by Eliza Green
The line moved forward.
‘Well, you seem to be flying through the floors,’ said Warren, smiling. ‘Maybe I’ll stick with you.’
Anya avoided his gaze, glanced at Dom.
What the hell was that?
‘Maybe. How was the second floor?’
‘Brief. Didn’t get to do much. What was on the third?’ Warren wanted to ask about Frank. Ask how she really got the cut. He didn’t deal with tragedy well. He joked too much.
‘Nothing. It was some sort of maze.’
‘A maze?’
‘It was less interesting than it sounds, believe me.’ Her eyes flickered to Jerome.
‘I’d better go before I lose my place.’
‘Okay. See you.’
Warren walked away feeling like he’d been punched in the gut a second time. He could see Frank’s death had upset Anya. But it was more than that. He suspected Dom Pavesi may have convinced Anya to ditch Warren.
He slipped back into line and used his chip to unlock a portion of scrambled eggs, bacon and a slice of buttered toast. He selected a coffee from the machine at the end.
Shit, shit.
He pushed down the feeling that Anya had found a new partner in Dom. Any idiot could see they’d gotten close, but where did that leave him? Without a similar alliance, would Arcis single him out like it had done with Tahlia, and possibly Frank? Had Frank’s death been an accident? Warren’s inability to connect with people made him the weakest link.
But Dom was a dick to people he didn’t like, and June could be harsh with her words. Neither of them had issues making friends in this place, despite their shortcomings. Maybe Warren should watch what they did, how they acted. He would not lose Anya to Dom of all people.
Warren took a seat at a table with the other boys and scooped some egg into his mouth. Some tall, tanned girl—he’d heard Dom call her Sheila—was having trouble with the food boxes. For some reason, Warren’s food tasted so much better because of it. He pressed down his anger and continued to eat.
‘I’m so hungry. Why aren’t the boxes opening for us?’ a thin blonde girl said.
Dom jumped up and walked over to them. ‘Probably just a mistake. Let me use my chip to open them.’
Warren wanted to get up and punch Dom in the kidneys. He’d never hated someone so much in all his life, including Tahlia. When he first came to Arcis, Warren had seen Dom waiting for the tall girl in the lobby. He’d also seen Dom talking with Anya in Essention. The girls had a thing for Dom Pavesi. But Dom pretended like he didn’t notice. Warren knew his type. Guys like him got everything handed to him in life. He pretended to be a do-gooder, but truth was Warren had never seen Dom help anyone except for Anya. Yeah, the dude was a selective dick.
‘You’re not supposed to help them,’ said Ash, standing up.
‘They need to eat,’ said Dom.
Warren smirked. Ash had earned his respect. Maybe he would give an alliance with him more thought.
Dom used his chip to open several boxes, but then it stopped working. He stared at Ash. ‘Why can’t I open more?’
Ash sat back down. ‘Because you’ve used up your rations for the day. It won’t work again until tomorrow morning.’
‘So what are their rations? Surely everybody can spare a box, can’t they?’
Warren stayed where he was, fork in hand. He felt Jerome squirm in his seat, as though he was ready to do Dom’s bidding.
‘The more you help them outside of the game,’ said Ash, ‘the worse you score. Trust me. I’ve been here one rotation too long.’
‘I’m not letting them starve,’ said Dom.
Ash laughed bitterly. ‘You’ll change your mind, trust me. Besides, there are more official ways they can earn food.’
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,’ said Dom to the girls. He rejoined his table. The other boys shared their food with him.
After breakfast they gathered in the space between the two dorms. A large screen dominated one wall of the open space between the dorms. Warren stood with the boys on one side, the girls on the other watching the screen. The female supervisor from the second floor appeared on screen and explained how the fourth floor worked. Ash was right about it being a game: they had to earn points to rotate. Warren tuned out from most of the instructions, instead plotting ways to win Anya back. Dom would probably try to get in his way.
Warren and the boys retired to their dorm to play VR games while Jerome hid away in his bedroom. Game playing was one of the point-scoring activities listed on the notice board in their dorm.
