Unbreakable

by Will McIntosh

  Chapter 18

  Celia jolted upright. Her phone was ringing. She took a few huffing breaths, trying to clear her mind, before reaching for the glowing phone. “Hello?”

  “So now you know.” It was Max.

  Her heart shifted gears, from startled jackrabbit to a slow, hard, angry thud. “You must be in trouble, after we slipped right through your fingers.”

  “A little,” he allowed. “I tried to tell you there was nothing there for you. You ready to come home now?”

  “Home? You mean back to the TV show?”

  Anand and Beaners were both watching her, trying to pick up the gist of her conversation.

  “That’s right. Back to the TV show. It’s what we do, Rock. If not for the TV shows, we wouldn’t be here.” His voice was smooth, relaxed, like Celia was twelve and they were talking about whether she could get a new bike.

  “Did you know what was going on all along?”

  “I was what they call a Stabilizer. I kept things running nice and smooth, made sure people followed the rules, kept the show interesting and on theme. Record Breaker tends to attract older viewers, and older viewers don’t like surprises. They want their shows to be like their slippers: comfortable, and the same every day.”

  “I guess I disappointed them.”

  Max grunted. “You disappointed a lot of people.”

  Celia felt a pang of guilt, but quickly stifled it. Max wasn’t who she’d thought he was; if he was disappointed in her, she was probably doing the right thing. “And you disappointed me. If Janine was alive, she’d be devastated. All those years were one big lie. A sham.”

  “It was hard to know things without being able to tell anyone. I always felt like an outsider.”

  Being an outsider was no excuse for what he’d done. Celia knew exactly what it felt like to be an outsider. “You were manipulating us. Everything we did together, everything you said, was a lie.”

  “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You could have told us what was happening, somewhere away from the cameras. You could have run. You had choices. You chose the easy path.”

  “There were no easy paths.” His tone was suddenly steel. “There still aren’t. But I’ll keep choosing the survival of our people, of our way of life, over my personal desires. I wish you’d do the same.”

  “Our way of life? We live on a farm. We’re livestock, waiting to be sent to the slaughterhouse.”

  Max huffed impatiently into the phone. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Look, I had to keep some things to myself for good reason, but what I felt for Janine, what I feel for you, isn’t a lie. You’ll always be my Rock.”

  “Don’t you dare, you Judas bastard! I’m not your anything!”

  Anand shushed her, pointing at the door.

  “I’m trying to help you, Celia. I’m trying to save your life. But this isn’t just about you, anymore. It’s gotten much bigger than that. It’s about all of us now, all of our people. If you screw up the shows and hurt Dominion, Dominion won’t make more of our kind. Do you understand that?” He took a few breaths, trying to get himself under control. “If you come back now, you do two years in prison. The same deal for your friends. Even the clown.”

  “Wow, only two years? You’re the best dad ever.”

  “It’s not up to me.”

  The closet door opened, hitting them with a blast of harsh white light. Bage set down a plate of bagels the size of birthday cakes, a tub of cream cheese and a plastic knife. Celia pressed her hand over the phone so Max wouldn’t hear.

  “I need to go to school, but we’re going to cut out early to take you shopping. The Breadwinners went to work. Make yourself at home till I get back.”

  “Who’s that?” Max asked.

  It occurred to Celia that it was dangerous to give Max any chance to figure out their location. For all she knew, he was tracing the call. “None of your business, Max.” She disconnected.

  “Before you go, can I ask you something?” Celia asked Bage.

  Bage gave her a warm smile. “Of course.”

  “What are we?” It was hard to form the words. The shock of losing Janine was like a full-body shot of Novocaine. But she needed to know.

  Bage waved the question away. “Oh, don’t worry about that. We’re not so different.”

  “Did the people who run Dominion do something to us, to keep us small?” Anand asked.

  “Guys, it’s technical stuff I don’t really understand. Something to do with your genes.”

  Celia knew almost nothing about genes. She knew they were what decided if your eyes were brown or blue, but her time in school had been heavy on reading and writing and math, and movies and novels didn’t go into much detail on things like genes.

  Bage blew them a kiss and closed the door.

  Suddenly Celia did not feel well. She held her stomach and rocked. The rocking reminded her of the way Janine rocked while she was eating in competition, and that made her feel worse.

  “I’m sorry about Janine,” Anand said. But not sorry enough to hug her, or give her a comforting pat on the back. He just sat there, legs crossed, hands in his lap.

  Her phone vibrated. Dozens of text messages appeared, all from Molly. Max must have arranged to have them come through. Celia read the last few.

  Are you receiving? She’s gone, Rock. Come home.

  Hurting so much. Want u here.

  I’ll search 4 U, once I’m out.

  Once she was out. Molly still thought she was coming here in two months. Unless Max had hacked Molly’s account, and had written these texts to try to convince Celia to race back to Record Village to comfort Molly.

  No. These were from Molly. Celia had read enough of her texts to recognize her writing.

  “Where are we supposed to go to the bathroom?” Beaners asked.

  “Figure it out,” Celia snapped. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Let’s try to figure something out.”

