1 Ceres

by Takemoto, D. J.

  “You must always do the right thing in everything you do…” and the students would finish her sentence, “…because we need perfect and honest citizens.” Now, as Eve walked out past the park’s swing set, she knew she had not been a perfect and honest citizen; stealing food supplies from that newly uncovered supply bunker was against the law. “Maybe I should write a note about the new supply of food, and then drop it accidentally in Lightfighter Square. No, that would just get everyone in Steam in trouble. I suppose I should give the food to the poorhouse,” she mumbled under her breath. “I could leave some each day on their back step.”

  Several children looked over at her, thinking she was rather strange to be talking to herself. So Eve stopped mumbling, and silently decided to give eight of the ten cans of fruit to the poor, even though James would have loved the tastes of apricots and pineapples. Because at any rate, the sudden appearance of such treats would cause too much concern at home, and at his age, he was not good at keeping secrets.

  Eve waved at one of James’ friends as she passed by the play area and the town park’s only swing set. Then she hurried through the streets to the Management District to meet up with Dirk. Despite her demolished face, she was happy. Her first day at work had been a huge success. While she had taken some illegal food, she now knew she would pass much of it on to the poor. Her fellow workers and even Manager Miggly found her to be an efficient worker. And Stanley said he would begin her actual training in steam machine repair tomorrow.

  Eve could hardly wait to learn how those huge engines worked and what they did. She thought it would be fun to see if she could climb into the insides of big ol’ Elsie and make her run with less noise and grumbling. Plus now that she had found those supplies for Miggly, she thought he might not care so much what she did or learned. And it did not matter to Eve either, because it would all be new and useful to her city.

  But in the back of her mind she knew she still had to find a copy of Robin Lightfighter’s book to discover the locations of the rest of the underground bunkers; especially the ones containing light bulbs and medicals supplies. And because she was far too adventurous for her own good, Eve knew she just had to see what was inside the Boardroom Building, even if she was chased by those things Miggly and Blakeley had talked about. “I mean, how bad can things be?” she asked herself, as she walked through her city to the management district.

  Eve hummed one of the festival songs as she walked through Deadpan Alley, past her work entry door, again, and then turned left, just before Lightfighter Town Square, in front of Bothman’s Bread Bakery on Taskmens Street, with its long line of customers. She dropped her head down and covered her face with a scarf, pretending to blow her nose and cough. It made everyone instinctively avoid Eve after that last winter fever episode. They all turned away, not noticing who she was, or that her face looked like she’d been in a nasty brawl.

  Finally, after she got past the long line, she turned right near the Rabbit Hutch Tea Shop where a group of people met after work every day to discuss philosophical subjects like…what was outside the dome…or, was there another place besides their city. Eve and Dirk thought there probably were many other places, but they had no proof as of yet. But because there were pictures in Dirk’s ancient book of things not found in their city, they both thought those things must exist someplace else. Eve thought about that for a bit as she walked on into the Tradesman’s District.

  The district was always noisy and dusty from the constant hammering of the blacksmiths and carpenters who reshaped the recycled metals or mended the furniture. It took years to train for those jobs and they were passed on as apprenticeships among the trade families so unfortunately she knew those jobs never appeared on the yearly assignment lists.

  Eve walked on, almost ignoring an older man who was trying to tell her something about a loom part being ready for pick up. She then turned and told the carpenter, Mr. Weaver, that she would come by to get the parts on Saturday afternoon when she was not working. He said that would be fine and congratulated her on her new job. Of course, all this occurred from a distance as Eve kept her face covered and continued to cough. Mr. Weaver told her to go on home and that he hoped she would stay well. She thanked him and turned right into Domefounder Alley, out of the Tradesman’s District and into the Management District.

  As he walked, Eve wondered if she and Dirk would be able to get inside the Boardroom Building and find those critical solar light bulbs, or even regular light bulbs, or the medicines Miggly and Blakeley had mentioned. Dirk said his book had a section on solars, and that they could also be used for power when placed outside the dome. But those things were called solar panels, and they had no idea what they looked like, or even if they had any inside the bunkers. She walked on, thinking about her dreams.

  “Miggly and Blakeley used the same word and numbers from my dream…orchid and 77567…what does that mean? Why would I dream of that? I have to find out more, because orchid and 77567 are obviously not enough to make that door open. And what’s the ΩD stone?” Eve continued her internal conversation until she’d passed several of the Management District buildings…the one for commerce, then the small prison, and finally the huge, white stone building used by The Committee.

  Once she reached the Management District she slowed her pace. She could see the front of the school steps up ahead, but Dirk had not yet arrived. She knew he would arrive later than she, because he had a greater distance to walk from his work place to the school. He’d shown her where the entrance to Lower Level Supply Assessor stood, way off near where the decay zone began…quite near that locked back door…or maybe it was actually the front door.

  Eve then wondered what sort of lower level supplies Dirk was supposed to assess out in the decay zone, or if the supplies were under or even inside the Boardroom Building. “There must be an underground tunnel connecting a supply bunker to the Boardroom Building. Maybe Dirk will be able to gain access that way,” she thought, as she approached the front of her old school; it was in the outer area of the Management District.

