Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: The Dead Sun

Charlie

The soft buzzing of the soundwave woke me. I gazed at the ceiling of my bed-cubby. Six thirty already. The numbers glowed red against the pale blue surface of the cubby.

Rolling into a sitting position, I rubbed my eyes. The cold concrete floor sent a chill up my spine as my bare feet met it. Others were also stirring in their sleep-spaces. I could see them through the archways in the walls that separated our rooms, marking our personal areas and leaving little room for privacy.

Brushing my teeth at the sink near my bed, I dressed and stood before the screen. Below it was a silver panel that gave us our list of things to do each day. Where I was supposed to report back to each morning. Patiently, I waited for the thin slit in the wall to dispense my schedule. The crisp white paper slid smoothly from the slot on the wall and something soft bumped my leg.

“Hey, Mercy.”

The large shaggy dog smiled up at me, her tongue lulling. Her gray and white coat was so long it sometimes hid her eyes from view. Even her ears were barely visible in the jungle of hair. I knew they existed because they were her favorite place to get scratched.

She licked my hand impatiently, waiting for me to read the creed to the monitor. It always said the same thing in different ways. Even though they said we had to read them properly, no one seemed to care if I skipped parts.

“I will dress well and devote my time to learning and thinking in a pure and productive manner.

I will follow the rules to keep myself and those around me safe.

I will be a productive member of society...”

Mercy glanced up at me, her hair falling into her eyes as they filled with hope. Pressing my lips together, I skimmed to the end.

“I will stay young in the Multi Corp. and should I ever grow old or ill I should let the minstrals have me.”

Checking the first thing on my list, my eyes turned to Mercy with glee. It was running laps. Running was my favorite activity because Mercy could join me.

Each day everyone ran three miles on floor negative three to help prevent sickness. People who got sick were taken away by the minstrals and never seen again.

After running, we'd have to shower and sanitize the room to help prevent the spread of germs. Getting rid of germs was important. During history we learned about The Last Great War. Those who lost were sent north. After, a plague broke out, killing off most mankind. The only ones to survive were those in the Multi Corp. An underground city built before the war and run by the Donovan family.

Henry Donovan took classes with me. He was twelve like me, but I’d be turning thirteen far sooner. I never liked him much. He was snobbish and painfully arrogant. Unaware of how his attitude affected those around him. Classes were the only thing I shared with him. Even that only happened when he felt like it. He didn’t exercise with the rest of us or take his meals with us. None of the other kids liked him either. I watched as he passed in the hall, his nose pointed to the ceiling.

“Morning Charlie!”

Morris caught me at the stairs. His bright blue eyes were thick with sleep and his brown hair stuck up at odd angles.

“Morning Morris.”

He tossed something at me. I caught it on reflex.

“Thought you and your mutt could use that. Found it in a gardening room last night.”

Joy filled me at seeing the ball. I’d lost it over a week ago and had given up hope of finding it. Mercy's favorite toy. A bright yellow ball that bounced nearly to the ceiling when I dropped it.

“Hey Mercy! Look at what Morris found.”

I held up the ball for her to see. She let out an excited bark following me to the stairs that led to the track. Turning to thank Morris, I found him already gone. Staring after him, my emotions shifted. The other kids never talked to me for long. 

It wasn’t that I was picked on. Most of them were nice enough, but I couldn’t call them my friends. I was alright with that. After all, none of them were anywhere near as interesting as Mercy. Bouncing the ball up the steps, I laughed as she bounded after it.

Mercy waited for me as I showered and sanitized the locker room with the other boys. I found her sitting patiently outside the door, ever the lady, refusing to enter the boy’s locker room. Amusement filled me with how polite she was for a dog. Bouncing the ball across the room for her again, I laughed as she bounded after it.

“Found the ball, eh Charlie?”

Alex patted my shoulder as he saw her. His combed red hair glittered with moisture after his shower. He was top of our class. While he seemed nice, I knew he sometimes picked on the girls. Morris said it was because he was experiencing puberty. I hadn’t asked what puberty was. I was too afraid of sounding stupid. Instead, I’d agreed and let the conversation end there.

Alex helped me with an art project once. He saw the difficulty I had painting leaves on trees and showed me how to flatten the end of my brush between my fingers and use it like a stamp. The linquith plant I’d been painting got high marks.

I pet Mercy as she returned with the ball.

“Morris found it in the gardening room.”

I turned, only to find he'd already gone off to his next assignment for the day. Scratching Mercy behind the ears, I glanced at my list. We'd finished our laps early. If we hurried, we’d have time to eat after feeding our linquith plant. I picked it up on the way to the mess hall to save time. Sitting at a table, I checked off my list before throwing the ball for Mercy, who hurried to catch it before it could escape. Then I turned my attention back to my plant.

Linquith fruit was what kept the Multi Corp functioning. Just one fruit had the potential to power the city for a week. Our whole society focused on growing them. Supposedly they were developed after the Last Great War. The original plants were an accident that were sent to us, to be cultivated and tested. We utilized them as a power source ever since.

I turned in a paper on some of the ways I thought we could improve our growing systems. If it got a good response, I would have a real chance at getting a job as a head grower. One of the most respectable jobs a person could be assigned.

Each day I waited through my other classes to get to gardening. Whether it was olericulture, horticulture, pedology, or botany. My grades were always near the top of our classes. The feel of the soil between my fingers, the smell of the freshly watered plants. The way you could grow something so small into something so amazing made me feel as if I were performing magic. Next to playing with Mercy, gardening was my favorite thing.

Mercy pounced on me with the slobber covered ball in her dripping mouth. Shrugging her off playfully, my elbow knocked into my linquith plant. It fell on its side and a single fruit broke free, falling from the tree. It rolled across the concrete floor and through an open door. Its yellow peel resembled Mercy’s ball so closely that she launched after it.

Standing, I watched horror stricken as she chased after it, vanishing into the room beyond. My eyes flicked over a red and white sign posted above the door, designating it:

Out of bounds for Citizens.

Racing over to it, I could only see a dark landing beyond. The top of a stairwell was surrounded in shadows. It seemed to lead into the underbelly of the Multi Corp.

No one was supposed to go there, but did that apply to Mercy? She didn't care about the rules, and she wasn’t coming back either.

Checking to make sure no one was coming; I pulled the door firmly closed. If Mercy wasn't coming out, the best I could do was keep her there until I could think of a way to get her.

Chewing on my lip nervously, I hoped she didn’t eat the linquith fruit. That would make her sick. The minstrals would take her away with the ill and the old if she got sick. I wasn't sure what I’d do if they did.

It was rumored that all the ill and old were sent to the reprocessing zones. Where they were recycled to become things like food, water, fertilizer, and fuels. They would waste nothing because our society couldn't afford to throw anything away. Especially if it could be repurposed.

I couldn't let them do that to my best friend.

Not to Mercy.

She’d followed me around for as long as I could remember. Nuzzling next to me at night and keeping on my heel’s day after day. She was the one person I could confide in, the one person who seemed happy to see me. The only one I told all my secrets to. There had never been a time when we had been without each other. If I could help it there never would be, after this. I had to keep her safe from the minstrals.

Without a word, I continued with the day like nothing happened. Taking my linquith plant back to class, I told the teacher that the missing fruit had rotted overnight. I would lose points for it, but it would be worse to tell what had happened to Mercy.

Worry kept me from focusing during class. Worry that someone might go into that room for a secret reason. That Mercy would pierce the fruit with her teeth or eat it the moment she got hungry. I tried to come up with a plan to get her, but I could find no time to do so.

Lying in bed that night, my legs grew cold from her absence. By the next morning I still hadn't fallen asleep. I was exhausted. My whole body ached. Groggily I moved to the sink and brushed my teeth. Even that felt like it took twice as long as normal. When the creeds for the day came through the slot on the wall, I couldn't manage a smile. Which would make the minstrals focus on me, so I forced myself to read the whole thing, blundering through it as I read line after line in an exhausted voice.

My classes started earlier than usual. I'd have to go straight to them after eating. I never ran as fast without Mercy. Somehow, she filled the practice with a joy that nothing else could provide. When I was done showering, her absence outside the locker room made my heart ache. I bit my lip to keep the worry from showing on my face.

During breakfast my eyes lingered on the door.

Was she alright in the dark?

Had she been cold in the night?

Had she eaten the linquith fruit?

Irritably I tapped my foot against the floor in class as I waited for our lessons to be over. Three minutes stretched into eternity as I waited to save Mercy. As cruel as time seemed the night before, it was nothing compared to staring in the face of an actual clock. It moved slowly, deliberately, taunting me from its spot on the wall.

Horrible images ran through my head of different things that may have happened to her in that dark place. I was so wrapped within those thoughts I didn't even notice when a note slid onto my desk. I wondered how it arrived. Turning to see who’d passed it to me, I came up empty. Everyone was focusing on their work. None of them gave me so much as a glance.

