"A young and upcoming Level Three scientist named Colin Manning is working on an exciting project to pinpoint intelligence potential," a female narrator says. The vid flips over to a man in his late twenties in a white smock. Director Manning.
"Our current endeavor exhibits great possibility for the future of Elore, of humanity," young Manning says, his gray eyes shining.
I fast-forward through the rest to a section showing two members of the Direction Council stepping down. Two women stand at a podium. One speaks.
"This evening, Director Fisher and I will be voluntarily resigning from the council."
I tap her face. ADRIANA RUIZ, FORMER SOCIAL RIGHTS DIRECTOR pops up on the screen.
"I know I speak for the two of us when I say it has been a privilege to serve Elore, but a season of change is necessary."
Director Ruiz glances at Manning. He nods, and she returns to her notes.
"Colin Manning has tirelessly worked on advancing the Direction Initiative in the science division of Level Three. Over the last five years, he has worked on many different methods for advancing our healthy society, but the one with the most promise is called the Birth and Compatibility Measure. Because of this new course of action, Colin Manning and Lewis Patel will replace us as additional Science and Engineering Directors."
Maybe I already knew this had happened, but this information is usually glossed over in university. Always forward focused, rarely looking at the past. I can't even remember Fisher and Ruiz being mentioned. And Patel? He works under Manning now.
I flip away from the vid and find reports on both the graffiting rebel girl and the drone "incident" in Level One. Both are inconsistent to what I remember, and there's no mention of the words on the buildings either time. It's like Direction is trying to hide that part and only focus on activities they label as terrorism.
I log off and switch over to the spouse pairing account.
ONE NEW SPOUSE PAIRING MESSAGE ADDED.
My stomach lurches when I see it's from Meyer.
Thank you for accepting my request. Meet at Direction Café D at 9:00 a.m.?
Nine? He's assuming I'd even check for a message tonight and then be available so quickly. I inhale deeply and keep the response short.
Yes. See you then.
I wave the screen off and stare at the blank viewer for way too long.
Out the window, one of the screens on a nearby building catches my eye. The globe of Direction's logo spins, and under it display the words: STAY FOCUSED.
If I only knew what exactly to focus on.
* * *
The Saturday morning news means Brian Marshall is reporting again, detailing recent rebel arrests. The girl from the street who graffitied "Break Free" on the side of the building might be among the detainees shown.
These types of people are typically incarcerated at the edge of the city and re-educated. After, they might spend the rest of their lives working in a factory, but Brian announces upcoming changes in the Direction policies, and to stay tuned for a special report and announcement from Director Manning on Monday evening. When it ends, I try to turn it off, but a Direction Initiative Auto Broadcast plays and I can't. I walk into the other room.
Thirty-two minutes until the meeting with Meyer.
* * *
On the way to the café, I yank on my black, stretchy top and straighten any potential wrinkles at least five times, although the fabric doesn't even crease. The streets are mostly deserted, since few citizens work on Sundays. Still, a few pass on the way. Are they loyal, or imposters like me?
Everyone has secrets.
A woman with chestnut hair hanging too far over her eyes glances in my direction. I feign my attention the other way.
At the same Direction Café I met Aron, I peek through the window to check if Meyer has arrived. He hasn't, but if I need to make a getaway, it will be easier from out here. I keep my gaze on the ground. No more gawking at people passing by.
8:59 a.m.
My breath grows shallow, and I grit my teeth. I could go, change my mind. No one would ever have to know I came.
"Hello," a low voice says behind me. Meyer.
I look up at his tall frame. Pale skin, but slightly darker than mine. Short, inky-brown hair that's slightly wavy. It's the first time I've had more than a few seconds to really get a good look at him.
"Um… K-Kian?" I ask.
He tips his head and gives me a crooked smile. "Yes. Avlyn?" He holds out his hand for me to shake.
My lips tighten, but I take his hand and grip hard, continuing to stare straight into his slate eyes. The smile widens, giving me the sudden desire to punch him again. This is meant to be serious, not funny.
"Should we go in?" I ask through clenched teeth.
His hands slip into his pockets. "No. I never confirmed the reservation."
"What?" I check to make sure no one is watching. "You're the one who asked to meet."
"Yes," he answers in a whisper, "but it's not safe. We need to go somewhere else."
My feet seem to sprout roots and grow into the sidewalk. I have no idea who I can really trust anymore.
"I want to be out in the open."
Shaking his head, he says, "Oh, not a problem. I know all the spots." He walks quickly down Fourth Avenue and signals me to follow.
I reluctantly uproot, calling, "Hey, slow down."
He does so I can catch up. "Sorry, I'm just ready to get away from here." He stuffs a hand in his pocket again, but keeps walking. "This way." He nods toward the road leading to the park, a route I generally take on runs.
"The park?" I ask dubiously. I'd presume Guardians would keep a close watch in such a place.
"You'd be surprised at a few of the locations where they're lax," he says. "Direction believes they're doing what's right for Elore, and that people will simply fall in line." He turns and grins at me. "It will be fine."
Fine? Right. The thought of following him nearly paralyzes me, but not knowing what he has to say will drive me crazy. It's already hard enough to sleep.