  Blessedly, they could reach the door knob to take turns going into Bage’s bathroom. When it was her turn, Celia perched on the edge of the enormous toilet bowl and tried to envision making a life in this place.

  Beaners had flipped the trash can, evidently so he could stand on it to pee. Celia used it to reach the sink. She had to use both hands to turn the faucet on. The sink was almost big enough to serve as a bathtub, but she restrained herself.

  It felt as if there was a lead weight in her stomach. Janine was gone, and Celia had nowhere to go. She couldn’t go back and she couldn’t stay here. When people here looked at her, there was contempt in their eyes, or amusement, or both. Except for Bage, and some of Bage’s friends.

  She took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. Stay focused. It’s not just Molly, your team, your town. It’s everyone.

  This would be easier if she could lean on Anand. In the water he’d made it sound like he was crazy about her, now he seemed incredibly uncomfortable around her. Celia had liked the Anand she’d known on Dominion, and she may have loved the Anand who’d been in the water with her. Maybe discovering he was so small was too much for him to handle, after living as a giant.

  She went back to the closet. “We have to get the word out about that hill. Bage seems like someone we can trust.”

  Beaners picked up the handstrap Bage had left them. “Show me how to use these things. I want to learn the game, catch the patter of this place.”

  It was huge on Celia’s hand, but she got the hang of manipulating it, and was able to teach Beaners. He scrolled through shows alphabetically, watching a minute or two of each.

  Celia felt restless as they explored TV, like they were wasting precious time. It was crucial they get the word out about the hill on Dominion Island, but the every-minute-counts urgency had died with Janine.

  #

  Bage burst through the door, a tube of something clutched to her chest. “Ready?”

  Celia shrugged. It wasn’t like she had a p
urse to grab.

  “Here.” Bage offered her the tube. “Smear some of this on your cheeks and chin. It baffles facial recognition software.”

  “Should we be walking around in the open, even with this on?” Anand asked. “Won’t the police be looking out for us?”

  “Why would the police be looking for you? Did you do something wrong?” Bage asked.

  “Aren’t we fugitives?” Celia asked, confused.

  “From Dominion, affirmative. But the police couldn’t care less.” She put a hand on Celia’s arm. “I don’t think of you like this, but to the police, you’re lost property. No one stole you, Dominion just lost you. It’s up to Dominion to find you.”

  The idea was both reassuring and horrifying. Lost property. “If we’re property, does that mean Dominion can do anything it wants with us?” She was thinking of the hill of bodies.

  “Not anything. You’re living creatures, so you have protection against cruel treatment.”

  “Have you watched Circus Town?” Beaners growled.

  “Or Slaughtertown?” Anand added.

  Bage shook her head rapidly. “Dominion is a different story. It’s not in any country. Dominion Productions owns it, so it makes the laws.” She turned toward the door. “We should get going. My friends are dying to meet you.”

  As soon as they stepped outside, a half dozen teenage girls came running up to greet them, chattering, excited. Another dozen disembodied girls’ faces hovered in the background, squeeing and chattering.

  “I just love you,” said a black girl wearing a pink monocle and matching high-heeled boots.

  A girl in a skintight outfit that reminded Celia of a superhero costume wrapped her arms around Celia. “Can I give you a hug? I feel like we’re already friends.”

  “You are so handsome,” another girl said to Anand, who looked baffled and extremely uncomfortable.

  “Isn’t he cute?” A remarkably tall girl was squatting in front of Beaners.

  Bage introduced the girls in turn. Celia tried to remember their names as everyone piled into a long, thin purple vehicle parked at the curb. The floating faces, shrunk to about one-quarter their actual size, were already inside.

  “They’re a little overwhelming at first, but they’re great. You’ll like them,” Bage said to Celia as the vehicle pulled away.

  Celia nodded, stunned by the attention. This world was disorienting; the people yesterday had treated her like a dog, while these girls were treating her like a rock star.

  “So, are you two a couple now, or what?” the black girl, Lexie, asked.

  Celia tensed. She glanced at Anand. Tall Anand, his feet sticking straight out on the seat like a toddler’s.

  “Right now we’re focused on staying alive,” Anand said.

  They peppered her and her companions with questions about their flight across Dominion—what they were thinking and feeling, what had happened before the “show” began in Luckytown.

  They parked in a lot outside a store called The Connection. In the window, mannequins that Celia would have mistaken for people standing very still if not for their varied and unique skin colors modeled flamboyant clothes.

  “They can’t possibly have anything in our size, can they?” Celia asked as they headed for the entrance. Even if they did have clothes for people their size, Beaners’ shape seemed like a complete nonstarter.

  Some of the girls laughed.

  Raelyn put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry about that.”

  As they approached the store, Beaners sidled up to her. “The next person who calls me cute is going to have a broken pelvis.”

  Celia shushed him. This was the first real break they’d gotten since they went on the run. They didn’t need Beaners screwing it up.

  A thin man in a suit with rippling pinstripes scanned Celia, Anand, and Beaners with a white wand. Moments later he issued them each a black skintight bodysuit to put on in a dressing room.

