Anomalies

by Sadie Turner

  “You’re an Anomaly. Are you really happy?” he asks scanning my face for a reaction.

  “You’re the world leader. Are you really happy?” I say without thinking. I don’t mean to be sassy or snarky, it just comes out—a gut reaction in a stressful situation.

  Sobek laughs, a loud baritone laugh. “Indeed. But I know my place in this world. The question is, do you know yours?”

  I pause for a long time before answering. I have another sip of the warm, sweet caffeine. There are so many things I want to say. I want to tell him that I don’t trust him. I want to ask why people have Thirds and why they buzz. Why my friends seem to have different personalities now that they’ve imprinted. I want to scream that I remember the boy who was supposed to be my intended partner. The boy with the bright blue eyes. And if I could just find him, then we can be imprinted, and I can be normal. I want to shout to the entire camp that it’s not my fault that I’m an Anomaly, that I can be a good, productive citizen. But my heart is telling me to say something else. And, for the second time in my life, I listen to my instincts.

  “Sir, I believe I was made an Anomaly for a reason,” I say confidently, silently praying that Kai has given the world leader a similar speech. “I don’t know what happened to my intended partner and, frankly, I don’t care. I believe that I am meant for bigger things than working in the Ocean Community. I know I can be an outstanding member of the Global Governance if you will give me the opportunity.”

  “What opportunity is that?” Sobek asks, almost amused.

  “Look, I’m stronger than practically everyone I know, and,” I hesitate just ever so slightly, “as a member of your Protectors, I believe that I will be an asset to the Global Governance.”

  “So you think you’re Protector material?” Sobek asks.

  “I do. People trust me. People like me. I can be your eyes and ears in my community and ensure that the resistance is squashed.”

  “There’s a resistance?” Sobek leans in. It is clearly a test.

  “There is. No one talks about it, but we all know it’s there. People who are not happy with one world order. Although why people wouldn’t be satisfied with world peace is beyond me.”

  Sobek’s eyes gleam. This is the exact thing that Sobek wants to hear. He smiles brightly.

  “I’ve been looking for someone like you for a long time, Keeva.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I smile with false bravado, trying to hide the fact that I am shaking inside. “I believe in peace.” I then hold my hand up into a fist, punch it straight up into the air over my head with my first two fingers slightly open into a peace sign, and repeat Sobek’s motto, “With satisfaction comes happiness, and with happiness comes peace.”

  I shake Sobek’s hand and smile at Burton, who is waiting for his interview. I barely make it out of the cafeteria before I throw up.

  “HOW WAS YOUR DAY OFF?” Sobek asked his son.

  “Fine,” Calix said. His father had gone on one of his routine visits to Monarch Camp and had finally left Calix alone. In spite of this, rather than playing games with his friends, Calix had stayed by himself in his workroom. He could not get the image of the woman out of his mind. The woman he had murdered. The woman his father had manipulated him to kill. And it was all with the swipe of a few numbers. Whoever knew the codes could possibly override the controls. Could possibly save lives. Calix was furious at his father, but he knew he was a dangerous man. And without his mother to guide him, Calix felt alone and unequipped to handle his father’s unpredictable savagery. So Calix practiced a trick his mother had once taught him. He masked his anger with aloofness. “No big deal. Did some work. Hung out.”

  “Did you talk to Sarayu?”

  “Sure. We talk most nights.” Calix paused, “Father, you asked me why I’m not smitten with my intended partner.”

  “I did,” Sobek said carefully.

  “Well,” Calix hesitated, “why aren’t I? I was talking to her, and she was going on and on about which part of the palace we’d live in and how she wanted two girls and a boy and other trivial things and, well, I didn’t really care. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like her … but I’m not in love with her. Not even close. What’s wrong with me?”

  Sobek laughed. He enjoyed the sensation. He rarely laughed, and now he had two belly laughs in less than twenty-four hours—first with the red-headed Anomaly from Monarch Camp and now with his son. “There is nothing wrong with you, Calix. In fact, if you did have feelings for Sarayu, I’d be upset. It would mean that your mother did her job too well in raising you.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Not yet, but it will,” Sobek said. “Tomorrow, your reeducation begins. You will be attending the week-long session of Monarch Camp for five-year-olds that begins when regular camp ends. The MC-5 program.”

