Alida smiled. ‘I appreciate it. I’m nearly out of dosh. I spent nearly all I had left on antibiotics for Graycie.’
‘Will you need to –’ Shuqba lowered her voice – ‘work in the city?’
Alida winced. She hated being reminded of her gigs for Freel. Especially by Shuqba. She wasn’t ashamed. Being ashamed would mean she was ashamed of everything Mum had done for them. She just felt icky thinking about it.
‘I can maybe put it off for a stretch. Do you think there’ll be any more gigs after the implant rollout’s finished?’
‘Perhaps for a little while … nothing steady.’ Shuqba moved to the side as a broad-shouldered oldie barrelled through the gate, narrowly missing her.
‘Jerk,’ Alida mumbled. ‘Still getting hassled for being a Neo?’
‘Only a little. Most people have got used to seeing me here.’
An old lady at the front of the line patted Shuqba on the arm. ‘You’re dandy, love. You’re just like us.’
Shuqba smiled and scanned the lady’s wrist. ‘There’s something else that could help you,’ she said to Alida.
‘What’s that?’ Alida was open to any suggestions. She’d spent so much time chewing over every possible source of dosh, though, she doubted Shuqba would have any new angles.
Shuqba lowered her voice. ‘There are people, Citizens, who can’t have children of their own. They’d give a child like Graycie a good home. I’m not sure if it’s the kind of thing you’d consider.’
Alida had heard whispers of that sort of thing. But it was always messed-up families in sorrier situations than theirs. Characters in the tent city or the communal shipping containers, those unable to feed their own littlies. That had never been Alida and Graycie. Not when Mum was alive anyway.
‘She’s my sister. She’s all I have.’
Shuqba nodded. ‘My apologies. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.’
‘Don’t feel bad. I appreciate you telling me.’
Raised voices came from beyond the end of the Nutri-Shake line. Not the usual crowded chatter of conversations. This was a large number of voices all working together, repeating the same words and rising above all the others.
‘What the hell?’
Graycie limped away from her game and grabbed Alida’s legs. Odeene was leading a crowd of about a hundred characters. Some of them wore SunSuits. Others in raggedy threads had the sunravaged skin of Rewilders. As they got closer their chant became clearer: LeaderCorp lies, LeaderCorp spies, LeaderCorp implants are LeaderCorp eyes. The chanters stopped in front of the hub. The people in the Nutri-Shake queue moved back as far as they could, yelling a mixture of abuse and encouragement at the mob.
Bloody Odeene again. The stupid vulture didn’t know when she was beaten.
‘What’s their issue?’ Shuqba said. ‘I thought Demis wanted implants. Isn’t that why I got faeces thrown at me and trucks were blown up?’
‘Yep, but that woman in front sees herself as some kind of healer. It’s all a scam, what she does. If everyone gets implants, that would mean even less people will shell out for her bullshit. The rest of them are maybe anti-tekker jerks and a few of them are Rewilders.’
One of the hub androids rolled out and stopped a metre from Odeene. ‘Please disperse.’
‘What are you gonna do, you metal demon?’ Odeene leaned in, her nose nearly touching the android’s face plate.
‘You will receive one more warning. If you choose to ignore this warning I am authorised to deploy a sonic weapon to disperse any illegal gathering within one hundred metres of this LeaderCorp Hub.’
‘LeaderCorp and its evil servants don’t tell us what’s illegal out here. We don’t need LeaderCorp’s laws.’ Odeene held her arms out to the Demis in the queue. ‘See? LeaderCorp is already controlling you all. Once they start carving into your brain, they’ll own you.’
‘I am now issuing your second warning. Please disperse immediately or a sonic weapon will be deployed in thirty seconds.’
Odeene scoffed and waved her dimwits forward along the road. ‘Keep moving. There are plenty more poor deluded folk who need to hear our message.’
The chanters resumed their march and the android rolled back to its spot at the hub.
‘Never a dull moment out here.’ Shuqba huffed. ‘Would you like to collect your rations?’
‘That’d be slick.’
‘LeaderCorp employees are entitled to special cutting-in privileges,’ Shuqba whispered.
