Movers

by Meaghan McIsaac

  Owe her. Guilt pricks at my heart. That doesn’t really sum up all the things Mom’s done for me. For Maggie. How can I just leave her behind?

  I guess Leonard can see how the gears in my head are turning because he nods at the camp beds. ‘Kid,’ he says wearily, ‘get some sleep.’

  I know I’m not going to. But I also know Leonard doesn’t want me sitting over his shoulder all night. I push myself off the floor and carry my empty fruit can and my sluggish body over to where Maggie’s sleeping. Rani is fast asleep on the bed beside hers. And Gabby sits facing the wall, staring at nothing. Her shoulders tremble and I can hear her sniffling.

  ‘Gabby,’ I say, standing beside her camp bed, ‘you OK?’

  She wipes at her face, keeping her back to me. Obviously not. After what Roth did to her parents. They may have been We Are Now. But still. They were her parents. I don’t know what to say. I try to think of something, but all that comes out is, ‘I’m sorry about your parents.’

  Gabby presses her palms into her eyes and groans.

  I bite my lip. That was a stupid thing to say. Sorry. It’s too small a word. Too insignificant. What good is sorry to Gabby? Sorry can’t help her.

  I try to think of something else to say, something better, but Gabby speaks before I can.

  ‘They were right,’ she says. ‘Movers are dangerous. My parents are dead because of me.’

  ‘That’s not true.’ I sit down on the end of her bed, but she doesn’t turn to face me. ‘Gabby, this happened because of Roth. Not you.’

  She stares at the wall and I can see the left side of her face – tear-stained and glistening. Her shoulders rise and fall as she breathes deeply, trying to control the tears. And then I notice her fingers. She has her hands in her lap, her fingers smeared with blood as she scratches mechanically at them.

  ‘I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.’

  ‘I know that, Gabby.’ Of course I know it. But she looks at me doubtfully and I wrack my brain, trying to think of something to reassure her, something to make her believe that this isn’t her fault.

  ‘I should never have tried to find pungits.’ Her voice swells with what I know are more tears, and my heart hurts to hear it. ‘I just want to make him shut up! I want him out of my head!’

  I watch her as she grabs her head, her eyes squeezed shut like she’s trying to squeeze him out of her mind.

  ‘You can hear him still?’ I ask.

  ‘Both of them,’ she says, opening her eyes. ‘I didn’t understand it at first, why there were two voices in my head. There’s my Roth. The one I know. The one who’s younger, in the future. The one who hasn’t been disconnected yet. But then there’s this older version. The one Maggie Moved here, the one who has been disconnected. He’s close up. Real loud. It’s like what Leonard said about lightning striking. I think when Maggie Moved Roth here, my pungits were attracted to him. They got confused and some of them diverted from my Roth in the future to the Roth that’s here now. The path of least resistance.’

  My eyebrows go heavy. ‘You’re saying … are you saying he did it? He’s reconnected? Just by Moving here?’

  She nods sadly. ‘I think so.’

  ‘Can he feel where you are? Does he know where we are now?’

  She shakes her head. ‘No, it’s like I said. The connection is loud, just a mess of noise. Like it’s overcrowded.’

  ‘Because there are two of them?’

  ‘I think it’s more like three.’ She looks past me, over to where Maggie’s sleeping.

  ‘Maggie?’ I ask.

  ‘I think her pungits are getting in the way of mine.’

  Because Roth stole them.

  Like listening to two songs at once, Maggie had said. When we were walking to Hexall Hall. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but …

  ‘Roth’s connected to both of you?’

  Gabby nods.

  My heart skips a couple of beats. ‘Can he tell where Maggie is?’

  ‘I don’t think so. If I can’t sort through all the noise, I doubt he can.’

  ‘Maggie hasn’t said anything.’

  ‘She probably can’t make sense of it either.’

  No, I guess not. I can’t imagine what that would even feel like. It’s got to hurt their heads, having someone else in the mix. There’s just not enough room for that. Even for me and my Shadow, and I’m only Phase 1. He’s so quiet to me and still I know it would be overwhelming. Especially if I could feel him so close all of a sudden.

