by Lucy Adler
“I’ll be ready in two minutes!” a woman called from somewhere down the hall.
“Whatever,” he called back.
A few minutes later, she entered the room in her same silver dress from the night of his induction ceremony.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, standing beside the sofa and running her fingers through his hair. “Aren’t we going out?”
“Another round of trials failed,” he said with sigh.
She sat down next to him, just squeezing in on the edge of the couch as he continued lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. She took the hand that wasn’t on his forehead and held it between both of hers, rubbing the back of it softly.
“I’m sorry, honey. I know you were hoping this would be the one.”
“Three times. Three failures.”
“I know.”
She started lightly scratching the back of his hand, working her way up his wrist and forearm. She let her fingernails drag gently over his skin as she moved her hand in slow but steady strokes, up and down, up and down.
“You’re giving me the chills,” the man said with a reluctant smile as his arm showed signs of goosebumps.
“Do you want me to stop?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“No.”
They didn’t end up going to their engagement that night. It was only a dinner anyway, with a few colleagues from the Institute.
They would understand if he made up a story about some important work that couldn’t wait.
_______________________
The woman awoke to the sounds of cooking in the kitchen. The unique smell of nutritionally-enhanced bacon frying in the pan wafted down the hall and tickled her nose.
She yawned and rolled over, glancing at the clock.
“Oh my gosh!” she gasped, throwing back the covers and flinging herself up into a seated position on the side of the bed.
She hesitated for a moment, letting the rush of blood to her head settle before she stood up. Then she grabbed her robe and hurried into the bathroom. As she shut the door, she heard her husband calling from the kitchen.
“It’s just about ready! You almost done in there? You’ve had half an hour by now.”
The woman threw some water on her face and frantically brushed her hair.
“Hurry up, hurry up!” she said quietly to her reflection. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get the reddish sleepiness out of them. Then she gently slapped her cheeks and cleared her throat, trying to get herself at least thirty minutes more awake than she was.
“That’ll have to do,” she whispered, running her hands over her hair and trying to make it look like something more orderly than bedhead.
“There you are!” the man said as she entered the dining room.
“Here I am!” she smiled, giving him a kiss on the lips. “Wow, this smells sooo good!”
“What took you so long?”
“Oh, you know, just girly stuff,” she teased him.
“Well, it’s not like you can get any prettier!”
They kissed again and then enjoyed their eggs and bacon, with a side of vitamin-enriched, dried-out crisp bread. Her husband had set out their morning dose of Sendrax on the table beside their plates, and they each took their pill when they had finished eating. After their leisurely fifteen-minute breakfast had come to an end, the man went back down the hall to get ready for work before he headed out for the day.
When she heard the door to the bathroom close, the woman went into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of Sendrax. She opened it and tipped one more pill into her hand. She stared down at it for a brief second, her heart beating a little heavier.
Then she threw the pill into her mouth and swallowed it.
_______________________
“We made fantastic progress this week! It looks like our fifth version might be approved for full clinical trials by the end of the year!”
“That’s amazing, honey! I’m so proud of you!”
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself or anything...” the man started to say, trailing off as he did.
“But?”
“Well, what if... you know... what if we actually solved it? Like, completely. Cured the world. For good.”
“Then they might have to rename the Institute in your honour!”
The man laughed in a mixture of happiness and embarrassment, even blushing ever so slightly.
“Well, like I said, I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”
He stepped in to hug his wife but she coughed a few times.
“Oh, excuse me. Let me just get a drink of water.”
She left the room as her husband sat down on the couch and started talking to her through the wall of the kitchen.
But she could barely hear him. Her whole body filled with the whooshing sound of a deep, deep yawn. Then another after that.
She reached for the Sendrax bottle, her hand shaking, her husband still talking to her from the other room.
“...and you know, they say that if the first round of trials goes well...”
She popped the lid and tipped two pills into her hand. Then a third.
She opened her mouth, staring at the drugs.
“...but you should have seen the look on Bill’s face! He was pretty jealous! So I said...”
Then she dropped them back into the bottle, trying to hide the hollow sound as they bounced around inside. It shouldn’t be empty this soon.
“That’s wonderful, honey!” she called out to him. “I’m glad things are going so well! You deserve it.”
“Thanks. Hey, can you bring me a glass of water, too?”
“Sure.”
She fumbled with the cups as she tried to steady her hands. She filled them from the tap, then set them on the counter.
“One... two... three... four,” she counted to herself as she breathed in. “One... two... three... four,” she counted off again as she breathed out. She repeated it two more times, praying to anyone and anything that might be listening, not to let her yawn again.
Then she grabbed the water glasses and went back out to join her husband.
_______________________
“What are you up to today?” the man asked as he was tying his shoes.
