by Melissa Faye
I rolled my eyes. At the moment, they were all my enemies.
“If we can’t save your friend –“ Jane paused at the look on my face. “Ok, if we don’t know yet how to save Yami, we can still work on the shock collars. Once we turn off the shock part and remove them from the NBs’ necks, they’ll be on our side. I know they will.”
“So how do we get into that main building to reprogram the system?” I asked. I sat down on an armchair and tapped a finger on the arm, still unable to stop fidgeting.
“I don’t mind sneaking in,” Jane said. “Or maybe Enzo would!”
“It has to be me,” I replied. “I’ll have to write some of the code on the fly. And Enzo...he likes me, and he likes Vonna. But I don’t know if he’d go this far. I don’t know that he believes the truth yet.”
“Then we’ll make him believe.”
JANE WAS CERTAIN ENZO would reach out very soon, and he did. That very evening. I wasn’t going to the social activity – a guitar player was playing for us in one of the parks – but Enzo caught me as I walked past it.
“Charlie! I did it. I saw where Vonna lives.”
“What did you learn?” I asked. I kept walking towards my house, and he matched my pace.
“It’s terrible! I didn’t know, Charlie. I want to apologize to Vonna, but I don’t think she’ll talk to me. Or what I would say.”
“You know, Enzo, I don’t think an apology is going to do much for Vonna’s living conditions,” I said. “And it won’t help the fact that she has a shock collar permanently attached to her neck.”
Enzo looked surprised.
“Then what do I do? I think I...I – I really like her. I’ve never felt like this, Charlie.”
“Enzo, could I tell you something that stays just between us?”
“Of course!” He picked up the pace and grinned when I said it; he was thrilled to have earned my trust.
“You know the woman they brought in this afternoon? The one in red? Yami?”
“The rebel leader? Of course. I knew they were bringing her in, and I’m glad to see her punished for what she’s done. Now we can keep an eye on her.” Enzo took on a more serious tone. He really did see himself as a leader here.
“Well I grew up with her. I helped her – I know about her past. I know the things the Chancellor said aren’t true.”
Enzo paused in his steps and I sucked in my breath. Everything I said to him put me in danger, but I couldn’t contain myself. How loyal was he really? He reminded me of a mentee trying to impress his mentor. And he was so nervous about girls and what Vonna thought of him. But he was more powerful than any other person in the camp at the moment and most of his views were dangerous.
“Of course they’re true!” he said, eyebrows low. “I’m not supposed to say, but I’ve seen footage of her. From years ago. Leading protests. Speaking in front of groups of rebels.”
“That can’t be!” I said. “She’s my age. She would have been a kid then.”
“She looks younger, but don’t believe it,” Enzo said with an air of superiority. “Some people just age like that I guess.”
I bit my tongue and stared at Enzo. He was back in his oversized black suit, tablet in hand. Ready to take charge. Or brutally punish someone into submission. But at least I knew his weak spot.
“Enzo, what if that was Vonna in that red jumpsuit and you knew she was innocent?” He made to speak up but I talked over him. “No, forget what you think about Yami, that doesn’t matter. Just imagine that Vonna, who you care about, was being punished cruelly for crimes she didn’t commit. Crimes that are mostly made up to begin with. What would you do?”
Enzo looked down at his tablet. I peeked over. He was scrolling through messages and announcements from different people – CL3, CL24, CL5. The other Chancellors. Then he swiped over to a video screen that was focused on Yami. She lay in a small fenced in area by the other NBs. Though it was chilly outside and she was right next to her tent, she appeared to be asleep right outside of the flaps. She was collapsed in a heap like a ragdoll.
“I – I don’t know,” Enzo said. “I don’t know what I would do. It wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.”
“But what if it did happen?” I said quietly. “What if you couldn’t stop her being treated like that, and she was laying there right now? What would you do?”
“I’d do anything,” Enzo said softly. “I’d get her out of there. Immediately.”