  “But I’m seventeen,” Calix said.

  “Indeed. But you were never properly indoctrinated. Future Protectors rarely are. But to see what kind of world you will command, it is important that you go through the twinning process.”

  “Twining process? But that would mean I would need a partner to be twinned with.”

  Sobek smiled. Perhaps his son was not as daft as he thought. He pressed a button on his tablet, and he heard Rika’s melodic voice on the other end.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “It’s time,” Sobek said, and turned his attention back to his son. Calix was a good-looking young man. Tall and strong with a well-defined jaw and deep-set eyes. He would have a strong media presence in the world. The citizens would definitely respond to him. Sobek’s eyes never left his son’s face as he waited for the office door to open, until a slight woman with thick black hair rushed through the door and threw her arms around Calix.

  “Sarayu? What are you doing here?” Calix’s words were muffled through his intended partner’s tight embrace.

  “Your father wanted to surprise you,” she said sheepishly. “Are you surprised?”

  “Yes,” Calix said. His eyes locked with Sobek, silently questioning his father’s motive.

  “Isn’t this fun,” Sobek said a little too eagerly. “Tomorrow, we’re going to visit Monarch Camp. See the wee ones play. Maybe we’ll even stay a few days. Won’t that be a fun trip?”

  Calix shuddered, ignoring Sarayu’s squeals of delight. He had a feeling the trip was going to be anything but fun.

  I am optimistic.

  I think I may have a chance to still be happy. To be like my friends. If I imprint with Kai and am invited to be a Protector, I can possibly continue my original destiny. I can proceed with the plan I had outlined my entire life. I can go back to my community, and life will go on close to the way it was before.

  I am hopeful for my status quo. After my meeting with Sobek, I sit with Blue and Inelia in a small room, waiting for Claudia Durant to tell me my fate. Inelia is nervous about something, and although I want to ask her, something tells me to stay quiet. Suddenly, I hear her voice in my head.

  “Can you hear me?” Inelia says. Only she is not speaking. She is looking at me, but her mouth is not moving.

  “Yes,” I say out loud.

  Blue looks at me. “What?”

  “Um … nothing. Sorry.” I turn back to Inelia who is just looking at me. Waiting. I try again. Thinking rather than speaking. “Yes, I can hear you. What is this?”

  “You have an ability Keeva. It’s like a form of ESP. You can hear thoughts, when you are open to hear them. When you are mentally available, you can get hunches, intuitions, gut instincts that will guide you. Now listen to me very carefully. You are about to be imprinted. Most likely, your Third will not buzz. Your psychic energy is too high. Your brain instinctively knows how to short-circuit the Third so that you can think independently and not be manipulated by the chip. Certain Anomalies are the same way. You must protect yourself.”

  “How?” I am still stunned that I am having a conversation without opening my mouth. That we are communicating in fron
t of Blue who cannot hear us.

  “You know what it looks like when someone’s Third buzzes. You felt it with your friends and then again with Mikaela. Act that way. Pretend it is happening to you.”

  Our silent conversation is interrupted when Claudia Durant enters the room. She is not alone. Kai and Genesis are with her. She is all smiles.

  “Bunk 20 Girls—Keeva Tee, your intended partner is … .” I look at Kai, smiling because I know that I will not have to pretend with him. He’s my best friend here, and even if I don’t have romantic feelings for him, we’ll have fun together. Even if my Third doesn’t buzz, I will be happy to be imprinted with him. I start to stand, but sit back down when I hear her say, “Genesis Kraft—Bunk 20 Boys.”

  What has just happened? This is not the way it is supposed to be. Clearly, Kai Loren and I are supposed to be together; yet I have just been officially imprinted with Genesis. Destined for a life together.

  Destined to be satisfied. Destined to be happy. Destined to find peace.

  My Third isn’t buzzing and I’m pretty sure why. Genesis is a great guy, but we have no connection. Not the way Kai and I do. I think about Annika and Rane and their intended partners. They are thrilled to spend the rest of their lives with Dante and Edward. The thought of spending the rest of my life with Genesis, instead of Kai, makes me sad.