"Lead the way."
Our feet hit the soft grass, and a strange mix of both anticipation and relief rushes through me.
This is almost over.
He leads me under a tree and slides against the trunk. Lifting up, he pulls a Flexx from his back pocket and swipes at the screen a few times.
"There." His eyes meet mine. "We're secure. Have a seat a few feet away. Just act like I'm a spouse pairing you barely care about meeting."
"Which is sort of true… right?" The only reason we're meeting is his fake account.
He ignores me, but he's right. If we're casual, no one will even care. I settle on a spot with sun coming in from the branches above us. After a few seconds, I turn to the side enough to see him. Let's start this thing.
"First, I need you to tell me why you're here," Meyer says.
Nervousness sweeps over me.
Why am I here?
Is it the experiments Direction did on Ben and me, the weird visions, or seeing the changed coverage of the girl rebel? What if I imagined it and she really did reach for another weapon? She could have been trying to kill us all. What if the visions just mean I'm crazy? Instinct urges me to run, but I lock onto his face instead, and a strange calm befalls me. His expression is genuine, like he truly cares about what I have to say.
"Um…" There's no way I can't tell him about the visions. "Last night I saw something on the news. It wasn't right."
Meyer cocks his head in interest. "What was it?"
I mull over the scene on the viewer and compare it to my memory. "On my Configuration day, on the way to university, I saw something. A rebel... attack. But it wasn't. The girl didn't do anything but graffiti a phrase on a building, but..."
Meyer winces slightly, then nods for me to continue.
"When I saw her do it, I even thought, 'She's not going to fight'. And she didn't, she gave up easily. But last night… the broadcast showed her pulling
out some sort of weapon before the drones took her down."
"And you are sure that's not true?"
I pause for a beat and run the two scenes through my head again. "I'm sure."
Meyer lets out a long sigh. "Okay. I sent the messages to your handheld. My assignment is to bring you into a group called Affinity, who wishes to stand up against Manning and his lies."
They want me to be a rebel?
"Why?" I ask. "What's special about me?"
"I'm only the messenger, but something tipped them off that you'd be a good fit." His dark, probing eyes meet mine, and something about their intensity makes my stomach flip. "Were they wrong?"
Embarrassed that he might sense my feelings, I break eye contact. "No, they weren't wrong, but..."
On some level, I've always wanted more than this existence, knowing things were not right. Even as a child, I knew if Ben had lived, I'd want to be allowed to see him more than once a year.
"But what?"
"I don't feel as if I have much to offer. And the risk…"
"I can imagine it's a difficult choice when this is all you know."
I swing around to face him. "Wasn't it for you?"
"I never really had to make it," he replies, shrugging.
"Why not?"
He sighs. "We're not here to talk about me."
I shoot him a sarcastic smile, but quickly hide it. "How else am I supposed to trust you?"
Meyer pinches his lips together, giving me a frustrated look. "Fine. I'm not a citizen. In their eyes, I don't exist. I was born in the Outerbounds."
The Outerbounds?
My ears perk up.
"My parents escaped Elore and lived outside the city. They were killed fifteen years ago. A man named Jayson was heavily involved in Affinity as he raised me, so I kind of became a child of Affinity."
At this point, I feel somewhat guilty I'd even asked. I'm no stranger to the effects of having someone you love die.
"I'm sorry," I say. "It must have been difficult to grow up without a stable home."
"Thanks, but don't be. The past made me the person I am, and to be honest, I'm honored to be involved. Sure, I wish I knew them, but I imagine they'd be proud of who I've become. My parents gave their lives for this cause."
His last words smart. Would I die for Affinity?
"People live outside the perimeter?" I ask. "I thought outside the city boundaries were dangerous."
His eyes snap to mine. "Direction is dangerous."
Questions reel in my mind. I know Direction is lying, but how bad is it? "But why did Affinity attack Level One?"
"Affinity wants to free people, not kill them." He snaps up, his stare boring right into me. "The demonstration was only the words on the building. The bomb wasn't us."
I frown. "Why would Direction injure their own people and damage property?"
"To blame it on Affinity. If everyone hates us… fears us, Manning can ensure the rebellion is crushed." His voice is tight. "He can look like the savior."
The confirmation stings, but incites me to want more. "Last night I watched a vid showing Director Manning, before he became a Director. He's done good things. Elore is growing. We are safe‒‒"
"And what else did the vids tell you?" Meyer interrupts.
"I… I don't know. I just don't understand how they went from helping people to killing them?"
"Avlyn… Manning has always been killing 'undesirable' people," he says, looking back at me seriously. "It just wasn't out in the open."
Shame and fear floods over me. "What do you mean?"
"Manning has been quietly purging the so-called 'undirected' for years. Anyone who doesn't fit into the mold might go missing.
A knot twists in my stomach. He's right. There was a boy in our group at university that didn't quite fit in, who got in trouble a lot. He used to have a cubical next to mine, and I don't even remember his name. One day, he stopped coming to class. I asked the AI teacher if he was coming back.
Reassigned.
