by Jacinta Jade
‘Siray, come in.’
The master gave her a smile that she couldn’t muster herself to return. He gestured for her to sit in the form seat across from his, and she did so, easing herself down slowly as her muscles protested.
The master leaned forwards. ‘I know we haven’t found anything yet to explain what’s causing this … delay, but I’ll review the data from today with the research team, and maybe we’ll find something.’
Siray nodded blankly at him, her stomach tight from the doubts and worries that clenched at it. What if they didn’t find anything? What if she never Changed? Would they cast her out of Lalinta? Out of society? Yet if she stayed, she didn’t know if she would be able to handle the looks or the whispers that would always surround her. She brooded on that last scenario for a moment before she realised that the master had been silent for a while.
She flicked her eyes back up at him, and her face warmed as she saw he had been silently watching her and was waiting for a response to a question she hadn’t even heard.
‘Sorry,’ she muttered.
He waved away her apology. ‘I know you’re worried. But we’ll fix this, and everything will be fine.’
Siray nodded at him again, and their short conference over, she left the room. The master’s mantra kept repeating in her mind, even as she decided that her stomach was not going to accept any food that night. She went straight to her lonely dormitory in the training dome, switched into her sleeping gear in that quiet space, and slid beneath the blankets of her bed.
Fine. Everything would be fine.
***
Siray dreamt that she was surrounded by hooded figures, their faces dark beneath their robes. Their silence caused the skin between her shoulders to prickle with unease as she stood there, but their shadowed faces seemed to be looking past her, at something over her shoulder.
Nervously, she twisted to look, but some irresistible force held her in place. Her muscles refused to obey as she tried to turn her body, then just her neck, to see what was behind her. Her chest began to rise and fall faster, as she realised that her body was in fact frozen. It was a terrible thing, seeing those silent and unmoving figures before her, but knowing that something worse might be behind her. Yet unable to turn and face the unknown threat, she remained there, tensed, her senses extended.
When someone spoke from close behind her, her breath caught in her chest.
‘The case in Lalinta shows promise,’ a voice said, its tone low and smooth, a gentle caress. Each word was slow and considered, seeming to echo slightly in Siray’s ears. ‘I want this subject,’ continued the voice. ‘See what you can find out without raising suspicions, and then bring her to me if she seems to match what we think.’
The hooded figures around her bobbed their heads, and a soft gleam seemed to come from one figure in particular.
Siray was almost sure that the cold voice came from the direction of that gleam.
‘As ordered.’
The hooded figures turned away as one, and the dream blurred into darkness.
***
Late that night, Siray was awoken by a chime from her bedside.
Groggy, she rolled over and clumsily waved her hand over the glowing message box to activate it.
‘Yes?’ She barely got the word out before a large yawn also forced its way out of her. She swiped at her eyes, rubbing them to encourage the blurriness to dissipate. What time was it? She craned her neck towards the far wall in order to look at the time picture that was projected onto it.
Great Mother—it was just after the still of night. No wonder her thoughts were running into each other.
A voice spoke clearly to Siray from the message box, jarring her further awake.
‘Siray—you are required in the research centre by the Change master at once.’
The curt and commanding voice made Siray stare at the message box in surprise. She waited for further instructions, but the box simply chimed again and was silent.
She blinked a couple more times, then frowned. Guess that person wasn’t too happy to be up at this late span either.
She lay there for a moment, gazing blearily at the box. She hated to leave the soft mattress and warm blankets. And she was so tired … a few moments more wouldn’t hurt.
Siray smiled lazily and closed her eyes, relaxing into her blankets again as she happily pictured the owner of the grumpy voice becoming more annoyed when she was just a little slow to arrive. As she began to drift off, her thoughts ran into each other, jumbling and unjumbling in turn, until one clear thought emerged from the confusion.
Her eyes shot open again, and she jumped from the bed, almost falling on her face as her feet became entangled in the blankets. She pushed the soft fabric away from her impatiently, now wide awake. There was only one reason why she might be summoned at this time of night. They must have found out what was stopping her from Changing! And if they could identify the problem … then they could find a solution.
Siray’s eyes widened, and a grin spread across her face as she successfully stood up. She would be able to make the Change like her friends and leave Lalinta to live her second life as she was supposed to. Eventually everyone would forget that she had started a day later than the others.
Picking up her clothes from the day just gone, her fingers moved rapidly as she pulled on her youth uniform, zipping it up to her chin. She hopped in place for a moment as she forced her feet into her boots, then began attempting to brush her dishevelled cloud of red hair away from her face with her fingers as she walked down the empty corridors at a fast pace to the entrance of the research centre. She had to clamp down on her urge to run there, and instead she counted her steps as a way to distract herself. And she counted doors she passed. And windows. Then the breaks in the sections of the interior walkway. Anything to keep her mind busy. As she walked with purpose, she noticed the silence accompanying this time of the night. There was a reason why it was known as the still time.