“So you can see where my head is at right now.”
“Yeah.”
ENZO HELPED ARRANGE a meeting for Vonna, me, and himself at my house the next morning. I grinned when I saw Vonna approaching. I could have sworn her hair was nicer than usual. Like she wanted it to look good for someone.
“Thank you so much, sir!” Vonna said as she walked towards Enzo. “It means so much to me that you’re willing to talk to us about this!”
Enzo’s face turned red. “It’s nothing.”
I winked at Vonna.
“So what do you want to do?” Enzo asked us. “I don’t know if I can help in the way you want me to. I don’t have access to everything.”
“You’ll be fine,” Vonna said. She gave him a sweet smile, and his face turned redder.
“We need to turn off the collars,” Vonna continued. “That’s the first step. Even if it doesn’t last, even if they get turned back on, that’s the only way I can think to gain the NBs’ trust.
Enzo’s mouth gaped.
“Turn the collars off? No, I have no idea how to do that. And how would we ensure people –“ His mouth closed tightly at the look on Vonna’s face.
“The collars are controlled by a server in the main building, when you enter camp.”
“The main office?” Enzo asked. I nodded.
“If you get me in there, I think I can turn them off. Probably.” I realized I wasn’t at all sure if I could do it. It seemed possible, but I didn’t know what I’d see when we found the computer system.
Enzo’s mouth curved into a grin.
“Well, I can just turn them off,” he said. “You don’t have to do anything, Charlie. I can shut the system down temporarily. Easy.”
Vonna leaned forward and hugged Enzo tightly. I watched his eyes bulge as he hesitated , then placed his arms around her. I swear, the idiot smelled her hair.
“Not forever!” Enzo said, stepping back. “I don’t want to cause alarm. But if I just go in, switch them off, then switch them back on a few minutes later...would that be enough?”
“I think so,” Vonna said. She still wore the smile she gave Enzo before. “I remember when I got the collar, I felt a little vibration after they put it on me. It didn’t hurt; it was just a little buzz. The others will feel it when the collars go off and on.”
Enzo agreed to turn off the collars at noon the next day, then back on five minutes later. Vonna agreed to spread the word to the other NBs. It would be a show of faith. No one would know Enzo was involved. When he excused himself, Vonna gave him another tight squeeze goodbye.
“Thank you!” she whispered in his ear. “You’re doing the right thing!”
He walked down the street with an extra spring in his step.
Vonna closed my door and rounded back towards me.
“Charlie, I don’t know what to do for Yami!” she said. “What’s your plan? Can I help?”
“I have no plan,” I said. I sank back into my couch, much like Enzo had a few days earlier. “If we turn off the collars, hers will probably turn off too. Or it won’t, if they have it on a separate system.”
“And I can’t get close to her,” Vonna said. “I tried today. I made eye contact. But as soon as I approached her, her guard stood in our way and told me to stay back.”
“Is she ever by herself? Without a guard?” I remembered Enzo’s video feed. “Wait – she’s by herself at night, when she’s sleeping, right?”
“Yeah! It’s really quiet at night. Very few soldiers. Mostly just NBs.” Vonna ran to m
y bookshelf and pulled out one of the volumes that the government placed in there before my arrival. A history book. Probably detailing the rise and fall of the rebels and the incredible accomplishments of the Chancellor. “Do you have a pen?”
I found a pen in a desk drawer and Vonna unceremoniously ripped a page from the end of the book. It was mostly blank except for the end of the index. She sat on the floor next to my coffee table, pen in hand. She looked at me.
“I don’t know what to write!”
I pulled the pen and paper out of Vonna’s hands and knelt next to her.
“That’s ok,” I said. “I do!”
Chapter 21 – Yami
I was grateful to be in good shape from Gray Suit training. My guard, Buzzy, was cruel. Someone must have carefully picked him for this job. He believed everything the Chancellor said and wasted no opportunity when it came to bullying me.