The note seemed normal enough, a flat sheet of paper. Our class had learned long ago not to fold notes. It made noise when you opened them and drew the attention of the teacher. The only obviously odd thing about it was the fact that someone had passed it to me.

Pulling the page closer, I read it quietly to myself.

“Addressed to CL”

“CL” was my note name. Only kids in our lessons knew it. We each had one so the teacher wouldn’t know who they were from. We never use real names in our notes, which could get the person we were trying to talk to into trouble.

Still, I wondered if I might be the wrong person anyway. Perhaps they’d written CL by mistake and meant someone else. Rather than making a fool of myself by asking those around me I read on.

“Addressed to CL,

ML requests mess with 3-5/6”

 
         This meant that the person with the note name ML wanted to see me in the mess hall at ten o’clock on Friday. 3-5 meant that I had to subtract five from three on the clock, which brought me to ten.

The last number represented the day they wanted the meeting to take place. That number was easy, Sunday through Saturday. Sunday being one and Saturday being seven. So, they wanted to meet me on Friday. It was already Thursday, making it short notice for a meeting with someone I didn't even know. Which brought up a more pressing question.

Who was ML? I knew each of my classmates’ codenames by heart. None of them were ML.

Matt was MT and Morris was MR.

I wondered if it was a prank. I had more important things to do than going to some dumb meeting with someone who couldn't even get the code right. Carefully I closed the note into my book. Class would be over soon. I'd finally have a chance to check on Mercy.

When the teacher dismissed us, I hurried out of the room, determined to get to her as fast as I could.

It was already ten and the minstrals would be out in an hour. Racing to the door she disappeared through, I shoved it open, hesitating for only a second to make sure no one was looking before going inside.

I couldn’t survive another night like the previous one. Not without knowing she was alright. I’d rather face reprimand than another night without Mercy. If I got into trouble, I could just say I hadn’t seen the sign and apologize. They might forgive something like that. They also might not. But I had to try.

I’d brought a bottle of water with me and cleverly filled my pockets with food for her that morning. No doubt she would be hungry after missing breakfast. She was always hungry.

I hit the landing, my eyes still adjusting to the dark. Carefully, I moved. The room was massive, with an impossibly high ceiling. Along the wall there were posters and pictures, mostly faded and difficult to see in the dark, but as my eyes began to adjust, I could make out letters and words on them. Things like, Science and Gordon. Though most of the images were too faded to see, I could make out the image of what had once been a human face.

A large dust caked glass shelf sat, sealing something inside. I moved closer, wiping the layers of dust off the cover as I peered inside. There was a small, intricate machine shaped like a ball. A brass plaque sat underneath. I had to dust off more of the glass to read what it said.

“Just in case, -Emmett

• ”

My mouth shaped the words as I said them aloud, before backing away. Annoyed with the stupid thing. Whatever it was, it wasn’t Mercy, or her ball. Though I supposed she wouldn’t have minded playing with it. I wondered if she’d appear if I threw it and decided against it. Old tech might hurt her worse than the linquith fruit.

“Mercy!”

I pulled out the food from my pockets, holding it up for her to smell.

“Mercy, come here girl!”

Empty silence was my only reply. Reaching in my bag for her bowls, I began filling them in hopes she’d hear and come. Though she was nowhere in sight. My heart raced at the idea she might have been taken by the minstrals. All because I'd been too much of a coward to get her earlier.

My eyes caught on another flight of stairs. Hurrying toward them, I went up. My feet pounded against metal grating. The stairs groaned, filling the air with a metallic reverberating sound. Looking back, I found the distance I covered surpassed the length of the stairwell I’d come in on. Wherever it led, was a floor higher than any I’d been to.

The landing was a crumbling concrete area, which dropped into nothingness on two sides. Way down to the floor several flights below. From so high up it resembled a black void. Mercy wasn’t there either. Though she might be at the bottom.

Panic forced my feet to run. I tried to calm myself at the thought of death and Mercy. What if she had fallen into that dark void? I hurried to check the area below, with mild relief as I found she wasn’t there either.

I looked everywhere after that. Under tables, in corners, down a dark hall that led to a place filled with ancient bunk beds. The place was massive. A forbidden city hidden within our own city. I began to submit to the fact that I might never find her.

Exasperated, I sat. It was already ten forty-five. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back inside without getting into trouble. If I were seen they'd take me away too.

It was better not to risk it. I stayed in the dark place for the rest of the day. Knowing I'd have to make up for it the next day. If I told them I was locked in a supply closet, they'd have me go above ground for missing the ritual. I’d never had to do that before.

The idea made my skin crawl. I'd heard horror stories about the above world. I never wanted to visit the place. People said monsters lived up there. Monsters who ate human flesh. They couldn't be reasoned with. They said if the monsters found us, they'd eat us. But if we were unlucky enough to live through that, we'd turn into monsters too.

As the day wore on something caught my eye. At the top of the long staircase. A thin beam of light. Slowly I mounted the steps again. Staring at the light, as the realization came to me. This was another door. Not like any I’d ever seen. It was slanted at an angle almost like it was a piece of ceiling. So high up a stairwell like this, it could only lead to one place. I reached out and pushed it open.

Blinding light filled my eyes and I fell to my knees. They stung as rocky concrete bit into them.

There had never been a light as strong. It blinded my senses, burning and causing my eyes to grow warm with tears. The door fell shut once more as I covered my streaming eyes. Huddling there as I tried to steady my nerves.

 I wouldn’t be able to leave the landing now. It was too dangerous to go down the stairs until my eyes adjusted again. I sat for hours, my emotions getting away from me.

Had Mercy found her way out into that bright death?

How would I find her in a place like that?

Tears streamed down my cheeks as the possibilities overwhelmed me. As it grew late, I became aware of the light dimming from under the door. At first, I thought it was my imagination, until it disappeared completely.

A chill ran down my spine. That light had come from the sun. Each day we'd gather under the doons to soak in that light. Safe, in the Multi Corp. The doons sharp bladed blinds opened and closed to let in the rays. It was a necessary process.

Living underground could make people unwell. Not sick, but in the early years living without the sun had made them want to die. Many of them had decided to do just that. To battle the epidemic, they’d started the ritual and it worked. I imagined it was far better than living in the bright sunlight all the time. I couldn’t imagine living under a ball of fire constantly.

I’d never been in direct sunlight before that moment. With how bright it had been all it could be was sunlight. I hadn’t wanted to believe it, not with monsters out there. A door like this existing was insane. But even more so was the light of the sun failing. I stared, horrified as I realized the spot where the light had shown through was dark.

My hands trembled as I reached for the door. Closing my eyes, I pushed it open. This time, no blinding light tried to burn my vision. The darkness remained. Cautiously, I opened my eyes to see that it was just as dark outside as in.

Without thinking I waved a hand in front of my face to make sure I hadn't gone blind. But my vision wasn't the problem. I looked back at the world outside.

A softer light lit the desert beyond. One of silver and white. As I watched, I realized that it wasn’t just one light, but thousands, with one massive glowing orb outshining them all. The sky had turned coal black. It looked as though a thousand linquith fruit were stuck up inside within its impossibly high depths. Their color was the purest of any I’d witnessed.

I breathed in the chill of the night air. Hugging myself to keep warm. My breath puffed out in white clouds and fear kindled in my chest, overshadowing the fact Mercy had vanished.

What had happened to the sun?

What would happen if the light died completely? If the shattered pieces left behind by the sun went out altogether? How long would it take for us to die too? Would the Earth freeze? Was it somehow my fault, for going into the forbidden room? Had I broken the Sun by breaking the rules?

I had to tell someone it was broken, that it was in a million pieces, but then they'd wonder how I knew. They might even blame me. It was better to let them see it during the ritual. They'd wonder how it happened too. They might even try to repair it.

I sat. Shock rendered my limbs temporarily useless. My breath came more easily in time, though it didn't stop my eyes from prickling at the sight before me. The sun, in thousands of pieces. As horrifying as it was, it was also the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I stayed for hours, unable to pull my gaze away. Glancing only at my watch, until two in the morning. Eventually I went back inside. Closing the doors behind me to make sure no monsters could enter. The door wasn’t the kind I was used to. It was metal and thin. Tilted in such a manner that if it were pushed open it could easily fall closed again. If Mercy did get out through the door, she might not be able to get back in. Tired and worried about what the future held in store for us, I returned to the living quarters. The minstrals would all be asleep at this time. Getting into bed, I closed my eyes.

I might not have found Mercy, and the Sun might very well be dying. But I couldn't get the image of that sky out of my mind. Its broken remains in its final moments were beautiful. It was a pity I had been the only witness.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Almost Likable

Henry

  The desert was stifling hot. The kind of dry heat that made your skin crack and split until it burned when the wind hit it. The worst part about all of it was the light. It stung the eyes causing warm liquid to flow. It was a hellish place. Blindingly bright, overwhelmingly spacious, and filthy. Other kids in class said there were monsters there, though I’d been there a dozen times and never saw one.