Alida nudged her with her elbow. ‘Cheers.’
CHAPTER 22
Little-brains with their puny bodies moved in and out of focus on screen, singing about love and feeling awesome and having fun. Ferrassie had been swinging between numbness and panic since her bashing and interrogation. If she sat very still and concentrated on something, like the communal screen, she stayed in the numb zone. She kept her breath shallow and resisted even blinking, focusing on one point and letting the images and sounds swirl around her.
The panic came when she let herself think about what would happen when the bus to medical research finally arrived. Then she wanted to run or scream. She could do neither. She was confined to the workers’ barracks, and if her whereabouts were ever in question, cameras and Neo detectors all over the city could locate her by her clone tattoo.
Daylight dimmed until the lights in the rec room blinked on. The reek and chatter of day workers soon filled the air. The couch cushion sank a little as someone sat beside her. Ferrassie didn’t move, kept her focus dead ahead. It could only be one of two people. Every one of her dorm mates, the Neos she’d considered her buddies, avoided her now. Except for Shuqba and Amud.
‘Here, I brought you some soup.’ Shuqba waved a bowl beneath her nose.
Ferrassie hadn’t been that bothered about coppers when she’d stayed on the right side of the law. Now they represented LC and all the dramas in her life. Every time she saw Shuqba she got a stab of fear in her chest that she had come to tell her it was time to go to medical research.
‘I’m not hungry.’
‘You should eat something. Amud tells me you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.’
Amud. His sooking and blubbering and smoochy claims of undying love made it harder to get numb. Sometimes she wished he was less loyal. Sometimes she wished he would leave her alone. Because that’s what she truly was. Alone.
‘I don’t have any currency. I’m restricted to Nutri-Shakes,’ Ferrassie said.
‘I know. I used my credits. I had enough for an extra bowl of soup. Please – it’ll go to waste if you don’t eat it.’
Ferrassie held out a hand for the bowl. ‘Ta.’ With any luck Shuqba would go away if she ate. She took a spoonful of the thin savoury broth and her stomach clenched in protest.
‘Also … there’s someone here to see you.’ Shuqba perched on the edge of the couch.
Ferrassie shifted her eyeballs towards Shuqba, using as few muscles as possible.
‘That Sapien truck driver. Lars. He’s in the foyer.’
‘Lars?’ Why would he want to see her? He was probably angry at her for dropping him in it.
‘He said he wants to see how you are.’
Ferrassie shrugged. They had made a connection during the trip. What did any of that matter now? He would be another reminder of all the dramas.
‘I’m not keen to see him.’
‘Perhaps that’s for the best. He’s being investigated for anti-LeaderCorp activities. Associating with him could look bad for you.’
Ferrassie frowned. Since when did Shuqba – or even Amud, for that matter – decide what was best for her?
‘I’ll inform him and then I’ll come and sit with you for a while. Perhaps we can get you showered and into some fresh clothes.’
The last thing Ferrassie wanted was Shuqba sitting with her, babying her. Couldn’t she see there was no point in eating, showering or changing? Ferrassie wouldn’t have Shuqba or Amud or anyone else making decisions about her life. It was the last scr
ap of control she had.
‘Know what? I changed my mind. Bring Lars up. I want to see him.’
Shuqba blinked and sucked in her cheeks. ‘All right. I’ll fetch him.’ She stood stiffly, like she was about to crack it. Ferrassie nearly laughed for the first time in days.
Someone logged on to the Keeping Up with the Cavemen channel. Ferrassie’s panic built. Her favourite show had become her biggest trigger. She put her soup bowl down on the table and went back to her bed in the dorm.
Amud came out of the shower room wearing only his briefs. ‘Hey. I was coming to see you.’ He sat and rubbed her back with a circular motion. His muscled body was close to hers. She wanted to sink into the oblivion of it. Anything to keep the thoughts and panic away.
She couldn’t. Lars was coming to see her.
Shuqba and Lars found her in the dorm. Ferrassie sat up, surprised at how chuffed she felt at the sight of the little-brain. Amud stood and looked Lars up and down.