  “Guess it’s me and you, Keeva,” Genesis smiles as he takes my hand.

  “Guess so,” I say. I am anxious. Incredibly anxious. The last few hours have been a blur and I can’t quite get a grasp on what is happening. Claudia watches us, expecting us to do something. I quickly remember Inelia’s warning and plant a smile on my face and will a serenity to flood through my body. Genesis then shyly gives me a kiss on the cheek. This action seems to satisfy her.

  “Bunk 20 Girls—Blue Patterson. Your intended partner is Kai Loren—Bunk 20 Boys.”

  Blue squeals and rushes over to Kai. I stand there stupidly, smiling at them even though inside, my heart is breaking. And why does Kai seem genuinely happy? He looks thrilled that Blue is his partner. Fine. If I mean nothing to him, I can force myself to believe that he means nothing to me.

  “And now for the most exciting part,” Claudia Durant looks at us, then continues, “The four of you have been invited to join the Protectors.”

  Everyone smiles, except for me. I am still furious about Kai’s excitement over being imprinted with Blue. But I have little time to stew as Claudia Durant quickly rushes us to the flagpole, where the last campers are finishing up getting their butterfly tattoos. Genesis and Blue get their tattoos first. As we wait, I purposefully bump into Kai.

  “Hey, you just bumped into me.”

  “Sorry about that, Beanpole, but how do you know you didn’t bump into me?” I say, replaying our first conversation at camp.

  “What’s the matter, Keeva?” he says. His voice is tinged with something. Is it sadness? Is he in any way upset about his match as well?

  “I’ll tell you later,” I say. But I know I won’t, and I sit down in the chair Blue has just vacated.

  “Ah, Protectors,” the tattoo artist says knowingly as I sit down to be marked. She is the counselor from the Academic Community. An artist. Burton said his mother was an artist. Where is Burton?

  I grimace as the jet-black butterfly is tattooed on my shoulder. The needle pierces through my skin and burns me as the black pigment is etched into my left shoulder. I bite my lip in order not to scream. Protectors are tough, so I must now be stronger than I’ve ever been. This is not the butterfly I want. This is not the life I choose, this is not the intended partner I wish, but I force a smile as the tears gather in my eyes. The artist finishes and moves on to Kai, who is next to me. He elects for a black butterfly with tiny red dots on the wings … to honor his original community. Why didn’t I think to do that? I could have had blue dots to remind me of the Ocean. Frustrated, I look at the deserted flats. Everyone is packing, readying themselves for the trip home. Was it only three and a half weeks ago that I was declared an Anomaly? It feels like a lifetime ago.

  “Do you have any blue left?” Kai is asking the instructor.

  My ears perk up and I watch as she opens her ink kit, revealing a rainbow palate of blues from navy to robin’s egg. I can’t help myself and I start to cry. This is what my life was supposed to be.

  “Hey,” Kai says, “I thought this would cheer you up, not upset you. Come on, pick the color of the ocean and add it to your tattoo.”

  Gratefully, I point to the bright aqua in the center of the palate.

  “Where do you want it?” the tattoo artist asks. She is bored and clearly ready to pack up.

  “Can you make a few droplets of water around the butterfly, like she is shaking it off?” Kai asks.

  “That’s not really protocol.”

  “Are you questioning a Protector?” Kai’s voice is suddenly authoritative.

  “No, sir.”

  “Good,” Kai smiles and looks at me. “Keeva, you’re going to get your ocean after all.”

  Five bright aqua drops of water later, I am done and the four of us walk hand in hand in pairs to the bunks.

  Kai and Blue.

  Genesis and me.

  All three of our instructors pop by to say goodbye as we pack. Inelia gives me a long hug while Max and Claudia Durant shake my hand proudly and welcome me to the elite community. Claudia Durant warns me that none of my relationships will ever be the same. People react differently to Protectors. She shares that she used to be from Labor, and none of her old friends trusted her once she was promoted.

  “I’ve never heard of Labor being Protectors, it’s too—”

  “Low brow?” Claudia Durant laughs, making her entire face seem soft for the first time all session. “It’s true, Labor rarely become Protectors. This happens only on rare occasions.”