  I wished my parents would forbid people from going altogether. But my pleas were ignored. My mother insisted we needed sunlight. But someday I’d change that.

  I was Henry Donovan. Firstborn son of Mr. and Mrs. Donovan, owners of the Multi Corp. We oversaw all the missions that went above the first level, out into daylight.

  My grandfather told me long ago a great man built our facility. A man with the foresight to build our home before the war or sickness happened. Before the monsters came and began eating everyone. For years no one could leave the underground. Waiting until the monsters vanished.

  I don't hold to stories like that. I prefer reality. In reality my parents were too busy to accompany people above ground. So, the responsibility fell to me. Our people lived there for two hundred years. Kept alive by the benevolence of the Donovan family. My family. Kept safe from the things that dwelled in the land above. I didn’t mind others believing it if it kept them in line and obedient.

  My grandfather taught me all about obedience. He’d taught me others were subservient to us. That they’d do whatever we wanted because they owed their existence to us.

  Then there was the ritual with the doons. I never understood the ritual. My mother believed it had something to do with maintaining physical health. When a person missed the ritual, they became ill minded. They’d need to be taken above ground for the day, into the heat of the sun.

  I hadn’t believed that until it happened. Charlie Baker missed the ritual and the next morning he looked awful. I watched him. Seeing the bags under his eyes, how pale he was, how his nose was stuffed with snot, and how he desperately tried to hide it.

  Once noon came, the minstrals tried to keep him in the Main Hall, but he tried to run.

  Minstrals were responsible for keeping everyone healthy and getting rid of those that were ill or old. People who threatened society. Sometimes they took people to the underground trains and sent them away. Sometimes, they took them to other places.

  Despite the minstrals efforts, Charlie began shouting hysterically. All about the sun and lies. Insisting the real sun died. He’d gone insane. Everyone knew the sun couldn’t go out. He’d struggled and the minstrals beat him beyond consciousness.

  I was left with the pleasure of taking him above ground. I waited for him in the charter vehicle, parked in a depository shaft. When he arrived, I opened the car door. The minstrals shoved him inside.

  He sat, head bowed and shaking. A blue bruise stood out on his lightly freckled cheek and the door shut, blocking him from view. The tinted windows of the car were impossible to see through.

  Since I’d been eight, they’d taught me to operate the machine. Back then, I couldn't reach the pedals. That wasn’t a problem anymore. I wondered if anyone would notice if I took a drive around the outskirts. Maybe I could find a monster for Charlie.

  They gave me a bottle of water for him. But I'd get thirsty myself while we were out there. Picking it up, I weighed it in my hand. Enough for one day.

  The depository shaft raised the car up. Bringing us out into the desert. I was grateful for my dark lenses. Charlie had none. The memory of the others I’d brought up came to me and I grinned, recalling their reactions. The light brought the most ridiculous expressions to their faces. Driving off the shaft I pulled the exile lever, opening Charlie’s door. He covered his eyes, cowering away from the penetrating light. A cry escaped him at the shock.

  “The light. It’s too much. Too bright!”

  My annoyance rose. I hated it when others talked like we were equals. We weren’t. He was alive on the whims of my family. If I wanted him dead, it wouldn’t be hard to make it happen. I opened the bottle in my hand and took a large gulp out of it before closing it again.

  “Get out.”

  I gestured to the door. Charlie looked at me with fear filled eyes, but I never repeated myself.

  “May I borrow your glasses?”

  He spoke as if he thought we were friends. The idea of being friends with something like him made me sick. I kept my eyes ahead, avoiding the view of his messy brown hair and dirt brown eyes. I didn’t want to look at someone who was so different from myself.

  My hair was nicely combed. A soft blond which my mother told me shined like white gold in candlelight. My eyes were a light green. Far more delicate than Charlie's. They needed protection more than his eyes did. They were far more important than he was. The idea he would ask for something like that was maddening.

  We might have class together, but I hardly needed school. None of the other kids were my equals, least of all Charlie. Everyone would agree that as a Donovan my life was far more valuable. The most he would ever amount to would be a worker. I was destined to rule the Multi Corp.

  Understanding slid over his features. He let out a sigh before stepping out of the car with his hands over his eyes. Facing his fate in pathetic defeat.

  The sun warmed the dark interior of the car despite the air conditioners’ efforts. I was sure to smell like sweat by the end of the day. I'd need a nice long bath. No doubt Charlie would get burned out in the elements, exposed like he was. Served him right for making such a fuss.

  He was well known by others in our class. People liked him and included him in their jokes and games. He was accepted by them because he was one of them. He was like them. Common.

  I wasn't, my grandfather drilled that into me. I never spent time with any of them outside our lessons. My family had a wing of our own to live in. I had my own bedroom with a door and even a bookshelf full of books. The others were dirty. I didn’t want to go near them.

  I’d witnessed the sleeping cubbies the other kids dwelled in. There was no comparison. Sometimes I wondered if it was staying in rooms like that, with so many others in such short proximity that got people sick.

  The first three hours dragged on slowly. I began to wish I’d brought one of the books my grandfather gave me. The ones with the glossy pages and the pictures that could occupy my mind for hours. Those were safely tucked away on my bookshelf, where my mother would never notice them.

  Charlie’s ears were beginning to turn red with heat as he sat on the ground. His arms were wrapped loosely around his knees, and his pale neck was slowly browning.

  He wasn’t special. So, how did he get along so well with the others? Why should they like him at all? He had no talents, no special abilities to offer. If anything, he was dull. On the lower end of average. That much showed in the outburst he’d had. Insisting that somehow the sun was a fake. That the real one had broken apart. That he’d seen it.

  I began playing with the lights on the car, out of boredom. Making a game of it, aiming at Charlie's eyes. His face scrunched as he sat there, looking ridiculous.

  I hoped he'd get upset and start yelling, just so I could tell the minstrals he was too ill to come back home. I wasn't sure where people went exactly. My parents told me that sometimes they went to a re-education facility, so they could learn to take better care of themselves. They also said that sometimes they had to be taken away, for special purposes. Those events were rarer, but it had happened to a girl in one of the nursery classes. One named Stacy Waters. Seeing her get taken confused me. She was neither ill, nor old. Though my parents hadn’t wanted to explain. Wherever they went, we were safer with them gone.

  I tried once more to get Charlie in the eyes with the lights, but he’d stopped caring. He'd stopped noticing my game altogether, closing his eyes as he sat there, baking in the sun’s rays.

  I took another gulp of water, thirsty at the sight of him. As I lowered the bottle from my lips, something caught my eye. A creature was out there, moving in the distance.

  My eyes went to Charlie, for an instant as I remembered the stories of monsters and flesh-eating creatures that lived in the world above. He'd be fair bait to catch one. He hadn't even seen the thing, sitting there with his eyes closed like an idiot.

  It slowly drew closer, its shape barely forming at the edge of my vision. Starting the car, I revved it a few times before driving up beside where Charlie sat. The plan came to me naturally, pure genius.

  Closing the bottle of water, I opened the door. The fool would be so happy to have a drink that he wouldn’t bother to wonder what was going on. He’d think it was a peace offering, or a bribe.

  No one was allowed in the unknown lands. Not even me. I was aware of that, but the desire to know what the creature was overpowered any reason that might have swayed me. If I told them I saw a monster, everyone would want to hear about it. Especially if they lost Charlie to it.

  “Thought you might be thirsty.”

  Tossing the bottle to him he caught it. Looking between me and it, bewildered. Searching for a response. I closed the door and took off after the figure, leaving Charlie to his sun muddled thoughts.

  As I drew closer its shape took the form of a large furry tumbleweed. Slowing the car, I drew nearer and turned around. But by the time the vehicle stopped the beast was gone.

  Refusing to believe the animal could just vanish, I opened the door. Stepping out into direct sunlight for the first time, I took in my surroundings. Stunted silver structures of the Multi Corp. poked out of the ground on one half. On the other was a vast expanse of flat open desert. Wilderness with only sage brush, dying prickly pear bushes, and dead Joshua trees. Looking like morbid corpses with their arms raised to the sky.

  Closer to where I saw the thing a boulder sat, only a few feet away. Where the land dipped creating a ditch. It was the only place the beast could have hidden.

  Fear weighed in my stomach as I approached. They said monsters ate flesh. That they ate people. It was a risk, especially being a Donovan, but obsession took hold of me. I wanted to know what that beast was. I wanted to catch it and keep it for myself. Maybe I could feed those I hated to it.

  Picking up a large rock to defend myself should it dare attack me, reassurance eased my nerves. I would teach it a lesson should it try. No monster would get the better of Henry Donovan.

  Stepping around the boulder, I peered at the other side. Nothing was there. The rock fell from my hands, clattering against the ground. Maybe it was my imagination. The world above could play tricks on the mind. It was probably how all the ridiculous rumors had started. Turning to get back in the car, I found my seat occupied by the most disgusting creature I had ever laid eyes on.

