Kristi couldn’t shake off the feeling she was being followed. Probably just Glenn and his friends trying to harass me, she thought. Wait—that can’t be right since I just saw them leave with the Speaker to look at colleges. Maybe they’re back early.
Kristi passed over the short cut that ran through the center of town, trying to throw off whoever was following her. She ducked into an alley in the poorer part of district, thinking if it really were Glenn, he would stop following her. He would never associate himself with the lower class.
The normally well-maintained sidewalk progressively grew more neglected and chipped the further Kristi strode on. Footsteps mirroring her own echoed loudly in the backstreet. She paused and whirled around.
No one.
She resumed walking, heart thumping loudly in her chest. The footsteps behind her picked up again. Kristi unexpectedly stopped once more, hoping to surprise her pursuer and get a glimpse of him or her. A low-lying rose bush to her left shuddered. She whipped her head around.
A pair of luminous gold eyes blinked back then disappeared.
Louder, faster footfalls sounded. Someone was definitely chasing her. Racing blindly, Kristi turned into another twisted alley. Warped shadows of the tall brick buildings leaned over her. Kristi glanced at a street sign. She had no idea where she was.
But what she did know was that she had just entered a dead end. In front of her, two silhouettes materialized. Gasping, Kristi turned around and saw the original pursuer behind her. The three men were wearing loose, nondescript clothes and bore a buzz cut.
All of her escape routes were blocked. I need a weapon, Kristi thought. She frantically ran her hands over the grimy brick walls in search for something hard and wieldable, like a loose brick. Perhaps she could knock out one of the three men if her aim was accurate. Nothing. Her fingernails scraped up a lot of dirt and gunk, but found nothing useful.
Kristi glanced around. The gang was closing in on her; they were no more than fifty feet away. She slapped the brick wall with frustration and fear. A hole opened up in the wall and she fell forward and through. Tumbling through the darkness, Kristi hit the dirt floor with a thud.
Then she groaned when she realized any second the gang was going to find her. She curled up into a small ball in the corner of the room.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then a minute.
After five minutes, Kristi worked up the courage to uncurl herself and switch her electro-slate onto flashlight mode. She was in a small, barely furnished room. The gap she had fallen through had completely closed up. Cautiously, Kristi made her way to the wall and heard people conversing on the other side.
“We lost her, boss,” a deep voice said.
“What do you mean ‘we lost her’?” a female voice snapped back.
“She just disappeared on us.”
“Yeah, she was standing by the wall, then poof! She vanished,” said another guy.
The female voice lashed out, “You guys are useless. Can’t even do a simple task. Did you search the area?”
“Of course. She’s not around anymore.”
The woman snorted. “Well, the girl’s obviously far away now. No point in going after her. You guys are terrible at snatching electro-slates for the black market. Let’s leave.”
Their footsteps faded away and Kristi let out a sigh of relief. For the first time, Kristi noticed the TV standing in the corner of the barely lit room; her electro-slate was the only source of light. That’s strange, she thought. Nobody watches TVs anymore.
Fictional movies and TV shows were banned since the actors were sinning every time they performed a script. Actors were no more than paid liars. The only shows approved by the government were learning channels and the official news station, which were broadcast on the electro-slates and public news-screens.
Kristi’s stomach growled, reminding her it needed food. She placed a hand on the bricks that outlined the entrance to the room. Silently, the bricks revolved away creating an exit back to the alley. She stepped outside, blinking in the sunlight.
When Kristi looked behind her, the brick wall was solid once more. Shrugging, she sped-walked home as fast as she could. She no longer felt as if she was being followed.
Kristi grabbed a quick lunch of waffles (leftovers from breakfast) then flicked the kickstand of her hydro-bike away with her heels. All level eleven students were required to fulfill a minimum of five service hours per week, and Kristi still needed two more hours.
She guided her bike around a lamppost and then between a wishing fountain and a bronze statue of a winged lion guarding the steps leading up to the learning center. The pair of lions that guarded the center’s entrance looked well-aged; in truth they were less than five years old. A special ageing acid wash had been applied to the statues to give them a weathered look.
Kristi rolled her bike to the rack and double-checked to make sure she had properly locked her padlock; many people would be more than happy to steal the bike of the only freak in town.
After scanning her ID card at the front desk, Kristi ambled into the library of the learning center. The library wasn’t very big. Five floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined three of the walls. Only two of the shelves contained paper books; the other three shelves held government approved DVDs. Smart-glass desks and one smart-screen occupied the rest of the room.
Jaiden stood at the front of the room, beside the smart-screen. The group of level-six students he was tutoring leaned forward in their seats, not wanting to miss a word of his lecture. Jaiden’s sessions were always full; not only did he teach, he taught classes in a fun and engaging style.
Since Kristi had twenty minutes before it was her time to tutor, she decided to wait in the library. She looked on the tutoring session with as much attentiveness as the students; perhaps she could pick up a few tips from Jaiden to make her own class more interesting.
“Who can tell me the four regions of the United Regions?” Jaiden asked.
Fifteen hands shot up into the air.