I was told he was reassigned, and without a thought more about him until now, I'd accepted that answer.
"And don't even get me started on the experimental projects."
I spin toward him. "What?"
"Sometimes Level Ones are recruited with promises of credits and potential level upgrades to take part in experimentation," he explains. "They're told it's a good thing, their duty and a privilege to take part. The only reasons they give the rewards are to make sure people keep quiet, and in case Direction wants to use them again."
My palms dampen, and I rub them over my pants. I hadn't even considered what happened to Ben and I could be more widespread.
What if I was wrong about Devan and Bess's part in it?
Maybe they had no choice.
My head reels. I can't quite process the idea, and struggle to change the subject. "The… the leadership used to be structured differently, right?"
"Yeah," he says. "There used to be eight on the council. When the initiative shifted, the first to go were Cynthia Fisher and Adriana Ruiz, the Directors of Social Rights. The reports indicated that they stepped down voluntarily. Soon after, the others stepped down as well, leaving Colin Manning as the sole Director."
A woman passes by a little too close for comfort. I lean in. "It was reported as voluntary? Are you saying it wasn't? Ruiz seemed content enough to step down on the vid I watched."
"I know it wasn't."
A Guardian drone floats overhead, but Meyer ignores it.
"How?" I ask.
"Adriana Ruiz leads Affinity."
"A former Director leads the rebellion?" I whisper.
"That surprises you?" he asks.
I nod. "And Fisher?"
"Ruiz is confident she received threats," Meyer says. "Ruiz received them too. It's part of the reason she's our leader. She escaped the city and quietly began a rebellion. It started small, mostly transferring people out of the city who were unable to obey Direction laws, but it's grown. Fisher hasn't been heard from though. There's only rumors that she fled the city."
A thought sparks. Did Devan have help out of the city?
Meyer continues. "People want to marry who they love and keep their children, basic rights they are not allowed. Not everyone fits into the standard Direction mold, and these people will take risks in order to make their own choices. Safety and security is not most important to everyone. People have a need for freedom. Happiness."
"I want freedoms too. But I have a good job, a nice apartment… a future. What you're saying changes that."
He sighs and glances toward me. "So you would rather see people die while you sit on your nice sofa?"
I pull my knees up, then bury my head between them, confused if the burning in my gut signals me to say yes or no.
Meyer lets out a sound of disgust and pushes up from the ground, leaving me to myself as he hustles across the grass.
10
I haven't budged. I'm a coward. Everything is moving too fast. Coming out here, having not a clue as to what I was getting myself into.
I just wanted answers, not to overthrow the whole government. But I've gone this far, and I know in my heart that I can't give up, especially after the confirmation that Ben and I were not the only ones experimented on, that Direction may have used Bess and Devan.
I scramble to my feet and sprint after him.
When I reach his side, Meyer's shoulders relax. Silently, the two of us work through a maze of somewhat unfamiliar city blocks, since I usually only stick to the areas I need to be in. My stomach churns the whole way while Meyer fiddles on his handheld. Surprisingly, our destination is in a Level Three sector. We must have taken the long way. Meyer did mention that some routes were safer than others.
He takes me through the front of a neutral-colored apartment building and motions toward the elevator. I was expecting a darkened alleyway in Level One, not a pristine Level Three building.
We enter the elevator, and Meyer waves
his hand in front of the panel. The cab moves—down. I shake my head. I'm on the base floor, but we're headed into the ground?
"Down?" I ask.
"Yep. A few buildings funded by supporters of Affinity conceal… secrets," he whispers.
"But we're in Level Three."
"You'd be surprised how many supporters exist in Three."
"I already am."
When the doors pull open, they reveal nothing but a concrete hallway. A low auto light near the floor illuminates our way. This location's definitely secluded, and is a lot more like the back alley I'd pictured. I follow closely behind Meyer, close enough to duck behind him if I need to.
He leads me through three empty hallways. Right, left, then right again. I keep track in case I need to escape. It makes me feel better to know how to get out of here.
Toward the end of the third corridor, Meyer stops in front of a door. He swipes a few times on his Flexx, then pushes his hand to a security pad on the wall.
He smiles. "Here we are."
My hands clench into fists at my sides, but I creep toward the now-cleared door panel.
No turning back.
Inside, the room is dim, empty except for two deserted cubicles along the walls.
"Pretty impressive, right?"
My cheeks burn. I spin around to meet Meyer's eyes. "Is this a joke?"
"Stop worrying. Someone will be here in a minute." Meyer motions to the ceiling. "He's upstairs."
"What is this place anyway?" I ask.
"It's a bunker we don't use much anymore. Affinity tends to move around. My contact thought it would be a good place today."
Then the door opens again. A man close to Father's age, barely showing gray at the temples, steps through. Standing out is his wide smile, similar to the one Meyer regularly displays.
What's wrong with these people? Who has this much to smile about?
"Meyer," smiling man booms, "it's been a few months!"
Meyer goes toward him, arms out, and pulls the man into an embrace. They exchange a serious look, but pat each other on the back, then turn to me.
I stiffen. It's not my turn.
Configured: (Book #1 in the Configured Trilogy) Page 8