  Drool dripped from the monster’s mouth. A large white glob hung from a string of thick slobber as it stared at me. Strange brown vines seemed to grow from its back. Its fur came out in large tufts of white and gray.

  Then the thing let out a quiet whine, its brown eyes staring at me pitifully behind thick fur as it laid on the seats. Its filthy tail swatting the steering wheel. Seeing the tail, I bit my lip as I realized. It was a dog. A large dog. Though beneath all the dirt and sticks that covered it, it resembled a monster. As I moved closer it raised its head and a large tongue flopped out of its mouth.

  “You're not a monster at all.”

  Moving, I pulled some of the weeds out of its fur and winced at the number of thorns on the bush. I checked to make sure Charlie was out of sight. If I couldn't see him, he couldn't see me. Without another thought I hurried to pull the dog out of the car. Doing my best to untangle the dead sagebrush. Opening the trunk, I pulled out a length of rope. The minstrals usually used it to restrain uncooperative people. Though my parents never let me go above with anyone dangerous. Charlie had settled down long before they’d decided I should be the one to take him.

  I managed to tie the rope around the beast’s neck and wedge the other end under the boulder using smaller rocks. It wouldn’t hold forever, but it would be fine until I returned.

  I got back in the car, making plans to get the beast later. It couldn't be that difficult to find an excuse to come above ground. It was rare that people got in trouble, but I could help the situation along.

  Returning to Charlie, I continued to watch the place where I had tethered the dog until it was time to go back. I couldn't help but feel nervous about leaving it there. I didn't know when it last had food or water. As hot as the desert got, there was no way to be sure it wouldn't die from heat exhaustion before I returned.

  Charlie sat in the car next to me, bright red and tired. Mild curiosity gleamed in his eyes.

  “Where did you go?”

  Frustration burned my chest at his audacity.

  “Shut your mouth, idiot.”

  Rage burned in my chest at the casual tone he'd taken. Like he thought we shared a secret. He turned his attention out the window, miserable. Ignoring his mood, I racked my brain for someone who deserved a day in the sun. There were plenty of people I disliked. Once I picked who, the next question was how I could get them to miss the ritual. The answer didn't come until that night, as I was relaxing in a warm bath.

  I could ask someone to meet me somewhere. A supply closet, just before the ritual. I could hide and wait for them to go inside and lock the door.

  It was simple. All I needed was the person.

Chapter Text

Charlie

Dread weighed on my shoulders as I shambled down the hall. I’d lost my best friend. The sun had shattered and somehow reassembled. I hadn’t slept in days, and I’d spent the day above world. To top it all off I had forgotten about the meeting with ML. Whoever that was.

How was it possible to feel so terrible?

My skin ached from the scorching desert. My rear was sore from the hot stony ground and my lips were cracked and bleeding. It was difficult to think through the fog in my head.

Morris caught sight of me as I moved into the wash ports.

“You look terrible, Charlie.”

His mousy brown hair stood out at odd ends, as his large blue eyes stared worriedly. It was a low blow to hear that remark from him.

“You don’t look too sharp yourself mate.”

I patted him on the shoulder before moving past.

“Aye, where’s that dog that's always following you around everywhere?”

I clenched my teeth unwilling to let on that Mercy was missing and potentially sick.

“Mercy’s around… You know dogs, you can’t expect her to follow me all the time.”

Morris shrugged and went back to washing his face. I pushed past the others going back to my sleeping cubby. Half hoping she'd be laying on my bed when I arrived. Though my bed was barren. It was doubtful she'd show anytime soon. I bit my lip as I tried to contain my worry. There was a chance she was still alive, but if I didn't get to her soon there’d be no helping her.

It was stupid to hope she'd be there. She probably crawled through that secret door, pushing it open just enough to get through before it closed, locking her out. She had to be in the world above. It was the only explanation. The only one that meant she could still be alive. I had to find a way to get there again, but the only way there was to miss the ritual, and I couldn’t do that again. Not without risking being taken away.

As my head hit the pillow a strange noise reached my ears, the crinkle of paper. I reached under and my fingers hit a folded page. Pulling out the note I stared at it, shocked that someone would enter my personal cubby to hide a note.

Unfolding it, I read:

Address to CL

ML was denied 3-5/6 mess.

ML requests 1-5/8 4 planters.

Puzzled, I stared at the message. Who’d want to talk to me this badly? They’d need to get into my room without anyone noticing. They wanted to meet in the planting room, where they held the healthiest linquith plants, at eight o'clock the following day.

I’d have work due around then and I’d yet to get a response from the teachers over my hydroponics paper. I hadn't been able to get a response since I'd had to spend a day above ground. If they liked it, they’d want me to create test trials. Work like that would be time consuming. I’d be hard pressed to find any spare time to search for Mercy.

Exhaustion dragged on my limbs as I rolled out of bed the next morning. Rather than making me feel better, the sun had drained my energy. My raw throat ached in protest as I read the creed for the day. I forced myself to smile and read the entire thing, leaving no room for them to question whether I was well. Three pages of dull, repetitive nonsense about how wonderful the Donovan’s were and how grateful we should be and how we should let them know if we ever become ill. Followed by my list of activities for the day.

7:00 - Run your laps and take a shower.

 

         I ran my laps, finishing ten minutes earlier than usual. Though I was unable to do much of anything over those next ten minutes as I tried to catch my breath. I’d gone so fast no one could question my health. Despite that none of the others went out of their way to say good morning. Morris had seemed about to say something, until Alex nudged his arm, giving him a warning look.

I couldn’t blame them. My health had been called into question. The fear most of the others felt when they saw me was palpable. For everyone but Morris. He only seemed to pity the rotten luck I’d had. He also seemed to be the only other kid to notice and worry about Mercy’s absence. I offered a tight smile, so he knew there were no hard feelings.

 

8:00 - Feed your Linquith plant and report to the mess hall for your first meal.

 
         It was only 7:30 but I had to be somewhere else by 8:00. I decided to feed my plant early. After, I went straight to Planting room four. The linquith plants there were huge. Most went over my head. The smaller ones were kept on tables in the middle of the room, so they could be carefully tended to.

It was a bad plan to stay out in the open in a place I wasn’t supposed to be, so I hid between two of the larger plants in case someone came. Silently looking around at the blue tile floors and the green wallpaper. Breathing in the sweet and sour smell of the fruit.

Only a few minutes passed when two grownups entered. They were in their late twenties, keepers of the Planter room. Allowed in there, unlike me. I held my breath, afraid of being caught. Then a female voice spoke.

“Fillip, you know what happened last time. We can't risk another meeting. They’ll find out.”

She sounded terrified. A male voice, that I could only assume belonged to Fillip, replied.

“Not this time. Just gather all those that are nearing old age. I know you can do it. They can’t keep doing this. It’s wrong to kill people who've done nothing.”

“Fillip, please listen to reason. You sound like one of them already.”

“One of who? People with ideas, with feelings? Someone who cares if they live or die?”

“One of the old. Someone who starts wars.”

“Name one of our friends that were trying to start a war when they were taken.”

There was heat in his tone. Anger and another strong emotion rolled off him which I had never felt. She was silent, afraid. I couldn’t blame her for that. Fillip spoke again.

“Perhaps sometimes war is necessary.”

“No Fillip, it isn’t. You can’t let them think you're old already. Just stay quiet and you’ll be fine.”

“So, they can take me in another year? I’m tired of keeping my head under the sand. There’s life up there. Water if we look for it.”

“There is nothing up there, the unknown land goes on forever.”

“How do you know? It’s unknown, no one knows. There could be whole barrels of water just laying around. No one has looked in two hundred years.”

“You can't try to get out. They caught Jerome and they’ll catch you too.”

“Jerome tried to go out through the depository shaft, I’m going another way.”

“It’s idiotic. You'll never make it.”

“I will. They open them every day. They're on a timer. They’re the only way out.”

“I can’t let you.”

She was desperate. I could tell she cared for Fillip in a deeper way. Almost the same way I felt for Mercy. I was tempted to peek around the plant to see what her expression was. To see how that emotion looked. When Fillip responded, he didn’t notice how deeply she felt for him. Or if he did, he didn’t care.

“What are you going to do? Tell?”

“If it comes to that.”

“You wouldn’t dare. That wouldn’t be saving me it would be throwing me to the minstrals.”

She grew quiet again, though her rapid breathing suggested she wanted to argue. She just didn't have the words. After a while she spoke, her words as defeated as her heart.

“We have to go. We’re running out of time.”

“Right. You go first, I’ll follow in a bit.”

“Right.”

She left the room. It was only me and Fillip now. I hoped Fillip couldn’t hear my breathing. Sometimes those about to turn old tried to run. Though our laws stated that they should face the minstrals with bravery, rather than fear. It put others in danger when they fought. The minstrals said it was because they were old that they put up such a fight. I couldn’t say for sure. I never had much time with adults. The older people got, the lower the level they lived on and the less they visited the upper levels.