Warren walked over to where Jerome was.
‘Hey, man.’ He stood at the entrance to Jerome’s bedroom, sectioned off from the room by frosted-glass screens. ‘You doing okay?’
From his bed Jerome levelled a glare at him.
‘What do you want, Warren?’
Warren shrank back. This wasn’t the quiet, passive Jerome he was used to seeing.
‘I wanted to say sorry about Frank. I just heard.’
Jerome stood up and pushed past him. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Warren grabbed him by the arm, causing Jerome to spin round and glare at him.
Warren snapped his hand back. ‘Look, if you ever need to talk, I’m here. I knew Frank too. He was my friend.’
‘Like Tahlia was your friend?’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You pick and choose when you want to be friends and when you don’t. Take the dining hall in there. You didn’t even get up and help the girls.’
Warren saw red. ‘Neither did you.’
‘Well, I was going to but—’
‘But what? You changed your mind because you would have lost rations?’
Jerome pressed his lips together.
‘So why are you picking on me?’
‘Because you don’t seem to care about anyone except yourself. This place is just a game to you. We’re all just a game. Tell me, when was Frank’s birthday? You claim to know him so well, so that shouldn’t be a problem for you.’
Warren had no idea. ‘I don’t know anyone’s birthday in here. Does that make me a bad person?’
Jerome sighed and some of the anger visibly drained away. ‘No, it doesn’t. But you have no idea what I’m going through. Frank was like a brother to me and it feels like you’re cashing in on that somehow.’
‘I’m not.’ Warren stepped forward, lowered his voice. ‘What happened to him?’
‘An accident with a rotating blade, Dom said.’
‘Is he dead?’
‘Yes, he’s dead! Why would you ask such a thing?’
‘It’s just that Frank used to talk about Arcis having medical tech. We never got to use any of it while we were first-aiders. I just wondered if Arcis had found a way to save him.’ Jerome huffed and turned to go. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be—’
Jerome turned round. ‘Insensitive? Well you are.’
Warren ran his fingers through his strawberry-blond hair. ‘I never lost someone like that. I’m new to this. I’m sorry.’
Jerome visibly relaxed. ‘Look, I know you’re trying. I’m sorry for what I said. I just miss Frank, okay?’
‘Yeah, I’ll leave you to it.’
Jerome marched to the exit and left, leaving Warren to battle new feelings of guilt. Jerome hadn’t been wrong with the things he’d said, but Warren refused to admit to it. Compliance made him act like this. His abandonment issues had turned him cold and made him hard. He was just doing what he could to survive. What was wrong with that?
5
Warren
Warren hadn’t meant to take it that far. But he couldn’t see another way to rotate.
His jaw ached from where Anya had punched him. Shaking with anger, he left her alone in the bathroom and strode back to the male dormitory. Why couldn’t she see what he needed? The game required them to get physical. It said so on the notice board. She knew how things worked here. Ash had explained it to her.
He
yanked open the door to the dorm but slowed his walk when he neared Dom’s cubicle. Dom sat on the edge of his bed, his head bowed and his clasped hands rested the tops of his legs. Dom gave Warren a look of disappointment as he passed. Warren felt the look all the way down to his non slip shoes.
He flashed a weak smile back and walked on. Only when he flopped down onto his bed did he release the tense breath he’d been holding. The lights were still on in the dorm—a couple of the boys continued to play VR by the booze station. Warren got up, grabbed a bottle of scotch from the bar and carried it back to bed.
The alcohol burned his throat and cleared his foggy mind—the opposite of what he wanted. He’d known all about the substance the rebels called Compliance before he’d come to Arcis. His parents had talked about nothing else for months; how it affected the body, how it turned people into mindless robots. The alcohol seemed to sharpen his focus, counteract the effects.
He took another long pull from the bottle. His controlled anger subsided to make room for his shame. What was he thinking, forcing himself on Anya like that? If Dom ever found out...
