by Dayton Grey
Once outside their home, Allea confirmed that Aurora had in fact sent another message back, and promptly pulled it up for everyone to see:
“A stealth program?”
“It’s actually a location mask, Sabien,” Allea said, motioning through her hologram. “I’ve already tested it and it works just like she said. Once you run it, the location functionality on the LifeCuffs just sort of freezes. CARE will think we’re at home asleep if we turn it on right before we leave!”
“Lumineezes Eels?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Kuki,” Sabien said, sounding unconvinced.
“This is really happening,” Geon said, his eyes wide with excitement.
“It really is, brother,” Sabien responded.
“I’m nervous,” Kumuki said, clutching his stomach. Geon looked at him with sympathy, feeling nervous and a little nauseous himself, but wanted to stay strong for his team.
“Don’t worry, Kumuki,” Geon said. “We’re all in this together. I’ve got your back.”
Kumuki nodded and looked over his shoulder at his back as they continued on their way. They talked about their plans once more on the way to school. Allea would grab Shiv’s duplicator device after school, and they would head home and rest until nighttime. Once they knew Mama V was asleep, they would run the stealth program on their cuffs and leave the house. Allea mentioned that she had sent a message to Helano the night before and that he would help her with the security override. She mentioned that he had no knowledge of what she was doing, and that she told him it was for her TechSci Concours project.
“It’s amazing how a cute smile will get you all the help in the world,” Geon said with a laugh. “It doesn’t seem to get me anywhere though.”
“You and me both!” Sabien added with a smirk.
“Or me!” Kumuki screeched.
Allea bashfully smiled, brushing the hair out of her eyes, and mumbled, “I don’t think that’s it… I dunno…”
She also went on to mention that she had found an entry point into the aqueduct only a mile from their house, and that she had downloaded the blueprints of the tunnels as well.
“Once we’re down there, who knows what we’ll find, though,” she said. “We need to be prepared for anything.”
“I’ll bring snacks!”
Sabien nodded and added, “Good idea, Kumuki. I would probably recommend extra socks, too.”
“Extra socks?”
“Yeah. On account of the sewage.”
Kumuki gulped and the others winced at the thought.
“The aqueduct has an exit point directly beneath the MOOH. Hopefully Helano’s program will work, and from there we copy the key, head to Oden Bay, get the boat, and head to the Open.”
“Sounds easy, doesn’t it?” Sabien said sarcastically. “Maybe we’ll even have time to stop by and get some pizza on the way there.”
“Yea, PIZZA!”
They laughed as they stepped off the L-RUD and headed in to school. Despite the high spirits, Geon couldn’t help being apprehensive and afraid about what was to happen that night. He wanted to know the truth desperately, but more than anything wanted to make sure his sister and family were safe.
At lunch, Helano came and joined them at their table.
“Theñor Geon, Theñor Thabian, Theñor Kumuki, nithe to thee all of you.”
Geon and the others nodded as they all chatted about Allea’s project.
“Tho, Theñora Allea hath told me that thee needth thome athithtanth with bypathing thome thecurity meathurth. Thith happenth to be my thpethialty!”
That’s quite a mouthful. Still, it was very generous of Helano to offer his help with this.
“Yes, thank you, Señor Helano,” Allea said. “And please, as I mentioned, keep this between the five of us, okay? I don’t want the details of my, uhm… Concours competition project… leaking to the school early. You understand?”
“Of courth, Theñora! My lipth are thealed!”
“Muchas gracias, Helano! I will see you during my break.”
“Yes, thank you, Helano,” Geon added.
So, one piece of the puzzle should be complete. Next piece… the duplicator.
During Geon’s NextTech class with Professor Eltio Tran, Geon tried his best to pay attention to the subject of the day, but kept checking his LifeCuff to see if Allea had made progress with Helano yet, knowing that it was her break period.