It was the first rebel conversation I’d witnessed. Had that been what ML was hoping for? Was this a test set up by the minstrals, to see if I was ill? Had they orchestrated this to see what I’d do?

I wasn’t sure what to do. The minstrals might kill him if I told. It felt too much like murder to tell. But if it was a test, they might kill me.

Fillip left. I was too petrified to move from my spot. What if it was real and they saw me leave? They’d know I heard their conversation.

I sat awhile, practicing being quiet as I counted the seconds that passed in my head. Then the door opened again. Fear stopped my breath. They were too short to see from where I sat, and their footsteps were quiet on the smooth floor.

“Charlie?”

I couldn’t tell from the whisper whether it was a girl or boy, but I wasn’t permitted to talk to girls anyway, so I doubted it was one.

A squeak emitted from my feet. A mouse was there, its front paws clung to the toe of my shoe. It looked at me with large red eyes, its white fur gleaming and its long pink tail laying perfectly still. It watched me, squeaking again, louder this time. Curiosity sparked inside me at the sound. It was signaling someone.

They hurried to pick up the mouse, stroking it lovingly. I stared and they stared back. Neither of us spoke.          

It was a girl. Not a pretty girl either. She had long messy brown hair and thick round glasses which sat on a small round nose, covering large green eyes. She looked around eleven or twelve. Her clothes were too large for her. It wasn’t a standard jumpsuit like mine. Instead, a blue shirt hung off her like it was a dress. Her pants were scrunched around her legs folded a few times at the ankles. Some of her hair was held back by a ribbon with a pencil stuck through it. Though it did no good to keep it out of her eyes. It hung in large clumps covering her face and shoulders until it engulfed her belly. I wondered how she got away with never having cut it.

“Hello Charlie.”

My eyes grew wide as my heart pounded against my chest. She spoke to me. It was strictly forbidden to speak to the other sex until we were sixteen. Eventually we’d be moved to the adult section of the facility, where we would live out the remainder of our lives.

My mouth opened and closed a few times as I sputtered to find something to respond with. Something not against the rules, but no words came. She pulled the left side of her lip into her mouth, biting it nervously. Acting like that was stupid. It showed she knew she was doing something wrong. Knowing made it that much worse.

I looked at the floor. I’d never spoken to a girl. That was wrong, forbidden. I didn’t want to get in trouble now. Not after yesterday. So, I stayed quiet, refusing to look at her. I would look at the blue tiled floor and she would be able to do nothing. Only she did something, she spoke again.

“My name is Mildred, Charlie. I have to talk to you.”

So, talk. Say what you want to say and disappear. We’re not allowed to talk to each other. I’m not allowed to listen. Disappear. I begged inwardly.

Despite my silent pleas, she didn't disappear, she went right on talking, blatantly ignoring the rules.

“I’m a girl. Yes, I know, but it’s okay to talk to me. You don’t have to be afraid, Charlie.”

The floor’s blue paneling seemed dirtier by the second. I kept staring at it and finding new dirt clods that hadn’t been cleaned properly. It stuck between the cracks and gathered in corners. Dirty, this room was disgusting.

“Charlie, you have to listen to me, please.”

My heart ached at the desperation in her voice.

They would come soon. They would find this girl and her mouse. They’d see her talking to me. They’d see how good I was, how well I ignored her. She’d get in trouble, but me, I would be fine, probably rewarded. Then she yelled.

“Baker! Charlie Baker! You don’t know me. You couldn’t possibly know me! My name is Mildred Baker, do you understand? Do you hear me? Mildred Baker. I don’t know why it's that way, but I found out from the filing room.”

Our names, that was what she was on about? Our names being the same? Oddly enough that fact didn’t bother me half so much as the other thing she’d said. The filing room was where they kept everyone’s records. All the facts about the people living in the Multi Corp. Their names, which year they were born and which years they died in. Its main purpose was to keep track of how many people lived in the Multi Corp. But no one was allowed in there.

The name wasn’t a big deal. I wasn't even sure where our names came from. I figured they were chosen by the people who matched breeders. Though seeing my confusion, she only tried harder to make me understand.

“Baker, don’t you see?”

I didn't see. Mildred was annoyed at the fact I didn’t see.

“Charlie, they're going to pair us off.”

“We’re not old enough.”

The words had come out by accident. I bit my lip hard to keep from speaking again. What had I done? I'd spoken to a girl. I’d only wanted to calm her down and I’d broken the rules without even thinking. I looked back at the floor.

“Not now Charlie, but in the future. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be paired off with an ill or old.”

Anger filled me with the insult.

“I’m not ill or old. I’m leaving. We’re not allowed to talk to each other.”

“But Charlie please, I tried so hard to get up here.”

My heart ached again. I could feel her desperation. Hear it in her tone. Her fear, her worry that everything she’d gone through to talk to me was for nothing.

Looking back, I took in the sight of her. Her skin was white as a ghost. She looked about to cry. Guilt tugged at my heart over the cold tone I'd taken with her. Grudgingly I turned back to face her.

“What is it?”

Whatever it was had to be important. Though she had difficulty getting to the point.

“I work in the filing room. I never get to come out. They have doons in that room, so I can get some sun. But it’s lonely down there. The only company I have anymore is Rodder.”

“Rodder?”

“The mouse. That’s how I got your note to your room.”

I examined the mouse, holding out a hand to it as my fear subsided. The mouse was cute. Its long tail was textured in a way that made me want to examine it more closely. Its small claws clung to my finger as it sniffed my hand. Its whiskers tickled my skin, causing my smile to spread for the first time since I lost Mercy.

“If you’ve never been out, how did you know about the code?”

“I created the code. That’s why I work where I do. They said I'm… gifted.”

That seemed unlikely.

“How could you have created the code?”

“It was simple. I taught my friend Halley-May before they moved me. She came down sometimes and talked to me.”

Again, it seemed unlikely.

“We’re not allowed in that room. No one is.”

“I showed her the way. Through the depository shaft. They use air pressure to push it up. But they don’t use a fan, which I pointed out would be easier. Instead, they build up air pressure from one of the back rooms and filter it through—”

She stopped, probably realizing I didn’t care how it worked. She tried to summarize for me.

“Well, when no one’s using it, I can crawl through there and get to any floor I want.”

That brought up another question.

“Why did they put you in the filing room?”

She hesitated; Charlie got the feeling it wasn’t a story she liked telling. Something bad had happened to her. Something that trapped her there.

“I’m in charge of updating the system and keeping track of everything. They also want me to find a better source of energy. But despite dozens of my ideas, they never accept them. They just keep me filing papers. Just a few weeks ago they had me file all the matches for the upcoming year. I finished early, there were only twenty and those went through someone else and then for the Donovan’s approval. Then back to me. I filed them away again. Only after that I had nothing to do, so I kept on filing. No one checked on me. No one looked to see if I was done. They just forgot about me. Until… I got to six years from now and saw your name. It's the same as mine. To tell you the truth, I'd really rather not stay here at all.”

Rodder crawled onto my hand. I stroked his silky fur gently, before realizing what she'd said.

“Wait, you filed all the next six years away?”

“That’s what I said.”

That made no sense.

“What if someone dies?”

“We re-do them every few months. But didn’t you hear me?”

Her worry hit me. I didn’t like how it tugged at the corners of my mind. I tried to ignore it. To focus on Rodder. He was easier to understand. Simple, happy. Enjoying himself as he moved from fingertip to fingertip.

“Yeah, so what? We’re gonna be matched. I know you feel bad for me, but I’m sure you’ll get prettier by then.”

I hadn’t said it to be mean. I genuinely thought that’s what she was worried about. But she gaped at me like I’d said something horrible.

“If that’s the way you feel about it, I suppose I should just leave without you.”

I shrugged indifferently. We'd probably get in trouble if we left the room together anyway.

“Go ahead. I know my own way out.”

“You’d never make it through the shafts and the doons are too sharp.”

That caught my attention. I played back the conversation we’d just had in my head and realized I’d missed something. She wasn’t talking about leaving the room. She was talking about leaving the Multi Corp. She wanted to run away. She wasn't even old yet.

I handed Rodder back to her, hoping he'd help to calm her down and think clearly, as he’d done for me. My mind ran over the conversation I’d witnessed just before she'd arrived. To how dead set on leaving the man had become when the woman had insisted, he stay. I decided not to object directly, instead I pretended I knew what she'd meant the whole time.

“Think I’m stupid enough to try one of those old tricks?”

She squinted at me in disbelief.

“You don’t know the way out any better than a rebel on a hot stick.”

I raised my eyebrows. I knew a way out that no one else had seen. I’d never take it, but if I could convince her I had intentions to, maybe I’d change her mind about leaving and possibly save her life. The world above wasn't safe.

“If you think so.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Fine. Be that way. I’m going to get back before someone realizes I’m gone.”