Jaiden pretended to look shocked and said, “What? No one knows the answer?”
Grinning, he closed his eyes and randomly pointed at a girl wildly waving her hand. He called on her.
“They are the North Region, South Region, East Region and West Region,” said the girl.
“Very good. And can you tell me which region we live in? You better know this or else…” Jaiden wagged a finger at her.
“North Region.”
“Correct. Who can name the countries of the world?” Jaiden asked. He chose a boy with sandy hair to answer.
“United Regions, South Union, Asian Republic, and the Unified Provinces of Europe.”
“That’s right. Okay, here’s a harder question. Whoever answers this question right gets brownie points. Who are the leaders for each of the named nations?”
After a moment of hesitation, the boy with the sandy hair raised his arm up again. Jaiden called on him without missing a beat.
“President Ducix runs the United Regions. Chief Imperate is in charge of South Union, Empress Regina rules the Asian Republic and, uh…” the boy trailed off, flushing with embarrassment for forgetting the name of the Prime Minister who ruled the Unified Provinces of Europe.
In the meantime, several other students had raised their hands, ready to be called on by Jaiden. Jaiden let the boy have another fifteen seconds to come up with an answer before picking on a girl with a French braid running down her back.
The girl blinked her unnaturally blue eyes and said, “Prime Minister Rector commands the Unified Provinces of Europe.”
Jaiden nodded his approval. Using his index finger, he powered off the smart-screen and wrapped up his class. “I hope you’ve all learned a lot. If you remember at least eighty percent of the materials we just went over, you should be well prepared for tomorrow’s test.” He paused to confirm the time on his watch. “Class has been concluded.”
The kids packed up their belongings, thanked Ja
iden and left. Kristi took a look at her own watch; ten minutes left before she had to leave. Her tutoring class would be taught in one of the spare classrooms.
Jaiden finished gathering his belongings and noticed Kristi hovering by the door.
“Did you get your hydro-bike fixed?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t tell Maria and Don about it. I assume you want to keep it this way?”
“Yeah,” Kristi said, nodding a little and grateful that Jaiden understood she didn’t want Don and Maria to be concerned with her wellbeing. “Do you know if anyone still uses a TV set in town?” Kristi asked, a picture of the TV she had found earlier flashing into her mind.
“I don’t think so, but I might be wrong.”
Kristi mentally rolled her eyes; Jaiden was never wrong.
“I have to go now. Professor Smetana is probably wondering why I haven’t shown up at the lab. I promised her I would return to the lab as soon as I completed my service hours.”
With that, Jaiden left the library, giving Kristi a slight pat on the shoulders as he walked away.
Well. That was Jaiden: wanted by everyone because he was good at everything. Kristi left the library then stepped down the hallway and into the empty classroom.
The smart-screen in the room was an older model, and it took four attempts before Kristi got the machine to spark to life. Even after coaxing the ancient screen to turn on, it was several minutes before Kristi was able to connect her electro-slate to it. She irritably tapped her foot, waiting for the lesson to finish downloading.
The kids she was tutoring were level two; most of the children were six to seven years old. Kristi counted the number of kids seated at the desks. Five in total. Not a bad number. She told herself she preferred her classes to be small.
I get to do more one-on-one teaching this way, she thought, refusing to acknowledge the reason why her classes were generally smaller than the other tutoring groups was because not many parents felt comfortable with the idea of having their Perfect youngsters being taught by an Accident.
The lesson finally completed its download. Kristi turned to her group and said, “Hope everyone’s interested in learning about polynomials today because that’s what we’re doing.”
Kristi plopped down onto a soft, cushioned chair, exhausted from teaching. Dealing with kids she knew who were going to one day turn out smarter than her took a heavier toll than expected. Although her students were generally well behaved, they were still only six year olds, and had the tendency to wander off topic.
She trudged to the bathroom and turned on the steam-powered jets. The pounding water massaged away her tiredness. Citrus scented bath foam rejuvenated the spirit and once she’d toweled dry her dark, wet hair, Kristi began to ponder what to do with the rest of her day. I suppose I could go revisit the hidden room in the wall. After all, it isn’t everyday something interesting like this happens. I would be dumb not to make the most of it.
She exited the bathroom and dug her bag out from underneath her bed. Then she hunted around the house, packing anything she felt that she should include on her mini excursion.
“Water, granola bar and electro-slate,” Kristi said, counting each item on her fingers. “That should be all I need.” She pulled her drawstring bag closed then headed out the door.
There was an air of stillness on the streets during this time of the day. The adults were at work, the younger kids had their extra curricular lessons and the older kids were usually off doing whatever they did with their free time. Many teens liked to visit the indoor surfing complex, although Kristi never discovered why being chased by a wall of water while crouching on a Plexiglas board was considered fun.
She traced her path back down the alley, making sure to be wary of the electro-slate bandits. Kristi skipped around a puddle, not wanting to get her new sneakers muddy. Her peripheral vision caught something reflecting off the puddle. Looking down at the tranquil water, she spotted something that shouldn’t be there. Beside her stood a furry creature.