But I couldn’t shake feeling hopeful. Both Charlie and Vonna were there – Vonna tried to approach me, but Buzzy prevented her from getting close. Vonna was an NB with a shock collar like my own, but Charlie would figure something out. They had to. Back before Etta had her baby, the Chancellor put me in a rehabilitation program to change my opinion of him and of the community. It slowly boiled away my resolve. I would have become completely numb if Charlie hadn’t brought me back. Now that Charlie and Vonna were by my side, or at least fifty feet away, I knew it wouldn’t happen again.
My tent was not the torture chamber I imagined. It was small, and I would not survive the coming winter without more blankets. For now, it was good enough. I watched the NBs going about their business when I was locked in for the night. At first they seemed angry with me. After a few days, I noticed more compassion in their faces. They knew what this torture felt like. And maybe they suspected that I wasn’t who the Chancellor described.
A few days after my arrival at camp, I woke at sunrise. Buzzy was nowhere in sight; he usually came later to get me for breakfast. I sat cross-legged in front of my tent, no longer bothered by the filth and mud. I took a big breath in and tried to let my mind drift a little bit. One of the NBs saw me and gave me a small wave. I waved back. A few seconds later, a quick buzz around my neck reminded me that I’m not supposed to interact with anyone.
Near the corner of my space, half covered in mud, I noticed something white. It looked like a crumpled piece of trash. I crawled towards it and saw it was paper torn from a book. And it had writing on it.
I knew where two of the cameras were that faced my tent. With my back to them, I leaned forward as if I was stretching and closed my hand around the paper. I pulled it back slowly, emphasizing my stretch with a yawn. I sat in place for a moment, looking around mindlessly. Then I crawled back into my tent. It was the only place in camp where I had actual privacy. I uncurled the paper and felt tears in my eyes as I read the note.
Y – I wish I could see you under different circumstances. V and I miss you terribly.
We’re trying to make everyone safe. We’re turning things off. It’s slow. We wish you could help. Check the corner.
Love you. –C
I flipped the paper over. No more information. I read the note a few more times. I missed Vonna and Charlie desperately in that moment, more than I realized.
They were trying to break the NB’s out, but I wasn’t sure what they were turning off. The electricity? The government? I wanted to help. It was why I went to Young Woods, and why I went to HQ. But now I was trapped.
But being trapped didn’t mean I was helpless. Not if I had paper and a pen. “Check the corner” – Vonna must have left me something to write with. I scrambled out of the tent and poked around each corner. I hoped it looked like I was planning an escape – that would probably be better than smuggling a pen and paper into my cell. I didn’t feel any shocks, but I did find a small pencil hidden in the mud in a different corner of my space.
I palmed it like I had the note and scrambled back to the tent. What to say? What do you say to the person you love and left behind? And what do you say when the weight of the country is bearing down on you, threatening to crush you where you stand?
I leaned over the paper and fiddled with the pencil. And then I wrote. When I was satisfied with my message, I hid the pencil between my blankets and snuck the paper back to where I found it.
BUZZY HAD ME SCRUBBING down a cafeteria that afternoon. I could tell he enjoyed visible jobs for me, because he could encourage breeders to taunt me or at least yell at me in front of them. The initial excitement from my arrival had calmed down. I was impossible to miss in my bright red jumpsuit, but people just weren’t that interested anymore. In fact, if I paid careful attention, I sometimes saw a hint of compassion on a few breeders’ faces like I had with the NBs.
“Faster, traitor!” Buzzy snapped at me. I was wiping down tables as fast as I could, but I knew that if I went faster, he’d yell at me that I wasn’t doing a good enough job. I looked around the room to see if Charlie or Vonna was there. I wanted to see them if only to indicate somehow that I had left them a message.
“Stop what you’re doing and stand up straight, traitor,” Buzzy suddenly whispered in my ear. He held the plastic fob in front of me, the one with the button that set off my shock collar. His thumb lay across the button. “Not a word,” he hissed.
