City Center, The (8 page)

“This is unprecedented. But it’s a compelling idea,” Morray said.

“I’m most honored you think so, sir,” Ava curtsied.

Morray ravished Ava with his eyes. “Yes, yes I approve. Guard, make sure the Outsider remains in a deep sedative state during his transformation. The more I think about this plan, Miss Rhodes, the more genius it becomes.”

“Oh, sir,” Ava bowed her head.

“Now, I must go. But, Miss Rhodes…” Morray paused. “After the trial, I will send for you to join me at the Royal Palace.”

“And I very much look forward to it, Morray,” Ava said, trying to look pleased. Morray signed off. Ava looked at the guard. “You heard him, bring in the Outsider.”

“Yes, Miss Rhodes,” he said, leaving the room.

“I’m feeling a bit tense, does anyone have some relaxa-mist?” Ava asked.

“Yes, yes. I have some top-notch product. This isn’t your typical relaxa-mist. This is dark-market grade. Use just one squirt, otherwise you will pass out. We can’t have our next Queen passing out.”

“That would be a catastrophe.” Ava said, taking the spray bottle.

Ava waited next to the entrance for the guard to return. The door slid open and two men carried in Joseph. He couldn’t hold up his head. Ava followed behind the men and sprayed multiple squirts of the mist. The guard assigned to Joseph turned around.

“What are you doing?” he yelled.

“Oh, dear! I’m sorry. I meant to spray the Outsider. I don’t want his filth stinking up the room.” She smiled and he softened his demeanor.

“Be careful with that stuff. We can’t go around smelling like fragrance. Dickson will have us terminated.”

“I do apologize. Will we be safe in here with him?”

“He’s under heavy sedation. You won’t have any resistance from this one,” said the guard, dropping Joseph onto a chair. He slumped forward.

“Oh, my, my. This creature needs the most severe attention. Whatever will we do with the savage? Team, this will be quite a challenge!” the head Beautifier cried out, slapping on gloves to begin her work.

Ava watched the guards, waiting for the relaxa-mist to take effect. She needed to get in closer for another spray. The guard assigned to Joseph began to sway. He leaned against the wall and remained focused, but his sturdy composure began to fade. Ava noticed the tiniest drop of drool gathering in the corner of his mouth, then his eyes glassed over. She walked over to him.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked, touching his shoulder. He melted backwards against the wall, grinning.

“I feel fiiiiine,” he said.

“I think you can return to the other containment room and take a nap, we’ll call for you when we’re finished here.” Ava gave him one more shot of the relaxa-mist.

“Okaaaay.” He edged his way out of the room.

Ava joined the other guard. His eyes glazed over as he stared at the Beautifiers scrubbing down Joseph.

“Repulsive, isn’t he?” She pressed against his body.

“Yeaaaah, Miss Rhooodes.”

“My feet hurt,” she said, leaning against his shoulder.

“Whhhy don’t we sit…”

Ava pulled him over to the table and pumped the relaxa-mist again. He coughed and waved his hand. She dropped him onto a chair and sprayed the mist one more time. The guard’s head hit the table. She glanced at the team—they were immersed in Joseph’s beautification process. She lifted the guard’s right hand and pulled up the monitor. She called the guard at the end of the corridor.

“Hello, guard,” Ava said.

“What’s going on? Where’s the guard assigned to you, Miss Rhodes?”

“He went to get me a refresher. But that was ten minutes ago. Can you please see why he’s taking so long?”

“I’m sure he’s fine.”

“I’m worried I’ll be late for the trial. Morray has something special planned for me.”

“I’m not supposed to leave my station, Miss Rhodes.”

“But I’m parched. If I’m not prepared, Morray will be outraged. Please help me? I’ll be sure to mention it to Morray.”

“Well, if you’d consider mentioning me, I guess I could help out. I’ll be right back.”

Ava only had a few minutes before the guard would return. She walked over to the Beautifiers. “You are needed at the Arena. Helena is now worried I will outshine James.”

“Oh, no. We can’t have that. We must hurry. Assistants, gather the equipment!”

“But the Outsider isn’t completed!”