It was strange too, seeing the normally bustling areas of the city so quiet and still as she looked out through windows she passed. Yet it was also a relief. Without the usual buzzing activity of people moving between tasks, there was no one to stare at her in curiosity, pity, or aversion.
As she drew closer to the doors of the research centre, she took a deep breath and swallowed, extending her arm to grasp the door handle.
As she reached for it, a sudden, piercing pain caused her to jerk her hand back, and, stifling a cry of alarm, Siray raised her hand quickly, examining it for the hurt it must have taken.
There was nothing.
She glared down at the door handle in a fury, convinced it must have done something to her, even though she hadn’t actually touched it. Nothing. Yet she could still feel the echoes of pain moving up her arm, such had been its intensity.
Siray swore as she clenched and shook her hand a couple of times. A muscle spasm, probably. She would worry about it later. For now, she had more important things to think about.
She tentatively reached for the door again, with her other hand this time, and then jumped back with a gasp as the door opened before she had even touched it.
‘Siray.’ One of the master’s assistants greeted her, the male’s pale robes denoting his station. ‘The Change master is waiting for you inside.’
The assistant held the door open for her, and Siray nodded as she entered the centre. Closing the door, the male took the lead, and Siray followed close on his heels, eager for information.
‘Has the master news for me? Has he discovered something?’
The assistant didn’t turn to acknowledge the barrage she fired his way as he led her down a corridor.
‘The master will answer any question you may have.’
Siray sighed to herself. Stupid protocols. She looked about as she followed the master’s assistant around corners and through unfamiliar hallways. She had never been so far within the research centre and thus had never truly appreciated its size.
It was enormous.
They turned another corner into a new hallway that had just one door at its end, where two more assistants stood. Apparently waiting for them, one of the assistants opened the door as Siray and the male approached, revealing a glimpse of a room filled with more people and machines.
As she walked through the door, Siray saw the Change master interrupt a discussion he was having with someone else to walk over and smile widely at her.
‘Siray. Thank you for coming so promptly.’
Siray looked at the master anxiously. Surely he wouldn’t smile if he had bad news?
‘What is it? Have you found something?’
The master kept smiling and stepped closer, resting both hands on her shoulders. ‘I believe so,’ he said mysteriously. ‘But first I need to run one more test to confirm my theory, which means, of course, I need the subject of my theory.’
Siray straightened at his words, happy to hear that progress had been made. ‘Whatever you need, master.’
‘Excellent.’ The master clapped his hands together once. ‘Let’s get you set up over here.’ He led Siray over to a tall piece of equipment, which looked like a long cylinder standing on its end. The master pushed a button on the side, causing a section on the front of the cylinder to rotate open, revealing a dark and empty space inside. He gestured for Siray to step in, but she eyed the machine critically.
‘What does it do?’ she asked.
‘It allows us to examine a complete map of the chemical and tissue compositions of a person’s body,’ the master said smoothly, as if this was something he did every day. It probably was.
Siray nodded as she scanned the inside of the machine. There wasn’t a large amount of space within it.
The master moved away from the opening of the machine, encouraging her to step inside again with another gesture. ‘This will take only a moment or so.’
Siray nodded at the master again and proceeded into the dark space before her, turning swiftly so she could look back out on the brightly lit room.
The master gave her another reassuring smile, just before he extended a hand to depress a button on the outside of the cylinder near the opening.
The front section of the cylinder rotated back into place with the slightest hiss, enclosing Siray in darkness.
CHAPTER THREE
SIRAY COUNTED her breaths. Soon the scan would be done, and then she would have some answers. The machine must have been using some new technology, as she heard no noise and saw nothing that told her of its internal operations. Although it was against Kaslonian law to use any technology outside of the three cities, within them, they had access to the most marvellous systems and equipment that they could use to monitor the environment of their world and the health of the population, grow their own food, and study creatures from remote distances. So she had every confidence that the complex equipment she had seen in the room, and the machine in which she now stood, could find the cause of her trouble.
Siray breathed in deeply, then exhaled, reaching up to flick away a strand of hair that had fallen forwards to annoy her. Then she began counting again.
She had gotten into the hundreds before she sighed and stopped. Just how long was this going to take? She held her breath and listened intently. And then she kept listening. She could hear … nothing. Tentatively, she stretched out her hands to the section of the cylinder before her that acted as the door. When she touched it and still didn’t hear anything from outside, Siray pressed her hands more firmly against it.
‘Master? Is the scan done?’ she said, speaking loudly.