She put Rodder on the floor and hurried to the door, with the mouse following close behind. Looking back as she turned the knob, fear drained the color from her face. I could feel the horror wash over her even at a distance.

“It’s locked. The door… it’s locked.”

Chapter Text

Henry

Frustration mounted in my chest. I bit my tongue to keep from bursting. My parents agreed to send me on the next trip to the surface. That wasn't the problem. That had only taken a simple line about wanting to be more responsible. No, the problem was that no one had gotten into trouble, and I was finding it difficult to choose who I hated most.

Leaning back on the planter I'd sat on, I tried to think of something. Part of me hoped a situation would simply happen, but nothing had. The beast was mine. I had tethered it to a rock. That made me responsible for it. Though at this rate it would die of dehydration before I ever got back to it. What good was owning a dead beast?

I had to get to the surface. I’d never been responsible for a creature’s death before. The idea filled me with a mixture of suffocating emotions.

Fear was near the surface of them, but not the fear of worry or caring. It was a fear that bordered on lunacy and made me want to laugh. This creature was mine. I could control it. I could control whether it lived or died. That idea bridled me with an emotion my rational mind cautioned me against. I could stay below. I could choose to ignore the plight of the beast… but what would that make me? What would giving in to that odd desire make me?

I pressed my lips together, wondering what my mother might say if she could read my mind. Knowing what my grandfather would say. My mother would be horrified. As she often was when she found out thing’s she didn’t like about me. Things which my grandfather insisted were all part of being a Donovan.

My Grandfather hadn’t cared much for my mother, insisting that she was just the whore my father willingly enslaved himself to. He’d tried to teach me about how women were the subservient class. The lowest class of people. As Donovan’s they only existed for our pleasure. They were like pretty objects, alive only to make us happy. I had been ten at the worst of those lessons. I tried my best not to think about it. Though I couldn’t help the thoughts that surfaced.

I’d been pulled out of class by a pretty girl with long dark hair and pale skin. Her brown eyes were wide with curiosity as she spoke to the teacher. A sixteen-year-old, perhaps a little older. My parents were busy with other responsibilities. They hadn’t known. She led me back to my home, back to my grandfather’s private rooms.

He’d been waiting for me there. She stood near him as I approached. An odd feeling filled the pit of my stomach as I looked between them. Mother didn’t like to leave me alone with my grandfather. She never said so, but I knew she disagreed with most of the things he said. Most of the lessons he tried to teach me that I partially agreed with.

Females were stupid. Some of them were pretty, but like everyone else they belonged to the Donovan family. My mother was a singular exception. Far superior to other women, having given birth to me… and there it was, the piercing start of a subtle truth that haunted my thoughts constantly. My mother had once been a commoner. She had once been like the others in the growing room. So, how was it she was so far above them?

Seeing that girl in the room with my grandfather. The look of pale fear plastered on her face. She saw a blow about to strike and knew she should run but was too afraid to. My expression mirrored hers in that moment, but there was nothing I could do about it. I never spoke of the lesson my grandfather and that girl taught me that day. The damage it would cause between my parents and grandfather was too great. Shame filled me with how incapable I’d been to stop it. Even before he left the room, I’d been unable to stop that feeling. I hated it.

I never saw that girl again and doubted I ever would. She was at least six years older than I was at the time. Sixteen-year-olds lived in another part of the facility. In the lower levels. She’d be older now. By the time I was sixteen she’d be gone to live with the adults. After that she would just be gone.

Stomping my foot to drive her out of my thoughts, I closed my eyes in frustration, biting hard on my tongue to keep from shouting out. Pushing my fingers through my hair, I tried to focus on the moment it was. To focus on the beast above ground. The animal which I had unwittingly trapped, as trapped as that girl had been. As trapped as I had been.

A light pressure moved over my foot. I froze. A small white mouse was scurrying over the toe of my shoe, hurrying down the hall, where a girl picked it up and put it on her shoulder. Curiosity filled me at the sight.

Lengthy mahogany hair cascaded down her shoulders and past her waist. I had never seen hair so long before. She wasn't wearing the regular outfit kids did either. She was wearing work clothes that adults usually wore. The large T-shirt and pants made her look tiny and delicate, if only a little messy. A pair of spectacles sat perched on her nose, magnifying her vibrant juniper eyes, which blinked out at the world curiously behind them. Her pale ivory skin was vibrant against her dark locks as she stood there stealing glances at the world like she wasn’t used to seeing it.

It was a second before I realized I was smiling at the two of them. The image of that girl holding the mouse was so odd that it completely derailed my thoughts and made me forget my frustration altogether. My feet followed her through the halls of their own accord, until I spied her moving silently into planting room four. She was doing her best to stay out of sight, but I had already spotted her. How could I miss someone like that? She was the most interesting person I had ever witnessed. The sense of adventure was all about her.

I watched as she went quietly inside. A grin stretched my face. This was the chance I’d been searching for. I'd get my trip to the surface. She would take me there.

Moving to the door, nervousness filled me at the idea of spending the day with someone like that. Nervousness that was completely different than what had filled me when I was alone with that other girl. The girl whose name I hadn’t learned. This girl was different. The way the mouse had run to her, like it trusted her completely, made me almost look forward to the time I’d be spending with her in the above world.

Leaning forward, I twisted the lock into place, as quietly as possible. She would miss the ritual today and later I'd get to take her to the above world. I could even show her the beast I found. I wondered if the dog would get along with her mouse, or if it would try to eat it. The idea made me eager for the time to pass. Either reaction would be hilarious. I wondered if the beast would scare her. If she’d insist on keeping her distance from it. If she’d beg for me to keep it away from her. The thoughts pleased me to no end.

Satisfied with my good fortune, I moved away from the door. She’d try to open it and fail. A laugh escaped me as I made my way through the hall. Imagining the anguished look on her face, the suffering she’d go through to try and escape the room. Perhaps even a tear or two.

Boys weren’t allowed to talk to girls, strictly speaking. But no one said no to a Donovan. The girl would get into trouble if she talked back, but I couldn’t be put at fault when a commoner did something wrong.

Glancing back, I remembered the girl and the books my grandfather had given me. We weren’t supposed to have books like that, but my grandfather was outside the law, just as I was. He’d tried to give them to me in front of my mother, but the shock and horror which had come over her had made me feel ashamed for even wanting to take them. She’d insisted he burn them, but my grandfather told me quietly, “When you're older, I'll give them to you.”

Later, I’d found them under my pillow and had carefully hidden them on the bookshelf near my bed, where my mother might not find them. She had never been interested in books, but those books she hated.

After he died, only a few short months ago, I'd had to sneak a lot of other books away too. Books I knew were his favorite. Books he’d promised I could have someday. Though, I didn’t read them. I just liked looking at the pictures. My grandfather told me they'd teach me everything I needed to know about girls and what to do with them. Sometimes when I looked at the pictures, I’d imagine the girl he’d left me alone with. I’d think of how she watched me with that terrified expression in her eyes. The way she spoke to me in that shaking voice. Just as scared as I’d been.

The pages of my favorite books were filled with scantily clad women, clean and unblemished, with perfect hair and skin. A few of them had wings jetting out of their backs. Their bodies covered in tiny bits of lacy fabric. Part of me wished I'd taken the time to read what the books said rather than just looking at the pictures. I hadn't learned very much at all other than what women looked like under their clothing and that some of them used to be mutated. Though I doubted their wings allowed them to fly. They were far too small for that.

I might only be twelve, but thanks to my grandfather, I was far more mature than the others in my class. I already knew more about the old world than most of them and far more about girls than most of the other boys. Still, this experience would be good for me. The girl wasn’t old enough to look like the ones in the book. That was good. If she looked like that, I might not have the nerve to talk to her at all. I’d grow sick and swallowed up by memories of what happened.

I shook the thoughts from my mind. This girl was perfect, small and slight. She wouldn’t be a problem at all. I could talk to her. I could have fun with her. I could tell her about the creature I captured and probably impress her with it and make her want to talk to me too. She already belonged to me. I was a Donovan, everyone belonged to me. But she would want to spend time with me. I never spent time with other people. They were all too simple. Most of them only cared about gardening, or art, or other stupid lessons from school.

I wondered if I got each of them into trouble and spent time with each of them individually on the surface if that would make a difference. Not that I wanted to spend time with them. I didn't. I was perfectly fine being on my own. The others weren’t worth the dirt under my heel. Still, if this worked, it would be a fun game to play on the others.

My mind turned back to the dog tethered to the rock. Absently, I hoped it was okay. It wouldn’t be much of a trophy to show the girl if it weren’t. I wondered if the monsters in the above world ate dogs and tried not to think about it. My dog was waiting for me on the surface. I’d have it soon. Monsters didn't exist.

Chapter Text

Charlie

Pulling on the handle of the door, I tugged at it desperately. But it wouldn’t budge. We couldn't yell, couldn't shout. If we were found together, we'd be in real trouble. Petrified, fear took over Mildred. Her voice came out trembling in shock.