  There was no trying on. The girls pointed out outfits displayed on the walls. Celia stood still and suddenly, poof, it was like she was wearing an outfit, only it was really a three-dimensional image projected onto her. Girls circled—some live, others remotely—offering opinions, bickering amiably. Sometimes they asked Celia what she thought, but she was happy to let them make the decisions.

  Occasionally she spotted Beaners or Anand receiving the same treatment as girls rotated between the three of them, clearly having a great time.

  When the girls had selected five or six outfits for each of them, the salesman disappeared into the back.

  “We don’t have money,” Celia whispered to Bage, stating the obvious.

  Bage waved dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll all pitch in.”

  Within minutes, the salesman was back with a neatly-folded stack of clothes.

  “How did he do that?” Celia asked.

  “3-D printer,” Bage said. “He puts in the dimensions, and it spits out a dress. Perfect fit every time.”

  Beaners walked out of The Connection wearing a pink suit with black trim and a matching Fedora. Anand had on rust-colored jeans, black shoes that resembled a ballet dancer’s, and a loose white shirt. He looked devastating in it, and that only served to reignite the sting of last night’s awkward conversation.

  Celia wore black pants, super-soft boots that laced up her calves, and a multicolored, multitextured shirt that resembled a patchwork quilt.

  As they pulled out of the parking lot, Celia decided it was the right time to tell Bage and these other girls—who felt like the closest thing they had to allies—about the hill of bodies. She took out her phone to pull up the photos.

  They were gone.

  “No. No.” She scrolled from folder to folder, searching.

  “What’s the matter?” Bage asked, as Anand pounded his thigh, realizing what had happened.

  Celia told them what they’d seen, and how Max, or someone associated with Dominion, had somehow deleted her photos. The girls were outraged. Celia could barely contain her gratitude, her relief, that there were people here who cared what happened on Dominion. She couldn’t believe their luck, to have found these girls.

  “We can get the word out,” Raelyn said. “The Dominion protest forums will pick this up and run with it.”

  “What’s a protest forum?” Anand asked.

  “They’re groups trying to get Dominion’s violent shows banned.” Raelyn was working her handstrap. It was remarkable how they could operate them while carrying on a conversation.

  The knot in Celia’s stomach eased. She was mourning Janine every moment, but if they could force Dominion’s hand, change how everyone on the island was treated, stop the killing, then Janine’s death would mean something. It had, after all, set this all in motion.

  As the girls worked their handstraps, Celia tried to shift herself out of adrenaline-fueled emergency mode. It felt as if her heart had been racing nonstop since the moment Janine had collapsed during her event. She watched people pass on the sidewalk. They weren’t so different from people in the movies she’d grown up watching, except for their size. They were remarkably attractive, on average.

  “Everyone here is so good-looking,” she said.

  “Well, not everyone, but yeah. A lot of people pay for birth engineering,” Bage said.

  “Birth engineering?” Celia said.

  “It’s the only way to go,” Raelyn said from the front.

  “A birth engineer plans everything ahead of time. Height, looks, hair color, personality.”

  There was apparently no end to what Celia didn’t know about the world. “So it’s not only your clothes that come out exactly the way you want them.”

  Evidently Bage detected the sarcasm Celia thought she’d masked to perfection. “Why would you have a child who’s shy and ugly if you don’t have to? That wouldn’t be fair to the child. Imagine if you had a big nose and squinty eyes and bad skin, and you knew your parents could have made you beautiful.”

/>   Celia didn’t have a good answer for that. Maybe Bage was right, but the idea still made her uneasy.

  Lexie pulled into a public garage.

  “I thought we were going back to your apartment,” Celia said to Bage.

  “We have a little surprise first.”

  The girls led them to a teardrop-shaped elevator that rose out of the garage and just kept going, hundreds of feet above the city. They came out onto a dizzying network where rail tracks connected skyscrapers to create a second layer to the city. People strolled walkways that were barely visible from below; there were stores, restaurants, gardens, while all around the buildings rose higher, creating an illusion that they were on solid ground.

  Celia clung to the handrail a foot above her head as they headed along a crosswalk to a nearby bruise-purple building, as tiny vehicles and tinier pedestrians crisscrossed the busy streets below.

  “Where are we going?” Celia asked as they reached the purple building.

  “My place,” Lexie said.

  Heads turned as they paraded through a shining, spotless lobby and crowded into another elevator. As they rose, Celia tried to make eye contact with Anand, but he went on staring at the floor.

  Lexie opened the door to her apartment. A crowd of people packed inside burst into applause. “It’s a party to welcome you to Dublin.” Bage put a hand on Celia’s shoulder and steered her into the crowd.

  “Well done, Celia,” a guy in a leather hat said, squatting to pat her on the back as she passed.

  “We love you, Celia,” a girl called, lifting a bottle.

  Celia had already become separated from Anand and Beaners. She looked around and spotted Beaners standing by a table of refreshments, wolfing down a doughnut. Anand was lost in the crowd. Music was blaring—a primitive beat accompanied by voices making guttural, incoherent sounds.

  Two incredibly tall and thin twin girls squeaked in stereo and came rushing over. “Don’t hog her,” one said to Bage.