The cubicle wall surrounding his bed closed in on him. Something was off with Dom and Sheila. He’d seen them whispering to each other. Did Anya know they’d been together earlier this evening, disappeared to one of the spare rooms at the back of the dorm, stayed in there for fifteen whole minutes? When they had emerged, Sheila had given Dom a smile and a peck on the cheek. Warren had wanted to smash his smug face in. Dom got everything he wanted in life.
Except for Anya.
Anya had been paired with Jerome, a partnership Warren knew Dom had orchestrated to keep him away. Jerome had stuck to the easier tasks on the list, like slave for the day. For a half second, Warren wanted to say something that would ease Jerome’s grief. He understood pain and loneliness more than most, but he didn’t know him. When it was him and Frank, Warren was always the outsider.
Warren had picked June—it was either her or Sheila. But June was being difficult, taking all day to do tasks.
He hadn’t planned on hurting Anya. But with June scuppering his chances to rotate, he needed her help more than ever. How fast Anya forgot that Warren had been her only friend in the beginning. That day in Southwest when he’d followed her, he had promised her they’d get out of Arcis together. At the time he had meant it.
But now? She was cold and indifferent towards him. She’d been gung ho for the alliance until someone better had come along. Now she and Dom were tight.
She could die in Arcis for all he cared.
He imagined his parents shaking their heads at him.
Disappointment.
His mother’s henpecking and his father’s constant nagging for Warren to choose one thing over another had turned his life into an either/or scenario. Choose archery over mathematics. Choose martial arts over art. Stay in Oakenfield or leave for a life on the outside. But before he could give them an answer, they’d abandoned him. The note they’d left was now a pile of ash, but every word would be forever burned into his memory.
Warren swigged some more alcohol. He was used to being alone. He didn’t play games well, but he’d learned how to in Arcis. His goal to reach the ninth floor still remained his top priority. It was where he believed he’d find the coordinates for the Beyond. His parents spoke in secret about a place that existed beyond the towns.
The alcohol soothed his anger and relaxed his tense shoulders. But his shame continued to rage inside him. He dragged a hand down his face. He’d had no right to ask Anya to do that. But June had limited his options.
Warren drank from the bottle that was a quarter empty now. The Compliance in his system reduced the effects of the alcohol too much. He wanted to forget.
Ash appeared at the open entrance to his sectioned-off bedroom.
He leaned against the edge of the cubicle wall. ‘Rough day?’
Warren still didn’t know what to make of Ash. Most times he seemed normal, though his act for the girls felt too forced for Warren’s taste. But he noticed something new, a heavy look to his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Ash had been paired with Lilly. Maybe she’d been as helpful to him as June had been to Warren. He didn’t care. Ash was the perfect person to get drunk with right now.
‘It’s getting better.’ Warren shook the bottle at him. ‘You want some?’
Ash walked forward and sat on the edge of Warren’s bed. He took the bottle and drank a quarter in one go. He coughed and wiped his mouth with his hand.
Dom looked in as he passed by the partition.
Warren whispered to Ash. ‘Come on. There are too many ears here. I want to drink someplace in peace.’
Ash collected another bottle from the bar and carried it to the male bathroom.
Warren sat on the counter and leaned against the mirror. ‘So, what’s your excuse for looking like shit?’
Ash was slouched against the wall, full bottle in hand. ‘Nothing. I just... I can’t be here any more.’ He dropped his gaze to the tiled floor. His lips rounded over the top of the bottle and he tipped it back. ‘I hate it.’
‘Yeah, I hate Arcis, too.’
Ash shook his head as he swallowed. ‘Nah, I mean I hate the fourth floor. I need to get off it. I won’t go through another rotation. I can’t.’
‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’
‘No, you don’t. This place, it turns you into someone else. It gets under your skin, makes you think it’s okay to ask for things.’ Ash looked away. ‘Not ask... More like take things that don’t belong to you.’ He sucked on the bottle. ‘I hate it.’
Warren’s mind flashed back to the recent moment between him and Anya. ‘But what if you need those things to, you know, progress?’
Ash laughed bitterly. ‘Well, then I guess it’s okay.’
