It seemed as if every conversation I’d had in the last day or two kept coming back to the subject of Lottery. Were people mentioning it more because the Lottery of 2531 would be starting soon, or was it just that I was far more sensitive to every passing reference? I tried to force away thoughts of what it would be like to be imprinted, and ate the last few forkfuls of my casserole.
“After Carnival, your school lessons will concentrate on preparing you to move to Teen Level, Gregas,” said my father. “You’ll have plenty of new things to learn. Such as how to use laundry machines instead of dumping dirty clothes in a basket to reappear, magically folded and clean, on your shelves.”
“How to budget so you can live comfortably on your teen allowance,” said my mother.
“The limited range of food and drink on Teen Level,” I said gloomily.
Gregas reverted to grunting an inaudible reply.
We had chocolate crunch cakes with cream drizzle for dessert, and then Gregas left for school. My parents and I watched one of the Hive entertainment channels after that, our attention divided between a thriller about a Hive England Defence team chasing a spy from another Hive, and a conversation about my parents’ work developing new types of fruit and vegetables for the Hive hydroponics areas. There was, mercifully, no mention at all of Lottery.
When I finally left, I had a couple of illegal crunch cakes in my pocket. Rather than tamely going back to Teen Level in a lift, I headed for the shopping area, and walked across to the moving stairs in the centre. I gave one furtive look round for hasties, couldn’t see any, and jumped on the handrail of the downway.
I balanced there precariously, as the moving handrail carried me down through the shopping areas on Level 28, Level 29, and Level 30. Strictly speaking, riding the rail was against the Hive safety rules, but it was accepted as a harmless teen gesture of rebellion, so I risked nothing more than a mild scolding from any hasty that spotted me.
I’d reached Level 33 when I heard the traditional warning whistle all the teens used, one low note, one high, one low, that meant hasties were about. I looked round to see who was whistling the warning, and saw a young man going past me on the upway. He looked as if he’d been through Lottery at least two or three years earlier, but he grinned at me, and made the T sign with his forefingers that signalled serious trouble.
I was puzzled, but waved my thanks at him, and jumped down to stand sedately on the moving stairs of the downway. When I reached the shopping area on Level 34, I saw why the man had been warning me. A group of a dozen hasties were standing near the moving stairs, studying everyone who went by, as if they were looking for someone in particular. I’d no idea what was going on, but judging from their grim expressions this wasn’t a good time to be caught riding the handrail.
When I reached Teen Level 50, I walked along the corridors back to my room. When I opened the door, I half expected to find a hole in the wall, but the air vent inspection hatch cover was in place. The towel hanging over it had obviously been moved and then hung up again. I went across and adjusted it to cover the grille properly.
I grudgingly gave Forge credit for keeping his promise to be out of the vent system by the time I returned. I inspected the room suspiciously, but the only sign of disturbance was that the heap of dirty clothes on the floor had been shoved further into the corner.
There was a ringing sound from my door chime. I opened the door, expecting to see either Forge or Shanna, but it was Atticus. He held out a familiar bag and towel.
“I brought these back from the beach for you.”
“Oh, thank you.” I took them off him. “I’ll need them for swimming training.”
He stared down at his hands for a moment before speaking. “What I said to you about my parents being Level 80 …”
“Don’t worry. That was a private conversation so I won’t tell anyone.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He stared down at his hands again, then looked up at me and spoke in a rush. “I’d like you to be my partner for Carnival, Amber. I told you my parents were Level 80 because I didn’t want to mislead you into thinking I had a high level family like you.”
I was stunned into silence. A boy from another corridor group had asked me to partner him last year, but I’d turned him down. Given the oddness of my reaction to Forge, I’d felt it best to stick to the Carnival parties for the younger teens and single people, where everyone danced the solo or communal ribbon dances.
Partnering someone for Carnival was a significant commitment. It meant spending three days of parties in their company, with the implication that the relationship would continue after that.
I dealt with the minor side issue first. “How did you know that my family was high level? I only had the set of basic possessions authorized under the Teen Level equality rules, and I never mentioned my parents’ level to anyone.”
He laughed. “When I arrived on Teen Level, it was clear who’d come from a high level of the Hive. You were shocked by how basic the rooms were, and mentioned food and drinks that we’d never had on Level 80.”
I remembered my conversation with the man at the refreshment kiosk in the Level 93 park. “Things like melon juice?” I asked guiltily.
He nodded. “It only took me a minute looking up luxury items on my dataview to work out your parents’ levels. Shanna’s parents were elite. You were next highest of the girls, with parents who were at least Level 30. Forge was the highest of the boys, with parents who were at least Level 20.”
“You’ve forgotten about Reece,” I said. “His parents are elite.”
Atticus laughed. “Reece keeps claiming his parents are elite, but that isn’t true.”
I blinked. “Reece has been lying about that?”
“Yes. Reece misunderstood something Shanna mentioned on the first day. He thought she was talking about a fruit when it was a type of cake, and she gave him a withering look. His parents are Level 40 at most.”