No response.
She frowned. Maybe they were so caught up in looking at whatever the scans were showing that they had forgotten she was still in there.
She frowned, not liking that thought, and pushed at the door in the hope it would have an automatic sensor and open before her.
Nothing happened.
Frustrated, she raised her fist and banged it against the smooth metal that formed the inside of the cylinder’s door.
‘Hey!’ she yelled, wincing as her voice reverberated loudly around inside the cylinder, then paused to listen hard for a response once the echoes had died away. Still nothing.
Unease began to build within her, and she felt a light sweat break out across the top of her body. Something was wrong. The strand of hair that had annoyed her earlier fell forwards again, and she brushed it back irritably, noting as she did so the soft glow of light from the room outside shining through the seams of the cylinder’s door. She squatted down carefully in the cramped space. Most of their technology had fail-safes, sensors that ensured the equipment both functioned correctly and avoided harming anyone. Surely this machine must have one in case the external buttons failed to activate the door’s opening mechanism. And if there were sensors … The tips of her fingers traced the rim of the door, following its edge around one of the bottom corners. There … she felt something. She moved her fingers carefully back to where she had felt the disruption in the rim of the door and held the tip of one finger there for a moment. Nothing.
She moved her fingers away and tried again, achieving the same result. Siray let her head roll forwards to rest against the cylinder door in frustration with a dull thump. She was sure that was a sensor. Siray curled her legs further underneath her and bent her body to the ground so that her line of sight rested level with that rim. Yes, there was the place, and … her body went cold.
The sensor itself had been removed. She could see now that where it should have been was just empty hole.
Her body shook as she sat up, seeming to already know what her mind was still working through.
There was only one way that sensor could be missing. Someone had removed it. And someone would only remove it if they didn’t want the person inside going anywhere. Didn’t want her going anywhere.
Siray listened hard, her body still, her breath shallow. Before she had been desperate to hear anyone. Now … now she hoped no one was out there. Because she needed to get free before whomever had done this came back.
She closed her eyes for a moment, placing one hand on her chest, which rose and fell rapidly. She needed to be calm. She needed to think clearly. She needed to—
Voices. Approaching fast. Her heart ignored everything she had just told herself as it attempted to race the sounds of those approaching voices.
‘You have the subject?’
A cold voice.
‘Yes. Female of ten cycles who shows great potential.’
No, Siray thought, shock coursing through her. Because she knew that second voice. And knew it well.
***
‘Status?’ The cold voice grew in volume. Both speakers were in the room now.
‘In full health. We did all manner of tests today to confirm it.’ The known voice seemed to be trying to assure the cold one.
‘Good.’ The voice was still cold, but also seemed … amused. ‘Send a report through the system to the cycle guide signalling a complete success of the study and of the female’s Change.’ The voice spoke with its own slow cadence, like the person was testing out each word as they spoke. ‘His lordship will want further tests done before she is brought in.’
‘We are equipped to do whatever tests his lordship might require.’
‘Excellent. I will run these tests, however, while you return to monitoring the other cycle groups. His lordship has a … special interest in this case.’
‘Of course.’
Siray’s face turned hard as she knelt there in the dark. She wanted to spit in the face of that last speaker. She continued to listen carefully, but there was no further conversation. Tensed as she was for any sound, she jumped when the front section of the cylinder began to open with a hiss. Blinking as the door slid fully open and the artificial light hit her eyes, she didn’t see the two pairs of hands that reached in to grab her.
As she felt someone get a firm grip and pull her roughly out of the cylinder, she yelled, ‘Hey! What a
re you doing?’
As her eyes adjusted, she whipped her head around, snatching a brief look at several hooded figures pressing close around her before darkness descended over her eyes. Panic seized her, and she grabbed at the darkness, her fingers snagging on thick cloth as she struggled to lift whatever it was they had put over her head. She had barely raised it at all when her arms were grabbed and forced down and behind her, held painfully tight. She thrashed her body around, her desperation outweighing any fear, as she heard one of her captors call out for more assistance. Faster than she would have liked, she felt more hands grab her shoulders. Her fear heightened to terror, and she fought even as her hands were tied securely behind her. Thinking fast, she sagged backwards against her captors, catching them off guard and making them stumble under her weight. Then, having felt their hold on her loosen, she rose up once more to strain against them. Determined and gaining confidence, Siray raised and stamped one foot down with force, hoping to squash someone’s foot with the heel of her boot. When that didn’t get the result she was after, she began blindly kicking out at the bodies she could feel pressing around her, connecting with hard and soft body parts. Yelling and screaming in the hope of deafening them or alerting someone else who might come to her aid, she fell promptly silent when she felt a cold edge quietly press up against her throat.