As Professor Tran squeaked at the front of his room in his high-pitched voice, Sabien and Geon took turns checking to see if there were any status updates from Allea. There was nothing new until just at the end of the class during the end of the period beep, when a message from Allea suddenly popped up on Geon’s screen. He and Sabien leaned in to read it as the students around them got up and began leaving the room.
Geon and Sabien both looked at each other with perplexed expressions and simultaneously said, “What in the galaxy?”
“G, I know she’s your sister, but you may need to have a talk with her. I’m not sure what she’s trying to communicate to us, but that’s the message of a crazy person. The caterpillar is in the cocoon? Oh, brother. She’s losing it.”
Geon smiled at Allea’s obvious attempt to be clandestine, nodding his head at Sabien. Sounds like it might be time to get out the butterfly net, he thought to himself with a laugh.
After school, Allea headed to the lab and the three boys headed to the waterways for another time trial. It was the first time trial that Geon has participated in since his near-drowning only a week earlier. He found himself so preoccupied with thoughts of Allea, the strange recent events, and the excitement for that evening that he flew around the track with ease, barely noticing that he had taken third position for the race the next day. Shiv was furious, placing fourth, just behind him.
During the trials, he counted down the minutes until it was over so they could rush back and talk to Allea. As soon as they saw her they knew that Phase 2 was successful. She was grinning from ear to ear and had a black bag slung over her shoulder with something bulky in it.
“Let’s get home quickly,” she said softly, even though no one was in sight.
“Allea,” Sabien said with a snicker. “The caterpillar is in the cocoon? Metamorphosis? What in the world kind of code-language is that?”
“WHAT?” Kumuki cried.
Geon laughed as Allea blushed and scratched her head as she tried to answer him.
“I don’t know. I’m new to this… covert… behavior! I was trying to keep a low profile in case we were being monitored.”
“Well,” said Geon. “Uncrackable idioms aside, you did an amazing job. Is that it? In the bag?”
Allea nodded as they boarded the Glidewing. Once back home, she showed them how the device worked and they were all impressed. Now the only thing left to do was wait.
“Guys. I think that being such a momentous night, and that we don’t really know the outcome, maybe we should try to spend as much time with Mama V as we can. You know?”
The others nodded at Geon and they had dinner together and joked and laughed with Mama V with the same spirit as usual. For Mama V’s sake, I hope this goes to plan, Geon thought to himself. She is truly a wonderful woman and we all owe her everything. Hopefully, what we learn today will help us and help her somehow.
“Okay, my little ones. You go to sleep now. Mama V is so tired. I vant you all to remember Mama V love you okay?”
“Okay, Mama V!”
As they got up, Mama V reached and grabbed Geon gently by the arm, holding him back from the others. Quietly she said, “Geon baby, is everything okay? You seem… vorried.
“No everything is fine Mama V. I’m just… jus—”
“Don’t vorry, okay. Mama V have so much faith in you. Alvays remember dat, okay? And remember to trust your heart and think for yourself okay?”
Geon nodded his head and wondered if Mama V had any idea about the things they were getting involved in. She doesn’t seem aware of it,
and yet, something about her… the way she looks at me… it’s as if she knows something.
Geon headed to the bedroom but turned back suddenly and put his arms around Mama V in a tight embrace. Mama V happily squeezed him with all her heft and might and chuckled, “Dat’s my boy,” as he headed to the podroom.
“Get some rest, G,” Sabien said as soon as Geon walked through sliding doors. “We’ll leave in two hours. And it’s going to be a long night.”
Allea was sitting in her pod and scanning through the aqueduct blueprints one more time. Kumuki was sitting on the side of his pod with multiple pairs of socks around him and pulling them on one on top of another.
“Kumuki. Are you sure you need five pairs of socks?”
Kumuki frantically nodded his head. “It’s gonna stink down there!”
Geon looked at Sabien who just shrugged as they both got into their pods and set the timer for two hours. Just rest now, Geon. This is all happening tonight. It’s really happening.