‘Ferrassie. How are you?’ Lars had an uncertain half-smile on his mug. His hands were shoved into the front pockets of his slacks and his narrow shoulders were shrugged forward.
‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Shuqba gave Lars a filthy look. ‘You can find your own way out, right?’
‘Yes, thank you.’
Shuqba cleared out and Lars and Amud both stood awkwardly by the bed. Amud’s fists were clenched.
Ferrassie swung her legs over and placed her feet on the floor. ‘Can you give us a moment, Mud?’
‘Sure, right. I’ll see you later.’ He leaned over, gave her a smooch on the forehead and dragged his feet as he crossed the dorm.
‘Have a seat,’ Ferrassie said to Lars. She straightened her blanket and pretended to wipe her nose on her shoulder as she took a whiff of her armpit. She was ripe. She probably looked dodgy too. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d brushed her teeth.
‘Thank you.’ Lars sat on the bed beside her. ‘Officer Shuqba brought me up to speed. I’m terribly sorry about the way events unfolded.’
Ferrassie held her arms close to her sides to keep her reeking pits contained and tried not to breathe in Lars’s direction.
‘I’m sorry if I messed things up for you. You would’ve gotten into the city no worries if I wasn’t there. They wouldn’t have searched your cargo and found those slummies either. And now you’re being investigated by LC. That’s gotta be my fault.’
‘No. It’s not your fault. My troubles have nothing to do with what happened the other night. My alleged anti-LeaderCorp activities have been under investigation for a while now.’ Lars lowered his voice and glanced around the room. ‘Is there some-where we can talk more privately?’
Rubbernecking Neos lingered in the dorm, pretending to be busy folding their clothes, straightening their beds or cutting their toenails.
‘Let’s head up to the greenspace.’ Ferrassie stood and made for the stairwell.
‘Excellent.’ Lars followed her up the stairs. ‘So, was that chap your boyfriend?’
‘Nah. He’s a good one though. We have a casual thing.’ Ferrassie opened the door to the rooftop greenspace. Was Lars into her? Little-brains had never checked her out in that way before. Not that she’d ever cared. Spoilt, entitled little-brains with their generic, wimpy bodies had never interested her. She didn’t believe the species were meant to mix, even though the genetic evidence showed the original Neandertals had interbred with little-brains. A lot. She’d never been able to understand why they would want to. On the other hand, something about the way Lars looked at her and the way his mouth quirked to one side when he spoke was … sexy.
It was pointless. Even if she wasn’t being sent off to medical research any day, a relationship with a little-brain would be enough to land her there.
They leaned over the roof railing. Night had fallen and the streets below streamed with the lights of solar cars, trucks and bicycles. It was the rush hour before curfew. All those lives carrying on while Ferrassie’s was skidding to a stop. She wanted to spit off the edge and let it hit the ground. Like everything else now, it would be pointless. Before long a cleaning bot would come through and disinfect the street once again. Everything was out of her control. She wouldn’t miss City 1. It wasn’t for her or her kind.
‘There are some things I want to tell you.’ Lars turned towards her. ‘The truth is I was involved with an anti-LeaderCorp group a year or so ago. We didn’t get up to much. The odd meeting where we complained and discussed LeaderCorp’s human rights abuses and denial of democratic elections. Someone, a traitor, lifelogged one of the meetings and sent it to the authorities. Luckily for me, I missed that particular meeting. The others were stripped of their citizenship and ejected from the city. They had no evidence to implicate me, but they had my name. They’ve been trying to pin something on me ever since.’ Lars paused and looked out over the city. ‘I fear our association has done you more harm than it’s done me.’
‘Wouldn’t matter if I’d come into the city with you or someone else. Either way I’m screwed.’
A tear rolled down Ferrassie’s cheek – the first she had shed since returning from her Neo Control interrogation. Amud had done enough blubbing for the both of them.
Lars put his arm across her shoulder and she crumpled into him. It was the most comfort she’d felt in days.
‘I have an idea,’ he said, when her sobs had ceased.
Ferrassie wiped her tears with the sleeve of her pyjamas.
