Jazelle heard each word spill out of their mouths like an ultimatum.
That isn't how the system works here.
They spoke in unison in pure factual logic. They talked like a well-articulated system that couldn't recognize a bug, a flaw, or an anomaly. The Council looked at Orb's mother like a defect, something that didn't run like the beautiful intricacy of their systems. She wasn't young. She didn't have abilities. She wasn't them. And they were going to eradicate her.
Jazelle looked at Orb. She remained silent. Orb looked exactly like them. Her hands were crossed in her lap, and her eyes were glossy. She looked at a point in the wall, past the iron-locked doors. The entire room was red.
Jazelle spoke, "Meritocracy?" She clenched her fists. "You just don't want someone who isn't like you!"
All of them looked at Jazelle, including Orb. They all surrounded Jazelle and Orb's mother in a half-circle.
The leader amongst them spoke.
"You're also one of us, Tinker. If you don't comply, we'll have to do something about that mind of yours."
"Disillusioned mind," another added.
"Send her to the Washer."
"Disharmony will break apart our society."
Orb sat in her wheelchair, framed by a dangerous glow. She placed her hands on the wheels of her wheelchair and scooted across the room. The chair skidded just behind the group of Council members. She stared past the Council at Jazelle and her mother. Orb sat as still as a hospital patient. Her eyes were vacant. Orb's mother could clearly see the bumps on Orb's skin. That trace of youthfulness that she saw in Lyra. The daughter she used to have was gone. Orb's mother remembered her daughter when she was younger. The beautiful golden-cropped hair, the one who led her into the town with her small hand, laughing carefree, even though the town was covered in scrap, mud, and unruined road. Orb's mother remembered when Lyra bounced off a crack in the road, twisting around and smiling, saying it was just an obstacle on their journey to meet the Fairy Queen.
Orb's mother looked at Orb. That face was cool to the touch; she looked like a body trapped within a labyrinth. Her hair looked like a mess of wires, all hooked up to The System. Lyra's mother clenched onto her shirt tightly, the tight crease on her shirt resembling a stab in the heart. The creases cut deep like veins. She looked at her daughter. She was no longer a mother; she was Elora. Elora's hair stuck to her face, like barbed wire fastened onto her skin. Her hair, pale blond, was now a sleek white.
Jazelle barricaded herself in front of Elora, the Council, and Orb. Elora was clutching onto the thin ends of her hair like ropes. All of the cloaked figures started shadowing in like a barrage.
Jazelle was sweating. She focused and tried to tune into the mechanics of the iron-folded door. She warped the mesh around her mind, threading in strings, like a bridge, in an attempt to match its frequency. She reached the door. Then got denied. Her Mind's String was axed before it reached the door. There was a wall of interference; it fissured through Jazelle's mind, sending shock waves through her brain. She felt a sting of pain. An aching that rang through her skull down to the depths of her bones. That's when she realized it.
The Council in front of her were all ability-users, and yet they couldn't use their abilities in this room. This room was ability-proofed. The Council were surrounding her. She was going to be eradicated on the spot. This wasn't about asylum. It was about converting her into one of them, indoctrinating her with their beliefs and system. Jazelle felt her blood run cold. Her supple arms, which she usually had so much pride in, felt cold and exposed against the ventilated room.
Ah…I wish I could have one of these cloaks.
This was the end. She was curious, so she dived right in, but just as the people in The Works warned her about get-rich-quick schemes, this was the jackpot. The lights seduced her. They promised her innovation, technical flexibility, and a way to assimilate into everyday culture. This was annihilation.
Jazelle was running out of options. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her pair of metallic prongs. She swiped on the handle, and it lit up with a bright metallic flare. It shone electric blue; the electricity streamed out, reflecting in Jazelle's eyes. The electricity ran like scars etched into a person's body. Jazelle darted; she was going to stab the prong into the nearest Council member's shin…When the room went black.
It was dark. In the flick of an eye, Jazelle retreated. She swiped down on the electric switch to turn off her electric prongs, grabbed Elora by the shirt and ran. Jazelle leaned forward, bumping into walls and onto the floor, sweeping past the ends of cloaks.
She didn't know where she was running. All she wanted to do was sprint, reach the other side, and let this enclosed entrapment not be her end-all. Jazelle reached the other side and placed her hand on the door. Suddenly, she felt the energy change. There was no interference. The air around her head didn't feel as compressed. Her hand touched solid metal. She sensed the clicking and the machinations running underneath the surface. Jazelle felt the energy surge from her brain; it pulsed, and she sharpened her energy and whispered.
Open.
The gears clicked and unlocked, turning inward. The door opened with a bout of steam. Jazelle pulled Elora and stepped through the doors. Jazelle swiftly turned around and fastened her hand, imagining her grip tightening on the digital pathway slithering beneath the door. Jazelle pulled, twisted, and turned, and the doors slammed shut in front of her.
Both Jazelle and Elora looked at the slammed door. Elora slumped to the floor and cried. Jazelle looked down at Elora and whipped her head towards the door. Jazelle's neck was tense, and her head was dizzy. Jazelle stumbled back, trying her best to regain her footing. The world seemed to slow. Cloaked figures. Red Room…potentially red blood. Jazelle placed a hand to her head. The room's violent red rang in her ears.
