by Caroline Wei
Ichiro’s face remained stone. “Yes, thank you. However, we’re here to discuss something more grave. We’ve been most concerned about our son’s safety in your Experiment. It has not turned out to be what we agreed to at all.”
Adella gave a high-pitched laugh. “Whatever do you mean? My dear King Ichiro, it’s exactly what you signed up for.”
The skin around Meiyu’s eyes tightened, and Ichiro’s hold on his fork tautened imperceptibly. “We assure you, it is not. Dr. Hernandez, when Queen Carlen held the draft for her Experiment, the world thought it would be a mostly bloodless competition, a sort of coming-of-age ritual to refine Princess Alle for her throne. But at this rate Princess Alle won’t even make it out of the Experiment.”
Meiyu spoke up. “Is it not disturbing to you that it’s only Trial Three and there’s only ten participants left? We did not think this would jeopardize our son’s life to this extent. It’s ridiculous, and we want him out of it, immediately, if not everyone.”
Adella spread her hands. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
There was a moment of cold silence, and the head cook, Mimi, gestured to us from the side of the room to refill any drinks. I walked by Malaya to get to Adella, who had signalled for more wine.
“Why is it not possible?” Ichiro asked over the sound of pouring liquid, a threat in every word.
“Because it would completely mess with the Amnesia Experiment’s calculated algorithms. The variables would have to be reset. I mean, imagine stopping the whole thing to take one person out of the equation. You would have a completely different result, and anyways, we are making an effort not to have any outside influences in the Experiment. The whole thing was a bit of a fresh start, if you will. All of our subjects have memory loss, after all.”
“Yes, but that’s another thing, isn’t it.” All heads swiveled to Malaya, who had been quiet the entire time. “They’re getting them back.”
Adella’s smile dried up.
“You’ve been watching the TV specials, haven’t you? Paying attention like a good girl.”
“Anyone with eyes could tell, Dr. Hernandez. It seems like the whole ‘no outside influences’ thing isn’t working out for you anyway.” Malaya gestured for a refill on iced water. “I don’t know if you know what it’s like to lose a brother to your awful game. But it’s horrible.” Malaya cut her eyes to her parents, who looked carved from granite. “Not to mention, if my brother gets killed, Rubrum loses their crown heir. It all seems a bit strategic to me. Almost like we forgot to read the fine print, and you didn’t bother to tell us.”
Adella listed her head slightly, although even I could tell she was treading on dangerous ground. Niveus may have been the richest, but Rubrum had most of the world in their power. They were loved, and so they had influence. Carlen ruled by fear.
“It was your responsibility to read the fine print,” she said, turning her attention away from Princess Malaya, who had suddenly gone pale. “There’s nothing Niveus can do for you now. Your son is in the Experiment whether anyone likes it or not, and he will stay there until it’s over.” Something shifted on the table, tipping its contents. The saucer.
“Oh, if you’ll excuse this interruption,” Adella said brightly. The chandelier swung a little, shuddering crystals throwing light across the room. “Niveus has been going through a couple of difficulties. You know how times are.”
I almost fell as the floor rocked beneath us, and I was reminded suddenly of the avalanche that I’d barely been able to watch on TV before the dinner. I had been so afraid for Alle and so upset with myself. She had always been my closest friend, someone I could rely on even under the wrath of Queen Carlen, someone who told me stories and taught me ways to pass the time. Yet, while she was out battling the Cube and all the horrors that came with it, I was, what? Having real, heart-breaking feelings for her boyfriend?
Alle may not have known the extent of her love for Oliver before the Experiment wrecked everything. But I knew.
“What is going on?” Ichiro demanded, his voice indignant.
“Just some problems with all the ice we’re sitting on. Nothing to worry about.”
Adella wouldn’t admit to Niveus’ weaknesses. Our country’s land was melting, cracking, right before our very eyes. It wouldn’t be long until we all sunk into the ocean, and Carlen knew that better than anyone. I expected she would crank the pressure up with Caesitas.