  The remainder of the Management District contained the offices of the clerks who kept track of the things in their city; what was needed, what was in need of repair, and what could be sold on the open market. The items for sale were on display in the kiosks out front, including old wind-up clocks, single shoes, broken shoelaces, and even day-old flat bread for use in soups. Near the shops and town square stood the mayor’s office, with its huge stone statue of Robin Lightfighter in the front. It was the only statue in the city, though there were several broken and headless statues scattered about near the tall buildings out in the decay zone.

  A bakery kiosk stood just outside the door to the mayor’s office. Eve used five of her ten daily worker chits to purchase a three-day-old pastry, four morning buns, and a honey cake for James because she had not had much to eat for lunch, had not yet had any dinner, and because James would be so happy with the honey cake and morning roll treats.

  No one had told her she had to bring her own food to work in a lunch bucket, so Stanley and Rose felt sorry for her and gave her a quarter of their flatbread and some goat cheese. Stanley explained she could purchase a lunch bucket from one of the shops for seven chits, but Eve thought she remembered her father had an old black one, and that her mother had kept it after he died. Thinking of her father made her sad. She missed him every day. He would have given her a long pep talk before her first day of work, and then sent her on her way laughing at one of his silly old jokes.

  Eve sat down on the wide steps of the Town Meeting Hall next to the Mayor’s office, which was next to the tiny prison building; it was a one-story recycled trash brick building with a metal roof, and no windows. It was used for people who got into fights or stole things from the other citizens. More serious crimes always meant the ride into the void because their city had no place for long-term housing of serious criminals.

  As she gobbled down a morning roll, Eve remembered one individual
that had been sent into the void outside their protective dome. She was a very old woman who refused to go to recycle. She’d screamed and screamed at the judge in the town square, until he finally agreed to her request…to send her into the void rather than to recycle. Her request concerned her religious beliefs that the gods would await her out there beyond the first hill just outside the tunnel. Eve, then only seven-years-old, remembered she’d had nightmares about it when she’d overheard her father speak of the event with her mother. It was the first time she’d heard words like recycle or the ride, or even dying.

  As Eve munched more slowly on her second roll, she thought of the others she knew who had taken the ride into the void. “There was that old man who had made a habit of standing in front of the Mayor’s office and yelling about The Committee hoarding things from the citizens…it is a capital crime to hoard, so they had to send him away even if it might be true.”

  She continued thinking, “Then there was the poor woman who became so sad after her child died of the fever that she tried to kill a member of The Committee with a kitchen knife. Everyone cried when she was sent off because we all understood what she’d been through.” Eve was so deep in thought that she did not hear Dirk yelling at her from across the town square. She finally glanced up when she heard him shouting to get her attention from over in front of the school. He looked very handsome, standing there in his common brown wool pants and shirt. And because Eve had also changed into her common clothing, they both looked like they’d just gotten out of class.

  “I’m coming,” Eve answered, waving and smiling. She got up and walked across the road. “What happened to your face? Did you slip on your first day at work, or get in a fight? Does it hurt?” Dirk asked, once he was close enough to see her bruised cheek and eye. He reached out his hand and gently touched her cheek, examining her black eye with concern. “It looks awful. Do I have to fight someone over this?” he added.

  “No, it doesn’t hurt; I’ll explain on the way. And no, don’t fight anyone! It was an accident…no one hit me. Are we going to the archives now? I have some ideas,” she said. School was letting out, and the happy, hungry, and very loud students were beginning to pour from the front door of the school building. She recognized some of the younger ones as sibling of her friends. But they were all too busy to notice a pair of students too old to concern them.

  “We have to hurry because The Archive closes in an hour. I have some ideas too, about that school paper,” he said scanning her face, and then smiling. Eve could tell he was about to laugh at her. “What? Why are you laughing at me, you cabbage brain? It hurt when it happened, and no, I did not slip. I found a room full of supplies…old food, even some steam machine tools…and other things,” Eve explained, now whispering. “But how did you get so bruised up finding supplies?” Dirk whispered back.

  “I fell while sliding through a pipe leading into a room. And then a shelf of boxes hit my face, and finally a door hit me. I’ll show you some of what I found later. That was why Miggly wanted me for the job. He thought I was thin enough to crawl through the pipes,” she mumbled, walking rapidly through the Management District to the last building on the left, with a sign that read The City Archives. “Right, I remember he said that to Blakeley. So you didn’t run into those things they were talking about?” Dirk asked, whispering.

  “No, evidently not all storage bunkers have things watching over them…whatever a thing is. I think they made that up anyway, so they would not have to go back there. I think they were just afraid,” Eve explained. She went on, “All I saw were hundreds of boxes of spoiled food, some good food, and two other rooms filled with tools and mechanicals. Mr. Wormwood was so happy. He’s my superintendent. He wants me to learn to fix ol’ Elsie…that’s the oldest steam machine. I like them all, Dirk. I really like it there. How about your new job; how was your first day at work?” Eve asked, noticing Dirk’s expression.