Caught off guard, Kristi almost stumbled into the puddle. She caught her balance against a solar lamp and looked around. A spotted tail slid behind a bush. Warily, she shuffled towards the barberry shrub, keeping an eye out for any movements.
A pair of gold eyes peeked out from behind the bushes. A few seconds later, the tops of two tawny fur-covered ears emerged from the upper portion of the plant.
“Where is your owner?” Kristi asked the creature. “Are you a lost droid-pet?”
The upper half of the animal emerged from behind the bush. The droid was a leopard bearing a magnificent, glossy pelt. Exotic droid-pets cost a hefty amount of points, and the owner was probably worried about the leopard.
Kristi lowered her voice to a soothing tone. “Come here, let me take you to the lost and found center.”
The leopard inched towards her, but paused halfway. Its ears twitched back and forth, listening to sounds too subtle for the human ear to catch. Then it turned its back on her and bounded away, melting into shadows as fast as a sonic-plane.
The droid-leopard encounter took up more time than Kristi liked. She had a bit over half an hour to find the room, explore it and return home. Curfew wouldn’t be enforced for another couple of hours, but none of her family members knew where she was going and Kristi didn’t want them to worry about her if she didn’t make it back before dinner.
She broke into a faster pace and located the alleyway where she had almost gotten robbed. Kristi checked her surroundings; she was alone.
“I didn’t notice the indent in the wall before,” Kristi murmured.
One of the terracotta bricks looked like a giant had come along and decided to prod that one brick inwards. Kristi touched the palm of her right hand against the sunken brick, not sure what she expected to happen next. As before, bricks pivoted away like dominos knocking into each other in order to form an entrance about three feet in diameter.
Making sure her electro-slate was set to flashlight mode, Kristi stepped into the room. The bricks immediately spun back into their original position, sealing off the chamber from the outside world.
The TV, Kristi noticed with interest, was actually plugged into an outlet. Curious to see if it worked, she tentatively pressed the power button. The screen glowed to life. The words “insert disc” flashed on the display. No film of dust coated the TV, suggesting it had recently been used.
Odd, Kristi thought. Whoever was using this TV was watching a DVD. I can’t think of anyone who would go through the hassle of attaining a DVD when you can get all the channels on an electro-slate.
Thinking there was nothing of interest left in the room, Kristi prepared to leave. She didn’t know what she had anticipated to find in this secret room, but she felt let down.
“You’re so childish, Kristi,” she chided herself. Her voice rang out abnormally loud in the empty space. “What did you expect? A secret vault of treasures?” She laughed at her own whimsical fantasies, but stopped shortly.
The light cast by her electro-slate reflected off the shiny padlock hanging off a solid, wooden door. The door embedded itself so deeply into the wall at the back of the room Kristi would’ve never noticed it had the padlock not given away its presence.
She fiddled with the lock for a few seconds; although Kristi wouldn’t call herself an expert, she did have some experience with picking locks. She set down the padlock almost as soon as she picked it up, though; she could tell there was no way to crack the lock without the key. The intricate gears nestled within it were so small and complex it would take her a good hour or two to pick, and she didn’t have the time.
Kristi swung her electro-slate-doubling-as-a-flashlight around the room one last time, making sure she didn’t miss anything else noteworthy.
“Didn’t see this either.” Kristi knelt and peeked beneath the TV.
A plastic case of some sort was stuck beneath the TV, as if someone had hid it in a hurry.
She tugged the container out from where it was wedged. It was a DVD case. Nowhere on the cover did Kristi spot the government-approved stamp on it. In other words, this was an illegal DVD.
The words, Phantom of the Opera, were boldly printed on the covering. Beneath the title was a picture of some sort of a mask and rose. Kristi tested the title: “Phantom of the Opera.”
The way the name rolled off her tongue brought Kristi a sense of satisfaction, unlike the titles of the government issued TV programs: Explanation of the Elements of the Periodic Table for Level Five Students, The Complete History of the North Region of the Past Twenty Years, and The Channel of Weather Forecasts.
Feeling a bit rebellious, Kristi removed the DVD disk and inserted it into the designated slot behind the monitor. Then she clicked “play” on the remote and the screen flickered with words rolling across a black background.
Kristi didn’t notice her mouth hanging open when the movie ended until she realized she was drooling. She snapped her jaw shut, wondering, Did I really just watch a fictional movie?
Bleep! Her electro-slate vibrated, bringing Kristi back to her senses. Crud. I completely lost track of time. She flicked on her slate and picked up the instafication.
“Kristi, where are you?” Maria’s concerned voice pricked at Kristi’s guilty conscience.
She checked the time—it was already seven-thirty; curfew was eight. Kristi quickly replied Maria, “Sorry—I lost track of time; I’ll be home in fifteen minutes or so.”
“Next time, leave an electro-note for me if you’re going to be staying out later than six.”
“I didn’t mean to stay out past dinner. I’m sorry—bye.”
Kristi muted the electro-slate and returned the DVD into its case. After doing one last check to confirm she didn’t leave anything behind, she stepped back out into the alleyway and right into a pair of waiting arms.
chapter four
[ Kristi ]