Atticus looked at me expectantly. He was waiting for me to make a decision about being his partner for Carnival. Buzz had suggested it might be helpful to date someone, and that did make sense. Forge was my best friend’s boyfriend, and we went swimming training together. I spent far more time with him than any other boy, so naturally I’d be focused on him.
I tried to force thoughts of Forge out of my mind. The important thing wasn’t how I felt about Forge, but how I felt about Atticus. I certainly liked his quiet, serious nature, and I thought he was very intelligent. He fought a losing battle to keep his rebellious brown hair tidy, and he didn’t have Forge’s spectacular good looks or muscled build, but I found him attractive.
If I accepted Atticus as my partner for Carnival, then we’d be going to the parties for older teens in relationships, and things like kisses would be expected. The idea of kissing Forge made me feel deeply uncomfortable, but I could imagine enjoying kissing Atticus.
“You obviously hadn’t realized I was building up to asking you to be my Carnival partner,” said Atticus. “You’d better take some time to think about it and give me your answer tomorrow.”
“I don’t need time to think about it. I’d love to be your partner for Carnival.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind about the level difference?”
“There’s a level difference between our parents, but not between us. All teens are Level 50 and equal.”
“That’s wonderful.” Atticus gave me a joyful smile. “Perhaps we could do some things together over the next few days, so we get comfortable with each other’s company before the Carnival parties start.”
“Yes, that would be a good idea. We’re supposed to be at our community centre tomorrow morning for the next activity session on embroidery.” I pulled a face. “Not that there’s much point in me going. I was dreadful at the embroidery session last week. For that matter, I’m dreadful at most things. I’ve been to every type of activity session our community centre has offered since I came to Teen Level, and shown no sign of tale
nt at any of them.”
“You’re good at swimming,” said Atticus.
“Not good enough to be a professional swimmer.”
“You’re still doing better than me,” said Atticus. “I seem to have no talents at all.”
I shrugged. “Anyway, I’ll be free tomorrow afternoon and evening.”
“We could go to one of the evening parties on Teen Level beach.”
“My doctor said I should stay away from Teen Level beach until the cut on my head heals, because wet sand might cause problems.”
“We could just go to the park,” said Atticus.
I frowned. “Linnette and Casper are park volunteers, and they’ll be helping out there tomorrow afternoon.”
“Does that matter? We aren’t hiding this from our friends, are we?”
“No, we aren’t. I only meant that we’d end up in a group with Linnette and Casper, and the idea was that we’d spend time alone together.”
“That’s true.” Atticus paused to think. “The Blue Zone Arena has started running Light and Dark pageants in preparation for Carnival. We could go to the one tomorrow afternoon.”
I didn’t really enjoy Light and Dark pageants, but I’d already turned down two suggestions from Atticus so I felt I had to accept this one. “Yes, we can do that.”
“Were you planning to eat lunch at the community centre after the activity session?”
I nodded. I got most of my meals at the community centre because it was the cheapest place to eat.
“I was planning to skip tomorrow morning’s activity session,” said Atticus, “but I think I’ll go along after all. That way we can have lunch together before we go to the pageant.”
There was an awkward moment. Were you supposed to kiss someone after agreeing to be their Carnival date? I wasn’t sure, and Atticus didn’t seem sure what to do either, but then I saw someone further down the corridor.
“Reece is watching us,” I whispered a warning.
“I’d better go then. I’ll see you later, Amber.”
Atticus hurried off down the corridor, and I dodged back inside my room and shut the door to avoid Reece. I went across to the wall mirror and looked at my reflection. The lump of glue in my hair made it look like my head was as peculiarly shaped as a telepath’s, but Atticus had still asked me to be his partner for Carnival. I’d definitely done the right thing accepting him. By the time Carnival was over, I’d probably have forgotten all about my odd reaction to Forge.
I was smiling foolishly at my reflection when a disembodied voice spoke from the end wall.
“Amber, it’s me.”
Chapter Nine
I turned round, marched across to the end wall of my room, and yanked the towel off the inspection hatch. “How dare you spy on me and Atticus!”
I couldn’t see Forge’s face through the grille, there was just a faint shadowy shape, but his voice sounded contrite. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t do it deliberately. I got back here and found you’d put the inspection hatch cover back in place. I was about to ask you to let me out when I heard you talking to Atticus. I thought I should keep quiet until after he’d gone.”
“It would have been better if you’d left for a while, instead of skulking in there and listening to us … Wait a minute.” My brain finally processed Forge’s comment about the hatch cover. “When I got back here, the cover was already in place, and the towel was hanging over it. I assumed you’d finished exploring the vents and put the cover back on before leaving.”
“I didn’t put the cover back on. If it wasn’t you either, then who …?” Forge broke off his sentence and groaned. “It must have been Reece. He’s been lurking round the corridor ever since we excluded him, trying to force his company on us. He must have seen me coming into your room, and followed me in here to see what I was doing.”
“You should have locked the door behind you.”
