Chapter 25: Goodbyes
The worst thing about making a decision is delaying when you are going to follow through. Whatever that entity in the computer was, it had revived my need to leave. The problem was how and when. The when didn’t really matter because I didn’t know how. I had already failed to escape once and unless I spent a couple of years applying for the travel visa, I wasn’t going to get out of the city any time some. I needed a plan, and there was only one person who could give me the answers I wanted. The question was how to get him alone.
Fortunately, due to our high standings at the re-enactment finals, our school had planned a celebration party. And all schools were invited. Now I just had to get Austin to attend.
Our celebration entailed an entertainment social in the re-enactment dome. Instead of just being immersed in a false environment, we would be immersed in sound. Famous musicians from our past would entertain and the dome would be played like a rock festival. The school sponsored it because it was a way to learn about the past. Plus it was yet another activity to watch us. The drones and the chaperones.
As I walked down the hallway, I knew this would be my last time here. I wouldn’t miss it. Propaganda had replaced learning so long ago, I didn’t know what was real or not. I just knew that I didn’t belong. Unlike some people.
“Hey, honey.” Lacey gave me a hug.
“You’re glowing. Hoping to meet someone tonight?” I teased.
“You never know.” She smiled and grabbed my hand. “You seem better.”
“Maybe I’m just looking forward to something.” Lacey must have thought I meant the party as she quickly steered me in that direction. The doors opened and the noise of other students filled the hallway. People gave me looks. They didn’t know if they should ostracize me because of my dad or cheer for me for helping the school do well in the finals. Most went right down the middle and didn’t engage me at all.
Suited me fine.
We followed the mass of students. Most I recognized but a few wore jackets from other schools.
“Do you see him yet?” Lacey was poking fun at me. “What’s his name again? Autumn? August?”
“Austin,” I blurted before I realized she was bating me. She knew why I was here and what I needed to do. She might not agree with my choices but she would always support me.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be here.” The main doors opened up and a wall of sound crashed over us. The top of the dome matched the sky. Fireworks burst all around in time to the music. Bright reds and oranges exploded, cascading into waterfalls. The sight was breathtaking but I was looking for something else.
Lacey and I pushed through the crowd of students. Non-alcoholic bars lined the edges of the dome. Robotic bartenders handed out a variety of drinks and foods. I watched as a floating drone patrolled the aisle, its red eye scanning the cups in students’ hands.
“Alert!” the drone cried, flashing red. Mr. Stewart emerged from the crowd and immediately seized the drink the drone was flashing at. Mr. Stewart raised the cup to his nose and smelled it.
“Mr. Crowell. I see you have added alcohol to your drink tonight.” A guy from my grade with long black, curly hair vehemently shook his head.
“No way. I’m just drinking what the bartender drone gave me. Honest.” His face looked anything but honest.
“I’m sure you can plead your case to the principal. Come with me.” He grabbed the boy by his hoodie and pushed him forward. The boy’s drink fell to the floor, the contents flowing away.
“Pene.” Mr. Stewart nodded at me as he went by with the boy.
“What about me?” Lacey waved as he passed. “I swear I’m invisible to him.”
I wish I was, I thought.
We walked deeper into the dome. The music increased in volume, making it harder to talk. The middle of the dome was the dance floor. As we pushed through the crowds lining the edge, we could make out the entertainment center. The dance floor had many levels. Stairs and ramps covered the field reaching up four stories. Some kids were dancing while others were completely still, perhaps dancing to a beat in the re-enactment machine. Lacey and I went to a metal coatrack, pulled off two crowns and placed them on our heads. Suddenly our perspective changed.
“Whoa!” A boy on skateboard whizzed by us and then defied gravity as he jumped over a waterfall. Suddenly the empty skeleton of framework in the dome looked overwhelmingly full. Hundreds of kids danced that were stationary in the real world. Kids tended to cluster in groups of girls and boys. About a dozen girls were jumping on a trampoline above a watery pool, to the cheers of another group of boys. One girl did a flip and then blew a kiss to the boys. They raised their glasses and cheered as if they had just won a big game. Then I saw the boy I wanted.
“You left me a message.” Austin came up to me.
“I was worried you wouldn’t get it.” I kissed him on the cheek. Lacey winked at us.
“I see someone, I’ll be back later,” she lied and melted into the crowd. Austin turned to look at me. “You took a chance giving my sister a message.” He waved the piece of paper I had written on earlier.
“I said she would get a reward if she delivered.” I smiled and nervously played with my fingers.
“She was motivated. But she thinks I need to reward her. You cost me to keep her quiet.” He grinned.
“I’m sorry,” I said but I really wasn’t.
“Want to dance?” He grabbed my hand and moved onto the dance floor. It was busy but we had enough room that we didn’t bump into anyone else. I leaned closer to him.
