by Tom Dillon
* * *
Kai did indeed feel better in the morning. He was up before the morning bell and he felt as though he had gotten a week’s worth of sleep. He hadn’t known what to expect, but in his mind, he had pictured life in the Vaarplikt as being supervised to an almost military degree, but that was not the case. There had been a brief orientation the day before, after everyone had finished with their Bindings, where a bored looking cadet had explained to them that if they wanted to party all night and show up late for study or work, that was OK, but to expect to spend the rest of their lives working on the docks. After that, all thirty of them stumbled their way into the barracks where they would be staying until they worked something else out or the next class came in, whichever came first. The reality of his new freedom hadn’t dawned on him in his post-Binding haze, but laying in bed without any need to get up it settled into his mind, bringing with it an urgency to go out and do something, anything.
The sun wasn’t yet up, and he went out to watch the island wake up. He had seen it all before, the rhythm and beat of the commerce, the thousand individual routines that combined to form the Island’s character. For the first time, however, he didn’t feel as though he was watching from outside. The commerce and character were still part of the Island, but they were part of him too, and he comprised some small part of them. He found a bakery and bought a few pieces of fried bread that were covered in salt, seeds, and spices that were barely adhered by a layer of honey.
The bread had cost two Ve, and on his way back to the campus he was thinking about how long his remaining 48 Ve would last him. Not long. Even with the Vaar’s stipend, he wouldn’t be able to afford much. Suddenly the feeling about being part of the commerce and character of the Island took on a much darker slant, no longer seeming like a friendly dance in which you might bump into others, but rather an ecosystem, in which if you weren’t eating something, it was eating you. By the time he made it back to the campus, he just wanted to see a friendly face.
He was sitting on his bunk, eating his fried bread, when the others started to wake. They were not filled with the same energy as Kai, but groaned and shielded their eyes against the creeping dawn as though they had indulged in too much alcohol the night before. One by one, they reconnected with people they had known from school or neighborhoods, forming small groups and heading out to face the city together, excitement winning out over their pain. Kai’s father had made sure that he had an excellent education, full of private tutors, but the end result was that Kai was more comfortable around adults than his peers. His only bit of luck was that his friend Rafi, the daughter of their household’s staff, was in the same group with him. True to her nature, she was one of the last to wake.
“Stop smiling, you bastard,” she said after she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and made her way over to his bunk. “What are you doing up so early, anyway?”
“Here, have some bread, it’s pretty good,” he said. She pushed his offer away. “Really, it’ll make you feel better, I promise.”
“Screw bread, I need coffee,” she said.
“Alright, alright,” Kai said. He threw up his hands. “We’ll have to go out, then.”
A few minutes later, Rafi had gotten dressed, and they were leaving the youth barracks. The sun was already high in the sky, and its heat hit them as soon as they passed through the front door. Kai shaded his eyes and looked over to see his companion pale in the harsh light, looking ready to puke. She glared pure hatred at him.
“And why the hell are you so chipper?” she asked, and Kai felt the panic rising in his stomach. “We might as well be sleeping on the street for how soft the bunks are.” Kai relaxed, she didn’t suspect that he was a freeloader.
“I told you to eat some bread, it’ll help. It’s really no different from a hangover.” He still had the bread and he held it out towards her, then took a quick step back as she looked like she was about to puke on him. “Never mind, lets get some black gold into you,” he said. Rafi’s face was a mask of grim determination, and together they set off to find a cafe.
Kai didn’t protest when Rafi bought coffee for both of them, she had bet on Vandon, and would have Ve coming from the Numbers man after all.
“So where to now?” she asked after she started on her second cup of coffee and started to perk up.
“I was planning on finding another shirt,” he said.
“You really haven’t changed, have you?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone else in the campus is probably trying to figure out how to make their Ve last as long as possible, and you’ve been an adult for less than a day and already you want more clothes,” she said.
“I shouldn’t have let you get any coffee, you’re easier to deal with sedated,” he said. “Besides, I don’t need a new sarong, just a shirt. I’ll have to do it sooner or later, and we have the time now.”
The two of them visited the Numbers man, and Rafi collected her winnings. After that, they browsed through the neighborhood that had sprung up around the Vaarplikt campus, which Kai had passed through without noticing earlier. The neighborhood was full of shops that catered to the youth while at the same time recognizing their limited resources. There were several second-hand stores, a theater, and a couple of cheap food places. They went into one of the second-hand shops, and Kai found a white shirt that would go with his brown and white sarong. The two of them went back to their barracks to find the whole campus vibrating with excitement.
The Assignments had been delivered.
For the next five years, their time would be split between civil service duties, such as fixing roads, and a more specialized profession. There were several basic areas that were open to all, such as the Guard, but everyone was also given the option of of more specialized fields based on a series of tests that were administered prior to the Binding ceremony.
Kai took the paper and unfolded it with shaking hands. When he saw the assignments, goosebumps rose on his arms. ‘Kai Olanki’ was printed in block letters across the top, and below it was his assignment: Clerk. It was a good Assignment, and in it he could see his father’s hand. As a Clerk, he would become intimately familiar with the political system, a well worn path to power, something that it was becoming increasingly clear that his father wanted for him. His thoughts subject were interrupted when Rafi came into the room and pulled him out into the hallway.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I just received my Assignment,” she said, and continued before he had the opportunity to ask what they were. “I’ve been offered a position as a junior apiarist!”
“What?”
“I get to work with the bees,” she said, and Kai understood. There were beehives peppered across the island that provided honey and wax and ensured that all of the plants were pollinated, and tending them would allow her to interact with nearly everything on the island. It was an excellent assignment, and Kai felt envious that she had gotten it on her merits alone.