, “get on.”

  We pass through the doorway and the opening slides quickly shut just as we're in.

  “Jeez, that was close,” says Ellie, checking to see that her backside hasn't been cut off.

  “The doors are sensor activated Ellie, don't worry. They won't shut if they sense someone approaching or in the doorway.”

  At that point the outside world suddenly turns to a blur, but it feels like we're not even moving. It's as if the entire city is spinning quickly and we're the ones who are still. Then, within only a few seconds, the space outside the tram grows clear again and the doors open with a hiss of air.

  Ellie looks as dumbfounded as me as this occurs several times, people stepping on and off at each stop. I'm so lost in it all that I hardly even notice the people around me, with their sharp clothes and perfectly trimmed hair. Their white teeth, bright eyes, and often rounder physiques. Back home, seeing an overweight person is like seeing a unicorn. Only some of the Leaders and the Supervisor are able to eat enough to have fuller shapes.

  After about five stops Leeta ushers us to the front and escorts us off the tram. I'm still getting funny looks from just about every person I pass, although I'm beginning to get used to that already. If they want to stare, they can stare. That's their business, not mine.

  We pass under a passageway beneath the tracks and appear on the other side where there's a large bright opening. It looks to be about 20 metres tall and about the same in width, yet beyond it's so bright I can hardly make out anything.

  When we pass through, however, the view grows clear, and I feel my knees growing weak at the sight. I see colour and flowers and curved white buildings. Beautiful paved walkways wind this way and that, tree lined gardens and beds of flowers dotted in sections between them. My eyes drift up at the high walls that stretch towards the clear domed roof, which sparkles with the lights of a thousand stars.

  Railway tracks link the buildings above my head as strange, snake-like trains slip along them. They pass into a building before appearing a moment later on the other side. People move around the street, dressed in sleek clothing that remind me a little of the Roamers back in Arbor. They wear strange suits of silver and white and black, with only a small smattering of colour along the edges and borders of their arms and legs.

  Vehicles pass by, aerodynamic and smooth, shining under the many lights dotted along the paved roads and up the side of buildings. They all shimmer blue underneath, like the hoverbus, as they carefully weave their way up the immaculate streets.

  I turn to see Leeta, her eyes glowing as bright as the city ahead of us, a smile gradually broadening on her lips. “Welcome to Eden,” she says. “Welcome to your new home.”

  9 - Watchers

  I'm back on the mainland, but I don't know where. I turn and see a giant wall, standing high against the parched earth, the sun setting at its summit, and realise I'm at the border of Arcadia. Silhouettes swarm in the face of the sun on top of it, flashes of light following one after another in the gathering gloom.

  I move forward, my body light as air, and begin to rise above the ground. I float high, swept up by the wind until I'm level with the top of the wall. Then higher I go, rising and rising until I can see beyond it.

  Standing in the distance in a shroud of darkness stands a man, cloaked and covered in tattered cloth. He raises his arm, high into the air, before dropping it quickly back to his side. A thousand flashes light up the sky behind, illuminating an army of men, and my eyes open wide.

  I blink in the cold light of morning and look quickly around the room, my heart beating fast. Slowly my vision comes into focus, and all I see is white. The walls, the curtains, the carpeted floor, all shades of white and light grey. When I step to the floor I feel a shiver run through me, right up my spine. It's cold here. Much colder than I'm used to.

  Then a voice reaches my ears. The voice of a woman, soothing and electronic, that appears to come from nowhere in particular.

  “Your heart-rate is high, Cyra, and you're shivering at an abnormal level. Would you like me to raise the room temperate?”

  I quickly twist my neck in just about every direction, searching for the source of the voice.

  “Who said that!” I shout, my voice cracking with an early morning fog.

  “I did,” comes the voice, once more out of nowhere.

  “Well, where are you!”

  “I'm everywhere,” comes the voice.

  “What do you mean, everywhere?”

  “I mean I exist everywhere around Eden. I'm officially designated as artificial intelligence, or AI for short. Shall I increase the room temperate for you?”

  I continue to look around the room, my head still foggy and filled with lingering memories of my dreams.

  “Um...yes please, I guess.”

  I feel an immediate change as the floor beneath my feet grows warmer.

  “I have calibrated the appropriate temperature,” says the voice. “I shall set it as the norm for your room.”

  “Er, thanks,” I say. “So, do you control everything in the room?”

  “Yes. Whatever can be controlled, that is.”

  “So, if I wanted the curtains to be opened, you could do that?”

  Immediately the curtains slide open, bringing a bright natural light into the room.

  I shield my eyes and the windows suddenly darken a few shades. “Is that better for you?” asks the voice.

  “Much better, thanks. Do you have a name?”

  “I activate to the name Eve.”

  “Right, Eve, thanks. I'm Cyra,” I say, feeling a little bit stupid for introducing myself to a computer.

  “Nice to meet you, Cyra. Please call on me if you require any help with anything.”

  “Sure,” I say, staring up to the ceiling at a random point as if I'm talking to a God.