“Oh, you did a fine job. Look at him. He’s beautiful. Just perfect. Can’t even recognize him.” Ava ushered the team along, keeping watch on Joseph. He was still out of it, but the transformation was complete. He looked like a nobleman—clean-shaven and glistening from the moisturizers, his dark hair cut short around the ears and parted on the side. The Beautifiers rushed around the room gathering their tools and equipment. Ava kicked one of their bags under the table. She went to the door and entered the guard’s access codes, but the door remained shut. She looked over at the guard passed out on the table. The door would only open by doing a microchip scan.

“Someone, please help. I can’t open the door without the guard who has clearly overindulged in the relaxa-mist. We need to do a scan or we’re stuck in here.”

“Assistants, help Miss Rhodes.”

The Assistants dragged the guard over to the panel, struggling to lift his dead weight. Ava stretched out his arm and placed his index finger on the panel. The door stayed shut. She also needed to do a retinal scan. Ava maneuvered underneath his heavy body and balanced his weight on her back.

“Don’t mess up your makeup!”

“Or your hair!”

“Hold his head in place or it won’t work. Open his eyes,” Ava yelled out. They peeled open his eyelids and the door finally slid open. They dropped the guard to the floor. Ava had about four minutes before the other one returned with her refresher.

“Off you go. See you at the Arena. You’ve really outdone yourselves,” Ava said, shoving the team into the hallway.

They scurried down the long hall. Ava stepped over the guard and ran to Joseph. He was still unconscious. He looked so different all scrubbed and polished. She tried to pull him out of the chair, but he wouldn’t budge. She needed to get out of the gown. She unfastened the layers of fabric and stood before Joseph in her undergarments. She had never been so bare in front of a man. She grabbed the bag from the floor and found a spare robe, slipped it on and pulled the hood over her head to conceal her face.

“I know you’re under sedation, but please work with me. We have about three minutes to get you out of this room.” She shook him. “Do you hear me, Joseph?”

One of his eyes half opened. She pulled him out of the chair, propped him up against the wall, and removed his robe. She started wrapping her gown around him. It was a tight fit. She’d never get it fastened, but she cobbled it together the best she could. “You have to work with me. Try to wake up. I can’t carry you.” Joseph leaned against the wall swaying side to side. “Please, Joseph.”

He opened his watery eyes and held her shoulder for balance. She secured the veil, making sure the strands of diamonds concealed his face. It was a sloppy job, but he was disguised. Getting him to walk down the hallway would be the bigger challenge. He could barely stand up. “Come on. We must go.”

Joseph steadied against her side until he was able to stand. They stepped into the hallway, keeping their heads lowered—the surveillance monitors were now capturing them. She tugged at her hood to make sure she was covered. They needed to get to the transporter at the end of the hall before the other guard returned. They edged forward a few inches at a time. The red and purple train of fabric trailed behind. They still had a ways to go.

“What’s going on?” the guard came around the corner with Ava’s refresher. He ran down the hall. Ava took the relaxa-mist out of her pocket and doused the air. “Don’t inhale,” she whispered to Joseph.

The guard ran straight into the cloud of relaxa-mist, and went into a coughing fit. He dropped the refresher and balanced himself against the wall.

“What’s going on?” he choked.

“Morray requested Miss Rhodes to the Arena right away.” Ava spoke in a high-pitched accent of a Beautifier. “I’m escorting her while the team finishes up with the prisoner.”

The guard swayed and rubbed his eyes. “You need my codes to get out of the Administration Building.”

“Of course. Can you escort us to the transporter?”

He nodded and led them down the hallway in slow motion. Ava thought they’d never get to the transporter. Sweat dripped down her forehead and into her eyes, smearing her makeup and blurring her vision. She stayed focused and walked close to Joseph in case he started to lose balance again. He remained steady. Before they reached the transporter, she felt the slight graze of his fingertips against hers. Her heart jumped and her stomach began fluttering again. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Your escort detail will be waaaaiting at the Areeeena traaaansporter.” The guard slurred, punching his codes into the transporter panel. Just before they entered the transporter, Ava nudged the guard and he tumbled to the ground. Ava pulled Joseph inside and the door sealed shut. Joseph collapsed. He tried to say something, but Ava couldn’t make out the words. She pulled off the veil.

“East… ” he mumbled.

“East Sector,” she instructed the transporter.

The transporter delivered them to the East Sector—the most dismal place inside the City Center. Ava helped Joseph out and sat him on the ground. She walked down the alley to check out the surrounding area. She had never been to the maintenance part of town where the lowest-ranking residents lived and worked. There was no reason to go there.