  “It was boring.” Dirk grumbled. “At least you didn’t come out all bruised up,” Eve remarked, trying to cheer him, as they approached the huge door of the archive and signed in at the front desk. A sickly man with almost no hair and wearing spectacles with heavy lenses only glanced up at them and waved them through with annoyance. He’d seen them both coming often to the archives after school to study. And because they each wore their old brown plain woolen clothing, he assumed they were still just some students stopping by to do research for a class project.

  “No, no bruises, but my first day was mostly just signing a bunch of confidential forms, then I had to have my fingers and eyes scanned…for security purposes, they told me. They still haven’t told me what Lower Level Supply Assessor is; but they did have me spend the entire afternoon reading a list of everything in the city, and looking at drawings of everything,” Dirk explained, while signing his name to the moldy cloth ledger. “So what will you be doing tomorrow?” Eve asked.

  “Tomorrow I am supposed to go all over the city to be sure that I can identify each and every thing. I guess they want to be sure I can identify any new things on the lower levels, wherever that is,” he finished. Eve could tell Dirk had been disappointed with his first work day.

  “How will you get access to everything in the city? Did they give you an access card?” Eve asked. “Yes, and I intend to try it out right now,” Dirk mumbled. “It’s why I am so excited. It’s the only interesting thing that has happened to me all day,” he finished. They had reached the area they’d been looking for, so became quiet.

  “So what are we looking for, Dirk? This is the Room of the Ancient Books and you have to get permission to get inside.” “Yes, and I have permission. Remember, my job is to be able to identify everything. I have a plastic card that will give me the access I’ll need. It’s even signed by the Head of The Committee. But I’m not sure you can get in with me. Let me check,” Dirk finished, and then he walked over to the entrance desk where a very old lady sat, snoozing at her rusty metal desk.

  The elderly lady had white, frizzy hair pulled back into a bun; she wore a simple, faded blue cotton dress with holes in the elbows, and she had a necklace made of tiny polished clear rocks around her thin, bony neck. They were called diamonds, and her teacher once told Eve they used to be coal… eons ago. Eve remembered her teacher saying diamonds may have even been valuable at one time, in their original home. She noticed the elderly lady was wearing shiny blue slippers, and that the soles of her shoes had holes in them that she had patched with black tape. She wore a badge that said she was Mrs. Oddfellow, Head of Ancient Book Collections.

  “Excuse me Mrs. Oddfellow; I am to examine everything inside this room. This is my assistant, Miss Overhearder. Here is my access card.” Dirk spoke to her softly so as not to startle her awake, but tried to maintain an official-sounding tone to be more convincing. It was not necessary, because the elderly woman bounced her head back twice, opened her eyes, but seemed not to have heard a thing. Finally, she nodded, pointed to the card, and said in a hushed voice, “Please pass your card through the scanner, and the next time speak softly. This is an archive, not a playground, young man!”

  Dirk apologized for the inconvenience, he passed his card through a metal box that beeped and glowed green, and then the door behind Mrs. Oddfellow clicked open, revealing a small, dark room filled with shelves of books and files. Dirk quickly stepped inside, with Eve hiding behind; they slid past, before the archivist changed her mind or spotted a second individual entering using a single-person access card. Then they disappeared behind one of the book stacks as the door clicked shut after them.

  The room became brightly lit once they’d entered. Eve and Dirk looked at each other, surprised the facility still had functioning electrics. They looked around the room; Dirk examined one of the labels on the first shelf and moved two rows over. Eve stared all around her for quite some time. She thought the room had once been quite beautiful. After a minute, Dirk spoke to Eve from several stacks over.

  “I’m not sure we can trick Mrs.
Oddfellow twice, so we have to work fast, Eve. Start looking.” Dirk grabbed a dusty, yellowed file from one of the shelves. “What are we looking for? There are thousands of files here, Dirk. We can’t possibly examine them all in one visit,” Eve whispered, taking the file next to the one he’d grabbed from the shelf.

  She noted the room was extravagant, but shabby. The red and gold embossed wallpaper was faded to a moldy purple color, and had started to peel in strips from the walls. The ancient red carpet was now threadbare with so many holes she could see large sections of the stone floor beneath it. Everything had the odor of decay, especially the files and books, which looked as if they would fall apart if touched.

  Eve went to a dark, and very scratched wooden table, took a chair, and sat down; causing the chair to squeak like it would break into pieces. She examined the portraits of past mayors hanging on the walls. She noted that it stopped at a mayor from three-hundred years prior, and wondered when the last time someone had entered this room. Dirk was already busy rapidly turning pages of a report from one of the files. One page was so old it shredded to pieces when he touched it. He sucked in his breath, took out his brown cloth handkerchief, and wrapped his hand so as not to cause more pages to fall apart.

  “Well, that was useless. I thought it would be listed in the First Book of Historical Accounts, but some pages are missing…ten pages, actually. You don’t suppose Miggly and Blakeley took them, do you? Or maybe it was from before. Maybe a former committee member took the pages. Well, at any rate, now I don’t know where to look for Robin Lightfighter’s notes.” Dirk whispered, carefully setting the pages back inside their folder and sliding them back in the proper place on the shelf.