  I move towards the window, still thinking that perhaps I'm dreaming. A talking computer who can understand me and control the room. And I thought yesterday I'd seen it all.

  Outside, the city is alive. Snake trains slip silently between buildings. People zip about in their hover vehicles on the streets below. From where I am, up on the 10th floor, I can see hordes of workers stepping through the large opening into the perimeter and getting on trams. People pour on, but no one comes off. I guess this must be a purely residential area of the city.

  Last night, when we arrived, Leeta did little but lead us to our living quarters. I was so drained from everything I'd seen over the previous two days that I barely registered how clean and large my room was. Even now, looking out upon the city, the room hardly has an impact on me. I suppose I'm already beginning to grow desensitised to such things. Even being introduced to a talking computer hasn't sent me fainting to the floor as it might have done a few days ago. If only Jackson could see me now. He'd almost certainly laugh at the sight of me talking to the ceiling.

  A knock on the door sounds and I move towards it, wearing nothing but a light night gown that was on the bed the previous evening. As I approach, an image of the outside appears on the wall next to the door. I can see Leeta, standing upright and in her usual grey attire, patiently waiting for me to let her in.

  She knocks again, and I watch the image
as she speaks. “Cyra, wake up now. There's lot's to be done.”

  I give it a few more moments and watch her grow increasingly agitated outside. Just for my own amusement, nothing more. Eventually I relent and pull the door open with a click. She steps right in past me and does a little twist.

  “Didn't I tell you, Cyra. Isn't it much nicer here than your old home?”

  I glance around at the large, bare space, and find myself disagreeing. “Well, it's a bit empty isn't it. There's only a bed.”

  Leeta shakes her head and chuckles. “Silly girl. Everything is voice activated. I told you this last night. Have you not met Eve yet?”

  I nod and shrug my head at the same time. I literally have no memory of her telling me about any of this the previous evening. It's not overly surprising. I have developed a habit of zoning out sometimes when Leeta talks.

  “Eve,” says Leeta. “Would you activate the wardrobe please.”

  Immediately the wall on the other side of the room begins clicking as a wardrobe unfolds in front of my eyes, sprouting as if from nowhere. Leeta moves towards it, opens it up, and pulls out the sort of white outfit I've seen various other people wear since I got here. “They're all your size in here, all the clothing. You can activate other furniture too. Sofas, desks, chairs. Do I really have to tell you this again, Cyra?”

  I shake my head. “No, it's OK, I'll work it out.”

  “Right. Now get those on quickly and come along. And try to smile more. You'll stand out if you don't smile. And not in a good way.”

  Sure, it's the not smiling that will make me stand out. Not the fact that my skin is the colour of the sunset and my hair as bright as the stars.

  I dress quickly before stepping out into the corridor, where Ellie is already waiting with Leeta with a beaming smile on her face.

  “Leeta says she's taking us to the same place. So, our duty is together!” she cries.

  “That's the spirit,” says Leeta, referencing the smile on Ellie's face. “You'd do well to follow her example, Cyra. You'd think someone had just died the way you're always frowning.”

  I shot of pain rushes through me, but I keep my eyes up. With everything I've been seeing, it's hard to believe that my mother only died a few days ago. I fear that my grief is only lying dormant for now. Soon, perhaps, it will hit me.

  “So,” I say, quickly changing the subject, “you know what our duty is?”

  “Still a no I'm afraid. But, no matter, you'll find out soon enough.”

  “Is that normal, though? I mean, why don't you know? Why is this all being kept from us?”

  “Come now, Cyra, if it's not my duty to know, then it's not my business. I just turn my own little cog around and around as part of that big machine. Asking questions isn't part of that. But, to answer your question, I don't know if this is normal or not. I've always been assigned to the Testing on the mainland regions, and have never had anyone assigned to Eden before. You two girls are my first.”

  We move down through the building in a lift that takes just a split second to reach ground level. Just like the trams, everything seems to work at lightning pace. Why waste time travelling when there's such important work to be done, I suppose.

  A short walk takes us back towards the perimeter wall, where we pass under the tram tracks and onto the other side. There, I see a series of lifts. We step in and I notice buttons on the wall numbering 1 to 8 next to the letter S, and 1 to 6 next to the letter U. The 'S', Leeta says, is for Surface levels and the 'U' for Underwater levels. Overall, that makes 14 levels beneath the deck level used primarily for residential buildings and living quarters.

  Leeta presses the button for U5 and I gulp air as if we're about to actually dive under the surface. I see levels flash by in front of me as we descend, before the lift pulls to a quick stop at Underwater Level 5. I gingerly step out of the lift and take a look around, feeling like the walls are about to cave in and flood at any moment. It's an odd feeling, knowing I'm currently deep beneath the raging sea, and makes my head spin a little.

  As with the deck level, there's a rail running to the left and right in front of us. I'd imagine there's one of those at each level to offer quick transport for the people working there.

  “OK, girls. This is as far as I can take you.”

  “You're leaving?” asks Ellie, almost longingly. Leeta has, for all her irritating quirks, become the closest person we have to a friend out here.