The streets were deserted. Everyone had already left for the trial. Still, the whole place felt cramped with the industrial buildings and dwelling units stacked right on top of each other. Even the lighting was dull. There weren’t any moving walkways, trees or cafés. Just gravel roads, seedy shops and a dingy layer of soot over everything. Hundreds of floating hologram advertisements competed for attention, shouting offers like, “Buy ten, get one free!” and “Act now and we’ll give you credits on your next order.” But the most depressing part of the East Sector was along the perimeter where enormous metal pipes spewed waste contents outside the City Center.

Ava returned and sat down next to Joseph and wiped the sweat off his forehead. She dug through the Assistant’s bag and found a bottle of booster-mist. She sprayed it towards Joseph’s face. He began coughing.

“You should feel a boost pretty soon,” she said. “Do you remember me?”

“How could I forget?” Joseph looked at Ava and smiled. He looked down at the gown. “This is interesting.”

“They spare no expense for potential Queens.” Ava smiled.

“How did you get me into this?”

“It was difficult. You might have to rip your way out of it. I have something else for you to wear.” She reached into the bag and pulled out her white tracksuit. “It’ll be tight, but a bit better than the gown.”

Joseph stood up and started ripping off pieces of the gown. Ava turned away.

“I was out of it, but from what I remember, that was a well-executed escape.”

“I’ve watched a lot of old movies,” Ava said.

“I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew you read Lillian’s journal. I knew you were going to help me.” He pulled on the pants, which were a snug fit. He tried to squeeze into the jacket, but the sleeve ripped.

“I figured if I helped you, you could help me. I have many questions.”

“Go ahead and shoot.”

“Shoot what?”

“Oh, it’s a figure of speech. I mean, go ahead and ask your questions.”

“At first I couldn’t figure out the significance of the book. Please understand, I think the destruction was devastating and just awful, but it was so long ago, in the days before. What could I do about it now? I was ready to confess everything, but then I saw the reports telling those lies about you. I’ve always questioned the reports.”

“Gut instincts,” he said, ripping off the jacket sleeves.

“Gut what?”

“Intuition. A feeling inside.”

“Yes, that. I’ve always felt something wasn’t right, and that Morray must be hiding something. I knew you’d have the answers. I couldn’t let him execute you.”

“Not until you had your answers, right?”

“Well, not after realizing you’re an innocent man.”

Joseph looked at his reflection in the blacked-out window of the building. He adjusted the tight tracksuit and messed up his hair. “They really chopped it off, huh?”

“Chopped what?”

“My hair. They did a number on me. My men won’t recognize me.”

“I don’t understand much of what you’re saying.”

“Look, Ava, I want to tell you everything. But we gotta get out of here.”

“We?” Ava jumped up.

“You’re coming with me, aren’t you?”

Ava’s hands went cold. “I never thought that far ahead. I only wanted to help you escape so I could get some answers.”

“And?” He tugged at the jacket but it wasn’t fitting any better.

“I can’t leave the City Center. Regardless of the lies, it’s my home. Graduation Day is next week. I’m competing for Queen.”

“You really think Morray’s gonna let you get away with this?”

“I can tell him you forced me to help you.”

“And then what?”

“It doesn’t matter, after next week I’ll relocate to the Royal Palace and serve in Royal Court—for eighteen long and painful years.”

“You don’t have to stay here living a lie.”

“How am I living a lie? Won’t you please tell me?”

“There’s a lot to explain, but if you want to know more we gotta leave now before they realize we escaped.”

“I can’t just leave, can I?” The thought of running away with Joseph sounded exciting and terrifying. Isn’t this what she always dreamed of—an adventure on the Outside, away from her duties as a Successor Candidate?

“I can’t force you to do anything. But I have to go.” Joseph patted Ava’s shoulder and walked down the alley.

She thought about Morray. Could she pull off another performance? What if she couldn’t convince him the Outsider forced her hand? She’d stand trial and be executed. And if she did convince him, she’d graduate and most likely become the next Queen—a position she didn’t want in the first place. Or worse, she might get stuck serving a lesser position and listening to James berate her for the next eighteen years. She wished there was a way to disqualify herself from the competition, and go work in the Garden Sector. She could live out the next eighteen years in peace. But how could she live in peace knowing Morray was hiding something?