“I have a few different meetings. Nothing too big. I’ll probably be home by six.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come work at the Institute? With my recommendation and your administrative skills, you could get a pretty great position.”
“No, I like working at City Hall.”
“I know you do. And they’re lucky to have you!”
He stood up straight and gave her a kiss, then they said their goodbyes and he left the house first.
His wife watched from the front window as he pulled out of the drive and then disappeared down the road. Then she grabbed her tablet.
She swiped a few times, looking for the most recent message:
Hi Lena,
I’ve processed your request for leave as of this morning. What a great opportunity to get to help Charlie out at the Institute for a while! We can’t wait to hear how it goes.
Looking forward to having you back when you’re ready.
All the best,
Claire
She breathed out a long sigh, then tossed the tablet onto the dining room table and walked down the hall to the bedroom. After changing back into her pajamas, she drew the curtains and shut the door. Then she climbed back into bed.
She set the alarm clock for two hours before Charlie would be home.
Then she pulled the covers over herself and closed her eyes.
6
Month: 4 | Day: 8 | Year: 60
PETALS
“At least we don’t have any heavy bags this time, I guess.”
“I wouldn’t mind the weight if it meant we had more food,” Daria replied with a groan. “I think my stomach is deciding which of my organs it’s going to devour first.”
“I always get extra hungry af
ter I’ve been active in the dream-state,” Jake said. “Most sleepers do.”
“Hey, can we conjure up some ‘dream food’?” she asked with wide eyes.
“Wouldn’t that be nice!”
“One dream burger, please,” Brix said, raising her hand as she placed her order.
They were about three hours into the journey across the gently sloping mountainside. There was still another hour to the road that would ultimately lead them to the Gates, and a glimpse of the world beyond Progress.
“I think I’d start with a plate of dream pancakes, drowned in an ocean of dream syrup,” Daria said with longing in her voice. “And some dream bacon on the side.”
“Mmmm, dream bacon,” Brix repeated.
The conversation had been a brief but welcome distraction for all of them, especially for Daria.
“Can we take a little break?”
“Sure. How about over there?” Jake said, pointing to a fallen tree just a little further ahead.
The three of them jumped up onto the massive trunk. Jake and Brix let their feet dangle over the side, while Daria stretched out lengthwise on it.
“How’d you guys sleep last night?” she asked, laying her arm over her eyes to block the sun.
“I think I hit five hours!” Brix said. Then she laughed at herself. “Look at me, I’m getting excited about nothing - like, literally nothing! Lying in a bed, unconscious for five hours. But it’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to me... well, ever! I’m such a rebel.”
“Do you think the Sendrax is completely out of her system yet?” Daria asked Jake.
He was picking at the bark of the tree with a stick.
“Jake?”
“Sorry,” he said, “I think I blanked out for a second. What was that?”
“Do you think there’s any Sendrax left in Brix’s system, or is it gone by now?”
“Probably right on the edge. It can take a few days. My guess is, she’ll sleep a full eight hours tonight. Especially after this hike!”
“Yeah, I’m definitely feeling it,” Brix said, rubbing her thighs.
“How about you, Jake?” Daria asked.
“Me what?” he replied, a little nervously.
“How did you sleep last night?”
“Oh, yeah, I slept fine. Who doesn’t sleep well at the cabin, right?” he laughed. “Such a peaceful place.”
They were quiet for maybe a minute or two, then Jake tossed the stick he had been holding and jumped down from the tree.
“Should we keep going?” he asked.
“Just a little longer?” Daria replied, her arm still over her eyes.
“Of course, no worries,” he said, climbing back up beside them. He folded his hands in his lap, tapping his thumbs and gently bouncing his dangling feet as he waited until the rest of the group was ready.
____________________________
“Will there be some way to call my parents once we get wherever it is we’re going?” Brix asked as they had now reached the four-hour mark of their journey. “I’m not going to give them all the details or anything, I just thought maybe it’d be nice for them to know that I’m not technically missing!”
“There are a few secure uplinks we use for communication to and from the Advanced Cities. But I’m not sure if you’ll be allowed to use it just to call home. We’ll have to see.”
“I don’t want them to treat Brix like an outsider,” Daria said in a tone that was oddly sharp. “Just because she isn’t a sleeper doesn’t mean she’s less important.”
“I didn’t think she was,” Jake replied innocently. “But I’m not in charge of who uses the comms and when, so I can’t promise anything.”
“It’s ok, Dashy,” Brix added. “They have to be careful, I get it. I don’t mind.”
“I’m sorry,” Daria replied, rubbing her forehead. “I’m probably just hangry. Corey would understand!” she laughed. Then her heart felt heavy as she was reminded that they had no idea where Corey or any of their friends were.
“Everyone knows how to get out to this settlement place on their own, right?” she asked Jake.
“Absolutely.”