I followed his instructions but sneaked glances around the room. Someone walked across the room, talking to soldiers and making notes on a tablet. He wore a jet black suit, but he was smaller than the Chancellor. When he turned my way, I could see why. He was only a teenager.
My heart beat faster as he approached us. Buzzy seemed to be nervous as well; I could hear his raspy breathing speed up. Teenage Chancellor nodded hello to Buzzy.
“Good afternoon, sir!” Buzzy replied jovially. “How are you doing today?”
“Good, thank you,” Teenage Chancellor said. He wasn’t looking at Buzzy, though. He was staring at me.
“Yami, right?”
I didn’t answer. I was not supposed to talk to anyone. I was not interested in receiving a shock right now.
“Oh, that’s right – sir?” He addressed Buzzy. “Why don’t you put that button down for now. I’d like to speak to Yami and I think that’s the only way she’ll feel safe enough to respond.”
“Yes, sir!” Buzzy said. He placed the fob in his pocket and directed a sneer. He would find a way to punish me for this conversation later.
“So it’s Yami, right?” Teenage Chancellor asked. I nodded. “And you were the leader of the rebel movement?”
I shook my head.
“No? You weren’t?” The boy looked at something on his tablet.
“Yes she was, sir,” Buzzy said. Teenage Chancellor ignored him.
“Why would we say you were the rebel leader when you weren’t? It seems like that’s something that would be hard to be wrong about, right?”
His tone confused me. There was an underlying threat, but there was also an actual interest in my response. It was like he was calling me out on a lie, while also prompting me to explain why I wasn’t lying.
“I can’t say,” I said.
“It’s just, I can’t tell why we would bring you here if you’re not the leader. I mean, I’ve heard your name before. I’ve heard my – people I work with talk about you. That can’t be a coincidence. You have to be guilty.”
I said nothing.
“She’s a traitor, sir,” said Buzzy. He had no traction with the kid, though.
“Yami, if you aren’t the leader of the rebels, then how did you end up here?”
He waited while I contemplated my answer. I figured I was in a good position. This was as miserable as they could make me without executing me, and if they did that, they’d lose their scapegoat.
“I was working with the rebels. I was undercover as a Gray Suit – I mean, as a soldier.”
The boy stared off to the side as he turned this over in his head. Buzzy kept inhaling as if about to speak, but apparently d
idn’t have the courage.
“I’m still confused, Yami.” The Teenage Chancellor’s face made me think of how Vonna used to look at me. He really wanted answers. This wasn’t a test or another way to demean me. “What do the rebels want?”
“They want to destroy everything we’ve built, sir!” Buzzy was a great sycophant. I could see many promotions in his future.
The kid still ignored him though.
“The government is keeping us all caged,” I said. “Not just me. All of us. Even the breeders and families aren’t free. Breeders have to have children on the government’s terms. Even families have to live where they’re assigned. They can’t leave. They can’t see their friends who aren’t breeders. They have to send their kids to schools where they teach propaganda –“
“That’s enough.” Teenage Chancellor looked half disgusted, and half amused. “I’m not sure – I don’t know what we’re going to do with you.”
Buzzy tried to speak again, but the Chancellor was already gone.
Chapter 22 – Charlie
I was practically leaping out of my skin when Vonna brought me Yami’s response. She laughed at my excitement and handed the note over.
“You’re a dork, Charlie,” she said.
“I’m telling Enzo you said that!” I said, wiggling my eyebrows. “He’s a huge fan of mine.”
The paper was crumbled and covered in mud, but Vonna had already wiped enough of it off to read.
C – I miss you too.
We have to cut off all the heads at once. But how? It’s the only way to end this.
Love, Y
“What head?” Vonna asked. “Do you know what that means?”
I knew the Chancellor thought of himself like a Hydra. He told Yami as much. A many-headed beast. Cut off one head, another springs up. But cutting them all off? At once?
“She means we need to take down every Chancellor. Every last one.”