“I'll be taken. They’ll see I’m not there and I’ll be taken.”

I rolled my eyes, having problems of my own to think about. Though I had to admit her position was also bad. But if I missed another ritual there was no way they wouldn't take me. We were dead, deader than dead. We were disappeared. Disappeared like the other kids who’d vanished in the past. Disappeared like the ill and the old.   

I tugged on the door again, throwing all my weight into it, but it was no use. My eyes burned in desperation. I clamped them shut. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. I told myself, but that only made it worse. Mildred was crying too, her nose had gone red, and her eyes were a bright green. Their color emphasized by the tear drops. Seeing her tears, I forced myself to stop. It would be cruel to cry in front of someone who was already upset. I put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. We can sit on either side of the room and not look at each other. You can tell them you got lost after eating. You do eat breakfast in the same room as us, right?”

She agreed, though her chin still trembled dangerously.

“I’ll tell them I was doing research for my linquith plant. They can't take me away for getting locked in a room. It’s not our fault we're not both boys. The most they’ll do is take us to the surface for a day.”

I was trying to convince myself it was true. She took off her glasses, wiping her eyes before cleaning the lenses on her shirt.

“The surface?”

I tried to make it sound like it was no big deal.

“I’ve been there once already.”

“But they’ll come for me. They’ll take me away, no one will notice me missing. No one knows I exist.”

More tears came to her eyes. I didn’t know what to say. I hadn't even known she existed until a few moments ago. I wondered why that should matter, then I understood.

No one would miss her. No one would care they’d taken her away. No tears would be shed for her. She was like her mouse. Alone, crawling through a sea of mazes. Walking through halls, trying to find something important to cling to. Never being able to find it because she didn’t know what it looked like.

What did she do all by herself? Work?

It was probably the only thing to distract her from the emptiness. I didn't know anyone allowed down there. I imagined her waking from a bad dream and going to a filing cabinet. Eating alone in the mess hall while everyone was running, or in class. She had no one.

“Don’t worry. They never take people away on their first trip out.”

What she'd said about running away came back. I wondered if it wasn't such a bad idea. For someone like me who could be disappeared at any moment, maybe running away made sense.

I could live in that room where I’d witnessed the dead sun. I’d get someone to bring me food and spend my life above ground, looking for Mercy. The thought caused unstoppable tears to drip from my eyes. I turned away from Mildred, not wanting her to see.

Poor Mercy might be dead. She could be miles away. Sitting on the floor, I did my best to hold back the sobs threatening to escape. Causing my chest to shake as my lower lip trembled.

Mildred walked to the other end of the room, under the impression I’d started ignoring her again. I cried to myself.

Stupid. Why did I go and think about Mercy?

At least if I went to the surface again, at least I'd have a chance to look for her. This could be a good thing. It looked like an accident. It was an accident. It wasn't my fault. They wouldn't punish me for it.

Would they?

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: The Best Greeting Ever

Henry

I waited in the Depository Shaft. Leaning against the vehicle in venomous silence. Charlie had been in with her when they opened the door. They were on opposite sides of the room crying. I didn’t care for tears. They made people ugly, and commoners were already ugly. The girl had gotten lost after breakfast and I’d locked her in with him, of all people.

Charlie said he’d been studying the linquith plants, but the situation left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn’t like him being alone with her. It reminded me of the girl my grandfather left me alone with. I wondered if anything happened between them. I hoped nothing happened between him and that girl.

I picked a piece of dirt from under my fingernail as the two of them came walking down the hall. The girl had a lump in her breast pocket. I assumed it was the mouse. Neither of them spoke or looked at each other. I wondered if they had something to be ashamed of. If they’d done something they were ashamed of the way that girl had done something to me. My stomach twisted at the idea, causing my temper to grow short.

They went around the vehicle and got in the back seat. My jaw clenched at the fact she sat next to him rather than in front with me. I would have had fun teasing her, but now it would be difficult. I doubted I'd even get a conversation out of her with Charlie around. Frustrated, I opened the door and sat in the driver’s seat. Pulling the containment lever to shut the door.

The charter vehicle was lifted into daylight. I drove them away from the depository shaft. Near the doons sticking out of the ground. Large silver boxes with panels laid across them. Shut so tight not even rainwater could get through. The spot was far enough from the dog I wouldn’t have to worry about them seeing what I was doing. It was still within the designated area we could roam. The doons also provided some shade for them. Looking at Charlie, his skin red and peeling, I knew he’d need it. He might even consider it a kindness. I wondered if I might be able to get them to confess to doing something awful. I partly wanted them to admit it so I could let out my anger on them.

“You two are in a lot of trouble.”

She looked at me. Her bottom lip trembled. I winced at the expression, astonishingly uncomfortable. Something about that look in her eyes, the way the tears made them glow with grief. They made me feel something unusual.

Charlie pressed his lips together. Wanting to warn her not to answer. To tell her not to look at me. But he knew he’d be in trouble if he spoke to her. Instead, he spoke to me.

“We’re not allowed to talk to them.”

He used the word them as if girls were a different species.

“Don’t talk to me like that, commoner.”

Charlie blinked at me, before looking down as he thought over his life choices.

My grandfather told me sometimes commoners needed time to think over things like that. Sometimes they made poor decisions and we needed to allow them time for their small brains to catch up. Charlie struggled internally with himself. Then, slowly, he raised his eyes and glared at me. The heat from that gaze surprised me. It made me wonder if he really might be ill. I’d tell the minstrals later, for now I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was given two bottles of water, but the dog would be thirsty. Possibly dangerously dehydrated. I'd have to give one of the bottles to the dog. The only question was who to give the other to.

Charlie had managed the other day on hardly any water without much difficulty. No doubt the girl would be thirsty first. Grandfather always said they were weak. Her mouth would be parched by the end of the day without it. That could possibly lead to further damage.

Charlie was also nice. He’d want her to have the water. He knew how long he could go without it. My eyes moved over her again, catching on her nametag briefly.

Mildred

It read in small blue letters.

Delight lit my insides. Now I knew what to call her.

“Here you go Charlie.”

I handed him the water.

“Thank you.”

Charlie seemed confused at the kindness.

“Sorry Mil-dirt. They only gave me one bottle.”

She glared, her fists curling. Her nails bit into her skin. No doubt she was thinking of clawing my eyes out with those talons. A burst of anger filled me, and I pulled the exile lever swinging the door open.

Having predicted my actions Charlie shut his eyes. Mildred let out a scream of surprise, covering her face with her arms. After a few seconds Charlie got out without a word. Though she only sat, cowering from the sun.

“Hey, Mil-dirt. Get out.”

She peeked between her fingers at me. Slowly her hand lowered. My heart sped as her mouth opened to respond. A stinging pain lit my palm. Her eyes watered from the slap I’d given her and my rage lessened at the look. Turning away, my stomach swam with that same alien feeling.

I’d slapped her. If she’d spoken to me in front of Charlie, I would have gotten to punish her, but somehow that scared me. Enough to stop her from speaking. What was wrong with me?

“Get out.”

I faltered at the look Charlie gave me. Not one of anger, more like surprise. Amusement gleamed in his eyes.

“I thought you didn't repeat yourself.”

My eyes trailed back to Mildred, sitting behind me in the car. Heat flushed my cheeks with frustration. Everyone knew I hated repeating myself. Somehow, I'd forgotten my own rule because of her. Because she had been about to speak to me in front of Charlie. Irritation filled me beyond reason.

Mildred nursed her cheek and turned to get out of the car. Unable to contain my rage, I moved, shoving her hard from behind. She fell on the densely packed desert ground.

The mouse ran from her pocket and up Charlie’s leg. It was so scared from shock that it found its way to the top of his head before it stopped.

“Next time be quick about it!”

As I crawled back into the front seat Mildred turned to face me. Her glasses had a crack in the lens and a drop of blood rolled from her split lip. She looked a mess. A laugh escaped me at how stupid she was.

Charlie clenched his fists, clearly wishing he could help her up, but he wouldn't dare with me still watching. The fact made me want to stay a little longer, if only to make sure he stayed away from her. She was mine. The girl I’d chosen to spend time with. He was only a rotten thief stealing time that should have belonged to me. He turned his attention back to the doons. Ignoring the scene altogether.

Letting the moment go, I pulled the door shut and drove back in the direction of the boulder. There was a dog I had to rescue.

When I got out of the vehicle and looked around. It was laying in the shadow of the boulder. The dog looked tired, potentially sick. Its breathing came in loud labored puffs. It looked at me. Its tongue hanging out of its mouth in a lazy smile.

The expression on its face lit my heart. A kind of joy ran through me. Was this what it was like to be welcomed by a friend?

“Come on dog.”