  “Wait,” I say, suddenly realizing, “you were an Anomaly?” I am shocked. My perfect instructor seems like she was born into her role.

  “All the Anomaly instructors are. Takes one to know one, right?” She smiles, “Anomalies can go one of two ways. They can imprint immediately like Mikaela and Radar. Or, if they are so special that they truly don’t fit into any of the communities, Sobek Vesely personally invites them to join Protectors.”

  “So, you’ve been where I am?”

  “Twenty years ago. In this exact spot.” She lowers her collar and shows me a beautiful ebony butterfly with a streak of gold across its right wing. “I was given the gift of joining the Protectors and have dedicated my life to helping other Anomalies.”

  “But you said there were two ways Anomalies can go. What about Burton? Has he been—”

  “We’ve talked long enough, Keeva.” Claudia Durant’s eyes close over into small slits, and all traces of conviviality are gone as she cuts me off. “Best of luck to you.” She shakes my hand officiously and leaves me both afraid and intrigued by our conversation.

  On the helicraft home, Annika and Rane treat me like royalty. In their eyes, I’ve catapulted from pariah to princess. After a while this gets annoying and I close my eyes, pretending to sleep. Everyone on the helicraft is being extra nice to me. Somehow I have managed to rise from outcast to celebrity in a matter of hours. I am now one of Sobek’s elite, a future leader of the Global Governance with a higher status than my friends. A higher status than my father.

  I race home to my father who hugs me and congratulates me on successfully completing Monarch Camp. He hands me my bathing suit, knowing how desperate I must be to jump back into the water. How desperate I must be to feel ordinary again. Still, I feel anything but ordinary. As I swim out toward the reef, I try to ignore the raw skin on my newly inked shoulder. With each lap, as I swim farther from shore, I digest what has happened to me and contemplate what will happen to me. For the next three years, I will finish my schooling in the Ocean Community, and then I will imprint with Genesis and we will be assigned to one of Sobek’s Protector squads. It all seems so sim
ple. So normal.

  But everything is anything but normal.

  At night I go to sleep in my own bed and listen to the ocean crashing to the shore. This sound has been like a lullaby to me for my entire life. Yet as soon as I am asleep, suppressed memories come flooding out. I have disturbing nightmares so real, so vivid, I wake up screaming. Every morning, I awaken in a pool of sweat and am afraid to go back to sleep. My father holds me, stroking my sweat-soaked hair, but that doesn’t protect me from my subconscious. The nightmares are the same:

  I’m spinning around and around, suspended from a vaulted ceiling, watching the world turn around me. I close my eyes because I’m so dizzy, and I call out for help, but no one is listening. There are grown-ups nearby, tall people in crisp black uniforms, who are laughing and ignoring my cries. I try to move my hands to stop myself from spinning but they’re stuck, pressed to my sides and swathed in silk, as if I am in a cocoon. Terrified, I finally open my eyes, which immediately rest on him. His bright blue eyes reflecting in my own. Silently, his look encourages me to be strong. He will be there for me. He will protect me. And, although I can’t stop spinning, I know that I am safe. But the boy starts crying. Suddenly, the pain is too much for him. I see hands choking him, and I feel hands choking me. Why? I just don’t understand why this is happening. Just when I am sure I will die, the hands let go. I feel a piece of myself leave my body, gone … never to return. Someone has stolen a piece of me, a piece of my energy. They are feeding on it, using my energy to make them stronger.

  I wake up screaming for them to stop. Begging for them to let me go.

  This happens night after night. I can’t swim; I can’t focus on school or on my friends, only on the dark nightmares that invade my psyche. My mind is opening in ways I don’t understand. I see things that are not there. I remember things I shouldn’t. I think I’m going crazy, but I’m afraid to say anything. Oddly, the one person I want to speak to is Kai. Unfortunately he is miles away in Mid-America. We do manage to talk every night. We either 2-D face talk on our tablets or I tap his code into my identity watch and his holo pops up so that I can see him in 3-D. We talk, although it is never about anything of consequence. Even though we are not imprinted partners, we are friends. But I am careful what I say to him. I know the Global Governance taps our watches and tablets, and the things I want to talk to him about are too dangerous to be monitored.