“Can they hear us here?” I made a circle with my finger.
“I don’t think so,” Austin answered. “This is all a projection, not a recorder. Do you see any drones?” I looked around and then shook my head. “They are watching us in the real world, but here we’ve got nowhere to go. They control everything we see. But they can’t record us.” I looked around, and he was right. Everything we thought was projected from our minds. It made me think, was there anywhere that we were truly free?
“I’m sorry about your dad. I wish my evidence had helped.” Austin looked sad.
“You did more for me than anyone else. And it didn’t matter. They were determined to make him guilty from the start. He didn’t have a chance.”
“Why? Were they trying to make an example of him? Were they scared of what he was going to uncover?”
“Who knows? I want to leave the city. And I don’t want to wait the years it takes to get a travel visa.”
“You not wanting to wait. No surprise there!” Austin’s smile was contagious and made me grin. “And how are you going to do that? You first attempt was a total disaster.”
“I need to find some place to hide. Get off of the drones’ radar.”
“Well, you better stop eating.”
“What?” I stopped dancing in confusion. Austin took my hand and kept me moving.
“Listen, when I showed you the lights of the people that Justice was tracking, I learned how they keep tabs on everyone.”
“How? Do we have something embedded in our skin?” I touched the back of my neck as if expecting to feel a bump. “Or is there something in my clothes?”
“Well, you could go around nude?” I punched his shoulder.
“How?” I drew out the word.
“Food. Thru some informal chats with some of the others I told you about, we have come up with a working theory on what travels in each of us. Everything we eat that is prepared seems to have some type of insoluble tracking agent that travels through our system. It gives off some type of field, amplifying your body’s signature so a computer can differentiate you from others.”
“What? Then why have drones follow us at all? They could track our whereabouts without a simple camera watching us.”
“Yes and no. They need the footage and audio to process the crime. Besides, the tracking agents seem to be fairly unreliable. In close proximity the signals can meld together, making it difficult to track you in a crowd. Also, if you’re sick, people tend to … expel most of the tracking agents,” Austin added uncomfortably.
“You’re telling me to go on a diet?”
“Sort of. You’ll need to pack fresh fruit and vegetables. Anything that comes out of the ground. Anything processed in a bag or can is a no-no.”
“Okay, so I can pack some fresh food. Doesn’t give me a long time to stay hidden.”
“Not unless you hide under a garden.”
“No, I’ve got somewhere else planned.”
Austin pulled away from me. “Don’t tell me where. It’s better I don’t know.”
“It’s okay.” I pulled him back towards me. “Someone gave me an idea of where to go.”
“When are you going?” Austin looked at me with his big eyes.
“Next weekend. It’s too hard to go undetected for long during a school day.” Austin went silent. “What?”
“I’ll miss you.”
“You don’t really know me.” I blushed.
“I know enough.”
I stopped dancing. The enormity of my decision was starting to sink in. I could stay in the city, with family, go to school and get to know Austin better. It would the easiest thing in the world to stay. I had everything to lose.
“Before my dad died, he made me commit to staying in the city. Do you think I should break my promise to him?”
Austin’s eyes revealed his answer. “You need to live. To see the world outside this city. Go with your heart, Pene. Don’t do what everyone expects you to do.” Suddenly the dance floor evaporated. The trampoline, the bikers, all disappeared as the crown’s images were replaced by reality. As I looked around, I saw Mr. Stewart approach with a tall metal drone accompanying him. He was looking at us. As he came closer, he pointed at Austin.
“This girl is under surveillance for the crimes committed by her father. By associating with her, you endanger yours and your family’s safety. Discussing the details of the case is strictly prohibited. What did the two of you talk about during the simulation? Did she tell you who provided the false tracking information at the trial?”
“Please come with me,” the drone commanded and reached towards Austin’s shoulder.
“Whatever,” Austin replied coolly, shaking it off. “She never mentioned the trial. I felt sorry for her. Her dad just died. Sounds like she was trying to follow his last wishes.”
“What do you mean?” Mr. Stewart asked, looking curious, but I couldn’t tell if he was buying Austin’s response. Inwardly I gulped, afraid that Austin might give me away.
“She talked about going to City College, maybe following in her dad’s footsteps with a legal degree.” Austin was a pretty good liar.
“And what did you tell her?”
“That her Dad was evil. Pure evil. She needs to forget about him. She didn’t want to make the mistakes he made.” Austin walked up to the drone. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Austin started walking and the drone hurried to keep up. Mr. Stewart watched him go. I was unsure if he believed Austin’s performance. He turned to me.
“And what will you do, Pene?” I considered Austin’s comments. His backwards comment of evil reinforced my decision. Evil backwards was ‘live’.
“I think he gave good advice. And it’s time I followed it.”