Jazelle's fingertips touched the edge of her temples. Her world was spinning. The worlds of Grave-Downe and Sun-Downe were blurring, and as she soon realized, they were the same. She tasted bile in her throat; the bile felt like it was going to corrode her skin. Just as she was about to step back, a sound snapped her back to her senses.
It was a sharp sound. Enough to pierce through metal. It was a lonely sound, calm, and confident. The boots were pristine. The sound travelled through the hallway, like a thin sound travelling on a tightrope. The boots strode forward in long, confident strides. Slower than a run, faster than a walk. An arm grabbed onto Jazelle's shoulder. Jazelle turned around. It was that face she had always seen. Unbreakable, Untraceable, but yet this time something was different.
Lior's eyebrows were furrowed, like a sharp line slashing perpendicularly into one that was horizontal. Her face was ghastly pale; it almost looked like she could blend into the pale hallway.
Lior's hand gripped Jazelle's, shoving her away from the door. Lior rushed both of them to the other door on the opposite side of the hallway. Jazelle, using this opportunity, clung onto Elora's arm as well, and the three of them were dragged in an awkward line towards the other side.
Jazelle looked at Lior. Lior's pace was hurried. Lior stopped by the doors on the other side, released Jazelle, and did a series of gestures on the touchpad. A countdown was executed.
Lockdown Activated. Intruder detected. System Activated.
The entire room flashed red. The other door opened, and Jazelle found herself running alongside Lior. Lior's hand grabbed onto Jazelle's, pushing her forward. All of them were a trio.
They rushed through one corridor and the next. Each corridor flashed red as the countdown started. Doors shut close one after another. Lior manipulated the maze like a web. She ran before her eyes darted. Turning left, right, forward, and back. The corridors were structured like a labyrinth.
Soon, Jazelle was rewarded with a blaze of bright neon lights. Lior, Jazelle, and Elora were running through a walkway. The walkway was transparent, filled with glass panels. Through the glass panels, the towering masses of buildings showed. Jazelle ran, looking at Lior's back in front of her. That back, which previously looked so formidable to her, was now on the brink of collapse. They reached the end and looked at the towering height.
Grave-Downe was dark with traces of bright, glaring lights. Except now, amongst the glaring spectacle in front of them, there were red blaring dots. Jazelle stared at them. It looked similar to the security drones in Sun-Downe. They came down in droves.
Lior stopped just before the end of the transparent walkway. Jazelle looked in front of them. There was still quite a way to go, and Jazelle didn't know how to navigate through the city. She looked at Lior. She was drenched in sweat. Lior was hunched over. She breathed in and out, slumped against the transparent walkway.
Jazelle went towards her and crouched down at the same level as Lior. Jazelle reached out her hand wanting to check Lior's pulse, but Lior stopped her. Lior grabbed Jazelle by the wrist.
"Not the time to be thinking about that," Lior said, barely catching her breath.
Her voice was raspy. All of the surveillance drones were hovering, waiting by the transparent pathway. Jazelle looked at the machinery. They were waiting, waiting for any moment they would burst out of that metallic walkway that served as a bridge between two buildings. Blast them, get them eradicated and done with.
The red light was still shining. The Lockdown alert was still sounding. Jazelle looked at Lior.
"Can you stand?"
Lior looked at Jazelle. She could barely see her any longer. Jazelle's face was blurred and faded. The only things she can make out are the faint traces of Jazelle's voice.
"Barely," Lior said.
"How much longer do we have?"
Lior wasn't staring at Jazelle. The light was fading from her eyes.
She spoke.
"Twenty minutes and they'll find us."
Lior darted her eyes, looking at the wide expanse beyond, she continued.
"You shouldn't go to the end of the walkway. The exit beside there is better."
Elora looked at the two sisters, who almost looked identical to Lyra and Adrian — her two children. They used to be inseparable. Lior lay on the floor, her breath short and hollow. Jazelle grunted. Her fingers lay stiff as they held onto Lior's shoulders.
"Alright, we need to hatch a plan. You and I run. Elora comes along behind us. I will build the bridge, then we will reach Sun-Downe and…"
"Let me serve as the distraction."
Jazelle looked at Elora. She stood there, still as a skeleton.
"I know," Elora said, "It's easier to run with two people instead of three. I'll head out first, serve as a distraction. You can form the bridge in the meantime."
Jazelle's body turned. "But what about you?" She said, facing Elora.
Elora smiled and shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "But at least this will be my choice. These legs are mine, won't run any further." She looked at them knowingly. "Who knows, maybe Lyra will still have some heart for me."
Jazelle protested. Lior stopped her.
"If. I. Were. You…I would accept her offer," Lior said. Her voice broke as she slumped further into the wall. "Even if she didn't go, either of us would be getting eradicated."
Lior clung tightly to her arm; she felt the sear of electricity travelling up through her limbs into her brain. Her face betrayed none of that discomfort.
Lior spoke to Jazelle, "Let's follow her plan. If we make it out, we'll figure the rest out then."