Like all nights when there was something important the next morning, Geon couldn’t sleep. He was anxious, worried, nervous, scared, and most of all, excited. All the different options and scenarios played out in his head. The lights were dim in the room now, with only the glow of ambient lighting from the pods. Geon checked his timer over and over until finally it was time. The pods all slowly opened and they all stepped out.
Allea handed Geon a long black thin bag that strapped around one shoulder, and crossed his body to his waist and back up again across his back. It was heavier than he expected and fit tightly around him. She handed a second one to Sabien. She quietly whispered, “I’ve packed a few items for us in yours, Geon. Food rations, tools, a small amount of gasoline concentrate, in case the boat doesn’t have any, and a couple illuminabands. And, Sabien, yours has the duplicator.”
“Okay, team,” Sabien whispered. “We need to move fast and stay quiet. Kuki, that means you. No communication until we get into the aqueduct entry point. Got it?”
“One more thing, guys,” Allea said, tapping some buttons on her cuff. The stealth program. All I have to do is run it and it will duplicate on your LifeCuffs, too. One sec… okay. We’re all set. Let’s go.”
They quietly tiptoed out of the podroom and down the hallway to the front door. As they passed Mama V’s room, they could hear the faint sounds of her snoring from within. Barely breathing and moving slowly, they stepped out of the door and into the cold, crisp, black night.
Geon looked up at the sky and saw that even the moon was hidden behind the permamist, casting only a small glow to guide them. It was darker than he remembered nights being and there were no stars to be seen. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, they walked silently in a line along the path to the city. It was completely quiet. There were no familiar sounds that Geon remembered… of cars, people, animals. There were no sounds of life. Geon could see his breath in front of him as he followed Allea. In the distance, he could see an ORB slowly blinking yellow.
They walked for about fifteen minutes when Allea finally signaled for them to stop. She motioned down to the ground nearby and the three boys came over to see. Sitting flush in the ground was a small metal square. Geon has seen and passed many of them in the last week or so, but never paid much attention to them. They lifted the heavy cover up and placed it to the side and one by one, climbed the ladder down into the dark chasm.
As they quietly descended, the air became damp and pungent. Geon couldn’t see anything around him and he felt his other senses heightening. Maybe this was a mistake, he thought to himself as he crinkled his nose. Kumuki seemed unaware of the putrid odor. They climbed down much further than Geon expected to. The sound of water dripping around them echoed through the dark space. Once at the bottom, Allea turned on an illuminaband and pulled it around her head and gave one to each of them to put on as well. Instantly, the bands began glowing and cast a beam of light in front and to the sides of them. Geon could see that they were in an old stone-lined tunnel, with a thin layer of murky liquid on the ground below them.
“This way,” Allea whispered, heading down the tunnel. “Let’s move quickly.”
She guided them around the snaking labyrinth with her hologram blueprint shining in front of her, the four of them splashing rank seepage in every direction. They walked for what seemed like hours before she finally slowed them down and motioned to keep quiet.
“Do you hear that?” she said tensely, her eyes wide open.
Geon nodded. It sounded like voices to him.
They turned off their illuminabands and slowly proceeded toward the voices. As they reached the corner of the tunnel, Sabien motioned for them to stay and carefully crept to the edge to take a closer look. They could clearly hear voices now.
Who else was down here? We need to get out of here!
A man jumped out of the shadows and grabbed Sabien by the collar.
“WELL, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE! FAWN! GNU! COME TAKE A LOOK!”
Another man and a woman came running around the corner and grabbed Geon and the others. The second man was large and strong and grabbed both Geon and Kumuki at the same time, one in each enormous hand, their collars tightening around their throats. Geon felt himself gasp as they all struggled to break free.
“LOOKS LIKE WE GOT SOME INFILTRATORS! YOUNG ONES THIS TIME, EH? DIDN’T KNOW CARE WAS RECRUITING LITTLE CHILDREN NOW!”