“I did lock the door.”
“Then how did Reece get in?”
“It’s not hard to work out a door code that’s 54321,” said Forge. “When Reece found the inspection hatch cover off, he’d guess I was inside exploring the vent system. I suppose he thought it would be funny to put the cover back on so I couldn’t get out.”
I frowned. “I think you’re right about it being Reece. He was watching me talk to Atticus.”
“I’m sure I’m right,” said Forge. “Can you let me out now please? You just need to turn the two catches on each side of the cover to release it. I think maintenance workers have a tool that lets them turn the catches from inside the vent system, but of course I don’t have one of those.”
I turned the catches. “The cover still seems to be locked in place.”
“Have you turned all four catches?”
“Yes.”
“That’s odd. The cover must be stuck on. I’ll give it a shove from my side. Be ready to catch it when it comes loose.”
“I’m ready.” I waited expectantly, but nothing happened.
“It’s still stuck,” said Forge. “Stand well back and I’ll kick it free.”
I retreated to the far end of the room. There were a series of loud clangs. The inspection hatch cover still didn’t move.
“Can you check if Reece used something to wedge the cover in place?” asked Forge’s breathless voice.
I went back to study the cover. It was bulging in the middle from Forge’s kicks. I couldn’t see anything wedging it in place, but there was a glistening look to the edges.
“Have you found anything?” asked Forge.
I prodded the edge of the cover with a wary finger, and then leaned forward to sniff at it. There was a faint odour that I remembered from a recent activity session at the community centre.
“Bad news,” I said. “Reece has glued the inspection hatch cover in place, and I think he’s used the permanent bond glue.”
“You mean the stuff where you need the right solvent to remove it?” asked Forge.
“I’m afraid so, and we’d need an awful lot of solvent to get that cover loose. We’ll have to call Emergency Services to get you out.”
“We can’t do that,” said Forge. “Do you remember the climbing instructor said that she was going to report Reece’s behaviour to Health and Safety?”
“Vaguely.”
“Well, a telepath squad turned up to see Reece yesterday evening, so the rest of us went off to hide in the community centre. When we got back, Reece started screaming insults at me.”
“Why?”
Forge shrugged. “He assumed I was the one who’d told the climbing instructor his identity code. Once he finished yelling abuse at me, he started calling you names as well, saying it was all your fault for getting stuck on the cliff.”
“You didn’t tell Reece that it was Margot who gave away his identity code?”
“No. I didn’t want him targeting Margot instead of me. I just said that we’d voted to exclude him from our corridor group until after Carnival, and walked away. I think Reece has trapped me in here to get his revenge on both of us. If we call Emergency Services to get me out, then I’ll be in trouble for exploring the air vents, and you’ll be in trouble for helping me get in there.”
“Surely Reece will get in even more trouble than us.”
“When Reece thinks of something spiteful, he acts first and thinks through the consequences later,” said Forge bitterly. “Anyway, his plan isn’t going to work. I’ll find another way out of here. There must be plenty more rooms with air vent inspection hatches in this area.”
“I’m sure there are, but you won’t be able to unlock the covers to get out.”
“I’ll just have to keep shouting through the grilles until I find a room where the owner is home, and ask him or her to let me out.”
I choked. “Forge, you can’t go round shouting through the air vent grilles of random teen rooms. I’m not sure how other boys would react to it, but a girl would think it extremely creepy behaviour. She’d be more likely to call
Health and Safety to arrest you for spying on her than to let you out.”
“You can’t spy on people through these grilles,” said Forge. “They’re designed to stop anyone seeing through them.”
“I doubt you’d have the chance to explain that.”
Forge sighed heavily. “I’ll have to find an inspection hatch in a corridor, or the shopping area, or some other public place then.”
I considered that for a moment. “You’d be less likely to scare people that way, but shouting through a grille in a public place would attract a crowd.”
“Instead of shouting, I could wait until late in the evening when no one was around, and message you to come and let me out. You wouldn’t mind doing that, would you?”
I groaned. “I don’t seem to have much choice.”
“I’m really grateful,” said Forge. “It may take me a while to find a suitable inspection hatch, and I’m getting a bit thirsty. My room has got one of the small air vents. Can you go down there, take the cover off, and pass me a few things?”
“What’s your door code?”
“It’s 12121.”
I considered pointing out that 12121 wasn’t much better than 54321 as a door code, but decided it wasn’t worth it. “All right.”
I went out into the corridor, and looked round suspiciously, but couldn’t see any sign of Reece or anyone else. Two minutes later, I was in Forge’s room. It looked oppressively neat compared to my room, and had three surfboards propped against the end wall next to the air vent grille. As I turned the catches and removed the small cover, I heard a shuffling sound, and then part of Forge’s face appeared on the other side of the hole.
“You’d better charge my dataview so I can message you about my progress.”
He passed me the dataview, and I plugged it into the charging point. “Why do you need three surfboards?”
“Two of them are old ones. Can you pass me the bottles of water from the shelf above the sleep field?”