The floor stopped quaking, and I exchanged a look of relief with a maid at the other end of the table, who was holding a pitcher. Meiyu’s hands were clutching her napkin like they would anchor her to Earth.
“Could we have the next course, please?” she asked, uncomfortable.
We whisked the salad plates away and replaced them with tureens of grilled beef, garnished with a sprig of parsley and with a side of red wine steak sauce. They ate in silence for a while, before Ichiro brought out a radio from his dragon-embroidered robe.
“I hope you’re aware that this is going around, Dr. Hernandez,” he said, grimacing as he chewed his food. The radio, a little gray thing with two crooked antennae, turned on. Static crackled for a while before Ichiro found the right station.
Oliver’s voice blasted through the speakers, and I gave a jolt of surprise before catching myself.
“—is a disgrace. The fact that we keep letting this happen is a stain to humanity. How can we let this occur to our fellow humans? What gives Niveus the right to kill innocent people in an effort to prove something that does not need to be proven? I ask you all today, every listener, every believer, to take up the flag in opposition to the holocaust that is happening before our eyes. There were friends in that Cube. There were family members, there were bridesmaids and best men and sons and daughters and mentors. And now? There’s next to nobody. Stop the bloodshed before it—”
Adella reached over to switch it off. “That’s quite enough, King Ichiro.”
“The rest of the countries are rising up against Niveus, Dr. Hernandez. Just yesterday, Indicum announced that—” Ichiro gave a low groan, holding his stomach.
“I’m sorry?”
He winced. “I think I must be having some issues from the plane ride here. The time difference, you know.”
Meiyu looked equally pained, and across the table, Malaya was as white as Carlen’s wardrobe options.
“Excuse us,” Meiyu said, getting up, a napkin clenched to her mouth. “This has never happened before.”
I rushed forward, along with all the other maids, offering assistance, medicine, directions to the infirmary and to their private guest quarters. I glanced at Adella as Malaya turned me down for the second time, her eyelids fluttering weakly. The second-in-command looked extremely concerned, but her lips twitched infinitesimally before she stood, calling for a doctor.
This was intentional.
Wherever she was, Carlen had found a way to poison the leaders of the only country in a real position to threaten her power.
I backed away from Malaya, my heart stuttering. When had I become part of a nation as evil as this? When had I allowed myself to be used as a puppet?
Yet, I knew that queens like Carlen would stay in power for a long time to come. She had everyone under her thumb, and we couldn’t rise against her because of the diamond dust she’d sprinkle occasionally in the staff’s food and drink. The stuff made you obedient to her forever, and though I had been lucky enough to avoid it thus far, it was inevitable that Carlen eventually had everyone in the palace in her control. Her potestrine, her resources, the chemists loyal to her —it was too powerful.
I took a deep breath and dared to hope that there were, even now, things more powerful than even the queen could dream.
23
Malchin
I didn’t think things could get any worse.
We couldn’t eat, we couldn’t drink, and we couldn’t fall asleep, for fear of death by cold. There were no little red brambles to consume and no water. The loss of so many peopl
e hit me hard, boulders slamming against my chest with each face that I remembered. This wasn’t fair to them, or to any of us.
Alle had withdrawn into herself, every little movement heavy with worry and pain. She was scared for what was to come and didn’t think we’d make it out alive. I didn’t try to convince her otherwise. She was not in a position to be convinced, and besides, she’d already done so much.
We were all pressed against each other, trying to get heat from each other’s bodies. Adisa was singing in a cracked voice to Anna, and for a while, it was the only sound for miles.
Until the voice from the sky came again. “Congratulations on making it this far,” it said, the cadence and pitch odd, un-human. “Initiating Trial Four in—”
“NO!” the cry ripped out of Alle, her hair tangled in her hands. My heart clenched at her wild face, her wide, bloodshot eyes. “YOU WILL NOT!”