“CARE?” Sabien shouted, still jerking to break loose. “We aren’t with CARE!”
“AH THAT’S WHAT THEY ALL SAY ISN’T IT!”
“It’s true!” Geon added. “We don’t trust CARE!”
“We HATE them!”
Suddenly everyone got quiet and looked at Kumuki and then at each other. Sabien stopped struggling and the large man loosened his grip on him.
“Well, if you’re not with CARE, then who are you, and what are you doing down here?”
“Well,” Geon said. “We were… we ar—”
“We’re just exploring,” Allea interjected. “I’m doing a project for school to study the potential energy harnessing power of improved waste management and water runoff, and we wanted to get a firsthand experience. We had to break curfew to do this.”
The four of them immediately let go of Geon and the others. Geon could see now that they were dirty and covered in filth, their clothes tattered and torn.
“Ah, it’s nothing, Yusev. Just some crazy kids. Stay out of here, you hear me? This is no place for you kids.”
“No problem,” Allea said, motioning for them to walk away.
Geon was overcome with curiosity, though and turned back toward them. “Who are you guys? And what are you doing down here?”
The man who grabbed Sabien turned back toward them and stared at Geon for some time before finally answering. “We are a collective group known as the Stand. Also known as Dissenters. Or as CARE calls us… grubs, on account that we hole up in these underground tunnels. We refuse to live under the oppression that you live up there, so we live down here, by our rules. And my name is Yusev.”
The lady stepped forward and introduced herself as Fawn and the large second man as Gnu.
Geon nodded and responded, “So, you guys live… here. Down in these… tunnels?”
“Hah! It’s not as bad as it seems,” Yusev said with a smile.
“It’s worse,” Fawn replied with a smirk.
“Well,” Yusev continued, shooting a glare at Fawn. “We don’t have the luxuries that you all have up there…”
Luxuries, Geon thought. I never really thought that a simple shower could be a luxury.
“…What with your fancy clothes and floating vehicles. But that doesn’t matter. We refuse to live by CARE’s rules. They don’t care about you. They care about order and control. They care about their own survival. Haven’t you kids noticed that things seem off?”
Geon and the others nodded but no one mentioned anything about what they were really doing down in the tunnels.
We don’t know who
we can trust right now. Best to just keep the truth to ourselves. Who knows if these guys are telling the truth or not? For all we know, they might work for CARE.
“So, yeah, we live here. We go up top to get food and supplies when we can, but you would be amazed at how much we find down here too. There are relics from every part of the world piled up around here. Anything you need, we can find or get. And we don’t use credits like you guys. We trade for necessities. Food, supplies, vitamins. We might even have something that you need for that little project of yours.”
“Thank you but unless you have a parabolic antenna, I think we’re okay,” Allea said with a sigh.
Yusev looked at her and smiled, stroking his chin slowly. “A parabolic antenna, you say? That might be something that can be arranged. But something like that would be very costly. We need another high-capacity reverse osmosis water filter. Clean water down here is a necessity to stay alive. If you can get one, I think a trade can be arranged.”
“Unlikely,” Allea said with a dejected frown. “But thank you for the offer.”
“Of course, aside from that, the only other thing you need to know about, is down here we take care of each other.”
“Are there more people like you here?” Allea asked, a concerned look on her face.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Yusev answered. “In these tunnels, in this sector, hundreds more. And in tunnels in every sector, hundreds and thousands more.”
Unbelievable. There’s an entire world down here.
“But enough about us. You kids have seen enough and you better get moving else you find yourself in real trouble with the wrong people. And I don’t mean us.”
They turned and walked away as Allea found them an alternate way to get them back on track. Once out of earshot, the four of them exploded in quiet shock.
“Can you believe this?” Sabien said in a loud whisper. “CARE must know that they’re down here. And they don’t care? This is insane!”