  She looks at me then. ‘I can’t hear him clearly. But still I feel him. He wants to find me so bad. Bad enough to kill my parents, Pat. He’ll hurt someone else, I know he will.’ Her black eyes are welling over and a couple of tears fall out. ‘I can’t escape him. I should just let him find me.’

  ‘No, Gabby.’ Without thinking, my hand reaches for hers. She jerks away so suddenly she practically jumps off the bed.

  I pull my hand back. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to—’

  She shakes her head, holding her hand close to her chest. ‘No, I’m sorry. I’m just—’ Her skin has gone all red and blotchy and she stares at the mattress. ‘I don’t know what I am.’

  ‘Gabby?’ I say, trying to get her to look up. She doesn’t. ‘Gabby, Roth’s not going to find you. We’re out of here tomorrow. He won’t have any idea where you’ve gone.’

  She glances at me then – the Mover girl I’ve sat beside every day at school. The Mover girl that everyone loved to tease but never bothered to get to know. The Mover girl with secrets. Dark ones. Whom no one ever bothered to help.

  ‘I won’t let him find you,’ I promise.

  Her eyes drop back down. ‘I don’t want you to get hurt too.’

  ‘Gabby, I’m serious,’ I tell her. ‘He’s not gonna find you cos you’re coming with us, whether you want to or not. I won’t let him find you.’

  She doesn’t say anything, but there’s the tiniest of smiles on her lips. And I suddenly feel a little lighter knowing Gabby believes me.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Avin’s heart is Fellows Junction. Standing in line for the TLJ, waiting to go through security, every person in the city must be milling in and around the station. Underground commuters in business suits and carrying briefcases, families dressed for vacation struggling with luggage, university students with backpacks. I’ve only been to Fellows once before. Mom took me on the underground to go to the Avin Turbine. I’d been so excited, I guess I didn’t pay much attention to what was going on around me. Now, standing in among the crowds, I’m sweating. It will only take one of them to recognise us. I feel my sunglasses in my hoodie pocket. I want to put them on, to hide my face, but Rani said I looked ridiculous with sunglasses and a hood. She said the same thing about Gabby’s blue ninja scarf.

  ‘The trick to hiding,’ she said, ‘is blending in. These get-ups scream, “Please don’t look at me.”’

  So she shaved my head. With a little pink laser that’s supposed to be for shaving ladies’ legs. We Are Now was pretty considerate of its safe house tenants’ hygiene. I rub the feathery stubble and see my face reflected in the shiny white tiled wall of Fellows Junction. My head’s a weird shape. I miss my hair already. But Rani was right. I don’t look like myself.

  Gabby watches me rub my hair and her eyes dart to the shiny wall. She inspects her freshly bleached locks, neatly braided down her back by Rani. Just one bottle of bleach and Gabby looks like a completely different person. Her usual dark curls have gone platinum blonde. Her lips look pinker as she presses them together and I can tell she’s not as unhappy about her makeover as I am about mine.

  Maggie stands ahead of us in line, between Rani and Leonard, as we wait to pass through the security scanners. She managed to escape Rani’s makeover. I guess she looks enough like a normal little boy with her hair under my hat that there wasn’t much more Rani needed to do.

  My eyes drift up towards the glass ceiling, metal beams criss-crossing to make Fellows look like a
crystal dome. Not far away is Beauty, who’s managed to find herself a nice perch among the pigeons. I wasn’t happy about her following us, but she’s kept her distance. It’s like she knows she could give us away. Or maybe she’s just taken the hint after Maggie spent all morning swatting at her.

  The line begins to move and I feel a flutter in my stomach. We only budge two steps, but that’s two steps closer to using my new FIILES. I reach into my pocket and feel the new droidlet’s smooth surface. In moments, the security officer will pull up my bogus identity – Max Carver – and scan the tickets Leonard loaded to the droidlet. I pull out the little grey sphere and swipe the surface so the holographic screen blooms to life. I pull up the TLJ ticket.

  3 March 2083

  From: Fellows Junction, Avin City

  To: Pondu Terminal, Killberry Beach.