“—ten seconds.” Giant digital numbers appeared in the frozen clouds, counting down. Déjà vu gripped my stomach, threatening vomit. Except I didn’t have anything in me to throw up.
Everyone else had their eyes squeezed shut, unable to face what was coming. We were too weak for this. We wouldn’t be able to fight.
The crimson letters bled into my vision. Four. Three.
Two.
I sighed, long and low.
One.
There was silent snow and air like a vacuum.
Nothing happened.
There was an impulse in me so strong to hug Alle as close as possible to my body, but I resisted it. Another moment passed, and then another, and still, all was quiet.
“Maybe there was a malfunction,” the woman who was with us said. She had long brown hair, and her armlet said her name was Maria.
“There is never a malfunction,” Clarice said, her back turned to us all. Alle sat next to her, both of them leaning on each other’s shoulders, Clarice dejected and Alle inflamed.
“I hope they know what’s coming for them once this is all over,” Alle spat. Her anger was to the point where it was tangible, emanating from her in waves. I couldn’t help it. I reached out to touch her arm, lightly.
“Don’t be angry, Alle,” I said softly. Even her name felt like fire warming my mouth. “Taking revenge won’t solve anything.”
“It’ll solve this.” She pounded her chest, her voice thick with tears, except there was not enough water in her body to make tears.
I sighed, true curiosity poking at me. Why hadn’t anything happened? What was Trial Four?
If this was in another time, I could have called a meeting, and we would have been able to sit down and talk things out. How food was being procured, how shelter was being made. Theories on the Cube and its properties, possible exits. Victoria would stand stoically with one of her leaf bandages in her hand, and Alle would be drawing on the ground with a stick, mapping escape routes. Galen would be talking about soil quality, and Adisa would play with his lolly stick lie detector, twirling it around his fingers, spinning it on his thumb. My thoughts splintered as I recalled the loss of Galen and his hearty voice.
“What’s potestrine?” I asked suddenly. Alle jerked her head towards me, her eyes burning.
“Finally, let’s get to doing something,” she said. “Clarice, you mentioned it when you were bitten by the spider in Trial Two. You talked about a queen—my mom. I remembered her. And the glass wall that shattered in Trial Three? It said ‘Niveus Vitrics Incorporated.’ Niveus is the country she ruled over.”
“And Niveus Vitrics Inc. is some company where people work. Probably my mom. Maybe my dad. If I have siblings, maybe they work there too.” Clarice clenched one fist. “SCREW them.”
“That’s right, screw them all,” Alle said, both of them brewing in hatred. “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the stupid people who made the Cube. We would know who we were—really know who we were. Because of them I don’t even know what my favorite food is.” Alle waved her fist at the sky. “I deserve to know that!” She hiccupped, then lowered her head. “I deserve to know that.”
We sat in silence while my heart broke.
That night, the old man died. His name was Grayson, and he passed quietly. There was no struggle, no last words. He looked like he was sleeping. Maria and Adisa buried him in the snow a few paces from our camp, and then came back hugging themselves. All the while, we stewed in hunger and regret, the skin freezing off our bones. Anna had gotten delirious, her forehead hot with fever.
Exhaustion took us, and one by one, we fell asleep on top of each other, reduced to animals. I knew there was a chance some of us wouldn’t wake up, our bodies succumbing to the elements, but how could you look a defeated person in the eye and tell them they could not rest?
You couldn’t.
So I let them sleep.
I couldn’t slumber, though. There was too much for me to process. I used a rock as a pillow, Adisa unconscious at my feet, staring at nothing. No, that was a lie. I was staring at the one memory I’d been allowed to have, replaying each moment over and over in my head. Bookshelves, stocked with multi-colored novels and maps and dictionaries. The roaring fire, a girl in red ribbons and pigtails, her eyes sparkling. Her laugh.
“Malaya,” I said slowly, so quietly I could barely hear myself. Then I looked towards Alle, crumpled next to Victoria. “Alle.” I said their names like a broken radio. I knew with certainty that I loved both of them so much I would die for them.