‘An idea that could get you out of medical research. But I’m not sure I can pull it off.’ He attempted a frown with his smooth, line-free mug. ‘I still have some contacts in resistance groups. I’m hoping to get in touch with someone who could help you.’
‘That could be dangerous for you. Especially if LC are watching.’ Ferrassie had never before considered how dangerous life could be for little-brain Citizens. LC’s giant fist clamped onto everyone. ‘I don’t want you to risk yourself for me.’ Some part of her kind of did, though. The worst that would happen to him would be making a new life outside the city walls. The Demi-slums were rough. Facing torture and death at the medical research facility was rougher.
‘Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.’
Ferrassie nodded, although she doubted there was anything anyone could do against the unstoppable, all-seeing force of LC. Even the idea of anti-LC groups was a joke. LC would swat them away like flies. Something in Lars’s eyes gave her hope though. She trusted him. If he said he could help her, she believed him.
CHAPTER 23
Alida woke Graycie before sunrise and piggybacked her through the mostly empty streets. A handful of characters had formed a short queue at the gate of the shuttered hub. They were the oldies who didn’t sleep much anymore and the early birds whose greatest achievement in life was to be the very first in a queue. Alida and Graycie stood off to the side. They weren’t customers today – well, not just customers anyway.
An armoured bus bumped over the potholes and drove around to the truck bay. Ten minutes later spotlights lit the crowd and the shutters rolled up.
Shuqba came out of the main door and put a megaphone to her mouth. ‘IntelliEnhance brain implant fittings will begin in thirty minutes through the Medi-procedure gate. Please wait patiently. A LeaderCorp representative will soon be available to answer your questions. Children under twelve must be accompanied by an adult. All other facilities will be opening in ten minutes. Please form orderly lines.’ She put the megaphone down and smiled at Alida and Graycie. ‘Come through.’
Alida pushed through to the Medi-procedure gate, sheltering Graycie with her arms. ‘Let us through. Official LeaderCorp business.’
The Demis left outside grumbled and glared. Alida tightened her grip on Graycie. Today their lives were going to change.
Graycie’s health problems would be solved for sure. It was just a shame the rollout had come too late to save Mum.
Shuqba held up her scanner and Graycie and Alida both offered their wr
ists. ‘Have you been inside for a medical procedure before?’
Alida shook her head. The Medi-procedure room was usually only open one day a fortnight for flush Demis who could afford basic medical procedures. ‘Well, we both had wrist chips fitted when we were little, but I was too young to remember mine.’ Mum had been in there heaps of times though, having melanomas removed.
‘There’s a decontamination room you’ll have to go through before reaching the Medi room. It’s intense. So don’t be frightened. Did you read all the information I provided?’
‘Yep’ Alida said. ‘I reckon I’ll be able to answer any questions.’ The procedure sounded brutal. She had no clue how the other Demis were going to react when she explained it all to them. She didn’t even know how to react herself. She had to trust that the LeaderCorp medics knew what they were doing.
‘Excellent. You can head in and get started.’
Alida and Graycie mounted the steps and the door swung open. They shuffled into a small metal room labelled Decontamination.
‘Please remove your clothes and place them in the hatch on the left side of the room. They will be returned when you depart,’ the AI said.
Alida and Graycie stripped off.
‘Close your eyes tightly to avoid damage to your sight.’
Alida squeezed her eyes closed and placed her hands over Graycie’s eyes.
‘I can do it myself.’ Graycie tried to push her hands away.
‘Stand still a minute.’
‘Light sterilisation commencing. Please keep your eyes closed.’
A short blast of light burnt through Alida’s eyelids and made the skin all over her body tingle.
‘You may open your eyes. Please stand on the floor mark during the shower cycle.’ Alida stepped onto the feet icon in the middle of the floor.
‘What’s going to happen now?’ Graycie gripped onto her legs.
‘Just a shower. Plastic-faces have them regular, so they must be slick.’
Graycie screamed as tiny needles of water belted them from all directions. Alida struggled to take a breath, her panic rising until the water suddenly stopped. Graycie clung to Alida, sobbing. All the water drained from the room until not a single drop remained.
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