  Killberry Beach. I swallow. Leonard chose Killberry Beach because it’s still in the country. Me, Gabby and Maggie are minors. Can’t leave the country without a parent or guardian with us. Leonard and Rani aren’t coming with us. Rani’s carrying Leonard’s carefully packed duffle bag. They’re off to some sunny island country somewhere. And Mom’s not coming with us. My throat feels dry. Killberry Beach is on the other side of the country. I’ve never been more than a few blocks away from my mother. And as we shift closer to the security scanners, I realise I’ve never been away from my mother this long before. If we go to Killberry Beach, how long before I see her again?

  ‘You remember what I said?’ says Leonard, noticing me looking through the droidlet. His eyes glance around nervously, afraid someone is listening. ‘The thing I told you about, uh, about your allowance?’

  I nod. He’s talking about the money. He set up bank accounts to our droidlets, one for me and Maggie, and one for Gabby. When we want to pay for something, his program reaches into other people’s accounts all across the country – three cents here, a dollar there – giving us what we need without anybody noticing.

  ‘That’ll help you get by for two days,’ he warned us back at the safe house. ‘After that the program shuts down and you’re going to have to figure out some other way to get money.’

  ‘Why does it shut down?’ I asked him.

  ‘Cos it usually takes the bank forty-eight hours to notice a hack like that. If you don’t want them to know you’ve been stealing people’s money, I suggest you figure out a job as soon as you get to Killberry Beach.’

  Stealing. It’s only a little bit. But still. I feel like Mom wouldn’t be OK with stealing. Then again, Mom’s had Leonard set up FIILES for Movers before. I wonder if he set up the same kind of program for them.

  ‘You two.’

  I look up from my droidlet and see a sour-looking security guard wave Leonard and Maggie forward to the first scanner. The scanners are lined up – six silver doors in a white tiled wall. Maggie looks back at me nervously, and I nod to let her know it’s OK. But I don’t know it’s OK. I hold in a deep breath. Now we find out how good a programmer Leonard is.

  ‘You,’ says the sour-faced guard, beckoning Rani forward. She directs her to the scanner at the far end, then points at Gabby. Gabby’s scratching at her finger and I can see the security guard notice. My heart rate is supersonic, and there’s a tingling in my skull as my Shadow reaches out for me.

  ‘This one, please,’ the guard says, motioning Gabby to one of the scanners in the middle.

  Gabby shuffles forward and I follow on her heels, but the guard reaches out a hand to stop me. ‘Wait your turn, sir.’

  ‘Uh, yeah,’ I stutter, stepping back. ‘Sorry … s-sorry.’

  I stand there awkwardly, trying not to fidget, though my nerves feel electric as I watch Gabby step into the scanner. I look across to where Leonard and Maggie have stepped into their scanner. I can’t see them on the other side, but I don’t hear any sirens or anything. So that’s a good sign.

  The guard points to the far scanner where she sent Rani. ‘Over there, sir.’

  ‘‘K, thanks.’ I hurry over as Rani disappears inside the silver door. There’s a sign above it. Wait for green light.

  The light above the door blinks red.

  Beside the door is a little stand with a small hole in the top. Please deposit droidlet.

  My fist is sweaty, closed around the little sphere that holds my phony FIILES. Leonard does this all the time, I remind myself. Mom was going to do this exact same thing. Mom knew this would work. This will work.

  The light still blinks red. What’s taking so long?

  This will work. Mom knew it would work.

  And then the light turns green.

  With my Shadow nervously pinging through my head, I step up to the door and hold my droidlet over the hole. My hand shakes. We’re here now. We’ve come this far. And there’s no way to go back.

  Here goes.

  The little grey sphere disappears into the hole and the scanner door slides open with a hiss. Knees shaking, I step into the black chamber. It’s almost like being back in the closet at home. The door hisses closed behind me. There’s a tick. Then another. And another. And then the ticks all run together in rapid succession as something grinds and purrs in the walls. There’s a flash of light. Then two more.

  And I’m left in quiet darkness.