I undid the knot around its neck. It shook out its fur, before turning to lick my cheek. Grimacing at the slobber that trailed behind its tongue, a laugh escaped me. I pet its side gently. No one had ever greeted me so happily before. No doubt she already recognized me as a friend. I was glad she hadn’t died.

“Good dog. Come on.”

Standing, we returned to the car. It followed sluggishly as I opened the trunk and pointed.

“Get in.”

The beast looked at me. It wasn't difficult to understand what the look meant.

‘Do you think I’m stupid?’

I sighed and leaned down to try and lift it into the trunk, amused at the expression.

“Already know you’re a Donovan.”

No one told a Donovan what to do.  

Chapter Text

Charlie

I waited until I was sure Henry was gone before helping Mildred off the ground and placing Rodder on her shoulder.

“Sorry about Henry. He’s not the same as us. The law doesn’t apply to him.”

I kept my voice low for fear of being overheard.

“I’ve never seen a place so bright.”

Her voice trembled as she spoke. She was terrified. But I’d been above ground once already.

“It gets real old, real fast.”

She sat, lost in depression. I wasn’t sure whether I should ask about it or not. The laws were clear that we weren’t supposed to talk to each other, but did it matter if we already had? In the end I decided against it. Instead, I examined the doons.

I’d never seen them from this side before. They were imposing and strange. They didn’t belong in such a bright, empty place. Silver and gleaming under the layer of dirt gathered on them. Kept well-oiled and sharpened by the maintenance workers. That wasn’t a job I envied.

That same tug hit the edges of my mind and I glanced at Mildred, seeing how miserable she was. My insides softened. It was my fault she was stuck out there. If I had been at the first meeting, we never would have gotten locked in that room. I would have to find a way to apologize. Inching closer, I handed her the water. She looked between me and the bottle, hesitant.

“I can go without. My stomach hurts too much to drink.”

It was a lie, but Mildred looked too pathetic not to try. If I didn’t give a good reason, she might not accept it.

“I don’t need your pity.”

She sounded snobby, but she was only worried about me.

“Just take it Mil-dirt.”

I hoped the jibe might cause her to reconsider out of spite. Her brows rose and her eyes grew wide with surprise. Then she burst out laughing.

“That wasn’t very clever of him.”

I agreed, relieved she was smiling. I wanted to help her keep that happy thought.

“Why not?”

“Well, for one thing dirt grows plants. We depend on it to keep us alive. Without it we’d have no place to hide from the sun. No place to grow linquith fruit or food. We’d be helpless without it. No air without plants. Looking at it like that, the name Mil-dirt is more of a praise than a taunt.”

Her long brown hair trailed in the rough dirt of the desert as she sat there. Her large green eyes magnified through her glasses as she spoke. She had a weird point. But it was there. Mil-dirt could be a praise. So, his taunts didn’t bother her. That was something. I could work with that.

“Let’s make a game out of it.”

“A game?”

“Yes. Mil-dirt will be your code name for ruler of the world. After all, you do kind of run the Multi Corp. That way, whenever he calls you Mil-dirt it will be a secret compliment and he'll never know.”

Her eyes grew bright with amusement at the idea.

“I don’t run the Multi Corp. I only help push it along. I’m not even important.”

She was being modest, and she knew it.

“But you are. And the name will only increase that importance.”

I was sure she was thinking it over. I didn’t know why, but it felt important that we make this name mean something positive. In the end Mildred agreed.

I moved in slow circles, walking around the doons. Keeping my eyes open as I tried to find any sign of Mercy. A tuft of her fur or a bit of drool. There was no way her paws could leave prints in this rock-hard ground, but there were other signs I knew to look for. I didn’t wander far. Mildred had her eyes on me and there was no guarantee she wouldn’t tell someone if I let her know what I was up to.

At noon the doons opened, reflecting stinging white light from the sun. Temporarily blinding us. A shout sounded from inside, followed by screams. A man appeared, climbing through the slit in the doons. I heard his grunting before I saw him.

Blinking light from my eyes, I caught sight of him. Pressing his hands against the sides of the doons for dear life. Avoiding their sharp edges. But the hot metal of the sides had been baking in the sun all day. It hissed and smoked as his skin cooked against it. A howl escaped him. The bag over his shoulder caused a moments slip, but he didn’t let go. Pressing his hands against the burning metal. He struggled between the scorching pain and the threat of the high fall. Each level of the Multi Corp was below. Each cantered to catch the light. There was no telling which floor he might hit if he fell. Any would be death. His body might burst from the impact. Again, his hand slipped. Without thinking I moved, grabbing onto him.

“Take my hand!”

His eyes rose, seeing me for the first time, and he took hold. His weight pulled me in at first, and the heat of his fingers hurt. I nearly fell into the doons. Planting my feet, I yanked hard. He fell onto me just as the doons closed sharply behind him. A second more and he would have been cut in two. Pushing himself up he looked at me, taking in all of me at once as he struggled to catch his breath.

“Thank you.”

I knew who he was, I’d heard his voice before.

“You're Fillip. I heard you in the Planting room.”

His eyes grew wide and his posture straightened.

“You heard? And you didn’t tell anyone?”

“People would have asked why I was in there.”

His surprise shifted to curiosity and his gaze narrowed.

“Why were you?”

“Because.”

I wasn’t sure how to explain everything that had happened between then and now, but Mildred didn’t hesitate.

“Because he was waiting for me.”

Fillip looked at her, amused.

“I see.”

I didn’t see how he could understand when I was still having difficulty with it myself.

“You two got caught I presume.”

It probably wouldn’t have mattered if I’d told the minstrals what I’d heard. It might have even helped my case after the lie I’d given them about my reason for being there.

“We were locked in. I can’t believe you made it out.”

Fillip was scanning the area. His eyes were wild with fear but narrowed with focus. The result made him look a little crazy. Though we understood why.

“I’ve always been lucky. Where’s the charter vehicle that brought you here?”

Mildred didn’t hesitate to help him.

“Henry drove off with it. That way.”

He began leaving but Mildred had more questions.

“Why are you running away like this? Why didn’t you just do something wrong and wait for them to take you above?”

“You’ll understand when you're older.”

Mildred glared at him expectantly. Unwilling to settle for an answer like that. Hesitantly he surveyed the area again. No one was in sight. Gauging this as a good thing he let out an annoyed sigh.

“Fine. I tried that. It’s harder than you think. They stop taking you up once you get older. Anything past twenty. That way you can't run away. But they don't tell anyone, or everyone would run away when they're young.”

That settled it for me. He was older than twenty, and that meant the look in his eyes was likely more than fear.

“You're running because you’re an old.”

He made a face, offended by my oversimplification of his reasons.

“No. Just the opposite. I’ve learned that people are capable of living for years after they reach twenty-nine.”

Twenty-nine was as old as anyone got before being sent away. If they could get older without getting batty, people might riot.

“How many more years?”

I only partly believed him. He was old. He’d say anything to convince others the elderly should be given more time.

“I don’t know, eighty, ninety. It depends.”

Mildred and I exchanged a look. She didn’t believe him either.

“No one has ever lived to eighty years old.”

“Because they're always taken away.”

A sound met our ears. The charter vehicle was returning. Its trunk was open. Whatever Henry had been doing, he’d forgotten to close it. When it reached us, Mildred and I were sitting quietly on the ground, staring at the dirt. Henry opened the door, a wide grin on his face. Ready to taunt us with some new game. Only he didn’t get the chance.

Fillip leapt from behind the doons. Henry’s smile contorted in confusion as he was struck across the cheek, and a cry burst out of him. However awful it looked I couldn't help feeling he deserved it for hitting Mildred earlier. Fillip dragged him from the car before opening the back for us.

“Get in.”

An unshakable urge to listen fueled my movements. Henry was picking himself up from the ground. Blood ran from his nose. He’d want to blame someone for this, and his parents would be eager to oblige him. I hurriedly jumped into the back seat.

Mildred was only a step behind me. But she cried out. Henry had grabbed her ankle, pulling her to the ground. Her hands and knees scraped against the grating ground twisting her face with pain.

Fillip didn’t wait for her. He took off with the door open. Staring out, I expected to see Mildred and Henry lying in the dirt. But they weren’t alone. Another figure was with them.

“Mercy!”

The large shaggy dog was standing only a few feet away from them, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she stared curiously at her surroundings. My gaze shifted to the dirt flying past at a horrifying speed. The unforgiving ground could rip me apart. But I had to try. I’d only just gotten the courage to jump when the door shut, trapping me inside.

Fillip closed it with one of the levers in front.

“My dog. We have to go back for her.”

“No man risks his life for a dog. If you go back now, you’ll be taken. You know it. You saved my life back there, now I’m saving yours.”

I tried to think of an argument and found none. Silently I vowed to go back for her. I filled every corner of my mind with determination. I would go back for her as soon as I was ready.

In my mind I began making a list of things I’d have to do first. Learning how to drive would be key. I supposed Fillip could help me there.

“How do you know how to work this thing?”

“This isn’t my first escape attempt.”