‘How long have you been in here?’
‘Who the hell knows? Two months? Three? I’ve lost track of time.’
‘Where did you come from before Essention?’
Ash smirked. ‘You want to hear my life story?’
Warren could do with a distraction from this place. ‘Sure.’
‘Well, there’s not much to tell, really. I was like any other kid in a neighbourhood. Then my parents were murdered by rebels. I got sick and I was brought here. Sound familiar?’ Warren nodded. ‘That stupid rebellion has a lot to answer for.’
Warren agreed. He hated the rebels for stealing his parents away, and for making his parents think he couldn’t handle their secret.
Ash looked at him, his gaze sharp. ‘What’s your story?’
‘Nothing much. Same as you.’
‘Hey, I heard about what happened with that girl on the first floor. Tahlia something? Did you know her?’
‘Yeah, she came from the same town as me.’
Ash let out a long sigh. ‘Bummer. I heard the electricity did a real number on her.’
‘How did you hear?’
‘Jerome told me.’
‘Yeah, well, she wasn’t fast enough to finish.’ Warren took a drink.
Ash laughed and stared at him. ‘That’s a little cruel, don’t you think?’
‘No, I don’t.’
‘So, people should die because they’re slower than someone else? What about their other skills?’
Warren tipped the bottle back again. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘What if someone isn’t good at running but they’re great at strategising? What makes them less than the person built for speed?’
‘My parents told me there was only one lesson in life: to be tough.’
‘Really? So what does being “tough” mean?’
Warren gave him a look.
‘I’m serious. Is being tough what we see on the outside or the inside? Is it physical or mental strength that matters?’
Warren didn’t know any more. ‘I used to think it was both.’
‘Sometimes it’s about knowing when to consider someone else’s feelings. Don’t get me wrong. Cons
ideration can get you nowhere and sometimes you have to think about number one. But do you think Tahlia’s death helped anyone in here?’
Warren wanted to say it had helped him to rotate, but he’d only wanted to scare Tahlia.
Ash held the bottle out, stared at it. ‘I’m not getting any buzz off this. I thought there was supposed to be alcohol in it? At my drinking rate, I should be on the floor, passed out by now.’
Warren didn’t want to mention Compliance to Ash in case it got back to the controllers. ‘Tastes fine to me. I can feel a little buzz.’
‘It’s not enough. I need to forget.’ Ash stared at Warren. ‘How are you getting on with June? She making your life easy or hard?’
‘Hard.’ Warren sighed. ‘I don’t know if I’ll make it to next rotation.’
‘Bummer. You’ll be okay. You seem strong. You can probably handle another rotation.’
‘And you will too, if Lilly’s help doesn’t get you there.’
A dark look crossed Ash’s eyes. ‘That’s not gonna happen, man. I can’t bear to be here another second longer. I hate what this place is doing to me. How it’s turning me into an asshole. Can’t you feel it? It’s messing with our minds. We’re all making choices we shouldn’t be making. We’re barely adults, for Chrissake. What the hell do we know? This place is too grown-up for my ass.’
Warren hadn’t felt like a kid for some time. His parents had made sure of that. They didn’t want to raise a weak little boy. He got no presents on his birthday, no ice cream when he was good, and no praise when he did well on a spelling test. Their tough love was preparing him, they had said, for life in the Beyond.
‘Oakenfield is just a temporary home,’ his father had said. ‘Don’t get used to it, son. We might not be here that long.’
‘So if this isn’t home, where is?’ said Warren.
‘The real world where everything is dark and dirty and people say what’s on their mind.’
Warren tipped the remnants of his alcohol into his mouth. He shook the empty bottle at Ash. ‘I’m done and off to bed.’
‘Yeah, I’m gonna hang here a while longer.’
Warren rushed back to the dorm before anyone in the girls’ area saw him. He wasn’t ready to face Anya just yet. It had been the right thing to do. His efforts had to count for some points on the scoreboard tomorrow. When they’d rotated to the first floor, he’d asked Anya, ‘Are you sure you don’t want a buddy in here?’