  I’ve never actually been in a security scanner before. As I stand there in the dark, counting the seconds passing, I wonder how long is too long. Is this normal? My blood feels icy and my brain starts to tingle as my Shadow senses my panic. He’s pushing me, wanting me to stop it, but I don’t. I can’t. Because I am panicking. Because I’ve been waiting too long. Something’s wrong. The realisation drops into my gut like a rock and my mind reaches out for my Shadow. I can feel him reaching back. And I cling to him, like a baby holding his mother’s hand.

  I’m nearly blinded by light as the sliding door in front of me hisses open and a guard blocks my way. He’s got my droidlet in his hand, swiping through my FIILES.

  ‘Sir, would you step over here, please?’

  ‘I – uh – is something wrong?’ I ask.

  ‘Over here, please.’

  I do as I’m told and he directs me over to the side, away from the turnstile that leads to the gates. Rani stands just inside, concern weighing down her brow.

  ‘What’s the problem here?’ she demands. And the guard doesn’t seem to care for her tone.

  ‘Do you know this boy, ma’am?’

  Rani’s frown disappears instantly, looking less like the fierce forebrawler she is and more like a cornered rat. She struggles to come up with an answer and I realise she’s wishing she hadn’t opened her mouth.

  The guard beckons to two more security officers, who come over and stand on either side of Rani. ‘Step to the side, ma’am.’

  Her head swivels from one guard to the other as they grab hold of her arms. ‘What is this?’

  ‘Your droidlet, ma’am.’

  Rani ignores him, trying to pull her arms free. The guard on her left grabs the droidlet out of her hand and gives it to my guard. He drops the little sphere into what looks like a metal box, his eyes on a monitor that I can’t get a look at.

  ‘Amelia Walcott?’ he says, with a raised eyebrow.

  The fear in Rani’s eyes gives way to something else – something determined. ‘Yes, that’s me,’ she says, as cool as anything.

  The guard looks back at his screen, his eyes moving quickly as they read whatever the scanner is showing him. What can he see there? He let Rani through already. What’s there now that wasn’t before?

  Through the uniformed security officers surrounding us I see Leonard on the other side of the turnstile, his hands gripping tight to Maggie’s shoulders as they watch us with gaping mouths. They made it through security. The guards aren’t even looking at them.

  ‘Mr Carver?’

  Gabby stands beside Leonard and her dark eyes meet mine. She takes a step, like she’s going to come back through the turnstile for me, but Leonard pulls her back.


  ‘Mr Carver!’ snaps the guard.

  Oh right.

  I’m Max Carver.

  I look up at the guard, whose nose is crinkled like he can smell exactly what’s wrong with the situation. ‘Would you come with me, please?’

  It’s not a request. It’s an order. He takes a firm hold of my elbow, the two of us following Rani and the security officers who are still holding her by each arm.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  The guard doesn’t answer me. And it doesn’t take me long to find out anyway. Because at the end of the line of scanners, there’s a heavy grey door, a small sign that reads SECURITY PERSONNEL smack dab in the middle of it. Rani’s escorts tap in a code and push her inside.

  ‘Please wait in here,’ says my guard, ‘Mr Carver.’

  The way he says it leaves no doubt. He knows it’s not my name.

  The room is small and white, with an old grey carpet and a bench against the far wall that Rani plonks herself onto. My hands shake as I take a seat beside her.

  The door slams shut with a bang, and the two of us are left alone in the quiet.

  My chest feels tight and it’s hard for me to breathe. He knows I’m not Max Carver. He knows I’m not who my FIILES say I am.

  And the question that’s strangling my breath loops through my head again and again, my Shadow struggling to understand.

  Do they know who I really am?

  ‘Don’t speak,’ says Rani suddenly.

  ‘What?’

  She’s not looking at me; she’s watching the door. Her jaw is tight and I see the cords of her neck pulse as she swallows. ‘When they get here, don’t say anything at all.’

  ‘When who gets here?’ I shift nervously in my seat. Because I know who.

  She looks at me then, her eyes cold and hard, like the forebrawler she is. ‘BMAC.’

  TWENTY-TWO