Suddenly, above Alle, there appeared a shadow, just darker than the blackness of the sky behind it. I squinted. It was holding something.
A noose.
I shifted slowly onto my elbow. The figure swayed its wrist a little, the noose moving with it. The shadow bent towards Alle, and I saw the intention before it came.
In a second, I was there without really knowing how it happened. I grabbed the figure’s hand and jerked the wrist downwards, hard. There was a hiss of pain and a step backwards, and I launched my fist at the figure’s face. There was a satisfying crunch, the feel of flesh against my knuckles, and then I shoved the person backwards.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I growled.
There was no answer. I grasped for the person again, but there was nothing there. Like smoke, the shadow had disappeared.
I cursed. “Everyone, get up!” There was no light, and there was never a time when I wanted something more. “Get up, there was someone here!” It had to be one of us. There was no one else.
Not everyone woke up immediately, but Alle jumped up next to me, her hair brushing my chin. I felt hot all over for a moment before snapping back to the present. Eventually, all of us woke up, but when I counted, there were nine. Grayson had passed away, leaving…
Nine.
Everyone was here.
This mystery person was faster than I gave credit for.
“One of you guys was trying to murder Alle,” I said, anger mounting in my chest.
“You’re going delusional, like Anna,” Adisa said. He scooped the woman closer to his arms in a protective gesture. “Please don’t make this harder than it is, Malchin.”
“You think I’m lying to you.”
Adisa sighed. “I think you’re seeing things.”
“Go back to sleep,” Victoria urged, the bags under her eyes deeper and darker than before.
“Don’t you see?” I threaded a hand through my hair. “This is Trial Four.”
“What are you talking about?” Alle whispered, her eyes on mine.
“There’s a traitor in our midst. There’s someone here who’s on their side!”
There was a beat of silence, and then Victoria said, “You’re right.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Adisa murmured.
“What else could Trial Four be? Nothing else has happened so far.”
“You’re saying that now, on top of everything else, we have to fight a murderer?”
I grunted. “Did they ever play fair?”
Alle wove her hand in
to mine, and I waited a moment to savor it before sliding my hand away. She looked up at me.
“Why are you doing that?”
I swallowed. “I—”
“Don’t even try to deny it, Malchin. Don’t play that game with me.”
“It’s for...it’s for you.”
“For me? How do you know what I want, Malchin?”
“I know that you don’t remember your feelings from your past life, Alle. I can’t take advantage of you like that. You loved someone else before, and until you remember, you aren’t in a position to make a sound choice between me and him.”
“I can make choices,” Alle replied. “Malchin, you can’t just tell me I can’t choose.” Her hair fell into her eyes. “I love you. Everything about you.”
My heart exploded into my throat, and I had to take a moment to catch my breath.“What if you love everything about him too?”
“What’s done is done. We can’t change what happened in the past, and the past led me here.” She placed a soft hand on my chest. “Why can’t you just accept that? I don’t want to live in the shadow of what could have been when I know the now.”
“Stop.”
“What?”
I cleared my throat and moved her hand from my chest. “That’s really distracting.”
For one moment, Alle blushed, bright red color blooming in her cheeks. Then, she looked down. “Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
She was moving closer to me, her lips looking so soft. Instinctively, I moved my head closer to hers, Alle’s eyes fluttering closed.
Clarice screamed.
We both jolted away from each other and saw Clarice’s hand buried in the snow, her skin turning gray.
“What’s wrong?” Alle asked, collapsing near Clarice.
“I can’t feel my hand. I can’t feel my hand. It’s been stuck here and I can’t get it out and I can’t feel my hand!”
“Calm down, Clare,” Alle said and tried to tug her hand out of its place in the snow. It didn’t budge one inch. “The snow’s too hard-packed,” Alle said. “We can’t break it out. I’m going to have to pull, Clarice.”