  “I have to. I don't have access to this level. Don't worry, though, I'll see you both again soon.”

  She steps back into the lift and smiles at us. “Be good girls,” she says, just before the doors close and she's swept back up out of sight.

  Ellie and I look at each other, not quite knowing what to do. We're in a sort of tunnel in the perimeter, although the ceilings aren't as high and cavernous down here. Unlike above, the trams don't rush by every minute either. Instead it's quiet and eerie. In both directions it seems darker and more shrouded in shadow, where above it was all brightly lit and bathed in natural sunlight.

  Then the sound of footsteps fills the air, echoing from our right. We turn to see a shadow moving through a passageway beneath the tram tracks. In the quiet of the tunnel, it's almost unnerving, and I feel Ellie shift her weight to my side.

  Then we hear a voice, deep and precise, as a man moves into view. He wears black, his entire body covered from neck to toe in a sleek suit that seems to suck the light from around him. In the gloomy tunnel, he appears almost as a silhouette against the setting sun, only the outline of his body visible as he moves towards us.

  “You must be Cyra and Ellie. We've been waiting for you,” he says as he looms closer.

  His face comes into view, pale and chiselled as if from a chunk of grey stone. His eyes pierce from beneath black eyebrows, cold and dark as the night.

  He stops short of us and looks us both up and down. Wearing white and with my shining blonde hair and golden skin, I must look about the complete opposite of him.

  “Follow me please,” he says, turning and walking back in the direction he came from.

  We follow, as instructed, in silence, although I can see a slightly concerned look on Ellie's face. We go under the tram tracks, as on the upper deck, and onto the other side. Unlike the upper deck, however, there's no large opening and bright light beyond. Only a long wall stretching as far as I can see in either direction. Along it are doors and passageways leading towards the centre of the level. Inside it must be a maze of passages and corridors and unknown rooms where unknown things are being done.

  We walk along the wall for a moment before turning left along a long passageway. It stretches inward, into the distance, as far as the eye can see. For several minutes we walk along it, the darkness ahead seemingly never-ending, until finally a door begins to slowly appear. It's large and metallic, gleaming silver under a series of lights shining down from above. There seem to be warning markings around it. They tell people that this is a restricted area. That there are dangers beyond the door.

  I feel my heart racing as we approach. Restricted area. Dangers beyond the door. Where the hell are we being led? What is all of this?

  The man begins to pull up his sleeve as we near the door and I see a small hole leading into the wall. He slips his hand and wrist into it, before a red light begins glowing. A moment later, it turns green, and the seams of the door start hissing as it slowly slides open at the middle.

  Coming into view beyond the wall is a large space, like the sports hall back home, only many times the size. The place is almost entirely empty, though, except for an area to the immediate left. We walk in, and I see several other faces staring back at us. Young faces. Faces filled with fear and wonder and confusion. Faces of people like me, of people like Ellie. The faces of school leavers, assigned to Eden.

  I count eight; six boys, and a couple of girls. They sit in chairs in the middle of the open space, patiently waiting for the two of us to join their ranks. The man tells us to sit i
n the available two seats at the back, and we once again do as ordered.

  Among the nervous faces I see one of complete calm. A boy turns around, in his seat, and runs his eyes over us. It's a look I've grown familiar with over the last few days. The sort of look people were giving me at the Duty Call. Anger, maybe. Disgust. I can't really tell. It seems, though, I'm seeing for the first time the arrogance long associated with this city. The feeling that those from the mainland are inherently inferior. I never knew if that was true or simply a rumour. Right now, I'm guessing it's the former.

  His eyes seem to linger on me most of all, before turning back to the front. I suppose it's my unique look around here. None of the others share it, and I can quickly tell that there's no one else here from Agricola. By the way everyone's brown and black hair is so neatly cut and styled, I'd assume the majority are either local to Eden, or from other sea cities.

  “Right, everyone,” says the man in black, standing ahead of us and gracefully running his eyes over each individual, “welcome to the Grid. This room will be your home away from home for the next few months. My name is Commander Ajax, but Ajax will do just fine.”

  I look over at Ellie, who's already turned her eyes to me, her face riddled with nerves.

  “Many of you have travelled a long way to get here,” he continues, looking up towards Ellie and I. “Others have lived here their entire lives.” I look towards the arrogant boy, and see a smile creep up the corner of his mouth.

  “But all of you,” Ajax says, raising his voice, “are now equal. Here in the Grid, we will train together and eat together. We will grow together and improve together. You are all now one big family.”

  He looks over each of us again, his voice growing more intense.

  “Your duty is to Eden. It is to Arcadia. And it is to each other. Because all of you....”

  I stare, hardly breathing.

  “.....are to become Watchers of Eden.”

  10 - The Grid

  In front of me, faces turn to each other, etched with looks of confusion. I turn to Ellie first, expecting her to be looking to me, but she's just staring forward. There's a seriousness to her face that I haven't yet seen, an intensity written into her green eyes.