It was only one word but it was encouraging enough to help Daria let go of her anxiety for now.
They had dropped down into a canyon a little while earlier and were now approaching a greyish-blue road with faded yellow lines down the middle. The sides of the canyon were rocky, mostly a light tan colour mixed with more greys and yellows, and covered in patches of dark green brush and low trees. Even though at the cabin, Daria and Brix had both been surrounded by more nature than they’d ever seen before, this was the first time that Progress itself was well and truly out of sight. Until then, it was always barely visible on the horizon during the day, while its distant glow haunted the night sky.
The Great City of Progress had been founded over the town of Casper, Wyoming in the year 2041. As the least populous state in the country, complete with vast tracks of relatively flat land in the eastern and central parts of the state, it was a perfect choice to allow room for the city to grow. And grow it did. In the fifty-five years since Caxton and Meyers themselves helped clear away parts of the old town, Progress had consumed the countryside around it at an alarming rate, reaching a land area equivalent to roughly seven times that of New York, and eight times that of Tokyo. From the very beginning, its founders had boasted that one day, the city would absorb the world - “Progress for all, and all for Progress.”
“It’s so quiet,” Brix said. The only sounds came from the birds and the gentle crunching of the arid landscape beneath their feet. “It’s kind of eerie, isn’t it?”
Just then, Jake took off ahead of them at a jog.
“The trip gets a little easier from here!” he yelled out. “And we should be able to get some food soon, too!”
They watched him push through a mass of tall brush not far from the traditional concrete road. A minute or so later, they heard a growling, rumbling sound. Then something suddenly came barreling through the bushes, a cloud of dust in its wake.
The normal, everyday car in Progress was the same for most families - just a basic, white, four-door sedan that was built specifically for the magnetic tracks of the Road Network. It was powered by the latest hydrogen fuel cell technology - referred to simply as ‘energy cells’. They were comfortable, clean, efficient, and extremely quiet.
But the beast that now stood before them was unlike any vehicle they had ever seen before. It was black with red trim and it sat high enough off the ground that it needed shiny steel bars along the sides to help you climb up into it. The top of the tires came up to Daria’s waist, or a little higher. The front of it was protected by a rack of thick steel bars, and there was a black chimney-looking thing mounted on the side of where Daria imagined the engine probably was. A row of extra headlights was mounted on the roof and a couple of cans were attached to the back end with some kind of heavy webbing.
But even more imposing than its appearance was its sound - it was like someone had trapped a thunderstorm inside a metal box, and it was trying to break free.
“What the heck?! That thing’s gotta be like a hundred years old!” Brix yelled over the noise of the engine as Jake revved it several times. A few puffs of exhaust rose from the tailpipe and she coughed as they wafted towards her. “It’s loud and stinky and seems a little dangerous,” she added, leaning in closer so her friend could hear her.
“But it’s also kinda awesome!” Daria replied with a slightly wild look in her eyes.
“Totally!”
They ran up to the passenger side door and Brix climbed in first. As Daria waited her turn, she noticed a silver emblem on the side of the truck that looked like a horse trying to kick someone off its back. She had no idea what it meant but she thought it seemed fitting.
Despite only having two doors, there was a spacious rear cabin area with a bench seat where they made themselves comfortable. It was covered in a rough, woven material tha
t was colourful but a little scratchy to the touch.
“Buckle up,” Jake said, looking back at them with a wink.
Then he revved the engine one more time, popped it into gear, and tore off down the road.
____________________________
It wasn’t long before they came to a small town - a really small town. There was just a handful of buildings lining the highway, and only one seemed to be in use.
Jake slowed down and pulled off the road into an empty dirt lot.
“Let’s get something to eat!” he said excitedly.
They entered a white building with a wooden floor that felt a little softer than it should have. The entire structure was clearly past its prime and Daria thought it was a miracle that the place was still standing.
“Howdy!” a voice called out to them. It was a short man with a cowboy hat and a red flannel shirt, standing behind a long counter that ran the entire length of the room.
“Hey, Clarence!” Jake replied, walking over and shaking the man’s hand. “These are some friends of mine.”
“Greetings, ladies,” he said, tipping his hat. He was older, maybe sixty-five or seventy, with a white moustache and leathery skin. His smile was warm and welcoming.
“We could use a good meal,” Jake said, patting his stomach.
“Oh, are you on your way... out?” the man whispered, his eyes widening.
“Yup!”
“Excellent! Well, sit right down over there and I’ll see what I can rustle up.”
Daria wasn’t sure where they were. Was it a restaurant? A store? This guy’s home? There were a few different items on display behind the counter that definitely looked like they were for sale - some cans of beans, a few bags of rice, and some actual boxes of white stuff, just like they served at school.
She suddenly felt her appetite slipping away.